May 29, 2007 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Vol. XLV No. 20


The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon the Chair has notice of the following members who wish to present members' statements: the hon. the Member for the District of Ferryland; the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans; the hon. the Member for the District of Trinity-Bay de Verde; the hon. the Member for the District of Bay of Islands; the hon. the Member for the District of Terra Nova; and, the hon. the Member for the District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for the District of Ferryland.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to recognize and congratulate Adam Kavanagh, from the community of Calvert. Adam is a Level III student from Baltimore School in Ferryland.

On May 10, Mr. Speaker, I had the honour of attending the graduating ceremonies and speaking to the twenty-six Level III students of the Baltimore Class of 2007. As part of the night's ceremonies, I was very pleased to witness Adam receiving special recognition for his academic achievement and community involvement.

Adam was recognized for being named a Loran Scholar. The Loran Award is open to graduating high school students in Canada and renewable for up to four years. It includes an annual tuition waiver and stipend of $8,000, access to funding and internships through its summer program and mentorship opportunities. The award is valued at approximately $75,000.

This honour is awarded to students who demonstrate academic achievement, are involved in extracurricular activities, and show leadership skills and potential.

Adam has continued to demonstrate his leadership skills in reviving his school's Students Against Drunk Driving Chapter, he is a member of the local 4-H club for approximately four years and, as well, is operating his own audiovisual company. Adam's plans for the future include pursuing a post-secondary education at Memorial University.

Mr. Speaker, I would ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Adam Kavanagh from my district for his outstanding achievement, and wishing him well in his post-secondary studies.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to acknowledge the accomplishments of Carley Linehan from Grand Falls-Windsor. This talented student, along with a team of other young scientists representing Central Newfoundland and teacher chaperone Mary Kelly from Exploits Valley High School, attended the Canada Wide Science Fair held in Truro, Nova Scotia, May 12 to May 20.

The team, which consisted of Carley and four other students, two from St. Brendan's Island and two from Lawn, had a very successful week at the Canada Wide Science Fair. With four projects entered by this team, two came away with awards, including Carley Linehan who won a bronze medal in the category of Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals - Intermediate Division.

Mr. Speaker, Carley's project, Taxes a Pain, Taxus a Gain!, about a common shrub in Newfoundland known as ground hemlock which has the potential for anti-cancer drugs, was selected to represent the region at the Canada Wide Science Fair following her first place finish at the Central Newfoundland Regional Science Fair held in Grand Falls-Windsor earlier this spring.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this hon. House to join with me in extending congratulations to Carley Linehan and the other team members on their involvement, participation and success at the Canada Wide Science Fair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to extend congratulations to Valerie Jackson and Audrey Jackson of Whiteway, Trinity Bay. Valerie and Audrey were recognized for having knitted goods for NONIA for fifty years and were each presented with a gold watch.

As you are probably aware, Mr. Speaker, NONIA is a non-profit organization, founded in 1902 to finance the work of British nurses to provide health care to our outports. Money was made from the sale of hand knitted goods by women of these isolated communities. In 1934 the government took over the health care portion of NONIA's operation; however, the business side was maintained and continues today in much the same tradition as when founded.

At the age of twelve, Valerie was inspired, as many other outport knitters were, by NONIA's offer to reimburse them for their knitted products; however, it was her love of the craft that kept her involved to this day.

Mr. Speaker, Valerie and Audrey have been knitting for NONIA for almost sixty years, carrying on a family tradition started by their mothers some years ago.

Mr. Speaker, Valerie and Audrey are fine examples of the wonderful skilled crafts people we have, and are so fortunate to have, in our Province. I ask that all hon. members join with me in congratulating them on their personal achievement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to extend congratulations to a business woman from my district who was recognized for her accomplishments by the business community.

Karen Matthews, owner-operator of Nortique Fashions Enterprises Inc. of Summerside, was recently named Entrepreneur of the Year for the Western Region by the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs.

Karen opened her business in 1989, specializing in Newfoundland-made coats and other fashions. Her unique coat designs, the customized tailoring and quality of her products, has made her collections nationally known and are carried by Specialty Boutiques across Canada.

Mr. Speaker, through her hard work and perseverance, Karen has expanded her business over the years beyond her own expectations. With her dedicated staff, she has established herself as an excellent example of what small businesses have to offer in this Province.

In addition to her recent recognition, Karen has received many other awards including past recipient of the Business Development Bank of Canada's Award of Business Excellence and the Manufacturing Industrial Award.

Karen's commitment and dedication also extends into her community with her many years of involvement with the school council, the Summerside 4-H Club, the Corner Brook Chamber of Commerce, and Director with the Community Business Development Corporation, to name a few.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members in this House to join me in extending congratulations to Karen on this recognition and the contribution she has made to her community.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Terra Nova.

MR. ORAM: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, on May 18, I attended the St. Gabriel's High School Graduation in St. Brendan's. There were four graduates in this year's class: Nicole Byrne, Kristine O'Rielly, Samantha Walsh, and Jeremy White. While the number of graduates was small, the ceremony was as big and as charming as any you would see anywhere in this Province.

In St. Brendan's, the graduation is an event that brings out many from the community. The support and encouragement I witnessed was amazing. The school spirit and the pride they exhibit is overwhelming and clearly speaks to the character of the people. As in smaller communities around the Province, the school is at the centre of the community, the entity that joins people. St. Brenda's is certainly no exception.

A week prior to the graduation, CBC did a story on the graduates. The interviewer asked the kids a number of questions surrounding the topic of graduation and future plans. While all the children spoke of different plans for the future, one statement pervaded, they all said they wished they could remain in St. Brendan's upon completion of their high school. Mr. Speaker, the love and the connection that the residents have to this Island and their home is absolutely remarkable.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members in this House to join with me today in congratulating the St. Gabriel's graduating class of 2007.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

MR. SWEENEY: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend congratulations to the Carbonear Volunteer Fire Department on their incredible 166 years of service; and on the installation of their new executive and Fire Chief, Mr. Ron Garland.

The volunteer firefighters, who make up the Carbonear Volunteer Fire Department, have launched their 166th year providing fire services to the Conception Bay North town under a new chief, as well as a new banner.

Mr. Speaker, Ron Garland succeeds former Fire Chief Tom Crawford, a fifteen-year veteran of the fire department. Fire Chief Garland has worked his way up through the ranks, playing a prominent role in the department's development during his twenty years with the department.

Throughout the 166 years of the department's service to the town, family traditions have played a major role. Chief Garland's father, the late Ron Garland Sr. and his brother, the late mayor Claude Garland, were both former firefighters who served on the executive and were valued members of the department.

Mr. Speaker, other members of the new executive are: First Assistant Chief Kevin Butt; Second Assistant Chief Den Marshall; Captains Fred Baldwin and Steve Burden; Lieutenants Geoff Squibb and Steve Barrett; Treasurer Ed Kavanagh and Secretary Keith Thomas.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in congratulating the Carbonear Volunteer Fire Department on their 166 years of service and on the installation of their new Fire Chief and executive.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair would like to note and welcome in the public galleries Mayor Boyd Noel, the Mayor of St. Anthony.

Welcome to our House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: I am pleased to rise today to inform my hon. colleagues and to again recognize that two managers from the Water Resources Management Division have been selected by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, to lead a two-year Science for Peace project.

Mr. Haseen Khan and Dr. Amir Ali Khan, who recently participated in the European Space Agency TIGER Project in Egypt, have been appointed the NATO country project director and co-director, to implement an environmental security and water resources management system using real time water quality warning and communications on the River Nile in Egypt.

The Egyptian project director is Dr. Shaden Abdel-Gawad, a graduate from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and president of the National Water Research Center of the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.

Mr. Speaker, real time quality monitoring is state of the art technology used to provide an early warning of adverse water quality incidents and is an integral part of proactive water resources management in this Province. My department was the first in the country to implement a real time water quality monitoring and reporting network.

Our expertise was recognized nationally when the federal government implemented a national network based on our network, and now we have been selected by NATO to implement an index network in Egypt. Our selection to lead this NATO project is international recognition of the strong technical expertise in my department and is another illustration of this government's success in using innovative technologies.

Mr. Speaker, this project will give Egypt the ability to proactively identify and respond to both security and water quality management issues. It has several implications for trans-boundary water resources management in Africa and will potentially enable Egypt to approach the World Bank for funding of a national network.

Over the next two years, delegations of young water scientists from Egypt will visit my department to undertake training on various aspects of water resources monitoring and reporting. Mr. Haseen Khan and Dr. Amir Ali Khan will travel to Egypt to provide training and to set-up the water quality warning system.

This is a water resources capacity building project that will use our experience and expertise to develop a capacity in Egypt to monitor their strategic water bodies on a real time basis against any natural or anthropogenic threats. It will enable them to take immediate mitigative measures, and to report the suitability of water for various uses such as drinking, irrigation, livestock, aquatic life and recreational use.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say this is the first time in the history of the Nile River system that a real time water monitoring network and reporting system will be set up to ensure the integrity of the Nile River system under the leadership of NATO.

I am confident this project will further add to the international recognition that our Province and department has earned water resources management.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BARRETT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

I, too, would like to congratulate the two individuals involved in this major project. It does say a lot about their abilities and their expertise. I know it is great that we are able to help out other countries within the world, but I wonder today within our own Province, Minister, about our own water quality. I understand we have a couple of hundred of our own communities on a boil order right now as I speak. When we were in government we provided communities with 100 per cent funding for up to $100,000 to improve the water quality. Mr. Minister, today when you are giving out this good news, I guess tomorrow you will announce that your government will bring back this program to rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

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

I, too, thank the minister for his advance copy.

I am happy to, once again, congratulate Mr. Khan and Dr. Khan on their expertise. We are fortunate to have such expertise in our Province, but I, too, have to join with my colleague from the Official Opposition and point out that we do have approximately 200 municipalities in the Province and according to the figures of the minister's department, the same number as this time last year, so we do not seem to be improving. It may not all be the same communities - there have been forty-eight new communities since March of last year that now have boil advisories, and it seems to me that if we have the expertise to share with other countries, we should be able to use that expertise here. What I would like to see is that we get the municipalities to the point where we do not have to have -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. member's allotted time has expired.

MS MICHAEL: By leave, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you.

I hope that we can get our municipalities to the point where we do not have to have the boil advisories, that what we are monitoring is showing us that our water is so good this is not happening.

We have municipalities out there waiting for help from the provincial government. Quite a number of the communities listed from the department are having maintenance done to the water distribution system. I imagine that is a major issue, but we also still have communities on these lists that have E. coli in their water. So, we have a lot of work to do to make sure that we bring down the number from the almost consistent 200 that it seems to have been for the last few years.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, most people would agree that it was the American marketing and secondary processing division that subsidized the FPI's groundfish divisions in this Province during the moratorium. In fact, people thought that it was so important, including the Premier, that he, himself, even thought that it was worth buying last year at the infamous summit that he held on fisheries. Today, we see that division being sold off to a competitor of the Newfoundland fishing industry, being sold to High Liner. In return, High Liner will keep one plant open in this Province.

Can the Premier tell us the value of that asset, the American marketing and secondary processing division and how much High Liner is going to pay for it?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, in his preamble, says that the marketing arm and the secondary processing division of FPI were its most valuable assets. Well, that really depends on who you talk to.

We offered, as a government, to finance the purchase of those operations for the Newfoundland industry. While there was certainly interest in making that happen from the perspective of the union, there was absolutely no interest in making it happen from the processors, from the people who are in the business of producing and selling fish. I guess that tells you something, Mr. Speaker, on how the industry itself felt about the necessity of having that piece of the business.

Yes, there is only one operation in Newfoundland currently that operates in the secondary processing area under FPI, and that will continue under the High Liner deal if it goes through.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the amount of money that will be eventually paid for those assets, High Liner is a publicly traded company; there are confidentiality agreements between FPI, High Liner, that are governed by stock exchange rules and so on. I am not in a position to say what that amount is today, but it will become public knowledge if and when definitive and final agreements are reached.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The asset that High Liner is buying consists of the marketing division, which is located in Danvers, Massachusetts, a secondary processing facility that is located in Danvers, Massachusetts, and a secondary plant in Burin. Of those three assets, everybody knows that it is the marketing division that is the most valued.

Can the minister confirm that, after purchasing this asset worth $40 million, $50 million, $60 million, $100 million, if that is purchased by High Liner for that amount, then High Liner can close the Burin plant, if it so desires, transfer the equipment in that plant to their plant, which is very similar to it, in Danvers, Massachusetts, and all that company will have to pay is a penalty of $2.5 million.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I did not hear the interview, myself, this morning on CBC with the President and Chief Executive Office of High Liner, Mr. Demone, but I understand that, when that question was put to him, he laughed and he laughed and he laughed; because, I mean, what company in their right mind, what investor, who in their right mind...? I am not an investor - maybe the Premier is the best one to answer the question - but what investor in their right mind would pay tens of millions of dollars for an asset and then pay $5 million to close it down? I mean, it is so ludicrous that is blows the mind. It is so ludicrous that it just blows me away that anybody could think in those terms.

Mr. Speaker, High Liner has committed, and is prepared to commit, and has committed, to a long-term operation in Burin. That is what we are interested in.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: That is what High Liner is interested in. That is what the people of Burin are interested in, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I notice that he quotes Henry Demone. Henry Demone is the same individual who sold the Burgeo fish plant with its quotas to Bill Barry, and Bill Barry transferred those quotas to Canso, Nova Scotia, a couple of days after that deal.

What the minister is missing is the fact that the Burin plant is insignificant when compared to the marketing division and the plant in Danvers, Massachusetts; so, just to sell it off or close it and transfer the assets would, in fact, make money for High Liner.

Now, Mr. Speaker, to get to my question. For the past two years we have heard ministers opposite say there is no money in groundfish because of competition for labour in China and because of the value of the high Canadian dollar. In fact, Mr. Speaker, it was these very reasons that FPI closed the plants in Harbour Breton and Fortune and left the plant to remain idle in Marystown while they left the groundfish in the water.

I ask the minister: Can the minister or the Premier tell me what has happened to the competition in China and to the value of the Canadian dollar which is now going to allow OCI to employ 500 people in Marystown for the next five years, processing the same fish that FPI left in the water last year? Can the minister tell me what has happened in the world to change those circumstances, and can you also tell us what penalties are in place if OCI does not employ 500 people -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair requests both sides of the House to keep their questions and their answers within one minute. In the last exchange, both sides have abused that general rule we follow.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Government House Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, day after day, gets up and talks about people going on a rant. Well, I do not know what you would call that, but it seems to me that he spent most of the lead up to the question on some kind of a rant.

I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, what we are not going to do. I have no control over what happened between any deal between High Liner, Henry Demone and Bill Barry, but I will tell you that this Province made sure, in terms of negotiating restrictions around the quota that FPI currently controls, that is not going to happen on our watch, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: It is not going to happen, not on your life!

Let me say to those - that it only took a couple of hours to work it out in Ottawa - it took weeks and weeks and months and months of hard negotiations by this Province to make it happen, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: What is the difference in terms of the groundfish operation today, vis-B-vis FPI?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the minister to complete his answer quickly.

MR. RIDEOUT: I will tell you the difference, Mr. Speaker: A Newfoundland company with its own money and its bankers money, without a cent of investment from government, is investing to make this happen. I have confidence in that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Let's talk about what happened under your watch. Stephenville closed, 300 people laid off; Harbour Breton closed, another 300 people laid off; Fortune closed. That all happened under your watch, I say, Minister. Every bit of it happened under your watch.

Mr. Speaker, last month, George Armoyan sold off his shares in FPI and walked away with approximately $6 million in profits. It now appears that Sanford Seafoods of New Zealand is about to sell this shares in FPI and walk off with $25 million in profit. It also appears that John Risley and the Icelandic Group are going to walk off with similar profits. The people who work for FPI, and have worked for FPI as much as forty years in this Province, are getting $3 million out of this deal from FPI, and guess what that is going to do, Mr. Speaker? That is going to bring their wages up this year to forty cents less than they made an hour last year.

I ask the Premier - I ask the Premier, this time - does this sound like we are maximizing the benefit to the people of this Province, or is this just another resource giveaway?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, let's talk about Stephenville. Let's take an article last weekend from a Stephenville paper which basically says: Our sales are still on the rise and we have experienced a steady rise ever since the closure of the mill. Really, I cannot foresee any signs of business slacking in the community. I cannot really tell you where it is coming from, but we have been flat out. We had the best year we have ever had for sales in 2006. Mayor Tom O'Brien says businesses tell him, business is strong and they have a positive outlook for the future.

Now it does not get any better than that, but let's talk about the fishery. Let's talk about the fishery and what you have been saying over the years and where you have been. The Leader of the Opposition gave us John Risley. You gave us the problem, you gave us that group -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: - and that board.

Let's hear what he was saying back in May of 2001 when he was Minister of Fisheries. Let's talk about that. Here is what he said about shareholder value then: Mr. Speaker, for a government to get involved would have seriously undermined the rights of shareholders and potentially devastated the share value of the company. You were concerned about them in those days when John Risley took over the company and you left us with that mess.

Here is what else you said.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the Premier -

PREMIER WILLIAMS: All interested parties recognize that there was no role for government to play in the selection of the board of directors -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the Premier to complete his question quickly.

PREMIER WILLIAMS: I can go on, Mr. Speaker, with quotes that the hon. gentleman opposite gave that talk about being against nationalization, and now he is for nationalization, being for shareholder value in those days, and now he is against shareholder value; back and forth, flip and flop, this side of the mouth, that side of the mouth. State a course, boy, and be consistent in your answers!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier talks about Stephenville and how great things are there. I ask the Premier: Are there more people employed in Stephenville today than there were before you were Premier? The answer to that is obvious, there are not.

Mr. Speaker, employees of FPI, like all other employees of any business or any plant in this Province, are protected by the Labour Standards Act. Under this Act, employees are entitled to a certain number of weeks' pay if their business or their plant closes.

I ask the minister, or the Premier: Can they tell me, either one of them, how many weeks' pay the workers at Marystown, for example, are entitled to if that facility is closed?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the facility at Marystown is about to reopen. Nobody has announced a closure. I saw the president of OCI on the news last night saying he was about to open it. I saw the president of the union, Mr. Moulton, saying that they were delighted. I heard the Mayor of Marystown last night saying they are rolling out the red carpet for them. The plant in Marystown is not closing. Mr. Speaker, it is reopening under the careful negotiations and good will and hard work of this government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, neither the minister nor the Premier has answered one question here today. If the minister was so certain that the plant in Marystown was going to remain open, he would not have a penalty provision in there, I say to the minister. Now, Minister, in case you do not understand it -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: In case they do not understand, Mr. Speaker, if the plant closes in Marystown, under the Labour Standards Act the people in that plant are entitled to sixteen weeks of pay.

Now, Mr. Speaker: Can the minister confirm that these payments will be made in addition to the penalties which he outlined yesterday in that deal?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, when there was a gentleman over here as Government House Leader, when the Opposition would ask him an ‘if' question, we used to call him the government bull. He was a former Member for Bonavista North, I believe, and he used to get up and say: if, if, if. Well, Mr. Speaker, how can I respond to those ifs?

Mr. Speaker, the plant in Marystown is going to reopen. Mr. Speaker, the plant in Marystown is going to reopen. The mayor is in favour of it, the union is in favour of it, the community is in favour of it, and the company wants to get on with the job. What is wrong with Mr. If, I say, Mr. Speaker?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, the minister can get up and he can rant and he can tear, he can laugh at this all he likes but this deal is important to the people who work for FPI in this Province. Now, Mr. Speaker -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Now, Mr. Speaker, it is our understanding that if OCI closes its plant in Marystown it will owe the employees at Marystown sixteen weeks' pay, for a total - if you do the math, I say to the minister - of over $4 million; that OCI will owe the workers in Marystown if they close that plant according to the deal that you presented yesterday.

Now, that $4 million that OCI will owe the workers in Marystown, will that be on top of the penalty of the $2 million to $5 million you outlined yesterday or will it just be the money that OCI is entitled to pay to the workers if they close that plant? There is no penalty if that is the case, I say to the minister.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, thank God for light bulbs. I suppose there was a light bulb that went on in the hon. gentleman's head when he finally realized that this deal was important to the employees of FPI in Marystown. Thank God for light bulbs!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Well, it is important, Mr. Speaker, and that is why the union is in favour of it. That is why the President of the FFAW is supporting this agreement. That is why the president of the Local, Mr. Moulton, is supporting this agreement.

Of course, this Opposition Leader, Mr. Speaker, tries to get a bit cute. You know, the Labour Standards Act provides certain protection for workers in lieu of notice. If there is notice, that is where they get their protection. If there is severance pay, that is where they get their protection. We have negotiated penalties on top of anything that the law provides, Mr. Speaker. That is what this government is all about.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: What the minister is saying is that the penalty is there and the workers of the current FPI will also receive their severance, the sixteen weeks that they are entitled to. Is that what you are saying, and will you show us that in a deal before you ink it and before the legislation is changed in the House of Assembly?

My final question is to the Premier, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier is on record as saying that he wants an ownership or equity position in our offshore oil and gas industry. He is on record as saying that he wants an ownership position in our hydro industry in Churchill Falls and Labrador. We already bought an equity position in our IT industry when he gave $15 million to his buddies for fibre optic.

Mr. Speaker, we had the closest thing that we could come to in an equity position or an ownership position in our fishing industry under the FPI Act because we control that company. Now this government is about to scrap that -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the member to put his question.

MR. REID: - and take no ownership whatsoever in our fishing industry.

Can the Premier tell me: What is it about the fishing industry that you do not want any part of, or is it just that you do not like the smell of fish?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can remember him at the summit sat down at the end of the table. He came in and sat down for a while and he did not have a pen, did not have a piece of paper, he did not take a note. Then he went outside for half-an-hour or an hour and dropped back in again, and then he went out again. He never bothered to take a note because he did not like it. He did not like what was going on, the fact that we were addressing the Province and the fishery.

This government and this Cabinet, and this Minister of Fisheries and previous Ministers of Fisheries, have tackled the issues. Now, when you talk about ownership, what is 49 per cent of a quota company? That is not ownership! We got it for nothing. We paid not a nickel for it. We have 49 per cent of the quota company right out of the gate. That is exactly what we have.

We also, some time ago, after we had gone through the summit, sat down with the stakeholders in the Province, the people who are interested in the fishery, unlike yourself, who did not make a mess of it when they were Ministers of Fisheries, like yourself. They sat around that table and we offered to put up the money to buy the marketing arm that you are talking about, the marketing arm that we are now supposed to have given away. We put up the money. We said we would put up the money but we could not get the industry, as the minister has already said, to participate in it. We could do no more than that -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the Premier to complete his answer quickly.

PREMIER WILLIAMS: We attempted to buy the marketing arm and buy that equity in the company and participate with them in a partnership. We ended up with 49 per cent of the quota company. We extended the quotas to nine years and we have the landing and the processing in this Province. That is what I know about fish!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, last week we heard of a call centre contract that was awarded to a Quebec company. Well, that was not the first contract to be awarded to Quebec companies in recent months. Another was a $57 million contact to build a long-term care facility in Corner Brook, the Premier's own district. When discussing the reasoning for awarding this contact to a Quebec company, the minister stated that the agreement on internal trade had to be followed that allowed companies from other provinces to bid on this contract. Ironically, as stated in the correspondence, government found loopholes to void this agreement when awarding the fibre optic deal. The minister has also stated publicly that two ferries will be built in the Province, regardless of this agreement.

I ask the minister: If you can guarantee that two ferries will be built in this Province and can provide provisions to exclude this infamous fibre optic deal from being subject to this agreement, why couldn't a $57 million contract in Corner Brook also be excluded?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works, and Labrador Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Let me just say to the hon. member, the contract that was let in Corner Brook was let to a Quebec firm to save the taxpayers of this Province some $3 million. I can also say to the member across that subcontractors from this Province are engaged in that particular project.

I can also say to the Member for the Bay of Islands, Mr. Speaker, that the two ferries will be built in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: They will be built in Newfoundland and Labrador, but I can tell the hon. member one thing, that we are not going to buy rust buckets like the hon. crowd did on the other side, I can say to the hon. member.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I say that gives a lot of comfort to the people in Corner Brook, in the Premier's own district, who have to send applications up to Quebec. That gives a lot of comfort to the people.

Mr. Speaker, local contractors have been contacting our office complaining that they are not receiving any of the subcontracts for the construction of this long-term care facility and all of the work is going to Quebec companies.

I ask the minister: Can you confirm why contracts to supply steel are going to Quebec companies when there are local suppliers who can do this work?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works, and Labrador Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Let me just say to the hon. member opposite, that his information is incorrect. It is incorrect and it is incorrect. Right now, the site grading and site finishing work is being done by Marine Contractors out of Corner Brook. The rebar fabrication is done by Harris Steel out of St. John's. The concrete supply is done by Atlantic Concrete in Corner Brook. Okay? The architectural work, I say -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. HICKEY: - is done by contractors in St. John's. So I do not know where the hon. member is getting his information.

Let me say this, Mr. Speaker, this project is going ahead and it is for the benefit of the Province and the benefit of Corner Brook, I say to the hon. member.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just for the record, Marine Contractors got the bid on their own. It has nothing to do with the major contract of this company.

Also, we asked: Why is the steel going to Quebec? The minister could not answer it because the steel is being supplied by Quebec companies.

Mr. Speaker, all of the mechanical subcontracts for this facility are also being awarded to Quebec companies. I ask the minister: Can you confirm why the mechanical subcontracts are being awarded to Quebec companies when there are local suppliers who can do this work?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works, and Labrador Affairs.

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, this hon. member does not understand how this process works.

Let me say this, Mr. Speaker, Air Labrador just got a contract in Quebec - a multi-million dollar in Quebec. So what are we supposed to say to Air Labrador, you are not going to do any more work in Quebec?

Mr. Speaker, we are watching this project. We have talked to the French company. We have also told them that we want as much business in this Province. Let me say this, we have interprovincial trade agreements and we are following those, Mr. Speaker, but we have companies in Newfoundland and Labrador that are working all over this country, all over this globe, and I can say they also have been looking at these projects.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, it is confirmed now, the steel and mechanical is going Quebec.

Just for the minister's own information - because, obviously, the minister or the Premier do not know - the general engineering contract in this Province right now is being done in Quebec. If the people from his department have to go over the design they have to call Quebec, an engineering firm in Quebec, to go over the design changes for this contract.

I ask the minister: Will you supply this House all subcontractors that are being done on this facility in Corner Brook as we speak?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works, and Labrador Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: I have no trouble, and certainly on tomorrow I will supply the contractors that are working on it - local contractors.

Let me say this, Mr. Speaker, the architectural design of this is done by Sheppard Case out of St. John's, the mechanical and electrical is done by Newton Engineering out of St. John's, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this member does not have a clue, like he normally does not have a clue, what he is talking about.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

With the time allocation, we have time for one brief supplementary.

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, a Newfoundland and Labrador based company has filed a lawsuit against a Quebec company who was awarded this $57 million contract. This local company claims an agreement on subcontracting work was breached and, instead, awarded to a Quebec company.

I ask the minister: Are you aware there is a legal challenge, and has the government investigated the allegations of local companies regarding subcontracting work?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works, and Labrador Affairs, time for a quick response.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, if we were to listen to the hon. Member from the Bay of Islands, most of the companies would leave the Province. That is their history.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. HICKEY: Let me say this -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. HICKEY: Joe Kruger, now you want him to go?

Let me say something else, Mr. Speaker. Let me say this, when he talks about the supply of steel: The supply of steel throughout this Province and Labrador normally comes from Quebec and other provinces, Mr. Speaker. That has been historic. That is nothing new.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: My question, Mr. Speaker, is for the -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Colleagues, the Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is to the Minister of Health and Community Services, concerning the current situation in the radiology department at the Burin hospital.

Radiologists we have spoken to say that the ten-day time frame to reread the 6,000 CT scans and X-rays is impossible. Today, the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association has put out a news release that says more time is needed to complete the radiology review. It cannot be done in ten days. The four to five weeks that Eastern Health originally said it would take was realistic, according to the NLMA. Radiologists had developed a plan to do the work in four to five weeks with the necessary quality assurances in place for the security of the patients. What the doctors lacked -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: - is the support staff to help them collate the necessary information.

There has been a staff shortage of transcription services for over a year. I am wondering why the minister is continuing to promise the impossible, by saying this work can be done in ten days.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, I just want to correct a couple of things.

I read the release as well. I did not read anywhere in the release that the Medical Association has indicated that the four to five weeks initially commented on was reasonable and needed to be done in that period of time. I did not read that anywhere in their release.

The other thing, I just wanted to inform the House, after a closer re-evaluation, the number of exams in question, rather than being the estimated 6,000, are now revised. That figure has been revised, so we are looking at a figure somewhere between 5,100 and 5,200.

As of this morning, as I understand it, Eastern Health are proceeding along the lines of the timelines that we mapped out. Very clearly, as of the end of Sunday they had some 360-odd already completed. They have engaged the services of some twenty-two radiologists who are assisting with the process. Some of them are working full-time, I say, Mr. Speaker, and some of them are working part-time on the project, and they are proceeding.

One of the things I want to remind the hon. member, and the members of this House and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, the point that the Medical Association have raised here is, they want to make sure -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the minister now to complete his answer quickly.

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to make sure that everybody understands clearly that we share the view of the Medical Association when they talk about wanting to ensure that this is done in a quality fashion and that the results achieved through this process are of a quality nature and are very accurate -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

In order to facility a supplementary question, the Chair will revert to asking the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi to put forward her supplementary question.

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

You know, I am getting a bit tired of the Minister of Health continuing to correct my questions. When I ask my questions, the information is correct.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: I would like to read from the NLMA press release.

MR. SPEAKER: I ask the hon. member to put her question quickly. We are under some severe time constraints.

MS MICHAEL: My question, Mr. Speaker, is: Is the minister saying that the NLMA is incorrect when it says, "However..." - and I am quoting - "...three days into the review..." - and this came out today - "...it is clear that our radiologists cannot complete this review in the prescribed time frame with quality control in mind."

What does the minister have to say to the NLMA?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services, time for a brief response.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Not to belabour the point, but I will say I will correct the member opposite or anyone else in this House who stands in this House and makes an incorrect statement, I say, Mr. Speaker.

Just to the point of reference -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the hon. the minister.

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

From my discussion with Eastern Health this morning, I understand, as I said earlier, they have engaged some twenty-two radiologists in this process, and they are endeavouring to identify some other resources to assist them with the process.

We want to make sure that these exams, these 5,100 or 5,200 exams, are done with quality in mind, they are done in a timely fashion, and they are done so that the end result here would be the individual patients and the individual physicians would have accurate results from these radiology exams, I say, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allocated for Question Period has expired.

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

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, on a point of order.

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

When I asked my question, I pointed out that what I was saying was both from conversations that we had with radiologists as well as the press release from the NLMA, and I can supply the minister, if he requires, that information from both sources. So, I really ask for an apology.

Mr. Speaker, this is the second time. One day last week, or the week before, the minister stood to correct my question, how I asked my question. That is what I am referring to.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Speaking to the point of order, the hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I am at a loss here. It is not a point of order, obviously. If it is anything, at best, on the surface, there is a disagreement between two hon. members. That is allowed. That happens in the House all the time and there is certainly no point of order, Your Honour.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair rules there is no point of order. If there is a disagreement between two hon. members, that does not constitute qualifications for a point of order.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of Documents

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased today to table the Mineral Act Statutory Report.

MR. SPEAKER: Further tabling of documents?

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

MR. BYRNE: Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Amend The Municipalities Act, 1999. (Bill 29)

MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?

The hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Amend The Historic Resources Act. (Bill 30)

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give notice that I will move, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. nor at 10:00 p.m. tomorrow, May 31.

MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?

Answers to Questions for Which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to present a petition from people in my District of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair. Mr. Speaker, this petition is asking for government to provide for cellphone coverage in that particular area of the Province.

Mr. Speaker, we know that Aliant provides most of the telecommunication services in that particular area, whether it be telephone services or Internet access for many of these communities, but the lack of cell coverage in that region is no doubt required and needs to be addressed.

Mr. Speaker, we have tried to deal with Aliant over the last number of years to have cellphone access in that region of the Province. In fact, going back a few years ago, we did make a business case to Aliant to have cellphone service in the Labrador Straits area. They did partner with us through our local group, called SmartLabrador, to have some cell coverage put into that particular region but, Mr. Speaker, it only covers a very small area and most of the communities, even in the Labrador Straits area, still do not have access to cellphone coverage.

Once you go north of L'Anse-au-Loup you have literally no coverage from that right on up through to Cartwright. As you know, that is a highway that stretches over several hundreds of kilometres. Much of that highway, Mr. Speaker, is in the interior of Labrador, it is over gravel roads, and in winters, of course, it is not an easy highway to be able to navigate at all times. We have had many incidents where people have encountered snowstorms, have had problems with their vehicles on those stretches of highway, and not been able to have access to be able contact people.

Mr. Speaker, I know how difficult this is. I have experienced it first-hand myself, being stuck out on sections of that road overnight and not being to able to get home or get to a community. I can tell you that if you had some access through cellphone service at least you would be able to make a phone call to someone to get that kind of help.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, even in the winter months the Department of Highways equipment is not on the road until 5:00 a.m. So, in lots of cases, if you are in the middle of a section of highway, you could be several hours before someone actually gets to you.

Mr. Speaker, I want to support this petition on behalf of the residents in my district to have cellphone coverage. We did also make a business case to Aliant to have cellular service in the coastal area from Red Bay going up north to Cartwright; however, they have not seen it as being a viable business case from their perspective in terms of investing at this point, and I guess what residents are doing now is petitioning the government, through the department of industry, to undertake some review of this in that area and probably engage in some discussions with Aliant to see if there is a way that some partnership between government and Aliant or another communications company is possible to make an investment to provide cellphone coverage to people in that area of the Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to move Motion 8, that this House not adjourn today, May 29, at 5:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this House not adjourn today, Tuesday, May 29, at 5:30 p.m.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

Motion carried.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to move Motion 9, that this House not adjourn today, May 29, at 10:00 o'clock.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this House not adjourn today, Tuesday, May 29, at 10:00 p.m.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

Motion carried.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, first reading, Motion 3, that the Minister of Natural Resources have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Establish An Energy Corporation For The Province. (Bill 28)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. the Minister of Natural Resources shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Establish An Energy Corporation For The Province. (Bill 28)

Is it the pleasure of the House that the hon. the Minister of Natural Resources shall have leave to introduce Bill 28?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Natural Resources to introduce a bill, "An Act To Establish An Energy Corporation For The Province," carried. (Bill 28)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 28 be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 28 be now read a first time?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act To Establish An Energy Corporation For The Province. (Bill 28)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 28, An Act To Establish An Energy Corporation For The Province, has now been read a first time.

When shall this bill be read a second time?

MR. RIDEOUT: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: On tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 28 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Motion 4, Mr Speaker, that the Minister of Natural Resources have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act Respecting The Newfoundland And Labrador Hydro-Electric Corporation. (Bill 27)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. the Minister of Natural Resources shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act Respecting The Newfoundland And Labrador Hydro-Electric Corporation. (Bill 27)

Is it the pleasure of the House that the hon. the minister shall have leave to introduce Bill 27?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Natural Resources to introduce a bill, "An Act Respecting The Newfoundland And Labrador Hydro-Electric Corporation," carried. (Bill 27)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 27 be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 27 be now read a first time?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act Respecting The Newfoundland And Labrador Hydro-Electric Corporation. (Bill 27)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 27, An Act Respecting The Newfoundland And Labrador Hydro-Electric Corporation, has now been read a first time.

When shall Bill 27 be read a second time?

MR. RIDEOUT: On tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: On tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 27 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, Motion 5. I move that the Minister of Justice have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act. (Bill 26)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the Minister of Justice shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act. (Bill 26)

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that the hon. the minister shall have leave to introduce said bill?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Justice to introduce a bill, "An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act," carried. (Bill 26)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 26 be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 26 be now read a first time?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act. (Bill 26)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 26, An Act To Amend The Commissioners For Oaths Act, has now been read a first time.

When shall this bill be read a second time?

MR. RIDEOUT: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: On tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 26 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I move Motion 6, that the Minister of Environment and Conservation have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act Respecting The Sustainable Development Of Natural Resources In The Province. (Bill 25)

MR. SPEAKER: Is it moved and seconded that the hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act Respecting The Sustainable Development Of Natural Resources In The Province. (Bill 25)

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that the hon. the minister shall have leave to introduce Bill 25?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation to introduce a bill, "An Act Respecting The Sustainable Development Of Natural Resources In The Province," carried. (Bill 25)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the bill be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt a motion that the bill be read a first time?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act Respecting The Sustainable Development Of Natural Resources In The Province. (Bill 25)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 25, An Act Respecting The Sustainable Development Of Natural Resources In The Province has now been read a first time.

When shall Bill 25 be read a second time?

MR. RIDEOUT: Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: On tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 25 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would now like to call order 9, second reading of An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act. (Bill 22)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act, be now read a second time.

Motion, second reading of a bill, "An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act." (Bill 25)

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will just say a few words on Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act.

This amendment to the act, basically, will change the definition of industrial customers to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. In the act now, there is a list of companies that are a part of the schedule to the act and any time that the list changes, it will have to come to the House of Assembly to be amended. So what we are doing here, we are basically coming up with a definition of an industrial customer.

It is clearly in the amendment, Mr. Speaker, and I will just read it into the record, "industrial customer means a person purchasing power from the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Electric Corporation, a corporation continued under the Hydro Corporation Act and its successors and assigns, other than a utility as defined in subparagraphs (h)(i), (ii.1), (iii) and (iv), supplied from the bulk transmission grid at voltages 66 KV or greater on the primary side of transformation equipment directly supplying the person."

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, some of the companies that would have been listed, which are industrial customers of Newfoundland Hydro, are: Abitibi-Price, Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, Deer Lake Power Company, Iron Ore Company of Canada, and others. So, in the future, they would not be specifically named but there would be a definition for the company to allow them to supply power to these companies without certain taxation that is now in the act.

Mr. Speaker, the amendment will allow government to update the definition of industrial customer in the act. The legislation provides for the taxation of utility and cable television companies. This has nothing to do with increasing taxes at all, whatsoever, nothing there at all, Mr. Speaker. This is strictly with respect to the definition of the industrial customer and just removing the list and having a definition which will be always up-to-date for Newfoundland Hydro.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro will now be able to identify their industrial customers through the application of the definition being added in the act. Each future change in the list of industrial customers will not require a return to the Legislature. That, in fact, Mr. Speaker, will allow that the legislation, the schedule and the list will always be up-to-date. There will be no further requirements to come to the Legislature to adjust the legislation. The amendment will treat all revenues from industrial customers in a consistent manner, so everyone will be treated the same. This change affects the original intent of the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, there is no more to it than that. It is really housekeeping. I had some brief discussion with my critic on the other side of the House of Assembly. I think he clearly understands what we are trying to do here. There is really not much more to say other than to say that there are no changes in taxation, just the definition of industrial customer.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the absence of the critic today, I am delighted to stand and respond to Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act.

When I first saw that act today I thought to myself: Well, the list was always defined for Newfoundland Hydro, who their industrial customers were. As the minister stated today, this is actually doing away with that list. The term industrial customer, I guess, can be used for any customer supplying power to Newfoundland Hydro.

Of course, the first list is outdated for sure because it indicates that Abitibi Price, located in Grand Falls and Stephenville - as we know, the excess power that goes into the grid from the Grand Falls power project is not needed in Stephenville anymore. That particular power is sold back to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.

I was also concerned that if we do not have a list like we normally had in the past knowing who the customers are for Newfoundland Hydro, I wonder: How will it be known when other customers want to generate power projects throughout the Province? I know there will be the usual environmental assessment acts required, approvals and so on, but when we always had a list here on hand we always knew what the customer base was. I am wondering now, in the future, how will the general population know, other than looking in the newspaper and seeing a request for an environmental assessment? The first thing that comes to mind is: Is there a thought in mind that Newfoundland Hydro now is making a decision to develop small power projects around the Island? That is the first thing that came in my mind when I saw that.

Of course, in the absence of an energy plan for this Province, the general population really does not know which direction government is heading in. We all know that was one of the planks in the Tory Blue Book in 2003, that this government would develop and announce an energy plan. To date, that has not been announced and, of course, it is causing a lot of concern, particularly for the residents on the Coast of Labrador who are still using oil-fired generation and paying an enormous amount for their hydro bills.

I know we have four months before the next election and we should soon see a glossy energy plan in our mailboxes, I am sure. When you look at the list of defined customers that we had before - communities around our Province use the opportunity to tax utility companies as part of their revenue for their tax base. Even aside from this today, when you think about the fibre optic cable that is going across our Province, there are many customers today who will not even be able to take advantage of being able to pay on-line because they simply do not have the technology in their own homes to avail of a discount by using on-line services.

As the minister has stated, government is looking to be more streamlined and they want to have a one blanket definition of an industrial customer that will cover any current industrial customer and also cover any industrial customer in the future.

I would still ask the minister: Are there any plans for small hydro power generation projects? Because this is the first thing that comes to mind when I see that. If that is not the intent of this legislation, I would certainly be in agreement with what the minister has brought forward here today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further debate?

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

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

I, too, stand in support of this amendment to the Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act, but I also have a suggestion to make. While I agree with the definition of industrial customer being in the act - I think that is very wise, actually - I still think it would be good, as did my colleague who just spoke before me, it still would be good for the public to always know who the companies are, so I do not see why putting the definition in should mean that we do not still maintain a schedule that could be updated every year. I do not think that is a major problem. I do not think that is a major piece of work, but I think the information should be public.

I would assume that somebody could go to the annual report of Newfoundland Hydro and find out who the companies were in the previous year, but it would seem simple to me to both have the industrial customer definition in there as well as having a schedule with the companies who are customers.

I am presenting that to the minister as something for him to think about. I just do not see one excluding the other.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further debate?

If the hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs speaks now he will close debate at second reading.

The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

MR. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, just a few words to the points that were brought up by the hon. members opposite.

The Member for Grand Falls-Buchans mentioned that it was listed in the past, and the same point that the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi is mentioning, could there still be a list associated with this legislation?

If we have a schedule associated with this legislation, it would be defeating the purpose of this legislation. The Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi made a good point in that any companies that would be customers of Newfoundland Hydro would be in the report each year of which customers they would be. If we went ahead with a schedule into the future, Mr. Speaker, then we would have to come back each time to change the list, which is defeating the purpose of this amendment. So, other than that, I would not see any other major concern.

The Member for Grand Falls-Buchans mentioned environmental assessments, and some smaller projects that would be forthcoming in the future on the smaller rivers. Again, she was asking the wrong individual on that. That question could be directed to the Minister of Natural Resources, but there is none that I am aware of at this point in time.

Other than that, I would say to the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, a good point with respect to the schedule but again I think it would be addressed with respect to the yearly report from Newfoundland Hydro.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I move second reading.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Is it the pleasure of the House that Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act, be now read a second time?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act. (Bill 22)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act, has now been read a second time.

When shall this bill be referred to a Committee of the Whole House?

MR. RIDEOUT: Presently, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Presently.

On motion, a bill "An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act," read a second time, ordered referred to a Committee of the Whole House presently, by leave. (Bill 22)

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider certain bills.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider certain bills.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

On motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, Mr. Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole

CHAIR (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Committee of the Whole on consideration of Bill 19, An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992.

I have advised both Opposition parties, Mr. Chairman, that we have an amendment to this bill in Committee. The minister will explain it, but it is a technical amendment to tie together the provisions of the bill with the public's right to file complaints under the public complaints regime. When we get to the appropriate point in the bill, then the minister will move the amendment.

CHAIR: The Committee is of the understanding that it is clause 7 that is to be amended?

MR. RIDEOUT: Yes, Mr. Chairman.

A bill, "An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992." (Bill 19)

CLERK: Clauses 1 to 6 inclusive.

CHAIR: Shall clauses 1 to 6 inclusive be carried?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Clauses 1 to 6 inclusive are carried.

On motion, clauses 1 through 6 carried.

CLERK: Clause 7.

CHAIR: Clause 7.

The hon. the Minister of Justice.

MR. T. OSBORNE: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to propose an amendment here to section 36. Section 36 essentially provides that a complainant or a police officer who is the subject of a complaint may appeal an order of a decision of the commissioner to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court.

In Bill 19, Mr. Chair, we propose that the commissioner be empowered to make two additional decisions under section 22 and section 28 with respect to the commissioner's ability to recheck a complaint that may be found as frivolous or vexatious. This amendment in Committee confirms that right of appeal exists within these decisions as well.

"1. Clause 7 of the Bill is amended by renumbering it as subsection 7(2) and by adding immediately before subclause (2) the following:

"7.(1) Subsection 36(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

"36.(1) The complainant or the police officer who is the subject of the complaint may appeal an order or decision of the commissioner under the paragraph 22.1(a), subsection 22(9), 28(1), 28(1.1) or of the adjudicator under section 33 by way of application to the Trial Division."

CHAIR: It is moved by the hon. Minister of Justice that clause 7 of Bill 19 be amended.

The Chair rules that the amendment is in order.

Is it the pleasure of the Committee to adopt the said amendment?

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I just want to rise in response to the amendment that the minister put forward on Bill 19, to say that my colleague, the Member for Burgeo & LaPoile, has spoken and is certainly aware of the amendment. I think the amendment you are bringing forward certainly clarifies some of the questions that he had earlier, when the bill was tabled in the House, and to indicate to the minister, Mr. Chairman, that we have no problem with this amendment and certainly support the bill.

Thank you.

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.

I, too, spoke with the minister and was really glad to see the amendment. I think it speaks directly to a question which I raised when we were in second reading with regard to the appeal and I could not - I did go through everything afterwards and did not think that the issue of an appeal after the commissioner's ruling was clear. So, this really makes it clear and I am very glad.

Thank you very much.

CHAIR: Is it the pleasure of the Committee to adopt the said amendment to clause 7?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Carried.

On motion, amendment carried.

CHAIR: Is it the pleasure of the Committee to adopt clause 7 as amended?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye,

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Carried.

On motion, clause 7, as amended, carried.

CLERK: Clauses 8 and 9.

CHAIR: Shall clauses 8 and 9 of Bill 19 carry?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Carried.

On motion, clauses 8 and 9 carried.

CLERK: Be it enacted by the Lieutenant Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows.

CHAIR: Shall the enacting clause carry?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

The enacting clause is carried.

On motion, enacting clause carried.

CLERK: An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992.

CHAIR: Shall the title carry?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

The title is carried.

On motion, title carried.

CHAIR: Shall I report Bill 19, An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992, carried with amendment?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Bill 19 is carried.

Motion, that the Committee report having passed the bill with amendment, carried.

CHAIR: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Committee on Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act. (Bill 22)

CHAIR: Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act.

A bill, "An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act." (Bill 22)

CLERK: Clause 1.

CHAIR: Clause 1. Shall clause 1 carry?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Clause 1 is carried.

On motion, clause 1 carried.

CLERK: Clauses 2 to 4 inclusive.

CHAIR: Shall clauses 2 to 4 inclusive carry?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Clauses 2 to 4 is carried.

On motion, clauses 2 through 4 inclusive carried.

CLERK: Be it enacted by the Lieutenant Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows.

CHAIR: Shall the enacting clause carry?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

The enacting clause is carried.

On motion, enacting clause carried.

CLERK: An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act.

CHAIR: Shall the title carry?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

The title is carried.

On motion, title carried.

CHAIR: Shall I report Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act, carried without amendment?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Bill 22 is carried.

Motion, that the Committee report having passed the bill without amendment, carried.

CHAIR: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I move that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again.

CHAIR: The motion is that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Carried.

On motion, that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again, Mr. Speaker returned to the Chair.

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): The hon. the Member for Bonavista South and Deputy Speaker.

MR. FITZGERALD: Mr. Speaker, the Committee of the Whole have considered the matters to them referred and have directed me to report Bill 19 carried with an amendment and Bill 22 carried without amendments and ask leave to sit again.

MR. SPEAKER: The Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole reports the Committee have considered the matters to them referred and is directing him to report that Bill 19 has been carried with an amendment and Bill 22 has been carried without an amendment.

When shall this report be received?

MR. RIDEOUT: Now, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Now.

On motion, report received and adopted.

MR. SPEAKER: When shall these bills be read a third time?

MR. RIDEOUT: Bill 19 now, Mr. Speaker, and Bill 22 by leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 19 now and Bill 22 by leave.

I note, for the record, leave has been granted.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to move third reading of Bill 19, An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992. (Bill 19)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 19, An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992, be now read a third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt a motion that Bill 19 be now read a third time?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992. (Bill 19)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 19, An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992 has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, "An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992," read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 19)

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

MR. RIDEOUT: (Inaudible) procedural point before - I do not want to have to come back and do something with this again. This bill was amended and my recollection - I have not had a chance to look at it - seems to tell me that we have to do first reading of amendments, second reading of amendments, third reading of amendments. There is something in my bleak past that tells me we have to do something else here rather than just give it third reading. Maybe the Table can advise us.

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair acknowledges that there has been an omission of a process. In order to assure that the parliamentary processes have been followed, we will revert to the reports. The Chair acknowledges that there has been a deficiency in the process, so the Chair will revert.

The Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole reports that the Committee have considered the matters to them referred and have directed him to report Bill 19 passed, with amendment.

When shall this report be received?

MR. RIDEOUT: Now, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Now.

On motion, report received and adopted.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the said amendment now be read a first time.

It is the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

CLERK: "Clause 7 of the Bill is amended by renumbering it as subclause 7(2) and by adding immediately before subclause (2) the following:

"7.(1) Subsection 36(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

"36.(1) The complainant or the police officer who is the subject of the complaint may appeal an order or decision of the commissioner under paragraph 22.1(a), subsection 22(9), 28(1), 28(1.1) or of the adjudicator under section 33 by way of application of the Trial Division."

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the said amendment by now read a second time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

Carried.

CLERK: Second reading of the amendment.

MR. SPEAKER: When shall Bill 19, as amended, be read a third time?

MR. RIDEOUT: Now, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Now.

On motion, amendment read a first and second time. Bill ordered read a third time presently, by leave.

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Third reading of a bill, An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992. (Bill 19)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 19, An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992, be now read a third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 19 be now read a third time?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992. (Bill 19)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 19 has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, "An Act To Amend The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act, 1992," read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 19)

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Now that we have had appropriate flight of that bill, and I hope that His Honour will not refuse to sign it, I would like to call third reading of Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 22 be now read a third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act, be now read a third time?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act. (Bill 22)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 22, An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act, has not been read a third time, and it is ordered that the bill do pass and its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, "An Act To Amend The Taxation Of Utilities And Cable Television Companies Act," read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 22)

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like now to call Motion 1, which is the adjourned Budget debate.

I believe I was the last speaker, actually, and I believe I was actually speaking at the good will of the House so I did not adjourn the debate; I adjourned the House. So, I guess the debate swings to the other side for whoever is ready to speak next.

MR. SPEAKER: Speaking to the Budget amendment, the hon. the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to address a number of items, I guess, as they relate to the Budget. In starting off my few minutes that I will have to speak here this afternoon, I did want to make acknowledgement to the Minister of Environment that I had presented a petition yesterday in the House of Assembly, on behalf of residents in my district, that was looking for changes in the hunting season for ptarmigan in that particular area. Maybe once the minister has an opportunity - I know that he has received a copy of that petition as well, along with a letter from those residents - maybe he will have an opportunity to look at that and be able to respond.

Mr. Speaker, I guess today, in speaking on a number of issues as they relate to the Budget, I am going to focus on some of the things in my district. That is, Mr. Speaker, because in recent days I guess there have been a number of very important issues that have taken precedent in terms of the job that I do in responding to the needs of the people of my constituency.

Mr. Speaker, one of those items has certainly been the fact that there has been no extension to the EI program for fisherpeople in this Province to date. Mr. Speaker, every day I get phone calls from people in my district and discuss with people in my district the challenges that they are faced with because of the fact that they cannot take to the water and fish appropriately.

I think some of the individuals, Mr. Speaker, go back to having loss of income since early April. I do not have to tell anyone in this House of Assembly what that means for families in our Province who have been the last five or six weeks without any income. Mr. Speaker, I can honestly tell you with the greatest sincerity today that many of these people would have been on the water fishing on May 1 when that fishery opened if they were able to, but because of the extenuating ice conditions that they have been faced with this year they have not been able to go fishing, or to be able to get their enterprises activated. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, they have no income coming in, and combine that with the fact that this year, for probably the first year in almost three years, we have had a failure, I suppose, in terms of revenue in the sealing fishery as well.

Because of heavy ice conditions - by Coast Guard's own admission, Mr. Speaker, some of the heaviest ice conditions they have seen off the Coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in the past fifteen years - because of that people were not able to access the seal hunt in the way that they wanted to as well. As a result, Mr. Speaker, even though they invested money in getting ready for a seal harvest, they put money into their boats and into their enterprises to be able to get involved in that particular part of the harvest, they were not able to simply because of the ice conditions that were out there, that certainly prevented them. As you know by media reports and probably from people in your own districts, some of these vessels were stuck in ice for up to three weeks and, at the end of the day, had to go back to port with no catch, Mr. Speaker, because they were not able to access the seal herds, and yet had incurred major expenses and many of them damages to their boat.

Mr. Speaker, they have not had a good spring in terms of the fishery in my district. We do have one plant open today in St. Lewis, where we have been able to have a couple of vessels that have landed some crab there, but it has been very difficult for them, too. They have had to navigate through heavy ice to get to the outside waters. They have had to set their gear, haul their gear back, and stay with the gear in order to fish the crab. Then they had to take their gear out of the water and bring it back into port when they came.

Mr. Speaker, that is a very difficult way to try and embark on any kind of a fishery, so it has been a very bad year for a lot of people in the fishing industry in my district. I can only continue to call Mr. Hearn's office on a regular basis, as I have been doing, leaving messages there, trying to get information, writing letters and faxing them to the Minister of Human Resources, Canada. Hopefully, Mr. Speaker, at some point we will see some resolution here.

After all, when you have over $50 billion - I think the Minister of Human Resources and Employment told me one day there was over $50 billion in the EI surplus fund in Ottawa. There is absolutely no excuse for this, none whatsoever.

If there is anyone left in Ottawa in the government who has any understanding of Newfoundland and Labrador and the geography and the conditions in which we have to operate a fishery in this Province, then I would encourage them to act and to act immediately. This is completely unacceptable. When you have people calling your office because they cannot get out on the water and they have no income - and I think in the case of one of my colleagues, just a few days ago, had a call from a constituent who just had to turn their truck back into the dealership because they could not afford to make the payment. Mr. Speaker, this is the real impact that this is having on people's lives, and it is absolutely unnecessary.

Mr. Speaker, that particular issue, within itself, has been one of the primary issues that we have been dealing with in recent weeks throughout the district, but there are many other issues as well. I want to talk about some of them today. One, in particular, is as it relates to the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Program. I have a lot of constituents in my district who apply through Newfoundland and Labrador Housing to be able to get upgrades and work done on their houses. What they have been finding is, not only are they met with a tremendously long wait list of up to two years and over two years in many cases to try and get some of this work done on their homes, but also their grants are being reduced based on their income. It seems like more and more these people are applying and getting less and less money after waiting a couple of years to get their application into the system.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, there seems to be some changes in the program. Either it is a new change, or it is a change that was always there and never implemented. I am not sure, but a lot of these people who are getting their housing programs approved are being told that you cannot get money to do work on the interior of your home, even though there might be cases where the ceiling in the house may have fallen - the tile may have fallen out because of previous damage that has been done. They have been told that because you do not need your shingles replaced right now or because you do not need your roof replaced right now, we cannot do that job.

I see the minister shaking his head over there, but I have just been through the department with this very file and been turned down on various levels. Simply because the family went out themselves a year ago, because they could not wait any longer to replace the shingles and the roofing on their house - because they went out and did that work themselves, and now it is not included in a housing grant, then Newfoundland and Labrador Housing will not look at replacing the ceiling on the interior of the house.

So, maybe the minister - I could give him the information and he can check this one out for me, in particular, because I was not aware that this was a new policy. In fact, I have never ran into it before, because in most cases what Newfoundland and Labrador Housing would do is they would go in and do the inspection on the houses in my district and they would indicate the priorities, as they should. If there was electrical work that needed to be done, or plumbing work that needed to be done, or furnaces that needed to be replaced, or windows or siding or doors, all the - what I call the very important and necessary components, obviously they would take first priority. Then if there was available monies under the grant program or if people were prepared to borrow a certain amount of money, then they would be eligible to get other work done as well, such as floor coverings replaced, interior doors replaced, ceilings redone and things of this nature.

Mr. Speaker, I have found out - actually, I have dealt with two particular cases just in the last week, where I have had problems in terms of trying to get monies for those individuals to do that piece of work. So, I will certainly give the minister the information and maybe he might be able to undertake to get a different result than I was able to do through the regional office in Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to talk about benefits under social assistance, because in this Budget while there were a number of initiatives that dealt with poverty or poverty related issues in terms of increasing things like the minimum wage, giving some tax breaks to people who were in a lower income or middle income bracket, but one of the things I did not see was an increase to those individuals who are on social assistance. I want to raise that today because you have to realize that the government today has a surplus Budget of $261 million, I think it is, and we have not seen any, what I would call, substantial increases for recipients of social assistance in the last number of years. I mean, you have to look at the reality. The reality is this, that many of them are incurring extra costs simply because the cost of living in our Province has increased. Realizing that the price of home heating fuel and gasoline has increased on a regular basis, and because of that, in areas where groceries are trucked in, food and supplies are trucked in or flown in, those prices have gone up as well.

I remember, Mr. Speaker, back a few years ago I did a preliminary study in my district, doing a comparison of recipients on social assistance in Labrador compared to those in other parts of the Province. It was very soon discovered that while the rates at the time were the same, the cost of living for many of the people between L'Anse au Clair and Nain who were on social assistance was 50 per cent higher than the rest of the Province. At that time I was an Opposition member, but at the time when I presented this to the government, they were keen to have a look at it. They did increase the rates for people in Labrador at that time. That was when we started with people on assistance in Labrador at a different rate than other people in the Province in order to reflect the increase in the cost of living.

Mr. Speaker, what I am asking today is, why this Budget did not provide for additional increases for people who are on social assistance, because they need to have their benefit rates increased as well. When it comes to providing for their families, all the costs that they incur - the same as anyone else in society - are increasing as well. We also know that many of the people out there who are family people on social assistance, those with children, are on assistance either because they are under skilled or because they are in employment deprived areas, or they have some form of disability or illness that does not allow them to work on a full-time basis. Many of these people who have children and are supporting families on social assistance are not doing so by choice but simply because of the product of an environment in which they live, or because of some personal issues that does not allow them to engage in employment at this particular time.

Mr. Speaker, I think that the Budget should have reflected something on a more concrete level for these individuals. I do realize that government still carries on with the home heating fuel rebate that was put in place when we were in government and the drug subsidy programs have changed, but not necessarily for these individuals. They still have the same drug coverages that they would have always had. While some of the cost is going up, their cost and the money that is coming into them is not increasing.

In fact, it was only recently I had a phone call from a family that was on social assistance with children. They were telling me that they could not get a clothing allowance for their child this year. Basically what that means is that - in Labrador, of course, many of the people live in temperatures that are minus thirty on a regular basis throughout the winter, and even as cold as minus forty and minus fifty, and they could not get a winter clothing allowance for their children to buy them things like Ski-doo boots, snowsuits, and mitts and hats and things that they would need for winter. Mr. Speaker, government employees who work in Labrador do receive clothing allowances, and I think that needs to be looked at. It is something that was brought to my attention.

Maybe the Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment can clarify for me if there is a program that provides clothing allowances to children in Labrador, but I have been told by people who are users of the program and the system that there is not a clothing allowance provided for those children and, in fact, there is a clothing allowance provided for government employees.

If you work for the department of forestry, or our provincial fisheries or wildlife, or industry and trade, or any of those provincial government jobs which take you out into the field, and you have to work in the outdoors and so on, then you are given a clothing allowance by the government. It is provided for you, so you can do your work, and so it should be. So it should be. I totally agree with it, but I also agree that if there are children, families who are on social assistance, who are not getting clothing allowances, then they should. That is something that I would like to raise with the minister so that he can have a look at that particular issue and see if he can find a way to provide those allowances for children.

Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of other issues I wanted to talk about. One of them is with regard to the road to Williams Harbour. Back in 2003 there was a commitment from the government at the time to build this road into Williams Harbour. Just to give you a bit of history now, it was in 1997 that road construction started between Red Bay and Cartwright and there were a number of communities connected year over year as part of that particular road network, first connecting the areas between Red Bay and Lodge Bay and Mary's Harbour, and then between Mary's Harbour and Port Hope Simpson, and Port Hope Simpson and Charlottetown, Charlottetown to Cartwright, and then, after that, there were sections added. Government at the time decided they would build a road into Pinsent Arm, and they did build that road. Before that, they decided to build a road into St. Lewis, and they built that road, and the next road that was scheduled to be built was the road into Williams Harbour.

Mr. Speaker, no one was any more disappointed than I was at the time when government announced that they would not build this road. I think it was a wrong decision on behalf of the government. I think, if they wanted to admit it, they would realize it themselves, today, that it was a wrong decision to cancel that piece of road.

Last week, I saw the minister for Lake Melville send out a press release saying he was concerned about transportation going into Williams Harbour and Norman Bay, and he was going to spend $1,500 a week to put a longliner on to bring groceries into these communities.

Well, Mr. Speaker, the reality was this: At the time there was so much ice in Norman Bay, you could not get a longliner in there. Grateful for the $1,500, but where were you going to put the boat? The boat, in two weeks, made one trip into that community - because, unless people have not heard, their place is blocked with ice. That has been the whole problem up there all year, why people cannot fish, why the plants aren't open, why we want EI extensions, because the communities are blocked in with ice. So the minister's answer to the transportation problem was to put a boat there. How that longliner was going to navigate through that ice was beyond me.

Mr. Speaker, the real result to do, at that time, and still is today, is to put a helicopter service in there to handle the needs of the people on an emergency basis. Right now, we have people in that community who have missed doctor appointments, who have not been able to get to hospital, cannot get a regular mail service, cannot get out to get groceries. As you know, there is no general store in the community. We have had no helicopter services for that community, and I think that is wrong.

If there was a real concern on behalf of the minister for Labrador with regard to this community, and Williams Harbour accessing the outside communities, he would have built the road into Williams Harbour. I was never so disgusted in all my life to read a press release that says we will spend $1,500 to put a longliner into Williams Harbour and Norman Bay to bring out freight, and then a $10 million announcement by the same minister to put a bypass road going into Torbay, where we already have a road that is paved. I know; I have driven it. I lived out there for five years, the first five years I was elected, and I drove back and forth because I had an apartment out there.

That was the part that was galling to me, how you could look at the people in this community of Williams Harbour and say: We cannot build you a road. It is too bad, we are concerned, but we cannot build you a road because it is not economically viable to do that.

Well, Mr. Speaker, if you had to wait until it was economically viable in this Province you would not have built too many roads, I say, and you would not be repaving a lot of them today either.

Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing for me and it is disappointing for people in my district when you have a Labrador person sitting in the Department of Transportation and Works who knows this area intimately, travelled in and out of this community many time when he worked with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, and yet does not see fit to provide for $5 million to build a road to this community so that we do not have incidents like we had last year where two people went through the ice on a snowmobile because it was unsafe to get into the community. Where we do not have incidents like we have this year where they have been blocked in for weeks and not been able to access medical services or any other kind of service. That is unacceptable, and if there was real concern they would be coughing up the $5 million to build that road and they would not be out there putting bypass roads in Torbay, and upgrading pavement in this place and that place and somewhere else, when this should be the top priority in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, of the government.

Mr. Speaker, I am not going to go on with that for too long because I already know the double standard that exists with that minister and with that government, and it is disappointing, because when you can go out and announce roadwork for Labrador -

MR. SPEAKER (Collins): Order, please!

The hon. member's time for speaking has expired.

MS JONES: I will take just a few second to clue up, if you don't mind.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: To clue up.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When you go out and you talk about upgrading roads in Labrador, and putting hardtop on them, and that hardtop has to be chip seal, something that the member was totally against when he was the Mayor of Lake Melville - totally against, out on the street every day calling it cheap seal, totally against it, said it would never happen as long as he was the mayor there - well, now he is the minister and he is still out there putting chip seal in Goose Bay, in Labrador, on roads, but is prepared to put asphalt on roads in Newfoundland.

Mr. Speaker, that has been our life story in Labrador, and I guess it is not going to change even with one of our own at the helm in the department. It does not seem like that is going to change.

Mr. Speaker, it is all right to talk the talk, but when you have to walk the walk it is a whole different story, and I certainly have not seen a whole lot of walking coming out of that department when it comes to putting a road into Williams Harbour.

I will conclude my comments now, Mr. Speaker. I know we just have twenty minutes in Budget debate, and I certainly turn it over to another member of the House. I am sure there are many speakers here today.

Thank you.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DENINE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess we have to be very clear on what we are doing here today. This is a non-confidence motion in a government, a non-confidence motion in the best Budget that this Province has seen.

MR. BARRETT: Says who?

MR. DENINE: Says the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, I say to the hon. Member for Bellevue.

The hon. Member for Bellevue says, who? Well, he has not talked to the people I have spoken to because let me tell you, there was a lot of encouragement, praise and congratulations on bringing in a great budget.

I do not understand it, Mr. Speaker, I get up to speak and all of a sudden I am interrupted. Amazing!

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. DENINE: He will not say who because maybe it is only one or two.

Anyhow, Mr. Speaker, before I go on, get into it, I want to talk about the recent announcement the Minister of Education made yesterday, and that is significant; a significant announcement in debt reduction for our post-secondary students, $14.4 million.

Mr. Speaker, just before I go into it, I want to make mention that the Premier was at the Canadian Federation of Students meeting in Ottawa last week. From reports that we received and what we got in feedback, is that he was welcomed with open arms. He was welcomed with open arms because of the initiative that we are taking to reduce the debt of post-secondary students. That is what he was welcomed with, and I can attest to that because I happened to be in Vancouver back in February or March. My son was boarding with a person who was on the Canadian Student Federation Executive. Prior to our Budget, he had praise for our government and our Premier for the actions that were taking to reduce the debt load of post-secondary students in our Province. He said you are the leading Province in debt reduction for our students. When we look at debt reduction to our students, our post-secondary students, what does it do? Well, it gives them more power when they get out. It reduces their debt so that they can put that money to work for themselves, to further themselves in either education or in buying a house, buying a car, or whatever it may be.

Mr. Speaker, last week our Premier again, as I said, was welcomed with open arms. Now, what did we do? What did we do as a government? What did this government do? Mr. Speaker, we have frozen tuition for four years. That cost tens of millions of dollars in order for us to do that. Ten of millions of dollars. What else did we do? This year we brought in up-front, needs-based grants. Over 7,000 students will be able to avail of that service. I had a call this morning - no, I will not go into that part of it. Also, what does it do - because I want to bring that up as I go on through. Also, what I had to do -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. DENINE: That is okay, I get a little bit ahead of myself. I just want to bring it all into perspective, Mr. Speaker, because I do not want anyone to lose tract of this great announcement. This has to be done.

Mr. Speaker, what we did is we took the debt reduction and we put it into up-front grants. What did that do? We did not put out another form, another application, another anything else to fill out. What we did was on the student loan application, when the student in post-secondary cultural studies - what will that do? They fill it out and then if they qualify - there is $140 on a weekly basis that they would need for living. The first $70 of that would be a loan, anything after that would be an up-front grant that will not have to be repaid back. Now, that is significant.

I had a question this morning - this is what I wanted to get to. I had a question this morning on: How does a student apply for that? A parent in my constituency asked me that. I said, all they have to do is fill out that form and that will be your application for the grant. Depending on what you qualify for, as far as loans and grants, then that will be determined by your needs. She was delighted with that. Also, what she was delighted with was because we increased the threshold of the contribution for parents. That is significant. A family making $60,000, nothing, absolutely nothing that they would have to put in towards their child's education. When you go up to $85,000 it increased, I think, something like $650.

Mr. Speaker, that is significant, because what it does is provide the parents who are not making a lot of money, that they do not have to contribute a significant amount of those earnings towards their child's education. It makes post-secondary education open to our students in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. When we look at it, what do we need to do when we are building up the economic base in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador? One of the first criteria which we look at is a good educated society. This is what this government is doing, making sure that post-secondary is accessible to all the students who wish to avail of that; whether it be university, CONA or private colleges, whichever they see fit. Whichever their niche is, we want them to pursue that to help grow this Province so we can grow this Province with them.

Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to one thing that the hon. Member for L'Anse au Clair mentioned. She mentioned that there was no increase in social assistance in the Budget. Last year the former Minister of HRLE announced a 5 per cent increase in social assistance; 5 per cent. Also, it is indexed over the next couple of years. So, to say we did not put anything in it, is not right. There was money put into it and those social assistance recipients will receive more money. Now, is it enough? I would say no, but we have to take one step at a time and we need to get there one step at a time. We just cannot take this mighty leap and all of a sudden be there. We are taking strategic steps to make sure that there is more money in the pockets of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I want to go on about this non-confidence motion because I am not sure if this is - this is just what the Opposition had to do. This is what they had to do, I guess, to justify their existence, to be honest with you, because that is what an Opposition will do. They are the ones who have to put us - and that is their job, and rightly so. Each and every one of them over there can find things that are not included in this Budget. Now they have to dig hard and deep to find them, but they will find them, because that is their job to be negative. Now I heard -

MS JONES: (Inaudible).

MR. DENINE: The hon. Member for L'Anse au Clair said constructive, and I am not sure if that is synonymous with what I was talking about.

Mr. Speaker, when I listened to all the hon. members across the House who contributed to the debate in this House on the Budget, there were not very many positive things. Although, I was a bit optimistic, prior to the non-confidence motion I was convinced that this would probably be the first Budget that we passed unanimously in this House, in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. I am a little bit wary about that now because a few of them over there have been shaking their heads and they are saying, no, no, no, it will not go unanimous. But, I thought for one minute that it would.

Now, Mr. Speaker, when we know there are things that are not going to be in the Budget, there are small things that are there that, over time, they will come. Over time, it will come. It will come in the form of the Budget Speech of next year.

Here are some of the things that are in the Budget that I cannot see anyone not supporting it. I am going to go down through them. They cannot support personal income tax rates decreased from 10.57 per cent to 8.7 per cent. Right? The income tax, cannot support that. I am not sure.

Low income tax reduction will be adjusted from $12,000 to $13,000 with individuals and $19,000 to $21,000 for families. No income tax, cannot support that.

Seniors' benefit for married seniors increases as a result of the adjustments to the income tax threshold range, a total value measure of $4.2 million for seniors. Can they support that?

Twenty-five million dollars to attract new businesses to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in strategic investments, business ventures, et cetera, infrastructure for the purpose of attracting business to our Province. Cannot support that.

More than $160 million invested in roads, including $66.5 million for Provincial Roads Improvement Program, $17 million for construction of Phase III of the Trans-Labrador Highway. Cannot support that.

Fifteen million dollars for replacement vessels for our ferry transportation in the Province. Cannot support that.

Fifty point four million dollars as the Province's contribution under various municipal capital works commitments. Cannot support that.

Two million dollars allocated to help equalize the debt of towns seeking to work co-operatively at the municipal level, to help them out with debt reduction. Cannot support that.

Over $16 million to advance the aquaculture sector. Cannot support that.

Minimum wage increased by $1 in two increments: October 1 and April 1, 2008. Cannot support that.

Investment of $140,000 to update the provincial Strategic Literacy Plan. Cannot support that.

Further investment of $41 million in the K-12 system. Cannot support that.

An increase of $14.8 million for new school construction, maintenance, repairs. What did we do with maintenance repairs, Mr. Speaker? What did we do? When the previous Administration was there, they reduced the amount of money per square foot that school boards would get for their maintenance programs. We increased it to ninety-two cents. The previous Administration had it at fifty-five cents. To quote the CEO of one of the districts: Now we are able to do preventive maintenance, something that we have not done before. Now we are able to do that. Cannot support that.

Five point two million dollars to retain 137 teaching positions. Not going to support that because, if they support it, they will vote for this Budget. Also, thirteen positions that will be here for urban growth, around the urban areas of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Eleven million dollars for the math program. Cannot support that.

Twelve point eight million dollars for free core textbooks for students in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Can they support that?

An additional $28.9 million for poverty reduction. The hon. Member for L'Anse au Clair says, well, we are doing a little bit. I suggest, Mr. Speaker, we are doing a heck of a lot for poverty reduction, and as a member of this government I am very proud of what we have done.

Eight million dollars to increase the board and lodging supplement for adults with disabilities who reside with their own families. I was at the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Community Living and they applauded this government for this initiative.

One point eight million dollars to promote greater labour market participation of persons with disabilities.

Five hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars to support women vulnerable to poverty to include: an additional $250,000 annually for low income earners to access legal aid services; $200,000 to increase grants for the Province's eight women's centres; $120,000 to research ways to increase access to employment for victims of violence; $15,000 to ensure a gender lens is applied to a new Low Income Guide to Government Services;.

Five hundred thousand dollars for the Vera Perlin Society.

Mr. Speaker, I can go on. I still have lots more to go through.

MS JONES: Keep going, my darling.

MR. DENINE: Oh, I will. Okay, thank you.

The hon. Member for L'Anse au Clair wants to hear more of this, because I am not sure she read it all in the Budget.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Child Tax Benefit rate will increase by $5 a month through an investment of $650,000.

Three hundred thousand dollars to increase the Mother Baby Nutrition Supplement program by $15 a month.

Five hundred thousand dollars to implement a Home Visiting Program for vulnerable children to support parenting and early childhood development.

Twelve point eight million dollars to extend the provision of free textbooks. I have that one already done. I just wanted to make sure you heard that one. The hon. member across the way, the education critic, did not hear it. He kind of laughed, so obviously he heard it the first time.

Mr. Speaker, also, we have $27.5 million over five years for the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing's Modernization and Improvement Program. Who does that help? That helps all the people who are in need of help, Mr. Speaker. The people who are in homes, who cannot afford it because of low income, that helps the people with low-income families. That is a significant improvement.

Twenty-four million dollars over the next year, that will double the Provincial Home Repair Program and basically to eliminate the current list.

Almost $1.4 million to provide children under eighteen diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes with insulin pumps.

AN HON. MEMBER: When are they going to get them?

MR. DENINE: The hon. member is over there: When are they going to get them?

AN HON. MEMBER: They will have them by June.

MR. DENINE: By June. There you are, there is your answer.

Two point three million dollars to expand dental health services for children between thirteen and seventeen by offering dental coverage for children in low-income families providing sealants for children.

Mr. Speaker, the list goes on and on and on and on. As I read down through it I am almost to the end of my list, which is a very brief list, I might add, a very brief list. If I had to take everything that was in the Budget, I would be here until tomorrow morning and I am sure the hon. members across the way do not want to listen to me all day.

Mr. Speaker, $936,000 for a 5 per cent increase for foster families, youth services, children living with relatives and alternate family care.

Funding for the Kids Eat Smart Foundation increased by $250,000 in addition to this $500,000 that we are already doing.

Five hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars to address the problem of gambling in the Province.

Six point five million dollars this year to strengthen Child, Youth and Family Services.

Mr. Speaker, these are significant investments in our Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, a significant investment in our people. These are some of the things that we have had in the Budget. I had twenty-five or thirty on the list, Mr. Speaker, and I ask the hon. members across the way: A non-confidence motion in this?

There is a bit of irony here, and the irony lies on the other side and it is the fact that they cannot see; they do not recognize a good Budget when they see it.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget is only one step towards a better Newfoundland and Labrador, one step closer to making our future much brighter, one step closer to making our Province a have Province, one step closer to bringing respect and honour to our Province to make sure that every Newfoundlander and Labradorian have the same quality of living as anyone else in our country. We have taken those steps. We have done it. We have done it through our poverty reduction, our dental program, our health program, our schools, both post-secondary and K-12 system, education, our roads, infrastructure and also with economic development. That is what this government has taken. This government has taken the necessary steps to make our Province a have Province, to not only take that money but to spend it wisely, to spend it in strategic locations that are in the needs of our Province.

Some of them would say: well, you had a $261 million surplus projected in this Budget. Yes, Mr. Speaker, that is what is projected, but to do that we need to be able to do some careful and strategic spending. By keeping that there, we also have to remember that not only are we spending money, we are also in a province that has more debt ratio than any other province or territory in the country of Canada; $23,000 for every man, woman and child in this Province, and still, we are able to deliver a Budget that hits all sectors of our Province and puts money in every sector of our people to make sure that we look after most of their needs.

Now, Mr. Speaker, again, the Opposition after me are going to get up and say: this was not included, that was not included. Take what is included and look at it, and look at it honestly, and look at it objectively, and you cannot help but support this Budget because it is a Budget for -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. member's time for speaking has expired.

MR. DENINE: Just a minute -

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MR. DENINE: This is a Budget that will set the tone for the future of Newfoundland and Labrador. It will set the tone for becoming a prosperous province of Canada. Mr. Speaker, we are well on our way to doing that. We are doing this with very strategic moves that will make sure that it will happen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe my good fortune to be in this lineup and have this turn in the speaking order here this afternoon. To have the unmitigated gall that the hon. Member for Mount Pearl, the unmitigated gall to stand in this House this afternoon and say that the Opposition's only job here is to criticize to justify its existence. Well, what a terrible insult and a lack of knowledge that member has for the parliamentary system of this country. Just to stand and say the Opposition is only to criticize, to justify its existence. Well, that is so far from the truth because if in the Utopia that the hon. member wishes to create over there, have forty-eight members over there pumped up, primped up with the Premier and everybody nodding: yes sir, yes sir, three bags full, sir. That is not how Parliament works, I say to the hon. member. It is not how Parliament works.

The job of the Opposition is to bring things to this hon. House that are not proper in this Province. One of those things is the breast screening situation we had last week. One of those things. Yes, I heard the Minister of Justice just say: Oh yes, pick that one. Well, there are a lot of people out there in this Province this week, I say, Mr. Speaker, a lot of people out there who are very, very concerned about what is happening in the health care system of this Province right now.

MS THISTLE: The former Minister of Health said that, the Minister of Justice?

MR. SWEENEY: And the former Minister of Health, yes.

So, it is a serious issue. No matter what anyone says about the role of the Opposition or anybody else in this House, we all have our respective roles and we should respect each other for the roles that we are engaged in here in this House.

For the Member for Mount Pearl to get on like that, you would also assume that because we are in the Opposition none of us are entitled to a point of view. We are not entitled to a point of view. Well, there is nothing further from the truth. We have listened. When we were in government we listened to the Opposition members, to their point of view - those members of the day, those of you who are left here. We listened, and in many cases a lot of good legislation was put through this House because we communicated with each other and we co-operated. A number of bills went through this House based on the co-operation of both sides of this House, the three Parties involved.

You would have to say that government over there, according to the Member for Mount Pearl, refuses to acknowledge that anyone else has an opinion. If the opinion is not of theirs, it is not valid. If you don't say: yes sir, yes sir, three bags full sir every time somebody speaks over there, then you are out criticizing for the sake of criticizing, but there is nothing further from the truth. We have seen that. We have seen that here in the galleries, Mr. Speaker. We have seen it in the galleries here in this hon. House when we have had the public service come in here protesting, then we have seen them out on the sidewalk. For thirty days, I think it was, they were barred out. They were out on the sidewalk trying to get a better wage for themselves. The Premier says: Oh, no, we are not dealing with them. They can stay out until the cows come home. Well, the cows came home all right, but do you know where the cows went? When the Premier gave his staff on the eighth floor a big raise, 18 per cent. Quite the contrast, I say, Mr. Speaker, from what the Public Service received.

Mr. Speaker, we also sat here in this House when the fishermen in this Province came in to voice their concerns and their opinions. They weren't listened to either. The first time somebody made a sound in the Gallery because they felt so insulted and so slighted by the proceedings down here on the floor, they were driven out. Security came in and drove them out.

MR. ORAM: That is not true.

MR. SWEENEY: The member opposite says, that is not true. It certainly is true. I witnessed it many times here. I say to the Member for Terra Nova, it is true. I don't know where you were when it was happening, but I was sitting right here.

MR. T. OSBORNE: The nurses' strike in 2001.

MR. SWEENEY: The nurses' strike in 2001, yes, and it was a strike, but they were treated fairly. I say to the Minister of Justice and the former Minister of Health -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SWEENEY: - they were never told to stay out until the cows came home. I say that to the minister.

We never saw the teachers of the day. We saw the teachers here in this Province over the past twelve months putting ads in the provincial paper trying to get their message out there, and their concerns for education in this Province. They had to spend their own money.

I tell you, the members opposite, yes, you may want a utopia where there are only forty-eight of you, but I can guarantee it will never happen. Because the people of this Province realize the effect of an effective Opposition. Who knows? You may find out how effective it is to be in Opposition sooner than you think.

MR. T. OSBORNE: That is why they want some on that side, because they need someone to laugh at.

MR. SWEENEY: The Minister of Justice will have his high note in a minute. He was quiet all last week when everybody was talking about the breast screening problems here in the Province. He kept his head down and his mouth shut, I will say to the minister. That will come out too, your role in that.

Mr. Speaker, by now you can probably figure out I am not speaking in favour of the Budget. I am going to vote against it.

The Member for Mount Pearl, I listened to him today and I didn't get a chance to count his words, how many words he said, but it is easy when you figure out - let's just say for the extra $25,000 a year he is getting as Parliamentary Secretary, I would say that what he cost the taxpayers today was about $50 a word for what he has done. Not bad, I say, for somebody who carries around the minister's briefcase full of press releases. Not bad, Mr. Speaker. Not a bad day's pay, $50 a word.

So, it is great to get up, I say to the Member for Mount Pearl, and try to enlighten the people of the Province about what the Opposition is all about but there is also another role the Opposition plays, and that is to bring the attention and the people's concerns to the government about things that are not happening; the roads that are in this Province that are not paved, that are gone to deplorable conditions.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: Oh, here we go. Mr. rural Newfoundland there now, the Minister of HRLE. The minister from St. John's East, I think?

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

MR. SWEENEY: Centre. Yes, there we go. The real expert. The fellow who is going to bring together all the problems of rural Newfoundland and wiggle his nose and make them all disappear. Tremendous, I say, Mr. Speaker.

Every morning at 7:15, Mr. Speaker, there is a flight leaving here in St. John's, going straight to Toronto for a twenty minute stop over to get fuel to go right straight to Fort McMurray, and each and every one of us who lives outside this overpass are witnessing that out-migration in our communities every single day. Now, we can stand idly by and echo what the Premier says. The Premier got up today and read his little press release about the things that are happening in Stephenville. Well, I can guarantee you that the women in Stephenville, the men and women in Stephenville would much rather be home in Stephenville living, sharing things with their families, living in a community where they can celebrate their birthdays. They are not doing it by telephone from Fort McMurray or anywhere else. Yes, there is no doubt about it, somebody is in Alberta making money and the money is being spent here in Newfoundland, but there is another side to it all. It is what is happening to the family structure in this Province right now. The greatest asset that is being used in this Province right now is the telephones, the fibre optic lines. Yes, I can see the wisdom in the Premier putting in a second fibre optic cable, the two extra lines, so that our people can be kept in contact with the people back here in Newfoundland, the crowd who are living in Alberta, because you can be sure that the lines will not be able to accommodate all the people who are gone out of here.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you, I have sat here and I listened to the Member for Mount Pearl, and in his world, the world that he wishes to see with his rose-coloured glasses on, everything is fine. Come out to Carbonear and see the sixty people who are not going to get their unemployment insurance benefits this year because the crab is no longer being processed there. Sixty to seventy people who enjoyed a good summer's work last year and managed to get some benefits of unemployment insurance to feed their families through the winter - gone, and not a word said. I am curious to know as to what is going to happen to that crab processing licence, because as we all know, after two years of inactivity the licence goes back to the government and can be put somewhere else. Well, I am certainly hoping that the good people of this Province will realize some of the things that are happening and how short term some of these things that going on in the fishery are really going to be, because we watched other deals and other operators move around this Province and we have also watched where our quotas have gone, like our redfish gone to Canso.

Mr. Speaker, long distance jobs are not helping this Province. We have young people graduating from university. Last week they went through their convocation and many of them will tell you there is no work here and no possibility of work. How many times do I get a call from some person with a bachelor's degree, or a master's degree, asking me: Do I have an address for somebody in Alberta?

Those are the things that this member did not address. He did not address the fact that there are seniors in this Province who are barred up in their homes; $10 an hour it costs them to breathe for a tank of oxygen. It is costing $10 an hour if they put that mask on to breathe and get up and walk around their own house. Thirty dollars for a little cylinder of oxygen so they can go out in the yard and look at their flowers.

Mr. Speaker, that is not what good governance is. Looking after your people, putting your people ahead is what good governance is all about. Singing party alliance is not good governance. Playing with numbers is not good governance.

We do not have an oil industry here, Mr. Speaker, the oil industry has died and gone away. The major players have no confidence in this Province any more. We are part of a great country. This Canada, it is a great country. There has been a lot of good come out of this relationship we have had. I cannot help but remember the Premier on his feet saying, when he was the Leader of the Opposition: When I get to be Premier I will fix this relationship between Ottawa and us. I will tell you, I would not want to get off a plane in Ottawa now without a valid passport based on the great relationship that this Premier has established in Ottawa.

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot to be done here. There is a long-term care facility that was ranked number one in this Province in 2003 by officials in the Department of Health, and where is that four years later? Where is the Alzheimer's unit gone that was in Harbour Lodge, the protective care unit? Where is that? Closed. The long-term care facility that was supposed to help that? Gone.

AN HON. MEMBER: Where was it ranked at?

MR. SWEENEY: It ranked number one.

AN HON. MEMBER: What town?

MR. SWEENEY: In the Town of Carbonear it was ranked number one. Where is it? Gone off the map.

I look at the people from Harbour Grace being asked to take some funding to repair the roof of their stadium - one of the oldest stadiums in the Province, I might add. A stadium built in memory of the late Premier, Frank Moores' father, S. W. Moores. Mr. Speaker, they are asked to take the financing at 49.5 per cent, a regional facility. A town of 3,000 people; a town that suffered hardship like everybody else in this Province with the fishery collapse in 1992; a town struggling to get back on its feet through a few businesses that have moved there and the ability to attract others, but being asked to take 49.5 per cent and pay back to this government to keep the roof on their stadium so that the people of the region of Trinity and Conception Bay can stand or go up and attend a concert or some other function at the stadium, Mr. Speaker, that is not good governance. It has nothing to do with it. It is having compassion and being able to reach out and help people.

Harvey Street in Harbour Grace, Mr. Speaker, is not fit to put a cart over. There was a committee in place four years ago and when this government came in place, the committee disappeared and nothing has happened since, only more potholes. It is despicable, Mr. Speaker, is the word.

I look at highway crews in this Province out patching holes with sacks of this ready mix, I think it is called, and putting it down into a pothole and trying to do it. I said: Boys, there is another one over there. I would go along by them and say: There is another one over there. And they would shrug their shoulders. That was all the mix they had; four or five sacks to last them all day. Mr. Speaker, that is not what people vote for governments for, to be treated that way.

Then we get into scenarios where you try to allude to the public: well, if you had a member on the government side things would be better. Well, I have driven around this Province and I have been in other areas that have government members and it is no different. It is no different. I look at members on the other side over there, and I know what they are saying, and I know that they cannot speak up because if they do they will end up sitting over here on this back step just like Fabian Manning, and there are not that many seats in Ottawa, Mr. Speaker. There are not that many openings, because I do not think for a minute that the people out there are being fooled by what is going on in this Province, Mr. Speaker. I do not think they are being fooled not one second.

I cannot help but wonder, all of the members opposite, are they all believers of this great concept that we have improved Newfoundland and Labrador so much? There for a while I thought maybe that, when you listened to some of them and they talked about what we did as a previous government, I would almost feel compelled to go out and check to see if I had horns, a tail and a pitchfork - they would make you feel so bad about how badly you have done.

Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, history will be the best judge of what is happening here. History will be the best judge. The $2 billion that came from Ottawa is the only thing that has happened here in this Province, Mr. Speaker. The $2 billion that came from Ottawa, from Paul Martin's generosity, in his last attempt to try and form a government, was the only thing that happened. I would say it is a case, Mr. Speaker, that if he did not get that the Premier would look pretty awful right now, with all of the things that have happened here in this Province. A lot of you people would be in an awful situation as well.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you one thing, there is an old saying that you can fall down in an outhouse and come up with a rose in your mouth. Well, that is how lucky the Premier was, Mr. Speaker, because that is just what happened. He took this job with no plan, with no plan whatsoever. We had this great plan. I remember, back in the spring of 2003, somebody said: Well, tell us your plan. Tell us your plan here for rural Newfoundland. What are you going to do to save it?

Oh, I cannot tell it, I cannot release it, because the Liberals will steal it. I do not know who stole it. Somebody had to steal it, because they never came with a plan. Four years later, Mr. Speaker, there is no plan.

Mr. Speaker, I got criticized, I think it was in May 2003, because I wrote an article, I wrote a letter to the editor, saying how the emperor had no new clothes. It was with regard to a fable. Of course, we all learned as a child about this tailor, unscrupulous tailor, who convinced this emperor who was so vain, so full of pride: I can make you the best clothes, you will look so good.

You know what happened. The tailor convinced the emperor that his clothes were so fine and so light that they would not show up in a mirror. Sure enough, the emperor strolled down through the street and a little child said: Look, Mommy, the emperor has no clothes.

Mr. Speaker, four years later, that Premier has no new clothes. He is defunct of ideas, devoid of ideas for this Province, I will tell you that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SWEENEY: Laugh away, but there are no plans by this government for rural Newfoundland except to bring them all in, herd them up, push them in here or push them to the mainland. You are either going east or west, because you are not going to survive where you are in this Province with this government, I will tell you that right now. I can tell you that right now. There is no plan four years later. If there was one, it would be put out there and put in place.

MR. DENINE: Doom and gloom.

MR. SWEENEY: Doom and gloom?

MR. DENINE: That is what you always said, and I agreed (inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: At least where I stand, I say to the Member for Mount Pearl, I stand and report from what I see, and I am out there -

MR. DENINE: (Inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: Yes, I hope you are.

Mr. Speaker, protect me from the Member for Mount Pearl because it is obvious that he is into the Kool-Aid again today. He is at the Kool-Aid today, Jimmy Jones Kool-Aid, I will tell you that, because you have to be subjective and objective, Mr. Speaker, to be in this Province.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. gentleman's time for speaking has expired.

MR. SWEENEY: Just to conclude, Mr. Speaker?

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

AN HON. MEMBER: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MR. SWEENEY: Mr. Speaker, just to conclude, I say that I will not be supporting this Budget but I would entertain some amendments to this to look after our seniors out there with oxygen, to reduce the ambulance fees, to look after some of our streets, to do some things that are going to help the ordinary person out there. That is what I would wish to happen for this, Mr. Speaker. I would wish that this government would treat all people in this Province alike, and all parts of this Province alike, and give the people in rural Newfoundland a chance to live and support their families and, most importantly, to be home with their families so they can celebrate their birthdays and anniversaries and everything else.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am quite pleased today to be able to stand and make a few comments with respect to our Budget for this year.

I guess, Mr. Speaker, any time that you are part of a government that brings in a budget with no tax increases, you should feel pleased about it. Anytime you are part of a government that can bring in a budget with no tax increases and even increase some of the services to the public, you should probably be more pleased. Mr. Speaker, anytime you are part of a government that can bring in a budget with no tax increase, increasing the services to people, but major tax reductions, I think we should all be ecstatic. On this side of the House, we are all quite pleased.

I think, Mr. Speaker, in going back to a comment made by our present Minister of Finance - I remember one of the first times when he stood in the House after we were elected, one of the first questions he answered, I think, he made the comment: Stay tuned. I believe that back then in the back of his mind he probably had a vision that someday he would become the Minister of Finance and present the best Budget that this Province has ever seen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Mr. Speaker, for the past three and a half years our government has been taking steps to stabilize the Province's financial situation, while at the same time trying to make some kind of balance with improving social services to our people and also modernizing our infrastructure. I think, Mr. Speaker, over those three years our government has done a fairly good job in making those preparations.

We made the comment so many times back in our first year, that we were laying the foundation for the betterment of our children and our children's children.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: I think, Mr. Speaker, that after three and a half years now we have certainly proven that.

I would like to make a few comments now in addition to what my colleague from Mount Pearl said. He made some earlier on, and I would just like to add to a few of the things he said.

One of the ways we are taking steps to improve our economy, to help our people - and the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace, a few minutes ago, said one thing about a good government is that you help people. I think that is probably the only thing that he said that was any substance. I do not think he made one comment at all with respect to the good things that were in this Budget, not one at all.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, we have taken steps to reduce personal income tax, and I would like to refer to that a bit further as I continue. There is also $100 million to attract businesses to our Province to invest in programs to grow our economy. There are major investments in education that bring the level of education funding this year to more than $1 billion, the first time in the Province's history.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: This is a Budget about increasing improvements to our health and community services, $2.2 billion being spent this year on the betterment of health care services for the people in our Province.

Another $440 million is being spent on infrastructure, and this is just part of a six-year $2 billion plan that we have in place. A lot of that money is being spent in the rural parts of our Province. In fact, this $440 million is estimated to be creating some 5,700 person years of employment in this Province.

At the same time, Mr. Speaker, while we on this side talk about the good things in this Budget, there is no one standing up and saying everything is perfect. We all know that is not the fact. There is no jurisdiction in this country where people can say that everything is perfect.

It was only a while ago I was watching television and saw a program on, from Alberta, showing the homeless people sleeping on park benches and sleeping in the corridors of buildings. You see that from a province, the richest province in Canada, with no debt or anything. So, for a Province where we are saddled with the largest debt of any province in Canada, what we have done this year is just amazing.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a comment now with respect to a few of the items that I referred to. The first one I would like to take a closer look at is the tax cuts that we have implemented in our Budget this year. These tax cuts will affect every person in this Province who has taxable income. People at the lower end of the scale are being exempted from tax in any event. Those at the lower end of the scale, when they pay taxes, normally they receive most of it back, but it is the people in the middle income bracket, those are the people I have always wanted to see take some breaks somewhere along the line, and we hardly ever see it, but this Budget is one that is going to help those people who have contributed so much over the years to the well-being of this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to give a couple of examples of what it would mean to an income earner, one in the $30,000 bracket. That person - and it may not seem much to some people - a person in the $30,000 bracket will save $330 in provincial income tax this year. Two people in that household making the same income will save double that, over $800 a year. If you take a person who is making $40,000 a year, that person will save $678 dollars in provincial income tax this 2007 year. If you double that, with two people in that household, it is over $1,300.

Mr. Speaker, you hear the Opposition so often talking about a $10 fee increase, and the effect that is having on people, but here we are making tax cuts, income tax for people in our Province who are going to save over $1,300 in this case, and you do not hear one word about it.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to just make a brief reference to the fees that we have eliminated this year. There are sixty fees being eliminated all together. In addition to that, there are another 100 fees that are going to be reduced. That means dollars into the pockets of the people in our Province, so much so that it will mean $3.4 million back into the hands of individuals who have been paying these fees over the years.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to move on now to the support that we are giving to our students this year. Mr. Speaker, one thing that I have been bringing up from time to time to our Ministers of Education is the fact that there has been so big a difference between the cost of obtaining a post-secondary education for people from the rural areas of our Province as compared to people who are resident in St. John's, or any city or large town where that post-secondary education center is located.

Mr. Speaker, I have gone through this myself with having two children go through the system and I know that it is roughly two times, twice the cost, to finance an education for a person from rural Newfoundland as compared to a person resident in St. John's or some other larger center where that school is.

Mr. Speaker, this year, beginning in August, students are going to be able to receive an upfront grant of up $70 a week towards the cost of their post-secondary education where the need is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Mr. Speaker, from my point of view the people who are going to benefit mostly from that are the people, the students, coming in from rural Newfoundland who not only have to pay the same tuition as someone here in the City but they also have the room, board and accommodations on top of that. Mr. Speaker, that is a real plus for rural Newfoundland and Labrador. That is going to cost the government this year something over $14 million, Mr. Speaker; money well spent.

In addition to that, we are also reducing the student loan interest rate by 2.5 per cent. Mr. Speaker, that is another measure that is going to help not only the students that are in our Province, in our educational institutions this year and the years to come, but also approximately 46,000 students who are now paying out the loans that they have incurred over the past number of years; another benefit that is going to be for the students from rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Just to give you an example, Mr. Speaker, of something else that is new this year with respect to the grant system for students; a student at the College of the North Atlantic, or any private college, completing a two-year program and borrowing the maximum amount each semester will benefit by having his or her net provincial borrowing reduced from $10,000 to $5,040, cut in half; a student attending a College of the North Atlantic or some other post-secondary college such as that. The thing about this is this is the first time that students enroled in one and two year programs have been eligible for a grant towards their education costs.

Mr. Speaker, another example of a student attending Memorial University completing a five-year program who is currently eligible for the debt reduction grant and who is borrowing the maximum, which a lot of those students from rural Newfoundland have to do, his or her net provincial borrowing will be reduced from $23,800 to $11,900. This borrowing will be further reduced by $6,500 from the existing debt reduction grant.

The Premier, last week, was speaking at the Canadian Federation of Students conference in Ontario. I have heard from that speech, that included students from all across the country, people, I assume, who have been following what is going on in Newfoundland and Labrador - even while the Premier was being introduced by the past president of our own student union here in St. John's, at Memorial, he had six standing ovations. I think that says everything about the people we are looking at, who are not only the future of our Province but also the future of our country.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to make a few comments now with respect to what we have done with respect to health care. Our government, this year, is spending $2.2 billion on health care in this Province. Some of that money, I know, will be going into my district. I am pleased that $278,000 is being spent on Bonnews Brookfield health care system this year to implement primary health care in our area, which takes in not only Bonavista North but also a couple of communities in my neighbouring district of Hare Bay-Dover. Mr. Speaker, that $278,000 is going to also create two new jobs in the Brookfield Bonnews health care system. A manager for the primary health care is being hired now, and that will be followed, Mr. Speaker, by hiring a facilitator, two more jobs for rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Two well paying jobs, as well.

When we approached this first, Mr. Speaker, we thought it would be only for a one-year period just to implement primary health care in Bonavista North, but that is not the case at all. These are two permanent positions that are going to be located in our health care facility in Bonavista North.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, another $125,000 has been approved to upgrade the clinic in the Centreville area, something that is long overdue.

Mr. Speaker, one of the main expenditures of this government - we started in January on a lower scale basis, but now we have improved it, and beginning in October there are going to be more than 100,000 people eligible for the new Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug Program. That is affecting all kinds of people, all kinds of income, not only the people who are on the lower end but everyone who incurs major expenditures with respect to health care, and that is a large number of people in this Province.

If I may, Mr. Speaker, I would like to make reference now to a letter that I received from a doctor in the Brookfield Bonnews health care centre. Actually, it was sent to our Minister of Health just three or four days ago and he sent a copy to me. This, Mr. Speaker, is from a very well respected doctor in Bonavista North. This is what he says, Mr. Speaker, in reference to the Prescription Drug Program:

This is just a letter from a practitioner of medicine who has seen first-hand the positive affect of our government's decision to broaden the eligibility of our population for partial or complete drug coverage. It has not been easy over the years prescribing for people and knowing that they may not be able to fill their medications because of low incomes.

Today, a patient told me that her drug cost has gone down from $38 for one drug to $6, and that she will have no problem refilling her prescriptions and being compliant with the medication regime. I personally think that this is one of the best initiatives of social policy that has been enacted in Newfoundland and Labrador in decades. The effects of this are immediate and positive, and target the people who need it the most.

Mr. Speaker, that is from, as I said, a very well-respected doctor in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I think that says everything, Mr. Speaker, about the new Prescription Drug Program that we have for our people.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to make another few comments with respect to something that the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace said a few minutes ago, in that we have no plan for rural Newfoundland and Labrador. That is what he said, Mr. Speaker, that we have no plan for rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Well, let me tell you something about the plan that those people had, Mr. Speaker, a few years ago. I will tell you what kind of a plan they had for the small communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, and I will refer back now to the cuts that they made to the Municipal Operating Grants for all of the small towns in our Province. I will give you two examples, Mr. Speaker. I brought it here intentionally today, to show those people on the other side what they did for rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

From time to time we hear those people standing up saying: Yes, that is something we started. That was our idea. That was our plan. That is what they have been saying over there. Well, I will tell you what their plan was, Mr. Speaker, for the rural municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador. I will tell you, in the Town of New-Wes-Valley. In 1995 the Town of New-Wes-Valley, with a population of 2,800 people, had a Municipal Operating Grant from the government of the day, the Liberal government of the day, of $399,000. That is what they were getting. In cuts in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and it has gone right on up until now, but the big cuts were made back in those first two or three years, Mr. Speaker, do you know what they are getting today in a Municipal Operating Grant? The same as they were getting in 2003 when that government was kicked out. They were getting $176,000, Mr. Speaker, a reduction of $223,000 in Municipal Operating Grants for the small communities in this Province. That is what we have inherited from those people on that side, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Bonavista North that his speaking time has lapsed.

MR. HARDING: Could I have a minute just to finish?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

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

MR. HARDING: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for giving that time.

I just want to make one more reference to this matter, Mr. Speaker. Do you know what the Town of New-Wes-Valley had to do to help compensate for the loss in that Municipal Operating Grant? They had to increase taxes, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Town of New-Wes-Valley had probably the highest property tax rate in this Province for a small municipality, eleven-and-a-half mills, Mr. Speaker. I doubt if you will find that in any other small municipality in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say, in cluing up, that I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to speak on this Budget. We are on the right track, Mr. Speaker, and we are beginning to turn the economy of this Province around, and we have the people on side telling us that, too, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

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

It gives me pleasure to stand today and to speak to the non-confidence vote that is on the floor. As much as my colleagues across the House would like to hear me stand and reiterate everything that they have said, obviously that is not what my goal is and that is not what my role is.

The government can take care of itself. It can name all of the things that they have done, and all the things that are in the Budget, and pat themselves on the back. That is your job to do for yourselves. My job is to stand and present the other side of the story, the things that are being said to me by people who must not be speaking to the government, that is all I can say, because the people that I am speaking to, the people who are coming to me, the people who are bringing their concerns, are not telling me that they feel happy with the way things are.

I have people who work in the home care system, personal care workers who work in the private system who are coming to me and talking about the poor wages that they have, are talking to me about the lack of training that they have, are talking to me about the lack of options that they have. These people are not happy with the Budget.

I have retail workers saying to me: I am so happy that you are pushing on the minimum wage. Keep pushing on that minimum wage for me, because that is where I am; I am a person earning minimum wage.

I actually have retail workers, people in restaurants, coming to me and saying that to me. That is what they want. They want me to keep pushing on that issue. I am going to keep pushing on that issue, because the Budget took a little step in that direction. We have to take a giant step in that direction. This is what I have to talk about. This is what is being said to me by people out there.

I have social workers coming to me, talking to me about their working conditions, talking to me about how they are understaffed and overworked, and the stories that they tell me really make me upset, you know, aspects of social work that, if one social worker is in charge of it and she is off for a month then that piece of work does not get covered.

I know of a woman, for example, who was a caregiver for her mother and she was going to have her mother going into respite care so that she could take a break, and she finds out on a Friday that the respite care has not been arranged yet - and it was supposed to be happening on a Monday. She had to scramble and she had to get emergency care for her mother because the respite care was not happening.

These are the kinds of stories that are coming to me. These are the realities in our Province: people on social assistance, low income people, who are not getting anywhere near what they need; the people who run the food banks coming to me and saying: It is getting worse. It is not getting better, it is getting worse.

I do not know how my colleagues on the other side of the House can hear this kind of thing and continue sitting with big smiles on their faces and saying that everything is wonderful, because it is not wonderful. We have such a long ways to go. We have poverty in this Province.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS MICHAEL: No, I do not think my colleagues on the other side of the House do recognize it because, if they did, they would understand some of the things that I say and some of my colleagues on this side of the House say, and I do not think that they do. They do not show to me that they understand. It blows my mind.

You know, one of the examples - and we have all been using it, but I will continue using it - one of the sort of big showcases of the Budget was the tax breaks. The government made such a big deal with the tax breaks. What does it mean to a single senior who earns only $15,000 to have only $179 more in their pocket for a whole year? That is not even a dollar a day more in their pocket. What is that such a big tax break?

I can understand, if I was a person earning $150,000, why $4,000 might look good, but do you know what? If you are earning $150,000, which I suspect some people in this House are earning, you do not need the extra $4,000.

So, what was this tax break all about? The tax break was not about people who really needed money. That is not what the tax break was about. The tax break was about satisfying people who you hope are going to vote for you in October. I am sorry, but that is what the tax break was about.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS MICHAEL: Yes, I can say that kind of thing because it is true. You are going after people who you hope are going to say: Oh, well, that looks really good. Do you know what? I have had people come to me who are in the middle of that pack and who are higher up in that pack and saying: you know, this should have been better for people on the lower end. People are recognizing that, that the tax break should have been better for people on the lower end.

It would have been much, much better if the $1,000 was extra money for the person earning $15,000, or the family earning $20,000 with two children. It would have been much better if that is where the $1,000 went, not to the person who is earning $50,000. They do not need that $1,000 the same way the family with only $20,000 needs it.

This was supposed to be the most wonderful thing. The tax break was supposed to be so good. Well, it was good for most of us in this House. Most of us in this House maybe can pay for an extra trip because of the tax break in this coming year. We can say: Oh, well that is great. That is an extra trip there for me, or for my family even, if you are earning enough. It was almost enough money for a whole family to go on a trip, but not for the people in the middle of that pack and not for the people at the low end of it for sure.

When the government says, as some of my colleagues just did say, that they understand what I am talking about. I do not think they do, because if you did, you would not say that these tax breaks were so wonderful. They should have been so much better for the people at the lower end, from the middle down. So, you do not understand. You think you do - I wish you did. I really wish you did, but I do not think you do.

AN HON. MEMBER: Oh my.

MS MICHAEL: Oh, you can oh my all you want now.

MR. DENINE: You are not in school now; you are not lecturing here now.

MS MICHAEL: No, I am not lecturing at all. Only a teacher could say that to me, Mr. Speaker. Only another teacher could say that. I am not lecturing now. I don't lecture the way he does.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS MICHAEL: Oh, that is right. Like we all do.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS MICHAEL: Oh, I think I am nice when I lecture, too.

What I am concerned about, Mr. Speaker, and why I will be voting for the non-confidence vote is that I do not have confidence in this Budget. I do not have confidence that this Budget will offer more employment in this coming year. I do not see anything in this Budget that is really going to help increase the employment in this Province over this year. I really do not. I have no confidence in it because I do not see it being part of a long-term plan. It does not show a long-term plan. It does not show - the Poverty Reduction is not poverty reduction. It is dealing with the effects of poverty but the Poverty Reduction Strategy is not putting more money in people's pockets. It is only dealing with the effects. It is band-aid solutions. Stuff that needs to be done, Mr. Speaker. I am not saying it does not need to be done.

I am not saying that dental care should not be covered for children up to seventeen. It definitely should be, but it still is not putting money into the hands of low income people. I have said this before in the House and I will say it again, the difference now for those families is the children's teeth are being taken care of, which before they were not. It is good they are being taken care of but it does not mean necessarily that it is more money for the family because the family did not have the money to spend on it. I know children - I know families where kids have had to get their teeth taken out because that is the only thing that would be paid for by social assistance. The children's teeth would be taken out, not have the kind of dental work done that I was privileged enough to have done all my life. Their teeth had to be taken out in the past. That is why, yes, it is good to have dental care for children up to age seventeen but it is not more money in the hands of people's pockets, and that is why the Poverty Reduction Strategy is not poverty reduction. It is dealing with the effects of poverty.

The people who say they are applauding the government with this Poverty Reduction Strategy, some of them just blow my mind because some of these organizations, I think they should know better. They should know that this strategy is not going to reduce poverty. The only thing that can do that is people with meaningful employment and earning enough money for the work that they do. I am telling you, the women that I know - I am just picking on this one group - who are working in the home care field are not going to have any more money in their pocket at the end of this year than they had at the beginning. I do not see poverty being reduced.

So, I do not have confidence in this Budget for that reason. I do not have confidence in this Budget because it is not going to stop the erosion of populations in rural Newfoundland. Now I have some hope, now that at least in the immediate present with what is going to happen with the fishery, that it will be slowed down in some areas. I have some hope for that, but how long is that going to work? I hope it is going to work into the future but it is not because of this Budget that the erosion of rural populations is going to stop. It is not because of this Budget, because in order to keep people in rural Newfoundland we have to have employment there. We have to have a reason for them to stay there. They have to have economic growth going on in rural Newfoundland for the people to stay. You know, if that does not happen then the erosion of the population in rural Newfoundland is going to continue. I look at this Budget and I do not feel good about it. I do not feel that it is really going to deal with that. I really don't. I look at this Budget and I say: What about the people who are on income assistance? Are they going to feel better at the end of this year? Are they going to be able to say, oh, we have had a better year? No, because there was not one cent in real money to increase the income support.

MR. DENINE: (Inaudible).

MS MICHAEL: No. The indexation, Mr. Speaker, I agree, but the indexation is not enough. My colleagues on the other side of the House know that it is not enough. Raising people by a few hundred dollars - because that is all it does - is not really dealing with the issue of poverty. They are still living below the low income cutoff. People on income assistance and people on the minimum wage are still living below the low income cutoff. So, no, I do not have confidence that this Budget is taking care of that. That is what I have to speak to, why I do not feel confident, and that is why I do not confident.

Let's look at some simple things. We passed a bill this week, the Retail Sales Tax on used vehicles reduced by 1 per cent. Well, it was reduced by 1 per cent because the federal government reduced the GST by 1 per cent. That is why. Yes, that is why it was, because of the federal government's reduction in GST.

Why didn't we have the taxation on insurance removed? Why do we still have the taxation on insurance? Why do we have taxation on medical services such as massage therapy, which is a recognized therapy? Why do we have taxation on things like that? Because, we do have taxation on massage therapy. Why should that be? Why isn't the government looking at those kinds of taxes and realizing that this would be a real break for people. This is the problem with some of the services that our taxes are on. They are services that are essential to people, they are services that are related to people's good health.

If the Budget were dealing with things like that I would have more confidence in this Budget, but I do not have the confidence. I do not have confidence because of the lack of attention to an issue like home care; the fact that this government is still not recognizing that home care is an essential part of the health care system, that people are being sent home from hospitals expecting to be taken care of at home with very little home care in place for them. We have senior citizens, people who are chronically ill, who are debilitated, who are bed ridden and they do not have a public home care system. That is health care, and, as I said before in this House, our health care system is a public system and being sick at home is a health care issue, but here in this Province are home care is not a part of the health care system. That again is why I do not have confidence in this Budget.

What we need to do and the plan that I do not see in the Budget, Mr. Speaker - and this is what I put out to my colleagues across the hall. When I say there is no plan I mean there is no long-term vision. For example - and I talked about this already in the House but I want to talk about it again - what would happen if we really were to plan how many people we need trained in a particular area, just in the health care field alone? How many people do we need trained as pathologists? How many people do we need trained as radiologists? How many more nurses do we need? How can we encourage young people, and maybe even older people, to look at going into these fields, and what incentives could we put in place to encourage them to go into these fields and to stay in this Province after they graduate in the fields that they have pursued? We then could be building up trained people here in our Province, and at the same time we increase the number of spaces or we hire people in the spaces where people are not rehired after - I have heard there are empty spaces over all this Province with regard to general practitioners, that there are general practitioners who are in the health care system, and went the positions becomes vacant, they are not filled right away. Why not? Why is that happening?

We have a lot of planning to do and that is what is not happening. I do not understand why it is not. We have the resources in government to put those kinds of plans together. It is not rocket science and it is not stuff that has not been done before in other jurisdictions. That is why I do understand why we do not look at it here.

One of the areas where I really despair in our Province, and this Budget does not build up my confidence, is in the environmental area. I just think we are so far behind, I know we are so far behind, in this Province with regard to environmental issues. Even just recycling: We are having such a hard time getting recycling off the ground and I do not understand why. Our colleagues over in Nova Scotia, for example, have done a great job on recycling and reusing. Why can't we do it here? I have lived in other parts of the country and I have certainly visited other parts of the country, as all of you have, and we know what is going on in other places. Why can't we do that here? We have all kinds of plans on paper, ideas on paper, not being put into action.

I am looking forward to the sustainable development document. I am hoping that it is going to have some real actions in it.

We received a climate change plan that doesn't have any teeth in it, and I don't see anything happening yet in any real way dealing with climate change.

We have mining going on in a part of the Island where we actually sat back as a Province and quietly allowed a change to happen with regard to tailings from mining and the disposal of tailings that would destroy a whole body of water in the interior of the Province. We stood back quietly and allowed that to happen. We didn't have a position as a government. The government did not present a position to the federal minister and to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency when that was being reviewed.

I met with the Minister of the Environment, I asked the minister: Well, do you have a position? All the minister said was, you know, we are waiting to see what the federal government will be deciding. To me, that meant our government was accepting this decision to change a whole direction with regard to the disposal of mine tailings. How could we do that, after all the destruction we have had happen in this Province from the natural resource development sector? How could we do that? Yet, this government did it.

I will be very interested in seeing what is in the sustainable development document, legislation that is going to be coming into our hands sometime this week. I will be very interested in seeing it, to see how we can justify in that document the kind of stance that the government took with regard to the disposal of mine tailings. As I said, where we are in the environment in this Province really makes me embarrassed, it really upsets me.

Mr. Speaker, there are so many reasons why I don't have confidence in this Budget. Yes, there are things in it that I like. There are things in it that I have even spoken to over the past while that I have been in the House of Assembly, things that I have encouraged, but so little of what I would look for, so little of an overall plan, that it is not going to be hard for me to not vote for the Budget. I have no choice, because it is ignoring some things that to me are absolutely essential.

Mr. Speaker, with that - I am close to using my time, I think - I thank the colleagues for the time to stand here today and share my thoughts and analysis, and I thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. YOUNG: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to take a few minutes to speak about some things in the district, that are relevant to the district, that I am very proud to be able to stand here today and say.

Before I start, I have to say that I am very pleased with this Budget. It is a Budget that has gone out there and touched many bases. When you get a tax break, as we have given the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, which includes the people of St. Barbe, it is certainly significant.

When I see the poverty reduction, it is certainly impressive as well, I must say. I have gone out there and one of the most difficult things I have found over the last number of years in this job is to go out there and tell someone in Newfoundland and Labrador Housing, who is looking for a Newfoundland and Labrador Housing grant, that you are on a three-year wait list. I have always found that very difficult, and to see this government come out and recognize that, and be able to move that along so that we can eliminate that over the next few years, Mr. Speaker, is certainly something that pleases me because, as I said, I alway found that the most difficult part of the job.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. YOUNG: This is a very socially-conscious government.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to stick to some of the things that really affect my district, and certainly since I have been elected to this House I have been many times speaking about roads. Roads have certainly been - well, without it you do not have an opportunity to have an economy, and we saw the former Liberal government let it deteriorate to the point where it was impossible to go out there and create an economy around it.

We saw tourism as an opportunity when the cod fishery had failed us and we had all the turmoil we had on the Northern Peninsula. We saw places like Gros Morne and Port au Choix and L'Anse aux Meadows and Red Bay and the Coast of Labrador in general as being a great cluster of attractions that could have gotten people from all over the world, and it did, and we did a great job in investing in marketing to the world and they did come, but the road was deteriorating to the point that we could not even maintain it. You know, at one point they were circling the road there and saying it was not passable to go beyond. To go out there and have a circumstance where, in a four-year period, there was more than sixty kilometres of asphalt laid is certainly significant.

I met with a council on Sunday, actually, and they had to agree. If I were, four years ago, to say: Boys, I will promise you more than sixty kilometres of asphalt in a four-year period, they would have probably doubted me and my sincerity; but, Mr. Speaker, that is what is happening in the four-year period.

People are certainly pleased. It is the economy. You cannot have it without it. The cost of transportation, I mean, the people at the end have to pay for all the damages that are done to their vehicles and the things that you do out there. If someone is trucking in the freight in goods, they just cannot absorb the cost, and there was certainly a circumstance where that was happening.

I know last year when an individual got out of his truck and came over and shook my hand and said what a great job this government is doing, that now he can have a normal business plan and he can move ahead. That was a far cry from the people who were continuously out there telling me, every festival and event that I went to, the personal damage they were doing to their vehicles, and the cost, and how unacceptable it was. It was one of the things that you take a personal responsibility for, more than anything, I think, the roads, because everybody has a personal cost and it comes back to you as sort of a one-on-one basis. So, to go out there and have those things changed now, and have the infrastructure put in place that we do, is certainly very pleasing to me and it certainly impresses me, and I really like to be there.

The other thing that I certainly found that was very pleasing for the District of St. Barbe, and I had brought it up when I was in Opposition and I did not get anywhere with it, and the parents came back with me last year, that was the situation in Port Saunders with the high school, Roncalli. Here we were out there with a school system without a cafeteria, can you imagine? Every classroom with a microwave in it, and every smell of food in the world there in a classroom all day long, and that is where our children are being educated.

I found it to be very unacceptable. I came back to my minister and we sat down and I explained it, and she was certainly in agreement with me. Instead of having that today, I was very pleased to be able to go back to Port Saunders to the students and the parents and say: Well, we are not going to have a cafeteria. What we are going to do is have a plan for the future, the one that is an entirety, and we will have a K-12 here. We see the change in demographics and we see the need.

The minister came up and announced it, it was in this Budget, the money to go out there and have a new K-12 school in Port Saunders that will have a cafeteria, that will have a gym that will take care of the events that we have in the area - like this past Sunday when I was at the Air Cadets in Port Saunders there, when they were having their annual review. We want to make sure that we have a gym that is out there and a facility that we can go out there and do those kinds of things in.

Mr. Speaker, I really believe that kind of attitude is where we are today versus - I know when I, as a parent, was concerned about what we were going to have in Plum Point and we were told, as parents, that really we were only in education from K-12 and anything outside of that was not the responsibility of education. We could not find anybody who was going to make up the difference, so we put a school down in a situation just because that was the place where the school would fit. I found that to be very unacceptable.

Today in Port Saunders we are putting a school in a place where recreation is already developed. We have the space to do more recreation around it, so it is a centre in its entirety. One of the things that we are looking at now also is the insurance to make sure that it is not only for people from K-12, that is for the whole community, it is a community centre, and that is what people are saying is most important.

This government is listening and certainly this minister, as the former minister, was out there and making sure that what we had was a centre for the whole community. I find that having that kind of attitude and having that kind of vision of the communities, that we will have a community that will exist and that people will want to live in those communities in the future.

As I said, the education and health go hand in hand. It is certainly where we come back and bring it all together. We are also investing in physical education. We are making sure that comes in as well. If we are not doing it piecemeal, it is a whole in its entirety.

One of the other things that I found in education, which affects us all but it certainly affects the people in the District of St. Barbe, is our $12 million investment so that nobody has to buy textbooks. I find that to be very important. It is certainly a great step forward to make sure that everybody in the community can walk into school as equals and get all the opportunity possible.

Mr. Speaker, I suppose one of the other parts that is very important, I suppose more important for rural Newfoundland than urban centres, as the member before me has said, and that is for post-secondary education. I find that the cost is much more difficult, the economy is less in rural areas. You are going out there and you are having parents who are trying very difficult - putting them in very difficult circumstances to have their children - they have to travel to foreign places. There is board and lodging. There is a whole lot of cost that is associated with being away from home. If you could stay in your home and finish off your Level III and then turn around and be in university, if you could do that, that cost is minimal. You have extra books but those costs are being flipped over. Other than that, compared to having to get out of a place like in the District of St. Barbe, drive for ten hours, then turn around and be away from your home, your family and have board and lodging, the cost of eating, the cost of things, even the cost of changing from having no opportunity to fast foods or limited to being surrounded. You find parents are saying: Well, my child was at it. They were doing this and this much more than they would have been if they were living in an environment where that was continuously. So, Mr. Speaker, I am really pleased that we are out here helping to make sure that those children have an opportunity to have a post-secondary cost at a reasonable rate.

Another one of the deterrents that we have is the fact that many of the students who come out and get an education, they ended up in the Northwest Territories or Alberta, whatever, not because they wanted to but because they had to pay for that education. They just could not do it here in St. John's, let alone in places like Port Saunders, Plum Point and whatever. The economy certainly was not there to support it.

Mr. Speaker, if we are going to change and have options, as I would like to mention later in speaking to the Budget here, is that we have to have it so that they can make the decision that this is where I want to live and to be able to do it; not because we have priced them out of the range of being able to make those decisions.

Mr. Speaker, one of the other things that I would like to speak to, and is very important to me, and is personal - because the health care centre in Flower's Cove is not in the District of St. Barbe but it covers an area where I live. At one time, I said: Well, I have not had much around the health care system. Then when I thought about it, the day that I walked into the health care centre in Flower's Cove, there was no doctor and I had my child in my arms full of blood. Well, I think a lot of us have a story which could be similar to that. That motivated me to get out and try to fight with respect that we are people, equal, no different than anybody else. I cannot have services in Flower's Cove the same as I can here in St. John's or Corner Brook, I understand that, but there is a certain standard that I think we can meet, and we are meeting in places quite similar that we were not in Flower's Cove.

Flower's Cove was a centre that just was not designed properly. It never had the facilities there. We have people in corners, in little cubby holes with offices. We have - just as a stay over. In a place where weather conditions are so extreme to get to St. Anthony, that there have been so many stories of tragedies on the road where people have had to spend hours and days with broken bones and ruptured appendix or whatever, that it is almost criminal. To have people in just one room, where you just had a curtain between two beds, it is so unacceptable that it boggles most people's minds when you talk about it.

I had the former Minister of Health in Flower's Cove at one time, and when we were there it just so happened that one of our most outspoken mayors was in there. Here she was dealing with cancer and having a great hardship. She was in this room, and it so happened that we came by and we were talking. Both of us were kind of tag teaming on the minister, to impress upon him how important this was and this is a circumstance that is ever so important. As we left, I saw one of the better smiles, I must say, of the Mayor of Bird Cove. The minister left and went outside. So I ducked back into the room and said: That's okay now. You can get up and go home, you have done your job. I was pretending that she was kind of faking it there. It was one of the things that we did. Certainly, the mayor and I together, had fought for him to come out there.

Today, to have it announced that we are going to have a new health care centre in Flower's Cove was certainly pleasing. For me, it had a lot of personal -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. YOUNG: Health care, Mr. Speaker, is one of the other things that I have that, I suppose, brings a little bit of a personal note to me as well. My next door neighbor as a young man ended up being a diabetic, and having those insulin pumps, certainly I know the extent of change to his life. He never got his until he went to university and I remember him coming back and telling my wife the difference it had made to his life, that he could get out and function with his friends, that he never had to be there with needles and testing or doing whatever, it just pumped (inaudible) automatically. To sit down and have a young fellow say that he was off to university now and he could have a beer with his buddies if he wanted - he was pretty impressed with it, I must say, and I felt good for him.

The other thing that I see as being extremely important for the District of St. Barbe is the fibre optics, the investment that we are making into fibre optics. To me, the road system, that infrastructure, has been ever so important. We all understand that, because it is something that came many years ago. We saw an economy change with a good highway system that wouldn't deteriorate, so we knew what the impact was.

A lot of people understood that, but not everybody understands what the fibre optics can do for us. One of the things that the fibre optics can certainly do for us, and do for not only the District of St. Barbe but the entire rural parts of the Province, is that we can have health services that we can't have today. We can have the expertise of any large centre in the world come in and test and be able to do what we want, and we can stay in our places like Port Saunders or Norris Point or Flowers Cove, and have that diagnosis and know whether we need to move. The costs that we are saving in travel and the better health care we are getting, it is incredible. To have that infrastructure in place, I don't think we all understand just how important that is and what a benefit that is. I am really pleased that this Premier and this government have stayed the course and that it is moving ahead, instead of waiting and doing as maybe the hon. members opposite are suggesting we should do.

The other part of it is from an educational point of view. In Norris Point I have the marine biology station. The research and the work that can go on there has no limits. (Inaudible) today is the cost of fibre, and to have fibre come in there at a reasonable cost would certainly put us in a position so that we can go out and do research and bring the world to us as we are doing now, but do it in a much more significant way.

I think about the tourism industry that has been developed around that park, and to be able to bring in that research and fit it into our (inaudible) season and build around our communities and have that centre be as important to Norris Point and Rocky Harbour and that area as the College of the North Atlantic or whatever we have, Corner Brook or Memorial in St. John's, that is the difference it can make when we look at it there.

To go back to education in Port Saunders, one of the people who has really impressed me in the education system is a guy, Don Tulk. He has been out there, he has been in the IT system. He has gone out there and treated his students in such a way as he has been supporting them to go. I see the fibre optics as giving him the opportunity, the ability, which they have been looking for, for years, to be on par with the world, to be able to train his students and get them off to a start comparable to anywhere in the world with fibre.

I know it may be somewhat of a dream, but I believe, as in many places, if you can go out there and you have someone with drive and you have students, that you are going to create entrepreneurs, and one of those entrepreneurs is going to want to stay in Port Saunders. That individual is going to create an industry, and that industry would be a base to a community, the same as the base of the forestry or the fishery, whatever we have, that are the bases of our communities today. If we have that fibre, well then we have a dream. Without it, we just cannot compete. With as much effort as we put into it, we are shortchanged, we have to come out a little short, we are held back and that has been unfair to us. To see that come through, from those points of view, I find it very encouraging. From everything that I have been told, and I agree, it should have been done years ago. Well it is being done today and that is ever so important.

Even from a business point of view, if you do not have it, you just cannot imagine people in St. John's or Toronto or Hong Kong, that you do not have access to such basic standard equipment. They just forget that you cannot do it. I know of customers who have said: If I get this on Tuesday by the time I get it downloaded, I cannot get my order in on time to get it delivered that week. That is just unacceptable. We cannot compete, our small businesses there. Well we have enough restrictions, we have enough difficulties now, so if you have those basics pulling against you, there is no way a small business in St. Barbe can compete with a larger one in Corner Brook or St. John's or a box store. What I am interested in, is making sure that the businesses in St. Barbe can compete in any way they can to create that job and employment there and to maintain the stability of our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to have a few words on the fishery, as well. We are certainly making investments there that are ever so important to us. The fishery is by far the largest part of the economy in the District of St. Barbe. The things that we are moving ahead with in the fishery and making sure that we are stable and have a future, are the investments in the market barriers. The shrimp industry, getting into Europe, the difficulties that we have been having there, those are the things that are addressing. That is ever so important.

The sealing industry: We are going out there to make sure the misinformation is not left unchallenged, and to me that is ever so important. It puts a lot of money into the individuals early in the season which is ever so important, but more than that it gives the communities which are struggling an opportunity to get some taxes earlier in the season. If you sit down and talk to some of those small communities that have to wait too long to get their taxes, that is ever so important.

Mr. Speaker, for those reasons the fishery is ever so important. We are there with it and we are making the right investments.

Today, we are having a big change with FPI; a big change. I have a plant in Port au Choix that is ever so important. I believe it is good for Port au Choix, but I would like to have an opportunity to speak with the people who are more directly concerned before I say too much on the matter. We are not sitting back and waiting for the world to come to us. If you get out there and you dot the i's and cross the t's and understand the industries and make the right investments and make sure that you are there and you are there with it every step of the way, good things can happen. You just cannot leave things to chance and think they are going to fall in place, you have to ask the questions.

Tourism, as I said when it comes to the infrastructure, the difficulties that we have had there - tourism is certainly important to the economy on the Northern Peninsula. We have a cluster of attractions that are linked together with a very scenic coast line. You have Gros Morne and all of its wonder and then you have Port aux Choix and its history and, you know, L'Anse aux Meadows, Coastal Labrador. You know there is not a more beautiful place in the world to go. I have seen the tourism and with the investments that we are making there, we are letting people know, and that is ever so important. We have added $1 million a year since 2004 and we now have $11 million investing in marketing tourism; that among other things, Mr. Speaker.

Another part of it, from the tourism point, is the outfitting industry. The outfitting industry is very important to the Northern Peninsula, not only for the tourism aspect of it, itself, but how it fits in with the fishery. The fishery is out there and for many fishermen it is a shortened season, but to be able to go guiding in the fall is certainly a good mix. It completes a year. If that had not been there and that outfitting had not been -

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

I regret to inform the hon. member that the maximum of his speaking time has expired.

Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. YOUNG: Thank you

Just thirty minutes or so, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, that blend is ever so important. It keeps people in their communities instead of working in Alberta. I recognize that and this government recognizes that. They have certainly been there every step of the way, and seeing how we can make that tourism fit better for the individuals who are there. I am certainly mindful of how important it is.

Mr. Speaker, the forestry is certainly an industry that is important to the Northern Peninsula. It has a town like Hawkes Bay with a forest industry. We have gone through devastation with a fire there. We are having challenges with getting that community back on its feet and having a future, because to me it had the brightest future in the District of St. Barbe and it changed. The possibilities were certainly there.

Besides that, we have a community that affects every community. It has an industry that is out there in the fishery where you have a plant and then there is one community and it is clustered around it. It does not work that way in my district, but every community affects so many people. To go out there and go through the troubling times we are in now, such as the pulp industry, it is a North American problem, it is a world problem. We are certainly struggling here and we have gone through it last year and this year, but we are being there. This government has recognized that we need to be there and be on top of it. My minister has been certainly there with me in dealing with this. We are investing, seeing that we have a sustainable forest industry. We are investing almost $300,000 which will turn into a $3 million sustainable and that, Mr. Speaker, is ever so important to the people of St. Barbe.

With that I will thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

First of all, I want to congratulate the Member for St. Barbe. I have to say it was one of the best speeches I have heard all week.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, to begin with I just want to take us back a little while to when we had our Estimate meetings. The Member for St. John's North got up one day and thanked all the members on the Opposition for the fine job we did and how we came prepared. I am glad to know that someone on the other side appreciates the work that we do, Mr. Speaker. We do have a job to do as critics.

I also want to commend each and every minister that I appeared before, and their staff, because I believe we had wonderful sessions and a lot was learned. It was a learning experience.

Mr. Speaker, before I get into my comments, I cannot help but go back to some of the comments that were made by various speakers over the last two or three days. I think one was from the Member for Terra Nova. I know we get up on our feet and we talk back and forth and we get carried away from time to time. I am sure he did not mean to let the people of this Province think that the children of this Province, when they took over the government they were going to school with buckets to catch the water that was coming down through the roofs. I think that was a little far fetched. We know there are roofs that leak, but, I mean, the impression, if you read Hansard, Mr. Speaker - and I have it here - it seemed that way.

Then the Member for Mount Pearl - I cannot help but go back to my friend, the Member for Mount Pearl, because he gets us all so excited - he got up the other day and said: If the cameras could only scan the House of Assembly, you would see the Opposition jumping up and down in their seats, with the comments that he was making. Well, Mr. Speaker, I have to say there are many interesting speakers in the hon. House of Assembly, and we all get our points across in different ways.

Mr. Speaker, we have a job to do in the Opposition, and I know there are hon. members opposite who went through the same procedure, and a little later on I will just go through some of it. When people in the Opposition get up to speak, it is not that you are always critical of government. You are bringing forward issues that your constituents bring to you as concerns, and I think we all know that but we get carried away sometimes. I guess we do more of it today than probably in previous Administrations because when you hear hon. members like the Member for Burin-Placentia West, when he made a comment there a little while ago, we have the money, that is all the more reason to get up and ask for things that we do not see in the Budget today, because we know that you have the money more so.

I could not help but mark down the comments the other day of the hon. Member for Lewisporte, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture and Aboriginal Affairs. He made the comment, and I will not read all of his comment, but he made a note at the end that it was this type of dream that created the opportunities that we see in this Province today.

I thought it was a good comment. I will go further than that, because I think every Administration, regardless of what political stripe, all down through the years, had the dream to try and create more opportunity in this Province. Having said that, we also have to go a little further and find out what caused it to happen.

There was some hon. member who made the comment today, and I am not quite sure but I think it was the Member for Bonavista North, that this was the best Budget ever. Mr. Speaker, everyone who ever sat in this House of Assembly from 1949 to this very day, I guess every Budget that was brought in by every government, they thought it was the best Budget ever. How do you judge a best Budget? I guess you have to look at the resources that you have to deal with, and how you present your Budget.

I am sure the President of Treasury Board, when he put his Budget together, had to have the resources to make comments and say we are going to do this or do the other thing. Mr. Speaker, when you look at this Budget - and I think all hon. members on this side have made the comment, no doubt, there are many good things in this Budget. There is no one denying that. I mean, how can you ridicule the money that is put into education or health care or highways or what have you? I believe that many times members misunderstand when Opposition members stand and say that there is nothing being done in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. We know there are roads being paved, there is water and sewer being done. The way I look at it, when I say there is nothing being done in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, I believe there should be more done for the economy at large so that people can stay in the area of the Province where they live.

I remember last summer we went up on the Northern Peninsula and we met as a caucus. We met many wonderful people, and they were talking about the Administration in power now, when they went around campaigning and they were saying to the people: Look, this is not good enough for you to have to work on make-work projects. It has to be better.

That is what I am referring to, because I do not see anything any different massively throughout this Province. I know it all cannot happen overnight, Mr. Speaker, but I do not see anything that has been done in the last four years to say that the economy, in that regard, has improved. Mr. Speaker, I know members opposite will get up and say: Well, look at all of the people who left when you were in power.

Mr. Speaker, there are many people leaving this Province today. Each and every day I get phone calls from my district, eight or ten more are leaving, another ten or twelve leaving this community. We can talk about training all our young people. It is fine to have the resources to train them, but we have to find the means that we can keep them here in this Province.

We talk about money that is in the Budget, and where it came from. We have to look back - and I know I have said this before - at those giveaway projects: Hibernia, Terra Nova, White Rose and Voisey's Bay. Back in 2002-2003, and that is not that long ago - as a matter of fact, it is the same time frame as the life of this Administration that is before us today - $72 million, almost $73 million, came in from those three projects. What do we see today? Four hundred and thirty-seven-plus million. That is quite a difference to say, yes, this is the best Budget ever. How would you not be able to say it, and then to have a massive surplus to go along with that?

That is why, when I speak about things in my district or other areas that I do not see in the Budget, I think they could be there because we are in a position financially today that more can be done. I am not saying that government does not have plans to do more, that will come down the road, but as an Opposition that is why we bring up the things we do, or at least that is why I bring them up.

Mr. Speaker, I know some other members, my fellow colleagues, mentioned the comment made by the Member for Mount Pearl, when he says: Members of the Opposition complain just to justify their existence. I do not believe for a minute that he meant it that way.

Because I can assure you that I, for one, can speak honestly and say that on March 25, 2002, when the Member for Trinity North, our present Minister of Health and Community Services, made the comment in the Legislature, when he said: seeing 3,200 to 3,500 new cases of cancer per year, an annual rise of 5 per cent, but there are too few cancer specialists to handle the caseload - I did not look at him and say he was up giving this out just for the sake of proving his existence.

Mr. Speaker, I can go to April 10, 2002, the same hon. gentleman again referring to other circumstances within the department, saying that the caseloads were too heavy and so on. I cannot remember anyone on our side looking at him and saying that was just because he was trying to prove his existence.

On April 23, 2002, the Member for St. John's West - and I can remember very vividly when she would stand in her place as the critic and do a marvelous job, like all the other members did in Opposition at that time - when she said, as the Opposition health services critic, she is concerned that the year-long wait for breast cancer screening for those under fifty is putting women's lives at risk. I did not look at her and say you are being political, or that you are just raising it to prove your existence. I do not think that would have been fair for any hon. member to do, regardless of what side of the House you sat on.

I remember hearing the Member for St. John's South, on April 25, 2002 - and this is a different issue - he said: There is just so much frustration on the part of tire retailers, they are running out of space for storing them. I do not think he did that just to prove his existence, and we know today the problem we still have with that case, and that is four years later.

Another one, the Member for St. John's West again went on talking about his lady who could not get her medication and so on, and she felt that more had to be done in the health care system. Again, Mr. Speaker, I do not think she did that just to prove - because she was a Member of the Opposition - her existence.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few moments with regard to health care. Some of the issues that I have grave concern with in my area, and I believe that more can be done there, whether it is done this year, next year or the year after, I think those issues have to be resolved.

I mentioned before about general practitioners. After I spoke in the House last week, I had a call from a young gentleman in a neighbouring district to mine who is totally reliant on his wheelchair. He cannot get a general practitioner in that area. He lived here in Mount Pearl, St. John's area and everything was fine. Not only does he not have a general practitioner he cannot get out to the clinic if he had one. He has to have a doctor come visit him at home. The caseload is so out of whack out there now that you cannot get a general practitioner. To make matters worse, this summer two more doctors are moving out. That will be two more full caseloads of people looking for general practitioners in the area. What happens, Mr. Speaker, when the situations arise like that? The health care at the Carbonear Hospital and the staff there cannot help it, they are just bombarded with everybody coming in because everybody's health issue is an emergency.

My fellow colleague from Carbonear-Harbour Grace mentioned today the long-term care facility, another issue that has to be addressed, and I would suggest sooner rather than later. I know during the Estimates the minister said that there was an assessment being done. I fail to understand why, because the officials of the department already said, back two or three years ago, that we were number one on the list. Then again, the situation is in a grave need of a new building. Hopefully, when that building comes, or at least we were told at the Estimates that in that plan would be an Alzheimer's unit. Right now we do not have one. It was closed down at the Harbour Lodge in Carbonear.

Mr. Speaker, I know there are many changes made within the health care system when it comes to medication. I had a call last week from an individual who went to the Carbonear Hospital and saw a specialist who prescribed their medication to them. It was for two pills per day. When they came back they went to the pharmacy, put the order in, the request in, and lo and behold, the drug program, whoever the officials are here in St. John's, came back and said: I am sorry, we cannot give you permission to take two pills per day. You are only allowed to take one. Here is this individual who went to their specialist and was going to do what they were told to do. Anyway, they received their medication, they went home and they listened to their doctor, they took the two pills, but naturally they ran out of their medication within a week rather than a two-week period, and here they were left with no medication. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the case is resolved today or not, but I have been talking to officials back and forth. I cannot believe that the drug program would override the issue of prescribing medication when it is done by a specialist.

We talk about shortages of nurses from time to time, and I have seen our training programs here train young men and women to be nurses here in the Province. Lo and behold, what happens? They leave and go elsewhere.

At the Carbonear hospital - and I am sure my colleague from Carbonear-Harbour Grace can verify it because I spoke to some of the staff there - they have a real concern in the next five or six years at that hospital. I have been told that the majority of the people who are working there will be up for retirement by that time. If we do not come up with a program, not only for nurses, but for general practitioners as well, that when we train them - or whether we bring them in from other countries or wherever, at least we have to come up with a program to see that they stay here.

During the Estimates again, I asked a question with regard to young doctors who train here in our Province, and I was told that if a doctor in training went for the student loan or financial assistance and he had it for two years, he is compelled to stay here for two years. Well, I say, if that is what we have to do, with the finances we have today, through the good graces of our resources, I would suggest to government that, look, let's train our nurses and doctors and get them to sign something that they will stay here for a longer period of time than that, because we have to do it, our people need it.

Mr. Speaker, I know my time is up, but I will get an opportunity -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. BUTLER: No, it is not up. Wonderful. I thought he told me that my time was up, but he said I only have five minutes left.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, on the health care, I want to leave that and go to the Human Resources, Labour and Employment. I brought this up during the Estimates as well, because you can look at the bottom line, the almighty dollar - and I know that is how governments have to look at budgets, not only governments, everybody. When I saw the HRLE offices close in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, I do not think there is a member in this House can stand and say that it did not affect people's lives. I know in my area it has. I know technology is the way of the future, but when an individual has to go to the telephone, I have to say it is more privacy for the to make their applications. Mr. Speaker, if you only knew what a lot of people are going through from the time they make their application over the phone, then they have to mail it into St. John's, then if there is some paperwork completed wrong or the right documentation is not with it, it has to be mailed back to them, and that can go on.

I had one case where it happened four times, back and forth, and that individual was waiting for a drug card. Mr. Speaker, I think it is just too much this day and age. So what I suggested to the minister to look at during our Estimates, why can't - I am not saying open up the offices again. They are closed, but at least in the Carbonear office, rather than just have it for employment services, at least have one person on staff where somebody in a situation like this can go in and sit down and deal with an issue face to face. I do not think that is asking too much this day and age. We do not need any more buildings. We have a building there, there is staff there but at least they could deal with it on that issue.

Mr. Speaker, during our Estimate meetings - and I guess there were some figures that we can look at, to me were frightening, and I know they were to the officials in the various departments. When we look at Income Support for people under thirty years of age, 25 per cent of those who apply for assistance are under the age of thirty. Out of that number, 50 per cent of them, the issue was education. I can understand where government is coming from to train the people and hopefully that they will move away from the system, but to know that 25 per cent of all those who apply for assistance this year will be under the age of thirty.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but go back to the Kids Eat Smart Program, one of the best programs I guess in this Province. I know there are two schools in my district that take part in that program. I remember back a couple of years ago, I think it was two years ago, in the Budget by the previous Administration there was $500,000 allotted for that program. Anyway, the government in their wisdom saw fit to take away $250,000 of that money. The reason given was because this organization had enough money to carry out their program and money left over. Do you know something, Mr. Speaker, what has happened today? They have returned that $250,000 and this year in the Budget they put in another $250,000 on top of that again. So, now they have $750,000 into the Kids Eat Smart Program. The question when I asked it: How come all of a sudden this was not a problem two years ago and now it is a major crisis, I call it? I was told that new schools were coming into the system. Two or three days after, what did I get? A letter from the Kids Eat Smart Program saying twelve new schools came on stream this year. So if twelve schools cost the government close to $500,000 to carry out the program this year, there must have been something wrong in the previous years.

Mr. Speaker, I know that the government has a poverty strategy, but I have to say, there are many issues out there that have to be dealt with. You can educate the people, you can build them a new home or whatever, but the key to it all, Mr. Speaker, is that a job is provided for them, because if they do not have the money in their pockets, you can do what you like and they will probably remain in the system. I think it is sad -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. member's allotted time has expired.

MR. BUTLER: Just a second, Mr. Speaker.

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

The hon. member.

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think it is sad to know that in this Province today, 50 per cent of the people who apply for social assistance under the age of thirty is an educational issue.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I will take my place and get an opportunity, hopefully, later on.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think there is agreement that we will take a dinner break now and come back at 7:00 o'clock.

MR. SPEAKER: By agreement, I do believe that we will recess the House now until 7:00 o'clock.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Agreement has been acknowledged.

The House is now in recess until 7:00 p.m.


May 29, 2007 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Vol. XLV No. 20A


The House met at 7:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

Prior to the recess the House was discussing Motion 1, that this House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government.

I believe the last speaker was over to my right, which means that the speaker would be to my left.

Continuing debate, the hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am glad the hon. Leader of the Opposition is starting to have some fun already. So, that is good. It is good this night.

I am pleased to speak on the Budget again tonight, Mr. Speaker. I have listened to the members opposite talk about the Budget, and of course, I have had the opportunity already to talk about this Budget. In fact, I will say off the top, because I think it is important for me to say, that I will be voting for this Budget, Mr. Speaker. The thing about this Budget is that it is a responsible budget. I hear the members opposite talking about: Does it do everything? Is it fixing everything? Well, I do not think anybody on this side of the House is silly enough to think that we can fix everything in three-and-a-half years. Now, I will say, we have done a pretty good job. But, I will tell you, we certainly do not think, on this side of the House, that we can fix everything in three-and-a-half years, Mr. Speaker. We would not even try to pretend that, but I can tell you, I am very proud of where we have come in three-and-a-half years.

More specifically, Mr. Speaker, I am very, very proud of this Budget. This Budget has addressed a number of concerns. In fact, The Telegram and The Western Star had said that this was one of the most generous budgets of all time, or the most generous budget of all time in Newfoundland and Labrador. Well, that is pretty good, because normally I always see the different papers. They are out there and they are actually trying to beat up on government. It happens most of the time, but they stepped up and made the decision to say that this is the best Budget that they have seen in Newfoundland and Labrador. Again, I am very proud of that, to be a part of this government that has actually put together a Budget which addresses enough concerns that two major papers in the Province, I say, Mr. Speaker, would say that this was a good Budget for Newfoundland and Labrador.

What do I mean, Mr. Speaker, when I say that this is a responsible Budget? First of all, this Budget pays down debt. For years and years and years we have seen our debt grow and grow and grow. The way I try to explain this when I am out in my district, Mr. Speaker, speaking to individuals and talking about the way the government works and the way that we spend money, I say it is the same thing as taking your groceries and constantly putting them on a Visa and continuing to pile up that debt and pile up that debt and then taking it from the Visa, a lot of people, and then you transfer it to a mortgage. That happens time and time again, but the problem is, that there is always a day that will come when you cannot continue to do that, Mr. Speaker. You cannot continue to spend money. You cannot continue to increase your debt and increase your debt because what will happen, of course, everybody knows, you will go bankrupt. Bankruptcy is what will happen.

This Province, Mr. Speaker, in 2003, when we came into office here - again, I will not blame all of the previous government for the debt that we have. I am not that silly. We are not that foolish over here. We might be most of it, but I will say that governments in the past, including the previous government, continued to pile up more and more debt on this Province, more and more debt on the people of this Province, and in 2003, when we walked in and took over this government, we saw automatically that we had to make some changes, Mr. Speaker. We had to finally become responsible with the people's money, and that is difficult because I will tell you, I was talking to some of the newer members here a little while ago and I was saying it is very easy to speak on Budget 2007. There are some good things in Budget 2007. It was not so easy to talk about the things we had to do in 2003 or 2004. It was a difficult time. We had to make some very, very difficult decisions in order to get this Province back on track. Of course, we have done that, Mr. Speaker, and we have addressed those issues. On a go forward basis, we realized that it is very important to get our debt under control, and that is what we have started to do.

First of all, we dealt with paying down the debt but we have also decided to support social programs. That is a very, very important part of any society, to be able to put money into social programs, and we have done that in this Budget, Mr. Speaker. We have done that in a number of ways. I can start going through a list of the things that we have done.

I have listened to folks on the other side and I have listened to the Leader of the New Democratic Party who talks about: Poverty Reduction Strategy is nothing to be proud of. There is nothing to it. I think I have even heard the hon. Opposition House Leader say it is a lot of fluff. The fact is, it is not fluff, I say, Mr. Speaker. Let's just look at some of the things that we have done. If you look at poverty reduction - I know I have talked about this before but it bears repeating because there are some great things here.

First of all, Mr. Speaker, no school fees. Now, for some people in this Province they may feel it is really not a big deal, that there are no school fees. Certainly, to individuals who have no children in school now. They may forget the days when they had to come up with that fee. I remember going, as a young person, back home with the paper - even in my day, by the way, I remember going back home with this list of school fees that we had to pay, and it was very, very difficult. I remember my parents having to look at that list and say: Well, what can we actually afford? We have to come up with this money first before we can do anything else. Then the next day - I am going to tie this in in a minute. The next day I came home with another paper with a list of books that I needed. Now all of a sudden we had a $200 or $300 bill - just for me, by the way, Mr. Speaker. All of a sudden we realized that families find it very, very difficult to come up with that money. Now there is added pressure today.

MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: I say to the Member for Bay of Islands, let me speak. I listened to you when you spoke and if you give me the opportunity to speak tonight, that would be wonderful.

I remember when these things would come home and we would have to try to come up with the funds to do this. There are other added pressures today. For instance, back in my day you could buy any pair of sneakers at all and you were all right. If you wore a pair of brown sneakers you were all right. Well, today, Mr. Speaker, the young people kind of have to live up to a standard. There is a standard set by Michael Jordan, the type of sneakers that he wears, and they have to wear those kind. It is very, very difficult on families. Therefore, of course, it was a drag on families. This government, as a part of our poverty reduction plan, because it is all part and parcel, when you look at all of that, this government stepped up to the plate. We took away fees, we took away school fees and this year we took away the cost of textbooks for our students. That is huge accomplishment for this government. In three-and-a-half years to go from having a tough Budget where we had to impose different fees - there is no question we did. We do not try to cover that up because we had to do it, but from then to here today, to be able to eliminate school fees and eliminate the cost of textbooks, very, very good stuff in this Budget.

What else did we do for poverty reduction? We expanded the dental program. I will tell you, it is a difficult, difficult time when you go to a dentist to get work done because it is not cheap, we all know that. Not everybody can afford to go to a dentist, not everybody has a drug plan. A lot of folks do not have those drug plans out there and those medical plans that will cover their dental and so on. This government realizes that, we realize that. This government stepped up to the plate. We decided we will cover dental, not only to age twelve but up to age seventeen. That is a big, huge accomplishment again on behalf of this government. It speaks to what we feel is important in this Province for our young people. It speaks to what we feel is important to poverty reduction in this Province and we will continue to do this type of work.

What else have we done? Well, this has become a very contentious issue, the tax break we gave. I say, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, of course he talks about the fact that he finds it very difficult to vote for this Budget. In fact, I think he said up front that he is not going to vote for the Budget. One of the reasons he is not going to do it is because he does not agree with the tax break we are giving people, that he is actually going to take. I find that very ironic because the fact is that this tax break that we have given, it does not only include the rich, it does not only include the poor, it includes everyone right across the board. Everyone gets a tax break.

Again, I have heard comments on: Well, you know, the more money you make the more tax break you get. Well, the fact is the more money you make the more taxes you pay, in most cases. Therefore, because of that, it just stands to reason that, obviously, the tax break that a person is going to get, who is making a higher level of salary, that tax break that individual will get will probably be more. That stands to reason, Mr. Speaker, but it still sets the tone for something very, very good. It talks about poverty reduction, and that is the amazing thing about it.

Mr. Speaker, I have to touch on this again tonight because there are a couple of issues that are near and dear to my heart in terms of health care. I am so pleased and so proud to be a part of a government that has finally seen the need to step up to the plate and provide funding for MS patients. As I said before, I have a relative of mine who has MS and it is very, very difficult. In fact, the cost of some of that medication is upwards to $2,400 a month, Mr. Speaker. As the minister says, there are even other medications that are very expensive. What have we done? We have taken care - we have taken all of these medications that are astronomical costs and we said we are going to look at these, we are going to step up to the plate and provide funding for folks.

I have to say, when I hear members opposite and when I hear anyone talking about the fact that they cannot support this Budget, I have great difficulty with that, Mr. Speaker. When I realize that there are several people who had to leave this Province - do you know why? - because they could not afford to pay for these particular medications.

Again, I say to the Minister of Health, I am going to specifically talk about MS because I have experience with that in my family. The fact is that for a number of people, they have had to actually move out of the Province because the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador did not cover those MS drugs. The unfortunate thing about it, Mr. Speaker, is that a lot of people, because they could not avail of those particular medications, they actually did not make it, and that is very, very sad. I would never suggest that the folks opposite did not care about people with MS. I understand they do. We all do care. It is just that this government has made it a priority. We have decided to make it a priority, that we would step up to the plate and provide medications for folks with MS.

Another thing, of course, we have done in the Budget - and I have talked about it before. Again, I want to reiterate it because it is so important, when we talk about diabetes. I will never forget the night when we were called as the House of Assembly Members, on all sides of the House, to go down to the Holiday Inn and we had an information session on diabetes. It was a very informative session. I believe that night we listened. I believe all members of the House listened to what the people had to say from the Diabetes Association, realizing how important the insulin pumps are to diabetics.

There was this particular individual who spoke - he was an RNC officer, actually. He said: When I was diagnosed with diabetes, my life changed completely. My life was completely changed. I was having highs and lows with my diabetes. I could not control it. I was not able to go to work. Everything was awful. Then I went out and bought this insulin pump, and from that moment on my life has been completely changed. It has been a positive thing for me. I have been able to live my life as normal as normal can be with this terrible disease of diabetes.

Mr. Speaker, again, I have seen this in my family as well. Diabetes hits young people so hard. We are stepping up to the plate. We are not just talking about it. We are not just paying lip service to something that is so important to diabetes for young people. We have said we are going to provide insulin pumps for young people. Do you know what? That is something to cheer about, I say to the members opposite. If you want to fault us for getting up here and beating our chests, do you know what? I will beat my chest any day, I say, Mr. Speaker, for the diabetics in this Province, for the young people in this Province. I will tell you something else. I will beat my chest any day for the people in this Province who have MS and those other diseases, where they cannot afford to pay for them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: Any day I will stand up and I will beat my chest for that, Mr. Speaker, because I believe that we are doing what is right in this Province for the people in this Province who are most affected in this Province.

MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible).

MR. ORAM: I say to the Member for the Bay of Islands, he may not seem to care about what happens to these particular people. You know, for some reason he wants to create some politics in all of this. The fact of the matter is that this is about people. This Budget is about people, Mr. Speaker. It is about the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is about students. It is about education.

My assistant, for instance, has a student loan. Do you know what the interest reduction will mean for him, I say to the members opposite? Do you know what it will mean for him? This is another reason why I beat my chest. It will mean $70 a month in savings for him on his student loan, I say, Mr. Speaker. Seventy dollars for a young person in this Province who decided that he wanted to work and stay in this Province. I say, I will beat my chest tonight. I will beat my chest any day for what is right and what is good for the young people in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Mr. Speaker, we can talk all day, and the members of the Opposition can talk all day -

MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: Mr. Speaker, if you could give me some protection from the Member for Bay of Islands?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: If you could give me some protection here, so at least I can get my message across. I listened very attentively to what the members opposite had to say, and I expect the same courtesy.

The fact of the matter is this, Mr. Speaker: We have stepped up to the plate. We know today, we know tonight, we know that we have done the things that are right for this Province.

I am going to tell you something that I think as well, Mr. Speaker. I believe that the members opposite, as well, know that this is a good Budget. They know there are a lot of good things in this Budget. They talk about the doom and gloom across the Province, and so on and so forth. Well, I want to tell you something, Mr. Speaker. Just two weeks ago, I was actually in Gander and I was talking to a couple of business people in there. In fact, they are car sales people. They have been selling cars for years. I asked them how business was and, I have to tell you the truth, I expected them to say: Boy, not bad, so-so, not too bad.

Well, one of the individuals there said to me: Paul, I have to tell you, I have never before seen sales as good, in car sales, in this Town of Gander. Never before.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: I am going to tell you, I say to the members opposite, that certainly is not bad news. That certainly is not doom and despair. That certainly is not bad things happening in the Province. That is good things happening in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Stephenville, the same exact thing, I say. They are talking about how things are doing very well with a lot of these businesses around the Province. We are not talking about large urban areas. We are talking about rural remote areas.

I walk into the Town of Glovertown, where I come from, and certainly across my district for the most part, and I see help wanted signs everywhere. I know the members opposite will say: Oh, that is because they are all gone to Alberta.

Well, let me tell you, just to reiterate what I said a few nights ago when I was here, in the 1970s there were ten children in my father's family. Guess how many people went to Ontario, I say. Just guess. Ten of them went away to Ontario, back in the 1970s, Mr. Speaker. In the 1980s they were still gone to Ontario. They did not come back, but in the last few years, of course, they have come back to the Province. Let me tell you something right now. This tells me automatically that this is not something that happened overnight. The fact is that the smaller rural areas are still growing. There are some difficulties, no question about it, but this government is stepping up to the plate. We realize today that we have to provide economic development, INTRD, every single day, Mr. Speaker. Every day we provide seed capital money in smaller communities in this Province. That is good news for the people of this Province.

As I said before, I feel proud when somebody calls me today and they say: Paul, we need to find out some information about starting a business. Where can we get some funding? Where can we find some money to be able to start a business in rural Newfoundland and Labrador?

I will tell you what. My answer is different than what my MHA gave me when I started business, I say, Mr. Speaker. My answer is that we do have a Department of Business, we do have a Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, that will provide funding for new business start-ups in this Province. That is stepping up to the plate, I say, Mr. Speaker.

When I walk into the small towns in my district and I see the signs that say help wanted, I feel proud because I know that we are on the right track. I realize we are doing the right things.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: The folks on the other side, of course, will always talk about the negatives. I understand that is their position, and I understand they have a job to do. I think the Member for Port de Grave stood up today and had actually said that our job is to be an Opposition. I understand that, and I appreciate that role. I do not know what it is to be in Opposition, but I certainly appreciate the role of Opposition and they do point out things at times. I am going to tell you, you would be doing a great service to the Province if sometimes you could step up to the plate and be a little more positive, I say.

I am going to give a little bit of constructive criticism now, myself, that if you would step up to the plate and be a little bit positive in the Province when there are things to be positive about - for example, when there are things in this Budget that are good, when you are talking about diabetes supplies, when you are talking about MS supplies, when you are talking about cutting out school fees, when you are talking about providing school books, when you talk about all of those things, Mr. Speaker, I think it is time for the Opposition to stand up and say: Do you know what? It is not everything that we wanted, it is not everything here that we needed, but I will tell you what: we are going to support this Budget and I will tell you the reason why we are going to support it. We are going to support it because we see a lot of good things in the Budget.

That is important. The fact is, there are a lot of good things in this Budget. Can you imagine today saying that I am going to vote down this Budget? What you are saying automatically is: Do you know what we should do? Let's tear this up, now. Let's tear this up because - you see, you have to remember that you cannot have one without the other. You cannot take the Budget and throw it in the garbage and say you are not going to vote for it if you agree with providing insulin pumps for diabetics. You cannot do that, I say, Mr. Speaker. You cannot play politics with a document like this.

The fact of the matter is, there are a lot of good initiatives in this Budget. There are a lot of good things for the people of this Province. There are a lot of good things for the children in this Province. There are a lot of good things for just about everybody in this Province in this Budget.

Can you imagine? I cannot imagine tonight the people of Newfoundland and Labrador who sit down and watch this debate tonight, and they watch it over the next few days and the next few weeks, and as they watch this, Mr. Speaker, as they watch this and they look across the other side and listen to a bunch of people say: I am not going to vote for diabetes. I am going to throw it down. I am not going to vote for that. They take it up again and say: I am not going to vote for MS drugs. I am not going to bother to vote for that.

Can you imagine, Mr. Speaker, what the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are thinking tonight? I can tell you what my sister-in-law is thinking, Mr. Speaker, who has finally seen MS drugs come, who has waited for years and years, whose husband had to go away to try to make enough money to pay for the drugs, I say, Mr. Speaker. I can tell you what she thinks of it, when she hears somebody say they are going to vote down this Budget. It is a sad situation. It is a sad night in this Province when I hear people say they are not going to vote for a Budget that is going to provide MS drugs. It is very, very sad.

It is a funny thing that whenever somebody on this side of the House starts to talk sense, Mr. Speaker, the Member for the Bay of Islands wants to get personal and try to bring up smokescreens and try to cover everything up, to try to make all out of this that he can make, but the fact is that this is good news, I say, Mr. Speaker. This is good news for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and we are going to continue to work for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I will tell you what. We are not going to decide that we are just going to do this for political reasons, Mr. Speaker, I say. We are not going to bother to do that because, you know, that fact of the matter is - and I realize my time is coming to an end and I was not going to be long, Mr. Speaker, but I get so passionate with the things that are in this Budget that I cannot help myself.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: I will tell you what. When I look at what is here, and when I realize how important this document is to a number of people in this Province, Mr. Speaker, when I realize how important it is to a number of diabetics in this Province, when I realize who important it is to the people in this Province who have very little money, who find it difficult to pay for school fees, who find it difficult to pay for textbooks in high school, I say, Mr. Speaker, I will stand up and I will vote for this Budget ten times over if I have to, Mr. Speaker. I will preach it from the rooftops. I will encourage the Opposition to vote for it, but I will tell you one thing that I am encouraged by tonight. I am encouraged by the fact that it does not matter what the Opposition votes -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: - we are still going to get this Budget. We are still going to do good things for Newfoundland and Labrador, and that is what we do as a government.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. ANDERSEN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise tonight to speak to the Budget as well, and to speak on the beautiful riding of Torngat Mountains, Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest ridings in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. ANDERSEN: Mr. Speaker, Oppositions speak on budgets and they voice their concerns of what is not in the budgets and they praise what is in there.

Mr. Speaker, some of the things that are in the Budget that are good: $1.6 million for diesel generating plants in rural Newfoundland, on the North Coast of Labrador and in Southern Labrador. This is indeed a godsend, and this will help people on the North Coast of Labrador have more money to spend on their children to buy the day-to-day things that they need. When we look at the rates that the people pay on the North Coast of Labrador, then I compliment the government for this initiative.

Mr. Speaker, long-term health care for Lake Melville - that, in itself, is a blessing, that people from the North Coast will now be able to travel to Goose Bay, and hopefully they can find accommodations for the health care that they deserve and that they are entitled to.

Mr. Speaker, a dialysis unit in the Upper Lake Melville area - once again, people may not realize the importance of this, but this will give people in Labrador, who were forced to move out to the Island, a chance to be able to get this health care service provided in the Upper Lake Melville area, and their families and their children will have the opportunity to visit.

In 1996, shortly after I was elected, I remember an Inuit elder from Nain, his name was Jerry Sillett, an Inuit man, and he spoke very little English. Christmastime in the Moravian Church is very special for these people. Mr. Sillett was told he could not go back to Nain unless weather conditions were ideal. I remember, the doctors explained to him: Mr. Sillett, if you go back to Nain and the weather gets bad, if the weather is not 100 per cent and you cannot get back for your treatment, you may die. He looked at the doctor, in his broken English, and he said: If I do die, I will die happy.

I remember, Mr. Speaker, we were able to get a mobile unit to put in Nain a year later and Mr. Sillett had the opportunity to live his final years in his community, in his own culture, and with his own people.

Mr. Speaker, Voisey's Bay is going to bring over $2.9 billion into the government over the lifespan of the mine. This does not count the benefits and wages that people will get. When we look at the number of people from Labrador who are working at Voisey's Bay, then this is a good deal and Voisey's Bay is good news for the Province. While we experience some unrest there right now, Mr. Speaker, we hope that it can be settled soon and people can get back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to talk about the College of the North Atlantic and the extension that is being put there. This gives the people from Coastal Labrador the opportunity to travel to the Upper Lake Melville area without having to travel out of the Province to get courses that are now offered at the college. For a lot of the Aboriginal students, what people do not realize is that if they could not take the courses in Goose Bay, they go on to certain universities. The big attractions of a bigger town, in many cases, was a distraction and they found it very difficult to succeed in their studies. Mr. Speaker, with the new part built on the College of the North Atlantic and new courses added, it is certainly going to be good news.

Mr. Speaker, there was talk of Doctor Feelgood's limousine, and I think my name was mentioned across the floor. Well, I can tell you that I did avail of Doctor Feel's services and that he was instrumental for me to get a meeting with the Minister of Fisheries, the hon. Loyola Hearn. Now, while there were talks of Doctor Fitzgerald's limousine service, he told me he had a bike.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ANDERSEN: I got a taxi to his office, Mr. Speaker, and I got a taxi back. Mr. Speaker, just imagine if the Member for Torngat Mountains would have asked Dr. Feel for a ride on his bike. Imagine driving down Sparks Street sitting on his handlebars and him paddling his bike.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ANDERSEN: Mr. Speaker, the reason why I speak of the office is because it gave me an opportunity to voice concern over the postal rates in Labrador. Mr. Speaker, most important of all, the EI that many people - every member is calling upon the federal government to supply to our fish persons who are affected by ice.

Mr. Speaker, let me go a step further, in talking to some members across the way, they did not realize the difficulty that the people in the riding of Torngat Mountains had. I told the minister that if he travelled to the North Coast of Labrador we would take him on a skidoo and drive out and say when the ice goes the last of June or early July, this is where we are going to set our char nets. If we could take him outside of Harmony Run, outside of Nain, and say: When the ice is gone the last of June, early July, this is where we fish for our scallops. He told me that even though he was a Newfoundlander and had heard many cries for EI extensions over the years, it was the first time he realized that the people on the North Coast of Labrador are unique because of their geographical location and that ice conditions dictate that they cannot fish when other people in Atlantic Canada are out there drawing their unemployment.

Mr. Speaker, what was not in the Budget? Well, I would have liked to have seen a long-term health care built on the North Coast of Labrador. For many years our people, our mothers and fathers had to leave, not just the North Coast of Labrador and go to Goose Bay, but go to somewhere on the Island where there was a facility available. Many times they would come out here and some of these people spoke very little English. I brought this up with the government that I was part of and I brought it up in caucus, and today I will bring it up here.

Mr. Speaker, I will ask every member who sits in the House of Assembly today: Imagine if one of your loved ones had to travel from Newfoundland and they had to go to Labrador, but furthermore, they had to go to the North Coast of Labrador where the only time they would see them is when their loved ones came back. Unfortunately, for people on the North Coast of Labrador, is that they saw them when they came back in a casket.

Let me ask every member in this House here today: Imagine if you were told that your mother, your father or your loved one is going to the North Coast of Labrador, and furthermore, those who will administer the care to them may not speak the English language. This is what we have gone through on the North Coast for many, many years. I would like to have seen a facility on the North Coast. It is far overdue and I certainly hope, in the not too distant future, that one will be built.

Mr. Speaker, I would have liked to have seen a healing centre for our young people with solvent abuse located on the North Coast of Labrador. Far too often the young people have to come out here to the Island portion, many times go to the mainland, and they are taken away from their home, their culture and their way of life. The unfortunate part is when they go back they are caught right in the midst of the same problem again in the household. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, I would love to have seen a healing centre on the North Coast of Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I would love to have seen a greater commitment or correspondence for ways and means to address the suicide that takes place within the Aboriginal communities. While a dollar figure cannot be quoted, or should not be quoted, the part of working together with the Nunatsiavut government and the provincial government to find ways - not just a meeting here and a meeting six months later, Mr. Speaker, but a firm commitment to deal with and to listen to what the young people are saying as to why we lose our brightest and best far too many and far too often.

Mr. Speaker, I would have loved to have seen a subsidy included for the business owners on the North Coast of Labrador. The $1.6 million that the government announced - I asked the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Transportation and Works in committees, that I would like to see the business owners in Coastal Labrador qualify for this subsidy, because in many cases, not only are they the biggest employer in a lot of these small communities, they are the sole employer. Mr. Speaker, I would like to have seen the business included in this subsidy as well.

Mr. Speaker, I would love to have seen an announcement with regard to recreational facilities. When you look at the Coast of Labrador, they have no place where they can host their own games or where they can bring communities together to promote their culture. I believe that would be a part of addressing the serious problems we deal with; some of the problems that face our young people through substance abuse and suicides. There is no doubt, Mr. Speaker, everyone says that recreation is healthy. I would have liked to have seen monies allotted somewhere to assist in the building of sports facilities on the North Coast of Labrador. That would be done in conjunction with the Nunatsiavut government and with the federal government as well.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to have seen the long-haul freights - I asked the Minister of Transportation some time ago, and I know he is working on it, but on the North Coast of Labrador the people there depend upon the marine service more so than anyone else in this Province. Right now, as we speak, the long-haul rates, as it pertains to Labrador, are the only ferry rates that have not been announced in the Province - to my knowledge anyway. When people order their supplies, which they have to bring in by boat, many times the suppliers include the freight. That is built into the cost of delivering the goods, for example, from Corner Brook to Lewisporte, or from St. John's to Lewisporte, and shipped onward. I would like to have seen the long-haul freights announced for the people who need it most of all.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to have seen more money for housing from the Province. There is no doubt that there is an allotment now that is being put there by the federal government to be administered by the Province and I know that there are concerns among the Aboriginal community as to who qualifies or what procedure should have been followed. That, in itself, would have been something that I would like to have seen in the Budget.

Mr. Speaker, I guess this is the longest time I have ever spoken. I made a comment before that anyone who speaks for twenty minutes, at the end of the twenty minutes does not know what they are talking about.

Again, many things in this Budget are good. I applaud the government for it. There are things in here I would have liked to have seen done and recommendations made. Again, it is my role as the member to speak on the things, and I have. I have spoken on the good things that are going right to Labrador. I have spoken on the things that I feel were not there.

I guess the members across the way will again put out a press release if I decide to vote against the Budget for the reasons I have outlined. The other year was the first time ever that the government of the day put out press releases condemning members across the way who had voted against the Budget. The first time ever, Mr. Speaker. Again, I say to every member across the way, it is our role to speak out on what is not in the Budget and, at the same time, we should have the decency and the honesty to admit to the good things that are there.

Mr. Speaker, yes, there are good things in the Budget, a lot of good things. It brings hope and strength to coastal communities in Labrador, but there are things that are not there that I would like to have seen.

So, with that, Mr. Speaker, I will sit down and I will speak later on.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, finally someone on the other side is standing up and saying something good about the Budget.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BYRNE: I have been listening for some time now, Mr. Speaker, since I have been here the past few weeks, and the Member for Torngat Mountains getting up and giving credit where credit is due is long overdue, I say, Mr. Speaker.

MR. PARSONS: (Inaudible).

MR. BYRNE: We will get to that, I say to the member opposite, the Opposition House Leader.

I am pleased to stand in the House today and speak on a Budget that is arguably, and in the media, the most generous Budget ever brought down in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. Pretty good stuff.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BYRNE: Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance obviously put a lot of time, effort and thought into this, and the Cabinet, with the leadership of the Premier, we have put a lot of effort into this Budget and it has been received out there in the public, Mr. Speaker, as a very, very good Budget.

Now, Mr. Speaker, the Member for Port de Grave was on his feet today, I believe, and he made a statement that all governments get up and say that this is the best Budget ever that has been brought down. Not true. That is not true, Mr. Speaker, and I will tell you why it is not true: because in 2004 we brought down our first Budget. We said it was a very difficult Budget, a very difficult Budget to bring down. We had to make some hard decisions based on what was left to us, Mr. Speaker, to try and straighten out. That Budget was a difficult Budget. In 2005 it was better. In 2006 is was better again, based on plans put forward by the Cabinet, the Premier, and people involved in the caucus, Mr. Speaker. A lot of time and effort went into that.

MR. REID: (Inaudible).

MR. BYRNE: We will have lots of time, I say to the Opposition Leader.

What I am saying to the Member for Port de Grave is that he was up making that statement and today, Mr. Speaker, I will stand here and honestly say that in the fourteen years that I have been in this House of Assembly, looking at fourteen budgets, and people may say I am a bit biased on this, Mr. Speaker, but really the media, the public out there, are confirming what we are saying here on this side of the House, that this is the best Budget that has ever been brought down in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Now, Mr. Speaker, on the other side of the House, I have been paying attention to some of the comments by some of the members. The Opposition House Leader was on his feet and he was trying to talk about spin doctoring, and our Government House Leader stood up and responded to the Opposition House Leader with respect to when he talked about The Economy, the booklet that was with the Budget.

We have five or six booklets that come with the Budget each and every year, and he was trying to give the impression that this government, it was something new, that we brought down a book trying to take credit for something that we should not be taking credit for; but, Mr. Speaker, what he failed to mention - and I could refer to this booklet, Mr. Speaker, and talk about a lot of the projects that have been put forward by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, but what he did not mention and what he did not go near, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that governments try to create the economic environment for investment within the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is what we are here for and we can, Mr. Speaker, take credit for a lot of things that are happening in this Province today based on the past three years, where we were when we took over and where we are today.

Now, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, I listened to him very closely. I was thinking today, when he was up talking about FPI, what came to my mind was the Grinch. I tell you, he was out of season, because the Grinch normally does not come around until Christmas. He has to find negativity in everything, I say to the Leader of the Opposition.

Why he is not voting for this Budget, Mr. Speaker, is the fact of what is not in the Budget. Now, if that is the case, and he is not going to vote for the Budget, for what is not in the Budget, why did he vote for any of the budgets that were brought down by the Liberal governments for ten or twelve years? Why would he vote for those? Because there was a lot of stuff not in those budgets, a lot of stuff not in them. I can get into those, and I will probably talk about that as time goes on.

Let me see here next. The Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, I listened to her very attentively. I would say to the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi that she should really keep an eye to the sky, because I am always wondering, every time that she is on her feet - if it is in Question Period, if she is referring to a piece of legislation - she wants taxes reduced and she wants services increased. Now, how do you do that? I do not know. I am afraid that one of these days that big chunk of money that she is expecting to fall out of the sky is going to hit her on the head. That is what I expect. I do not know where the logic is there, the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, every time on her feet looking for more money, to cut taxes but increase services. That is what I have been hearing with respect to this Budget.

MR. REID: Why are you picking on her all of the time?

MR. BYRNE: I am not picking on her. I am only responding to people in this House of Assembly.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BYRNE: When I was on that side of the House, Mr. Speaker, let me tell you, people on this side of the House at that time certainly responded to what I was saying over there. I am only responding to the comments that were made on the opposite side of the House with respect to this Budget, I say to the Leader of the Opposition.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) personal.

MR. BYRNE: I am only responding to the comments. I am not getting personal, Mr. Speaker. I am talking about the issue, as I have always done in this Legislature for fourteen years.

The Member for Bay of Islands really does not know what he wants. He wants his cake and he wants to eat it also. The other day he was up criticizing this government for a project that was let with the Bull Arm site, saying we did not follow the public tendering process. So we took proper action on that, handled it, and today he is on his feet criticizing government for following the public tender process. How can you have it both ways?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. JOYCE: I am sure the minister would like to know, and I am sure you were around the Cabinet table when it was decided, that project never, ever, did go to public tender. So, before you make a statement like that, you should at least get your information. If you were around the Cabinet Table, it never, ever, did go to public tender, I say to the -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

MR. BYRNE: Mr. Speaker, thank you again.

Obviously the member opposite, the Member for Bay of Islands, is confused. If it did not go to tender, then the public tender process was not followed. You were saying we did not follow the public tender process, and, now that we are following it, do not follow the public tender process.

Mr. Speaker, you know, what he is saying over there, this was a contract that was let to a firm in Quebec. The strange thing about this is, the reason why we followed the public tendering process and we could not award that contract to someone else in Newfoundland and Labrador is because of the Internal Trade Agreement between the provinces, that was signed off on by the former Premier, Clyde Wells; and, even more peculiar to this - even more peculiar than passing interest - is the fact that, that member was, I think, the former Executive Assistant to Premier Clyde Wells who signed off on that agreement, who would not allow us to go anywhere.

MS DUNDERDALE: (Inaudible) Newfoundland preference.

MR. BYRNE: Another good point made by the Minister of Natural Resources is that, at that point in time, before that, there was a local preference policy by the previous Administration that was put in place by a PC government, and a Liberal government under Clyde Wells took out the local preference for Newfoundland companies for Newfoundland and Labrador. You cannot have your cake and eat it too, Mr. Speaker.

Other issues that I want to talk about, the one that is most interesting of all is the comment made by the Member for Bellevue. He stood in his place when he gave his speech on the Budget and - I won't say in the last sentence, but very close to the last sentence - he said: Mr. Speaker, I am going to be proud to vote against the Budget.

Now, can you believe this? This is what he is going to be proud to vote against, Mr. Speaker. These are some of the things that man was going to be proud to vote against: the largest tax reduction in the history of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Member for Bellevue is going to be very proud to vote against the biggest tax reduction in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. There are 170 fees reduced or eliminated for an annualized saving of approximately $3.4 million. He is going to be proud to vote against that..

AN HON. MEMBER: Shameful.

MR. BYRNE: Shameful is right.

Investing in infrastructure: he is going to be proud to vote against $440 million in the 2007-2008 Budget out of something like a $6 billion project over the next number of years.

Listen to this, now. He is going to be proud to vote against $15 million under the Vessel Replacement Strategy for the two new ferry vessels, and an additional $1.3 million for a total of $10.3 million.

Mr. Speaker, when I was on that side of the House of Assembly, I was preaching it all the time with respect to building the ferries within the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and to have a vessel replacement policy for Newfoundland and Labrador with the Department of Transportation on the coastal boats. Finally, this Administration is going to do it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BYRNE: Let me go even further, Mr. Speaker, on this. When that crowd were in government and they came down with their budgets - and these are the budgets that the Leader of the Opposition should have voted against, because he was going to vote against things that were not in the Budget. That Administration, when Brian Tobin was the Premier of this Province, the South Coast ferry, they took $50 million - we were receiving, I think, $5 million a year to operate the South Coast ferry system in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. They took $50 million, signed off on it for eternity and put $50 million into the Budget to try to give the impression that it was a balanced Budget.

Also, I think it was the Labrador ferry system that they took money from. Again, a lump sum -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. BYRNE: I will get there.

- and threw it into the Budget to try to give the impression that it was a balanced Budget.

Term 29; again, I think they took $20 million from that and threw it into the Budget to try to give the impression that it was a balanced Budget.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. BYRNE: They are on the other side of the House saying: Jack, you voted against budgets. Yes, I did, Mr. Speaker. I voted against budgets for a very good reason, because they were not balanced budgets. They were giving the impression that they were balanced budgets and we had a very good reason not to vote for those budgets.

Now, Mr. Speaker, let's continue on with the Member for Bellevue and what he is voting against. He is voting against a total investment of $22 million for public buildings. Another one, Mr. Speaker. When they were in government in this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador for some fourteen years, I think it was, the school buildings, the structures themselves, were falling down around their ears. There was no money in maintenance.

Hospitals; not only did they not put money into health care, they let the hospitals fall down around their ears.

Roads in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Look at the roads, Mr. Speaker. The amount of money that they put into the roads in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador - it was down to about $6 million or $8 million in one year, I know. The maintenance - we had to take over this now. We are putting something like $60 million in the provincial Budget this year into roads in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and because they did no maintenance - shortsighted, did not look at the long term, just try and give the impression that they had a balanced Budget. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, we are now paying the price for it, and because of it we are spending more money in the long term.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. BYRNE: No, more to come. There is $50.4 million under the Municipal Capital Works, Mr. Speaker. The Member for Bellevue is proud to vote against that.

The minimum wage - here is a good one. The Member for Bellevue is proud to vote against increasing the minimum wage up to $8 an hour. He is proud to vote against that. Can you believe it? I cannot.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BYRNE: Here is another one, something that we have been saying when we were in Opposition for a number of years. The investment in the schools in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the K-12 with respect to the books, last year we brought in so much for that. This year, now children in school from K-12 get their books paid for. That is an investment of $41 million for the K-12 system overall, but school books will be paid for by the government. The Member for Bellevue is proud to vote against that. Can you believe it? I cannot. It blows me away, I have to say.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that Oppositions have to criticize and have constructive criticism and all that type of thing, but if I was on that side of the House, I would have to honestly say that I really think I would have to stand in my place and vote for this Budget. I really would have to, it is that good. How can you stand over there and criticize the Budget? I understand they can criticize it.

Now, incremental funding of $20.4 million for Memorial University. They are proud to vote against that. Another good one for students. We touched everybody. In this Province we touched -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I would ask members for their co-operation. There is a lot of loud talking. The Chair is not having difficulty hearing the hon. member, however, the member has a right to be heard in some relative silence.

The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

MR. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When I am up speaking on that, for some reason or other the crowd on that side has a tendency to interrupt me for some strange reason. I must have hit a nerve whenever I am on my feet, I know I do. I suppose when you are giving the Opposition the reality of what is going on in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and they know what we are saying is correct and we are talking millions and billions of dollars for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. As I said, we tried to touch everybody in this Budget: students; people in the health care system; the seniors in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador; people with housing problems; the roads; municipalities; families all over. Again, if you look at a family with a moderate income in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, when you take all the factors - dental care, school fees, hospital fees, income tax reductions - it adds up to a lot of money for families in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and rightly so. We are glad to be able to do it, no doubt about that.

The student debt relief - the Member for Terra Nova was on his feet earlier talking about the student debt and how we have benefitted the students in Newfoundland and Labrador. Not only the people who are in the system today, but we have benefitted the graduates who are out working for the past year or two, three, five, ten years, or whatever the case may be, and they are benefitting from this Budget. If we continue on the way we are going, I am looking forward to even a better Budget next year, especially when we have the present Minister of Finance who is there, and a very thoughtful man, Mr. Speaker, who looks at the overall situation. He tries to be fair and accommodate everybody within the Province, and this Budget has proven it. Members on the opposite side can yell and bawl and do whatever they like, Mr. Speaker.

MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible).

MR. BYRNE: Now, can you believe what the Member for Bay of Islands just said. He said: How much did we give Stephenville? Well, I would suggest - and you are on the west coast, representing an area out there - that you go back and check. We have done a lot for the Town of Stephenville.

MR. JOYCE: What is $600,000 going to do?

MR. BYRNE: Six hundred thousand?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BYRNE: We had a situation, Mr. Speaker, in Stephenville where the mill went down and we had a major flood out there. They lost over 120 houses out there that they were receiving taxes from every year. We assisted there, as we will do and done in the past, and will do in the future. We assisted with what is going on in Daniel's Harbour under the emergency preparedness. We will assist there. Badger, we have done that. The North East Coast flood, Mr. Speaker. We are there to help wherever we can. We are -

MS THISTLE: We did Badger (inaudible).

MR. BYRNE: I will say to the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans - she said: No, no, they did Badger. Well, as far as my memory serves me, when we formed the government in 2003 Badger was not completed.

AN HON. MEMBER: That is right.

MR. BYRNE: We had to continue on with that, Mr. Speaker. We had to finish that off. I give credit to the former Administration in putting a package together for the people of Badger, Mr. Speaker, and rightly so. We will continue on and where we can improve upon it, we will improve it. No problem there.

AN HON. MEMBER: What else is the Member for Bellevue voting against?

MR. BYRNE: The Member for Bellevue is voting against $500,000 for the Vera Perlin Society for infrastructure and expansion of their services. He is voting against that. He is voting against $12.8 million to extend - I covered that one already, Mr. Speaker.

Twenty-four million dollars over the next six years to more than double the funding for the Provincial Home Repair Program. He is voting against $24 million for that program. Now, to me - again, I never seen the like of this in any Budget before. I would challenge the members on that side of the House, who are sitting now, to go back and get their budgets of the time when they sat in the House of Assembly and make the comparisons and show us where they can say they had a Budget better than this one.

There is $22.3 million invested in diagnostic and capital equipment. That is what the Member for Bellevue is voting against. He does not want that. No, he do not want that.

An investment of approximately $67 million for new health care facilities; $67 million that he stood and said: I am going to be proud to vote against this.

AN HON. MEMBER: I cannot believe it.

MR. BYRNE: I cannot either. Members on this side of the House cannot believe it, and I would venture to guess, Mr. Speaker, that there are members on that side of the House who are saying to themselves: Yes, I will vote against the Budget because of what is not in it - according to the Leader of the Opposition. But, they are saying to themselves - I would think, if they are being honest - that they cannot stand and say: I am proud to vote against the Budget. I do not think most of them over there would do that, do you? I do not think most of them would say that. But to stand and say I am proud to vote against these things, Mr. Speaker, is beyond me.

Now, $936,000 for a 5 per cent rate increase for foster families, youth services, children living with their relatives and alternate family care. They are going to vote against $1 million for that. Proud to do it, and the list goes on and on.

Kids Eat Smart program, Mr. Speaker, $250,000. I remember in our first Budget we were looking at ways that we had to try and come up with a budget that was, as we said, difficult. This is one of the programs that we continued on with. We kept it going even when times were difficult.

I do not understand where some of the members on the opposite side come from. A $4.9 million investment over three years to create fifty-nine new positions in response to the Lamer Inquiry; $4.9 million. The Member for Bellevue is proud to vote against that, Mr. Speaker.

I have been in this House of Assembly, Mr. Speaker, for fourteen years and, God willing, I will be back for another -

MR. T. MARSHALL: Fourteen years.

MR. BYRNE: I will not say another fourteen but maybe after the next election I will be back, hopefully, if the people of Cape St. Francis feel in their heart and soul that I am the right person to do the job. I have been trying to produce for the people of Cape St. Francis. This past year or so we have had some good announcements for the District of Cape St. Francis, there is no doubt about that.

One of the things that I am most proud of, Mr. Speaker, I have to say, is the most recent announcement and that is the Torbay Bypass; 15,000 people today on a two-lane highway going around Holy Trinity Elementary down there. A major accident waiting to happen, and now that will be addressed. I am very proud of that.

One of the things that I have been preaching since I have been the Minister of Municipal Affairs, every time I meet with the NLFM, NLAMA, or meet with the municipalities, or the combined councils, wherever, in the Humber Valley or Northeast Avalon, or the Combined Council of Labrador that I have met with today, I have been always preaching sharing our services, regionalization and towns coming together. Mr. Speaker, what we have had most recently -

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

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

MR. BYRNE: Just two minutes, Mr. Speaker, maybe, just to clue this up?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member by leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MR. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The thing that I said I have been preaching is the sharing of services and regionalization of services, whatever the case may be, and everybody knows that. Any time I meet with the members on the opposite side with their towns, whatever the case may be, I always bring it up because it makes sense. Right now, I have five towns in my district -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. BYRNE: If he wants me to speak on waste management, I will go for another hour if he wants me to.

Mr. Speaker, the five towns in my district, Torbay, Pouch Cove, Flatrock, Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove, are coming together to share a facility. Not only will they cost-share in the construction, but once it is constructed and operational they are going to cost-share the operations, a true regional facility, and I am so pleased that the towns in my district are supporting me from that perspective with respect to regionalization.

Mr. Speaker, I expect I may get another chance to speak on the Budget but I wanted to get up today and point out a few flaws in the arguments by the members on the opposite side of the House of Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I listened with great interest to the Member for Cape St. Francis. He talks about everything that is in this Budget that is good for this Province, and cannot understand why those of us who are in Opposition would even question voting for this Budget.

The interesting thing about this is that we do not have to worry about anybody knowing what is in this Budget because, believe it or not, the government is actually sending this out in the mailboxes of every Newfoundlander and Labradorian.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS FOOTE: Talk about finding a way to convince Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that this is good. Talk about the cost of printing something like this, maybe about $20,000, to have this in the mailbox of every Newfoundlander and Labradorian.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, obviously the truth hurts, but reality is reality, and that is what this government is doing. Because they did not get enough media coverage, because there were not enough people patting them on the back, because there were not enough people singing to their tune, they decided: we had better get this out in the hands of every Newfoundlander and Labradorian, just to show how good we really are.

Well, guess what? People know exactly what this government is up to, and when the Member for Cape St. Francis talks about the reality of the situation, the reality of the situation is the thousands of people who lined up looking for work in Alberta. That is the reality of the situation.

You can talk about what is in your Budget, you can talk ad nauseam about what is here and what is good for Newfoundland and Labrador, but at the end of the day you have people who are looking for jobs so that they can feed their families and they want to stay home in Newfoundland and Labrador and continue to live here. That is reality for a lot of people in Newfoundland and Labrador, especially people from rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

When we want to talk about reality, that is reality: thousands of people coming into St. John's, a lot of them coming in from rural Newfoundland and Labrador, many of them from other urban centres, travelling to St. John's hoping to find work in Alberta, and we have planeloads of Newfoundlanders, men having to leave their families, going to Alberta to work. They will go, in some cases, for a month and maybe get home for a week. Do you know what that is doing to the fabric of the family in Newfoundland and Labrador today? We have husbands who are not here for their children's graduations. We have husbands who are not here for their anniversaries. We have people who cannot be here for any kind of celebration. We have people who cannot be here for funerals, and it is all because we have a government who has not recognized how important it is to do things in this Province to help create employment. Jobs are what count. Jobs are what matter.

You can stand up and you can hold up your Budget Highlights, and you can put it in every mailbox in this Province, but until you are able to relate to what people are going through, especially in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, this means absolutely nothing - absolutely nothing - if you have to get on a plane and go to Alberta and spend that time away from your family, not knowing how long you are going to be there in some cases, not knowing if something is going to happen in your own Province that can bring you back home, not knowing if you are going to have to build a life in Alberta, and maybe that family that you are coming back to see once a month, you are going to have to move them out to Alberta. That is reality.

When I hear members opposite stand up and sing the praises of the government, and talk about how all this money is being spent, I question: In whose world are you living? Are you not listening to what people are saying out there about how desperate the situation is for them? Are you not listening to people who are even questioning the deal now that FPI has struck with OCI and with High Liner? They are not taking any chances.

A young lady who I know from my district, who is working in Alberta, is quoted in the paper today as saying: You know when I will come back to Newfoundland and Labrador? When the deal that is being struck with FPI and OCI and High Liner is signed, sealed and delivered.

They are so mistrustful. They really do not know what to believe. You can stand in your place and talk about how great this deal is. You can talk about what is going to happen here, and how people are going to be taken care of, for their lives, but in reality we have people who are not believing you. These are people who have worked on the front lines. These are people who worked in the fish plants when FPI was here. These are people who have to provide for their families and cannot take a chance that this deal will fall through. You know, there are no guarantees in this deal, none whatsoever.

I look at Fortune, in my own community, and we looked at the possibility of Cooke going into Fortune. The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture told me yesterday that it is a done deal. Well, you know what is a done deal? The only thing that is done about it yet is that when this deal goes through, the sale of FPI, the facility in Fortune will be sold to Cooke, but we do not know at this point when the fish are going to go into Fortune. We do not know when things are going to start happening in Fortune. We do not know when the sewer line is going to be moved out of the harbour in Fortune.

By the way, the assessment has not be completed on that yet, so we really do not know what the cost is going to be. While the Premier has said time and time again that if that is the only issue that will keep Cooke from going into Fortune then he is going to make sure that it is taken care of, I am going to hold him to that. Irregardless of cost, I am going to hold the Premier to that, because he is on record as saying that he is going to take care of that one issue, if that is the only issue that prevents Cooke from going into Fortune.

People need work. It is about jobs. As the saying goes, Mr. Speaker: It's about jobs, stupid! When I say that, it is to make you understand that this saying is only too real when it applies to people who are looking for work in Newfoundland and Labrador today.

They look at what is in the Budget and, sure, they will say: That is good. We can accept that. There are some really good things here with respect to covering drug costs. There are things in here that are good when you talk about covering the cost of textbooks, but by and large people expect a government, if it has the resources to do it, to cover off these things. What you have done is not rocket science. You have had money to be able to do this.

I say to the Member for Mount Pearl: If we had the money and the wish list that you guys have, we would have done a lot more than we were able to do - and talk about where that money came from, Mr. Speaker. It certainly has not come from anything this government has done. This money has come from projects initiated by the former Administration, and they are now reaping the benefits from those projects, work that was done because of a lot of hard work on behalf of a Liberal Administration.

By all means, reap the profit, but do not gloat and try to take credit for what you are doing, because now you have the resources to do it. There is nothing wrong with having the resources, but do not try and take credit as if it was something for which you were totally responsible.

Let's talk about reality. The Member for Cape St. Francis stood tonight and said the reality of the situation is such that people are happy, people are pleased with this government. Well, I do not know if he watched the newscast tonight. I do not know how many of you watched the newscast tonight. Of course, the Member for Terra Nova says this continuously, how proud he is, he can beat his chest, people are pleased with what this government is doing. I guess he did not watch the news coverage tonight: the shortage of nurses, nurses standing out in the rain in Clarenville. We have LPNs questioning why they cannot get holidays, and why they are bringing in unskilled workers to cover off their work. We have the strike up at Voisey's Bay, scab labour going in there. In fact, to a person they are being replaced.

AN HON. MEMBER: Radiologists.

MS FOOTE: We have radiologists - we have a Minister of Health and Community Services who stands in this House and says: I am going to tell Eastern Health what to do. Those reviews are going to be done within ten working days.

Well, guess what? The radiologists told him tonight, they will be done and they will be done in a way that is responsible, that they will be thorough, and when the radiologist determines that they are ready, that is when they will be ready, not when this Minister of Health says they are going to be ready. Which gets back to his point about additional resources. If what he is hearing now is not in keeping within the time frame of ten days, that he has led people to believe the results will be ready, then maybe he should start spending some of that money. Remember, he said there would be no limits to what they would do to ensure that patients got the correct results? Well, guess what? The radiologists have told us it is not going to be done in ten working days, and the minister said, in his mind, that was an appropriate time for people to have to wait. Well, that appropriate time is no longer there; so, I would expect the minister now to come up, stand up and say: We are going to do much more. We are going to help the radiologists in the Province do whatever they can, give them whatever resources they need to deliver on these results in a timely fashion.

Breast cancer, cancer screening, a serious issue in this Province, again on the news tonight by the ladies who are involved in the dragon boat racing. These are all serious issues.

We have fishermen questioning parts of the FPI deal, the fact that the marketing arm is being sold off to a company from Nova Scotia. To their competition is how they worded it. That is reality.

That is one night's newscast on both channels. That is reality. It is not you standing here in the House tonight and holding up your Budget Highlights and rhyming off the bits of money that have been spent here and there. The reality is what was on the news tonight. The reality is the people we see lining up looking for work outside of this Province because there is no work here. That is reality: people having to leave their homes, people having to provide for their families and not knowing how to do it, through no fault of their own. That is reality.

Let's talk about reality in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. I say to the Member for Mount Pearl, that is anything outside of the overpass. In rural Newfoundland and Labrador people are hurting; out-migration like we have never experienced. In my neck of the woods alone you are talking out-migration in the order of -8.5 per cent; along the South Coast, down around Harbour Breton, places all along the Coast, 8.7 per cent. People are leaving and they are leaving because there is no opportunity for them, even though they have been led to believe that this government is doing all that it can. Well, all that you can is not good enough if it means that we are seeing out-migration to the extent that we are seeing in Newfoundland and Labrador. Thousands of people are leaving our Province. Our population has dropped. We are down now to about 505,000 people, and it is continuing to drop. The sad thing about this, Mr. Speaker, is that we are losing not only our young people, we are losing our middle-aged people now. Do you know something? The seniors are following them because a lot of them are realizing that their entire families have moved, have left the Province, and they are not going to come back. They have lived too long hoping that something will happen in Newfoundland and Labrador which will help them use their skills.

I look on the Burin Peninsula and the out-migration there. You can see it. When someone says, or the Minister of Fisheries stands up, or the Premier stands up and says: the response to the FPI deal, the sale to OCI and to High Liner is such that the Mayor of Marystown is rolling out the red carpet. Of course he is. They are hoping beyond hope that OCI will go in there, that this will be a good deal and they will be able to collect those taxes and that the economy of Marystown will turn around. That is what they are hoping.

Like I said before, the young lady who is working in Alberta, who went eighteen months without work, who said: I will come home when this deal is signed, sealed and delivered, and not before. Of course the union, they want to see this work. We have people in Fortune who are members of the union. We have people in Burin who are members of the union. We have people in Marystown who are members of the union. Of course the union wants to see this work. Why wouldn't they? Their members have gone without work for so long and so many leaving the Province that in order to keep up their membership dues, I expect that is an issue for them. Of course the union is concerned. The union is comprised of individuals who, again, have to provide for their families. These people hope beyond hope again, that what is being said here to be the deal will, in fact, transpire. But, nobody knows. Nobody knows.

What we have tonight is an agreement by the government that FPI can sell its assets to OCI and High Liner. That is the extent of what we know. We are all living in hope that it will work out. I do not believe it should have been allowed to be sold off in pieces. I do not believe that a company like Fishery Products International should have been allowed to be dismantled. Somehow there does not seem to be the same level of interest or the same level of concern about the fishery as there is in this Province about oil and gas; as there is about IT; as there is about hydro, but, you know, the fishery is and has always been the backbone of this Province. My fear is that what we are seeing happening to Fishery Products International will be destructive for rural Newfoundland and Labrador in particular; rural Newfoundland and Labrador where we have communities who are finding it really hard to make ends meet. Municipalities cannot afford to keep their roads paved. We have infrastructure that is not being able to be maintained. As our population dwindles that is getting much more serious. People are not there to pay their taxes; everything that a community would depend on so that it would be possible for them to collect taxes from people who live in those communities. That is the seriousness of the situation that we are facing in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Of course, what you are seeing as well is as people move in from rural Newfoundland and Labrador into St. John's, you see the help wanted signs. Well, these are the jobs that a lot of them are taking: Tim Hortons, McDonald's, A & W, and they are not paying the $16 an hour as they are paying in Alberta. They are paying minimum wage. We have heads of households - whether the husband or the wife - who are trying to make ends meet on salaries like that.

Mr. Speaker, I want to move a sub-amendment to the non-confidence motion. I move, and it is seconded by the Member for Bellevue, that the amendment be amended by changing the period at the end thereof to a coma and by adding immediately thereafter the following words: and that this House also condemns the government for its failure to present a Budget that reflects the possibilities which exist in terms of addressing the needs of the people and dealing with problems such as out-migration, high fees, the financial crisis in municipalities, the special needs of some school students, road repairs, and the extension of 911 service.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair has not had an opportunity to see the amendment as put forward by the Member for Grand Bank, so the House will take a brief recess so the Chair can consult with the Table Officers and we will report back in due time.

Recess

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The amendment as put forward by the hon. Member for Grand Bank and seconded by the Member for Bellevue, reads: I move, seconded by the Member for Bellevue, that the amendment be amended by changing the period at the end thereof to a comma and by adding immediately thereafter the following words: That this House also condemns the government for its failure to present a Budget that reflects the possibilities which exist in terms of addressing the needs of the people and dealing with problems such as out-mitigation, high fees, the financial crisis in municipalities, the special needs of some school students, road repairs, and the extension of 911 services.

The Chair deems this sub-amendment to be in order.

The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just to continue on, in light of the sub-amendment being determined to be in order.

We are talking about the Budget, and whether or not this is a Budget that should be supported by anyone who has to vote for it. Of course, one would expect that the members of government would indeed vote in support of it. If they did not, we would all have to question what was going on in the House of Assembly or in the Province; but, for those of us who sit in Opposition, for those of us who have a job to do - and, contrary to what the Member for Mount Pearl said earlier today, that we try and justify our existence by being critical, nothing could be further from the truth. He nods again to say that, yes, that is what he believes.

In a democracy, I cannot believe that someone who sits as a Member of the House of Assembly, someone who sits in this Parliament, would actually suggest that to be the reality. Many of the members opposite have sat in Opposition. They know only too well the role of an Opposition. They know that an Opposition plays a very important role. In fact, when we talk about the different issues that have come to light recently, whether it is with respect to the breast cancer screening, whether it is with respect to what has happened down on the Burin Peninsula with the radiologists, whether it is FPI, and what is going down with FPI now and the sale of FPI to OCI and High Liner, and the fibre optic deal, those are all significant issues in our Province and they impact on a great number of people. We have played a role, as an Opposition, in discussing these issues in the House of Assembly, in raising concerns about those issues, in listening to people throughout our Province who realize the role that an Opposition has and have picked up the phone or e-mailed us to say: We need you to ask these questions. We need answers, because these issues impact us and we need to know where to turn next.

That is what we do as an Opposition. So, if you expect me to approve a Budget because you are doing a number of things, there are things that I would like to see in the Budget that are not there, and there are things that other people in Newfoundland and Labrador would like to see in the Budget that are not there. So, can I vote for a Budget that, you know, has money for different drugs, ensuring that drug coverage is there? Of course I can. Can I vote for more money for a school lunch program or breakfast program? Of course I can. These are all sensible things to do, and I am so pleased that you have the money to do them. These are the right things to do, but do you know what I find hard to vote for? It is when you decide that you are going to give the Premier's Office a 16 per cent raise. I find that hard to do. I find it hard to vote for an increase in the Budget for the Department of Business. You will recall that the Department of Business was a creature of the Premier. Because of his business acumen, when he took office, he decided that he was going to be the Minister of Business in addition to being the Premier.

There was nothing that was accomplished through the Department of Business while the Premier held that job. There is not one thing that can be pointed to as something that the Premier did while he was Minister of Business that will reflect his business acumen, so I really find it hard to vote for the creation of another department within government, a Department of Business, when we already have the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, when we already have all the zonal boards, when we have a creature called the Rural Secretariat, and now there is the Department of Business.

You have to question, and I am sure people out in the Province must question, what is the mandate of all of these so-called economic drivers? What is the role of the Department of Business?

If you look at the salary budget for the Department of Business, you are talking over $2 million for salaries for the Department of Business. I recall that the Minister of Business, in fact, said, in an Estimates Committee, when there is an opportunity to ask ministers questions, that they would be creating fourteen more jobs.

Then, of course, you have the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, and the salaries budget there for 2007-2008 is over $11 million. You are asking me to support a Budget that spends all of this money on salaries, and what are we seeing for it?

I will admit that the employees of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development out around this Province do a good job. They do a good job. They are out on the ground, working with the local businesses. They are working with people who want to establish businesses. They are working with municipalities. They have been involved in this work for years and years and years, and they are there. They are on the front line and they do good work.

Then you have the Rural Secretariat, close to $1 million being spent, and you have to question what this creature does. Established by this government, just like the Department of Business was established, and what have we seen as a result of that kind of expenditure of money? What kind of input are they having in terms of job creation in this Province?

When you look at all of these departments, when you look at Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, when you look at Business, when you look at the Rural Secretariat, when you look at the regional zone boards, one would assume that there is so much going on in the way of economic development being stimulated by the actions of this government that you would not have people lining up on Kenmount Road or going to the job fair at the Glacier looking for work. With the expenditures that are to be approved in this Budget, you would think the last thing you would have to worry about is where you are going to find a job.

I have never said that governments create jobs. Of course there is the bureaucracy, but I have never said that it is government's job to create jobs. I have always said it is to create the environment, to work with business, to attract business, to help existing businesses expand. That is the role of government, but we are not seeing that as a result of what this government is doing. It has been four years that this government has been in office - almost four years, close to it - but we have yet to see any results that will point to them having a clue about what it means to grow the economy.

What I do know, though, is that the Member for Mount Pearl was absolutely correct when he said that this Budget hits the pockets of every taxpayer in Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, not only this Budget but previous budgets. If you look at the fee increases that this government put in place when it took office, in fact, you had fee increases to the tune of $29 million, and guess what? In this year's Budget they stand up and want to be patted on the back for reducing those fees by $3.4 million. Can you believe it? Twenty-nine million, new money, that they are taking out of the pockets of taxpayers in this Province and they want you to be thankful that they are giving you back $3.4 million.

It is amazing - I do not know what thought processes went into this - when you look at the various licences that increased. For instance, fishing, if you want to fish for a salmon, it costs you an extra $5. It went from $17 to $22. If you want to take your family fishing, well, guess what? If that is an activity that you enjoy doing as a family, especially in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, it will cost you $8 more to do it. Imagine, going out as a family, Sunday afternoon, going fishing - we have seen it, particularly those of us who live in rural Newfoundland have seen it - it is going to cost you $8 more to do that. It has gone from $27 to $35.

If you want to hunt moose or caribou, that has gone up by $12. Camping, something you do as a family, something that most families enjoy doing, is getting to be expensive. In fact, if you want to go camping in a park that is open between May 19 and September 6, it went from $799 to $850.

I do not know what this means, the Lands Branch, but, if you want a document prepared, that went from $100 to $200. If you have an elevator to be inspected, that went up by $25. If you want to do a welding test, that went up by $25. Talk about small business trying to thrive in this Province - more like survive - just the costs that are associated with trying to run a business.

If you want to renew your licence, something that those of us in Opposition thought the government is going to recognize now was a foolhardy thing to do, to raise the fee from $140 to $180, certainly heavens they are going to recognize that this was not the right thing to do. Guess what they recognized? We are going to keep it at $180, but if you have a computer we are going to give you a 10 per cent discount for registering on-line. Isn't that just a little bit discriminatory? Doesn't that tell people - a lot who are seniors - sorry, you cannot take advantage of this, too bad, but for those of you who can you get a break.

A photo ID has gone up by $5. Back to small business. Do you know that to register, taxis went from $120 to $150, a hike of $30. These are all fees that impact the taxpayer right in the back pocket. Just as the Member for Mount Pearl said, the Budget hits the pockets of every taxpayer in Newfoundland and Labrador.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) said it puts money in the pockets.

MS FOOTE: No, he did not say it puts money in. Contrary to what the Member for Mount Pearl is trying to say, I wrote down what he said and that is why I am repeating it.

By the way, to write a driver's test now it costs you $5. These are all fees that should never have been increased, the types of fees that people have to incur in their everyday living, and yet this government did not take into account how this would impact Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. They did not take it into account at a time that it is most difficult for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to make ends meet, especially in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

I know inside the overpass on the Avalon Peninsula that things are different. I know that, but do you know something? You will still find a lot of people inside the overpass who are finding it difficult to make ends meet. The poverty levels inside the overpass are probably greater than they are in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. I only say that because in rural Newfoundland and Labrador there is a tendency to depend on each other - your neighbour, your friend across the street, your parents - not that it is any easier, but somehow this government has lost sight of how difficult circumstances are in this Province for our people.

The bottom line to all of this is a chance to go to work, a chance to earn a living, a chance to be able to provide for your family, and unfortunately there are people out there today who have just thrown it all in, packed up the U-Haul and left Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the Province's loss. What is Alberta's gain, New Brunswick's gain, B.C.'s gain, is a loss for our Province because Newfoundlanders and Labradorians want to live home. They want to be here but they cannot.

I have always said, if you leave home and it is by choice then there is nothing wrong with that. Many people do that, but when you do not have a choice, and when you are forced to go, that is where the problem starts and that is when people get stressed. That is when people really do not know where to turn. This government has done nothing to address that. They have done nothing to recognize that there is a serious issue here in terms of employment.

Tonight when you hear in the news of a shortage of nurses, and we have nurses out in the rain in Clarenville, cannot take a holiday, work a twelve hour shift, and told at the end of that shift that they cannot go home, we are going to lose our nurses. We are going to lose our nurses.

Then, when we have LPNs being told that we are going to start using unskilled workers for when you take a vacation, what does that say to the LPN? What does that do to their self-esteem?

Then you have the strike up in Voisey's Bay, people who work hard for a living being replaced by scab labour, and not just bringing in half a dozen or a dozen or two dozen, but every person, to a person, they have been replaced. What does that do to their morale, when the company would prefer to bring in scab labour and not make the effort to try and resolve the issue? Because that is sure what it seems like.

What about our health care? The government stands up and brags about the money that it puts into health care, patting itself on the back, or as the Member for Terra Nova says, pounding himself on the chest. Well, you tell all of those patients who had tests done at the Eastern Health Care Centre in Burin, at the Burin Regional Health Centre, tell them why it is that they have to wait so long now to get the results when their tests are being reviewed because of a possible wrong diagnosis and a possible wrong treatment based on that diagnosis. They are waiting. They are stressed to the max because they do not know whether or not they have had a wrong diagnosis. They do not know if they are going to be retested. Added to that stress is the fact that if they have been diagnosed improperly or inaccurately, they are going to have to be retested. How is that going to happen when we already have radiologists who are working to capacity, who are now trying to help out in this most difficult situation, who had the gun put to their head by the Minister of Health and Community Services to say: You will do this in ten days. They are saying: But, minister, we can't possibly do this in ten days and give you a thorough comprehensive review. So, guess what, minister? We are going to do it and we are going to do it the right way.

So, I am hoping that the minister will do what he said he would do, and that is throw every resource he has at this so that these tests will be reviewed in a timely manner. I am hoping that as these tests are reviewed, as he said would happen, that every patient impacted will be called as the review is done so they do not have to wait until all 6,000 tests are done.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Grand Bank that her time for speaking has lapsed.

MS FOOTE: Time to clue up, Mr. Speaker, please?

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

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. member by leave.

MS FOOTE: And, of course, the whole issue around breast cancer screening and the results of the tests, and what was determined to be a serious issue there.

So, when you want to pat yourself on the back, when you want to take credit, when you want to wave your Budget Highlights, when you want to pound yourself on the chest, sit back and think for a minute about those in our Province who are going through difficult times; in some instances because of your actions, in other instances for your lack of action, and in some cases through no fault of yours whatsoever, but that is the reality. Mr. Speaker, that is why I have great difficulty even considering voting for this Budget.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

It is indeed a pleasure to stand in my place here tonight as the Minister of Labrador Affairs, the Minister of Transportation and Works and, more importantly, the MHA for Lake Melville. It is indeed a pleasure to speak on this particular Budget.

I say to the Member for Grand Bank, she should stick to her wine and give up her whining because I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, even though she just went on with that tripe for the last twenty minutes, there was not one, single new idea that we have heard coming from that particular member's mouth while she was on her feet. The same lady who flew around the world on the taxpayers of this Province, the same member who had the wine delivered to her house. Let me say this, Mr. Speaker, not one, single idea, new idea, did we hear coming across there this evening.

Mr. Speaker, so much for that. The good news for this Province is that this government, under the leadership of this Premier, has turned this Province around. I am proud to be part of this government and I am proud of the work that this government has done in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I am particularly proud, Mr. Speaker, when I look at our accomplishments and our track record in Labrador over the past three-and-a-half-years.

Mr. Speaker, when we took office the Premier and our government promised the people of Labrador that this would be a new opportunity for us and that this government would address the neglect that had gone on by previous Administrations over a number of years. When we look at the investments in Labrador, we will see over $300 million invested in new infrastructure in Labrador over the course of the next five years.

Mr. Speaker, one of the great accomplishments of this particular government, and indeed, I want to certainly take a moment tonight to commend the staff at the Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs who put together a great document, the Northern Strategic Plan. The Premier said it is probably the best document that this government has ever produced. It addresses the social and economic needs of the people of Labrador. This is not a plan that we just slapped together. We saw those of the past. We saw those promises. We saw those types of plans in the past put on the shelf.

As the president on the Combined Councils said just today when we spoke with him: This is a plan, not just words on paper, but commitment in dollars. As I said many times, this government will not be judged on our words, it will be judged on our actions. I think, in light of the recent Budget, we are getting resounding praise from right across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador about this Budget.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, let's just talk about a couple of groups here that have basically championed this Budget. Thumbs up for Budget 2007. The Newfoundland and Labrador Chamber of Commerce said: Budget 07 is a positive plan for the future and spreads resources evenly. Spokesperson Russ Murphy says: The Chamber feels the minimum wage increase will be a manageable challenge. Murphy says: The Chamber believes this is the Province's best Budget since joining Canada. That is not members over here talking about it, this is people outside the working community, the business community who are talking.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Regional Economic Development Association supports Budget 07. The association represents twenty regional boards and is pleased government is supporting the needs of today, but is creating a vision, Mr. Speaker, for the future.

The Make Work Pay Coalition calls the planned increase in minimum wage a giant step, and by April 1, 2008 the minimum wage will go up to $8 an hour. We, Mr. Speaker, have committed to increasing that even more so as we move into future years.

Mr. Speaker, there is support out there for this Budget; great support for this Budget I say, Mr. Speaker. Let me just spend a few minutes talking about the Northen Strategic Plan. As I said earlier, this government will invest more than $300 million over the next five years to support the goals and aspirations of the people of Labrador through the Northern Strategic Plan. Approximately $55 million will be spent for new initiatives over the next five years to implement the plan. This was a commitment that we made in the 2005 Speech from the Throne. It is a commitment we made then, and it is a commitment we are delivering in this particular House of Assembly during this session.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about some of the great initiatives. I am always interested when I hear members opposite talking about: Oh, we are not supporting this particular Budget. It is the worst Budget, blah, blah, blah. Mr. Speaker, I can say this, if the Member for Torngat Mountains and the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair vote against this Budget, it is pure partisan politics. It is pure nastiness, Mr. Speaker. Let me say this, Mr. Speaker, I have been living in Labrador pretty well all of my life and I can tell you, we have never seen the attention paid to the issues of the people of Labrador as to what we have under Premier Williams and this government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: When I listen to the members opposite - and I just want to take a couple of key points that we need to address here. For instance, the subsidy for the electrical rates out in Coastal Labrador. Mr. Speaker, I travelled the Coast of Labrador for some twenty-five years. I worked for Newfoundland Hydro. I fully understand the rates that the people on the North Coast of Labrador had to endure for these. Do you know what, Mr. Speaker? Even though they will stand over there and say they are going to vote against this Budget, they did nothing, Mr. Speaker, absolutely nothing, to address those issues.

I just cannot wait, when the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair stands in her place and starts moving around like a broody hen there, and voting against this Budget, I can tell you, when she is going to vote against a new school going into Port Hope Simpson, she is going to vote against a new school going into her district in L'Anse-au-Loup, she is going to vote against a new regional airport that we are working with the federal government to bring on stream, something that she never, ever, could get. As a matter of fact, caused more chaos in her district than what it was worth.

Mr. Speaker, this government is looking after the needs and the aspirations of the people of Labrador. When we talk about freight rates, this is something very interesting. The Member for Torngat Mountains got up on his feet tonight and talked about wanting to get the long haulage freight rates down. I can say to the hon. member that we, in the Department of Transportation and Works, are reviewing that. We are reviewing it. We have just looked at the vehicle and passenger fares. We looked at some of the freight rates on the Coast of Labrador.

Those two members representing the coastal communities of Labrador were there, over in their places, part of a government, and did nothing about it. Did nothing about it, the same rates that were there since the days of Marine Atlantic. When I look at some of these rates and I look at a twenty foot container from Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Rigolet, which is about ninety miles, we took $444 off a twenty foot container. That gouging had been going on to the people of the Coast of Labrador for many, many years, right under their noses, on their watch, and they did nothing about it, nothing. So, I will be interested to see the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair stand in her place and vote against the $1.5 million in the road upgrade program that we are putting in her district this year.

Mr. Speaker, this Budget is definitely, without question, the best Budget that we have seen in Labrador - the Northern Strategic Plan. Just in my own district, the District of Lake Melville, we will see in excess of $40 million of infrastructure investment in the Towns of Happy Valley-Goose Bay and in the District of Lake Melville.

We are just going to go through some of them: the long-term health care facility, something that was long, long, overdue that is going to be started this year; a new $2.6 million administration building for Grenfell Labrador Regional Health Services. We have just about completed $5.4 million on the extension to the College of the North Atlantic. Again, there is a prime issue. When I took office, Mr. Speaker, we had talked about expansion to the college. It had been a project that they had been looking at for ten years. Ten years is what the administration of the College of the North Atlantic told me in Happy Valley-Goose Bay they were looking for expansion. Let me say, Mr. Speaker, it is now almost completed. I was so happy to visit that with my colleague, the Minister of Education, on her last trip to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and to see the improvements into that facility, improvements that will ensure that Aboriginal youth, and the youth of Labrador, have a good facility for post-secondary education to prepare them for the Lower Churchill, and for the mining industry, and for the forest industry that is going to be developed, certainly, in Labrador over the course of the next number of years.

We talk about $1.3 million, Mr. Speaker, for the new francophone school in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The Premier, Mr. Speaker, personally took the issue to Cabinet and came back with the approval of a new kidney dialysis machine. As the Member for Torngat Mountains said earlier, when he said earlier that the people of Labrador, once they needed that type of medical attention, had to move family to St. John's in order to receive it. Unacceptable, Mr. Speaker, but again this government saw the issue, saw the need, and we did something about it.

When I look at Them Days magazine, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about Them Days magazine. The late Doris Saunders, Dr. Doris Saunders, did exceptional work with Them Days in recording the history and the culture of the people of Labrador. I was so pleased that we could put up to $200,000, Mr. Speaker, into an archives so that we can protect the stories, so we can protect the rich history of the people of Labrador, Mr. Speaker. I think well in excess of $40 million will be spent in the District of Lake Melville.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about what we are doing in Labrador West, and I am so pleased to stand in my place here this evening and to have a colleague with me from Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: A colleague who has, since he came to this caucus, been a great champion for Labrador West, a great asset to assist me in dealing with the issues from Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, when we look at Labrador West, and we look at the expenditure of over $60 million for a new hospital - long overdue. Again, the hon. crowd on the other side never saw fit to do it, but again this government did the right thing and that was, we said: We are going to change that. We are going to replace that hospital. A new hospital is going in Labrador West, and we are in the middle of that, I can tell you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: That commitment is firm, it is sound, and things are happening on that particular file.

The College of the North Atlantic expansion into Labrador West - again, both communities with a history in the mining sector going back to the late 1950s - it is my hope that the campus in Labrador West will become a centre of mining excellence training for the youth of Labrador, the North, and indeed our Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, there have been a lot of great accolades about this Budget in Labrador. I want to say, when we look at some of the groups that have come out publicly and supported this Budget - for instance, Stanley Oliver, who is the President of the Combined Councils, sent out this press release. He stated: Today is indeed a wonderful day for all of Labrador, whereby we see a total investment of approximately $300 million in new initiatives to address eight priority areas. It is clearly obvious that throughout the NSP document that this government has recognized and took into account the Combined Councils of Labrador's concerns and issues brought forth by the Combined Councils of Labrador in its annual general meeting. We are particularly pleased, he goes on to say, to see $1.6 million set aside to offset the cost of power rates on the South Coast of Labrador for domestic use.

Mr. Speaker, there is great support in Labrador. I can tell you, as we have made other improvements to the ferry system in Southern Labrador, the Apollo ran later this year than ever she did before. She started earlier than ever she did before. Let me say this: When I had a call from the South Coast of Labrador just last week and they said: Minister, we can see your initiatives, we can see your government's support for the people of this district and we will be there for you the next time around in October, rest assured.... Rest assured, we will be there with you to continue the great work that we are doing in Southern Labrador and throughout that whole coastal part of Labrador, I can tell you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: I can tell you also, Mr. Speaker, that when it comes down to the South Coast of Labrador, we just put $1.4 million into a brand new depot down there, six new employees down in Southern Labrador. A person from St. Lewis called me and said: We never saw that from the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, the previous Administration. We have not seen that type of attention. That is what they are telling me, Mr. Speaker.

MS JONES: What a bunch of (inaudible)!

MR. HICKEY: The Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair can yap all she likes over there, but I can tell you that is the message that is coming out of her district. They are not pleased at all with their member, because now they are seeing a government who is paying attention to them, not only flapping their lips and putting no money there. We are putting our money where our mouth is, and I can tell you she does not like it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: She does not like it, but I can tell you the people in her district are appreciative, just like the people of Black Tickle over the last few days who called my office. They needed help. They had no gas. We responded.

What did the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair...? She called them up and said: Oh, I did that. She did not even know it happened, Mr. Speaker, but do you know what? They caught on to her, her cute little tricks. They have seen it for too many years and, I can tell you, the feeling I am getting out of the South Coast is that they do not want to see any more of it after October.

I say to my good friend, the Member for Labrador West, we will have a couple of new friends from Labrador here in October.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, I just want again to go over a few of the great initiatives of this government through the Northern Strategic Plan. Let's just go through some of the different sectors of government, and where we are putting some of that investment.

Natural resources, a very important issue for the people of Labrador, Labrador probably has one of the last great wildlife populations left anywhere in the Province. This year, in this Northern Strategic Plan, we have allotted $162,000 to increase the number of conservation officers in inland fisheries, an enforcement program, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER (Collins): Order, please!

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

MR. HICKEY: I would like another three or four hours, if I could, Mr. Speaker. There are lots of good things to talk about.

Just to clue up, Mr. Speaker -

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

AN HON. MEMBER: One minute to clue up.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MR. HICKEY: Mr. Speaker, just a couple of points.

This has been a great Budget for Labrador. We are doing great things in Labrador, and I can tell you the people of Labrador are appreciative. I think we saw that today with the meetings we had with the Combined Councils, when the President of the Combined Councils thanked the Premier and said: Thank you, Premier, for your support. Thank your government for your support. We have not seen this type of support from any government in recent history.

Mr. Speaker, I will take my leave and sit down but I will be getting up again in future days as we again talk about the great things that the Transportation and Works Department is doing for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I say, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It has been a long time since I have heard that much tripe in the House of Assembly, I say to hon. members.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the hon. Member for Lake Melville a couple of things as well. He can stand on his feet every day and he can talk about my district, but the people in my district are not the people he has to answer to at the end of the day. It is the people in his own district.

Mr. Speaker, I would like the hon. member to know a couple of other things as well. In the term of office that I have been in politics representing the great District of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, I can walk around and hold my head high, I say to the hon. member opposite.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JONES: I can hold my head high, Mr. Speaker, because I know that not only has this Budget provided some benefits to my district, but many budgets in the past, Mr. Speaker, many budgets which many hon. members on that side of the House chose to vote against, and they were for infrastructure programs for these communities.

The minister and his government came out with a Labrador strategic plan just a while ago. If you go through that strategic plan, Mr. Speaker, almost item by item each one of those things were implemented by a Liberal government in Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JONES: They were only being carried forward, Mr. Speaker, as part of a plan by the government opposite, and the member knows that, initiative, after initiative after initiative. Mr. Speaker, the only real new initiative in the plan was one-time money that the government is going to spend in Labrador. There is nothing wrong with one-time money, but it is not a strategic plan, I say to the hon. minister, Mr. Speaker, nothing near it.

Anyway, I want to talk about a couple of things in my district tonight, and I talked about some of them today. The minister gets up and thinks, because he transports a few drums of fuel into a community, that all is well, Mr. Speaker, that all is well because the community of Black Tickle today got fifty drums of gas to burn. Well, the community of Black Tickle does not have drinking water, and water and sewer, I remind the minister opposite.

I remind the minister opposite that they still pay the highest freight rates in Labrador - and he is the Minister of Transportation - to get their goods and services out of there. I remind him that over half of the community lives below the poverty line and do not have jobs on a year-round basis. Maybe he would like to get up and talk about what his government is doing on all of those accounts, but we are not going to hear that, Mr. Speaker. We are not going to hear him pound his chest on that issue.

We heard him last week getting up and pounding his chest because he is going to spend $1,500 a week to bring a longliner to transport freight into the communities of Norman Bay and Williams Harbour, communities which he, as the minister, should be building roads into today, not pounding his chest because he is going to spend $1,500 to bring a longliner in through heavy Arctic ice to try and get a service to them. Mr. Speaker, if he really wants to do something for these communities that he can pound his chest about, there is lots that he can do and I can certainly remind him of it.

Mr. Speaker, he forgets very quickly that he is the same minister who, last week, went out and announced $10 million for a bypass road to go out to Torbay, a bypass road that is going to be built out of asphalt, not chip seal. Yet, he is the minister for Labrador and he is the minister who is now left with the responsibility of finding the money to pave roads that we built when we were in government, $320 million in a transportation initiative in Labrador, and the best they can come up with is $5 million a year and get the federal government to match that $5 million before they will start to do any chip seal, I say, not asphalt but chip seal, on the Labrador Highway.

Now, when this member was the Mayor of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, he was out going around talking about how he would not support cheap seal, he called it, coming into Labrador. In fact, there was a gentleman on the radio only a few nights ago, on the Open Line show, talking about how the Member for Lake Melville, when he was the mayor, sat in his house at his kitchen table and made fun of cheap seal coming to Labrador, and it would never happen when he was there.

Well, Mr. Speaker, he is the same minister today who is out there saying we will put $5 million in to do some cheap seal in Labrador and we want the feds to match it, but we will put $10 million in to do an asphalt bypass road to Torbay. That is the kind of commitment and talking out the other side of your face that you getting from the member opposite.

Mr. Speaker, let's look at a couple of other things. One of the things I certainly did not do was give out contracts to companies in Quebec, like we have seen happen by the members opposite in the government. The Minister of Transportation and Works, the same minister for Labrador, one of the largest single contracts ever let by the government opposite was the $57 million contract for the long-term care facility in Corner Brook. Where did it go? It went to a Quebec based company, not a Newfoundland and Labrador company but a Quebec based company. Today, the minister got too cute by half when he stood in his place and talked about some subcontracting going to Newfoundland and Labrador companies.

Let me tell you something. All the structural steel work has been contracted to a Quebec company. Mr. Speaker, he can go and look that up. He can call up the company and he can confirm it. Mr. Speaker, it is all going to be trucked in and it will be assembled once it is trucked in, but it is all coming from a Quebec company, all of the structural steel work. Yet, you have companies right there in Corner Brook, one company in particular who just did the structural steel work for a Coleman's building out in Corner Brook, I understand. There are five companies in this Province that could be doing this contract for that long-term care facility, and providing that structural steel work, and they are not getting an opportunity to do it.

Let me tell you what else the Minister of Transportation and Works did. He allowed them to subcontract all of the mechanical work. Mr. Speaker, that includes everything from the ventilation to the heating systems to the duct work, to all of the piping. Everything is going to be brought in from Quebec, prefabricated on the flatbed of a truck, transported and landed right in the middle of Corner Brook to do this long-term care facility.

Nobody here sees a problem with that. Well, I have a big problem with that. We have all of the structural steel work, we have all of the mechanical work, being let to subcontractors in Quebec. Why? Because the Minister of Transportation and Works and the Minister of Labrador Affairs let the contract go to a Quebec company, Mr. Speaker, instead of one company in their own Province.

Now, let's talk about what else? All the electrical work is being subcontracted to a Quebec company. Every light fixture, every thermostat, every fire alarm, every metre of wiring, every emergency light that is going to be put in that building when it is constructed is coming on a truck, on a flatbed, out of Quebec into Newfoundland, being dropped off in Corner Brook. Now, nobody has a problem with that. Well, I have a big problem with that because there are lots of companies in this Province that could provide these materials and meet the requirements of this subcontract, but it is not happening.

Mr. Speaker, three main components that we know of already are being subcontracted to Quebec based companies and all the product is being prefabbed, it is being brought in on a flatbed and it will be assembled here because this is the location; that is the only reason. We do not know yet if there are going to be workers brought in from Quebec to work there or not, as part of these subcontracts or part of the major contract.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Works today got up and said that all the design work or the excavating work is being done by a Newfoundland company. Mr. Speaker, how could a Quebec company dig a hole and excavate the land? If they could have done it in Quebec, I suppose they would have done it, but it had to be done in Newfoundland. It had to be done in Corner Brook, on the site of the project, so I guess it only made sense to go get the guy with the backhoe equipment down the road to come up and do the excavating work for you. So, Mr. Speaker, other than the excavating work and the concrete work, we know that all the other major components under electrical, structural steel and mechanical are being done by a Quebec company.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you what we get from Quebec companies, because I am very familiar with the regulations in Quebec and how the contracting works in Quebec. I live on the Quebec border, and I have a lot to do with the Province of Quebec and how it works. Mr. Speaker, let me just tell you this one: When the new docking facility for the Newfoundland and Labrador ferry - now, you have to get this; the Newfoundland and Labrador ferry docks in Blanc-Sablon, in the Province of Quebec - when they were going to build a new docking facility for the Newfoundland and Labrador ferry in the Province of Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador companies did not have an opportunity, or what I consider a fair opportunity, to even bid the work. I know of one company in particular who was given all of the tendering package and all the plans and it was all in French. He went back to the Department of Transport in Quebec and he asked them to give it to him in English so he could bid the contract, as a Newfoundland and Labrador contractor, and they refused to do it. They refused to give him the plans and all the concept work and the tendering documents in English. They just refused to do it. So, he asked them if he could have an extension in order to place his bid and he was told: Absolutely not, no extension.

So, Mr. Speaker, the Newfoundland and Labrador company that wanted to bid on that docking facility in Blanc-Sablon did not get an opportunity to do so because the Department of Transport in Quebec would not release the information in English. Yet, we have just given a company a $57 million contract, a company from Quebec, to do work right here in the West Coast of Newfoundland.

Let me tell you something else about this contract in Blanc-Sablon that was done by a Quebec company, although the docking facility was for the Newfoundland and Labrador ferry. They hired a subcontractor from Labrador to do some of the pavement, to do some of the cement work. Well, let me just tell you this: They hired him because they needed him in a hurry. They needed someone in the area, and do you know that this company had to set up their cement plant on the Quebec-Labrador border and a Quebec company had to transport all the material from the plant to the wharf? They would not allow - get this now, Mr. Speaker - this Quebec company would not allow Labrador trucks to truck the material across the border to do their contract at the Blanc-Sablon dock. They had to go and pick up the materials in their own trucks that were owned by their own company and transport it into Quebec.

That is how stringent their regulations were. They would not let a Newfoundland and Labrador trucking company truck the materials across the border. They exchanged the materials at the border, and the Quebec trucks brought it into Blanc-Sablon to do the contract. Now we have to sit and tolerate a Quebec company doing $57 million worth of work in our own Province when we could not even have a truck driver drive across the border in Blanc-Sablon to deliver a load of materials for a ferry dock that was being built for a Newfoundland and Labrador ferry.

Now, Mr. Speaker, those are the kinds of policies that Quebec has. Yet, we talked about: Oh, it is the agreement that we made. It is this, it is that. Well, listen, that agreement works both ways and I have not seen it enacted very fairly on behalf of the Province of Quebec, I can tell you that.

Let me tell you something else. When that ferry dock was being built, there was no one from Labrador who got to work on it. No one from Labrador, and I will tell you why. Because, in order to work for this Quebec company you had to have an employment registration card for the Province of Quebec showing that you were certified to work for a Quebec company; and, because the people in Labrador did not have that, and could not get that, they were not permitted to work.

I am interested to see what is going to happen out in Corner Brook now, where you have a Quebec based company with the contract; you have three major components of the project being subcontracted to Quebec based companies. Let's see what is going to happen out there in terms of the employment piece.

The minister might stand in his place tonight, the minister for Labrador and the Minister of Works, and pound on his chest about how great he is, and all the wonderful things that he is doing, Mr. Speaker, but I am going to tell you something: there are a lot of things he is not doing. It is not so wonderful.

When you can stand in your place and say the reason we awarded this contract to a Province of Quebec company is because it was saving us $3 million, well, Mr. Speaker, that is a small investment to make, I would say, to keep the work right here at home in our own Province, to keep the employment in our own Province and to keep the subcontractors in our own Province.

I found out today, in fact, there is a contract to redo the runway in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, something like - I don't know what it is - a $15 million or $20 million contract to resurface it. It has already gone to a Quebec based company. I wondered why the MHA for that area, the Member for Lake Melville, was not out complaining that this Quebec company had gotten this work in his own district and was bringing in, today, trucks and cement mixers and workers and everything else up there to do this job when the local people up there were looking for work and are not able to get it. It is all the talk on the street today in Goose Bay.

I know now why the member for the area was not out saying anything about it, simply because it is no different from what he has done himself, giving a contract to a Quebec company out in Corner Brook. It is no different than what he has done himself, and that is why he is not out saying anything about this runway paving that is being done in Goose Bay by a Quebec company bringing in all of their own workers, all of their own equipment, and the local people do not have any work.

Mr. Speaker, if the member wants something to focus on, besides focusing on my district, I can give him a whole lot of things to look at, Mr. Speaker. He gets up and he is always talking about how wonderful and how great. Well, I will let the member know a couple of things, Mr. Speaker.

When I came in here in 1996, in order for me to travel around my district I had two options: I could go by snowmobile or I could go by boat. Mr. Speaker, I ran my first election campaign in the month of February travelling by snowmobile for hours and hours on end between one community and the next community in some of the harshest kind of weather that you can ever have up there in the month of February. I am going to guarantee you, in the last campaign I did not have to do that. There were roads built in my district.

The one thing I vowed that would happen, the day that I walked in here, I said: I may be in Opposition - because I was. In fact, in the almost twelve years that I have been here, Mr. Speaker, I have spent eight of them in Opposition and less than four of them in government, but the day that I came in here, I said: If there is one thing, they will either do roads in my district or they will get sick of hearing me talk about it. From the first time that I rose in this Legislature and spoke, until those roads were completed, I did not let up. So, I am not going to be intimidated by the Member for Lake Melville, Mr. Speaker, when he gets up pounding on his chest because he brought a few drums of oil into Black Tickle, or something like that. It is no more than he ought to do. They are the government. They should be responding to what the needs of the people are in the Province, Mr. Speaker. They should be responding to the needs of the people in the Province. After all, that is where people have to turn when they are finding themselves underprivileged and ‘underpoverished', Mr. Speaker, in communities without road access and without essential services. They have nowhere else to turn, only to the government. When they do, if the government turns their back on them, they do not have a lot of options, now, do they? So, it is no more than they ought to do to be able to provide those kinds of services in those particular communities.

Mr. Speaker, my question -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS JONES: I apologize for the interruption. One of my colleagues was asking me an important question over there, but I will get back to answering him in very short order.

Mr. Speaker, I think that each and every member comes here to this Legislature for a reason, and that is to make a difference in the districts that they represent. So, people should not take it personally or be overly offended because one member or the other member does not support a particular initiative.

I am sure the member for Torbay is ecstatic over the fact that he is getting a $10 million bypass road. It does not mean that I have to be ecstatic, Mr. Speaker. In fact, if I had $10 million I would be spending it a lot differently. I would be putting roads on the Coast of Labrador, in communities that do not have any today, or I would be trying to upgrade the ones that are there.

Mr. Speaker, you are entitled to have that difference of opinion, and that is why we have a debate in this House of Assembly. Mr. Speaker, when people come here, they do come to make a difference, as I was saying earlier, and they come to try and deliver on things for their district. It does not matter if you are in the government or if you are in the Opposition; your job and your role is the same in terms of the constituents that you represent.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes I listen to the Member for Lake Melville and he thinks - the way he talks is as if he is doing this overwhelming, overjoyous favour for the people of Labrador by just having his presence here, by just being here, because I am me.

That is the attitude that he takes, but what he fails to recognize is that everything that is done, whether you are in government or whether you are in Opposition, it is never done singularly by one person. In fact, it is done because of requests that are made by the people, because of input that you seek from the broader population. It is because there is a need in these communities, and government's responsibility to respond.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that her speaking time has expired.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker,

I will certainly conclude my remarks on the Budget right now. I am sure we will have another opportunity to speak.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly a pleasure to rise tonight to speak on the Budget. Before I get into my comments on the Budget, I would like to refer to something that the Member for Grand Bank had to say. She was talking about people who would have to get on a plane to go to Alberta for four weeks at a time, come home and have to go back again. She said that they miss anniversaries and funerals and birthdays, and I certainly do not disagree with that, but I would have to ask the Member for Grand Bank: How is getting on a plane to go to Alberta a month at a time any different from getting on a helicopter here in St. John's and going to Terra Nova or Hibernia for three weeks at a time?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, I just dropped my fiancé off this morning at the airport at 5:00 a.m. He left for Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories and he is gone for a three week rotation. The reason he is gone is because he is employed with a Newfoundland company and he has to go as part of his employment contract.

Mr. Speaker, there are about 17,000 people in the Province employed as a result of our oil industry, and a significant portion of them work offshore. How is it any different in having to be away for three weeks offshore than it is from going to Alberta? A lot of times, in a lot of cases, you are going to camps or you are going on a rig, and in a lot of cases oftentimes you cannot spend your money when you are there and you certainly bring your money back to this Province and drive the economy of this Province.

I would just like to point that out. I know that, just from being at a Ford dealership recently, one of the people there said how many calls he is getting from Alberta, saying: I will be home in two weeks' time; have my truck ready for me. He said he has never seen the business like it before. So, I just thought I would point that out because, really, getting on a plane to go to Alberta for a four week rotation is no different than getting on a helicopter right here in St. John's to go offshore. You are still away from home, and you still miss the anniversaries, but you are doing it to make a living and you are coming back here in your hometown to spend your money.

Mr. Speaker, to get into my comments on the Budget, the first thing I would like to speak about is one of the things that I think is the most talked about issue item in the Budget and that is the tax cuts. Mr. Speaker, we went from the highest tax rate in Atlantic Canada to the lowest in Atlantic Canada.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, what this means effectively is that, as of July 1, every single taxpayer in this Province receives a raise. It is basically more disposable income, more money in your pocket. With that, you tend to often spend more money and it drives the economy. Whether it is spending it in expansions, or purchasing something for your home, or a vehicle, or investing your money, it certainly drives the economy. Not only does it drive the economy, Mr. Speaker, but it certainly improves our competitive advantage here in the Province in terms of attracting business to come to this Province to set up shop here. I know one of the things that businesses look for is the tax regime in a province. Of course, having the lowest one in Atlantic Canada would put us with a much better competitive edge than our Atlantic counterparts.

Mr. Speaker, while on the subject of tax credits, there is something that I have to make mention of, and I heard the Leader of the NDP earlier today talk about - in fact, she said people earning $150,000 a year do not need the $4,000. Mr. Speaker, I find this very confusing because on Thursday she was in this House saying that we are not doing a good enough job of attracting pathologists to the Province because we are not paying them enough money. I think the figure is something like $242,000 here compared to $300,000 and change in Ontario. Mr. Speaker, I say it is confusing because, which is it? On the one hand she is saying that they are not deserving of tax credits, but on the other hand she says we are not paying them enough money. I would just like to point that out, Mr. Speaker.

The next topic I would like to talk about is the adjustment to the income threshold so that more people no longer pay provincial income tax in this Province. Mr. Speaker, in 2006 a single person, the threshold at that time was $12,000. We have raised that now to $13,000 and, as of 2008, we will be indexing that number for a family, and this includes single parent families. In 2006 that amount was $19,000 and that is now up to $21,000. Mr. Speaker, this translates into 4,000 more people in the Province not having to pay provincial income tax in this Province this year. That is very significant.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to speak a little on the seniors' benefit. As you know, seniors have helped to build everything that we have today and we should be very grateful for that. Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the tremendous contributions that seniors make to our local communities, our Province, and, in fact, our nation. For that reason we have significantly adjusted the income thresholds for that.

In 2006 the threshold for the full benefit for a senior couple was $15,032. In this Budget that is now $25,000 to get the full benefit. The partial benefit last year was $21,482. In 2007 it is $31,587. Mr. Speaker, that is a $10,000 increase in the threshold. What this translates into is that 3,800 senior couples will receive the full benefit of $768 this year, not to mention the 3,200 senior couples who will receive a partial benefit. Again, as I said, we recognize all that seniors do for our Province. A lot of the things we have today are because of their hard work and dedication, and we recognize that. That is why we gave back to them in this Budget.

Mr. Speaker, next I want to speak about education. Certainly, with a $1 billion budget for education it would be impossible to mention all of the great things being done in this department, but I would like to highlight a few of them.

First is the free textbooks. I remember back in high school, my friends and I would always go berry picking to raise money for our school textbooks, and we hoped that we had enough money left over at the end so we could go to the fall fair in Harbour Grace. People today, I hope, will still pick berries, as it is good for the agricultural industry, but, Mr. Speaker, no longer will they have to take that $300, which is the average cost of textbooks for a student in high school, and spend it on books. They can use that for other things that they need, whether it is to promote their education or do extracurricular activities and so on.

The second thing I would like to point out - and this is one of the things that was raised by Denise Pike, the former president of the student union association - is the increase in operating grants to the school districts from fifty-five cents a square foot to ninety-two cents a square foot. Of course, this is to help with improving funding for renovations and maintenance and so on.

Mr. Speaker, I also would like to mention the grants for students. This is probably one of the most highly praised items that I have heard from students in the past couple of weeks. Effectively, as a result of these grants, the average student will be borrowing 38 per cent less this year than they did in previous years. Mr. Speaker, this must be a major relief for students upon completion of their program. Getting out of university, which I not too long ago did, you have to face paying back student loans. In fact, I am still paying them back today. That payment, if you did not have as much as that to make, you could certainly put towards a payment on a car, or renting a place, anything that will help you get employment. Certainly, there were no grants when I went through, as I said, but what does benefit me is that the interest rate has gone down. Effectively, we removed the 2.5 per cent. I am still paying on those student loans, as I said, so I will see a reduction there.

The other thing I would like to make mention of, in the education area, while it may seem like a small amount - it is $100,000 - that is to cover the insurance in schools for community activities. Mr. Speaker, I heard from a lot of organizations in the districts, sports groups, volunteer groups, about the need to have this because they did not have a lot of places to go in their community. Their school is the centre of their community, and the gym would certainly be a great use for their sporting activities. Of course, we are always trying to promote physical fitness and healthy living. It is amazing that such a small amount of dollars, $100,000, has gone such a long way in helping many, many communities, particularly in rural Newfoundland, because we do not often have all of the big centres, fitness centres and so on and so forth, that they do in the big cities.

Mr. Speaker, next I would like to touch on health. There are a lot of items in the Budget that are very, very good for health care, but I just want to touch on one thing in health care and that is the diabetic pumps. Mr. Speaker, there was one elementary student from my district who came in. She actually called and requested a meeting with the Minister of Health, so I set that up for her. She is eleven years old. Her mother and her grandmother came. The former Minister of Health, the current Minister of Justice, would remember this. I was so touched by what she had to say, because she already has the diabetic pump but she came asking for other children her age because of the positive impact it had on her life. She was not asking for herself, but she was asking for all other children. That was certainly something that was wonderful to see in this Budget.

Another parent I talked to just recently called when she heard about the pump and I said, yes, the pump and the supplies are included. She was so grateful, I think she was nearly in tears on the phone. Then, five minutes later, I got a call again from the same lady, thinking she would want some different information, but she called back just to hear me say again that we were including the cost for the diabetic pump and the supplies for her child, because I don't think, at first, she fully grasped it. She just wanted me to reconfirm what I had said, and she was very grateful for that.

Mr. Speaker, one thing that I would like to briefly touch on, in the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment, and I have received a lot of positive feedback on this item, is the additional funding for the Provincial Home Repair Program. Effectively, we have doubled that funding. What that means for people who on the wait list for sometimes years and years is that effectively that wait list is basically cut in half now. I just wanted to briefly mention that, because I did have a constituent who did say that is worth making note of.

Mr. Speaker, how could I not speak about roads? Roads is such an important issue in the district. As you know, $70 million was put into the Budget this year for roads and, of that, $3 million went to the District of Trinity-Bay de Verde. This is very good for the travelling public, of course, for businesses and tourists alike. There are a lot of rough roads out there. We have been working on them over the years, and putting somewhere close to $10 million in the last three years. We have done a significant portion of it. We have a lot to do.

Just recently, the Minister of Transportation announced funding for the neighbouring District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace, and he would know that the road in Victoria and Salmon Cove is badly in need of repairs and we will be finishing that off in Victoria and going into a portion of Salmon Cove this year. We are very grateful for that.

I was out to a funeral yesterday and I stopped into a gas station along the way. A man was there who I was speaking with - he is not from my district; he was travelling to the district for the funeral - and he said: You know, the roads are not the greatest but they are getting better. He said: It is like a house. If you have not done any work on your house for fifteen years, what do you expect to happen to it? You need regular maintenance and you need upkeep of it.

I though it was a very important point. He recognized what we were doing as a government to try and catch up. It is a significant piece of work that we have to do, and that is why we have committed $2 billion over the next six years into infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, this is the Budget debate so effectively we can speak on any subject we want, and there is something that I would like to address not directly in the Budget.

Mr. Speaker, in December, as listeners may recall, the Opposition held a mock Question Period, and at that time the Opposition House Leader raised questions regarding, ‘Charleen Johnson's district.' The Opposition House Leader stated that I was, ‘blacklisting the new executive of the North Shore Development Association because of an investigation into the misappropriation of funds by the former executive.'

Mr. Speaker, they certainly tried - at least people in the district said to me that they tried - to leave the impression that I was involved in the investigation. I think it is really sad that the Opposition House Leader tried to make something out of the story that really attacked my character and integrity, and these are things that are important to me.

Mr. Speaker, I heard the Member for Port de Grave earlier today explain the role of the Opposition, and I must say he did a good job and he was not negative at all. I suggest that attacking someone's character is not the role of the Opposition. I have the greatest respect for every single member in this House, both sides of the House. I have the greatest respect for any member who puts their name on the ballot box.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS JOHNSON: Yes, I say to the Leader of the Opposition, the investigation is over, I am happy to report that, and there was no wrongdoing found in the past members of the association. They have been cleared of all wrongdoing.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to point out that I, personally, was never under investigation, but the fact that the Opposition House Leader tried to leave that impression is very regrettable.

Mr. Speaker, on that, I would like to say thank you for the time for allowing me to speak on the Budget tonight. I will very proudly be voting for this Budget. When we get back to the main motion, I will certainly touch on things that are relevant to people in my district tonight. When I get back to the main motion, I certainly look forward to speaking on some of the wonderful things we are doing in the Department of Natural Resources.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to get up and speak to the motion, but before I start - because I prepared a few notes about who votes for what in the House of Assembly - I want to make a few comments with regard to the speech that the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde just made. She started her speech tonight by talking about her fiancé now working in Tuktoyaktuk.

I say to the member, had your government done anything about creating employment in this Province, maybe he would be -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. REID: Okay, all right. She says her fiancé is working with a Newfoundland company in Tuktoyaktuk. I say, if your government had done anything about creating employment in this Province, I say to the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde, maybe that company for which your boyfriend works would have a contract here. Maybe, for example, if your colleague, the Minister of Transportation and Works, had not given a $57 million contract to a Quebec company for all of the design work, all of the construction work that is going to take place on a hospital in Corner Brook, maybe if he had not done that, maybe your fiancé would be home here tonight instead of in Tuktoyaktuk, I say to the member.

Now, you also talked about roadwork.

MS JOHNSON: (Inaudible).

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I say to the member, if she is going to heckle me, at least do it in a way in which I can hear her, because I cannot.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: All I know is her mouth is moving over there but I cannot hear what she is saying.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, she talked about the roads in her district. It was only a year ago that she stood on that side of the House and talked about how the only person disappointed in the road conditions in her district was her mechanic; that the roads were so good that her mechanic was not getting any work anymore. Now, all of a sudden, she is up talking about making progress on our roads. Obviously, she has driven down there in the last year and found out that they were not in such good shape.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I will get to my speech. All night tonight - and it started with the first speaker on that side, and that is the Member for Terra Nova. He got up and talked about -

MS JOHNSON: I can't believe he doesn't know (inaudible).

MR. REID: I know a lot about your district, I say to the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde. I grew up in the district adjoining it. I spent many days and many nights in your district, I say, Mr. Speaker.

So, Mr. Speaker, it started tonight with the Member for Terra Nova when he stood and said he is going around slapping himself on the chest about how great this Budget is and does not understand how anyone opposite could vote against it. Now, every single member who stood on that side of the House tonight and every night, or every afternoon since we have been discussing this speech, have the same theme: If the Opposition votes against this Budget over here, there is something wrong with you. How can you dare vote against such a great Budget? - the one that they are slapping themselves on the chest over.

Well, Mr. Speaker, let me tell you - and we have the Minister of Health there, the member who represents Clarenville, the Trinity North area. He sat on both sides of the floor in one term, I might add, and he voted for and against budgets. It depends on where he sat in the House of Assembly.

Now, Mr. Speaker, let me tell you some of the things that the crowd opposite, including the Premier, I might add, when he sat over here for the Budget of 2001, 2002 and 2003, when he was in Opposition, three Budgets - along with the Minister of Health and other members over there when they sat over here. They admitted in the House of Assembly tonight that they have never, ever voted for a Budget that was presented by the government opposite. They never, ever did it; never did it. Even the Speaker, the member for Waterford-Kenmount, voted against the Budget for thirteen years consecutively.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. REID: No, I already talked about the Health Minister. Like I said, he voted with us when he was on that side of the floor. When he was on the government side, before he crossed the floor, he voted for the Budget over there and moved over here when he abandoned ship, like other things are apt to do. When the ship is going down, someone abandons it. He came over here and voted against it.

Let me tell you some of the things that they voted against and they are saying tonight - because the Member for Terra Nova is a new member, maybe he does not know that Opposition's do not vote for Budgets. Let me tell you some of the things they voted for - and I will start with some of the things that were done in my district, that your Premier and other members who sat on this floor voted against. They voted against, for example, a hospital on Fogo Island. That is one of the things they voted against. They voted against a new school on New World Island. They voted against it. They voted against a new ice plant for the stadium on Fogo Island. They voted against renovations to the stadium in Twillingate.

Let me tell you something else, these are just some of the things in my district. The crowd opposite, including the Member for The Straits & White Bay North, voted against a new school for a town in his district, a town called Roddickton. He voted against that in the Budget. The Member for St. Barbe District voted against a new school in Plum Point, a town in his district. He voted against it. Now, Mr. Speaker, that is what they voted against.

The Premier and the crowd who were sitting here in Opposition voted against a new hospital for Grand Bank. Guess what, Mr. Speaker? Guess what they voted against? Guess what they voted for when they sat on this side of the House? They voted against the new Janeway Hospital. Just imagine! Voted against the new Janeway Hospital.

Guess what else they voted against? They voted against tuition decreases at Memorial University three years in a row. They voted against a tuition decrease one year of 10 per cent, 10 per cent another year and 5 per cent the following year. Three years in a row they voted against a 25 per cent reduction in tuition at MUN. That is what you voted against. You voted against, one year, $8 million in renovations to the College of the North Atlantic.

Another year you voted against $65 million worth of renovations and extensions to the Gander hospital. They voted against that. They voted against a $10 million facility, Carmelite House, in Grand Falls-Windsor. Voted against it! They voted against the cancer clinic. In fact, not only did they vote against it, the Premier of this Province today, when he sat here, voted against it. When he became Premier he cancelled the contract. Just think about that. The Premier not only voted against the Budget that had the cancer clinic in it but when he became Premier he cancelled the contract. That is what he voted against.

Now, Mr. Speaker, they voted against a hospital in Bonne Bay, in another Tory district, and they voted against a hospital in Stephenville. Just imagine, with the mill closed down out there today with 900 direct and indirect jobs lost. Just imagine, if we listened to them when they voted against the hospital in Stephenville. What would be happening over there today, I ask the Education Minister?

They also voted against - and I can tell the Minister of Transportation, the member from Goose Bay, your colleagues over there, when that sat over here, voted, in one year, against $121 million being spent on the Trans-Labrador Highway. Voted against it, and you are asking me why I will not vote for your Budget tonight? They should be ashamed to even talk about it. They voted against a new school in Goose Bay. Just imagine! Colleagues who had worked for the Minister of Transportation, when they were over here, voted against that new school in Goose Bay. They also voted against the courthouse in Goose Bay. They also voted against the hospital in Goose Bay.

Mr. Speaker, the last thing they did in the last year we had a Budget in 2000 -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

MR. REID: They voted against four new schools in the Torngat riding. Voted against it! They even voted against $1 million in 2003 for new library books for the libraries in our Province. Now, these are only some - and I will come back with many, many more of the things that the crowd opposite, when they sat in Opposition, voted against.

I guess what I am trying to tell the new, naive Member for Terra Nova is that simply because there are a few good things in a budget, it does not mean that Opposition parties vote for them. That is what I am trying to tell you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: Now, let me tell you why I will not be voting for the Budget. I am going to start and tell you why, because as we speak today, in my district there are a few questions that people would like answered. For example, what is in the Budget for Twillingate & Fogo district? Just think about that now. What is in it for them? They do not have a peck of payment announced yet this year, not a square inch, for thirty-nine communities on four islands. There is not five cents, not an inch of pavement, not five cents worth, no one cent worth, not a half a cents worth of pavement for that district this year. Just imagine, not a penny. That is what they got so far this year, so there is nothing in that light.

Tell me something else. How much are the people in my district - because you know what makes this Budget what it is: the surplus of $260 million. Most of that comes from the benefits from our offshore resources. Now, you tell me what benefits the people in my district see from the offshore resources, the offshore oil and gas. Tell me what they see from it. Tell me, how they are benefitting?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Colleagues, we have to conduct the House in a manner that respects each other's wish and ability to be able to speak, and there is all together too much shouting across the floor. It is impossible for the Chair to be able to maintain appropriate decorum in such circumstances.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate your interference and protection because I do not like to scream and shout. I give myself a headache, but I have to in order to make myself heard in this House of Assembly when you have the likes of the Minister of Transportation who will not shut up when I stand on my feet. Mr. Speaker, he just will not shut up when I stand on my feet.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I caution the Leader of the Opposition about language.

Also, again, I am still not satisfied that the decorum in the Chamber is appropriate. I am asking all members for their co-operation. A member has a right to give a speech; a member has a right to be heard.

The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I said, the reason we have surplus budgets is because of the oil and gas industry. That is the main component, and the royalties we are receiving from it.

In my district, like any other rural district in the Province, the question that they are asking is, what benefits are they seeing from those natural resources, and are they receiving the same benefits as other areas in the Province as a result of those resources? The answer to that is an absolute no, they are not. They are not receiving the same benefits, not even close to it, as other areas in the Province, and it is certainly not going anywhere close to what benefits the Northeast Avalon is receiving. No disrespect, I wish everybody in the Province could be like those who live on the Northeast Avalon, because most of the people who work in the oil industry are located in this region. This is where most of the jobs are.

The Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde, I think, just told me there were 17,000 jobs in the oil industry. Well, I tell you, there are none of them in my district. That is what I say to the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde. There might be a few in yours, but there are no 17,000, there are no 1,700, and I doubt very much if there are 170. There might be seventeen. Maybe, if you noted - and you might get up and correct me - there might be seventeen, I say, in your district, and you are 100 miles from here. You are an hour-and-a-half from right here. I can tell you, there is no one in my district reaping the benefits from the offshore, but as a result of the offshore we have a $260 million surplus this year; $260 million sitting in the bank that you are not going to spend this year; $260 million when 90 per cent of the people in my district are going without tonight because this government will not step up to the plate and try and help those individuals in my district who are hampered by ice conditions and cannot get out to fish this year, and are home doing without. One individual last week told me he had to sell his pickup. Some of them are finding it very difficult to feed their families, to feed their children, let alone give them a few cents to go out on a weekend or to go buy something for recess or for lunch at school. This government is sitting on $260 million and turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to those people, Mr. Speaker.

There are lots of things that the people in my district want. I talked about roads. Mr. Speaker, I have thirty-nine communities on four islands. Change Islands, for example, Mr. Speaker, has four kilometres of dirt road leading to that community left unpaved, has been left unpaved for the last four years since the Liberal government left power in 2003, four years without a peck of pavement.

The Minister of Transportation, if he wants to talk about doing something for rural communities, go out there this summer, I say to him, and spend $200,000 or $300,000 or $400,000 and complete that road, because the Minister of Fisheries knows the district. He knows the community. He was out there the summer to a forum on the fisheries. Like he said, they should pave it. He said it to me across the floor here tonight, that they should pave that road, because it is a beautiful community. It has a lot to offer for tourism in this Province. Then, go to Fogo Island and talk about the road that leads -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: The member opposite, the Member for Lake Melville, knows nothing of politics, knows nothing of the road conditions in this Province, even though he is the Transportation Minister.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: Every year that I was a member, as we -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair appeals to hon. members again. The Chair recognizes that debate in the Chamber can be aggressive; however, there are limits and the Chair asks all members on both sides for their co-operation.

The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member for Lake Melville can yap and he can scream all he likes, but I have an hour to speak tonight. I have an hour to speak tonight, and I am going to have my say. He was over there yapping just then about: Why didn't we do all of the roads when we were in power?

I can say to the minister, every single year that I was the member and we sat on the government side of the House we put money into paving in that district, every single year. Unfortunately, because of the mess we were left with in 1989, after we took over from seventeen years of Tory government, there were no roads paved out there. That is what I say to the member. The only road that was paved in 1989 in Twillingate district was the main road going across the islands.

Mr. Speaker, on Fogo Island they are in desperate need of some pavement. On New World Island, not only is the main road across New World Island not finished with recap but the roads to Cottlesville, to Moreton's Harbour, to Tizzard's Harbour, down to Toogood Arm, Cobb's Arm, Pikes Arm and Herring Neck, all of those towns and communities and many, many others - because there happens to be nineteen communities on New World Island - all need some repairs and some pavement. Yet, this Minister of Transportation, the loudest, most vociferous individual on that side of the House of Assembly, who talks but does not listen, has not committed five cents -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: - from his Budget that he talks about putting millions of dollars in - to that district. Not five cents this year has he committed, even though he told the local paper that there was money coming, even though he told councils on these islands that there was money coming. We are into June now, Mr. Speaker, and he has not announced five cents for it. If he does now there is a good chance that none of it will be done this year.

Mr. Speaker, there are other communities on these two islands who need water and sewer projects. One or two got a few bucks this year but there are many that have not. We are still waiting, in Joe Batt's Arm, for example, Mr. Speaker, for hundreds of houses to be hooked up to water and sewer, that do not have a drop of decent drinking water, and they are sitting on a $260 million surplus. They gave some money to an extension for a water and sewer line into the Town of Tilting, but guess what, Mr. Speaker? At the end of the road, where the water and sewer is going this year, there is an eighty-five-year-old woman who lives alone, and guess what? She is the only one on that road who is not going to be hooked up to water and sewer, because they need $60,000 or $70,000 or $80,000 to put the water and sewer down to her but they will not give her the money. Those are some things that they could put in the Budget that I would like to see.

They could also increase the MOGs. The Minister of Municipal Affairs got up tonight talking about how we did not raise the MOGs. Well, you have $260 million you are sitting on this year; why don't you increase the MOGs? Why don't you give some debt relief to the communities around this Island who are seeing out-migration, the likes of which they haven to seen before, and as a result their tax base has dropped? Why can't you put some of the $260 million surplus into debt relief in towns like Fogo, Joe Batt's Arm, Tilting? Why can't you do it for Summerford or Cottlesville? Why can't you do it for Twillingate or Crow Head? All of these communities want some debt relief. They would all like to see an increase in their MOGs.

Mr. Speaker, apparently, I am supposed to sit down now because we are supposed to adjourn debate. By my calculation, I still have forty-four minutes left when I take up this speech on Thursday afternoon.

With that, I will adjourn debate and I will tell the members opposite why I am not voting for this Budget, why I am not going to be out in my district beating on my chest saying what a great Budget it is; because, if I were to do that, my constituents would have me locked up.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair acknowledges that the hon. the Leader of the Opposition has adjourned debate and I do believe there is an agreement to that effect.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Before we finish for the evening, I just want to remind hon. -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity before we adjourn to remind colleagues that tomorrow is Private Members' Day. The motion on the Order Paper, in the name of my colleague from Conception Bay South, will be the matter that will be debated tomorrow.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I move that the House on its rising do adjourn until tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that the House adjourn until tomorrow, Wednesday, May 30, at 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

This House now stands adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2:00 of the clock.

On motion, the House at its rising adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m.