The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Admit visitors.

When tragedy happens, it is comforting to know that sorrow and sympathy is not only felt by families and friends but by Canadians right across this country. I have received a copy of a motion adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec, which I will now have read to the House of Assembly. I call on the hon. the Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs to read the motion as it was printed, and I will read the motion in English after.

The hon. the Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs.

MS SULLIVAN: Merci.

La letter est addressé á le très honourable Roger Fitzgerald, Président, Assemblée Législative de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador.

"Monsieur le Président : Au nom de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec, j'ai le plaisir de vous transmettre copie d'un motion adoptée par ses members, ce dix-septième jour de mars 2009, concernant la présentation de condoléances à la familles et aux prôches des victimes de l'accident d'hélicoptère au large de Terre-Neuve.

Je vous serais reconnaissant de bien vouloir porter cette motion à la connaissance de l'ensemble des membres de l'Assemblée Législative de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador.

Je vous prie d'agréer, Monsieur le Président, l'expression de ma haute considération."

Et la lettre est signè par

Yvon Vallières

Et aussi le motion:

Motion De L'Assemblée Nationale Du Québec

QUE l'Assemblée nationale se recueille en soutien à la profonde tristesse que vivent les parents, les familles et les prôches des 17 victimes du tragique accident survenu jeudi dernier au large de Saint-Jean, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; en notre nom à nous et en celui de tous les Québécois, nous leur présentons nos plus sincères condoléances; nous saluons la force et la solidarité dont ils ont à faire prevue ensemble pour traverser ces moments si difficiles.

Copie conforme de la motion adoptée par L'Assemblée Nationale le 17 mars 2009.

Quebec.

C'est signé par François Côte, Secrétaire général de l'Assemblée Nationale.

MR. SPEAKER: I thank the hon. minister.

The letter reads: Quebec, March 18, 2009.

"Mr. Speaker: On behalf of the National Assembly of Quebec, I am pleased to provide you with a copy of a motion adopted by its Members this 17^th day of March, 2009, with respect to the expression of condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the helicopter accident off the coast of Newfoundland.

I would appreciate it if you would bring this motion to the attention of all Members of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Yours very truly,

Yvon Vallières

Speaker of the National Assembly."

And the motion reads:

Motion of the National Assembly of Quebec, that the National Assembly observe a moment of reflection in sympathy for the deep sorrow experienced by the parents, families and friends of the 17 victims of the tragic accident that occurred last Thursday, off the coast of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador; in our own name and in the name of all Quebecers, we extend to them our heartfelt condolences; we salute the strength and solidarity they must demonstrate to get through these most difficult times.

Certified a True Copy of the Motion carried by the National Assembly on the 17 of March, 2009, Quebec City, this 18 day of March, 2009, signed by François Côtè, Clerk of the National Assembly.

The following members' statements will be heard: the hon. the Member for the District of Port au Port, the hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, the hon. the Member for the District of Kilbride, the hon. the Member for the District of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, the hon. the Member for the District of Ferryland, and the hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

The hon. the Member for the District of Port au Port.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CORNECT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely happy to stand in this hon. House of Assembly to extend my congratulations to the Knights of Columbus and their families for 100 years of commendable services in our Province.

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic men's organization. It has grown to more than 13,000 councils and 1.7 million members worldwide, thanks to the efforts of Father Michael J. McGivney who officially chartered the Knights of Columbus on March 29, 1882 in New Haven, Connecticut.

In our Province, there are approximately fifty councils and more than 5,000 members throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. The first two councils were founded in Harbour Grace and St. John's on November 29 and November 30, 1909. The celebration has already begun Province wide for one whole year, the centennial anniversary year, which will conclude on November 30, 2009.

On Saturday, November 29, 2008, I was proud to be part of the kick off ceremonies at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Council 3742 and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Assembly 1653 in Stephenville.

The Knights of Columbus have a solid history in our Province, Mr. Speaker. They have been offering programs that serve to improve the lives of people who need them the most. The Sick Children's Fund, youth, families, seniors, communities have all benefited from their assistance. Their goal is to make their communities a better place for all and they succeed admirably in their goal.

So, Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members of this hon. House of Assembly to join with me in congratulating the Knights of Columbus for selfless and generous efforts continuing to serve our Province. Mr. Speaker, when others care enough to act, they make a difference that has a great impact on us all.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

It gives me great pleasure today to stand in the House and recognize Sara Tilley, a writer, theatre artist and Artistic Director of She Said Yes! Theatre Company.

Sara is one of the finalists for the Winterset Awards for her first novel, Skin Room which was published in 2008.

Michael Crummey, another one of our great novelists in this Province, called Skin Room "an unflinching love letter to heartache, the far north, late nights in downtown St. John's, family dysfunction and the slim possibility of redemption. Sara Tilley manages despair, slapstick and all registers in between with equal skill and grace."

Other finalists for the Winterset Awards are: Randall Maggs, for Night Work: The Sawchuck Poems and Marie Wadden, Where the Pavement Ends: Canada's Aboriginal Recovery Movement and the Urgent Need for Reconciliation.

Tomorrow afternoon, Sara will be reading with the other finalists at the Winterset reading, and then tomorrow night she will be acting in a play that she has taken part in, a collective which is called the (In)Complete Herstory of Women in Newfoundland (and Labrador!) This collective piece is about the history of women in Newfoundland, spanning everything from pirates, nuns, suffragists, Beothucks, bullfighters, singers, criminals and Viking warriors. You may all want to go see that play if you are in St. John's this week.

I ask the members of this House to join me in wishing Sara Tilley continued success in her work and to wish the Winterset finalists good luck.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Kilbride.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize and pay tribute to the Goulds Recreation Committee, its board and staff.

In 1992, the former Town of Goulds was amalgamated with the City of St. John's. All services, including recreation, became the responsibility of the city. After a few years of struggle, and decline, a decision was made to allow a committee from the community to operate recreational programming in the Goulds again, as it had been done prior to 1992.

For the past ten years or more, the Goulds Recreation Committee has provided good quality recreation programming for Goulds residents from ages five to seniors. As well, the group has been instrumental in working with the city to construct three new soccer fields, a new softball field, outdoor basketball court, a skateboard park, children's playgrounds and an arena.

It has encouraged and supported minor sports as well as activities for seniors and other adult groups. It continues to offer a Winter Carnival Program each year, continuing a tradition that is over twenty years old.

Mr. Speaker, the Goulds Recreation Committee held its Annual General Meeting on November 18, 2008 and the following people were elected to the board for 2009:

Chairperson: Michelle Downey; Treasurer: Karen Dinn; Secretary: Gina Evoy; members at large: Tracey Powell, Trudy Williams, Brian Head, Dave Ryan, and Don Earles.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the Goulds Recreation Committee for such outstanding service to the community of Goulds.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to congratulate Martin Flynn of Forteau, Labrador.

His business, MarbleZip Tours, recently received the Tourism Atlantic Technology Award during the 2009 Lookout! Tourism Summit.

Mr. Speaker, this award was created by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency in 2004 for a tourism operator in each of the Atlantic Provinces who has been innovative and creative in the use of technology to improve and grow their tourism operations.

Mr. Speaker, MarbleZip Tours opened in Steady Brook last August after Mr. Flynn, who has a background in adventure tourism, saw an opportunity to create a zip tour experience in Newfoundland and Labrador. One of his major marketing tools is in Web site development, and he has utilized this technology to promote the Zipline to a very broad audience.

Mr. Flynn's ingenuity and insight led him to adding popular social networks, such as Youtube links and a Facebook page to his Web site to showcase the experience of zipping on a steel cable strung between platforms on trees or towers, at heights that offer panoramic views of the landscape below.

This is an adventure that is brand new to the Province, and I would certainly recommend it to my colleagues in the House of Assembly, if they have not already tried it. It was a great experience, I say to you. There is nothing quite like looking out over Steady Brook in the Humber Valley and looking over the mountains, Mr. Speaker, as you are zipping across 200 feet of cable, I think, across the gorge. At some heights I think it reaches 800 feet or something, or it is 800 feet long - that is what it is, yes - at 200 feet high, so it is quite an experience.

Premier, maybe when you are out there the next time you will be enticed to try the Zipline across Steady Brook. You might even be able to see your district from there, I think, if you can see over the tops of the mountains.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, it is a great new attraction to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador by a young entrepreneur, and I certainly hope that Members in the House of Assembly will get an opportunity to try the Zipline in our Province, and join me in congratulating Mr. Martin Flynn for the great work that he is doing in promoting a new product in this Province.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Ferryland.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A few months ago, on November 10, I attended the Annual General Meeting of the Cape Race-Portugal Cove South Heritage Inc. held at the Portugal Cove South Community Hall.

Those at the Town of Portugal Cove South and the Heritage Inc. have done a tremendous job in promoting the Cape Race Site, the Wireless Communication Site, and the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve which receives close to 10,000 visitors each summer.

The Ecological Reserve, which holds rare fossils, has been tentatively listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. Over the next three years the appropriate documentation will be completed and representation will be made to UNESCO for World Heritage Site designation. It is estimated that such a designation can increase visitation to the site by 100 visitors per day.

Mr. Speaker, the guest speakers at the Cape Race-Portugal Cove South Heritage Inc. AGM in November were two individuals from Joggins Ecological Site from the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia who, on July 7, 2008, received its designation as a World Heritage Site.

Mistaken Point Fossils were discovered in 1967 by S.B. Misra of Memorial University during his Masters of Science thesis research. Since that time much work has been done to protect and promote the site, as well as the site being used for research and study by students from all over the world in the study of pre-Cambrian period fossils.

It is indeed a tribute to the dedicated volunteers of the area who took it upon themselves to protect this international jewel of pre-Cambrian fossil site, and I ask all hon. members to join with me in congratulating them on their commitment to their community and region as we continue to promote the many attributes in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, Corporal William Titford of Spaniard's Bay was recently presented the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation.

The Commendation is given to individuals who have contributed to the care and well-being of veterans and to the remembrance of their contributions, sacrifices and achievements.

Corporal Titford served with the Canadian Armed Forces from 1960 to 1973 as a supply technician and is currently a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Corporal Matthew Brazil, Branch 9 in Spaniard's Bay. He has held numerous positions at various levels of the organization and actively promoted the concerns of veterans.

Corporal Titford was instrumental in introducing the Fly the Flag of Remembrance, and in having the Conception Bay North bypass road named the Veterans Memorial Highway. He is currently researching and documenting the history of more than 170 war memorials throughout the Province. Promoting and preserving the history of the Legion and the sacrifice for freedom has become a personal quest for Corporal Titford.

I ask all members to join me in extending congratulations to Corporal William Titford of Spaniard's Bay on receiving this Commendation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to report a new initiative of the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development that is focused on supporting the growth of the Province's small and medium-sized enterprises.

Intellectual property protection is an important aspect of innovation and the commercialization of new products and new technologies. For this reason, the department has introduced an information session entitled, Protecting Your Product and Technology. This session is aimed at helping small and medium-sized enterprises enhance their understanding of the benefits of effective intellectual property protection.

In addition to protecting such assets as a company's brand or patented products, intellectual property holds tremendous value and can be leveraged to produce considerable revenues. For example, IBM generates approximately $1 billion from its patents while Microsoft's intellectual property, including the trademark of its brand, copyright of its software and its patent portfolio is valued at more than $260 billion.

Newfoundland and Labrador's business community is becoming increasingly progressive and innovative. Leading this charge is small business. Not from one specific sector but from a variety of industries such as ocean technology, agriculture, life sciences, tourism, mining, and information and communication technologies. It is central to their continue growth to understand how they can best protect their products and their technologies.

Through sessions at Corner Brook's Glynmill Inn on March 30 and at the Holiday Inn on March 31 in St. John's, participants will have access to specialized professionals who can guide them through the process of protecting their product or their concept. Sessions will cover topics such as the various types of intellectual property protection that range from trademarks, patents, trade secrets and copyrights, along with the rights of businesses with or without intellectual property protection, the importance of branding, and government support tools. These half-day sessions are free of charge and are open to all businesses.

As a government, we are committed to providing our small to medium-sized enterprises with access to the tools and resources they require to capitalize on business opportunities and to strengthen their competitiveness.

Mr. Speaker, there is no substitute for knowledge. By increasing their knowledge and understanding of intellectual property, businesses and educational institutions are taking important steps to grow and protect their business operations. I would encourage businesses to contact my department for more information. In Corner Brook they can call 637-2628 or in St. John's it is 729-4208.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the minister for a copy of his statement and to also commend government and all those involved for this wonderful initiative to assist our small and medium-sized businesses here in the Province.

I guess each and every one of us know, from our own districts, that small business is really the lifeblood of our communities, and it is very important that the individuals in those small and medium-sized businesses attend those sessions where Protecting Your Product and Technology is the theme.

I encourage each and every business that meets these criteria that they would take part in both sessions, the one in Corner Brook as well as the one here in St. John's.

I have to agree with the minister when he said there is no substitute for knowledge. I believe this is a very important aspect of continuing education to assist our businesses here in the Province, and we want to wish them every success as they take part.

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

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

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.

Obviously, protecting intellectual property is extremely important for all businesses and especially for the small to medium, both for their development and also for their professionalism. Having these information sessions will be a great way to help them get the knowledge they need.

There are many other programs that the minister's department offers. I remember last year, in the Estimates meetings, that there were a number of programs that did not have a large uptake. Part of it, we were told, is because not everybody out there is well informed on some of the programs. I would suggest that the kind of sessions that are being held to inform small and medium-sized businesses around protecting intellectual property maybe could be repeated on other topics for small and medium business, so that there will be increased uptake with the programs that your department has.

I would be interested in knowing down the road actually how many people take advantage of these sessions when they do happen.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further Statements by Ministers.

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased today to recognize March as national Nutrition Month. This time provides an opportunity to reflect on the mealtime choices we make for ourselves and for our families.

We know that health food and good nutrition are key components of overall wellness and essential to the health of our population. For our government, the importance of living healthy and promoting wellness is well recognized.

Each year, we invest some $3.7 million to our Provincial Wellness Plan to support people in making smart choices about eating and living healthy.

This is particularly important for our children. Reaching children at an early age and empowering them to make healthy choices can significantly impact their health now and in the future by helping to prevent obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

In supporting children to eat and live healthy, our government proudly provides $1.25 million on an annual basis for the Kids Eat Smart Club. Through this program, thousands of children in schools across our Province gain access to nutritious foods.

In addition, we support children and youth through a number of wellness initiatives which promote healthy eating and physical activity such as Healthy Students Healthy Schools, School Food Guidelines, and Active Living Schools program.

We know that empowering individuals to make their choices on healthy living is critical for success. So in 2006, we launched Go Healthy, a Web site with tools and resources to support people of all ages take an active role in achieving health and wellness.

Mr. Speaker, we also partner with community groups and organizations through our Provincial Wellness Grants Program to address healthy eating, as well as other wellness priorities. Through these partnerships, a number of initiatives such as Drop the Pop, Skipping for Active Living, and community kitchens have been introduced in towns and communities across our Province.

We also join forces with regional wellness coalitions, who are helping to bring the wellness movement Province-wide.

Mr. Speaker, as we carry on our work to initiate a healthy change for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, we will continue to engage stakeholders in promoting wellness.

Mr. Speaker, as Nutrition Month draws to a close, I would like to challenge residents of our Province to step it up. Whether you are already started to take action, or need to make the first move, now is a great time to start making healthy changes that will last a lifetime.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advanced copy of his statement.

Mr. Speaker, we are all for supporting nutritional and health programs within our Province. We think that in doing so it helps alleviate a lot of stresses that we often see in our health care system as people age. Mr. Speaker, we also realize that on many occasions people cannot choose to have the nutritional diets that they want, or the level of healthy lifestyle that they want to have because they simply cannot afford it.

I think you only have to look today in Newfoundland and Labrador to see that in the past year, according to this consumer price indexing, the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables, breads and cereals in this Province increased by over 8 per cent in one year. You transfer that to a family who lives on social assistance today in Newfoundland and Labrador, a couple that brings less than $600 a month into their home to look after their fuel, their heat, their maintenance on their property, their personal items, their groceries and so on, you will find out, Mr. Speaker, that that amount of money does not cover the food costs for them to have a nutritional diet.

When you look at the fact that vegetables in Newfoundland and Labrador increased by 25 per cent in cost in the last year, eggs increased by 8 or 9 per cent, these are commodities that we could be producing more of in Newfoundland and Labrador, putting more money into our agricultural sector so that we could ensure that these products are at least more affordable for families that need them and for families that depend upon the social welfare system in our Province, that they are at least given an adequate amount of money –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to conclude her remarks.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I certainly will do that.

– that families and individuals who rely upon social assistance are at least given an amount of money where they can have nutritional food choices to be able to support themselves and feed their families.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

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

I, too, thank the minister for an advanced copy of his statement.

I am pleased to see that government has increased the funding it gives to the Kids Eat Smart program. That is very good. However, I bring to the minister's attention that the 2008 hunger count report revealed that 38.4 per cent of children in our Province access food banks. No matter what we do with regard to education and information, those children are not accessing nutritional meals.

We cannot have good nutrition if people do not have the economic ability to get the food that they need. These children and their parents, their families who are accessing food banks, are the people that we should be concerned about. These numbers were calculated from 2007. So we are calculating these numbers from a Province at a time when we have a growing economy.

We have to take care of this need. We have to increase money in the hands of those who depend on income support, we have to increase more quickly the income of people working for minimum wage, and we must have a universal school lunch program that should not depend on the ability of a community to get involved. If they can, that would be great, but we should make sure that there is a universal school lunch program supported by this government, so that the children who are going to food banks can eat nutritionally at least once a day.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

Oral questions.

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Premier.

In a recent interview with David Patterson, the CEO of Abitibi, on the Business News Network, he stated that the Province bid for the power assets of the company but was outbid by a competitor. Yesterday, the Minister of Natural Resources said that talks had broken off with the company over the amount of compensation to be paid out.

So I ask the Premier today: How much did the Province originally bid for the assets, and why was this information not disclosed when we debated the expropriation legislation in the House of Assembly?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources and Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, some time ago Abitibi Bowater informed the Province that it was considering selling its Star Lake asset and invited the Province to make a bid. The Province through Nalcor did that, Mr. Speaker, and the bid was not accepted, in part due to an agreement they have with their shareholder on Star Lake who has the right of first refusal. It was certainly clear to us that Abitibi really was not interested in selling that asset to the Province. We made a fair bid, it was not accepted and we have moved on. It was not a matter of any great consequence, Mr. Speaker, and we were not trying to hide anything from anybody in terms of our discussions around the expropriation. It was completely new discussion at that point in time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister indicated yesterday that the government was not prepared to pay $300 million for those assets. Maybe she can tell me what the bid amount was that Nalcor submitted?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, negotiations, as I said yesterday, have been going on for a number of weeks. Mr. Patterson in The Globe and Mail some time ago during an interview assigned a value of $300 million to the assets. Obviously, we do not agree with that estimate. Talks have been ongoing until last week. We hope that they will resume again. We are certainly not going to have a public discussion, Mr. Speaker, about our negotiating position. What we will do is try to get the best value we can for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That was not the question, the question was you put in a bid, the bid is off the table. We want to know what the amount of the bid was.

Mr. Speaker, we know that Abitibi has stated publicly that they will be taking the Province to court under a NAFTA challenge if government does not pay the $300 million. We also know that the company has retained legal counsel in this matter.

I ask the Premier today: Have you been given any further indication that Abitibi will be suing the Province, other than what we are hearing in the media? If so, have any of those details been received by the government?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When we began our talks with AbitibiBowater we were very clear under what conditions we were going to conduct those talks, what the issues were on the table. We can only assume that AbitibiBowater came to the table in good faith and was trying to negotiate in good faith to assign a value to the assets and resolve the issues, the three primary issues that we put on the table.

They always held in reserve the right to a NAFTA challenge. That is their right. We have no indication at this point in time whether they are going to actively pursue that right, but they certainly have the option to do so.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If there is a NAFTA challenge, the federal government would also have an interest in that case.

I ask the minister: Has there been any discussion or consultation with the federal government on that matter?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, I had a conversation with Minister Stockwell Day some time ago, who indicated that they wished to have a discussion with us about it, and we had a brief discussion about it. They also asked if, in fact, we would be entertaining or having any discussions, or would be prepared to have any discussions with the company, being AbitibiBowater, which, in fact, we have done, so we followed those particular instructions.

We have been talking to federal officials, and it is my understanding as well that the minister has also been talking to federal officials.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If I could ask: Is the federal government supportive of the position that Newfoundland and Labrador has taken in this case, and would they be going to support us in any court challenge or would it be the opposite?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

For the Leader of the Opposition's information, so that she has an understanding of the process, the federal government is the body that will be charged with dealing with a NAFTA challenge, so it is their responsibility to respond to whatever challenges AbitibiBowater brings forward.

I have had a discussion with the Minister of Natural Resources Canada on this issue. I have had discussions with Minister MacKay on this issue. As well, I have had meetings with Minister Day on this issue. The Premier has said to them, as well as I have been able to reiterate on behalf of government, that we will support them in whatever way is appropriate if a NAFTA challenge is brought forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Minister, for that clarification.

Mr. Speaker, there are obvious environmental considerations involved in Abitibi's operations, whether that be with the mill, the timber or the power development project.

I ask the Premier: What assessments have government done to look at the cost of the cleanup and the restoration of areas that have been affected by environmental damage?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, our department is doing an inventory of all of the environmental issues. That could range anywhere from logging camps to bridges and to the mill itself. Certainly, the mill will have to undergo an environmental assessment process through the decommissioning of their mill, as was done in Stephenville. The member can rest assured that all environmental issues will certainly be addressed.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Maybe the minister could also give me the time frame for which you think this assessment will be done.

Mr. Speaker, as a further supplementary, if there are any environmental liabilities that need to be looked after, has government gotten any assurances from Abitibi that they are prepared to accept their financial obligations and responsibilities to ensure that those environmental cleanups take place?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The inventory is actively ongoing. In fact, we have received some information from members of the general public about some items out there, that we were not aware of, and we certainly welcome that. Certainly, we are going to hold Abitibi accountable to the environmental issues that are out there, so you can rest assured they will be addressed.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, I asked some questions with regard to potential bankruptcy and what it would mean for severance and pension benefits for workers. I ask the government today: Have they received a breakdown of the amount of severance that is owed to displaced workers at the Grand Falls-Windsor mill?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, we are working both with the CEP in gathering that information, as well as some of this information has to be counter checked through the company. We are doing our very best to ensure that we have the right numbers, and we are feeling confident that we are there at this time, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

AbitibiBowater has until tomorrow night to restructure their debt or they will be forced into a bankruptcy position. Yesterday, the minister did not want to talk about hypothetical situations, but the reality is that most of these former employees or displaced workers are already hitting a panic button over this, and I think the minister understands that.

I ask again today: What is government doing to prepare for any fallout if there should be a bankruptcy within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours? What is the backup plan for government?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this has been a process that has been ongoing with this company and with the people of the Grand Falls-Windsor region for well over two years. We have, at any time, at any number of times during that period, expected this company to collapse. What we are doing is our due diligence. We have excellent communication with the people in the region, particularly with the unions. We understand what their concerns are. There are direct lines of communication between me and the people in the region, between the chair of the task force and the people in the region, and we have three MHAs in the region who are fully engaged.

We are not going to hit the panic button. We understand what is going on. We understand what is going on in the industry. We are watching very carefully. We understand what all of the circumstances have the possibility of bringing forward, and we are also preparing for a number of eventualities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If the minister's paycheque was on the line maybe she would be hitting the panic button.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, let me ask the Minister of Health of Community Services -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS JONES: No, she did not. I write my questions myself, Minister Hickey. Who writes yours for you? Who writes yours for you?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Community Services.

We know in the Cameron Inquiry that he failed to read his briefing notes and be informed on some very significant issues that were facing cancer patients in the Province. Yesterday, on the news, I was appalled to learn that the minister was not aware that there was a need for dialysis equipment in Labrador West, when they have for two years been raising money in that community, when there have been feature articles in the media about it, and when I have a letter, Mr. Speaker, in my own office asking me for a donation as an MHA. He, as the member for the area, sitting behind –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to pose her question.

MS JONES: I ask the minister today, Mr. Speaker: How do you expect to provide and allow for confidence to be building in the health care system if you are going to be so out of touch with issues like this one in Labrador West?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, what I said yesterday in the media was in response to some questions around dialysis services in Labrador West. What I indicated clearly was that as a health department, as a minister, we had not had any representation from the community at large or from the health authority. We have four health authorities in this Province, I say, Mr. Speaker, and they have a really significant purpose in the delivery of health services in the respective parts of the Province.

The Labrador Grenfell Authority has a responsibility in Labrador and the Northern part of the Island portion of the Province. They, as a part of their planning exercise and a part of their exercise in putting forward to government requests for either funding or support for program initiatives, have not approached our department or me, as the minister, or government in any way, about having dialysis services in Lab City.

You may recall, Mr. Speaker, about a year or so ago I joined my colleague and we opened a new dialysis service in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. minister to complete his answer.

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Dialysis services, as a range of other programs that we introduce in a variety of areas of the Province, come about as a result of local regional planning from our health authorities who, in turn, make representation to government.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, dialysis services are required in other areas of the Province as well. I don't know if the minister is aware of this, but in Port aux Basques, for example, there are people being forced to move out of that area to Corner Brook right now in order to seek dialysis services. So, there are significant gaps in the system.

I ask the minister if he is aware of that particular need and what action will be taken by the department to deal with cases like this.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, it is interesting, you know, the question got framed initially in what I knew as a minister. What was interesting is she referenced the Cameron Inquiry. What was really interesting, one of the pivotal turning points identified by Justice Cameron was a Dr. Ejeckam letter in 2003. That 2003 letter happened on their watch, I say, Mr. Speaker. We weren't in government at that time.

When we start talking about what ministers know and what ministers do not know, at an operational level, as a minister, we would not necessarily have any idea what is happening on a day-to-day basis at an operational level at many of our authorities, so it is a natural, normal process for us to rely on health authorities to identify health needs in respective areas of the Province.

Now, with respect to the issue of Port aux Basques, I met with the council in Port aux Basques last year in Corner Brook. We had a discussion around the issue as I understand it now, some representation of the community as well as the health authority –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is interesting; the minister mentions the Dr. Ejeckam letter. Never let the facts stand in the way of a good story, hey, Minister?

The first, you know, that we had ever seen that letter was when your Premier waved it in the House of Assembly, and you know from that report that it was never, ever submitted –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask members for their co-operation.

I ask the hon. Leader of the Opposition to conclude her question.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Province has lost its only infectious disease specialist, Dr. Bader, and while Eastern Health states that they believe they have secured the services of Dr. Bader on a locum basis, we are hearing from the medical community that is not the case.

I ask the minister: What is the current status of these efforts, and what are you doing to reassure the people of the Province that their health needs are being met, and reassuring their families that (inaudible) infectious control doctor provided for…?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will try to be brief, but I do want to thank the member for confirming my point in my earlier question. I thank you very much for that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Just for the benefit of her colleague who sits next to her, we are having discussions. As I understand it, Western Health is having some discussions with representatives from your district about dialysis services in Port aux Basques, which is a follow-up to a discussion that I had with the town as well.

Now, to the next question, the issue of an infectious disease specialist in the Province: As I understand, in the information shared with me as recently as this morning, Dr. Bader is, in fact, available to do some locum coverage. I understand he is available to do some consultation by phone, and he is travelling to the Province periodically, every three or four weeks – or every five weeks, I think it is.

In addition to that, there is another specialist, a former Dr. Bowmer, who is in Newfoundland and Labrador, who comes back for locums as well, and we hope to have the new recruit on the ground –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, if that is the case, I ask the minister: Why did you let the people, who were sick and suffering from AIDS, stand outside on the steps of Confederation Building today trying to advocate for such physicians in this Province, and not go out and provide for them the answers that they were looking for?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, individual organizations, or individuals themselves, or groups, should take advantage of an opportunity if they want to protest, or lobby, or to have a gathering on Confederation Hill to deliver a message to government. That is their option. I would not discourage that. However, the group, this morning, the AIDS organization, were contacted by my office and indicated that we would be prepared to meet with them. A meeting has been set up with them, so we will be following up directly with them.

I was not available to meet with them this morning; I had earlier commitments. They understood that. I shared that with them, but we have set a date, I think it is April 15 we are getting together. Myself and officials from my department will meet with the organization and we will talk with them about their issues, their concerns.

I understand as well, with respect to the service that is provided to them in their clinic, that Eastern Health had already communicated that to them and that their weekly clinic they have is continuing as we speak.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Obviously there are still some communication problems, I say, Minister.

Minister, back about a year-and-a-half ago you said that you would address home support services in the Province; in fact, you would do a review of those services, the long-term care homes and the personal care homes. In fact, last April you informed me that we could expect a strategy to be completed as early as the fall of 2008. Well, the time has since passed and I ask the minister if you can give me an update on the progress of that report, and when we will see something tabled.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, I can report that we are making great progress. We have done a lot of work. There have been a number of people who have been involved in this exercise, and I would like to be in a position in the very near future to make some further announcements to the House. I am sure the people of Newfoundland and Labrador will be quite impressed with the work that we have done and the future direction that we are mapping out for long-term care and community supports in this Province, and in particular the whole home support piece.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Maybe I could ask the minister to give me a list of those people who were consulted, because I have talked to a number of home care agencies who tell me they were not consulted, and also with the Newfoundland and Labrador Home Support Enforcement Agency. Basically, I have been told that there has been one collective presentation on home care. If that is the case, Minister, I ask: Why were you not prepared to work directly with those who are engaged in the front lines of the system and hear their views as well?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As we have gone through this process – well, I can only speak for the time that I have been minister - during the last two years since I have been in my portfolio, I have had numerous discussions with a variety of not just individuals but organizations who are involved in health services in this Province, whether it is the Regional Health Authorities, agencies who are involved in the direct delivery of services, or individuals themselves who are involved in the direct delivery of services; but, most importantly, numerous individual families and individuals who are receiving home supports themselves have been very much engaged in the discussion.

I make reference particularly to the consultations we have done on healthy aging a few years ago, where we spoke to about 1,000 people, over seventeen communities. I suspect that is probably the most extensive consultation any government has ever done in this Province on any one single issue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. minister to conclude his answer.

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand here today quite proud of the consultations and discussions we have had on issues around aging in this Province; 1,000 people in seventeen communities, that is extensive and impressive.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, a standing ovation.

Mr. Speaker, on March 10 Memorial University released a report calling for an end to the provincial government's involvement with their presidential selection process. The report was prepared following the Premier and the Minister of Education's decision to veto the candidate chosen by Memorial's presidential selection committee.

I ask the minister: Can she give me an update on the present condition of that report? Is it with the Premier, with the provincial Cabinet, or is it being reviewed by the Department of Education?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education and Government House Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, as Minister of Education, I did receive the report from the ad hoc committee, as the member had suggested. Along with that report and the recommendations in that report there was a request by the Chair of the Board of Regents that we engage in discussions with the Board of Regents regarding that report.

I can say that I have met with the Board of Regents, and they will be outlining what they feel would be an appropriate way to discuss the report. They will be getting back to me with their outline of how they want to engage in discussions by mid-April. So I expect by mid-April I will hear back from the Board of Regents with a plan outlining how they want to proceed with the discussions.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BUTLER: I thank the minister for her answer, Mr. Speaker.

The report recommends that Memorial University's Board of Regents be given the authority to select a president of Memorial University, as well as its chairperson.

Having listened to her answer, Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Would government act to change the existing legislation governing Memorial University such as to accept those recommendations and can we expect such legislation changes taking place before a new president is selected?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, with regards to the selection for a President of Memorial University, the Chair of the Board of Regents outlined a process that will be followed to select the chair at this time and he laid it out in a very clear, concise manner. It is a very open and transparent process and it is certainly one that government agrees with. So, that process will continue.

What I had been asked and I want to clarify, based on the report from the ad hoc committee that came into government, we were asked to engage in discussions and we will certainly do that. As I said, I met with the Board of Regents as recently as yesterday and they will get back to us about how they want to proceed with discussions. That has been the request that came with that report from the Board of Regents and we certainly will follow up with the Board of Regents.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

My question is for the Minister of Health and Community Services.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister said to the media that he was aware of only one person who needed dialysis in Labrador West, and that was according to the information he had from the health authorities for that area. Just this morning my office has been speaking with three families from Labrador West who have somebody getting dialysis and with different organizations from the area who list the need for dialysis at ten people. Obviously, there is something wrong with how the records are being kept.

Mr. Speaker, recommendations thirty-nine and forty from the Cameron report deal with developing a Province wide electronic medical record system to be developed. Such a system would put in place a data base that would give the minister the full information he would need that would help him determine the health needs of people in this Province. I ask the –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to pose her question.

MS MICHAEL: I ask the minister, Mr. Speaker, will he take immediate action to make sure that these two recommendations in particular be put in place right away to ensure that the needs of the people of this Province are being dealt with?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, I just want to qualify the member's introductory comment. The media reported my having said there was one. What I actually said was that I am aware that there are two individuals currently receiving dialysis in an institution. One is now doing it in Corner Brook, wants to return to Labrador West. Another is doing it in St. John's and wants to return to Labrador West. I was also aware that there are two individuals getting home dialysis in Labrador West. So that was my commentary to the media. I have no control over how they reported it.

Now with respect to the issue, the subject of her question, with respect to the electronic health record. We had indicated in response to the tabling of the Cameron report back in early March that we would be acting on those recommendations. We have already started a process, several years ago, in fact, Mr. Speaker, to move us towards a complete electronic patient information system in the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Obviously, the system that we have is not adequately working because the people we have spoken to are receiving dialysis but it seems like because they are outside of Labrador West getting it they are not being seen as being from Labrador West, but they are outside because of that.

Mr. Speaker, Labrador West has a population of over 9,000 people who are without a dialysis machine. They all do not need it, we know that, but a population of 9,000 that does not have it in their place. People are making accommodations, even as we sit here today, to move to the Island portion of the Province or to Goose Bay.

We have been hearing the story of Mr. Connors for the past few days through the media. He does not want to have to leave Labrador West but he will need dialysis three times a week and will have to move to Goose Bay.

MR. SPEAKER: Order please!

I ask the hon. member to pose her question.

MS MICHAEL: I ask the minister, Mr. Speaker: Will he commit to having communications with the regional authority for this area to determine putting a dialysis machine in place?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Just so the member opposite understands the process in terms of determining where people are now getting dialysis service. We have a complete list. We have 417 people, I think it is, currently receiving dialysis service in the Province. We have a list by name and where they are receiving the service, and our records would indicate their home address. So the information I was sharing came from that database that we would have used to determine– as I shared with you a moment ago, two getting intuitional base and two getting home dialysis. That is where the information would come from.

I would be only too glad to have a conversation after the session today about the ten that you have because I would like to reconcile the names that you have. Obviously, you have ten names there and I appreciate if you gave permission to share those names with me so I can reconcile those ten with those that we have in our database. So I would appreciate that very much.

MR. SPEAKER: Order please!

I ask the hon. minister to conclude his answer.

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With respect to the discussion with the regional health authority, I already started that process, I say, Mr. Speaker, to engage them, to look at dialysis in their region and whether or not the information I am hearing in the public domain –

MR. SPEAKER: Order please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I am glad to know that the minister has started the discussion. I think the reconciliation is absolutely essential and I will see if I have permission from the people we have spoken to, to give names to you, but I would like to have that conversation.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The time allotted for questions and answers has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant to section 26(5)(a) of the Financial Administration Act, I am tabling two Orders-in-Council relating to funding pre-commitments for the 2009-2010 to 2011-2012 fiscal years.

MR. SPEAKER: Further tabling of documents?

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, another one, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, thank you.

Pursuant to section 26(5)(a) of the Financial Administration Act, I am tabling twenty-seven Orders-in-Council relating to funding pre-commitments for the 2009-2010 to 2018-2019 fiscal years.

MR. SPEAKER: Further tabling of documents?

I hereby table the minutes of the House of Assembly Management Commission meetings for meetings that took place on November 18, 2008, December 3, 2008, and January 27, 2009. I might add that these minutes have already been posted on the House of Assembly Web site.

I also table the 2008 Annual Report for the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Further tabling of documents?

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Orders of the Day.

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

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I wish to call Order 1, Committee of Supply, and I move that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on Supply to consider certain resolutions for the granting of Interim Supply to Her Majesty, Bill 76, and resume the debate that we commenced yesterday.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that this House do now resolve itself into a Committee of Supply and that I do now leave the Chair.

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 Supply, Mr. Speaker left the Chair.

CHAIR (T. Osborne): Order, please!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, it gives me great pleasure to have this opportunity to get up and speak to this bill. It speaks to a bill that provides for the operation and the continuation of government, I suppose is the best way to put it, but all of us who take part in these proceedings recognize that it gives us an opportunity as well to speak to various issues from across the Province that come to our district.

I have listened to some of the speakers who got up yesterday and spoke about issues and programs that are in their departments. Others got up and spoke quite eloquently about the role members within their communities play, from a volunteerism role to the fire departments and so on and so forth.

I suppose, when I stand here today, you stand in two roles. You stand here as an MHA representing a district, mine being the District of Burin-Placentia West, and you speak in the role as a minister of a department, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. I have often heard it said that finding the balance, I suppose, making sure that you tend to the needs of your district, but also making sure that you attend to your responsibilities as a minister of a particular department.

I go back to the quote that I have heard a number of people say: It is a lot more difficult to govern than it is to be in Opposition. I don't think that could be further from the truth. If you look to question period as one that people seemingly attend more - when we look in the galleries we see a lot more people in the galleries during Question Period than we do at this particular time.

AN HON. MEMBER: That is understandable.

MR. JACKMAN: My colleague behind me said, that is understandable, and indeed it is, because it is that opportunity for thirty minutes when the people in Opposition get to put questions to government.

As someone was speaking earlier today in Question Period, I was jotting down a few things. You talk about the many issues that are put before government! We have the number of questions that have been put to the health minister. I think any of us in our roles as MHAs will recognize that the Department of Health seems to be an endless request, that the demand put before government to deal with health issues and health infrastructure is huge. As you put in place one piece of infrastructure or one piece of equipment or you address one need of various individuals out in our communities, there seems to be another one right on the heels of it.

If you look at the questions that were put to the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Environment and the Minister of Education, then you have to look at it from the side of government, that you are the people that sit as part of a caucus and a Cabinet that have to manage their way through all of those issues making the best decisions that you possibly can.

Will they be always right? Well, you certainly hope that they will. Will they satisfy everyone? Not very likely. Because, as I have said, as you deal with one issue and you attempt to bring a resolution to that, then another issue arises.

So from the perspective of being on the government side as opposed to sitting in the Opposition side, the two roles are very different. I would say to people viewing and to people opposite, that your role in Opposition is to pose questions, much easier than it is in the role of a government whereby you have to address and attend to and make the best decisions you can.

If I go to my district - and I have to say, I speak of the MHA for Grand Bank and the MHA for Bellevue because the three of us share a peninsula. All three of us have our districts partially or wholly represented on the Burin Peninsula. If there is one thing that we have done, and there is one thing that I have been saying from the beginning, is that the Burin Peninsula is kind of a community unto itself and if we are going to make inroads and progress there we have to make sure that we jointly work together. I can tell you that in the past couple of years the three of us have gone to numerous meetings as a collective group, and I can assure everybody here that we will continue to do that. The ultimate goal in the end is to make the peninsula a better place in which to live and a better place in which to make a sustainable living.

If I look to that and look at the changes, I mean there have been numerous changes that have happened. I can remember that we moved to the peninsula in 1968, the fish plant was a boom. You could pop down there and on most weekends anybody could pick up a bit of work. I am telling you one thing now, that that has drastically changed. The fishery as we know it is completely, it is very different. I say one of the things that seems to remain constant is the raw material. They look kind of the same but I can tell you that the facilities and the workforce and the way the fishery is rolled out, the way in which the products are produced are very different now than they were back in the mid 1960s and on into the 1970s.

Our peninsula has certainly been impacted by the oil industry and the oil related work that has resulted from that. I can go back to the days when the draggers were built there, and people took pride in the ships that were built. They will tell you that some of the best draggers that went on the sea were built in Marystown. Then you went into the supply vessel production. Of course, the last project that came out of it was the production of the FPSO, the Sea Rose, which was a monumental effort on the peninsula but I think for the entire Province. So you have moved into a different type of industry. Now, do I think that we, as a government, are instrumental in moving that agenda forward? Certainly we are.

We have just recently approved a project to get into ferry replacements. Within the next few months you will see that work underway and then people that have moved away, hopefully, will return to become employed in that. I am certainly looking forward to more work as we move into the Hebron work and the types of projects that will come out of that. Then I certainly expect that we will see much more work happening in the Marystown area. Then, of course, that gives strength to the entire peninsula as we see people returning to work there and some of our youth who are going through the programs now that they will become employed there.

I think it all comes back to what I was talking about before, that the government, being leaders in governing, that we did set the agenda. We said that in dealing with the oil companies we wanted the better deals, not the best deals. We wanted to get better deals than the best deals that we said from the beginning. Our motto was that we were not going to give away any more, that we were going to reap the benefits for the people of the Province and that is, in fact, what we have done. We have taken strong, firm stands on a number of these issues. Sometimes some people have doubted it, but I think after you look at the end result, people will say that it was for the betterment of the people of the Province. We will continue to do that, whether it is in the dealings as we are dealing now with Abitibi in Grand Falls-Windsor. We, as a government, have to make the best decisions that we feel are better for the people in that particular region, just as we have taken them in terms of our resources and as we have taken stands as it relates to the federal government. We are going to make our decisions based on the best results for the people of this Province and, as such, we will continue to do that.

Mr. Chairman, I am looking at the clock and I only have a minute left here. My intention was to get into some departmental stuff here, but it does not look like that is going to happen. So we look forward to the twenty minutes that we will have. I can tell you from a departmental perspective, I have said to the folks in my department and in some of the engagements I have spoken at, that I think my department is the face of the people of this Province. As such, as we get into our promotion, our tourism ads and so on and so forth, there is so much to speak about, the cultural side of it.

Mr. Chairman, at this particular point I certainly will not get into issues as it relates to the department but I just want to end by saying that from a district perspective and from a peninsula perspective I think the moves that we as a government have made, the stands that we have taken, will hold us well in good stead on the Burin Peninsula and we will see in the future that the Burin Peninsula will be one of the strong areas, economically and culturally, in this Province. I look forward to the opportunity and getting up and speaking later on and addressing some of the issues as they relate to my department.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

We are debating the bill on Interim Supply today and of course any time that we debate bills like that it gives us leeway in the House of Assembly to talk about any number of issues.

Mr. Chairman, I guess we are on the eve of a Budget and a Throne Speech in Newfoundland and Labrador which will set out the course of direction for government over the next year. Of course, any time that you are on the eve of a budget there is always a lot of expectation out there in the Province, as I am sure the Minister of Finance knows more so than any of us. In following some of the Budget consultations as the minister travelled around the Province and receiving some of the briefs and information that was submitted to him, I guess there are a couple of issues I would like to highlight that certainly came out as a part of that process.

One of them, I guess collectively, that was seen by municipalities around the Province was increases to the municipal operating grants. I think almost in every region, the minister would agree, where he held his consultations there were municipalities and municipal leaders - whom one of the members across the way spoke so proudly about yesterday – that were before the Minister of Finance asking that municipal operating grants be restructured and that more money be flowing into municipalities in the Province.

Mr. Chairman, they asked that for a number of reasons. Obviously, the cost of running towns in the Province has escalated, just like the cost of every other service and commodity. In many cases their population has been shrinking, especially in rural communities around the Province. When we are seeing spikes in terms of in-migration or population increases, it is usually very much focused on the urban centres in the Province, areas like St. John's or like Corner Brook. We are certainly pleased to see that but we are not as pleased when we start seeing numbers decreasing in the smaller municipalities around the Province. That is what we have been seeing, and it does not matter if you are on the Burin Peninsula, the Bonavista Peninsula, the Northern Peninsula, if you are down in the Burgeo area or the Gander Bay area or the Connaigre area, it is the same story. That is, that many of these people are seeing people moving out of their communities, they are seeing a lot more of two people in a house as opposed to family dwellings, and all of these things have an impact on the amount of taxes that they collect. So, a lot of municipalities are actually raising the amount of money they collect; but they are raising it on people who are living on fixed incomes, in a lot of cases, in their communities, and they know that there is a limit in terms of how much they can ask people to pay as a municipal tax. Because of that, because of those limitations and the cost of running municipalities increasing, they are finding themselves in a situation where they do not have enough money to provide for the kind of services that they want, whether that be fire services, recreation services, municipal waste disposal, street lighting, all the services that we like to see in our communities - beautification, road paving and upgrading and so on - everything from libraries right on down, Mr. Chairman, in many cases. They are having a tough time.

So I say to members opposite, if you want to stand and praise the work that municipal leaders do in our Province, show them that respect and increase the Municipal Operating Grants to municipalities in the Budget on Thursday. Show them that you really do appreciate the work that they do, and that you are prepared to give more back to them so that they can maintain their municipalities and the services that they have.

Mr. Chairman, that was one common issue that came out in Budget consultations, that I am aware of, right across the board, but there have been other issues as well. Mr. Chairman, they have to do with issues in different areas of the Province, and I am going to talk about an issue in my own district today, that I know that the minister is very much aware of because it was presented to him in Budget consultations. I have had an opportunity to discuss it with him myself, and I have also had an opportunity to discuss it with the Premier, and that is the cost of diesel electricity to commercial and industrial customers in my district. In fact, Mr. Chairman, businesses right now on the Coast of Labrador, both the North Coast and the South Coast, pay up to four times more than other businesses throughout Labrador. So, for example, if you run a business in Happy Valley-Goose Bay or Labrador City you are paying, in most cases, less than five cents a kilowatt hour for electricity to run your business, whether that is a garage or a hotel or restaurant or a manufacturing plant or a grocery store - it does not really matter - but, when you get to the North Coast of Labrador in places like Hopedale and Makkovik and Postville and Nain, or on the South Coast in places like Cartwright and Port Hope Simpson and St. Lewis and Mary's Harbour and Charlottetown, those communities, they pay nearly twenty cents a kilowatt hour for electricity.

In one year we are going to see a highway that is going to open up into Happy Valley-Goose Bay from Southern Labrador and we are going to see competition for business between those areas. Is it fair that one area, who is forced to operate on diesel generated power, has to pay four to five times more for their electricity than their competitor who is going to be in just another region of Labrador?

I think it is a very legitimate issue. It is one that is causing financial hardship for a lot of businesses in my district, and in Northern Labrador as well. It is one that government could easily fix by increasing the amount of subsidy that it provides for diesel-generated communities who depend upon that. They did it for residential customers already.

Going back a couple of years ago, when cases were made by myself and by members in my district to the provincial government and to the Premier that there was a need for this subsidy for residential customers, they did agree to do it, and it has made a tremendous difference. Not only has it put people in that area on an even keel with the rest of the Province, when it comes to electricity rates, but it certainly has allowed people to have that little financial break, and that was very important to them. It has not allowed them to access more electricity because, as you know, we are limited in the amount of power that we can provide in all of these diesel-generated stations, so communities are capped to a certain degree in the amount of power that they can use.

That subsidy itself, while it went a long way to helping people in the area, only cost the government about $6 million a year to be able to do it, which was a very small amount of money when you look at the amount of profit that they are still making today on the Upper Churchill – not as much as we would like to make, but if you look at Guaranteed Winter Availability, and you look at the fact that we are selling recall power that was designated for Labrador industry, it is being sold and monies like $50 million a year are being put into provincial revenues in this Province, it is a small thing to do to give back $5 million or $6 million of that $50 million or $60 million in profit to the people in Labrador so that they can at least be on a fair and even keel with the rest of the Province when it comes to paying for electricity rates.

Mr. Chairman, we want to see a similar thing done for those who need to use commercial power and industrial power on the North and South Coast of Labrador as well. We think that government, again, can easily do this at a relatively low cost that would allow for competitive operations for businesses throughout Labrador. I think there should be one commercial and industrial rate for all Labrador customers who need to use it. I do not think it should be segregated based on the source of power that they have or where they live. The reality is, when you look at projects like the iron ore mines in Labrador City and Wabush, and you look at the Voisey's Bay project in Northern Labrador that is bringing up to $250 or $300 million a year of profits into the provincial revenue, the people who are living next door to that project are paying the highest commercial rates in the Province. It is unfair. It is really, legitimately unfair.

Every day we live near the Lower Churchill project. We hear government's plans to develop the Lower Churchill, but no plan to provide for lower cost energy to commercial and industrial customers who need it in that Labrador region and that is wrong. I think, if you are going to be fair to all people you need to be fair when it comes to the rates they pay, so that they, too, Mr. Chair, will be at the same advantage that other people in the Province, that other industrial and commercial customers in Labrador, have. I think it is only fair.

I know that the minister is well aware of this issue. I submitted a brief to his department only recently in addition to the other meetings and conversations that we have had. I know that the Premier is very much aware of it as well. Mr. Chair, if there is one thing that we will be looking for in this Budget for people in Labrador, it will be a break on diesel generated power. I guess we will wait and in a few days we will see what happens.

I understand that my time is up and I will certainly have other opportunities this afternoon.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Topsail.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS E. MARSHALL: Mr. Chair, I am very pleased to be able to stand in the House today and speak to Bill 76, the bill on Interim Supply.

I do want to say, Mr. Chair, that the bill is for quite a large sum of money, it is $2.2 billion. I always say that the devil is in the details, so I want to break down the $2.2 billion a little bit and speak to how Interim Supply is going to affect the district of Topsail.

Mr. Chair, last month the government rolled out its infrastructure program and it was $800 million. It is this program that has quite a significant impact on the District of Topsail. Two particular areas I would like to speak about would be the area of education - there was $155 million announced in the infrastructure program and that has quite a significant impact on my district - as well as the area of municipalities, the municipal infrastructure program, in total $103 million. Of course, Mr. Chairman, my district received quite a significant benefit from this part of the infrastructure program.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to start off by speaking about schools in the district of Paradise. One of the things that is happening in Topsail district is that we are effectively a growth area in the Province which is unlike almost all other areas in the Province. The population in Topsail district has increased significantly over the last number of years and, of course, is exerting a lot of pressure both on the educational system, the schools in particular, and also municipal infrastructure.

Mr. Chairman, this government has been quite responsive to the needs of the educational programs in the District of Topsail. I would like to deal specifically with the Town of Paradise because that forms the greater part of my district.

Mr. Chairman, right now there are two schools that exist in the Town of Paradise. One is the Holy Family School and the second school is Paradise Elementary. There are two elementary schools. As most people know, we now refer to Paradise Elementary School as the old Paradise Elementary School. It did close down because of environmental and other issues. Of course, the students who attended that school are now being bussed to the School for the Deaf in St. John's. The community has had to really adjust to sort of a different educational route in that many of the students are leaving the community during the day to attend school outside the community.

The old Paradise Elementary School has been closed, as I say. The government has looked at this issue and has decided that the best way to address it is to build two new schools within the community of Paradise. The Holy Family School, Mr. Chairman, is still operational and we are hoping that with the addition of the two new schools all of the students will return to the community of Paradise. Mr. Chairman, there is really a transition that is occurring now within that community.

Mr. Chairman, for the Holy Family School, the government has decided to put about $2 million into expanding this school. There will be four new classrooms put into the school as well as a new cafeteria. As a result of this, they will be able to have more students attending that school.

With regard to replacing Paradise Elementary School, as I have indicated, there will be two new schools to replace the old Paradise Elementary. One of the schools will be located on Karwood Drive, which is really in the heart of Paradise. There is a second school planned for Elizabeth Park and that school also will accommodate students from that neighbourhood.

In recent weeks, Mr. Chairman, we have seen some movement towards getting these schools, construction started so that completion will occur next year. Last week the tender was awarded for the first Paradise school. It was awarded to Marco Construction and we are expecting construction on that school to start probably within the next month or so. It is estimated that that school will be completed by the fall of 2010. So, Mr. Chairman, that is only just a little over a year away that we should have a new school in Paradise.

The second school, Mr. Chairman, which we now refer to as Paradise Elementary School two, is going to be located in Elizabeth Park. With the infrastructure program that was announced last month, construction of this project has been accelerated. We are hoping that that school will be occupied shortly after the fall of 2010, which is good news to the students and the parents.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that when the tender was awarded last week for Paradise Elementary School number one, the tender was also awarded for the school in Torbay for my hon. colleague from Cape St. Francis and he was really pleased to participate in that announcement. We are expecting that the tender for the second school will probably be awarded within the next month or so. We are hoping that when the schools are completed, the extension to Holy Family as well as completion of Paradise one and Paradise two, that there will be 1,500 students attending school in Paradise. So, Mr. Chairman, it is really a very exciting time within Paradise looking at the new schools that are going to come on stream.

Mr. Chairman, there is an old saying that it takes a community to raise a child. I am thinking too that it takes a community really to construct a new school. In order for the new schools to proceed and construction to start and for the schools to become occupied, there have been quite a number of players involved so far in the school and in the planning for these two new schools and for the extension at Holy Family.

I would like to mention some of the people who have been putting a significant amount of time in on the new schools and the extension and just to acknowledge their contribution to getting these projects underway and at the stage that they are now. I would first like to acknowledge the parents and the students. The parents have been very patient and very supportive, because it is the parents who see their children leave the community everyday and go into St. John's to be educated.

I would also like to acknowledge the role of the school council. They have been very active right from the beginning, representing the views of the parents, of the students, and the community at large. They have been working very, very closely with the school board and also with the Department of Education.

Mr. Chairman, the Town of Paradise has been very actively involved with regard to the new schools and the extension. I specifically would like to mention the town planner, because the community of Paradise is growing so fast that there has been a lot of discussion with the town planner with regard to population growth, where the new subdivisions are going to be, where all the children live, and where are the best places for the new schools to be constructed.

I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of the school board, who has been very helpful, always to the school council, to the school, to the MHAs with regard to planning. I would like to acknowledge the contribution of the minister and her staff at the Department of Education, and also the officials and the Minister of the Department of Transportation, who will now oversee this project.

Mr. Chairman, just to sum up; I think that the schools is probably the biggest issue in my district. I have worked very closely with my colleague from Mount Pearl North, who also represents part of the community of Paradise, and also the MHA for Conception Bay East & Bell Island, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, to make sure that these projects remain on schedule and that the Town of Paradise receives the educational programs and the educational infrastructure that it needs.

I would like to briefly mention – I am just looking at the time, Mr. Chairman, and I see I just have a minute left – but I would like to indicate that the Municipal Infrastructure Program that was announced last year and will continue on this year, the cost-sharing ratio has changed from 50-50 with the municipalities that I represent, to 70-30, and this has been very well received by the municipalities involved, especially the community of Paradise, which I represent, and the community of Conception Bay South. Both areas are very high growth, population wise, and there is quite a high demand for municipal infrastructure. Both towns have indicated that the new cost-sharing ratio has been very beneficial to their towns and have allowed them to develop municipal infrastructure, improve municipal infrastructure, which if the old cost-sharing ratio had stayed in place, they would not have been able to do.

Mr. Chairman, for both Paradise and Conception Bay South, the two areas where most of the funding is going is into the area of water and sewer and also into the area of roads.

Mr. Chairman, I see now that my time has expired. I do have some further comments I would like to make on municipal infrastructure, but I will save them for a later time.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I am pleased to get another opportunity to speak within the context of our Interim Supply Bill that we are discussing here in the House these days.

I was very interested in what I heard my colleague, the MHA for Burin-Placentia West, say when he spoke at the beginning of the debate today. It was almost like he was complaining because the Opposition is constantly harping on the government when people's needs are not being met. He sort of implied that there is always something else happening. Well, that happens to be life. Like in a family, we always have to be ready for a new sickness. We always have to be ready for something to happen to the house that we are living in. We always have to be ready because there is a new expenditure that maybe we hoped would not happen. Part of life is things are always changing, things are always falling apart, and things have to be fixed. I am afraid that is the way the whole of society is, that there are major needs in society that always have to be dealt with. It is not a matter of we will deal with this one now and that one tomorrow. It is a matter of dealing with all of the issues that deal with people's health, that deal with people's lives, that deal with the well-being of our communities and of our society.

I do not want to paraphrase anything that the MHA said, and tomorrow I will get to see Hansard and see what exactly he said because I may want to, at other times, comes back and challenge the notion that I heard in what my colleague said.

The reality is that in a society we have all kinds of things going on. When it comes to people's health, and that was one of the areas that my colleague most referred to, we have major health issues in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador; major health issues. Health is going to take up a big slice of our budget. It takes up a big slice of the budgets in other provinces. It takes up a big slice of the federal budget. It has to, because health is just endemic to life. Having good health, have bad health, is part and parcel of being alive. We all know the complexities of the diseases that people suffer from in this Province and everywhere.

Yes, people are going to be concerned. Yes, you are going to have people like the group that was organized by the AIDS Committee outside on the steps of the House of Assembly today demonstrating as is their right. I still have to say, as I have said a number of times in this House, I think it is awful that a group like that has to be outside in the cold in a horrible wind in order to just talk about something that is their right, to talk about their needs. I was out there today, I was out there with the group, and, you know, it was something to see a patient of the infectious disease specialist who is no longer in the Province standing there telling us that she had HIV/AIDS and talking to her major concern about her health. What is going to happen to her health, recognizing, because she has lived with it for so many years, the complexity of the disease that she is dealing with, recognizing the complexity of the care that is needed, the treatment that is needed to keep her in good health, recognizing that not anybody can step into the fray and take that up? Any doctor who might come into this room with us today would tell us that you just cannot walk into some of these areas, and infectious diseases is one of them, and just be able to take a manual and read it and know how to treat the person.

I was told today by the AIDS Committee, by people on those steps, that there is a person right now in the Health Sciences who is dying and he is under tremendous stress because he does not have faith that he has a doctor treating him who really knows how to treat him. People on the steps out there today are under stress, they are under stress because of the disease they are suffering from, and now, because they can't get a straight answer from Eastern Health, they are under stress with regard to knowing how much they are going to be taken care of. They can't fine out what the contingency plan is.

My office has been calling Eastern Health. We have had three different phone calls and we still do not have a straight answer on the contingency plan. The last thing we were told was that when patients call in to make their new appointments then they are going to be told. Well, that is not good enough because that really is stressful for the people who need the specialist. They do not know how they are going to be taken care of.

It would seem to me that, after everything that we heard during the Cameron Inquiry, the one thing that Eastern Health should have learned is, the patient is number one and we have to communicate with the patient. So, one would have imagined that when they knew they still did not have somebody to replace the infectious disease specialist, and they saw March 13 looming, they should have been on the phone and they should have been communicating with all of the patients.

We do not have thousands of people to deal with; Eastern Health does not have thousands of people to deal with. The AIDS Committee has seventy people registered with it, and it oversees the care of 120 patients. Surely, it would not be impossible for Eastern Health to get on the phone and to call those people and tell them how they are going to be taken care of.

Eastern Health said in December, they told people in December, that they would make arrangements using internal medicine specialists and family doctors. Well, these patients are really concerned because they do not have confidence that internal medicine specialists and family doctors have the knowledge that is needed to deal with their complex infectious diseases. This is not something small. This is not something that one can put on a back burner. This is not something that we can say: Oh, gee, all of a sudden we have something else we have to deal with.

You know, when they found out back in December that they were going to have to deal with the issue of no infectious disease specialist then they should have, I think, been acting with more concern. I do know that Eastern Health has been trying to get more specialists in, so that process had already begun before they had the resignation of Dr. Bader, but we have to try to figure out: Why did Dr. Bader resign? This is a really important issue, because if we do not find out why specialists are resigning we are not going to be able to recruit, because we need to know the reasons why they are not staying.

There was no specific reason given for his resignation, although the Director of Medical Services for Eastern Health has said that Dr. Bader has chosen a position that fits his lifestyle and career objectives. Well, you know, we need to know what those objectives are and what his expectations were for his lifestyle; because, if those expectations are not being met here in Newfoundland and Labrador then specialists are going to continue to just leave us. So, what are they doing?

If this statement by Dr. Guy implies that Dr. Bader left here because there were going to be better conditions somewhere else, that he was going to have better working conditions, that he was going to have better income - and that certainly was the case with some of the pathologists that left Newfoundland and Labrador - then we need to deal with that.

So, we have a long-term problem here. In the short term we have an issue that I want Eastern Health to deal with better. They have to do better, number one, in communicating, and they have to be clear about what their contingency plan is, so that those who are affected by it can tell them whether or not it is going to meet their needs in the short term. In the long term we have to do something about getting more specialists. One of the things, I think, is that we have to have better recruitment and retention initiatives in place to attract qualified professionals to us and keep them here, but I think we also need incentives for medical students to study infectious disease as a speciality. Medical students from here or from outside but who are willing to spend time in Newfoundland and Labrador so that, after they are qualified, we have enough incentives in place that they will also want to stay here, but we have to start being very aggressive with regard to training specialists that we need and having incentives to keep them here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I notice that my time is up, Mr. Chair, so I will leave it at that.

Thank you very much.

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Mr Chair.

It is an honour for me today to stand up and say a few words on Bill 76. Just to re-emphasize for our listening audience exactly what Bill 76 is, I guess in parliamentary terms we call it Interim Supply. Mr. Chairman, what we are doing here today is approving a sum of money which touches on a variety of different departments. That sum of money is to, I guess, start government off before the Budget is actually passed.

This week, when the Minister of Finance brings down a Budget, all sorts of good news and exciting things happening in Newfoundland and Labrador will be mentioned, I am sure. Mr. Chairman, before that we have to have money to operate, and March 31 is the end of the fiscal year. Of course, like I just reiterated, there is going to be a sum of money approved to touch on all departments and all expenditures that government is going to use in the coming months, Mr. Chairman, before the actual Budget is approved.

I was recently in a church service, actually, and the minister went from St. Peter, he said, to crab's legs, and didn't know how he got there. Well, Mr. Chairman, I guess in this forum today you can talk about anything, certainly, from St. Peter to crab's legs, but what I would like to talk about, if I could, the Member for Signal Hill–Quidi Vidi just talked about health care, and we are not all cold fish in this place. We all have families who are involved in health care, who work in health care, and who need health care on a regular basis, but one of the things that she talked about in particular was physician recruitment, and I thought it important that, although we hear a lot of negatives out there from time to time, especially from the Opposition, certainly from the Member for Signal Hill–Quidi Vidi, the sky is not always falling, I say, Mr. Chair.

I would just like to, for the people out there listening today, and for members of the House, I would just like to remind them of something that the Minister of Health actually talked about last year. I think it is a very significant piece of information and something that I am not so certain that the everyday person out there - unless you were plugged in directly to the Department of Health or one of the health boards, you probably would not realize it.

Mr. Chairman, just to give you a piece in time last year: from March 31 to September 30 of last year, we had a net gain of forty physicians in this Province, forty brand new physicians came to this Province. As a matter of fact, Mr. Chairman, on September 30 of last year we had 1,029 physicians working in this Province, the most ever in the history of our land. The most physicians ever in the history of our Province worked last year - that was 1,029 - and that was after forty people were recruited, just in that short time frame.

I guess, Mr. Chair, you can say that happened because of a number of reasons. I guess one of the reasons that it happened is certainly the $7 million investment in physician recruitment and retention that this government committed in the last Budget. So, Mr. Chairman, to say that we do nothing, to imply that we do nothing, nothing could be further from the truth. Like I said, in the last fiscal year we committed $7 million to recruitment and retention in this Province, and it is certainly one of the reasons why, from March to September, we had forty new physicians recruited.

As well, Mr. Chairman, the Provincial Physician Recruitment Office is established and doing a remarkable job, and I certainly take my hat off to them. They have a lot of work to do, as do recruitment offices right across this country and indeed through North America. It is certainly good to know, Mr. Chairman, that we came out forty to the good for that short timeframe last year. I want to personally thank them for the work they do, certainly on behalf of the people of the Province.

Certainly, Mr. Chairman, it would be remiss of me if I didn't mention as well the excellent work of Memorial University's Faculty of Medicine in helping to retain our graduates. That is a significant piece of work that our medical school does. Of these forty physicians who were recruited through that time, seventeen family medicine physicians, seventeen of these graduates, came from Memorial's Faculty of Medicine.

Mr. Chairman, they are not practicing here in St. John's only, or in Corner Brook only. They are practicing throughout our Province in places like Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Baie Verte, Port aux Basques – a member of the Opposition is from Port aux Basques, he will know that there is a new doctor in the area – and places like Bonne Bay up the Northern Peninsula.

Mr. Chairman, to give the impression that nothing is happening in this Province when it comes to recruitment and retention of physicians, nothing could be further from the truth.

Mr. Chairman, I would just like to talk a little bit about the MUN Faculty of Business and some of the bursaries that we have been able to give out, and retain and recruit these people for the Province. Almost all of the seventeen family medicine physicians who graduated from Memorial received family practice bursaries from the school for one year of service basically, Mr. Chairman. They would commit to one year of service for a $25,000 bursary. They will commit to stay in Newfoundland and Labrador for that one year. Mr. Chairman, the bursaries given out last year, those seventeen bursaries, are equal to thirty-one years of family practice for this Province.

Mr. Chairman, I have to reiterate that when people say the sky is falling, that this government is doing nothing, it is absolutely false and they have to be taken up on it. It is unfortunate sometimes when people hear of isolated incidents and then they turn them into a systemic problem. That is not always the case.

Mr. Chairman, before I finish on this, I would just like to say that last year the government approved all sixty-three eligible applicants for the three-year medical bursary program for the fiscal year. Twenty-eight of these physicians will start here in this Province this coming summer.

Mr. Chairman, just to give you another example of how this government has gone in recruiting physicians – it is a hard job, I kid you not, but we have done remarkable work in trying to do just that.

I had a number of items here to speak on and I realize my time is running short, but that is one thing I had to mention after the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi left the impression that this government does nothing for the recruitment of physicians in this Province.

Mr. Chair, I have a couple of things that I want to talk about, including foster families and some of the work we did, and the significant announcement for foster families yesterday. Before I do, I have to touch on a district issue. The Member for Topsail talked about it earlier, where we saw a commitment of $800 million in infrastructure. The Premier, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Transportation and Works, as well, held a press conference, I guess it is over a month ago now, where they laid out an $800 million infrastructure project. One of the biggest, I guess, areas that was given money was our school system. I guess there is no one as familiar with problems in the school system as me, having had two schools closed in my district from September to January; the last one opening just a month and a half ago. I know about that personally, because my own child was affected and had to leave Foxtrap and Conception Bay South and be bussed to St. Mathew's in St. John's. I know of what I speak and I understand the disruption in families and students and staff in particular.

Mr. Chair, I have to say I want to thank the school board because they did a remarkable job in handling that. You know, we are quick sometimes to knock the Eastern School District when they do something wrong, but I have to say I was more than delighted with how they handled the situation. I am proud to announce today that they are all back, all the students are back. Air quality tests have been done, Mr. Chair, in the schools and the reports are very, very good. When the windows are finished being replaced in Frank Roberts there will be another air quality test done just to confirm the previous test that was already done.

Mr. Chair, I want to congratulate all involved. It is good, certainly, to be back to a little bit of normalcy when it comes to raising kids and having them in the school system.

Mr. Chair, just before I sit down - I realize my time is running quickly - part of the $800 million that I referenced recently, Mr. Chair, included two significant additions in my area. As most people in the Province know Conception Bay South is a growth area. We are having significant growth and we are certainly delighted with. However, there are times when our infrastructure has to keep up with the demand. I guess government has realized that from an education perspective and recently announced the addition of new classrooms and a challenging needs suite at St. Edwards School in Kelligrews, a school that is probably hovering around 100 per cent capacity right now.

As well, my colleague from Harbour Main-Whitbourne - although Upper Gullies Elementary school is in his district certainly some of the students from my district feed into it. I was certainly delighted to work with him on talking to our Minister of Education who I sincerely want to thank for bringing those two schools - I guess it will expand them in numbers. Like I said, I have had calls recently about students waiting to do a French program at St. Edwards School in Kelligrews. It is certainly a numbers issue. As governments, I guess we have instituted smaller class sizes over the last couple of years, and certainly that takes its toll on facilities when you have expanding numbers.

Mr. Chair, I want to take my hat off to government for listening to the people of my district, me included, and adding on to our school system.

Mr. Chair, my time is up. I certainly hope that some of the speakers coming behind me – I will certainly sit down – touch on the wonderful announcement yesterday for foster families in our Province, a significant increase. Certainly, I hope to get the chance to talk about that in the next couple of days.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

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

It is a pleasure again today to be able to stand and take another few minutes with regards to debate on Interim Supply, and to touch on some issues that I look forward to hopefully coming out in this year's Throne Speech or in our Budget debate.

Yesterday, I touched on a couple of issues with regards to the Department of Education. I hoped to have seen something happen this year with regard to the elementary school, the Coley's Point primary school. It is a forty year old structure that definitely needs replacement. Government knows that. I think the school board is putting forward a tremendous battle to have that project considered either this year or in the very near future.

The other thing I wanted to touch on today, Mr. Chair, is with regards to, I guess, the issue I asked questions on this afternoon, the MUN presidency issue. We all know how this unfolded last year, with regards to the issue of selecting a president for our university. Many people, through the faculty here and the various organizations and associations, in conjunction with other universities throughout the country, took offence to probably what they deemed to be called political interference at that time. It was good to know today, when the minister, in her response, mentioned that she had met with the Board of Regents – I thought she said yesterday, or recently anyway - and had plans to meet with them again in the very near future.

We know that the Board of Regents and the university Senate put forth four recommendations for government's consideration. One of them was to change the act so that government could no longer approve the selection of the president. I know the minister is well aware of that one.

Another one was to have representation from the academic community. There are people on the Board of Regents who represent the students, the alumni, so they felt that there should be somebody there from the academic community.

The other issue is an independent election for the chair and the vice-chair by the Board of Regents.

The fourth recommendation was involved with the board members who are selected or elected to the Board of Regents being removed before their term of office had expired. That was my last question I had today, so I do not think I will follow-up on that with only one left on that issue.

It is good to know that the minister said she is meeting with the Board of Regents and other officials and looking over their four recommendations. Our hope is that legislation will come forward, hopefully in this session of the House. We know that it is under section 51 of the MUN act, where they can change the legislation so that the university will have more self governance on their behalf. Like I said, those recommendations are put forward and we are hoping that we are going to see legislation in this session, if not in this session later on in the fall, that will look after those.

Mr. Chair, the other thing: I think the new chair of the Board of Regents, Mr. Simmonds, has stated that one of the questions I asked the minister today, and during consultation on this, is wondering if they would bring about those changes before the next president for the University has been selected. We know they are discussing that, but I think the feeling is that this will happen after the new president is selected. I have heard other people in the community say that they felt like this is more or less closing the barn door after the horse is gone - now, whether that is the right terminology or not. Hopefully, that will be reconsidered and we will see where it will go from there.

The other thing I want to touch on again, and I know I did not bring up a petition today with regards to the long-term care facility for the Conception Bay North area, but it was an issue that I spoke on yesterday in my ten-minute timeframe, but I ran out of time on it. This is a very crucial point for that particular area of our Province. It encompasses four provincial districts, probably five, because I think people, even from the Placentia area, come to that facility. The two facilities that are there now, the Interfaith and the Harbour Lodge, have served the people for a number of years. The Interfaith is the old hospital that was in Carbonear before the new hospital was built there. Those facilities now are totally outdated. The people in the community, the various groups, the councils, the Carbonear council, they have spoken out and the professionals who work in those facilities do the same thing. They are saying it is time that we should move on and hopefully get a new facility.

The government also knows the need that is there because last year the Minister of Health and Community Services put forward to Cabinet, from documentations we received, that he suggested that $1 million should go into this facility and get the work started on it. Unfortunately, it did not happen last year. We are looking forward and hoping that is going to take place this year.

Another issue I want to touch on, and I know it was brought forward by this government, I think it was back first when they got elected in 2003, or early 2004, was an Outdoor Bill of Rights. It is an issue that has surfaced again in our Province. From time to time we hear people speaking out. I guess only recently we heard people talk about it when the enforcement of the trail permits requirements expanded beyond the T'Railways to include licensed trails on Crown land in the Eastern, Central and Western part of our Province. Some of those people take exception to that. I guess where they are really coming from they are saying there was no public consultation or not consultation enough where they all could get involved to have their say.

When we come to the, I guess the Outdoor Bill of Rights, it goes beyond our trails because my understanding is when government was looking at this Outdoor Bill of Rights, it would encompass a large area because we know here in our Province, and I think I am correct in saying that some 80 per cent of our land base in this Province at the present time is Crown Land, or fairly close to that. Many people have various issues. It will not only look at the part of the T'Railways, I think the studies that are ongoing, when it comes to environmental issues, on the caribou issue, the whole bit, it all encompasses on our Outdoor Bill of Rights and how the people of our Province look at the social, cultural and environmental issues.

I know from time to time there are incidents. I was talking to an employer in the Conception Bay North area only a couple of weeks ago. We know that it is a very environmental issue, and that is up in the Central Avalon region where lichen has been found on some of the woods there. In that particular area, I know the figures I have been quoted as saying is that some 300,000 cord of wood in that area has just blown down. One of the employers in the Conception Bay North area were given permits to go in and clean up this blown down wood. They had a use for it. They were making pallets and other products from it. That was stopped, I guess for environmental reasons because of the lichen that was on those trees. It is my understanding that from time to time this issue has gone beyond, I believe, with regards to how it should have been handled. I have been told that particular area - when it comes to the 200,000 cord of wood that is on the ground there now, it is not growing timber. It is wood that is down and it is just going to rotten away and of no use to anybody; that 200,000 cord of wood could be anywhere from fifteen or more years of employment for fifteen to twenty people in that particular business. That is a lot of work. We are always talking about bringing people home, looking for work for our people who are here now, but hopefully this year the Outdoor Bill of Rights will be another issue that will be coming forward.

Mr. Chairman, from time to time, I know during the minister's consultations during the Budget process waste management came up quite a few times. I am hoping that there is going to be some increase because the MOGs is an issue that came forward from small and large communities throughout our Province. I know we did a survey with the municipalities and dozens of them have reported back saying this is a major issue. They appreciate the 90-10, but some of our smaller communities cannot even come up with the 10 per cent. So what is happening with regards to their waste management, if their MOGs were increased to the point, this is where they can come up with the few extra dollars that they need; because waste management, let me assure you, is a thing that everybody agrees with. Nobody is against recycling and looking after our waste and making sure that it goes to the proper landfills, but many of them are finding it very difficult, very, very difficult to come up with the extra cost. Some of them are even saying now that the cost of them picking up their garbage in their communities has doubled, and in some areas it has even tripled, and for a smaller community this is very important to them. Like I said, they agree with the environmental issue, they agree and know what has to be done, but even if they receive more funding it would be a way and a means where they could come up and help with this issue.

So, Mr. Chairman, I know my time has elapsed. I thank you for the opportunity and hopefully I will be able to get back again later on.

Thank you.

CHAIR: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I am happy to participate in the debate on the granting of Interim Supply. I want to take this opportunity today to have a few words about the situation in Grand Falls–Windsor and the challenges that lie before the people in that region, as well as the government, as we try to find a way forward. It has been a long and rocky road this past three years with regard to Abitibi's operations in Grand Falls. As people know all around this Province, the pulp and paper industry has been in a downturn worldwide and the industry has been under tremendous pressure. We have felt the impacts of that pressure right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. We saw the closure of the Abitibi mill in Stephenville. We have seen the permanent idling of a machine in Corner Brook and now, of course, we have seen the closure of the mill in Central.

This is a journey that I had the privilege of sharing with the people of Grand Falls-Windsor and the surrounding communities. It is an issue that I have been personally engaged in since I was given the ministry of Natural Resources, it will soon be three years ago. It has created enormous pressure for the people who work in the mill but also for the people in the community who rely on the operations of the mill for the success of their companies and their communities.

In the early days, after its merger - Abitibi merged with Bowater - the company came to the union and said: We need to find $10 million in savings if we are going to move forward in this Province. I have talked a number of times publicly about the way that the union took on that piece of work and responded to the request from AbitibiBowater. They quietly went to work in a forty-five day period and found not only $10 million in savings but $12 million in savings for the company in their effort to sustain operations in Central.

This government, Mr. Chairman, fully understood the pressures that the pulp and paper industry was under, fully understood the pressures that both our pulp and paper companies were experiencing here in Newfoundland and Labrador. I am proud to say that this government has been very proactive in their support. The companies that operate in this Province always had generous access, certainly in Corner Brook and Grand Falls-Windsor, had generous access to fibre, they had generous access to hydro and they had access to one of the finest work forces anywhere in the country.

We had to go beyond that, Mr. Chairman, and we did. Without much prompting from the companies, we found millions and millions and millions of dollars of support for Corner Brook Pulp and Paper and AbitibiBowater during this difficult time. We found those millions of dollars – tens of millions of dollars, Mr. Chair - when money was very tight in Newfoundland and Labrador and this government was struggling to try and get us in a better fiscal position, but we recognized the importance of these industries to the people in the regions and to the Province as a whole and we felt an obligation to support them. However, that support was not enough to sustain operations in Grand Falls–Windsor and we have been struggling with that, with the company, over this last two years in particular. When they came forward last year and they brought forward a proposal, first of all, to the union, and things that they requested from the union, and proposals to us in terms of the way they wanted to manage harvesting on a go-forward basis, it caused a lot of consternation within government and certainly within the union and within the community.

In good faith, again, the people in the region and government responded in a way to find a way forward where we could reconcile our differences and try to assure for AbitibiBowater and the people of Central a continued future where the company had a good return on its investment and people continued to earn a living from that industry.

Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, while we were certainly able to resolve our difficulties around full-tree harvesting, we were not able to bring to a successful conclusion our offer to repatriate charter rights in order to provide an infusion of cash into the company, that might have relieved some of their difficulties. We were not able to come to an agreement with AbitibiBowater that would help them in their decision-making to continue operations in Central.

The workers, as they did their very best to put what they could on the table to help the company, the one piece, though, that they constantly came back to government and said to us was: Whatever happens here, whatever happens, make sure that AbitibiBowater does not walk away with the fibre and the hydro. I will do whatever I have to do to earn a living and provide for my family, but please ensure that the people of Central will have a future that can be built around the hydro and the fibre, that our children and our grandchildren may be able to redevelop this industry.

When AbitibiBowater closed down, this government took a bold, courageous move. We listened to what the people in the region had said to us, and not one voice dissented, and we went back to them. As minister, I had a responsibility to say to them: If the company goes down, if you do not accept the restructuring plan, do you understand what is at risk? I have to know that you understand what is at risk: that your severance is at risk, that your pensions are at risk, that your community is at risk. It is all fine and dandy for me to come and talk to you, but it is you who may lose your house and you who may lose your car. They said: We understand, but our position has not changed.

So circumstances, all of those circumstances, have brought us to the place where we are today. People in Grand Falls-Windsor are frightened today; they are going to receive their last paycheque very soon. They do not know what is happening with the company. Their severance may be at risk. They do not know, really, what is happening with their pensions.

We understand and appreciate the level of concern and anxiety that they may have, and we are doing our best as a government to respond in a comprehensive way. We have their best interests. We understand what their concerns are. We responded with our ministerial task force. We have our task force on the ground, and we made a commitment to the people of Grand Falls-Windsor the day we expropriated the property, to say to them: We are your government and we have walked this walk with you for the past two years, and years previous to it.

I want to reiterate to the people in the region today, that commitment still remains here, and strong. We are not walking away from Grand Falls-Windsor or the surrounding communities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: We are only partway through the journey, and challenging times do lie ahead. We do believe in the principle of adjacency, and we will use the hydro in Central to attract industry, if there is such an interest - industry to Central Newfoundland to create jobs and opportunities for people.

Today, I did a press release to let people know that we are doing a call for Expressions of Interest on how we can best use the fibre that was once used by Abitibi, to attract industrial development into Central to ensure that the maximum benefits are derived from that natural resource for the people in that area.

This government, we have been through difficult situations all over this Province. I want to assure the people that we did not walk away from those communities and they are all doing very well today, I am happy to say.

We do not lead with money; we lead with planning, and we are doing that. We are fully engaged with the people in those communities. We will assess proposals as they come forward, and when people come forward with good ideas and strategic initiatives the money will follow, but the most important message in this troubled time, that I want to share with the people of Grand Falls-Windsor and the surrounding communities today, is that our commitment has not lessened, not one bit. We walked the walk with you for the last number of years, and we will continue to do so.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR (Collins): The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

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

I have to say, it is not very often I get an opportunity to get up back-to-back, in a row, but there is nobody else over here.

AN HON. MEMBER: Truer words were never spoken.

MR. BUTLER: Yes, that is why you are here.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. BUTLER: That is why I am referencing.

Mr. Chair, it is a pleasure to be able to get up again and have a few words to say. I just want to make note of a comment that was made by my hon. colleague earlier, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, I think it was, when he said it is very easy to get up in this House and ask questions.

That may be so, but the questions we get up to ask are not just for the sake of asking them or being political about it. They are questions that are derived from issues that come forward from constituents and people throughout the Province.

My hon. colleague from Burgeo & LaPoile yesterday made a comment about a phone call that he had in the secrecy of a washroom in some facility within government – and that is where the questions come from, from time to time.

The minister just got up and mentioned their stand for the people in Grand Falls-Windsor with regard to Abitibi, and we know full well what those people must be going through. I have to say, in the last session of the House of Assembly, the four of us – the three on our side and the member for the NDP - met with the minister and the Premier on this very issue, and we worked together to make sure that a piece of business went through this House fairly quickly so that this could be done.

We totally support the government today in what they are doing, and hopefully the residents of that area will be looked after; but, then again, we still have to stand as an Opposition to ask questions and to put their concerns forward.

Mr. Chairman, I come from an area, I guess it is fairly close proximity to St. John's and the greater Avalon area. That is very fortunate because it is a fairly prosperous area, it is rich in history. Tourism is a major factor there, as well as the fishing industry. It is a tremendous area of growth when you come to the communities of Upper Island Cove, Port de Grave and Bay Roberts in relation to the fishing industry, as many other areas in this Province. Each and every year we look forward to the continued growth. I know the minister made an announcement this year, the fishing industry, I think, this year topped $1 billion. That is wonderful, but from time to time there are issues that come up that are major concerns to the people in that area and throughout the Province.

Just to continue with some of the issues that I was referring to earlier. I was talking about waste management, the Provincial Waste Management Strategy. I know that tremendous work has been done. I attended the municipalities' convention this year in Corner Brook, and to be able to sit back and hear the chair people from the various locations telling what has been planned and what is going on. That is all wonderful and it has to be done.

We hear so much about the Greater Avalon Regional Waste Management area, but many people have concerns of the setup, and this is no disrespect to the City of St. John's. I think the committee is made up of eight members from the City of St. John's and eight individuals from the surrounding areas. Many of the smaller communities have concern about it because they do not think they have a strong enough voice. Where they are coming from is because of the cost. Many communities – it is like I said earlier, I think from the people that we had attend the Budget consultations and listen to the various communities come forward with their presentations to the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board - then our office sent out a questionnaire to each and every municipality, large and small in this Province. We received dozens and dozens of replies back, not trying to find out if they are against government or for government, but just to get their concerns together. Each and every one of them, when they replied they got a common message: We agree with recycling. We agree that this has to be done, but - and the but most of the time, and from fairly large communities, is the cost factor. Some of them, for instance, tell us that this year it cost them $87,000 for a small community. They said it is a crippling financial burden to them. Other people had their fees for garbage collection triple.

One particular town, and I will not use any names, will not tell what area of the Province it is, but in 2006 it cost them $24,000 for garbage collection; 2007 it went to $30,000; 2008, $44,000. Once the new system kicks into place where the collection of their waste starts to be transferred to Robin Hood Bay, it is going to go in excess of $50,000. That may not seem like a large chunk of money for some of the larger communities, but for some of the smaller communities it is. It is very expensive and many of them are saying that something has to be done to assist them. One of the means that they are putting forward - and the second thing, they are all very pleased with the 90-10 that government came down with, but some of the smaller communities, that 10 per cent is crippling to them and they are unable to take part in that program as good as it is.

I know there was a resolution brought up this year in Corner Brook, a resolution brought up with regard to the – I think it was last year, in the 2007 meetings in St. John's, that the MOGs would be brought back to the rate they were back in 1992. I know the committee for Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador met with the – probably it was the former minister, maybe this minister, on that very issue. What they are saying is that the MOGs mean so much to them. The 90-10 is good, but the money cannot be used for the same purposes that they used to use their MOG money for.

I know one community that used to be in the District of Port de Grave but now it is in the District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace, a small community. Their MOG money, they used to use that to assist them with their snow clearing. As a matter of fact, the money was just transferred from the Department of Municipal Affairs through to the Department of Transportation and Works, it was at that time. That is how they used to come up with it. This now, when their MOGs have been cut over the years – I know this goes back a long time, but they are continuously being cut. It seems like people think that the 90-10 is a way around it, but it is not. This money, they have more freewheeling to do with the funding.

Another issue that comes up from time to time in many communities - and I know it came up and I know for a fact that they met with the minister. Hopefully, this year, some time, the legislation will come in. It is an issue in many of our communities and that is the definition of a car wreck. This came up at the municipalities' convention in Corner Brook. I know the minister has concerns about this and it is an issue that is going to be dealt with. Hopefully, that will come sooner rather than later because when they go to clean up some of those wrecks in the various communities, if there are wheels or tires on it, it is not classified as a wreck as we speak in the legislation. I can be corrected on that, but I think that is where it comes in to. Then again, there is nothing else there. They are just saving it for an unknown reason because it is an eyesore in those smaller communities and it is an issue that has to be corrected and hopefully that will come about.

Another major issue, and I know the minister has met with people on this one, is the 911 system and it is an issue throughout the Province. I know the Joint Management Council Committee in my area and the mayors committee in Trinity Bay side, I know they were in and met with the minister and were very thankful that that meeting took place. Hopefully something can be done because it is a major issue, not only in the area that I represent but throughout the Province.

Another issue that I find is coming forth more so now, and it is through the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment. I know back a few years ago there were many local offices that were closed and a new system was put in place. I have said it before in this House and I will say it again, there is no one against technology but I can assure you and if anyone wants to try it someday you can. People who have to call in to either apply for social assistance, they have to dial in and make their application over the phone. Number one, that is if you can get through. I have called in on behalf of people who were trying to get an answer. One family, only last week, who were trying to get approval for a taxi to take a child to the Janeway hospital were on the phone for thirty-some-odd minutes and could not get an answer. I just could not believe it. I said I will try it. I called the 1-877 number and lo and behold, I was on so long - I went twenty-some-odd minutes and then it cut off and said your call is important to us, call back again. I think something has to be done about that. You do not blame the people who are on those lines, whether it is busy or it is the system or what have you. The minister is nodding, but it is a serious problem. They are looking into it and that is wonderful, because from time to time I have to call other people in the department and then they have to transfer me through or what have you. There is something wrong with the system and it is good to know the minister is saying she is going to look into it and hopefully look after this problem.

Mr. Chairman, my time has expired again and I want to thank you.

CHAIR: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Indeed, a pleasure to get up in this session of the House to talk about Bill 76, Interim Supply, because it is an important aspect of where we are right now as we are bridging between two fiscal years. Of course from my Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, it is very important that we continue in the good work that we are doing, especially in some areas, particularly fishing renewal and our aquaculture.

I will begin just to talk a little bit about the fishing renewal that was instituted a couple years ago, Mr. Chair, and the commitment that this government has made to work with that industry to get it to where it needs to be in these times. Of course, Mr. Chair, when you look at these times, these are very trying times in many ways, and as the various seasons of our fishing industry start to open up, we are ever concerned that the markets will be good, the prices will be adequate, and, of course, the weather conditions good enough so that we can harvest. The fishery renewal, Mr. Chair, has been, I guess, forefront in our minds as we have gone forward over the last couple of years. This government has certainly made a commitment of upwards of $140 million to that exercise as we make commitments to the industry to ensure that this industry is the industry that it should be, with regard to Newfoundland and Labrador, and that we are determined, with the help of industry, with the collaboration partnership of industry, to make it the sustainable, the viable, and the competitive industry that it should be.

Mr. Chair, I say to you that it is very, very important with regard to where we are as a Province, where we need to be now, but more importantly where it is going to take us into the future. Of course, when we look at the fishing industry it is not only about the economics of the Province but the parts of the Province, especially our rural components, our small harbours and coves all around this island and into Labrador, the people who execute this industry, and the importance of the sustainability that it gives to these individuals and these communities.

As well, Mr. Chair, talking about the finances of it, we have been very, very successful in our fishing renewal exercises. It came about as a result of consultation with our fishers, with our harvesters, with our processors, the whole industry, to make sure that the direction that we were taking as a government was the appropriate direction. That is why it is so important, as we look at making sure that we advance this bill, to ensure that the financing is there to continue to provide to industry the resources that they need in order to carry out this renewal.

Mr. Chairman, the successes that I talk about, with regard to our licensing policy that was instituted under this program, it has certainly stabilized the industry and allowed us to have that stability that is required in order to make long-term planning on behalf of the harvesters and the processors. I am very, very pleased to report that the policy is bearing out good results and should continue as we go into the future.

One of the other areas, Mr. Chairman, that is so important in this day and age is with regard to technology and new opportunities. When I say technology, I refer, of course, to innovation. Over last year and the next two years we have set aside something to the tune of $6 million to enable us to allow the industry to apply. In 2008, we have pretty much exhausted the $2 million that was set aside. Well over 100 projects – and these projects, Mr. Chairman, are very, very important because it is about innovation, it is about being creative, and it is about looking at ways in which we can be more effective, that we can diminish our carbon footprint as we execute this industry; and as well, to pursue new opportunities as you look at value-added processing, as you look at finding, basically, underutilized species and finding markets for them. These dollars, again, we need to make sure that they continue to flow to allow our industry to continue to stay on top of the game. It is a very important game, Mr. Chair, because without it we are left behind. This is an industry whose marketplace is the globe and we have to be very, very careful to make sure that we are addressing the needs of our consumers and providing them with what they need.

The Fisheries Loan Guarantee Program, I say to you, Mr. Chair, is an important program. It allows the financing for our industry that is so required. We have upped the limits from about $1.5 million to $2 million for individual applications. This loan guarantee program has been very, very successful. As well, as you know, with the fishing renewal program we are in partnership with the federal government, except under this particular one, Mr. Chairman, we are running into some difficulties because part of it was to, as well, help rationalize the industry by allowing for the combining of enterprises. Right now, we are kind of stalled because there is some question as to whether licenses can be used as collateral and we are waiting for the federal government to make some sort of decision on it. As a provincial government, we certainly are there, and when that gets ironed out, obviously that program will also be able to cover the combining of enterprises which is so important at this particular time.

Workforce adjustment: we have seen that come into play when there is a plant closure. The money that has been set aside for that is, again, important because it allows us to go in and do some adjustment to the workforce, perhaps allowing them to enter another aspect of the fisheries or to probably go into another industry. Again, all to support the workers, to make sure that we can assist them in a time of need, such as plant closure.

This year coming up, Mr. Chair - of course, the occupational health and safety is another aspect that came out in our consultations, and the fishing industry safety council will be top on, certainly, my agenda as minister, to try to bring forth a council that can address those particular needs.

All in all, Mr. Chair, I am just reporting that last year has been successful in any number of different ways. As well, I refer to the fishery renewal with regard to the wild fisheries, but I would also like to report, Mr. Chair, that the other aspect of my ministry, aquaculture, is continuing to grow, and with growth, of course, comes growing pains, and we have been in good consultation with that industry. They have clearly indicated, basically, where we need to be, and in this coming year I am looking for the results, now, of a consultation that is taking place even as we speak, to look at the infrastructure on the Connaigre Peninsula that is required. I am getting that final report. Of course, we will be able to then go forward and action what is necessary in order to make sure that that industry, that part of the industry, continues to grow.

As well, this year, Mr. Chair, is a challenging year, as all years are with the fishing industry, but this more so with the downturn globally, but we see some bright spots. Of course, just returning from the Boston Seafood Show, I can say that industry is optimistic. They realize the challenges, but can go forward.

Finally, Mr. Chair, I would be remiss if I did not bring to the House's attention one of the biggest challenges that we have now as the seal harvest has opened in other parts of the country, and opening in our waters very, very soon. Things have not changed and we are still under, as a jurisdiction, a tremendous amount of pressure from the special interest groups who are intent on stopping the hunt; but I would like to say, Mr. Chairman, and I am sure I speak for all members of this House in saying that we as a government, we as a Province are going to do everything we can in support of our sealers, in support of this sustainable, viable, harvest of seals, and that we will do everything in our power to make sure that the hunt or the harvest continues as it should.

With that, and seeing that my time has run out, Mr. Chair, again I thank you for the time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I am pleased to rise and have a few more words. The minister just talked about the fishing industry in the Province and, I tell you, it concerns me when I look at what is happening in all the resource sector industries across Newfoundland and Labrador, and the fishery probably being no exception, but I am certainly pleased to see that the industry itself reached about $1 billion in export last year, which was a tremendous accomplishment when you look at the market conditions that they are faced with, with the fluctuation of the Canadian dollar over the last number of years.

Mr. Chairman, we also know that fish processors in our Province have had a close working relationship with Iceland over the years and, in fact, obtained a tremendous amount of their financing for their operations through the Icelandic banks. I guess since last season we know what is happening with the Icelandic banking industry, when we saw the entire collapse of the banking industry and they had to be taken over and managed by Russia, in fact, in order to be able to maintain any level of stability in Iceland at all.

We know that this trickles down to have impact in the fish processing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, and it certainly concerns me when we are going into another season of operations in this Province as to how many of these processors are going to be able to finance their operations. I know in the ones that I have talked to, they had the security of being able to obtain those lines of credit so they could go out and buy fish at the head of the wharves so they could process it in their plants, and when they exported it into the market and they got paid for it, then they could pay back their lines of credit to their creditors; and in most cases, as I said, it was the Icelandic banks.

Mr. Chairman, in the absence of those programs being there, and you look at what is happening in our own banking industry in Canada today, you know how difficult it is to be able to get money, especially in resource sector industries. We have already heard of expansions in things like refineries and mining operations and so on being shut down because of the inability to be able to raise the capital in the marketplace to be able to support and fund those kinds of projects, so

I wouldn't think that the fishing industry would be any exception. I hope that the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Minister of Finance are putting their heads around what they are going to introduce in the Budget on Thursday to help the processing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador overcome that particular gap; because I can tell you today that there are a lot of those processors out there that, if they do not get the line of credit that they need to be able to get their operation and their plant doors open and buy fish at the head of the wharf, their businesses are already going to be compromised. Any time there is a business that is compromised, Mr. Chairman, what that means is that it could eventually have impacts on people in the communities that they operate and in the regions that they operate. Mr. Chairman, it is a very serious issue.

Another issue that is very serious in our resource sector is the deal with forestry. First, I want to comment a little bit on the Abitibi piece because I only got to hear very briefly some of the comments that the minister made around AbitibiBowater and the impact on workers today. She maintains that the government is committed, and committed to walking side by side with the people in that area to ensure that there are results.

Well, Mr. Chairman, I can tell you, where I stand today, I have concerns. I just finished questioning this government, in the House of Assembly, in the last two days, on what is going on with AbitibiBowater and what the impact is going to be in the Grand Falls-Windsor, Bishop's Falls and Botwood areas directly and I have not gotten answers. In fact, Mr. Chairman, we are probably within hours of knowing as to whether AbitibiBowater will end up in a bankruptcy position. By 1:30 tomorrow evening, Mr. Chairman, if they cannot meet the agreements and their obligations to the banks to cover off their billions of dollars in debt and renegotiate that contract, that means they are going to be forced into a bankruptcy position.

When we asked the government today, what does that mean for people when it comes to severance packages and pensions, they could not give us an answer. They could not give us an answer. To me, that is not the kind of response I would expect from a government who is supposed to be on top of the file and have the information. I would have liked to know today how much severance will be needed to cover off those packages if the company goes bankrupt. I would like to know who is going to pay that. Are you going to take it out of royalties that are going to be generated from power that will be sold that the company no longer uses? We do not know those things. We do not even know how much is required to be paid out, and they could not tell us that in the House of Assembly today.

Mr. Chairman, I do not think that is the sign of a government that is on top of the issue, that has their head around the impact that is actually going to have in that region. In fact, Mr. Chairman, they could not tell me what the impact will be on pension plans. They did not know what the impact is going to be, and still do not know, on pension plans. Does it mean, in a case of bankruptcy, that every person that was entitled to receive a pension from that company will no longer now receive it? Is that what it means? What does it mean for the workers in Stephenville? Do they still fall under the same corporation? Those people today who were displaced from their jobs in the Stephenville mill - when Abitibi-Consolidated, if they end up in a bankruptcy position, are their pension plans affected? Will they still receive money? These are very serious questions. The government's response is: We are not going to panic.

I can tell you, if I was one of those workers today I would be in a panic. I would be in a panic because I would be watching the clock right now. I would be watching the clock to see if this company is going to secure the investment capital that it needs to pay down its debt and meet its commitment to the banks, or if they are going to be frozen out and therefore go into receivership and end up in bankruptcy.

Mr. Chairman, these are important questions, and I know that the people out there are asking themselves those questions because they have been contacting my office and asking me those questions as well. That is why I brought them to the House of Assembly, and I am disappointed; disappointed that a government who claims to be on top of this knows nothing about it. In fact, Mr. Chairman, they have even broken off their talks and negotiations on expropriation. They refuse to tell us how much they bid on the assets. First of all, they brought in expropriation legislation in the House of Assembly and failed to disclose that they had even placed a bid for those assets. Now they are saying that is off the table and it is irrelevant but we are not telling you how much the bid was.

Mr. Chairman, where is the openness and accountability now? Where is the government who claims to be open and accountable and provide information to the public? Well, it is certainly not being made available at this particular stage. If it has no bearing any more, let us see what the bid amount was.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I ask members for their co-operation. I am having trouble hearing the member speaking.

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It is an important issue and members should be paying attention. They should be paying attention. If it was my district today, I would certainly be paying very close attention to what is going on in that particular area, and what the impact could be over the next few days for those individuals who are affected.

Mr. Chairman, again we have a situation in the forest industry that is not limited to Grand Falls-Windsor, Bishop's Falls and Botwood. It is actually extending to many areas of the Province. As we have watched the forest industry in the last number of years bottom out in Newfoundland and Labrador, under the watch of the government opposite and under the leadership of the government opposite, we have seen people going out of business, we have seen foresters shut down with nowhere to sell their wood, we have seen sawmill operators left in a complete dilemma, and what we have seen is that even those who have been prepared to invest their own money to look at new ideas and innovative ideas are now finding that they are against a brick wall. So, where have really been the management, the ideas and the innovation around the forest industry in Newfoundland and Labrador? It has not existed. It has not existed. Even in my own district, Mr. Chairman.

When Stephenville mill closed down, there were numbers of workers who lost their jobs, who packed up their families and moved to Alberta. There was never one response mechanism from this government when companies in that area went out of business because they had nowhere to sell their wood. What is going to be the response in places like Baie Verte and Roddickton and Englee and Terra Nova and all of these areas, when those people no longer have a market to sell their wood and they have no reason to go and cut, no reason to employ loggers, no reason to carry on with their business? Are their backs going to be turned on them as well, and they will have to look to go out of the Province?

In fact, Mr. Chairman, I think this government has been a dismal failure when it comes to looking at diversification of the forest industry in this Province. In fact, if you look at what was done with community trust agreements in other provinces - and I look to British Columbia. British Columbia has secured over $120 million from the federal government under the Community Development Trust Agreement. They took that money and they put it in the forest industry, Mr. Chairman. They created job opportunities in communities, even the smallest communities that were impacted. They provided laid-off forestry workers with assistance for education and retraining, and do you know what else they did? They provided for retirement packages for older workers in the forest industry, for loggers who were being displaced from their jobs, Mr. Chairman.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that her speaking time has elapsed.

MS JONES: They did not turn their back on them. They made the transition for loggers and foresters into retirement programs, which is something that is not being looked at in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, the Newfoundland and Labrador government had money under the Community Development Trust programs –

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that her speaking time has elapsed.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

By leave, to clue up?

CHAIR: Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: By leave.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador had money under the Community Development Trust Agreement as well. Mr. Chairman, they did not have $120 million, but they had over $20 million, over $20 million that they could invest into workers in this Province. Mr. Chairman, as we watch loggers walking away without severance packages today, and we watched older workers being thrown out of the forest industry with no new solutions from government, they certainly did not make a choice to use that money to provide for transitional work programs and for early retirement programs for those workers that were affected. There are still going to be many more that are going to be affected, Mr. Chairman, and people in this House know it because they live in districts that employ foresters and loggers. I can tell you that it is not a pretty picture when you are displaced from your job after thirty years in an industry and you do not have the option to go back into that profession because there is nowhere to sell the wood any more in this Province. That is what is sad, and this is where this government has failed, and failed to be able to create new opportunity in the industry and new opportunities for the people who were affected, Mr. Chairman.

CHAIR: The hon. Member for Kilbride.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: Mr. Chairman, I am glad to have an opportunity to get up and speak for a couple of reasons: one reason being that, like yourself, I had a big feed of corned beef and cabbage over at the cafeteria lunchtime and it is good to be able to get up and stretch. Another reason is, I would like to get up at this time and speak to Bill 76, or get the opportunity to speak during this debate, because what I am going to say does not have much to do with Bill 76. I think I am going to be a little bit off the topic a few times, but I just want to make a few comments from the previous speaker.

The Leader of the Opposition was kind of indicating that the present government is to blame for what is happening in Grand Falls. She mentioned that loggers cannot sell their wood. They cannot sell their wood, not only in Newfoundland; you cannot sell it probably in the world. You cannot blame this government.

Right now -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. DINN: Mr. Chairman, I would like to be able to continue. I only have ten minutes. I think I have twenty minutes of saying to do.

We have a mechanism put in place that is going to deal with what happens in Grand Falls. You cannot jump the gun and become an alarmist and say that Abitibi is going to go bankrupt. If it goes bankrupt, it goes bankrupt. We will deal with the situation after that announcement is made. You do not come out and tell them that they are going to go bankrupt so we can pick up the tab. Let us wait and see.

Mr. Chair, I have complete faith in our task force that we have set up for Grand Falls, and in our Minister of Natural Resources. They will deal with the issues as they come forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DINN: Now, we have to remember, as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, that this world is in an economic recession. Some call it a slowdown, but it is more than that.

I have a daughter who works in Connecticut. Two days a week she goes to New York to work. Up in the States, things are very, very bad. On her way to the train station, and on her way home from the train station after her two days in New York, she now sees people living in tents. These are people who have lost their jobs, lost their homes, and they are now living in a tent.

We are not in that situation, and we will not be, because I think the past few years, the last five or six years, this government has done things to insulate us against the tragedies that are happening in the States. We are now doing, and have been doing, what was necessary, and what other jurisdictions are talking about doing, and other countries. They are talking about investing in infrastructure. They are talking about reducing taxes, reducing debt. We have done all of that, and we have been doing it for the last number of years, and because we have done that we have kind of insulated ourselves from the tragedies that are happening in the States.

You see also in the States that hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost. In Canada, Ontario has been hit very hard. I heard last week that New Brunswick has been hit. We are not seeing that devastation yet, and we may not because of what we have done. We have taken steps to continue our infrastructure spending. We are going to spend something like $800 million more this year. That is good stimulous money. We are going to spend money on schools, on roads, on hospitals, and on maintenance, all this type of stuff, all of which will be good to keep people working.

This past winter I saw some encouraging signs for this Province. I do not know how many people noticed, but in around the St. John's area, where I live, I noticed that there is a good bit of construction still ongoing. It has not stopped this winter. There are houses being built. There are things going on. I think, when the spring comes work will start taking off again and you will see jobs for people all over this Province.

I was going to get up and talk about the necessity - and I think I mentioned at a few caucus meetings how important it is to spend this stimulus money and get tenders called. It is no good of having $800 million of stimulus money announced if tenders do not get called. I noticed in the last week or so that tenders have been called for schools. It is not going to be too long more before tenders will be called for roadwork and for hospitals; all very well and good. If these tenders are called, jobs will be created and that is what we need to keep the economy going. Money has to be spent and that is very important.

Mr. Chairman, I had planned to get up and talk about the benefits of calling tenders early, and I think we all know that. You will get better prices, you will not get what we had last year, one company bidding on a job and no one else. I think things might be a bit better this year because oil prices are down and companies will not have the same expense operating as they did before.

I had intended also to mention my district. My district has had some good news over the last few years on roadwork. There are only a few roads in my district that are provincial government responsibility. One of them, probably the busiest road in the whole Province, is Pitts Memorial Drive. A lot of money has been spent on Pitts Memorial Drive over the last few years so that now it is back in good condition again. The Goulds Bypass Road is another road in my district that is under the jurisdiction of the Province. That is reasonably new and not in too bad a shape. So, I am not looking for any pile of road money this year.

I do not know how many are aware of it, but my district is the Kilbride district. There are a lot of people in my district who do not even know where Kilbride district is. They do not know what it includes. I share a part of the Goulds, which is a part of my district, with my colleague from Ferryland. We work together on Goulds issues. My district is part of the Goulds, all of Kilbride, you go through Kilbride and you work your way up from Kilbride up to Topsail Road. A part of Topsail Road is even in my district. I take in all of Brookfield Road and those areas.

We have issues in my area, and anybody who drives through the main road in Kilbride and the Goulds and on Brookfield Road knows that roads are important, just as they are with other people.

The situation with us, myself and my colleague, is that our roads, except for the provincial ones, have to be dealt with by the City of St. John's. The City of St. John's sets the priorities for the work that they want. They list the roads they want done, the projects they want done, and that is the way we have to deal with it. What we do as MHAs, myself and my colleague, we have to go meet with the city and make sure that they are on the agenda. Then again, you have to remember what road gets done in St. John's is based on another political system, which is the municipal level. So we have to make sure that we try to get the roads that need to be done, done that way.

Another big issue in my district, especially in Kilbride and Southlands, is the need for community centres. We need to have a community centre for an area that is growing very rapidly, and that is the Southlands, South Brook, Ruby Line area. That is growing very quickly. When I was on council, before I got off there, the last year I think there were 500 lots approved for Southlands. Today, those lots are all used up. South Brook, across the street, had a couple of hundred lots. There were only a few of those developed when I got off council, I think they were waiting for me to go. Now they are all filled; all gone, just about. So there is a lot of development. There is a need in that area for a community centre.

One of the other big needs in my area, and this involves the West End, is a high school for the West End. I get calls, and conversations take place all the time with people in that area, looking for a high school for the West End. The biggest mistake that I think the Liberal government made in 1999 was to take Beaconsfield High School out of the loop. It was a political decision. It was made without any consideration of the facts. No one looked at the fact that the West End was a growth area. Look at Kilbride today. A lot of the land in Kilbride today is now ready and primed for development. Infrastructure has been upgraded so that all the vacant lands in Kilbride, basically, except those outside the agricultural area, can be developed. So there is a need for that school and there is going to be a need even further in the future.

I see my time is up, and I thank you, Sir.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would just like to have a few words again on Interim Supply today, but before I do so I would like to congratulate two members of the House, actually, and that is the Member for Harbour Main-Whitbourne and the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor-Green Bay South. The reason I would like to congratulate them is on their tenth anniversary in the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: They, along with myself, were elected first on February 9, 1999. In fact, I look around the chart, we have a seating plan in the House and I noticed - I just took a quick look at it to see how senior exactly it would be and ten years buys you a lot of seniority in the House of Assembly. There are actually only four persons sitting in the House today who have more seniority than myself and those two members I pointed out. That would be the Speaker, who has been here I believe since 1993, the Member for St. John's West and her son for St. John's South who are here, and the Leader of the Opposition. That is the only four members who have any more seniority than those three. So it is amazing over a period of ten years just how quickly, out of forty-eight members, you have such a turnover. I think that works out to be something like an 85 per cent turnover in the course of ten years.

Anyway, I would just like to congratulate those members. I have sat on both sides of the House with you, whether in government or when you were in Opposition, and in both cases I found both gentlemen to be not only hard workers for their districts but hon. gentlemen, and hopefully you will be here for another ten if that is the wish of you both.

Anyway, back to the Interim Supply. Just a few comments. We all have our wishes, I guess, when it comes to what we would like to see in the Budget. The Member for Kilbride was just up of course spouting off what his wish list is and what he is hoping there, new schools for St. John's, for the western end and so on. We all like to see that; more roadwork for your district. Some of us are in worse shape than others.

The Member for Baie Verte is over there nodding his head, proverbial, or I guess the issue out in that particular area. We even lost a Deputy Premier over that issue, about the pavement out in Baie Verte. Maybe he will have a different fate this year and we will not get anybody losing their jobs because they complain about not getting enough pavement. Anyway, hopefully everybody will be satisfied once the Minister of Finance announces his goodies come Thursday.

There are lots of other issues, too. I remember when we were in the House one time, I was actually in government and there was a member who used to sit over in the Opposition at the time and he is now a senator, Senator Manning. He had a copy of a letter. He used to get up and wave it day after day, night after night. It was talking about an argument that the cousins were having. The boys are fighting, he used to say. The boys are having a row. This was where the MP at the time for Labrador, the late Mr. Lawrence O'Brien, apparently had written a letter and made some comments complaining about what was going on with the provincial Liberals. Mr. Manning of the day used to get up and religiously talk about: Oh, the boys are in a tiff. The boys are having a fight. They are all cousins, they are all related and they are having a racket with each other.

Well, lo and behold, we have another such racket on the go now. Lo and behold, who is pointing it out but another one of the cousins. Of course, the rift that he is referring to - and this impacts even on our budgets - and that is the famous ABC campaign and the rift that is going on between our Premier and Prime Minister Harper; tooth and claws at each other for the last number of months. I noticed they barely shook hands with each other down at the church service the other evening. They could barely contain themselves to shake hands. It was very noticeable.

Anyway, the row goes on. And who is out talking about the row now and how it impacts this Province and their district? None other than a prominent mayor in the Province, very, very prominent, well known to everybody in Newfoundland and Labrador, a former candidate for the current government, but he is peeved, he is upset, he is terrible and there is a big row going on. In fact, he talks about the minister for Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs. He said he has to get his act together. In a row, he said, with the MP up in Labrador. None other of course, I am referring, of course to the Mayor for Labrador City.

I have a copy of an article printed in The Aurora yesterday. "Letto urges politicians to stop pushing personal agendas." Pretty strong words! Talking about how they cannot get along with each other, the Premier and the Prime Minister. Get your act together! He made reference, in fact, to two letters. One that came from the MP up there, Mr. Russell went to the Labrador City Council and a letter that came from our Minister of Transportation and Works and went to the city council. The reporter said: How come you did not make any comments on these letters, you just put them in for the information session and you did not have any comment about them? His response was: No one had anything to say because there was nothing in either letter worth talking about. All they are doing, he said, is having a fight. They can't get their act together. Words like: We are just tired of getting in the middle of a feud that exists between the federal government and the provincial government, tired of the same rhetoric.

He refers to a racket between Minister John Hickey and MP Todd Russell. Boys, he said, get beyond it and start working together in the best interests of the people. Now, this is a prominent mayor. This is one of your own. This is one of your own out saying this yesterday: Get your act together. Get your act together. Politicians have to stop pushing their own personal agendas and deal with the issues at hand. He said: The relationship between Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada, he pointed out, is quickly becoming the joke of the country. His only interest, he said, is, I want to get projects that are slated for Labrador West up and running.

So we hope, anyway, that the mayor, the good mayor – and, by the way, he is not only the Mayor of Labrador City. He is not only the Mayor of Labrador City; he is the president, I do believe, at the present time, of the Federation of Municipalities. So this person not only has some knowledge about what is happening on his own turf; he is aware of the relationship with the governments vis-à-vis every municipality in the Province. I think that is a pretty damning comment about where the government is going.

It is fine to talk about all the money you are spending, and everything else, and we are going to have a big Budget on Thursday, but beneath all of that veneer there lurk some problems, serious problems, when representatives of every municipality – which, by the way, represents everybody in this Province – are saying that she is off the rails when it comes to how to deal with things. I think there is an issue. I think there is a major issue.

It will be interesting to see, along with a new Budget which is supposed to address the stimulus issues, supposed to deal with the economic issues, if hopefully there is going to be a change in attitude; because I would suggest that is going to be equally as important to help us through these tough times as the tough times themselves. It is not going to be addressed and dealt with by throwing money at it, but here is a person who senses underneath some undercurrent.

We have alluded to a couple of issues. We talked yesterday about a culture of secrecy that exists throughout the Public Service and in a lot of corners outside of the Public Service when it comes to dealing with this government. Now we have a very prominent mayor, one of their own, saying: Whoa, these people can't get along. We are suffering the consequences of somebody having a spat.

That is another issue, and I would think he is in the know. He has been party to a lot of this conversation. He reads the newspaper. I must say, I have to say, in the forty seconds I have left: Hats off to Mayor Letto, because he is not suffering from any delusions about secrecy nor fear of reprimand and retribution. He had guts enough to say it. There might be a lot out there who do not have the guts to say it. Now, mind you, he will never, I would think, be no a PC ticket again; have no fear about that. He dared to speak out. No doubt, there will be some consequences for him to pay because he said it, but I hand it to him, at least he had the courage to say it.

Anyway, I look forward to continuing my comments on the Interim Supply as soon as the next opportunity permits.

Thank you.

CHAIR: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, we sit here in this House twice a year, six or seven weeks at a time, and hours and hours and hours are spent on this side listening to the drivel coming from the members of the Opposition. I have to say that I do my very best to ignore it in the main and be concerned about what the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have charged me and my colleagues with in terms of our responsibility. Part of that is to sit here and, despite the aggravation and the misinformation coming from across the way, we carry on, on the steady course that we set in 2003.

Mr. Chair, we have been in this House for two days and we are just drawing to the close of the second day. They started off not too bad yesterday, but the high road is not somewhere they are comfortable. They cannot stay on the high road. They have to get down and roll in the gutter because, I suggest, it is a place where they are most comfortable. I have never heard such drivel as just came from the Opposition House Leader. Absolutely!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: With all due respect to Graham Letto, what he knows about my relationship with my counterparts in Ottawa you could fit in a thimble.

SOME HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: I do not know who he is talking to, but he is certainly not talking to me. I have an excellent relationship with my counterpart, the hon. Minister Raitt. We talk on a regular basis. She is coming to visit us next month. We are chairing together a meeting of Energy Ministers from right across the country, right here in Newfoundland and Labrador next summer.

We have an excellent relationship with the regional minister, Minister MacKay. The Opposition House Leader should be a little bit more observant, because we had a very cordial handshake and exchange of pleasantries at the Basilica, and I even managed to shake Senator Manning's hand.

Mr. Chairman, we are charged, on this side of the House, with a greater responsibility. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador have told us what they expect of it.

A colleague across the way shouts ABC across at me, as if that is some kind of an insult. I am not insulted. My primary responsibility that I have been charged with by the people of Virginia Waters, and by the people of this Province, is to stand up for Newfoundland and Labrador, to abide by the principles that we outlined in our Blue Book in 2003, and again last year, and I make no apologies to anyone, inside this House or out, for standing up to protect the best interests of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: It is one thing to have to sit here in this House and listen to the Leader of the Opposition talk about community trust and the B.C. model. It is obvious from her comments that she does not know any more about that than the man in the moon. I would suggest that she use some of the research money that she has to inform her comments here in the House of Assembly, because she knows not of which she speaks. If she asks me a question, I will be more than happy to explain the B.C. model for her, and why it would not work for the people who work in the mill in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Mr. Chairman, the only solace, the only solace, that the people on the side of this House get on a regular basis is the CRA poll that comes out quarterly. Because, while the people opposite do not get it – they did not get it when they were in government, and they do not get it now - I will guarantee you, Sir, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador get it. They absolutely get it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: They understand what it is that we are about. They clearly remember the mess that we inherited from fourteen years of governance from the Liberal Party in this Province. They clearly understood what the situation was when we took over. They understand how important the principles that we laid out in our Blue Book are to the people who sit in this House under the PC governance and leadership of Danny Williams, of the Premier of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Chair, the Lower Churchill will not be given away while there is a PC government in this Province, I will guarantee you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Chair, there will be no deals cut on hydro development in this Province that are not connected with industry that provides benefit to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: The first three sessions we sat in this House, Mr. Chair, we had people who were angry at us. They were angry because of the drastic situation that we found ourselves in and the subsequent actions that we had to take as a result of it. We did not come in here, we did not leave the Cabinet room, but you had a pain in your stomach. We never came into this House but you did not have a pain in your stomach because people would be angry and they would be cursing and swearing because they were upset and they were frightened, but we stayed the course because we knew it was the right thing to do. It was the honest thing to do. We laid out the principles to the people, we laid out our platform to the people, and we said: here are the touchstones that are going to guide this government. Here are the principles that we will always go back to and they will guide every action. They will not be self serving. They will not be in the interest of particular members who sit in government. They will not be laid out in such a way to further our political careers beyond this place. They will be made in the best interests of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have never faltered from that course.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Chair, I do not care who I have to take on, I do not care if it is the Prime Minister of this country, if it is the whole parliament, I do not care and my colleagues do not care.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Yes, it is good when you get along and you have shared values and you can find common ground, and we always work towards that and we do have a civil relationship. Everyone goes on and talks about, oh, the terrible relationship we have with the oil companies. We have the best relationship with these companies as they enjoy anywhere else in the country. We want to get along with our federal partners, but unless they are going to put the best interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians first -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: - we are not going to go along to get along. If that is what the expectation is on the other side of the House, then I am going to tell you, you are going to be severely disappointed. Getting up and assigning motives to the Premier, to me, and to my colleagues in this House, but he never decides to assign a motive to anybody who is associated with him or, with all due respect, to Mr. Letto either. I never heard any such foolishness before in my life, and if you can see some action somebody in this government has taken to promote their own interests against the best interests of Newfoundland and Labrador, then you lay it on the table. Otherwise, I suggest that you hold your tongue until you have some evidence – you have some evidence! - to support the accusations that you are making.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MS DUNDERDALE: You do not have the right - you do not have the right! – to stand up and accuse people in this House of Assembly without any evidence whatsoever to support your position.

With that, Mr. Chair, I will conclude my remarks.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

[Applause]

CHAIR: Order, please! Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please! Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is so nice to see that we can bring them to the soles of their feet from time to time. It is so nice to see and invigorating because we do not often see that. A lot of times some people like to crawl away when the sun shines on them. They do not want to deal with these truths that are put across. They do not want to deal with this.

The good minister, she doth protest too much! She doth protest too much! She starts off her conversation by saying, I will not grovel in the pits; that kind of politics. Now this is the same group, by the way, who just a few weeks ago attacked a citizen in Grand Falls-Windsor because he spoke his mind; called him a traitor. We would never, they say, lower ourselves to that kind of gutter comments and politics, we would not do that. This is the same government who have been known to call mayors around the Province and tell them off because they had the courage to disagree with something or express an opinion. These are the same people who do not lower themselves to try to humiliate and intimidate people. Imagine! Have the nerve to stand up and say, we will not lower ourselves.

By the way, the comments that I alluded to, that I said the good Mayor Letto made, I did not create those, folks. Not a single word that I said here today about Mayor Letto were my words. Those are the words taken directly from The Aurora newspaper, direct quotes from Mr. Letto. I did not fabricate that. I cannot help it that the gentleman chose to make those comments. I cannot help it that he is associated with your party. I cannot help that.

You should not get so defensive. The minute somebody says something you get all defensive. Rather than get defensive and then get into gutter politics, take the opportunity to explain why what I said was wrong or incorrect. I just stated a fact here. Nobody here disagreed or was nasty with anybody. I just quoted right from Mr. Letto's own lips, but yet the good government of the day cannot stand the criticism, the legitimate criticism.

We talk about spend and so on. You see, they have some history now. Since 2003, when the government changed, you have some history. You have about six years of history. The longer that history gets the more problematic it gets for you to maintain the positions you took. You cannot forever be chastising and blaming the governments of old. That does not wash any more, that is yesterday's news. You did that for three or four years, folks, you are into your second mandate. The people out there now are saying: What does that have to do with today? What does that have to do with the people in Grand Falls-Windsor, the Abitibi situation? What does that have to do with the people on the Northern Peninsula? What does that have to do with Labrador City? People are asking the sensible questions.

Because this question is being asked that is why we see sometimes the combative responses. That is what is happening. The responses are not explanatory any more from government. This is what we said. What are you doing, asking us a question and disagreeing with us? How dare you! That is the attitude. Even the arrogance of the minister's comments today, delivered in that tone, that is not acceptable.

Ultimately, boys, there will not be any CRA polls; and, whether it is this term or next term, the people are starting to see through the shell game you play, and those changes, they will make those changes. They will deliver their own poll to you. You will not have to worry about any polls. They will deliver the poll results to you, yourselves. Let's not worry about that. That is inevitable, any of us who are smart enough to see that. That is inevitable. I have been on both sides of the fence and saw that.

You talk about spin doctors. The government put out an announcement back on February 18 about an $800 million stimulus package. We will be asking questions, of course, throughout the session about the package. It referred to $800 million. Some of the media asked some questions for details, and did not get a lot of details. Some of it was new money, some of it was old money, and they never got any answers. The Opposition haven't gotten any answers so far. We will continue to probe and ask the questions. Hopefully, the Budget on Thursday will give some more details and flesh out some of those answers for us more. Hopefully, we will get some of the answers better explained when we get to the Estimates process for each minister's department, when we get into that, but that is the process that has to be unfolded, and no doubt we will asking questions in Question Period.

It is also pretty obvious that a lot of the information and money referred to in the stimulus monies are old monies, not new monies. The question we ask is: How much of the $800 million is old money? How much of it is going to be new money? The reason we ask that is pretty legitimate. For example, the College of the North Atlantic campus in Labrador West, it was announced in 2005, it was announced in 2006, it was announced in 2007, it was announced in 2008 twice. That money is still not spent. We have had five announcements on the College of the North Atlantic monies for Labrador West. Maybe that is one of the reasons Mr. Letto gets so frustrated. We have had five announcements on that money. It is still a part, I would assume, of the $800 million stimulus package now, but why the spin? If you are going to spend it, spend it. Yet, all we keep getting are re-announcements and re-announcements.

The Francophone School, Happy Valley-Goose Bay - I went back and checked - in 2007 the Francophone School for Happy Valley-Goose Bay was announced five times, five times in the same year. It was announced again in 2008, announced again in 2009. Now, you tell me that is not spin. Is that in the stimulus money?

The Port Hope Simpson school, in 2007 it was announced five times. In 2008 it was announced twice, still not spent. None of these monies, by the way, that I have referred to here have been spent. So it is great to be spun, but we are talking about being up front with the people. When are you going to spend it? If there is a reason for these delays, why it is not spent, what is the reason? Why can't people ask questions about that? We have a member here from Labrador West; why shouldn't his mayor in his district be pretty upset when we have had the College of the North Atlantic announced six times and the money is not spent. There is something wrong. I think he is perfectly within his rights to ask the questions.

L'Anse-au-Loup, we had a project going ahead in L'Anse-au-Loup announced five times in 2007, twice in 2008, not done. The Labrador West hospital - another one from Labrador West, no doubt again a contributing factor to Mr. Letto and his frustration - the hospital for Labrador West was announced twice in 2006, it was announced twice in 2007, it was announced twice in 2008. Now, six times you have had an announcement on putting a hospital in Labrador West, still not done, the money still not spent, and the good mayor says: I am frustrated; what is going on? I cannot get my hospital. I cannot get my College of the North Atlantic. Millions of dollars, and the government come out with a stimulus package of $800 million and we are saying whoa, everybody else in Canada, every province in Canada who brought down a budget for stimulus, it was new money. New monies. Yet, out of this $800 million it is obvious that a good chunk of it is money that you have announced six and eight times over. So, let's not try to con the people.

You talk about being up front and forthright with people. Don't make people believe you are spending $800 million as a stimulus package. There is a good solid chunk of that money that has nothing to do with stimulus; it is money that was committed years ago. Years ago. It did not get done for some reason. What do you do? You keep putting out a new press release. They put more paper out of this government through the government announcement machine than you want to believe. It is a wonder AbitibiBowater closed in Grand Falls, because they could print enough money just to keep you fellows going with your ads and with your press releases. Can't figure out, really, why it closed.

Anyway, that is the kind of factual stuff now that we can get into as an Opposition and ask you about. You told us for years: Oh, you don't know what you are talking about, don't know what you are talking about. Well, folks, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador watch this broadcast, they listen to the news reports, and they know now that a lot of the things that we point out now, as a result of a little bit of research, are very, very factual. Very factual.

The Member for Labrador West can smile if he likes, because he is the guy who has to answer to some of this, too, besides the mayor, when he goes back home and gets off the flight. People want to know, where is it?

Anyway, we have thousands more of these questions to ask you in the next several months ahead, and no doubt we are pretty intent on doing it, so stayed tuned. We are not going to back down because anybody might threaten anybody over here. We are not too upset about who accuses who or challenges who. Have no fear, you can heckle and holler all you want over there; you are not shutting anybody up over on this side of the House. We will be there at the end of the day.

All I can say is, put on your tough skins, put on your second skins, because if you are so thin-skinned that you all chatter and rebel and shout and scream because we ask a few questions, I am afraid there are going to be a few bruised bodies over there, if that is going to be the case, because there is a lot more to come yet, and it will all be factually based.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Minister of Business.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is a privilege to stand here today and talk about the good things that are happening in Newfoundland and Labrador. I know that sounds a little bit different when we listen to what has been said over across the way, but I could not have said it better than the way that the Minister of Natural Resources just said it a few minutes ago, and how she was so passionately talking about our future as a Province, and what we plan on doing in this Province.

You know, I was sitting there and thinking, just a few minutes ago, Mr. Chair, about how it is so amazing that the Opposition seem to always have the answers, and I have learned that in the short time I have been here. I have only been here now for, I guess, going on six years, and every time I sit on this side of the House I hear about all the great things that they did, and all the bad things that we have done, and all the things that we have not done. That is very ironic, because it seems that they talk about all the great things that they did, and they never did anything wrong. I started thinking about the fourteen years that they were in power, and the first thing I had to think, well, really now, come on now, Paul, let's really think of this for a minute - maybe they were great. Maybe they did nothing wrong. Maybe we are the ones to blame. Maybe we did not do anything good. Maybe they should receive accolades for all the good that they did.

Now, I will say this: They did some good. Anybody who sits on this side of the House, anybody who has a passion for Newfoundland and Labrador, you want to do good. Whether you have the ability to do good is another thing – but I started to think about it. I said: I wonder, did they ever do anything wrong? Did they ever do anything negative to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador?

Well, Mr. Chair, I remember a day when my wife was actually a nurse and I remember wages being - not frozen - rolled back. I remember those days, Mr. Chair. Yet, they never talk about that. I have never, ever, heard the crowd across the way talk about rolling back wages. I never heard it before. Then I thought, I wonder were there ever strikes back in that day? Then I remembered the license plate that was going around the Province: Mr. Tobin, we will not forget. I do not know if anybody else remembers that but I remember that very, very vividly right now and how – but still, I was sitting there and thinking, well that is two things, I wonder did they do anything else?

I remember health care issues, Mr. Chairman. I remember when my grandfather needed a place in a nursing home, and guess what? Back in that day, he could not get it. Did anybody over across the way say: Oh, we can fix everything? No, at that time they had all the excuses in the world of why they could not fix it. The funny thing about it, they can stand over there day after day after day looking to our Health and Community Services Minister and think that he should have all the answers today. He should fix it all today. Did they do it? I ask the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, did they do it in the fourteen years that they were in power? It is not easy to do everything for everybody every day and fix everybody's problem every day and we do not pretend to do that, Mr. Chairman.

I will tell you what we have a commitment to do. We have a commitment, this government has a commitment, our Premier has a commitment to say we will set a plan in place. We will set a course in place, and I can assure you right now, Mr. Chairman, that if I was looking for someone to run my ship and to guide my ship through, it would be this government, it would be this Premier, it would be this Cabinet, it would be this caucus, Mr. Chairman.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Mr. Chairman, we see across this world today – and there are other things as well. I wrote down a number of things. There were job losses. There was out-migration. All of these issues that existed while the folk from the opposite side were in power, and yet they talk about all the bad on this side that we do everyday when we have done so much good. Have we done it all, Mr. Chairman? Not yet.

I noticed that, I think it was the Minister of Finance today, he talked about 2018. I think probably that is a pretty good goal. We will probably be around here until at least 2018 but you know, he is starting to set the wheels in motion, and I believe, Mr. Chairman, that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador see real leadership in this government.

We realize today, Mr. Chairman, as I travel around this world, actually, because my job allows me to travel across the world to look for opportunities for Newfoundland and Labrador, and every time we go out and we speak to different businesses and different people from across this world, we see people that are interested in doing business right here in this Province. Why is that? Do you think that people across the world would want to do business with a province that has no future? I can tell you as a businessperson, Mr. Chairman, that if I were looking for a place to set up business, if I were looking for a place to set up shop, it would not be some place that would be negative, that there would be nothing going on, that things were not very well, where there was a government that just did not have a grasp of what was going on. I would look for a good place to go. I would look strategically at a place that could work for my business.

All I can say, Mr. Chairman, is this. We have found in the places that we have gone that people have a keen interest for Newfoundland and Labrador. The first thing they look at is the resources that we have. They look at the resources being the people that we have. In fact, there was a company just today that I met with and they told me that they want to set up shop in Newfoundland and Labrador. Why? Because of the people; they say we have a people here that are hard workers, they are honest people, and that is what we promote as a government and that is what we see as a government in Newfoundland and Labrador. This whole world is going through an economic downturn. We are sheltered to a certain degree, I say, Mr. Chairman, no question about that. I believe we are going to do very well, but we also recognize challenges every day.

I think I would be remiss if I did not speak for a moment about Grand Falls-Windsor, not only Grand Falls-Windsor of course but the surrounding areas that have been affected by this Abitibi closure, and that includes my district as well. At the end of the day, I can tell you now that we as a Province have put in place a plan to deal with what is happening with the Abitibi fallout. I can tell you that I feel comfortable, and from what we have heard from the people in fact in the latest polls I say, Mr. Chairman, the polls show that the people have respect and the people have confidence in this government today just as they did before. I can say that we will move forward, we will do what is right for this Province in the times ahead. People like the direction this government is going in, Mr. Chairman.

In 2003 they decided enough is enough. They could not deal with the government that they had in the past. That government had no vision, and without a vision I say, Mr. Chairman, we cannot move forward, and that is what has happened. That is what happened in 2003. The people said overwhelmingly, they said we need to have a new direction and they liked the direction that they saw this government taking and they liked the direction this Premier was going to take. I say, Mr. Chairman -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: I say, Mr. Chairman, it has paid off for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador!

Mr. Chairman, when I sat around here and I listened to the debate about the Atlantic Accord and I listened to the debate about how we should take what we get - I believe it was a Liberal actually who said we should take what they are giving us and call for no more. I remember listening to that debate day after day, Mr. Chairman, the same thing, the naysayers across the other side. In fact, there were a few more of them then but of course there is not as many now. They were all talking about how we should just take it, take it or leave it. Because why? Because they had the impression that Newfoundland and Labrador and Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are not worth what everybody else is worth. They think that Newfoundland and Labrador should only get little pickings because that is what they are used to, but I say that as a government, as a Premier, we stood firm and we said we will get what is good for Newfoundland and Labrador. And what happened? I remember the day. It was actually in the evening when the Premier walked down over the stairs and said: We got it, we got it! A $2 billion cheque! We could have taken what we had. We could have taken the scraps but this government believes in doing what is right for Newfoundland and Labrador, and that is what we will continue to do I say, Mr. Chairman. I look at this time and time again and I see so many examples of what we do for the Province and I see so many examples of people saying: Thank you very much. Thank you for what you are doing. I understand that sometimes you have to take a hard stand.

I remember in 2004, just after we got elected, I say, Mr. Chairman. I remember when times were real tough. We had to make some really tough decisions. In fact, I remember seeing a number of thousands of people standing around this Confederation Building when there was a public service strike going on. In fact, even horses were here, Mr. Chairman. We lived through that. We lived through that time but we knew what was best for the people of this Province and we stood firm. We stood firm because we knew that we had to do what was right.

The easiest thing in the world, Mr. Chairman, is to sit down and say there is nothing we can do; everything is real, real tough. We will just throw our hands in the air and let it go. I believe, to a certain extent, that is where the previous government found themselves. I think they found themselves in a situation where they said: You know, we have done all we can do, there is nothing we can do, we just have to let it go, let her go with the flow and we will live with whatever the consequences are.

I can say to you today quite clearly, with a clear conscience, that what this government has done in the past number of years has been what is good for this Province and for the people of this Province. Yes, there were some hard times, but at the end of the day the people of this Province, they stood shoulder to shoulder with our government, they stood shoulder to shoulder with the Premier in bad times. I can tell you as well, Mr. Chairman, they stand shoulder to shoulder in the good times. As we see what is happening in Grand Falls-Windsor today, and again in the area, people will stand shoulder to shoulder again because we are resilient people. We do not give up! We do not throw our hands in the air.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Mr. Chairman, we will not, we will not ever, as a people, stand and throw our hands in the air, as it seems the people on the other side want us to do and say there is nothing we can do. Oh well, it is all bad. Times are really bad. We will find a solution to help the people of Grand Falls-Windsor. We will find a solution to ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador is the strongest, and as my little girl used to say, the ‘bestest,' the ‘bestest' Province in all of Canada because I believe we are today. Not only are we the ‘bestest' we are going to be the greatest Province in all of Canada and it is because – I say, Mr. Chairman, it is not all just because of this government, even though I would like to take the credit, but it is because of the people of this Province, that they have a skin on them and they have a resilient quality that says we will work, we will fight and we will do what is right for this Province. At the end of the day, I say - and the hon. Opposition Leader –

CHAIR: Order please!

MR. ORAM: - can shout away, and she can be as negative as she wants and she can talk about how things are so bad, but I say, Mr. Chairman –

CHAIR: Order please!

I remind the hon. member his speaking time has elapsed.

MR. ORAM: Just to clue up.

CHAIR: By leave.

MR. ORAM: I can say to the hon. Opposition Leader, Mr. Chairman, that we as a government, we as a Province will not sit back, we will not just listen to negativity, we will not say it is all over and that there is no way to move forward. We will, as a government, continue to move forward and we will, as a province and as a people, grow and again be the best Province, or as my daughter used to day, the ‘bestest' province, in all of Canada, and, in fact, the best place to live in all of the world.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I guess I am going to seem pretty dull after all of the air that has been blown around in the last thirty or forty minutes, but I am going to go for it anyway.

I have a number of e-mails that I have received, I have letters that I have received, from people in the Grand Falls-Windsor area and I feel committed to the people who have written me to stand and share some thoughts with regard to the situation in the Central region. Despite what has been said, there are still difficulties and people are feeling stressed. That does not mean that government and others are not trying to help, but the reality is they are going through an awful lot of stress in that area, the people who depended on employment in the Abitibi plant, and we know that.

I am going to start with the Community Development Committee. I have to say, I was very, very glad when the Community Development Committee was set up, and I do not mind standing here and saying - I have said it to the minister - that the people who are on that committee are very, very good choices. They are people who are going to do a good job on that committee. However, I have –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

The Chair is having difficulty hearing the member speak.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

However, I do have concerns about the committee, not of the makeup, and I said that to the minister. It is not who is on it, and it is not even who is not on it in terms of individuals. People are concerned, communities are concerned, that all of their interests are going to be taken into consideration, because we are not talking about Grand Falls-Windsor, we are talking about a whole area that involves a lot of municipalities.

The minister and I were speaking yesterday, and she did acknowledge that, as a person representing an area that is bigger than Grand Falls-Windsor, she has had people say to her: Well somebody from our community should have been on the committee. So, she is having to deal with that.

I think it is going to be extremely important to realize that the committee has a coordinating job to do, that the committee is made up of people who have a lot of experience. Except for one, who is the president of one of the unions, nobody else worked in - they may have worked in it at some point, but at this point in time they are not people who worked in the plant, and neither are they from all of the communities that are from the region.

One of the things that I would hope - and I see the minister nodding over there, both ministers actually - it would be important to me and I would like to hear the government make the commitment, because from some of the emails I have people are quite distraught. They need to see a process that is going to be out there involving the people in the communities. They need to see a process that is not going to be just a circle of a committee behind closed doors, but that is going to be a committee that is going to be out there, talking and getting the ideas from everybody in the community, and getting ideas from the workers who are going to have to be retrained, getting ideas from people who have small businesses, that can still be related to forestry or to other new areas, now that lands have been freed up because of the takeover of the lands and of the assets.

The committee is going to have to recognize what it is as a co-ordinating committee. I do not know what the plan is and I am not telling the minister what to do, but if I were involved with this as somebody with a community economic development background I would want to make sure that the committee did some thinking about what community economic development is, and that community participation is an essential part of the community economic development model. There are many arms out in that area of people who are working in the community that can help with that community participation that needs to go on, because many, many heads are going to have to make this work. It is going to take time, we all know. It is not going to happen overnight, and many heads are going to have to make it work. I have no doubt in the resilience and the creativity of the people in Central Newfoundland, just like I do not have any doubts about the resilience and the creativity of people everywhere in this Province.

We have to make sure that as many people as possible are involved in the discussions that go on and are involved in the ideas that get shared as they move towards trying to build on what now is their future. This is number one.

When I look at what is available to help the committee work, I was delighted to hear the Minister of Natural Resources yesterday say that $5 million has been earmarked from the Community Development Trust. I think that is extremely important, but when I look at some of the initiatives from the Community Development Trust that were in the 2008-2009 budget under the $14 million that was set aside from the Trust for the past year's budget, there are a couple of things that concern me.

One, for example – and this is an example of what the spin-off effects are because of the closure of the mill in Grand Falls-Windsor. One was $500,000 for the pellet market development program. Now, I do not know how many saw this on the news, I think it was last night, but the owners of a pellet plant in central, who used to sell these – I do not know if sawdust is the correct word, but the wood that is left over from the making of the pellets, that used to be sold to Grand Falls-Windsor. He has lost his market. He now has no place to sell what is left over when the pellets are made. He has made approaches to Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, but because Corner Brook Pulp and Paper is having its needs met, that is not a market either. All of a sudden, the pellet market development program, which looked so great, is now quite problematic, and this is a major issue.

These are the kinds of spinoff effects that are happening because of Grand Falls-Windsor. So, the committee, for example, needs to be in touch with these realities. The committee needs to realize, okay, the people who hoped to be in the pellet market, what is going to happen to them? There is a market for the wood pellet, but there is no market for what is left. I do not know who else saw it on the news, but the mound of wood shavings, the huge mound of wood shavings that has collected at this pellet plant, it cannot stay. It cannot be like that. We cannot have that kind of waste, and this is what the owner of that pellet plant understands. This waste is not acceptable. It was very sad to see him last night on the news, realizing that it could be the end of this business for him.

I ask then: what about the $500,000 that was there for the pellet market development program? Can something new happen? Can a market be found? Is it feasible to find a market outside of the Province? These are questions that have to be asked, and this is what this committee has to be involved in.

I am not going to get into the retirement transition fund in BC, but I am going to get into what has been asked for by one of the unions. They are saying that there really is a need for the pension bridging package, and that should be part of the discussions that are going on between the Province and Abitibi, the talks that have now broken down, and that the government cannot ignore its responsibility to try to make a pension bridging package happen.

We have 120 workers between the ages of fifty and fifty-five who have twenty to thirty-five years of service and they are not going to be able to get a pension. Something has to be done. We cannot say that they are individuals and they are not covered by the trust fund. We have to find a way, and the government has a responsibility to find a way to bridge that gap for those workers so that they can, in three or four years' time, get their pension; because they are not going to be able to retrain, they are not going to find jobs, and today's climate is working against them when it comes to that. So, government does have a responsibility.

I do not care if the money comes from the transition fund - you can say it is not going to come from that - but government has a responsibility to say to Abitibi that there has to be some kind of a pension bridging. If you get back to the negotiating table, that has to be one of the things. The people out there, these 120 workers with their families, are expecting something from you.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I would like to remind the hon. member that her speaking time has elapsed.

MS MICHAEL: I will just clue up, if I may, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: A few minutes to clue up.

I understand we are going to rise the Committee, so a few minutes to clue up.

The hon. the member.

MS MICHAEL: Yes, just ten seconds, I know, because we are ending now.

All I want to say is, Grand Falls-Windsor, Central Newfoundland, is not solved because we have the committee. There is an awful lot of work to be done, and resources have to go into that, but neither can we forget the 120 workers who need pension bridging funding.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: Seeing no other speakers, I remind the hon. House that we have debated a resolution and the bill, so the members are clear. I will ask the Clerk to read the resolution.

CLERK: "That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial year ending March 31, 2010 the sum of $2,235,248,800."

CHAIR: Shall the resolution carry?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

On motion, resolution carried.

A bill, "An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2010 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service." (Bill 76)

CLERK: Clause 1.

CHAIR: Shall clause 1 carry?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

On motion, clause 1 carried.

CLERK: Clauses 2 to 4 inclusive.

CHAIR: Shall clauses 2 to 4 carry?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

On motion, clauses 2 through 4 carried.

CLERK: The schedule.

CHAIR: Shall the schedule carry?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

On motion, schedule 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'.

Carried.

On motion, enacting clause carried.

CLERK: Whereas it appears that the sums mentioned are required to defray certain expenses of the Public Service of Newfoundland and Labrador for the financial year ending March 31, 2010 and for other purposes relating to the public service.

CHAIR: Shall the preamble carry?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

On motion, preamble carried.

CLERK: An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2010 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service.

CHAIR: Shall the long title carry?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

On motion, title carried.

CHAIR: Shall I report the bill carried without amendment?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay'.

Carried.

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

CHAIR: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS BURKE: Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee rise, report the resolution and Bill 76 carried without amendment, and ask leave to sit again.

CHAIR: The motion is that the Committee rise, report the resolution and Bill 76 carried without amendment, 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 the resolution and Bill 76 carried without amendment, and ask leave to sit again, Mr. Speaker returned to the Chair.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Placentia & St. Mary's.

MR. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Committee of Supply have considered the matters to them referred and have directed me to report that they have adopted a certain resolution and recommend that a bill be introduced to give effect to same, and ask leave to sit again.

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair of Committee of Supply reports that the Committee have considered the matters to them referred, and have directed him to report that the Committee have adopted a certain resolution and recommend that a bill be introduced to give effect to same.

When shall the report be received?

MS BURKE: Now.

On motion, report received and adopted.

MR. SPEAKER: When shall the Committee have leave to sit again?

MS BURKE: Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Committee ordered to sit again on tomorrow.

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

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. the Minister of Finance, that the resolution be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that this resolution 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: "That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial year ending March 31, 2010 the sum of $2,235,248,800."

On motion, resolution read a first time.

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

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. the Minister of Finance, that the resolution be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that this resolution 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: "That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial year ending March 31, 2010 the sum of $2,235,248,800."

On motion, resolution read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER: Before I recognize the hon. the Government House Leader, is there an agreement to stop the clock until we continue with the procedure of carrying the resolution and the bill?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Agreed.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. Minister of Finance, for leave to introduce the Interim Supply Bill, Bill 76, and I further move that the said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is properly moved and seconded that the hon. the Minister of Finance shall have leave to introduce Bill 76, the Interim Supply Bill, and that the said bill be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the hon. the Minister of Finance shall have leave to introduce the Interim Supply Bill and that the said bill be now read a first time?

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay'

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2010 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 76)

On motion, Bill 76 read a first time.

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

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. the Minister of Finance, that the Interim Supply Bill be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is properly moved and seconded that Bill 76 be now read a second time.

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

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay'

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2010 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 76)

On motion, a bill, "An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2010 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service," read a second time. (Bill 76)

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

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. the Minister of Finance, that the Interim Supply Bill be now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 76, the Interim Supply Bill, be now read a third time.

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

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay'

The motion is carried.

CLERK: A bill, An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2010 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 76)

MR. SPEAKER: Bill 76 has now been read a third time and it is ordered that this bill do now stand and its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, "An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2010 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service," read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 76)

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

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the hon. Minister of Natural Resources, that the House do now adjourn.

MR. SPEAKER: It is properly moved and seconded that this House do now adjourn.

All those in favour, 'aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

This House do now adjourn until 10:00 o'clock tomorrow morning, tomorrow being Wednesday.

This House now stands adjourned.

On motion, the House at its rising adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, at 10:00 a.m.