MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon we have members' statements as follows: the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans; the hon. the Member for the District of Trinity-Bay de Verde; the hon. the Member for the District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace; the hon. the Member for the District of Terra Nova; the hon. the Member for the District of Labrador West; and, the hon. the Member for the District of Trinity North.

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to congratulate St. Matthew's Presbyterian Church which was recently declared Grand Falls-Windsor's first municipal heritage site.

For almost 100 years, St. Matthew's Presbyterian Church has been a landmark of the community from its prominent location on Church Road. Constructed in 1910, St. Matthew's was Grand Falls first church.

Presbyterians began holding services in 1905 in the home of the assistant mill manager, Mr. A.U. Woods. By 1908, it was decided that a church was needed so construction began with completion in the fall of 1910. Application was then made to the Presbytery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to organize the mission station in Grand Falls, which was ultimately approved. The name St. Matthew's was chosen in December, 1910, and the first resident minister was Reverend William MacPherson who arrived in 1911.

Mr. Speaker, the church is still a quaint, unobtrusive white wooden structure. The church's facade has changed little since St. Matthew's was first constructed more than ninety-six years ago. It is for this reason that the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor chose St. Matthew's as its first municipal heritage site.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this hon. House to join with me in congratulating St. Matthew's Presbyterian Church, which has been designated as Grand Falls-Windsor's first municipal heritage site.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this weekend the first ever girls' aged fifteen and under hockey championships for the Province were held at S.W. Moores Memorial Stadium in Harbour Grace. There were four teams competing: the Conception Bay Regionals, Conception Bay North, St. John's and Avalon.

Mr. Speaker, this is indeed a landmark event for our area and I wish to congratulate Zoe Anderson, the host convener, and the organizing committee. The tremendous competition that we experienced this weekend would not have been possible without their commitment.

Mr. Speaker, I was very honoured to be the one to drop the puck at the opening ceremonies held on Friday, April 7. These young women have proven that they certainly are quite capable of following in the footsteps of role models such as Cassie Campbell and Hayley Wickenheiser of the 2006 Olympic Canadian Hockey Team.

The championship game was held on Sunday and went into overtime with the Conception Bay Regionals winning the gold medal over St. John's in a 2-1 victory. St. John's won silver and

Avalon defeated the C.B.'s in the bronze medal game.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate all those who participated in the games over this weekend. Each one of them has helped to make it a reality that women's competitions are an integral part of our sporting community.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. SWEENEY: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to congratulate Mark Ryan, Sean Kennedy, Andrew Rose, Daniel MacKenzie, Laura Jenkins, Bethany Randell, David Archibald, Ruben DuPlessis, Amanda Serrick and coaches Norman Littlejohn and Randy Dobbin of St. Francis Robotics Team who are going to Atlanta, Georgia, next month to participate in the FIRST - which stands for: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology - LEGO League World Festival.

The Harbour Grace school will compete with over eighty teams from thirty countries, April 27 through April 29. This year's team consists of nine students, ages thirteen and fourteen, and two coaches.

The robotics program at St. Francis began in 2004 and students competed in the provincial competition, earning them first place in three out of four categories. The team then went on to Atlanta in 2004 after winning the provincials. There they recorded a personal best score and placed eighth in the teamwork category out of forty-four teams from eight countries.

This past December, they won the Skills Canada Competition in the robotics category. Just one week later, on December 10, they brought home first place awards in robot performance, research presentation, and second place in robot design and programming at the provincial competition.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in congratulating the St. Francis Robotics Team on their accomplishments and wish them luck with the upcoming world competition in Atlanta, Georgia, in April.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Glovertown Tornadoes Female Hockey Team. This past weekend, the girl's team won the provincial championship E division.

The Tornadoes went through the six team tournament undefeated, with a record of four wins and one tie.

In the championship game, Glovertown played against the Gander Flyers. The game was tied zero-zero at the end of regulation time. This set the stage for what would prove to be an exciting conclusion. It took until 7:28 of the third overtime period before the Tornadoes were able to break the tie and win the championship.

Mr. Speaker, I would like for all hon. members to join with me in congratulating the Glovertown Tornadoes on winning the title, and also compliment the Gander team, as well as the other four teams who competed in the tournament. Last, but certainly not least, the volunteers that made this tournament a success should be commended as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. R. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On March 31, the annual Provincial Airlines Great Labrador Loppet took place in Labrador West for the thirty-first consecutive year.

This year's event was again a tremendous success with more than 200 skiers, men, women and children taking part in the ten, twenty-five and fifty kilometre race. Mr. Speaker, this event is very popular with local residents and draws people from the Island portion of our Province, as well as skiers from Quebec and other regions of Labrador.

It is no surprise, Mr. Speaker, that the top two to finish the fifty kilometre race was Alf Parsons with a time of two hours and twenty-five minutes. Just get that, Mr. Speaker, and put it into perspective, that is averaging over twenty kilometres an hour for fifty kilometres.

The second place finisher was Rhonda Lawrence. Again, an avid skier, with a time of two hours and forty-two minutes. Both of them are from Labrador West. Incredible times, Mr. Speaker, by incredible skiers.

In the twenty-five kilometre, awards went to Kyle Power and Cathy Jong. Kyle also won the Thelma Piercey Award for being the fastest youth in a twenty-five kilometre race.

This years loppet was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Barry May, a pulmonary specialist who used to come to Labrador West for the loppet and bring his whole family. Dr. May's wife, Judy, was the provincial coach for Cross Country Newfoundland and Labrador and she attended this years loppet.

Also, Mr. Speaker, I might add, the Minister of Tourism was also present for the event and I am sure he can attest to the success of the event -

AN HON. MEMBER: Did he ski?

MR. R. COLLINS: No, I understand - if I could by leave, I know it will soon be up. I understand that many people offered him the use of their equipment but he did not want to -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Does the member have leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave is granted.

MR. R. COLLINS: Many people offered him the use of their equipment, but he did not want to deny anyone the opportunity of taking part in the race so he turned them down.

This event concluded later that day with a steak dinner.

I ask all members to join me in thanking Gerry Rideout, President of the Menihek Nordic Ski Club and the many other volunteers who contribute to make the Great Labrador Loppet a continued success.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to congratulate the Lions Club of the Southwest Arm. Mr. Speaker, this year they will be celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. They were chartered some thirty years ago and they served some seven communities, in the communities ranging from Long Beach to Southport.

Mr. Speaker, what is particularly amazing about this particular group of individuals, they represent a lodge organization in a small area, but they have had some tremendous success in the last three or four years in recruiting a large number of people to their club. They have been very successful in recruiting new young members to their club, unlike many other organizations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, where it is a real challenge to recruit new blood to their organizations.

I think, Mr. Speaker, this is a tribute to the tremendous amount of work that the Lions Club in Southwest Arm has done over the last thirty years. They have touched the lives of many people, both young and old. There are not very many groups or organizations in that area that they have not contributed something to. I think this is a group of individuals who truly live up to the motto of Lions International, which is very simply: we serve. This organization, through their example, have demonstrated their service to seven communities and the many young people who live in that area.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

I rise today to inform the House and the people of the Province of our ongoing efforts to protect the endangered Woodland Caribou herd in Southern Labrador, and an investigation currently being conducted into the possible illegal hunting of the herd by Innu hunters from Pakua Shipi, Quebec.

So far this year, one snowmobile has been seized and charges are pending in relation to the killing of twenty or twenty-one Woodland Caribou from the Birchy Lake area during a weekend hunt in February.

Just last week in an incident, another two Quebec hunters were apprehended and three caribou seized in a zone closed to hunting in Southern Labrador. One of the animals was collared, which is important, Mr. Speaker, because it is evidence that, as a result of being collared, that animal was part of the protected herd. Charges are pending in this most recent case as well.

In total, thirty-four animals are believed to have been killed from the protected Southern Labrador Woodland herd this year. Our conservation officers have concluded and conducted thirteen aerial patrols of the area since the end of January.

Mr. Speaker, the Woodland Caribou herd of Southern Labrador are protected by endangered species legislation and their core range is closed to hunting. A broad-based coalition, including provincial wildlife officials and representative from the Quebec Innu, have been working together over several years to develop and implement a Woodland Caribou Recovery Strategy.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador respects the fact that hunting of caribou is integral to the Innu way of life. There are healthy caribou herd populations in Labrador that can sustain harvesting activity. This is not the case with this particular herd. The Joir River herd group, for example, is numbered at less than fifty animals.

Mr. Speaker, in February officials from the Department of Natural Resources and Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs went to Pakua Shipi to meet with Innu leaders and citizens to outline our conservation concerns. Our officials reinforced the need to respect conservation measures established to protect the Woodland Caribou of Labrador. The meeting was attended by about fifty people from the community and, by all reports, was well received.

On March 8, another meeting was held with representatives of the Pakua Shipi and officials from the provincial departments of Environment and Conservation, Natural Resources, Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs. Since that point, a letter was received from the Chief of the Pakua Shipi Innu indicating their intention to not engage in the harvesting of this endangered Woodland Caribou herd, but to instead hunt the George River herd in an open zone near Churchill Falls.

Mr. Speaker, conservation officers have been directly involved and monitoring the situation. We will continue to work with all groups to ensure that conservation measures to protect this caribou herd are respected and enforced.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the hon. minister for an advanced copy of his statement.

Mr. Speaker, if there are people out there who are violating the laws of the land, when it comes to hunting of any species, they need to be prosecuted and they need to be brought to terms with the crime that they have committed.

The people who have been traditionally breaking the law, not just this year, but in other years previous as it relates to the Southern Labrador caribou herd, Mr. Speaker, need to be dealt with in some very tough times. I can say that because I live in that area and the people of my district have long respected the endangered legislation that is in place and have respected the laws of the land. In fact, Mr. Speaker, people in my district travel hundreds of kilometres to Western and Eastern Labrador, and Northern Labrador to hunt caribou just because they protect the laws of the land and want to see this particular species of caribou being able to grow and regenerate over the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I have no tolerance for the Innu of Quebec and the actions that they have taken in this particular area. I want to encourage the minister to continue with the work that he is doing in making sure that there is surveillance, making sure that there are patrols and making sure that these people are prosecuted when indeed they do break the laws.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. R. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am glad to see that the minister is taking a determined approach on this matter. I think we all agree on the necessity to have laws to protect endangered species.

Mr. Speaker, I say to the minister - and I have talked to him about this before - starting this year, and I noticed late last year, not only does it apply to caribou but also to inland waters, where we have Innu from Quebec coming to Labrador West netting the rivers and lakes, putting up cabins wherever they desire, when the rest of us, as residents of the Province, have to go through a procedure that is quite rigid in order to do so. I think things like this need to be approached very firmly, and I am glad to see that this approach is being taken in this case. I look forward to providing the minister with evidence of the other incidents I used here today this coming summer, and I hope the same approach is going to be taken then as well.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Further Statements by Ministers.

Oral Questions.

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Premier.

Last week the Premier said he had a deal with the Hebron-Ben Nevis proponents, but it ended up being scuttled at the last moment. Chevron and its partners denied any such deal existed. This past weekend the Premier is quoted in the media as saying that he had been in contact with Chevron officials since negotiations broke down. However, a spokesperson from Chevron denies any conversations taking place.

I ask the Premier if there have actually been discussions with Chevron and its partners, and if so, with whom.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: The answer is yes, Mr. Speaker, with the lead negotiator for Chevron.

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier stated that he had sent a letter to ExxonMobil asking to purchase their 38 per cent share in the Hebron-Ben Nevis project.

I ask the Premier if there has been any response to this request yet, and if not, what legislative action might government be contemplating in order to move this project forward.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: There has been no response yet, Mr. Speaker. This went out last Thursday and we will wait to see if there is a response and then we will contemplate legislative action.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier stated last week that he was willing to change the legislation and even expropriate ExxonMobil's share of the Ben Nevis project if necessary. However, any legislative changes would, I understand, require the approval of the federal government as well.

I ask the Premier what, if any, discussions there have been to date with the federal government regarding any legislative changes that might be, or might have to be, contemplated.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: I had a discussion with the Prime Minister last Friday, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: I wonder if the Premier can tell us if the Prime Minister is, in fact, on side with us, as a Province, should changes be required for our legislation, that the federal government would, in fact, be supportive of any such changes?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: The Prime Minister is coming to the Province, I understand, tomorrow night, or Wednesday, and at that point in time I will be having a discussion with him.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Should ExxonMobil decide to sell their 38 per cent share of the project to the Province, or the Province changes the current legislation that will allow them to expropriate or take control of that share, is government looking at a public partnership to share in those purchase or expropriation costs?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have already said that our preference is that the partners would take out ExxonMobil so that the existing three partners who want to do a deal would go ahead and proceed with the project. In the event that they are not interested in purchasing, then the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador would be interested in purchasing on its own or with others.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARSONS: I wonder if the Premier could advise if government has, to date, in fact, been approached by any local companies, or consortium of companies, who have expressed an interest in sharing in the cost of buying out ExxonMobil's piece of Hebron-Ben Nevis if that becomes necessary.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: No, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have been asking for seven days now, of this government, if we can receive the details of the failed Hebron-Ben Nevis negotiations. We have asked for agreements on many, many parts, including the so-called super royalty regime, and asked that it be tabled in the House. The Premier said last week that he would check and see if there was any issue in having this information released, from a confidentiality perspective.

I ask the Premier: When can the people of the Province expect to see the details in print, rather than just be talked about in the House and in the media? When can we actually see any details in print?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, it was my understanding that the Leader of the Liberal Party was having a meeting with Chevron and, at that point in time, he was going to discuss the details of the arrangement. To date, I still do not know if that meeting has taken place.

There was an indication, I think, on an open line show today that he still has not met with Chevron. That was to have taken place, I think, last Wednesday or last Thursday. He was then going to try and find out the details.

We have had a couple of discussions with Chevron since negotiations closed last Friday. From my perspective the door is sill open, so we will not be in the process of sort of releasing details of negotiations until we are satisfied that the negotiation has been absolutely and completely concluded.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Community Services.

Mr. Speaker, today paramedics in the Province are demonstrating to draw awareness to the working conditions they face and also the patient wait list that often accompanies ambulatory care in the St. John's region. These individuals are understaffed to Canadian standards and feel they have limited resources to serve the 200,000-plus people in the St. John's region.

I ask the minister why they were not given any consideration for increased services and human resources in the recent Budget.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

In Budget 2006, there was $250,000, I believe, if the numbers are correct, for dispatch services for the four regional health authorities. In addition to that, there was $60 million provided to the four regional health authorities for increased utilization costs as well as increased costs overall. These funds can be utilized by the regional health authorities for this type of service if they feel that the need is determined.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, these ambulance operators obviously feel that their issue was not given full consideration. If the minister claims today that there was money available to deal with this service, and to expand it, could he please clarify where the money is, and who makes the decision when it gets into the hands of these particular operators and paramedics? Because they are obviously not aware of it.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: I have just outlined to the member opposite exactly where the money was in the Budget. In addition to that, Eastern Health are in the process of performing - and have been for the past couple of months - an analysis of ambulatory needs in the region, and it is my understanding that they are going to be ready to make a decision in the very near future on that.

In addition to the $250,000 for dispatch services, in addition to the $60 million that has been provided to the regional health authorities, if there is a need that is demonstrated by Eastern Health Authority for ambulatory costs, I am certainly prepared to sit down and look at them for needs over and above what was provided in this year's Budget, which I believe was ample to satisfy the needs of today's questions.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the minister if it is indeed true that the extra money in the Budget will be given from the board to the St. John's Fire Department for ambulatory care services that they provide?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: There was no money provided in Budget 2006 for additional costs to the St. John's Fire Department for their services provided to Eastern Health, no.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, I have to ask the minister: Under the present circumstances, where there is such a long wait list for many patients who are calling to use this service, where they are staffed below the national standards in the country - and that is in comparison with places like Halifax, Sudbury, Saint John, New Brunswick - will he now intervene with the boards, tell them that this money must be allocated to increase the number of ambulances provided through the St. John's area, and also to increase the dispatch services for that office?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. OSBORNE: Ambulance services are managed by Eastern Health, and they will work within the allocations that were provided to them in Budget 2006-2007 to determine where those resources are needed.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, angry fish plant workers from New Harbour protested outside this building and in this building about government's policy of giving exemptions to companies shipping out redfish unprocessed.

On Thursday, the Premier told workers out in the hallway here that he did not know that fish was going out unprocessed while there was a buyer, Woodman's in New Harbour, willing to buy it and process it.

I ask the Premier: How is it that this issue was raised in the House of Assembly on Monday - and you had all week to ask your minister who is responsible for the Department of Fisheries - how is it that you did not know that there was plant in this Province willing to purchase that fish and process it here in the Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I think if one were to hear all of the comments made by the Premier, the answer would be obvious. The Premier did not say he did not know. He indicated - as I recall the conversation - that he would like to have some information as to the price and the marketplace, and the company undertook to provide that to him.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, on Friday, after managing to pick up his laundry on Thursday night, the minister met with these plant workers. After the meeting, he stated he was unaware it was a local company who had a market for filleted redfish. Two weeks ago, this minister stated that he had just learned that FPI was shipping fish out of the Province without permission of the government, and thus breaking the law.

I ask the minister: As the individual responsible for fisheries in this Province, how many other major issues are being overlooked or are going unattended by you?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: None, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: I suggest to the minister that he might want to rephrase that and say, none that I am aware of today.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries stated he is willing to amend the FPI Act to protect the workers in this Province, especially those who work in places like Fortune, Marystown, and Harbour Breton.

Mr. Speaker, could the minister provide an update of these potential amendments and whether legislation is currently being drafted, and when it will be brought to the House of Assembly?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I think I made it clear in this House on previous occasions that if the government decides that the appropriate route to go is to bring forward amendments to the FPI Act, we will do that at some point during this legislative session which has several weeks to go yet.

In terms of legislation being drafted, yes, Mr. Speaker, legislative counsel is involved and there are potential amendments that are being looked at. Government will make a decision at some point whether or not it is necessary to bring them forward to the House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: I say to the minister, that we are now into the middle of April. There are people who haven't been to work in Marystown since just after Christmas, when they normally are. When you are saying, if and when, I say to the minister that the people on the Burin Peninsula would certainly like to know if and when you are going to bring some legislation to this House so they can go back to work.

Mr. Speaker, last Wednesday night the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development told us here in this House, when doing Estimates, that in all discussions with FPI pertaining to their plants here in the Province, in every one of these discussions FPI made it categorically clear that they would be doing nothing in the Town of Fortune in the plant they have in that town. Now, the minister has stated that he is prepared to change the legislation to force FPI to cross-subsidize, take money from the more profitable organizations or divisions - like Danvers, Massachusetts in the American division of that company - and cross-subsidize the losing groundfish sector here in the Province.

I ask the minister: Will those cross subsidies be in place for Fortune and Harbour Breton?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, let me make it clear, one thing I am not prepared to do and that is to stand idly by and have the Leader of the Opposition, or anybody else in the Opposition for that matter, put words in my mouth. I never, ever said that we were - I said we were prepared to look at the issue of cross-subsidization. I never, ever said that the government was committed to enacting legislation to force cross-subsidization. That is an issue that government has yet deliberated on and made a decision, but we are prepared to look at it. I made that abundantly clear. I made it abundantly clear to anybody who wanted to listen that we are prepared to look at other amendments to the FPI Act that will strengthen the position of the government and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in relation to that company. But, Mr. Speaker, I am never, ever going to acknowledge that the vision and the spin of the Leader of the Opposition is anywhere close to reality.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, the minister can talk about spin all he wants. The only thing that has been spun here is what he is spinning himself. He has been talking about FPI now since last November when we brought it the attention of the public that FPI may not be operating their groundfish plants on the Burin Peninsula. You said, at that time, it was all fear mongering. What have you done since then? You keep saying that you are prepared to do this and you are prepared to do something else, but I say, minister, you have done nothing and I think that is what you are prepared to do.

Mr. Speaker, on April 4, the Minister of Transportation and Works, the previous Minister of Fisheries, said that Justice was investigating FPI and it would be they, the Justice Department, who would make a decision as to whether charges would be laid against that company.

I ask the Minister of Justice: How is the investigation progressing? When will you be taking the advice from your colleague, the Minister of Fisheries, and lay the charges that he said from the pan of a truck: They will be charged, they will be charged, they will be charged? When will the charges be laid, I say to the minister?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the only government that I am aware of in this Province who ever, ever said publicly they never had the time of day to ask questions of FPI was a government that the hon. Leader of the Opposition was a member of.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: That is not this government. It is not this Premier. It is not this minister.

Now, let me make it abundantly clear, Mr. Speaker, for the House. The authority, once an investigation is completed into any allegation of misreporting or shipping fish out of the Province unprocessed, rests with the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, not with the Minister of Justice.

The investigation report, I do not know if it is in my office today, I have not been there yet today. I understand that when I asked questions on Friday that the investigation was completed. What its recommendations to me are, I do not know at this point in time, but I assume, from everything I know, that FPI has broken the law of the land. If they have, and if that is what the investigation shows, then I repeat again, they will be charged, and that decision is mine, it is not a decision of the Minister of Justice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We hear the minister talking about we over here not having had time to discuss this or that. The only minister that I am aware of who has ever stated publicly that he never had time to meet with a group of people was he himself, when he told the people from Trinity Bay last week that he could not meet with them - 150 plant workers out in this lobby - because he had to go down and pick up his laundry down at the laundromat, I say to the minister. There are your priorities! Make sure you had clean clothes for the next day and never mind the people who might not have a job next week.

Now, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries himself said that he was going to lay charges. His predecessor, the Minister of Transportation and Works, said last week that it would be up to the Minister of Justice who would lay this charge. Today, he is saying that it is he, himself, who would be laying these charges.

I ask the question: Who will be laying the charges and when will these charges be laid?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, some days the hon. Leader of the Opposition gets up and talks about other people going into a rant and a rave in this House. Well, he can do it most days as good as anybody. The fact of the matter is that we had a meeting arranged with the people from New Harbour through the office of my colleague, the Member for Trinity- Bay de Verde, around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon for 1:30 on Friday.

The fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, that I went out and spent, I don't know, thirty-five, forty, forty-five minutes chatting with them in the lobby and as it got up to something after 5:00 o'clock, yes, I did in fact need clean clothes and I make no apologies for it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Minister of Finance.

Mr. Speaker, just this past weekend gas prices increased by almost two cents a litre. These increases are causing real hardship for consumers as well as for business, including the tourism operators who reported a flat year in 2005 for visitors who would normally travel by car to our Province.

I, once again, ask the minister: Will this government step in and do what was expected in the Budget surplus and provide some relief of the gas taxes paid by consumers in this Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, the increase in gas prices has resulted in lower consumption in the Province. As hon. members know, the Gasoline Tax Act is fixed at 16.5 cents a litre for both types of fuel. As a result of the decrease in consumption, there has been a revenue reduction estimated at about $4.2 million.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS THISTLE: Well, that is a solid answer isn't it?

AN HON. MEMBER: Yes, it is.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS THISTLE: Mr. Speaker, gas prices are predicted to jump to $1.20 a litre this summer and still the minister insists on taking every possible penny from the pockets of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Your government is reaping a huge profit from these increases. In fact, you left a surplus of $76 million on the table at Budget time. Considering these two factors alone, Mr. Minister, how can you honestly justify to the people of this Province - who, by the way, account for 60 per cent of the tourism travel in our Province. How can you justify that you cannot afford to provide gas tax relief to consumers who will, in turn, keep tourism operators in business and grow our economy?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, the government will utilize the surplus this year to pay down the debt and in that way every Newfoundlander and Labradorian, those who drive cars and those who do not drive cars, will all benefit from this prudent, fiscal action. This will benefit Newfoundlanders today and it will benefit future generations of Newfoundlanders.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS THISTLE: Mr. Speaker, I think what we are interested in is more money in our pockets today so we can grow our economy today, not pay off our mortgage today.

The Finance Minister keeps insisting that rising fuel costs are impacting revenues, arguing that there is actually a decrease in consumption and therefore less revenues for government. Can the minister confirm that if he used his own logic, that if gas taxes were lowered consumer consumption would rebound and government would be no worse off? In fact, consumers, and certainly our tourism industry, would benefit?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: I am sorry, I did not hear the question. I wonder if the hon. member would repeat the question? I did not hear it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The request from the minister is that the question be repeated.

The Chair recognizes the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MS THISTLE: Never you mind! I have the floor.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is clear that the Minister of Finance, or the alternate minister, does not agree with his own logic.

The question I am asking is: If the gas taxes were lower, consumer consumption would increase, and therefore there would be more money in the Province's coffers and business would succeed because of it. Why don't you lower the gas taxes and give people a break?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will be spending close to $5 billion this year for services that will be of benefit to the people of this Province, in Education, Health and in Justice, and obviously the government needs revenue to do that. With the help from the oil revenues and with the help resulting from the actions of the Premier enabling us to keep these oil revenues, the Government of Newfoundland will have more money to provide more services to the people of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. R. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Justice, and it concerns the threatening letters that people in this Province are receiving from the Canadian Firearms Registry informing them that their firearm licenses have expired even though their guns are still registered. Many of these letters, Mr. Speaker, as I said, are very threatening.

Let me read the minister an excerpt: If you do not take action within thirty days from the date of this letter, we will proceed to revoke your registration certificate without further notice, and we will advise your local police department for their followup directly with you. Mr. Speaker, these people didn't receive any notification that their license had expired. This letter came to them after it expired.

I want to ask the minister: What is his government proposing to do, or what actions will he take, to ensure that law abiding citizens of our Province are protected from the firearms that are using our police officers to turn them into criminals?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Of course, the gun legislation is federal legislation, and non-compliance, of course, is directed by the government in Ottawa, but I thank the hon. member for bringing this to my attention. I have contacted the RCMP and they have advised that they were not aware that these letters had been received by residents of this Province. They were aware that letters had been forwarded in other jurisdictions. The RCMP is now checking to see if there is a stated federal policy for the RCMP. They did assure me that responding to non-registration will be dealt with by the RCMP in accordance with all of their priorities, and I don't think this will be considered a major priority for them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. R. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The people of the Province who have called the minister's office, and called the RCMP personally, did not get that assurance, as far as I could gather. It is good to hear that from the minister, it is low on their priority list; however, if someone is bored some day they may very well walk up, if they are going to be answerable to the Firearms Centre.

Would the minister again intervene with the Firearms Centre and tell them to back off from the people of this Province? Further to that, Mr. Speaker, will the minister meet with his federal counterparts - because this government that is in power now campaigned on a promise to abolish the gun registry - and find out what the latest status is, of that, for the residents of this Province to judge themselves by?

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

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have asked for a meeting with my federal counterpart, Minister Day, concerning matters, out of concern to both the Province and the federal government, and I am certainly prepared to ask that this matter be added to the agenda so that we can discuss this.

I do know, and I have confirmed, that it was part of the policy of the federal Conservative Party that they would repeal Canada's costly gun registry legislation and work with the Province for cost-effective programs designed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals while respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens.

I would be very happy to take this up with Minister Day when I have this meeting, hopefully, in the next couple of weeks.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay-Cape le Hune.

MR. LANGDON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Minister of Municipal Affairs.

The problem of insufficient revenues, debt-servicing charges and lack of funding for infrastructure encountered by small rural communities is, indeed, serious. The Newfoundland Federation of Municipalities says that government now plans to off-load responsibility of the residential appeal boards to the municipalities. Minister, these small rural councils do not have the resources to cope with the download.

I ask the Minister: Is government indeed going to add this burden to the rural communities that are already strapped for cash?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Mr. Speaker, we have had some discussions within the department along the lines of taking away the Municipal Affairs representative on the appeal board. We want to make it more independent. We want to have it at arm's-length, the appeal board, for all the municipalities in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have had some discussions with the federation on that. As I speak today, that is the plan, that we would take the Municipal Affairs representative off that board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune.

MR. LANGDON: Mr. Speaker, my follow-up to the minister as a result of that particular answer: Do you indeed plan to have that financial responsibility placed to the municipalities rather than the provincial Department of Municipal Affairs, as it is now?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. J. BYRNE: Mr. Speaker, the way it works at this point in time is that the representative from the department would attend the hearings, the meetings, the appeal board hearings, and the representative would give some advice to the towns; but oftentimes, Mr. Speaker, the towns themselves do have their engineers and their planners at the hearings and those people give the advice, professional advice, that is required. Sometimes there is duplication of effort, so we are trying again, Mr. Speaker, to make it a more independent appeal process.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay-Cape la Hune.

MR. LANGDON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the municipal ticketing program was introduced a few years ago for larger communities on the Northeast Avalon. I ask the minister if that program has expanded, and how many communities now avail of that particular program?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. J. BYRNE: Mr. Speaker, as we speak in the House today, the municipal ticketing process has been implemented to a certain degree. We are still waiting to hear back from the City of St. John's on implementing their program to deal with the Department of Justice to see what ticketing would be permitted. Once they get their process in place we will then determine from that, from their experiences, if we can expand it on to other municipalities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allocated for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

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

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant to Standing Order 63.(3), we give notice of the private member's motion for this Wednesday coming, the Opposition motion day, the private member's motion of the Member for Port de Grave.

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

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the marine resources on the Grand Banks of this Province are a crucial element of the global ecosystem; and

WHEREAS these resources have the potential to provide tremendous economic benefit on a sustainable basis; and

WHEREAS the protection and conservation measures provided by the international community and organizations such as NAFO are not sufficient to protect marine resources on the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks and off the coast of this Province; and

WHEREAS the longer this ecosystem remains unprotected, increased and possibly irreparable damage continues to occur;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this House of Assembly calls upon the Government of Canada to take custodial management of the Continental Shelf off the Coast of Newfoundland and Labrador; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this House of Assembly renew its call for the Government of Canada to put in place the necessary provisions and resources to enforce conservation measures for the marine resources in this area; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Newfoundland and Labrador be an integral partner in any management structure and conservation measures deemed necessary to protect marine resources adjacent to our shores.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

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

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand today to bring to the House's attention the letter that I received from the Minister of Transportation and Works. I wrote him a letter asking for upgrades and repairs to the Buchans Highway and he, in his wisdom, has decided not to pave that road.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

We are now on petitions.

MS THISTLE: This is a petition.

MR. SPEAKER: Oh, I am sorry. You said you were talking about a letter. I am sorry to interrupt.

MS THISTLE: Actually, the reason for my petition today is the fact that I got this letter from the minister saying that he is not going to upgrade or do any repairs on the Buchans Highway. As I stated during the Budget Speech, it is oh, so important that government live up to their commitment to the rural communities of our Province.

I heard the Finance Minister and others repeatedly say how committed government was to the rural communities of our Province. Yet, when you have a person travelling by ambulance from the Buchans hospital, who almost loses an intravenous hookup from his arm, this minister then says it is not necessary to upgrade the Buchans Highway.

We have a mine that is about to commence operations in the fall, with 200 permanent employees who are going to be paying income tax, and there are going to be services purchased for that mine that is going to put money in the government coffers, and still government has no commitment to rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

I saw that same narrow commitment here on Thursday in this House of Assembly, when the Minister of Education, the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, who should have her designation stripped, because she said to my colleague, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair - there were four situations when she brought dishonour to the Status of Women. She has no credibility for that designation. The Premier should do his job and take that designation from her.

Now, the same commitment is lacking from this petition for rural Newfoundland and Labrador, when we should have upgrades and pavement on the Buchans Highway. Still, this government, who recorded a surplus of $76.5 million, scurried around at the last minute, March 31, to see how they could hide away a surplus, are now saying that for the people who live 100 kilometres off the Trans-Canada Highway and have an industry, two industries going on, that are going to be putting money into government coffers, that they do not see fit to pave or upgrade the Buchans Highway. Now, Mr. Speaker, anyone with any common sense in this world, who knows they have a revenue generating source in Buchans and Millertown, would see the benefits of upgrading this highway.

I ask the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, who is dumping millions -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's allotted time for her petition has expired.

MS THISTLE: By leave?

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been requested.

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, who is dumping millions into hair brain schemes in trying to develop the economy, here you have a sure thing and you are turning your back on the people of Buchans, Millertown and Central Newfoundland who want to develop the economy and they are trying to travel over roads with ruts and potholes. Now, you are not doing your job. You are not addressing this new economy, especially with a surplus on your books.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, thank you for your time. Hopefully, they will wake up.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

Orders of the Day.

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

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

I think we are going to be back and enlightened by the last half hour of the Leader of the Opposition, who closed the Budget Debate the other day. I think he has thirty-one minutes left, if my timing is correct. I am looking forward to each and every minute of it, I say, Mr. Speaker.

With that, I will move Motion 1, That This House Approves in General the Budgetary Policy of the Government, commonly known as the Budget Speech.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Government House Leader is right, in that the Leader of the Opposition was addressing the House when last we debated this motion, but his time is twenty-nine minutes and thirty seconds.

MR. REID: I thought so, Mr. Speaker. I have not even begun to speak yet and you are already telling me that I have a couple of minutes lost. I hope, Mr. Speaker, that this afternoon when the crowd opposite start to rise on their points of order and try to disrupt me and take some of those twenty-nine minutes, that you will at least protect me from them and keep their points of order short, I say to the Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the Budget today. When I ended off last week I was talking about the shell game that this government has played with the people of this Province in the past two-and-a-half years. What I mean by shell game, everyone has seen that game where you have the three shells and there is supposed to be something underneath one of them and you keep moving them around and you guess where it is, and then nobody ever wins on it.

Well, Mr. Speaker, if we remember back a few short years ago, two-and-a-half to be exact, when this crowd opposite were campaigning to get elected as the government, they went out and they made every promise there was that you could even possibly think of, and even added a few more to those, I say, to get elected. Shortly thereafter, the Premier went on provincial-wide television and said that he could no longer honour the commitments that he made to the people of the Province because of the dire financial situation that the Province found itself it. I say, Mr. Speaker, we said at the time that the deficit that the Premier and his Minister of Finance were talking about was inflated, and we still believe that today - because they inflated their Budget, they wanted to make cuts and that is an old trick. That is an old trick that Oppositions use. They talk the talk when they are in Opposition, but when they form the government, after making all the promises, they walk in and they say: I'm sorry, we cannot honour our commitments because we did not know in how bad a shape the books of the Province were in when we sat in Opposition.

I find it a bit strange that for this government, and this Premier, in particular, to talk about that because he sat in the House a couple of years before he became the Premier. Being an astute - or at least he claims he is - businessperson, he should have well-known what the state of the provincial finances were. He has a Minister of Finance who sat here since 1993 and every single year he went through each Budget in detail and year after year after year after year, he could stand in this House and tell us what we owed to the cent. Then, along with the Premier being an astute businessman and the Minister of Finance sitting here for ten years prior to the election in 2003 as critic for Finance, we also had the Member for Topsail who was elected, who spent ten years, I think, Mr. Speaker, as the Auditor General. The Auditor General for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and for her and the Premier and the Minister of Finance not to know what the state of the finances in the Province were, is a bit of stretch. I cannot use the word I would like to use to describe it, but I will say it was a bit of a stretch. Because there is one individual, who used to be the Minister of Health until she got flicked by the Premier, who knew every single cent, for the last ten years, what was being taken in by government and what was being spent. Then, shortly after becoming elected, they all of a sudden discovered that there was a deficit and that they could not honour their commitments. They pulled what we call a shell game on the people of the Province. As a result, what did they do? The Premier went out that day and said: There is not going to be any raise for the public service for two years. He was going to freeze their wages. Not only that, but he was going to lay thousands of them off. At one point during that debate, or shortly thereafter, the Minister of Finance came out and said there should be as many as 4,000 civil servants go. I don't know the exact number who have left the public service, who have been fired or laid off in the public service, since the Premier's great speech in January of 2004, but I know there must be thousands, Mr. Speaker.

MR. T. OSBORNE: That is not true.

MR. REID: Oh yes, we have the Minister of Health over there now saying it is not true. Maybe you can get up and tell us now, when I sit down, the exact number, if you have them over there, I say to the Minister of Health. You are saying it is not true, well you laid off 500 teachers alone, I say to the minister; you laid off 500 teachers alone. You tell me the exact number. Besides laying off numerous civil servants and teachers and nurses and everybody else in the Province, what did they do then? They cancelled all of these projects that were already in the Budget in 2003. They just didn't get started on time in 2003 because of the election. They came in and they cancelled a bunch of those, like the cancer clinic in Grand Falls-Windsor. There was money in the budget when we left government for that. There was money in the budget for the Grand Bank health care facility when we left government. There was money in the budget for the auditorium in Goose Bay. There was money in the budget for a school in L'Anse-au-Loup. We haven't heard this government talk about it since. There was money in the Budget, actually, for the Long Island ferry, the provincial government's portion of it. What happened to that?

What did they do, Mr. Speaker, when they came to power? They cancelled all of those projects, they laid off thousands of civil servants, and they said - the old con game that they played, I say to the Speaker, and that is to limb the public service, make all kinds of cuts, go around like the grim reaper, slash everything you can for the first couple of years, and then try to buy the taxpayers back in the last year or two of your term with their own money. Mr. Speaker, it is the oldest political trick there ever way, unfortunately. Well, fortunately, I should say. I was never part of anything like that, getting out and yelling and screaming: We are going to spend, spend, spend, we are going to fix, fix, fix, only to come in and say, we are not going to do it for the first two and a half years of our mandate, and then we are going to buy back our voters with their own money. This is what they have done, I say, Mr. Speaker, in the last two and a half years.

What did we hear announced this year in the Budget, and this year so far? They announced that the cancer clinic is going back in Grand Falls-Windsor, an initiative that I would say would never have happened if not for the tenacity of my colleague, the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans - the tenacity - because she is like a pit bull, if you don't mind me saying that to you. She is like a pit bull. When she gets hold of something, she is not giving up. Nobody in this Province - nobody in this Province, I say to the Member for Windsor-Springdale - nobody in this Province fought the fight like she did for the cancer clinic in Grand Falls-Windsor, and I say today, Mr. Speaker, that it would never have happened without her. Then to hear the Premier on provincial televison one night, after seeing people throwing up in the hallways of the hospital in Grand Falls-Windsor, he said: I didn't realize that it was in such bad shape out there.

If the Member for Windsor-Springdale, who sits in the caucus with the Premier day after day after day after day, did not tell him, maybe you did not tell him, I say to the member opposite, because he did not know about the dire straits they were in, in Grand Falls-Windsor. If he did not know it, then you did not do your job, I say to the Member for Windsor-Springdale, because the Premier should have known it. My colleague over here, the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans, certainly made it known to him.

Anyway, they announced that. They also announced, because my colleague from Grand Bank fought tenaciously for the health care facility in Grand Bank, they announced that they were going to go ahead and move ahead on that, I say to the members opposite.

What else did they announce in this year's Budget? They announced in this year's Budget that they were going to add an auditorium to the school in Goose Bay. Well, I say, Mr. Speaker, when I left the Department o f Education in the year 2003, during the election of 2003, there was money in the Budget, I say to the members opposite, the Minister of Education and others. There was money, three point something million dollars in the Budget for the auditorium, and had this government opposite not cancelled that project it would have been built and the children and the adults of Labrador would be performing in that auditorium today, rather than have to wait for another two, three, four years and, who knows, the Premier gets up on the wrong side of the bed one of these mornings he might cancel that, or say he does not have the money to pay for it, and they might have to postpone that, now that the Hebron-Ben Nevis well does not seem to moving in a direction we thought it would be moving.

Mr. Speaker, then to get up on their high horses and the Member for Lake Melville gets up and pats himself on the back because he was the one who secured an auditorium for the Goose Bay high school, I find it almost laughable. I find it almost laughable. He beating himself on the back saying that he is responsible. Well, I say to the people of Goose Bay and all of Labrador, you have to ask yourself the question: Who delayed it for two-and-a-half years? I have to say that it was this government and maybe the inaction on behalf of the Member for Lake Melville. Because, I will tell you one thing: Had my colleague, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, or my colleague, the member who represents Torngat Mountains, I tell you, if they sat in any Cabinet that tried to postpone that decision for two-and-a-half years, I can honestly say that it would never have happened, because these two individuals would never let it happen.

Then they are out talking about Leary's Brook. There was $1 million in the Budget for Leary's Brook in April of 2003, I say to the Member for St. John's North. This government cancelled that project, or postponed it, in 2004, in the spring of 2004, in your Budget, and now you are out today talking about, oh, it is in the Budget. Well, I will tell you what, if I were the people in Leary's Brook, I would have to say, let's wait and see. Let's wait and see if that is going to be done, just like they thought it was going to be done before you fellas got in government and you cancelled it.

Mr. Speaker, what I am saying is that the government came in, they said they had a far bigger deficit than they actually did. They cut services, they cut jobs, and they cut all the proposals that were on the table that this government had initiated when we were there, and now they are back, two-and-a-half years later, announcing the programs that were announced two-and-a-half years ago by a Liberal government, and they want everyone to stand up and applaud them and pat them on the back.

Well, excuse me, Mr. Speaker, but here is one individual who will not be applauding them. Here is one individual who will not be patting you on the back because, I say to those opposite, if you were not so hypocritical, I guess, these facilities would have been expanded and built long before now, instead of just talking about them and talking about putting money in a budget for them.

MS THISTLE: (Inaudible) created a job.

MR. REID: My colleague, the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans, says here: And they haven't created a job. Not only have they not created a job in this Province since they came to power - and all of you can stand up later and tell me about all the jobs that you have created - not only have they not created a job, I say to my colleague, but they have eliminated thousands of them. They have eliminated thousands of them. I always wonder, where are these 500 young teachers who could not avail of a job because of the cuts on this side of the floor over here? Where are they gone now?

They talk about what a great Budget this was for rural Newfoundland and Labrador. I am still trying to find those areas that they are referring to. What areas of rural Newfoundland and Labrador are the members opposite referring to, when they say that this Budget was great for everybody and it was also great for rural Newfoundland and Labrador, because -

MS THISTLE: Did they open up beds in your hospital?

MR. REID: I will get into that later, I say to my colleague.

I represent one of the more rural areas of the Province, thirty-nine communities on four islands on the Northeast Coast of this Province. If you go through my district, I certainly will tell you that you will not find anything there for the rural areas in my district, or the rural areas of this Province; because, as I said the other day, the only thing that I can find so far that was in this Budget for my constituents was a raise of 5 per cent for social service recipients. I talked last week about individuals, and the trying and the desperate times that they are facing in that area. Some of them got a 5 per cent increase in social services, and I think we may have saved one or two teachers. I guess when you are saying we are not going to lay off one or two teachers and the social service recipients are going to get a 5 per cent raise, then that is something wonderful that is happening in your district; but, as I said last week, I can tell you hardships about the people in my district, and the amount of money that they are making, and how this government will not allow them to have a drug card to pay for their drugs. Many of them are going without very important drugs, such as heart medication and things like that, because they are making $7,000 a year, one individual, or $7,700 - he and his wife, between them, are making $7,700 - and, because he has a few dollars in the bank to bury them when they die, this government will not help him with a drug card or ambulatory fees to get him back and forth to the hospital here in St. John's.

I find that a very sad scenario, and one that a Liberal government certainly would not tolerate. I guess it has always been the philosophy of the Liberal Party that you always look after those who are in need. Obviously, this government has no idea of what it means to be in need. Maybe that is probably because of their backgrounds, at least some of them, especially the Premier. When you come from a business background, and a very successful business person, you find it difficult, I guess, to understand those among us who are less fortunate and in need.

Mr. Speaker, they talked the other day - and I would just like to take you through a few of the individuals who spoke and who think, for example, that everything is fine in their districts and that there is no problem, they are all going to be elected again, because they are out there trying to buy the taxpayers with their own money.

I have been around long enough, Mr. Speaker, to know that, by putting down a kilometre of pavement here or there, or promising this or that, you don't get elected. I think those opposite think that, guaranteed, all thirty-odd of them, are shoe-ins for the next election.

Well, let me tell you a few things. As the Government House Leader well knows, in 1996, when Brian Tobin came back to this Province, the media had him picked as the second coming, the saviour. He was supposed to lead the Liberals to victory in all forty-eight seats at that time. You, Mr. Speaker, were one who was elected there. You know as well as I do, that sometimes it is the individual themselves and not the leader. Like the Premier, a lot of people on that side of the House think that the Premier is going to get them re-elected. Regardless of what they do for their constituents, the Premier is going to get them re-elected, all they have to do is follow.

I was somewhat dismayed last week by the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde. I think that is the name of the district, or is it Trinity South?

AN HON. MEMBER: Trinity-Bay de Verde.

MR. REID: Trinity-Bay de Verde. We sat here on Wednesday night doing Estimates and she was seated right there behind me when I looked around and told her that her constituents, two busloads of them, were coming to St. John's the next day to protest against the policy that this government has of allowing fish to go out unprocessed while constituents of hers, who work in the fish plant in New Harbour, were going without work because of that very policy. I cannot mention her name, but I said to the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde: You stand with your constituents tomorrow because these are the individuals who sent you here, and you will be looking for them to send you back here in 2007. So, you make sure you stand with those people.

She looked at me and she gave me a bunch of different arguments of why she could not because was thinking about what is best for the Province.

Well, Mr. Speaker, when they came here on Thursday I do not think that they were very pleased with her performance. I can understand why she took the position, but I think it had less to do with what was best for the Province as what might happen to her if, indeed, she were to stand against the government and say that the policy they had was wrong. Because we know a couple of individuals who sat on that side of the floor, who took a stand against the Premier, and even suggested, not that he was wrong, but that he might reconsider the policy - like, I say, Fabian Manning, who is now the federal MP. When he stood in the caucus meeting and spoke to the Premier about the fact that you might need to revisit the policy of raw material sharing. What happened when he as much as even said maybe we should look at the policy? Well, the Premier flicked him out. Flicked him out. Threw him out of caucus and basically that led him, in the end - luckily for him - to find a job in Ottawa.

Mr. Speaker, I can see why the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde made that stand, because she did not want to disagree with her Premier, because she might be out of a job sooner than she will be in 2007. But, to say that you are going to stand with the Premier while your own constituents go home without work, I say, you should take some advice from those of us who are here longer than you and who are somewhat older. You are not going to get it from the Premier and you are not going to get it from your colleagues who sit next to you in the House of Assembly, but you should take some advice from some people and do what is good for your district.

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

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

A point of order has been raised by the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde.

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, the member opposite turned around in Committee and suggested he wanted to give me some advice when I speak to the minister. I do not need to take advice from the Leader of the Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: In fact, he suggested that I ignore the media, and at no point do I ignore the media. Mr. Speaker, I did stand up for my constituents.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: My issue was not between the district and the Province. My issue is within the district between a plant in New Harbour and a plant in Old Perlican. That is what I was talking to him about. So, I would not want him to leave the wrong impression with my constituents.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

A point of order is not the place that we should use to engage in debate. There is no point of order.

The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is too bad you were not here last week when I had ten minutes to speak and there were three points of order. So, I hope you stay in the Chair, Mr. Speaker, to give me some protection.

I knew, Mr. Speaker, that the Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde would not take my advice, and she did not take my advice, but for some reason she thinks that because we are over here we are the enemy. I gave freely of my advice but, unfortunately, she did not want to take it, and that is entirely up to her.

When she talks about a conflict between two plants in her own district, I say to the member, if you would look carefully at that you would not have a conflict. Then, again, I can go into detail on that but you are not going to take my advice. The fish that is going into Quinlan's is somewhat different than the fish that is going into Woodman's. One is the competitive quota, the other actually - if I am not mistaken - is fish that is being caught for St. Pierre. That is what is going into Mr. Quinlan's plant in Bay de Verde. There is an issue there that you could get around which would not cause you a problem, but you can seek that advice somewhere else because it is no good for me to tell you what to do with it because you do not believe me. So, that is fine.

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of people opposite who might find themselves in the fall of 2007 thinking that the Premier is going to lead them to victory on his coattails, but I can tell you one thing, if you travel through some of the districts like I have, you cannot see much of a benefit for having voted for a Tory member in the last provincial election.

I can tell you one district, and that is Bonavista North, a district through which I travel quite frequently, and to see the condition of the roads in that district - go and ask the people of that district what is so great and what is so rosy about the Budget that they just brought down that is going to make people walk out in droves to elect a Member for Bonavista North the next time, because I cannot see what is there. That member also lost a courthouse and, I think, he lost his social services office. I will tell you, things were not rosy in his district last summer as a result of the raw material sharing program that this government foisted or forced upon the people of that area, the fish harvesters of that area. As a result, a number of people have been forced to leave that area in the past year to seek work elsewhere.

The other thing that I find ironic, Mr. Speaker, in talking about people going elsewhere, is this government talks about the need now to implement programs in schools to deal with training more skilled workers for work in this Province. I find that very, very ironic, Mr. Speaker, because every single day, as we speak, there are more and more individuals hopping on a plane and heading to Alberta, or driving to Alberta to find work in the tar sands and other parts of Alberta. Yet, we have a government here that says things are so rosy that we have to implement new programs now to train more highly-skilled people because we are going to have a labour shortage. Now, how foolish! We are going to have to train more people in this Province because we are going to have a skilled labour shortage. What they cannot figure out, for the life of them, is that the reason they have a skilled labour shortage here, is not because we haven't trained enough over the years, it is just that everyone we are training is forced to go elsewhere to find a job because this government has done absolutely nothing to create employment in this Province. All you have to do is go from peninsula to peninsula to peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador and you will find people leaving the Province in numbers that we haven't seen since the moratorium in the mid-1990s. Yet, we are talking about training more so that they can leave as well.

I say, Mr. Speaker, that representing Bonavista South, you must have experienced a fair bit of this in the past year in your own district, because I am sure that the people who have prosecuted the fishery in your district are not much different from those who prosecute the fishery in my district. I can tell you, that a lot of those people have left and gone elsewhere in my district. They have gone to the mainland to seek employment, and many of them, I say, will never come back. For the gall of this government to say that the economy is so great in this Province, that we do not have enough skilled workers, I tell you is a little bit less than truthful, I say, but that is something we will get on to.

If you look around this Province and what this government has been doing with the fishery in the past two-and-a-half years, you will find that they are probably the worst government when it comes to fisheries issues that we have seen since 1949. I think the reason for that is that you see such a shift, by this government, in attitude toward the fishery. I think that might have to be attributed to the Premier; because, unlike any other premier since 1949, I do not think this individual premier can really sense the significance of the fishing industry in this Province. We know that he knows nothing about it; let's face it. I don't think he spent too many summers fishing on the Labrador, or anywhere else in this Province. As a result -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, now we have another one getting a bit lippy over there. The Member for St. John's Centre just woke up, I say, another individual who knows a lot about the fishing industry. Now he is going to tell me all about it. I say to him, if he wants to talk about the fishing industry in the Province, I will gladly sit down so you may enlighten me. We will do that later.

We have a government here led by an individual who knows nothing about the fishery and cares nothing for it, I say to those opposite; because, if he did care for it, he would not have done what he did last year in terms of forcing a raw material sharing system upon fish harvesters in this Province after promising, I say to the Member for St. John's Centre, those same harvesters that he would never do anything without consultation with them.

I know that he did not consult with those individuals before he did that. He went and dictated it. He went and forced that system upon them, and it was definitely detrimental to the fishing industry last year to the point where we saw an export value of over $1 billion in years prior to last year, and last year we saw an export value of what for their fishery, I say to the Member for St. John's Centre? What, $650,000?

I tell you, you and your government contributed to that decline in the fish last year, simply because you kept the fish harvesters on the street here for two full months when they should have been, on the water - where they wanted to be, on the water - trying to support their families.

Mr. Speaker, let's look at what else they have done with the fishery in this Province. FPI. As my colleague who represents Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi knows, when they were over here, in Opposition, they railed against the Board of Directors of FPI to the point where the Premier said, when he was Leader of the Opposition, that they should not even be permitted to be on the Board of Directors, and that FPI should not be permitted to pick their own Board of Directors.

Now we have a Premier today, where FPI has gone in and wiped out Harbour Breton, put 350 people out in the streets. With direct and indirect jobs, you are probably talking 650 to 700 people who are impacted by that: families who are being forced to split up, some of which go to the mainland to work, others who stay in the Province, others who have gone and will never come back. What did this government say and do about that? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Only the Minister of Fisheries at the time, the member who represents The Straits & White Bay North, was out there being their official spokesman, saying that the reason that it had to happen is because of competition from China, the Canadian dollar, and things like that. FPI did not even have to come out and tell why they had to leave Harbour Breton, and close her down, because the minister did a great job. If I didn't know the difference, if I didn't know who he was, when he came on the air, I would be convinced that he was an employee of FPI rather than the Minister of Fisheries. After he closed down Harbour Breton, nothing happened. All of a sudden then, you know, FPI determines that they are not going to stay in the groundfish any longer, because I heard Mr. Rowe say, last spring, that in the future they would be getting out of groundfish and they would become a shellfish only operation in this Province.

No one opposite said anything about that, and they let FPI continue because Harbour Breton was closed down. They were not hearing much from those people down there any longer, so what else are we going to do? This year, they announced that they were closing Fortune and they are going to strip half the work out of Marystown and leave the remaining 350 people with what? Fifteen weeks a year. Fifteen weeks a year on which to make a living and feed their family. What has this government done about it? Absolutely nothing.

They talked the talk, and they have been talking the talk since November of this year, but, Mr. Speaker, what do we see happening in places like Fortune and in Marystown today? We see absolutely nothing. We see every day, though, a Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture jump up here and take a reverse stand from the day previous in this House of Assembly. That is what we see. That is what we hear. One day he talks about amending the legislation to force FPI to cross-subsidize. Then, today, he jumps up and says he didn't know if he really said that.

One day he says that FPI has broken the law, broken the law, broken the law; they are going to be charged, charged, charged. The next day, his predecessor, the Minister of Transportation and Works, jumps up and what does he say? Oh, well, we don't really know about that. We are investigating, and it will be up to the Department of Justice to determine if charges are going to be laid.

Now, the Minister of Fisheries himself comes back today and says that is not true, because, if there are any charges going to be laid, and any investigations going to be done, it is going to be done by the Minister of Fisheries.

MR. E. BYRNE: (Inaudible).

MR. REID: The Government House Leader, the Member for Kilbride, is over there telling me what the minister said and what he did not. I heard him quite well.

I say to the minister, we all heard him say, even from his speech that he made from the pan of the truck on O'Leary Avenue, in front of the FPI building, where the Chinese flag was flying that day, we all heard him say that FPI broke the law and FPI is going to be charged. Now, if anyone who was there, like I was that day, if a minister of the Crown says: You broke the law and you are going to be charged - and he said he found out about this as a result of an investigation he did, what would you assume? You would assume that the investigation was over, that they did break the law and they were going to be charged. Here it is three weeks later, and what do we hear today? The investigation is still ongoing and there might be charges laid.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, give me a couple of seconds to clue up -

MR. SPEAKER: By leave?

MR. REID: (Inaudible) as a result of being rudely interrupted by the Member for -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition, by leave.

MR. REID: Thank you.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, that is enough about the charges. We will wait and see, but if I were a betting man, you will not see charges laid against FPI. If I were a betting man, that is what I would say.

Let's talk about the legislation.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) clue it up.

MR. REID: I am only going to be about a minute or two, I say to the minister.

We talk about the legislation. He says one day we are going to do it, the next day we do not know. I say to the minister, that's another if. If I were a betting man, we will not see any legislation forcing FPI to cross-subsidize. That will never see the Table of this House of Assembly. We will not be standing debating that particular amendment to the FPI Act, I can guarantee you that as well, Mr. Speaker. If I were a betting man, and I am not. That is two things you will not see before this House this year.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, to get back - and we will have another opportunity to go further into the Budget, but those opposite can stand now and talk about what a wonderful Budget it is, but I challenge any of them to stand and tell me how great it is for the rural districts of this Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the Leader of the Opposition, he will hear about all the great things for rural Newfoundland from a member who represents rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I find it quite interesting that the Leader of the Opposition had about an hour to talk about all the wonderful things in the Budget, about health care and education and economic development, but instead of choosing to do that, he chose to get up and attack members, such as myself, and it just goes to show that -

AN HON. MEMBER: It is really shameful!

MS JOHNSON: The wonderful Budget, Mr. Speaker, but, yes, he chose to attack us instead. While I am speaking on that, there are a lot of great things I want to say about the Budget, but I would like to speak to the recent situation this week with Woodman's.

The Leader of the Opposition stood up here a couple of days ago and said that I said in an e-mail, I would not meet with my constituents. Well, my constituents come first, Mr. Speaker, let me tell you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: What he failed to read out was the very first sentence of that e-mail, where I said I have no problem meeting with my constituents. In fact, I was receiving a lot of e-mails and phone calls from employees of the plant who said that they could process a lot of fish there, but I also explained in the e-mail that I would like to speak to the plant owner and hear that from himself first as well, but I absolutely had no problem meeting with them. In fact, I met with them that afternoon and followed up with the minister, who so graciously agreed to meet with them the very next day and we had a very informative member.

The Leader of the Opposition did, in fact, turn around and offer to give me some advice. I find that quite amusing to take advice from a member who has been part of a government that has stripped teachers' pensions, left teachers wondering where their pensions were going to be when they finished; to take advice from a member who was part of a government who stripped away at the equity that was built up in hydro; to take advice from a member who would love nothing more than this government to give away the Hebron-Ben Nevis deal. This government will leave that oil in the ground if we do not get what we rightfully deserve.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: The legacy that we want to leave to our children and our grandchildren is one that we want them to be able to survive. We are not going to give it away just for the sake of a good short-term deal. We have more long-term thinking than that, Mr. Speaker.

I just want to read something here that the Leader of the Opposition said in response to the Throne Speech. It just goes to show how they think differently on that side of the House from this side of the House. He said, in response to the Throne Speech: When you are in Opposition things are bad, they are terrible. When you are in government they are good, they are great. When you are in Opposition the future is bleak. When you sit on that side of the floor the future is bright. We talk a lot. We make a lot of great speeches, but little seems to change.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say that a lot has changed in this Province. The biggest change is the change in attitude and it is a result of this new approach. There is a new attitude in this Province and it is directly a result of the new approach of this government.

I want to talk about a couple of the other wrongs that we had to right as a government - taking advice from the member opposite. I want to tell you some of the things that they did when they were in here that we had to turn around and fix.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, this government had to put $2 billion into the teachers' pension fund to replenish it because they stripped away at that, leaving those teachers to wonder where their money will come from. In fact, we had to put $3 million into workers' compensation spousal benefits for fifty-eight women who were treated unfairly when the Opposition were there - another wrong we had to right.

In fact, I think it was March 25, in The Telegram, an editorial said there: This government used its healthy financial state to solve the wrongs done by the past government. Something that they say, Mr. Speaker, is very unique in Canadian politics. It is what we call the new approach.

One of the things I wanted to talk about today in the Budget is the investment in education. Mr. Speaker, I think it is very important that we invest in our students. They are certainly the future of this Province, but it is equally important that we invest in our teachers. Our teachers, they take on many roles. They are just not a teacher, they are a parent, they are a nurse, they are a guidance counsellor. So, it is very important that we invest in them as well as our students.

Some of the things that we have looked at, as a government, first of all is abolishing the school fees. Again, you talk about taking advice from the Leader of the Opposition. He was a member of the government who brought in the Schools Act in 1997, and this was a legislation that was brought in to permit schools to charge fees. Now, some six years later, during an election in September of 2003, they did commit, at that time, to abolish school fees; certainly, right during the election campaign, along with many other promises, but we saw the result of those many promises. But, they did have six years to get rid of the fees. This government came in, we listened, and again, we righted another wrong and we abolished those fees. So, it just goes to show that sometimes promises during elections do not work.

Another thing that we did is we decreased the fee from $80 to $50 per student in the schools. This is so very important so that students can take part in extracurricular activities and have all of the equipment that they need in the labs and in art classes and so on. So, this, too, is very important.

I just want to respond to a piece in the paper by the Member for Port de Grave, I believe it was - or maybe Carbonear-Harbour Grace - who said he did not know what was included in these school fees, we have left it very vague. Well, Mr. Speaker, I refer them to a press release that we put out and it clearly points out what is included in school fees. It just requires a little bit of research.

There are many other investments in education announced in the Budget. In fact, there are about $100 million worth. Certainly, keeping 151 teachers in the school system is something that I have heard many, many positive comments about in the district. In fact, school principals who have been in the system for a long time said: Finally, they have been asking for this for ten years to stop taking much needed valuable teachers out of the system. Certainly, when taking those teachers out of the system you are, in fact, increasing the workload for those left behind. I am not sure of the number, maybe one of my colleagues here can tell me, but there were something like 1,900 teachers taken out of the system under their watch. Again, another reason not to take advise from the members opposite.

Certainly, within education too there was a huge investment in physical education in the schools, and this has some positive impacts on healthy living for children again. When investing in education, we can see many spinoffs from that as well.

One of the other things I was quite interested in was the investment in the development of a history course. Certainly, it is very important, as a people, to know where we have come from in order to know where we are going. I was very pleased to see this investment.

Certainly, $4.3 million invested in skills development - when I was in high school, some thirteen years ago, there was major pressure on me at that time to go to university. In fact, there was even pressure to leave the Province, there aren't opportunities here in the Province, but we certainly see that isn't the case today. I would certainly recommend to anybody, if they wanted to take a course in plumbing or pipefitting or crane operator or anything, the options are endless today. I am certainly pleased to see that investment.

Mr. Speaker, we often hear the Opposition too questioning our commitment to women. As a woman in this caucus, I am proud to say that we have a tremendous caucus. We are very supportive of women and men alike, and I am very proud of that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: One of the things this Budget did was, again this year increase funding for women's centres, and $270,000 put into a mentorship program for women in apprenticeship to promote skills development.

We just heard recently this week about the pay equity. Some members already spoke about that, but I feel it needs to be reemphasized. Yes, there was $24 million in a voluntary payment given to women who, as a result of the previous government in 1991 bringing in the Public Sector Restraint Act - again, another right that we had to wrong. Mr. Speaker, from what I am hearing from women, it is not just about the $24 million, it is about the fact that we did the right thing, and that meant more than money to them. Again, many, many rightings of wrongs done by the past government, so many more reasons not to take advise from the Leader of the Opposition or members opposite.

I would like to speak a little bit now, Mr. Speaker, about the Department of Natural Resources. I know the Minister of Natural Resources did an excellent job the other day of explaining some of the great investments in his department, but it is an area, with my background, of some keen interests that I have. There are some excellent developments in my district in the area of natural resources, with fur farms, an excellent program going on with the schools. Baccalieu Collegiate and Crescent Collegiate are developing a lot of skills, learning about agriculture. In fact, they have formed two businesses, Superb Herbs and Sensational Salsa, where they are learning to grow tomatoes and turn it into a final product in terms of salsa. Those are just some of the things, again, that I wanted to talk about in natural resources and agriculture.

One of the other keen interests of mine is forestry, and I was very pleased to see that our government has put $800,000 to do a complete forest inventory. This, Mr. Speaker, is very important. It is very important that we have solid information so that we can make sound decisions for the future. You need an accurate database, ensuring that we have enough resource, again, for our young people in the future. We do not want to continuously strip away at these forest resources and, again, leave nothing for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I also see that the minister and this government have committed another $1 million into silviculture, and it is very important. Once you extract trees, the only way - well, there is, certainly, natural regeneration, but we do have to plant trees again in order to ensure that there is a resource there for the future. In line with that, we have also increased funding for fire suppression and pest control which, again, is very important to protect the resource.

Mr. Speaker, I want to speak a moment about our fiscal position. It is very important to speak about this because in order for us, as a Province, to be more prosperous and self-reliant, we could not get there without having a much better financial situation. Certainly, by increasing the self- reliance as a Province, that will turn into increasing self-reliance of the people who live in that Province. Certainly, that ties into our poverty reduction strategy.

As I just mentioned, it is very important that our financial position be increased, improved, in order to improve the lives of the people who live within the Province. Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to hear that, for the first time in twenty-six years - that is right, twenty-six years - the prescription drug plan has been changed. As a result, we have doubled the amount of people who can now avail of a co-pay system for drugs in this Province, drugs that are so badly needed; in fact, 97,000 more people, so we have doubled it.

Also, Mr. Speaker, we are, in fact, the only other province - there is one other province in this country who does have a poverty reduction strategy, so we are the only second one in the Province and, again, the only second one in the Province who indexes the HRLE subsidy, so I am very proud to say that we have done that as a Province.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure all of my colleagues on this side of the House, and opposite, and many other people, have head that we are the richest Province in Canada. We are so blessed, we are so rich with resources; however, we do not always seem to reap the benefits of those resources. Mr. Speaker, under the leadership of this Premier, and certainly this government, that is about to change.

I just wanted to quote, Mr. Speaker, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair. She spoke in the House last week and she said, "Mr. Speaker, I think it was a great stroke of luck on our part as a Province, that we are fortunate to have those kind of resources and to be able to benefit from them like we have."

Mr. Speaker, I will agree with the first part of her statement that, yes, we are fortunate to have these resources, but one of the things that I absolutely do not agree with is that we are lucky to have benefitted from them. There is no luck in the types of negotiating skills that you have seen from this Premier, Mr. Speaker. It certainly was not luck. It is tough negotiating. It is long-term strategic planning. I certainly do not agree with the fact that it is luck that we have that.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) strategy.

MS JOHNSON: Certainly, strategy, long-term strategy. It is a different way of thinking on this side.

Mr. Speaker, in speaking of resources, and benefitting from them, we just heard recently in the news about the Hebron deal. It seems to me, from what I am hearing, Mr. Speaker, that the members opposite - and, they are fulfilling their role. An Opposition is to keep government in check, I certainly do agree. It is not what the Leader of the Opposition said. It is not to believe that all things are bad and bleak. It is their role to -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) attack people personally.

MS JOHNSON: It is certainly not their job to attack people personally, as my colleague has said. It is their job to ask questions; but, Mr. Speaker, we see another example of how this Premier and this government will not settle for less.

We have continuously said that we will not give away. I am sure the Leader of the Opposition felt he was doing me a favour when he offered me advice, but we are not going to take advice in terms of giving away resources, Mr. Speaker. That oil will stay in the ground, as I said, and some day in the future, when my grandchildren are around, maybe they will benefit from it then. As we know, as a resource gets limited, the value of it is going to go up. The oil is not going to rot in the ground. We will value more from it in the future, no doubt.

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition also mentioned that we have done absolutely nothing in terms of jobs in this government. Going through the Budget, I just want to highlight a few of the positions that we have created in many different areas. Certainly in health care, we have committed to providing thirty-nine new public health nurses over the next two years, which is very important. We always hear of the stresses that are in the health care system, and the overburden that these nurses have, so that is a significant investment.

We have committed to nine new addiction counsellors; again, very important in terms of gambling and other types of addictions in the Province. In keeping with the health aspect, and protecting our young people, we have created fifty-five new positions for child, youth and family services positions.

Many jobs in the legal aid system, we will be hiring new lawyers and administrative staff. That is to directly help people in rural Newfoundland who could not avail of those services in the future. In fact, in Trinity Conception we will be getting a new police officer this year, which is another benefit for rural Newfoundland. In fact, there are going to be, I believe, eighteen new RCMP officers, eight new RNC officers, and then, again, thirteen positions to help support those RNC and RCMP officers -

AN HON. MEMBER: Twenty-eight of them are already hired.

MS JOHNSON: Absolutely, twenty-eight already hired, so a significant investment.

We hear about the $2 billion we will be putting into infrastructure. There is no question that, when you put $2 billion into infrastructure in order to build the buildings and construct the roads and improve upon buildings, it takes labour work to do those types of jobs. In fact, it is expected that there will be 4,500 new jobs created as a result of this $2 billion investment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, where do you think a lot of these jobs are going to go?

AN HON. MEMBER: Rural Newfoundland.

MS JOHNSON: Absolutely.

It is because of the neglect of the previous government that the roads are in the state they are in. Out in Trinity-Bay de Verde, for one example, the roads have potholes and it is just not a pretty state for bringing your car over, absolutely, so that investment is going to create jobs right in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, some of the other investments in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, as I have mentioned, are in the Department of Natural Resources. Certainly, most of the farming that takes place, the agriculture that takes place, there is a fur farm in my district, and fishing, all of these things are in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. They do not take place here in the city.

I spoke about the fiscal position of this government, and how we have spent a lot of money in areas such as health and education and economic development and so on, and all of these numbers add up, Mr. Speaker. In fact, it adds up to one of the biggest and best Budgets, I think, we have ever seen in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, I just want to end by saying there is much more to it, I think and I believe, than just numbers. It is about a change in attitude, and we have seen a complete change in attitude in this Province. It is a new attitude. It is a result of a new approach in this Province.

You know, I took an economic course last semester, I think it was, or maybe last year, and one of the things that you learn in economics is that perception is everything, and if your economy is perceived to be doing well then that, in turn, benefits in actual terms of making your economy do well; because, if the perception is there, the business will come. That perception alone is a very big factor into the economics of this Province.

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, I believe it is the role of the Opposition to keep governments in check. It does not necessarily mean, as the Leader of the Opposition said, that things are bad and bleak. The role is to keep us in check and not to have that perception out there, because that perception does nothing for the Province. It does nothing for rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Many of my colleagues here have spoken about the Budget, and all of the good things and all of the dollars that we spent in the Budget, but there is something more than this money. One of the things from this Budget, and going around the district and talking to people just Saturday night, in fact, in Winterton, was the sense of hope that is created, and the sense of belief in this Province, and the belief that, you know, if the oil companies do not want to do business here, well, let them go to other places in the world. Let them go to other places that maybe aren't as politically stable as this Province. Let them go to places in Nigeria, and places like that, because this oil is here and it is here for the future generations of this Province, and we are going to ensure, under the leadership of this Premier, that we will get the maximum benefit for all the people in the Province.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, there are many, many things in the Budget. Twenty minutes is certainly some time to speak, but not long enough to talk about the pages and pages of good things that we are doing, and it is because we have turned around this Province. We have taken the $156 million that we have saved, that we would have had to spend, certainly, on debt. We have turned that around and we have put that into programs for the people of this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I mentioned about self-reliance. I have one figure here that we have -

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde that her time for speaking has expired.

MS JOHNSON: Just thirty seconds to conclude, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

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

MS JOHNSON: I just want to say that our debt ratio, our expenses, are down from 23.3 per cent in 2003 down to 13.7 per cent. That is money that we would have been basically throwing away to pay down our debt. We now have that money to use for many programs.

I just wanted to end by saying that, in talking to many people, yes, it is great and wonderful that we are doing all these things - we have a $5 billion Budget - but hope is the biggest thing. That is one of the messages I wanted to leave here today. You cannot put a price tag on hope. That is one of the biggest things that we have done in this Province, is to bring in that hope.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Labrador West.

MR. R. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to rise today and take part in the debate over the Budget 2006 that is taking place. Before I do that, I would just like to say a few words about Labrador in general, and Labrador West in particular, and about the potential for the future that exists here, and the amount of activity that is taking place, particularly in the mineral sector and, of course, the Lower Churchill negotiations that are ongoing.

I think all of these things, Mr. Speaker - I was saying the other day that, if only 50 per cent of the things that are predicted to happen in Labrador in the next two to three years take place, it is going to be an incredible opportunity for people to get employment, particularly the people who live in Labrador now who are unemployed or underemployed.

I want to say that, in order for that to happen, and for us to reap the maximum benefits, things have to done for the right reasons, and we have to take a firm approach in making sure that things that are developed in this Province are developed first and foremost for the benefit of the people who live here, and that applies to Labrador as well, Mr. Speaker. The developments in Labrador have to, first of all, support and enhance the lives of the people who live in that area.

I was happy, Mr. Speaker, to read the other day, there is a project that is potentially on the horizon in Labrador, in Northern Labrador. It is going to be operated by a company called LabMag. This LabMag project, Mr. Speaker, as it is referred to, has the potential to hire about 700 people, according to their figures, about forty miles from Labrador West, where they will be setting up.

I want to say, and I want to stress this, Mr. Speaker, what I was glad to read was an excerpt in the local papers from the president of that company. First, they were going to ship all of it by slurry from Schefferville out to Quebec. Of course, obviously, that did not fly well with the minister - I give him full points for that - so they renewed and reviewed their mining plan.

When he was asked by the media, by relocating to Ross Bay Junction, if that solved any problems for him, his first response was: Yes, it solved a huge political problem, because the project would not have gone ahead if they did not do the processing in the Province.

That is what we need, Mr. Speaker. That is what we need. We need that each and every time a development takes place in this Province. We need to tell the people who are going to develop it, it is not good enough to dig things out, or pump things up, and ship it anywhere else in the world. It has to be done in our own backyards, providing meaningful jobs and employment opportunities for the people who live there, not like -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) 1998.

MR. R. COLLINS: Yes, exactly.

In 1998, in the Voisey's Bay thing, we know what happened there. That plant -

MR. HARRIS: That is what got you into the House, wasn't it?

MR. R. COLLINS: That is what got me here. Some days I am glad of that. Other days, well - but that is the type of thing that we need, Mr. Speaker.

Now, Mr. Speaker, talking about this Budget 2006, and what it has done for the people, I will talk specifically about the people I represent. I have to say, in all honesty, that I am very happy with this Budget and what it has done for the people I represent.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. R. COLLINS: I am not, Mr. Speaker, going to stand up here in this House and criticize the government day in and day out about what things needed to be done, what the people's needs are in the area I represent, and then stay quiet the day that they announce it is going to happen. That is not going to happen, and the people of Labrador West do not expect me to do that. They expect me to be critical of government when the need arises. They expect me to highlight the problems that they are experiencing on their behalf, but they also expect me to acknowledge when things are done. That is what I want to do here today when I talk about some of the things that have been done, that have been long-outstanding problems, long before I came to this House of Assembly, some of the problems that I am going to talk about today that existed and continued to exist.

The new health care centre, for an example, something that was desperately needed, Mr. Speaker, for a long number of years now: we had difficulty attracting health professionals, and who could blame them for not wanting to come to a hospital where if they were bent over writing a prescription, a clump of plaster may fall down and hit them in the back of the neck. Where, if you go to one part of the hospital, it was like a steam bath. Yet, in another section of the hospital you needed a winter's jacket on in the summertime. These things, Mr. Speaker, needed to be addressed. Each and every time that a cabinet minister came to the District of Labrador West they were told about the hospital and, indeed, many times they were taken and shown.

I want to thank the Mayors of Wabush and Labrador City, and many other community leaders, who each and every opportunity that they had brought it to the attention of government whenever they were in the area or whenever they were travelling here and ran into government members. So, that health facility, Mr. Speaker, is certainly appreciated. It is something we needed. It is something we were entitled to, no question, and we are just glad to see now that action will be taken to ensure that we have a proper and adequate medical facility so that the people of Labrador West and Churchill Falls, when they need to be in hospital, they are in surroundings that are conducive, that are bright and, Mr. Speaker, one that is comfortable to be in.

We also, Mr. Speaker, had a long standing problem with education, particularly as it applies to post-secondary and the facility that was being used to deliver educational programs. Again, we are happy to hear that money is allocated in this year's Budget to look at the possibilities for other sites and that, Mr. Speaker, I believe will lead to a new facility for the College of the North Atlantic campus in Labrador West. It will be a great improvement for the delivery and will be a much improved environment for learning. Mr. Speaker, the cost of providing such a facility makes sense because it can be done for a lot less over a long period of time than what is being paid out now in rent. So, it makes economic sense and it makes educational sense. Again, we are looking forward to the day when that new facility will open and our students will be able to learn in a good environment.

I have stood here many times, Mr. Speaker, over the past seven years and talked about the transportation problems in Labrador, particularly as it relates to road transportation. Again, Mr. Speaker, this year's Budget contains $15 million for chip seal, conditional upon the federal government matching the $15 million. I do not anticipate, and nobody I have talked to anticipates a problem with getting that $15 million from the federal government because, indeed, it was a commitment that they made to this Province during the recent federal election. So that $15 million, plus the provincial share, will be $30 million. That will be able to do quite a bit of road work in getting the road up to scratch in certain areas, the laying of chip seal and then we will have a hard service to drive on.

Now some people, Mr. Speaker, have said to me that chip seal is a version of poor man's pavement. Well, if the people in Labrador that I have talked to have a choice between waiting another fifty years probably, or twenty years, for what we call traditional pavement, or have the choice of having chip seal laid over that road today than everyone I know, practically, will take the chip seal for a surface on that road. There is nothing wrong with that, Mr. Speaker. Chip seal is used extensively in the Province of New Brunswick, it is used in northern areas of Canada. Indeed, I think the Alaskan highway is heavily done with chip seal.

So, we are looking forward to the day when we will not have a cracked windshield each and every time we drive down over that road. We are looking forward to the day when we do not bust up two tires by travelling from Labrador West to Happy Valley-Goose Bay. We are looking forward to the day when people do not have to take their lives in their hands and risk the lives of their passengers by travelling over a dirt road that, many times, Mr. Speaker, particularly after a rainfall, really is not fit to be on.

These are some of the things, Mr. Speaker, the three things: health care, education and transportation that we have been harping on for a long time in this Province. Now, with this Budget, there will be serious attempts to address the immediate needs under these three topics.

It is more than that, too, Mr. Speaker. I am also happy to say that this Budget provided money for the Hope Haven crisis shelter in Labrador West to be operated seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, to be able to provide full coverage for residents of Labrador West and Churchill Falls when the need arises. We would much rather say, Mr. Speaker, that we wish we did not need such a shelter. We wish our society was a place where these things were not needed. However, that is not the realities that we live. It is not the realities that we have to deal with and face. Such shelters are needed, unfortunately, and when they are needed it is important that they be open and be available to people when they do need them. So that will happen starting this year as well.

The policing has always been a tough issue in Labrador West for a number of years now, with the reduction of the number of RNC officers who were not replaced as they were being transferred or left for other reasons. Mr. Speaker, we will be getting four to five new RNC officers this year, and that will bring the force up to a level where at least they will be able to function adequately. Right now, with the number of officers that we have in Labrador West, it is not sufficient. There are officers there who never get a day off, Mr. Speaker, because there are only four shifts operating and it is a minimum number of people to cover them. If people have to travel for court dates or things of that nature, or be in court, then obviously officers who are on their days off have to fill in and take over for them. It is going to be good for the population of Labrador West and it is going to be good for the detachment in Labrador West. At least their officers will have a chance to not only have a job but have a life to go with it. We are looking forward to these officers arriving in the near future, Mr. Speaker.

Phase III of the Trans-Labrador Highway is continuing, as it was projected to be, on target. We are looking at probably a hookup by 2009. Each and every year, for the last number of years, there has been a substantial amount of money put into the construction that is needed to complete the hookup from Cartwright to Happy Valley-Goose Bay. I guess, all of Labrador, and indeed the Province, will be happy the day that road is completed. Then, Mr. Speaker, we have to work on making sure that there is a hardtop service right across the entire stretch of the road that travels the entire width of Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I have talked about the good things in this Budget that apply to my district. That is not to say everything is perfect and that this Budget delivered everything I would have liked to have seen. Obviously not, Mr. Speaker. There are issues that I feel this Budget didn't go far enough on, and one of them is the provincial drug plan. While I acknowledge that there have been improvements made to the plan, it still falls far short of providing what the people of this Province need. When we have people with MS, people with Alzheimer's, and people with other diseases that they didn't ask for, they inherited, when we see people suffering from illnesses of this nature and need drugs that cost $2,000 and $3,000 a month, it is beyond their means to pay. While the provincial drug plan provided protection and provides a benefit to certain individuals, it falls far short, Mr. Speaker, of offering anything to people in the middle income bracket who do not have drug plan. That is the problem. It is not so much what the improvements of the plan did, it is what it did not do. If somebody now is making $50,000 a year and their drug costs are $20,000 a year, there is no help from anyone for them in that situation. They are still required to spend any RRSPs that they may have saved, they are required to spend any money they may have put away in their children's education fund, they are required to spend anything over and above support level income, towards the purchase of the drug before they receive any assistance, and that is wrong.

That is why it is important that this government take an aggressive approach with the Government of Canada to push for a national drug plan. That is something that is desperately needed in this country. It is something that has been talked about for too long, it is time for action. I believe, given the fact that we are the only province that does not provide coverage for our residents when it comes to catastrophic drugs, that it is incumbent upon this Province to take the leading role in advancing that file and being aggressive with Ottawa in bringing that about.

The other alternative, Mr. Speaker, that can go with that, is to establish a plan in this Province that current employers who already have plans may want to buy in to. That can provide a benefit, probably an improved benefit, to the people of the Province who already have coverage and definitely for the people who are willing to pay the premiums to be covered by a plan that will provide them the protection they need when they need it. It is not acceptable any longer that people have to destroy themselves and their families financially in order to improve their health or to purchase a drug that they need when they are sick.

There are still problems, Mr. Speaker, with the legal aid system in many areas of this Province, particularly in the rural areas and the isolated areas. There are not enough legal aid lawyers in the system and they are not located strategically throughout the Province. For an example, if somebody in my district needs to obtain the services of a legal aid lawyer they have to go through the office in Stephenville, and that is where their files are kept. They are not even kept in Labrador, they are kept in the office in Stephenville. That is not providing a service to the people who need it. That is a lesser form of justice that they are going to receive simply because of where they live. That, again, is something that needs to be corrected.

Mr. Speaker, there is also a need in this Province today to address the high cost of education as it relates to students who live in rural areas of this Province and in Northern areas. The cost of an education for someone who lives in Corner Brook or St. John's is dramatically lower than it is for a student who lives in other areas of this Province. That is something that I believe it is time to deal with. Students who live away from home incur a large expense and their parents incur a large expense as well, Mr. Speaker. The cost of education should be equal, there should be a level forum for every person who desires to pursue higher learning. They should not be hampered, they should not be kept back, and they should not incur a greater debt than people who live in closer proximity to where these facilities are built.

Mr. Speaker, I know that my time is getting close. As I said earlier, I want to acknowledge and highlight the good things that this Budget did for the people of my area, the things that they have asked me to fight for on their behalf for a long number of years now, and I have talked about the things that are lacking. The one thing about it, I guess, is that while this Budget still lacks in certain areas, it still provides an opportunity for us. We will keep pressing, we will keep advancing the causes that people want us to, and we will keep advocating to government and questioning government and trying to make them accountable and make them see the need that exists in areas that are lacking now. Mr. Speaker, I guess that is how the other things came to be in this Budget. There will be other budgets that will address some of the things, I am sure, that I have talked about here today, and we look forward to being part of the debate that causes that to happen.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that every budget has a mixture of things that are good and things that you would like to see that were not there. On balance, on the whole, I am happy to say that the people of my district and myself feel good about the things that were contained in this Budget, and we look forward to other Budgets where other good things will happen in the areas of the things that we need as well.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

I welcome the opportunity to stand today and speak to the Budget that was recently announced, and I would like to compliment the Member for Labrador West on his reasoned approach and his reasoned comments to the Budget.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Certainly, Mr. Speaker, I share his comment, that there was much this Budget did that was very, very good for the Province, but yet there are things that still need to be done. We recognize that, as a government, and we will certainly be working towards that. We look forward to the input from all the hon. members on the other side of the House in helping us achieve what the people of the Province need. We will certainly take any comments that they have with all due seriousness and try to move forward in budgets to come.

Mr. Speaker, the Budget certainly presented a lot of good news for the people of the Province and also for the people of the district that I represent, the District of St. John's Centre. There are many benefits that will be gotten by the people in the Province and in the district that I represent from the Budget announcements.

Just a couple of general points, Mr. Speaker, if I could, on the Budget itself. There are a number of performance indicators that are looked at by people in finance and industry to see whether or not a province or a government or a region is moving forward. In our particular case, the gross domestic product and the unemployment rate are two things that the financial groups look at to see whether or not a government is achieving its objectives. Mr. Speaker, in our case, the gross domestic product of the Province increased by 1.7 per cent over last year and our unemployment rate went down to 15.2 per cent. That unemployment rate is the lowest unemployment rate that we have had since 1981, the lowest unemployment rate we have had in this Province since 1981, an unemployment rate of 15.2 per cent. Now, I still feel it is too high, Mr. Speaker. I still feel that 15 per cent unemployment is too much, and certainly we will work on this side of the House to try and see that that rate goes lower in years to come. I do want to make the point that since 1981 there has not been a lower unemployment level.

As well, Mr. Speaker, we hear a lot of commentary about the Budget surplus that this government has had, a surplus of $76.5 million in this year's Budget. Original projections were for a deficit of $492 million, and we have turned that around.

I would like to just, I guess, bring to the House some comments from various people in the Province, as I do my remarks, in terms of the comments they have made on the Budget. We can stand here in this House of Assembly and we can make our comments, and some of those will be reasonable and considered approaches and some of them will be partisan approaches and some of them will be people's personal opinions, but I think it is important that, besides the forty-eight members who sit here, we take into consideration the comments that are being made by the people of the Province. With regard to the economic indicators that I just mentioned, I would like to make the point that the President of the St. John's Board of Trade, Mr. Dillon, in an editorial that he wrote in one of the local newspapers, said: The Province has recorded a budget surplus of over $75 million for the past fiscal year, with the chance of yet another, albeit smaller, budget surplus at the end of next year. It is a welcome change, he said, to be sure, and thankfully the string of annual budget deficits which have added to an accumulated net provincial debt of a little less than $12 billion - $12 billion, with a B, Mr. Speaker - is official broken. The provincial government's fiscal austerity initiative, set in motion as soon as they took office, has been important in getting to this point. That commitment to fiscal prudence is recognized and applauded.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: That commitment, Mr. Speaker, is being applauded by people in this Province.

Yes, we had some difficult decisions that we had to make, but if you are going to lead then you have to make tough decisions. We made those, but they were in the interest of all the people of the Province, and today we can see the results of those difficult decisions in terms of the small surplus that we have been able to show for this year, and a surplus again, hopefully, for next year.

As well, Mr. Speaker, the same gentleman that I just referenced, Mr. Dillon, in one of the local papers as well, said: Overall, when the Province can go from a projected billion dollar deficit position just a couple of years ago to a modest surplus, that has to be seen as a positive.

Again, Mr. Speaker, other people in our communities are congratulating and complimenting the government on the job that they have been able to do.

As has already been mentioned, Mr. Speaker, and it is hard to speak about the Budget without repeating some of the things that have already been mentioned. As has already been mentioned, our debt servicing ratio - and, for people out there who are watching this program today, that basically means the amount of money that we are taking out of general revenues and using to pay down our debt. We are not using it for services. We are not using it, necessarily, to benefit people directly, but we are using it to pay down our debt. That debt servicing ratio, Mr. Speaker, in our short time in office, has gone from 23 per cent down to 13 per cent.

Now, what does that mean to the people of the Province, Mr. Speaker? I will tell you what it means. It means that in our general account, which is the account we use to provide services to the people of the Province, we have an extra $156 million per year that we, as a government, can use to provide services to the people of this Province. That is money that we are not using to pay down our debt. It is money that we are using to reinvest in the people of this Province, money that we are using to reinvest in the programs of this Province, and money that we are using so that the people in the Province are being better serviced.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SKINNER: As well, Mr. Speaker, if I could -

Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition would like to mock me, and mock the things that I am saying, he can certainly do that. I have no difficulty with that. He obviously will determine the role that he wants to play in this House of Assembly; but, as I made the comment earlier about the Member for Labrador West, I think the Leader of the Opposition would be better served by maybe doing something like the Member for Labrador West did, than by sitting there with a smirk on his face and mocking me.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Although, I guess you do what it is you are most competent and capable in doing. So, congratulations to you on the job you are doing, Sir.

Mr. Speaker, if I could, as well, I would like to also talk a little bit about the safe and secure communities -

MR. REID: Shawn, you (inaudible) you are capable of doing.

MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, again, I would just like to say to the Leader of the Opposition -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SKINNER: - you have an opportunity, Sir, to speak up any time you would like. I would like it to be constructive. If you have something constructive to offer, I will certainly consider it, but feel free to do that if you can, Sir.

In terms of our safe and secure communities, I would like to just talk a little bit about that, because in St. John's Centre people are certainly concerned about having a safe environment in which to live, in which to raise their families, in which to go to work, in which to participate in recreational activities. I am glad that this government has invested $3.1 million into both levels of the police service that we have here - the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - $3.1 million extra going into both levels of those police services.

Mr. Speaker, we already have, as we have mentioned in this House before, twenty-eight new police officers who have been hired by this government. They are out now patrolling our streets, making sure that we have safe and secure streets. We have also put into this year's Budget, funding for nine new RCMP constables, and nine vacant positions are going to be filled, a total of eighteen positions with the RCMP, eighteen new positions going to be filled. With regard to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, we have eight new RNC positions that we are going to be filling, as well as a new dog unit that we will be putting out in Corner Brook.

I would like to compliment the government, ourselves, for that, in recognizing what is being done. People have indicated to me that they think that was a very good investment and a very strategic investment for the government to make.

Mr. Speaker, we have also put fifty-five new positions into the Budget for the child, youth and family advocate positions, service positions that over the next three years we will be filling. Fifty-five new positions that people will be able to take and provide services to the people of this Province, people who are most vulnerable a lot of times and require those services. As I said, they will be in the area of child, youth and family services.

We have also - and, again, it has been mentioned before, and I apologize for repeating some of this information, but when you stand up, with ten or fifteen other people getting up ahead of you, it is hard not to repeat some of this, but there is an extra $305,000 gone into the Budget for the support of transition homes. We have already mentioned where those homes will be located, but they are in all areas of the Province. Again, as a member of the government, I am glad that we recognized that we need to contribute to that. I am sad that we have to have those transition homes. I wish we were living in a society where we did not need those kinds of services, Mr. Speaker, but the reality is that we do need them and we, as a government, have stepped up and provided adequate funding, hopefully more funding that they will be able to use to service the people who are victims of some of the family violence and other kinds of violence that they have.

Mr. Speaker, if I could, as well, I would like to talk a little bit about the investments that we have made in health that are going to benefit the people of this Province, and going to benefit the people of St. John's Centre. We have invested, Mr. Speaker, $180 million. That is new money going into the health budget. Our health budget is almost $2 billion per year, but we have invested $180 million, that is new money, into the health budget, which is almost a 10 per cent increase, Mr. Speaker, into the health services of this Province in terms of providing services for our aging population, our sick population, our seniors, our youth, our injured, all of those people who need it, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: It will be done in terms of new technologies being purchased, new health infrastructure being built, new drug treatments that we have announced. There are all kinds of things like that, Mr. Speaker, that we have done, and people are happy about that. People are speaking about that on the streets, and I think it is important that we recognize that, Mr. Speaker.

If I could, Mr. Speaker, just referring to health, again, I wanted to bring into the House of Assembly some comments from people who are not normally here in the House of Assembly, but I think it is important, as members who represent districts, that we listen to the people who are out in the community, who we are in here working for. I just wanted to, if I could, Mr. Speaker, add a couple of comments.

There is a comment regarding the Budget that says: This Budget shows government is committed to addressing pressing needs in the health care system as well as many outside the health system that influence the health of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, such as poverty, education and income support. Mr. Speaker, that quote, that comment, came from a lady by the name of Sandra MacDonald, who is the President of the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is complimenting this government on the investment we have made into addressing what she calls pressing needs in the health care system. These are not needs that just showed up overnight, Mr. Speaker. They have been in the system for years. Some would call them systemic problems within the system. The only way for that to be addressed is for us, as a government, to invest money into it. Because of the decisions that have been made over the last two-and-a-half years by our Premier, our Minister of Finance and all of our Cabinet colleagues, because of those decisions, we are in a position, as I said earlier, to put $180 million new dollars into our health budget, a 10 per cent increase.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, as well, if I could, I would like to talk about our children and our youth. As an example, a dental program for children, Mr. Speaker, $4.1 million being invested into that. I deal with constituents on a regular basis who call me about trying to provide adequate dental health for their children, and this investment of $4.1 million is going to go a long way for me to be able to address some of those concerns that are being brought forward by the people who live in the District of St. John's Centre. Dental health is very important, Mr. Speaker, especially to children.

I will give you some examples why I feel it is important. I have dealt with constituents in St. John's Centre whose children have had poor dental health, and some of it is because of just other medical reasons and some of it is because of a lack of education, I guess, about dental health. Those dental health issues cause other problems. They can lead, first of all, to other diseases and other health issues for children. Also, I guess, Mr. Speaker - I was going to say more importantly, but I don't want to say it is more important - but just as important it also leads to some children in school, because of a lack of education and a lack of understanding, making fun of other children who might have problems with dental health. That is something that children shouldn't have to live with and something that children shouldn't have to bear as a burden, Mr. Speaker. The investment we have made of an extra $4.1 million into the children's dental health program will go a long way to addressing some of those concerns.

Mr. Speaker, if I could, as well, I would like to just mention, again, people in our community who are community leaders who make comments about how budgets go and how governments perform with regard to their budgets. Jeff Chaulk is a member of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Mr. Speaker, and he was quoted in the paper as saying that the Newfoundland and Labrador division of the Canadian Mental Health Association applauds the provincial government on the funding initiatives announced in this year's Budget. Mr. Chaulk and the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Newfoundland and Labrador Division, applaud the government on some of the investments and some of the initiatives we have taken. Mr. Speaker, these people who I am quoting, I am quoting them because they were out in the public medium, be it the Telegram, be it The Independent, be the radio, they are people who have put their position out there and put their voices out there in terms of what this Budget has meant for the people of the Province. I am very pleased to see they have come out and identified and recognized some of the positive points of this Budget, and are not afraid to come out and speak to that. I think it is important that their comments be recognized, and I think it is important that their comments be brought out.

As well, Mr. Speaker, if I could, we have talked about some of the drugs that have been added to the provincial drug formulary here in this Budget. There are a lot more that we would like to include, but we did include some Alzheimer's drugs, there were some arthritis drugs, there were some cancer drugs and there were a bunch of other drugs, Mr. Speaker, that were included in the Budget, and there were some that were not. As has been already identified by other members, this is a journey that we are on and we will make sure that in further budgets that we take further steps in the journey. Some of those investments will be made to cover some of the other drugs.

I just want to give a quote, if I could, Mr. Speaker, again, from people in our community, people outside this House of Assembly, who are talking about this Budget. If I could, I would like to quote Sheila Sullivan, who is the President of the Alzheimer's Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, who is out in the paper saying: The Alzheimer's Society of Newfoundland and Labrador strongly welcomes the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador's decision to fund Alzheimer's medications through the Drug Formulary in its 2006 Budget. For almost a decade, the Alzheimer's Society of Newfoundland and Labrador has tried to convince the Province to provide coverage for these important medications.

Now, Mr. Speaker, just listen to that for one more time, if you would, please. For almost a decade, ten years, the Alzheimer's Society has been after the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to provide the funding, to provide the coverage for the Alzheimer's medications. Mr. Speaker, we have been in office for two-and-a-half years and we have provided that funding, although they have been looking for ten years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, as I have said, we are not going to necessarily address everybody's concerns in one, two or three Budgets, but what I can say, using the reasoned approach that the Member for Labrador West used a bit earlier, is that we are moving in the right direction. We are identifying the priorities of the people and we are moving forward to address those priorities that the people have presented to us, and it is being done in a sound, fiscal and prudent way. It is not being done willy-nilly. It is not being done without a plan. It is not being done without reasoned consideration and a strategy. It is being done with vision, it is being done with planning and it is being done with the support of the people of the Province, which has been evidenced by some of the quotes that I have given you here this afternoon, Mr. Speaker.

Now, Mr. Speaker, let's talk a little bit more about our Budget. Let's talk about how it benefits the people of St. John's Centre and how it benefits the people of the Province. Let's talk a bit about our culture and our heritage because I am a big believer in our culture and our heritage. I am proud to be a Newfoundlander and Labradorian. I am proud of where I came from. I am proud of the fact that I grew up in St. John's, downtown St. John's, and I am proud of the fact that I still spend a lot of my time here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, I want to talk, if I could, just a little bit about the culture and heritage announcements that were made in the Budget.

In our Budget, Mr. Speaker, we invested $8.5 million in this year's Budget to support professional artists and cultural industries. Now, that could be film, it could be paint, it could be people who are doing drawings, it could be video, it could be publishing. I am an avid reader, I buy a lot of books. My wife tells me I buy too many because I have a stack of them alongside my bed that I have not read yet, but I will get to them, Mr. Speaker, and I will make sure that -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SKINNER: Just a comment from across the House that caught me off-guard there, Mr. Speaker.

Continuing on, Mr. Speaker -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his comment. I will probably seek some advice from him later on in terms of what he does -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: - but I will leave that for another day, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure if that was an offer for me or just advice, but I will follow up with him later.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the culture and heritage, I did mention the $8.5 million invested. I think it is important that we have a sense of being, we have a sense of pride, and we have a sense of who it is that we are.

Just this morning, I can tell you, I was at a school here in St. John's, in the District of St. John's Centre, and I was asked to go up and read to the children in a Grade 3 class. I have done that on a few occasions, gone into the classrooms and read to children and I enjoy the opportunity immensely. It is nice to get out into the community and into the schools and have the opportunity to do that kind of thing. While I was waiting to go into the classroom, I was speaking to a couple of teachers who were in the Library. One of the teachers mentioned the point that they had been out to some workshops and were quite impressed by the workshops that they had been to because it had to do with the culture and the artistic flair within our Province, and they, as teachers, were trying to bring this back into the classroom.

It was a professional development day for the teacher to get some experience and get some education and get some training that she could take back into her classroom for her students' benefit. She was very appreciative of the opportunity to do that, and I think it just goes to reinforce who we are and the kind of people we are. That was shown, Mr. Speaker, certainly, during the Atlantic Accord debate and it will probably be shown now in our negotiations with Chevron. We are going to stand up as a people and make sure that we get what is right for us and not continue to give things away. The teachers of the Province are very impressed with the amount of money we have invested in culture and heritage, through the education side of our Budget, as are the professional artists and the music publishers and the other publishers out there.

If I could, Mr. Speaker, again, I think it is important that we have a balanced approach here in terms of who is talking about our Budget and what they are saying, because within this House we all certainly have visions and roles to play and visions of what it is all about. I would like to, if I could, just speak - Mr. Nick McGrath, who is the President of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador - here is what Mr. McGrath had to say about our Budget. He said: "HNL is pleased that government continues to uphold its commitment to the tourism industry by bringing the total marketing budget to now $10 million."

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SKINNER: So, all of the businesses within Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador recognize the commitment this government has made to their industry and are very, very pleased with the amount of money that we are putting into it.

I reference, Mr. Speaker, the fact that I was at a school this morning and some of the comments that I heard when I was up there getting ready to go in and talk to the students. I will just speak to another comment, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. member's time has expired.

MR. SKINNER: By leave?

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been requested for some concluding comments.

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

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

I will just use thirty seconds, if I could, to clue up.

I guess the point, Mr. Speaker, that I am trying to make is that we have a lot of needs here in this Province. We have a lot of issues, and they are not new issues. They are issues that have been around before this government, before other governments that have come before us. The point is, Mr. Speaker, we are addressing those needs. We have a plan to address them and within our fiscal capacity we are going to continue to address those. We look for the people of the Province, some of the people who are community leaders, whom I have referenced here today, Mr. Speaker, we look for their input in helping us set our strategic direction so we can move forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. ANDERSEN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to speak on the Budget, certainly as it relates to my riding.

Mr. Speaker, first of all there were some concerns that were not in the Budget. Certainly, one was a vessel for the North Coast of Labrador. When the road is finished from Cartwright to Goose Bay, the North Coast of Labrador will be the only portion of Labrador, and probably the only part in the Province, that depends solely upon the marine service during the summer months.

Mr. Speaker, I thought that there might be money there for a feasability study for a road from North West River to Rigolet. We were certainly hoping that there would be money to address some of the lack of recreational facilities on the North Coast of Labrador. There is money there for the LSPU hall, which is a good thing, Mr. Speaker, but at the same time, Them Days magazine are struggling for their existence in Labrador. These are some of the things that I would like to have seen in the Budget but it was not there.

Mr. Speaker, there are many things in the Budget that is good news. Certainly, while it may not - from my riding - match up to the 2000 Budget, where many referred to it as the Wally budget, this is certainly a good Budget for the North Coast of Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, $1.3 million to implement the Labrador Inuit Land Claims. Finally, after thirty years of waiting for self-government, that the final agreements were signed last year. To know that this Province has allotted $1.3 million to begin implementing the programs shows that this government is willing help the Nunatsiavut government build a better life for the people on the North Coast.

Mr. Speaker, probably the most important thing in this Budget is $240,000 over two years for the Aboriginal suicide prevention initiative. This is one of the most important things that can take place in my riding. While it is money and you need money, this is probably the best thing in this Budget. I hope this government works hand-in-hand with the Nunatsiavut government to implement this money with the federal government as well, but to make sure we bring in good programs. Mr. Speaker, as anyone knows, one of the problems that plagues the people on the North Coast of Labrador, and particularly the youth, is suicide. It is a problem that is a big concern to all parties, and no doubt, Mr. Speaker, this is a good initiative.

Increasing the air lift subsidy up to $400,000 is good news. While we would have liked to have seen the summer subsidy where people on the North Coast can get a subsidy to fly in soft fruit and milk products, no doubt the increase in the air lift subsidy is good. That is good news for the North Coast of Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, funding to improve the justice system services in remote areas - certainly, over the years we have seen a tremendous increase - and to know that more funding is made available to improve services there, that is good news.

Mr. Speaker, additional money for marketing and tourism - probably, nowhere in this Province does tourism have a greater potential than that on the North Coast of Labrador. Many people refer to the riding of Torngat Mountains as the second Alaska. With our beauty of the fjords and our land and animals, no doubt it is a great attraction, but we need to market that potential. It is lacking on the North Coast. I hope that some of this money will come to the North Coast as well.

Mr. Speaker, the long-term health care facility in the Upper Lake Melville area, certainly this is good news. Far too often, people on the North Coast of Labrador, their mother or father or even their brothers and sisters, many times have to travel to the Island and stay there to receive long-term health care. Many times their family does not get a chance to travel out to certain parts of the Island to visit them because of the high cost of travel. Mr. Speaker, with a long-term health care unit in the Upper Lake Melville area, certainly this will be a godsend to the people who need it most. I know that the previous government built a beautiful hospital in the Upper Lake Melville area with a chance to build on, and certainly this government, I hope, will move forward very quickly to make sure that the long-term health care becomes a reality.

Mr. Speaker, over $500,000 is invested in the Kids Eat Smart Program. This program is well received on the North Coast of Labrador, in our schools, and it is good to see that more money is invested.

Mr. Speaker, $3 million dollars over two years to assess the status of the ten major caribou herds: I look forward to speaking with the minister about the George River Caribou Herd because many people in the Aboriginal communities on the North Coast of Labrador depend upon that as a mainstay of food. In particular, the Innu people are famous for their moccasins and mitts and other crafts they make from the deer skin. I look forward to passing on my concerns to the minister in the coming days.

Mr. Speaker, more lawyers and administrative support workers, no doubt, are badly needed. Again, while we talk of the courts, it is not something that we, as an Aboriginal people, are proud to talk of, but no doubt the need is there for more workers.

Mr. Speaker, an increase of $80,000 in the women's centres: This is a good initiative. While we would like to see more money, we know that this is a good start.

Mr. Speaker, $2.7 million to reduce the wait list for home support for seniors and people with disabilities: Again, for Coastal Labrador, when you have to send your family away to other parts of the Island and Labrador, mainly on the Island, this is a good initiative, certainly again as it relates to the long-term health care in the Upper Lake Melville area. Those who can avail of this at a short distance will never know what a great benefit this will be to people, particularly on the North Coast of Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, more money for new medication, that is a good thing. There are some concerns about some of the drugs that were not covered, but no doubt, over the months ahead, we will talk with the government, and hope that they come up with additional funds as well.

Mr. Speaker, a dialysis unit for Labrador, this is certainly a good initiative. As we speak, there is a good friend of mine who has been just diagnosed where he has to come out here and live in the St. John's area; again, moving away from home, family unable to visit to him. Mr. Speaker, this is a good initiative.

Mr. Speaker, the Budget spoke very well for Labrador, and certainly it spoke very well for my riding. I want to thank the government for many of the things that they have done.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, $1.9 million for a performance space for an auditorium. The previous government had allotted $2.4 million, but while we talked about this, it did not happen. It was put on hold. The children in Labrador deserve the opportunity to show their talent, and I would advise the government to try to get this initiative done as quickly as possible. We have a very short construction season in Labrador and the children in Labrador deserve every chance to go out there and to show their talent.

Mr. Speaker, it has been a good Budget, it has been a good Budget for my riding. With the Nunatsiavut Government now being created, I know there will be a lot of correspondence between the ministers from the Inuit government with this government, and I certainly hope that this government will listen to them.

At the same time, Mr. Speaker, I think it is only fitting that I thank the Premier and his government for finalizing the deal with the Labrador Inuit Association. I know that our government spent a lot of time - while the deal was just about done, the Premier and his people carried on to make sure that the deal became a reality. With these new initiatives in the Budget, I believe that the North Coast of Labrador will certainly move ahead. Again, while there are things we would have liked to have seen in the Budget that weren't there, there are a lot of good things there as it relates to the people on the North Coast of Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, with that being said, I will sit down and give someone else a chance to speak on the Budget.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is certainly an honor for me to stand today and have a few words on the Budget. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, I have been in this House - I am certainly not as seasoned as a lot of the people in this House but I have sat through two members on the opposite side of the House, who are not part of this government, and I think it is the first time I have heard two Opposition members heap the praises of a government budget as has just been done here this afternoon.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: I would just like to, if I could, quote the last member. His exact words were: Spoke very well for Labrador and in particular my District, Torngat Mountains.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: I want to take my hat off to the hon. member.

He talked about the suicide prevention in his district, which is a key element in his district. He talked about the increase in air subsidies. He talked about funding for ground services, Mr. Speaker. He talked about marketing and tourism, $10 million for marketing which is important to his district. He talked about the long-term health care in Lake Melville which we all believe is a very important initiative. It is good to see that he, as well, feels that. The $5 million for the Eat Smart Program: Not only does it help the people in Labrador but on the Island portion as well. It is good to see that the member realizes this.

Of course, he acknowledged the Premier and the agreement between the Labrador Inuit Association, Mr. Speaker. That is certainly a very positive move and I congratulate the member opposite, who has been involved with that file for, I know, a long, long time. I certainly want to take my hat off to him for acknowledging government and some of the good things we have been doing for his district. As I said, I look forward to him supporting the Budget when we vote on it in days down the road.

Of course, Mr. Speaker, the Member for Labrador West also pointed out some very good initiatives for his district, including health care facilities and so on.

I am very, very delighted, Mr. Speaker, to stand and say a few words on the Budget and how it affects my district as well. It is certainly good when you see Opposition members in this house stand up and acknowledge the work and the commitment that the Premier and, in particular, the Minister of Finance have put into this document and how well it is being received throughout the Province. As I said, it is not very often I see Opposition members in this House stand and acknowledge a provincial budget, but it is certainly a willing sight here today, Mr. Speaker.

If I could, Mr. Speaker, just step away from the Budget for one second, I guess this is a government initiative, if you will. It is certainly an arm of government and an item that happened early in the new year that I certainly want to acknowledge. That is something that happened between Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, Mr. Speaker. I know we have some levity here to move around when speaking on the Budget. I will try to keep it brief on this topic, but it is certainly very, very important for the residents of my area, and something - with the help of the former Minister of Environment, the Minister of Natural Resources, the Premier, and indeed many of the Cabinet who were very well aware of this and spoke on government's behalf, their opinion to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.

I want to point out a few people with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro who have helped take this cause on and eventually deliver. In particular, Mr. Ed Martin. I think Mr. Martin was on the job maybe two weeks when he agreed to meet with me. Of course, the topic of the discussion was the pollutants and, in particular, the particulate coming out of the stacks at the facility in Holyrood. Like I said, Mr. Martin, I believe, was on the job less than two weeks, had agreed to meet with me and go through a full meeting. I believe I was there quite some time showing him pictures and talking about the things that we could and could not do for that facility. I know it was very, very important to Terry LeDrew, the Plant Manager at that facility, who also took the time to meet with me on numerous occasions and give me a rundown of things that were happening, and things that could happen, to prevent the particulate matter and other things that would come out of the stacks, Mr. Speaker.

As well, Mr. Speaker, there were two concerned citizens groups. There was one in Holyrood, that I had the chance to meet with during the municipal round of elections; and, again, I met with - several times now - a concerned citizens group in Seal Cove. Mr. Speaker, as well, in the area, Hydro had developed a Community Liaison Committee and Hydro were kind enough to put - although we have municipal councillors on that - they agreed as well to take a local resident and place on that committee, which was certainly a significant move and keeps the local community up-to-date on what is happening.

Mr. Speaker, I am holding in my hand here a letter, actually, that Hydro sent out to residents. Basically, it says: As a result of your concerns about emissions, and our discussions with government, we have taken significant measures to reduce emissions from that facility.

Just a quick history on it. That facility, at one time, produced over 40 per cent of the electricity for the Province up to a few short years ago. I think now it is down around 30 per cent, probably a little less than 30 per cent, but I think at one time it peaked over 40 per cent.

Mr. Speaker, what they plan on doing, of course, is burning a cleaner fuel. Obviously, what goes into the generating station has to come out in some form or another. They have taken the sulfur from a 2 per cent sulfur to a 1 per cent sulfur. Mr. Speaker, what that will do, it will reduce, obviously, sulfur emissions by 50 per cent, which is certainly a dangerous pollutant, but they will also reduce the particulate, and this is the stuff that rains on people, Mr. Speaker, by 40 per cent. We are hoping that is going to be a very, very significant move in our area. Residents are - we will wait and see. We have a wait and see attitude, certainly, but we are generally happy with it, because it is the first time, Mr. Speaker, that anybody has taken a significant look at how to reduce emissions at the Holyrood plant.

Now, of course, the Holyrood situation, there are a lot of significant items that have to be considered in the next couple of years, next number of years out. What is going to happen to the facility? Is it going to tie into the plan, the energy plan, for the whole Province, Mr. Speaker? Are there going to be other power sources? There are many, many things.

As well, Mr. Speaker, the plant itself, the lifetime of that plant, is up, I believe, if I am not mistaken, in 2014, so there have to be some decisions made long before that to figure out what direction we are going. Certainly, if they have a major refit then we are going to get the ideal, we are going to get the state-of-the-art then. We are going to get the scrubbers. We are going to get the electrostatic precipitators, or whatever the case may be, Mr. Speaker. Obviously the residents, we would have liked the Cadillac version, and we certainly talked about that for quite some time, actually, the electrostatic precipitators, the scrubbers, whatever the case may be. There are many forms of technology out there, and I am sure experts could stand here and tell you about it all day along, but, myself, along with the area residents, are going to continue to monitor it. That cleaner fuel should be at source this month, Mr. Speaker, actually. They have to burn some of the remaining fuels that were there, so we are hoping to see some significant reductions in emissions.

I want to take my hat off to the people at Hydro, to the local residents who fought so long and hard for this to be accomplished. Like I said, even though it is not directly related to the Budget, it is certainly an arm of government and I want to thank the CEO and, of course, the Board of Directors as well, Mr. Speaker, for realizing the emission problem that was happening in Holyrood.

Like I said we will wait and see. There is no guarantees that this is going to make us totally happy, but it is headed in the right direction. Like I said, it is the first time that anyone has taken a significant look at emissions in Holyrood. Of course, like I said, it not only bothers the people of Holyrood but again the people of Seal Cove as well, in particular. In reality, it probably affects people on the other side of Conception Bay as well, and I have heard stories of outfall happening in different parts. There are people who live in Topsail tell me they see it on times, so this is certainly a significant improvement. We hope it works out. If not, we will certainly come back looking for better emission controls. I think Hydro, as well, has finally committed to reducing emissions, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if I could change gears just a little bit, I would like to talk, just for a couple of seconds, actually - I don't want to go into it too much - about the recent breakdown of the Hebron-Ben Nevis project, Mr. Speaker. Just let me say, unequivocally, Mr. Speaker, that I support this government, the Premier, in the negotiations. I think it is far, far too long that we have given up way too much. As much as we need those few hundred jobs, Mr. Speaker, we have done that year after year after year after year with multi-projects, billion dollar projects, and that stuff has to end. The days of that happening for, if you will - our lifetime will get a quick five-year burst or six-year burst and, as significant as it is to the rural economies in particular, but in particular to the economy of the whole Province, Mr. Speaker, we have to get a better chunk of the pie. The time has come for us to be a major player, and if we have to look some Fortune 500 companies in the face and tell them, see you later, so be it, Mr. Speaker. I will stand here shoulder to shoulder with this government on this item, make no bones about it. It has been talked about quite a bit, and everybody on this side stood shoulder to shoulder. Mr. Speaker, like I said, we have had enough of that foolishness. The time has come where, if we have to let it stay in the ground, it has to stay in the ground. Those few hundred jobs - as important as they are, Mr. Speaker - we have to look at the long term. We have to think about our children and our grandchildren, because they are the true beneficiaries of this. I think it is very, very significant. If we have to take it now, Mr. Speaker, take one on the back for future generations of this Province, then I am certainly willing to do it, along with this government, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of quotes here that were in the editorial on Wednesday, April 5. I think it kind of sums it up, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to leave this issue on this one. It was Wednesday, April 5, the editorial in The Telegram. It says, "This is the kind of direction this province chose when we picked Williams for premier. He made no bones about it during the provincial election, saying the government would make good deals or no deals at all." I say we heard that before, when we had talks with the Atlantic Accord, and I say, Mr. Speaker, we are headed in the right direction again, and that is the way we should keep it around here for awhile, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we had some announcements prior to the Budget. I heard the member here earlier, from Grand Falls-Buchans, up saying the minister in charge of the Status of Women in this Province, how terrible it was. I could not help revert back to this, Mr. Speaker. Basically, she was saying, our lack of support for women in this Province. I would like to talk a little bit about that, because number one, the women in our caucus, if I can sum it up, are not to be messed with. They come to the table with very, very strong voices. I want to talk a little bit about an editorial -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. FRENCH: I have touched a nerve over there, because when we do the right thing and we help a woman's issue, sometimes women on the other side of the House should be in support of that. Unfortunately, they are not always with us, they are not always on the same page.

I want to refer back, Mr. Speaker, to the payment that was made to the five unions - the five unions came to government requesting the money, some $24 million. An editorial was written in The Telegram on March 25, 2006 in the Saturday telegram. I would like to read some portions of that if I could. It is called, "Righting old wrongs". I guess this Budget does quite a bit of that, and I guess no more is that evident here today than when we see two members on the opposite side stand in support and talk about the good things in this Budget for their communities and their districts. I guess, righting old wrongs is something we had the ability to do this time. I heard earlier there was $76 million left on the table. That is a quote that some people like throwing out there. I have to remind people, Mr. Speaker, that we are still facing in excess of a $10 billion deficit. Certainly this $76 million was not whittled away. When you have a $10 billion debt, you certainly have to spend that very frugally.

Anyway, to get back to my article here on "Righting old wrongs". I will quote from this article: Premier Danny Williams gave out $24 million to try and close an awkward chapter in this Province's history. The payment dates back to decisions made in 1991 -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

It is a well-established practice that members, even when they are quoting from dispatches or newspapers, should always refrain from mentioning members of the House by their names. We should use their positions, or we should use the name of their district. I remind the member and ask him for his co-operation.

MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I did not realize that referring to a minister in government that way was not protocol, but I will certainly fix that.

Here we go, we will get back to the article: The payment dates back to decisions made in 1991, when the then government instituted the Public Sector Restraint Act and legislated away retroactive pay equity payments dating back to 1988.

Mr. Speaker, I guess there are all kinds of debates that people will make that happened at that time. Personally, I wasn't a believer of it. I can remember, actually, when that happened. I certainly did not support it at the time, and I know especially many women throughout this Province did not. Of course, as we know, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Province did, in fact, discriminate against female employees at that time, but ruled that discrimination was acceptable because the Province could not pay. I do not know how you could do that. I am not going to take on the Supreme Court of Canada, but again it is not something that I would agree with in any kind of way, shape or form.

Mr. Speaker, let me read on. It says, "It's the fourth time in recent months that government has done something almost unique in Canadian politics: It has used its healthy financial state to solve the wrongs done by the past government. It's a strange and different way to do politics in this Province... A veteran political reporter in The Telegram's newsroom put it this way: The government could just as easily have frittered away every bit of the Atlantic Accord money on political advantageous projects like buildings or roads, but the Williams government choose not to - and they deserve credit for that." I am just about finished, Mr. Speaker, but it is important that we say this on the record. "The Williams government has made sensible choices that sometimes have not been ones that would garner them the most possible political points. They have done them because, and as the government has put it, it is the right thing to do." The article ends with: "More power to them." I say it is an editorial from The Telegram that sums it up. It is about righting old wrongs.

I am certainly proud of this Budget, Mr. Speaker. We have had some rough times first when we took over, and I can always remember the faces around table the day we went in for our first financial briefing for this Province, when we were talking about billion dollar deficits per year and looking at the $12 million long term. It was very, very significant; very significant.

Like I said, Mr. Speaker, we talked earlier about the $76 million left on the table. When you look at a Province with a $10 billion to $12 billion debt, I do not know how many seventy-six millions you can leave on the table and not spend them appropriately. This year, we have retired quite a bit of our debt. Mr. Speaker, it is all about restoring our fiscal health. The job is certainly not done yet, we have a long way to go. We are not flushed with cash, as some of the people opposite like to talk about, but we are doing the best we can with the resources we have.

Mr. Speaker, we had a surplus of $6.2 million, projected surplus in 2006. We have come a long way when we had a posted deficit of $913.6 million in 2003-2004. It is good to see how we have increased our self-reliance in this government, to go from a Province that at one point we had about 23.3 cents - as the Minister of Finance likes to say - contributing to our debt, and I believe we are now going to reduce that significantly down to about 13.7 per cent. That is a significant reduction in the revenue used in this Province to pay against our debt.

Mr. Speaker, we talk about increasing self-reliance. Sixty-eight per cent of our revenue, just a few short years ago, came from the federal government, and now federal transfers are going to be down to 32 per cent. Mr. Speaker, sometimes when you talk about us not paying our way and not contributing to the federal coffers of this Province on behalf of the people in this Province, I can assure the people of this country that we more than pay our fair share and we are headed in the other direction.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Of course, Mr. Speaker, I guess there is no secret - it has been talked about quite a bit - that is due to the success of the negotiations with the Atlantic Accord certainly, our strong economic jobless rate, and our positive outlook on oil and gas pricing that has done marvelous; and rightly so. Now we are talking about having an equity stake in the current negotiations, and so we should, Mr. Speaker. We want to be contributors to the economy of this country like we have always been, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there is one point I would like to make on this. It is interesting to note that negotiations by the Premier on the Atlantic Accord have eliminated a deficit, a projected deficit, we could have had this year alone, of $370 million. This year alone that Atlantic Accord has shown dividends, and it is certainly showing on the bottom line of our books.

Mr. Speaker, in 2006 we have also agreed to eliminiate some of our debt. There is quite a bit of the Atlantic Accord upfront money that was used toward our current debt. As most of the Province realizes, it went towards the unfunded liability towards the Teachers' Pension Fund.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's allotted time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been requested.

Has leave being granted?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted to make some concluding comments.

The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. FRENCH: In 2006, Mr. Speaker, debt services in this Province, from the provincial coffers, has dropped by $156 million. Again, that is due to the Atlantic Accord. We have had more flexibility to invest in health, education, and other infrastructure around this Province.

I know the Member for Labrador seems to be wanting to get up to talk as well, Mr. Speaker, and when she does, I hope she is like her other two colleagues from Labrador and praises this Budget. I hope she stands with us, like I am sure the Member for Labrador West and the Member for Torngat Mountains heaped that much praise on this Budget, I am hoping that she is going to stand as well and vote with the people on this side of the House. We certainly are not in a position yet to be all to everybody and I do not know if anybody will ever be all to everybody, but we are doing our best. We are showing a small surplus, Mr. Speaker, and things will get better as time goes on.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, it gives me great pleasure this afternoon to stand up and offer my commentary on this year's Budget. For awhile, Mr. Speaker, I thought we were going to have to send out for an order of long-handled shovels with all the praise that was being heaped up here.

MR. J. BYRNE: (Inaudible) the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MR. SWEENEY: Yes, included.

There is an old saying that birds of a feather flock together.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

A point of order has been called by the Government House Leader.

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

Maybe it is more of a point of information as a point of order. Just so he talks about the long-handled shovels about the praise that is being heaped out, make sure he hands one over to his good colleague, the Member for Torngat Mountains, in the process.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The Chair recognizes the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is always a pleasure to offer my commentary because it gets the members opposite so motivated.

Mr. Speaker, as I said before I was interrupted, yes, shovels should go to those who deserve to have them. There is no question in my mind. It is interesting to note that birds of a feather often flock together.

Anyway, without further ado, we have had the greatness of the Budget elaborated upon by numerous members, and how great the Premier is -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SWEENEY: There are days, Mr. Speaker, when I leave the building, I am almost afraid to leave because I am afraid the Premier is going to start believing them and going to fall off the roof when he tries to go with his cape on and fly out the parking lot.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SWEENEY: Mr. Speaker, I have woken up the gallery. What more can I say?

MR. E. BYRNE: There is not a soul up there.

MR. SWEENEY: I am not talking about the people's gallery, I am talking about the peanut gallery, let me tell you.

While it is important to praise the things that affect us positively - and it is important for the people that we represent. Unfortunately, I do not fit in that category. I did not get anything in this Budget of any positive nature.

MR. DENINE: (Inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: Yes. I say to the Member for Mount Pearl, I did get something from health care. I got the Alzheimer's unit closed at the Harbour Lodge in Carbonear. The residents of that unit now are going to be transferred to St. John's so that their relatives, when they want to visit them -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I am asking members to my left for their co-operation.

The Chair recognizes the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have a feeling this is going to be a long twenty minutes, or maybe a short one if they keep interrupting me.

Nevertheless, yes, that is what I got out of it, the Alzheimer's unit being closed, the west wing at the Harbour Lodge in Carbonear and the residents being transferred to St. John's. That is not bad I guess if the price of fuel was reasonable, but with people having to drive from areas like - and I have had calls from Northern Bay. I have had calls from Long Harbour and other areas, about the inconvenience of trying to visit a loved one under very trying circumstances, and having to drive a distance say from Northern Bay to St. John's, or from Carbonear to St. John's. They are things that affect the ordinary person, Mr. Speaker.

It is great to talk about this initiative or that strategy. It is great to do that, but the initiatives that I like are the things that affect people on an everyday basis.

MR. WISEMAN: Poverty reduction (inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: Poverty reduction. Yes, we have talked about that for a long time. Do you know what? We are still talking about it, I say to the Member for Trinity North. Because when we talk about poverty reduction - I just got off the phone half an hour ago with a gentleman from Victoria, wondering where he is going to get the money to pay for his oxygen for this month. That is what I call poverty reduction, I say to the Member for Trinity North. That is the world that I am living in out there. They are the calls that I get. I do not get into a situation where all is rosy and all is well because I am sitting a certain chair, but I still keep in touch with my people and I listen to what they are telling me. That still does not help the Mildred and (inaudible) Bakers of my district, who have lost five hours of home care since this government came into effect. Where people are left alone for five hours a day unable to turn up the thermostat because it is too cold. That is what I call compassion or lack of compassion. Those are the things that affect people on a daily basis.

I can use other instances regarding health care but we are a long way from perfect with regard to health care. One of the major downfalls is going to have a great impact on this Province over the next little while, and it will surely have an impact - it is going to have an impact on the health care in rural areas because we are already seeing trends established now with these big, super boards based in the capital areas of the Province, the so-called growth areas, I guess we would want to call them. Yes, to quote the guru of economic development in this Province, the deputy minister, the growth areas. But, I have not seen many benefits come out of that.

When we go through analyzing a Budget, we look at what is there for the ordinary person. Because if you are going out there, Mr. Speaker, and forget about the people on a fixed income, well then I think the Budget has a different purpose. It is great to paint a Budget and say this initiative is going to save rural Newfoundland, this initiative is great for the oil industry, this initiative is great for something else, but when it comes down to it - you know, when we look at last year's Budget, the Roads Program, $12 million left over; not spent last year in our Roads Program. Well, I can certainly tell you, that does not help the people who travel from the north shore of Conception Bay through Salmon Cove and Victoria over roads where they have a job to keep a wheel on their car.

MR. DENINE: (Inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: To the Member for Mount Pearl, you will have a chance, I assure you. You will have a chance to get up and speak.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: Well, I would love to hear him again. I hope he has a copy made somewhere. Next year he can get up and praise up the Premier again and say how great the Budget is next year. It is interesting you know, when you live in a rural area and you watch and see what is going on, Mr. Speaker, how budgets affect the ordinary people of this Province -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SWEENEY: Mr. Speaker, there is a bit of static here this afternoon.

Mr. Speaker, this is where a government sinks or swims, with the compassion that it shows its people, and couple that with, I guess, the great term that has been used so often and floated around, rural development.

You start looking at it. I looked at this year's Budget for rural development, Innovation, Trade and Rural Development. The budget was increased from $42 million to $45 million. I have not seen one yet; I do not know where the jobs are. We have in excess of 3,000 people permanently relocated to the mainland. We heard the Minister of ITRD a little while ago saying that there is in-migration taking place in this Province. Mr. Speaker, from my observations there on Kenmount Road, with the U-Hauls being rented there on a daily basis - because the lot is full one day and, as the week progresses, the lot is getting emptier; it cleans itself off. Those trucks are leaving this Province with people and their belongings in them, many of them never to come back again.

It is interesting to note, the Member for Conception Bay South spoke about grandchildren, the future for our grandchildren in this Province. I am concerned about the grandparents more so than, probably, their grandchildren, because a lot of grandparents will not be able to leave this Province and go visit their children on the mainland, their grandchildren. It is a sad case. It is a sad reality, you know, what is happening here.

Last week, at the Delta Hotel, there were over 1,000 people showed up for three sessions to a job fair. That is from this part of the Province. They are taking our skilled people out of this Province. They were being offered some great packages, some great packages, to move on.

It is interesting. I notice the government had some money in there for skills development again. I guess, really, there is nothing wrong with doing that, because it gives the people who are moving away something to go with, a little ticket in their pocket to show that they have some training in some areas.

You know, it is very difficult when you see this happen, and then you hear a member get up and say how wonderful everything is with regard to rural development and job creation, job development. I wonder, and I say: Is it only my district that this is happening in?

In Central Newfoundland, just a few days ago, over 400 people showed up to a job fair for the same company. In Stephenville, a day before that, in excess of 400 people showed up to a job fair. Is it because these people are not happy with living in Newfoundland and they want to move away? Or it is because Stephenville is closed down, we have lost our paper mill? Is it because there is no future left in our fishery?

On almost every issue there is a group of people in the lobby fighting for their livelihood, trying to preserve their way of life, their living, for their families.

AN HON. MEMBER: And they are all from rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. SWEENEY: You know, every single one of them are from rural Newfoundland.

One hundred and fifty people from New Harbour last week were here fighting to get some fish before it was shipped to China, so they could get a summer's work for themselves. These are the things that say to me: Be careful now, George, before you get there and start singing the praises of anybody's Budget. That is the reality check of it. That is the reality of it, when someone phones you and tells you that their son is going away and wondering where they can get the money to give him some money to buy a ticket to go away. Couple that, then, in the same conversation, saying: George, I can't even get money this month to buy my oxygen, to stay alive.

These are telling tales, and these are not fabricated. I do not think it is only me who is getting that. I think members opposite are experiencing the same thing. They have to be, because it is not unique in this Province what is happening in my district. Time after time after time after time, I get a phone call: We can't do this, we can't do that. Can you help me? I need some assistance to go away to feed my family. That is hard stuff.

Mr. Speaker, those are the hardships that people are experiencing. Couple that with the hardships they are experiencing with their cars, the price of licensing a vehicle. In 2004, the government put up fees in this Province to somewhere around $29 million, and in this Budget we saw some fees come down, and the fees accounted for about $1.7 million. When we start looking at them, who were the fees for? Again, from my perspective, looking at the ordinary person, who were the fees for?

Well, we had the biggest reduction there for the car companies, the major car companies. They could save $500. They did not have to buy their permit this year. It is a big saving, but it did not make that car cheaper for the fellow who is trying to get his truck licensed to go into the woods to get a bit of wood to keep his family warm for the winter. They had to still pay $180.

AN HON. MEMBER: The permits for wood have gone up too, haven't they?

MR. SWEENEY: Permits for wood, if you can get them - because you cannot buy them in my community any more. That has been closed down. You have to drive now to Paddy's Pond or Whitbourne to buy a permit, and only on selected days. They took that away. A fellow told me Saturday, he said: You know, it was bad enough before, paying for a permit to get three cords of wood, but now I have to stick $20 more on to that for gas to get my permit. He said: It is getting to a point now, I don't know what we going to have to burn. I don't know what we are going to get to burn. Electricity, we can't afford it. Wood now, we can't afford it. What is our recourse? Do they want us, does the government want us, all to go away? I said: No, boy, they don't want you to go away. Maybe, I said - who knows? - over the next little while they will come forward with a program where you can get some money.

As it turned out, this was the same fella who, unfortunately, did not get enough money to qualify for EI this year because the Community Enhancement Program was cut this year. He never got as much money to help him qualify for his EI. Those are the things.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not touting the benefits of Community Enhancement Programs. I would love to see neither one. I would love to see the Province that well off that you would not need a Community Enhancement Program.

Last year in my district - I have a crab plant there, and I have a crab plant in the neighbouring district - a lot of my people did not qualify for EI benefits because of the RMS program. That is a telling tale about a government making decisions without really working their way through them, without doing consultation with the people who were involved.

Mr. Speaker, I have another issue - home care. We look at the people where it is increasingly more and more difficult to qualify for home care. I mentioned a couple of ladies today, earlier in my speech, but there are others out there. I know of young men and young ladies who are being cared for, and the same frustrations are taking place there, their home care is being cut. In many instances we look at people and we always try to keep them in the environment of their own home. You would think that it is cheaper to do that, but the logic that is sometimes used escapes me. Because to put somebody in an institution, and especially with these two ladies, all kinds of efforts are being taken to put one in one institution and one in another one. It is not just a case of taking them out of their own environment where the neighbours and friends and everybody else are coming by with meals, calling them and having conversations with them, and visiting on a daily basis, but taking them and splitting the family unit and what is left of it. Somewhere along the line I think we are losing the fact of the human element and the human face in all of this.

Mr. Speaker, another thing that is creating a lot of hardship, that was not addressed in this Budget, expect for an increase in collectors, I guess if we want to give it the proper name, and that is the school tax, the number of people who were hired last year to collect the school tax from people who - by the way, I think most Newfoundlanders, the majority if not all Newfoundlanders, are very honest people. They would have had their school tax paid if they could afford to do it.

MR. O'BRIEN: If you fellows had sent them a bill.

MR. SWEENEY: Oh, if you fellows had sent them a bill!

I will say to the Member for Gander -

MR. JOYCE: Not the minister.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

MR. SWEENEY: No, not the minister, because he took the stairs. He fell off the step and never got on the elevator to get up for the minister's position.

I will say to the Member for Gander, we used a bit of compassion. We did not jump down people's throats in 1992 to collect school tax, because the cod fishery failed, there was a moratorium in place.

AN HON. MEMBER: Why didn't you forgive it?

MR. SWEENEY: You forgive it, you are the government. Instead of hiring extra people - oh no, that is right, you do not have a say at the Cabinet table.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting how all these people opposite have all the answers when they sit where they are. I guess it is those answer that are keeping them from the Cabinet table, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, another issue that I want to raise-

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace that his time for speaking has expired.

MR. SWEENEY: Not already! Mr. Speaker, just to conclude?

MR. SPEAKER: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leve.

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

MR. SWEENEY: Mr. Speaker, another issue I would be remiss in not bringing up would be the long-term care facility for Carbonear. In 2003, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health said Corner Brook and Carbonear were top ranking to receive a new long-term care facility. Well we have gone through three budgets with this government now, Mr. Speaker, and it has not even appeared on the radar screen.

Mr. Speaker, I will conclude now and say that I will have another opportunity. I have other issues to raise. I just want to say to all members here in this House, sometimes before you praise up anything it is probably equally as important to see what is not there.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Exploits.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is certainly a pleasure to comment on the Budget today. First, I would certainly like to commend the Premier and especially Minister Sullivan on an aggressive, good news document.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: Mr. Speaker, last Friday, I think it was March 31, right after the Budget was presented on Thursday by the minister, I had the opportunity to travel back to the district where I live, the district that I represent, the District of Exploits. During those couple of days that I was there, I had the opportunity to attend several functions. I would say I met hundreds of people last Friday and Saturday. The last function was in Leading Tickles, to their firefighters banquet. I consider my district as rural as probably any other district of the Avalon. We can refer to them as rural and we can also refer to the people there as ordinary Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. When you go to a community like Leading Tickles with 500 people on the Northeast Coast, then yes, I think they are rural. Throughout the meetings and the different functions that I attended, I got a lot of response on the Budget from the people in the district, their comments and how they felt. What basically was coming through from everyone was two words: Great Budget! Great Budget!

There were a number of people in the district, of course, who would like to have a chat about the Budget. They wanted to talk about health care, they wanted to talk about education, of course, and they wanted to talk about issues that affected them. The Exploits District is also a part of the Exploits Valley and the Exploits region so what affects the Central Newfoundland area affects the Exploits District. They talked about several things in the Budget, things that would probably be good for the District of Exploits. Of course, I think the main thing on their mind was health care. Even though over 40 per cent of our Budget goes into health care, this administration was able to increase it again this year, increase the spending by $180 million. I think the people of the district and the people of the Province recognize that.

I know that even last year this administration saw the need for upgrading of a wonderful facility in the Town of Botwood, the Dr. Hugh Twomey centre. It was put there in 1989 by a well respected MHA, a PC I may add, and a good member for his district, Dr. Twomey, and that is who it is named after. After fifteen years of the previous administration not realizing the condition of that facility, this administration had to go in and spend almost $300,000 just to bring it back up to par, because the roof was falling apart and the walls were falling apart. We have, in that facility, in a rural area, in the Town of Botwood -

MR. E. BYRNE: A tremendous facility.

MR. FORSEY: - an excellent facility. There are132 skilled and professional workers there. This administration saw the need, said it needs to be done, and it was fixed.

We are talking about money in health care. How fortunate were we to get the cancer treatment centre started in Grand Falls-Windsor, because that regional health care centre takes in the Exploits Valley. It also takes in the District of Exploits.

What else in health care, they said to me? I sat around the tables of some of the people this weekend and they said: There are two breast cancer screening centres going into the Province at a cost of $750,000. One of them is going into the regional health care centre in Grand Falls-Windsor, and we are not getting anything for our regional area? I think we had better look again.

There were a lot of people -

AN HON. MEMBER: Heave it out of you, boy. Keep her going.

MR. FORSEY: Thank you, my colleague.

There was also a lot talk about the Prescription Drug Program. This year, $8.3 million went into that program. It was just -

AN HON. MEMBER: Phenomenal.

MR. FORSEY: Phenomenal is the word. Thank you.

I think the key to all the programs that were there - because I know, I received e-mails from these people. I received letters from these people. They were forwarded to the minister. They were forwarded to the Premier, and that was the program for the Alzheimer's. That, in itself, was a welcomed issue and a welcomed budgeted concern put in that we needed. I had people who called me and sent me e-mails.

As a matter of fact, last Saturday I had to attend a funeral while I was in there. My brother-in-law's mother died. She resided at the Dr. Hugh Thomey Centre and she was stricken with Alzheimer's. Not a good disease, but myself and my brother-in-law are real good friends as well and he said: When you get struck with that disease you lose your family member twice. Now, to see this in the Budget, I tell you, it makes a lot of difference and the people welcomed that in this Budget in Central Newfoundland and the Exploits District.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: I had numerous calls and numerous meetings with businesspeople in the district and in the region about policing and break and enters and the crime rate. The crime rate is up in our area by 37 per cent. It got to a point where the businesspeople started forming a neighbourhood watch, but because we needed the extra crime prevention and we needed safe and secure communities, what did we do?

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. FORSEY: That's right. We invested $3.1 million to strengthen our police force.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: Now, that $3.1 million is going across the Island but we are going to be bringing in nine new RCMP officers, plus drug awareness officers. Right here in this, somebody - I think the minister for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair asked -

AN HON. MEMBER: Member, not minister.

MR. FORSEY: The member, yes.

- my colleague, Terry French there, if he wanted The Advertiser. Well, I do have The Advertiser actually. The Advertiser says: Crystal meth, pandemic looming. That is March 16.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. FORSEY: Yes, not very long ago, March 16.

So, we have a drug problem. Drug problems lead to crime. Drug problems lead to break and enters. A scary statistic from the medical professionals and the RCMP is that most of these young people are starting when they are thirteen years old. Like, we need this safe community. That is why we need the money that was put into the policing. So, I think this Budget, overall, and the comments and the response that I got from the people in the district, as somebody said earlier, was phenomenal.

Two billion dollars in infrastructure over the next six years. Road construction, municipal infrastructure, upgrading the public buildings, including repairs to hospitals. The key, $60 million in the provincial road program.

Now, I heard the hon. Leader of the Opposition there talking about his district and how bad the roads are in his district, and, no doubt, they are. For the past fifteen years, I have travelled -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. FORSEY: I am getting there.

I travelled from Summerford to Twillingate. For fifteen years I travelled, while the Leader of the Opposition was a member and in the Administration and in the government, and they still have the same potholes and the same bumps that they had there for fifteen years. Now, he said: Come down and I will buy you lunch if you want to see the road. I tell you what, I will do better than that. Because he wasn't the Premier but one of his former colleagues was the Premier, and he was also the Member for the District of Exploits from 1989 to 2005. From l995 to 2004, I saw some stats on road infrastructure that was spent in our wonderful District of Exploits by the previous member of that district - who was also on the government side, who was also a minister of several portfolios, who was also a member for a couple of years. They spent a total of $2.5 million in ten years. Ten years, $2.5 million!

Now, I believe that every district had an estimate done by the regional engineers on what it would cost to bring their district up to par, whether it was for the roads and bridges and so on. The District of Exploits, $20 million; nearly $20 million to bring it up standard. The previous member, for ten years spent $250,000 a year; averaged out, ten years, $2.5 million. At that rate, he would have had the district finished in eighty years. It would have only took them eighty years, and we know that the life of the road is only twelve to fifteen years. So, we were really moving along. I would invite the Leader of the Opposition, and all the members over there, to come to the District of Exploits and I will drive them around. However, I will say that he did a fantastic job in one year. I believe the year was 2000, and he spent $1 million. Unfortunately, it only got in one section. It did not get anywhere else. Nobody else saw it in the district, but that is fine, these people, at least, got the benefits from it.

The only other piece of road that I saw, which was put there from that time on, was in 2003. It was in the fall of 2003. My goodness! It was in October of 2003. It was two kilometres of road, actually, that was paved in the district. It was a major, major road infrastructure in the district in 2003, two kilometres.

In Botwood, in the District of Exploits, next year we are going to have what we call a flying boat festival. Anybody who does not know what it is, in 1937 to 1945, they were passenger planes from Botwood, from Newfoundland to Europe, mostly to Ireland. So, I guess if we did not start putting money into road programs we would probably want the flying boats back to get around to the districts.

Also, Mr. Speaker -

AN HON. MEMBER: Sit down, boy.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. FORSEY: Jealousy will get you nowhere.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. FORSEY: This particular Administration, under our Natural Resources Department and Minister Byrne, see a need in the rural areas, a need that is going to grow, a need that we can grow. We took this Province to a fluid milk industry from hardly nothing to 100 per cent self-sufficiency, and they are now into other culture products that we can expand on.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FORSEY: In the Exploits district and in the region - and I will say the region, because I grew up in a small community in Leading Tickles. My father, in the 1950s and 1960s, we lived in Leading Tickles. Where did he go? He fished in Labrador in the summer. He was in the woods in the winter, as a logger, and he was out sealing in the spring of the year. Although we resided in one community, to work, you had to go to other places. Right now in the Exploits Valley there are some good developments going on in the agriculture and aquaculture and also the mining.

One million dollars in silviculture, $2.5 million allotted to mineral incentive programs. We know right now that Aur Resources is going to be up to between 250 to 300 employees this fall. They will be in full production. We know that Messina Minerals probably has the biggest find that they have had in the world. Aur Resources probably have a life span of eight to nine years. Messina Minerals is looking at cobalt, nickel, zinc, probably a fifteen to twenty year lifespan, so we need to put money into it. That is why the Department of Natural Resources put the $2.5 into the allocation of mineral incentives, and to promote mineral exploration. Where is it? Is Millertown urban? I would say Millertown is probably pretty much rural. I would say Botwood is pretty much rural. We do need skilled workers. We have to bring skilled workers in for it.

AN HON. MEMBER: A lot of good news.

MR. FORSEY: A lot of good news.

In agriculture, $8.3 million going into agriculture. Right now, in the Central region, different sectors of the Department of Natural Resources, in case anybody is not aware of it, are working with fur farmers. They are working with agriculture and vegetable farmers. They are also working with secondary products from vegetables. They are also working with feed kitchens that are probably, right now - we have one out there that is probably second to none in a feed kitchen that is feeding all these animals. If anybody is up on the cost of feeding, and you have to bring it in, then your cost is going to skyrocket to probably 50 per cent to 70 per cent of your operation, but, no, this government says we can do it here. We can do it right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. I am just pleased that we are doing a lot of it in Central Newfoundland. I am tickled pink that we are doing a lot of it in Central Newfoundland, because we do have mussel farms in Exploits district. We do have fur farms in the Exploits district. We do have a fantastic company out there that won an export award a little while ago for their containment booms that they make and export to seven different countries in the world.

MR. E. BYRNE: Hi-Point Industries.

MR. FORSEY: Hi-Point Industries used their technology well, so we have the opportunities in the rural areas.

AN HON. MEMBER: Where are they located?

MR. FORSEY: Where are they located? In Bishop's Falls.

AN HON. MEMBER: Rural Newfoundland.

MR. FORSEY: Now, I can just go back - and you talk jobs in rural area - I can remember seeing, just in Bishop's Falls, a government forestry building on Kinsman Drive in Bishop's Falls. It was a beehive of activity with government officials, especially from the agriculture section, because there was a lot of need for veterinarians and so on that they needed there, and specialists. What did the former Administration do seven or eight years ago? Moved them all to Corner Brook.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. FORSEY: Nothing wrong with them moving to Corner Brook, if they benefitted, but they took them out of our district and we do not know if they all got filled. They took out eight or nine; maybe only three or four went. I think some of them actually just -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. FORSEY: Exactly.

In the aquaculture business right now it is also a growing concern. We have three or four farms in our area, and we have just scratched the surface. We have just scratched the surface.

The other thing I would like to mention before I sit down: Forestry is also big in our area and in the rural areas. This year, they have taken the initiative to invest money in silviculture and also invest money in the management of our resources, because if we do not manage our resources then we are not going to have anything left.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) number seven.

MR. FORSEY: If we do not manage our resources, there will not be anything there to run number seven on. In the meantime, that is why the Department of Natural Resources are bringing in these schemes that they can do, and build up aquaculture, build up agriculture, and manage your forestry, manage your natural resources. That is what this Administration is doing, managing their natural resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Exploits that his time for speaking has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

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

MR. FORSEY: I would have liked to have touched on education, and I will. Thank you for the time.

I am just going to say, out of all the items that are there, the money that was put into the workbooks and the consumable materials is what the people in our district wanted, because they wanted to keep more money in their own pockets, that they could spend, and have more disposal income. That is what they really appreciated, and that is what we did.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Government House Leader.

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

I would not want to interrupt, chop up, members' opposite time. I know we have, normally, about thirteen or fourteen minutes left, and members opposite about twenty minutes or so, so what I will do, in lieu of that, we will postpone the debate for the day.

I move that the House adjourn and return back tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that this House do now adjourn.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

This House now stands adjourned until 1:30 of the clock tomorrow, Tuesday.

On motion, the House at its rising adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, at 1:30 p.m.