MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon we have member statements as follows: the hon. the Member for the District of Gander; the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans; the hon. the Member for District of Humber Valley; the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Bank; and the hon. the Member for the District of Trinity North.

The hon. the Member for the District of Gander.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to stand before the House to bring to your attention the accomplishments of a young Olympian from the District of Gander, who has recently returned from the Olympic World Games in Nagano, Japan.

Sarah Brown of Gander competed in the 4x400 Snowshoeing event and won gold. She proudly represented Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada as a member of the Gander Wing Special Olympics Club and Team Canada.

This Special Olympics World Games is not the first time that Sarah has found herself with Olympic medals; just one year ago, she competed in the nationals that were held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and came home with four medals. Sarah plans to continue her training and return to the next World Games to be held in China in 2007.

This incredible performance has made Sarah Brown Gander's first Olympic medalist and places her in the elite of athletes that call Newfoundland and Labrador their home.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the hon. members of the House to join me in congratulating Sarah Brown of Gander for her incredible performance as our Province's representative in the international competition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the accomplishments of four bright, talented students from the College of the North Atlantic, Grand Falls-Windsor Campus. They won the gold medal at the First Annual College of the North Atlantic Marketing Case Study Competition in January, 2005.

Mr. Speaker, this team of second-year marketing students, consisting of Chris Carter, Melanie Dawe, Lindsay Lindhal and Benjamin Hurdle, under the direction of coach Suzanne Ivy, successfully defeated two other teams from campuses across the Province. Their case study, Yoga for Life, asked the students to come up with a marketing plan to increase the number of catalogues distributed to the public and to attract new repeat customers.

They credit teamwork to their success, and this gold medal win will be an asset to their portfolio in acquiring employment in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like all members of this hon. House to join me in congratulating Chris, Lindsay, Benjamin, Melanie and Suzanne, and wish them all the greatest success in their chosen profession.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber Valley.

MS GOUDIE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the communities of Pollards Point, Hampden and Sop's Arm. On the weekend of March 12 - 13, they hosted the first ever Main River Snowmobile Run. The run took place amid the backdrop of the historic and picturesque Main River; the first river in this Province to be designated to the Canadian Heritage River System, and home to some of the country's finest sightseeing and recreational opportunities.

Mr. Speaker, this was the first time representatives from the communities of White Bay South participated in such a large cause. The monies raised will go towards non-profit organizations in the White Bay area. The event helped to foster a strong sense of community in the people of White Bay South, as was evident at the formal reception held afterwards in Pollards Point. Given the tremendous success of this year's event, organizers are hoping to make the Main River Snowmobile Run an annual event, and the Town of Hampden is already looking forward to hosting next year's run.

I would like to congratulate all committee members and businesses that contributed to making this such a great weekend for the people of White Bay South. I would especially like to thank the Humber Winterland Snowmobile Club for their many volunteer hours in preparing the well-groomed trails, and I look forward to next year's event.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express sincere thanks to the Southern Antique Classic Car Club for contributing a geriatric chair to the Burin Peninsula Health Care Centre in Burin.

The new geriatric chair makes it possible for the centre to take care of the safety and comfort issues of their elderly patients. It also makes it easier for the staff to care for their patients.

Over the past twelve years, the Classic Car Club has presented gifts totaling approximately $60,000 to the Burin Peninsula Health Care Centre. This is just an example of how the community pulls together to fund-raise for badly needed health care equipment on the Burin Peninsula. The club has pledged to again donate proceeds from this year's scheduled June 2005 car show.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in showing appreciation to the members of the Southern Antique Classic Car Club for the continued dedication and commitment to improving health care on the Burin Peninsula.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to congratulate the Kiwanis Club of Clarenville for once again hosting the successful nineteenth annual Kiwanis Music Festival. I want to thank them for providing the opportunity for young people in our entire region to showcase their musical talents as well as their vocal talents.

Mr. Speaker, the very successful week-long event began on Saturday, March 12, and concluded on Friday, March 18. This year's festival included people from both the Clarenville area and the Burin and Bonavista Peninsula areas of the Province. This year's participants are all to be commended for their great performance, hard work and dedication to their particular interests. There were over 1,700 different performances in this year's event, the largest in the history of the nineteen that they have had. Mr. Speaker, these kinds of events do not become a reality unless there is a large number of volunteers who are truly dedicated to the event and to their community.

I want to, with your indulgence, just acknowledge some of this year's winners. The Junior Rose Bowl Award goes to Victoria Best. The Senior Rose Bowl goes to Travis Oldford. Some of the other individuals who received awards as well were: Raylene Fulford, Kaitlin Strong, Megan Laite, Heidi Rice, Caroline Matthews, Suyen Oldford and Jessica Laite.

Mr. Speaker, these are the ones who received some special awards, but I believe they are all award winners by virtue of their participation in this very successful event.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the House of a very important program sponsored by Human Resources, Labour and Employment. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Newfoundland and Labrador Girls Decide Initiative.

Girls Decide is sponsored by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. It offers young women the opportunity to take a leadership role in developing events, activities and supports based on the identified needs and concerns of female youth in the Province.

Seven young women, ages nineteen to thirty, have been hired through the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newfoundland and Labrador to lead the program in eight clubs across the Province. These young women have held focus groups to identify the needs and types of programs females would like to see in their local Boys and Girls Club.

I am pleased to report the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment has provided the Girls Decide initiative with $5,000 in support of this important program.

Members of Girls Decide Committees in each club will become the programmers of sessions. They will generate meaningful skill development and leadership experiences. This will keep them engaged and increase female participation and success in community school and club life.

Mr. Speaker, the outcomes of this program are significant. Programs developed and implemented by our female youth encourage personal, professional and social development and increases self-esteem. This will ultimately have a long-term effect in promoting leadership roles for women. It will provide true role models for younger girls who may wish to become program leaders themselves.

Mr. Speaker, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newfoundland and Labrador will be presenting Girls Decide in June at the Atlantic Crime Prevention Conference in Corner Brook. These presentations will be a great avenue for spreading Best Practices and sharing experience to move girls programming forward.

Mr. Speaker, this government is committed to the young people of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Girls Decide Program is one of the many youth initiatives this government supports. It is a great example of how this government is ensuring our financial resources are being used where they are needed most, and in turn having a positive impact on community development and integration.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the minister for a copy of her statement and to say congratulations to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newfoundland and Labrador on this Girls Decide Initiative.

No doubt, as the minister has stated, this is a wonderful program with regard to leadership roles in developing the female youth of our Province. It is good to see that people have been hired and they are bringing this good message to the various Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the Province.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Boys and Girls Clubs as well on providing and going forward with this initiative in June to the Atlantic Crime Prevention Conference, which will be held in Corner Brook.

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing I can say negatively about this statement today by the minister. The only thing I will say, if the government yesterday, when they brought down their Budget, rather than pay down some of the long-term debt on The Rooms, for instance, just imagine what could be happening to those various groups in this Province, rather than getting $5,000 or cutting funding from the Kids Eat Smart program.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women for an advanced copy of her statement, which we support, to support the Girls Decide Initiative of the Boys and Girls Club with a contribution of $5,000. It is certainly very positive and we hope that the program works well. I know that this will help to develop leadership skills for girls and young women and will be an empowering experience.

Imagine, Mr. Speaker, how more empowered young women and girls in this Province would feel if this government actually acknowledged the role of women and, in fact, met their pay equity commitments made by a previous government to the women of this Province in yesterday's Budget. They would feel much more empowered because they would know that their government actually recognized that women must be treated equally and not be discriminated against and will honour agreements that were made on behalf of the women of this Province in the past.

So, with that, Mr. Speaker, I support the initiative, but I would be very much more supportive if the government would meet the commitments of the government on pay equity.

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers.

The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works, and Aboriginal Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House this afternoon to inform my colleagues that government has awarded a contract for the annual refit and inspection of the MV Sir Robert Bond.

Mr. Speaker, Budget 2005 allocated $2.97 million for refits to the MV Sir Robert Bond and MV Northern Ranger, which are part of the Labrador Marine Service.

The Bond's annual refit and inspection is required by Transport Canada. I am pleased to inform this House that Newdock of St. John's has been awarded a contract valued at over $2 million for the annual refit of the MV Sir Robert Bond.

This contract provides for improvements to the vessel through the addition of more seating, additional overnight accommodations and the installation of an elevator to improve the vessel's accessibility. Our government endeavours to make our vessels accessible to all individuals including those who may need assistance with boarding a vessel in our fleet.

Last year, my department made alterations to the MV Northern Ranger, another vessel that is part of the Labrador Marine Service. My department installed a new portable wheelchair lift/ ramp on the Ranger last summer.

Mr. Speaker, my department also made a number of positive changes to the Labrador Marine Service during the past year. In December 2004, we released the 2005 schedule for the MV Sir Robert Bond and other vessels that comprise the Labrador Marine Service. I have been advised that this is the earliest a schedule has ever been available since the service was taken over provincially.

The people of this Province depend upon a strong, quality infrastructure. Our government recognizes that ferries and marine infrastructure are very important to the people who use them everyday.

Mr. Speaker, to that end, another $4 million has been budgeted for annual and mid-life vessel refits for ferries that serve the Island, representing a $1.6 million increase over the 2004-2005 Budget. The overall increase for the Province is $3.1 million. These strategic investments will enable our government to provide for a stable ferry service over the long term. As we are guiding the Province toward economic and fiscal stability, we continue to provide for the critical services that the public depend on.

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to providing safe and reliable vessels for the people of the Province and providing quality ferry service to the people of Labrador. Just as stability and reliability were the hallmarks of the 2004 shipping season, my department anticipates that the 2005 season will be just as effective.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BARRETT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the minister for an advanced copy of his statement. Today, I would like to go on record as congratulating Newdock on being awarded the tender for this major refit on the Sir Robert Bond and the great service that has been provided by this local business in St. John's, the Newdock.

The thing about this particular thing is that the Sir Robert Bond, and all these vessels, are inspected each year by Transport Canada. There is a schedule of work that needs to be done on all these vessels and what the minister is doing today is just announcing what work needs to be done to make sure these vessels are safe.

I would anticipate today that the minister will be rising in his place to announce that the government has kept this promise and that they are reducing the ferry rates on the ferries for Labrador and coastal communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, where they increased it last year by 25 per cent. I was hoping that the Premier would keep his promise, like Paul Martin, and implement the promises in the Blue Book.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Labrador West.

MR. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the minister's advanced copy of his statement.

It is good news, Mr. Speaker, because what we need on that run is additional overnight accommodations. They are at a premium, you have to book really early in order to get one. Additional seating is required. I am glad to see that elevator service will be provided, because that was one of the complaints that I, as a passenger, heard on several occasions as I travelled that route from Lewisporte to Cartwright and on to Goose Bay, is that there was no elevator, and they couldn't get access, particularly, I say to the minister, to the dining room area. It is important that people be able to do that. It will make the route certainly more attractive, because it is a pretty popular route now, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to call the minister's attention to one other very serious matter -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's time has expired.

MR. COLLINS: By leave, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: Yes.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

MR. COLLINS: A very serious matter, I say to the minister, is security on the boat. I want to just inform the minister that last year when I travelled on the boat there was an incident that made a lot of passengers very, very uncomfortable. It required the RCMP to come on board, when the boat docked in Cartwright, to remove a person. There was no security on the boat. I wouldn't say it happens very often, things of that nature, but I think it is important that the minister consider either providing a security person on the boat or at least training the staff to deal with situations that cause other passengers to become scared and fearful for their own personal safety.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Further Statements by Ministers? Oral Questions.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday's Budget was one, clearly, of missed opportunities for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. In addition to what wasn't in the Budget, this government tried to trick the people of the Province into thinking that there was no money available for any further initiatives, such as the cancer clinic in Grand Falls-Windsor and the Mealy Mountains auditorium in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Mr. Speaker, the minister, in fact, manufactured a phony cash deficit in a blatant attempt to lower the expectations of the people of the Province.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Will he confirm that there was a cash surplus of in excess of $100 million in this fiscal year, which ends in a few days, before the government made last-minute decisions to pay off the mortgages on some buildings?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am delighted for the question, because a year ago we indicated, when we took office, this government, that we are not going to keep three sets of books.

That government kept a cash deficit, they kept a consolidated cash deficit and an accrual deficit. What they did: They set up a consolidated cash where they farmed out municipal borrowing as a separate entity, they farmed out Education Investment Corporation as a separate entity, and they farmed out the Heritage Corporation, The Rooms, as a separate entity, so they could hide the cash component of the deficit.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, we said a year ago we were going to get rid of that nonsense and have one set of books, and that is not to hide. It is in the Budget Speech, open and up front. When we were asked in the media scrum yesterday, we told them exactly like it is. We are keeping one set of books, I say to the Leader of the Opposition, not three sets of books trying to fool the people of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would suggest to the minister that he control himself. When he turns red, as my neighbour and long-time friend, I worry about his health.

Mr. Speaker, let me ask the question again.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Let me ask the question again. Before the decisions were taken to pay off two long-term mortgages, was there in fact a cash surplus of $103 million? Yes or no?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, we said quite clearly that the cash component of our deficit - there is only one deficit - there is a cash component to that deficit. I understood he taught math in school, and $117 million and $14 million, the difference in that would be $103 million.

If he cannot add up simple math, we made it clear. We have indicated openly. We said we were going to do it - we were going to get rid of it - and we got rid of it. He does not like that we are paying off his debt that he brought onto this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Not only did we do that - that is in last year's statement - we put new money into culture, new money into education, and $130 million in new money into health care. We spent a lot of new money in this Province, and all you did was to stack the bills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, they built up a stack of bills for future generations, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We are going to stop that nonsense. We are going to get on with running this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Maybe -

AN HON. MEMBER: Still no answer. Yes or no, boy. Yes or no.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SULLIVAN: He thought he found something big. He thought it was something great.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Maybe the Minister of Finance might like to listen to his Leader, the Premier, who basically this morning was on the Open Line program suggesting we should have spent more money and we should have done some of the initiatives, like the cancer clinic, while we were there. You cannot have it both ways, I say.

Mr. Speaker, let me say this: We wanted the minister to confirm, which he now has, clearly, without any language, that before they made some decisions which we will debate here in the next couple of days, there was actually a surplus in cash of $103 million. He has confirmed that and I thank him for the answer.

Now, Mr. Speaker, here is the point: Using some of the money to pay off debt is a good initiative. We have agreed with that. We said there should be a balanced approach. However, using every last penny of the $103 million in surplus and neglecting the urgent needs of the people of the Province is another matter.

I ask the minister: How does he justify to those cancer patients in Central Newfoundland, the students in Labrador, the Alzheimer's patients, the students at Leary's Brook and Laval in Placentia, why it is that their needs are totally neglected when there was $103 million cash surplus? Instead, they are paying off the long-term debt totally instead of a balanced approach.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this year, in the Budget, there were significant investments made into health care on the advise of medical professionals on what drugs we should add to the formulary. We don't take advice from the Leader of the Opposition on what drugs to be put or the formulary. We take it from medical professionals who give us advice. We take advice on educational needs from experts, not people who were in the position of government that put us in that debt in the first place.

We spent tremendous money to boost education and health care and many of the needs that he made reference to in the general areas here. Our Budget has been one of the best budgets in addressing social concerns in a long time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, we cannot fund every priority every year. We deal with priorities and there are other priorities out there that we are going to deal with. We are going to get to them and then he will have to find something else to complain about because we are going to get to them. We are going to deal with all the priorities in Newfoundland and Labrador. We will do it within our fiscal means. We have gone a long way and a big start in it this year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can say to the Minister of Finance that even those people who support spending the entire $103 million cash surplus, which he has now confirmed for the people of the Province and paying it on the debt, they are having considerable difficulty understanding why the government would spend all of this extra cash of $103 million on debt and then borrow an additional $14 million to pay off debt by creating new debt.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister why, again, did he feel it was important to use the total $103 million to pay off debt, plus to go out and borrow another $14 million just to try to make people believe that we had a deficit this year instead of a surplus of $103 million?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If the Leader of the Opposition is making that statement he does not know how the financial operations work in government.

When money collapses as a surplus it goes to our debt, that is automatic; besides, we are not in the position where we are going to have to borrow. In fact, we just received a cheque from the federal government for $378 million, a ten-year interest free loan, because prior to the Budget 2004, the Minister of Finance for the Government of Canada indicated that no province would get less than the four year average for equalization. So, if we got a loan - we have a cash flow now that would necessitate borrowing for that. He should understand - if he asked these questions, Mr. Speaker, I will explain them to him. We are not in a position where we are going to borrow that. He should understand that. He was Premier of this Province for two-and-a-half years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I just heard the Minister of Finance say that his priority was to pay off debt and let the people in the cancer clinic in Grand Falls-Windsor throw up in a bucket. Now, that is your priority!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS THISTLE: Mr. Speaker, this government has chosen once again to abandon the people of Central Newfoundland who are in need of a cancer clinic. This government is aware of the situation and the pressing need. They had $70 million extra in new health care funding from the federal government and they had an improved financial position. Government had an opportunity to end the human misery and the suffering.

My question is to the Premier: Why did you not fund the cancer clinic for the people in Central Newfoundland, in Grand Falls-Windsor?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, as the member is quite aware, I indicated, in interviews today, that myself and the minister had spoken about this issue, myself and the member had spoken about this issue. The minister will be leaving next week and going out to Grand Falls and will be looking at the cancer clinic, will be delving into it. Just because it is not in this Budget does not mean it will not be done. That is not the case.

You also have to look at all the other initiatives that were done for cancer in the past Budget: extra money that was put into medicine, extra money that was put into extra surgery for cancer, extra CAT scans, extra MRIs, extra mammograms, some in Central Newfoundland, all over the Province. We put a lot a money, and we care about cancer patients. It has affected my family personally. I personally care about cancer. So, this matter is very much a priority for us and the minister is going out next week and we will be looking at it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Priorities were in the Budget yesterday. Don't talk to me about priorities. Talk is cheap. Actions are what count.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask members for their co-operation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: All you do is talk. What are you doing today? Going out to talk now again, are you, about it?

MR. SPEAKER: I ask the member if he could co-operate with the Chair.

The Member for Grand Falls-Buchans has the floor and I ask her to put her question.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is quite clear that the Premier is a johnny-come-lately on this issue. He knows the situation in Grand Falls-Windsor. There is a member sitting in the backbenches from Windsor-Springdale. There is a Member for Lewisporte. There is a Member for Baie Verte. They either never thought this was a priority or they had zero influence in rendering a proper decision by this government. They had zero influence or you just do not care.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the member if she could put her question now.

MS THISTLE: Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. He is the one who calls the shots here, who makes the decisions.

Mr. Premier, I am going to ask you once more to think today about the people who are receiving treatment without any privacy, without any comfort. They are getting sick in the halls. How can you continue to let this loss of dignity occur, and how can you get up the day after the Budget and instruct your Minister of Health to go out and look at the situation? You ought to hang your head in shame (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: If you will just allow me. I will never have to hang my head in shame in this House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: As a matter of fact, we spent the past seventeen or eighteen months trying to correct the mess, the financial disgrace, that you, as a member of the Cabinet, left us in.

MS THISTLE: You have the money, do it!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes that Parliament is for the exchange of ideas, of differences of opinions. While members may disagree strongly with each other, I ask them for their co-operation in the exchange of ideas. Question Period is for the exchange of ideas and for the expression of opinions.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Premier to complete his answer.

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the people of the Province recognize that we are doing our best with a very difficult situation. What we have done in a short period of fifteen months, since the address was made to the people of the Province, is we have turned this Province around.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: We acknowledge that you had us in a very, very deep hole and we are starting to get out of it, but we have a long way to go yet. We cannot be all things to all people at once. We just simply cannot do it, but you know, we now have an opportunity to do that. We do have an opportunity, at some point in time, to deliver the clinic in Grand Falls, and it is a matter of priority for us.

MS THISTLE: (Inaudible).

PREMIER WILLIAMS: I would like the hon. member opposite -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: She is not fooling the people of Grand Falls. They know she was a member of Cabinet. They know that this matter has been on the table for years and years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, just as the people in Grand Falls-Windsor are in shock today -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Member for Grand Bank.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I thank members for their co-operation. I remind members that the clock is continuing to tick. There is only thirty minutes for Question Period.

I recognize the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just as the people in Grand Falls-Windsor are in shock today, the people on the Burin Peninsula are in disbelief today at the failure of this government to ensure they receive quality health care. There is no money to continue with the new health care facility in Grand Bank, as promised by the Premier, no money for dialysis services, and, despite repeated representation and fundraising, by the way, in the area for a CT scanner for the regional health care centre in Burin, it was totally ignored in yesterday's Budget.

I ask the Minister of Health: Why are the residents of the Burin Peninsula being ignored and left without this most vital piece of diagnostic equipment?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OTTENHEIMER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can assure the hon. member opposite that the residents of the Burin Peninsula are not being ignored. It is incumbent upon government and the appropriate health authorities and health boards to take all issues into account to make the appropriate decisions and assessments, and then make the most appropriate decisions in the interests of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

I say to the hon. member, I acknowledge the fact that there has been significant fundraising with respect to the CT scanner that she refers to, and I would ask that this particular foundation continue its good work. We are prepared to work with the foundation, as a government, and I would ask the foundation to perhaps consider other options that may be appropriate for the region, that may be appropriate for the residents of the Burin Peninsula, and then, as a government and as a new health care authority, we can take into account and assess other options as they come forward to us.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, that was the best case I ever saw of a minister acknowledging that he is probably never going to put a CT scanner on the Burin Peninsula.

While it is good to see updated CT scanners for St. John's, the government cannot be excused for its failure to put a CT scanner in Burin. There are many days when the roads are closed because of severe weather conditions, and lives are at risk because patients cannot be diagnosed.

I ask the minister: Since you did not see fit to live up to the commitment of the Liberal government to put the CT scanner in Burin, is it possible that one of the CT scanners being replaced at the Health Sciences Centre and at St. Clare's be relocated to Burin?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OTTENHEIMER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the hon. member is aware, it is only a matter of days and the new health care authorities in this Province will assume legal effect. In fact, it happens on March 31.

I would say to the hon. member, and indeed the people of the Province, particularly in this case the people of the Burin Peninsula, to allow the new Eastern Regional Health Care Authority to take all issues into account, to do the necessary and appropriate assessments, and again, Mr. Speaker, to make the decisions that are in the best interests of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Minister of Transportation and Works.

Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that we had, yesterday, what The Telegram calls a Budget Bonanza, will the Minister of Transportation and Works confirm that he has plans to remove more than 100 permanent positions from the provincial highway maintenance program, as a result of program reduction, and to turn them into seasonal employees? Is that what the minister is planning for his department as a result of what I call program reduction, what they call program renewal?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the hon. member for his question.

No, we do not have a plan to remove in excess of 100 permanent employees from our department. What we have informed the union of, is that we have a plan to convert some of our permanent employees into seasonal employees, and we are going to -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. RIDEOUT: That is not winter maintenance, Mr. Speaker. Those people are involved in summer maintenance.

Mr. Speaker, what we intend to do is to inform the union, when the details of that are finalized, before we inform anybody else.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. HARRIS: Mr. Speaker, how can this government and this minister justify the downgrading of these positions, the removal of the security that these people have and also the role that they play in maintaining our highways which are in such desperate shape and in need of constant surveillance and constant safety monitoring? How can he justify that, given the fact that this government has an obligation to look after public health and safety, and has the money to do it because of the Budget and financial position of the Province? How can he justify doing that to these important workers?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are very cognizant of the tremendous work that our employees do on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. What we also have to be cognizant of, Mr. Speaker, is that our employees are gainfully employed and having materials with which to do maintenance.

What we have proposed, Mr. Speaker - we proposed it last year, actually, and one phase of it, the management side of it, was put in place last year. What we have proposed - this is not a cut out of money issue. This is a redirection of funds into more maintenance on our highways so that our highways are safer for people to drive on. That is exactly what it is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. HARRIS: Mr. Speaker, my supplementary is to the Premier.

How does this kind of layoff square with the Premier's commitment not to have any layoffs, and that anything that would happen would be through attrition? There is no attrition here. This is clearly a layoff of permanent employees, an offer of seasonal work. How does that square with the promise not to lay off people in the public service?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, when the details are finalized the hon. member and everybody else in the Province will know, but you will see that some of those positions will, in fact, be affected by attrition. There is nobody being laid off permanently. There are positions being converted into seasonal positions. If that will get through, then perhaps we will understand what we are talking about here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

The Premier said, before and during the last provincial election, that the long-term care facility will be built in my four-year mandate; you have my personal commitment.

Israel Hann, whom I spoke to this morning, chairperson of the long-term care facility, was outraged that money has been put aside for the design of the facility. Mr. Hann was informed by the Premier's office staff, the Member for Humber East staff, that the design work was complete and the construction would start this spring. His own words, Mr. Speaker, his own words.

Will the minister stand in this House of Assembly and inform the residents of the Corner Brook area, if the design work on this facility is complete, was it ongoing with these funds?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OTTENHEIMER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the hon. member that much of the design work is completed. We have been updated that much of the work has been completed at the request of government; however, there is still more reporting that government is expecting to receive in short order. At that time, with respect to site location - because that was the undertaking that this particular government gave a number of weeks ago and, in fact, a couple of months ago - that particular announcement will be made in relatively short order.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, the former Minister of Health and Community Services stated that it would take one-and-a-half to two years to complete the design work, in this House. Will the minister inform the people of the Corner Brook-Bay of Islands area the time frame his department has to have this work completed, and when this long-term care facility will start its construction phase as the Premier has committed before and during the election?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. OTTENHEIMER: Mr. Speaker, we are talking about two different concepts here. We are talking about site location and we are talking about design work, the actual planning, the actual architectural design work.

With respect to site location, as I just indicated, Mr. Speaker, that work is essentially close to completion and we will be able to make a position to the public, in particular to the residents of the Corner Brook area, in short order.

With respect to part two of the announcement yesterday, with respect to $2.7 million towards a new long-term care facility in Corner Brook, dealing with the actual detail design and architectural work, that too will be done in due course, and when that is completed, Mr. Speaker, the appropriate announcement will be made.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Twillingate & Fogo.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Minister of Education.

Mr. Speaker, in September of this coming year there will be 401 fewer teachers in the classrooms around this Province than there were just last June. It is obvious to everyone that this will mean larger classes, fewer courses, and more students being taught through Distance Education. In addition to this, the Minister of Finance announced yesterday that new courses in culture, music and art will be introduced into the curriculum in the coming year.

Can the minister explain to the parents and the teachers, especially those in rural areas of our Province, how our schools will be able to offer these new courses, when basically we cannot offer the curriculum that we currently have, with 401 fewer teachers than we had just a year ago?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Certainly, Mr. Speaker, in response to the question from the member opposite, we look at introducing new initiatives into the curriculum, and in order to introduce new initiatives to the curriculum we have to make sure that the resources are there. I assume that you refer to the cultural aspect that we are introducing, and we are adding twenty-three more teachers, we are making sure that the professional development is going to be there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, we are making sure that the resources, both in the textbooks and whatever, are going to be there as well. This is a strategy, Mr. Speaker, that we are looking at over three years.

I say to the member opposite, we are fully prepared to resource this initiative. It is going to be a successful initiative, and we are going forward on a three-year plan to make sure that the initiative is successful.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Twillingate & Fogo.

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe what I just heard the minister say. Talking about putting more resources, more teachers in the classrooms, when this year they took out 256 teachers and in the coming year they are going to take out 145. Mr. Speaker, I heard of voodoo economics. Obviously, the minister never taught math, I will guarantee you that.

Mr. Speaker, my question. The government of which I was a part invested more than $40 million a year, in the last five years we were in office, for school construction, maintenance and repair, yet the minister and his colleagues, when they sat over right here, said: it was not enough, $40 million a year was not enough. If this is the case, Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister how he intends to repair our ailing and aging schools by spending only half that amount, half I say to the minister, by spending only half what we spent in each of the five years that we were in government?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, the first thing I would say to the hon. member is that you have to be careful how you spend your money, because if you spend your money wisely you will take care of the needs. We have a plan in place, over the next three to five years, to deal with the mess that has been left to us from the members on the other side. We are prepared to move forward, and we are going to move forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is time but for one brief question. I remind the member, I will cut the clock at thirty seconds to allow time for response on the government side.

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, the Minister Responsible for Labrador Affairs or his Parliamentary Assistant.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday's Budget was a big disappointment for the people of Labrador, particularly the children, as government failed to provide funding for an auditorium in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. In both the Throne Speech and Budget Speech the government talked about promoting culture. Yet, in Goose Bay the local theatre groups are using abandoned hangars and the children have no facilities. Today the new Minister for Labrador, who brags about his deep Labrador roots, says he is going to get personally involved in the Mealy Mountains auditorium file -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's allotted time has expired. I ask the government for a response.

The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Our government is pleased of its commitment to investment in Labrador, and we are proud of our investment in culture in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: It was only about three hours ago, Mr. Speaker, I spoke with the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. He is prepared to go and sit down with the people involved there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, if they would like to hear an answer -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SULLIVAN: The minister is prepared to work with the people to look at alternatives in the area. We have been informed by people of Labrador and by leaders in Labrador, that their top priority was a long-term care facility and we fulfilled that commitment (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time for Question Period has expired.

MR. E. BYRNE: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: A point of order by the Government House Leader.

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I adhere to your former rulings that we should not rise on a point of order during Question Period, but initially, during Question Period today when the Leader of the Opposition was up asking questions to the Minister of Finance, he said two things, I believe, that were out of order. He talked about the Minister of Finance manufacturing and putting forward phoney numbers.

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is, he can say that government did it, he can say that government manufactured it, but he cannot impute any motives on an individual member in the House. I am just asking if the Leader of the Opposition would recognize that longstanding parliamentary tradition, withdraw his remarks, and we will move on without any ruling from yourself.

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

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would gladly take the advice of the Government House Leader and have the records show that my comments were that the government manufactured a phoney deficit when they had a surplus of $103 million.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair will take the point of order under advisement, check the Hansard record and then come back with a ruling.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

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

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant to section 49(2) of the Financial Administration Act, I wish to table the attached list of temporary loans raised under section 48 of the act since the last report to the House.

Further, pursuant to section 55.(3) of the Financial Administration Act, I wish to report that there have been no guaranteed loans paid out by the Province since the last annual report to the House.

In addition, and pursuant to section 55.1(2), I wish to report there has been no guaranteed debt of any Crown corporation or agency assumed by the Province since the last annual report to the House.

Pursuant to section -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Finance.

MR. SULLIVAN: The Member for Bellevue is being very disruptive. I cannot even hear myself speak.

Pursuant to section 26.(5) of the Financial Administration Act, I am tabling seven Orders-in-Council relating to funding pre-commitments for the 2005-2006 to 2007-2008 fiscal years.

MR. SPEAKER: Further tabling of documents?

Notices of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased today to present a petition on behalf of a group of pensioners in the Channel-Port aux Basques area. Most of them were former employees of Marine Atlantic.

The nature of the petition is the fact that they are asking the Premier to keep a commitment that he made to them during the election of 2003 - this group met with the Premier during the election - and it concerns a drug plan. There is an existing drug plan, of course, in the Province, for prescription drugs for seniors sixty-five years of age and over, registered with the Old Age Security Division of Health and Welfare Canada, and who are receiving a Guaranteed Income Supplement.

This group has been proposing for some time that, if not a plan, at least discussions would be entered into by government to see if it is feasible to have a plan whereby those who are over sixty-five but who are not receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement on a cost-shared basis could have a drug plan for themselves. That just does not affect people in that area of Southwestern Newfoundland; it indeed affects many people in this Province.

They have been promoting it for some time. The prior Administration had agreed to look into it.

There is an existing system such as that in the Maritimes of Canada right now, and the concern they have is not that they want a commitment that there be such a plan implemented; they want to hold the Premier to his commitment that he meet with them. He met with them in Port aux Basques during October, 2003. They have written to him several times since. He committed that himself and the Minister of Health would meet with them. They have written several times and that meeting has not taken place.

We would like to stress here that the petition, at this point, is not about saying there will or will not be a program. The petition, at this point, is petitioning the Premier to at least give the meeting that he said he would give back at that time so these people get an opportunity to voice their concerns. This is the first step, hopefully, in what will be a longer process, but they are quite willing, prepared and understanding that once the due diligence is done on the proposal it may or may not be feasible.

They are prepared to live with whatever the rational decision and outcome of those discussions are, but they at least ask this government to honour the commitment and have the meetings, do the due diligence, to see if this program is possible.

That is the only place they can go to move this forward. They are being very reasonable about this. They have waited since October, 2003. They have written several letters to request the meetings, and they have been put off. All they are asking here is for the Premier and his Minister of Health to keep their commitment, have the meeting, and do the due diligence on their proposal for a drug prescription plan for those persons older than sixty-five but not receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

We would ask again, on behalf of those people, if the Premier and his Minister of Health could keep that commitment and start that process, as was indicated that he would do.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to present a petition on behalf of residents from Brigus, Cupids, Marysvale, Port de Grave, Bay Roberts, Brians Cove and Upper Island Cove, with regard to the issue that was brought forward about the plant production quotas.

Mr. Speaker, it states very clearly - and we hear the minister referring to the Dunne report, but I do not think it is in the Dunne report to be put forward as we have been told. We know there is reasonable objection from harvesters and plant workers. These petitioners are humbly calling upon the House of Assembly to urge the government to only impose production quotas if it is agreed upon by the FFAW and the processors as recommended by the Dunne report.

Mr. Speaker, the minister stood in his place here on Wednesday, March 16, and held up three or four reports saying that this is the problem he had to deal with. There were $2 million worth of reports that were, I guess, put forward by the previous Administration - is the way he put it - and he said he had to deal with it.

I say to the minister, Mr. Speaker, no doubt those reports that he referenced were reports that were done by Mr. Les Dean as Chair, there was another one by Mr. David Vardy, another one by Mr. David Jones, and the last one, I guess, by Mr. Eric Dunne.

Mr. Speaker, I have to say to the minister, not once in any of those reports was it stated that you should take this - probably they recommended it in various ways, but not once did they say to any of them and say to this hon. House or to any minister that you should take this and ram it down their throats, because, Mr. Speaker, I stand very firm on that. I have listened to the fishermen and plant workers throughout my district, in my neighbouring district up in Harbour Main with the Minister of Education in attendance one day, and we listened to the concerns of the people and they had major concerns. I believe that the minister has to step back and really size up what is happening here. I mean, no doubt about it, Mr. Speaker, there are always concerns in the fishery but I believe that all parties, processors, harvesters and plant workers have to sit down together and consult with all of the stakeholders to see what is being done here.

Mr. Speaker, the harvesters really believe, and I agree with them, that their rights are being tampered with. They cannot understand why they cannot come in with their catches and be able to sell to whomever they wish to do so. I call upon the minister to, on behalf of the plant workers and harvesters - because the plant workers are really upset about this as well. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, back two or three years ago - I only have a short period of time, so I will close now because there is going to be lots of opportunities, Mr. Speaker, but I will say this: I ask the minister to sit down, reconsider, get all of the stakeholders at the table and see that this comes to a successful conclusion.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to present a petition on behalf of crab fishermen, actually in my own district, the District of Grand Bank but as well from the District of Burin-Placentia West.

They, as well, are calling on the government to hold off on the recommendation that the minister has talked about enforcing with respect to crab quotas. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I met with, along with my colleague from Twillingate & Fogo, we had a meeting on Friday in Marystown where a significant number of crab fishermen turned up to voice their objections to what the minister is proposing but to, as well, voice their disappointment and their outrage, I guess in some respects, that the minister has ignored their request. In fact, ignored an offer that he made initially to the FFAW, when he said that nothing would happen in this industry without the FFAW being consulted. We know, of course, that that did not take place.

I guess to say that they feel betrayed, deceived and ignored by this minister are some of the sentiments that were expressed at that meeting, but they also felt the same way about their MHA, about the Member for Burin-Placentia West, who, I understand, met with the group as well and agreed with their concerns and offered to take them back to the minister. Of course, they are concerned now because they have not heard anything from him since on that issue. In fact, they asked in the House when my colleague put forward the resolution or a private member's bill asking the minister to hold off on implementing his recommendation; they asked what the Member for Burin-Placentia West had to say about that and where he stood on the issue. All we can see, of course, was that he obviously supported the government in terms of where the minister is going with this recommendation.

It was sad to sit around and listen to those men, who are very independent, proud men who work for a living in the fishery; many of them are young, working with their fathers. What they are saying is, of course, if this goes through, if the minister continues on this path and indeed goes ahead with what he is proposing, that they will find themselves in a situation where they will have no choice but to leave Newfoundland and Labrador and move west and look for work in Alberta. You have one man saying he will have no choice and the other one saying that he is not going, no matter what, because he believes in rural Newfoundland and Labrador; that is where he wants to live, that is where he grew up. Unfortunately, what we are seeing from this Minister of Fisheries - they feel, and I feel, will be the end of rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

We all know how important the fishery is to the survival of our rural communities and, unfortunately, what we will see is the continuation of the out-migration that we have seen since this government came into office. When you are talking in excess of 2,000 people leaving the Province since this government took office, than I am afraid that is what is going to happen and we are going to see the numbers increase - there will be people from Harbour Breton and Fortune who, again - because they have ignored the recommendation by others, and you have FPI not being held accountable by this government or by this minister.

So, on behalf of the proud fishermen in my district of Burin-Placentia West, I present their petition.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions.

The hon. the Member for Twillingate & Fogo.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I, too, have a petition here today from fish harvesters and -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I, too, have a petition from fish harvesters and plant workers in the Harbour Main-Whitbourne District and the Placentia-St. Mary's District, and they as well pertain to production quotas that the Minister of Fisheries is talking about implementing during the current sitting of this House of Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, in the past week I have had calls from all over this Province. I have also attended meetings in Port de Grave.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I am asking the members who are engaging in exchanges across the floor of the House, either they will have to co-operate with the Speaker and refrain from chatting back and forth or they should take their discussions outside the Chamber itself.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Twillingate & Fogo.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the members opposite, that they are not listening to their constituents and they don't want to listen to what their constituents are asking me to present in the House of Assembly today. As I said, Mr. Speaker, in the past week I have had calls from all over this Province, from harvesters and plant workers, saying that what the minister is trying to implement in the House of Assembly, force down the throats of the harvesters and the plant workers in this Province, has to be stopped.

In the last week, I attended meetings on the Burin Peninsula, I attended a meeting in my own district, and I attended a meeting in the Port de Grave District. I have had calls from Trinity-Bay de Verde, I have had calls from the Minister of Tourism's District, I have had calls from the Bonavista Peninsula, and all over the Province. To a man and to a woman, what they are telling me is, this production quota scheme that the minister has concocted has to stop. The problem they have with it, Mr. Speaker, is that they feel they have been disenfranchised, they haven't been given the opportunity to have a say on this, that the minister is only listening to the wealthy processors in this Province, and he won't sit down and discuss the matter with members of the FFAW.

Mr. Speaker, they are concerned, they have grave concerns about this system. They feel this system that is being dictated to them is going to limit competition in the fishing industry, it is going to cause a cartel, it is going to drive down the prices offered to crab fishermen and fisherwomen around this Province, and at the end of the day fewer hours will be gained for employment in fish plants around the Province. There is also a very grave concern among fish plant workers around the Province that because the minister is talking about making these production quotas transferable they will, indeed, Mr. Speaker, in a very short period of time, find themselves without work and without a fish plant.

Mr. Speaker, what they are really and truly disappointed in is that the current Minister of Fisheries was one of them. He took great pride in standing on this side of the House talking about how he was a fisherman, that he was a member of the union, and, in fact, he boasted about working for the FFAW for ten years. Then, all of the sudden, once he crosses the floor to the government side and becomes Minister of Fisheries, they feel that he has betrayed them, Mr. Speaker, and that he is ramming this down their throats for the benefit of processors.

In closing, Mr. Speaker - because I will have an opportunity in the next few days to talk about this again - all I am asking this House to do is what these people say in their petition. I will just read it, it is a few short lines. What they are saying is:

Whereupon the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to only impose production quotas if it is agreed upon by the FFAW and the processors as recommended in the Dunne Report.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further Petitions? Orders of the day.

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

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Order 1, the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board to move that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on Supply to consider certain resolutions for the Granting of Interim Supply to Her Majesty. (Bill 2)

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that I do now leave the Chair for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on Bill 2, the Interim Supply motion.

Is it the pleasure of the House that I do now leave the Chair for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on said bill?

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

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

CHAIR (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I am pleased to participate today in the debate on Interim Supply; I know we started last week. Essentially, for those people who may be watching, Interim Supply really is part of the Budget Debate. It is part of the money that government - what we are asking for, essentially, is to - and every government before us and every government after us, I suppose, will have to bring in this sort of motion, because what it does, the fiscal year ends on March 31 and, with it, government's authority to spend money to continue programs and services, to pay our employees, also ends. That is why we bring a bill like Interim Supply to the House of Assembly, where, in each department, we ask for a certain amount of money so that, while the Budget Debate continues and before it gets passed, government has the ability to continue to deliver the services that it delivers to continue to pay for its employees.

Having said that, Mr. Chair, I would like to talk about a couple of initiatives in yesterday's Budget - I will have a chance this afternoon to debate a number of them - particularly as it pertains to the Department of Natural Resources.

Yesterday, we launched some pretty significant agricultural initiatives in the Province. Most people are aware that in 1985, for example, we imported close to 80 per cent, I think, or 85 per cent, of the milk that we drank in this Province, or bought in this Province, what was called reconstituted milk. In other words, it was milk and butterfat that was sent down - I remember growing up, for example, getting packages of Sunshine Dairy, where you would open up the package, put it into your stainless steel container, add water, and that was the milk we drank. That was if we were not in Harbour Grace, when we went up to a fellow's house by the name of Dick Doran and watched his two daughters, who were good friends of our family, scald the cream off it. We always went up the track to get some fresh milk. That is when it was really enjoyable.

Twenty years ago, I guess in 1984-1985, the Milk Marketing Board was established with one view in mind, and it was to grow the milk industry to a point where it could become self-sufficient. It has accomplished that. The dairy industry today employs about 1,000 people directly in its industry.

Yesterday, we put in place a very important fundamental piece of how that industry - not only the dairy industry, but the agricultural industry - would grow. Four years ago, under the stewardship of the Milk Marketing Board and in concert with the Department of Agriculture at the time, we were given, from the national quota system, access to an industrial milk quota. Essentially what that means is, there is no difference in industrial milk and milk that we drink, with the exception that industrial milk must be used, or the quota associated with that must be used, for industrial purposes.

We see today, for example, on the West Coast, two dairy farmers combine their operations, producing the type of Good Natured yogurt that is probably second to none; cannot keep it on the shelves of our grocery stores.

Part and parcel of getting that industrial milk quota, which was 32.5 million litres, I believe, or 31.5 million litres, and that may grow over time, part and parcel of the reason why we have that, or why that was given to us, is because Newfoundland and Labrador was the only Province in the country that was not part of the national milk supply system. There was a problem with that from the national perspective. The problem was this: If we were not part of it, or if we continued not to be part of it, then certainly from the free trade point of view and NAFTA regulations it opened up the rest of the country -

MR. HARRIS: (Inaudible) gave it to us.

MR. E. BYRNE: This is the point I am getting to. The Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi said it was the only reason they gave it to us, but it opened up the rest of the country had somebody from the States come in and opened up processing facilities, or somebody from Denmark or anywhere else. So, in order to get us into the national supply system, a significant quota was offered to the Province, and it is not to be understated how significant that is, 32 million or 31.5 million litres. That was about four years ago. That may grow. By the time the clock - because there is an expiry date by which time we must use it, and by the time that sort of expiry date hits it could be up, some are predicting, as much as 41 million to 43 million litres of industrial quota.

Now, what does it really mean for the Province? It means, for the agricultural sector, that it could double its size in less than seven years. It means that not only could there be secondary processing facilities like we see producing today in Stephenville, but it also means that there could be more value added and more secondary processing facilities in various parts of the Province. But, in order to accomplish that, in order to take advantage of that emerging opportunity, one fundamental piece of the puzzle was missing, and that was the access to an available land base; enough land that could accommodate the forage opportunities that are needed to make the industry, and in particular that industry, self-sustaining and self-sufficient so they could grow enough of what they need in forage production, whether it be in corn - some of the interesting research and development opportunities that are occurring in the Province, particularly on corn silage and others, that adds to the type of margins, significant margins required in terms of what the cow needs, which is really the cost of production, bringing down the cost of production, increasing our ability to become more self-sufficient. So, what we did in the Budget was this: We made the single biggest investment in land development and land purchase in Newfoundland and Labrador's history, since we became a Province.

Primarily, there has always been a Land Consolidation Program, but it has existed on the Northeast Avalon. There are probably nine agricultural development areas in the Province; they are known as ADAs. The only legislated one was on the Northeast Avalon. The program that we announced yesterday really collapses that regional program, and the program that we, through the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board, in his announcement yesterday, what we announced yesterday was a long-term strategy for the entire Province.

Now, many people have asked: Where will this land be purchased from? All over, actually, down around Codroy Valley, Jeffrey's, Cormack, Humber Valley, Wooddale, Whitbourne area, parts of the Northeast Avalon, and other areas as well where there are developing forage opportunities, as there are in Labrador, but I will speak to that in a few moments. So, part of the program deals with this: the outright purchase of land. That is land from private landowners that may be available for sale all over the Province. The second component of the program deals with the actual land development and being able to partner with federal government agencies and putting out the ability to clear land, which some costs, depending upon the type of land that you get, runs anywhere between $500 and $1,000 an acre.

Mr. Chair, it is important. It is an important program. It is important for the industry. It has the ability, if done correctly over time, that the industry itself could take advantage of all the emerging opportunities, private sector opportunities.

One dairy producer said yesterday in the lobby, to the Premier of the Province: We appreciate this. The Premier said: Well, we put it there for you. It is important we understand, fundamentally, what it is there for. The dairy producer responded this way, he said: Premier, I can tell you this honestly, that for every dollar that you invest, we will invest $5. That is what this program really is about because we were the only group - I guess government is the only one that could develop that land base. Now, how much land do we need? Approximately twenty thousand acres is required, 20,000 to 25,000 acres. Much of that is on Crown land which will not cost us in terms of the purchase of it but it will cost the program in terms of the clearing and development of it. But, of that 20,000 to 25,000 acres, Mr. Chair - and you would know. You represent an area yourself where there is a significant agricultural base. But of that 20,000 to 25,000 acres, there is about 7,000 acres in the Province right now today that is ready to go into production, that are in private hands, and that means we could purchase it today and put it into production tomorrow. There is no land clearing responsibilities or no land clearing really associated with the purchase of that land.

So, we are excited about the opportunity that program presents. Again, it is a five-year program, $3.5 million a year, that will allow the department and the division and the industry, because they will be part of the decision-making process on this and very much involved into the management of the means by which we attain that land, that - you know, this will provide, in our view, the fundamental building blocks that have been missing from the agricultural industry in Newfoundland and Labrador.

On top of that, Mr. Chair, we have agreed to, yet again, commit to the Agricultural Policy Framework Agreement. This year we will spend about $10.1 million on support for agricultural initiatives, environmental stewardship, land planning, land-base management and any other programs that support and enhance agricultural initiatives, whether it be in root crop production, whether it be in dairy, whether it be in broilers or chicken and eggs, whether it be in horticulture and a variety of everything else that supports and maintains an emerging industry in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Chair, we look forward to the next five years, specifically with this program. Many people may ask: Well, how will this be managed? How will the process of decisions occur as we move forward? Who will decide, for example, on what land will be purchased where? I think we need to understand, fundamentally, that the principle associated with this is trying to get the best value for the dollars that we are going to spend. In other words, trying to get as much land as we can for the money that we have until we meet our objectives.

Wherever you go in this Province there are so many competing land value sets. There is a notion - and it is true - that we live on an Island that has a significant land base. While that is true, not all of it or much of it is truly available. When you take off the charter leases owned by Abibiti -

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that his time has lapsed.

MR. E. BYRNE: By leave?

CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: By leave.

MR. E. BYRNE: When you take off the wilderness reserve areas, the charter leases owned by Abibiti in Corner Brook, areas that are set aside for - whether it be the Bay du Nord Wilderness Area, the Avalon Wilderness Area, other areas that have been set aside; the values and impacts on mining, on forestry, the amount of land base that is available, really, for this development is very small.

If you look at the encroachment of suburban Newfoundland and Labrador, the Humber Valley and the Humber Valley Resort, the competing value sets there of trying to develop the economy on one hand and agriculture on the other. Depending on where you live, Mr. Chair, and depending where the land is available will determine the price. For example, and I can give you great examples, an acre of ground on the Northeast Avalon is more expensive than an acre of ground per say than it would be in Cormack, or in Musgravetown or in Whitbourne or anywhere else for that matter. From our point of view, what is important is that we leverage this money to get the land base that we require, that we meet our objectives of that 20,000 to 25,000 acres so that we can put that into production.

The other principle that needs to be well understood, Mr. Chair, is this: that this is agriculture. Any land that we purchase through this program is land that will go into production and will be set aside in perpetuity for agricultural purposes, so that if we have a block of land, for example, that is 400 acres or 200 acres, or 1,000 acres, if a producer or someone within the business or within agriculture gets a lease on that ground then it is a lease only, and in fifteen years or twenty years from now, for example, if that individual or group of individuals move out of the agricultural business then that ground reverts to the Crown to be used yet again for agricultural purposes, so it is really, really important to understand that.

Finally - and I appreciate members letting me operate with leave to conclude my thoughts - I want to say a final point on this, on how this program will be managed. There is a Land Consolidation Program in place right now within government that involves officials from the Department of Natural Resources, through the division of Agrifoods. It also involves the Province's realtor, which is the Department of Transportation and Works, and an independent chairperson who is appointed by government. We plan to expand that committee to include industry representatives. They will meet on a regular and systematic basis.

The department has the plan in place - I want to emphasis that - which we will be announcing in due course, when we have done the final touches done on it, on where we plan to access and purchase that land. So, we have a plan in place. We have the dedicated program funds in place. We have the system in place that will allow for impartiality in decision-making, which is critical and important, that ensures that, where the land is available, that we access it, that it is put into production, that it remains in agricultural hands, that industry is involved in the decision-making, and we believe that over the next five years we can have a successful land development and purchase program that will benefit the industry, that will assist in doubling in its size, Mr. Chairman, and we are proud of that initiative that we launched yesterday.

With that, I will sit down and let other members participate in the debate.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

We just finished Question Period, I guess, about half an hour or so ago. I was asking some very serious questions of the Premier, and I did not realize it at the time, because I was quite involved with the questions, but as I sat down in my seat I noticed, and it became clear to me, that the cancer clinic is not a priority of this government.

There were three members opposite - the Member for St. George's-Stephenville East, the Minister of Human Resources and Employment; the Member for Burin-Placentia West; and the Member for Humber Valley - and the three of these Members of the House of Assembly thought that was quite funny. They had a great laugh while I was asking the serious question to the Premier of our Province as to why we did not have our cancer clinic in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Now, I do not see anything funny about that. I think that is quite serious. It is no laughing matter; it is nothing to laugh about.

I want to begin my ten minutes here today, and the first thing I am going to do is read a letter that was on my desk when I came into work this morning, and it was from the Mayor of the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor. It was addressed to Ray Hunter, the MHA for Windsor-Springdale.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that when she is referring to other members of the House that she refer to them only by the district that they represent and not by their names.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I apologize for that. I knew the difference, but I was just reading off the correspondence. I do apologize for that.

It was addressed to the Member for Windsor-Springdale, and it went on and said: We were greatly disappointed in yesterday's Budget. There were very few references to projects for the Central part of our Province. Have we been forgotten?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS THISTLE: I said I had it today. It was on my desk when I got in this morning.

AN HON. MEMBER: How did you get it?

MS THISTLE: It came in by fax.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS THISTLE: He sent me a copy.

The Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier is even disputing what I am reading. He does not want to hear any of the reasons why the cancer clinic has not been approved.

MS FOOTE: He is representing the area, too, Anna.

MS THISTLE: He is representing somebody, but he is certainly not representing the constituents of my area.

The correspondence goes on to say: The major project was ignored. I do not have to remind you that I am referring to the cancer unit. Please stand up for us. We need this unit. We are expecting you to fight for us now.

Did we hear anything from the Member for Windsor-Springdale on this cancer clinic? I saw a lot of desk thumping during the Budget, by the Member for Windsor-Springdale. He agreed with his government, that they had done the right thing in not approving the cancer clinic for Grand Falls-Windsor.

You know, I cannot understand, and neither can the people around this Province. It does not matter what political stripe you are; most people are fair-minded. They will look at a situation and they will draw their own conclusions: Has government done the right thing or the wrong thing on this issue? I think, for fair-minded people around this Province, they will say that government should have done the right thing on this matter.

I remember when the former board, the Central West Health Care Board, came to me as their Member in the House of Assembly, and also the Member for Exploits, and the Central members said: We recognize that there is a glaring need for cancer treatment in Grand Falls-Windsor. We encompass a large area from Baie Verte right to Lewisporte and the South Coast. We realize also that the facility that we have is inadequate, and we are doing our best to provide a good service but the time has come. We should improve these facilities for the people who use them.

They thought first they could look at a space in the hospital, improve it, make it larger and more comfortable. They searched for a space in the hospital and they could not. They decided, through the board and so on, that they would kill two birds with the one stone. We had been doing dialysis in Grand Falls-Windsor for about three years. Actually, we are up to our limit now. We cannot take any more new patients. We are just up to our maximum capacity. They looked at the labs that were scattered around the hospital and they said: Why don't we do this? Why don't we combine our labs all in one place, enlarge our dialysis facilities, because we have an aging population. We encompass about 75,000 people in the catchment area for Grand Falls-Windsor. So, they came to government and we recognized their need right away.

I can tell you, as the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans, there was no delay on my part and there was no delay on the part of government. We recognized that they needed this. They had a good presentation, too, with government, and we accepted it. We were serious. We announced it, and we provided the funding, but when this new government came into power they put the clamps on it. They took down the sign and decided not to go ahead with cancer treatment facilities in Grand Falls-Windsor.

We were always hopeful that, if the Province's financial position improved, this government would have a change of heart and look at the bigger picture, which is the needs of cancer patients in Grand Falls-Windsor, and they are coming from all over Central.

I bet there is not one member in this House of Assembly today who can stand and say that they have not had a brush with cancer in their immediate family or their close friends or close associates. I don't think there are any of us who could stand and make that statement. We all know that cancer affects each and every one of us.

This government had a chance to correct that wrong. They have had a surplus which they covered up. They decided to pay off The Rooms. Can you imagine! The ribbon has not been cut to open the door to The Rooms, but they decided, in their wisdom, they would like to pay off that mortgage before they even opened up The Rooms.

There was also some money in education investment for the construction of schools. All of these are long-term developments. They decided they would like to wipe the slate clean and eliminate that. They are $103 million in surplus, and this is what they decided to do. They decided to pay off their debt and let the people in Grand Falls-Windsor throw up in a bucket. That is what it amounts to.

I thought this Premier had a strong character and a lot of compassion for people. I thought this Premier would show the essence of good leadership in this serious issue. I really thought so. I remember when this Premier was in the thick of the Atlantic Accord, and even though I am a member of the Opposition, I phoned up to Open Line early in December and I gave him high praise for what he was doing. I complimented him and I told Randy Simms and the listening public I was 100 per cent behind the Premier. He did a fine job and we are glad that he negotiated a successful Atlantic Accord. That is one of the reasons we are in the good financial position we are in today.

We had more cash come through this Budget than we have ever seen. We would have loved to, when we were the government, have this kind of money to deal with. We didn't. We did have, when we were the government, concern for the people, so much so that we doubled our health care budget and that put us in the hole, as a government. We didn't have the money to address health care needs. We did not have that health accord from Ottawa at the time. We were willing to show a deficit on our books do that people wouldn't have to line up for cardiac surgery. We were willing to show a deficit on our books so we could provide dialysis in Grand Falls-Windsor. We were willing to expand that health care budget. All parts of the Province benefitted from health care money, which we did not have. We mortgaged our souls to look after people's health care needs. Of course, we were criticized widely for that. If I compare that to my own household, if I have one of my children who needs serious health care attention, I can tell you, I will not pay off my mortgage. I will mortgage that to the limit. I will do whatever I can to save the life of my child. We were criticized for that, for spending money we did not have.

Now, our Premier of this Province is in a different position. He has money to spend. He has $70 million from Ottawa for new health care spending. He has extra money in equalization. He has extra money in the Atlantic Accord and he has extra money for offshore oil revenues. There will be money flowing continuously for the next nine to ten years, fifty years maybe.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Grand Falls-Buchans that her time has expired.

MS THISTLE: Mr. Chairman, can I have a couple of minutes, please, on this important topic?

CHAIR: Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: Just to clue up, Mr. Chairman.

CHAIR: By leave.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

What I am trying to leave with the Premier and the people of this Province, the Premier calls the shots. He has the power to end this misery. He has the power to stop this human suffering and give people back their dignity. Why is he punishing the people in the cancer clinic receiving treatment in Grand Falls-Windsor? I do not understand it. If there was a money issue, I would understand it. If there was some other issue unknown to me I would understand it, but I do not hear anybody from the government side standing up and saying and speaking with any kind of compassion for those cancer patients and saying: yes, we made a mistake. We can find the money, the money is there. Why would he instruct his Minister of Health, after the Budget, to go to Grand Falls-Windsor and look at the cancer clinic? I mean if they were doing their jobs, if the Member for Windsor-Springdale was doing his job, if the Member for Lewisporte, if the Member for Baie Verte was -

CHAIR: Order, please!

I say to the hon. Member for Grand Falls-Buchans that her leave has been withdrawn.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. J. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to rise today and say a few words on the Budget and Interim Supply for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Chair, we brought down a Budget in this House of Assembly that, since I have been here, in the twelve years that I have been here - I have not seen a Budget that has been so positive as the Budget that we brought down in this House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. J. BYRNE: It seems to me that the crowd on the other side are doing their best to try and find some negativity within the Budget. The good news must hurt those people on other side of the House of Assembly. I can say this with a straight face, no problem at all, I say to the Member for Port de Grave; definitely.

The money that we are putting into this Province into health care and education - after the fifteen years of mismanagement by the crowd on the other side of the House of Assembly, and they have the gall to get up and try to pick apart a budget on this side that we brought forward; a positive budget. That crowd never brought down anything close to it in the previous years.

I remember sitting on that side of the House of Assembly in Opposition when the former, former, former Premier, Clyde Wells, brought down a Budget and we saw 2,000 people go out the door, leading up to Christmas, in the fall just before Christmas, 2000 layoffs. They try to make a big deal about us on this side of the House cutting back -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. J. BYRNE: The other side are getting very excited and getting very exercised when the truth comes out. They do not want to hear the truth, Mr. Chair.

This government, on this side of the House of Assembly, brought down a Budget last year that some thought was difficult, but nothing near what the former Administration did when I was sitting on that side of the House of Assembly. As I said, 2,000 people going out the door. Layoffs. Not jobs gone through attrition, but layoffs. I saw a husband and wife get their notice the same day from that crowd on that side of the House of Assembly when they were on this side.

MR. REID: You did it last year.

MR. J. BYRNE: The former Minister of Education says we did it last year. Absolutely not true! That is the problem with that side, they are so misleading, Mr. Chair. What happened last year was we said we would cut back. Again, through attrition, which we did. The number of jobs was nowhere near 2,000, nowhere 1,000, nowhere near 500 positions that went out the door. Not like on that side of the house, Mr. Chair.

Anyway, I want to say a few words on the Budget. We saw the former speaker just get up and make all kinds of wild accusations about people on this side of the House of Assembly. So far from the truth. We have the Member for Windsor-Springdale making the case for his constituents all the time. Not like people on that side of the House, he is at it all the time; making (inaudible) case.

The Premier was on his feet today, Mr. Chair, saying that the Minister of Health was going to be in the area and talk to the people out there and have a look.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. J. BYRNE: What do they want, I say, on that side of the House of Assembly? Do you want the world overnight? We had fifteen years of mismanagement to deal with, and we are doing a good job. We saw the deficit cut back almost 50 per cent in one year. In one year we have done it, 50 per cent of the deficit that crowd created in fifteen years.

Good news hurts. They are afraid of the good news. They are afraid of what we might accomplish on this side of the House of Assembly, Mr. Chair. That is their problem. We will continue on.

We have the Minister of Finance - I don't suppose there was ever a Minister of Finance like him before in history, since we joined Confederation, with the ability that this man has to bring the Budget down by 50 per cent; $400 million in one year, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. J. BYRNE: How can they complain? They should be on their feet over there applauding the government on this side of the House of Assembly. They should be on their feet applauding; but no, any negativity they can find, or create fearmongering.

We had the Leader of the Opposition on Open Line this morning talking about the Municipal Financing Corporation, and how the municipalities, in the future, will not be able to borrow money through the private banks. How idiotic is that, Mr. Chair? When he knows full well, and the former Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs knows, that bunch on that side of the House started to decrease the amount of money borrowed by the municipalities through the Municipal Financing Corporation three or four years ago. That side of the House, when they were on this side, started that, Mr. Chair, and we had him on this morning saying they could not borrow.

I will tell you some facts, Mr. Chair. Did you know that in the past three or four years there have been 1,051 projects through the municipalities for capital works for water and sewer, road building and what have you, 1,051? Do you how many of those projects were financed through the Municipal Financing Corporations and not the private banks, through the municipalities? Ten, less than 1 per cent. We had the Leader of the Opposition this morning, on Open Line, fearmongering, saying that the municipalities will not be able to access funding through the private banks.

Mr. Chair, if that is not misleading I do not know what is. He was the Premier of the Province when this was started. There you go, Mr. Chair, say one thing, do another. Try to throw the fear out there and mislead the municipalities, mislead the public, which he is very, very good at, misleading the public.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. J. BYRNE: Yes, I say to the Member for Exploits.

Mr. Chair, you know, it is all well and good for the members on the other side to get up. When we were on that side of the House, we know - I know, being the critic for various departments over the years - they have a job to do, but there comes a point in time when they have to be up and give credit where credit is due. They seem to have a problem with that. They seem to have a problem giving credit where credit is due. They should be there, Mr. Chair, and give credit to the Premier of the Province for going to Ottawa and bringing back $2 billion. Two billion dollars.

I remember last fall when the Leader of the Opposition was on the Open Line shows, in the media, saying $1.4 billion, the Premier misjudged this, he does not know how to negotiate; he should take the $1.4 billion and -

MR. E. BYRNE: He bungled it.

MR. J. BYRNE: He bungled it, and he should take the $1.4 billion.

Well, if the Premier of the Province bungled the Atlantic Accord, I hope he bungles everything in the future.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. J. BYRNE: If you accept their line of thought, the way they think, wouldn't you think?

MR. E. BYRNE: Yes.

MR. J. BYRNE: Mr. Chair, again, as I said, they should give credit where credit is due, credit to the Premier for bringing back $2 billion. He is up there now, and we are going to be looking at the Lower Churchill. We will be negotiating that, and I do not think and I cannot think of anyone more capable and better equipped to do it than the Premier has done, and he has shown it.

We had the Minister of Finance, when he was in Ottawa with the Premier by his side, doing the number crunching, working well side by side with the Premier, and they brought back $2 billion, which the people of this Province will see the benefits from in the not-too-distant future. We are going to utilize that money, and we saw a sample of it this time around in the Budget. We will strategically utilize that $2 billion, and the people of the Province will see that.

For some reason or other, Mr. Chair, the members on the other side of the House do not want to see it. As I said, I have been over there. I can understand, to a certain extent, wanting to point out certain things or certain negativity, I suppose, if they can find it, which they will do their best to find. I have been on that side. I stood up over there and I complimented ministers on this side of the House when the time was right, when we should do it.

MS THISTLE: Why didn't you lobby the Premier to have the cancer clinic?

MR. J. BYRNE: The Member for Grand Falls is throwing out questions, why didn't I do this, why didn't I do that? We are here on this side of the House of Assembly, in government today, trying to correct the mistakes that you guys made. We might be able to do a bit more if we did not have to pay the debt that you guys created in fifteen years of mismanagement. We saw it. We saw you giving out contracts left, right and centre. We saw a headline in the paper last week, in Labrador, the ferry system up there, where you awarded the contract, and half an hour after what did you do? Sent a letter out and tried to cancel it, and you got sued, the government got sued, and we are going to be paying out -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. J. BYRNE: Pardon?

AN HON. MEMBER: The people of the Province (inaudible).

MR. J. BYRNE: The people of the Province are going to have to pay it out, pay it off, and we are going to be left holding the bag on that one. Just another example, Mr. Chair, of what has gone on in the past. We are here trying to change that, trying to correct that problem that was created by the previous Administration.

AN HON. MEMBER: What about the Hull 100?

MR. J. BYRNE: Pardon?

AN HON. MEMBER: What about the Hull 100?

MR. J. BYRNE: Oh, don't get me going on the Hull 100. We are still at that. I remember being on that side of the House, again, when the Hull 100 was brought over. I think, from memory now, we are talking about eight or nine years ago, and she is still not in the system. We are still trying to get her in the system, and we paid $350,000.

I think what happened on the Hull 100 is that they went over to Estonia and bought this vessel, and do you know what I think happened, Mr. Chair? I think they paid for the wrong vessel. When they got the one brought over here - people, at the time, tried to convince them to buy her sistership for parts. I think what we ended up with was the sistership, that they tried to talk us into buying for parts. That is what went on, and we have people on that side of the House criticizing us on this side.

To tell you the truth, if I was on this side of the House for fifteen years and I was put in the Opposition after fifteen years and created the mess that crowd created, do you know what I would have done? I would have kept on going out the door. I would not be able to rise on that side of the House and ask a question with respect to health care, education, roads, ferries and the likes in the Province. I do not understand where they come from sometimes.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) Hull 100.

MR. J. BYRNE: I just talked about the Hull 100, and others.

Anyway, Mr. Chair, there is going to be lots of time to talk about -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs that his time has expired.

MR. J. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will certainly have lots of opportunities to get back again.

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I want to rise to speak on the Budget, and I want to clarify a few things that were just said.

I know, when the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans was up, she was denied leave speaking about the cancer clinic in her area, which is sad, when she is speaking on such a thing dear to her heart. The Member for Cape St. Francis got up and said the Member for Windsor-Springdale is doing his job. He informed us all, he let us all know, he is fighting for it.

The Premier was just outside the House of Assembly and told the media it is the first he heard about it. So, which one is not telling the truth? Which one? The Premier was just out to the media and said: The first I heard about the Grand Falls cancer clinic was the last couple of days.

Is the member doing his job? Is the Member for Cape St. Francis hiding the member? It is a shame. It is a shame, cutting off leave while speaking on such a dear issue to the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor, to her heart. It is shame, I say.

I say to the members opposite, look at the Premier during the election when he stood in the foyer at the hospital in Grand Falls, when he stood up and said it has to be done in Grand Falls. Look at CBC, look at the television, the first time he heard of it. The Member for Windsor-Springdale should be out there with him and tell him, either you did bring it to his attention or you never, and stand with the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans and fight for the cancer clinic. That is what you should do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Chairman, I will get back to normal, because that is kind of frustrating when you are cutting off on such a dear issue.

If you want to talk about contracts, I say to the Member for Cape St. Francis, let's talk about the VON contract. Let's ask the Member for Topsail why she is in the backbenches. Do you know why, Mr. Speaker? To give her credit -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please! Order, please!

The Chair is having great difficulty hearing the Member for Bay of Islands. The Member for Bay of Islands is recognized. Every member can have an equal opportunity to stand and be recognized for ten minutes. I ask now for people to listen to the words of wisdom from the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I always knew you were a smart fellow.

The Member for Topsail, ask her why she is in the backbenches. To give her credit, she is no sheep, she stood up when the Premier wanted to give some kind of money out there so he could get offered a golf tournament, so he didn't have to bother anybody, didn't want protesters.

I ask the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board: Show me where that proposal was put out to tender. Show me where the proposal was done. Present it. Present it right here. It is just not done. The Premier is above everyone over there. No one over there is allowed to ask him.

How about the $200,000 that was just used on an ad to make us all feel good? No tender. The Premier will proudly admit: I did that. Why didn't the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board stand up then and say, no, we are not allowed to do that, we fought against that? Ask the former Auditor General, the Member for Topsail: What would you say about that?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. JOYCE: You are right, it is disgraceful. It is disgraceful. We are still going out with $200,000 and no tender: No need for proposals, I am the Premier. If you want to talk about it - I know the sheep are not allowed to talk about him, and that is fine, but the people on this side are allowed.

Mr. Speaker, let's talk about the Budget, let's talk about the Atlantic Accord. The Premier said to the Prime Minister of Canada: A commitment should be kept or he should resign. Let's look out on the West Coast, the long-term care facility. The Premier said on at least five occasions publicly, that it will be built in his four year mandate. He gave everybody the impression that the money was going to be put in the Budget the day after he became Premier. He gave his personal commitment that it would be built in four years. He gave his personal commitment that it would be built.

Mr. Chair, now we find out today that there is money for the design. The former Minister of Health and Community Services stood in this House and said it was going to take a year-and-a-half to two years just to do the design - just the design work. I see her nodding her head and that is what you said. It may take shorter, it may take longer, but that is the estimated time, a year-and-a-half to two years just to do the design work.

So, here we are now, a year-and-a-half into the mandate, seventeen months, another two years, which is three-and-a-half years, and then it is going to depend upon if funds are available at the time to go ahead and say something, if we are going to put the money in there. So, the Premier is going to stand up to the Prime Minister of Canada and say: If you don't keep your commitment, you should resign. It is always nice to be out on the West Coast because you get a different view. You get a different view.

MR. DENINE: (Inaudible).

MR. JOYCE: I say to the Member for Mount Pearl, go out and tell the thirty-three residents who are waiting to get into the long-term care facility - go out and laugh at them, I say to you. No quality - I challenge you to go out there. I challenge you, the Member for Mount Pearl, I challenge you. The thirty-three people out there now in acute care beds waiting to get in. If you want to go laughing, you get out and laugh. Do not say that there is no quality out there because there is quality out there. It is just that the Premier made a commitment during the election and when the Premier made a commitment during the election -

MR. DENINE: On a point of order, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl, on a point of order.

MR. DENINE: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands picked me out as laughing at a statement that he made. It was totally incorrect. The member knows exactly that I had no intention to direct my comments to what he was saying. When he was saying that I was laughing at a serious point in this House, to me, is insulting, and I think the member should apologize to me and to this House because I was not even addressing that member on that issue.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: I did not think there should be a point of order, Mr. Chair, because if he wants to laugh at the residents out there, you go ahead and laugh at them. Do not do it to me because I will not take it. I will not take it.

Mr. Chairman, the long-term care facility out there is a need that we just got to have. If the Premier came out this year, in this year's Budget, and said: Yes, we have the funding approved for the long-term care facility; I would be the first one to stand up and say I am proud, but to have the people in Western Newfoundland, Corner Brook and Bay of Islands to be led along once again this year - I will just read what Israel Hann, the Chairman of the Committee said. Israel Hann, Mr. Chairman, has been fighting for this facility for a number of years. We were going to go with the three p's and we were criticized. Oh, you can't get it built. It is going to cost too much money. The Premier waltzed into the Committee and said: We will have it done in four years. You have my personal commitment. Here is what Israel Hann said today, Mr. Chairman: The Budget commitment to the proposed long-term care facility in Corner Brook is woefully inadequate. You can't build a facility for 200 to 270 people in a year-and-a-half or so, said Mr. Hann.

Where is the Premier going to be, Danny Williams' mandate, at the end of his term, to have the facility built. He said: Nobody knows what is going on, other than that $2.7 million will be spent. I was expecting between $5 million and $10 million to be paid - the groundwork and have water and sewer put in place this year.

I spoke to Mr. Hann personally this morning when I seen his comments. He informed me, and he said I can say it publicly, that he was informed by the staff at the Premier's office, the staff at the Member for Humber East's office, that the design work has been done, that the construction will start this year. Now, we find out, we get it confirmed today from the Minister of Health and Community Services, Mr. Chairman, that the design work is not done. The only work that is done is site evaluation, to pick a site; which, by the way, the Premier and the Minister of Justice promised to have done by the end of February, which is still not done. The Minister of Health and Community Services today, confirmed in this House, that the design work is not completed. All the concerns of Mr. Hann and the long-term care facility group are being realized today that it is going to take another year, year and-a-half to two years, to have the design work done before any work, any tentative project can even go out.

We are looking, Mr. Chairman, at least four to five years before the ground is broken on a facility that the Premier committed to. He personally committed to have it done in his four-year mandate and he knew at the time that it could not be done. It was virtually impossible to be done unless he put the funds in the day after the election, and he refused to do it, Mr. Chairman. The long-term care facility group, as I was speaking to Mr. Hann today, feel that they were let down. They feel that they were misled. They feel that they have no idea what the government is doing with this facility and these funds.

I say, Mr. Chairman, these ten minutes have been very enlightening. I say to the Member for Windsor-Springdale, you should get together with the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans and let the Premier know about the condition out in Grand Falls with the cancer clinic because he is telling the media that he does not know.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Topsail.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS E. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I take great pleasure in rising and speaking in support of Bill 2, which is Interim Supply for the government. The government, of course, needs Interim Supply. It is about three months worth of expenditures that has to be approved by the House of Assembly and it is going to be approved before the Budget is approved. The government needs to continue operating for the next three months, so that is what this bill is intended to do. It would be the intent of the House to pass the Budget later on during this fiscal year.

While I am standing, Mr. Chairman, there are a couple of matters regarding the Budget that I would like to speak to while I am on my feet. I would like to talk specifically about some issues in the Department of Education and also some items that were approved for the Department of Health.

In the area of education, I would like to commend the government and my colleague, the Minister of Education, on the redeployment of additional teachers for the Department of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS E. MARSHALL: As a former teacher, Mr. Chair, in the early 1970s I taught Grade 4. My class size was usually around twenty students or twenty-one students. Unfortunately, over the last decade the class sizes have grown significantly. I think that any teacher now who would be faced with a class size of twenty or twenty-one students would be absolutely thrilled. Unfortunately, that is not the case, but I think that is the direction we should be going in because it is very, very difficult for students to learn in a class size of thirty-five or forty students. That is just not a reasonable class size. So, I think that it should be our objective to get those class sizes down, especially in the lower grades.

One of the other things I would like to mention is the additional funding that is put into capital infrastructure for the schools. I think we have all learned, both on this side of the House and on the other side of the House, that deferred maintenance over the years has not really worked. Over the past number of years, in order to save money, we deferred maintenance on our roads, on our buildings, on our schools, on our ferries, in a number of areas, and now, at this point in time, we are left with a lot of infrastructure that has been run down. So, I would like to commend the minister on the additional funding that has been put into capital infrastructure in the schools.

Another area I would like to compliment the minister on is the additional money that is being put into physical education, in the amount of $1 million. I have always found that an interesting area because I do not think we need studies to tell us that the children of today are getting big. They say that there are more obese children now in the school system than ever before. Of course, along with that comes a lot of medical problems - diabetes, heart disease, things of that nature - so it is very important that our children be more physically active so that can live a better quality of life in the future and not be faced with many health problems.

One thing we should acknowledge, we cannot leave it just to the government or the Department of Education or the Department of Health to make sure that our children are in good physical shape and that they are not obese. I think it is the responsibility of not only the schools and the government, but it is also the responsibility of the parents and of the community, that children are physically fit. I think we should all acknowledge that, while this $1 million will be a significant help in addressing the problem of obesity in our school system, I think it is incumbent on all of us to put forward an effort to deal with this problem.

The last thing I would like to mention in the area of the Department of Education is the White Paper on Public Post-Secondary Education. That has been ongoing now for the last several months and, as a mother of three children in university, I am looking forward to seeing that paper once it is released.

In the area of health there are several areas there that I would like to address, because these were areas that were of interest to me when I was in my former role, so I would like to compliment the minister on several areas where additional funding has been put in place.

The first area is the drug plan. Over the last couple of years, I have met with a lot of people who are paying a lot of money for drugs, people who do not meet the criteria and are entitled to funding under the drug plans. Compared to other jurisdictions, we are recognized as being a poorer Province and, as a result, our drug plan has not kept pace with the drug plans in other jurisdictions, but we are making an effort. I was very, very pleased to see that there is an additional $10 million put into the provincial drug plan for twenty-five new drugs. While I will be the first to admit that we still have a ways to go, I was very excited to see that some of the drugs and some of the treatments that people did want covered will now be covered by the provincial government.

The second area that I would like to talk about is public health. When I became part of the government, one of the things that I was really surprised with was the erosion of public health over the last number of years. Back in the 1980s, public health had a very high profile in the department and also within the Province, and that has been eroded over the last number of years, so I was very, very pleased that there was an additional $6 million put into public health for the people of this Province. Two of the areas I was particularly interested in was money going towards the development of the wellness strategy and also towards disease surveillance, and I do not think I would meet anybody who would disagree with money being put into those areas.

The third area that I would like to talk about is money being put into general health care, and that would be in the area of equipment; for example: CT scanners; another MRI; the increase in our diagnostic capacity in the Province; increase in the number of surgeries we can do; additional funding for cancer treatment - because we all know people who have dealt with cancer, which is a dreaded disease - additional funding being put into dialysis. I think many people recognize that dialysis, which is often the result of people who have diabetes, is almost at epidemic proportions now in the Province and we do have a big challenge ahead of us, and it is very important that people who require dialysis can receive that treatment in or near their home communities, so I was very pleased to see that we are moving in that direction. Of course, there is increased funding for mammography and, as a woman, I was very pleased to see that.

Another area I would like to talk about is the additional funding that is going into mental health and addictions. I think many of us here today recognize that years ago, if you had a mental illness, it was something that you were ashamed of; you hid it away. If you had a family member who was suffering from a mental illness, you did not want anybody to know and, as a result, it was clothed in a shroud of secrecy. Over the last couple of years, we now recognize that good mental health is very important and, as a result, the government last year put $1 million into mental health services and this year there is another $1 million for mental health services, and I was very, very pleased to see that. Again, additional funding will be needed in the future but I think that is a good contribution.

I was also glad to see there is almost $2 million put in for the recommendations of the OxyContin Task Force. I think we all recognize that there is an issue with regard to addictions, and there is also funding put in for assistance for gambling addictions.

Also, last year I had the opportunity to visit the Captain William Jackman hospital in Labrador City, and I would be the first one to acknowledge that there needs to be work done on that hospital, so I was very pleased to see that money has been approved to do a study to determine what needs to be done in Labrador City.

I was also pleased to see that there are additional social workers provided for Labrador. There were additional social workers approved for last year and, of course, the trend is continuing where more social workers are provided, especially in the Aboriginal communities.

Another area I would like to talk about is personal care homes and community care homes. They are a very, very important segment of our seniors population. I have had the opportunity to visit quite a few personal care and community care homes, and these homes provide an excellent service to the residents of the Province, from a government perspective, at a very reasonable price.

During the past year the government did approve funding for sprinkler systems for homes that needed sprinkler systems, and the Budget has announced now that there will be a review of the rate structure, and I was very, very pleased to see that. I know several home operators and, given the current rate structure, many of these homes are having a problem making ends meet. Given the level of funding that is provided to those homes now, I agree that the rate structure definitely does need to be reviewed and an increase given.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS E. MARSHALL: Another area I would like to touch on is government's commitment to a vessel replacement strategy. This has been something I have been talking about for the last number of years, that the government has several marine vessels, and there really has not been either vessel replaced in the last several years. The refits of these vessels, and the maintenance, has been happening on an ad hoc basis.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Topsail that her time has expired.

MS E. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

May I have leave?

CHAIR: Does the member have leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Yes.

CHAIR: By leave.

MS E. MARSHALL: The last comment I would like to make, Mr. Chairman, is the progress that this government is making on addressing the fiscal problems of this Province. When we took over last year we had a $1 billion deficit, and for the 2005-2006 fiscal year we are projecting a deficit of less than half that, just under $500 million.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Twillingate & Fogo.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to say a few words on the bill that is before the House, Interim Supply.

Before I start, I would like to comment on something that my colleague, the Member for Topsail, just said in congratulating the government on what a great Budget they presented yesterday. I have a great deal of respect for my Colleague from Topsail, having been the former Minister of Health and the former Auditor General for the Province. One thing that she said led me to question, I guess, the prerequisite that you need to become Auditor General in the Province, and that was her math, her ability to do math. She suffers from the same problem, I think, that the Minister of Education has.

What she said is that she congratulated the government on putting more teachers into the classrooms of this Province this year. It was announced in the Budget yesterday that this government would be putting more teachers into the classrooms of this Province this year. She nods her head and says that is correct. Well, I would like the former Auditor General to explain to me, what kind of math she used to arrive at that conclusion, because last year this same government, in this current school year, took 256 teachers out of the classrooms around this Province. This year, announced yesterday in the Budget, they took out 145. They have taken out - these are minuses, I say to the Auditor General. If you add together a negative 256 plus a negative 145, it gives you a negative 401, not a positive fifty-three, I say to the member opposite. Mr. Chairman, I always thought that to be the Auditor General of the Province you had to be good in math, so there is still hope for me.

Mr. Chairman, what I want to talk about today is the Budget of yesterday. As we all know, last June the Prime Minister of the country made a commitment to our Premier, that we would receive 100 per cent of the royalties and the benefits from our offshore. Every soul in the Province who I am aware of, from last June up until very recently when we signed that deal, supported the Premier. I know that I did and I know that the people on this side of the House did, including the NDP. People from rural areas of the Province, people from urban areas of the Province, supported the Premier on that stand, because we thought that we deserved what he fought for, and we also thought that we would all share in the benefits that he would derive from such a deal.

Mr. Chairman, I am quite certain that yesterday the people from every town, every cove and every harbour around Newfoundland and Labrador who listened to the Minister of Finance present his Budget, thought for sure that because we supported the Premier and they supported the Premier that they would receive something in the Budget for them. Mr. Chairman, they were sadly mistaken yesterday, because the only people I can see who received something in this Budget are those who live in the larger urban areas of the Province, especially in Corner Book and St. John's. Not that I have anything against the people from St. John's or Corner Brook, they deserve what they got, but what I found wanting in this Budget was any mention of the small rural areas of this Province.

Mr. Chairman, I say that yesterday in reviewing this Budget, or listening to the presentation made by the Minister of Finance, the people from the Northern Peninsula, the people from the Northeast Coast, the people from Bonavista North, the people from Bonavista South, the people from the Burin Peninsula and the people from the South Coast of our Province must have all been left with the question in their minds: Why didn't he mention anything for our area of the Province? Because for the areas that I just mentioned, I never heard a thing.

Today, in the short time that I have, the seven or eight minutes that I have left, I am only going to talk about health. I will get around to the other issues that came out in the Budget yesterday, but I will talk about health today.

I know for a fact, that the people of Fogo Island - like my colleague from Topsail knows full-well about - were waiting yesterday to hear mention of the fact that the ten beds in a brand new facility that the Liberal government built on that island were going to open. Ten beds, I might add, that my colleague from Topsail never opened. We built a facility for twenty beds on Fogo Island - and she nods in agreement. Twenty beds, a brand new facility; ten acute care, ten chronic care beds because the needs were there, identified by officials in the Department of Health. That is the reason that facility was built there and that is the reason they had that number of beds.

The Premier in his quest to become the Premier, when he visited Fogo Island prior to and during the election, gave the commitment that if he were elected that hospital would open. What did we see? As soon as they formed a government, what did we see? Only ten of the twenty beds opened in that facility, and today on Fogo Island we have elderly people showing up at the hospital in the middle of the night and told that they either sleep in the hallways or they go home. They go back to their houses because they have no beds to put them in. Mr. Chairman, that is unconscionable. This is a government without a conscience to be able to do that. They listened attentively yesterday with this newfound money that the Premier talks about and pats himself on the back for obtaining. They hoped yesterday that he would see the light and honour the commitment that he made to the people of Fogo Island and open the ten beds that are so badly needed.

Mr. Chairman, the people in Grand Bank yesterday, as well as the people of Fogo Island, listened attentively to see what was going to be mentioned in health care for their town. The Town of Grand Bank where the Premier is on record, on tape in Grand Bank with the media as saying: Elect me and I will open your facility. Mr. Chairman, the only reason that the steel has not been removed from the building after the Premier was elected and said he is not doing it, the only reason the steel exists today is the people of Grand Bank will not allow a contractor to come in and take it down. Yesterday they listened but heard nothing.

The people of the Burin Peninsula who have been raising money and trying to raise money through the Lions Club, the Kinsmen Club and every other organization down there over the years to buy a CAT scan for the hospital, thought yesterday when they listened to the Budget that they were going to get a few dollars from the government, now that they have their newfound wealth, to buy that CAT scan. No mention of it in the Budget yesterday, and today we hear the Minister of Health saying: they don't need it. That should not be a priority for them. They should ask for something else.

Mr. Chairman, the people of the Northern Peninsula listened quietly yesterday, not to hear what they were going to get in health but to hear, hopefully - they were not looking for something extra in health. All they wanted to do was to hold on to what they had. They were hoping yesterday that the Minister of Finance would stand in this House and say to the people of the Northern Peninsula: We will not follow the recommendations in the recently released Hay report where they are talking about gutting the health care facilities on the Northern Peninsula and in Southern Labrador. All they wanted to hear yesterday - they were not looking for more money, they were not looking for more services, all they wanted was to hear that the services that they had they would keep.

Mr. Chairman, the people in Stephenville were listening for some sign that this government, with its newfound wealth, were not going to gut the brand new facility that the Liberal government built for them; not the sound. The people down in Port aux Basques listened likewise. What did they hear? Not the sound, Mr. Chairman.

All morning I sat in my office and received calls from people around my district, one of the more rural ones in this Province. Two of the Islands, of the four Islands I represent, are connected by a ferry. I had calls from them all this morning, saying: Gerry, what is this? Is this just a St. John's Budget? What about the rest of us? Not the mention of anything for our district.

Mr. Chairman, I say it was not just the people in my district who felt that way this morning, it was people from every single, rural district in this Province who must have sat back last night and wondered: What have we done to be neglected, to be forgotten, in a Budget that - if they did not go out and pay down debt on The Rooms, a museum here in St. John's, two or three days before the Budget came down so that they could show a deficit in this year's Budget; went down and paid off The Rooms, a museum in St. John's that cost $45 million and they have it paid for before they turn the key to open the door.

Mr. Chairman, even though I would like to see the hospital on Fogo Island open the ten beds that were closed by the Tories, even though I know the people of Grand Bank deserve a hospital, I think the greatest injustice yesterday was done to the people of Central Newfoundland who go to a cancer clinic in Grand Falls-Windsor. I cannot blame my hon. colleague from Grand Falls-Windsor for being angry today.

MR. GRIMES: Grand Falls-Buchans.

MR. REID: Grand Falls-Buchans; I cannot blame her for being angry today when listening to the Premier talking about: We are going to go out now and study the need for a hospital or a cancer clinic in Grand Falls-Windsor. We are going to go out and talk to the people to see if it is required and who knows, we might build one.

MADAM CHAIR (Osborne): Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that his time is up.

MR. REID: This same Premier stood in Grand Falls a year and-a-half ago and promised: Elect me, and I will build this clinic!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. REID: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I will have an opportunity again today and tomorrow and the day after that to finish my speech, and I will, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Humber Valley.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS GOUDIE: Thank you, Madam Chair.

It is a pleasure for me to stand here today to speak on the Budget that was delivered by the hon. Minister of Finance yesterday. As a former front line health care provider for thirteen years, I have to commend him for bringing forward such a positive Budget.

Before I comment on the Budget, I would just like to respond to comments that were made by the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans earlier. She commented that the Member for Humber Valley, myself, was here laughing while she was speaking. Actually, she was sitting in her chair when I was laughing, and I certainly was not laughing at what she was saying. As a front line health care provider for thirteen years, I take the situation with the Grand Falls Cancer Clinic very seriously, considering that I have family members who live in Grand Falls-Windsor and who have used the services of the cancer clinic in Grand Falls-Windsor. However, what I was laughing at, Madam Chair, were the theatrics that were going on on the other side of the House earlier today. It was not when she was speaking, it was when she was plopping down in her chair and smiling herself.

As a front line health care provider, I certainly take that issue with the cancer clinic very seriously. However, Madam Chair, as an MHA and as the Member for Humber Valley, I say to the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor, why don't you be a part of the solution? They did not get the cancer clinic last year, and I did not see the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor come forward with any solutions and look at any other options.

MR. GRIMES: On a point of order, Madam Chair.

MADAM CHAIR: On a point of order, the hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. GRIMES: I hesitate to interrupt, and we will certainly give leave for the hon. Member for Humber Valley to finish, but, as a point of order, she talked about the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans not having solutions.

The Member for Grand Falls-Buchans was part of a government that had already committed to build the new cancer treatment clinic in Grand Falls. It was the government that she is part of, that she suggests she is concerned about, that cancelled it and are now out there, through their Premier, suggesting they did not hear tell of it, they did not know it was a problem, that the Member for Windsor-Springdale, the Member for Humber Valley and others did lobby for it, Madam Chair. There was a solution and they cancelled it. You cannot have it both ways.

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Member for Humber Valley.

MS GOUDIE: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would just to like to make a few comments here today, actually, on the Budget that was put forward yesterday, and the issues around health care, and what was put forward in the health care system.

Madam Chair, like I said, I worked in the system for thirteen years, and when I sat yesterday and looked at exactly the initiatives that our government had put forward, right away I said: My, I have worked in this system for thirteen years and finally we are doing something constructive here.

In the past I have worked in the system and I know under former Administrations there were several issues out there in the health care system, and a lot of those issues were brought forward yesterday. A lot of those initiatives were brought forward yesterday. I know, as a front-line health care provider and as a nurse, we lobbied for several years to have some of these initiatives brought forward. Health care is not only about providing care to people during illness; it is also about prevention of health problems. It is also about promotion of health, and I think that is exactly what our government put forward yesterday and, of course, long before yesterday, actually.

As a member for a rural district, I am very pleased that our government put forward just a few weeks ago, when they came out with the Hay report, that we would not be closing any clinics in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. I have heard members opposite on Open Line and here in the House of Assembly saying: What is in it for rural Newfoundland and Labrador? Well, all of these services that are provided in Corner Brook and St. John's are services that people from rural Newfoundland and Labrador require.

Madam Chair, I would just like to comment on, I guess, a couple of the initiatives that are pertinent to my district and to everyone in Newfoundland and Labrador. We talk about the long-term care facilities. Our government put forward $2.7 million towards a long-term care facility in Corner Brook. The also looked at Clarenville and they looked at Labrador. The plans are in process now to deliver on those services. I am certain the people in those districts are quite pleased that those announcements were made yesterday.

I would also like to talk about the prescription drug coverage. I sat back yesterday and looked at what drugs were covered under this, after they were announced. Working in the health care system for the last - I finished a year-and-a-half ago, working there, but I still have memories of working in ICU, and patients coming with rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiac patients coming in, and cancer patients coming in.

Like the Minister of Finance mentioned, when you look at what drugs to cover, you really have to look at what is more necessary at this point in time. The amount of money - I heard them talking also about little bits of money - that was put forward for the Prescription Drug Program yesterday was far beyond what we have ever seen before. I am sure every nurse who works out there in the health care system is very pleased with those initiatives that were put forward yesterday.

We cannot cover all the drugs, and I do not think anyone out there in the health care system expects us to cover all of the drugs. I think what we have done here is, we have looked at the drugs that we could cover and we covered the necessary drugs. I have to say, in just a year-and-a-half, to see what we have put forward in that area is, like any nurse - and I have spoken to a couple of nurses within the last couple of days - it is really positive for our health care system. It is going to affect individuals out there in rural Newfoundland and everywhere in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I would also like to talk about other preventative services such the primary mental health services. I would also like to comment on that. Every member who walked around and knocked on doors prior to the election certainly saw the needs for mental health services out there. I think most families have been affected by mental illnesses out there. To provide mental health services right out there in the communities, I think is a very good initiative and very important to preventing mental illnesses in the future.

I would also like to comment on the home support services. We talked last year about looking at pilot projects for palliative care, and our government is carrying forward with that. We also looked at the whole home support program out there. I worked in home care for several years and I worked in home support for several years, and what our government has done is shown the workers out there on the front lines that we have listened to them. We are going to work with them to provide a quality health care and accessible health care service here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Madam Chair, I would also like to talk about addiction services. We all know that gambling has been an issue in the past. It has been an issue for a long time. Our government has put forward initiatives here to deal with those issues. We have looked at managing health care out there in the communities. We are getting right out there on the front lines and dealing with it, Madam Chair.

I would also like to talk about how our government is going to look at health care. We have a plan in place for the next three to five years for health care, the same as we have a plan in place for agriculture, the same as we have a plan in place for forestry, the same as we have a plan in place for the fishery. I am quite pleased to be a part of that process, a member of a government that looks at a well-planned program for health care as well as it does for all aspects of government.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

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

I want to say a few words today, I guess, with regard to the debate on Bill 2, Interim Supply, and also to make a few comments with regard to yesterday's Budget.

Before I do that, I want to say it is very amazing what a little stroll across the House can do, because I remember the member, who today is Minister of Finance -

AN HON. MEMBER: Twenty feet.

MR. BUTLER: Twenty feet across. I listened to the Minister of Finance when he was the critic on this side and everything that was being done was wrong. He walks over there, Madam Chair, and he can justify everything that is being done today. It is amazing what a twenty foot stroll can do to anybody.

Madam Chair, I listened to the Member for Mount Pearl, when he was up speaking the other day in debate, and he said very little about the Interim Supply. Probably that is what I will do today as well, but I want to touch on some of the issues that he spoke on because he went into this leadership issue very much, about the new approach, the real leadership. He touched on real leadership, and what the Premier has done. No doubt about it, I guess anyone who takes over the position of Premier has to be a fairly good individual to become leader, but we have to look back at the history of it as well, Madam Chair.

I heard the member talk about the 100 per cent from the Atlantic Accord. That is all fine. I do not say there was anyone in this Province who did not stand behind the Premier on that issue, but we have to realize how it all came about. You would think, if you were listening to the hon. member opposite, when he spoke on that issue, that no one had any part to play in this only the Premier.

I want to say, Madam Chair, that when the federal election - before we get to the main man - during the last federal election, the Premier said he got a call early in the morning from Prime Minister Paul Martin making him a promise. I will let you in on a little secret, and maybe you know it but you are not admitting it, there was something happened before he even got that call, because the Liberal candidates who were running in the last federal election went aboard that bus and said: Sir, you make an announcement or get in touch with the Premier today or you will have nothing; we will not be running for you.

That is where it all started, so don't think that the Premier went away, got this wonderful deal and brought it back. I congratulate him for doing it, and taking the stand that he did. There is more to taking down the flag - he said it is not all about money, it is about pride. I would say I had pride in this country long before this issue ever came about.

Madam Chair, we go to the leadership and we think over the issues that have happened over the last several months. I want to look at the department that I am a critic for, Human Resources and Employment. No doubt, I will say it again, there were some issues really good in this Budget. The Minister of Natural Resources and agriculture touched on one earlier this afternoon in his comments. I want to say that when you look at Human Resource and Employment, I was disappointed yesterday to know that there were no new employees hired in that department.

Madam Chair, we all remember just back a short year ago, this new telephone technology was to come on stream and everything was to be fine; close down twenty offices and everyone was going to get the same services.

Well, I want to speak on behalf of the constituents in my district. What I can speak on is factual, because there was an office in the Bay Roberts district and it was closed. When that office was there - and what is happening now, I am not speaking against the employees, nothing to do with it, but it is the new system in place - I could call those people on any given day, asking questions about my constituents, and they were there to pick up the phone and talk to me. They moved the office down to Carbonear. They closed out the office in Bay Roberts. Now, it is anywhere from a week to a week-and-a-half before I hear back on any calls that I make on behalf of my constituents.

If that is telephone technology, Madam Chair, I question it, let me assure you. Not only that - and I have been accused of fearmongering and spreading rumours before - I can tell you that, before this year is out, all of those people in income services in Carbonear office, the plans are there to transfer them to St. John's.

Now, if the services provided were impacted to the extent of moving them from Bay Roberts to Carbonear, can you imagine the type of service the people are going to get in Trinity-Conception Bay when that is moved to St. John's? It just cannot work.

The minister came on Open Line one night talking about how they were going to be able to transfer people from income services to work in the employment services program, because they were having it all put under control in a better system. Well, I want to say, Madam Chair, that today - and I guess the office is open on Water Street again now - they had to move three workers from the employment services division at Regatta Plaza, the office there, and put them in income support on Water Street to help take care of the backlog. They have had people there working time-and-a-half on weekends trying to catch up with this new system that is supposed to be doing such a wonderful job.

I also say to the people who are working in the Mount Pearl office, stay tuned, because everything is not rosy for them their either, the way this system is going. The system that is in place is totally inadequate. It is just not working, and the minister will not admit to it and would not stand up and ask the government to put more employees in place, CSOs, to provide a better service for those people.

I had an e-mail come the other day from a resident here in the city who has been a week-and-a-half waiting to get an answer on some services that she has been trying to get out of that office, and then, I guess, with the problems down there, with the other building being torn down, that made the matter worse again.

Madam Chair, the other part of it, I guess, what I saw yesterday in the Budget, is the Kids Eat Smart Program, a program where $500,000 went into that program not only last year but in previous years as well. That figure has been cut back to $250,000. Here we are, going to spend $200,000 to $250,000 on a study on poverty in this Province.

Madam Chair, I say to the minister, there has been study after study done on poverty in this Province. All we have to do is go to the Blue Book in the last provincial election, where they admitted that we are the highest poverty-stricken province in the country, and within ten years they are going to have us down, that we will be the lowest. Now we are two years into the mandate and we are going to do a study. In the Blue Book they are all listed - they are too long for me to go into today - they had all the answers. They knew what the problems were. They knew what had to be done with it.

All too often, Madam Chair, we hear members on the opposite side saying all the problems were caused by the former Administration. I would say two years into your mandate it is time to get away from that. I think they are moving away from it, because I attended the meeting with the hon. Member for Harbour Main-Whitbourne about two weeks ago when we were talking about the fishery issue, with the crab quotas. One of the fishermen there got up and asked a question to the Member for Harbour Main-Whitbourne, and said to him: How come you cannot stand with the fishermen and plant workers now but you stood with them when the former Minister of Fisheries from the former Administration was going to put a licence in St. Anthony? He said: That was then; we have to deal with the issues now.

I say to the government, no truer words could have been said, because that is what has to be done. Never mind laying blame. We can all do that, and I guess I can get up and do the same thing.

I reference the Blue Book, where the minister said what would happen, what was needed to be done over a ten-year time frame to bring this Province to the lowest web with poverty in the country, and here we are - she was on Open Line last night again and she said: We are going to try to put a dent in it.

I say, Madam Chair, she won't need very much poly-bond to fill the dent that they are going to do with poverty in this Province, with the track record they have going today, with two years gone in this mandate already.

We hear people talking about the health care budget, the Member for Humber Valley. Like she said, there were a lot of good issues in the Budget with regards to health care. I say thank you very much to the federal government and to the Premier who went up there, I guess, and all the other premiers across this country, and came back with a deal. That is where all the equipment and the services -

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that his speaking time has expired.

MR. BUTLER: Just to clue up, Madam Chair.

MADAM CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MADAM CHAIR: By leave.

MR. BUTLER: I want to thank you for the opportunity and I can assure you, like other members, I will have ample time to deal with the other issues.

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Burin-Placentia West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Madam Chair.

It gives me pleasure to get up and speak this evening on the Interim Supply bill, to speak to the motion to having monies available, and, as well, to address some of the issues, as I see it, in the Budget.

Just for the short time that I have, I would like to speak to three of the issues, health care, and I would also like to speak briefly on the fisheries, and education.

I have received a couple of e-mails and some calls from people from Placentia West who, today, are a bit disappointed that there wasn't something specifically directed to the Burin Peninsula.. I can feel for that, and it is these people, in particular, who I would like to speak to. These people are looking specifically at the Burin Peninsula. I think if we are going to look at health care, we need to look at this provincially. While I think that people on the Burin Peninsula right now are feeling a little down, I would ask the people this particular question. In this Budget, $23.2 million has been allocated to address nearly forty-four thousand additional MRIs, CT scans, cardiac surgeries and diagnosis.

I would specifically say to the following people - and when I look back on the number of calls that I have received over the last five or six months, I can tell you that one of the issues that has come forward is things as they relate to cardiac surgery. The members opposite can say what they want, but I can tell you right now that when I say the name of Bill, Rita, Eva, Jerome and Bern who had to wait in a hospital room, in a hospital bed, for five to six weeks for a call to either receive their cardiac surgery or their dye test, I am telling you right now that there are people in those same situations who today would say to you: This was a good measure.

MS FOOTE: Absolutely. (Inaudible).

MR. JACKMAN: The fact that they have to travel to St. John's, they would say that this is a good measure. I am very pleased to see that the Member for Grand Bank agrees. It is a step in a positive direction.

Unfortunately, I do believe, in the case of the Burin Peninsula, we are into a situation of remedying a situation that has occurred on the Burin Peninsula. I think it is very easy to announce a CT scanner for an area just shortly before an election. I guess the question you have to ask yourself is: Do you have the money to put that piece of equipment there?

Secondly, the commitment to a health care facility in another particular region, that I have come to realize that while it may be something that you would like to have, the question again I would ask is: Did the people opposite ask before they put that thing there? Was there enough money to put that facility there?

It did not take us too long when we got into this to realize, no, the money was not there. As a result of measures such as that, I think what we have is a number of communities that are divided because of this. Hopefully people on the Burin Peninsula will start to realize, Madam Chair, that what we have done in this Budget is we have taken the first step to addressing health care concerns in an orderly, planned manner. That is the key here. The key here is that we are addressing health care needs in a organized, planned manner.

MR. GRIMES: (Inaudible).

MR. JACKMAN: I will say it the third time, as the Leader of the Opposition shouts. I think what we are doing here is that we are addressing health care needs in an orderly, planned manner.

Previous to the election, I met with health care providers, health care officials, and one of the things that I think people will be pleased with in this Budget is the mental health. As my colleague said before, this was oftentimes a disease that people felt they had to hide. It was a priority, as identified by health care providers and officials on the Burin Peninsula when I met with them, and I think they will be more than pleased that this has been addressed in the Budget.

The second thing that I would like to speak on is matters - they are not directly addressed in the Budget, but they have been addressed in this House and I think speak to the economy of this Province.

I will speak to the Member for Grand Bank who forwarded me a note earlier today. I will say to her that, yes, indeed, I met with a representative group of fishermen on the Burin Peninsula, right from the outset of this. They can be assured that their concerns have been brought to the minister; that on this side there are a number of us, MHAs, who have sat and discussed this matter and brought their concerns forward to the Fisheries Minister. We hope that the situation can be resolved to everyone's benefit and for the benefit of the entire Province.

The third thing I would certainly like to speak on is the funding that has gone into education. My past life of twenty-five years was in the education field, and I find that this democracy is an unusual and head-spinning affair. When I think of all the announcements that have come out related to education over the last several months, where we have the leaky roofs and we have the busing issues, I say to the members across the way, and I honestly ask them to answer: Did all of these things occur in the last sixteen to seventeen months? I mean if these things have occurred in the last sixteen or seventeen months, than we can honestly say that the job they have done before this has left the entire school system in shambles. That we can have leaking roofs and all of these things happening and structures falling apart - they are saying it is the fault of this government over the last sixteen to seventeen months, that they have not addressed that. I find that just a little bit beyond me.

The other thing that I am very pleased to speak to again, is to see the commitment, a beginning commitment - it is very important that we acknowledge, Madam Chair, that this is the beginning commitment to education.

I heard Mr. Douglas, president of the teachers' union, saying in the media yesterday that this Budget shows that education has made it to the radar screen. The fact that it has made it to the radar screen will tell you that this government has started their commitment to education. As the minister said earlier today, there is the plan. There has to be a plan. I think for too long there has not been a plan, and now we see that a plan is in place to address some of those things. The fact that we are retaining seventy-five teachers speaks to the fact that we have - again, I say to the members - begun the commitment to education and hopefully, a rebuilding that will transfer right to the classroom and to teachers to make their lives a little better.

As well, the fact that we recognize in this Province that our culture is so unique and so precious that we are beginning the process of putting in place -

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that his speaking time has expired.

MR. JACKMAN: By leave, just to finish up.

MADAM CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?

MS FOOTE: By leave.

MADAM CHAIR: By leave.

MR. JACKMAN: I thank the Member for Grand Bank She is enthused and she is ready to let me speak for a little longer.

Madam Chair, in concluding, as it relates to education, I would say that for too long I think the system has been neglected by the previous government and that now there will be a refocusing and a plan. Again, I say a plan and organized approach to addressing the issues as they relate to health care and education.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I appreciate an opportunity to make a few brief comments in the next few minutes or so with respect to this Interim Supply Bill, which basically will grant, at the end of the discussion and the debate, the authority for the government to continue spending so that the people get their social assistance cheques, their pay cheques and the services continue after April 1, because the Budget likely will not be passed until some time in late May, or June, or July, or August after that debate is totally finished.

It is important to note though, I am really pleased to see members of the government side speaking in the debate because last year when we were here, that would have been a rarity. I am delighted to hear them speak because we are finally finding out a few things about what they actually believe.

Nothing could be more telling than what we just heard from the Member for Burin-Placentia West where I could paraphrase from what I heard - and I listened intently - that he supports fully why the Minister of Health today would say: Why are the people on the Burin Peninsula asking for a CAT scan unit on the Burin Peninsula instead of being willing to drive into St. John's to have a CAT scan done? Why are they asking for that? Why don't they work with me and ask for something else? In other words, he is telling them: You are not getting a CAT scan. You are not getting a CAT scan, ever.

The Member for Burin-Placentia West got up and said: I agree with him. The people that I represent should temper their expectations. Why would we, on the Burin Peninsula, expect to be able to get a CAT scan done without driving up over the Burin Peninsula Highway? That is what he just said. He said it is unrealistic. The member for the area said it is unrealistic. It is the most startling speech I have ever heard in my sixteen years in this Legislature, that a member for a region would abandon his constituents; completely and totally abandon the constituents.

Madam Chair, he even went a bit further, from what I heard, and suggested, when talking about the hospital in Grand Bank: You have to decide whether you can afford it or not. Of course you have to decide whether you can afford it or not, but you have to recognize that you have to put some facilities in places like the Burin Peninsula, and on the Northern Peninsula, and on the Bonavista Peninsula, and on the Connaigre Peninsula, and on the West Coast, south and west of Corner Brook, unless you are going to expect everybody to move into three or four towns. So, what is he suggesting, that the whole Burin Peninsula should be gutted out? If people want a CAT scan they should learn: don't ask for a CAT scan, don't raise your money down here in the Lion's Club, don't put your money into payroll deductions like they are doing in the Marystown Shipyard and Cowhead today to pay for a CAT scan. Stop asking! That is what the Minister of Health said today: Why don't they stop asking for a CAT scan? The member for the area got up and said: Yes, I agree. They should understand that they put some money in for heart surgeries in St. John's and we should all be happy about that. I should not fight with my constituents for a CAT scan on the Burin Peninsula anymore.

I have never heard the like of it in my life! Never heard tell of it! We will make sure, tomorrow, that everybody on the Burin Peninsula, every single, living, breathing soul who can read will get a copy of Hansard to see how their member, who they elected, is standing on his feet in St. John's, in the people's Parliament, fighting for the people of the Burin Peninsula. What is his fight? Oh, no, no, I am with the Minister of Health. The crowd down there, by the way, who have been raising the money, and have been for two years, for a CAT scan: You are misdirected, said the Minister of Health. The member for the area said: You are misdirected. Why don't you ask me for something else? Maybe we can put something else down there. Stop asking for a CAT scan. The member for the area said: I agree with the Minister of Health. We have to have realistic expectations.

I have never heard such a statement in my life, and that is why I am delighted that the members opposite, the members in the government, speak, so we can finally find out what they think and feel as individuals, instead of only hearing from the one-person show, Madam Chair. If you are willing to toe the line like that, I am sure your constituents will have something to say about it before too long.

Let me mention just a couple of other things, because that is not what I was going to talk about today, Madam Chair. I found it so startling and so telling, and I am sure that the people on the Burin Peninsula will find it very telling as well, to know that they elected a person who was going to stand up and fight for them and within sixteen short month they are saying, oh, there is some extra money for heart surgeries, which the government did, by the way, two years ago and three years ago and four years ago. The only year they didn't do it was last year. Everyone knows that is a need, but because there is a need for more heart surgeries, doesn't mean you give up on providing services for diagnostic purposes for people on the Burin Peninsula and say: Forever and a day, you have to get in a car and you have to beat over that highway. Most likely, you are not even going to get your CAT scan in Clarenville. You have going to have to come to St. John's and line up like everybody else. The Minister of Health and the member are saying: Well, you have to rationalize the services. We have to be content with what we have.

Make no wonder, when we go to another region of the Province - we heard today, again, in an answer to a question in Question Period from the Minister of Finance and from the Premier, who both said it, when we are talking about another region that is even more remote and harder to service and further away that the Burin Peninsula, Labrador - guess what we found out today about Labrador and the issues, particularly in Happy Valley-Goose, which they are going to have to travel, the people in Lab West, to get there for forty dollars. Good initiative! The Member for Labrador West should be commended, Sir, I say to you. You should be commended for being like a dog without a bone on that issue. You were not satisfied to go back, like the Member for Burin-Placentia West was and say: We should have some realistic expectations. Why should we expect to be treated like everybody else? That is what he just said. Why should the people on the Burin Peninsula expect to have a CAT scan? That is what he just said. The Member for Labrador West was not willing to sit there and say: We should always expect to pay more to go and have our CAT scans done in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

He would not agree to that, and he fought for it, and he lobbied for it, and he begged for it, and he pleaded for it, and he orchestrated and worked with all the people who said it was fair, and finally the government listened.

Well, there is not going to be any CAT scan on the Burin Peninsula because the member gave up. The member quit, and said: We can understand that there are more heart surgeries in St. John's, so a CAT scan down here, we do not have to worry about that any more.

MS FOOTE: Does not think we need it.

MR. GRIMES: Does not think we need it. Does not think we need the new hospital in Labrador.

Here is a telling thing that was said today by the government. Happy Valley-Goose Bay - they were up there. The Cabinet went up, put on a big show, took a couple of Ski-Doo trips. They managed to get the Minister of Health and Community Services to pass up on the Ski-Doo trip and actually go visit the hospital in Labrador West. Everybody else went on the Ski-Doo trip. The Social Policy Committee did not go with him. The rest of the Cabinet did not go with him. He went by himself. He passed up on the social event and went to visit the hospital in Labrador West.

Of course, they came out and announced, prior to the Budget, by the way - did not wait until yesterday - a study, $200,000, to see what the problems are. Well, the government and everybody else would know what the problems are for several years, and because governments previously did not have the kind of money that this government has, and because they did not waste money, which is what the members opposite would like people to believe, they did not have the money to do the kinds of repairs that everybody knows are needed in Labrador West.

If you have people's expectations beaten down so much that you have the chair of the committee and the mayor saying, we are glad to have the study done - and why wouldn't you? - because that is all you are going to get. That is all you are going to get. No study was needed to be done in Labrador West. The studies have been done a dozen times.

They go into Happy Valley-Goose Bay, have another meeting prior to the grand announcements, and the choices are put to the mayor of the town, and the council, saying: Now, I know you have a lot of things you would like to have done, and we have heard a lot about long-term care and we have heard a lot about the auditorium at Mealy Mountain Collegiate, and guess what they put to the mayor and the council in Happy Valley-Goose Bay? Because we haven't got much money, if we can only do one - now, listen to that - if we can only do one of them, which one of them would you choose? Of course, what did the mayor choose? Health care. The mayor said long-term care would be our number one priority and, of course, the auditorium would be right next to it; but the question was put, if you could only do one. He thought then, that means they must be going to do something. That is going to be good; they are actually going to start on the long-term care.

By the way, studies on long-term care, the member for the area knows - done. There is already space booked on the current facility for another wing, where you can put it there. You can have a protective unit. The plans are in place. Why was the mayor disappointed yesterday? A bit of money announced for a study - a study. The plans are already in place, by the way; nobody needs to do a study. The need is clear.

What was telling was this: there was a choice given. Was there a choice given in Corner Brook, where they are going to do long-term care, they are going to do something with the schools?

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member that his speaking time has expired.

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I will be back because there is lots to say and I want to dwell in one full ten-minute section on that issue alone about second-class treatment for second-class citizens in Labrador.

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Madam Chair.

It is interesting, as I listened to the Leader of the Opposition talk about all the things we have not done. We have been here for sixteen months. He was there for sixteen years. Maybe we should just take a few moments to revisit some of the things they did.

I can honestly say that the Leader of the Opposition, when he stands today, sixteen months later, has more nerve than a toothache, to stand up and start condemning and pointing fingers. I will bet this: That, given half the chance and the opportunity, if this government has the absolute privilege or is given the privilege to govern for as long as they did, then our record will stand next to yours at any time, Sir. I will say that to you and to the members opposite.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Let's talk about finances, because that is what he is on to today, and cash deficits. What was over there was a deficit alright. It was more than cash; it was a decision-making deficit. If you look at the amount of money that he participated in losing for this Province in terms of lawsuits, we could have put a CT scanner not just on the Burin Peninsula but maybe in every area of this Province, I will say to the Leader of the Opposition, and he knows full well that is the case.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Let's look at the type of decision-making that he, as a Premier, as head of a government, led.

Last Monday when the House opened, or last Tuesday, the first Question Period, I think, was - when was it? - Wednesday. The first Question Period was Wednesday; the Speech from the Throne was on Tuesday. What was the headline in the paper? Issuing a ferry contract one day, half an hour later instructing it be taken to make a different decision, and what was the excuse? Oh, Treasury Board did not sign off on it.

After issuing a letter on behalf of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, a contract was provided, and a half-hour later - and who got sued? The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador got sued; and, who is the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador? It is not the forty-eight of us in this Legislature. It is every person out there whom we represent, and you, Sir, were the person who presided over that type of treatment of the facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Let's look at when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister of Tourism. I recall sitting over there when he was sitting, I believe, right here as Minister of Tourism. He came in and fired, outright fired, the entire John Cabot Corporation. What happened with that?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. E. BYRNE: Oh, yes!

What happened with that? Would you like for me to tell you what happened with it, as a matter of the public record, as his actions? A successful suit was put against the Province, the suit that was judged in a court of law, and guess who had to pay for that? The people of the Province had to pay for that type of decision-making.

Let's ask about now the great defender of rural Newfoundland and Labrador over here, who wants to focus in on a couple of issues. Yes, there is no question that people are disappointed. Some issues and some regions are disappointed today, but there is a long time in a mandate, and one Budget does not make a mandate. When we are ready to go to the people of the Province again, let's see the great defender stand on his feet and see who the people of the Province will represent. We will do so by our record that we put forward honestly, forthrightly, and let the people judge it at the time, but one Budget does not make a mandate. History on your government, Sir, has already been judged and been found left wanting, in my view.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Do you want to talk about the Budget? Let's talk about the Budget. Let's talk about what they are not talking about. Let's talk about the significant investments that we are making in industry, trade and innovation. Let's talk about the significant investments we are making in agriculture and agrifoods. No one is talking about that. Where are those investments targeted? They are targeted to rural Newfoundland and Labrador. They are not targeted to anywhere else but to expanding the economy in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Let's talk about the process that we are putting forward on the Lower Churchill. Let's talk about this for a moment, if you want to make a comparison. I know members opposite do not want to hear it, but they are going to hear it. Let's talk about the deal that the Leader of the Opposition, who now is Leader of the Opposition, when he sat in that chair, under questioning from myself and the former leader, now the Premier, said: Oh no, we do not have a deal with anybody.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. E. BYRNE: Do you remember that?

Ah, no deal, and no deal on the Lower Churchill, but who was it who had to show the tape of the televised address by the Leader of the Opposition, when he was Premier, saying: We have now reached a deal. Who was it that spent $55 million of money with the Labrador Hydro Project without tabling a cent of where they spend it, in this House? Did they table it? No, they did not. What did they get for their efforts? Absolutely nothing. Who tabled it? We did. That is the type of record that you can stand on and that is the type of record that you will be judged for. Absolutely!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Let's talk about the process for Labrador. Let's talk about the EOI process that will be coming on March 31. Let's talk about it. Where is that going to be? The interest in that is significant and the benefits for people in Labrador from that project will be significant.

MR. GRIMES: (Inaudible).

MR. E. BYRNE: Yes, right. There will be more benefits than you provided to them, I can say that to you. I can say that to the Leader of the Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: I recall a ten-hour meeting, when he went up to Labrador to have a big meeting about the Lower Churchill Project. He got into the room and they would not let him out of it. That is the fact of it. He was there too long because he did not consult before he went. So, do not stand on your high horse today and point at members opposite here telling us what we did not do. We know what you did. The people judged what you did and, more importantly, they judged what you did not do, I say to the Leader of the Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Let me say this with respect to the Lower Churchill Development. The significant benefits that were accrued to the Innu, to the people of Labrador, to the project itself that we believe will be brought forward in a time where it is most needed, by a process that will be more transparent than ever before, and ultimately that will bring a project that will bring more benefits to the people of Labrador as a result of the efforts of this government, so that is fine.

We can stand here today and you can cherry pick a few issues, but let's talk about the Budget. The most disappointed faces that I have seen in the last two weeks was when the Premier of the Province announced, during the Throne Speech, that for the balance of our mandate tuition would be frozen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Not one to them, not one member opposite said: Good job. They sat down and their faces were long. Do you know why? Because they thought that the White Paper on education was going to rise tuition and they were going to have another soapbox to stand on. Too bad! They were disappointed with the decision. Absolutely too bad! Too bad about that. That is a commitment that we stood for, it is a commitment we made, and a commitment we kept. I did not heard any members opposite tapping on their desks saying: Thanks be to God. Absolutely not!

The fact of the matter is this: We do not mind the rant and the roar. It is like I said to the Leader of the Opposition the other day in Question Period, it was on St. Patrick's Day, and I said: I am reminded of George Bernard Shaw when answering one of his critics. I have always enjoyed his stories, but it had been characteristic of my critic not to include the truth or facts in the stories he tells, but I will sit down and listen to him anyway.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. GRIMES: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I appreciate an opportunity to continue the few remarks I was making prior to the last intervention.

We on this side have come to know, Madam Chair, when they are having a bad day and they do not like what is being said, because they put up one of their two or three people for a little pep talk and a little cheerleading for the downtrodden depressed troops on the other side who cannot and do not want to hear how their decisions on what they are doing were made.

Let me acknowledge this, as I always have, Madam Chair. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador looked at the history and the record of a Liberal government of sixteen years and made a choice. They made a choice and I have always acknowledged that. What they wanted was this: They wanted the new government that they chose with such promise and hope and so many commitments about things that they would do, like build the hospital in Grand Bank, absolutely promised by the Premier himself with his own lips. It was raised, Madam Chair, as an issue during the election when they talked about those kinds of things that the old cheerleader from Kilbride, the Government House Leader, just talked about. He talked about things that had happened during fifteen, sixteen years of Liberal government. They had agreed that some of things did not go according to plan and they were willing to try someone else. They did not want to try someone else and risk losing a hospital in Grand Bank.

When the Premier and candidates running visited places like Grand Bank they asked them: Well Mr. Leader of the Opposition at the time, if you get elected, what are you going to do about this hospital that the Liberal government has already started to build here? He said: You have nothing to worry about. You have nothing to worry about, there is no need to be concerned. If you elect me and my government, we will finish and open and operate this hospital. Now, those are the kinds of things that happen along with a judgement on the record of the Liberals, but some commitments made by the current government about what they would do regardless; just like the same Leader of the Opposition then, the Premier today, on the Northern Peninsula talking about the fixed link which now disappeared back into Never-Never Land again. Never to surface as an issue while this Premier is in politics, that is what he said. While I am in politics I will not be raising the issue of the fixed link again. That is what he said and his parliamentary assistant knows it, because we can produce the record.

During the election, when he was talking about and was asked about it on the Northern Peninsula, he said: I will have a study done because I believe this is essential to the future and the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador, and it is so important to be done that we cannot afford not to do it. Listen to the language. He did not say, depending on what the study says, we will see if we can do it or not. He said: It is so important to the future, that we cannot afford not to do it. Where has that gone? Where are the hopes that came with that for the people on the Northern Peninsula, the people on the Southern Straits of Labrador, the people in Labrador all over, who worked on the tunnel vision committees that promoted it? Gone off the agenda. Gone off the agenda for this particular government. There are the parts to it.

Then we had the same Premier - because I was talking about Labrador, the Leader of the Opposition. By the way, since he has been the Premier, not in the past, I am talking about now and into the future, because the people have elected this group to deal with the future. The past has been held in judgment and you have been given the job to lead into the future. Let's get on with it. Labrador: Here is what the Premier said. He said: I will not treat the citizens of Labrador as second-class citizens.

What is in the evidence in the Budget and in this Interim Supply Bill and in the Supplementary Supply Bill that we have before us now? You have the people in Happy Valley-Goose Bay being told: Pick one, folks. You can have long-term care or you can have the auditorium. You are in Labrador just like the Member for Burin-Placentia West. I guess he expected that they would say: Oh yeah, well, we live in Labrador. We should not expect both. My goodness, we cannot expect to have long-term care taken care of and also have an auditorium where we might actually put off some cultural events and have some plays, and have some music, and have some concerts and actually treat ourselves - and, by the way, there were not asking for something new. They always had a venue until the base school closed. It is not like they were looking for something for the first time in history. They were looking for something to replace what they had always had, something that had been committed to them by the previous government, funding arranged between the provincial government, the federal government, Heritage Canada, the municipality and local citizens who were willing to raise some money, all in place ready to be done, ready to build.

Guess what the government did? Last year, they made some people understand it. They said: We are cancelling it because we do not have the money. Now, this year it is cancelled again, not revived. What do we see? Pick one is the treatment for Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Labrador. Which one do you want? Pick one. In St. John's what do you get? You get the mortgage on a cultural centre completely paid off before the door is unlocked. At the same time, by the way, long-term care can be done over in Corner Brook, long-term care can be done in Clarenville where it already exists, but we can only just start the study in Labrador.

Here, by the way, look at priorities. We are going to pay off the mortgage on a cultural centre, we are going to pay off the mortgage on some schools, but we could not put aside $2 million or $3 million so that the people of Labrador could have their cultural centre. You can pay $43.5 million right here, first item. The heritage corporation is going to be asked to vote on it tomorrow or the next day; $43.5 million that was not in the Budget. The building has never been used. That is a priority for this government with a Premier who says: I will not treat the people of Labrador as second-class citizens.

In St. John's you can have the cultural centre. You can have a new recreation facility. They have $1.3 million put in. Recreation facilities, by the way - there is a phrase, I guess - coming out of your yin-yang around St. John's compared to the rest of Newfoundland and Labrador. But, $1.3 million committed to another recreation centre, $43.5 million committed to paying off a mortgage on a building that has not been used yet, but the people of Labrador have to choose whether they want $200,000 for a study on long-term care when the study is already done or have an auditorium. Today, what choice did this group make? They said: We are going to start on long-term care, forget the auditorium.

The minister is in Ottawa today saying: Oh, I am going to take a personal interest in it now. The Minister for Labrador, from Baie Verte, is going to take a personal interest in it. He is up in Ottawa saying: I am going to ask the federal government for some money. That seems to be the answer in Labrador. Nothing can happen in Labrador unless the federal government brings the money.

I heard the Minister of Transportation and Works saying we are going to do some things on the Trans-Labrador Highway. Yes, and we are going to look to the federal government to give us some more money. Where do you think he got the money that is up there today? Where do you that $100-something million came from? This provincial government would rather pay off the mortgage on a building in St. John's with the provincial money, than allow the people in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, for all of Labrador, to have an auditorium where they can do the kinds of things that they have been doing here for years that they used to do there until the school on the base closed. Those are the priorities, there is the future.

The Member for Kilbride, the Government House Leader, the Minister of Natural Resources, talked about: We are going to grow the economy, make some investments. Well, I say, about time. I can tell you this, it is time to start growing the economy because the 2,600 people -

MR. J. BYRNE: What did you do in fourteen years. About time! It is about time! (Inaudible).

MR. GRIMES: I say to the Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs, the 2,600 people who have disappeared from this Province since this new government came into place won't be here to share in their economic development.

MR. J. BYRNE: (Inaudible).

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. GRIMES: I can tell you that. Mr. Chairman, there has been no moratorium on their watch like there was a decade ago. There have been no catastrophes of that nature except ones that they allow to happen themselves in communities like Harbour Breton, where they refuse to use an act of the Legislature to make a company live up to its obligations in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. They are going to kowtow to a big corporation and let them do what they like, because they say: We are not making as much profit as we would like to. FPI made money last year.

The Parliamentary Assistant, the Member for Conception Bay South tut-tuts and shakes his head. He is going to have to shake it some more, because the people in rural Newfoundland understand what he would never understand in CBS, an area of growth. By the way, some of the growth is occurring because people have had to leave communities like Harbour Breton, and if they haven't left the Province already they come to places like Conception Bay South and St. John's and the North East Avalon. Sure, they are going to enjoy The Rooms with the mortgage paid off.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Leader of the Opposition that his time has expired.

MR. GRIMES: Yes, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate it. They will appreciate The Rooms while the second-class citizens in Labrador can't even have an auditorium.

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Environment.

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

Mr. Chair, I just wanted to talk a little bit today about part of what is in the Budget in my department, and to respond specifically to a news release that was put out by a member of the Opposition regarding Frenchman's Cove Provincial Park and La Manche Provincial Park.

In this statement, the member of the Opposition, the Member for Grand Bank, said that the Minister of Finance, because La Manche is in his district, made the decision to fund that park. I want to categorically state here today, that is absolutely, totally, 100 per cent false. I made the decision to put the money into La Manche Park, and here are the reasons why, Mr. Chairman.

La Manche Park is one of the busiest, one of the fastest growing provincial parks in the Province. The rate of visitors at La Manche Park -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. T. OSBORNE: - is twice that of Frenchman's Cove Provincial Park.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Here is one point that the Member for Grand Bank omitted to mention in her news release -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please! Order, please!

MR. T. OSBORNE: The Member for Grand Bank, Mr. Chair, omitted to mention in her news release that La Manche Provincial Park does not have a comfort station.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Frenchman's Cove Provincial Park does, and that is what we are funding here, a comfort station. La Manche is one of only three provincial parks in this Province that does not currently have a comfort station. It is one of the busiest and fastest-growing parks in the Province.

Mr. Chair, I made the decision to put the money into that park, and I made the decision to look for additional funding for our provincial park system because the former Administration, in 1997, when they privatized a number of the provincial parks in our Province, made a commitment to put an additional $1 million a year into our provincial parks to bring them up to the standard that most of the parks are in other provinces. That did not happen. That did not happen, Mr. Chair

The fact of the matter is, for several years, from 1997 up until this year, the provincial park system suffered because of a broken promise by the former Administration to put the required funding into our provincial park system.

We are taking the initiative, Mr. Chair, to put the funding into our provincial park system, to do it right, to take one park on an annual basis, perhaps two on an annual basis, but this year we are putting $250,000 into one park to bring it up to national standards, to make this park a park that people will be proud to visit, to make it a park that our provincial park system will be proud to operate, to put a comfort station and a dumping station in that provincial park. There are only three, as I have said, without comfort stations, that being one of them. That is one of the busiest parks in the Province, Mr. Chair, and I just wanted to correct the inaccurate information that was spun out by the Member for Grand Bank this morning.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to rise and say a few words about the Budget.

Although we are talking about Interim Supply, we can talk about all of the issues that relate to government expenditure, and in particular, Mr. Chairman, what we had yesterday coming from the Minister of Finance.

We saw The Telegram today, and they call it a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde experience. Last year we saw the government showing themselves to be penniless, without any money, deficits, $1 billion they forecasted, and this year we had the exact opposite, Mr. Chairman. All of a sudden we had money for everything, but only everything that the government wanted to do. Rather than Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Chairman, to me it is more like the story of Little Jack Horner. You have heard the story of Little Jack Horner. He sat in the corner eating his Christmas pie. He put in his thumb and he pulled out a plum and said: What a good boy am I.

Well, this was the Minister of Finance, Mr. Chairman. He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum and praised himself for having a positive Budget. Now, Mr. Chairman, there were positives in the Budget, no question about that, and there were good reasons why there were positives in the Budget, because the government had lots of money. In fact, it had more money than they pretended to have, as was pointed out earlier today. On a cash basis alone, they had $103 million more than they said they had in dealing with the 2004-2005 Budget.

With last year's Budget alone they had $103 million more than they actually spent. They came here last year this time and said, we are going to have a cash deficit of $360 million. Instead, Mr. Chairman, they have a cash surplus of $103 million; $463 million difference from what they said last year.

Now, again, there is good reason for that. Our fiscal position has improved as a result of the changes to the Atlantic Accord, and that has been recognized by everybody in this House and everybody in this Province as a positive thing that has been accomplished for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador as a result of commitments made by the Government of Canada during the federal election, and as a result of this government taking them to task and insisting that those commitments be followed.

We all appreciate that; but, Mr. Chairman, when we look at the positives that are in the Budget we see also very gaping holes. The two most obvious ones, neither of which we have heard any good explanation for, are the lack of a cancer treatment facility for Grand Falls-Windsor and Central Newfoundland, and the lack of an auditorium for the Happy Valley-Goose Bay area.

When we have a commitment - and it is a positive commitment - to support arts and culture in our schools, to support $6 million to operate The Rooms here in St. John's, we can afford to pay off the $47 million for The Rooms that was borrowed, and yet, for some reason, for some unknown reason, the Happy Valley-Goose Bay auditorium is left off the agenda.

Now the minister responsible says he is going to go and talk to Ottawa. Well, he should go back and ask what commitment Ottawa already had made to the new auditorium in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. My understanding, Mr. Chairman, is that there is already a commitment from the Government of Canada to put up one-third of the cost of this auditorium; but there is a condition, I think, and I stand to be corrected on that. I am told that commitment expires on March 31. I am told that commitment expires on March 31, so what is going on? Does the Member for Lake Melville know about this? Did he not tell the minister responsible that this is something that has to be done now because the money is there? We are not talking about big dollars here. We are not talking about $47 million for The Rooms. We are only talking about $2.4 million, under $3 million, for an auditorium that could be established there and could allow the kind of cultural activity that has been pretty prominent in Happy Valley-Goose Bay to continue. Some of their programs, we are told, are in danger of falling by the wayside.

The cancer treatment facility in Grand Falls is another one. You know, we have seen a tremendous increase in expenditure for health care coming mostly, it has to be acknowledged, from the Health Care Accord last September, so the diagnostic imaging is very positive, the new MRI is very positive, the CAT scans in various places are very positive. New money for operations for people with cancer, for people needing heart, cardiac surgery or joint replacement, all this is very positive, but why - this is something that has been lobbied for and supported and even announced by the previous government - why cannot that be done this time, this Budget, with the big significant increase in our financial position that we have all recognized?

Not only that, the flexibility that was obviously there is even there more so because the revenue projections, particularly the offshore oil and gas revenues, have been understated. They have been understated. Now, I can listen all I want about what somebody says the long-term price of oil might be, but if you look at the paper every day, the long-term price of oil is not what we are dealing with right now. We are dealing with the current price of oil, which is considerably higher than the government's claim, so there is lots more flexibility.

My prediction is that we are going to be here this time next year and that suggested $62 million deficit on a cash basis, that will not be there. That is not going to be there. We are going to be dealing with a cash surplus again or, if not a cash surplus, other expenditures that this government will undertake between now and then. Such as, I hope - there seemed to be some hint today that the Premier is willing to learn more about the need for a cancer treatment facility in Grand Falls-Windsor. He is willing to learn more. He is sending the Minister of Health out there and I think that, perhaps, is a hopeful sign. Maybe when we come back here after the Easter break we will have an announcement. Maybe we will. I am hopeful, Mr. Chair, because we do know there is a lot of flexibility there and we do know that the people of Central Newfoundland want and deserve to have this particular treatment facility. I know the Member for Windsor-Springdale wants to have it happen and I have not heard a good explanation yet as to why it has not taken place.

I admit a positive, Mr. Chair, there was a very strong program for arts and culture programs in our schools. I am supportive of that. Our culture, our history, our artistic talent, our creative abilities, our musicians and our musical heritage is something that we would like to see promoted and developed. The kind of money that is being spent on that, $3.5 million, is a very positive thing and certainly affordable under our circumstances.

What is missing is another piece, another piece that is equally important and perhaps more important when it comes to the physical health and well-being of our school children and our young people. We wanted to see something equally prominent, equally well supported, equally strong, in terms of the physical culture, the physical health of our children in our schools. Where is the program that would recognize the great need for physical education in our young people in our schools from the bottom up? Not just some equipment for our high school students, but, in fact, a program - such as they have in Nova Scotia, Mr. Chair, that was reported on in the Globe and Mail just a couple of weeks ago, a program providing a combination of healthy eating curriculum, a daily gym class, healthy and inexpensive cafeteria food, and accessible after school activities in a comprehensive program in each and every school in the Province.

Mr. Chair, this program is something we would like to see here in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the reason for it is that it was demonstrated by a tested study. It was demonstrated to reduce childhood obesity by more than 60 per cent. So, children in the school, their obesity rate was down 60 per cent from those schools who did not have this program. In fact, the number of children who were overweight was reduced by more than 50 per cent. The cost for each school was less than the cost of a single surgery for someone with a fatty liver. These kinds of prevention programs pay for themselves immediately because 80 per cent of obese children become obese adults and have serious, significant problems. We need to not only recognize that our arts and culture is vital, but also our physical health and well-being is vital as well and should be taken on by this government with lots of flexibility to do it. To undertake such programs, Mr. Chair, are not extremely costly. They are very necessary, but yet this government chose not to look after the physical well-being of our children in the same way as they did for the issue of arts and culture.

We see money for nutrition programs, but these are of a particular kind that are basically public information programs. In fact, this study in Nova Scotia showed that this type of program does not work by itself. It is the combination of a healthy exercise program, nutrition information, the availability of nutritional food in the schools, all working together to give a healthy attitude amongst children that changes their attitude and makes them more able to tackle the issues that they face as young kids who have a need for increased self-esteem, which is part of all of this, as well as knowing that their schools are giving them the means to have a healthier lifestyle and grow up healthier and better.

Mr. Chair, there are many things that can be said about this Budget, and we will have time over the next number of days and weeks to debate all of this. I think that this Budget was a budget of missed opportunities. I thank the Leader of the Opposition for stealing my line today. There are lots of positives but there were, unfortunately, too many missed opportunities to give it full marks.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Labrador West.

MR. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I rise today to make a few comments on the Budget and the affect it has on my area of the Province, Labrador West.

I want to say ‘uncategorically' that this Budget, announced yesterday, provided the largest investment in health care for people in Labrador West and their accessibility for health care than any other budget I have seen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. COLLINS: I want to acknowledge that to the government because when it was not that way, I was very eager to stand in my place and criticize them for it not being. I think it is only right that when actions are taken on issues that you have been raising for many, many years and actions are taken to address it, then it is only fair that should be acknowledged as well.

I would like to talk about a couple of them, Mr. Chair. The $200,000 study on the problems at the Captain William Jackman Memorial Hospital, we would have preferred to have seen a new hospital announced, but we have a committee in place, a local committee in place. That is what they asked for when they were meeting with the health board officials and the Ministry of Health. They wanted a study conducted to do two things: to look at the problems that are in the current hospital today, but also to look at a new facility and see what type of facility would be required to meet today and the next few years into the future's needs of the community.

Mr. Chairman, you have heard me stand here in this House many, many times talking about the inequity that existed in Labrador with regard to people from my district travelling to Happy Valley-Goose Bay for medical services that were not available locally. I have been on that since I found out about it by accident because nobody told us that existed. I did not know. People in my district did not know until I uncovered it quite by accident, I might say, one day when I was going through the financial audit of the Labrador Health Corporation. Everyone else in Labrador were accessing their health care in Goose Bay or St. Anthony for $40 return. Well, now this Budget, the pre-announcement to the Budget, confirmed upon the people of Labrador West that they will only pay $40, rather than $500, to travel to Happy Valley-Goose Bay to access medical services.

Travel to the Island, Mr. Chairman, is another area that I have chanted, that I have presented many, many petitions on and raised in Question Period during the House of Assembly sessions about the expense people incurred. Under the former program that was in place, anyone who was travelling to St. John's, mainly, sometimes to Corner Brook, for health care had to absorb the first $500 themselves and they received 50 per cent of other eligible expenses that they had to incur as a result of travelling to this area. Now, yesterday's announcement, the first $500 is covered off by the Department of Health and 50 per cent of the balance of the eligible expenses are cost-shared. The difference that makes on a $1,500 trip that costs you $1,500 to travel for health care, previously, to yesterday, you would have received back $500 as a rebate. Right now, Mr. Chairman, that has changed. You will receive, from $1,500, a $1,000 rebate. I say, Mr. Chairman, that is a tremendous difference in the amount of coverage.

We also had yesterday's announcement, a piece of equipment that will be installed in the hospital in Labrador West. It is an ultrasound machine that has echocardiograph capabilities. That, Mr. Chairman, will serve the needs of the people in a great way. We were pretty restricted when we did not have any ultrasound capabilities, which is a pretty common diagnostic piece of equipment these days. I am proud to say that now we certainly will have that capability within Labrador West. People will not have to travel in order to have ultrasounds conducted.

What we have to realize, Mr. Chairman, also, is that there are many people in Labrador and these plans apply to people in Labrador, generally, all over Labrador, when they are travelling to St. John's. What we have to recognize, Mr. Chairman, that I intend to consult with the minister on and engage him in some discussions on, is, how can this program be adapted to meet the needs of people who do not have the money to pay upfront. There are people in that situation, Mr. Chairman, who do not have the wherewithal to outlay the money to get reimbursed on. Somehow or another, I think, with the right heads coming together and the right approach taken, there can be a solution found to assist people who find themselves in that position.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to switch gears here a little bit and talk about a couple of other issues, the VLTs in particular. I think yesterday's announcement, while it is not as aggressive an approach as I would like to have seen, I do believe it is an acknowledgment by government, for the first time ever, that VLTs are a problem in our Province, and they are creating many problems. I do not see yesterday's announcement as being the end of this matter, because what is going to happen, Mr. Chairman, is people are going to continue to ruin themselves financially, ruin their families financially, and in many cases, unfortunately, maybe take their own lives. The pressure from the public of this Province is going to continue to build and government is going to have to address this in a more meaningful and in a more aggressive way than they have done in yesterday's Budget.

As I said earlier, it is, at least, an acknowledgment that the problem exists. There is $750,000 that has been allocated towards the treatment of people with gambling addictions, gambling awareness and education programs. It is a first step in a long procedure, one that I will continue, Mr. Chairman, to lobby government on in the coming weeks, days and months ahead.

It is going to be interesting to watch what is happening across the country because these machines, Mr. Chairman, are not just a problem in our Province. On the front page of The Telegram today, Nova Scotia is looking at some measures to restrict the use of VLTs. What they are going to do, we do not know yet. It will be contained in their Budget which will be coming shortly. The Province of Quebec, Mr. Chairman, has also addressed the problems that VLTs are causing within their province.

This is an issue, Mr. Chairman, that will not go away, that will not (inaudible) because even with over 22,000 machines in the Province or 2,000- I forget the exact number now-

MR. HARRIS: Twenty-six hundred.

MR. COLLINS: Twenty-six hundred. It is still too many, far too many, Mr. Chairman, and I will not rest, and I know many other people in this Province will not rest either, until they are eradicated from our society and you will not see them around any of the places that people visit.

The other thing I would like to have seen, Mr. Chairman, is an improved provincial drug plan. Everybody in the House who have been listening to the proceedings of the House, have heard me talk many times on the need to have drugs covered for people who suffer from MS, people who suffer from Alzheimer's, and other illness that are not now covered. It is not simply a matter, Mr. Chairman, of adding these drugs to a list. The big problem is people's ability to access them.

What I mean by that, Mr. Chairman, is that if you have any income at all, if you have any RRSPs saved, if you have any money put away for your children's education, you are required to spend all of that on purchasing the drug, financially ruining yourself and your family, before you are able to receive any assistance from the plan. That is contrary to every other jurisdiction in this country. While I am disappointed that was not moved, I understand, Mr. Chairman, there are other Budgets coming, there are other years, and these are issues that, I say to government, I will keep pursuing. Hopefully, during next year's Budget or following Budgets, some of the issues that we are disappointed were not covered today, may be covered in these years. I look forward to the days when that happens.

The French Immersion Program in Labrador West, the Early French Immersion Program, I have to mention. I talked to the Minister of Education in Question Period the other day, plus I also talked to him following yesterday's Budget announcements. We are hopeful, and the people of Labrador West are hopeful, that a solution can be found that will see the Early French Immersion Program stay in effect in Labrador. I know in my area of Labrador it is a very important program. We border on the Province of Quebec. Many of the jobs that are advertised in the local economy require a person to be bilingual, so it is not a matter of choice; it is a matter of need for the people I represent and for the yong people who are living and working in Labrador West.

It is ironic, Mr. Chairman, that during the past three years over 50 per cent of the Kindergarten intake had opted to do the Early French Immersion Program, so it is not a question that there is not any demand for the program; it is a question of priorities, and hopefully the board will, in the coming days, see fit to make sure that this program is not cancelled in the year starting 2005, and that it will continue for many other years to come.

Mr. Chairman, I have many other things to speak on concerning this Budget, but I know there will be other opportunities in the days and weeks to come so I will conclude my remarks for now and I thank you very much for the time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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

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

All those in favour, ‘aye.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Motion carried.

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

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bonavista South and Deputy Speaker.

MR. FITZGERALD: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Committee of Supply have considered the matters to them referred, have directed me to report progress and ask leave to sit again.

MR. SPEAKER: The Chairperson of the Committee of Supply reports the Committee have considered the matters to them referred, have directed him to report progress and ask leave to sit again.

When shall the Committee have leave to sit again?

AN HON. MEMBER: On tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: On tomorrow.

On motion, report received and adopted. Committee ordered to sit again on tomorrow.

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

MR. E. BYRNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I understand tomorrow, being Private Members' Day, where the House opened last week, and the Throne Speech and the Budget and the introduction of Intern Supply and the Supplementary Supply Bill, I believe, by agreement, if it is okay, we will forego our Private Members' Day tomorrow to allow more debate on Interim Supply and more debate on Supplementary Supply. I think that is what we have agreed to.

I do want to give fair notice that tomorrow will be a government business day from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I do now move that the House adjourn until tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

MR. HARRIS: (Inaudible) 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., actually.

MR. E. BYRNE: Pardon me?

MR. HARRIS: (Inaudible) 3:00 p.m.

MR. E. BYRNE: Yes, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., sorry.

There is a small matter. My colleague from Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi pointed out a small matter of the Orders of the Day, which includes Question Period. I do apologize. I wasn't trying to circumvent the opportunity to ask government some more questions and us to provide you with some more answers, I say to my colleague.

Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I do now move that the House adjourn and sit tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved that this House do now adjourn and that we resume the sitting tomorrow at 2 o'clock on Wednesday, March 23.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

Motion carried.

This House is now adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

On motion, the House at its rising adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m.