April 25, 2012                       HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS                 Vol. XLVII No. 21


The House met at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Today I would like to welcome to our galleries members of the Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women: President and CEO Linda Ross and her staff, Jessica Gallant, Sarah Flynn, and Gillian Spurrell.

Welcome to our galleries.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today we have private members' statements from the Member for the District of Bonavista North; the Member for the District of St. John's West; the Member for the District of Kilbride; the Member for the District of Torngat Mountains; the Member for the District of Exploits; and the Member for the District of Mount Pearl North.

The hon. the Member for the District of Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It gives me great pleasure and honour to rise today, Mr. Speaker, and declare that I have proof that love was in the air in 1941 and 1942 in Bonavista North. I am just as convinced that same love endures today, Mr. Speaker.

On March 18, 1941, Arthur Wicks and Eunice King were united in matrimony at Port Nelson in Bonavista North. Many members and most Newfoundlanders and Labradorians would easily recognize the name Art Wicks as a fisherman, union activist, and Open Line contributor. Mr. and Mrs. Wicks reside at Badger's Quay today. They have happily raised four children, ten grandchildren, and fifteen great-grandchildren. Art is ninety-two years young and Eunice is ninety. Art still lives in the family house, but Eunice's health requires her to reside at Bonnews Nursing Care Facility. Art spends about ten hours every day lovingly and patiently sitting by her bedside at the home.

Also, a year later, on March 12, 1942, Nathan Humphries married the love of his life, Melina Stagg, at Cape Freels. The calendar tells us that uncle Nat is ninety-five, but his looks could cheat at least twenty-five years from that. On my visit he stated that they moved to Badger's Quay in – he thought it was –1977, to get closer to the fish plant; she quickly corrected him and said it was 1967, and he said, just as quickly: She has been doing that for seventy years. The Humphries' have eight children, eighteen grandchildren, and a growing number of great-grandchildren.

I request that I can speak in one voice to represent this entire assembly in wishing the Wicks and the Humphries', as we call them, a happy seventy-first and seventieth anniversary respectively. Their love and commitment has certainly withstood the test of time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Noel "Jake" Stanford, a resident of St. John's West and winner of the Newfoundland and Labrador 2011 John Drinkwater Memorial Coach of the Year Award.

I had the pleasure of being in attendance as Jake was presented with this award during the 2012 Annual Stars and Legends Awards Gala held April 14 at the Sheraton Hotel.

Mr. Speaker, Jake Stanford has had a long and successful sporting career and he had very impressive results with the soccer teams he coached in 2011. His Under-16 Girls Soccer Team was undefeated in the provincial league and won gold at the Provincial Championships. They also placed third in the Senior Ladies Jubilee League. Jake also coached Holy Cross/Kirby Senior Men's Team to first place in Challenge Cup Soccer with just one loss during the season. This team won the Challenge Cup Provincial Championship and also placed fourth at the national competition.

Mr. Speaker, Jake's leadership and coaching knowledge has proven invaluable to his teams and he is very deserving of this award.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Jake Stanford on being named the Newfoundland and Labrador 2011 Coach of the Year.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. DINN: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate the Waterford Lions Club on the occasion of its thirty-second anniversary commemorated on Saturday, March 10, 2012.

The Waterford Lions Club was chartered thirty-two years ago in April, 1980 with a mandate to work with the residents and staff at the Waterford Hospital to provide services and financial help wherever a need was identified.

Over the past thirty-two years, this group has raised funds to organize Christmas parties, dinners and dances, bingo games, and movies for the residents of the Waterford Hospital.

For many years, the Waterford Lions club provided scholarships for children and staff attending high school. This practice has since been discontinued and now the club sponsors a Leo Club organized at Beaconsfield Junior High School.

At the charter night event, March 10, several awards were presented to individual Lions Club members. The Lion of the Year award was presented to Lorraine Pearce for her outstanding devotion, loyalty, and hard work. Walter Bishop received an appreciation award for outstanding service and nearly all members were recognized for 100 per cent attendance.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members of this House to join me in congratulating the Waterford Lions Club on its thirty-second anniversary.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House today to pay tribute to the late Garfield Flowers.

Mr. Speaker, Garfield spent his childhood in Flowers Bay, his ancestral home situated between Hopedale and Natuashish, before moving to Hopedale.

Garfield persevered through residential schooling, Mr. Speaker, and went on to become a very successful entrepreneur in Hopedale. Mr. Speaker, Garfield created multiple businesses and was recognized for his efforts in business, not having acquired a single cent in the form of a grant or a loan from any government.

Mr. Speaker, Garfield was a driving force behind the creation of the Combined Councils in 1973, and he was a regular attendee for years after. He was a respected councillor and a very strong voice for the North Coast of Labrador. Garf, as he was more commonly known, was a loving father and grandfather, and as many individuals of his era, an expert hunter on both the land and the sea.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members in this House to join me in paying tribute to the late Garfield Flowers, a leader from Hopedale and a leader from Northern Labrador.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. FORSEY: Mr. Speaker, it is not always easy to make choices, especially when it is between two sports that you are passionate about playing.

That is what happened to several players on the Bishop's Falls Junior Men's Broomball team on the weekend of February 9 to 11 when Bishop's Falls hosted the Provincial Junior Championships, and the school hockey team, Leo Burke Academy, were competing for the Confederation Cup in St. John's on the same weekend.

Mr. Speaker, several players chose to go to St. John's, leaving the three-time defending broomball provincial champions without some of their top players.

Mr. Speaker, with only eleven players they competed in the provincial tournament and after round robin play, they qualified for the crossovers, defeating Goose Bay two to one in overtime, which placed them in the gold medal game.

Mr. Speaker, the championship game was exciting, which saw Stephenville - and I am sure my colleagues from Port au Port and Stephenville East will be glad to hear that Stephenville won the game in a close final one to nothing.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members to join me in congratulating the Bishop's Falls Junior Men's Broomball team on their determination and accomplishment.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR. KENT: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate a young resident of Mount Pearl and a member of the Junior Blades, nine-year-old Zachary Dean. Zachary was selected to attend the Canadian Tire NHL Junior Skills Competition held in Ottawa in January of this year.

Zachary was one of the top finishers among children his age across Canada following regional competitions. His skill is shooting. Zachary is to be commended for his extraordinary hard work and dedication. He is committed to the sport of hockey and works tirelessly to improve his skills.

I would also like to extend congratulations and best wishes to Zachary's parents, and the Mount Pearl Junior Blades. Without their support, I am sure that Zachary would not have had the opportunity to travel to Ottawa and compete on the Rideau Canal.

While in Ottawa, Zachary also attended the NHL All Star Game, which was no doubt a highlight of the weekend for him and his fellow competitors. What a wonderful experience for a nine-year-old hockey player.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating Zachary on his achievements thus far in the sport of hockey and wish him all the best as he continues his journey as an athlete. I am sure that we will all be watching his progress.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services, and the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to highlight the outstanding women recently appointed and reappointed to the Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women for three-year terms.

The advisory council plays an integral role in our government's efforts to advance the status of women by bringing forth the concerns and issues of diverse groups of women in Newfoundland and Labrador. Input of the advisory council is sought and respected not only by government but by external agencies and organizations Province-wide. These latest appointments help ensure that the advisory council will continue providing quality advice.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to announce three new appointments to the advisory council, each of whom will fill vacancies on the board:

Lorraine Hearn, who is a long-standing women's equality activist from Central Newfoundland with extensive involvement in the prevention of violence against women throughout our Province;

Cynthia Benoit, who has a background in social work and communications, and is from Conne River; and,

Melita Collier, who has experience working to advance many women's issues, including supporting violence prevention in the south coast region.

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to announce the reappointment of the advisory council's other board members. They are: President and CEO, Linda Ross; Vice-President, Carolyn Lavers; Yamuna Kutty; Hilda Whelan; Michelle Murdoch; Kelly Power; Mary Pia Benuen; and, Stephanie Flowers. These board members represent women from all walks of life in Newfoundland and Labrador, including: multicultural women; women with disabilities; women in skilled trades; Aboriginal women; young women; women in leadership positions; as well as women from Labrador and rural regions of our Province.

With these latest appointments, the advisory council will continue to play a key role in advising not only the Women's Policy Office, and government – but all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians on social, political, legal, and cultural issues, which are important to women of our Province.

I look forward to our continued work together to ensure equality, equity, and inclusion for all women in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement. I would also like to congratulate Lorraine Hearn, Cynthia Benoit, and Melita Collier on their recent appointments to the Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women, and to certainly congratulate those who have been reappointed for another term.

Mr. Speaker, the work of the Provincial Advisory Council is primarily to advocate on behalf of the issues of women in this Province and to make recommendations to government for change. Their job is definitely a difficult one when you look at the plight that women are faced with in Newfoundland and Labrador today.

We are hearing already about the growing demand and the growing need at food banks. We know that many of the people who are going to these food banks are women in our Province, women who still live in poverty and women who still suffer the challenges of finding housing and transitional housing in times of violence, Mr. Speaker. Those are very critical issues, which need to continue to be addressed.

Not only that, Mr. Speaker, there are many other issues that face women. One of those issues is definitely around being a caregiver and family caregivers, an issue the government opposite said they would address in their last election campaign, which still has not materialized.

These are very significant issues that face women every day in our Province, and I wish the advisory council well and I wish them success in being able to tackle those issues and making life easier for all the women of our Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS ROGERS: I would like to thank the minister for the advance copy of her statement. These are wonderful appointments to the Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women, representing the diversity and strength of women across our Province. Congratulations to all of those new and returning to the council. I look forward to their wisdom, their courage, and their generosity as they work on the many outstanding issues vital to the full participation of women in our society, particularly, for example, the critical lack of an affordable, accessible, publicly funded, and publicly administered child care program.

I thank and celebrate the council for their great work on behalf of all the women of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister Responsible for the Voluntary and Non-Profit Sector.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. McGRATH: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge and celebrate the tireless efforts of volunteers throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Last week, I was honoured to attend several events across the Province and celebrate the vital role that volunteers play in communities throughout our Province. This year's theme was Volunteers… Passion, Action, Impact which reflected the desire and the dedication of those who step up to make a difference. Their passion gives birth to action, which in turn has an enormous positive impact on our communities and beyond.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, we have almost 200,000 volunteers who contribute more than 35 million hours of valuable time to communities and community organizations every year, Mr. Speaker.

Our Province continues to lead the country as it relates to giving. According to Statistics Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador boasts the highest donor rate of time or money to charitable and non-profit organizations in 2010 with the rate of 92 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 84 per cent.

As volunteers in Newfoundland and Labrador continue to make time for others, they become amazing role models for our children while improving our quality of life. Our government continues to support young volunteers as they will be the future leaders of our Province. As a government, we celebrate the role of the voluntary, non-profit sector and its immense value and importance to the social, economic, and cultural fabric of our communities.

Mr. Speaker, last year our government launched a new multimedia campaign designed to celebrate volunteers in our Province. The Who Cares? campaign is raising awareness about the impact and the importance of our volunteer sector through the television advertising and on-line promotion.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage everyone to visit www.whocaresnl.ca and thank a volunteer in their community. While National Volunteer Week has passed, it is important that we celebrate and thank volunteers and non-profit organizations all year long.

I ask all hon. members to join with me in honouring the valuable work that the volunteer and non-profit sector contributes to our great Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. Truly, this is somewhat easy to do today, to stand and thank all the volunteers for the tremendous work that they do. There is no question the theme being Passion, Action and Impact, we can look at any community we want and at any family we want, we can actually see the impact that volunteers have on our community. I am not surprised to know that there are 200,000 volunteers putting in 35 million hours of volunteer work every year.

We need not look any further than our food banks, our fire departments, our search and rescue, our teachers for instance, our minor hockey coaches, even our scouting movement. There are many people in our communities day-in and day-out who do this and they do it with ease, and really, they do not ask for anything in return. They are not here looking for recognition for the work they do, but yet, indeed, it is nice for us to be able to stand and say thank you.

I thank the minister for the work that his department is doing in this. We cannot do enough to recognize our community volunteers; they actually serve as a foundation and the ability to grow our communities on a day-in and day-out basis. I appreciate this opportunity once again.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

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

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. I too am happy to stand and applaud the outstanding contribution of the volunteers of this Province. Indeed, each of us in this House owes many volunteers our gratitude for helping get us elected.

Volunteers are the heart and soul of our community; government must ensure that they are not burdened with work which should be done by government, and that is a danger, Mr. Speaker. We must celebrate their generosity of spirit but take care not to exploit it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Since 1971, government has published a Budget document called Salary Details. This document contained details of every part-time and full-time job within the department along with the salary range. This is a critical document used for tracking and comparing government payroll and cost.

My question is to the Premier: Why has the government refused not to release this information this year?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, that particular document is not linked to any of the public accounts or the public statements of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. If the information is required, it will certainly be made available, but it was felt in view of the fact that it is not linked to the public statements, there was really no need to publish it. If the information is required, it will be made available.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Typically, from what I understand, it has been like forty years now that this document has been available. I know in Estimates, people who use it found it to be quite useful.

If they do not want to print it – we were told yesterday that maybe the printing cost was an issue – could it be available to us on-line?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition wants that information, we will be happy to provide it.

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Public sector contracts expired at the end of March, and yesterday in the media, the minister stated that individual departments would have to find savings to pay for any potential increase in public sector salaries.

I ask the Premier: Where do you expect these departments to find this money?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this is normal practice. It has been followed since time immemorial in terms of the House of Assembly and our negotiating. Surely, the Leader of the Opposition is not suggesting we put an amount in the Budget that can clearly be identified for negotiations. It would not be a whole lot of work to it, I do not think, and I do not think it would be particularly wise.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do understand that you would not want to put that amount there, but if you are not willing to increase the deficit, you are only left with a number of options: one is that you have to cap the salary; two, you will have to have service cuts; or three, you will have to lay people off. So what is it going to be?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this will not be our first round of negotiations with the wonderful people who work for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Given our record, Mr. Speaker, we have not done badly and we have not had to fire people, lay people off, and close down programs as a result of our negotiations, nor do we expect we will have to do the same this time either.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: It will be difficult to find the money inside the department without doing one of those three, I am sure.

Yesterday, the government also announced that $664 million will be transferred to Nalcor this year. Of that total, $655 million will be specifically for Muskrat Falls.

I ask the Premier: Why are you committing almost 9 per cent of your entire Budget to this unsanctioned project?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition well knows, or ought to well know, as does everybody else in this Province, that we are going to make a sanctioned decision with regard to Muskrat Falls some time this year, likely in the fall. If that sanctioned decision is to move ahead with the development of Muskrat Falls, that will require some finances to do it. We have made it quite clear that Muskrat Falls will be financed through a combination of debt and equity, and that will be our contribution, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Mr. Speaker, I guess I want to ask the real obvious question then, according to those comments: Are you saying now that you are going to sanction this project regardless of what you get in analysis?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Now, I know the Leader of the Opposition is new to all of this, especially the budgeting, and you have not had an opportunity yet to draw up a budget, Mr. Speaker. We have to consider what is going to take place in the next year, and we have to provide for it.

This money is in the Department of Natural Resources. If we do take the decision to develop Muskrat Falls, the money will then be transferred to Nalcor, Mr. Speaker. We have to provide for a yes decision, Mr. Speaker, especially in view of the fact that there have not been any real roadblocks put in the way; no information that has been brought forward that would deter us at this point from developing Muskrat.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The fact of the matter is that, thanks to legislation that we currently have put in place by this government, we cannot as an Opposition or people of this Province see how this money will be used in Nalcor. We are not able to look at the books.

Do we know the $655 million that is allocated for Nalcor – how it would be used? That translates to $1,300 for every man, woman, and child. How will this money be used, or do we know?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am really glad that the Leader of the Opposition has asked this question, because first of all, the money is within the Department of Natural Resources and the Auditor General certainly has the ability to audit everything within government.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Let me point out to the Leader of the Opposition, and the Member for the Bay of Islands, that the Auditor General can report on everything that happens within government to the public, yes. Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you, this is news from the Member of the Bay of Islands, that the Auditor General –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: – investigates what happens in all the departments of government but cannot report it to the public. That is news to all of us, Mr. Speaker. Not only can they do that within government, Mr. Speaker, they can do it with Nalcor.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Nalcor and the government have already started work on Muskrat Falls, almost as if it was a sanctioned project. They are proceeding with road construction to the site and other site work as well.

I ask the Premier: You continue to act as if the project is sanctioned when it is not. How can you seriously look at all of the other options, such as natural gas, when you have already committed so much to Muskrat Falls?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to finish my answer to the previous question. The Auditor General has the ability to audit Nalcor and it makes a general report to the House of Assembly, which I suggest is very public. Mr. Speaker, if there are serious exceptions that the Auditor General notes, he reports to the Cabinet and it is made public that he has made such a report to the Cabinet. There is nothing hidden over at Nalcor.

Mr. Speaker, hundreds of millions of dollars has been spent in the planning for the development of the Lower Churchill. The most significant amount of it, Mr. Speaker, has been spent by former Liberal Administrations.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: I am not criticizing that, Mr. Speaker, that is good planning. It is called front-end loading, where you study a project, when you take it under consideration, every aspect of it, so you know what you are getting into before you commit to it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the fact that we are willing to do all this front-end work, and a lot of work, which I am glad to hear today, because we would consider for people of this Province that that same level of detail would be done on natural gas, too.

Mr. Speaker, my final question for today is - as you are sadly aware, the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre in this Province was finally shut down this week by the Harper government, as you know. As a show of protest against this closure, the City of St. John's has lowered its flags to half-mast. I understand the Premier has been asked to do the same.

My question is to the Premier: Will you show solidarity on this issue and lower the flags at Confederation Building and other provincial buildings across the Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: No, I will not, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have no intention of lowering flags. What I do have an intention of doing is to consider to press our case with the federal government and to make real arguments that have a chance of having an impact instead of a show for public support. I am not interested in that, Mr. Speaker. I am interested in real action that has a chance of bearing some kind of a result for us that we want.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier might be interested in real action but we have yet to see it from the other side.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, my question is with regard to a commitment that she and her government made in the 2011 election, and that was they would provide for family caregivers in this Province. In the Budget yesterday we still never saw any program to look after that commitment to family caregivers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I ask the government: Why did you make the commitment in the middle of an election if you had no intentions of honouring it?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are very clear on what it was we offered in our Blue Book. What we offered to the people of this Province is the ability for family members to be considered to give the care to people who need it when they have been approved for such care.

Mr. Speaker, we have a policy in the Province at the moment, a long-standing policy, that when somebody is approved for home care services, they are not permitted to have somebody from their immediate family hired to do that work. That has caused hardship in certain parts of the Province when others have not been available to give that care. That was our commitment in the Blue Book, to release that criteria, and to allow family caregivers to provide such to their (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If the Premier looked a little further, she would have also found out there was an exemption program within her government for immediate family to give care to family members, because I have gotten it for constituents of mine.

How is your commitment any different from what already existed? Why did you go out there and convince people in this Province that are at home today caring for elderly parents and adult children of disabilities that when your government came into power they would receive a family caregiver allowance? That is the impression you left to the public; there was no explanation.

I ask you today: Why you are changing your tune?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am very clear on what our intention was and I am very clear on what I said. As in most things with the Official Opposition, they manage to put their own spin on it and turn it into something that they hope will work for them, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, there is the ability for families to get an exemption, but it is very difficult to do it. Mr. Speaker, you will no longer be required to get an exemption. When people are fully assessed, when they meet the criteria, when they are eligible for benefits under home support, they can hire whoever it is they want to hire to give that care within their home. That is a substantive difference and important to families in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In 2008, nearly five years ago, the government committed to a long-term care strategy for the Province, but yesterday we saw absolutely no money committed for this particular strategy.

I ask the Premier again today: Why is she going to let another year pass without any real strategy for community and long-term care in our Province for people who desperately need it?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we have no intention of letting another year pass. In the coming weeks there will be a long-term care strategy released by this government. In the meantime, we have not been doing nothing about long-term care. We have, in fact, been investing at rates beyond anything ever invested by members opposite when they were in power. Mr. Speaker, $480 million is not nothing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, we continue to build on that, we continue to invest in seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador, and that is a promise we will continue to keep.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, in 2007, this government committed to an election promise to build a new hospital in Corner Brook, and government announced plans in January 2008 to start the hospital. In this year's Budget – five years later – there was only $1 million allocated for this $750 million facility.

I ask the minister: When will the government put meaningful funds in this project, as not to delay it any further?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, there has been $18 million spent on the proposed new hospital in Corner Brook at this time. There is a million dollars in the Budget this year for planning. If more money for planning is needed, my colleague, the Minister of Transportation of Works, has an additional $5 million that can be drawn on for planning. If he runs out of money, they can come back to me for more money for planning. We are going to build a hospital in the City of Corner Brook when they are ready to go and they have got the planning done and they have got the design done and they go to tender. We are going to give them the money – hundreds of millions of dollars, Mr. Speaker – to build what is going to be the state-of-the-art hospital in Western Newfoundland.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Five years later and we are still trying to get the design done.

In March, the Minister of Finance and Member for Humber East argued with Gerry Byrne, stating that the money was available in the fiscal forecast, and that his sources – the Premier and the Minister of Health were his sources.

I ask the minister: Now that we see these sources are wrong, when will the residents of the West Coast and Corner Brook have funds allocated to this project and have the tenders called, and stop the delay on the project, like they did to the long-term care facility?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: The delay on the long-term care project – my God, the hon. Member for Bay of Islands talked about that for years and years and years and did not do it. We built it, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: He talked for years and years about Herdman Collegiate and he did not do it. We did it, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: And he talked about a hospital for Corner Brook, Mr. Speaker. The planning is done, and you ask: When we will do it? When they want the money to do construction, they will get the money to do construction. When they want money for planning, they will get money to do planning, but when they want to build, they are going to build it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If you want to listen to political rhetoric, listen to this, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, the Budget announced $3 million to redevelop a wing of the long-term care facility in Corner Brook. I raised this issue with the minister and I was told that the beds were open. Once again, we see the same $3 million announced for the third time.

So I ask the minister: With the design work – which you should have checked on – when will the tenders be called to have this open so our most vulnerable citizens, the senior citizens, be put into a proper facility instead of playing political rhetoric and have the job done?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, if nothing else we have to enjoy the passion of the member opposite; however, the fifteen beds that he referred to were done. We committed to doing that before. We told you they were done. They were done.

You asked for restorative care. Guess what the $3 million is for, Mr. Speaker? It is for restorative care, like you asked for.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we were told by officials from the Department of Finance that we could get information on departmental salaries if we asked for it. Today we were told by members of that same department, when we called to get the information, that they could not give us the information. If we wanted it, we were going to have to go to individual departments.

I am asking the minister: Which is it? Are we going to have to go to every single department to get this information, or is he going to direct his officials to give us the information?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: I do not see why it is so difficult to go to departments and seek information; you have the resources to do that.

Mr. Speaker, I said to the Leader of the Opposition, if they want the salary listings, we would be very happy to supply that information. Just ask for it and in due time we will get it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The point I am making is we asked for it today and we were told we could not get it, so the minister better look to it.

Mr. Speaker, government has over $2 billion in cash assets, which it has accrued over time and which have not been allocated to any program or expense since 2004.

I ask the Premier: What is her government's plan for that money, Mr. Speaker?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, we come forward with a Budget every year that lays out the financial plan of the government every year. The Budget was laid out yesterday and the information will be in the plan.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

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

The minister knows, as I do, Mr. Speaker, that when you look at the consolidated funds, that is where you find the cash assets and it is up to over $2 billion. This money is not accruing much interest while government tries to figure out what to do with it. It is not prudent fiscal management, so I ask the Premier: Why hasn't this money been invested – and that will not be found in the Budget documents.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, I can say to the Leader of the Third Party the money of course is invested. In 2011-2012 we had a surplus of $776 million. Now we used that surplus to pay for infrastructure. So, we built about $415 million of infrastructure, new builds, without having to go and borrow for it; that is what we did with that money. This year, Mr. Speaker, we are going to finance our deficit and we are going to build another lot of new builds, new infrastructure, and we will do that without borrowing money as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

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

Once again, I did not get a clear answer from the minister.

Mr. Speaker, the unfunded pension liability in this Province is growing at an alarming rate. Government did put $258 million into the fund this year, but it had grown by $700 million, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the Premier: Does she have a plan to stem this growing liability, and will she tell us what it is?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: If the Leader of the Third Party wants to stem the liability, the growth in the pension plan, that means you have to cut pensions, you have to cut benefits. Are you prepared to do that? Is that something that your party wants to do? I do not think that is right without proper investigation and consideration, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister put forward one option. Obviously, that is not an option we want. I am asking the Premier, Mr. Speaker: What are the other options to take care of this liability?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, since this government came in, in 2003, we have put over $3 billion into our pension plans.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, the pension plans, because of the way they are structured, has a great deal of people who rely on them for their income. Mr. Speaker, even though they are very well managed, we have been through a very critical time in our economy and they have a taken a battering as a result. We are very glad that we made the $3 billion investment because if we had not, they would likely be bankrupt now, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, we have $2 billion cash on hand. We use it to fund our deficit. We use it to fund new hospitals, new schools, road construction, so we do not have to borrow.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

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

The cash on hand keeps growing, Mr. Speaker, so they are not spending.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: It keeps growing. It goes up every year. Mr. Speaker, in November of last year government announced an unexpected surplus of $756 million. At that time, the minister said it would be paid directly on the debt. That was his press release: It would be paid directly on the debt. Yet government only paid one-third of that surplus on the debt even though the unfunded liability continues to push us further into debt.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Why did government not live up to its own commitment to put all of the surplus on the debt?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, debt is structured in a number of different ways. When you have that kind of a surplus and it goes back, Mr. Speaker, a significant amount of it goes on debt; over $300 million of it went into the pension plan. I am happy to say, and the people of the Province saw in our Budget yesterday, that we continue to plan to reduce our debt. As I have said many times, we have reduced our debt from $12 billion, almost down –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER DUNDERDALE: – to less than $8 billion, $7.8 billion.

Mr. Speaker, there are not countries in the world that can make that kind of a boast, let alone provinces in this wonderful country of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, we have a plan, a ten-year plan to reduce our debt down into reasonable levels.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MITCHELMORE: Mr. Speaker, last June government said there were 450 communities with broadband access. A letter to Minister Hutchings on February 24 of this year states the Rural Broadband Initiative has put broadband internet into 470 communities. To extend access to twenty additional communities seems to have required an investment of $7 million from government with another $25 million from other sources.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Of the 200-plus communities waiting for broadband access, how many of them does he hope to extend high-speed internet access to, with a pledge to invest just $2 million?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are delighted; since coming to power, we have increased high-speed Internet to over 300 per cent, 312 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador. We made a commitment – we went to the people last fall in October – that we continue that over the next four years, continue to increase our capacity, which is 85 per cent on the Island now, in light of the $24 million investment we made last fall, 95 per cent in Labrador. We will continue with those initiatives.

Certainly, this is an industry that is federally regulated by the CRTC; Industry Canada plays a role. While the hon. member advocates here, I certainly encourage you to advocate with the federal government, Industry Canada, the CRTC, and private service providers, that collectively they play the role they need to play. We will be there to partner when we possibly can, when it is in the best interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MITCHELMORE: The minister is certainly showing not a commitment to the rural areas, those under-serviced areas, by scaling back the funding.

Mr. Speaker, this government touts itself on cutting taxes and leading the way in Canada, yet when it comes to the small business tax, we rank eight out of ten provinces. 40 per cent of all workers in this Province are employed by small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, I asked the minister before Easter break, and he responded by telling me to enjoy my Easter break. I ask the minister again: Why is the cut in small business tax not a priority, one that is a –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE: – responsible investment that will help small businesses and the economy –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE: – especially rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: I hope the hon. member enjoyed his Easter break.

Mr. Speaker, we have given the biggest personal income tax cut in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have eliminated the hated 15 per cent RST on insurance. We are rebating the 8 per cent hated HST on heating. We have lowered business taxes. We have lowered cuts in fees. I am delighted to say that we cut licence fees and motor vehicle registrations to seniors to give them a break, which they deserve, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs. I could not let you off with it, Sir. The government has decided there will not be a new municipal funding formula until we get rid of the deficit, and that may be by 2014. This is patently unfair, Mr. Speaker, to those municipalities that are really trying to make things better for the people who they serve. We are seeing a delay in negotiating better terms with municipalities, but their problems are not going away, no matter if the Province is in the red or in the black.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Why is he not working on a new fiscal arrangement now rather than later, to ensure that municipalities can provide Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with the most basic of services?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, the first thing I have to say to the hon. member - he is into the pricing of gas all over the Province and I see he is having a decrease in the next day or so, as predicted by VOCM or whatever it may be. As well, this provincial government is trying to do what they can for the people they serve. Not only do municipalities serve the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, so does the provincial government and the people who sit in this House of Assembly and that is exactly what we do.

In regard to a fiscal arrangement, we have to have something that is accountable, something that is transparent, something that is affordable, and something that is sustainable long into the future of Newfoundland and Labrador. I, as the Minister of Municipal Affairs, have no intention of bringing in a formula or even entertaining a formula that is not sustainable and affordable to the people of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John's East; time for a very short question.

MR. MURPHY: Mr. Speaker, municipalities are in urgent need of a new fiscal arrangement now to meet the service needs. They cannot wait any longer.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: Why did his government decide not to enter into a new fiscal arrangement with the municipalities this year but chose to wait until 2014? That is a simple question.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs, time for a very short answer.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I cannot guarantee you a short answer today. I can guarantee you that when I get wound up, even if the light goes off.

I will tell what we did do. We extended the $4.6 million that we put on top of Municipal Operating Grants in this particular Budget to support our municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador. We will continue to do that –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees

MR. SPEAKER: Pursuant to section 16 of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act, a Members' Compensation Review Committee of not more than three individuals must be appointed at least once during each General Assembly to prepare a report respecting salaries, allowances, severance payment, and pensions for Members of the House of Assembly. This report is presented to the Speaker, who brings the recommendations to the House of Assembly Management Commission for review.

As required under subsection 16(2) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act, I have consulted with the Government House Leader, the Official Opposition House Leader, and the Leader of the Third Party on this appointment, and now reporting to the House.

I am pleased to report that Judge Jacqueline Brazil of the Provincial Court has agreed to undertake this assignment. I understand that the Government House Leader will be giving notice later today with respect to the resolution.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will ask leave to move the following resolution:

Be it resolved by the House of Assembly as follows:

WHEREAS subsection 16(1) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act requires that a Member's Compensation Review Committee of not more than three individuals be appointed at least once during each General Assembly to conduct an inquiry and prepare a report respecting the salaries, allowances, severance payments and pensions to be paid to Members of the House of Assembly; and

WHEREAS in accordance with subsection 16(2) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act, the Speaker has consulted with the Government House Leader, the Official Opposition House Leader, and the Leader of the Third Party on the appointment; and

WHEREAS they have agreed with the introduction of this resolution; and

WHEREAS subsection 16(4) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act requires that a report, with recommendations, must be presented to the Speaker within 120 days of the appointment;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that Jacqueline Brazil, a Judge of the Provincial Court, be appointed to fulfill this requirement, with the appointment to become effective on August 6, 2012; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Judge Brazil conduct her inquiry and present her report to the Speaker on or before December 6, 2012.

MR. SPEAKER: Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

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

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

I rise today to enter a petition to the hon. House of Assembly for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament Assembled.

The petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

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

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

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

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

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to implement a new home care model to cover family caregivers in the 2012-2013 Budget.

And in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Obviously, Mr. Speaker, this is a petition that was signed before the Budget came out yesterday but it is something that has been on the minds of my constituents during the campaign and since I was elected. It is an issue that is affecting a lot of people all over this Province. Unfortunately, we did not receive any word yesterday on when family caregivers are going to be able to care for their loved ones and not have to give up their jobs or take reduced employment in order to take care of loved ones, especially in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

I know this is an issue that affects many constituents, and many different members of this House, all over this Province. So, I guess what I am saying here today is this is just the first one of these petitions that I intend to bring, Mr. Speaker. We need to ensure a high standard of care and support for our aging and for seniors. Again, it is important that we allow these people the opportunity to remain in their home and in their community. Certainly, there is a deficit in terms of housing that is available for seniors in this Province. We recognize that is an issue.

We also recognize, especially in rural communities, that it is hard to find caregivers to take care of our loved ones. So, being able to give family caregivers an opportunity to be paid for the work that they provide to take care of the families is certainly a priority – I hope it is a priority – and I look forward to seeing the policy that is being designed, hopefully, is going to come forward soon. I will raise another petition soon enough dealing with constituents from a different area of my Province.

Thank you very much for this opportunity, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am humbled to be presenting a petition on behalf of the people of the Burin Peninsula region who have entered into getting this petition presented in the House. I will read the prayer:

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

WHEREAS weather cameras are needed on the Burin Peninsula Highway for safety of residents who are traveling during unpredictable weather conditions;

We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge government to install weather cameras on the Burin Peninsula Highway.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

It is signed by several residents, of course, in the Burin Peninsula area. Mr. Speaker, I cannot say how urgent the need would be for cameras down on the Burin Peninsula Highway, but we are all in tune with the fact that the Burin Peninsula Highway can be a very dangerous road, especially during the winter time. The road, at times, is narrow. I was down there last week and I know that it is a long drive; a little bit of a lonely drive for some. This is an area of the Province that is ever-burgeoning when it comes to a booming economy, and there are a lot of people down there who are going to be working – particularly from the Burin Peninsula area – in the Long Harbour area. There are a lot of people who, in fact, use that road. As well as that, there is spotty cellphone coverage in a lot of areas down there, and it is a direct safety concern that the residents of the Burin Peninsula have.

Like I said, we have a very busy industry, a very busy economy on the Burin Peninsula these days, and I would certainly hope that government would take it into consideration over the next little while that they would address the concerns of the highway users down there. We do know that every time we turn on the news the one thing that a lot of people look at are the highway cameras through Foxtrap right on over to Port aux Basques, and of course, up in Labrador as well. These residents have a very unique concern and a very important concern, if they just turn on their computer and pretty much be able to closely monitor the road conditions – we do hope the government will pay this petition some heed.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I table the following petition:

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

WHEREAS there is an identified need for all levels of care in all regions in Labrador; and

WHEREAS the Paddon Home is suitable for all levels of care;

We, the undersigned, urge every member in this hon. House to call upon the government to reopen the long-term care facility in Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, many, many of our constituents in all districts – and most of the signatures on this petition today comes from the district of my hon. colleague for Upper Lake Melville. Mr. Speaker, the number of seniors is coming fast upon us and they need a safe and available location to enjoy life, as we all promised. Mr. Speaker, Labrador is no different than the rest of our Province, the rest of our country.

Mr. Speaker, I have seen many beautiful seniors' homes around this Province, but in Labrador it is to a point where it is impacting the ability of our health care system. All of this strain is causing many setbacks and in the meantime, Mr. Speaker, we have a building up there that is designed for seniors that sits idle.

Mr. Speaker, many constituents in Labrador are hopeful that all members of this hon. House urge this government to reopen the Paddon Home for its intended purpose: to help out those who have paved the way for our existence – our seniors.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Orders of the Day

Private Members' Day

MR. SPEAKER: This being Wednesday, Private Members' Day, I now call on the Member for Bellevue to introduce the motion that is on the Order Paper in his name, Order 7.

The hon. the Member for Bellevue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It gives me a great pleasure to rise in this hon. House and take my place as the MHA for the great District of Bellevue and represent my constituents. Mr. Speaker, I will read into the record the motion that was read by me yesterday and seconded by the hon. Member for Baie Verte – Springdale:

WHEREAS Newfoundland and Labrador's sealing industry is ecologically sustainable, economically valuable and among the world's most highly regulated and well-managed humane animal harvests; and

WHEREAS the provincial government is investing in a sustainable sealing industry in this Province through initiatives such as communications and advocacy campaigns and the provision of a $3.6 million loan to Carino Processing Limited for the purchase of raw material, which will ensure products are available as the market grows while at the same time enabling hundreds of harvesters and plant workers to secure an income; and

WHEREAS the federal government, in agreement with our government's request, is challenging the discriminatory trade practices of other countries;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House supports the actions and investments of the provincial government to advance the growth of a sustainable and professional sealing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House encourages the federal government to continue its efforts to support the Canadian sealing industry and to challenge the discriminatory actions of countries that violate trade laws.

MR. SPEAKER: The House has heard the motion.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion as read?

The Member for Bellevue.

MR. PEACH: Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to introduce such a motion that is so vital to the sealing industry of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is so important to the industry, to Carino Processing Limited, to the harvesters, and also, Mr. Speaker, to the future existence of our cod stocks. It is also a great pleasure to speak on such an important motion, which affects the future of the seal hunt.

I feel optimistic that when our world economy bounces back, Mr. Speaker, our seal hunt will come back. Mr. Speaker, the dignity, pride, and self-reliance will be with the people of our great Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Our government will remain committed to a future harvest that continues to provide an important economic benefit to our coastal and northern communities in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

The sealing industry has always been a historical hunt, a tradition to Newfoundland and Labrador communities, and most of all, a means of providing for families in small outport communities. That is why it is so important for our government to continue our support for the seal hunt.

I want to say, Mr. Speaker, that I was visiting a couple of the fishing communities in my district over the Easter holidays. I went to the waterfront and talked to some of the guys on a nice, calm day. They were getting aboard their boats. To see the pleasure of being able to go out and hunt the seals, and the comments that were made with regard to the Government of Newfoundland putting the $3.6 million into the Carino industry to be able to allow them to again this year take part in a seal hunt, was certainly a great pleasure for me to be there as the MHA and talk to these people about this.

Mr. Speaker, if all else fails, we will not be dead in the water, so to speak. The seal hunt will rebound, Mr. Speaker. Our government, processors, and the federal government working together will open doors. We can do research, explore new opportunities, and explore more new markets in China, Asia, Russia, Korea, and India. The federal government can break down the barriers that are challenging the discriminatory trade practices of other countries.

Mr. Speaker, we can find a way to utilize the whole seal carcass. There are so many people around the world with very little food, and we have so many seals that could be a good food source for other countries. Seals are an important and valuable natural resource to many Newfoundland and Labrador families. Mr. Speaker, I will just tell you a couple of little stories going back when Mr. John Efford was in government. He spoke several times on his support of the seal fishery, and he talked about how he had diabetes, and how he had problems with the circulation in his legs and things like that. He said that by taking the seal oil, seal capsules every day, it certainly helped him with regard to that problem that he had through diabetes.

If anybody was listening to the Open Line show and they listened to Percy, a guy under the name of Percy – and it was not Percy Barrett, now, but it was a guy by the name of Percy – and he compared the seal flippers to Viagra, Mr. Speaker. So, that is just a couple of notes I made, and a couple of nights ago I was listening to Peter Soucy talking about that, and some of the people made comments about that. I just want to say we are growing older, too, Mr. Speaker.

Harp seals rank fifth of the total landed volume in our Province. Seals are a part of our culture, vital to our economy. Most of all, Mr. Speaker, the seal hunt plays an important part in controlling the growth of our cod stocks. This year, Mr. Speaker, Carino will purchase 100,000 seal pelts. While this is not a large number, it will enable the Carino company to employ twenty-five full-time personnel, and fifteen seasonal, for a total of fifty people. This will allow them to be able to process for three months at raw material, and nine months at tanning, for a total of twelve months. This funding of the $3.6 million will have an incremental effect on the future of the seal fishery and the industry and the markets, Mr. Speaker. It is very important to the seal plant workers at South Dildo and area. This seal plant is the largest tannery plant in the world, and its operations are in the District of Bellevue.

Mr. Speaker, back a couple of years ago the plant in Norway brought everything over to South Dildo through GC Rieber. All of the industry in Dildo right now, it is the largest in the world, and all the products are being put through that plant. The one in Norway has now been closed, indefinitely.

Mr. Speaker, the sealing industry is significant to the people of my district and many of my colleagues' districts across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is imperative to the small boat fishermen who hunt seals in the bay. It is imperative to the crews who go to the ice to hunt seals. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, this year those who can sell pelts at the plant in South Dildo not only have to have a sealing licence – this is being done in a humane way, because I talked to the plant owner the other day, or the plant manager, I should say, about the process they have to go through this year. In order for people to sell pelts at the plant this year in South Dildo they had to take a training course and they have to have a certificate. They have to show a certificate in order to sell the pelts. In Carino over the last few years that has not been a practice, but this year, because of the quality of the pelts and to have good quality to go to market - also, Mr. Speaker, under the food inspections because they are selling the oil and things like that, under the food inspections they have to make sure that the seals are handled properly and when they come to the plant they are harvested in a proper way.

The seal harvest has much historical significance to our Province. There is evidence of Aboriginal and Viking dependence on seals. The commercial seal harvest dates back to the 1700s and peaked at 700,000 animals in 1844. For hundreds of years it provided income and food to coastal communities for their survival. There are approximately 12,500 licensed sealers in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador; however, the number of active harvesters varies from year to year based on ice conditions, market demand, or the start up of other fisheries. Typically, the number of active sealers participating in the harvest can be up to 3,000 annually.

Participation in the industry fluctuates annually, based on market conditions, ice conditions and competition from more lucrative fisheries, such as the crab fishery. For example, Mr. Speaker, approximately 390 people had participated in the harvest in 2010. This number is down significantly from 2009, which reported 1,755 active participants. Similarly, the number of active vessels in 2010 dropped to 106 from 540 active vessels in the previous year. The total value of seal landings has been decreased since 2006, when it was valued at over $34 million and sealers received $100 a pelt. In 2012, it is in the order of around $27 for the pelt and pet. Some sealers have stated that up to 35 per cent of their annual income is from the sealing industry.

Processing companies undertake primary processing which enables removing the blubber from the pelts, curing the pelts and rendering the blubber into consumption grade omega-3 oil. In 2012, these two companies merged to operate out of the GC Rieber plant in South Dildo, known as Carino Processing Limited. I talked earlier about how they had merged from Norway into South Dildo.

Over the years the sealing industry has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the provincial economy. Even in the last few years it has contributed $100 million. Seal oil processing is becoming the primary industry driver, and seal oil is used in omega-3 health products to fight medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis. There has also been promising research on the use of seal heart valves in humans. Over 80 per cent of seal oil products are sold to Asian markets such as China, South Korea, and Norway.

Seal meat exports are generally destined for South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In 2008, 91 per cent of all seal meats exported was destined for Japan. The remainder went to South Korea and France. There are indications of significant markets for seal oil and meat in China, more than we could supply.

GC Rieber Skinn is the world's leading supplier of dressed seal furs to garments, footwear and accessory manufacturers. At their tannery, seal furs are processed in accordance with traditional craftsmanship passed down through four generations. Building on 130 years of expertise, they are still creating new effects. They are the provider of choice for international fashion designers - working closely with them to produce high-quality furs with varied characteristics, adapting to changing styles and making new exclusive fashions possible.

GC Rieber Skinn is a vital part of the GC Rieber Group. Bernie Halloran, a person at Vogue – I think probably the manager at Vogue – said that one out of every eight who goes into his store buys a product. Mr. Speaker, we saw there on the news just a while ago when the minister was there trying on their product, and I think he looked pretty ‘smurfy' by the way – I should say ‘sealy'.

GC Rieber Skinn AS is proud to be a number one supplier of the finest seal furs from fur-tanned skins for garments, hats and accessories to chrome-tanned furs for footwear. Furs from seals presented in a variety of colours and finishes are both distinctive and versatile. Any fur used in their production is from seals caught according to the international agreements about wildlife protection and the maintenance of our mutual natural seals.

Mr. Speaker, some of the things that have been made out of those products, like beaters, the silver-grey with dark spots, you can make garments, hats, collars, shoes, slippers. Then we have the saddlers, the old harp seals; shoes and slippers are made out of that. Then we have klappmyss, silver-grey with dark spots, and the product from that are shoes and slippers as well.

Hides and skins were the original focus of Christian Rieber ever since he secured his trade since 1879. So, he has been around a long time, Mr. Speaker; his company has been around a long time. Today, GC Rieber is the world's leading supplier of dressed seal furs to manufacturers of garments and footwear and accessories.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to leave it at that because I only have a few seconds left. I certainly want to stress to the people that this is a very important motion that we have on the floor here. It is very important to the sealing industry, it is very important to the fishers, it is very important to the people of our Province, and it is very important to our economy. I will sit and I will listen attentively to what some of the others say.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The member's time has expired.

The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BENNETT: Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I assume that the members opposite are applauding because I am about to give a mark of B to the $3.6 million. B is pretty good, but it is not an A. The private member's motion clearly is entitled to an A; but, the government's efforts a B, not an A.

Clearly the sealing industry is very important in this Province. It is more important in this Province than in any other province in Canada. Right now, it is as if there is a plague of locusts, being seals in the ocean, and they are eating practically everything that they can find. Why wouldn't they? These 250 pound to 300 pound and 400 pound animals need to eat, and they do eat a lot.

The importance of the sealing industry in small towns early in the spring and late in the winter can hardly be overstated. Many of these small towns have seen very little cash from late in the fall, for whatever the fishery might have been, until the sealing industry starts. If they can be paid $25, $30, or $50 a pelt for prime beaters and if a small boat could get a hundred or a couple of hundred, then they can easily generate $3,000 or $4,000 per household in less than a week. This cash comes fast. It comes with hard work. It is dangerous work. Going out in twenty, twenty-five, and thirty-foot open boats harvesting seals among the ice flows is not easy work. It comes with an expense. The expense is to outfit the boat. Typically, boats that have insurance are not able to get insurance for sealing. They can only get insurance for the fishery.

This government initiative for $3.6 million is certainly to be applauded. I understand that the sources at Carino say that this means they will be able to buy probably 100,000 seals this year; however, the quota is 400,000 and the seal population, we are being told, has a range of anywhere from 7 million or 8 million to 10 million, and the Greenlanders say 13 million or 14 million.

We would not want to rely on figures from DFO because we know what happened when we relied on figures from DFO for the cod fishery: We ran out of cod. When the fishermen were saying we are running out of cod, DFO was saying there was lots of cod. Now when a lot of the small boat fishermen say there is lots of cod, DFO says there is no cod.

This initiative, Mr. Speaker, could have been improved with a federal contribution. We have demonstrated precedence between this Province and the federal government in dealing with matters related to our fishery, and in this case it should be our sealing industry, whereby the federal government has quite often contributed 70 per cent to any sort of initiative. So, the Province should be congratulated for coming up with the $3.6 million; however, it seems to have been done in a hasty manner to respond to an emergency.

While our federal colleagues were wearing seal skin ties in Ottawa and congratulating themselves on the importance of the fishery, why were they not contributing 70 cents for every dollar of an overall program so that the provincial $3.6 million would then be matched with $8.4 million from the federal government? That would then be $12 million that would be available to the industry instead of $3.6 million. That would mean that instead of 100,000 seals being taken out of circulation, this year we probably could satisfy the entire quota of 400,000 and begin to start trimming those numbers.

The 70/30 ratio is what the federal government and the provincial government agreed upon for the cod moratorium. It is the figure that the provincial government set forth in the MOU from more than a year ago when the provincial government said that we will go to the feds and look for a 70 per cent contribution. So, if the $3.6 million is enough overall – which in my submission it is not – we should be entitled to a 70 per cent refund from the feds, but better yet, that we should gross up that amount from $3.6 million to $12 million, make it available to all players in the sealing industry; if it is more than is necessary for the harvesting initiative, then clearly it should go into the marketing initiative.

Now, the marketing initiative in sealing seems to be practically non-existent. Mr. Speaker, I can say that within the past week I have had a telephone call from a small seal buyer in my district who has a market for 6,000 whole seals in South Korea, and he is not able to get a permit to export 6,000 whole seals at full price to sell the pelt, the fat, and the meat – the meat at a dollar and a quarter a pound – in South Korea. He was unable to get an export licence last year. He is unable to get an export licence this year, so that means 6,000 seals which could be harvested in St. Barbe district by a small processor, a small seal buyer, will go unharvested, and is not affected at all by these funds. So, these funds, in my view, should have been leveraged.

The government in the Budget yesterday, and through all of its discussions, talks about leveraging provincial money to get more federal money to get a bigger bang for the buck, they say. In this case, rather than running off and writing a cheque for $3.6 million, the provincial government ought to have engaged the federal government and asked for, at the very least, a matching contribution. It was a matching contribution of 50/50 that they received from the lobster initiative, which is not going very well. However, 70 per cent would be more appropriate and that would give us a $12 million budget to be able to address the sealing industry.

At this point, it seems that while we are still focused on seals, Ottawa has forgotten about the seals, and all of the people who were going around the House of Commons wearing seal skin ties and giving the photo ops have now forgotten about the sealing industry. We have not forgotten about the sealing industry, but we need to remember that we have federal partners and they ought to be partners. They are the ones who are taking the federal initiative to lobby on our behalf and to challenge the discriminatory practices that are referred to in the private member's resolution. Clearly, the federal government should be called upon to provide a 70 per cent contribution to increase this amount of money to $12 million. If the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture is of the notion that maybe this year we needed to do this in a hurry and there was no time to get the program right, then I would encourage him: Go back to the federal government, look for a matching or better contribution, and put into place an overall and proper seal harvesting and seal marketing strategy.

Clearly, the Province is on the right track right now, but by going off on its own when this is a national issue has failed to take full opportunity of the federal cheque book, that we could have had maybe as much as $12 million to do the same job.

Mr. Speaker, as I started out, I said that I could give the resolution an A, but the $3.6 million only a B, because the $3.6 million would be increased to an A if we were to get a federal contribution of anywhere from 50 to 70 per cent of the overall program.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER (Kent): Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Baie Verte – Springdale.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. POLLARD: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am certainly delighted and appreciate the privilege of speaking to this motion today that was introduced by my colleague, the Member for the District of Bellevue. I would like to thank the Minister of Fisheries and the Government House Leader for the opportunity to speak to this motion and also applaud the Minister of Fisheries for a stupendous job that he is doing.

I would like to say up front, Mr. Speaker, that I am so pleased that our Premier and our government are supporting, and have supported, the sealing industry, because the sealing industry is very important, not only to my district but to the entire Province. Although we are facing marketing challenges today, right now, but we as a government, we are confident and optimistic that the industry will move forward under the leadership of our Premier and our minister. We believe in the value of our sealing industry. We believe it has value for rural Newfoundland and Labrador. We know that we will overcome the challenges that confront us right now. That is why we offer tangible ways to show our support.

Mr. Speaker, for hundreds of years the sealing industry has been thriving in Newfoundland and Labrador, and we expect that continue. The seal resource has played a critical and pivotal role in the evolution of many of our coastal regions and coastal communities. It has shaped our future, it is part of our heritage, and it has defined us as a people of which we are very proud indeed. It is intricately linked to the economies of our region, employing over 6,000 people part-time. It has been a traditional way of life for the Coast of Labrador, for communities along the East Coast and the Northeast Coast of the Province, especially in my district of Baie Verte – Springdale.

My district, historically, has been attached to the sealing industry. For example, Nippers Harbour – according to Mr. Carl Wright, who was an avid fisherperson over the years; he is probably the last living person in the area, in the era, that canned and tinned seal meat in Nippers Harbour back in the early 1900s. In fact, Nippers Harbour operated four businesses canning seal meat. It closed its doors around 1960.

Of course, my district is also the home of the Northeast Coast co-op that is operating out of Fleur de Lys. They started in 1986. Of course, my district is also the home of Mr. Mark Small, who is a tireless advocate of the sealing industry. He is the face of the sealing industry for sure in this Province, and probably in the entire nation.

In my remarks today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to deal with two issues that relate to the sealing industry: number one, the humaneness of the harvest; and number two, the ecological and environmental significance or impact. Number one, the humaneness of the harvest; in terms of humaneness, the anti-seal and the animal rights movements, out of self-interest and greed, have spewed out poison propaganda that the harvest is cruel and barbaric. They depicted us – as Newfoundlanders, as Canadians, and as Labradorians – as cruel, mean people. We know the difference, of course. We are kind people. We are tender-hearted people. Nothing could be further from the truth, Mr. Speaker. These groups have misrepresented the facts for their own benefit.

In terms of the humaneness, again, of the harvest, the Canadian seal harvest is one of the best-managed harvests of animals anywhere in the world, Mr. Speaker. DFO and the Government of Canada monitor the hunt on the land, in the water, and in the air. In 1964, the first seal protection regulations were established; in 1965, a clear definition was given for the harvesting of the humane, for example, annual quotas, and the dates.

In 1985, DFO introduced regulations that specified the means and tools to harvest the animal in a most humane and effective manner. In 1987, DFO adopted a policy to prohibit the harvest of white coat and blueback seals for commercial purposes; the use of vessels larger than sixty-five feet was also banned. In 1992, DFO created the first seal harvest management plan. In 1993, the marine mammal regulations were adopted and these regulations were focused on furthering the humane practices of the hunt, such as using the proper ammunition.

The international or the independent veterinarian report, which was around 2005, has reviewed the harvest and noted that it operates with a low level of unnecessary pain and suffering for the animal, around 5 per cent, Mr. Speaker; this is in fact lower than killing practices in animal processing operations. In 2009, Mr. Speaker, a three-step harvesting process was introduced, requiring sealers to carry out a three-step process, which is designed to ensure that the seal has expired before the sealers would carry on its processing of the animal.

To further ensure that the seals were harvested humanely, the industry has been increasing its level of training. The goal is to have mandatory certification of professional sealers. DFA, as part of sealers, the federal government, and other special groups such as the Canadian Sealing Association, the FFAW, implement these training sessions to help out. To date, over 3,500 sealers have been trained.

The focus remains, Mr. Speaker, on a sustainable harvest based on solid science and sound conservation principles. The focus remains on the full utilization of the animal, Mr. Speaker, and the focus also remains on the humane harvesting methods, with zero tolerance for any inhumane practices. Our government is totally committed to these three principle cornerstones by which we can develop or advance the industry even further.

Mr. Speaker, these principles are complemented by the management measures of the Government of Canada to which I just alluded, to regulate the seal harvest. As we can see, Mr. Speaker, the commercial harvesting of seals is more tightly regulated today than ever before in its history, and it fosters humane harvesting. Humane harvesting practices are supported by the industry, it is interesting to note, and are strictly enforced. So we have a choice. Who are we going to believe? Will we believe Paul McCartney's report? Will we believe Heather Mills report? Will we believe Pamela Anderson's report? Will we believe Paul Watson's report? No; a resounding no.

I would rather believe veterinarian experts whose research on the modern day sealing industry concluded that seals are harvested in a humane manner. I like to rely on the sound, practical knowledge and common sense of people like Mr. Mark Small, people like Mr. Jack Troake, people like Mr. Carl Wright. Their common sense and their wisdom will surpass the animal rights propaganda.

Number two, in terms of the ecological and environmental impact. Mr. Speaker, if the commercial sealing industry is shut down completely it will have very grave, serious consequences to the marine ecosystem. Given the fact that there are 7 million, 8 million, 9 million harp seals off the East Coast, given the fact that an average harp seal consumes about 1.4 metric tons of fish per year, which equates to about 11 million or 12 million tons of fish per year for one animal, that is more than 10 per cent of Canada's total annual seafood harvest. Given that fact, that research has shown that over 120 species of fish and invertebrates are found in the stomach of harp seals, given all these facts, Grade 6 science applies, Mr. Speaker. That is the concept of predator-prey relationship. As an effective predator, which a seal is, it is clear this consumption by seals would hinder the recovery of fish stocks, especially our cod stocks. This is supported by two former science directors at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography at Nova Scotia. Just listen to their findings, Mr. Speaker. They support the arguments of fisher people, such as Mr. Mark Small, such as Mr. Jack Troake, such as the late Mr. George Walsh, who was from Fleur de Lys in my district. They have long blamed seals for preventing the recovery of cod stocks.

Mr. Speaker, the commercial seal harvest will help bring balance to the marine ecosystem. Shutting it down will only devastate, will only decimate the seafood industry. It will disrupt the food chain; it will disrupt the food web. The harvest keeps the seal population in check. If it goes unchecked, as I just said, fish stocks would be decimated. As part of the marine ecosystem, the seal population must be managed by maintaining a reasonable, well-regulated, common sense commercial harvest like we have today.

What do we have today, Mr. Speaker? I know you are interested. It is sustainable, it is humane, and it is based on full utilization of the animal. It balances out the ecosystem. Of course, we cannot forget how important, how pivotal the sealing industry is to the economy of small coastal communities in rural Newfoundland and Labrador; like Fleur de Lys, like La Scie, like Shoe Cove, like Nippers Harbour in my district, for example. Of course, every MHA here can name their communities as well. Vitally, it has a tremendous impact on the livelihood – it supplements their income, Mr. Speaker.

We depend upon the sealing industry to put bread and butter on our tables. I applaud the sealers who go out on the Front, because I think I would get sick if I entered a bathtub. So, they are brave, they are courageous, and I admire them. I am confident that our government will continue to support the sealing industry. Behind the strong leadership of our Premier and our Minister of Fisheries, the sealing industry, to our mind – and we are optimistic – will overcome its hurdles, will overcome its problems that we have today, such as marketing, and we are going to move forward into the future, and the sealing industry will again thrive like it did historically.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased to rise today to speak to the motion put forward by the member opposite with regard to the sealing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, and to extend that, probably the sealing industry in Canada.

The sealing industry has been a long traditional industry of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and certainly a long traditional industry for the Aboriginal peoples of our Province. In fact, Mr. Speaker, it was the Aboriginal peoples who first invented many of the unique, I guess, products that were affiliated with the sealing industry. If you go back to the very early years, my colleague, the Member for Torngat Mountains, would know because they still use the sealing oil lamps for ceremonial purposes in a number of their communities and in their culture. They used the seal oil, they used the pelt, they used all parts of the seal that they could, that was edible, and they made full utilization of the animal. That was the way and the culture of the Aboriginal people, not just of Northern Labrador but of the Arctic regions across Canada.

Mr. Speaker, back in the 1980s when the sealing industry was shut down, to a large extent, in Canada, one of the groups that never did get compensated, ironically, were the Inuit people of Northern Labrador. I think my colleague would probably know this a lot better than I would, but it was in the 1980s and there was a huge settlement at that time through the Canadian Sealers Association. None of that compensation was paid out to Labrador sealers and hunters. Obviously, that was discouraging for many of those people in the industry at that time.

As they progressed, we did see the Royal Commission on Aboriginal seals and sealing in Canada. That Royal Commission focused very particularly on the sealing industry of Labrador, on the culture, and the affiliation of the culture with that particular industry. I referenced the Royal Commission on many occasions in my time as a member in the House of Assembly simply because it allowed not only for the humane harvest of animal like the seal and the full utilization, but it also distinguished the unique culture and the role that the seal played in that particular culture.

Mr. Speaker, I grew up in the sealing industry, not unlike many people in rural communities across Newfoundland and Labrador. My grandfathers were sealers, my father was a sealer, and my brothers are sealers today. They have all gone to the front. They went to the front on big ships to hunt seal and they fished from shore in small boats. I have seen a lot of different aspects of the sealing industry and I have been engaged in many different aspects of it myself. My mother is a traditional crafter and she makes products of sealskin, which she still does today. The seal pelts she buys – from the plant down in Dildo right now is where she is getting them – she uses them in the sealskin crafts and products that she makes.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the seal hunt has become a target for people who have no respect and regard for the culture of our people. It has become a money-making opportunity for many of those animal welfare groups that are out there throughout Canada, the United States, and the European Union. They have used something that has been a symbolic and necessary part of our culture to capitalize on financially and to boost the ratings and the profits of their own particular organizations. That is very, very sad. They all did so without ever living a day in our communities, without ever walking in the shoes of a sealer and their families, without understanding the real tradition and the culture of what the seal means to us and to our lifestyles.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes I wonder because when I hear decisions like was made in Russia just last year when they had the ban on the seal in Russia – and I really question this because Russia is a country that has always prided itself on the fur industry. It is a country that has traditionally used the furs that are native to their particular country for clothing and for all other kinds of commodities in which they could find a use for it. Then, all of a sudden, they ban the seal, the Canadian seal, and it makes absolutely no sense. Because if you turn on your TV today and you are watching any program from Russia, you are still watching people in that country walking around in furs.

I wonder how that could have happened, and I really have to question what the motive of the Canadian government was and why they could not bridge a deal with Russia with regard to the import of seal products. It is not like Russia was banning all fur products. They were banning one product, and that was a Canadian product. This is a country where we have done trade with before many times in our lives. I really question why we have seen the ban by countries like Russia.

In countries like Europe I understand it a little bit more. You are dealing with more mixed culture and you are dealing with more grandstanding by the animal welfare groups, and much of their protest is concentrated in that particular part of the world; therefore, it is probably more systematic that they would buy into that kind of an attitude and a culture that is perpetrated by animal welfare groups, but not Russia. I really question that.

I question, Mr. Speaker, whether, as a national government, our government has really done enough in Canada to develop the new markets that the potential is there for, especially in China. I know there has been work done with China, but we are dealing with a country today that has a growing demand for all commodities that they can import. In addition to that, they have a booming population base. There is the potential to really, I think, develop products that are high in protein, high in vitamins, and be able to export that into their country. The seal gives us that.

Someone mentioned today about John Efford, when he was the Minister of Fisheries. If there was one thing that John Efford did as a Minister of Fisheries was he was able to raise the profile of the seal oil capsule. That was one thing he did do. He was a diabetic. He went out there, he took those seal oil capsules, and he promoted it. I know people all over my district today, people who are diabetics and have arthritis, who swear by the seal oil capsule. They take it everyday faithfully, because they see the medicinal benefit they get from that particular capsule.

Mr. Speaker, we know what the real benefit is from the seal. We know how good it is to our diet. We know how warm it is in the kind of climates we live in. I wish that every person in Newfoundland and Labrador could actually afford to own sealskin products. I wear my sealskin coat that I am very proud of, and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to own it. When I go in and out of many communities, I have so many people say to me: I wish that I could have a coat like that. They honestly do mean it, because they would love to have the ability to buy one of those coats and be able to wear it. It is too bad that the products are not more affordable to people in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I have been a big promoter and a defender of the seal hunt, my entire life. I have been, Mr. Speaker, on the hunt. I have been there with my father and with my brothers. Seal was always a major part of our diet. I never learned how to make crafts from it like my mother did. She is much more talented than I am in doing those things. We had a lot of our things that were made from sealskin, our mitts and our boots. I still wear sealskin mitts and boots today. Actually, my boots today are not made by my mother; they actually come from the plant down in Dildo. They are made by the fine people down in the member's district who brought forward the motion today. I have had the opportunity to go down to that plant and to see what they are doing there, the production, to walk through and see like 20,000 beautiful seal pelts that are already done and ready for market. In fact, the day that I was there, there was a German buyer there buying 6,000 pelts for a clothing factory that they make a specific product from. It was really good to see that it was employing people.

A few years ago I had a seal processing plant in my district. Unfortunately, it ended up closing, like we have seen a lot of them do across the Province, because the business just was not there. When the processing plant was in operation, it was employing twenty-five and thirty people. It was good jobs and they were making good money, but it was also a great avenue for the sealers to be able to go out in their small boats, land it right there and be able to sell their pelts.

Mr. Speaker, I have been a promoter and a protector, and I say that because I have been on the protest lines many times. I have lobbied and been on the protest lines with sealers and their families in my district when the animal welfare crowd were flying back and forth to the ice in helicopters with all of their expensive armoury and cameras and all of these things with them, when our poor people were just trying to get enough money to put fuel in their boats so they could actually go to the ice and hunt.

I stood on those protest lines, and I am not ashamed to say it. We stopped those helicopters from landing in our communities; we chased them out of it. We filled the helicopter pads and we blocked the runways. They were not able to land and they had to move on. Mr. Speaker, I joined in protest on the Quebec North Shore, where the fishermen and the families there are no different than the ones I represent in my own district. They live right across the border from me.

There were times, Mr. Speaker, when we have had protests that went on up to three and four days, where there were animal welfare people who were trying to interrupt with the lifestyles of the people in those areas. They checked into hotels and no, they did not let them out of hotels. Let me tell you, I had many e-mails – horrible e-mails, very nasty, hateful things said to me on the e-mail system by people who were supporters of the animal welfare. In fact, at one point, Mr. Speaker, about five or six years ago, my entire database actually crashed, I had so many e-mails from people who were anti-sealers.

Mr. Speaker, I will continue to support the sealing industry and the seal hunt. I will continue to buy the products, wear the products wherever I can, and I will certainly continue to promote the industry in every way possible.

For two years now I have done a fashion show on the sealing industry. I did one in Montreal three years ago where we had over 500 people at this show. We showcased products from the Northern Peninsula. I think the member there will speak again. We showcased products from Dildo, products from Vogue Furriers in St. John's, and products from all over Labrador, Mr. Speaker. We had 500 people in Montreal for that showcase of the sealing industry. This year, Mr. Speaker, I was able to do one in Ottawa, as part of the Northern Lights conference. We did one in Ottawa; there were over 600 people there. It was a tremendous promotion of the sealing industry and seal products from all over the country and all over the Northern regions, especially in Northern Quebec, Northern Nunavut, and in Labrador and Newfoundland.

Mr. Speaker, I want to encourage people in this Province to continue to speak up for the sealing industry. I want to encourage the government to continue to invest. I like what you did this year in providing the loan. I think that was important. I think we have to support our own industries when they ask for that help, if there is a way that we can do it. I really believe, Mr. Speaker, that the nutrients, the vitamins, the pharmaceutical, and the municipal benefits of the seal will one day allow us to see this industry thrive and grow again, but it is going to take work and it is going to take a lot of promotion by everyone who is involved.

Mr. Speaker, every opportunity that you get, support the hunt. Tomorrow night there is a Home from the Sea Campaign and the big seal dinner. I am going to be there. I am sure the minister is going to be there as well. I would certainly encourage any member in the House of Assembly to go to support it. This is a monument to the sealing industry in this Province and they are raising the money for it.

Sometimes in big ways, as governments and Legislatures, there are things we can do in terms of loans, grants, marketing, research and promoting the industry, but there are lots of things that we can do as individuals as well; and I encourage you to keep doing that.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY: Mr. Speaker, it is certainly a pleasure to have an opportunity to speak today on this motion brought forward by my colleague the Member for Bellevue. This motion about the seal hunt from my own perspective, and certainly I represent a district that sits squarely in the front of the sealing activity with some thirty-seven communities and a number of harvesters who have been keenly involved and participated in the seal hunt for years, it is certainly a pleasure for me to be able to make some comments and be able to support this motion today.

I certainly want to start by perhaps echoing some of the comments made by the hon. Member for Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair and that is around the whole aspect of culture and the importance of the seal hunt to our culture, because I do not believe people have really taken the time to understand and to get a sense of truly what it means. It is not only for the Inuit culture as well. I look through our own community and we see a gentleman like Jack Troake who is obviously very well known, a very outspoken personality in this Province on fishery issues. I have talked to Jack on a number of occasions and he references the fifty years that he went to the ice, out seal hunting, and times he walked to Lewisporte to catch the train to St. John's to go out for the seal hunt. When you speak to people like that, you hear about their passion, their commitment and their love for the seal hunt and the opportunity to go out and make a living.

As well, if you look back through my grandmother's diaries and you see a sense of important things written down; so-and-so got so many seals today and these kinds of things, speaks to the importance of the seal hunt and what it meant in every spring of the year in our communities. I know even in our education system in the Cassie Brown's book, Death on the Ice, it is certainly a very revealing book about the history and culture of the seal hunt for our communities. Personally, as well, my great grandfather Skipper Chum Greenham, I recall the story he told – and we have it recorded, thankfully – about the time when he went to the ice in 1914 and he was a part of the rescue crew who actually came upon the men frozen in the ice, and he tells that story. It just speaks to the passion of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, those who make their living on the water. It speaks to the culture and importance and the reason why we must continue to support the sealing industry and continue to do all that we can.

Mr. Speaker, the other side, the culture side – obviously there is an economic side; it has been referenced here today. An opportunity to start their fishing season early, an opportunity to earn an income, and these days with challenges in our fishery, without question, that becomes even more and more important. I do know that the investment this year, the support of a $3.6 million loan, will help kick start the industry that looked very desperate, bleak, and unlikely to happen. We are delighted to be able to support Carino and to support the seal hunt. I know people from my own community who are very actively engaged in the hunt and by all accounts have been very successful so far. Already I think there have been more seals taken than last year. So it is very promising.

Mr. Speaker, this industry without question has been met with challenge. Challenge is not new for this industry. We look back in our history. Back in 1972, the US banned seal products and created a big challenge. The EU had a temporary ban in 1983 that we had to overcome. Perhaps one of the most significant blows to our seal industry was in 1987 when they banned the hunt of the white coat, the traditional hunt. What that essentially did, Mr. Speaker, was change the hunt, for good reason. It changed the hunt. It changed the focus on markets and where we are trying to get to. It was significant at the time, and I highlight that was twenty-five years ago. Still today, anti-sealing groups through their propaganda continue to try to exploit the hunt of the white coat, which has been banned for twenty-five years, Mr. Speaker.

So these are some of the challenges we have had to overcome, along with the constant pressure from anti-sealing groups. Despite all of that and despite all of the challenges, the industry stakeholders have been resilient. The people have been committed, Mr. Speaker, and they have been committed to overcome these challenges. The industry has been able to survive. Things like culture, the economy, the economics of it, a chance for livelihood – and in recent years, because of the explosion of the seal population to 8 million to 10 million, and the concern on our fish stocks – all of these factors have driven those people to ensure the industry survives and driven the people who are passionate about it and believe we have a right and have an opportunity to be engaged in the seal hunt and to ensure that it helps the people in the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, all of these challenges – if we look back in history and perhaps reflect on it – there is probably no challenge any greater than what we are facing today. Perhaps our most difficult challenge is global trade matters. In the motion today, we reference global trade issues, and I would just like to speak about that today a little bit. There are many external factors, perhaps beyond our control to some extent, that have had a negative influence and a downward shift in the industry as a result of some of these factors.

We see the EU ban that banned seal products in European markets. We see the Russian ban that banned sealing products. We know it had a crippling effect on the commercial sealing industry. As well, last January there were efforts put forth from our provincial government and certainly the federal government to get a China-Canada agreement to allow seal products to enter into China, and that has been somewhat delayed as well. We are confident; we are confident in the process in what we are trying to do to be able to overcome these significant challenges.

Mr. Speaker, with China market in particular – I have had an opportunity to speak with some of our manufacturers, one in particular who referenced the China market of 1.3 billion people. If we can just get into the Chinese market, there is an opportunity; they want our seal products. The market conditions are there; the problem is getting it into the countries. We have a tremendous product in this Province from large manufacturers. Even in my own district – I have a lady in Change Islands who makes absolutely fabulous seal skin products. There are opportunities there and all the more reason why we have to continue to look at these efforts.

In looking at the global trade issues, and particularly the Russian ban, it is significant. It is significant, Mr. Speaker, because some 90 per cent of our seal products were going into Russia, and with the ban there is a real fear that the industry would die altogether. We know, and I am sure the harvesters know, and the people like Jack Troake know full well, that if it dies and it is gone, it is even a greater challenge to resurrect it in the future. That is why we have to do things, we have to be continuously vigilant as a government and as a federal government to continually be vigilant and supportive; the reason is why the $3.6 million is so important for this year.

Mr. Speaker, the EU ban – again, we were obviously very disappointed in the EU parliamentarians' vote that favoured to ban seal products. We believe, without question, they were misled by anti-sealing activists. Unfortunately, they chose to vote to support the anti-sealing activists rather than look at Canada's sustainable, humane, and certainly valuable sealing industry.

The Province has written letters to ambassadors of many of the EU member states. The Minister of Fisheries has taken every occasion to meet with ambassadors and senior diplomats who have some impact and some influence in the EU, so that we can continue to promote the message – promote the message that we do have a hunt that is sustainable, humane, and indeed valuable throughout our Province and throughout Canada.

Mr. Speaker, three years ago we stood in this House and passed a motion calling on the federal government to look at what is happening with our sealing industry with respect to the world trade barriers. At that time there was a G-20 summit, and the leaders of the G-20 summit, including our Prime Minister, in recognizing the global economic challenges, agreed that this was not the time for protectionism. The time was to ensure that we do not put up any new barriers to trade. Mr. Speaker, we believe, we firmly believe that the EU ban on seal products is indeed a trade barrier. For that reason we called on the federal government, and the federal government has proceeded to take trade action, through the World Trade Organization, to file a complaint that the European Union Ban on trade of seal products is basically discriminatory and, indeed, in violation of world trade agreements.

Mr. Speaker, so that people know what Canada has requested, is that the World Trade Organization establishes a dispute settlement panel to address the EU ban on seal products. What this panel will do – and hopefully the panel will be in place by this summer. The panel will assess the information, take a look at all the details and determine whether violations had actually occurred. When the violations are found, Mr. Speaker, a report is filed, and there are recommendations in the report that will allow these EU member states an opportunity to meet their obligations and to comply with the laws and regulations around the trade agreements.

Mr. Speaker, the panel itself – and I think this speaks to why we, as a government, have to continue to support the industry in any way we can. The panel proceedings take, on average, a year and a half. After a year and a half, Mr. Speaker, there is generally a report made to the public. Obviously, once the report is made, there is an appeal process as well, which could take up to six months to take place. Mr. Speaker, if the EU is found to have violated World Trade Organization obligations – which we firmly believe they have – they will be given an opportunity to comply and to obviously reassess where they are in compliance with the trade barriers.

Mr. Speaker, our position has been clear, and we continue to make it with the federal government. They are supportive that the EU ban is mistakenly based on the impression put forth by anti-sealing groups that the seals are not harvested humanely. Again, Mr. Speaker, to echo my earlier comment – and I am sure harvesters and people like Jack Troake would well know - given all the regulations we have in our industry today, there is no question that Canada's seal harvest is one of the best managed and the most humane harvests of wildlife in the world. I think that point has been lost and what we need to challenge at the World Trade Organization. So, we continue to call on the federal government, continue to support them as a province, encourage them to go forward with the World Trade Organization action and stay focused on the illegal trade barriers that have been put in place.

Mr. Speaker, the World Trade Organization is a powerful group. They are set up to make the rules of trade between nations on a global level. There are some 120 countries involved in the World Trade Organization. They are there to look at trade agreements, to negotiate trade agreements, and they are also there to help settle disputes.

The fundamental principle of the World Trade Organization, Mr. Speaker, is to ensure that trade flows as freely as possible. That is an organization that we believe. When the information is put forward and the arguments are made, we are confident and we will continue to support the federal government to see to that the World Trade Organization gives us a fair hearing. Hopefully, we will get a favourable outcome with respect to our seal products entering into the European Union.

Mr. Speaker, just in a couple of minutes, because there are a number of comments that have been made on the importance of the seal industry, there is a piece of activity that is taking place that is ongoing, four very significant initiatives with respect to trade barriers that are being challenged globally. That will have a significant impact. If we can just move forward on either one of these, it will have a significant impact on our sealing industry.

We do have the World Trade Organization challenge to the European Union. As our colleague referenced in terms of the Inuit culture and the importance of sealing activity to the Inuit, they too feel that their rights have been violated. I understand there is a European Court of Justice legal challenge as well on the EU ban. We are also very active in trying to ensure and to bring the parties together so that the China-Canada agreement will allow seal products to enter into China. We can move forward with that. That would be a significant accomplishment as well. We are continuously calling on the federal Government of Canada to come up with some resolution to the Russian ban, as well.

Mr. Speaker, these activities, as we well know, could take a year or two before we see any resolution. That is why it is important with a motion like today, an investment of $3.6 million, every opportunity that we can to support the sealing industry, because we have to keep it going. We have to keep it alive. We have to ensure that it survives. We have to help bridge this gap until we can get some significant feedback on these initiatives that are taking place in other parts of the world.

So, Mr. Speaker, we need to do what we can. We need to ensure we keep it going, whether it is for cultural reasons, economic reasons, or whether it is because the 8 million to 10 million seal population has the potential to devastate some of our fish stocks. All of these are reasons, Mr. Speaker, for us to continue to give loans, continue to lobby, continue to write letters, and continue to engage as a government and engage the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to recognize the value of the sealing industry.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident today that we will have the support and I am certainly pleased to have an opportunity to speak to the motion.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Member for Bellevue for putting forward this private members' motion and to have the opportunity to speak about the seal hunt and the importance of it to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and certainly to all of the other members today who made that contribution to the discussion and the debate.

I want to point out again that the Canadian seal hunt is one that is humane, it is highly regulated, and it is sustainable. That is something, the message, that we cannot get out enough, because it is so important.

I want to talk a little bit before I go into all of the details and give my perspective about my own personal interest and passion for all of those, those people – I am not a sealer myself – who do take to the water each year and do risk their lives when it comes to taking part in such an historic piece and the economics of it to the Province.

My father was a sealer and generations before him. Every year I would get a new pair of seal skin boots. This would be something that he would go through the process of bark tanning them, removing the fur, and making them. That is a big part of our history here on the Northern Peninsula, especially in the District of The Straits – White Bay North. For quite awhile, I, myself, have been writing the critics, the people that have been putting out misconceptions and misinformation about the Canadian seal hunt. We have to take a stance and we have to get that across to people.

At sixteen, I started a museum, and one of the exhibits in the museum was about the importance of the seal hunt to the people of Northern Newfoundland and Labrador. It displayed quite a history of the hunt and talked about the Death On The Ice book, as well as displayed past items used, whether it would be the rope or the hakapik, or a high-powered rifle as well. It gave me an opportunity really to educate people from the United States, people from the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, people from Canada, others that are very local, about the importance of the seal hunt and what it meant to the economics and the culture as the minister past had just talked about. These people came from all walks of life, different educational backgrounds. It was very, very important to be able to get that message out.

I would like to highlight that there is a book called Out of Necessity and it talks about seal skin boot making in the Straits of Bell Isle. It is very, very critical, because if you look at what seal skin and the seal products have done for our region, it is quite a lot. Reverend Canon J.T. Richards came to Flower's Cove to do preaching, religion, and education and there was no church there, so the women of the community, he encouraged them to set up a building fund. In it they sold seal skin boots; they made them for $1.50 to $2.50 a pair and that set up a building fund. With it, in 1920, they built and erected St. Barnabas Church, which is known locally as the seal skin boot church.

I want to talk about how important it is really to promote the local seal skin products and the material that can be made. In my district there are people, there are craft producers there; some of them are very small craft producers, but there is a larger outlet called GNP Craft Producers and they are located in Shoal Cove East. They have a tannery. They also were one of the only – the only seal skin economuseum in North America. With it they were teaching people; they were actively making the seal skin boot products on site. People were getting tours of the facility. They were learning the importance of making the seal skin boots, the mitts, the hats, and lots of other pieces of apparel. This is something that we need to continue to teach people, this art, and they have been able to do so, and some of it with some very good government programs that are coming forward, like the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers. They have been training older workers these skills so that they can continue to make seal skin boot products at that outlet and at that site. It can be expanded and it can be encouraged. There are so many tourism opportunities around having people make their own seal skin boot product. This is an opportunity there that is at that site.

The member next to me, Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair, had talked about the affordability of the product, and that is very, very important. We need to find ways to bring the cost of the seal skin product down. Now GNP Craft Producers are different; they are different from large corporations because they are there for the community. They are really a social enterprise, and their products are a lot cheaper than most. The tie that I am wearing, the seal skin tie, was purchased for $65; it was custom made. If they had more of a market and could mass produce to the local area, we could bring that cost down, and more and more Canadians, the local Canadian market, then could avail of it. They make belts, they make slippers, they make all sorts of products that can be purchased at a very low cost.

We do not always have to look at sealskin and look at the very high-end markets or look at exporting everything as the answer because it is not, it is certainly not. I have a sole proprietor who is making sealskin wallets, the bark-tan wallet. They are custom made and they are sold at a low cost of $50. That is comparable, in many cases, to what it would cost to purchase a genuine leather wallet.

There is opportunity, and apparently there are some government programs out there where we can look at maybe integrating. This is where I would like to see things go, where we really have more of an integrated model, where from the harvesters to the small business owner, to looking at brokers, looking at local buyers. Whether it is to sell the flipper pies, the flipper pie food stand, which I have commented on several times, have written about and Tweeted about, and I have certainly received some rhetorical remarks. I think it is something that can be viable. It is something that Taylor's has been doing at the Waterfront here. It is a great tourism opportunity. There has been an article in The Telegram talking about no availability of seal meat, and that is a huge issue, getting access to the product.

The Member for Bellevue talked about different countries being able to access the meat. Seal meat is a good, tasty meat. Why are we looking at sending it to undeveloped countries, Third World countries, other markets that were mentioned that need food? I have no problem with sending it there, but why aren't we looking at accessing our own local market? It is something that is not talked about enough and it is not explored.

This full integrated model is something that could be partnered with the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, as well as with the Department of Innovation, Business and Rural Development. If they collaborated then we could see a way to bridge. As the Minister of Tourism and Culture talked about, we could be years away from a China agreement. Maybe we do not need China. We are talking about 400,000 pelts; we should be able to meet that demand locally.

Budget 2012, ironically, had talked about $100 million in recent years, which is very flowery language in my view, because in the last two years there has only been a total of $2 million; $745,000 last year and $1.3 million the year before, and a very small amount of the harvest taken. That is not a huge contribution. There was $40 million in 2003. Certainly, as the minister outlined, this $3.6 million loan to Carino on April 5, when that came out - this is a step. This is a good thing moving forward, and I had noted that in a press release, but there are certainly lots of questions that have not been answered when we look at that.

We also see this deal with Carino; just a week prior NuTan, which employed, in its peak, over forty employees – which is about the same as what Carino is employing right now as the Member for Bellevue stated. Could something have been done that could have kept both operations viable and operational? Was the offer extended to both? Is this public funding having an impact on the viability of both of them? Since then, employment from the municipality of Trinity Bay, there is a business tax loss. There are other impacts when a business closes down. Some of these employees have now relocated to work at Dildo. This is very questionable. We are looking at, in the Budget, helping hundreds of harvesters; yet, there are thousands of them out there. That is what is being stated. What more can be done?

The price that is being put out there is $27.50, and that is if there is certification and they are selling the oil as well. Well, 100,000 pelts is the number that has been going out, it is $2.75 million. The minister may explain this if he gets up to speak on the matter, but there is some remaining of the $3.6 million and it is said that they are going to be matching marketing and matching processing dollars. Is Carino matching the $3.6 million loan, are they matching the $850,000, or are they matching anything? Will we see a reschedule of this loan payment?

I want to talk a little bit too about the equal opportunity of all seal harvesters who wanted to go out to hunt this year, because that is something that is of concern. There were eighty boats noted that were out on the water that have caught about 20,000 seals, in the most recent news story that I have read. There were people in my district saying: Well, we cannot go out, we are not affiliated with Carino, we are not affiliated with the co-op.

Are they limited? Is the market not fair and open? That is one of the biggest problems that we have, is not being able to provide access to people who really, really want to go out sealing. This whole certification piece, when the harvester gets their licence, I recommend that the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture also send a note stating when they require this certification with the licensing, with the applications, and when they get their licence back, noting the dates and the times, and making the communication very clear so everyone does have that opportunity.

There are so many opportunities when it comes to actually the seal itself, when it comes to culinary competitions. We need to see a food revolution happen here in Newfoundland and Labrador. Bidgood's is a great opportunity where they are carrying seal products, but surely there could be more. We need to reduce any unnecessary red tape that currently exists around that and encourage more across the Province.

We talk about world trade and the Chinese market, but I do have some concerns when we look at what this provincial government will do to really strengthen and say we need to look at the local market, and we also need to challenge the banned markets. We keep talking about the Chinese market. Well, China has a lot of protectionist measures when it comes to helping themselves out as a country. I certainly do not blame them for doing such things, but we have to do things that are going to benefit the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

So, China –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I remind hon. members that there is a member who has the floor, and I would ask hon. members for their co-operation.

The hon. the Member for The Straits – White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What I was saying about China is that they have an import-export exemption for unprocessed product. So, if we look at trading off the Canadian seal hunt to allow one company or an export to go – because there are a lot of negotiations going on – and if they are allowed to have that, for a profitable company to go in, well then we could see exorbitant amounts of losses when it comes to the people of the Province getting the best benefit. When I talk about marketing, it is a great investment. Always in Vogue going out and looking at expanding the market – the owner there had talked about the high-end market in China, the high retail prices that could be paid. Well, we have outlets here that could be making these products and could be manufacturing – I highlighted one in my district – where we can actually go in and sell those products to China, rather than looking at allowing a company and China entering into different agreements where they could fully import the Canadian quota and process and manufacture it, and then sell and really reap the true benefits.

For far too long, Mr. Speaker, we have not been taking full advantage of our resources, and we really should be supporting our seal hunt based on three factors of conservation because we have a finite amount of resources. The seal hunt is one that has renewable products, it is very sustainable, it is warm, it is durable, it is reusable, and once it is gone, once it is at a point, it can be composted. Synthetic materials and things like that could be around for thousands and thousands of years. We look at the humane treatment of animals. Well, the seal hunt is very sustainable and, under natural conditions, the population will be boom and bust. If we do not, starvation will be something for the seals, and that is natural but it is certainly not humane. We look at healthy humans and the products, the seal meat and seal products are very, very healthy for people and we need to start promoting that a whole lot more.

I call on the Minister of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and IBRD to work together to find good co-operative solutions with the provincial and federal government.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Grand Bank and the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is indeed a pleasure to stand for a few moments today and speak to the bill that is before us, the private member's motion. That is certainly very important and very timely in the Province as we are currently engaged in the seal hunt and the many supporting activities that go with that.

To sort of preface some of my comments, it is important for us all to reflect upon the history and the traditions associated with the seal hunt in Newfoundland and Labrador. As I have said on many occasions, many of our small rural communities have been associated with the seal hunt for as long as we have been associated with the fishery. For many, many of these communities and the harvesters who participate in the seal hunt and indeed for their families, the seal hunt has been a very important contributor to the family income and to the family well-being. Not only the family income, but for the use of the product as well.

It is a very, very important discussion we are having today, and I am very pleased to see so many members participating and offering their views on what the seal hunt means to Newfoundland and Labrador and offering some perspectives and suggestions. As I said, there is a long history of the seal hunt in Newfoundland and Labrador and with that, Mr. Speaker, there have been many hardships. All of us who have an association with the seal hunt or communities in our district who have participated in the seal hunt would certainly be very familiar with the number of the hardships and the tragedies that we have experienced in Newfoundland and Labrador, with hunters being stranded on the ice and left on the ice and perished. As a matter of fact, there is a campaign that is being spearheaded now by the Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Crosbie, to commemorate and help us remember some of those things.

I share those comments, Mr. Speaker, because I think it is important when we are talking about an industry that is very important to Newfoundland and Labrador and we are talking about the future of the industry, I think it is always very important to preface our comments with a little history, a little reminder of where we were once upon a time, the hardships we have experienced as we try and plan a path forward.

Mr. Speaker, the path forward is no doubt not without its challenges. We have seen a number of significant policy shifts in the world around the seal hunt that has not been helpful at all to Newfoundland and Labrador: the European Union ban, of course, that we are all familiar with; the ban in Russia in particular, of late, where as much as 90 per cent of our product was being purchased or imported; and, of course, we are all still waiting on the tentative deal that was signed with China with the federal government. We are having some roadblocks there.

So, it is not without challenges, Mr. Speaker, that we try and continue with the seal hunt and continue to move that industry forward, but there are a number of initiatives that are ongoing that we are very optimistic about. We have continued to work very closely with the federal government and with our partners throughout the world – in particular, the World Trade Organization, which is currently challenging the EU ban, Mr. Speaker; the European Court of Justice legal challenge, as well, on the European ban; and we are seeking to find a resolution on the Russian ban of seal products.

All of those challenges, Mr. Speaker, are very important. We are certainly very optimistic and very hopeful that we are going to be able to overcome the obstacles and hurdles that we face, because as I said not long ago, if there is one thing that is very clear to us, it is the political and bureaucratic hurdles that we have to overcome. It is not because there is not a market or a willingness to use seal products throughout the world. It is very well known by processors, particularly here in Newfoundland and Labrador, that if we were able to access or get through the political red tape, I suspect all of the quota that we have this year could be marketed. So, it is not a matter of convincing people of the value of the product. It is not a matter of trying to help people understand the value of the seal product at all. I think we have succeeded in that, and a number of my colleagues both on this side of the House and opposite, I think, have supported me in those comments. The problem we have on the international stage is a political issue where, quite frankly, we have struggled to win the public relations campaign. We are a small province and a relatively small country, and we are fighting very deep pockets when it comes to the public relations campaigns.

Unfortunately, all of us here have seen some of the videos and certainly take exception to some of the negativity, because it is a scenario where if 100 people are engaged and one does something wrong, we tend to see that one over and over again. Nobody talks about the professionalization of the industry and the many efforts, not only by government, but by the Canadian Sealers Association and others, to professionalize the sealing industry and to make sure that we are practicing it in a very humane way.

It has been a challenge, there is no question about it, Mr. Speaker, to overcome some of those hurdles and to try and move this initiative forward.

We also recognize, Mr. Speaker, it is not only the value of the product that we have to be concerned with. The seals are having a significant impact on our ecosystem. While there appears to be lots of public debate from many circles about the validity of some science, it is very clear from government's perspective – and again, I take comfort, because I believe my colleagues opposite have agreed – that the seals are not having a positive impact on the recovery of cod stocks. There is no question about that.

There are two very significant reasons why we want this industry to succeed; it is for the replenishment of the fish stocks and the ecosystem balance, and it is for the value, the economic value that the sealing industry brings to the Province, it brings to the communities where harvesters live. I have heard, Mr. Speaker, as I am sure my colleagues have, from any number of people who have talked about the value of the spin-offs. When we have harvesters in communities who are out engaged in this activity, they are spending money in their communities to purchase fuel, to retrofit their vessels, and other materials and equipment that they need. There are tremendous spin-offs, Mr. Speaker, I say, to the sealing industry. We will continue to advocate for that.

I am going to deviate just for a couple of moments because I want to speak to two points that were raised by a couple of previous speakers. One was around the recent announcement I made on behalf of government to provide $3.6 million in financial assistance – not a grant; financial assistance that will be repaid. One of the comments was perhaps more of a question around whether all of the harvesters had access and have the ability to engage in the seal hunt as a result of this. I will just clarify a couple of things: number one, the assistance was provided in the absence of other financial means from banking and financial institutions. It was provided by government to ensure that Carino, in particular, had an opportunity to operate their business and move forward.

Mr. Speaker, in no way at all are they restricted, or are harvesters restricted from selling to Carino. I just want to make sure we are clear on that. This is not a case where it is a pot of money that is going to be directed at a certain number of sealers. This is wide open to the sealing industry in general. I would refer my colleagues to go back and have a look at the press conference we had, because I was joined by a representative of Carino and a representative of the Sealers Association. So very clearly, just to be open about it, it is open to anyone and we encourage all sealers to participate, Mr. Speaker. The financial assistance we provided was for the whole industry. It was not targeted for any particular group of individuals.

I do appreciate the comments made by the member as well around the marketing initiatives and certainly agree with you that we have to continue to market hard. There are untapped markets. We are doing that and certainly we will have a chat one of these days about that. We are working hard with the industry and with our federal counterparts to tap into uncharted territory, if you will. There is no question. As I said before, it is not a case, I do not believe, of convincing people of the value of the product. It is a case of just getting out there and sharing it. We will continue to do that.

The other comment I want to touch on, Mr. Speaker, was one of my colleagues opposite questioned why government would not approve or I would not approve an exemption for an operator to export seal product. I just want to remind people that there is a policy in place in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador of minimum processing requirements and it applies to all products, including seal. That was put in place, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that the Province receives maximum benefits for the harvesters, for the processors, and for the employment opportunities that are created as a result of the industry. In this case we are talking about sealing. Mr. Speaker, that was put there to make sure the Province gets maximum benefits back and maximum processing opportunities.

To be clear, without referencing a particular company – I think I know who the member was talking about – exemptions have been provided in the past for a number of products for a particular company, I will say, for older seals. We did that in 2011 and we did it again in 2012, Mr. Speaker. Just to be clear so people who are listening to the debate understand, it is not that we are being inflexible, but we are wanting to ensure that maximum benefits come back to the Province, to the people who work in the Province and who work in the harvesting and processing sector. We have provided exemptions – and I can share it with a member who is interested at another time – to assist business owners in the past, but it is for older products.

The other point I want to make on that, Mr. Speaker, is that there is no particular restriction on the export of the seal meat. We are talking mainly about the pelts. As I said before, the older pelt is not an issue and the seal meat is not an issue.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to conclude with a couple of quick comments because I know there are a couple of other people who may want to have a couple of words. I just want to say again for the record that we are very committed to the sealing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. We recognize it is the view of some that it should end. In my opinion, it is a narrow view when they say that the sealing industry makes very little of a contribution in Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, quite the contrary. To some of the people who are involved in the sealing industry, it is one of their primary sources of income and other means of support for their families. So, we will continue to work hard, and I thank all of my colleagues who have spoken today on this important initiative, because I think it is one we have to be together on, and we have to have strong messaging on, and we have to go forward as united as we possibly can.

I am going to conclude my remarks, because there is a member or two who are going to have a couple of words.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. EDMUNDS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was not slated to speak on the motion, but it is not hard for me to find a few minutes to talk about seals, Mr. Speaker; it is one of my plans for this weekend.

Mr. Speaker, Inuit is synonymous with seals; the Labrador Inuit are also called Sikumiut, which means people of the sea ice. Inuit in Labrador have been harvesting seals for existence long, long before either Columbus or John Cabot ever showed up over here. Ironically, Mr. Speaker, it was the Europeans who introduced the commercial hunt to the Inuit just after 1752, and they are also the ones who destroyed the seal markets that we have come to rely on.

Mr. Speaker, the Inuit in Labrador have harvested seals at crucial times in the year, when you look at livelihoods and income. It is primarily in the fall, Mr. Speaker, as well as in the spring. This allowed them to get funds in place to get ready for the salmon fishery and to get ready for the long winter months. The first impact of the commercial hunt came in the late 1970s and very early 1980s, and as part of a compensation package we know that there were hundreds and thousands of dollars, as the Member for – my hon. colleague – Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair mentions, that made its way to the Canadian Sealers Association for compensation for those who were involved in the seal hunt. The sad thing, Mr. Speaker, is that not one penny of this compensation money ever made its way down to Northern Labrador, to people who were all but forgotten when the seal fishery crashed.

Mr. Speaker, I am no stranger to advocating for the seal hunt in Labrador and in our Province. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, I squared off with Brigitte Bardot at Freiburg University in 1986 in discussions on the seal hunt. I was part of a northern delegation that travelled Europe; this is when Greenpeace was actually going after the whole fur industry in our country. Mr. Speaker, my job was to tell everyone about the financial impacts that disruption of the seal harvest on a commercial level had on people in Northern Labrador. For five communities in Northern Labrador, the loss of $1.6 million over a year was a significant amount. It was a lot of money and it was actually one of the biggest incomes for a lot of our fishermen.

Mr. Speaker, I grew up with seal meat; sometimes it was the only thing that many people had to eat. The good thing about seal meat is that you can live on it; you can live on seal meat alone and it will carry all the nutrients that your body needs. Mr. Speaker, for many, many months, this actually happened with many, many Inuit throughout the years.

Mr. Speaker, the hon. minister talked about the loss of life in the seal fishery. We read the disasters on the sealing fronts here in 1914. We have also had our loss of life with the seal hunt in Northern Labrador. I think most recently, last June, we had three sealers who just by luck were saved from Cape Harrison. That is what they were doing, Mr. Speaker; they were out seal hunting.

Mr. Speaker, we certainly agree with the Province's move to keep the seal hunt open by making funds available to some of the processors so that they can purchase skins. We also support any marketing effort to get the seal fishery back on-line. I think it is a viable industry; there is certainly a lot of resource there.

Mr. Speaker, the numbers of seals are so high now that in my region in Northern Labrador, some of the people who are trapping close to the sea ice for fur actually have to give up on it because there is so much seal grease throughout the fur from the number of dead seals that are driving ashore. I think this is natural curbing of the stocks, but as my hon. colleague mentioned earlier, it is not a good way to see a seal die when it just expires by natural causes. I have seen it, Mr. Speaker, and it is not something that you would want to look at.

Mr. Speaker, I grew up in a commercial seal hunt. I think I was nine years old when I hauled my first seal net with my grandfather. Doing this in December without gloves on is not something that I would wish to do again, but it was money to be made and people took the hardships all in vain, Mr. Speaker, because it got people ahead.

With the fishing industry and with the fur industry, Mr. Speaker, the buyers of the day – and this happened all over our Province, that the merchants would have the fishermen and the trappers at their mercy, but in Northern Labrador, Mr. Speaker, and the same here on the Island of Newfoundland, sealing was one way that a family could at least get ahead, Mr. Speaker.

In closing I would just like to say that I support the endeavours to keep the seal hunt open and I look forward to marketing strategies that will bring our seal harvest back.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Lewisporte.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. VERGE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to have about five minutes before we go back to the Member for Bellevue to close debate, about five minutes to talk about the importance of the sealing industry.

I am going to delve right into the purpose of my comments. What I wanted to talk about mostly was the anti-sealing organizations. Mr. Speaker, the anti-sealing movement has been around since the 1970s and they have run the gamut from environmental organizations that are concerned with low seal level populations like we had in the 1970s, all the way through to radical anti-hunting and animal rights – not animal welfare, but animal rights groups who have initiated large anti-sealing campaigns and often with strong and visual representations of the hunt. The Newfoundland and Labrador sealing industry, Mr. Speaker, has increasingly – and we are all aware of this; we have been increasingly attacked by animal rights activists over the past number of years. I guess the most notable groups would include PETA, which is the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the IFAW, and the Humane Society International.

Mr. Speaker, these groups have raised millions of dollars through their campaigns. They often depict in their campaigns, as we have all probably seen, they often depict whitecoats or they use whitecoat seal imagery. As a matter of fact, earlier today I went on the Humane Society International Web site and right there is a video for you to pull up. Basically, the video is of a whitecoat seal out on the ice. It is a very beautiful looking animal. Of course, what happens is they use these pictures knowing full well that there has been no whitecoat harvest for decades probably in this Province, but they use those pictures because it is a very pretty looking animal and they raise the emotions of people. Of course, if they raise the emotions of people, they usually raise dollars as well.

Mr. Speaker, another group that has spoken out against the seal hunt that I wanted to mention is the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club and the IFAW say the current hunt quota could endanger the harp seal population. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, the Sierra Club of Canada and the International Fund for Animal Welfare have joined forces to denounce the unsustainable nature of Canada's commercial harp and seal hunt. Associated with the Sierra Club is Green Party President, Elizabeth May. As a matter of fact, if you look at the Atlantic chapter on the Web site you will see a message from her.

I thought it was interesting, Mr. Speaker, in the minute that I have left, to draw a little bit of a parallel here, in that the Sierra Club, you might note, is the same group that is seeking a court injunction to stop the work at Muskrat Falls. It is the same group that is opposed to the seal hunt. I think many of us may have heard in the last while, a spokesperson for the Sierra Club, Bruno Marcocchio, has been on the Open Line shows quite a bit talking about the Muskrat Falls development and the environmental piece. Well, he may be on next week talking about the seal hunt, Mr. Speaker. It is the same group opposed to the seal hunt, opposed to Muskrat Falls, and I guess one could say anything for a dollar, anything that can raise some money.

Mr. Speaker, the international anti-sealing organizations are also the primary driving force behind the trade bans on seal products in the European Union countries, and other countries as well. They have done a lot of damage, Mr. Speaker. They have discredited Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in many ways. I would just like to say to the people of the Province, the seal hunt is a very important piece of our history, an important piece of our economy, and the anti-sealing organizations that are out there are not necessarily telling the truth, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Wiseman): The hon. the Member for Bellevue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank my colleagues who have spoken on this motion today. I also want to thank the members of the Opposition and also the members of the Third Party. I certainly appreciate the supporting comment made by the Fisheries critic for the Opposition, when he stated that our government is on the right track. That is a great comment. I would like to give a bouquet also to our minister and to his workers and staff for the outstanding leadership in trying to mould the future of our sealing industry.

Our fishery around the Province as a whole and our sealing industry needs a lot of fiscal management. We can see the sealing fishery into the future. If we are going to be a good fishery of the future, Mr. Speaker, we have to see some changes. We are seeing that now within the harvesting. We are seeing it within the plants. We are seeing the product being handled differently than what it was when our fathers and forefathers were handling it. The quality in the plants, the quality of the furs coming into the plants, and the professional product that is going out of the plants certainly play a contributing role in the future of the seal industry.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. PEACH: I also want to mention, Mr. Speaker, the Fisheries critic for the Third Party. I want to say to him that I hold a full-time seal licence myself. I do not get a chance to go sealing like our friend over on the other side said he was going this weekend. I wish I had that time, but I do not get that time in my district. Mr. Speaker, I do not mean that in a criticizing way.

I want to say to the Fisheries critic of the Third Party, I support the local market. If you go out into the Province of Newfoundland, you will find seal meat in some of the stores. You will find some of the seal products. I know in March's Enterprises there in Blaketown, a small marine place, they sell some of the seal products. If you go down to Vogue, we can see the products down there. If you go into all of our pharmacies, most all of our pharmacies carry the omega-3 oils. I just want to say to the member over on the other side, maybe he is not so knowledgeable when it comes to the product that is being sold in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about some facts of the seal fishery. The sealing industry has thrived in Newfoundland and Labrador for hundreds of years. For the Aboriginal people, seals have meant survival in the most basic sense of the word. Indeed, it still provides a significant resource with which they can continue to shape their culture. The seal resources have played a critical role in the valuation of many of our coastal regions. Here in Newfoundland and Labrador, the seal resource is vital. It is linked to our culture and to our economy, especially for many of the communities along the East and Northeast Coast of the Island, and is a traditional way of life along the coast of Labrador.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador supports a seal harvest and is committed to its further development around three principle cornerstones: a sustainable harvest based on solid science, an industry based on full utilization of the animal, and humane harvesting methods with zero tolerance for any inhumane practices. These principles are completed by the management measures of the Government of Canada to regulate the harvest of the resource. The commercial harvesting of seals is more tightly regulated today than ever before in our history. Humane harvesting practices are supported by the industry and strictly enforced. The number of seals that may be harvested is based on science and sound conservation principles. Research on the modern sealing industry by veterinarian experts have concluded that seals are harvested in a humane manner. Government and industry will continue to work together to improve harvesting practices, ensuring the most humane harvest possible.

Uniqueness and limited supply make seal fur products high-demand material with excellent market potential. Seal fur can be used in all types of articles currently made with traditional furs to produce high-quality and distinctive finished goods. Fur products, fur produced from seal pelts has a variety of applications in the garment industry, particularly for hats and coats. At current harvest levels, the maximum supply of seal hides is relatively limited; therefore, seal fur will continue to be a high demand and a valued commodity in world fur markets. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador supports the full use of the seal and will continue to work with industry to research and explore opportunities for further seal products and market development.

Mr. Speaker, this pretty much concludes my notes of the day. I certainly want to thank everyone in the House who has spoken today – my colleagues, the members in the Opposition and the members of the Third Party – for your great comments, your great points that were made, and also endorsing my motion that I have put to the floor here today. I am looking forward to the vote, Mr. Speaker, to see if we have unanimous support.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The Member for Bellevue has concluded debate.

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

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

Motion carried.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, tomorrow at 9:00 a.m., the Social Service Committee will meet in the House to review the Estimates of the Department of Education.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, that this House do now adjourn.

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