The House met at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Today we are very pleased to welcome to the Speaker's gallery Mr. Jerry Ouellette, Member of the Provincial Parliament from the District of Oshawa, coming all the way from Ontario, and joining us with his wife and two sons.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Minister of Tourism will be delighted to know that they have chosen today to celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary in Newfoundland and Labrador, and they are on their way to his district.

MR. SPEAKER: Today we have members' statements from the Member for the District of St. John's North; the Member for the District of Conception Bay South – Bell Island; the Member for the District of Exploits; the Member for the District of Port de Grave; the Member for the District of The Straits – White Bay North; and the Member for the District of St. John's Centre.

The hon. the Member for the District of St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to tell this House about a group of volunteers who make life more pleasant for the residents of their building. The Wigmore Seniors Association provides social activities, camaraderie, and support to the fifty-four tenants of Wigmore Manor.

The elected volunteer committee hosts regular Sunday night bingo and Wednesday night card games. On special occasions like Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day, they hold potlucks and dances. For a special Christmas party, the committee prepares a delicious cold plate with dessert and music for dancing.

The Wigmore Seniors Association invites experts to come in and talk on topics ranging from diabetes to elder abuse. They were instrumental in educating their tenants about the government's dental program, and about twenty of their tenants received much-needed and long-delayed dental and denture work.

Committee members, with the support of community donors, were able to give every tenant in the building a Christmas stocking this year. As you can imagine, the residents were enormously grateful of that.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members of the House to join me in thanking the Wigmore Seniors Association for everything they do for the residents of Wigmore Manor.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Conception Bay East – Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand in this House to acknowledge a significant business investment in my district. Last week, Home Hardware opened a modern state-of-the-art retail operation on Bell Island. With executives of Home Hardware and owner-operator Mr. Leonard Clarke in attendance, the ribbon was cut to unveil one of the largest Home Hardware stores in Atlantic Canada.

Mr. Clarke, a long-time respected Bell Island entrepreneur, had a desire to offer the residents of Bell Island a modern shopping experience. With an investment in the millions, he and his staff created the principle shopping centre for the Island. This is another example that Bell Island is a community and as a potential place for business investment is alive and well.

Mr. Clarke, along with his family and senior managers Ron Moores, Wade Reardon, and Theresa Power and all staff of Clarke and Clarke Home Hardware Limited, are proud of this accomplishment. The total shopping experience includes nearly 25,000 square feet of retail space.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members to join with me in congratulating Mr. Clarke and all staff of Home Hardware Bell Island on the opening of their new operation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: Mr. Speaker, exercising for breakfast may not have much meaning until you meet a unique group of women from Bishop's Falls. Sheila Brace, Agnes Wells, and Diane Hillier started an exercise program and targeted women between the ages of forty to seventy. This group, now forty-seven members, decided to collect a fee and donate it to a charity.

Mr. Speaker, Pastor Anna Rowsell of Bishop's Falls is the director of an orphanage in Tanzania, Africa, and started a breakfast program for children in the area not involved with the orphanage.

Mr. Speaker, Sheila Brace, a friend of Pastor Roswell, thought it would be a great idea if her group would agree to sponsor the breakfast program, which they did without hesitation. The group also has a motto: We lose, they gain, we are all winners.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating the exercise group for sponsoring this worthwhile cause and my niece, Anna, for starting the breakfast program.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. LITTLEJOHN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand today in this hon. House to recognize the students of Ascension Collegiate who won six medals at the recent Skills Canada competition held in St. John's. As well, these students earned their school the overall top place standing in this year's competition. This is the seventh time in eight years the students of Ascension Collegiate have won this award.

The school earned four gold and two silver medals in the following competitions: robotics, IT network systems administration, job interviews, IT software solutions for business, TV-video productions, and 2D computer animation. The medal winners were: Kaden Clarke, Brandon Snow, Jordan Dicks, Justin Stone, Jordan Marshall, Erica Badcock, Jared Petten, Jordan Thomas, Sarah Dawe, Alex Oates, Clay Burton and Joshua Coombs. Some of these fine students represented our Province at the recent national competition held this past week in Edmonton, Alberta.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating these students on their various achievements.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits – White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate SABRI - St. Anthony Basin Resources Incorporated, who honoured me by inviting me to speak at their annual general meeting this year. SABRI is celebrating fifteen years of making innoavative, economic contributions to my district.

SABRI manages the 3,000-metric ton northern shrimp quota for the area, and gets the greatest benefit possible for the area they represent, which includes the communities from Big Brook to Goose Cove. The SABRI mandate includes expanding the region's economic base and increasing employment opportunities. Profits from the operations are invested back into the communities into diverse projects, which include tangible assets like trail systems and integrated signage, as well as bursaries and scholarships for students from the area.

Today, SABRI operates with three employees and a fifteen-member volunteer board, composed of fish harvesters, plant workers, and community and rural development representatives. Board members are Chair Wayne Noel, Paul Dunphy, Roy Taylor, Todd Hedderson, Dale Colbourne, Wilfred Alyward, Carl Hedderson, Sterling Dawe, Dean Patey, Alvohn Pilgrim, Alick Pilgrim, Jim Pilgrim, Eric Boyd, and Lester Bessey. Employees are Sam Elliott, Glenda Burden, and Alicia Shears.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in commending SABRI for its leadership and success.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute an organization which does incredibly important work in shattering stereotypes.

Planned Parenthood - Newfoundland and Labrador Sexual Health Centre is on Merrymeeting Road in my district, but their work reaches people across the Province. Tomorrow is International Day against Homophobia. Planned Parenthood's does fantastic work around lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues. Their youth group offers a safe social meeting place, breaking the barrier of isolation and giving youth the vital supports they do not always find at home or school.

Growing out of that group is the incredible Camp Eclipse, which brings youth from across this Province and Nova Scotia together for four days of empowering workshops and leadership training. Camp Eclipse: OUT in the Woods is open to all youth who want to learn about issues faced by queer people, and to help end discrimination in their schools and their communities. Two years ago, I had the pleasure of facilitating a workshop there on activism and social change.

Tomorrow morning, I will attend Planned Parenthood's International Day Against Homophobia Breakfast at the Battery Hotel. Tickets are $20 at the door. I invite all hon. members to join me and demonstrate their support for this very important cause.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as part of the provincial government's approach to economic and business development, we are a committed partner in supporting innovation and facilitating greater research and development. It is an approach that is proving effective with the emergence of such industry sectors as ocean technology and information and communications. It is also leading to the growth of Newfoundland and Labrador's life sciences sector.

In its very essence, life sciences is about using living organisms such as plants and trees and marine organisms to create new things, and where there are living things considerable economic potential exists.

Globally, there is a growing focus on the opportunities attached to life sciences. Research in such areas as bio-fuels, agrifoods, pharmaceuticals, and bio-pesticides is in high demand. These are emerging fields that present exciting opportunities. With greater activity, we are better able to support local researchers develop solutions for the aquaculture sector; make crops or plants more resistant to pests; find new ways to treat health conditions; or find new energy sources.

To support its growth, the provincial government is making investments that hold the potential to strengthen the Province's position in the global sector. Just recently, I announced a $750,000 investment that will help researchers make advancements in their work to fight against sudden cardiac death. It is also a commitment that further builds on the $17 million contribution that this government made in the $28 million Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Human Genetics that is currently under construction.

Expanding infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, helps attract internationally-recognized researchers and supports sustained industry growth. The future of the sector looks promising and, as reflected by the recent success of two high school students, is capturing the interest of the Province's youth. Just recently, Jared Trask and Kaitlyn Stockley of Holy Spirit High School in Conception Bay South finished first at the regional Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge which is a biotechnical research competition. They subsequently represented the Province at the national competition where they received honourable mention. I congratulate them for their impressive accomplishments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. Once again, the government takes the opportunity to talk about how much taxpayers' money they spend. There are great opportunities in this Province for workers, for industries, and for the health of the people of the Province. It is a broad field, which covers many areas, and it is easy to get lost in the range of opportunities. We need to focus on areas that are more useful and compatible with our existing strengths, such as oil and gas related, fish related, forestry related, and health related specific to our people.

Mr. Speaker, it is easy to applaud the government's efforts in this area, but for even better results the government should focus its efforts more precisely and get even better results for the same number of taxpayers' dollars spent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for The Straits – White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. Congratulations Jared and Kaitlyn for their achievement for attending the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge this year. It certainly shows the diverse interests that our youth have.

I am very pleased about the interest and the investment in life sciences supporting genetic research that Memorial University has pioneered. My father died of sudden cardiac death due to this particular gene, which is now known and tested here in the Province. Newfoundland and Labrador can be a centre for innovation in life sciences. This kind of research leads to significant benefits to our population and economy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today in this hon. House to offer congratulations to the fifty women and men on being awarded one of the successful Post-Secondary Transition Scholarships. Mr. Speaker, all of these individuals are adult learners beginning full-time programs at university or college, and each will receive $2,000 for a total investment of $100,000, funded by the provincial and federal governments through the Labour Market Agreement.

These scholarships are awarded to graduates of the Province's upgrading programs, such as Adult Basic Education. Our government recognizes the importance of education in providing a foundation for prosperity, innovation, and growth. Along with the recognition of academic excellence, these scholarships celebrate the commitment of the winners to further their education and training.

Mr. Speaker, since 2004, more than $48 million in new funding has been allocated by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to help adult learners. As we train people for the challenging and rewarding opportunities on the horizon, this government's commitment to post-secondary education is also clear. In fact, our investments on that front have increased dramatically since our government came into office less than nine years ago.

Mr. Speaker, in 2003-2004, we invested $246.1 million in post-secondary education. In Budget 2012, that figure was $548.1 million – an increase of 122.7 per cent. With internationally recognized post-secondary education – combined with a rapidly growing economy leading the country across many sectors – this is an unprecedented time of opportunity for Newfoundland and Labrador. This Province leads the country in affordable education and growing employment opportunities. With a labour demand forecast of up to 70,000 job openings within the next ten years, investments continue on our ongoing efforts to ensure today's opportunities are used to secure a future of growth and prosperity.

Our most valuable resource will always be our people, Mr. Speaker, and our government is proud to support initiatives that encourage their success. On behalf of this hon. House, I congratulate the scholarship winners – more than 70 per cent of these scholarship winners are women – and I wish them all the best in continuing their education.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Burgeo – La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement. Congratulations to these fifty scholarship recipients. It takes tremendous courage to return to school as an adult, and I commend these people for taking this step. Clearly, it is paying off.

Education is a primary determinant of health and well-being, and certainly we should indeed empower people to further their education. Unfortunately, this Province still have one of the lowest literacy levels in this country, and I am hoping that the promised literacy plan will come out this year. We need a strategy to address this issue, and we need to ensure that our investments are maximized.

On the good side, though, we have a number of job openings coming up in this Province, and I hope that these people, along with many more, are going to take advantage of this so we can contribute further to this great Province.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement, and I would like to say congratulations to these scholarship winners. This is a good initiative; it is important to continue to invest in adult education initiatives in this Province.

To reiterate the comments made by the Member for Burgeo – La Poile, I hope this government will also follow through on its commitment to adult literacy. Since 2007 we have been waiting for the government to produce its strategic adult literacy plan. This is concerning since adult literacy is a major issue for this Province, and at present, government does not even up-to-date information on adult literacy here. So, I urge the government to fulfill that promise on adult literacy.

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last year, when I asked about the boundary issue between Quebec and this Province relating to the Old Harry oil field, the Premier stated: Now that we have a process, the boundary issue finally, after fifty years, can be settled once and for all. So I ask the Premier: What actions have been taken by this government to advance this file a year later?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have hired an international law expert out of the University of Ottawa to advise us on the issue of the Old Harry boundary dispute. The professor in question, Mr. Speaker, has met with the Premier and myself and outlined the various scenarios and alternatives that are available. It appears that the way to resolve the boundary is well recognized in international law, and if there is no agreement that is forthcoming then there is a mediation or arbitration procedure in place such as was utilized by Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador a number of years ago.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: I ask the minister: As the process in the timelines, is there a deadline or a time when you would expect to hear back about that process?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, one of the issues that is ongoing in relation to Old Harry and the gulf development is the environmental dispute or arguments that are ongoing, more in relation to individuals and groups in the Quebec and Nova Scotia side. We are challenging the question of whether or not there can be any exploration or development in that area. The C-NLOPB is involved, Mr. Speaker, and in fact has issued an order allowing for an environmental review. We continue to explore and define the legal and international law issues, but there are other issues too that will impact on the ability to resolve the issue. I would not call it a dispute yet, Mr. Speaker, because we have not attempted to agree.

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister raised the C-NLOPB in his response. One of the issues around C-NLOPB, of course, is that they make major decisions on behalf of the Province, especially in projects the size of this. This, we understand, could be the size of Hibernia.

When will this government take steps to fill the long-standing provincial vacancy on the C-NLOPB board?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can inform the member opposite and the people of this Province that this government, shortly after the election in October, made representations to the federal government in terms of filling that position. As I indicated the other day, Mr. Speaker, under the Atlantic Accord there is a process for filling the chair when it becomes vacant, that six months before, under the Accord act, you have to start a process whether by agreement or a mediation procedure. No such process exists, Mr. Speaker, in relation to the appointment of the vice-chair. At this point, despite our approaches to Ottawa, there has been no agreement.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: I guess just a follow-up question on that again: Do we have a timeline in place, or how much longer can this vacancy be in place, do you think?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, the Premier has made it very clear in terms of our position in relation to this vacancy. We have asked and pushed. I, in fact, met with Minister Oliver where we brought up the issue of the vacancy.

What will happen, Mr. Speaker, from a very practical perspective is that the chair has to be filled by October of this year. There will be a process there whereby that vacancy will be filled. I would assume, Mr. Speaker, that if the federal government is going to seek any agreement from us in relation to the appointment of a chair, then they there will also have to be agreement on the vice-chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: I think the assumption is probably the wrong word, in all fairness, minister. To assume anything with this federal government right now I think is a stretch in itself.

Yesterday in response to my question about the Roddickton pellet plant not being in operation, the Minister of Natural Resources stated that it is time for the company to stand on its own two feet. This comes just three years after the government made a $10 million investment into that operation.

I ask the minister: Is this the policy, to give a large sum of money and then walk away?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No; the policy is to help businesses get established and to support their establishment, Mr. Speaker. In terms of Holson in Roddickton, there was the modernization of the plant and the construction of a pelletizing facility. There was a $10 million investment which included a $7 million repayable loan, a $2 million non-repayable loan, and $1 million under the Green Fund.

Mr. Speaker, Holson has since come back looking for more money and we have indicated that there is only so far as a government that we can go. Beyond Roddickton, we also put $1 million in 2010 to assist harvesters in the Northern Peninsula, of which $830,000 has been spent as of March 31, 2012.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Aside from the issue of money, what was stated yesterday is that the company is also having problems with finding and getting their product to market. In order to protect this investment that we have made, shouldn't government be helping the company find and access these markets, especially in the fact that we have $10 million tied up in this company?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Leader of the Opposition is also aware, Mr. Speaker, that we have invested money or helped a Burton's Cove logging operation in Hampden. We have offered money to Cottles Island Lumber, Mr. Speaker. We have allocated $2.7 million under the Forest Industry Diversification Fund for Sexton Lumber.

What we are trying to do is help these companies modernize and get into the business. At that point they have to make it on their own, Mr. Speaker. In this place, it is my understanding that Holson does have contracts with European companies for the provision of pellets. It is not clear to me at this point as to why those orders have not been filled.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: I guess one of the other issues about the markets, of course, being the Residential Wood Pellet Rebate Program, which has been cancelled in this year's Budget – so there is no money in this year's Budget also for the forestry diversification.

Do we have a plan? Does this government have a plan for innovation and biodiversity in the forestry sector, because it really does not appear?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When I put the numbers together in just the major or the bigger mills, that is $14 million there, along with $1 million in the harvesting sector on the Northern Peninsula. We have also invested, over the last number of years, Mr. Speaker, $90 million in Corner Brook Pulp and Paper in one way or another with power purchase agreements.

The Pellet Rebate Program, Mr. Speaker, was discontinued this year, but there had been 562 rebates. We also are beginning, or will begin, public consultations on a provincial, sustainable forest management strategy. As I indicated yesterday, we have been in ongoing discussions in relation to Grand Falls-Windsor.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, the Premier stated that the environmental mess at the Abitibi site in Grand Falls-Windsor would be cleaned up eventually. This area continues to be a health and safety risk, and the government really has no timelines, costs, or plans for the cleanup. As we know, environmental issues can affect financing of any future investment in that area.

Why are we waiting on the court case before cleaning up this site? Shouldn't we do it and then bill Abitibi?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there is not an industrial site in this Province that will not have some requirements for cleanup once the activity is finished on that site. That is true for fish plants; for example, it is an issue that we had to deal with in Harbour Breton, in terms of reactivation of the fish plant there, Mr. Speaker.

As long as that site is going to be used for industrial purposes, you would not clean up the site, Mr. Speaker, because you would have to keep doing it over and over again. When the site is no longer used for an industrial purpose, then remediation takes place, Mr. Speaker, the same as in mining sites and any other number of industrial sites in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: It is going to be extremely important for the next investor as they come in there because they are going to come in and who is going to own the environmental mess that has been there.

Do you have any timelines at all to offer anybody in Central Newfoundland on this?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I can only refer the Leader of the Opposition to past practices. There are certain obligations that go with companies who originally own the site, Mr. Speaker, as has happened in Harbour Breton and as has happened in other industrial sites in the Province. No new operator is going to come in and take responsibility for a contamination that happened under somebody else's watch, Mr. Speaker.

One of the things we have done as a result of people not owning responsibility for the messes they have made, particularly in mining where the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have had to come in and clean up the mess, is to put certain fiscal requirements in place and financial tools in place before you can start mining activity, to make sure when that industrial purpose is completed, there is money there to clean up the site.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Burgeo - La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, over the last ten years, other provinces have seen increases in melanoma rates from 4 per cent to 57 per cent. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the rate has increased a staggering 200 per cent. The Canadian Dermatology Association met with government in August 2011 about tanning beds, and government sent the decision to the Provincial Cancer Control Advisory Committee.

I ask the minister: What is the delay in addressing this issue? Why are you not leading the way to prevent melanoma instead of waiting to see what everyone else does before you act?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I can inform the member opposite that we are not waiting on any other jurisdiction to see what they are doing. We have some very competent people who we work with on a daily basis, particularly our Cancer Control Strategy people and the people who working on the advisory council. We take their counsel and we listen to everything they have to say.

This is an issue that we are very concerned about. This is an issue that we intend to address.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Burgeo - La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, skin cancer is the most common cancer in Canada and one of the most preventable. Studies show that young people who regularly use tanning beds are eight times more likely to get skin cancer than those who never use them. BC and Nova Scotia have outright banned the use of tanning beds for people under the age of nineteen, and Quebec introduced legislation this week to do the same.

I ask the minister: Is the government concerned about tanning beds and are you planning to do anything about it?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, the area of all cancers is exceptionally important to us and that is why we have undertaken so many initiatives – $140 million dollars worth of initiatives, to be specific – around the control of cancer, particularly in terms of tobacco cessation and all kinds of other programs like that. The answer to his question is yes, we take this very seriously. We are investigating, we are consulting, and we will be back to you in due course.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the government has just distributed a householder to the people of the Province outlining the highlights of the Budget 2012. People in this Province have been told: Tighten your belts, 3 per cent cuts across the board, and possible layoffs. A glaring omission in the householder is $655 million, or 10 per cent of the total Budget, for Muskrat Falls, an unsanctioned project. Last year, government's investment in Nalcor was highlighted in the householder.

I ask the Premier: Why was the $655 million for Muskrat Falls not included in the householder, and why is government not up front with the people of the Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, the equity investment in Nalcor has been discussed in this hon. House since the Budget. It has been out there in the media. There have been questions asked and questions answered, Mr. Speaker.

The one thing I need to make clear though to the people of this Province that any equity investment in Nalcor is on the basis of the project being sanctioned. The money stays in the Department of Natural Resources and is then disbursed to Nalcor as money is spent, Mr. Speaker. Also, it does not go to the net debt of the Province because it is a capital investment. In this particular case, Mr. Speaker, we have a revenue generating asset which can produce monies and revenues for this Province, along with hydroelectricity, for 100 years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: I say to the minister, if you are so proud of the investment why didn't you tell all of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in your householder?

Mr. Speaker, another noticeable omission in the provincial householder is the $1 million for the Corner Brook hospital. People in Corner Brook feel that this is a slap in the face and were expecting construction to begin. Government was too embarrassed to even include this in the householder because it was an embarrassment to the people on the West Coast. The minister refuses to answer the questions.

I ask the minister: Will this $1 million complete the design? The big question, when will the construction begin for this hospital that your government committed?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there is one thing that this government has led the country on since 2003 is a government that is principally centred and reiterates, not only in their words but in their practice, every day that we work for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. There is nowhere you can go in this Province that you would have any more evidence of that than in the region of Corner Brook, Mr. Speaker. Between schools, between the university, between the courthouse, infrastructure, long-term care, Mr. Speaker, and we are so proud of all of it.

Mr. Speaker, we have made a commitment to the people of Corner Brook for a new health care centre, and they will receive this (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Thank you.

I ask members to wait for the question before they applaud.

Mr. Speaker, according to DFO, the value of sea urchins in this Province is only $58,000 –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. BENNETT: – whereas in New Brunswick the same species brings in $2.6 million and in Nova Scotia more than a million dollars in value to their people.

I ask the minister: Why our landings are so small and what is his government doing to maximize the benefits of this under-utilized species for our Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, first of all, I think the question might be appropriately asked to DFO, as the stats that the member opposite is quoting, I think he admittedly said came from DFO.

We are working with harvesters on a daily basis, Mr. Speaker, to maximize the quotas that can be landed in this Province, and maximize the benefits for the Province. There are often issues around harvesters wanting to pursue certain species and not wanting to pursue others, Mr. Speaker. They make business decisions every single day. We support them and we try to encourage them to maximize the benefits for all quotas available in Newfoundland and Labrador, but we do not intrude ourselves into the daily operations of harvesters, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Mr. Speaker, sea urchin is one of the top three delicacies in Japan, used primarily in the preparation of sushi. I understand that outside buyers are taking our sea urchins for processing outside the Province.

I ask the minister: How many licences has he issued for sea urchin processing, and how much product is being shipped out of the Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I do believe we have four licences, although I would ask for the member's indulgence. I will certainly get that information, but I understand there are four, maybe five. There are certainly two in the Province, only one that has been active. We have issued I think three outside buyers' licences, Mr. Speaker, and we did so after collaborating with members of the industry, as well as those who own the current licences in the Province, and it was their recommendation and ask of the minister of the day that we grant outside buyers' licences.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, two years ago the Auditor General reported problems in the enforcement of ambulance regulations in this Province, including rules around timely inspections and ambulance staff training. The Department of Health and Community Services said at the time that it would upgrade the standards manual and the policies and procedures manual to address these problems.

I ask the minister: What has the department done to make sure that adequate resources are available for staff training?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we have undertaken to do in this Province as a result of some of the material that the member opposite just mentioned is to undertake an ambulance review. That will be a fairly extensive review. We are in the process now of completing the RFP; that will look at our road ambulance service, our air ambulance service, and so on. It is a very, very comprehensive review that will also look at some training that we would enter into in terms of all of our operators.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, Service Newfoundland and Labrador said in response to the Auditor General that it would make sure that each regional health authority has ambulance inspections done on time and properly documented.

Will the minister tell us what has been done to ensure that ambulances are properly inspected in this Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can tell you the inspection of commercial vehicles is an activity that occurs on a regular basis and is coordinated through Motor Registration Division and enforced by highway enforcement officers, weigh scale inspectors, and private inspection firms throughout the Province that are licensed to carry out inspections of motor vehicles. I can tell you that our inspection regulations here in the Province are as good as they are in any Province in Canada, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Auditor General also stated that Newfoundland and Labrador is the only Province that does not have legislation to specifically govern the operation of road ambulances and related services. This makes it difficult to enforce some of these regulations.

When will this government bring in legislation governing ambulance inspection and to bring us on par with the rest of Canada to ensure patient safety?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the hon. member again, throughout Newfoundland and Labrador we have a variety of inspection processes that exist and that take place for different types of vehicles that we find on the highways, the roads, and streets of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have official inspection stations throughout the Province which are licensed by Service Newfoundland and Labrador to carry out inspections on vehicles.

We have our own staff who carry out inspections on vehicles, highway enforcement officers as well as weigh scale operators, who are all licensed; part of their roles and responsibilities are to inspect vehicles. Ambulances are part of the inspections that take place in Newfoundland and Labrador as they do with other commercial vehicles.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, parents at Beachy Cove Elementary recently learned that the school's cafeteria will be converted to deal with shortage of classroom space. The gymnasium at the school must also accommodate classroom instruction. This problem will not be resolved for at least four years. People in Portugal Cove – St. Philip's have been pleading with government for years to construct a new school.

I ask the Minister of Education: Why did you not listen to parents in Portugal Cove – St. Philip's when all of this could have been avoided?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I did indeed hear that the hon. member was at the meeting the other night, as was my colleague here, hearing what parents have to say. He is right on one account, Mr. Speaker. Looking to acquire land and planning for a school is the first step in a process. It is my understanding the board is working very closely with the parents. The end result is we are looking at the populations in those particular areas. There has been a boom in population in the entire area there, and as such we are moving ahead with that plan.

Mr Speaker, in the interim, as we have found, parents are very co-operative with us in these types of situations. We expect the same from this school, Mr. Speaker, and that parent community.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, this government uses a flawed and outdated formula to allocate teaching resources to schools.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. KIRBY: As a result, a number of schools will lose teachers next year. The loss of a single teaching unit will be devastating to schools, especially schools in rural and remote communities.

Can the Minister of Education tell us specifically when communities will know if they will lose teachers in the coming year?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I, as Minister of the Department of Education, do not get into those things. This is a decision boards make, and it is based on declining enrolment. Now, I would expect there are some schools who would have known by now if they are losing a unit or not.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you one thing. Just a few years ago, this department and this government instituted a needs-based policy of teacher allocation. Without that formula there would be 800 less teachers in the system today. Therefore, we as a department are acting in the role that we do. The school boards will work with schools and school communities to lay that out, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, four years ago this government adopted the current teacher allocation formula following an independent review. I remind the minister that this independent review recommended that any new formula be reviewed itself within three years of implementation.

I ask the minister: Will he order an immediate review of this flawed and outdated teacher allocation formula?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, we are debating an issue on bullying after. To contain yourself with some people is a pressure tactic, Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you.

Mr. Speaker, our programs are always under review; we look at things. I am going to remind the hon. member of this: Our student-teacher ratio, 11 to 1 in this Province. It takes into consideration guidance counsellors and administrators. Ask other jurisdictions in this country where the average class size is 18 to 1, Mr. Speaker. We make no apologies for it. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we are proud of our teacher-student ratio.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, in their 2008 Throne Speech, government committed to introduce whistle-blower protection legislation that same year after appropriate consultation had taken place. Here we are, four years later, with no whistle-blower protection legislation in sight.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Will she honour the concrete promise that was made so long ago?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: Finally, Mr. Speaker, we get the question on whistle-blower legislation; we have been waiting all session for it.

Mr. Speaker, my answer in the past to that question has been that we were monitoring jurisdictions across the country and elsewhere in the world with respect to best practices and experiences with new legislation, because whistle-blower legislation is relatively new in most jurisdictions. Mr. Speaker, the results we found have not been encouraging, but let me say this to you, the federal whistle-blower legislation, which is the one that all the other legislations in the country are mirrored on, has been in effect since 2007. There have been 228 complaints, nine investigations, and no findings of misconduct. It is called a toothless piece of legislation (inaudible) –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Well, Mr. Speaker, I assume that monitoring must be some comprehensive because it is taking a long time.

Mr. Speaker, government still has not included gender identity as a prohibitive ground for discrimination in the Province's Human Rights Act. In Estimates, we learned government will not add this because it is confusing. Mr. Speaker, what is confusing is why government will not protect the human rights of a group, transgendered individuals, who are more bullied than any other group in schools and society.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Justice: Will he add gender identity to the act to protect one of the most vulnerable groups in our Province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: Mr. Speaker, we have brought in one of the most progressive pieces of human rights legislation in this country.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS: It will set the model for this Province and set the future for this Province in human rights for the next twenty-five years.

Mr. Speaker, when we discussed gender identity in preparation for that legislation, we had numerous definitions of gender and confusing input from all angles that we could not arrive at any kind of a sensible conclusion as how to include gender identity in the act. All our advice, Mr. Speaker, was to leave it out at that period in time. All discriminations under that issue are adamantly covered under the sex discrimination in the act.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for The Straits – White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Mr. Speaker, in Estimates, we learned the Department of Innovation, Business and Rural Development has cut their funding to the ExportAdvantage Internship Program.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: In a Province so heavily dependent on export revenues, in a Province in dire need of diversifying its economy, why would the government close the door of this opportunity to young innovators and export-oriented businesses?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I spoke here many times in terms of the massive investments we are doing in terms of youth and innovation, certainly in our post-secondary institutions, research and development, and a number of programs, Mr. Speaker, that we are committed to. This one here, we went through a review process like any Budget; we reviewed different programs. Some programs, unfortunately, we did not keep in the Budget; others we are expanding. Certainly from a youth perspective, post-secondary, young entrepreneurs, we are there, Mr. Speaker. We have been there in the past number of years. We built a suite of programs, and we will continue to there in future years, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for The Straits – White Bay North, time for a very quick question.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural Development: Given the dismal performance of the department's Business Attraction Fund – only $366,800 out of a $25 million fund was used – will he redirect some of the funds to create a social enterprise fund?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural Development, time for a very quick answer.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Mr. Speaker, just in terms of investments in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, $135 million since 2005. Mr. Speaker, we have a broad range of programs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: We are committed to rural Newfoundland and Labrador. We are committed to all regions of this Province. Certainly, in St. Anthony, we have invested in wharf infrastructure; down on the Connaigre Peninsula, we have invested; down on the Burin Peninsula; in Labrador; all over the Province, Mr. Speaker, we have invested. We are going to continue to invest, and we do what is right for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Innovation, Business and Rural Development, standing on Answers to Questions.

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, on April 3, the Member for St. Barbe tabled a question in the House of Assembly requesting information related to actions of this government that relate to our work with service providers to expand digital and cellular telephone access to more regions of the Province. Mr. Speaker, that is a question I am more than pleased to answer here today.

Through the Rural Broadband Initiative the provincial government has been able to identify commercial partners to help create broadband access in under-serviced areas. Through its implementation, the provincial government is providing an incentive for carriers to deliver access where the business case is not strong enough for them to go it alone.

With the $7 million allocated to the Rural Broadband Initiative, $3 million was contributed to the $24 million construction of a new pole line between Labrador West and Happy Valley-Goose Bay; Bell Aliant will use $2.1 million from the provincial government to provide broadband access to parts of the Northern Peninsula, as well as Central and Eastern regions of the Province; Burgeo Broadcasting Systems and Ramea Communications, together through a combined $230,000 investment, will upgrade services to Ramea, Grey River, and François; and Xplornet Communications will use a $1.67 million investment to advance their services in the Central region.

These investments bring this government's total commitment to improving the Province's telecommunications capacity to $27 million, and levered an additional $115 million, Mr. Speaker. These are investments that help alleviate congestion problems experienced by many residents, and create greater availability to broadband service. More importantly, they are investments that have resulted in 85 per cent of island portion coverage of the Province having broadband access, up from 60 per cent in 2003, and approximately 95 per cent in Labrador having access.

Effective partnerships with industry and the federal government have clearly demonstrated how our government's investments can lever significant dollars from other partners. With $2 million allocated in Budget 2012, we are looking to sustain that momentum and track record for results-driven partnerships.

Both my staff and I have had and will continue to have dialogue with service providers and the federal government to identify gaps in telecommunications services. These discussions will help the scope of the provincial government's role in addressing these service gaps.

It is important to emphasize that the federal government, through the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commissions and Industry Canada, regulates the telecommunications industry and the private business delivery service. The provincial government's role is that of a facilitator. That is the role we intend to continue in the future.

Within this heavily-regulated environment, the provincial government has proactively identified opportunities to make significant improvements in the Province's telecommunication capacity. It is an approach that is based on working collaboratively with cellular and Internet service providers as well as the federal government.

The federal government's recent decision to lift foreign investment restrictions in Canada's telecommunications industry, as well as dialogue at a meeting on March 19 in Montreal of federal, provincial, and territorial economic ministers who met to discuss Canada's digital economy, illustrates the importance of the issue.

Nationally, all jurisdictions are pursuing avenues to improve telecommunications. I represented the Province at those meetings and voiced our view that greater access to digital and cellular access is an integral part of economic and business development.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Petitions.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for The Straits – White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a petition for the removal of the Englee fish plant, a public safety hazard and environmental concern.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the provincial government refuses to admit that they have a role to play in the removal of the condemned Englee fish plant; and

WHEREAS the Town of Englee has exhausted all avenues over the past seven years lobbying government for removal; and

WHEREAS inaction has resulted in economic loss for the town, delay of new infrastructure, and has become a concern of public safety as large debris has fallen into a major shipping route;

We the undersigned petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to immediately order full removal and environmental cleanup of this condemned property, a former fish plant, in order to restore public confidence in the system and settle land issues to permit new wharf development, providing residents of Englee with a mechanism to revitalize a presently devitalized economy.

As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Sincerely, the undersigned.

Mr. Speaker, the government has issued, through the Department of Service Newfoundland and Labrador, a ninety-day order to have the property removed. This property has become a complete, utter safety hazard where the roof has collapsed, there are bits flying over on other parts of the road, and it has contaminants.

This has prevented and hindered economic development. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans through their Small Craft Harbours has had millions of dollars on the books to develop the property and the site. The government is not taking appropriate action, in my view, on this matter as they have with other plants and other properties. As they have stated here today: if it is not going to be used for fishing, we will take a look at it.

This plant in its condition is certainly not going to be used as a fish plant anymore in 2012. The people are pleading here; the people of Englee are pleading with the House of Assembly to urge the government to absolutely do what is right and have this property removed as soon as possible. It is something that is an utter shame in Newfoundland and Labrador today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. BENNETT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of the Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS home care allows the elderly and people with disabilities to remain within the comfort and security of their own homes, home care also allows people to be discharged from hospital earlier; and

WHEREAS many families find it very difficult to recruit and retain home care workers for their loved ones; and

WHEREAS the PC Blue Book 2011 as well as the 2012 Speech from the Throne committed that government would develop a new model of home care and give people the option of receiving that care from family members; and

WHEREAS government has given no time commitment for when government plans to implement paying family caregivers;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to implement a new home care model to cover family caregivers.

And in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this is not something that is a strange request. This is a common, ordinary, everyday occurrence for many people who require home care for their families. This is not asking for a new initiative. This is simply saying that a promise has been made. A promise was made in the Blue Book a year ago and an election was based upon that in part. Now we have seen it referenced in the Budget. The people are really pleading for this to come forward sooner rather than later.

Mr. Speaker, every one of these people reads this petition, signs this petition, and they understand what it is. It is all original signatures. It is from various communities. It is a request to government to move on, get this done, and look after people in their most urgent time of need.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Mr. Speaker, to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS as a result of a recommendation in the Green report about wrongdoing in the House of Assembly, there is now legislation that protects anyone who speaks up with evidence of financial abuse or other impropriety in the legislative branch; and

WHEREAS it is unfair for one group of civil servants to be protected by whistle-blower legislation when another group is not; and

WHEREAS Justice Green stated that the financial wrongdoing in the House of Assembly might have been discovered sooner if whistle-blower legislation had been in place; and

WHEREAS the Cameron inquiry into ER-PR testing found that problems with tests would have come to light sooner, therefore lessening the impacts on patients if whistle-blower legislation had been in place; and

WHEREAS the Taskforce on Adverse Events recommended an amendment to the Regional Health Authorities Act to provide legal protection for employees reporting occurrences or adverse events; and

WHEREAS whistle-blower legislation is in place elsewhere in Canada and the provincial government promised similar legislation in the 2007 election but has not kept that promise;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge government to enact whistle-blower legislation to protect public sector employees in provincial departments and agencies including public corporations, regional heath authorities, and school boards.

And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I have petitions here that are signed from people in St. David's, Corner Brook, Port au Port, Stephenville, Conception Bay South, Grand Falls-Windsor, Paradise, Gander, St. Vincent's, St. John's Burin Bay Arm, Paradise, Corner Brook, Mount Pearl. Mr. Speaker, these are people who serve the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, people who work in our health care system, people who work in our schools, people who work in every public sector in the Province. These are people who care about their work, who care about the services that they provide to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I have received many calls from workers saying, I need to talk about this but I have no protection, I will lose my job. Mr. Speaker, we know that several jurisdictions have introduced whistle-blower protection and that it is effective.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: As health care becomes more technological we know that even more so we need it now more than ever. Our workers want this; the people of Newfoundland and Labrador want this. This is a good thing for the protection of our workers and it is a good thing for the protection of the services for our people of Newfoundland and Labrador. Since the government has been monitoring this for the past four years, I am sure they have enough information to do it. Let's just do it, it is time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Today being Wednesday, Private Members' Day, I now call on the Member for St. John's North to introduce the motion that stands on the Order Paper in his name.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is an honour to stand and read this motion into the record. The motion is as follows:

WHEREAS education plays a critical role in preparing young people to grow up as productive, contributing, and constructive citizens; and

WHEREAS all students, teachers, and staff members should feel safe at school and deserve a positive school climate that is inclusive and accepting, regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, family status or disability; and

WHEREAS everyone – government, educators, school staff, parents, students and the wider community – has a role to play in creating a positive school climate and preventing inappropriate behaviour, such as bullying, sexual assault, gender based violence, homophobia, and other forms of harassment; and

WHEREAS neither bullying nor harassment is yet mentioned anywhere in the Schools Act, 1997; and

WHEREAS bullying, harassment, and intimidation are as prevalent in our schools as ever;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this House of Assembly urge government to address the issue of bullying and harassment in our schools as follows:

Section 2 of the Schools Act, 1997 is amended by adding the following definition:

(c) "bullying" means repeated and aggressive behaviour by a pupil, teacher, or staff member where:

(i) the behaviour is intended by the pupil, teacher, or staff member, to cause, or the pupil, teacher or staff member, ought to know that the behaviour would be likely to cause, harm, fear, or distress to another individual, including psychological harm or harm to the individual's reputation,

(ii) the behaviour occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance between the pupil, teacher, or staff member, and the individual based on factors such as size, strength, age, intelligence, peer group power, economic status, social status, religion, ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family circumstances, race, disability, or the receipt of special education, and

(iii) the behaviour occurs in the form of any physical, verbal, electronic, written, or other means.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week be enacted twice during the school year – the weeks beginning the third Sunday in September and the third Sunday in February.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this government create a bullying prevention plan that will be placed in legislation, which would be included in the curriculum, and would include reporting mechanisms and discipline structures between schools, school boards and the department.

Mr. Speaker, we are all too aware of the tragic impact that bullying can have in our schools and on our communities. The frequency of bullying in schools is too often underestimated. Even today, it is still too often dismissed. I was reading a news story just this morning where it was suggested that bullying and hazing activities in schools are just a part of growing up. That is an unfortunate message, considering what we know about the effects and the impacts of bullying.

We know that bullying in our schools is pervasive. We have had a number of disturbing incidents of bullying and hazing over the course of the current school year, in particular. Research has shown that most children are indeed bullied at school, and most children say they have been a witness to bullying at school. Many children are bullied regularly, and that is one or more times each week. We do not have a lot of local published data on bullying, though I do note that Mr. Gerry White, who is a doctoral student in community health at Memorial University of Newfoundland, has done some recent research on cyber-bullying in schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.

One study at the University of Toronto, a survey on cyber-bullying, showed that half of students, half of them reported that they had been bullied online. A 2010 research report published by the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, which looked at thirty-three junior high schools in Toronto, reported also that half of students surveyed had been bullied online, or cyber-bullied, as we call it. It is a sad fact that most children consider bullying to be a normal part of school life, something that is normal, because that most certainly should not be the case. Because for one, we know that students cannot really have the opportunity to succeed in a learning environment that is not safe, that is not healthy, and that is not inclusive of all school children.

We are also aware that everyone has a role to play in the development of a positive school climate; a school environment where inappropriate, hostile, and aggressive behaviour is not tolerated. It is not just students who are affected by this issue, many educators, parents, volunteers, and community organizations say that cyber-bullying is one of their biggest concerns as it relates to schooling and the education system today.

A Statistics Canada survey carried out in 2007 with parents who had children between the ages of five and twenty-four years old found that bullying was a concern to no less than 80 per cent of parents. That is quite a lot of concern. Similarly, in 2010 the Canadian Teachers' Federation found that 85 per cent of Canadians felt that bullying and violence were very serious problems.

An Angus Reid poll that was carried out just this year found that 80 per cent of Canadians surveyed felt that bullying was a serious problem in elementary school, and a further 94 per cent, no less than 94 per cent, felt that it was problem in high school and in the middle grades.

There is also little doubt that inappropriate, hostile, and aggressive behaviours in schools have immediate impacts for students, parents, and teachers in our communities, but they also have longer-term impacts and create longer-term problems as well. The research has shown that childhood bullying leads to bullying in the workplace, on the job site, across professions, and across occupations. Perhaps some hon. members have even observed that sort of behaviour themselves. I know I have seen it first-hand, Mr. Speaker.

More concerning is the fact that children who are victims of bullies often become victims as adults, so they are victimized throughout their lives. I believe it is our responsibility to address –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask members to take their private conversations outside.

The Chair has recognized the Member for St. John's North, who has a private member's resolution on the floor today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, we know that there are remarkable things going on in our schools in this Province and they are led by passionate teachers, by inclusive and equity -focused students, and by principals who want the absolute best for their students. The work they are doing is making our schools safer places for students to learn, there is no question about that. We have to applaud the current government for its investments in safe and caring schools. This policy was launched quite some time ago, back in 2006. Government has recently committed to an independent review of that policy and that is to be followed by an action plan to eliminate all bullying in our schools. I have to say that this is excellent work.

It is our responsibility, Mr. Speaker, to look at what government can do more, what more government can do and should do to ensure schools are more safe and inclusive than they currently are. We know that we have a responsibility to continue work in this area, all of us do: legislators, government, teachers, parents, students, volunteers, and everyone in our community. For my part, as a father and as an educator, I hope everyone in this Legislature will work together to make our schools accepting and safe for all students.

I am proud to present this motion which contains important new measures to address the issue of bullying in schools. I think we need to recommit ourselves to anti-bullying because we know that discrimination and harassment continues to exist. That is why I am asking all members of this House to support the motion.

What is the New Democratic Party caucus proposing specifically with this motion? First, we are establishing a definition of bullying in the Schools Act; that way there can be little doubt about what actually constitutes bullying in schools. That way every student, every teacher, every principal, every parent, and every member of our communities will know what we mean when we say that bullying is not permitted in schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Secondly, the motion says that government will designate two weeks of the year as Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week. Unlike National Anti-Bullying Week, which takes place every November, this motion calls for a Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week each September and each February. The timing here is very purposeful, in part because we want to head off and to address problems that we have seen with hazing in our schools year after year. We tend to see these incidents in September when students are newly back to schools and we also see increased hazing when we get out of the winter season and into the spring weather.

Each of the proposed Bullying Awareness and Prevention Weeks would encourage and support schools, communities, and school districts in any efforts to reiterate our message that bullying in our schools must end.

Finally, this motion calls on government to create a bullying prevention plan that would be placed in legislation. This bullying prevention plan would also be included in the school curriculum. Such a bullying prevention plan could include instruction on bullying prevention during the school year for each and every student. That could be instruction which is appropriate obviously to the age of particular classes of students who are receiving the instruction. It would include remedial programs for bullying to ensure that schools provide remedial programs designed to assist the victims of bullying in recovering from bullying, but they would also help to discourage perpetrators of bullying from continuing to engage in bullying. They could be offered by social workers, psychologists, or other trained professionals.

A bullying prevention plan could establish professional development programs designed to educate teachers themselves about bullying and to help them devise and develop strategies for dealing with bullying. A bullying prevention plan could ensure these programs are also open to student assistants and other staff members who work in our schools. A bullying prevention plan could make educational materials on bullying available to the public, to everyone in our communities, and share that vital information about recognizing and dealing with bullying.

The plan could also mandate that principals' reports on bullying be promptly forwarded to the Minister of Education and the Department of Education. It could also establish clear reporting mechanisms and discipline structures between schools, school districts, and the Department of Education.

Therein lies the essence of the motion, Mr. Speaker. It is, in fact, to create an anchor and to anchor our values around anti-bullying in legislation so that people will know what we mean when we say that bullying is not permitted in our schools.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is indeed a pleasure for me to get up and to speak to this particular issue. The motion is timely, I suppose. The hon. member mentioned a couple of issues, the bullying issue, in particular, and the hazing that has gone on. If anybody has followed some of my commentary in the media lately – and I feel quite confident the member who presented the motion today has followed me in the media; there is no doubt about that. He has heard my commentary on bullying and he has heard my commentary on hazing. I take this opportunity, if there are parents out there listening – school is probably still in session I do not imagine many are watching at this particular point – we want to get the message out there that these types of behaviours are unacceptable.

We had Estimates this morning and one of the questions was asked – I forget what the exact question was, but we gave the response that we are administering some quality of life surveys to our students. Those quality of life surveys will start as low as Grade 2 and extend on up into senior high. That will provide us with information as to if students feel safe and cared about in their schools, and if not, why not. It would hopefully provide us with information as to how our students in this Province feel about their day and their life in school.

When we talk about this today, we are talking about the physical and the emotional part of being a student. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we have to be very much aware of is that bullying has changed. The hon. member mentioned cyber-bullying. We have mentioned it numerous times. It has been mentioned numerous times in the media. There is a little bit of debate on the go whether it has happened with members in the House of Assembly. The role of the victim and the role of the perpetrator always have to be looked at, because sometimes we can trivialize it, but that certainly is not what we should be doing, and maybe should examine some of the activities that happen. I will go no further on that right now, because I think members know what I am talking about.

One thing has to happen – and I am going to make an amendment to the motion shortly. My research on the motion seems to be that much of it has been taken from the Ontario piece around Bill 13 and Bill 14 – I do believe it is – and I think they are finding their challenges with it. The one thing that I will commit to, as the minister – and I do not think there is anybody on our side that would argue with me – is that we are going to do everything that we can to combat bullying in our schools. We all have children, we all have grandchildren, we all have nieces or we either have nephews, and none of us would want to see those children subjected to bullying.

Any of us who have ever experienced bullying will tell you that they remember it. It may have happened forty-five years ago but it leaves such an impact on you that you will remember it. People in this House who have experienced it will know exactly what I am talking about, and I think if there are people of our ages in this House who were bullies, they have come to recognize their role on the other side.

We see examples. I saw one recently, I believe it was on The National, where an individual recalled taking a young person's bike and destroying it, who some thirty-or-so years later still remembered it. He was the bully. He contacted that individual and went to see him. On both sides of the fence, once you recognize that a bullying activity has occurred you will not forget it.

Mr. Speaker, the thing about this is that it is not just something that you can put into the act without much work that has to proceed it. The member acknowledged, as I will now, some of the initiatives that we have taken. We partner very closely with Child, Youth and Family Services. The minister and I have worked since coming into Cabinet in both of our portfolios, we have worked together extensively on this, and she is going to be the next speaker for this side to speak on initiatives from her department. The Women's Policy Office, we have worked together on. The Safe and Caring Schools policy, and the member is right, there is a review being done of it because we want to know what is working, what is not, and then we want to make improvements to that because all of us here are talking about the betterment of the children.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know if we can show props but I wear this band, it is from EGALE Canada, equal rights for gays and lesbians and dealing with sexual orientation. I wear it because - we have many bracelets here. I support other initiatives because if we are going to support autism it is very easy to wear the pin. There is no one dispute it, but to stand up and say: Do you know what? I support young students in our schools who are struggling with their sexual orientation, I support them. I recognize it and I want to do my part as Minister of Education, but more importantly, I want to do my part as an individual who wants a safe, caring environment for students of all, whether it be gender, whether it be religion, whatever. This indicates my support for the initiatives that these young people undertake in schools; therefore, this spring we have introduced MyGSA, My Gay-Straight Alliance, so that students have a resource in their schools that will help them with these initiatives. I said it here the other day, I was extremely proud to go to Queen Elizabeth High to look at what they are doing and to attend an inclusion event at Bishops College just recently to look at what they are doing.

Mr. Speaker, having said that, we are moving ahead with the initiatives, we want to continue, but it is very important that we consult. The member talked about – in his motion there is a definition. He talked about remedial programs, getting materials to the public, mandate principals to report when incidents happen and clearly identify disciplinary actions. We cannot just simply institute these things right now. We have groups - we call them our stakeholders - that need to be involved in that.

In moving ahead, and that is what my amendment will speak to very shortly. The role of consulting with, I will just say off the top of my head the NLTA, that we consult with the RNC and the RCMP. The minute that we move it out, there will be groups there that will say, I want to have my part and provide my input into where you are going with this.

I did say, and I will quote this, Mr. Speaker, if approval is granted for the amendments and regulations outlined here today, when I spoke to some changes to the act earlier the Department of Education will be putting forward, they request to conduct a further review of the act at a later date. That review would involve discussions with stakeholders, including but not limited to school district directors, identified district personnel, the teachers' association and the school boards association. At that particular time we will decide then where it goes. The important point that I am trying to make is that before we move into any of that we have to have these consultations. These groups we have partnered with before, these groups we will continue to partner with.

I would say before I read out my amendment, the place that we are at today in terms of bullying and other issues in school, I am willing to bet that everyone would agree that we are at a different place today than we were fifteen years ago. The article that I believe he referenced about this being part of growing up – that does not fly anymore. There are people who still contend that, but for the majority of the population, that does not fly anymore. This is about having respect for your fellow students and respect for your fellow human beings.

So, Mr. Speaker, I am going to put forward the following amendment, seconded by the Member for Gander:

To move that the private member's resolution currently before the House be amended:

(1) by deleting the fourth and fifth recital clauses and substituting in their place the following recital clauses:

WHEREAS this government has already taken significant measures in collaboration with students, teachers, parents and the community to address bullying including:

(i) the establishment in 2006 of a Safe and Caring Schools Policy;

(ii) the OutrageNL campaign, which is not limited to two weeks of the year, but is year-round;

(iii) participation the Pink Day campaign in February;

(iv) funding the MyGSA resource to support Gay-Straight Alliance groups in schools offering Grade 7-12;

(v) the implementation of Phase I of the Violence Prevention Initiative and the development of Phase II, which has already commenced; and

(vi) a wide range of other initiatives to inform students, teachers and parents about bullying and ways to prevent and respond to it; and

WHEREAS this government has already announced it is in the process of reviewing and consulting on the Safe and Caring Schools Policy with the intention of enhancing the policy and has publicly stated its intent to further review the Schools Act following discussion with stakeholders; and

WHEREAS any legislative changing respecting bullying awareness and prevention should be a product of careful consultative processes involving the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, the Newfoundland and Labrador School Boards Association, law enforcement professionals and others with the expertise to inform the process; and

(2) by deleting the three resolution clauses and substituting in their place the following resolution clauses:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this House of Assembly urge government to continue addressing the issue of bullying and harassment in our schools through the many initiatives it has already commenced, including the process it has already undertaken to review and enhance the Safe and Caring Schools Policy in consultation with the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, the Newfoundland and Labrador School Boards Association, law enforcement professionals and others with the expertise to inform the process; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the government is urged to bring forward any legislative changes, bullying prevention plans, curriculum revisions, reporting mechanisms, discipline structures, awareness and prevention campaigns, and other measures that, in light of this careful, consultative process, are deemed to be effective and warranted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Verge): Order, please!

We will take a brief recess to consider the amendment put forward by the Minister of Education. We will ring the bells when we want members to return.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

We have considered the amendment as put forward by the Minister of Education and found that the amendment is in order.

The hon. the Member for Burgeo – La Poile.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a privilege to stand up today and speak to this private member's resolution introduced by the member. I took some time going through it; this is a pretty substantive resolution that was put forward by the member for St. John's. It is discussing an issue that is a huge issue, not just in this Province but in the entire country and the entire continent, when you think about it.

I think the motion put forward was very comprehensive and laid out some specific actions that could have been taken to address this issue. Just speaking about the topic, bullying itself, it is does not take long to see it; it is on the news, it is mentioned every week, whether it be a call-in show, whether it be if you are watching cable news from down in the United States. There are episodes and incidents of bullying happening all the time. I just made some points; I wrote down some of my thoughts on this topic. There are very few people out there that are not affected by bullying –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS: – whether that be directly or indirectly. Bullying in some way affects us all. Again, this private member's resolution is directed mainly toward schools, but bullying is something that is prevalent in this entire society.

It is my belief that one of the ways to address this issue is that we need to start programs and educate our young people, because that is how you fix issues; it is by getting people on board with the right way from a young period of time. I think it is harder to change people's thoughts, perceptions, or behaviours if you start later on. I am not saying it is impossible, but it makes things easier if you start them at a very young age. Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of educators in this House, and I am sure they have seen that it is easier to get to young minds. I would say it is harder to change a learned pattern.

I am saying that – and again, without any reliance on any studies in my next statement – it would seem to me that bullying that occurs during your youth would obviously have a greater effect than bullying that occurs at any other period of life. I think there are studies to show this, that bullying in youth is going to have effects as you continue on through life, whether you are the ‘bullyer' or the ‘bullyee'. And again, those effects are negative for both sides.

I did have an opportunity when the resolution was first introduced to just do some research and make myself more aware of some of the statistics on this. They are troubling: delinquent behaviour is far more common in children who bully other children. They have done self-reporting delinquency studies that show that 40 per cent of boys who frequently bully report delinquent behaviour, as opposed to 5 per cent of boys who do not bully or infrequently bully.

The statistics for females are just as alarming: girls that bully frequently, close to 31 per cent report delinquency, as opposed to 3 per cent who never or infrequently bully. That is from a study back in 2003. Another study has shown that the effects of bullying do not disappear with time. They continue on. Certainly, with individuals that bully, in a lot of cases, it is going to lead to negative behaviour, especially in their adulthood; some of these behaviours turn out to be, unfortunately, more serious and even criminal in nature. So, for us to nip this in the bud now when we have these young minds in our schools, it is probably the easiest way that we can get to them.

Again, we have all seen these heart-wrenching stories on the news about youth that have a hard time in life dealing with being bullied, whether it be physically, whether it be verbally, or even these days – something that did not occur when I was growing up; I would say for the majority of members – what they call social bullying or cyber-bullying. There are so many means to perpetrate this behaviour now. You see children who are mortified because of what somebody else posts on Facebook, or on Twitter, or some other social media site. As a kid, it is hard to wake up in the morning and want to go to school and want to be around people when you know that you have to face this or be embarrassed. What this is leading to is that we have become more aware as a society of the effects of mental health issues, especially something like depression. Depression was one of those things we are finally, as a society, realizing how prevalent it is, how widespread it is, and how many people that it affects.

When we see things like this that are helping cause our youth to grow up and show indications of depression, it is very troubling. Again, an issue that is brought up in this House all the time is in the media we are talking about not only mental health issues, but addictions issues. I would wager that a lot of these social issues that we are facing can be caused by things that we have dealt with when we were young, or episodes that people have had to go through. Again, I would reiterate that it is my opinion that the private member's resolution was a very good step in the right direction of helping to eliminate this.

To eliminate, basically, the cost that this society has to bear as we move into adulthood whether it be when we talk about an issue like Her Majesty's Penitentiary or any kind of incarceration, a lot of it has to do, we all know, with mental health and addictions issues. If we can eliminate one of the root causes of that, then we are only making things better in other areas that we must deal with on a daily basis.

I took some time actually to review the Schools Act, Mr. Speaker. Again, one of the resolutions was to add a definition, and I found it interesting that the Schools Act actually does not have one mention of the word bully. It is something that we all hear about, but the word bully is not mentioned once in the act. The word violence is not mentioned in the act. The word harass is not mentioned in the act. Finally, something that has been touted – and we are all proud of and we hope that it works – the Safe and Caring Schools Policy is not actually mentioned in the Schools Act. So, I thought that the resolution to amend the act to include this topic, or this actual phrase, would have been a good step in the right direction.

When you look at some of the sections that are referenced in our current Schools Act, there is no mention of this very big issue – the word bully. Section 37, when we talk about expulsion, something that is very drastic actually, expelling a child from school, there is no mention of bullying as being one of those reasons. When we look at section 75, the duties of boards, again, there is no mention of bullying. I think that even though this amendment has taken out this possible resolution, I think it is something that we need to look at in the future. Part of the job here, being a Legislature, is to look at the legislation. This is something that I am sure the department is going to consider as we move forward to address this issue.

I just want to move on here, Mr. Speaker. When we talk about negative behaviour and just the different forms of bullying, I think it was stated very well; there are so many types. There is the obvious physical bullying, which is terrible, but these days the verbal bullying and the effects that people's words can have on us sometimes is worse than the actual physical pain, the mental pain and anguish can be so much more terrible.

We talk about what we are trying to do here. We are trying to deal with bullying. That itself is a complicated issue. We talk about power imbalances, whether they are real or perceived. These exist throughout life. Inequality is the root cause of violence; it is an issue that is there. Again, we all realize it is a tricky, tricky thing here. We just cannot force something through without looking at all of the different aspects of it. It is there and it needs to be addressed. We cannot just shove it under the rug and hope that things will get better over time.

Again, the other thing that we must discuss, as I alluded to earlier, was just the new challenges that are facing adolescents. As good as life is, life is different than it was for many members here. What kids and teenagers are going through now, some of the challenges that they face, are so different than what we had to face when we were the same age. I am hoping that these issues will be addressed as well.

I guess I have to speak to the amendment that has been brought forward. Again, I can indicate that my belief on this, Mr. Speaker, is that I will be supporting the amendment because any step towards the eradication of bullying has to be supported; but, I must put it on the record that I think that this amendment has taken the teeth out of the resolution that was proposed. When we look at the two resolution clauses suggested in the amendment, I think they could have been added to the private member's resolution just to strengthen that. I do not think we needed to eliminate these. They were very specific resolutions. One, to amend the act, to actually incorporate the term that we are discussing which is not there, when we talk about increasing what we are doing towards Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week and to actually place plans in legislation throughout the schools. I think these were very, very positive steps, and I would have supported this motion today.

As I say, the government knows this is an issue and they have taken steps to address this issue. The things that are listed in the amendment are there and we support those very much so, whether it be My Gay-Straight Alliance, whether it be Pink Day, whether it be Safe and Caring Schools. I must state that I think this amendment has taken away the purpose that this resolution was trying to do. It has weakened it, not strengthened it. Again, it is hard to not actually support an amendment – any amendment towards bullying is a good step in the right direction, Mr. Speaker.

I feel that we have missed an opportunity here today to make real change in dealing with this issue. It is something that we are probably going to hear about tomorrow and we are probably going to hear about the next day. You hear these parents when they call the Open Line. It is hard. It is hard to deal with having your child come home and they have been traumatized by bullying of some sort. To know that we could have moved forward – I think we all could have moved forward together, all of us, in taking steps to make it happen. We know it takes time to make change, but we could at least have all voted and supported the change that was suggested.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to conclude now by saying it is a privilege to address this issue. Like many of us here, I am a parent. Bullying is a scourge that I hope is never – my son has never, on either side, I hope he is not the ‘bullyer', I hope he is not the ‘bullyee'. I do not want him to have any part of it.

I think the best way to effect this change, besides effective parenting and mentoring, is through the schools because this is where they are going to spend the biggest parts of their lives once they get in the school system. That is where we can effect real change. I am hoping that even as we support this amendment, it states on the record that we can and we should do more in the future. The school is the best way to get there for these children.

Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it takes a collective effort to prevent violence. Government can provide leadership on violence prevention and we are certainly doing that, but that is only one part of the solution, Mr. Speaker. As Minister Responsible for the Violence Prevention Initiative I cannot stress enough how important it is for government and community to work together to support each other in violence prevention activities.

As a community, we should take every single opportunity we can to learn about the types and severity of violence that youth are experiencing. We must equip ourselves with the tools to support youth who are being victimized, as well as help those who are inflicting violence on their peers. As my hon. colleagues on both sides of the House have said today, education is one of the key steps in doing that, Mr. Speaker.

In January of this year I had the opportunity, along with my colleague from Bellevue, to attend an absolutely fabulous event. It was titled: This Little Light Project. It was held in Heart's Content and it was sponsored by the Masonic Lodge there. The Masonic Lodge approached schools within the region; they wanted to do awareness around anti-bullying. They did not want to have a negative connotation around it so the theme they used was friendship first. They did not even want to have the word bully in there because they thought that would be a negative connotation. I have to say, and I am sure my colleague will agree it was a wonderful evening. They included six schools from the District of Bellevue, the District of Placentia - St. Mary's, and they selected two winners from each school of the six schools that were involved. One of the winners sent in this beautiful poster about, be a friend not a bully. I keep that here on my desk because it is just a reminder of how important education is and how it is the young people who have to get it first. They will carry that with them through life, Mr. Speaker.

I was really pleased, through the Women's Policy Office and in partnership with the communities against violence committee, to support them with this event. As well as the Department of Justice and the Department of Education did provide support, financial and otherwise, for this event. Again, as was said, education is so important. These children and their families really got the message there that night.

Also, in February I had the wonderful opportunity to do a proclamation signing to proclaim February as anti-bullying month here in the region. Another reminder of how important it is to work with our community stakeholders.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, I am the lead minister for the Violence Prevention Initiative and as you know, back in 2006, our government announced a six-year, $12 million Violence Prevention Initiative. The focus was to prevent violence against those most vulnerable in Newfoundland and Labrador, and there are many vulnerable populations included in that: children, of course; youth; women; older adults; Aboriginal women and children; persons with disabilities; and persons who are vulnerable to violence due to sexual orientation, economic status, and so on, Mr. Speaker.

This initiative is a partnership between eleven provincial government departments, many, many agencies – we have over thirty anti-violence community groups. We also have the ten regional co-ordinating committees against violence throughout Newfoundland and Labrador who are partners with us on this most important initiative. There have been many accomplishments under the Violence Prevention Initiative, particularly geared around youth and bullying. There have been many conferences held in terms of building community capacity, exploring the web of youth violence, preventing violence against children, sexual orientation and violence, preventing homophobia and heterosexism, Mr. Speaker.

Under the Violence Prevention Initiative as well, the RNC has done a fabulous job with their STRIVE program. STRIVE is Students Taking Responsibility In Violence Education. This program was revised and updated by the Department of Justice, but again, it is all done in partnership. The Aboriginal governments and organizations were also supportive in taking action on preventing violence against women and children and others in the community – and that was done by the Women's Policy Office.

Of course, Mr. Speaker, under the Violence Prevention Initiative we have many social marketing campaigns. I am sure many members in the House and listening have seen many times our OutrageNL campaign. This is a campaign really geared toward youth. It was one of the action items that were created as a result of a marketing campaign to target the vulnerable populations in this Province who are most likely to experience violence. As I said, the first social marketing campaign that we developed was the OutrageNL campaign to prevent youth violence. Youth were chosen as the focus of our first campaign because, Mr. Speaker, it is the youth who will be our future politicians, our future leaders, our future teachers; they will be our future parents and community leaders. If we reach out to youth now and raise awareness that violence is unacceptable, we can break the cycle of violence in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

In fact, what was really unique about the OutrageNL campaign was that it was youth aged thirteen to eighteen who really helped us in developing the creation of this campaign. They told us their experiences with violence, what language we should use in our ads, what Web site address we should use; they also advised us that we should really encourage bystanders to take action against violence because they told us that an incident of violence can be stopped within ten seconds when a bystander steps in to support the victims. As you know, many of our youth in our Province do suffer from violence inflicted by their peers, their family members, and their acquaintances. They were certainly a key component in helping us develop that, and it speaks to how important partnerships are when trying to get an important message like violence against all vulnerable populations out.

Mr. Speaker, violence and abuse is in all forms. I am not even sure if people are aware of the many different forms of violence. I am sure the common ones in terms of physical, verbal, emotional, sexual and those are more widely known; but, violence also exists in forms of physiological abuse, spiritual, cultural, financial, or neglect, and all of forms of violence are completely unacceptable, Mr. Speaker.

The OutrageNL campaign that I spoke about, aims to educate people about all of these different forms of violence and encourage everyone to reach out and take action against violence.

As I mentioned, they helped us come up with our Web site; the Web site is www.outrageNL.ca. By visiting that, people can learn how to recognize and to take action against violence. The Web site also includes a host of valuable information, including emergency numbers, links to community organizations, and helpful information for youth who are victims of violence, or who struggle with violent tendencies.

As I said, the main focus of the campaign is to encourage youth to take action against violence and to make adults aware of the different kinds of violence that are facing our youth today.

The slogan that was chosen for the campaign, which was also done in consultation with young people, is: Don't stand by. Reach out! Take ACTION against violence. It really truly does describe our goal for this campaign. The prevention of violence is everyone's responsibility, and it is time for all of us to stand up against violence and to reach out to support victims.

Mr. Speaker, some of the other interesting work that is going on in the Women's Policy Office – and this is being done at the ministerial level across the FPT meetings across the country – one particular project that we are partnering with the Atlantic Provinces on is a social media project, and it is around cyber-bullying, Mr. Speaker. As was mentioned here, bullying comes in many forms and cyber-bullying is one that we really decided, as Atlantic Status of Women Ministers, to focus in on. This project is committed to create awareness and prevent cyber violence perpetrated against young girls on the Internet. That is the specific target.

As we all know, when misused social media sites, whether it is Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, et cetera, they can certainly provoke cyber violence. Particularly girls, who are the focus of this project, can experience many forms of violence in terms of name-calling, teasing, they can receive threats and slanderous rumours. Often, unfortunately, they are sometimes exploited for sexual purposes, as well as being stalked and lured online, Mr. Speaker. We really want to put a major focus on this in working with our Atlantic Provinces. We are developing a number of fact sheets and we are in the process of developing a Web site to address the issue of cyber violence against young girls. Mr. Speaker, we will be hosting the Atlantic Status of Women Ministers here in this Province this fall. At that time, it is my intent to unveil the new Web site.

It was also mentioned in the House about the Safe and Caring Schools Policy. We have worked especially hard to ensure that we support schools in their violence prevention initiatives. Of course, it makes all kinds of sense to start in the schools. As was mentioned in 2006, the provincial government created the Safe and Caring Schools Policy. Since that time, many schools have introduced a number of initiatives. Students have been very involved in making their schools safe learning environments, even the schools in my own district.

I recently attended an event at Acreman. They brag about their Safe and Caring Schools Policy and how they participate in various activities, having speakers come in to talk about anti-bullying. They have a behaviour matrix for different parts of the school, whether it is in the stairwell, the gymnasium, and so on. They participate in Lions Quest, which is a character building program for students aged K-6. There is a whole suite of activities they are doing in terms of safe and caring, and really wanting to be a school that is free of violence and a school that is safe for all the students who attend.

Mr. Speaker, every classroom and every school community is only able to function in a safe and respectful way when expectations for behaviour are stated up front and consistently taught to our students. There also have to be measures in place that the school administration can take when behavioural expectations are not met. The Safe and Caring Schools Policy outlines these expectations as well as the consequences that could come.

I am extremely proud of the work that is going on in the various schools throughout the Province to prevent violence and abuse in our schools. I mentioned earlier the Regional Coordinating Committees and the work they do in terms of preventing violence. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to say that since 2006, government has increased the funding to these ten Regional Coordinating Committees. They were receiving $55,000 each in 2006 and now they are up to $80,000 each, so a significant increase, very valuable work that they do. Just one caveat, for informational purposes, in Labrador it is $100,000 due to the extra travel there.

The Regional Coordinating Committees do fabulous work in partnership with the school boards, the local schools and the community. It was mentioned here already the stand up day, also known as Pink Shirt Day. I can attest to how early they start because my niece is in kindergarten and when I was out home on the weekend after this particular event in school, she had her pink shirt on that she had won at an event in school that day. I asked her if she knew the meaning of the pink shirt and she said that this school had activities around anti-bullying and so on. Then I went on to say, if you saw two children in the playground or in the corridor and one was pushing the other or doing something that they should not be doing, what would you do? She said, oh my auntie, I knew I should not have worn this shirt here with you today. When we got past that we did have a great chat about what it is you have to do and to find somebody in charge and responsible to report that to, because violence can be prevented if you tackle it head-on. They were talking to kindergartens and it is so important that we do that at such a young age.

Mr. Speaker, in the last six years the Violence Prevention Initiative has provided approximately $350,000 to help the Department of Education in the Safe and Caring Schools policy. Many projects have been funded under this. As the Minister of Education already talked about, the My Gay-Straight Alliance kit, there has been professional development for school administrators on issues of violence for LGBT students, there has been violence prevention training for students with autism, the list goes on and on.

I only have a minute left so I just wanted to get into some concluding remarks. Just on Monday we announced that we will be starting our consultations on Phase II of the Violence Prevention Initiative. Our six years is up, fabulous work has been done. Now it is time to evaluate the work, get feedback and see where we want to go in the next phase, Mr. Speaker.

Consultations will take place with our stakeholders. I invite the public to submit written ideas, any recommendations that they may have at our Web site, www.gov.nl.ca/vpi. Also on Monday we released the details of a provincial survey of attitudes that we did around violence and abuse.

I am down to twenty seconds, so I just want to highlight that as part of this study it was identified, that the public identified their highest levels of concern were around children and youth, older persons and women, and that the locations for this violence was in the school place, the Internet, and within families.

Mr. Speaker, as I started off from the beginning, I said it really takes a collective effort to prevent violence. I really believe that with everybody working together we can have a safer society for all, and I am really pleased to support the amendment put forward by the Minister of the Department of Education today.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to have the opportunity this afternoon to speak to this motion before the House and especially since it is the eve of International Anti-Homophobia Day.

Bullying is tough. It is damn tough and it is complex. We have all either witnessed it, we have been bullied, or we have bullied; it affects us all. Perhaps the most painful and destructive incidences of bullying are those that happen to our children in our schools. We know the stories: the chubby girl who is repeatedly called cow and Miss Piggy and has to walk through the hallways while bullies make oinking sounds, who misses days of school pretending to be sick because it is too painful to go. She stays home and cuts her arms to let some of the pain out.

The young boy who was called queer and has to walk through the hallways while cowards repeatedly whisper: fag, fag, fag, or whose teachers tell him he is going to go to hell and that homosexuality is unnatural and evil and he must be cured. He constantly has a knot in his stomach and dreads going to gym class where the torture ramps up even more.

The teacher who is called Mr. Faggot by bullies in the back of the room, who laugh and sneer, who is constantly interrupted and mocked while he tries to teach, making it impossible for him to effectively do his work. His equipment is frequently stolen and rumours are spread on the Internet about his private life. His administration does not back him up or intervene.

Mr. Speaker, this is beyond the bullying of the cut and thrust of the House of Assembly. There are all kinds, miserable litanies of ways that students and teachers and staff are tormented. Cyber-bullying is one of the most pernicious forms of school bullying today. There is no escape. It follows students on their cellphone through text messages, through Facebook, and through the Internet. We all know the stories.

Mr. Speaker, in December 2007, EGALE Canada – which is a group called Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere and one of the predominant national advocacy and education groups in Canada – in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the University of Winnipeg, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, undertook a survey in schools across the country called Every Class in Every School. It was an excellent piece of work with some incredible heavyweights behind it. It was "The first national climate survey on homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Canadian schools".

The findings were that the incidences of bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer students is rampant. Many of our gay or perceived-gay students swim in a sea of insults as they wend their way through the hallways from class to class, or in the gym, or in the washrooms in our schools. The bullying ranges from verbal insults like faggot and ‘lesbo', to physical attacks, the destruction of their property, and cyber-bullying. There is no escape.

They also found that two-thirds of LGBTQ students felt unsafe at school – two-thirds, Mr. Speaker. That is over 60 per cent of our children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered feel unsafe at school, a place where they go five days a week for most of the year. Twenty per cent of these students and almost 10 per cent of straight students have been physically harassed or assaulted because of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. This spills over, Mr. Speaker, even to our children who are not in the gay category.

Thirty-seven per cent of our youth with lesbian or gay parents have been verbally harassed about the sexual orientation of their parents. Our own son, Mr. Speaker, was tortured at school because he had two mothers. He was threatened. He was afraid to go out. He was afraid to walk to school. He was afraid to walk home from school. We had to go to the police. This was twenty years ago, Mr. Speaker, and no one at that time – no one – helped us. Perhaps it was because at that time it was perceived that it was our own fault for being who we are.

Every day in our schools, LGBTQ students are exposed to verbal harassment, physical assault, and isolation because of their actual or their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Many straight students in this study, Mr. Speaker, reported how unhappy they were with this type of bullying in their school because it affected the environment in the school for everyone. It spilled over. It permeated the atmosphere. We know that LGBTQ youth have the highest suicide rate. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the lives of our children. Because of this bullying, they have the highest suicide rates. In particular, transgender youth are among the most targeted by bullies.

Mr. Speaker, these are our children. All of this is at great cost to our society. Many bullies, without intervention, without help, end up in our prisons. Youth who are bullied mercilessly end up unable to complete their education, or develop mental health issues, and yes, some who cannot cope with the torrent of bullying and torture end up taking their lives. Mr. Speaker, these are great costs to our society, great costs that we should all be concerned about. Mr. Speaker, we can, all of us here, we can make a difference to this scenario. This does not have to be the ongoing story. We can change the story. We can change the script. We have the power and the authority to make a difference.

Mr. Speaker, there are some good news stories. I, too, would like to commend the Department of Education and the Women's Policy Office for some of the very wonderful initiatives and programs they have undertaken to combat bullying and to create safer and more conducive learning environments for our children and our staff in our schools. In particular, I would like to congratulate the teams for the development of the Safe and Caring Schools Policy for the Violence Prevention Initiative for the OutrageNL program and more recently for the new My Gay-Straight Alliance initiative.

Two years ago, I attended a meeting with senior officials from the Department of Education and Women's Policy Office as a representative of EGALE Canada. In that meeting, we encouraged and we pushed and we encouraged Newfoundland and Labrador to take on this program for our entire school system. I knew, Mr. Speaker, that we could be a leader in this field in the country and asked the Department of Education and the Women's Policy Office to take the risk, to be courageous, to be leaders and to jump on board.

As a Newfoundlander and Labradorian, I am very proud of what these departments are doing in the area of educational resources to support the development of My Gay-Straight Alliances in Grades 7 to 12. They have proven to provide a more safe and inclusive environment for all students where diversity is celebrated and students and staff can thrive in a more conducive environment. The work being done by our Province is daring, it is innovative, and it puts Newfoundland and Labrador on the map in the leadership role of providing safe and caring schools for all our students and staff. Mr. Speaker, I know that members of this House just love it when I ring out bravo. I would like to say once again, Mr. Speaker, bravo for these initiatives.

This is a wonderful time in our history. How far we have come, that I can rise in this hon. House and speak to these truths. Now it is time to take this all one step further. It is our responsibility, every single one of us in this Chamber as legislators; it is our responsibility to ensure a positive school climate that is inclusive and accepting of all pupils and staff. One that prevents and promotes the prevention of bullying is legislated. All students and staff have the right to feel safe, and not only to feel safe but to be safe at school. Bullying is indefensible in a modern, democratic society. It is indefensible.

Public education in our society is both a right and mandatory. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not limited to adults. Pupils in our schools have rights under the Charter, as is the same for our provincial Human Rights Act. Education is a publicly-funded service available to all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. In offering the service of education, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians may not be discriminated based on any of the prohibited grounds in delivery of that service.

As well, Mr. Speaker, Canada has committed to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which in Article 19(1) commits Canada and therefore Newfoundland and Labrador, to protect children "from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of that child." Our children need and have the legal right to protection from abusive environments and violence. It is not just about being nice.

Mr. Speaker, it is incumbent upon us as legislators to ensure our children have a safe environment, conducive to learning and thriving. As Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, we know what it means to be maligned and ridiculed for who we are, for where we have come from, the ignorant misconceptions of our substandard education or intelligence, that we are backward or inbred. We understand stigma and stereotypes. From this history, we also understand empathy; we know how to be empathic and we know how to care.

Mr. Speaker, this amendment is disappointing and it lacks conviction and commitment. I would go even so far as to call this amendment indefensible. To not include the definition of bullying in the Schools Act, 1997, is regressive and letting down the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. I am trying to understand why the government has taken this approach. We are all parents, or brothers, or sisters, or aunts, or uncles, or grandparents. This is truly shameful and disappointing. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the lives of our children.

It is time now, Mr. Speaker, for us to do the right thing and take the next logical step to amend our Schools Acts, 1997, to add the definition of bullying and to develop and deliver the initiatives outlined in this motion so we can move on to a more safe, just, and equitable school environment for all, so that we can ensure all of our citizens may strive to reach their own level of excellence and participate fully and freely in our society. It is both our moral obligation and our legal obligation. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador want this now –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS ROGERS: Leave, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member have leave to clue up?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: By leave.

MS ROGERS: The people of Newfoundland and Labrador want this now, Mr. Speaker; there is no reason to stall or prolong. Parents, teachers, and students want this now.

To close, Mr. Speaker, once again, it is our moral obligation and our legal obligation as legislators to ensure this. Legislation does not change hearts, but legislation does protect the most vulnerable from the heartless. Mr. Speaker, it is time.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member for Humber West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity this afternoon to stand in this House and to address the issue placed before us today in relation to the private member's resolution. Mr. Speaker, the issue before us is a serious one, and also a very, very important one, as discussed on both sides of the House by my colleagues this afternoon. It is one that has impacted many down through the years, and most recently highlighted in various media throughout Newfoundland as well as throughout the country, and indeed internationally.

The issue and reality for some children and parents is that this very serious issue can have long-lasting impacts, Mr. Speaker. Bullying is not new – as my colleagues on both sides of the House have discussed today – but it has become a concern for all segments of society, Mr. Speaker. There is bullying in the workplace, bullying in business, bullying in economic transactions, bullying in the playground, bullying in the living room, bullying in the kitchen, and yes, bullying in the schools, Mr. Speaker. I use these examples to illustrate to all of us we cannot segment and isolate one aspect of our society and expect to solve an issue that has transcended many aspects of our community, Mr. Speaker. There are various definitions put forth here on the floor, but we must not be limited in the definition that we have with regard to bullying. This week, Mr. Speaker, the President of the Ontario Principals Council stated on Monday that the proposed definition in Ontario, which is very similar to the proposed one put forward here today, is actually too limiting and would exclude some serious instances of bullying.

School bullying takes on many forms and it is done by both boys and girls, as we all know. Bullying conjures up in our minds a whole range of feelings, emotions, thoughts, fears, reactions from both ends of the emotional spectrum, Mr. Speaker. Those who have never experienced a form of bullying cannot make the emotional connection. Only those who have felt and experienced such continuous actions can relate in that very personal way, Mr. Speaker.

Emotional learning as a field of study is somewhat new, but as an educator for the past twenty-three or twenty-four years I have seen the powerful connections between emotion and learning. We all remember what we were doing when we heard about the attacks of 9-11. We all remember what we were doing when we heard about the death of a close friend or family member and we remember what it was like to be bullied as a young boy or a girl on the way home from school or in the playground, Mr. Speaker.

A recent study by Harris-Decima this past winter says that 50 per cent of Canadian adults have experienced bullying when they were children or teenagers, Mr. Speaker. No matter what generation we happen to grow up in, we have an emotional connection to these kinds of events in our lives. We remember these things because of the powerful emotional connection.

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, and I have said throughout this House on a number of occasions, I spent twenty-three years or so involved with educating youth in this Province. I taught and was an administrator in six buildings – actually, five schools, but it was six buildings. Prior to last February, Mr. Speaker, I was principal at one of the largest schools in the Province, with nearly 1,000 students and sixty-five or more staff. It was a busy life day and night, each and every day, but I can say in this House that I loved every moment of my teaching career.

Over the past years I cannot recall a situation, Mr. Speaker, that I have not been involved with as it relates to students and their student life. Such examples would be student relationships with other students, student and teacher conflict, student and parent conflict, suicide, drug use and drug abuse, runaways from home, theft, loneliness, loss, death, and yes, aggressive behaviour and bullying. Even though I say that, I have been blessed with all of the positive aspects of a career in education over those twenty-three years. Although some of these things were negative, my career was both positive and rewarding.

Mr. Speaker, as an administrator, as a teacher, and as an educator in Newfoundland and Labrador, I have sat at the end of the day, often late at night in my office and nearly always at the end of the week or on a Sunday morning, reflecting on the many decisions that I and the team would have made throughout the week on many of these things that I just discussed.

Mr. Speaker, this government has made it clear that addressing bullying schools through our Safe and Caring Schools initiative is a major, major priority. School leaders and my colleagues throughout Newfoundland and Labrador in this Province have spent countless hours in training and identifying bullying, potential bullies, and bullying situations in all of our schools. Teachers have spent, individually and collectively, many, many, many hours equipping themselves, Mr. Speaker, with the necessary knowledge and tools to be able to identify and deal with these situations when they arise in all of the schools, in all of the classrooms.

I and others in the system sit and discuss in formal and informal settings about how to deal with particular situations. We have sat with student groups in guidance counsellors' offices, Mr. Speaker. We have sat with individual students in guidance offices. We have sat with educational psychologists, medical practitioners, with parents, grandparents, and legal guardians. We have developed individual plans of response, Mr. Speaker. We have developed learning plans related to bullying for students, individual plans for students, and plans for students in classrooms.

We have spent countless hours researching and placing into practice school committees for creation of safe environments. We have established breakfast and lunch programs for students such that they have a great start to the day once they arrive at school, because it is all connected, Mr. Speaker. We have established safe days in schools, anti-bullying days, established peer-to-peer groups and personal intervention plans, established working groups within school councils to discuss this, a very important issue. I know that when I was administrator, often we would discuss this around the school council table, Mr. Speaker.

We have national organizations that speak about this on a daily basis, one, Canadian Safe Schools Network, and others, Mr. Speaker. When I travelled to national student leadership conferences, and I went to a number over my years with students from Newfoundland and Labrador, I visited many schools in many different jurisdictions across this country, and indeed around Newfoundland and Labrador as well. Within a few moments I can tell the kind of school you are in, and most educators can; you can see the genuine culture in the school once you enter the building.

These are the schools, Mr. Speaker, that look at the big picture in connecting all of the school programs as I just did a few minutes ago, connecting students, connecting staff with students. These are the schools that look at bullying not as a separate entity, Mr. Speaker, but as a part of the whole. I have been in many, many schools across this great country of ours, but I have also been in many schools in Newfoundland and Labrador that are doing just that; they are trying to connect bullying situations with the whole, what takes place in the schools and in the classrooms on a daily basis.

This government, as alluded by both members opposite, established in 2006 the Safe and Caring Schools Policy, Mr. Speaker. We have an OutrageNL campaign, which is not limited to two weeks of the year but takes place year-round, Mr. Speaker. Student and school participation in Pink Day awareness in February month, funding for MyGSA, support Gay-Straight Alliance groups in schools 7-12 announced recently at a cost of $90,000. I know all members of this House are appreciative of that, Mr. Speaker, and it was talked about here today.

We have implemented Phase I of the Violence Prevention Initiative and the development of Phase II has already begun, Mr. Speaker. We recognize schools and student efforts through the Safe and Caring Schools Special Projects awards and Safe and Caring Schools Graduating Students Awards, too, Mr. Speaker.

Schools have plans that speak to the issue, Mr. Speaker, through its growth plans, or what used to be called growth plans, and school development plans. The Department of Education is collecting data through its districts and schools on the incidents of bullying such that informed decisions can be made. A wide range of other initiatives, some of which I mentioned earlier, is underway in schools and communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador to inform teachers, students, and parents about bullying and ways to prevent and respond to it, Mr. Speaker.

Students can be our greatest ally. It is one of the things that I have learned in twenty-three or twenty-four years in the classroom. The students in our schools are our greatest ally. They are the ones, Mr. Speaker, who have the answers often that the adults do not have, and they are the ones that we need to consult. We will be consulting with the students of our Province, and teachers and educators throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

We have already announced the process of reviewing and consulting on the Safe and Caring Schools Policy with the intention of enhancing the policy and our intent to review the Schools Act, Mr. Speaker, only after discussions with the stakeholders, like the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association, the Newfoundland and Labrador School Boards Association, law enforcement, and others in this field of expertise, including what schools and students are saying.

It is incumbent on us, and we hear on a daily basis from the parties opposite, that we need to be consulting with the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We need to be consulting with the professionals. This is what this government is going to do. We are going to consult. It is a serious issue. It is a very important issue and we are going to consult with the people. We are going to consult with the schools boards, the School Boards Association, NLTA, law enforcement and other agencies, parents, guardians, and students, Mr. Speaker. I believe this is the appropriate course of action. Involve all the partners. Get everyone around the table and come up with a plan, Mr. Speaker, that will inform our education act.

I appreciate the purpose of the original resolution brought forth this afternoon by the Member for St. John's North. I lived my professional life, as I said a number of times, as an educator. I always had an open door policy in my school. I was always consulting with others in a discussion-oriented manner. I believe our amendment is the moral, correct, appropriate, sound approach to make, Mr. Speaker. Teachers, parents, legal guardians - students are the people who feel the effects of bullying, and their say is critical and important if we are to implement and enact legislation that will effect change, Mr. Speaker.

We want to make the right decisions and create the appropriate legislative changes after a consultative process. I believe this House, this Province, schools, teachers, parents, but more importantly, students will be better served at the end of the day if we follow this approach. I believe the Member for St. John's North can come to agree with that, Mr. Speaker, because it was the intent, I do believe, from the very beginning.

No matter what we are doing, we must continue to do so because schools are not static, schools are always changing, Mr. Speaker. One group of students graduate, another group of students come in, and they need to be taught the rules and the regulations of a school, and they need to learn. Students who are entering kindergarten need to learn and they need to know what is right and what is wrong in the form of behaviour, Mr. Speaker.

Students are with their peers in school for five to six hours a day, including the extracurricular hours they may be involved with. The rest of the time, they are like the rest of us. They are incorporated into our families, into our communities for the other nineteen hours, Mr. Speaker. Young people take their behavioural cues from so many sources. They have changed over the years. Some are the same but some are very different. Some of the sources are their parents, organized sport, media, gaming, social media, which makes it challenging but not impossible to redirect a child who has learned to solve a problem by threatening behaviour. Thus, Mr. Speaker, as an educator I know after all I have done, and after all that every school and teacher and administrator has done in this Province, that we cannot tackle bullying and harassment on our own. We need the support of parents and all of society if we are to combat this problem, Mr. Speaker. From my experience, we will only solve bullying issues in our schools by creating what I call relationship solutions.

Mr. Speaker, a team of us worked tirelessly together to bring two schools together in Corner Brook just a few years ago. One thing I learned from that process, Mr. Speaker, is we must work together to build a school community and a society that is respectful. We must work together to create an environment where children feel safe. We must work together to see that children feel safe and comfortable to bring their issue forward and to someone's attention, and that once done, it will be acted upon, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as a former educator, I have seen the many wonderful students throughout Newfoundland and Labrador who have graduated from high school, who can become the best engineers, the best doctors, the best lawyers, and future Frederick Bantings, future van Goghs, future Mozarts, but, Mr. Speaker, more importantly than all of that, we want to see them become the best brothers, the best sisters, the best mothers, the best fathers, the best friends, the best community members they can be, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as an educator in one of the largest schools in the Province, and with all of the leadership training I have personally been involved with over the years, I have always believed, especially in education, that consultation is critical in order to achieve success and to achieve a goal. In my years, I have always stressed the openness in my position as an administrator, and my office door was always open to students, to parents, to teachers, and to the community, Mr. Speaker. The fact that we are discussing this issue on the floor on this House is a great step. I have never been one not to be informed of other people. It is important that we get this issue out in the open for a frank discussion, and that is what our amendment will do, Mr. Speaker.

At the end of the day, once the consultation takes place, we could very well end up with something similar to what was proposed today; but, let's take the consultative process. Let's move it along down that road. Let's speak to the people who are involved, who are at the grass roots – more importantly, the students in our schools in the Province because they have a lot to offer, Mr. Speaker. I believe at the end of the day that we will strengthen the education act. At the end of the day, our schools will be better places for our students, our teachers, our guidance counsellors, and all who are involved – especially the parents who, on a day-to-day basis, interact with the students at schools.

I thank you for the opportunity today, Mr. Speaker, to have this say in the House of Assembly. I appreciate it very much.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): The Member for St. John's North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would first like to say that I was quite surprised and quite concerned to sit here and listen to the Minister of Education compare bullying in schools, which we know leads to mental health issues such as depression amongst teenagers, which has led to teen suicides a number of times, quite shocking for me to sit here, quite concerning to hear the Minister of Education compare bullying behaviour in our schools somehow to the interactions of politicians in this Province on social media. He said, I believe: I do not want to trivialize the issue.

I say, Mr. Speaker, that does trivialize the issue; it completely diminishes the issue. I think that is disgraceful, Mr. Speaker. I would challenge how it is that this minister can continue to say that he is a role model for this issue, to stand here in this Legislature today and completely diminish this issue.

MR. VERGE: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for the District of Lewisporte, on a point of order.

MR. VERGE: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I have heard the Minister of Education speak many times on bullying and never, ever trivialize it.

MR. SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

I ask the Member for St. John's North to continue.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am accustomed to being interrupted when I am speaking in debate in this Legislature.

Mr. Speaker, our party recognizes that legislation is only one way to accomplish our goal of eradiating bullying in schools; however, legislation is perhaps the most important vehicle for any reform. In many ways, anti-bullying legislation will provide an anchor for the changes we all need to see. It goes without saying that our laws in Newfoundland and Labrador should reflect our values, they should reflect our principles as a society, and they should provide a sound indication of what we stand for as a society in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In that context then, Mr. Speaker, the motion proposed here would enable the House to make a clear, unequivocal statement that bullying and inappropriate behaviour like cyber-bullying, sexual assault, gender-based violence, and homophobic behaviours are not acceptable in our schools. This legislation would provide our Province with the anchor that we need for changing both the offending behaviours and the related attitudes and values.

If you are not convinced that this is the case, I say to the members opposite I ask you to reflect for a moment on the role of legislation and law in changing public views and values in our society, the perceptions that were held around drunk driving and the wearing of seatbelts; it completed changed the perception. The act of legislating into force of law is itself one key part of a broader campaign we recognize to expose bullying in schools as a behaviour that is contradictory to the core values of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Anti-bullying guidelines and policy frameworks that have been put into place are positive, but they are not as effective as legislation. These approaches are not as effective because they allow for different standards to exist, depending on the schools that students attend. They can allow for social and economic conditions to dictate the anti-bullying policies of individual schools and individual school districts. This approach can also allow for anti-bullying policies to be changed over time, to be diminished, and to create an inconsistent patchwork of both adherence and enforcement. This approach does not go far enough to change the outlook of students, parents, educators and others on the issue of bullying. We contend that the standard of consistency that comes from legislation is key to shifting public perception, public opinion, and attacking the root of what makes bullying acceptable in our society.

Mr. Speaker, this is not abnormal; across Canada provincial governments are instituting legislative measures to address bullying, harassment, and intimidation in our schools. No less than five provinces, and I will name them: Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta have all recently introduced new anti-bullying legislation. This legislation requires schools to implement anti-bullying procedures and policies, and yes, it does define. These pieces of legislation define bullying.

Ontario's Keeping Our Kids Safe at School act, which came into force in 2010, requires amongst other things that all school staff report serious student incidents, including bullying, to principals. It requires them to do that. Bills 13 and 14, which are at the committee stage in Ontario right now, have proposed additional anti-bullying measures. They actually have committees, yes, Mr. Speaker, where people can discuss that in Ontario, unlike this Province.

Quebec's Bill 56 will require schools to implement an anti-bullying plan. The legislation will also allow principals to expel repeat offenders when it is passed by the Legislature in that province.

In April of this year, the Government of Nova Scotia announced that it will be introducing legislation to address the issue of bullying in schools. Earlier that year, in March, the Nova Scotia government released a task force report on bullying and cyber-bullying with eighty-five recommendations. That task force, Mr. Speaker, in Nova Scotia, was created after the suicide of a student named Jenna Bowers-Bryanton.

Jenna was a fifteen-year-old high school student from Truro. Like many teens she suffered from depression. Jenna was bullied on-line and she was bullied at school. She was pushed in the hallway at school. She received hateful text messages on her phone, like: you are ugly, you are fat, you should kill yourself.

After her suicide, Jenna's mom told the media that Jenna had few defenders in her school. Mr. Speaker, I say to the hon. members, let this Legislature be the defender of our bullied and our harassed students in our schools. We owe that to our children. We owe that to our students.

The motion that was originally put forward by the New Democratic Party caucus, by me, was proposed, and it would go a long way toward addressing inappropriate student behaviour and promoting early interventions. It would provide support for students who are adversely affected by inappropriate behaviour. It would provide students with a safe and healthy learning environment. It would create schools in Newfoundland and Labrador that are inclusive and accepting of students. It would encourage a positive school climate and it would establish disciplinary processes that promote positive behaviour and use measures that include appropriate consequences and appropriate supports for students, be they bullies or the bullied themselves.

That was our intention with our motion. By putting anti-bullying measures into force in legislation, we would be creating a legal obligation for schools and for school districts to deal with bullying, harassment, and intimidation in our schools. It would create an enhanced opportunity and assurances for parents, for students, for teachers, for volunteers, and for school staff that schools can support activities and support organizations that promote gender equity among students; that promote awareness and understanding of, and a respect for, persons with disabilities, students with disabilities; that would promote awareness and an understanding and a respect for people of different sexual orientations and people with different gender identities. That was our commitment with this motion. We want to ensure, Mr. Speaker – like everyone in this House does – that each and every child in Newfoundland and Labrador feels safe, feels secure, and feels free to be themselves when they go to school every day.

We have to acknowledge that the amendment put forward by the government completely neuters the original motion that we put forward. It totally waters it down, waters it down to the status quo. In this amendment, there is no discussion of public consultation with school councils, there is no discussion of public consultation with parents, there is no discussion of consultation with children themselves. The Province of Nova Scotia completed a task force; over the course of time, that task force interviewed somewhere in the order of 1,500 students. This amendment makes no reference to that whatsoever.

Mr. Speaker, I will vote for the motion, as amended, but I would like to say for the record that this new motion is a poor reflection of what it was I was trying to do and what we were trying to do. We have to recognize at some point, Mr. Speaker, that the time for talk on anti-bullying is through. We need to bring this into legislation as soon as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The members have heard the amendment to the motion.

All those in favour of the amendment?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against the amendment?

The amendment is carried.

Now, the main motion.

All those in favour of the motion, as amended?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MR. SPEAKER: Against?

The motion, as amended, is carried.

AN HON. MEMBER: Division.

MR. SPEAKER: Division has been called.

Summon the members.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Are the House Leaders ready?

AN HON. MEMBER: We are ready, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: We are ready for the question.

All those in favour of the motion, as amended, please rise.

CLERK: Mr. Kennedy, Ms Burke, Mr. King, Ms Sullivan, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Jackman, Mr. French, Mr. Hedderson, Mr. Felix Collins, Mr. Verge, Mr. Kent, Mr. Forsey, Mr. Granter, Ms Johnson, Mr. Hutchings, Mr. Davis, Mr. Sandy Collins, Mr. Brazil, Mr. Kevin Parsons, Mr. Little, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Osborne, Ms Perry, Mr. Dinn, Mr. Cornect, Mr. Littlejohn, Mr. Crummell, Mr. Pollard, Mr. Cross, Mr. Peach, Mr. Lane, Mr. Russell, Mr. Ball, Mr. Andrew Parsons, Mr. Joyce, Mr. Edmunds, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Kirby, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Mitchelmore, Ms Rogers.

MR. SPEAKER: All those against the motion, as amended, please rise.

CLERK: Mr. Speaker, the ayes, forty-one; the nays, zero.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is carried unanimously by the House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: This being Wednesday, the House now stands adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, at 1:30 p.m.