May
26, 2015
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLVII No. 20
The
House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
Admit strangers.
The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources, standing on a point of order?
MR. DALLEY:
A point of order, Mr.
Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Natural Resources.
MR. DALLEY:
Mr. Speaker, I gave an
answer to a question in the House yesterday regarding the Integrated Cover
System at Muskrat Falls. A
little bit of ambiguity in my answer, so I just want to clarify for the
House, Mr. Speaker, that government was not involved in the decision around
the integrated cover system.
Nalcor is the project manager for Muskrat Falls, and the onsite contractor
is Astaldi. They work together
obviously on the project and the operations, but, Mr. Speaker, it was
Astaldi that made the decision to discontinue the use of the integrated
cover system using Part I and II, but not Part III and IV.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
There is no point of order.
Statements by
Members
MR. SPEAKER:
Today we will hear
members' statements
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
members' statements from the members representing the Districts of Port au
Port, Trinity Bay de Verde, Bonavista North, Cartwright L'Anse au Clair,
Kilbride, and Torngat Mountains.
The
hon. the Member for the District of Port au Port.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CORNECT:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in
this hon. House to recognize the upcoming season of the Stephenville Theatre
Festival. On July 17, 2015, when
this cast takes over the stage of the Arts and Culture Centre, the
thirty-seventh season of delivering outstanding professional theatre to
Newfoundland and Labrador will have begun.
I
would like to extend a warm welcome to Thom Currie, who is joining STF as
Artistic Director.
Congratulations and thank you to returning Board Chairperson, Elizabeth
Brown, and all other board members for their continuous commitment and
dedication to the success of this festival.
Following the spirit of the founding director, Maxim Mazumdar's vision for
this festival, Monty Python's Spamalot
will be the major stage production this year.
Mama's Country Record
Collection, which is set in Stephenville;
Looking Back in '59, and
Tales of Ti-Jean are just a few of
the marvelous performances to be staged for the enjoyment of theatre-goers.
The
incomparable entertainment the Stephenville Theatre Festival brings to its
patrons will be provided by a talented and skilled professional cast.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all hon. Members in this hon. House of Assembly to join with
me in congratulating the Stephenville Theatre Festival on its thirty-seventh
season.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Trinity Bay de Verde.
MR. CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
rise in this hon. House today to recognize 295 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet
Corps Baccalieu.
On
April 26, family and friends gathered in Old Perlican for the thirtieth
annual Ceremonial Review of 295 Baccalieu.
It was an afternoon of demonstrations showcasing the cadets' drill
skills, fitness and musical talents.
295 Baccalieu was also this year's Provincial Drill Champions.
The
Reviewing Party included: Reviewing Officer, Lieutenant Commander Gary
Parsons; Navy League representative, Clayton Bailey; Bay de Verde Branch
Navy League representative, Mrs. Joy Jolliffe; Commanding Officer, Mr.
Clifford Morgan; Coxswain, CPO Carissa Garland.
Some
of this year's top honours included: Chief Petty Officer Second Class,
Nathan Jolliffe, who received the Lord Strathcona Trust Fund Medal.
This medal is the highest award a Canadian cadet can receive for
excellence in physical and military training.
Chief Petty Officer First Class Carissa Garland, received the Royal
Canadian Legion Medal of Excellence along with the Navy League Medal of
Excellence. A Navy League Medal
of Excellence was also awarded to Chief Petty Officer Second Class Zachary
LeShane.
I
ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating all who organized and
participated in the thirtieth Annual Ceremonial Review of 295 Baccalieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
the District of Bonavista North.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CROSS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
rise today to recognize a group of young female athletes from my district.
The Loopers is a team of under-sixteen female volleyball players from
Pearson and Gill Memorial Academies of New-Wes-Valley and Musgrave Harbour,
respectively.
In
May of 2014, Corporal Dale Lewis recognized potential in his volleyball
squad and asked if they would like to go to nationals next year.
With a positive response, a team of parents initiated a plan of
action to make their little girls' dreams come true.
The
team, consisting of Laura Whiteway, Brittany Kean, Brianna Kean, Kendra
Bungay, Danielle Faulkner, Ocean Kean, Bridgette Burry, Leah Lewis, Samantha
Melindy, and Taylor Winter, coached by Dale Lewis and Kelly Faulkner-Kean,
took to the court at the University of Calgary in May of this year.
They went for enjoyment and fun, but the little team that could
served and bumped an attack, competing at a level beyond their wildest
dreams.
Corporal Lewis said, We hoped to compete and make a respectable showing.
Through the smiles we started winning.
The Loopers played in a division of over forty teams and they
volleyed their way to the semifinals, losing to the ultimate champions.
Please join me, Mr. Speaker, and all hon. members in congratulating everyone
who supported Loopers' success.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Order, please!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
the District of Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS DEMPSTER:
Thank you.
Mr.
Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize the Labrador South
Health Centre Auxiliary. Formed
in May 1985, by site co-ordinator Norman Cutler, with a small group of
volunteers from L'Anse au Clair to Red Bay, the valuable work of the
auxiliary continues to this day.
The
organization's mandate is to assist the Labrador South Health Centre in
Forteau in acquiring much-needed equipment and items not covered in the
clinic's operating budget. Over
the years, as a result of the tremendous volunteer support, their
fundraising efforts have been very successful.
Essential items purchased include a paediatric emergency system,
rescue toboggan, CPR training mannequin, and furnishings for specialty rooms
and offices.
For
three decades, the auxiliary has been a key contributor to the health centre
with its annual fundraiser in May and ticket draws throughout the year,
including the selling of bulbs for the Christmas memory tree.
The residents of the long-term care unit have also been experiencing
the kindness of the auxiliary's giving, through visits and the annual
Christmas stockings.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in thanking the Labrador South
Health Centre Auxiliary most of whom are well into their senior years, I
might add for their outstanding contribution to the Forteau Health Centre.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
the District of Kilbride.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. DINN:
On March 21, 2015, Goulds
Lions Club celebrated its thirty-eight anniversary.
The Lions Club facility was full to capacity as forty-nine Lions Club
members, their spouses, friends, and special guests attended, including Leo
Club members.
After a delicious meal and several speeches, awards were presented.
The Lion of the Year Award was given to Maureen Hynes for her hard
work and dedication. The Melvin
Jones Award was presented to Bob Farrell for his thirty years of service.
The Rookie of the Year Award went to Ashley Abbott for her
involvement with the Leo Club and Christmas events.
Maureen Hynes won the Judge Brian Stevenson Award, and the late Doug
Harvey was honoured for his long-time dedication to Lionism in Goulds.
Jim
Linthorne won the President Award.
Barb Hearn, Gord Warford, and Gerald Antle received District Governor
Awards for their years of service.
The
Goulds Lions Club has done and is doing great volunteer work in our
community, and has provided financial help to many groups, including our
schools, Goulds Arena, Bidgood Park, recreation groups, and seniors.
I
ask all hon. members to join me and my colleague, the Member for Ferryland
district, in commending the tremendous efforts of the Goulds Lions Club.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
the District of Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in
this hon. House today to recognize Erin Andersen of Makkovik, who graduated
on May 9 from the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island with
her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine.
I always feel a tremendous sense of pride when I stand in this hon.
House to recognize the academic and athletic achievements of our young
Aboriginal people. Erin is
certainly one of those people.
After graduating from high school in 2003, Erin attended Memorial University
from 2005 to 2010, graduating on the Dean's list with a Bachelor of Science
in biology. She then worked on a
dairy farm in Kilbride where she was introduced to the veterinary field of
medicine.
After displaying tremendous interest and competency in the field, Eric was
one of two people from Newfoundland and Labrador accepted into the Atlantic
Veterinary College in 2011, where she once again excelled in her studies.
She is presently doing a thirteen-month internship at the
Veterinarian Emergency Clinic on Yonge Street in Toronto.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Erin on this
remarkable achievement and wish her every success in her field of veterinary
medicine.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Statements by Ministers.
Statements by
Ministers
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am
pleased to rise in this hon. House today to acknowledge the official
national launch of the Highly Sensitized Patient or HSP program for kidney
donation and transplantation.
The national launch was recognized across the country this past Friday and
marked the successful implementation of the new program in all Canadian
provinces and territories. Our
Province has been participating in the program since October 2013.
The
HSP program represents a collaborative effort between Canadian Blood
Services and provincial and territorial governments around the country.
The program enhances kidney donation and transplantation for those
whose immune systems are more likely to reject transplants, posing
difficulty in finding a match.
By
participating in this new national organ sharing program, our Province gains
access to a Canada-wide pool of kidney donors for patients who need a more
specific donor match. Under the
program to date, two highly sensitized patients in our Province have been
successfully matched with transplants and three patients across Canada have
received transplants from residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr.
Speaker, a key component of the HSP program is its link to the Canadian
Transplant Registry, an online registry operated by Canadian Blood Services.
With direction and combined funding from provincial, territorial, and
federal governments, and in collaboration with stakeholders and the organ
donation and transplantation community, Canadian Blood Services developed
the registry to support provincial organ programs, making organ sharing
across jurisdictions more efficient.
Highly-sensitized patients wait much longer on average for a kidney
transplant and have a greater chance of becoming more ill or dying while
they wait. In addition, these
patients often require complex chronic care while they wait for a
transplant.
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Canadian Blood
Services for their excellent work in bringing this program online.
I would also thank them for their continued dedication within the
community sector and their work to advocate for the health and well-being of
all Canadians.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
I
thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.
This is indeed good news today.
We are honoured to stand here in the House and recognize the
leadership of Canadian Blood Services in establishing the national Highly
Sensitized Patient program for kidney transplantation.
It is has been seven years since Canadian Blood Services was mandated
to develop national services for organ and tissue donation and
transplantation, and the launch of this program is a significant milestone.
Highly-sensitized patients represent 20 per cent of provincial waitlists,
yet only receive about 1 per cent of available organs because their immune
systems are more likely to reject a transplanted kidney, making them hard to
match. Expanding access
nationally improves the chances of these particularly vulnerable patients,
most of whom are women.
According to Canadian Blood Services, 4,500 people across Canada are
currently waiting for a transplant.
Canada lags behind other developed nations in organ donation and
transplantation. Becoming an
organ donor saves lives and is therefore the most extraordinary legacy one
can leave.
Anything we can do in this House to raise the awareness, as we have done on
multiple occasions, is indeed a good thing.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
I
thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.
I too congratulate everyone who is involved in the implementation of
this important program. It is so
important that our government has been involved in it.
With an aging population, we are going to see more and more people in
need of programs such as this.
It is a program which is going to continue saving lives, there is no doubt
about that.
Canadian Blood Services is a good example of non-profit organizations
providing services to people in need.
I hope here in Canada we will continue to have programs like this
based on need, not on profit.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
rise in this hon. House today to speak about the Municipal Stewardship
Program. Unique to Newfoundland
and Labrador, the program is a result of the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture
program a partnership of governments, conservation organizations and local
residents implementing the goals and objectives of the North American
Waterfowl Management Plan. It
encourages municipalities and local residents to recognize the value of
wildlife habitat found in and near municipal planning boundaries and to
implement wise use principles as outlined within a conservation plan.
The initiative places the responsibility of sustainable resource
management into the hands of the people who know the land best and who have
demonstrated a passion for its stewardship.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. CRUMMELL:
The Department of
Environment and Conservation, through the Wildlife Division, administers the
program and provides an annual contribution of $40,000 as well as in-kind
support to Eastern Habitat Joint Venture activities.
This funding also helps leverage external revenue from various
sources including Environment Canada, Wildlife Habitat Canada, and the US
Fish and Wildlife Service.
Mr.
Speaker, municipalities that sign stewardship agreements have the
opportunity to participate in the non-profit organization known as the
Stewardship Association of Municipalities Inc.
This past Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the
association's Annual General Meeting, hosted by the Town of Flatrock.
The
Stewardship Association of Municipalities is a key driver in reinforcing
municipalities' commitment to wildlife habitat conservation.
Supporting the association in its work to protect wildlife habitat in
this Province aligns closely with my department's mission of reducing the
adverse impacts of human activities on the environment such as climate
change and contributes to other overall health of our ecosystems.
The
Department of Environment and Conservation was pleased to directly provide
the association with approximately
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. CRUMMELL:
$28,000 in funding last
fiscal year to support its important work in the area of wildlife habitat
conservation.
Of
this funding, $10,000 was a contribution to the newly established
Stewardship Association of Municipalities' Conservation Fund, to be used in
support of annual scholarships for post-secondary students who demonstrate
academic excellence and intend to pursue a career in environmental
conservation.
Mr.
Speaker, my department values its close relationship with the member
municipalities on wildlife habitat conservation and is supportive of the
association's overall conservation efforts.
Currently thirty-three municipalities, Province-wide, including the
Town of Flatrock, have signed stewardship agreements and I look forward to
visiting a number of municipalities over the summer to announce further
agreements, thereby expanding the network of environmentally responsible
towns and communities.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
The Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Mr. Speaker, I thank
the minister for the advance copy of his statement.
I acknowledge the success of Eastern Habitat Joint Venture program in
protecting wildlife habitat throughout Atlantic Canada and the good work the
Wildlife Division personnel and municipal staff who work to get these
stewardship agreements in place.
The
program is an example of how environmental problems can be tackled through
co-operation and collaboration between governments at the federal,
provincial and municipal levels, conservation groups and local stakeholders,
but it is certainly one government needs to take more action on when it
comes to collaboration.
Through municipal stewardship agreements, Newfoundland and Labrador
communities are doing their part to protect migratory waterfowl, which is
truly an international environmental issue.
I commend the municipalities that have signed agreements thus far.
Many municipalities in the Province, though, are understaffed and
underfunded and they do not have the ability to be able to enter into such
an agreement.
I
look at the cut positions at Burnt Cape in Raleigh that makes the ecological
reserve more vulnerable. We see
that the Town of Raleigh, with just 140 residents, it is difficult to be
able to protect an area and we have yet to see government on their natural
areas system plan move to improve habitat protection there.
As well as we also see again the weak stance on the
Manolis L from this government when it comes to the Funk Islands and
that ecological reserve when it comes to protecting birds and waterfowl.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
I,
too, thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.
I commend the thirty-three stewardship communities and the officials
who have worked hard over the years to protect local wildlife habitats.
Because habitats such as marshlands are so vulnerable to destruction
from municipal development, we need more people to form these local
stewardships and educate their neighbours.
I
urge government to support them even more in the future, but this government
also needs to do its part and honour its election promise: to create a
protected area system plan and protect more than just 4 per cent of land
which is one of the lowest percentages in the country.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
Further statements by
ministers?
Oral
Questions.
Oral Questions
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, the minister just announced that the CETA fisheries fund is now
dead.
Now,
that we are beyond your premature party and after you went to Ottawa to get
Stephen Harper to change his mind, I ask the Premier: Can you now confirm
that you cannot deliver on the $280 million that you had thought you had?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, I guess
the member opposite was not listening very carefully.
The fact is that the statement that we made today, to restate our
position, is support for CETA.
We believe CETA is going to be good for Newfoundland and Labrador.
We support CETA, and we believe, and as I have said and clearly
believe, it is going to be good for business
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
it is going to be
good for us as a Province as well.
What
we do not support, Mr. Speaker, is the relinquishing of our MPRs.
The federal government came to Newfoundland and said we want to
relinquish your MPRs. We reached
an agreement on the terms of releasing those MPRs and subsequently changed
their view. Until they live up
to their obligation, the $280 that they are going to deliver to us it is
not $280 million we are going to deliver; it is $280 million they are going
to deliver to us. Until they
live up to that agreement, we will not be giving up our MPRs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
I guess that would be
a yes.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask the Premier: Can you also confirm that the provincial portion
the $120 million that was to be leveraged with the $280 million federal
money is also off the table, and where does that leave our fishing industry
that has not seen growth in over a decade?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, MPRs are
our jurisdictional right. It is
one of two jurisdictional rights and authorities that we have in
Newfoundland and Labrador.
The
federal government came to Newfoundland and Labrador and wanted us to
relinquish that authority. They
wanted us to relinquish our authority on MPRs so that they could secure a
deal with the European Union through CETA, Mr. Speaker.
We are not going to give up our MPRs.
Let
me be clear, Mr. Speaker, the minimum processing requirements rests with the
authority of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
We will not give that up until the federal government lives up to the
agreement that they reached with our government back in 2013.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, it was this government, this Premier who said they had no idea what
the value of MPRs were. Now this
is the same government that does not know what the consequences of this
action will be in relation to CETA, in relation to international trade, in
relation to fines against the CETA deal.
How
can you make such a statement about MPRs, about the CETA deal without
knowing the details?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
So
the member opposite understands, there is no consequence for the Government
of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.
It is the Government of Canada that signs an agreement on CETA.
It is the Government of Canada that negotiates an agreement on CETA
on behalf of all of the country.
What
we are protecting is our jurisdictional authority which the federal
government asked us to give up, Mr. Speaker.
What I am saying here today, and what I will reiterate to the people
of the Province, is that we will not give up our minimum processing
requirements unless the federal government lives up to the agreement that
they reached a long time ago with this government.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, it is
estimated there are over 8,600 people living with dementia in our Province.
That number is expected to double in the next fifteen years.
Eastern Health's clinical chief has stated there are no full-on
trained geriatricians in our Province.
I
ask the minister: Can you confirm that there are indeed no geriatricians in
this Province?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, as reported
on CBC in recent days, it is true that there are no geriatricians in
Newfoundland and Labrador.
Recruitment does remain a real challenge in this area.
Nova
Scotia does have several geriatric specialists.
However, there are general practitioners in Newfoundland and Labrador
who have training and who have experience in the geriatric field.
They do provide general geriatric care.
They are employed in areas where there are higher numbers of
geriatric clients such as in continuing care, rehabilitation, and in
long-term care as well.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, I am
glad to hear Nova Scotia has a specialist, but unfortunately here in this
Province we do not have them.
We
have the fastest aging population in the country and this government has had
twelve years to prepare for the aging baby boom and the dementia crisis,
neither are surprises. This
government waited until 2012 to release the long-term care strategy and they
still obviously do not have a human health resources plan.
Stakeholders are reporting that we are years behind.
I
ask the minister: How do you justify your inaction to prepare for the aging
baby boom and the dementia crisis that is here and now?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, I should
also point out that discussions are ongoing with Memorial University's
Faculty of Medicine to discuss additional training that could be offered for
care of the elderly under the family medicine program.
Dalhousie does have a program but we do not here, and that is
something we are currently exploring.
To
the member's question, Mr. Speaker, we have made significant investments in
long-term care. We have made
significant investments in home support.
Our Close to Home strategy, and our long-term care strategy is in
fact working, Mr. Speaker. We
know there are challenges as the population continues to age.
The public discussion about dementia is an important one, and it is
one that we are happy to participate in.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, I would
remind the minister and the government that their promises again, people
are having a hard time relying on these promises.
For
twelve years this government has held the purse strings, tens of billions in
oil money, and we are not at all prepared for this crisis that is here and
now. A local doctor says this
crisis will bankrupt us because we focused too heavily on
institutionalization rather than providing community supports.
Eastern Health declined to comment on home first care.
I
ask the minister: You have failed to provide the community supports needed
to care for people living with dementia, what is your plan?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, our strategy
for long-term care and community support services is, in fact, a very
detailed ten-year plan and it is one that we have already made great
progress with.
While we do not today have a specific strategy called home first, what we do
have is a Close to Home strategy.
It is a long-term care and community support services strategy.
It launched a few years ago, and it is targeted at supporting
individuals to remain in their community, remain in their homes, or to
return to their community. It is
working, Mr. Speaker, but we recognize, given how fast the population is
aging in Newfoundland and Labrador, we certainly have more work to do.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS:
Mr. Speaker, we all know
the difficult situation in Labrador West with the downturn in the mining
industry. Yesterday, the United
Steelworkers held a rally to show support for the 150 workers being laid off
at IOC. There were hundreds of
people there with serious concerns.
Our leader was there.
I
ask the Premier: Are you going to show your support during this tough time
in Labrador West?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Yes, Mr. Speaker,
absolutely. It is not the first
time stating our support and our concern for the people in Labrador West.
We know it has been a difficult year for citizens and residents in
Labrador West.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
It is a difficult
time for the industry, as well, Mr. Speaker.
We know there are challenges between the employers and the employees
in Labrador West as they try and find their way forward.
We urge both sides, and all members of all parties, to work together
to find a resolution that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the
operation in Labrador West.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS:
Mr. Speaker, the Premier
did not even see fit to send a Minister of the Crown to the event.
The Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs has been silent on
the issue in Labrador West. It
seems when times are good they are around, like Cabinet retreats; but in bad
times, they disappear.
I
ask the Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs: Why didn't you attend
and show your support for the people of Lab West?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. RUSSELL:
Mr. Speaker, nobody is
happy to see job loss in Labrador West.
I tell you what, the provincial government is going to be there to
support the families and the workers, just as we were when hard times were
happening in Wabush.
Today and tomorrow, I believe, in conjunction with Service Canada, we have
Advanced Education and Skills hosting a series of information sessions.
We will be there to support people, just like we have been there in
the past.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Carbonear Harbour Grace.
MR. SLADE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, in a briefing on MPRs provided by the fisheries department
yesterday, one truth emerged: There is little or no transparency surrounding
the approval and the monitoring of MPRs.
To begin with, information and reports relating to MPRs had to be
extracted from this government through ATIPPA.
I
ask the minister: Why are you forcing people to go through ATIPPA to see how
much unprocessed fish you are allowing to be shipped out?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. GRANTER:
Mr. Speaker, in response
to questions that came on the floor of the House last week, I guess it was,
with regard to MPRs in relation to Fortune and OCI and those kinds of
questions that were here, we offered up to both the Opposition parties and
we offered up to the media yesterday briefings on MPRs in the Province and
how decisions are made on those.
We provided to the Opposition and the media the kinds of information that
they were asking for. We did
that out of an offer that we presented to them last week.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Carbonear Harbour Grace.
MR. SLADE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One
recommendation from the last review on MPRs not implemented was the
establishment of an independent panel to evaluate and approve MPR exemption
applications. Instead, decisions
on MPR exemptions are solely decided by the minister.
I
ask the minister: Why have you refused to establish an independent panel to
evaluate MPR exemption applications as recommended by your consultant's
report?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. GRANTER:
Mr. Speaker, the purpose
of MPRs is to increase the utilization of the resource that is in our
waters. It is about providing
credible employment for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in the
fishery. It is about getting
resources out of the water that are underutilized into market like we did
last year. We provided MPRs for
fresh cod coming out of 3Ps to ship to the American markets.
To take the consideration that the member opposite had, that is
something I will take under advisement.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Carbonear Harbour Grace.
MR. SLADE:
Mr. Speaker, the minister
just said about creating employment in different areas.
I have to say that the people over in Fortune do not feel that way
today.
Mr.
Speaker, Tom Rideout was the Minister of Fisheries when government last
completed a review on MPRs almost a decade ago.
The report recommended a further evaluation of the MPRs to be
undertaken in 2010.
I
ask the minister: Since your government has admitted not to know the current
values of MPRs, will you commit to an updated assessment?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. GRANTER:
Mr. Speaker, MPRs are
about providing the opportunities for fishers in the Province, harvesters,
as well as plant workers. The
situation that we are experiencing right now on the South Coast is about the
fishery; it is about maintaining jobs in places like we just talked about on
the South Coast.
We
talked about 110 full-time jobs, Mr. Speaker.
OCI owns the plant in Fortune as an example.
OCI owns the quotas on the South Coast.
I do not see right now as I said yesterday in the media, I do not
see any other company coming
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. GRANTER:
behind to offer either twenty weeks' work, or twenty-two weeks' work, or
twenty-five weeks' work for the people of Fortune.
It is a difficult situation we find ourselves in.
There is no company coming behind it to get twenty, or twenty-two, or
twenty-five weeks' work. We will
look forward to further weeks' work in the years to come.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Mount Pearl South.
MR. LANE:
Mr. Speaker, yesterday in
Estimates the Chief Review Commissioner confirmed that the workers' comp
review division has never met the legally mandated deadline of sixty days to
complete a review.
I
ask the minister: How can this government justify breaching its own legal
responsibilities while injured workers' lives are hanging in the balance?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. Minister
Responsible for Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
It
would be interesting if the member opposite continued down the road of what
the Chief Review Commissioner was saying because she said while it has never
been met at sixty days, it is not even a practical and a realistic time
frame because a lot of times
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. S. COLLINS:
If I could finish,
please?
With
regard to the information that has to be gathered whether it be doctors'
reports, whether it has to be setting up representation, a lot of times the
clients cannot even fulfill that sixty days.
What we want to do and what is going to be part of the statutory
review is coming up with a time frame, recognizing of course you want to do
it in the most timely manner because people's lives are waiting on it, but
it has to be in practical terms as well as allowing enough time to be able
to compile that information.
As I
had said, the statutory review, we are working on that now and hope to
release it soon and hope to correct that problem.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Mount Pearl South.
MR. LANE:
Mr. Speaker, as I said we
have injured workers across this Province who are waiting to have their
cases heard. Yes, granted, there
are some injured workers that the situation on the timelines are of their
own doing, but many of them are not and we need to address that issue.
Mr.
Speaker, the admission by the Chief Review Commissioner further highlights
the need for changes to Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Act.
Government has completed the workers' comp statutory review and has
it in its possession for long enough.
I
ask the minister, specifically: When can we expect you to table legislation
in this House of Assembly to fix this broken system?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. Minister
Responsible for Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Mr. Speaker, I have
been very clear on a number of instances standing here in the House that as
soon as that piece of work is ready to be released, it will be.
It is a very important piece of work.
There is quite a bit of work that has gone into it.
When we do release it, it will be done right and correct; but I also
want to clarify with regard to the application to when the cases are heard,
we are looking at approximately four to six months currently.
That
is a little bit somewhat as a control of the review division of course
because, again, you have doctors' reports, you have clients having to seek
representation. What I am happy
to report is from hearing to getting a decision, that period, actually when
you look at the times most recently you are within thirty days.
So I think we have achieved great success with regard to that part,
the part that is solely within our control.
The other part will be addressed through the statutory review.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Mount Pearl South.
MR. LANE:
Mr. Speaker, I would say
to the minister that it is cold comfort for the injured worker and their
family to know that when it finally gets heard they will get a decision in
thirty-eight days, but it might take them a full year to get the case heard
to begin with.
Mr.
Speaker, I am going to go and I am going to ask the minister one more time:
When will we see legislation brought before this House of Assembly to
address Workers' Comp issues in this Province?
Will it be during this session of the House of Assembly, or will it
be after the election and someone else will have to bring it up?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Mr. Speaker, thank
you.
It
is not about kicking something down the road.
It is about making sure what we come out with, what we release is
indeed the right piece of work.
Again, I can speak to the importance of it.
It is a very important piece of work.
There has been much work done into it, but, again, I am not going to
rush something.
Will
it be brought forward in this session?
I cannot say at this point.
I would hope so, but what we release I want to make sure it is done
with due diligence and it is quite a piece of work to be released.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. Barbe.
MR. J. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, in
November, 2011, the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights published a
report on the sexual exploitation of children in Canada.
At the same time, this government completed a study into youth sexual
exploitation in this Province but hid the results from the public.
Recommendation 8 of the Senate's national study was that the Government of
Canada dedicate appropriate resources and funding for education and
prevention of sexual exploitation of children and youth, including providing
assistance to the provinces and territories.
I
ask the minister: Has this
government received any federal funds to prevent sexual exploitation of
children in our Province? If so,
what use has been made of these funds?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Child, Youth and Family Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
I
will say to the member opposite, I will endeavour to find out exact amounts
with regard to that piece of funding that he speaks of.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. Barbe.
MR. J. BENNETT:
Mr. Speaker, in 2006
Saskatchewan produced a fax sheet on youth sexual exploitation defining it
as the use of a child under the age of eighteen for a sexual purpose in
exchange for benefits such as money, drugs, food, shelter or other
consideration.
Manitoba has had a sexual exploitation established since 2002, launching
Phase III in 2011. Manitoba
named its strategy Tracia's Trust, after fourteen-year-old Tracia Owen, who
after years of sexual exploitation and drug addiction hanged herself in an
abandoned garage.
I
ask the minister: Given that the Government of Canada and other provinces
recognize the need for public awareness of sexual exploitation and have
tackled this problem head on, will the government now advocate to its
colleagues that the sexual exploitation report this government commissioned
be made public?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
A
very serious issue, not only for Newfoundland and Labrador, but for all
Canadians. It is a very serious
issue for members of this House.
I know on both sides we take these matters very seriously and they are of
very high concern for all of us.
Mr.
Speaker, with regard to the report very clearly that both police services
in Newfoundland and Labrador, the chief of police has said that he is
adamantly opposed to the release of this report.
He feels it is a concern.
He has serious concerns regarding that.
We are taking the advice from the police on this matter and we will
not be releasing that report.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Mr. Speaker, the new K-7
school in Kelligrews has been referenced in each of the last three Budgets,
but to date, we still have only an empty lot and a sign.
In Budget 2014, $11 million was identified for the construction of
the school.
I
ask the minister: How was the $11 million spent, and when can the people of
Conception Bay South expect construction to begin on their new school?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
The
new school in Kelligrews is another significant project that is being funded
by the provincial government and the Town of Conception Bay South, Mr.
Speaker. That particular project
is moving through the tender process right now, but I can tell you it is one
of many other projects.
The
new arena that is being built in Conception Bay South is funded by the
government. There is a new fire
hall being built in Conception Bay South.
There is also a new town hall being built in Conception Bay South.
A new bypass road just opened last year, Mr. Speaker.
We have made significant investments in the Town of Conception Bay
South, and the new school in Kelligrews will be the next one.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Mr. Speaker, I am
assuming the poor people of Conception Bay South will only be too glad to
thank government for their philanthropy in sending out a few bucks
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. HILLIER:
for us to build those
facilities. Mr. Speaker, it is
only what the people of Conception Bay South deserve.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. HILLIER:
Mr. Speaker, the site was
approved by council in May of 2014 and site work, tenders for concrete
footings and foundations was supposed to be issued last summer.
However, we have not seen any construction whatsoever.
Given that tenders have not yet closed and the school is due to open in
fifteen months, I ask the minister: Can you guarantee the parents of
Conception Bay South that their children will not have to return to
overcrowded classrooms in September of 2016?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
What
I can tell the member opposite is that I can guarantee him that the process
is underway, Mr. Speaker. There
will be a new school that the Town of Conception Bay South will be very,
very proud of and will serve the residents of that growing community for
years and years to come. That is
what I can tell the member opposite.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
I can also tell him
and the people and citizens of Conception Bay South, it is not philanthropy,
Mr. Speaker, it is investments.
It is investments in a community, a growing thriving community that is full
of hard-working people, hard-working women and men who want to grow and
raise their families there.
I
can tell you we are very proud of the representation they have had in the
past by the former Member for Conception Bay South.
They are very proud of the representation provided to them by the
Member for Harbour Main, and I can tell you, I for one am very proud to
represent Conception Bay South as the Premier of the Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The
hon. the Member for St. John's North.
MR. KIRBY:
Mr. Speaker, last year
government revealed that some schools would deliver full-day kindergarten
using a team teaching model that is not consistent with the standard
classroom setting. In some
cases, two teachers, with two classes of kindergartens will be using the
same space where now there is only one class of kindergartens taught.
I
ask the Minister of Education: Why are you refusing to release the list of
schools expected to use team teaching for full-day kindergarten in 2016?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Acting
Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. DALLEY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I
answered the question last night in Estimates for the member opposite,
planning is underway for full-day kindergarten, Mr. Speaker.
Our government is very proud of this initiative to bring full-day
kindergarten into the Province.
We are on track to do so. A part
of that planning process, there is much evaluation, as there are some 189
schools that offer kindergarten in the Province.
We have to look at their capacity, particularly around capital
investments that may need to be made.
As
we go through that and we identify what space is available, there is a
process in how we are actually going to deliver full-day kindergarten in the
classrooms. When we get further
along in that process, we are able to define our numbers a little better,
Mr. Speaker, we are glad to make that information available.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
There are currently 2,400 outstanding grievances from the Steelworkers local
5975 that IOC is ignoring, thereby creating a toxic work environment at the
mine in Labrador City.
I
ask the Premier: How can he sit by and let this multinational company ignore
the positive labour relations culture that these 1,400 workers have been
used to in our Province?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, the
resolutions and handling of grievances is a matter between members of the
union representatives, employees, and also their employer.
We know the relationship between the employers and the employees in
the Labrador West region right now, and IOC, are strained significantly.
It is a concern for us.
This has a potential for a significant impact on so many families, and the
actual region itself. We have
already seen the impacts of the challenges that exist in the industry
itself.
We
have had a mediator assigned for several months now.
I am very glad to report, the latest information I have is that
through this mediator assigned by the government, that both parties are now
meeting on a more regular basis and are trying to work through their issues
together.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
Premier is hearing stuff that I am not hearing for sure.
A
labour management committee, as recommended by the Voisey's Bay Industrial
Inquiry, would have been a useful tool before relations got as bad as they
are in Labrador City.
I
ask the Premier: Will he amend the Labour Relations Act to require that
parties to a collective agreement establish a labour management committee
where one of the parties makes a written request?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for the Labour Relations Agency.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. HUTCHINGS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, over the last number of months, as the Premier has indicated,
senior staff at the Labour Relations Agency has been engaged with the
employer and the union, working through various issues, making options
available in how they find a resolution in regard to issues that have been
defined between the two groups, as is indicated by the Premier as well.
Hearing back from the Labour Relations Agency, there is some progress being
made. We are certainly pleased
with that, but we emphasize that a relationship between the groups cannot be
mandated. They need to work
together collectively to find a resolution to the issues they have at hand.
We will provide the service to do that.
That has been done now.
We look forward to greater resolution to some of the issues that are
outstanding right now.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Mr. Speaker,
psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, community groups are all telling us
loud and clear that people cannot get better if they do not have a safe,
affordable house to live. People
are stuck in the Waterford, or go to emergency rooms, or return to jail
because they cannot find housing.
I
ask the minister again: Will he instruct NL Housing to halt the sale of all
assets until a housing plan and strategy is completed reflecting
consultation and incorporating the recommendations of the OrgCode report?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, we recognize
the challenges that some people face in finding suitable accommodations.
The work that Newfoundland and Labrador Housing carries out, they are
to be commended for it.
The
OrgCode report, the work continues, Mr. Speaker.
The committee has reported back and we will act on that.
In
terms of the sale of units, Newfoundland and Labrador Housing are not
selling any social housing units.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland
and Labrador Housing is receiving $20 million less in Budget 2015.
I
ask the minister: What assets exactly is NL Housing selling to make up for
this Budget cut to social housing?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, there has
been some land sold, or it will be put on the market to be sold.
Mr.
Speaker, the member and I have had several conversations about this.
We know the challenges that are faced by individuals seeking houses,
but I want to say to her again, there is going to be no sale of social
housing units. The units that
Newfoundland and Labrador Housing has now will remain.
We expect, Mr. Speaker, that working together we will find housing
that will accommodate the individuals she is talking about.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's Centre has time for a quick question.
MS ROGERS:
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
minister again: Where is the long promised, home ownership assistance
program designed to help young working families?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation has time
for a quick reply.
MR. JACKMAN:
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Work
is underway, and we expect to roll out that strategy very shortly.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
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.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
The Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
A
petition to pave Route 434 in Conche.
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 Route 434 Conche Road is 17.6 kilometres of unpaved road; and
WHEREAS the current road conditions are deplorable; and
WHEREAS the Canadian Automobile Association ranked Route 434 as the sixth
worse road in Atlantic Canada; and
WHEREAS it is government's obligation to provide basic infrastructure to all
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians; and
WHEREAS an improved paved road would enhance local business, fish processing
operations and tourism, which is vital to the health and communities
affected;
We
the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge the government to
allocate funds in the Provincial Roads Program to pave Route 434.
As
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, the petition is signed by residents of Roddickton, Conche, Bide
Arm, and Englee. All communities
on the Northern Peninsula East.
The Town of Conche, on many occasions, have been advocating for a paved road
network. They were promised
verbally. That is what they have
in writing, that the current Administration had verbally promised that this
road would be paved.
There has been a $6 million investment, rebuilding and realigning this
route. There is a lot of
activity in this community. It
is a strong, viable, vibrant town.
It has 800 commercial trucks travelling over this highway with the
crab and pelagics processing plant.
They do whelk there. They
employ regionally people on the West Coast and on the Northern Peninsula.
They also have a tourism economy that is quite strong with thousands
of tourists, cruise ship visits, a good business community that is there.
It is a town that has a lot of opportunity, but government is
limiting because they are not providing the basic infrastructure.
Current conditions are deplorable.
Requests have been made to the minister to come drive this road, to
visit the community, and to make allocations.
We need to see where the politics comes out of road paving
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. MITCHELMORE:
and we actually see where roads have a priority.
I think a gravel road such as this with so much activity in a
community certainly deserves a higher rank in priority when it comes to how
roads are currently being budgeted and we see where value is going out.
I
will keep presenting this petition on behalf of my constituents in the
region as long as I am the Member of the House of Assembly and as long as
this road is not paved.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Trinity Bay de Verde.
MR. CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To
the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly
sheweth:
WHEREAS the residents of Winterton feel that the condition of Main Road,
Route 80, located in the Town of Winterton, is deplorable; and
WHEREAS residents of Winterton are frustrated with the condition of the
road; and
WHEREAS government has failed to address this problem;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to
make the necessary repairs to Main Road, Route 80, in Winterton.
As
in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, it is my pleasure to stand here this afternoon and enter this
petition on behalf of the residents of Winterton.
Route 80, which is the main road through Winterton, in the summer
months is a very busy route for tractor trailers servicing the three large
fish processors in the district.
The wear and tear from the heavy loads is quite evident on this road.
This
portion of road in Winterton needs to be resurfaced.
Cold patch is just not any longer working.
The department did do some work there back a few weeks ago, but it
has already deteriorated back to a condition similar to where it was before.
It is also, Mr. Speaker, causing a safety issue.
The safety issue comes where we have vehicles swerving to avoid these
large potholes in the road and going sometimes into oncoming traffic.
Mr.
Speaker, I did have the opportunity this morning to meet with the Minister
of Transportation's officials and address this issue.
They were willing to listen to the issue, but I was not overly
assured that it was going to be fixed in this construction season.
Mr.
Speaker, again on behalf of the residents of Winterton and the people using
that road on a daily basis to get to the three large fish processors and the
tourism industry in the District of Trinity Bay de Verde, I would urge
government to address this issue during the 2015 construction season.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
MS DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS most communities in the District of Cartwright
L'Anse au Clair do not have adequate broadband service; and
WHEREAS residents, businesses, students, nurses, and
teachers rely heavily on the Internet to conduct their work and cannot
afford to wait until 2016 to access a potential plan in partnership with the
Muskrat Falls development; and
WHEREAS there are a number of world-class tourism sites
in the region, including a UNESCO site at Red Bay, Battle Harbour Historic
Site, and the Mealy Mountains National Park;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of
Newfoundland and Labrador to work with the appropriate agencies to provide
adequate broadband service to the communities along the Labrador coast.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I have presented this petition so many
times I am sure you can quote it back to me verbatim by now, but the issue
continues to persist. It is a
very pressing issue in the district.
I am not exaggerating when I say every single day I get an email or I
get something posted
SOME HON.
MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS DEMPSTER:
in social media. There are
many, many frustrations around the broadband issue.
When you live in a technological age and sometimes you
can send and receive emails and almost never do more than that and we are
not talking one community, Mr. Speaker.
We are talking about all of the communities in Southeast Labrador.
It is extremely frustrating.
I would ask the minister to give the people of the area
an update. I know there is
updated proposal gone into the system.
I have met with the MP on this issue.
The MP is lobbying federally for some funds.
We have a great partnership proposal here where if we could receive
money from the feds and the Province would be willing to do their share, the
service provider is willing to put funds into this and to maintain it.
Mr. Speaker, they are not able to do this without a partnership.
People are being crippled every single day.
The tourists who are coming in are not able to use the broadband
service. Businesses are being
hindered, schools, and working professionals.
We are maxed out in most of the communities.
We have been closed to sales for a couple of years.
It is a very pressing issue and we are looking for an
update. I would ask the
government to pursue this matter to bring the residents of Southeast
Labrador online with the rest of the Province.
Thank you.
SOME HON.
MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I have a petition from people in the St. George's area
related to health care. The
petition reads:
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of
the undersigned humbly
sheweth:
WHEREAS there is not a permanent doctor in the Town of St. George's; and
WHEREAS this absence of a permanent doctor is seriously compromising the
health care of people who live in the town and surrounding area, causing
them undue hardship; and
WHEREAS the absence of a doctor or nurse practitioner in the area leaves
senior and others without a consistency and quality of care, which is
necessary for their continued good health;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to
take action which will result in a permanent doctor or other arrangements to
improve the health care services in the St. George's and surrounding area.
Mr.
Speaker, I have presented petitions on this topic many times before, and I
am going to continue to present petitions on this topic until the situation
is resolved because it is a very serious matter.
We have had a community here in St. George's without a doctor for
about half a year now. They look
to their neighbours in the Heatherton to Highlands area and they look at the
clinic in Jeffrey's and they see a situation there where they have not had a
doctor for a year-and-a-half.
People are wondering what is going on, people are wondering when they are
going to get a doctor. This
situation is causing serious problems.
It is a crisis situation in the hospital in Stephenville.
People, because they do not have a doctor, have to go to the
emergency services in Stephenville.
What happens is people are left waiting at the emergency outpatients
there in Stephenville and have to wait hours.
Some people have told me they have waited all day until late at night
to get in to see a doctor there, Mr. Speaker.
It
is causing serious problems.
Elderly people are having to travel long distances to get to the health care
they need. There are delays in
getting their medical test results back.
People with cancer have told me they have had to wait they have not
been able to get their tests back in a timely manner, so they have had to
get a doctor in other communities such as Port aux Basques or Corner Brook
in order to get their test results in a timely manner.
It
is a serious issue, Mr. Speaker, and it is causing people lots of problems
and government has to take action to address this and to see that it does
not happen again.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
I am
happy to present this petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province
of Newfoundland and Labrador, the petition of the undersigned residents
humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS hundreds of residents of the South Coast of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador, including residents of the communities of Burgeo,
Ramea, Grey River, and Franηois use Route 480 on a regular basis for work,
medical, educational and social reasons; and
WHEREAS there is no cellphone coverage on Route 480; and
WHEREAS cellphone service is an essential safety and communication tool for
visitors and residents; and
WHEREAS the residents and users of Route 480 feel that the provincial
government should invest in cellphone coverage for rural Newfoundland and
Labrador;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to partner with the private sector
to extend cellphone coverage along Route 480.
As
in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, I am very happy to stand here and present this petition on behalf
of my constituents, and, in fact, on behalf of the constituents of other
districts in the House who are not presenting petitions on this need.
I
find it very interesting again, I have done this on a number of occasions.
We were actually criticized yesterday by a member opposite who stood
up during debate on the Budget and said you stand over there and you ask for
things like cellphone coverage.
To that, I say that is our job to ask for things for the people of our
districts. This is something
that is not just a pie in the sky.
This is a life or death situation.
So we will continue to stand and ask for things like cellphone
coverage. In fact, we are happy
to do it for those out there on the other side whose members are afraid to
stand up and enter petitions on their behalf.
Now,
you might say: well, how can you ask for money and then ask for something
else and then complain about the Budget?
Well, I would say this, there are other ways.
This is what we continue to say, is the management and the wastage
has been an issue. For the
million dollars you spent on the Bill 29 review, you could have covered
cellphone coverage in a bunch of areas in this Province.
That is wastage.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. A. PARSONS:
In fact, I remember
this big song and dance you had for this thing called CETA.
They had a big announcement on that.
Again, we had a big party on it.
We could have taken that money and put it into something like
cellphone coverage.
In
fact, I remember all the songs and dances, the big tea party they had out in
the lobby to talk about Muskrat Falls.
Well, these are things you could have we are not even going to get
into the other wastage that has gone on, the money that has been wasted in
other endeavours that have shown nothing to fruition.
So,
we are going to continue to ask for this.
We are going to continue to represent the people who put us here and
until we do not have that opportunity, we will continue to stand up here in
this House and ask for things like cellphone coverage.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Orders of the Day.
Orders of the Day
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government
House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
At
this time I would like to call from the Order Paper, Motion 1, that the
House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government, the Budget
Speech.
MR. SPEAKER:
Resuming debate on the
Budget Speech, debating the amendment.
I
recognize the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It
is an honour to rise and speak to the Budget.
Mr.
Speaker, it is always good to review Hansard sometimes and see what your
colleagues have to say and what members across the way have to say.
I would just like to reference comments by the Member for Lake
Melville on cellphones. I have
brought it up in petitions in the past.
We are led to feel like we should not be asking for cellphone service
because what, we are too small?
We are in Northern Labrador, we are not important?
This is from a minister, Mr. Speaker?
I
will tell you something, Mr. Speaker, a cellphone tower has a range of sixty
miles. If you had put a cell
tower in every community from Rigolet to Nain, Burton Winters would still be
alive today.
Now
I say to the Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs, you think twice
before you stand up and criticize us on what we are fighting for.
It is not a pleasure to be in Opposition when you look at the things
he has done. He outlined them in
his district yesterday. We would
love to have some of that, Mr. Speaker.
We will stand up and we will fight for the people we represent.
Mr.
Speaker, if we were not doing that, then we would not be doing our jobs,
would we? We would not be doing
our jobs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. EDMUNDS:
Mr. Speaker, we do not
want these things because they are a novelty.
We want things because everyone else has them, why can't we?
Are we substandard people?
We do not get to have what other people take for granted in this
Province? I do not think so.
I do not believe it. That
is why I am here, to work on that.
Mr.
Speaker, I will give credit where credit is due.
In last year's Budget I saw the then minister, the Member for Gander,
announce a $350,000 housing repair program.
I give credit to the Member for Gander.
As a matter of fact, the AngajukKβk from Makkovik told me to pass on
his gratitude to the Member for Gander.
I think the members in this government from Labrador ought to take a
lesson from the Member for Gander because he has done more for Labrador than
our own Labrador ministers.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. EDMUNDS:
When I hear our own
ministers criticizing us for standing up for the people we represent, yes,
Mr. Speaker, I take offence to it.
Mr.
Speaker, we talked about the housing program.
I would like to go back there.
When you have substandard housing or lack of housing, it causes a
long list of issues wherever you are in the Province in different capacities
but the problems are real. The
problems are very real, Mr. Speaker.
It leads to overcrowding and it leads to a whole bunch of social and
health issues that we have seen.
Since 2011, since I became a member, Mr. Speaker, I have questioned the
effectiveness of the food subsidy.
I have also questioned the Nutrition North program to the point where
we question if they actually benefit the people in the regions they are
designed to.
The
Member for Labrador West, when he was a minister, Mr. Speaker, actually
questioned me. It is not the
kind of an answer you want when you are looking at a consumer who is paying
outrageous prices compared to a nearby region with a Nutrition North subsidy
and Air Foodlift Subsidy program in place, two different programs.
It
has been acknowledged that the Nutrition North program is not working.
It has been acknowledged, but the previous member responsible for
Labrador actually asked me if the airlift subsidy was working, and my quick
answer was, no. We are still
paying outrageous prices when compared to retailers in Lake Melville.
As a matter of fact, it is 50 per cent to 100 per cent difference in
the prices, and in some cases more.
When
you are looking at revisiting programs that are set up to assist the people
in Labrador, things like the Air Foodlift Subsidy, the question that comes
out, is it being monitored? The
quick answer to that is no, it is not.
If the former minister is going to ask me if it is working, then I
would submit that it is not working or it is not being monitored.
The
nutrition component of healthy living that most of us in this Province take
for granted, Mr. Speaker, in some areas in the Province, like Northern
Labrador, it is more of a barrier.
It is more of a barrier than a right, and this is all due to
overpricing. It is certainly
something that it is not going to go away.
It is not going to go away as long as I am here.
All
you have to do is walk around the stores.
Being in Labrador and then coming out to St. John's and taking a dart
down to the stores here, you very quickly compare prices.
It is quite staggering; the same items on the shelves here in St.
John's or on the shelf in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and on the shelf in
Hopedale, Rigolet, or Nain is totally different prices.
You cannot help but wonder if there are programs in place, how
effective they are when you are paying 300 per cent, as much as 500 per
cent, difference in prices.
Then
you go on and look at services to get those goods to where you live.
The government has stood up and taken great pride in its new strategy
for replacement of vessels great announcements.
We look on that and say yes, we are going somewhere, but also we are
part of this Province too and questions have arisen regarding the Request
for Proposals in Labrador.
My
colleague, the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair, has been very vocal
on this issue. Our leader has
been vocal on this issue. I have
been vocal on this issue. What
did the government do, Mr. Speaker?
They pulled it off the table.
I think it is stall tactic myself.
I have never heard the Minister Responsible for Labrador and
Aboriginal Affairs stand up. I
have not heard anything.
We
talk about the vessels that came out.
A lot of them were mentioned in the Throne Speech.
The Hazel McIsaac was built
to replace the Island Joiner and I
think it was the MV Sound of Islay.
Then you had the Grace Sparkes, she replaced the
Hamilton Sound.
You
are looking at two new vessels coming online, the
MV Veteran, which is to replace the
Captain Earl W. Winsor and finally, the
Legionnaire, which is coming out to replace the
Beaumont Hamel.
Do you notice I said finally?
The Legionnaire is the
final vessel.
The
Member for Lake Melville had his chance.
I am sure he will have his chance again.
When it comes to the last part of the vessel replacement strategy for
Labrador, the announcement was made in 2013 the same time as the
Legionnaire, the same time as the
Veteran but that one went backwards.
Not only did they withdraw the announcement, they took the RFP off
the table. Not only that, they
violated the land claims agreement, which was signed by three governments:
the Nunatsiavut Government, the provincial government, and the federal
government. That is just one of
a whole number of violations of the land claims agreement that I will get
into.
An
agreement that is signed between levels of government is not an agreement of
circumstance. It is not an
agreement for interpretation, and this government ought to see the
difference but no. It is their
way and no one else has anything to say about it.
Then they have the audacity to stand up and say they are committed to
Labrador, they are committed to the Province it makes you wonder.
Again, I would like to talk about the RFP, Mr. Speaker.
A former minister, the Member for Labrador West, talked about how
complicated the process was for the Request for Proposals.
It was very, very complicated; but, at the same time, he was saying
this, the RFPs for the other vessels were rolling out in front of us.
I do not think it was that much more complicated.
You
talk about how time consuming was this process?
It took three ministers to do it, yet the Humber Valley Paving
contract took seven hours.
AN HON. MEMBER:
What?
MR. EDMUNDS:
Seven hours, yes.
So, again, a matter of circumstance, that is all it was, and the
Humber Valley Paving contract is cancelled, and now the RFP contract is also
cancelled.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. EDMUNDS:
I would like to go back
to the Muskrat Falls Project, Mr. Speaker.
I hear the Member for Lake Melville standing up.
I listen to him every year talk about how supportive he is of the
Muskrat Falls Project.
Mr.
Speaker, just over four years ago the same member in a different capacity
stood up against the Muskrat Falls Project.
If he wants to stand up and start throwing blame
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. EDMUNDS:
I guess whatever line you
are toeing, you toe
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. EDMUNDS:
is where you stand, I
say to the hon. member.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I
ask members for their co-operation.
The
hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
former Minister of Transportation when I talked to him about new ferries, he
mentioned infrastructure.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. EDMUNDS:
He said we are not
touching infrastructure. All we
are going to do is build you two new vessels, one for the South Coast and
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I
ask the Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs for his co-operation.
The
hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains, to continue.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. EDMUNDS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Not
that I need any protection. Mr.
Speaker, again we talk about infrastructure.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. EDMUNDS:
The former minister said
that there will be no infrastructure but we are going to give you two new
vessels. Mr. Speaker, in this
year's Budget under Project Highlights, I think it was, under New Ferries,
if I could quote from that document, Bell Island, Fogo Island and Change
Islands Project cost: $140 million for vessels and new wharf
infrastructure.
Mr.
Speaker, I am glad that Bell Island, Fogo Island-Change Islands got their
vessels and I am glad they got their infrastructure, because there are other
parts in this Province that never got it.
As a matter of fact, like I said, under this government's watch our
people were taken off the table, and no, Mr. Speaker, they are not going to
hear the end of it.
In
Northern Labrador, Mr. Speaker, you look at storage facilities.
The sheds are sixteen feet by sixteen feet, which cannot hold
one-one-hundred of the freight that comes off.
Last fall, and I will say it again, Mr. Speaker, 300 pallets of food
was dropped off in Hopedale in sub-zero temperatures.
That is okay? There is
nothing wrong with that? If that
happened anywhere else, I wonder what the outcome would be.
I
hear the Minister of Labrador Affairs standing up.
Now, Mr. Speaker, it is too bad he cannot do it when he is supposed
to.
So
let's put it all into perspective.
We are looking at, as I talked about: shortages, overcrowding, high
food prices, nutrition impacts, substandard services
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):
Order, please!
I
ask members to confine their comments to somewhere else in the Chamber.
The
hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains, please.
MR. EDMUNDS:
Mr. Speaker, in the
Budget, and I have said this before, it was good to see the announcements in
the Budget on social programming, but my statement is your throwing revenue,
or you are throwing programming in for social programming but we are not
seeing anything done to address the issues that cause social programs.
I
think if you look at addressing the social issues yes, they are very
important, but when you get the social impacts like overcrowding, high cost
of living, then you are getting into mould issues, you are getting into
tuberculosis and it spawns to social programs that many regions in our
Province are experiencing, Mr. Speaker.
So you have to look at where you are putting your resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. EDMUNDS:
If you address the causes
of social programs, Mr. Speaker, you eliminate social programs.
If you put money on social programs, you put another band-aid on the
problem. I think it is just
another case of mismanagement, of failure to address the issues.
I
will have another twenty minutes also to address the Budget.
Hansard from yesterday, I say to the Member for Lake Melville, is a
wonderful thing.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS PERRY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It
is certainly an honour and a privilege for me to rise here in the House
today and speak to the amendment to the motion, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to start out today again by thanking my constituents for
the great privilege and opportunity to be here today and representing the
fine people of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.
It
is quite an impressive district.
I like to boast about my district as often as I can.
In my previous Budget speech, Mr. Speaker, I spoke a lot about the
aquaculture and the advances it has made in my rural, remote area.
Because of aquaculture, Mr. Speaker, we have the ability to sustain a viable
future. We have the opportunity
to at least offer choice for those who decide they may want to stay living
in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
That is not the choice for everyone, but at one time there was no
choice at all. You had no choice
but to go.
Today, that has changed. It has
changed in large part because of the strong support and initiative of the
innovative entrepreneurs in the Coast of Bays region, and the strong support
of our government which has over the last ten years invested very heavily in
the sector. We recognize the
importance and value that it brings not just to the Coast of Bays, but to
the Province as a whole.
So
in thinking about what I would get up and speak about today and I have
been listening to a lot of the Budget speeches, some very, very interesting
ones, some very informative ones where you actually learn a lot, and some
that have a lot of rhetoric and pandering, Mr. Speaker.
I am going to focus today, when I speak, primarily on Budget 2015 and
actually speak to the Budget itself.
With
budget bills and money bills, of course, we have the latitude to speak
freely, and we can talk about any number of issues.
I thought today I would focus on the Budget and, in particular, the
fact that we have a plan, a very concrete, accountable and measurable plan,
Mr. Speaker.
The
question I would pose to the Official Opposition Party, and I am sure we are
going to hear more from the Third Party in the months ahead.
The question I would pose, and that has been posed by many here in
the House, is: what is your plan?
Is it the borrow, borrow, borrow of the Leader of the Opposition, or
is it the cut, cut, cut of the Member for Virginia Waters?
We
do not really know, Mr. Speaker, and it causes me to ask myself the
question: Can we trust the Opposition with any policy that they bring
forward? Because they do seem to
change their mind on a rapid basis.
The plan to plan the plan has been a long time coming.
I sit back sometimes and scratch my head.
Over
the years growing up you hear a lot of talk about politicians and what
politicians are and are not. I
have to say now here in the House, being a politician I do have great
respect for each and every member of this House and a great appreciation and
understanding of the amount of vast work that goes into the job we do by
each and every one of us.
That
being said, when it comes to policy, I have to scratch my head.
I ask myself the question: Can I trust anything that is being
promised or promoted from across the way?
Because I have seen nothing that gives me confidence that trust
exists. Can you trust the
Progressive Conservatives, Mr. Speaker?
Absolutely, because we have laid out our plan.
We have laid out our plan in more detail than any plan has ever been
laid out in this House of Assembly.
In fact, we have actually mapped out clearly the next five years.
Many
of us talk about how we go back to our districts and we talk to residents
and people on the ground in our various communities about what Budget 2015
actually means. Someone who I
have great respect for, great admiration for, a strong leader in our
community, Mr. Speaker, made a point of talking to me one evening about the
Budget. His comment was, anybody
can get up and promise to pave the world.
It takes a strong person to get up and tell it like it is.
This
person said he has great confidence in Premier Davis and will definitely be
supporting Premier Davis in the upcoming election, and in large part because
of his confidence in the Premier.
He knows he can trust the Premier and the man will tell us the truth.
It
is not always something we are going to like, but it is reality, and truth
is something that we all have to deal with.
If we are going to serve the people of the Province of Newfoundland
and Labrador and the best interests of the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador, Mr. Speaker, they deserve nothing but the truth and for their
politicians to be honest and upfront with them.
So
Budget 2015 is a plan that takes a measured, balanced approach to deal with
the fiscal realities that are facing Newfoundland and Labrador.
As I said in previous speeches, it is not just a fiscal reality for
Newfoundland and Labrador; it is a fiscal reality for the entire globe, as
we have seen the unprecedented fall in oil prices.
We have to manage our way through this.
A
lot of my colleagues, they all enjoy a good game of hockey me, not so much
and a phrase that is often used is you stick handle your way through rough
times. We are going through a
rough patch right now, but our team, our Premier, our Cabinet, our caucus,
does have the experience. We
have been down this road before in 2008, we have popped out of the decline
faster than any other jurisdiction, and I have every confidence we will do
so again.
This
year, in particular, the Premier of the Province has a new approach to
fiscal management. We are on a
new watch now with a new leader at the helm, and he has a fresh approach to
doing business. I, for one, have
to say I thoroughly enjoy being a politician, and I thoroughly enjoy working
under the leadership of Premier Davis.
This
is not always an easy job. At
times, it can be very challenging.
When you have a leader like Premier Davis, who is so very engaging of
each and every member of his caucus, who is willing to listen to each and
every member of his caucus and to the people as a whole, then it is easy to
spring out of bed in the morning and come to work and feel really good about
the work you are doing. So, I
have the greatest of confidence.
Probably one of the greatest times since I have been here in the House of
Assembly I have really enjoyed the last year or so in particular.
Now,
back to our Budget. The
unpredictable in oil prices, it has placed great strain on the revenues of
the Province, Mr. Speaker, and we need to adjust our course to meet this
reality head-on. That is exactly
what has been mapped out for us through the Budget in 2015.
So, because the revenue circumstances have changed, of course, we are
looking at our overall long-term fiscal plan, and we have precise targets
laid out over the next five years.
We have the ability to measure those targets, measure our outputs,
and see how we are actually performing, and we can adapt accordingly as we
go through the plan.
I
want to be very clear about this.
The situation we find ourselves in now is a temporary one, and we are
going to manage our way through it, but prudent fiscal management demands
gradual change to avoid harming the Provinces economy.
Mr. Speaker, I do not hear as much of it in the House now that there
is a larger Opposition and they seem to be performing as most typical
political parties do; but if you look back to Hansard, a few years back, you
heard about so, who is writing their speeches and this, that, and the other
thing. I have noticed a definite
theme in the speech writers for the Opposition now.
They have a theme of mismanagement is the word that they are using.
You will notice every speaker uses it, so I firmly believe the speech
writer is at work.
The
reality, Mr. Speaker, is that our Province is in the best possible hands
that it can be at this point in time in particular to manage our way through
a rough patch. We have been
through the rough times. We have
been through a lot of the rhetoric that we hear coming from the other side.
We know what works and what does not from the school of hard knocks
often in a lot of cases.
I
want to speak in particular to Muskrat Falls in that regard.
Muskrat Falls is something that the Opposition we still are not
clear if the Opposition is going to suspend the project, are they going to
put it on hold and put it under review, in which case it would drive the
cost up by hundreds of millions of dollars.
That, to me, is a very scary prospect, Mr. Speaker, to see something
like that happen just for the sake of politics.
We
do not know if they would plan to squash it, but I know that Muskrat Falls
is one of the smartest things that has ever happened to the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in terms of our ability to be self-sufficient and
have a reliable, sustainable source of revenue for generations to come,
centuries to come, because it is a renewable resource.
As long as the water runs, Mr. Speaker, there will be electricity and
as long as there is electricity for us to sell, we will be a Province that
makes money.
Instead of looking to Quebec and comparing ourselves to Quebec and all the
great hospitals and all the great road networks that they building with the
money of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from the Upper Churchill, I might
add, we will be the ones in that position, we will be the ones reaping those
benefits, and our people will finally see the benefits of the great
Churchill.
I
was reading on Twitter last week some comments about Muskrat Falls.
I kind of said to myself this person really does not have a good
handle on the Muskrat Falls the Upper Churchill, I should say, and the
history of what it means to Newfoundlanders and how it burns deep in many of
us. I know I was just a very
young girl sitting around the table watching the news with my dad after
supper. He would talk about the
Upper Churchill and be so angry about the great injustice that had happened
to us as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
Premier Danny Williams, when he came into office, was absolutely determined
that he was going to right that wrong.
He was going to find a way to ensure that the vast resources of the
great Churchill River would once again be restored properly to the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
He
did it, Mr. Speaker. He found
the solution in Muskrat Falls because we are no longer beholden to Quebec
for a corridor to sell our power.
We now have two routes off the Island to sell our power.
Those two routes will ensure that we have revenue, as I said earlier,
for decades and generations and generations to come.
It is a fabulous project for Newfoundland and Labrador.
If
we have the certainty that our children and our grandchildren will not have
to live in poverty and they will not have to be subjected to the decline in
infrastructure, like we have, because they have a very profitable enterprise
in Nalcor of all of its citizens, then that is something that makes me sleep
very well at night. I have great
confidence that the future for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will
continue to get better and better and better.
Muskrat Falls is the very key to our profitability and our
sustainability. I am a strong
supporter of it.
I
truly hope as we move towards the next election when voters think about
things, they ask themselves: (a) do they trust what they hear in promises
from the Opposition; and (b) what will happen to Muskrat Falls?
At this juncture for anything to happen to Muskrat Falls, to stall it
or shut it down, in my opinion, would be disastrous for the people of the
Province. I think, at the very
least, they deserve some straight answers as to what anyone else who is
proposing to govern would offer on that regard.
One
thing we are absolutely confident of is we will continue to offer excellent
leadership on Muskrat Falls. We
will have the project up and running and be very happy to flick the switch
in the next two or three years.
It is going to be an absolutely memorable day for the entire Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
It
will not have a history as the Upper Churchill does, leaving quite a
negative taste in our mouth as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
I have every confidence in seeing it as the solution that brought
back the Upper Churchill and gave us new assets in addition through Muskrat
Falls and Gull Island. I truly
believe it is a fabulous project.
Now,
in terms of the choices our government has faced this year in terms of
Budget 2015, and that is what it is, Mr. Speaker, it is clearly a Budget
about choices. We chose a
balanced, measured approach that puts people first versus the slash and cut
that was suggested by the Finance critic in the Opposition, or the borrow
more and borrow often that was suggested by the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr.
Speaker, it is interesting to see how there are so many different policies
coming out of just one group, but our people and our team are very
committed, very focused, very jelled.
We are all pulling our oars in the same direction, and that direction
is the betterment of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Now,
I am going to talk a little bit in my remaining time about some of the
strategic investments in particular that are in Budget 2015.
I want to talk a little bit about early childhood development and
education. In terms of early
childhood learning, this is the plan of the Progressive Conservatives.
Budget 2015 allocates $45.7 million to continue the implementation of our
Caring for Our Future strategy.
That represents a $3.2 million increase over last year's Budget, Mr.
Speaker, and it is the third consecutive year of funding increases.
It really points to our recognition that early childhood development
is very much a priority for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
More
than $10.5 million has been allocated in this year's Budget to continue with
the implementation of full-day kindergarten to start next year in 2016.
That, again, is an investment we are very committed to.
It is an investment in the early development of our children that we
firmly believe is going to lead to a better society in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
We
continue to strengthen the K-12 school infrastructure.
This year over $8.2 million has been allocated for planning for new
schools. Over $65.2 million for
the ongoing school construction projects, and nearly $22 million will be
spent this year for repairs and maintenance.
In
terms of post-secondary education, what great initiatives have been brought
forward by the Progressive Conservative Government.
I am one of those people, I like to keep a scrapbook of things that
are very meaningful to me. One
of my scrapbooks has my very first tuition bill that I ever had.
My first year of university, and I will not tell you what year that
was because I will date myself, but my tuition was $500 a semester, Mr.
Speaker, and at that
AN HON. MEMBER:
It sure has gone up.
MS PERRY:
It has gone up a bit, and
at the time it was quite a challenge.
My father had passed away; it was just me and my mom.
I was going through school on student loans and it was tight.
It was a challenge, Mr. Speaker.
We did not have a lot of money.
That is probably why I kept that first tuition receipt, because I was
so proud of myself. I did pay it
from odd jobs and things that I did when I was in high school, like many
kids do these days.
We
did not have a franchise as such, but I used to work at a place called
Golden Fried Chicken. I would
work until 6:00 o'clock in the morning and then get up at 9:00 to go play in
Mass. So that was my life in
Grade 10, 11, and 12 and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I was able to save money for my tuition which meant so much to me.
Today, Mr. Speaker, many of our rural residents in particular, and certainly
even the residents here in St. John's who live at home, tuition is still one
of the biggest impediments to the ability to be able to go and avail of a
post-secondary education. In
terms of some of the measures we have taken here as a government, we have
frozen tuition year after year after year, making it possible for thousands
of more young people to be able to go to school and avail of a university or
trade degree.
In
terms of loans to grants and this I started talking about when I started
out. Loans to grants; boy, did
that ever make a difference to me.
At the end of my time in university, I was able to go straight to the
bank when I graduated. The very
first thing I did was I went and took my grant paper and I went straight to
the bank and paid down on my student loan.
So all of a sudden what was a massive student loan became a very
small, manageable student loan, Mr. Speaker, that I was able to pay off
within two or three years as opposed to nine, because of the grants that
were in place. We have brought
those grants back.
In
terms of apprenticeship renewal, there is approximately $20 million in
Budget 2015 to go towards skilled trade development and a variety of
initiatives to revitalize the apprenticeship system, Mr. Speaker, which
gives our people the opportunity for work experience.
The provincial government will also continue to support, like I said,
the tuition freeze this year for Canadian undergraduate students and the
tuition freeze for the College of the North Atlantic.
In
terms of the Population Growth Strategy, $500,000 has been implemented this
year as well for the Population Growth Strategy, Mr. Speaker.
I am very quickly running out of time here.
I am getting a feeling that for some reason I am getting leave today.
I
want to talk a little bit now actually about our business investment.
One of the things, Mr. Speaker, that really upsets me when I hear it
coming from the Opposition is how they talk about we do not have innovators
in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
MR. SPEAKER:
I remind the hon. member
her time has expired.
AN HON. MEMBER:
By leave.
MR. SPEAKER:
By leave, the hon. the
Member for Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.
MS PERRY:
How could you say that we
have no innovators in Newfoundland and Labrador?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS PERRY:
We have a very innovative
population. I will venture to
say that from the very first settlers that came to Newfoundland and Labrador
we have been innovators, Mr. Speaker.
The
Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development is encouraging a very
diverse business climate, and we encourage diversification of the economy.
We have a lot of programs in place to support that.
For example, if you look at the business and regional development
program, Budget 2015 maintains funding of approximately $44.4 million to
support start-up businesses, emerging growth sectors, and regional
development activities. This
investment is a continuation of robust business support programs from
pre-commercial phase, to new start-up, to growth and expansion.
We
have tax breaks for certain businesses.
We have special investments into fisheries, driving tourism, heritage
assets, research and development, work in forestry, aquaculture, and the new
interactive digital media tax credit.
Mr. Speaker, that is innovation.
There is so much more here, Mr. Speaker, that I would love to be able to
talk about, but I am out of time.
Thank you so much for granting me leave, and I look forward to my
final Budget speech when we actually get to the main motion.
Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Bay of Islands.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JOYCE:
I thank the member.
I was a bit late, Mr. Speaker, coming into the House because I was
just on Open Line talking about the increased cost of waste management for
Western Newfoundland. So, I am
sorry I was late, but I had to express my concerns and my thoughts to the
people of the Province about the cancellation of the waste management.
Once
again, Mr. Speaker and I will tell you the flabbergasting part about this,
and my caucus members heard me here today. Don
Downer, who is chair, who I do not think was qualified.
He was a political appointee.
Here
is the Mayor of the City of Corner Brook, and I have been preaching to the
City of Corner Brook for a long time about this, about the increase in fees,
that it has been delayed. There
has been nothing said about it, but today, give the Mayor of Corner Brook
credit. He stood up for the
people of Corner Brook in Western Newfoundland, not for the government.
Don
Downer: it could have been worse, they have a billion dollar deficit.
Why doesn't Don Downer either move himself aside or defend the people
of Western Newfoundland, which he is supposed to, and stop defending the
political people who appointed him there, which I do not think he is
qualified to be there?
So
anyway, I am sorry for being late, but that is where I was.
Once again, I just said on Pete Soucy, and to anybody who is
listening out in Western Newfoundland, in their own report, in the
government's own report, Mr. Speaker, to ship the garbage from Western
Newfoundland to Norris Arm out in Central, there is a $1.8 million cost over
and above. Who is going to pay
for that?
AN HON. MEMBER:
The people of Western
Newfoundland.
MR. JOYCE:
The people of Western
Newfoundland are going to pay for that, Mr. Speaker.
That is what I have been saying.
I have been preaching in this House I asked questions to three or
four different ministers. It is
very obvious now this minister is just taking in the problem but if you go
back the last two or three years and look at the questions I asked in this
House, what I have been saying, what I have been hearing, and what I have
been preaching in this House and Western Newfoundland finally came true.
Sadly, it is finally coming true that the Waste Management Strategy
has been delayed. It is going to
cost more.
I
know the minister is listening very intently, and I think the minister
inherited this problem. I think
this minister is going to try his best to get it straightened out; but the
other three or four prior, I have asked them questions upon questions upon
questions and there is just no way in the world would they stand up and be
honest and say no, this is going to be delayed.
This is going to cost the people of Western Newfoundland more money.
It is absolutely shocking.
Mr.
Speaker, what is the reason given?
We have a billion-dollar deficit.
Here they are now this government is standing up saying to the
people of Western Newfoundland we are going to charge you more when we get
the waste management site set up outside Gander, in Norris Arm.
We are going to charge you more.
We are not going to have it done for another ten years.
In ten years we will finally have it all done, yet they want these to
be happy because you put yourself in a financial mess, now who is going to
suffer are the people in Western Newfoundland and the environment.
Because of this government's mismanagement now our environment and
the people of Western Newfoundland are another casualty.
It
is sad, Mr. Speaker. Do you want
to know why myself and the caucus here cannot support the Budget?
Here is another example.
AN HON. MEMBER:
So many reasons.
MR. JOYCE:
So many reasons.
So many reasons, it is so true that we cannot support here is
another one, and this is just gradually coming out, Mr. Speaker.
Bit by bit, this is gradually coming out about what is in the Budget
and I should say what is not in the Budget.
Do
you know the sad part about this, Mr. Speaker, just about the waste
management? The federal gas tax that
was coming to the Province, there was 1 per cent taken out that was supposed
to go to municipalities to pay for this waste management and Western
Newfoundland is being punished.
Here
is the other point. When I did a
tour of the site in Norris Arm now, I may be off a few percentage points,
but I am sure I am not off too much.
You want to talk about mismanagement.
The reason why they are going to take the garbage with an extra cost
of $1.8 million, plus the extra cost incurred, plus the liabilities all
going across and the trucks going across, the footprints going across daily
do you know why the government now is pushing this and why Don Downer, the
big political appointee, is pushing this?
The Norris Arm site is up to about 33 per cent capacity.
That is it. The Norris
Arm site, which is up and running it may be 35 percent
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible) talking
about not full.
MR. JOYCE:
Not full, 33 per cent.
So they built this huge infrastructure out in Norris Arm oh my God,
we are too big now.
MR. LANE:
They do not need.
It is too big. The
opposite of the schools, building them too big and schools too small.
MR. JOYCE:
Yes, the Member for Mount
Pearl South just said, the opposite of schools, building them too big and not
filling them. Not like the
schools, building them too small, not big enough.
It is a very good point.
That
is the reason why. Then you
wonder why I cannot support the Budget.
I have to stand up in this Legislature here and this government is
going to say how about the few things you are going to get for the district.
Yes, I will acknowledge that.
I make no bones about it.
I will acknowledge that. I will
stand up here and say yes, that is what government is supposed to do.
Any minister who helped out the Bay of Islands, I will acknowledge
that, but how can I acknowledge I have been saying for three or four years
that the waste management has been put behind.
The waste management is going to cost the people of Western
Newfoundland more money.
Yesterday, it was proven to me.
Even Mayor Charles Pender is out today saying the government never spent the
money on it. I have to give the
mayor credit. Not very often he
stands up against this government, but I have to give him credit.
He came out today and he said the government has not been spending
the money in the district, in the area.
Get
this, Mr. Speaker. The Wild Cove
dump site got to go until 2025.
I have been saying it. That
mayor confirmed it today. He is
not even sure if this site has the capacity to keep going until 2025.
Yet, the decision is made.
Do you see why we need consultations out there?
How
the decision was made again, I do not want to talk about how someone was
pushing the government agenda through, but this decision was made probably
about three years ago. It was
made in June or July I think in July, the summer.
I think there were eight, nine people at the meeting, just barely
made the quorum, one or two, and they made the decision.
They did not even have a big roundtable discussion.
The municipalities had very little say into it.
That is how the decision was made.
Mr.
Speaker, I will leave that alone for now.
I just want to say to the minister that we need to have consultations
out in Western Newfoundland to ensure that if we need to change this, we
need to change it. Let's do the
right thing. I will stand with
you. I will go out; I will sit
in the meetings with you. I will
offer my support. I will offer
my help. I will offer my
assistance like I did for the hospital in Corner Brook, like I did for
radiation. Our leader, the
Leader of the Opposition, will stand shoulder to shoulder with you because
we need to do it right.
The
decision that you are going to make, please God it will not be a bad
decision. Please God we will
have time to consult please God on that.
We need to go out together.
The municipalities need to come together.
You have my commitment here today.
I spoke to all of the Opposition members here on the West Coast; they
are willing to go out with the minister.
They are willing to go out.
Let's have public meetings.
Let's see what the best thing is to do for Western Newfoundland.
Let's not just take it and ram it down their throats because you are
in a financial mess. Let's go sit
down, listen to the people who are going to be mostly affected, the
municipalities of Western Newfoundland, the Northern Peninsula.
I am not even getting into Labrador today, Mr. Speaker.
That is a different topic because they have their own issues up
there, as we know, about waste management.
There are some difficult issues up that way.
Mr.
Speaker, we will have a commitment here today from the Opposition that,
Minister, I will go with you to any meeting out in Western Newfoundland and
discuss waste management. We
will try to work this together.
We did it on the hospital. We
did it on Kruger. We need now to
do this on waste management because this is going to affect every
municipality on the West Coast, long after all of us in this House is out of
this place. We have to do it
right.
Minister, I thank you again that we are going to have those meetings.
I hope we are going to go out together, shoulder to shoulder and all
the members here, Mr. Speaker. I just think it is a great idea that we will
work together to get this done.
We will meet with all the mayors and municipalities.
We will meet with all the joint councils.
That is how we are going to get it done is have consultations, but we
need to come together on consensus.
Consensus, Mr. Speaker, is what we need to do.
That is how we need to solve this problem together as a group.
Let's not fight over it.
Let's go out and have public consultations.
Let's go out and meet with the people.
Let's go have meetings with all the municipalities that are affected
and we will come up with the right solution.
Mr.
Speaker, I have a few minutes left.
I am going to speak about a few other issues in the Bay of Islands.
The Member for Gander I know the Member for Gander is sitting there
and I just want to acknowledge that June 5 the fire truck that was
desperately needed in Cox's Cove is going to be delivered.
I know the Member for Gander was a part a big part of that because he
seen the need when he went out and seen the truck, so I just want to
acknowledge that.
The
fire chief told me to personally invite you to come out, because he knows
that you went out, you looked at that area, you saw the need, and you saw
the problems with it. I just
want to say thank you very much for that and the fire chief is very pleased
with that truck. It is going to
save lives because of that. So I
just want to acknowledge that from the Member for Gander.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JOYCE:
Mr. Speaker, also I will
just go through district and I know the Minister of Municipal Affairs, we
are going to have a meeting. I
just want to thank him for helping out with some of the amalgamation with
York Harbour- Lark Harbour. I do
not know if it is going to work.
I do not know, there are some issues there, but I know the previous two
ministers would not even meet with the people.
One promised to show up and never even showed up to the meeting, so
this minister I just want to acknowledge that.
Mr.
Speaker, that is how we solve things; we have to work together.
Fine, we have differences of opinions, absolutely, we have different
approaches on how to solve problems, but when we come down to an issue, we
have to work together. I know
the people in York Harbour and Lark Harbour are excited that hopefully they
are going to amalgamate. I know
there is a meeting tomorrow night, and I thank the minister again for that
because he has been very accommodating to them.
Mr.
Speaker, the people of York Harbour and Lark Harbour recognize that, unlike
the previous minister, the Member for St. John's West, who never even showed
up. I just want to acknowledge
how people are treated differently from the opposite side, and how when you
treat people with respect, with dignity, you get results.
I am willing to work with any member over there, any minister, or the
Premier, to get results for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Also, part of that, they are going to get a fire truck.
If we all remember, there was a fire back probably seven or eight
months ago. What happened, they
went to the fire and the truck actually broke down.
I know the minister there went down and he looked at the need, did an
evaluation, and once again, they did the right thing for the people of York
Harbour-Lark Harbour and I just want to acknowledge that also.
Mr.
Speaker, I move on up now into Humber Arm South.
There are a few issues there in Humber Arm South that we are dealing
with. When we look at the whole
issue and I know the Acting Minister of Education how can I vote for a
Budget, even though there are some things there for the Bay of Islands, when
you walk out to the school, go to the graduation, twelve kids I think
there might have been two students left, maybe two, by the time people add
in last year it was the same number when they started and they got two units
taken out of the school. Two
units gone. No one can explain
to them why.
What
I am going to do here again is write the school board they will not meet
with them and say will you send someone out there to meet with the school
council, which this government appointed to help out in the schools but they
will not meet with them, will you go out and meet with them and explain to
them Mr. Speaker, even the special needs services in the schools, it is
just unbelievable.
Then, as you come up and you see the cuts in the school out in Lark Harbour
and York Harbour, and they cannot get any proper evaluation of why, and I am
supposed to vote for that Budget, Mr. Speaker.
I am supposed to stand up now and vote for that Budget.
Mr.
Speaker, look at another school, Sacred Heart; they are being cut units this
year. The last I heard it was
three. I cannot get it confirmed
yet from the school, but I will tomorrow.
There are a lot of underlining issues out there because of this
Budget.
I
know the minister has agreed to sit down with me sometime and go through the
911. I said it before and I will
say it again; this is going to cost people's lives and safety.
I gave some examples in this House and I say to the minister that I
know he is going to inherit this mess.
There are cases that we already brought up where the fire departments
of rural Newfoundland Mr. Speaker, you know; you were part of a municipal
council. Who is the first one to
respond in a rural Newfoundland setting?
The fire department; 80 to 85 per cent, up to 90 per cent of the
calls right now are for medical.
What
is going to happen now, Mr. Speaker, because of this 911 system and it
does not cost any extra money.
No one could sit down and explain to me I know the former minister could
not, and I know the Member for Gander, he brought in 911.
If he stood up on his feet, ask him is this what he thought it was
going to be. I can tell you, Mr.
Speaker, this is not what he thought he was bringing in.
This was changed. By the
time that POMAX study started, by the time this minister left the
department, it changed.
I
gave the minister the page; it is page 9 on the report.
When the minister stands up and the other one stood up here before
and said we are going to be like Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia is not like Newfoundland.
Nova Scotia has dispatch, page 9; read it.
That is their report.
When that report came out the ones that they were looking at keeping it in,
it was the constabulary in Corner Brook, the same thing up in Lab West, and
St. John's Regional Fire Department.
It changed it actually changed.
There has been no one yet explain to me why the change.
Mr.
Speaker, here is what is happening.
I will just use the member right here.
Here are two of us and I want the people of the Province to
understand this. I know the
government puts out this big cloud, oh we have 911.
It is good to have 911, absolutely no doubt.
There are two dispatchers, Mr. Speaker, sitting down.
A call comes in. If you
pay your $2,500 through the City of Corner Brook, they take that hat on, put
it on, and they will dispatch to you.
If you do not pay the City of Corner Brook that $2,500 minimum, the
call comes in you did not pay, they say oh, we will put you through to the
pager of the fire department.
The same two people, it is just that if you pay the City of Corner Brook,
the city allows you to dispatch and for me not to dispatch.
The
same two people who are paid by the seventy-five cents that every phone in
this Province is paying for everything is paid for.
All the capital cost is paid for by the seventy-five cents.
The workers sitting at your table are all paid for by and guess
what, Mr. Speaker? There is
$180,000 surplus that if you need an extra worker you can pay for it.
Not an extra cent not one extra cent.
I
cannot, Mr. Speaker, I tried. I
challenge anybody here who wants to discuss this, go out and speak to people
like Colin Tucker. Go speak to
Colin Tucker. We are in this
House; we are going to talk about volunteers.
We are talking about volunteers.
Mr. Speaker, you know a lot about volunteers.
We
hear the government out going to support volunteerism.
The Towns of York Harbour-Lark Harbour has a volunteer fire
department. Last year, starting
now with the 911 they had two calls for a fire; the other eleven or twelve
were medical. They have to pay
$2,500 if they want two calls dispatched from the City of Corner Brooks.
Isn't that shocking, Mr. Speaker?
Yet now they are out, oh yes, we want all these volunteers coming in.
Not only are they putting their lives on the line for us, now we are
saying to them, listen, we want you to go out and raise more money to pay
the City of Corner Brook.
I do
not blame the city. The city is
trying to make money, I do not blame them.
It is the government that allowed them to do it.
The two people sitting down dispatching are already paid.
They are paid, 100 per cent.
So I
look forward to the meeting. I
can tell you, Mr. Speaker, if someone gets injured, or if a life is lost
because of this 911, I can assure you this government was well-warned.
Mr.
Speaker, I will have my opportunity again to speak on the Budget.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Is the House ready to
vote the amendment? Call the
question?
All
those in favour of the amendment, 'aye'?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Nay.
MR. SPEAKER:
The nays have it.
On
motion, amendment defeated.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
Speaking to the ?
MR. HILLIER:
Main motion.
MR. SPEAKER:
Main motion.
MR. HILLIER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Just
for the sake of the people who are watching at home, we have just voted down
the amendment to the main motion.
I want to point out that we are moving through this fairly quickly,
because government has not taken their opportunity to speak at every time
they get that opportunity; whereas, every time we get an opportunity to
speak on the Budget, we have taken that opportunity to speak on the Budget,
whereas government cannot stand up and defend what they do not believe in.
Mr.
Speaker, this is my third time speaking on the Budget.
The first time I spoke I talked about the Budget in general, the
Budget document in general. The
second time I spoke about the area that I am responsible for in Opposition,
Seniors, Wellness and Social Development, and some of my concerns in that
department in terms of where that fits in the Budget.
Mr.
Speaker, I want to take some time today to talk a bit about some of the
things that are going on in my district and how that is affected by the
Budget. To start off, I would
like to talk a little bit about an event that some of us, as MHAs, had the
opportunity to attend on Thursday, which was the Gold Award presentation for
the Duke of Edinburgh.
The
Right Hon. David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, was in town, and of
course, as we know, the Gold Medals, the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards are
presented by it is a special award, it is an important award.
Anyone who has had the opportunity to achieve that level, we know how
hard they have worked, and this particular award is presented by either the
Queen's representative or a member of the Royal Family.
So, hence, the Governor General, in town this week, presented these
awards to ninety-eight of the top youngsters, I would suggest, in this
Province.
Mr.
Speaker, I want to identify those from Conception Bay South.
I do not always read out names, but I think this is important enough
that I will recognize and have it written into the record of Hansard, these
eleven names who received Gold Awards of Achievement from the Duke of
Edinburgh. They are: Heather
Andrews, Meghan Arnott, Allura Bartlett, Raquel Bugden, Samantha Duff, Emily
Greenslade, Kelsey Noseworthy, Evan Slaney, Samantha Taylor, Glendon
Walters, and Emily White. As I
said, Mr. Speaker, these are young people we can all be proud of, as we can
of all those who received the awards on that day.
Mr.
Speaker, moving along, the Premier today in Question Period talked a little
bit about how well represented the Town of Conception Bay South has been in
this House by current members and those in the immediate past.
I was on council when we had the last provincial election in 2011,
and we had three members elected to government from Conception Bay South.
All
three districts in Conception Bay South: Topsail, Conception Bay South
itself, and Harbour Main, all were represented in government.
Not only that, Mr. Speaker, we had three Cabinet ministers.
I believe, starting off, it would have been Minister of
Transportation, Minister of Environment, and Minister of Tourism, Culture
and Recreation.
Mr.
Speaker, how lucky can a council be to have three Cabinet ministers in the
government of this Province?
Then they disappeared. Try to
find them to sit down and meet with you.
Try to find them to come into council chambers and sit down and have
a chat.
Now,
Mr. Speaker, I will give you this
AN HON. MEMBER:
It was only three of
them.
MR. HILLIER:
Well, we had three.
I guess they could not get their schedules together and they were
watching each other's back.
Mr.
Speaker, the mayor this week talked about what a great meeting he had with
our current Minister of Transportation.
The best meeting he had ever had with the Minister of Transportation.
Mr. Speaker, he did not have a whole lot to compare it too, because
we could not find the three Cabinet ministers to come in and sit with us.
All you need to do is go through the minutes of the council of
Conception Bay South, they will tell the story.
I
would suggest, Mr. Speaker, we did not miss them in all functions.
Whenever the Premier could not come to Conception Bay South, I will
give you this, one of those Cabinet ministers represented the Premier.
I know the Member for Harbour Main is here today.
We have sat down and had a whole lot of meals together, as he has
come into the town and represented government, represented the Premier at
those events.
Mr.
Speaker, I mentioned my buddy, Bob, at some times.
Bob has a daughter involved with the cadet program in Conception Bay
South, and this past Saturday the cadets held their annual inspection.
Of course, Bob was there as a parent.
I went along as the MHA, and, Mr. Speaker, Senator Elizabeth Marshall
was there as she is very diligent in attending these events as well.
AN HON. MEMBER:
Representative of the
Canadian Government.
MR. HILLIER:
Representative of the
Canadian Government.
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the Premier could not be there on that day, and
we understand how busy the Premier is.
We understand he has significant duties in other parts of the
Province. I believe he was
probably out in Central with the Acting Minister of Education in his
district doing some events. He
could not come to our event. Mr.
Speaker, I would have expected him to send one of the Cabinet ministers, or
ask one of the Cabinet ministers to come I do not like to use that word
send.
Mr.
Speaker, we have two Cabinet ministers actually living in our community.
The Minister of Seniors, Wellness lives in our community, and the
Minister of Justice lives in our community.
I know the Minister of Transportation would have had residents from
his community in the cadets. I
would have thought he might have been able to come.
Mr.
Speaker, we have thirteen-and-a-half Cabinet ministers and not one of them
was available to represent the Premier on Saturday.
So I would have thought that the next person in line would have been
his Parliamentary Assistant but, again, everybody is busy.
The Parliamentary Assistant, she probably had work in her own
district, so she could not be there as well.
I
would not want to say if I were Premier, because that is not something I am
sure I want, but I would have thought my next step would have gone to the
back and went looking for one of the three Parliamentary Secretaries, one of
the three highly paid Parliamentary Secretaries to go and represent the
Premier at a cadet inspection in Conception Bay South on Saturday.
Mr. Speaker, they also slighted us.
Neither one of them would come.
Mr.
Speaker, the next step, I guess, would have gone to the backbenchers.
I can see the Premier saying: Now boys, I need somebody to go to
Conception Bay South on Saturday morning.
You know how busy we all are.
We cannot make it. I need
one of you guys to step up and go to Conception Bay South on Saturday
morning to attend cadet inspection; none of them available.
Mr.
Speaker, I think if we work it out, if we take the Speaker out, take the
Premier out, on my thinking we have twenty-six people; none of them would go
and represent the Premier in Conception Bay South on Saturday morning.
Not one. Bob, was not
happy, let me tell you.
Mr.
Speaker, I guess then we have to go to staff in the Premier's Office.
If we have twenty-six MHAs, twenty-six people in government and none
of them would come and represent them, then I would think we would go to the
Premier's Office. We have EAs
and CAs and so on, people who understand the Premier's work, but no, not one
of them would come and represent them, represent government, represent the
Premier in the Town of Conception Bay South on Saturday morning.
Mr.
Speaker, where do you go next? I
will tell you where the Premier had to go and the people of Conception Bay
South should be insulted that nobody here chose to come to represent the
Premier. I think the Premier
should be insulted that nobody would come and represent him on Saturday
morning at the cadet inspection.
Where did he have to go? He had
to go to Transportation and Works and bring in a political appointee, a
defeated candidate from last fall to sit in the gym and represent the
Premier. Mr. Speaker, that is a
long way from the Premier. That
is a long way down the chain from the Premier.
Mr.
Speaker, if a person that far down the line can represent the Premier, then
what really is the Premier doing that somebody down in Transportation and
Works can represent him? As a
citizen of the Town of Conception Bay South I was insulted.
Bob was insulted. He had
a right to be insulted.
Mr.
Speaker, I will leave it at that, but the next time the Premier has a
function in the Town of Conception Bay South I would think he would be there
himself. For instance, the
cadets were slighted on that day.
The next day the Premier was at another function where he talked
about what a great group the cadets were.
Where do we go? Like I
said, I was insulted, but we will leave it at that.
Mr.
Speaker, the Premier's job, the Cabinet ministers' job, the assistant to the
Premier's job, the Parliamentary Secretaries' job, the backbenchers' job,
and the Premier's Office's job, not one of them chose to come.
We do not understand all those jobs, no, but we understand protocol.
Mr.
Speaker, I want to get to some issues that are taking place in our district.
The Minister of Environment and Conservation earlier this week talked
about illegal dumping and efforts that are being taken
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. HILLIER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, as the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services is so adept at
doing; read the hand. Check the
video.
Mr.
Speaker, Environment and Conservation talked last week about the project
from MMSB and the Town of Conception Bay South in combating illegal dumping
in the town. My colleague from
the Northern Peninsula stood and again recognized the Town of Conception Bay
South for its work in preventing illegal dumping.
It is just another example of how government has jumped in and taken
advantage of somebody else's ideas.
Mr.
Speaker, the Town of Conception Bay South was working at this for over a
year when the MMSB finally said, well this might be something we can do
somewhere else very successfully.
This is something that perhaps we can do somewhere else.
So they came to the Town of Conception Bay South and the town was
only too pleased to help them out with the whole concept of using cameras to
fight illegal dumping.
Mr.
Speaker, two projects ongoing in our town which were affected by the Budget:
one is the school that we talked about today in Question Period, and the
other one is the library that we are trying to get set up in our town.
I will talk a little bit about the school first of all.
It is a K-7 school in Kelligrews that is just next to RONA.
The problem we have there is that St. Edward's Elementary and Upper
Gullies Elementary are just chockablock full.
That is the next growth area in the town so we know there are going
to be large, large numbers of students.
This school is hopefully going to alleviate the crowding problem in
our town.
Mr.
Speaker, in the 2012-2013 Budget, $27,000 was spent on planning for this
school. In Budget 2013, $3
million was budgeted for the school.
In Budget 2014, $11 million was budgeted for the school, and there
was an area of land cleared and they put up a sign.
Of course, the local MHA, who was one of those elusive Cabinet
ministers that I referred to earlier, went up and had his picture taken.
So we know that there is a sign there and there is a flat piece of
ground.
Mr.
Speaker, in 2015, $8 million was set aside for this project.
To date, tenders still have not closed, that was three years ago.
The school is due to open in 2016, fifteen months from now.
I challenge government to see that school built in fifteen months.
I may be surprised. I
hope I am surprised because the people in that part of our town need school
space. They do not need to go
back to the overcrowding of the two schools.
Actually, they are not in my district, one is in the district of
Harbour Main, which is represented by one of my colleagues across the House.
Like I said, I am hoping that this process will move along quickly
and that it is not being slowed down on purpose, but it does seem to be
taking its time working its way through the processes.
Mr.
Speaker, the second project that has slowed down significantly is our
library. The old library in
Conception Bay South was built forty years ago for 10,000 people.
We now have 25,000 people.
The building is very much outdated.
The more important piece is that the town is building a new town hall
from money it has cobbled together on its own through very, very sound
fiscal management, not the philanthropy that the Premier stood on his
soapbox today and announced. The
town has put together a package to see that this library is done.
Mr.
Speaker, but what is done is that it is gone to no, to see that its town
hall is done. I am sorry, Mr.
Speaker; I am ahead of myself.
To build this town hall, it has put together its own package to build this
town hall. In building a new
town hall I do not know if you are familiar now with where we are; the old
town hall and the library are on the same piece of land.
So part of paying for that new town hall, which the Premier today
talked about spending coming from government, part of paying for that town
hall is the selling of the property that belongs to the town that the
current town hall is on, and that old library.
All right, so is everybody with me?
We are okay there now?
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, we cannot get a new library moved forward.
We have a group a very strong lobby.
They have been working for ten years to replace this old library.
It has come down now to almost emergency status because the town
wants to move the old library out of it.
Mr.
Speaker, last February the lobby group for the library had enough.
They called a public meeting; 150 people went to the meeting.
The thing that got the most groans was when the President of the
Library Board said we have 5,000 people, 5,000 active members at our
library. That is not just 5,000
people who have cards, perhaps like you and I who have cards and have not
used them in a long time. These
are 5,000 active people.
They
said it several occasions 150 people around.
Then, that representative, the great representative that the Premier
talked about today, finally came to the microphone.
The President of the Library said: Terry, what would you do if we
showed up with a petition of 5,000 names?
He said: It would not make any difference.
The arrogance, the arrogance 5,000 people signing a petition and he
says it would not make any difference.
Well, Mr. Speaker, it did make a difference.
The petition did not make a difference.
AN HON. MEMBER:
What happened?
MR. HILLIER:
Well, here is what
happened. That was in early
February. We went through Dark
NL; Dunderdale said there was no crisis
AN HON. MEMBER:
Who?
MR. HILLIER:
Exactly, who?
That is right, who?
Dunderdale oh, I have to get this quickly, tell the story.
Anyway, here is what happened, Mr. Speaker, the bottom fell out of the
polling for government, and all of a sudden the minister found, yes, we are
going to build you your library.
I will leave the rest for another time.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Bonavista North.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CROSS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Just
to let everyone know at home where we are with regard to the Budget speeches
and speaking order, we are now at the main event I guess.
The Budget was brought in a few weeks ago and, as normal, we go
through a non-confidence motion and a sub-amendment.
Everybody gets a chance to speak their part through each of these.
We voted down the sub-amendment, we voted down the non-confidence
motion, and now we are back to the main event.
Like
everyone else as we stand to our feet, out of respect for the people of our
district and showing gratitude for the fact that we are one of less than
fifty people to get the opportunity to represent people in this hon. House,
we all thank everyone from our district for their confidence in us and our
ability to speak on their behalf.
There are times when we stand like this we need to recognize, just
for a moment or two, some of the most recent events that have happened.
We
all know what season this is.
This is high school graduation season.
It is also the cadet inspection season.
So I would like to recognize the two cadet inspections that I have
attended in recent weeks. In
both cases I was the ceremonial officer for them.
It was the RCACC 2910 Royal Canadian Army Cadets in New-Wes-Valley
and the Air Cadet Squadron 840 in Indian Bay Squadron of the air cadet
movement. I would just like to
recognize the awards and the achievements that these young individuals,
young great leaders who are going to be around in our Province in the
future.
Also, this past weekend I had the privilege, I suppose, to attend Pearson
Academy's graduation. A couple
of weeks before that I was at Riverwood.
How these get scheduled, you do not always get to all of the schools
in your district. You like to
mention the other schools because all of them are now going through the same
motions with their ceremonial graduations.
They have a month left in their final year in school to pull up their
socks and get the work done to graduate.
They cannot lose sight of what happens with the final exams as they
are coming to them in the next four to five weeks, Mr. Speaker.
The
graduation, to get it underway, the ceremonial part of it, May month is the
time that it happens. This past
Friday night I stood at Pearson Academy and that school has had forty-one
graduations; I have been to thirty-one of them.
I was the first emcee in Grade 10 of the very first graduation of
that school, and the school is still thriving.
It has gone and metamorphosed from Lester Pearson Memorial High to
Pearson Academy it is today, a K-12 system.
I was there as a teacher, as a student, and I guess life after
teaching, you found a job where you might get an invite back to the
graduation, so I have had four of them.
I had to let them know because it might be my last, Mr. Speaker.
It may be.
If
the district changes, there are two more schools going to be metamorphosed
in. Some of the students now
from Bonavista North also attend Jane Collins Academy in Hare Bay and there
is also a very prominent school on Fogo Island, Fogo Island Central High.
So when the boundaries are redone, the district, as it is proposed,
would have six magnificent high schools that are offering graduation.
The
other thing I would like to mention and it is something that is going to
come up in the next couple of weeks is I am going to be visiting the Town of
Greenspond. As the Member for
Bay of Islands alluded, we will be delivering a commitment made by the
minister, the current Member for Gander, the triple R we are calling it in
Greenspond, the rural rapid response unit, the new smaller streamline fire
truck for smaller rural places.
It has a smaller cost, it is affordable, and it still gives great pumping
and foam activity for the residents and the safety in that community. The
people of Greenspond in the next week or so will see their new fire truck
roll into town, and we will be a part of that.
This
past weekend again and maybe it is where I am going to take the central
focus from my few comments about the Budget.
This past weekend was a very, very emotional time in our family.
On Sunday morning Claire Beth Ivey-Cross was baptized, our first
grandchild.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CROSS:
I want to really talk
about this Budget and how I think it is going to impact Claire.
That is sort of the focus, if I can think about that for the next ten
to fifteen minutes and just imagine what choices are made, the balanced
choices that are going to be made in this document and how it is going to
have some impact.
I am
sure there are people from the other side who will argue that some of the
things I am going to say are not their opinion or their point of view.
We all have our own point of view as to how this is and how this plan
can work if given the opportunity for our precious commodities.
It is only now that I realize the preciousness of all of that, when
you are able to talk about it along the lines of a grandchild and how this
Budget, a few of the past Budgets, and how the Budgets into the future are
probably going to impact them.
The
reality is, Mr. Speaker, we talk about what happens when you get together to
try to put together this plan for the Budget in a year.
Every year is different.
Every year is unique. Every year
has its own peculiar axis that the world is spinning on.
This year that axis if we refer to it we know what happened as it
spun, as the world moved around and how it impacted on world commodities.
The need for ore, the need for oil.
The prices are lower than they have ever been in recent memory.
Mr.
Speaker, we have to take that feature and mould it around on how we plan for
the next few years. In this
case, for the first time, it was important not to think about this year but
to think five years ahead. So we
take this through the activity and we think five years ahead.
Just
thinking about Claire, where is Claire going to be in five years?
She is going to be in full-day kindergarten, which is implementing
now as we go through. If we look
at early childhood education and daycare, Claire is living in St. John's
right now, Mr. Speaker, but in a couple of months she will be living in the
Town of Torbay. She is going to
have a great MHA looking after her interests in that area.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CROSS:
But if Claire were to
live in New-Wes-Valley or many other places around the Province, Claire
would be able to avail of opportunities that we are creating in early
childhood education and daycare with expenditures and plans, the like have
never been known before.
In
the last month, Mr. Speaker, I toured a little facility.
It used to be the Lions Club in Pound Cove, New-Wes-Valley, or Cabot
Lions Club the building was, but the development association have taken it
over from the Lions Club and they have turned it into their development
association building. They have
obtained funding to operate a not-for-profit daycare.
They have received money in the last eighteen months, and monies into
the next eighteen months, so that by the time there are two rooms and an
office that will be renovated and complete, there is an ability in a small
rural community to handle twenty-nine children.
They
just hired one of the recent graduates from eight or nine years ago is
coming back home to New-Wes-Valley to live and is so enthusiastic about it,
Mr. Speaker. They have their
early childhood diplomas and their credentials, now they are moving back
home to help operate this. There
is going to be seven to nine full-time, part-time, permanent positions in
this little enterprise, which is going to be a daycare, run by
not-for-profit, but it gives the ability for the parents and the children to
be nourished, to be enriched, and to have a better future starting from
that.
What
else are we looking at in this Budget that is going to impact our youth and
our young people as they grow?
How are we going to have an impact on them, Mr. Speaker?
Not
only is there going to be full-day kindergarten, but in the plans, as we
look at it in the next little while, there is still protection of cap sizes
for the primary grades and the younger grades in the schools as they go
through. Also, there is
protection for inclusiveness in the classes, Mr. Speaker, and the plans for
that.
No
one needs to speak to anybody to talk to them about how inclusive, how
someone with a disability is included in a program that would want you to
feel how important that is, but that is protected, Mr. Speaker, the attitude
towards that.
We
are also protecting our safe and caring schools, Mr. Speaker.
Not only are they safe and caring schools, but they are healthy and
well maintained. If I pick up
the document that first when I saw this I looked through it and I was just
amazed at the many explanations that is through it, this highlights
document. I referred to it when
I first saw it as Budget 2015 for dummies.
It is just the nickname of that, Mr. Speaker, that you can easily
understand. I can pick out a lot
of the Budget documents in this that I can interpret in a much better way
through all the graphs and the colours and the things.
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
AN HON. MEMBER:
It is a brand of a
book.
MR. CROSS:
It is a brand.
The brand of this is a brand of commitment, of vision, of foresight,
Mr. Speaker, that leads us into and through the next five years.
We
go with this, Mr. Speaker, to talk about how it impacts our children.
I just wanted to look in these graphs for what is happening in
schools in the next few years, and even this year into the next Budget, and
into the future plans.
There is $9.2 million listed here for extensions and renovations this year,
Mr. Speaker. It is only three to
four years ago the school I referred to, Pearson Academy, underwent
extensive renovations to mould into the school that it is, a
state-of-the-art school. The
forty-year-old school, Mr. Speaker, is vibrant, fresh, and brand new and has
the ability to move on.
This
year, Mr. Speaker, some of the repairs and renovations the Lumsden school
in my district is going to receive roofing contracts to help with that.
There are many other schools as need be as it goes through.
So we are protecting the schools and the education system.
If
you also look through Budget 2015, it lists here one, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight, nine new schools, Mr. Speaker.
AN HON. MEMBER:
How many?
MR. CROSS:
Nine new schools.
Into the future there is a list of eight or nine more schools, Mr.
Speaker, that are still in the plans.
That is fifteen schools.
So the physical plans for these children are going to be well maintained
with the plan and the vision of this document.
Now,
Mr. Speaker, in the last three or four years we have heard about
municipalities, sustainability, and the need for a new plan.
That new plan, the Community Sustainability Plan, for individuals
like my darling Claire, that is preparing the future, making the small towns
and the larger towns, every town in this Province going to have more income,
more resources with which to do the projects they need throughout their
towns, which means that as Claire would move up through school, as we have
been talking, she graduates. She
has a choice then that there are far more sustainable locations around this
Province that she can choose to go live in by plans that are supported and
maintained in this document.
Most
rural communities in Bonavista North, in most every other district in this
Province, most rural communities applaud the extra infusion of dollars to
help meet their needs. That is
making our towns more sustainable, Mr. Speaker, through the future for
individuals.
Mr.
Speaker, no matter how much you plan to use your time wisely here, you do
see that the twenty minutes goes through far too quickly.
The other thing I want to talk about and I want to allude to is what
Muskrat Falls means for Claire and for the children who are here today.
Over the last few years we have been spending some money making an
investment towards the future of our children and our grandchildren.
At this point we have spent billions of dollars.
AN HON. MEMBER:
How many billions?
MR. CROSS:
Yes, we have spent
billions of dollars. We are
going to spend and borrow a few more billion, Mr. Speaker, over the next two
or three years such that by the time 2018 rolls around we will have invested
into Muskrat Falls. For what, so
we can diversify and have a different form of income into the future.
In 2025, my Claire will be ten years
old and all of the investment in Muskrat Falls will be paid back.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CROSS:
It will be returned, Mr.
Speaker. After 2025, we are
going to start reaping the benefits of the vision and of the plan that was
created with this clean energy for us into the future.
You hear talk of the Hoover Dam that was built eighty years ago; you
talk of the last dams that we built with
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR. CROSS:
Is dam not parliamentary,
Mr. Speaker?
If
you talk about the dam we built in Churchill Falls, Mr. Speaker, well, once
we are finished in Labrador with the development of the Lower Churchill, the
complete Churchill, we will probably have the best dam energy program in the
world.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CROSS:
Mr. Speaker, we will reap
the benefits, billions and billions of dollars into the future.
A hundred years from now we may not
have oil, but we will have water.
The water will still be flowing through and around the dam.
We will be environmentally clean, our economy will benefit, and we
will have lots of energy. A triple-E
credit rating: environmentally friendly, economically friendly, and lots of
energy.
Mr.
Speaker, I had planned to talk about the targets of the things that would
happen. In the colourful
graphics of my magazine, I look at the plan for borrowing and repayment.
I just wanted to sort of highlight here, there is a graph that shows
us since 1988 the amount of borrowing we have been doing and where we need
to go.
Mr.
Speaker, one phenomenon is every year up to 2006, from 1988, our governments
of both political colours borrowed.
Since 2006 to today with 2015, it is the third time in the last ten
years that we have needed to borrow.
We have not needed to borrow.
In the borrowing we are doing this year, it is only one year out of
the four years that we will be borrowing and we are actually borrowing for
program expenses. This is the
only current year. We are also
going to be borrowing for Nalcor, for infrastructure, and for pensions.
We have made a commitment with this that through all of this to
maintain the direction we need to go, we have maximized the amount of
borrowing we would need.
My
time is just about going. In the
thirty seconds I have left I just want to say one thing: Claire, granddad is
voting for this Budget. He is
not going to let you down.
Budget 2015 is a balanced choice for Claire's future and for the future of
our Province, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber East.
MR. FLYNN:
Mr. Speaker, over the
past few days I have noted how many ministers got up and actually would say
that the other side of the House would not support some of this.
I would like to correct some of the comments on that.
In actual fact, in my last speech on this Budget I did actually
support some initiatives that were in this Budget.
The problem I have with this Budget is that they are planning for
five years out.
If
we go back twelve months and it is important to know where we came from.
If we go back just twelve months when they were projecting a $500
million deficit, in actual fact it ran close to a billion-dollar deficit.
So do not pretend that we are planning for five years out because we
really did a very poor job in planning for six months, let alone twelve.
Mr.
Speaker, I want to just read a letter into the record that I had forwarded
to me over the past week or so.
Right now people are saying this is the Opposition's chance; there is
nothing they support in this Budget.
I would like to read into the records, just for the information of
those people who are out there watching this today.
I would like to read into the Hansard here today a letter that was
sent to the Member for Humber West.
I am going to read it because it is important.
There are other people who are having some very serious concerns about this
Budget: I am following up to your response to my email on May 8, 2015,
regarding the increases to the provincial training facility recently
announced in the provincial Budget.
As a group of volunteers trying to run the swimming organization
dedicated solely to the benefit of children in sport, it is important that
we be fully aware of the impeding costs to run the particular program.
We
are about to embark on planning for the next season and we will need to know
where the decisions on the increase in fees in the provincial pools rests.
In your response you indicated that you were following up.
I ask at this point if there has been any new information regarding
your follow up. I think it is
clear the impacts these increases are having, or at least what they will
make.
Since my last email I can report that as a direct result of this increase
our club has had to refrain from bidding on, or accepting any swim meets in
the coming season due to the cost.
It will be too high and the club would lose money.
This means at least two weekends of hotels, meals, and general
positive economic activity to the City of Corner Brook area is simply gone.
This is the first of many anticipated downturns resulting from the
fee increases.
We
ask for your assistance in reversing these changes.
A response at your earliest convenience will be greatly appreciated
to the aid of our planning process.
Now,
Mr. Speaker, that is not the only letter that is here, but I thought it was
important to read it into the record because it goes to show that people are
concerned in the communities.
The
last time I spoke with respect to some of these increases, I spoke about the
issue of the big game licence and the 50 per cent raise that you gave to the
big game hunters. Immediately
after I spoke and after I complimented government of the good work that they
did, the Minister of Environment at the time got up and criticized the
position that I took, the position that the operators took, and basically
said suck it up; you can absorb this cost.
Unfortunately the minister said that he had been into business well, many
of these businesses, not all of them, but the majority of them are small
business people. They have an
income gross a year of about $200,000, and the Minister of Environment would
actually stand on his feet for twenty minutes and defend the decision that I
am going to take 10 per cent of your money and claw it back to government
without these operators having the ability to be able to claim or to recover
that cost for at least a year and in some cases, two and three.
That is irresponsible of government to really go down that road.
They have no respect, no understanding for how government operates.
I really feel sorry for the operators in that field.
I
question if that information had actually gone over to the Department of
Tourism, who is out promoting the great product that we have in this
Province. I would think and I
would surely hope so that that decision was made by Environment certainly
without consulting the industry.
They certainly did not consult the outfitters at the time.
So,
Mr. Speaker, I spoke on some of the waste in government because I think it
is important. My wife points out
to me all the time the money that I waste out of my own account.
So I can only imagine that the waste when you are talking $8 billion
or $9 billion, the opportunity for waste or for mistakes.
In
the case of the Corner Brook area, I have to really hammer home the fact
that we have spent $40 billion and we are nowhere near to calling a tender
for a long-term care facility to serve the people of the West Coast.
We are nowhere near putting down the footing of the hospital to
service the West Coast. In my
view, that is just not good enough.
Last
week I stood, Mr. Speaker, in this House and I asked about the Corner Brook
Intermediate school. We are
hearing on the West Coast and I have to bring this back again, we are
hearing on the West Coast that school, quite possibly, will not open in
September.
I
know the Member for Humber West is an ex-teacher and principal.
I really think that we need to clarify so that there is no
frustration with the people on the West Coast.
Will the school open or not?
There are rumours that they are into a legal battle with the
government over problems that they have had with the renovation.
There are rumours that the second firewall that was put up is
actually going to have to be taken down again.
Listen, these mistakes happen, but at least we can be straightforward and
honest with the people. Are
these problems existing and will the school open in September or not?
It is a simple answer.
MR. GRANTER:
Yes.
MR. FLYNN:
Well, I thank the Member
for Humber West for shouting across the floor that it will open.
He is guaranteeing that because when I asked a question of the
minister responsible for that a few weeks ago, that was not the response
that I got so congratulations.
My
colleague for Bay of Islands spoke on the 911 service earlier.
Why is it that once you move outside of the City of St. John's is
it because as a government we have lost contact with the rural parts of this
Province? I have nothing against
the City of St. John's. The
mayor of the City of St. John's is a good friend of mine and I have known
him for a number of years. Why
is it costing $2 in here for a phone call and $2,500 on the West Coast?
Mr.
Speaker, you dial up a 911 service, it would seem apparent that you are
asking for consistency across the board, and a program that the people on
the West Coast are paying the same as the people on the East Coast, or the
same as the people in Labrador are paying.
We are paying seventy-five cents per telephone per month.
It would seem that there would be some unanimity in the programs that
we offer across the Province. I
know the Member for Bay of Islands has suggested to the minister to come out
and sit down and work this thing out, because what is happening today is
wrong. The people, because you
live in Corner Brook, because you live in St. Anthony or because you live in
Wabush, should not expect some basic service like 911 to be any different
there than it is here.
I
have had a great working relationship with the Minister of Municipal
Affairs. The people in Steady
Brook are quite frustrated. I met
with the mayor; I met with residents there a few weeks ago, some of the
residents. The water wells that
they have on the hill because the colour of the water basically in the town
is so gross, no one would drink it.
So a few years ago they drilled a few wells upon the hill, got some
good water, a design went in and through government red tape, it has been
delay after delay after delay.
I
have had the fortunate opportunity to chat with the Minister Responsible for
Municipal Affairs. I am happy to
learn today that project is moving ahead and hopefully, by this year, it
will happen. It just goes to
show that I would like to be able to offer to any member on the other side
or this side if we are doing something good, do you know what?
Raise the flag; if there is a problem, let's work it out.
Because there is no hill that we cannot climb if we work together to
do it.
Back
months ago I met with the Mayor of the City of Corner Brook.
I had some questions prepared to bring to the House here for the
Minister of Tourism at the time.
The city, the hotels, and the destination marketing organization for the
city had a deal worked out. They
had an MOU signed and they wanted this government to enact a law similar to
what is done here in Corner Brook, which would give the people in Corner
Brook, the hotels in Corner Brook, the ability to collect 4 per cent room
levy. Unfortunately, I guess
with the 2 per cent raise in HST that is off the table for this year.
Certainly, I am encouraging the Minister of Tourism to work with the city to
see if we can have that in place for 2016.
There have been strides made but I think in some ways we have been
late in doing it.
I
had a call just before entering the House today, and I never had an
opportunity to really have a long discussion, but the announcement of $300
million-plus today from Ottawa for the purchase of two Marine Atlantic
vessels. Hopefully, that will
stabilize the rate for businesses bringing produce and products into the
Province. Hopefully, it will
increase tourism to this Province, as the rates getting to this Province is
the biggest deterrent we have in getting here.
So,
the ability for Marine Atlantic to be able to purchase two of these vessels,
and actually take it off the operating cost of the vessels should mean for
the people of this Province, for businesses in this Province that depend on
that traffic, some stabilization in the rates in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The
tourism product we have in this Province, again, Mr. Speaker, is second to
none. We have to work long and
hard to ensure that our product is the best there is as we move forward.
I
want to just point out something here, Mr. Speaker, very quickly.
From Communiquι sent out by the industry association.
It says, Ensure equal-playing field through the enforcement of
Tourism Establishment Act and Regulations, specifically targeting unlicensed
accommodations throughout the province.
Mr.
Speaker, we have an act governing operations in this Province and it is a
very important act, because not unlike the Food Establishment Act, there has
to be safety followed.
I
think the fire that was down in Marystown this past year really demonstrates
the need that this as an industry, we have to ensure, if nothing else, the
protection of the occupants in these hotels.
From my understanding, that hotel did not have a sprinkler system.
The kids walking along the road actually discovered the fire.
We are inviting the world in here, and we have been very fortunate to
date that we have not had deaths that could have been avoided.
So
it is important, Mr. Speaker, that the government bring if they have the
regulations in place, they are obviously put there for a reason, that we
level the playing field. A quick
check, and I have done this, is showing that we have in the area of 150
properties that are operating across this Province, according to the
legislation, without the proper inspection.
That is significant, because you have one person who wants to operate
the best property, offer the safest product to its guests, and they are
actually put at a disadvantage by actually doing that.
It
is important that if we have the regulations, we have to follow these
regulations. Not for the sake of
following them, not something as trivial as, well, I cannot give you a
licence because you do not accept credit cards.
These are life, health, and safety, Mr. Speaker, and they have been
ignored. There are just too many
operators out there across the Province that are functioning without proper
life safety things.
The
other one on tourism, and I want to touch on very briefly that I never had
the opportunity the other day when I spoke.
We have had layoffs in the department of tourism over the past number
of years. We had some great
product development people across the Province.
Right now, we have the whole of Labrador without a tourism
development officer. There used
to be three people working there with the department of tourism.
If you go to Corner Brook, there is one staff person left.
Mr.
Speaker, Labrador has a developing tourism industry.
They need guidance, they need support, and they need direction.
This government has taken that away.
Without any due respect, they have stolen all of these people out of
the department of tourism and I think it is wrong.
We have the ability to have a good product, but we have been
neglected with it.
The
other thing, Mr. Speaker, on the West Coast and I say that and I only have
a minute or so left we have the best tourism product in North America.
I strongly believe that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. FLYNN:
We have to have and the
investments that have been made to Marble Mountain, I congratulate them.
When I see media reports saying, oh, what does the government own, a
ski hill? No one ever looks at,
we also own a convention centre, Mr. Speaker.
Look
at it as a product we have to attract people here to the Province, because I
can assure you, with the weather the West Coast has, the product they have
from Gros Morne to the ski hill, to the river and so on, it is a great
opportunity for business to flourish, but we need that help to take it to
the next level. So it is not
just a six week or an eight week operation.
It can become a year-round operation, which I am sure, at the end of
the day, is what the Minister of Tourism wants for tourism in this Province.
That is what the people on the West Coast want.
I will commit that I will work with whatever minister is sitting
there to make sure that that happens, not only on the West Coast but on the
East Coast.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. FLYNN:
Mr. Speaker, I could go
on into Vision 2020, but I
basically have twenty seconds left.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the government on
what they have done right, but also work with us and correct what has been
done wrong, and there has been some of it.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER (Cross):
The hon. the
Member for Bonavista South.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, today, I am certainly delighted to be able to speak in this House of
Assembly on Budget 2015. I
listened to the previous speaker.
I have heard some optimistic comments coming from the previous
speaker. The previous speaker
made some comments about some of the progress this government is making.
It is good to hear a member sitting opposite make those comments in
relation to what this government is doing.
Every time I get the opportunity to speak in the House of Assembly, like
today, and in particular on a very important Budget, Budget 2015, a Budget
that we will continue to invest in major projects, in health, education, and
in wellness. Those particular
items are very important to every district in Newfoundland and Labrador,
whether you live on the West Coast, as the previous speaker, or whether you
live in Central, whether you live in the St. John's area, or whether live in
the great land of Labrador. This
Budget, and in particular this government that I am part of, have rolled out
a plan, a fiscal plan, a reality plan, leading into the future, Mr. Speaker,
a plan that certainly considers all aspects of every community and what
happens in every community in Newfoundland and Labrador.
We, as a government, have been fair in the past.
We have made substantial investments in the past ten years.
We will stand as a government, stand on our feet and talk to the
people about that in our districts as we move forward.
I,
for one, can say that as a MHA standing in the House of Assembly, I
supported the investments that our government made.
I can say for a fact that leaders in the communities who are in my
district support what our government has done in relation to major
investments in the communities of Newfoundland and Labrador.
If I
go back and look at what happened in the fishery and look at the reality of
what this government has done in relation to the Bonavista Peninsula and the
major investments that were made in the tourism industry and how we became
an icon in the tourism industry, the Bonavista Peninsula and I say icon
because it is a reality check.
People from all over the world come and visit the beautiful District of
Bonavista South and other areas in the Province of Newfoundland, and this
government have invested substantially in the business and tourism
industries, over and over.
We
have connected with organizations, with community groups, with leaders, with
community councils, Mr. Speaker, and we will continue to connect and listen
and actually deliver in the future.
That is what this government is all about.
This is what we have been doing in the past ten years.
This is what we will continue to do in the future.
We will continue to invest on a regional basis to communities all
over Newfoundland and Labrador.
We
have a good track record. We
will certainly continue to balance choices and we will continue to have a
promising future, Mr. Speaker. I
am very optimistic about that.
When I speak, I speak from a positive tone.
I can always say because of the positivity and the optimism, we
always find solutions. We, as a
government, find solutions.
To
say that there are no problems and we can do everything for everyone, I
would not be able to stand on my feet and make that comment, Mr. Speaker.
It is all about choices, and it is all about finding solutions.
That is what this government has been doing in the past and we will
continue to do as a governing party in the future.
It is important that we be upfront and honest with the people and
we do.
We
are upfront, we are honest, and we do make choices, choices that are
sometimes not popular, but choices that we have to make leading into the
future. We do have a five-year
plan, and we rolled out that plan in Budget 2015.
We are being honest, we are being realistic, we have made choices
that are very positive and optimistic, and we have certainly related to
families and communities.
In
education: $45.7 million, a 10-Year Child Care Strategy, a plan that will
continue into the future, a plan that this government has a vision of, a
plan that will help out communities in Newfoundland and Labrador; $10.5
million plan that will continue full-day kindergarten, a plan that will help
out our children at an early age, and families all over Newfoundland and
Labrador.
So
we are definitely dealing with some issues and concerns of parents and
families in the education field.
Mr. Speaker, $65 million in relation to construction and school repair.
I mean, when have you ever heard of such major investments by a
government in Newfoundland and Labrador?
Reality is, when you go back in time and you look at the history and
look at where we were as a Province and where we are now, we are in a better
position as a Province, economically.
We are a in a better position as a Province because this this
government has led the way into the future in relation to make major
investments all over Newfoundland and Labrador.
Investments that will definitely pay off in the long term.
Investments in our education system, investments in health care,
investments in roadways. Our
government has made some tough choices about balancing the Budget in the
future, in a five-year fiscal reality plan.
The people of Newfoundland and Labrador deserve to have a clear,
detailed plan that supports our people.
In that five-year plan, it certainly puts us in a positon for
continued transformation and growth moving into the future as the economy
grows.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. LITTLE:
Our government have
rolled out this plan and it is very important to the people of Newfoundland
and Labrador to know the choices that we have made, and the people in
Newfoundland and Labrador will understand why we made the choices we made as
we move into the future.
I
can certainly say that it was a balanced approach.
We made a decision on attrition, and we highly respect the public
employees who serve the people of Newfoundland and Labrador on a regular
basis from day to day and we value the work of public sector employees.
We connected in many ways in relation to signing off on major
collective agreements, and it was a collective approach.
It was not just our government.
It was a combination of our government, the unions, the major unions
in Newfoundland and Labrador, and in particular the public sector employees
themselves when they signed off on the collective agreements that will lead
us into the future.
We
dealt with the unfunded liability in the pension plans, and we dealt with
that issue head-on with the unions as well, which was another great
accomplishment that will lead us into the future.
We, as a government, have worked closely with community leaders, as I
said earlier. We worked closely
with the labour movement in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker, and we
made some major accomplishments moving forward in relation to the public
sector and some of the agreements that were signed off and signed off with
the membership of the different unions, actually signed off with large
percentage membership votes as well to support us leading into the future.
When
you look at the tourism industry and I have to go back to the tourism
industry because the last time I spoke, actually I spoke on the tourism
industry in the Town of Elliston, Tourism Elliston, and how that small
community revitalized, became leaders on the Bonavista Peninsula, and
created the model in relation to tourism in the District of Bonavista South.
Also, Mr. Speaker, in the Town of Trinity Bay North, the Sir William Ford
Coaker Foundation and the board, the community volunteers, the committee and
community council there, and a number of organizations and groups have
partnered as committees, partnered with the community council, partnered
with the provincial government, the federal government, and different
agencies. If you go there to
that part of my district you can see what has happened in the tourism
industry and how the Sir William Ford Coaker Foundation has certainly helped
the tourism industry, and grown the tourism industry in Bonavista South, and
in particular, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Any
time you see partnerships happen and you see a connection, you see growth,
you see numbers of actual tourists who have come to the Bonavista Peninsula
and there is an increase year after year after year, and the investments
that our government will have continually made on behalf of the people in
the tourism industry, you can see the success stories, Mr. Speaker.
You can see the growth.
You can see how we have tapped into a new resource.
It is a highly competitive resource around the Province because there
are many tourism places in Newfoundland and Labrador that are untapped.
The
industry is very competitive. Budget
2015 definitely allows the tourism industry to continually grow in
Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.
If you look at the Town of Bonavista, it is another success story.
Look at the harbour front development and the continuation of the
Church Street development. Look
at the Garrick Theatre, home of a very cultural, historic building that
actually closed down at one time.
I
used to go to the Garrick Theatre and watch movies when I was growing up,
Mr. Speaker. I should say my
children did not have the opportunity to go to see movies at the Garrick
Theatre because there was no Garrick Theatre.
Due to the fact that this committee came along the Bonavista
Historical Society formed the committee it expanded from there.
Now
there is a theatre right in the centre of town that provides more than
movies. Entertainment occurs at
that site. As a matter of fact,
every entertainer who comes to the Garrick Theatre from all over
Newfoundland and Labrador and performs there, leaves with an impression that
this is one of the astonishing theatres in Newfoundland and Labrador.
They always want to come back.
Mr.
Speaker, through initiatives, through heritage and cultural exchanges and
programs, we as a people have tapped into a vision for the future.
It is a vision that allows our people to continue on and provide a
cultural heritage perspective.
Our children now and their children can have theatrical performances in a
region that, for years, did not exist.
Through partnerships, community leaders, provincial government,
federal government agencies, we have tapped into a very good resource.
That particular part of the tourism industry helps sustain and make
that industry grow on a regular basis.
Tourism is a big aspect of what we are all about as a people.
When our heritage and our cultural resources connect into the tourism
industry, it allows the tourism industry to grow, Mr. Speaker.
That is the point that I am trying to get across.
For a long time we did not have that resource, we did not go down
that road. Through this
government, the vision of the people, and the partnerships of community
leaders, we have created a great tourism industry in this Province; a
tourism industry that I am optimistic will grow and grow.
At
one time in the District of Bonavista South the fishery was big.
It was massive. Now the
fishery is still massive in Bonavista South, Mr. Speaker, and the tourism
industry is a very massive sector as well.
I am so proud to be part of a government that has connected with the
people, partnered with the people, and made this actually come true.
It is an industry that will definitely grow.
People will actually come to the Bonavista Peninsula time after time.
This
is a model that we can take to a different region of Newfoundland and
Labrador, or to a different region of my part of the country, or to a
different region of my part of the world. That
says something. That says we are
doing things right on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
This government we are part of that process, Mr. Speaker.
Yes,
Mr. Speaker, we should stand in the House and shout about the good things we
do as a government.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLE:
On this side of the House
we will continually do that.
Each and every MHA will get up and speak about their districts and the good
things that are happening on the ground in our districts.
I can tell you I am very optimistic about the future of this Province
of Newfoundland and Labrador.
There are some major, major great announcements in Budget 2015, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, as a government, we should relay that message to the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador continually.
As we move into the future, the prosperity of Newfoundland and
Labrador will grow because of the decisions that we made in Budget 2015.
We did make choices, wise choices.
The
previous speaker for Bonavista North, my colleague and good friend, I must
say, talked about his grandchild and the future.
He certainly relayed a strong message.
Budget 2015 is not only about our generation, it is about future
generations.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLE:
That is what a
responsible government does, Mr. Speaker.
It looks into the future and lays out a plan that will benefit people
in the future, our children and their children.
That is what certainly makes a great Province, when a government that
has a great vision, like our government, takes us into the future and also
lays out a plan for the future.
We will continually look after the people in the future, our children, their
children, and their children.
That is what this government is all about laying out that plan.
Budget 2015 certainly takes us down that road.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
St. John's North.
MR. KIRBY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It
is a pleasure for me to stand the third time now and speak to the Budget on
the main motion. It is
unfortunate, Mr. Speaker, that we do not have more opportunity to speak to
the Budget. There is so much
that could be said, but we are limited by the amount of time that we have in
debate.
The
last time I spoke about some of the missed opportunities that this
government has sort of just let slide by, economic opportunities that we
have had over the last number of years, whether it is the forestry, the
fishery, in industrial fabrication, in shipbuilding, and other areas.
I would like to focus now on some of the things I have managed to
learn about this year's Budget in terms of education, which is of particular
interest to me.
One
of the things that I have observed over the last couple of years is that
government came to the House of Assembly in 2013 and said: We will
amalgamate the four school boards that have English language education.
Basically, the bulk, the vast majority of the schools in the
Province, they will amalgamate them under a single school district.
They called it the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District.
This was going to save this whole bunch of money.
In
fact, at the time the Minister of Education sat just over there, here in the
House of Assembly, in the Estimates meeting.
He said that at maturity this was going to save almost $13 million.
It was over $12 million and then it was $12.9 million and all that.
In fact, he said at the time that he could produce an Excel
spreadsheet you can go back and look at the minutes and show where these
savings would be achieved.
We
had an Estimates meeting here last night, two years later.
I asked sort of every which way possible about these savings.
Well, I did not see a whole lot of evidence of savings.
In fact, the amount of money that it cost the Province to operate
that particular line, School Board Operations, has increased.
There have been no savings that are obvious.
Then
I said, well, maybe if you could just show where those monies were
redirected. I did not have a
whole lot of success in that regard either.
It
is somewhat farcical, too, because if you look at our law, if you look at
our legislation, if you look at the legislation governing schools in this
Province, the Schools Act, 1997, it says just remember, Mr. Speaker, these
school districts were effectively amalgamated in the summer of 2013.
We are almost two years after that.
It says right here in section 60 of the Schools Act under Board to
adopt constitution, 60(1), The board first elected or appointed for a
school district shall adopt, not later than 6 months after its appointment
or election, a constitution regarding its duties and responsibilities
et
cetera. I could go on.
According to the Acting Minister of Education, we have had so many Ministers
of Education since 2011 it is sort of hard to keep track.
Not as many as Fisheries, but we have had a good number.
According to the minister, that constitution has been sitting in the
minister's office since about October and the board is waiting for that to
get approval. He said: Oh, we
are waiting to get a legal opinion.
I do
not have to get a legal opinion to tell you that the government, this
government, is violating, in the least, the spirit of the Schools Act, which
says we should have had a constitution adopted by this government's
appointed board by now, certainly by now.
It
has been sitting in the minister's office for over six months waiting for a
legal opinion. It is like they
have too much better to do than to follow the spirit and the letter of the
law of the land regarding schooling in this Province.
It is pathetic. There
have been no savings that they can demonstrate.
They cannot even follow the legislation properly.
That
is one thing I found out last night in the Estimates committee because the
Estimates committee is a bit more free flowing.
The minister answers some questions that they choose to answer and
some of their staff occasionally answer some of the questions.
We are here for a number of hours.
We get to examine the Budget in a bit more detail.
One
of the things I thought was really interesting when we listened to the
Throne Speech this year, and if you listened to the Budget Speech, there was
a big hullabaloo about this the only thing we did not have was trumpets in
the background and another tea party paid for by the taxpayers out in the
lobby like we had for CETA, Muskrat Falls, and everything.
They
said they were going to proceed with a kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum
renewal in many areas, and went on to expound on their curriculum renewal.
They are launching this great initiative, and named up all the
subjects where we were going to have the curriculum renewal.
Well, Mr. Speaker, do you know how much new funding is dedicated to
this great curriculum renewal that we are going to have now?
Do you know how much money is backing that up?
No new money. No new
money.
This
is one of the major planks of this government: please elect us to another
term, Budget. This is one of the
major planks they have going into the election, is their curriculum renewal.
Somehow this reflects the current Premier's commitment during his
leadership to have a review of K-12 education in this Province.
This is somehow supposed to be a
reflection of his commitment. A
review of curriculum, that was already going to happen anyways.
That was scheduled to happen anyways.
There is no money at all, there is nothing new here at all, and they
held it out like it was some great new initiative, and nothing could be
further from the truth.
Then
I asked, well, what about the math curriculum?
We have heard about all the problems we had with the math curriculum
in this Province. Some provinces
have managed to address issues when it comes to mathematics, and there was
supposed to be this major math review and so on.
I did not get any indication that any of that is going ahead before
the general election happens if we have a general election this year, if
we have it according to the law of Newfoundland and Labrador.
There is no indication that is going to happen this year.
Guess how much new money, Mr. Speaker, is dedicated to that math review?
Guess how much they have allocated to that?
The same amount that was allocated for the routine review of
curriculum that we were going to have anyway, masqueraded in the Budget
Speech and the Throne Speech as a new initiative.
Thank goodness we have the Estimates committee.
AN HON. MEMBER:
How much was that amount again?
MR. KIRBY:
How much new money?
AN HON. MEMBER:
Yes.
MR. KIRBY:
Well, do you know what a goose egg looks like?
That number looks exactly the same as that, because there is no new
money for either of those things.
It is much ado about nothing, because there is no evidence they are
going to do the math review before the election.
This other business when it comes to a curriculum review had to
happen anyways. That is what we
normally would have done. So
that was very interesting.
Then I asked about the full-day kindergarten.
Last August, when a lot of people were not paying a whole lot of
attention, because it was August and people are on their holidays and so on,
the Minister of Education at the time because it was a different Minister of Education
then as well came out and talked about how for some of the schools that
they are introducing full-day kindergarten, instead of doing something like
the other provinces did, doing something more reasonable and phasing in
full-day kindergarten, having some pilot projects here and there, doing so
rural, doing some urban, doing a coastal, doing Labrador; learning from the
process and implementing it over a period of time, which would help us to
learn from the process, it would help us to improve it as we go along, it
would not be as expensive all of a sudden.
Instead of doing that over a period of two or three years, they
decided: please elect us and we will do it in 2016.
That was the Budget last year.
So
they came out last August, because they had not done a whole lot on it up to
that point, and said: Well, some of these schools are not big enough.
That is not a big surprise because they are still planning to build
schools as it is. They have not
even broken ground on schools that they have admitted cannot accommodate the
number of students that the board is going to be sending to them.
That is not a big surprise, but they said: there will be a team
teaching model in some of these schools for full-day kindergarten.
Basically, that means if you are a teacher now teaching half-day
kindergarten, you are going to have another teacher and almost another full
classroom full of kids, kindergarten age, in your classroom come September
2016. That is going to be, more
or less, what exists outside to use the government's language the
standard classroom setting; team teaching with almost doubled-up classrooms.
Not exactly double, but close to.
There was a list of, I believe it is 190 schools that were appended to the
minister's press release last August, and it lists all the schools.
So I said to the minister: Can you provide us with a list of the
schools, of this 190, where they are going to have team teaching outside the
standard classroom model? The
officials from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development:
Oh, yes, we have such information based on their projections.
Based on their projections, we have the information.
You
would think, Mr. Speaker, since this government has done backflips trying to
separate itself from Bill 29 they completely reversed themselves on Bill
29. First, they said it was good
to give people less information, and then they realized that was really a
bad idea. So they paid $1.1
million for new legislation that we all told them we told them that Bill
29 was a bad idea but they decided to bring it in anyways, waste a whole
bunch of time in the Legislature ramming it through in a filibuster, and
then pay $1.1 million to get somebody else to get them out of the situation
they were in.
You
would think they would have learned something from that process.
The minister says, no, we are not going to give you a list of the
kindergarten classrooms that will have full-day kindergarten with two
teachers in one classroom. Some
of these, as far as I am concerned and we will wait and see the evidence
otherwise are going to be classrooms that are exactly the same size as the
ones now that have half the crowd of kids, or about half.
The
minister refuses to provide disclosure of that information, and I do not
know why. Parents deserve to
know. Teachers deserve to know
if it is their school, their kindergarten students, their children who are
going to be in these team-taught, classroom settings.
There is nothing extraordinary there.
You would think he would be happy to let people know, because they
are asking. I am not sure what
they are worried about. That was
a big surprise to me. Those are
just three things I learned last night here in the House of Assembly in the
Estimates.
There are all sorts of other things we could say about education, and about
savings and potential savings.
Government says all the time, where are you going to cut?
Where would you cut?
Where would you find the savings?
You
have to go back to, again, the schools in this Province that this government
has been running year round, paying the light bill, paying for maintenance,
paying for insurance, paying for other costs, schools that do not have any
children in them. There is one
up in the Member for The Straits White Bay North District, St. Anthony
Elementary, it closed in November 2013.
Government is paying somewhere in the order of $105,000 a year to
operate, even though there is no school going on there, and the status of
that school is, according to the board, building to be demolished, site
converted to a playfield for a new school.
Government is operating a school to the tune of $105,000
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR. KIRBY:
I do not know if the heat
and lights are on. It is funny,
the Member for Trinity Bay de Verde said that the school they closed out
there in Heart's Delight-Islington, the bell still goes off there recess
time. He said the people in the
community set their watches by it.
That is true, the school it is like the horn at the mill in Corner
Brook, people know what time it is.
People know what time it is because the school that is closed down,
the bell still goes off recess and lunchtime.
People look at their watch and make sure they have the right time.
You cannot make this stuff up.
AN HON. MEMBER:
We are paying for
this.
MR. KIRBY:
We are paying for this.
So
we got this list here I requested this from the board.
They are a little more willing to give information out.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars over a million dollars to operate
schools annually that have been closed as far back as 1999, and all these
schools have to be disposed, and to be disposed, and so on.
Yes, there are agreements with the Roman Catholic Episcopal
Corporation and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland and Labrador that
need to be worked out. We know
that, but get it worked out.
That
is like the constitution for the school district that is sitting somewhere
in the minister's office over six months waiting to get a legal opinion.
I mean, it is beyond laissez-faire governance.
It is just sort of a ship at sea that
AN HON. MEMBER:
Autopilot.
MR. KIRBY:
Well, it certainly is
autopilot, absolutely.
Meanwhile, we get these sorts of commitments from government that they are
going to kick-start a review of the K-12 system, and the Premier is going to
lead a conversation, and the minister is going to lead a conversation on
renewal of the curriculum and all that, and then we find out that is all
nonsense. It was all going to
happen anyways just foolishness that it is not five cents of new money put
towards it at all.
We
have all these problems in the school system.
We hear continually about mental health issues amongst youth in the
Province that there are insufficient resources in schools to deal with
addictions issues, to deal with other mental health issues.
We have talked about it time and time again.
There are public consultations going on about it.
Would it not be better to take that money that is going towards
vacant schools and use it for something like that?
Wouldn't that make more sense?
I am sure those properties are worth something too.
There are all sorts of other places that the government could find money to
fund the education system. There
is no end of it. How many times
have they gone over budget the sort of word on the street when it comes to
tenders and this government is you can sort of have your way with them.
You do not have to look very far to find examples where tenders were
issued for a certain amount, then were awarded for a certain amount, and
then it just ballooned out of proportion.
Look
at the Confederation Building, to replace the Confederation Building East
Block windows with blue windows for the PC Party's great legacy, $39 million
they said, and now it has gone up and up tens of thousands of dollars more.
Moose detection systems on the Trans-Canada Highway, trotted out just
before a provincial election, $1.5 million worth of money on something that
was never properly tested, never piloted; much like a bunch of other things
in this Province, never tested, went ahead and spent the money on it
anyways.
Advanced Education and Skills, look at that department; what a mess.
They brought in their campaign manager Ross Reid, paid him $160,000 a
year or something for a population growth strategy, never saw anything from
that afterwards. They brought in
failed PC candidate John Noseworthy, could not get elected to the House of
Assembly they brought him in, paid him $140,000 or something to do this
review. The report is about yay
thick, never touched the report at all; that is over there in somebody's
office gathering dust. All sorts
of recommendations from the Auditor General from that Auditor General, the
current Auditor General, how the government could stop wasting taxpayers'
dollars and divert it to the primary needs of Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians, like education and health care.
No, just let it go on.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KIRBY:
All sorts of examples
from Child, Youth and Family Services.
What about Humber Valley Paving?
People remember that somebody was over there talking today about
how open they are. I mean, we
are not that foolish over here.
We cannot be kidded all of the time.
The retendering of the contract, the additional cost and the Member
for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair tells me the road is still not finished up.
They have several kilometres of road that is still not done it is
still not done, after all of that complete scandal.
Then
the leasing of the Norcon Galatea,
that vessel formerly known as the
Hamilton Sound was sold by the government for $214,000.
The vessel has been leased back to the government for $5,800 a month,
so good money going after bad.
I
could go on as I said in the beginning, there is so much we could say
about this government's failings in its failed Budget, but there is not
enough time unfortunately.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
move, seconded by the Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development,
that the House do now adjourn.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
Before the House adjourns, I just want to remind members of the Management
Commission there is a meeting at 6:00 p.m.
The
motion is that this House do now adjourn.
All
those in favour, 'aye'.
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. Government House
Leader, just before we vote on the motion.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
actually could have done it after, but I just want to do a reminder as well.
You mentioned the Management Commission; there is also Estimates on
this evening for the Department of Finance at 7:00 p.m. here in the House as
well.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER:
The motion is that the
House do now adjourn.
All
those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
The
House stands adjourned until tomorrow, 2:00 p.m., Private Members' Day.