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October 26, 2020                                HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS                             Vol. XLIX No. 57

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Reid): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Before we begin today, I would like to bring to Members' attention my commentary of September 14, 2020. In that commentary, an attribution error was made as I inadvertently attributed particular remarks to Speaker Sauvé and not, as appropriate, to Speaker Scheer.

In order to correct the record, the remarks: “The sub judice convention is important in the conduct of business in the House. It protects the rights of interested parties before the courts, and preserves and maintains the separation and mutual respect between the legislature and the judiciary. The convention ensures that a balance is created between the need for a separate, impartial judiciary and free speech.”

That quote should be attributed to Speaker Scheer in his ruling of March 27, 2013. In that ruling, he quotes from O'Brien and Bosc, as it was then, page 100 and so that is the correct citation for that quote.

I note that this is an attribution error and my ruling on the matter remains unchanged.

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, can I comment on that for a second?

MR. SPEAKER: The Speaker's ruling is not a debatable matter.

MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible.)

MR. SPEAKER: I've heard enough on this matter. The ruling is the ruling and if the Member wishes to challenge the ruling he can, but a ruling is not a debatable matter and we're going to move on.

MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible.)

MR. SPEAKER: No, this is not a debatable matter. I'm going to move on now.

MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible.)

MR. SPEAKER: We can discuss that later; we're not going to discuss that now.

Statements by Members

MR. SPEAKER: Today, we will hear statements by the hon. Members for the Districts of Lake Melville, Ferryland, Mount Pearl - North, Labrador West and the Member for St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

The hon. the Member for Lake Melville.

MR. TRIMPER: Well thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

The Happy Valley-Goose Bay SPCA opened as Labrador's first and, currently, only chartered location in 2000. Thanks to the vision of Lee Hill and her group of dedicated volunteers, this busy facility serves 33 communities over a 300,000 square kilometre area. Their adoption network extends across Atlantic Canada.

The SPCA charter is to assist abused, neglected and abandoned animals from across Labrador. Annually, the shelter and associated foster homes handle up to 500 animals. Each is provided necessary routine veterinary care such as vaccinations, deworming and spay/neuters where otherwise they would not have had a chance. It is not a stretch to say that they have saved thousands of lives.

This registered charity enjoys private, corporate and in-kind support. However, they are in constant fundraising mode to cover wages for staff and other expenses. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health guidelines have made both organized events and daily operations particularly challenging when responding to the extensive need from all over Labrador.

They keep at it simply because the animals cannot help themselves.

I would ask this House of Assembly to please join me in thanking the Happy Valley-Goose Bay SPCA for their 20 years of compassionate service for all of Labrador.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. O'DRISCOLL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today, I recognize the recent passing of a well-known constituent from my district, Mr. Tom Best, who passed away March 31, 2020.

Tom Best was a fiercely proud inshore fish harvester from Petty Harbour who dedicated his life's work to advocating for sustainable fisheries and communities. He chaired the Petty Harbour Fishermen's Committee. He strongly believed that fish harvesters should be actively involved in their own affairs. He became the founding president of the Petty Harbour Fishermen's Co-operative, and served as president for most of the past 36 years.

He, along with the Petty Harbour Co-op, hosted many international groups in Petty Harbour to demonstrate how communities benefit when people come together. He travelled to several parts of the world to support sustainable fisheries and co-operative development. In 2012, he received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal.

In recognition of Tom's commitment to fisheries resource management, his family has established a memorial scholarship through the Marine Institute to continue to protect our fisheries resources.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues of this House to join me in honouring the life of Tom Best and the great contribution he has made to our province.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. LESTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Since the COVID epidemic, many businesses are struggling to keep afloat; however, in Mount Pearl there is one business working around the clock to keep up with the demand for their product.

Lori Wells, along with her daughter-in-law and business partner, Kayla Wells, started their business last October, Karma's Kreations, and began to create athletic wear.

However, upon arrival of COVID just five months later, there was not a demand for their product, so to keep things going they decided they would make a few masks. Lori said they started off slow, producing about 30 masks a day, but soon they were producing 500 masks a day. At one point, they had seven seamstresses and thus far have made more than 50,000 masks.

Lori says the work is hard and she works 14-hour days, but they enjoy seeing the popularity of their masks and says they have now become known as the mask ladies. She said clients first bought masks for safety, but now they look for new masks to coordinate with their outfits and different occasions.

I ask all those present to join me in congratulating Karma's Kreations for their ingenuity and success, and for helping us keep safe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BROWN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise to recognize the Labrador West Community Gardens. The Labrador West Community Gardens have been around for more than 40 years, starting out as just a local club and grew to become what it is today thanks to the generosity of community donors, volunteers and pioneers like Alex Duffitt and the current president who just passed away, unfortunately, the past week, Nelson Clarke.

This year is the biggest year yet, with the 176 gardens and 135 members. Members want to learn more about growing a variety of fresh produce in the Big Land. We have this beautiful community garden that they use to share their passion and take on the challenges of growing different crops. There were a few contests this year, one was for the most diverse crops grown, and the daigon radish and corn were the result.

The Community Gardens were able to donate fertilizer and seeds to the Green Thumbs program at our local schools, 50 bags of potatoes to the United Church and 100 bags of potatoes to the local food bank. As well, produced enough crops to have a successful Farmer's Market in September.

I ask all hon. Members to join me in congratulating the Labrador West Community Gardens on a successful year and wish them continued success as they continue to grow.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS. COFFIN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in 1997 the Presentation Sisters converted the school on Barnes Road to a community centre called The Lantern.

For 23 years The Lantern has offered programs and events to improve personal and corporate wellness, develop individual and collective spirituality, and pursue justice for marginalized community members.

Rental revenues from their fabulous facilities help cover the cost of community and peer support groups that meet regularly at The Lantern. Groups include AA, Narcotics Anonymous and other peer support groups focused on mental health and trauma. It also includes community initiatives focused on art and music therapy, the Ruah Counselling Centre which provides subsidized individual and group counselling services. They also provide space to The Gathering Place for its clothing boutique.

With only three staff, The Lantern relies on volunteers and community support. Recent partnerships with the Community Sector Council, the Association for New Canadians and Memorial University Centre for Social Enterprise has given new Canadians and students valuable work experience and training in the non-profit sector.

The Lantern recently celebrated 23 years of service and I wish them so many more. I ask the hon. Members to join me in celebrating the loving community that is The Lantern.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MR. WARR: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, today I recognize Foster Families Month, which is held during the month of October.

Currently, 600 foster families throughout our province provide safe, nurturing homes for children and youth in care.

As the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development, I want to recognize the vital role that foster families play in helping to make children and youth in care feel protected and secure.

The role of being a foster parent is also important as foster families support the relationship of the children and youth they are caring for with their families. This allows for connections to be maintained and supports reunification when it is in the best interests of the child or youth.

Mr. Speaker, foster families are truly remarkable, as their commitment and encouragement to those in their care is truly inspiring.

From helping a child find their smile to joining the child's parent for a doctor's appointment, foster families are making a difference in so many lives.

Let me also acknowledge the Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families Association's staff and board members, as well as social workers and many others who are part of the fostering team.

I invite my colleagues in this hon. House to join me in thanking foster families throughout Newfoundland and Labrador for sharing their compassion and dedication to the children and youth who need it most.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Placentia West - Bellevue.

MR. DWYER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

It is important to recognize Foster Families Month because we each play a role in enhancing the lives of children and youth that are in our foster care. The connections made through a loving foster home is essential in child development and helps encourage our young people to grow themselves to become confident leaders in our communities. Like the minister said, helping a child find their smile makes a difference in so many lives.

As a government, we must find more ways to support our foster families and encourage others to consider becoming a foster family.

We join the minister acknowledging the Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families Association and in thanking all foster families in Newfoundland and Labrador for all their hard work in ensuring our province's children have a safe and loving home.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement, and I join the minister in celebrating Foster Families Month.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families Association and the 600 foster families in our province provide supportive homes for children and youth as they await reunification or adoption. Foster families are an integral part of a team and operate in the best sense of the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, and they deserve our praise for that.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.

MS. STOODLEY: Mr. Speaker, as another season of warm weather in Newfoundland and Labrador comes to an end, I bring attention to the work my department has done to help combat a common problem in many of our communities during the summer: loud vehicles.

Regulations made under the Highway Traffic Act specify that all vehicles are required to be equipped with an exhaust system consisting of pipes or chambers which ensure that exhaust gases are cooled and expelled without excessive noise. They also prohibit the use of a vehicle with a muffler that is cut out, defective or disconnected; has a baffle plate or other parts removed; has the exhaust outlet opened or widened; and has a device attached which increase the noise emissions.

These regulations apply to all vehicles, including motorcycles, operating on any highway in our province.

Mr. Speaker, highway enforcement officers in my department focus on commercial vehicle safety and perform roadside inspections. They are trained specifically in detecting mechanical defects and, through a partnership with the RNC Traffic Services division, have helped train officers to help them determine when an exhaust has been modified or suspected of modification.

We also updated the Official Inspection Station Manual to include motorcycle inspections, allowing law enforcement to direct the operator of a motorcycle to have an inspection completed when they suspect that it does not meet road safety requirements, including for their exhaust systems. Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, my department will also make officers available to assist with inspections during future RNC-led enforcement initiatives.

Together, we will continue to work toward peaceful enjoyment for all.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. O'DRISCOLL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement.

Mr. Speaker, we in the Official Opposition welcome any and all efforts to address some noise infractions caused by some vehicles and motorcycles operating on the roads throughout the province.

As the minister knows, my colleague has presented multiple petitions here in the House on this very issue. I know we all would like to see these issues addressed. It is fine to say that regulations under the Highway Traffic Act prohibit this, but if the laws are ignored or not enforced, then nothing will change.

We certainly appreciate the work of the highway enforcement officers. It's a challenging job that is made even more difficult without a full complement of officers. We encourage government to get to work and ensure that there are an adequate number of officers on the road to enhance safety and protect the motoring public in our province.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BROWN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the minister for the advance copy of her statement.

Noise from motorized vehicles has been a long-standing issue in our province, especially in urban areas. It is also a popular topic in many town council meetings and newscasts, as towns and government grapple with the situation.

Let us make sure that the enforcement officials have the tools and backing required to enforce this section of the Highway Traffic Act.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

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

MR. CROSBIE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Industry stakeholders are reporting that the West White Rose project will not resume in 2021.

As a shareholder in West White Rose, was the Premier notified of the merger and has he spoken to the CEO of Cenovus?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER FUREY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First of all, let me welcome Cenovus to Newfoundland and Labrador's bright future in offshore oil and gas.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER FUREY: I think it's a good signal that they diversified their portfolio and are working with Husky in this new joint venture, especially using our low-carbon footprint oil to deliver to the rest of the world.

We've reached out to the executives of Cenovus to have discussions in the oncoming days. I'm confident that we will have great discussions about their future and how we're so supportive of the oil and gas industry here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. CROSBIE: Mr. Speaker, I take it the answer is no; he didn't get notice and he hasn't spoken to the CEO.

Husky is the operator of the FPSO SeaRose and the White Rose oil field. Has the Premier, in between times welcoming Cenovus, received any guarantee from them that production at the SeaRose will not be shelved in favour of other projects, and why not?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER FUREY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I mentioned, we're reaching out to the executives of Cenovus now to see. This is all new news to the markets; it's new news to Canada in general. I take it as encouraging news that there's opportunity here with a new operator in the system, a new believer in Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil and gas.

We will be working through those details, as I'm sure the Member opposite can appreciate, over the next few days – certainly by week's end. I look forward to having good, healthy discussions with the new owner, Cenovus, and the new partnership to ensure that asset is delivering the maximum value to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. CROSBIE: From that answer, Mr. Speaker, we can deduce that there's been no conversation between the Premier and anyone in authority at Cenovus and no assurances given.

I have to question why the Premier is so optimistic and welcoming when the news announcement of the merger did not mention the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore at all. The CEO of Cenovus said that the companies' offices will be merged.

What assurances – probably none – does the Premier have that the Husky office in St. John's will stay open and staffed?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER FUREY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I'm sure the Member opposite, given his previous profession, can understand, there are commercial sensitivities presumably between two large companies in an acquisition and a merger of this size that are surely commercially sensitive and not fully revealed. But these details, I'm confident, will come over the next few days and we'll be there at the table supporting Newfoundland and Labrador's interests and protecting the jobs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians moving forward.

The Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology continues to have healthy discussions with the Husky representatives here on the ground in Newfoundland and Labrador. I'm confident that there is a bright future for this project.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. CROSBIE: Mr. Speaker, I don't think unemployed workers are going to take much reassurance from that answer.

Earlier this month, the current owners of the Come By Chance Refinery reserved NARL Terminal Inc. with the Registry of Companies.

What assurances can the Premier give to workers that the refinery will not turn into a tank farm?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR. A. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I'm certainly happy to answer this important question.

That is a topic that came up towards the end of last week and have spoken about it publicly now. What I've said is that particular topic of discussion has not come up in any of our conversations with Silverpeak; although, it is an issue that has been around for some time now and it's been rumored and discussed. It is not a part of the conversations we have. It is not a part of any plan that we have.

Our goal is to continue to work to find a purchaser for the refinery to keep it whole and that's the plan that we take going into the future.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. CROSBIE: I can appreciate the Come By Chance oil refinery's fate and its workers may be beneath the notice of the Premier, but he has said we need a change in the culture of the House of Assembly so we can have healthy debate.

I'm asking the Premier if he would make a start on that by answering the questions when he's asked them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

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

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

MR. A. PARSONS: Again, if the Member opposite would stop heckling so I could answer the question.

It's also a time-honoured tradition that ministers responsible for departments, who are fully engaged in the department, can answer questions.

I will point out for the Member's notice that I look forward to tonight, actually, to having a teleconference with three Members of your caucus, mayors for that area and the MP for that area. I would ask you if you would like to join in also.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. CROSBIE: Back to the subject of Come By Chance oil refinery.

A warm idle will keep the refinery saleable. The current owners have asked for financial assistance from the provincial government to do this.

Premier, will this assistance be provided?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

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

There's no doubt that this refinery is going through a troubled time, as it has in numerous times during its past. Again, in any of the calls that I'm on, especially, we speak to union, we speak to communities and we speak to perspective buyers. We realize that this whole industry is going through a tough time. We're not just seeing it here, we're seeing it all around the world.

The reality is that our primary goal here is to help facilitate or broker a deal between a perspective buyer and the company. We have said that nothing is off the table. Right now, the interest is there to ensure the continued livelihood of the refinery itself.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DINN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Dominion strike is over two months old and no sign of a resolution in sight. These hard working and essential employees want to get back to the bargaining table while communities lack an important food security option.

Will the Premier offer mediation and conciliation to these parties?

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

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the hon. Member for the question.

A conciliator officer has been engaged with this process since November 19, 2019. We'll continue to assist these parties to finding a resolution to the outstanding issues.

The issues are not lost on us as a government. We work very closely with those parties. The conciliator officer is actively working with both parties to decide the appropriate time when they can bring parties back to the table, and the best deal is a negotiated deal between the two parties at hand.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DINN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We all witnessed how government's hands-off approach caused a crippling ferry strike. I note in the Premier's extensive mandate letter to the minister responsible, there's absolutely no mention of labour relations.

I ask the Premier: Are you using all the tools at your disposal to get a resolution to this strike?

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

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I've said to the hon. Member, this conciliation officer approach is something that we take very seriously. We're working very closely with that to ensure that both parties come to an arrangement. We want those parties to negotiate in good faith with each other. That's the best deal that can come from an outcome, when both parties are together at the table.

Our conciliation officer is going to continue to provide whatever assistance will be required to successfully find a conclusion to this dispute, which is what we all want in this House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DINN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Most eligible businesses that applied for the Essential Worker Support Program have received funding; however, we've heard from some workers that they have not received their money yet.

I ask the minister: Are the distribution of funds to workers being tracked? If so, how many workers are still awaiting their money?

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

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's a very good question that the hon. Member raised here today. I think 98 per cent of the applications that have been received have been processed. I think $33 million has been passed out in benefits. About 25,000 essential workers have received that and there's, I think, been 2,000 applicants at the time frame there. I can get some more detailed information if the hon. Member would like to chat after.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR. WAKEHAM: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there are more than 30 employees at the local Walmart in Stephenville who, during the early days of the pandemic, volunteered to work overtime and now have been told they don't qualify for the Essential Worker top-up because their wages exceed that of the limits.

I ask the Minister of Finance: Will she adjust the program to base eligibility on regular wages and regular hours rather than gross wages?

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

MS. COADY: Thank you very much.

The Essential Workers program has been very important to the workers of the province. I just noted in the last question how many people have applied, over 2,000 corporations have applied. I do know there's been over $1.3 million paid out to Walmart workers in the province and over a thousand employees have been eligible.

I'll certainly look into the matter that the Member opposite is suggesting. I know that the criteria was set at a maximum $3,000 monthly income, but it certainly might be something the department could investigate further, now that he's brought it to my attention.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR. WAKEHAM: I want to thank the minister for her answer because I think all of us know the value of these essential workers have when they actually went into work while many of us stayed home.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. WAKEHAM: People had to wind up taking their vacation pay, working overtime and all of those now, because of the way it was set up – I don't think it was intended, it's a good program. If we could just base it on regular hours and regular wages, then I think a lot more people would be able to apply for it.

I appreciate that. Thank you.

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

MS. COADY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will advise the Member that it's the federal government who set the limits on the program. In fact, this government actually pressed from a $2,500-per-month to a $3,000-per-month limit, but certainly we'll take it under advisement and see if we can go further for that program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR. WAKEHAM: (Inaudible) response. I just want to thank the minister for that and say let's do what you did for the rent and let's get it done for this program and base it on regular wages.

Thank you.

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

MS. COADY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm glad the Member acknowledged what we've been able to do for the rent program. We've worked very hard, Mr. Speaker, with our federal colleagues to change that program from a landlord-based to a tenant-based program. I'm glad that the Member opposite recognizes the work that we've done in this particular area, because it is important for all businesses in the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. O'DRISCOLL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Many families and individuals in our province are suffering the financial hardship, but government legislation is preventing them from accessing their money.

Where do we stand on locked-in pensions?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.

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

As I've mentioned in the House before, we just concluded consultations on the pensions and unlocking pensions, specifically LIRAs, not all pensions. I'm currently waiting for a recommendation from the team. We've received feedback from engageNL.

I'd like to remind Members and the public that these locked-in pensions, they are designed by employers as a part of an employee's benefit package. When an employee works for a company, the pension that they receive, the LIRA or the other type of locked-in pension, that's part of their employment contract. The provincial legislation is simply legislation that governs those contracts, the locked-in pensions. We are looking to change legislation and I look forward to bringing that to the House in an upcoming session.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. O'DRISCOLL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I've sat here through three ministers now and haven't gotten any answers. Christmas is coming and people are worried about their houses, they're worried about their cars. We know you just can't take it out to do a renovation on a house, but it's critical for these people to have answers to get their money.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'DRISCOLL: Almost all other jurisdictions in the country provide some level of pension unlocking. A laid-off worker in Alberta can access their pension to pay their mortgage but a laid-off worker in our province can't.

Minister: Why is the government preventing individuals who are struggling from accessing their pensions?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.

MS. STOODLEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As a government, in the legislation we do allow people to access money in their locked-in pensions under two situations. The first is if they've a shortened life expectancy, and the second is if there's a small amount in the pension. We know that across Canada each province has slightly different criteria for removing money from these types of locked-in pensions.

I look forward to receiving the recommendations from the consultations and changes, potentially, will be coming forward to the House in an upcoming session.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. O'DRISCOLL: Mr. Speaker, again, I've went through this and we know how slow it is to change the legislation. People are struggling right now and they need to get access to their money. It's too late in December and January, when they have nothing for their kids for Christmas. It should be looked at and it should be acted on very swiftly.

Consultations finished a month ago. When will we see legislation this session, in the next two weeks, to allow people to access the money in their locked-in pension funds?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.

MS. STOODLEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I certainly appreciate the Member's passion. I've received many requests from my constituents and other Members' constituents looking for access to their pension funds. I certainly empathise with the families in the province who have a difficult financial situation, especially coming up around Christmas.

Just to set expectations: I don't see any changes coming, though, before Christmas, unfortunately, but in an upcoming session, we, hopefully, will have changes to unlocking pensions.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS. EVANS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Even the Child and Youth Advocate has spoken out about the unreasonable delay into the Innu inquiry into children in care.

I ask the new Premier: After more than three years of inaction, blaming the consultation process with the Innu, when is his government going to take action to make this inquiry happen?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER FUREY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for that important question.

Since taking over two months ago, I've made some good progress with the Indigenous leadership on this file and we're moving towards a solution. This is a priority for me and our government. Frankly, too much time has passed. We need to move on and we need to make sure that we're doing this in a timely fashion. I look forward to continuing to work with Grand Chief Rich and others to get this done.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS. EVANS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate him talking about in a timely fashion, but it's been three years. Innu children are continuing to die. Other children are forced to suffer new generations of intergenerational trauma while in care of this government.

I ask the Premier: When are you going to step up and give us concrete timelines and make this inquiry happen?

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

MS. DEMPSTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member has asked a very important question. Certainly, our government committed to do an inquiry into the treatment, experiences and outcome of Innu children in care. I think the Premier just did a very good job of outlining his commitment.

The Member speaks of three years; this Premier has only been in the portfolio since August. He's already made it very clear to us that we are proceeding on this.

We have been working with the Innu leadership. The Premier has sat down already with the Innu leadership and those newly elected. Mr. Speaker, we want to complete a process. We want better outcomes at the end of the day. There have been some issues along the way with securing the people that we needed, but this file is progressing and a top priority.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS. EVANS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Since I was elected I witnessed this government blame its failure and its inaction on delays due to consultation with Indigenous groups. Methylmercury poisoning – Muskrat Falls is a prime example of delaying of excuses.

When is this government going to stop blaming the Innu and the consultation process with the Innu? How many more Innu lives are going to be ruined before this inquiry begins, Mr. Speaker?

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

MS. DEMPSTER: Mr. Speaker, what I will tell you is that as a minister new to this department, Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation since August, I was very proud and humble to take on the portfolio. In my mandate letter from the Premier, he asked me to build upon a principled relationship with all Indigenous groups in this province and that is what we are doing.

The Innu inquiry is something that we have committed to and the file is progressing. I look forward, Mr. Speaker, to a day when we see very positive outcomes and we see less of their children in our care and more at home with their families in communities.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARROTT: Mr. Speaker, will the Premier direct his Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure to disclose all financial information related to the new mental health and addictions facility, and why taxpayers will pay an extra $40 million and it will take a year longer to build?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

MR. BRAGG: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member opposite for the question.

In due time and in due course, Mr. Speaker, we will reveal all the transactions dealing with the new mental health facility. We will make that public.

Right now, we're going through the process in which the unsuccessful bidders have an opportunity to come in and review, meet and debrief with us. After that process, there's more information that will come out to the public.

After that time, if the hon. Member would like to come over and have a sit-down with members in my department to further explain the situation and how it all transpires – the Member is saying how much it would cost. We're looking at the new mental health facility being built for the best value, on schedule, on time to replace a facility in this province that is a much-needed replacement to take the stigma away from mental health, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. PARROTT: I don't agree with the minister. I don't think people in this province have a year to wait for a mental health facility.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PARROTT: Mr. Speaker, heavy equipment is already rolling. This is ridiculous.

When will the Premier disclose to the people of this province why it's an extra $40 million and an extra year to build?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

MR. BRAGG: Mr. Speaker, as I said, there's no political involvement into this decision whatsoever of the type of building that's going to be built to replace the Waterford Hospital.

This is being done by the professionals in our department, the health care professionals, the professionals in mental health, Mr. Speaker. It is easy for the Member opposite to say he don't agree with it. If you don't agree with it, base it on some facts.

We will have the facts provided to the Members opposite and to the public of Newfoundland and Labrador that we are doing what we promised to do. We are replacing the mental health facility with a new facility that will meet the needs of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The most recent COVID case was for a non-resident individual who came to the province after being granted a travel exemption.

What reason was he granted an exemption, Minister?

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

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

The challenge in answering a question like that in a specific case is the issue of privacy, Mr. Speaker. The Member opposite well knows that individual privacy in this province is protected and as the Minister of Health I am responsible for the Personal Health Information Act.

The individual concerned was granted an exemption by the chief medical officer of Health. That is the only requirement that person needs to fulfil to be able to visit this province under the circumstances described. It is not for prurient curiosity and the benefits of the Members opposite. The information that's released is based on the requirement to protect public health and the health of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, Mr. Speaker, not nosiness.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BRAZIL: Mr. Speaker, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are not nosey. They don't want to know the individual's name but they want to know if an individual is coming here to do work as an essential worker that could be done by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, by minimizing the risk to people in this province by bringing the COVID-19 virus to this province.

I ask again: Was this a work-related essential worker who was given an exemption to come to Newfoundland and Labrador to work?

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

MR. HAGGIE: Mr. Speaker, if the Member opposite read our news releases every day, he would note those exemptions or those reasons for travel that are associated with work, it's stated so. This individual had a legitimate exemption from the chief medical officer of Health.

The Member opposite is simply trying to stir the pot and he is being a little bit disingenuous with what he knows. As a minister of the Crown, I cannot divulge about people's personal medical information, Mr. Speaker. He knows damn well where he's going.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The only thing being disingenuous in this House is the fact that certain people are not standing up for the rights of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, Mr. Speaker, and that's not good enough.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL: Negotiations between government and its provincial road ambulances have –

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

MR. HAGGIE: Mr. Speaker, I would point out that the people of this province, in my humble opinion, have been very well protected by Dr. Fitzgerald and her team.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HAGGIE: I really think it is a little unfortunate, to say the least, that the Member opposite should cast aspersions on a small, but very hard-working and very diligent group of individuals who kept the people of this province safe since January of this year, and it's beneath you, Sir, to do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BROWN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Premier has been touting $25-a-day child care but we continue to hear from child care providers that the current system and the proposed system is flawed as it cannot pay a living wage.

I ask the Premier: Will he address the needs of child care providers so they won't close their doors?

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

MR. OSBORNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Over the last two or three years, government has significantly increased the wage subsidy to our child care providers. As the Premier has pointed out, the $25-a-day daycare is a solid first step.

We continue to review early learning and child care in this province, Mr. Speaker. We have a consultation process starting early in the new year for both regulated and non-regulated, for parents and for anybody who wishes to participate, to look at what the future of early learning and child care looks like in the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BROWN: Mr. Speaker, a minimum-wage worker in this province will need to work four hours at the current rate in order to be able to afford one day of daycare.

How is the minister going to ensure that those who need this extra support the most are able to afford child care?

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

MR. OSBORNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm not sure about the numbers the Member has brought forward. Not only do we have the Operating Grant for early learning and child care centres, Mr. Speaker, but we have a subsidy. There are a large number of parents in this province who don't pay anything for child care based on their wages. It ranges from nothing up to $25 based on wages. If a family earning minimum wage is below the threshold, they are further subsidized over and above the $25.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BROWN: Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has assembled a task force to chart a course for the province's future.

Will the Premier also introduce a concurrent review of the Labour Standards Act and Labour Relations Act to ensure that all workers in this province are protected?

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

MR. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the hon. Member for the question.

I know that labour standards, just to go to the Member's initial question, which was dealing with minimum wage, we established a Committee of three individuals – one from labour, one from the employment side and one independent chairperson – that determined that there would be announced four increases in the minimum wage to bring it to at least $12.65 by October 1 of 2021. That includes increases based on the national consumer price index, which is an important piece.

Obviously, like any piece of legislation and any standards, we always look at those for the best interest of the people of the province and we'll continue to do that in the department as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BROWN: Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, the Premier in his budget debate talked about working together. This weekend in a media interview he boasted about his desire for collaboration.

I ask the Premier and his Liberal government: Are they willing to work along with our goals towards labour legislation reforms to bring in anti-replacement worker legislation and bring back automatic certification legislation?

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

MR. DAVIS: Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. Member for the question.

I go back to my previous answer, to say that we always look at the labour standards within this province for the best interests of the people of our province and we'll to continue to do so. I know we have highly skilled staff in the department that look at these issues on a daily basis and we'll bring forward those concerns and make sure that those concerns are heard and brought forward and reflective in the labour standards as we look at those standards in the coming weeks, months and years.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Labrador West, time for a quick question and a quick answer.

MR. BROWN: I'll ask it again: Will they bring in anti-replacement worker and bring back automatic certification legislation?

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

MR. DAVIS: Mr. Speaker, I don't want to sound like a broken record, but as I said before, we look at all labour standards with respect to the best interests of the people of our province, both from the balance side that has to be looked at between the needs of the employees and the needs of the employers. We always look at the balance.

As labour ministers, you always look at the balanced approach. So from that standpoint, we'll always be looking at labour standards where we can make improvements when they can be made and where they need to be made.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

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

MR. BROWN: Mr. Speaker, I give notice of the following private Member's motion which will be seconded by the Member for St. John's Centre:

WHEREAS income inequity in Canada and in the province, in particular, has been on the rise in recent decades; and

WHEREAS Canadians from all parties and all walks of life, including CEOs, senators, doctors, community support workers and economists are now championing some form of basic income program; and

WHEREAS the federal government is already pioneering a provision of income support to those who are in most need, the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit; and

WHEREAS the current income support system amounts to a poverty trap and still leaves many to fall through the cracks; and

WHEREAS the Canadian data from the basic income pilot project have shown that programs increase public health, foster improvements in nutrition, improve mental health and well-being, lower the immense public costs associated with poverty, encourages entrepreneurship and allows people to pursue education and training;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the House consider truly ending poverty in this province by establishing an all-party Select Committee on basic income with the mandate to review and make recommendations on eligibility, minimum income amounts, interactions with existing income supports, cost-benefit analysis, potential models for such programs and a timeline for implementation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House ensures that the Select Committee has the resources it needs to conduct this work.

Thank you.

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

MR. J. DINN: Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 63(3), I advise the House that this PMM will be the one to be debated this Wednesday.

MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

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

MR. LESTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The majority of Newfoundland Housing units permit smoking. Currently, there are only two seniors' buildings that are designated as non-smoking.

Second-hand smoke can seep into multi-unit dwellings from many places, including vents and cracks in walls or floors.

Exposure to second-hand smoke can lead to serious health problems, including lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, and it can make asthma worse in both adults and children. It is especially dangerous for children as it can result in permanent damage to their growing lungs, and cause respiratory and other illnesses like bronchitis and pneumonia, ear infections and even sudden infant death syndrome.

Based on several studies, an estimated 44 to 53 per cent of multi-unit housing residents that do not allow smoking in their home have experienced second-hand smoke infiltration in their home from elsewhere or around the building.

Therefore, we petition the hon. House of Assembly as follows: We, the undersigned, call on the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to designate 75 per cent of Newfoundland and Labrador Housing family units to be non-smoking.

Mr. Speaker, this is my fourth time presenting this petition. I do appreciate the work of the previous minister as to looking into this matter and doing a jurisdictional scan as to how this can be implemented. I do now look for a response from the current minister as to the status of this initiative.

As I've said in my preamble, there should be no reason why an individual should be subjected to the pollution of cigarette or cannabis smoke when they choose not to smoke themselves. It is an issue that I feel very passionate about myself, being a non-smoker, having members in my own family with health issues that I can see are compromised and complicated by the exposure to smoke.

I believe that we should be doing more and we need to act faster, because once the damage is done to our children's lungs or individuals who are subjected to smoke, unfortunately, much of it is irreversible.

I now ask the minister to reply to my petition and provide us with an update.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development with a response.

MR. WARR: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the hon. Member for his petition.

As the Minister Responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation, it's the first time really that the petition has been placed in my lap.

Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation owns and operates over 5,000 public units and currently 139 of those units have a non-smoking policy in place. Province wide there are seven smoke-free buildings and an additional two are taking a grandfathered approach to moving to non-smoking.

Smoking cannabis is prohibited in Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation properties were smoking tobacco is also prohibited. In those properties where smoking tobacco is allowed, smoking cannabis is also allowed as per the federal rules and regulations.

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation is currently analyzing information from other jurisdictions in order to develop evidence-based policies around the use of cannabis.

I take the hon. Member's petition under advisement, Mr. Speaker, and I'd be more than happy to work with him on that.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Member for Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DINN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS many students within our province depend on school busing for transportation to and from school each day; and

WHEREAS there are many parents of school-aged children throughout our province who live inside the Eastern School District's 1.6 kilometre zone, therefore do not qualify for busing; and

WHEREAS policy cannot override the safety of our children;

THEREFORE we petition the hon. House of Assembly as follows: We, the undersigned, call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to eliminate the 1.6 kilometre policy for all elementary schools in the province and in junior and senior high schools were safety is a primary concern.

Mr. Speaker, I'm losing count on how many times I've actually presented this petition on behalf of residents in the Topsail - Paradise area. I know my colleague from Harbour Main has done the same, my colleague from Conception Bay South has done the same, my colleague from Conception Bay East - Bell Island has done the same and we will continue to do it.

This past year, as we know, with the COVID pandemic put a strain on busing but government was able to – better late than never – bring together a number of extra buses and drivers to deal with this issue because it is a safety issue. I can tell you, children in the areas I've already mentioned who have to walk to and from school, who do not have buses, who are walking on shoulders of the road, and as I mentioned in a previous petition on roads – the roads up in the Topsail - Paradise area, I can guarantee you some of the shoulders are gone.

We're asking school-aged children to walk along these roads, and winter's coming, there's going to be even less of an area for them to walk. So this is truly a safety issue.

It would be horrendous if we have a child who is killed or injured by oncoming traffic because we did not take the initiative to bring in busing that would accommodate them. We have courtesy busing and courtesy seating but it is not doing what it should do. There are still children who have to get to school and who do not have a safe way to get there.

So with this petition – and I'll continue to bring it forward – I think the residents in these areas are very concerned and they want to see a safe and happy route to school for school-aged kids.

Thank you.

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

MR. CROCKER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

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

MR. CROCKER: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader, for leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Amend The Other Post-Employment Benefits Eligibility Modification Act, Bill 49, and I further move that the said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: Does the minister have leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Leave.

MR. SPEAKER: Leave.

It is moved and seconded that Bill 49 entitled, An Act To Amend The Other Post-Employment Benefits Eligibility Modification Act, be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this bill?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

Carried.

Motion, the hon. President of Treasury Board to introduce a bill, “An Act To Amend The Other Post-Employment Benefits Eligibility Modification Act,” carried. (Bill 49)

CLERK (Barnes): A bill, An Act To Amend The Other Post-Employment Benefits Eligibility Modification Act. (Bill 49)

MR. SPEAKER: The bill has now been read a first time.

When shall the said bill be read a second time?

MR. CROCKER: Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 49 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. CROCKER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader, for leave to introduce a bill, An Act To Amend The Auditor General Act, Bill 50, and I further move that the said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the hon. minister shall have leave to introduce the bill entitled, An Act To Amend The Auditor General Act, Bill 50, and that the said bill now be read a first time.

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.'

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Government House Leader to introduce a bill, “An Act To Amend The Auditor General Act,” carried. (Bill 50)

CLERK: A bill, An Act To Amend The Auditor General Act. (Bill 50)

MR. SPEAKER: The bill has now been read a first time.

When shall the said bill be read a second time?

MR. CROCKER: Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: Tomorrow.

On motion, Bill 50 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

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

MR. CROCKER: Mr. Speaker, I call from the Order Paper, Motion 15.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader, that under Standing Order 11(1) this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, October 26, 2020.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion has been moved and seconded.

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

Carried.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. CROCKER: Mr. Speaker, I call from the Order Paper, Order 3, Concurrence Motion, report of the Social Services Committee.

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

MR. PARDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

For all those who are viewing at home, we're looking at the Social Services, and a significant part of the Social Services, five components of government operations, would be Education and Early Childhood Development. It is from that of which I'll speak mostly in my time because that is what the concurrence session allows us to do, Mr. Speaker.

Before I get into that, I had a revelation in Victoria, BC and that might spark your curiosity. We were over there representing the Legislature here in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Mr. Speaker, you were there as well. Myself, representing the District of Bonavista, the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Municipalities was there as well, as well as the Member for Labrador West.

The revelation that occurred at that time while we were sitting down having a discussion on the proceedings that we were engaged in, he had stated to me that we could take the whole of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and transplant it in his district. I didn't speak to it at the time because I was a little leery as to whether that was accurate.

MR. BROWN: Labrador as a whole.

MR. PARDY: The whole of Labrador, okay. Therefore, now he's absolutely correct.

I often thought that if we were in a school situation, we often look at things, we look on the news. A lot of us will look on the news and we'll hear Labrador referred to as the Big Land and us here in the Province of Newfoundland. But when we watch our newscast, we'll see that the Province of Newfoundland on a newscast is so much larger than the Big Land.

For all intents and purposes, the hon. Member for Labrador West is totally correct. We can place the Island of Newfoundland and Labrador, almost three times our mass, into the Big Land. In fact, we can take every other province in the Maritimes, PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, they will all fit in the Big Land as well.

I say that little anecdote because I know when we look at the great physical distance we have in order to serve the needs of our residents, it is certainly challenging. There is no doubt about that, because we do have the Big Land in Labrador, and in Newfoundland and Labrador we certainly have a big land as well, even though not as big as Labrador.

We always look at statistics, and when we spend – sometimes we look at statistics, but if I may just give a few provincial statistics from the latest census comparing populations from 1971 to the current year, 2020. It's very significant, Mr. Speaker, when we look at education, we look at what we do and what resources we would put into place, because the population is very significant.

In 1971, we had 530,000, and I'll round off, 531,000 in our province. In 2020, we have 522,000 in our province. For those between the ages of zero and four, the population in Newfoundland and Labrador from the ages of zero to four – in 1971, we had 62,000 youth between zero and four. In 2020, Mr. Speaker, we have 20,000 between zero and four in that time frame.

I look at our oldest demographic, which would be 90 years and older. In 1971, where we had more population, Newfoundland and Labrador, 587. In 2020, we have 3,594 residents. Data will show you that you have 150 per cent chance of getting to that bracket, 90 years and older, if you are female. That is the data which we have. Inherent in that, there are many challenges and factors and discussions that occur due to the data that is presented.

I would say to you, when we look at the population between zero and four, while we have a reduction in that number and we currently have 20,000, the significance to education is significantly greater now than what it was back in 1971. Society is changing more rapidly. We're embracing technology. If we're slow on rolling out curriculum, by the time it's rolled out, you'll find that it's outdated.

The speed of which we do things is much faster in 2020 than what it was in 1971. I would state, we need now conceivably to make an investment in education based on what we want in our society and to meet and to keep up with the ever-changing society.

I just want to go back again. While I went back to 1972, I just want to restate again, Mr. Speaker, that the first school – and I had mentioned this before in the House – in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador was in my district. It was in the community of Bonavista back in 1727.

A document written by Garfield Fizzard, which now can be found at Newfoundland Studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland, I just want to read an excerpt from a cited transcript that Mr. Fizzard had cited. When he references the start-up of the school, here is what he had stated, quote, from the archives: “The people finely [sic] are willing…to set up a Charity School…. I raised by subscription £8 am promised more, for the teaching the poor children to read for the year 1727, have ordered a Schoolmistress to begin to teach them early this spring.”

Now, several things stand out to me there, 8 pounds, and if you did a translation at 8 pounds you'll find that it equates to today's salary of $14.29. Wonderful; $14.29 was a significant amount of money back then, Mr. Speaker.

The other thing was the poor children they referenced. We all know that in our history we had quite a struggle with poverty in our province. We still struggle today with poverty in our province. The chance with Estimates is that we get a chance to go over every budget line in every department of which the government operates. This is what the concurrence does here.

One thing I had mentioned before when we looked at productivity in our education system was the wellness of the students of which are in the system. I'm not sure if the last time I spoke to the wellness of the education system as to the rationale why, I mentioned to the Minister of Health and Community Services that the healthier the children that we have in our school system, the less interventions on the health care system will be now and into the future. So we look at it as an investment; an investment that will save the energy and the expenses of interventions a little later.

I would also content, Mr. Speaker, that healthier children make better learners. Generally, healthier children will make better learners. Their attention may be better, they attend better, and the more active they are, the better the education system would be.

I talk on wellness because the 2020 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth – and we discussed this in our Estimates – the benchmarks they use is that 150 minutes of physical activity within the school systems and the provinces in Canada. So that was the benchmark they looked at, 150.

In our schools, we have 6 per cent, which will give 120 minutes, but 18 minutes a day is what we prescribe. It is in our allocation of time that we ask schools, when they create their timetables here is 6 per cent. I threw out of a couple of statistics before: math would be 10 per cent, religious education is 8 per cent, and health as a curriculum is 5 per cent. I would say to you, if we increased the amount of physical activity in the schools, it's quite possible that we will see an increase in the student achievement in what we get in return from the sessions and our teaching time because they'll be more productive.

What did the ParticipACTION Report Card find about the children in Canada? The overall activity, physical activity, they gave a score of D plus and that would be the percentage of children and youth who meet the physical activity recommendation within Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines for children and youth, at least 60 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Inactive play, we received an F. In offering physical education, which is the quality part of skilled development, we received a D plus and in 24-hour movement behaviours we received an F. I would say when it comes to the wellness of children, we need to give some attention to that going forward. My suggestion would be that we would adopt what the schools in Alberta and British Columbia do, and they achieve the greatest, the best results in the PISA, the international assessments in the areas of math and science, and we adapt their curriculum. They also offer the greatest percentage of daily physical education which is 10 per cent of the timetable.

I want to move on to the staff allocation, Mr. Speaker. When we look at the staff wellness, it is significant, but one thing that we don't permit in our school systems is we don't permit the staff, teaching our children, to access the wellness rooms in our schools and that is under the legislation from the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District, the Board of Trustees. Their policy is that they don't because they contend that it would breach the conflict of interest legislation.

The legislation that they refer to, in this case, is as follows, section 7: “A public office holder shall not, directly or indirectly, accept a fee, gift or personal benefit, except compensation authorized by law, that is connected, directly or indirectly, with the performance of his or her duties.”

We would contend that the educational staff in a school cannot access and utilize the equipment rooms in our schools because of a conflict of interest. I would contend, Mr. Speaker, that if we have those wellness rooms in our schools, we would welcome and entice the staff of those schools, who are the role models for our children, to use those fitness rooms. In using the fitness rooms, they would improve their wellness and, obviously, model some good behaviour that we want modelled. That is something that I would think we ought to be contending.

Another thing that came up in the Estimates in Education was the fact that back in 2015-16 to 2019 the teachers' sick leave had increased by 20 per cent; in fact, it broke over the $18 million mark of teachers' sick leave. When we hold that alongside the fact of the conflict of interest of not permitting staff to use fitness rooms, I would say it ought to be a no-brainer, Mr. Speaker, that our staff, as well as our students, ought to be able to freely and be encouraged to use the fitness rooms within our schools.

Just talking about technology in our schools in the short four minutes remaining. We all know the importance of technology going forward. I think the minister mentioned Kraken, but one industry he did mention was in the Clarenville area, which was SubC. All these tech companies are moving and addressing the needs within the society for the resources that they create.

SubC was created, I would think, out of two schools that occurred in our district. Heritage College had an underwater robotics club. It wasn't in the curriculum, it was an after-school activity that was held, as did and does Clarenville Middle School and Clarenville High. Members of that underwater robotics club are also employed now within the SubC Imaging in Clarenville, which is a growing company.

I would say to you we need to move the underwater robotics into the curriculum and allow those who have to travel by bus for 45 minutes in order to access the technology piece in our school program, put it into the curriculum and have it available to everybody regardless of how close to the school they are.

Another thing I would mention before I go on to a couple of district points to drill down on would be the Internet connectivity. I haven't heard much recently on the Internet connectivity within our province, not a lot. When the schools closed, we know the significance of it, but I haven't heard many discussions on the floor of this House as to where the improvements would lie.

In Southern Bay, Leah Hollahan with three children would be asking. Her Internet is just as bad now as what it was pre-pandemic. There isn't one word as to what I can pass on to her and the other myriad of parents within Winter Brook, Portland, Jamestown and Bonaventure. They would like to know, when can we expect to see the Internet connectivity in those remote areas?

Another thing district specific – and I'm sure it's in the Estimates as well, not quite the Social Services but in the Estimates – we were hit with a significant weather event last winter along coastal Newfoundland and Labrador, and Bonavista wasn't spared of it. The seawall that protects people's property and our municipal infrastructure was damaged significantly. We had an assessment done. They went and did the assessment and said it ought to be looked after; what was damaged by the storm will be looked after.

Here we are now in the later part of October with another winter coming and many of these personal properties and municipal infrastructure are more exposed than it's ever been in the past 50 years. The early part of the summer it was checked off and it was okayed and to give. The people constantly ask: Where are the repairs to the seawall and the trestle that's there in Bonavista that's about to fall into the brook, that was damaged? We haven't heard anything in relation to that.

Mr. Speaker, in the 20 seconds remaining, I shall talk a little faster.

I look forward to this upcoming weekend where they have the virtual Relay For Life in Bonavista. Last year it raised $54,000. They have to do it a little differently this year, but we wish them luck. The co-chairs of the events are stating that they are very hopeful that there will be much success again this Sunday.

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm going to speak on the district part a bit and I'm going to read something into the record. I know I can't dispute your ruling, but I'm going to read a few things into the record later.

First of all, it's a pleasure to represent the people of Humber - Bay of Islands again. I look forward to the next election. Some people say it may be in November or December – I'm not sure – or maybe next spring. Whenever that is, I look forward to the election and I thank the people that have supported me over so many years. It's an honour and it's a pleasure to do that, Mr. Speaker.

I understand the situation that the government is in financially, but there are only so many times we can say: Okay, we'll do it next year, we'll do it next year. We have to make a plan to try to get the province out of the financial crisis we're in, and it's going to be tough decisions. It's going to be tough decisions no matter what government is in power after the next election – no matter what government – but we have to try to make sure we take the steps for that.

There's one interesting part that I noticed and it hasn't been brought up yet. I know there's a committee gone out now – and I thank the people for that – on behalf of the province that's going to do some work on bringing back some way that the province can move forward and guide us in the future. But the strange part I find about that, Mr. Speaker, it's been in the process for so many years, is that report is due April 30, the budget process starts November, December, and the budget may be brought down in March.

Here it is we're setting up a process that's going to guide us for the future and the budget is going to be tabled before we even see the report. That hasn't been raised in this House or out in the media yet. When the Premier and others go out and say here's our guiding document, the guiding document is going to be after we put the budget in place.

I know one year, I think the budget was passed here on March 27. It was introduced and read in this House on March 27. We were going to bring the budget down in March or early April, usually before Easter, and then the report that's going to guide the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador for the next five or 10 years, nothing is going to be in place – without the budget in place. So are we going to change the budget? Are we going to be waiting for the budget?

By the time you get the report at the end of April, you're looking at May, June that we're going to have another second Interim Supply, so we can follow that report? That's something I noticed, and I haven't heard a clear answer. Are we going to use that to guide the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador?

A lot of people are concerned about the deficit. We understand – everybody understands – that the province must help out people in this pandemic. Everybody understands that. Everybody is hurting in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, but we have to start being prudent. We can't keep saying – even the situation that we have when we came back approving the second six months of the budget, we said we'll wait until the next budget.

Now we're going to wait for the report to come out, which will be April, if you look at it, it's going to be May or June. So it's something that government hasn't fully put out to the general public yet, if it's going to be a guiding document or is it just going to be something we're going to be working on after the budget is put into the House of Assembly. That's just something that I throw out there as someone who understands the budgetary process that is going to be done.

Mr. Speaker, I look at the District of Humber - Bay of Islands and I'm going to speak about the district itself. As I said, the former minister and the current minister – the road improvements so much this year definitely will improve tourism in the area, and safety on the roads for the people travelling on the north and south shore of Humber - Bay of Islands. I know cellphone coverage for Lark Harbour and York Harbour should be coming in the next couple of weeks; they're out there working on it. I know the minister has an update for the people and they're very pleased.

Just that alone, Mr. Speaker, will help tourism in the Humber - Bay of Islands. A lot of people these days, when they go on a few of the mountain hikes out there – there are a lot of great hills – they love to have that protection, that if anything goes wrong they can make calls. There are only certain areas out there, when you go up Murray Mountain which is about a three-hour hike, that you can get cellphone coverage because you have direct range.

There are a lot of mountains in the Lark Harbour and York Harbour area. They're pretty steep, two or three hours. People want to have confidence that if they twist an ankle or whoever they're with gets a bit hurt, that they can call. I know a few instances out in Lark Harbour where people came down over Lark Harbour hill and, tragically, one trike tipped over and had no way to call out and it wasn't a good ending.

I know other times when people go up on Lewis Hills and Lark Harbour hills and get a bit lost and they don't have cellphone coverage. What happens is search and rescue and the fire department put their lives in danger to go and find these people. I know last year there was a couple of instances that they had to go and get them but they had to track them down instead of having the cellphone coverage.

That's going to be a big benefit. Also, business-wise, a lot of people can carry on business while they're out there which is great. Hopefully, that's going to improve a lot.

Mr. Speaker, I know McIver's in Cox's Cove is going to be applying this year also for cellphone coverage in their area because there's no cellphone coverage in their area. That area, itself, is a great improvement for the Humber - Bay of Islands.

I know the Member for Corner Brook, the former minister of Fisheries and agrifoods mentioned redfish. That's going to be big if the biomass improves in the Humber - Bay of Islands. Right now, I know they're doing an exploratory fishery on it. All signs that it's looking good. The redfish and dealing with the Qalipu, if that could be produced in the Humber -Bay of Islands or portions of it, it would be a great employment boost.

I don't think people realize the size of the fishery in the Bay of Islands with three plants operating and all the fisher people operating in Humber-Bay of Islands, it's fairly big. It's a big operation. I know Bill Barry now, he does a great job of creating employment in the area. There's a lot of employment in the area. There are a lot of fisher people in the Bay of Islands itself that fish, they go out in the Port au Port area also for lobster. The fishery is a big part.

I know also that the Kruger is stable, I know the port authority is doing work now to ship paper out from the port authority, from the port itself, to be able to ship it directly to the markets which is great. Hopefully, they can start shipping fish from the port of Corner Brook, if they're not already doing it now, which is a great benefit. It's much cheaper to get the product there quicker and safer.

I look at the hospital again, and I've said many times that if we can get as many local workers as we can – just to follow up, I said last week that there was a meeting with the company from Quebec and the carpenters union. They did have the meeting; they had a very frank discussion, from my understanding. The people who are in Corner Brook representing the company are going back to their owners and trying to work something out.

I don't want to jinx that one bit, so I'll just let them work on it, but there is an open discussion on that to keep local workers working. Safety also for that, Mr. Speaker, it's big. It's big for that. Hopefully, that's going to work out, because it is two, 2½ years of work that they have there that they can stay home. They don't have to travel away and come back and go into the rotational workers where they have to isolate for so many days. It's a great improvement. So that project is well on track itself.

Also, for the first responders around, I know the government has worked hard and worked well with the first responders around for this pandemic. There are a lot of people who sacrificed since February for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, which is great and we all thank them.

When you're dealing with the town councils, and I can go through each one, they're still working hard for their towns and we must recognize that. We must recognize the work of the volunteers that they're still going to keep the towns working: the town clerks, the town managers. They are definitely – definitely doing a lot of hard work for the towns during this pandemic.

I know I was speaking to the Minister of Education on the school busing. There is still one outstanding that we have to try to work at. We're working at it, actually the measurement now, I think it's down to 1.87, I think it is or 1.89. So it's about five steps too short, but yet we can't get on the bus. So I know the minister is working on that. I brought it to his attention several times. We'll continue to work on that to try to get this student to work out. I know everybody's trying the best they can to get it worked out if there's capacity on the bus or not. So that's going to continue also, Mr. Speaker.

I look at again if you take out the rural parts of the district, there are a lot of seniors clubs. I know there is funding there that we're going to try to use, Mr. Speaker, Community Healthy Living Fund. We're trying to help a lot of seniors groups. A lot of their fundraising has dropped off and some are having online auctions, silent auctions. Actually, I have my basement full of stuff. I go on a lot of the sites just to drive up the prices and I end up with the prizes themselves. It's a great way for the seniors to raise funds because just the socialization, getting out and just being together. They need the funds.

I know there are a few applications in to the minister and I know the minister is working at them to try to get them approved also. I know in Meadows there's going to be work trying to get the gable ends of the arena done, so we're working on that.

In Gillams, I know the recreation department through the town has done great work. Scott Blanchard and Linda and all the recreation committee has done great work out there to build a softball field to get kids active in the summertime. They start as soon as the snow is gone and they go right up until – even now you go over there and there are a lot of people on the field in the nighttime and in the daytime. Hopefully, we'll be able to help them out in some way.

Mr. Speaker, the City of Corner Brook is where both of those – in Humber - Bay of Islands there are certain parts, the Curling part, and the Humber Heights part is a big part of the City of Corner Brook. We work well with the City of Corner Brook. It's a combination, through the last five or six months, of their hard work of a lot of people, city staff, for the Curling, Humbermouth area. Also, all the councillors. They're working hard also to ensure the safety of the residents in the area.

When you go down to see a lot of the improvements that have been done, I know – to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Lark Harbour and York Harbour still doesn't have a complete water and sewer system, but they have $3 million ready to spend. Last year, there was an issue with the design out the bay. They have $3 million that's going to be spent, Mr. Speaker, to bring those services to the Lark Harbour area.

I work well with the government officials and work well with the government people themselves. Sometimes, Mr. Speaker, they think that you come to them and you're a bit persistent. Mr. Speaker, I think if there's any Member in this House who's not persistent when it comes to their district – I see the former minister of Transportation and Works looking at me and saying, no, no, you're not persistent, you just push your point across. I agree with that. I'm not persistent but usually when I get something –

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

MR. JOYCE: Some people say I am. I guess being the youngest of 14 kids, if you see food on the table you better get it quick. That's a part of it but, Mr. Speaker, in the context of it, you get persistent but you get results because people know when you're persistent with it, it's the urgency of it. The point about it is we understand that we're all fighting for the district. We're all fighting for issues and bringing issues forward, which we should be doing.

Then there's still the relationship there, we can banter back and forth but yet – I'll give you a good example, Mr. Speaker, again, it's the roadwork that we couldn't get done through the federal government, that's finally done where the roads are safe. I know there's one spot that was very dangerous out in Little Port Road, that's going to be done now. That's bringing the information, and that's what MHAs should do. That's what people expect us to do to ensure that safety and other major concerns in the area are ….

Mr. Speaker, I'm going to get back to something you were talking about today. I'm not disputing anybody's ruling but I always say that your right as a Member should be adhered to. I'm just going to read – and I'm not disputing your ruling, but I need to put this on the record, Mr. Speaker, on the ruling that you made two weeks ago. Also, I'm going to put it on the ruling that Madam Sauvé said, because you said today there was something left out. I'll show you what was left out today, Mr. Speaker.

In the ruling, and this goes back – to let the people know – when you put in a point of privilege, and the point of privilege I had was that the information from the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, that there were statements made in the Management Commission – which there were no minutes taken by the way. Absolutely no minutes taken, which is unheard of; no minutes taken in the Management Commission meeting of October 24, 2018 – no minutes, which is unheard of. One of the reasons why there were no minutes taken in that meeting, which affected me as a Member so much, because they said it wasn't discussed, the body of the report.

Mr. Speaker, I don't mean to single this person out, but the Deputy Premier of this province – she's here in this House right now – asked a question in that meeting, did all MHAs participate? The Commissioner for Legislative Standards said no. The minister of Justice and Attorney General at the time said, who never? He said Eddie Joyce. So Eddie Joyce never participated? He said no, he never.

There were no minutes taken at that meeting; yet, the information that's given is there was no name ever mentioned. This is the point of privilege I brought up, is that there was information came forward that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General – I give him credit to stand up, who has the courage to stand up for the truth; I give him credit for the courage – went outside the House and stated it, which he wasn't allowed to state in this House. That's why the point of privilege, because my rights – which I'm not going to stop anyway. I'm going to work for the Bay of Islands no matter what.

I just want to read the ruling, Mr. Speaker. When myself and the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands met with you – and the part that was left out of your ruling. Now, I'm not disputing your ruling but I need to put this on the record, if it's okay to put this on the record. Here's what Madam Sauvé – because you used Madam Sauvé as a precedent setting on your ruling. I just need to put it on the record for my own piece of mind so people in this House don't think I'm just going off and saying something that's not true.

Here's what Madam Sauvé said, the part in your ruling, Mr. Speaker, is: “… the sub judice convention to stand in the way of its consideration of a matter vital to the public interest or to the effective operation to the House and its Members.” There was something you added there from another speaker which wasn't even identified, that wasn't even dealing with this.

Here's what Madam Sauvé went on that was out of your ruling, Mr. Speaker – I'm not disputing your ruling but I have to put it on the record – that was not included in your ruling. This is very important, and I know the people in this House – here's what Madam Sauvé actually said, which you used as a precedent-setting ruling in this House but wasn't included in your ruling.

“Given the precedents I have studied, it is clear to me that while the Hon. Member could seek a remedy in the courts, he cannot function effectively as a Member while this slur upon his reputation remains. The process of litigation would probably be very lengthy and there is no knowing how long it would take before the issue was finally resolved.

“I have therefore decided, in spite of the reservations I have expressed, that this complaint should be given precedence as a prima facie case of privilege in order to provide the Hon. Member with the speediest possible route toward the re-establishment of his reputation. I am prepared to entertain a motion to refer this matter to the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections.”

That's what Madam Sauvé said. So, Mr. Speaker, when you mentioned today in this House about there was a misunderstanding in your ruling, it wasn't even put in there, that wasn't even in there. Whoever wrote that for you left out those two paragraphs where she allowed it.

I'm asking, Mr. Speaker, if you can go back and reconsider your ruling, because I'm not sure if you've seen this part. I can provide you with a copy of it.

I just want to thank the people of Humber - Bay of Islands for their –

MR. SPEAKER: I want to caution the Member. The Member says he is not challenging the ruling, but if he goes on to challenge the ruling then he is negating his initial comments.

The ruling is the ruling. The ruling I've referenced, there was a citation error in it. When making a ruling, a Speaker has the option of taking quotes in relation to the other ruling as he or she sees fit and for various reasons. Sometimes it's to explore the issue and to show how the decision-making was made.

If you look at the full ruling, it's up the Speaker to determine when a sub judice situation exists based on the particulars of the situation here. In this case, I outlined in the ruling that the reason was, at that time, we had three Members of this House who were involved in a court case. We had an independent Officer of this House who was also involved in the ruling.

The situations of this case clearly justify sub judice. I ask the Member to confine his comments in this regard.

MR. JOYCE: Did you see this before you made the ruling? That's all I asked.

MR. SPEAKER: I'm not going to answer in the debate. The hon. Member's time has expired.

The hon. the Minister of Education.

MR. OSBORNE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Speaking to the Social Services Committee, and in particular relating to the Department of Education, as all Members know, Education now encompasses everything from early learning and child care through K to 12, through to the post-secondary, both public and private post-secondary institutions.

Today in Question Period, Mr. Speaker, the Member for Labrador West had asked a question about child care and subsides. I wanted to provide some additional information based on that question.

There are 1,343 families receiving a child care subsidy. Just to keep in mind, there are two areas where child care is made less expensive for families. One is the Child Care Subsidy and the other is the Operating Grant. Under the Operating Grant, there are over 8,000 registered child care spaces in the province. Over 70 per cent of those operate under the Operating Grant Program, so that's close to 6,000 – 5,600, 5,700. If my math is correct, it's over 5,600 children operate under the Operating Grant or receive the Operating Grant, Mr. Speaker, but the families receiving a child care subsidy, there are 1,343 children in the province receiving a child care subsidy.

Of those, there are almost 700 children who receive free child care because the family income is less than the income threshold, which I believe is $35,000. I'll double check that and provide that to the Member, but I believe if the household income is less than $35,000 then they receive, not only the Operating Grant, but the subsidy and, therefore, the child care is no cost to the family.

Anywhere above $35,000, it's then on a sliding scale, so they pay somewhere between zero and the $25 as of January 1 for the children that are going to have child care under the Operating Grant Program. It will be somewhere between zero and $25. Once you come out of that scale, obviously, the remainder of the families would be paying the $25.

Mr. Speaker, I think that's important information, especially for any Member who didn't realize that there are close to 700 children going to daycare in the province that pay nothing, the families pay nothing for those children.

Mr. Speaker, in speaking about the K-to-12 system – I should go back actually before I do that and talk about the Early Learning and Child Care program and a little bit more about the $25-a-day child care program before we get into the K-to-12 system.

I know that part of this, as the Premier said, it's a very solid first step in improving early learning and child care in the province, Mr. Speaker, $25 a day. We do have a consultation process that will be starting early in the new year. That consultation process will look at what the future of early learning and child care looks like in the province. We'll be speaking to those who – operators who are registered, non-registered operators as well. We will be looking at, starting today – in fact, starting a week or two weeks ago, we started to look at what red tape was there, but that will be part of the consultation process as well. Whether or not we can reduce the red tape for the child care operators who are non-registered who are looking at becoming registered and assisting those as well, Mr. Speaker.

We look at the Income Supplement. The Income Supplement, which essentially is on top of the wages that early learning educators are paid by their employer. The Income Supplement ranges from $12,900 to $16,900 for those who qualify. That is one of the best in the entire country, Mr. Speaker, and that $16,900, based on the number of hours, if it's a 40-hour week – and I have to do a little more research – but based on a 40-hour week, you're looking at $7 or $8 an hour in terms of an Income Supplement.

We know that there are still challenges. We've increased the bursaries now up to $7,500, Mr. Speaker, in terms of bursaries, once somebody graduates from an early learning childhood program in the province. We provide $250 per course for those who are upgrading, and $2,500 in bursaries as well. So government is certainly looking at and trying to increase the number of people working in early learning and child care, providing child care to our children pre-school, pre-K-12 system. We do understand that there are some challenges in recruitment in some areas of the province still. I know Labrador, for example, Labrador West has had some challenges in recruitment.

Mr. Speaker, we are coming out with the casual caregiver pilot program. I believe the operators have been informed of what's entailed in that already. If not, you've heard it here first, breaking news. I think the early learning and child care operations have been informed at this stage of the pilot program to try and allow operators, if somebody is off for one reason or another, to be able to get additional staff in.

Mr. Speaker, in looking at the Early Learning and Child Care program itself and the pilot program, that is, as I said, to allow organizations to get staff where there are finding challenges.

If there are areas of the province where capacity is still a concern, Mr. Speaker – I know I spoke to the mayor of one municipality – there is the Child Care Capacity Initiative, which is available for both non-profit organizations and municipalities to create child care spaces in the province. It does help with needs assessment, start-up costs, equipment, furnishings and even building plans or renovations. That's been put in place to try to increase the capacity in areas where capacity has been an issue. We'll continue to look at ways that we can help with that.

There's been $62 million allocated annually for early learning and childhood development programs in the province, Mr. Speaker. That does include the bursary program that I talked about of $7,500, as well as the Income Supplement for early learning and child care operations or employees.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to talk a little bit about the K-to-12 system. I'm trying to talk a little bit about each of the areas of education in the province in the 20 minutes that I'm allotted to speak in this Committee.

If you look at the K-to-12 system, under the Education Action Plan – which is something that our government introduced about two to three years ago – this year there are over 350 additional teachers in schools under the Education Action Plan. That includes 200 teacher learning assistants, 104 reading specialists, 39 resource teachers and eight English as a second language. That is in addition to the additional administrative positions that we've added and the student assistant hours that we've added as a result of COVID this year.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, we've added 145 additional buses in the province to accommodate the over 6,000 eligible students for transportation that would have been without transportation. Since school started, not only have we looked after the over 6,000 eligible students, but in a number of areas we've been able to look after the courtesy students as well.

Mr. Speaker, the courtesy students, I'm not sure of the total number of additional passengers on buses as a result of the 145 buses. I can get that information in terms of courtesy. I know administrators, schools are continuing to work on courtesy students. In some cases, Mr. Speaker, because of the additional buses, all courtesy students have been looked after for schools. In some cases, there are courtesy students that ordinarily, last year and other years, would have received transportation that either still haven't or may not.

It has been a very complex year in terms of student transportation. We've worked through it and the vast majority of issues have been resolved. I've worked with a number of Members of the Legislature, Mr. Speaker, in resolving issues in their districts. We continue to work on some of the other issues.

Mr. Speaker, also the kindergarten parents, we were able to have them visit even though visitation to schools has been restricted this year. I know extracurricular activities, such as school sports, have started. We continue to work on that.

Mr. Speaker, I believe, as the sports governing bodies in the province aligning with the ordinary or the usual start of those sports in the province, the English School District and the francophone school district as well are allowing the sports to happen within the schools. We continue to work on that, on a very measured basis to ensure the safety of not only the students but school staff as well, Mr. Speaker, whether it's custodial or other.

We've increased as well – talking about that – the custodial hours within the schools and put in place additional protocols within the schools as a result of COVID this year. It is an unprecedented year. There's absolutely no question about that. We've seen some significant changes to the school year.

The laptops; some teachers, I believe, are now receiving laptops. Hopefully the laptops that have been ordered this year, Mr. Speaker, will all be delivered, if they haven't already been, to teachers. We also have the Chromebooks that are going to all students in seven to 12 in the province to help not only with introducing the technology in the schools and the possibilities that brings and what it's going to mean for distance learning and the other advantages to children, but in the event of a second wave.

We have been very lucky in this province, every case we've seen over the past couple of months has been travel related. There has been no community spread. Hats off to the Minister of Health, the chief medical officer of Health and those in Public Health for doing a very, very solid job in this province, but we do have to prepare in the event there's an outbreak in a community or in a school or in the province itself, as we've seen with other provinces.

Part of the introduction of the laptops and Chromebooks is to help deal with that and to deal with virtual learning if the need arises. We've seen from last year, the challenges with students being off for two-and-a-half or more months in terms of COVID. Trying to get ahead of that and deal with that, I have been assured by the English School District that we are ready to deal with that should the need arise.

Mr. Speaker, for the 2019-20 year for Memorial, there were 18,308 students enrolled at Memorial University. For the fall semester of 2020, we had 19,429. More than 1,000 more students enrolled at Memorial this year. The largest year-over-year growth since 2003. We're still looking at that, analyzing. Obviously, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

We've seen a significant increase in enrolment at Memorial and we are very, very happy with that; looking at where those students are coming from, whether the majority are local students or Canadian or international. In terms of enrolment, we know that learning, for the most part, at Memorial is virtual this year. There are some labs and other cases where students have to be in class and on campus and that is the case in some cases, Mr. Speaker, but the vast majority is distance learning.

We've seen at the College of the North Atlantic, last year's enrolment was 5,449 students. The fall semester this year, as of September 24, was 5,814, a 6.7 per cent increase over last year. We've seen a significant increase in online enrolment at both Memorial, as well as the College of the North Atlantic.

Mr. Speaker, I have had some discussions with private institutes. I know even in some of the private training institutes enrolment is up this year as well. Whether that's related to COVID and people having more time or people working from home having time to sign up for courses online, we're not sure yet.

Mr. Speaker, when we look at Memorial, whether it's the Grenfell campus, the St. John's campus or the Marine Institute, I'm very encouraged by the new president of Memorial, Vianne Timmons. I've had a number of discussions with her about some of her ideas and her approach.

She is from this province, so the fact that she is at Memorial and she's come home to run Memorial, Mr. Speaker, I think is a tremendous asset to this province. I'm very encouraged by her and what she's going to bring to Memorial University. Absolutely just thrilled to have her home and running Memorial. She has an extensive background, extensive career in post-secondary education. I feel very positive about being able to work with her and her leadership at Memorial University.

Likewise, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the College of the North Atlantic, Liz Kidd has been in the college system for a number of years. She's just recently taken on the role of running the College of the North Atlantic; I've had a number of meetings with her. I'm equally pleased with the vision I believe she's going to bring to the College of the North Atlantic, and some of the ideas that we're sharing and talking about in terms of growth and the College of the North Atlantic into the future and the concept of training students for the jobs that exist.

We all know, Mr. Speaker, of the challenges within the tech sector. That's an area where both Memorial University, including the Marine Institute campus and the College of the North Atlantic, have students in the tech sector and training for the tech sector. We know there will be a deficit in the future in terms of people to work in that sector. I know that both institutes, as well as our private colleges, are looking at enhancing information technology programming and offerings for students.

Mr. Speaker, I see that the 20 minutes has very quickly run by. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on these topics today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Placentia West - Bellevue.

MR. DWYER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'd like to thank, obviously, the wonderful constituents of my beautiful District of Placentia West - Bellevue that have given me this honour to represent them in this hon. House today.

Going through the budget through CSSD, one thing that I think stood out to me more than anything was that we talk about CSSD as Children, Seniors and Social Development, but there's another big portion to the portfolio: taking care of people living with disabilities as well.

This is a very vulnerable sector. It's something that needs the attention that it does get and does deserve. It's about inclusion and it's about accessibility and stuff like that. As we know, there are some people with physical disabilities, whether they were born with it or through an accident or anything like that, and then there are other people with cognitive disabilities. It's incumbent on us all to make sure that this vulnerable sector is looked after. I believe that as a province, we are doing well, but in the meantime I think it needs to be a part of the name on the department for sure.

I'd like to thank Minister Warr and his staff for the professional evening we had in Estimates. Like I said, I asked a lot of questions. Some were financial questions; some were more on the social side. They did answer my questions. I'm waiting on a couple of reports, but, for the most part, I think we had a very successful Estimates.

I would also be very remiss if I never thanked Jackie Lake Kavanagh, the Child and Youth Advocate, because her input and reporting to the department is very important to this very vulnerable sector. Like I said, that's our future and we should be taking that time to take care of our youth and our children.

I'd also be very remiss if I never thanked Ms. Suzanne Brake for being the Seniors' Advocate and bringing her reports to the department as well to make sure that we're all on the same page and we understand what the major issues are; not all the time are they presented to us without hearing it from a report. So it's a very vulnerable sector of the province, but I think we have a lot of proponents, including myself, that take it very seriously and really want what's best for our Children, Seniors and Social Development and people currently living with disabilities.

One of the things that brings this full vulnerable sector into this, and we talk about our children and youth and our people living with disabilities, is our students. I'm talking about secondary students from kindergarten to 12. Something that's been bothering me since day one of coming in here to represent the beautiful District of Placentia West - Bellevue is the whole 1.6 kilometre busing.

I tell you what bothers me the most about it, to be quite honest, is that we talk of our children as eligible and ineligible, which I think is a very big disservice, because nobody needs to be known as being ineligible. We found money for extra busing, we found for computers, we found money for this or that and, personally, I don't think any child should have to walk to school if they want a ride. That should be paramount to anybody that sits in this Legislature.

I never understand why a kid that is 1.6 kilometres is able to get their own way to school, whereas 1.7 kilometres, it could be their next-door neighbour, gets a ride to school. I just don't understand the courtesy seating and stuff like that. A lot of times it's the more vulnerable in our society that are dependent on these seats. I think it's incumbent on us all to find a better solution to busing, and I think it would be the elimination of the 1.6 kilometre rule.

My kids have never rode the bus, other than to go on a school outing or anything like that, because we do live within that 1.6 kilometres. But for my youngest son's school, there are no buses except for a special needs bus. I understand that everybody's fairly close and stuff like that. A lot of parents can probably bring their kids to class and get them to school but there are some families out there that are not. For that reason, I think that it should be incumbent on, not only this department, but the Department of Education, to look at the fact of – hearing these stories, understanding what the application is for and understanding that accommodating somebody is life changing for most people because not every family in the province has a car or two.

Like I said, I just don't like the whole thing of the eligible and ineligible students, that doesn't bode well with me. It doesn't speak to the piece of inclusion. It doesn't speak to the piece of accessibility. I just think it's very important for us to make sure we're treating all students the same, because it's not like the families within the 1.6 kilometres are getting a tax break because they're not paying for busing. They're paying for busing as well out of their taxes. They deserve the same access to transportation for their kids as well as everybody else, whether it's within or outside the 1.6 kilometres.

Just looking at the next piece, I heard the last speaker, the Minister of Education, talk about the tech sector. When we talk about diversifying the economy, this is really where it starts; to make sure that we're educating people for what's coming down the road. If we have Memorial University and we have CNA and the Marine Institute and stuff online, then that's how we can explore innovation and technology and diversifying the economy.

Diversifying the economy is not taking money out of the oil business and putting money back into the oil business. It's about taking money from one sector and starting a new sector that the province can move in to. Like I said, I understand that we are going to be moving to more green energy, but, unfortunately, we're not there right now. I think we need to take advantage of the oil and gas industry here in Newfoundland and Labrador to put our people and our province in a better financial position so that we can move into that green economy when the world is ready for it.

I don't think the world is quite ready for it. We're moving that way but it's not going to happen overnight. As we saw with the electronic age, it took 20 years pretty much for that to be fully implemented and now we see due to COVID and stuff, that we're taking on the next section of that and saving a lot of money on travel and stuff by having these virtual meetings and stuff. We are moving in the right direction here in Newfoundland and Labrador in the tech sector, but I would say that more needs to be done and it needs to be done around the education piece.

I personally don't think we need to be doing certain courses in high schools that don't really translate to real-life learning. I think every child coming out of Grade 12 should be able to know how to do their own taxes. I think they should have an understanding of that, whether that's doing one course or doing three or two courses over the life of their high school. I think it is incumbent on them to understand how the tax regime works in Canada and to understand it for budgeting purposes and things like that. It will keep our most vulnerable from making poor decisions financially.

Talking about the schools, we see they were talking about the schools having the gymnasiums closed down due to COVID, yet we do have some gymnasiums inside the overpass kind of thing that are offering private lessons. These children are able to avail of that just because they live in an area where there are private offerings.

I will contend, Madam Speaker, these gymnasiums outside the overpass are the real meeting place of most towns, because it's the only offering they really have to be able to have some kind of organized sports or anything like that. I think it is incumbent on the Department of Health and the Department of Education to realize that opening gymnasiums in some of these smaller communities is really about healthy living and giving them that opportunity to make healthy decisions when it comes to their physical activity.

It's not only from our children's side; it's certainly from our seniors' side too. When we talk about inclusion, one thing I was really happy to see in the budget this time around was the continuation of funding for 50-plus clubs. As we have an aging demographic, I know that these 50-plus clubs are very robust. They're very involved in our community. They have community gardens; they have little trips they plan. They meet with other seniors. They have a head of the 50-plus, Mr. Rogers. Like I said, it's very incumbent on us to make sure our seniors are creating and achieving social development because, as we know, as we age we get a little bit more complacent to change.

We have a lot of seniors now that are computer literate. We have young people that go out in the communities and help out seniors to understand their programs and how to operate their computer. We bring everybody into that digital age where it's an advantage to everybody. That would be a big piece in the inclusion side, and inclusion doesn't mean exclusive rights. It just means being involved with what's already been in place. So for that I think our seniors' clubs and Lions Clubs and stuff like that will be able to avail of this new small business money that just came from the federal government as well.

It was really nice to see $400,000 in the budget to make vehicles more accessible. That's a very important initiative, because whether it's somebody calling for a taxi or it's on our buses or it's a family member that has converted their vehicle to help out another family member, then I think it's incumbent on the government that this is not found and lays upon the feet of the person that needs it. I think we're doing some good things. Is there more to be done? Absolutely; I mean, that's what we strive for.

The most important part of our Children, Seniors and Social Development is really the programing we have in place, Madam Speaker. The biggest thing for me is the kinship programs. It's very incumbent on us to make sure that these programs are in every community, whether it's the PRIDE program or anything like that.

We have to make sure that if children are going into care, whether it's foster care, adoption or anything like that – these kinship programs are very important when it comes to that, because any child that's able to stay within their family nucleus, I think that would be more beneficial. Just for the simple fact that they will get to stay close to their cultural heritage and their family members for support, and to understand what they have dealt with in the past and that they can make a better future together. I really think the kinship programs, like PRIDE, are very important.

When it comes to the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development, we find that, obviously, our front-line workers, the same as any department, are pretty overworked and they certainly need a little bit more help. I would suggest, as I suggested in Estimates, we kind of look a little bit more toward the front-line achievements instead of making benchmarks on the management side because we wouldn't want the department to be failing children while making sure that they're not failing management. We want to make sure that the people who are meant to be helped are being helped.

One of the things I noticed within the department on the side of housing was that we have a lot of aged infrastructure right now. One of my questions in Estimates was, do we have a program where people that are living in housing currently would have an opportunity to buy the house they're in based on the age of the house or the domicile, based on the fact that they would want to stay there and now they can afford, through a program like a purchase or a buyout, that they would be able to not only stay in a home they've probably enjoyed for many years, but we would also be able to get rid of some aging infrastructure to put the money into building new accessible housing for other clients.

Currently, there's no program in place like that. After asking about it, it doesn't seem to be the propensity of the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development, and people living with disabilities, to sell off any provincial assets in order to build and purchase new ones.

Emergency shelters: I asked a lot of questions on that because a lot of people in the province really wonder about the money that's being spent on emergency shelters and what the standards are for an owner to become an emergency shelter. I asked for regular inspections to be carried out and how often that was. They said it was annually, but, in the meantime, I think that if you have many people that are going to be frequenting these emergency shelters then they need to be probably inspected a little bit more often to make sure that they're up to standard with good living conditions for people that are in a very vulnerable sector.

A lot of times with housing there's no real expiry date on any application and sometimes people are over housed. For example, a single mother that's raising her child and her child consequently has a child and they are living with that parent. Obviously, as they are able to get on their own two feet – they're probably in a three-bedroom place – once the daughter and the child or the grandchild moves out it's just the one person left there and there's still a three-bedroom house. To me, it might be better to look for a one bedroom or a two bedroom even for this person and let a larger family move into the three-bedroom place. Like I said, we don't need to have people that are a single resident in a three- or four-bedroom house or a condo.

With that being said, I know my time is coming to a close. I would like to say that while we have a very vulnerable sector here in Children, Seniors and Social Development and persons living with disabilities, I would like to say that the department needs to stay up on the numbers, be replacing people that are currently no longer with us and make sure that the kinship programs are introduced; have a look at the gymnasiums as the importance outside of the overpass; look at that 1.6 kilometre busing; and I think we should strike from our vernacular eligible and ineligible students.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

MADAM SPEAKER (P. Parsons): Thank you.

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

MR. J. DINN: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, I'll start by telling a little story. I guess, not so much a story, but just my – and my colleague for Bonavista will probably appreciate this one. One of the greatest pleasures that I experienced when I first went to the NLTA and when I started working here – and most teachers will tell you that when you get into a job that doesn't involve the classroom, you can pee any time you want, on your own schedule. It tells the excessive demands, and only a teacher would really understand. You can't just walk out of a classroom and take the break you need because you still have a class that's there.

My bit today, I'm going to speak about education and also about poverty, which crosses over a lot of the departments that I attended Estimates on. Also, it's in education that you see the intersection of poverty and schools themselves.

I will add one other thing to a comment that my colleague from Bonavista mentioned. He mentioned fitness rooms. Interestingly enough, the equipment in a lot of these fitness rooms, the money was raised by the very teachers who are no longer permitted to use them. That's the irony of ironies there. It's the teachers there who basically helped raise the money in many cases.

I'm going to go back a bit further about budget-based decision-making, zero-based budgeting versus needs-based. The first time I heard zero-based budgeting was in Budget 2019. I would call it budget-based decision-making because schools operate on needs-based; it's a different criteria that's there. Why we just can't look at investment and what we spend in terms of money and we just can't look at it in the dollars spent, we have to look at it in the long term.

Every time I start talking about investing in education, guaranteed someone is going to say: Jim, how do we afford it? Where do we get the money? In the end my answer is this: We pay for it anyway. Not pay but we invest money into the schools or we pay later in poor health outcomes in the health system.

We invest in schools that look at restorative justice that deals with developing social skills, or we pay for it in the justice system down the road in prisons and so on and so forth. We help students meet their academic needs or we pay for it later down the road in unemployment. Treat the mental health issue in the school or deal with it later on. One way or the other, we will pay for it. It's going to come there.

I'm often reminded of a saying that my late brother would say: Poor people like us can't afford to buy cheap. His comment was that you buy the best gear that you could so you only had to buy it once.

Brother Jim McSheffrey – I don't know if any of you know or had the pleasure of knowing Brother Jim McSheffrey but he was the person who basically started the MacMorran centre.

Now, I had the pleasure of working with Jim in educators for peace and other social groups. I remember he used to say he was going to the government, he would hit the government up for $130,000 or something, whatever it was at the time, to start a centre and would be turned down; they couldn't afford it. He picked that number, the number at the time, that specific number for a reason because that's what it would cost to incarcerate a person for one year, at that time, whatever the amount was.

However, if he could take that money and invest in to preventative measures and supports, there's a payout. The trouble is we'll never know unless we can have some sort of a dual reality where we could see how it would turn out, some sort of social experiment. That was Jim's theory and one I think holds true.

I'm going to tell a little story – well, actually it's a synopsis of a story. I don't know if any of you have ever heard of the Blueberry Story. Maybe you have, maybe you haven't, but certainly you're going to hear it again, if you did.

MR. LANE: I only heard about the bakeapple story.

MR. J. DINN: The bakeapple story, well here we go.

Anyway, it's told by Jamie Vollmer who was an executive in an ice cream company. One of the best in America who had, that year in the 1980s, won a prestigious award for its blueberry flavoured ice cream. He was giving – as people who want to do, who have no experience in education sometimes – an inspiration speech to teachers and basically said: If I ran my business like the way people ran your schools, I wouldn't be in business long.

Of course, it doesn't take much for a teacher to bristle at that comment. One teacher had the temerity to speak up and say: Well, we're told you managed the best ice cream company in America. He said: Yes, it's rich, smooth, only the best ingredients, only the premium ingredients.

The teacher more or less asked this one simple question: “when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arriving, what do you do? His comment was: “I send them back.”

The teacher's response I think is instructive because she said: “ … we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them with ADHD, junior rheumatoid arthritis, and English as their second language. We take them all! Every one!”

When I was in university, I volunteered at Exon House. Now, Exon House is actually where the Fisheries and land resources building is. Basically, that was an institution for children who had severe disabilities. It was sort of like a home, I guess, for lack of a better word, but Exon House was closed in the '80s. It had children there who had severe psychological disorders, neurological disorders and physical disorders. What it was is they were not in the school system, but when they closed Exon House these children were put into the school system, inclusive education, where they belonged.

All of a sudden schools were dealing with children, not just with whether they didn't get homework done, but they were dealing with children with severe needs. What was needed most were resources, because school is not a business. It's not about the numbers. It's not about how many in a class or anything like that. You look at the needs of the children. That's what teachers look at, they look at needs and teachers respond to that. Whether a government meets the needs or not, they have to meet the needs of those children.

I can tell you back years ago when I was teaching, teachers were spending anywhere from $500 to $700 a year in school supplies for their classrooms. By the way, if you go into any classroom – I said this already – the posters, the books, the consumables in many cases, a lot of it has been purchased by teachers. I know, I live with a primary teacher, especially, and I can tell you what she spent.

I can tell you that teachers spend anywhere from – and survey after survey – 50-plus hours a week at their profession. That includes, of course, the time in class. That doesn't include the supervision they undertake. I can tell you that teachers are behind, in many cases, the school lunch programs and the breakfast programs and the fundraising activities and the school dances and so on and so forth. So it's in their nature, and it's why I fight so hard even now to make sure that schools and teachers have the resources they need.

Any profession that deals with people is challenging, and if anything else that you need in it is you need people. I would have loved to have had my own personal constituency assistant like I have right now when I was a teacher; or to have the ministerial support that goes with being a minister; or to have the support in place that I have as a Member of a political party in this building. What a teacher could do with that.

Teachers are often balancing, too, between the fact that, well, I have a 40 minute lunch, half of that's taken up with duty. I have to figure out some way of getting the photocopy done, eat my lunch. Oh yeah, I have to get to the bathroom, too, somewhere along the line. Now, they're not complaining about it, but I'm going to say it. This is the reality of it. This is what it is to be a teacher.

It's challenging with people, but throw it in to young people who, in many cases, have not learned to regulate or learn just the basic, the premise of sometimes or who are dealing with their own challenges. I can tell you that primary and elementary are already seeing cases of anxiety, mental health and suicide ideation and so on and so forth. What we need most in a school is time, and that translates into people. You can't underestimate the value of having people in a school.

Now, I can think of Marg Croft who was a secretary up in Baltimore High School. Marg wasn't a teacher, but she was the best resource in that school. I was a new teacher at the time, and I remember I was going to call a parent to have a talk about a student. Marg said, who are you looking for? Because she knew everyone. She happened to say to me, why are you calling? I told her, and she said it's probably not best to call that parent because that child will get a severe beating as a result of it. As a new teacher, I didn't. Instead, I chose another path. But having that person there sometimes, having a person there, people in the school is what makes a school function. It's what allows teachers and allows the staff to deal within, to help the children in their place.

We can talk about an Education Action Plan, we can talk about the extra 145 additional buses, but we need to also talk about the fact that in failing to delay the school year a bit, it meant that principals spent days before the school opened trying to get letters out to parents that their children weren't on the bus and there was an appeals process. That's sending out individual emails to every parent in the school. That meant that since school began administrators have been dealing with this busing issue. It's been hanging over their head, when they could have been dealing with other issues within the school that are more important: the social and emotional well-being of their students and their teachers.

Is it a complex year for educators? Yes, it is. It's a complex year for educators when they're trying to figure out if they can get the school cleaned with the one janitor. It's a complex year when they're dealing with the children who still have issues in front of them.

The worst thing any CEO – of the English School District or a minister can say, and I can attest to this when I was a teacher and when I was president of the Teachers' Association: I'm not hearing anything. Well, you just have to sometimes ask the question.

We know that laptops – I can tell you, I've been speaking to teachers already. They're not seeing the laptops. There are many out there; they don't know where they are. They don't know when they're coming or when the Chromebooks are coming. It is now November, at the end of this week, and these laptops will still have to have the necessary programming put on them. I can tell you it's having an impact on school accounts in many cases, that schools had to fundraise themselves. It's having an impact.

I want to draw this then, when it comes to resources, to the whole notion of poverty. I'm going to start with an article in The Telegram again which says that the MayTree survey, an Ontario-based anti-poverty advocacy group, noticed that “Nationally, the survey found that food insecurity is most prominent in households with children, particularly for single parents.

“'Food insecurity is more prevalent among households with children than those without children across the country. In 2017-18, 16.2 per cent of households with at least one child under 18 years of age were food insecure, compared to 11.4 per cent of households without a child under 18 years of age,' reads the report.”

I would suggest that's more than the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands said when he said he had to get to that table early. We had seven kids in our family. If you got there early enough, you got seconds, too, sometimes.

“Among households with children, the risk of food insecurity is much higher for the lone parents than couples. In 2017-18, 11.8 per cent of couples with children under 18 were food-insecure, but this rate rose to 21.6 per cent for male lone-parent households and 33.1 per cent for female lone-parent households with children under 18.”

Those are the children who are then coming to school. They're just some of the children. When I'm looking at a child in front of me, I don't know who had a meal that day. I don't know who's going home to a meal that day. I don't know who's coming from or going to a safe and secure home at the end of the day, or if they're going to be couch surfing or if they have a place to go to or if they've been kicked out of their house because they've come out as LGBTQ. Those are the challenges that were faced.

My district has four schools: two English-stream schools, an independent school and a francophone school. There are a variety of needs there. If I have time, I'll come back.

I do want to mention the whole notion of food banks. It's interesting; I was speaking to one of the food banks in my district and the president of it noted that during the pandemic, they're expecting the need for food to go up, that the demand on food banks would increase. But it didn't. Do you know why? CERB. Usage of food banks went down because of CERB. It did what it's supposed to do.

Yet, at the same time, here we have a government policy that, basically, those who are on CERB will have their social assistance in some way clawed back here. What will it do to food banks once this starts to kick in? Somewhere along the line, folks, we have to start to looking at – the CERB was a good thing; let's not add to people who are vulnerable, to families who are vulnerable.

Supportive housing is a way where we need to be investing more into it. I've spoken here to a number of ministers in the portfolio, Minister Warr is the most recent one and Minister Dempster as well and I will say, Madam Speaker, that I often look at the Grace general hospital site and what could we do with that to provide housing, affordable housing, supportive housing that would be run by the not-for-profit sector. We've got land available in my district that, I think, could be used for that as opposed to some high-end housing development. I think, in many ways, we can take the positive action and we can take the steps we can do.

I will end by saying this: An investment in education is not an expenditure; it's an investment. Money put into alleviating poverty is going to have a payoff for society in terms of reduced crime, reduced poverty and better health outcomes. Put the money there. Look at the people who are vulnerable, and I can tell you there are many who are vulnerable who do not have the wherewithal to be agents for themselves.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Gander.

MR. HAGGIE: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

Nice to be addressed as the Member for the beautiful District of historic Gander, crossroads of the world, lifeboat of the Atlantic and all that kind of good stuff.

AN HON. MEMBER: And the home of Come From Away.

MR. HAGGIE: That's right, indeed.

I, being Minister of Health and Community Services which is what I usually get recognized as by the Chair, was one of the portfolios that presented to the Social Services Committee. In actual fact, I'd like to take up a theme the Member opposite was just expounding.

The Department of Health and Community Services in philosophical terms is something of a misnomer because it actually started as the department of illness. It was designed many years ago to return people rapidly from acute illness to – as one cynic in the UK once said – taxpaying status. But really and honestly what we are actually now trying to do, and what I hope came over in the Estimates, what we are looking to do is to restore that so that we do become a Department of Health and not purely representatives of an illness-based system. In doing so, I would follow the theme laid out by the Member of the Third Party who just spoke, who referenced education as an investment.

Spending on health, I would argue, Madam Deputy Speaker, is not a cost to this province, it is in an investment in the present and the future of this province.

One of our challenges has simply been around the fact that a lot of the focus for historical reasons has been called a patch and repair. Over the course of the lifespan of medicare, particularly and certainly over my career in acute care, it has become increasingly apparent that the issue around patch 'em' or 'treat 'em and street 'em' – as some emergency room docs often refer to their trade – has been replaced by episodes of care in what is otherwise a continuum of illness management, of disease management, or of lifestyle adaptation to chronic disease. Really, we have tried and are continuing to try to meet that challenge as we look to this fiscal year and indeed the period ahead.

There will, I'm sure, be a lot more to come on this once the Premier's Task Force on Health gets to grips with what I think their mandate is going to be, which is to look at a significant role that social determinants of health play in wellness. We've known for decades that health is not just a product of a health care system, and that up to 75 to 80 per cent of a population's health is actually coming from factors such as environmental, genetic, economic and social. It's not purely health care providers.

So, again, in the presentation of Estimates and the discussions that we had, the Members of the Committee were very good, I think, in teasing out a lot of policy issues around our spending, rather than necessarily focusing purely on the dollars and cents. They did both, and to be fair, I think the due diligence was certainly done, because it cannot be avoided, the fact that the Department of Health accounts for a significant portion of government expenditure.

We have, however, in the Estimates that were presented, shown a total health care expenditure this year of $3.055 billion, which is the lowest number, in absolute terms, since I sat in this chair in late 2015. Some of that reflects some COVID money that we have from the federal government, but even taking account of that and changes in the way some of the capital money is being accounted, we still have either zero growth or growth that is a fraction of 1 per cent.

That again, Madam Speaker, is consistent over the last five years. We are, I think, the only jurisdiction who has been able to do this, and in that regard we lead the country. We have been compared, rightly or wrongly, with territorial expenditure. If just as a coarse metric one were to use health care expenditure per capita, ours starts out at the top of the provincial league table.

What I would draw to people's attention is the margin between number one and number two has shrunk dramatically over the last five years, to the point that if you take the graphs that independent third parties, such as CIHI for example, the Canadian Institute for Health Information produce – not our own figures, if anyone thinks there's any taint or suspicion about the fact, there are figures.

If you take their data, graph it and extrapolate, you'll see that within three or four years those lines will cross and Newfoundland and Labrador will be in the middle or bottom of the pack of provinces by per capita health care expenditure. We have done this through hard work in the department and the RHAs, but done in a way that has actually allowed us to expand our services, because within this constant envelope the pie has been resliced in significant ways.

There were questions today about the new adult mental health and addictions facility and the cost of that. The cost is way less than was originally budgeted in the run-up to the All-Party Committee on Mental Health and Addictions. The balance of money, the well over $125 million that we have saved from that or avoided, has been repurposed and will be plowed back over the lifespan of the Towards Recovery action plan into community-based services.

So we will end up with a lower barrier, easier access, community-based, patient- and family-centred system that is not built around a new building or an old building on a hill somewhere on a main road. That is not the nature of mental health and addiction services, nor, Madam Speaker, is it the future of health care.

Technology has its place in health care. I, as a clinician, and my patients have benefited from those devices. By and large, for the population now that we are starting to serve in larger numbers as our demographic ages, we are talking about frequent low-intensity, low-tech interventions that will make a significant difference to the quality and comfort of life for the individuals who receive it.

Just to highlight some of the elements from the Estimates Committee. We had a very robust discussion around virtual care. We did have plans in the works and were working along a measured pace to introduce virtual care, and then COVID arrived. That kind of changed things. It accelerated the process and really allowed us to think, if you'll pardon the pun, with COVID out of the bubble. We certainly moved very rapidly. This is one area where we have seen a colossal expansion in services. Depending on the month you look at, the increase in virtual care services – again, its baseline – has been anything from 7 to nearly 900 per cent.

At the same time, face-to-face consultations, albeit reduced, have continued and we are at the moment looking at the data to see how that balance has shifted. It is not a specialty or a primary care only bias towards virtual care, it is an equal opportunity access. The decision is down to the clinician, the nurse practitioner, the midwife, the family doc or the specialist as to how best they feel this patient's concerns can be addressed.

There are off-ramps to allow face-to-face or in-person visits, and those have been relaxed to be totally in the hands of the physician now for many months. I think the system is working way better than anyone had predicted. We look to see how we can improve that, how we can broaden it and how we can also use the older technology, which is the Max House telehealth system which is hard wired and facility based. Because, certainly, Allied Health providers who are based in facilities have found their access to that has eased up and they've been able to use it. They, too, have seen a modest increase in their ability to provide care in non-traditional ways through this system.

Other highlights of the budget at the provincial level, again, continuing to redeploy cost avoidances elsewhere. We have $2.3 million in this year's budget for new drugs which will annualize to an increase of just under $5 million in the next fiscal year. We do our best to keep on top of those drugs that go through the pan-Canadian purchasing Alliance process. We have the safest drugs in the world, and I would argue that access in this province is as good as you will see elsewhere for those recipients of the relevant drug plans.

We have allocated an extra $1.7 million this year for the Insulin Pump Program, which will annualize to $3.3 million in the next fiscal year. That will make the program universal, all be it means tested for anybody beyond the age of 18. We will become the insurer of last resort, but the access to insulin pumps for Type 1 diabetics will be based solely on the recommendation of their care provider and will continue to be administered through updated mechanisms through the Eastern Health program. Ultimately, we look to shared services and provincial purchasing to leverage further savings and cost avoidance on equipment and supplies that can then, in turn, be plowed back into the system to help deal with demand.

Now, given the changes in portfolios, there's been a shifting of funding for infrastructure and how things are done but between myself and what was the department of Transportation and Works and what is now the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, with input from what was municipal affairs and environment which is now a different name, which I think involves municipalities and my colleague to the left, we have seen significant investment in health care and in communities.

For example, we have seen investments again in long-term care facilities in Central Newfoundland. Grand Falls-Windsor and Gander both are getting 60-bed units, both are on time, both are on budget and both have had their final kitting out, as it were, modified by advise from local patient advisory and health care provider groups who have the opportunity through our processes to actually get in, as it were, literally on the ground floor and shape how the furnishings, how the services were provided in a room to make it both patient and family friendly and also better ergonomics and workflow for the staff.

Moving slightly sideways, we have a partnership for a new running track, for example, going back to the idea of health and wellness rather than disease. This will be a regional resource for Central Newfoundland; it is based opposite the new elementary school in Gander, which again was completed on time and under budget.

We have seen district investments, and I'll change gear because this is kind of the pivot topic here, because it allows me to highlight some of the issues that we've been able to address in my own District of Gander. We have the complete rebuild of the Gander Academy K-to-3 around a gymnasium, which still has lots of life left in it and is a true regional asset, being a double-sided adult competition size, which would not be the code now for a K-to-3 school.

With negotiations with TW and now TI, we've been able to see a very troublesome stretch of Smallwood Boulevard paved from the Trans-Canada Highway to the boundary with my colleague for Fogo Island - Cape Freels. That has produced a significant improvement in vehicle wear and tear, but also allowed walkers access to nicely managed shoulders.

Emphasizing investment in the community, Gander with its aviation traditions has a College of the North Atlantic campus, which did the aircraft mechanical engineers program. Under previous investment, there was a doubling of the enrolment there, as well as promise for money to invest in new hardware. In the aviation world, the glass cockpit rules, it is supreme, and between a partnership with EVAS Air, Gander Flight Training, Garmin and the College of the North Atlantic, there is now hardware provided at government expense to the school to train on. There are installations going into EVAS's Beech 1900D and they have flight-training equipment in the form of a Cessna, which is full-glass cockpit. So the flight school, the AME program, the business of aviation, suffering as it is at the moment because of the difficulties of COVID, we have done our best to support.

I would just drift slightly sideways to make a plea to my federal colleagues that their predecessors once regarded the railroad as the way that Canada was forged and Confederation was built. It was the backbone, the spine of Canada. I would argue now that in the 21st century, it is aviation, particularly for us in Newfoundland and Labrador, that serves that same purpose. That is the backbone of Confederation; that is the spine of Canada, and we need to get onboard our federal cousins to make sure that there is significant support, not just for the national carriers and the big centres, but also to take aircraft such as these into airports like Wabush, for my colleague in Lab West, where we are challenged to keep physicians who can't fly in and fly out in the way that they would like. It needs to go to places like Goose Bay; it needs to do to St. Anthony. I could list everywhere that has an airstrip. We need that support from our federal colleagues. I have made that quite plain to my contacts both locally and in the business.

To go back to support for local endeavours, we have a school lunch program coming to St. Paul's Intermediate. I again refer back to my immediate predecessor in the House who spoke eloquently about some of the challenges of his blueberries and his children in schools. We, too, have those challenges. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Ms. Hicks from the Salvation Army sponsored housing support program in Gander who has worked diligently to get her colleagues to box up lunches for between 40 and 70 students every day, five days a week when the school is sitting.

I could wax lyrical about this further, Mr. Speaker. We have addiction problems in our district, just like everywhere else. We have hubs now across the province. There is one in Gander, and I reference that simply because it's my district. It's not the only one by any stretch of the imagination. We're trying to put a spoke in Gambo – and that doesn't mean it the way it sounds for those with an English heritage. We are trying to support a community there who have substance use issues, and we hope to get that spoke up and running in the not-too-distant future.

Once again in my last 30 seconds, Madam Deputy Speaker, it has been the thrust of this department to regard health as an investment and health as a fundamental underpinning for doing what we need to, to keep Newfoundland and Labrador vibrant well into the 21st century.

With that, Madam Speaker, I'll take my seat and thank you for the time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER: The Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR. LESTER: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It gives me great pleasure once again to speak on behalf of the residents of Mount Pearl North and the people of the province, which I am so privileged to represent.

I'll open up by looking at the items on my desk. As part of our environmental initiative, it's clear we can do more. I'm looking at a bottle of water that was packaged in – pardon my vision, I'm over 40 so I need my glasses – Aberfoyle – Quebec.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. LESTER: I'm only 48. That's technically over 40.

This bottle of water was bottled in Quebec. The last time that I turned on the tap here in this Confederation Building, it was perfectly potable water. How much did it cost the environment to transport this bottle of water all the way from Quebec, when we have perfectly good water here in our own taps? That's where we can focus our environmental initiatives: making simple changes.

Same thing with this bit of hand sanitizer, which is largely composed of water – 94 per cent water. This was actually bottled in China, so it was shipped all the way from China. This water was shipped all the way from China. Simple things like that are what we can be looking at.

People will argue, oh, well, they have the volume; they have the economy of scale. But that's where we can intervene as a government. That's where we can intervene as MHAs. I know nobody likes to hear the word tax, but there should be a tax placed on all these items that cause grief to our environment, a tax that could be used to encourage our productivity; our own diversification; our own establishment of production, be it bottled water or hand sanitizer, right here in our own province.

In the initial stages of the pandemic's overtake of the world, it had a positive effect on the environment. China, alone, in the first six months, produced 200 million less tons of carbon dioxide into our air. Madam Speaker, unfortunately, that's changed. Despite our lives not returning to normal with our, I guess, extensive air traffic travel throughout the world, it is projected that we are now within 5 per cent of our pre-COVID greenhouse gas emissions.

Why is that? Well, number one, factories are trying to catch-up, trying to catch-up on lost production. In countries and economies where it was so devastated that the governments have implemented aggressive infrastructure plans and business expansions – there are actually coal plants being built. Coal plants are widely known to be some of the dirtiest productions of electricity and the biggest producers of carbon dioxide in our globe.

Under, I guess, the veil of financial, not collapse because I don't like saying that, but under financial hardship that's been caused by this pandemic, unfortunately, the environment has taken a back seat and probably even hitchhiking on the side of the road when it comes to the public's attention.

Yes, we've implemented the plastic bag ban and the, I guess, much hated but little attention given to it, carbon tax, which I'll get into in a few minutes. But the reality is, we are really concerned with what's happening in our economy, and so we should be. But, at the same time, we could look at simple things like bottling more water here, producing more liquids here that would save in transport, save in the cost to the environment in transport.

There's no reason why we couldn't be producing way more of our beverages here in this province. Bringing in a concentrated form, adding our delicious, gorgeous, clean water and that way we would be reducing the cost of living on the environment here on this Island.

To the carbon tax, every cent, every penny, that is collected in carbon tax goes into general revenue. It goes into general revenue. Now, how do we know what positive effect the carbon tax has had on our environment? Living on an island, and on the peninsula of Labrador, basically we depend on just about everything we do to be transported here, to and fro our province. It's done by diesel, it's done by fuel oil, and it's done by jet fuel. Every one of those fluids is subject to the carbon tax. There is no way that we can currently avoid paying carbon tax on our daily lives. We cannot, at this point, feasibly substitute diesel transportation for any form of non-carbon tax activity.

I've asked the government on several occasions: Can you provide examples of what environmental initiatives have been enacted or sponsored by revenues from the carbon tax? To date, I have none. I think that it would be much easier of a tax to pay if we could actually see that this was not just another financial grab out of our pockets. We need to see concrete results; we need to see actions, not collection. That's basically what's all been happening.

Madam Speaker, I'm to the second portion of what I would consider my critic role, being the municipalities. There are a couple of numbers that I'd like to put out, well, ratios: 394-1, 52-1. Do you know what they are? That's the amount of people per kilometre of paved road that is on our streets, being 52-1, versus 394-1 in Ontario.

For every kilometre of paved road in Ontario, there are 394 people on it. When you think about traffic congestion, I guess we're all taking a sigh of relief that our ratio is not that high. But the reality is that's 394 taxpaying individuals that will be able to support that kilometre of road, whereas here in our little province so widely spread out, we only have 52 people who are potentially paying tax to support the same kilometre of road.

By far, we are over paved and –

MR. CROCKER: Tell (inaudible) that.

MR. LESTER: That's it. Our infrastructure is spread out too far for what we, as a population, can support.

A couple of years ago, when I first was elected to office, I had the privilege of attending a briefing from the municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador group. They had expressed to us, as a caucus, that there has been over $1 billion of highlighted infrastructure deficit throughout our province – $1 billion. That ranges everything from schools to sidewalks, to water, to sewer, to waste water treatment, to road infrastructure, to cellular service: all these types of projects that, yes, they're very important to the people of our province, but the reality is we cannot, at this point in our history, afford to provide all these services that everybody feels entitled to.

I'll share with you a little story now. Last week, I was looking at my pickup truck, and as a farmer we need a pickup truck, we need a pickup truck on the farm. Now, that pickup truck has to function. As many of you have probably seen, my truck has got dents, scratches and scrapes. It's probably not going to win a congeniality contest, that's for sure.

AN HON. MEMBER: Get a new one.

MR. LESTER: Yes, one of my sons – I just heard somebody say: Get a new one. Well, one of my sons is after me to get a new truck. But do you know what? My business, just like many other businesses in this province and just like the financial position of this province, has been greatly affected by what's happened through the effects of the pandemic. But not only in our province have we been affected on our finances with what's happened in the pandemic; our province was spiraling and has continued to spiral towards complete and utter economic destruction. Without us taking appropriate action and balancing wants, needs and affordability, we're going to be in big trouble.

But back to my pickup truck for a second. So, yes, I would like to have a new pickup truck as well. I would like to have another nice, shiny new pickup truck. But the reality is the one I have is working just fine. If I was to invest in a new pickup truck now, that would add another burden on the solvency of my operation, the solvency of my business. At this point, I wouldn't burden the other business partners in my business or the future of my business on my wants. Even though we do need a pickup truck, as it stands right now, we will still have to make due with the pickup truck I have.

Back to the $1 billion worth of infrastructure deficit throughout our province. A question I posed to the panel was: Of that $1 billion, how much of that is in communities outside the major urban centres or centralized towns where the population is either stable or growing? Their answer was not very promising. They were not aware of any populations that were stable or growing.

It is actually predicted that many of our rural communities will not be able to exist within 20 years. So when we have only so few dollars to go around – actually, we have no money to go around. We only have borrowed money; borrowed money that is laid against the future generations of this province. We really have to be careful how we spend it. We have to make sure we're getting the biggest bang for our buck, and that has not been happening for far, far too long.

Right across the country, right across the globe, we have seen a transition from rural towns to centralized communities or we've seen the regionalization of municipal governments and community governments. That's an initiative and I guess a study that the current sitting administration initiated back in 2016. Consultations were held, reports were created, but nothing has been done.

Forming regional governance and forming a regional administration of said governance is a way to reduce the cost of operating our province, and that has not been done. Why has it not been done, Madam Speaker? I ask, why has it not been done? I know everybody in the back of their mind is taking a deep, deep sigh. The realization of why it hasn't been done, it is not politically popular to make changes to existing structures. It is not politically popular.

I've often been accused of not being a very good politician – I guess, I have to admit that I'm not – because I'm a practical person. I'm very practical. If I don't see the practicality in doing something, I don't do it. I don't like the theatre of politics, never have and I probably never will, but what I do see is now we need to be practical more than ever.

I do see the value in cellphone service. I do see, as my fellow colleague from Humber - Bay of Islands had said and seen the statement of safety that is provided by a cell service. We do not have the finances to be able to do that. So we have to look at how we can provide that safety through other means. One of them can be through better and improved services of our safety systems; be it ambulances, be it fire services, be it municipal infrastructure. As I said, one of those ways to do that is through regionalization which has not been enacted.

I'll give you an example, if we have community A, B and C, each one of them has a fire hall. Each one of them are within 30 kilometres of each other, maybe only 20, maybe only 10. I can guarantee you that a fire hall set up in B and properly funded would give far better service to A and C than their own small fire halls.

What would happen if MHAs went out and said we're going to close your fire hall and we're going to move it to the community next door? That would be political suicide, and that's what we have to try to overcome in order for our province to survive. We've heard it time and time again there are tough decisions. Do you know what? The only bad thing about a tough decision is when it's prolonged and never made, because that tough decision gets a lot tougher. It's a lot graver. The consequences of not making a decision is far more detrimental to the future of our province than actually doing it.

That's where we have to rethink our whole system. We have to rethink our whole system and we don't need more consultations, we don't need more expert opinions, just like when people talk about diversifying our economy. One of my colleagues was speaking of this today, so I'm not going to take credit for it, but I came to a huge realization. When you look at our economy, our economy is diverse. We have everything from high-tech to primary industries. Where we're missing the boat again is we're not maximizing the value of our economies.

We have to maximize the value over our output. We have to increase the amount of value we get from our resources. There's no reason why we can't afford the social programs. There's no reason why we can't afford to have our class ratios much lower than they are, other than the continued mismanagement of our resources.

I have several schools in the district I represent, and a couple right on the borders. They're in my good friend and colleague's from Mount Pearl - Southlands. Many of the constituents that are in my district go to those schools. I drove by one of those schools this morning and it was absolute chaos. In a school that I went to as a child, that was meant to only have 300 students, now has over 700 in that exact same school. Another school is also three times its capacity. That is a recipe for disaster.

The parking lots alone are absolute mayhem and chaos. The administrators, the teachers and the volunteers are doing an absolute fantastic job, because to my knowledge there's been no accident yet, but what we've concocted with the overcrowding within our schools is just a disaster in waiting.

We often hear the minister opposite stating we have one of the lowest class ratios in the country. Yes, we do, if you look at there are many schools throughout our province that have less than 10 students. It's not fair to say we are low class ratio when in reality we are not. We are low population. We have an underutilization of resources in many communities because the population has declined so much that it's just infrastructure heavy and support heavy; whereas in the higher population areas, such as my district and even in the industrial centres like Wabush, Gander, Grand Falls, Marystown, Corner Brook – those are areas where people are finding jobs. They're areas where we're able to efficiently provide services.

That's something we have to look at it. When we have so few dollars to spend, we have to look at how we can maximize the use of those dollars. I don't think that government – not just this government, but past governments have not done a very good job of it.

When we look at our contribution to the environment, being on an island, it is a challenge to recycle effectively. It's easy to collect and recycle, but finding a use for that product is questionable. Largely, all of our products that we can collect are shipped off the Island at a further cost to the environment. We need to be more creative as to how we can use those products here on the Island.

As a matter of fact, I would suspect that because we are, again, on the end of the supply and logistical chain – and I've seen it myself – much of the cardboard we collect and divert from our traditional waste streams is, indeed, ending up in landfills. Again, it's because there's no demand for it elsewhere and it is just too costly to ship off this Island. We need to find a use for that.

When it comes to our oil industry, as has been stated on all sides and levels of this House, our oil offshore is some of the lowest carbon footprint oil in the world, but because we have –

MADAM SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member's time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER: The Member for Lewisporte - Twillingate.

MR. BENNETT: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It's great today to be able to speak to concurrence, which falls under the Social Services Committee, as the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Municipalities. I'll also, if time permits, discuss some things happening within my district; the people that elected me to this seat back in November 2015, and had the confidence to re-elect me again.

Before I do get into some of the items that I'd like to discuss, and to address some of the issues that the Member for Mount Pearl North brought forward, I'd be remiss if I didn't, first of all, send my condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Victor Baker. Victor has been a long-time resident of Pleasantview Manor in Lewisporte, and on October 24 at the youthful age of 103, Victor peacefully passed away.

Madam Speaker, since Victor turned 100, and I got elected, I had an opportunity to do a Member's statement on Victor. He was a very active 103-year-old gentleman that every year looked forward to getting out into the garden and planting the vegetables and also the flowers at the Pleasantview Manor facility. He's definitely going to be dearly missed by his family and friends.

Just reading a post there from the owner-operator at Pleasantview Manor, she made reference that over the number of years that she'd known Victor, at no time did she hear anybody speak negatively towards him, nor did he ever speak negatively of anybody else. He was the oldest living gentleman in my district, and again I'd just like to pass my condolences to the family of Victor Baker and his family and friends.

Madam Speaker, I'm just going to talk a little bit about some of the things happening within the department. I'm going to give a couple of updates on some of the initiatives that we're doing. First of all, the retail plastic bag ban that came into effect on October 1. I have to say that, from our department and the conversations and the emails that we received, it has been very well received, positively, throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador has been a long-time advocate of this initiative and they were very supportive that we did – even though in a pandemic – fulfill our commitment to implement that ban.

I attended the rally for Fridays for Future event about a month ago and at that event I did make the commitment that I would be willing to sit down and do a virtual meeting with organizers from that event. Since the event, myself and my officials did sit down with members of that group to listen to some of the ideas and suggestions that they had in order that we can do a better job to address and deal with the issues of climate change.

It was a very productive meeting. I must say, I enjoyed the opportunity to speak to those youth. I think we'll be doing another follow-up meeting within the next few weeks to a month.

Madam Speaker, just last night myself and the Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture met with an individual who was originally from my district, Mr. Shawn Bath, he represents a group called Clean Harbours Initiative. Shawn has been, for the last two years, doing some great work throughout Newfoundland and Labrador cleaning up our harbours.

I don't have the actual statistics with me on the amount of items that he cleaned out of the harbours but it is equivalent to thousands of tires, old nets, garbage, things that people, traditionally, years ago, either out in the boat or alongside the wharf, used to just throw overboard. Shawn has spent his last two years, his own money and through donations to do a lot of this harbour cleanup. I commend him for the work he's doing.

As I said, we met with him last night and we'll sure be doing a follow-up meeting to see how, as a government, that we can also assist him in the initiative that he's doing.

Madam Speaker, last week, I did a Ministerial Statement on Waste Reduction Week, which took place from October 19 to 25. That's an initiative that happens throughout Canada, but in Newfoundland and Labrador it is initiated by the MMSB. Just some of the statistics that they provided during that week is: over three billion beverage containers have been recycled since the program first began.

The Member opposite did reference his water bottle, I don't have one myself. I use a reusable bottle whenever possible, but that's three-billion containers that have been recycled; seven-million tires – and, again, the Member opposite referenced that we need to be doing more with regard to reusing some of these products. That's an initiative that, through the MMSB and our department, we're looking very closely at.

I did have an opportunity to visit the Waste Management site in Central Newfoundland about six weeks ago and at that time they were in the process, then, of shredding the tires. Typically, we ship them to Quebec, but now we're looking at other options right now. While they were shredding them, the walls of the tires were being stockpiled and being prepackaged, which I understand were being shipped away to Nova Scotia for the agricultural industry. The actual chips, which contain the tread part of the tire, they were being stockpiled on site in Norris Arm. We're looking at various options where that can be reused, whether it be for aggregates on roads or possibly trails or stuff like that. To see some reuse of these products would be great.

As mentioned, and I'll always say that we can never do enough to protect our environment and every Newfoundlander and Labradorian – yes, government has a key role, both federally and provincially, and municipal governments, but every resident in Newfoundland and Labrador has a job to do to protect our environment.

In our landfills right now, approximately 40 per cent of what is going into our landfills is organic waste. Madam Speaker, personally, I'm a firm believer in composting. I've been doing it for 10-plus years and all of my compost does end up either on my vegetable gardens or in my flower beds. I think it's something that we, as residents of the province, should look more seriously at and to consider composing more frequently.

Madam Speaker, I'm going to touch on a couple of other programs that recently came out within our department. On October 16, I had the honour to announce a funding program for arenas and swimming pools. It was a one-time funding program for up to $10,000 per municipality, but also available to non-profit organizations, private or partnership pool or arena operated facilities. That funding was made possible through the Special Assistance Grant and applications are now available online.

Our department has received numerous calls of interest in this program. We do know the negative impacts that COVID-19 had on our recreation facilities. On the onset of COVID back in March, pretty well all of our recreation facilities immediately shut down. Obviously, that has had a great financial impact on the revenue generation for these facilities. Although it's not a significant amount of money, $10,000 per eligible facility will be a great plus to help them to get up and start again.

Being a former recreation director myself, I know the cost to operate these facilities, more so an arena. It's not uncommon to have electricity bills of close to $10,000 per month to operate these facilities. It's a little help to get them started again and to encourage them to get back to operating in a safe manner as we learn to live with COVID-19.

Madam Speaker, Special Assistance Grants also falls under my department. That's a program that helps municipalities that get into emergencies, whether it be a sump pump breaking, work needed on a road. There are many different areas that can avail of that program. I'm glad through Budget 2020 that we did not see any cuts in that funding allocation. The program has been unrolled and going quite successfully.

The Community Enhancement Employment Program is a program that we did put a small increase in funding this year. Approximately $5 million goes into that program. The Community Enhancement Employment Program is a program designed for municipalities and non-profit organizations to be able to run programs in the communities that will assist individuals that are in need of hours to be able to avail of unemployment services.

This year, in the light of COVID-19 and all the federal programs that have been implemented both through the CERB program and, most recently, the EI program where individuals are going to be credited 300 hours, our department has taken the stance that – in previous years, people would require a minimum of 20 hours to be eligible for this program. We've basically taken the stance that where everyone is credited 300 hours that pretty well most individuals would qualify for this program.

The funding allocations have been going out to the municipalities, so we're encouraging individuals, if they have any questions to reach out to their local sponsors, the communities that will be sponsoring these programs. If they want to reach out to our department to get a list of sponsors, then they can gladly do so and we'd be happy to help. This program greatly helps a lot of communities to fix up their walking trails, do work on their fire halls. Pretty well anything within a community to stimulate economic growth, plus also fitness and health and active lifestyles are a big component that many communities avail of in the program.

Madam Speaker, I have about five minutes. I'm going to touch on a program that has been receiving a little bit of controversy – not a program, sorry, an advisory council, known as WERAC. About a month ago when I was over on the West Coast, I did sit down and meet with the chairperson and some board members, along with others that called in and attended the meeting virtually.

Madam Speaker, I was kind of taken aback on some of the comments they made, because I think the misconception has been out there in the general public that WERAC is a committee on their own that's basically designed to put together a protected areas plan. I just want to let the public know that WERAC, basically, is not much different than our seniors' advisory council. WERAC was put in place approximately 25 years ago to put together a plan for the provincial government to identify protected areas. On October 1, they concluded phase 1 of the plan.

Madam Speaker, phase 1 of the plan basically was to evaluate all of the consultations and all the information that they received, and then they will be presenting a report to myself for our consideration. I have to say, the amount of time and effort that group has put into that plan is certainly commendable. They've done some exceptional work.

Again, there has been a lot of misunderstandings of what the plan is, what the restrictions will be on the protected areas. A lot of the calls we received and emails we received of people addressing concerns, whether they can go hunting, fishing, their cabin lots, et cetera, et cetera; they just want to protect that. I'll be honest with you, in most cases, what people are asking for is exactly what the plan will bring. It will protect areas so that future generations can enjoy hunting, fishing, berry picking; the way of life that we've had the honour of living for so long.

Again, I do commend them. There has been a number of comments made towards them, threats, personal threats to some of these members. As a volunteer group, they definitely are not deserving of this. It is a group that has been put together on behalf of government. I commend them on the work they've been doing. I do look forward to their report and putting together future directions as they move into phase two, which will also involve a detailed consultation process with each of the areas so that people know and can voice their concerns of what exactly the protected areas will involve.

Madam Speaker, I have about a minute left and I'm going to move into one of the items that was addressed by my critic, the Member for Mount Pearl North, and that's regional government.

A number of comments were made regarding the political sensitivity of regionalization. No government wanted to push or force communities, residents into regional government, but our department have been working very closely with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador and the professional municipal administrators to put together terms of reference for what regionalization will look like.

We've had several meetings, and we will continue to put together a strategic plan on how to unfold. Regionalization doesn't have to mean shutting down fire departments. Regionalization doesn't mean that communities will have to lose their identity or lose their community name. There are a lot of great success stories right now of regional services.

I have a couple in my district. I've referenced it before because I think it's one of the more success stories of fire protection and that's within the community of Summerford, a small community on New World Island. That regional fire department provides fire protection for 15 different communities. This is the type of thing that we promote.

The Town of Lewisporte have recently signed an agreement with Brown's Arm to provide fire protection to three or four communities there.

My time has expired, Madam Speaker.

MADAM SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. Member's time has expired.

MR. BENNETT: I appreciated the opportunity to speak.

Thank you.

MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER: Seeing no further speakers, the motion is that the report of the Social Services Committee be concurred in.

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

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MADAM SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, Report of Social Services Estimates Committee, carried.

MADAM SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. CROCKER: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader, that this House do now recess until 6:15 p.m.

MADAM SPEAKER: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

MADAM SPEAKER: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

This House is in recess until 6:15 p.m.

October 26, 2020                        HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS                  Vol. XLIX No. 57A

The House resumed at 6:15 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Reid): Is the Government House Leader ready?

Opposition House Leader ready?

Order, please!

The hon. the Government House Leader.

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

I call from the Order Paper, Order 3, Concurrence Motion, the report of the Resource Committee.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that the report of the Resource Committee be concurred in.

The hon. the Member for St Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows.

MR. MITCHELMORE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's a pleasure to speak to Concurrence on the Resource Committee. As Chair of the Committee, the Resource Committee debated the Estimates of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation; the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology; Immigration, Skills and Labour; and the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.

I want to commend the Members of the Committee and all Members that served and asked questions, and ministers and their staff. It was certainly a very valuable experience. I think it's absolutely critical at this time, when we look at where we are in Newfoundland and Labrador we ensure that we make the best possible decisions moving forward with the resources that we would have. These departments reflect our resource that we would have in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I just want to touch on, under the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology, Mr. Speaker, one of the critical things that comes up in our province – and it was raised by the Member for Bonavista earlier as well – and that's the importance of investing in broadband and cellular infrastructure. Telecommunications infrastructure is absolutely vital. Although it is not one that is of provincial responsibility – although the provincial government can be a partner and can support – it really is under the federal jurisdiction regulated by the CRTC. The CRTC does have a fund, of which they've been working with telecommunication providers, to accelerate and create investment for broadband services across the country. We look forward to seeing that investment here in our province.

When I first got to this Legislature in 2011 I know that there were more than a dozen communities in my own district that didn't have any access to broadband. The definition of broadband at the time was 1.5 megabits per second and now the goal is to have all communities at 50 megabits per second by 2030. We're shifting at a rate of which we need to go to be competitive in both rural and urban areas and to attract people across our province, whether they work remotely, and look at creating those opportunities.

One of the unique things that this government has done though, Mr. Speaker, is that we created a cellular service pilot program a couple of years ago where we had put forward up to $1 million to see projects covered and cellular service expanded by partnering with community or non-profit groups, as well as the provider. The provincial government will put in 25 per cent.

I know the Member for Bay of Islands talked about how pleased he was to see investment going forward and that cellular service would happen in Lark Harbour and York Harbour. We've seen it in Lord's Cove, King's Point and on the Great Northern Peninsula in 17 communities, with towers going up in Raleigh and St. Lunaire-Griquet in my very own district; and across southeastern Labrador, from Red Bay in a UNESCO World Heritage Site, all the way up to Cartwright.

There were significant investments being made and those are going to unlock opportunity and potential for tourism, for small business and for educational opportunities. These are where investments need to be made. We need to be continuously working with providers, finding community solutions, collaborating with all levels of government because that's absolutely vital. That came across and came up in the Estimates as well. So I'm pleased to see that this program is up and running. Certainly, I've been working with the Town of Conche because they see opportunity as well to see cellular service expanded on the Great Northern Peninsula.

Like any area, we certainly have opportunities and there are some gaps in areas as well. One region of which we've seen necessary – if you're going to develop industry, you also need to have good infrastructure. Transportation infrastructure is so critical. If you look at investment in our airports, in our port infrastructure as well as road infrastructure, it's absolutely vital. I'm pleased to see where there has been significant reinvestment in our road infrastructure on the Great Northern Peninsula in recent years. Thanks to my colleagues, the current and former ministers, for seeing and realizing that investing in roads make great sense. Having a multi-year Roads Plan is making all the difference.

The Town of Port au Choix saw a 58 per cent increase in visitation at the national Indigenous heritage site, that's Parks Canada run, for two years in a row. Thereafter this year the numbers are quite different, but the numbers are quite different, I think, everywhere when it comes to tourism. That's why government was swift to react with a Tourism and Hospitality Support Program. This year's budget also has $30 million to support both non-profits and small business in a $5-million and a $25-million fund. Those details were released. These were discussions we would have had in the Estimates.

There's so much potential for our small businesses in every region, every nook and cranny of Newfoundland and Labrador which, over the course of being an MHA and a former minister, I've had the opportunity to visit all communities in our province. I have to say that some areas have tremendous amounts of mining, like in Labrador West or Baie Verte - Green Bay District, where I've had the ability to tour the mines and see the economic impacts. Now we see where Marathon Gold is looking to move forward in Central, in Grand Falls-Windsor. These are all positive messages and there's been lots of prospectivity happening in Newfoundland and Labrador. Continued investments there make great sense.

On the Great Northern Peninsula, although there isn't any active mining there has been increased prospectivity. We've seen where there has been copper, gold, zinc, lead and other precious metals. This is why it's really about balance. The Minister of Environment spoke briefly about the WERAC committee. I think it truly is about finding a balance when it comes to protecting and preserving land and for traditional uses. Also, I know on the Great Northern Peninsula there are a number of people that would like to see economic development such as mining taking place.

Whenever government makes a decision it needs to take into that balance as to the opinions and the information of people who reside in that region and look at the opportunities that exist. I do believe there are tremendous mining opportunities on the Great Northern Peninsula. Let's not act too swiftly without looking to pursue those opportunities.

One of the other areas of which we've seen some significant investment by government is in the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture. I'm so very pleased to see the Minister of Agriculture investing in community gardens. In my very own district, Port au Choix, St. Lunaire-Griquet, Port Saunders and Bartlett's Harbour, Englee, Roddickton, Main Brook, St. Anthony, we've all seen where there's interest in growing local, whether it's at a small scale, but there are opportunities to scale up.

Although my district doesn't have the farmland and the level of activity that some other regions of the province would have, I do see where farming can play a bigger role for employment as it did in the past under Dr. Grenfell when they had the Grenfell Gardens. So I say to the Member for Mount Pearl North, I hope we can only continue to see more farmers and more young farmers take place all throughout our province.

What I would say is that I know it was asked and raised many times in the Estimates around the fishery. We debated that Estimates for almost five hours. I will say the Great Northern Peninsula probably has the greatest reliance of any district on the fishery. We have a significant number of fish processing plants, whether it be in Anchor Point, Port au Choix, St. Anthony, Conche, River of Ponds. We've seen where there have been multi-species, and there has been some discussion around the Royal Greenland deal where Clearwater had not operated the plant this year with SABRI, they weren't going to operate it into the future.

If there wasn't some approach taken, we could've seen permanently more than 100 people unemployed in this community. It has a state-of-the-art cold storage facility, an incredible asset. To see where we are today, if you go to CareerBeacon or you go to some other job advertising site, there are dozens and dozens of jobs being advertised for workers in St. Anthony. That's a very positive piece when you look at the impact it would have on a district in terms of where we are right now.

That plant had been struggling for the last three, four years where government had to provide support in terms of a fish plant worker support program so that workers could qualify for just 420 hours. This can breathe new life and new opportunity going forward. I see that as a positive measure. Unfortunately, with great loss of the Black Duck Cove plant which was devastated by a fire, I do hope the owners will build something back there that will create jobs and opportunity.

The Great Northern Peninsula has seen a significant increase in the amount of lobster and lobster catch. There is opportunity there in this region.

We have seen where government under a $1.3 million Fisheries Fund has supported fishers in the region. I applaud the Minister of Fisheries for investing in the fishery on the Great Northern Peninsula because it is such a vital employer.

I want to also highlight forestry. I'm very pleased to say the Main Brook sawmill, which was operated by the Coates's family for decades, has new ownership. It's going to see reinvestment which will hopefully see more employees and longer employment, more sawlogs and more lumber being produced on the Great Northern Peninsula. Because that's something that we've only seen a downturn in the forest sector from 2007 onward. It's been gradual decline.

This is a glimmer of hope, and there's opportunity for other investment, whether it be a larger sawmill or other economic opportunities just like in Central Newfoundland and Labrador. It doesn't have to be one or the other. It's about finding opportunities and making investment in our province where it makes sense. The Hawke's Bay region would be a tremendous area which has a great fibre basket. We continue to work and look to attract investors in and around areas of our province where this investment can take place.

One area in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation that I was very pleased to see is the $1-million increase in arts funding to the Arts Council, because we have creative talents in every nook and cranny of Newfoundland and Labrador, very professional artists doing major tours, some of them going nationally, international. We need to continue to support the arts on any level that we can because it's who we are. It's about our culture and it's about significant job creation as well, but there are times when you need to support the creation of art for the ability to be creative and to create art. We must support that and support our youth and others.

The film and television industry is being heavily supported. I love turning on Citytv and watching Rex in its season and continuing to be filmed here in this province. It's something that, if you never get the opportunity, you should see what we have here, to go to NIFCO, to go and see the type of production that's actually taking place because it is phenomenal.

You can go to Bonavista and you can see the site of Random Passage and how it became a film set, or Joe's Place from The Grand Seduction. We basically have a little Hollywood of the north out there with Maudie's place and the Tea Room now, with Selby Mesh's store. I've had the privilege of touring all those sites again this summer.

There's a part of arts in the film and television industry that promotes our province but also promotes tourism. Things are very interrelated. It's very synergistic when we talk about tourism, small business or even investments in recreation and trails.

I've done, myself, about 300 trails, I believe, since COVID in our province. There are so many more to do. The investments, whether it's through the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology supporting it with ACOA or through Immigration, Skills and Labour through Job Creation Partnerships or other investments, we have incredible, natural trails.

I am just starting to experience the beauty of the East Coast Trail. To the Member of Cape St. Francis: I'm coming your way to see lots of beauty and natural landscape. That's another area that's also benefiting from cellular coverage as well, and I had the privilege of being out there with the Member opposite.

When it comes to skills and skill development, the budget has supported and continues to support our College of the North Atlantic, Memorial University and make investments to support technology. I was very pleased to see how our college system – prior to COVID, an announcement was made by government to see investment with our advanced care paramedicine, ACP, and to also see LPNs and PCAs. It was very forward-thinking with the Minister of Health and Community Services to work with CNA to see these programs rolling out throughout our province. These people are being trained now so that we have newly educated personal care attendants, practical nurses, these front-line workers that we certainly need. I was pleased to see that we had these programs added to St. Anthony and also Port Saunders on the Great Northern Peninsula. Quite a nice pilot project there.

The Association for New Canadians continues to do great work and partnership. We need to have the settlement services and the integration services in communities. St. Anthony has been welcoming communities for quite a long time. They've advertised a welcoming community coordinator with the Association for New Canadians – great partnership. Immigration will play a key role and Newfoundland and Labrador is such a welcoming place and an incredible place to work, live and raise a family. We must continue to promote expat Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to come here, but also encourage others.

We have significant skill gaps in certain areas. The Leader of the Third Party talked about that quite a bit in her questioning. I think we all need to look at where the opportunities are and have the best possible information forward when we do make decisions and invest in skill development so that we're training people for jobs that will exist or, in some cases, that we're training people for jobs that don't exist yet when it comes to the tech sector, because things are changing at a rapid pace.

That's what excites me a lot, that the new president of Memorial University, Dr. Timmons, and the new president, Liz Kidd, at CNA, they talk about micro-credentialing; they talk about accreditation agreements. They talk about lots of opportunities and partnerships that exist. If we work together we can see many positive things happen in and around our communities.

I see where Saint Anthony Basin Resources Incorporated, providing them with a former school building, which they took down. They took on that liability and now they're building 26 seniors' housing on site. They're not receiving money from government to build them. It's quite significant, the impact that it will have on the community of St. Anthony.

So if you were to look at the communities, the regions and you look at the particular departments that make up the Resource Committee, it's really important that we make investments in our resources and in these particular departments all throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. If we look at our natural resources, I think it was former Speaker Roger Fitzgerald that had written a piece talking about 95 per cent of the natural resources are outside of urban centres. They're in rural communities in rural communities, in rural regions. That's something that can't be missed.

In order to have a strong Newfoundland and Labrador, we need to have a strong urban and rural economy all throughout our province, and we can lift each other up. We can create and invest and build for a brighter future here in Newfoundland and Labrador. The onus is on all of us as parliamentarians, as Members of this House of Assembly. If we have ideas, if we have an ability we should be bringing them forward so that we can make a difference in our own community throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

To me, it's been such a pleasure to chair the Resource Committee and to hear the commentary that was put forward and the line of questioning for the accountability purposes because that's very vital as well.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I realize my time is winding down. It's truly been an honour to have the ability and the privilege to serve as chair of this particular Committee. I previously held a section of each of those departments in some capacity. It's very near and dear to my heart.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

It's indeed a pleasure again tonight, to be here to represent the beautiful District of Cape St. Francis and the beautiful people in it.

I tell people, especially our new colleagues in our side of the caucus, that when you get into Estimates, it's probably where you learn the most about politics because you really do get into the nitty-gritty. You get to ask questions that answers come over from. I've been on both sides of this where we were in government and in our place. First of all I really want to thank all the people in our public service that come out and give the answers that we need. When we go to Estimates, they do a fantastic job.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS: Again, I know the former Speaker, the Chair, we went five hours in ours but there was a lot of interesting things there. I know that for me, the fishery is a very, very important part of who we are as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. I believe it's probably the one industry that will keep us here as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, but we have to make sure that we manage it properly and we do the proper things so that the future is bright.

We've gone through the moratorium, where people looked at the fishery, as the old Newfoundland saying, she's gone b'y, she's gone. Well, she wasn't gone. People used other resources. They used what they knew, how to fish on the water to bring our fishery to where it is today.

Our fishery today is a billion-dollar industry. It's an industry that I know most people look at it and say it's rural Newfoundland, but I look at it as saying it's Newfoundland and Labrador; it's all sectors. There's a fishing industry here in St. John's. There are probably more fish landed in St. John's than any other port in this province. I know I was pretty familiar with it this year.

I became involved in the fishery myself. I always had great respect for fishers, harvesters, plant workers and processors because I know the type of work that it is. I grew up in a small fishing community where my dad was a fisherman, my grandfather was a fisherman and everyone around me were fisher people or harvesters, but it's an important industry and it's important that we do things right in the industry.

I had the opportunity this week, actually – or last Thursday – to ask some important questions on the fishery when it came to some deals that have been done in the industry. Those questions are not to say something is done wrong or we need to do this or blaming people for doing anything. My questions are to make sure that we all work together as the minister, as the department and as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to ensure that we get the most out of our natural resources. That's something we always do, no matter if it's mining or if it's offshore or the fishery. We have to be very mindful that we do things that are going to be in the best interest of our industry. It's a very, very important industry, like I said. It's over a billion-dollar industry.

On the way in this morning, Paddy Daly was on. Part of his preamble was about the fishery and that the demand for fish is going to increase in the next number of years. The demand for fish is going to increase into the future and we're going to need to be ready. I don't believe there are any stocks and there may be some that are not in really high demand, but most of the demand we have, like crab, shrimp, cod, lobster and those fisheries, the demand is high now. I believe that we have to make sure that we do proper management of our resources. I mean, by proper management, we have to make sure that those resources are there for the future.

I know as the Fisheries critic now for the last number of years – I've been, I think, Fisheries critic ever since I was in Opposition back in 2015. I look at a couple of PMRs we did. We talked about joint management. Joint management means that gives us the say at the table. Because right now when we're dealing with quotas or we're dealing with anything off the wharf, it's basically the federal government that has the say on how our fishery is managed and who gets stocks, whether it's foreign vessels, or how it's marketed and things like this. It's very important, I think, that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have a say in that. That's why we talked about joint management.

The Fisheries Act was revitalized only probably a couple of years ago, and the biggest thing that was missing from that act was adjacency, which means that if I'm down in Green Bay and there's a stock off my shore, I should be the first to be able to avail of that stock. That's why it's important when you look on the West Coast and in the South Coast when we talk about turbot and different fisheries that our fishers, because they're adjacent to it, they have the first right. Not saying the only right but they should be given first preference to any stocks and allocation of stocks.

I don't care what side of the House you're on; I don't care what it is, but I believe that joint management should be a right of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, to be able to have a say in the management of our stocks. That's something everybody in this House, on both sides of the aisle, should be fighting for. I believe that we should all be fighting for adjacency, making sure that the people who are opposite those stocks are the ones that benefit most from it.

I had the opportunity this summer to travel around the Island a little bit and visit different communities. I had a great visit in Bonavista with my colleague from Bonavista. We went down and met with a few harvesters. We also met with OCI's plant down in Bonavista, met with the manager down there. It was very interesting to learn, because as we know, through this pandemic, that when it comes to species like crab, there was a huge concern that our markets are going to be gone, because a lot of crab markets go to places like restaurants with buffets. That's probably one of the biggest markets. The next biggest markets were cruise ships.

Due to who we are as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, we produce a great product. The market changed to packaging our crab in smaller blocks so that it would go to the retail market. My understanding right now is that there was a huge concern that a lot of the crab stock would be put into cold storage because the markets weren't there to avail of it. Harvesters had the fear that, okay, if it goes into cold storage this year, then that means that there's going to be an abundance of crab next year; therefore, the price went from $5.38 last year down to $3.18. Then next year it's going to be even worse. But that wasn't the case. The retail market in the United States, in particular, took nearly all the crab that was available.

It was interesting to talk to people in Bonavista because they saw the need; they saw how things were going. To change your whole line, like if you're on a line in a crab plant, you got a job to do; everybody got a job to do on that line. Here it was they had to come in; they put all these screens up, had people spaced so far apart and everything else like this, and people adjusted to it.

There was great fear in plants all over this province: How are we going to do this in a responsible way? I applaud the processers. I think they did a fantastic job in ensuring the people that work in those plants were safe. We had a great crab fishery this year. Speaking to people in my area, landings were up way more than they were last year; and speaking to people in the processing industry, the markets were great and they were able to handle what came in. I think most areas of the province did very well when it came to crab.

Now, when I talk a little bit about shrimp – and I'll just talk because I know I'll go all day. Anyway, when talking about shrimp, the problem this year with the shrimp industry was there was a delay because of the dispute over pricing. This is where it comes into – and I spoke to the minister about this – my concerns or one of the concerns I have about a foreign-owned government owning a foreign company that's catching the same species we are. When we have a problem here, whether it's due to pricing, that people are not going harvesting, yet that country is out catching shrimp and using the same market, that's an issue I have. I don't know how you address it, I really don't. But it is a concern. I spoke to shrimp fishermen that had the same concern in the last number of weeks about this.

I look at our cod stocks. I'm a little bit worried about our cod stocks because to me cod is king. I would love to see us go back to the day that every wharf in this province has the activity of young people cutting tongues and people with the hustle and bustle as it was with the cod fishery. I don't think we'll ever see it again. But I think there needs to be more science done on cod and to ensure that we're doing the right things when it comes to quotas and how we're catching cod and whatnot.

I know that I met with some people from down in Baine Harbour down on the Burin Peninsula with my colleague and their concerns were like in 3Ps where the stock is both for the offshore and the inshore. The management of that stock had huge concerns for those people because what happened is they were allotted about 30,000 pounds, yet they weren't given the time because they had to catch the crab. They weren't given the time to get that stock and then it was cut off. There are some concerns there, but we need to do more science when it comes to our cod stocks because it's very important. Like I said, I hope someday I'll see that the cod will come back to half of where it was before '92.

I want to mention the sealing industry. I know that people in this province, a lot of times when you talk about the fishery, they don't associate sealing with the fishery. I have a great friend and I only met him through becoming the critic for Fisheries, a gentleman from La Scie, Mr. Keith Bath. If anybody in this House wants to know anything about sealing in this province, it's the gentleman that you can call. I have a regular conversation with him and I know my colleague from his district, he also speaks to him on a regular basis. A great bit of knowledge, great to know what his thoughts are on the sealing industry.

I know it's difficult with the European market right now and down in the United States and stuff like that, but the sealing industry I still believe can be an industry that we can do a whole lot more in. We're looking at the Canadian government with humanitarian aid all around the world. There's nothing better than a piece of seal meat when it comes to protein or anything else. I believe that's something that we could be marketing. People are starving all over the world and you could give them a great food like seal. I think it's something we have to be looking at.

It plays a special part in my heart. I was at a function there last week and I got up and told a couple of stories. When I came down, this old fellow looked at me and said: You're almost like your father for telling stories. My father's greatest stories were about his trips to the seal hunt. It's who we are as a people that I'd like to see us come back to; I'd like to see the tradition come back. It will be a different hunt, there's no doubt about it, but I believe that if we can make smart decisions when it comes to seals and marketing and whatnot, it's something that can make us world renowned for doing great things, great things in humanitarian ways and everything else. Seal meat is fantastic. Seal meat is great.

Mr. Speaker, I know all Members in this House of Assembly have some concerns about the federal programs when it came to the fishery this year, in particular with EI claims and stuff like that. I spoke to the union a couple of times about this. It was promised that, especially in the crab, last year your EI would be based on your 2018-2019 T4. For example, if you didn't make enough money this year for a high claim for unemployment insurance, you could revert down to 2018-2019.

There are still a lot of questions. I'd ask the Minister of Fisheries to really look into that because harvesters in the province are still asking questions about it. It's a program that came out, I'd say, probably May or June that people are very, very concerned about. I know right now most harvesters are getting claims on the EI that they used this year, not the ones they got in 2019, which they were promised. I think it's still within the federal government so I think that it's something that we should be helping our harvesters with and looking into and trying to get some answers for them.

When it comes to the fishery, I heard my colleague from Placentia West - Bellevue talk about the plant out in Arnold's Cove. I had the opportunity to go there also. It's a thing with me when it comes to the fishery just to talk a little bit about secondary processing. I believe that's where we have to be. I really believe, when it comes to the aquaculture industry and it comes to what we're doing, it's worth your while to go out and have a look and see what kind of plant is out there. It takes every part of that cod from the head, the skin and right through. There are machines out there, people working. The quality and the product that's coming out is second to none. I applaud Mr. Wareham and the people out there that are working. It's fantastic what they're doing.

Mr. Speaker, again, I had a little concern with the Royal Greenland deal and I expressed it to the minister. I'm not saying that's not a great deal or anything else. My problem is that I want to make sure that we do it right, that we do the due diligence that needs to be done to ensure that our harvesters and the people in our processing industry can be sure that their jobs are going to be stable. This may be a great company; maybe it's going to do great things for the province, but I'd like to see more reassurance that every bit of the product is landed here.

I know the minister will say if you know any controlling agreements come tell me about them, but I know the industry. I think that my main concern is that our quotas stay with Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and stay here on our shore. We have a natural resource. It's a natural resource that we have here, our fishery, and I think that we all have to work together to ensure that natural resources gets the best usage it can for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I know we had people here before the Europeans, but I would imagine that anyone that came to these shores, the fishing industry was the reason why they came here. I still believe it's the reason why we will all stay here in the future because it's a great natural resource. I think we have to do our absolute best to ensure it stays the resource that it is.

Mr. Speaker, I'm going to speak a little bit more about different – I'm just going to touch on it, I haven't got much time. I'm just going to touch on a couple of areas of the Resource Committee. I want to touch a little bit on the land resources, because I did sit in on that also with my colleague from Exploits.

When I look at the forest industry – I recently got back last week from up in Millertown. I had 10 days up there, had a great moose hunting trip; got my moose. Got my moose, it was a great trip. We got two nice moose; I have to say it was a fantastic trip.

When you drive through Central Newfoundland and just see the availability of forestry in this province, it's amazing. Most of the wood that I saw going out – and I talked to a few harvesters in the area – is going for firewood, a little bit going for logs to be cut and stuff like that, but I still think it's a resource and I know it's a resource that we should be able to process a little bit more and bring jobs to Newfoundland and Labrador.

There were some questions asked in that about Crown Lands. I know as MHAs on both sides of this House, we all get questions when it comes to Crown land. I'm just wondering where we're to with a lot of it because I know that everyone I'm talking to when it comes to Crown Lands and issues with Crown Lands, it seems like there's a long wait and people are waiting for years to get the land. I think it's something that we should be pushing a little bit faster, ensuring that people – if availability of land comes, they should be able to get the land rather than wait for years.

I'm going to touch a little bit now – because I'm getting down there – on tourism. I had the opportunity last week to speak to a couple of outfitters up in the Millertown area. That is an industry – people don't realize what they bring to this province. When you're talking tourism and the outfitters, you have the opportunity to be up on a hunt and run into some Americans that are here and they just tell you what a beautiful land you have. I spoke to a guy a couple of years ago, he told me that he's hunted all over the world and the most beautiful place he's ever hunted was Newfoundland and Labrador and really enjoyed the hunt here.

Those are people that are needing our help and needing our support. That's where some of our money should be going, to help those people out. They are small businesses; they employ a lot of people in Newfoundland and Labrador. Again, I try to always support local. I think that if you get an opportunity and you want to use an outfitter and you're local, go call up a local. It will be unbelievable what you'll get from that resource.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, my time is up.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. DAVIS: Mr. Speaker, thank you very much.

I'm very happy that I'm going to get the opportunity to speak to the Resource Committee and the great work that was done during that Committee. I'm just going to take a couple minutes now of my time here to address that.

First of all, I'd like to thank the Committee Members for being here throughout the whole process and asking the very thought-provoking questions, probing questions to make sure we went line by line through the Estimates for Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation, which was a new department that was created in August. We're quite happy that we got the opportunity to go through that.

I'd like to thank the Chair for his excellent work in the Chair, quite literally, for the Resource Committee. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't say thank you to the great work he did in this department, the Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation file. I know Recreation wasn't in his portfolio at the time when he was here, but I know he did a great job. I'd like to say thank you to him for that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. DAVIS: The hon. Member for St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows talked about broadband and cellular coverage. I think it's an important piece to highlight because it transcends all districts, all industries, all departments in government that we really have to have a whole-of-government approach. It's not just here in Newfoundland and Labrador where broadband and cellular coverage is really, really important; it's right across the country.

I know that the federal government has put an initiative on to ensure that every part of the country of Canada – the entire, vast country of Canada – has a 50-10 level, which is really, really important. When we get to that level in this province – and I think we will get there – I know that the business development and the business growth potential that will exist all over our Island and in the Big Land that would come from solid broadband and cellular communications. The tourism potential in each of our areas of our province would be significant.

Not only to mention those, which are really important in and of itself, but the health and safety side, which is one of the important pieces that the Member for St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows talked about with York Harbour and Lark Harbour with the investments.

I had the pleasure in that department to go down and meet with the councils down there and with the MHA to discuss how important that initiative was. I'm glad they are starting to put the infrastructure in place, albeit a little late. I'm very happy they're putting it in place for safety, which is one of the big aspects that the town councils I met with down there with the MHA were talking about. Outside the business development which is great, the tourism potential which is great and the economic development, that's awesome, but the health and safety is really important. That was a key point they talked about with respect to that.

It's also nice that I follow up on the colleague from the beautiful District of Cape St. Francis, who talked about the fishery and the important aspect the fishery has for our future in our province. All of that is very much true. I'm so happy that he's so focused on the fishery, which is great, because I know our government on this side is as well. In my previous position with the industry and innovation side, there's an opportunity for the fishery to use that technology and innovation to grow and make the products that much higher value secondary processing, but also make it easier for those fishers that are participating in that industry. I know the minister responsible for that is working very closely on that. I thank him for his great work on that. That investment is what's going to help drive those industries to the next level and make us much more sustainable longer term.

Mr. Speaker, I'd just like to jump in to a couple of things within the department. I know a couple of the questions that were asked in the Estimates process were regarding the budget of 2020, of course, and some about our overarching policy within the department. I'll try to address some of those throughout the discussion here today.

In Budget 2020 we talked about the expansion to the Tourism and Hospitality Support Program, which was a very good, well-received program for the industry. In some cases, people in the industry, on the tourism and hospitality side, applied for and received funding in less than 48 hours. I know that wasn't always the case but I know we pride ourselves on trying to get that money out the door as quick as we possibly could and be as far reaching as we could with that money to hit those operators and hospitality supporters that needed it right away.

One of the things we wanted to do with Budget 2020 was expand that program to include professional artists and musicians who were impacted by COVID-19 as well, which was, we thought, a very good use of that resource, based on the fact that they play a very large and vital role in the cultural fabric of our province. The artistic creation that they give is top notch. Some of our country's finest artists, writers and performers are right here in this province. We have to value their worth and their value to the tourism product and the hospitality product, why people come to Newfoundland and Labrador.

We know that the pandemic has hit them directly and the cultural community pretty hard. That is why we wanted to expand the THSP program, or the Tourism and Hospitality Support Program, Mr. Speaker, to include those professional artists and musicians so that they could access that program. I know that in the next little while those programs will be released. We'll do some press coverage on that to make sure everyone is aware of that and encourage those professional musicians and artists to apply and get that money out as quick as we possibly can.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, the Member for St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows stole a little bit of my thunder in his preamble, talking about the $1 million additional investment in ArtsNL which is bringing that provincial investment to almost $4 million – $3.9 million. I think that's an important investment for what our artists are doing in the community. I look forward to seeing how that growth and development will occur, not just here in the capital city and this region, but across our entire province.

I know that from visiting all of our province, like the Member for Cape St. Francis highlighted that he had the opportunity to go to some parts of the province, as did I and as many of my colleagues did over the summer to ensure that we got to see some of our province. Either for the first time, like Sandbanks Provincial Park for me, or re-loving our province for the 10th time. If you had a spot that you went to as a kid or as child and you wanted to go back and see that again, it was a perfect opportunity to see that.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, we also included $4 million in support for film and television productions and $3.45 million for cultural economic development programs. Those are very important – if I speak to the film for one second, how important that is. Currently, in this province we have two prime-time television shows being shot simultaneously for the first time in our history. I'd encourage anyone, my colleagues on both sides of the House, to get the opportunity to visit.

If you see a bunch of big trucks lying on the side of the road somewhere, that's probably where they're shooting. Just take a second, slow down and stop and look at the number of employees, the number of people that are being employed, to provide that amount of product to the marketplace. It's hard to believe that a show like Hudson & Rex or The Surrealtor would be employing a couple of hundred people on each set every day. Hard to believe that's how many people are behind each and every one of those 30-minute, or 40-minute or 50-minute shows that are appearing on our prime-time television networks. It's amazing until you see it in real life.

These are not low-paying jobs; these are high-paying jobs, highly skilled labour. We've developed that industry here in this province. It started with the Republic of Doyle and others before that, and started to build it little by little, making sure we had the background of the employees and giving them the skill sets so we didn't have to bring them in from different parts of the country or parts of the world, we were able to develop that resource in this province.

One of the big things I want to focus on is seeing if we can grow that industry to make it our next megaproject in this province. We have lots of beautiful scenery, as every one of my colleagues in this House of Assembly can attest to. Each and every district is slightly different; it's different beauty and it's absolutely fantastic to see. The people in the world are starved to see what we have and take for granted, in some cases. So getting that to be seen on a national stage is important.

I've had the ability to tour those sets. I sign autographs on Thursday afternoons for the cameo that I made in Hudson & Rex, as well as the minister of Justice at the time back in the day. I know from my standpoint it's an amazing feat to see how many people are employed and what they're doing within this province and how it showcases Newfoundland and Labrador to the rest of the world. In the Hudson & Rex case, it is international markets – Germany, Australia and others – that are looking at that show each and every time it comes on every week and looking at Newfoundland and Labrador in a different lens. We think that's going to help drive our tourism product even further. Those investments that we make in film development, movies and documentaries are investing in our people in this province.

I thank the hon. Members for asking questions about that during our Resource Committee meetings and the Estimates process. I encourage them to support the industries each and every day when we stand up in this House of Assembly, and encourage the investments that we can make in those industries to help them grow. It's not government that's growing the industry there. Government is aiding and helping, but it's the industry executives and the industry skilled labour that's there that's driving that initiative. I can talk all day about the film and development side, but it's an interesting piece that we're starting to grow in our province and a lot of opportunity based on where we've been as a province.

I'd also like to talk about tourism in general. The tourism industry has been impacted quite heavily by COVID-19, as many industries in our province have been, and not just in our province, but globally. Each and every day the tourism industry has been hurt, and the hospitality industry. Anything we can do to support those industries, we will try to do. We take the opportunity to encourage businesses to apply for the Tourism and Hospitality Support Program that we have out there and any of the small business programs that we've just recently announced in this budget as well.

We're consistently working as a government – I know I am and I know my colleagues are – with the ministers federally to extend those programs, to ensure that the employees that are impacted by these industries and COVID-19 are supported to the best of our abilities, not just in the short term, in the longer term. I think we're going to need that approach. I think some of my colleagues on both sides of the House have talked about the long-term aspect of COVID-19 has had on the economy here in the province. It's going to take a little bit of time to get over it because it has been impacted quite heavily.

One of the things we do in the department is the tourism marketing arm of the department. One of the things that everyone would know – and I know my colleague from St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows would know – how the award-winning tourism ads that have been developed through our department and our partners and the impact they've made right across the globe in encouraging people to come to this province. We have to be ready. When the borders open and when the public health requirements are lifted and eased, we have to be ready to come at those marketing aspects to ensure that we don't lose our place in people's mind – top of mind.

Newfoundland and Labrador is not a location that you decide on a Thursday that you're going to hop on the plane or hop in the car to come to for the weekend; it's a bucket-list destination that a lot of people have on their bucket list. It's not cheap to get here. It's expensive and it's well planned. The average stay here, as the people in the industry have told me, is between 10 and 12 days, which is longer than any other jurisdiction in Canada. Those are some things that we have to make sure we maintain.

I know each and every district in our province, all 40 of us in this House of Assembly, see the benefits of tourism. I don't have to look any further than the Member for Bonavista, who has a great product going down on the Bonavista Peninsula. It's a fantastic area for tourism. I know that's an area that a lot of other parts of the province are trying to emulate to ensure that we get our fair share of tourists that are going to come to those places as well.

I can't be remiss and stop at Bonavista, because I knew that would be the case if I started naming one, I'd have to name them all. There are so many: Twillingate behind me here. The Southern Shore, Labrador, all of these places, the Great Northern Peninsula, all of these places have their own little niche and there is something for everybody to do in all of these locations. Whether it be checking out the history of flight in Gander or whether it's checking out –

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

MR. DAVIS: Admiralty House, yes, for sure.

We all could stand up and talk during this Resource Committee about the benefits in each of our districts. I think it's really important to say that each and every one of us have a huge amount of impact that tourism brings to it. Tourism employs some 20,000 people. It also has some 2,700 businesses that operate in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In addition to that, in 2019, it was a $1.14 billion industry. I have a goal, and I know our government has a goal, to make sure we grow that, not just to $1.2 billion but to $2 billion and $3 billion and so on and so forth. We have the skilled operators in the province to do that. The tourism industry itself has come a long way in the last decade of satisfying the needs of what the tourist wants. When they come here you want to make sure the tourist's requests and what they're looking to achieve is what's being delivered. You want the promise to meet the brand.

From our standpoint, we've done a lot of work with our operators and they're the skill in this area, that's the tourism department, not me and not our people in the tourism department, it's actually the tourist operators that are out across our Island.

I'd be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to also talk about Recreation and Sport. It's a new add-in to my department but it plays a huge role in the health and well-being of our population and it goes right across our province, in each and every district as well.

This year, we've invested more than $6.4 million in a variety of programs that will support athletic development, sports development as well as encouraging healthy lifestyles and people of all ages. You don't have to look any further than the 2025 Canada Summer Games. I look to my colleague from Harbour Grace - Port de Grave who's chairing our government's response to that and working closely with the big committee on the 2025 Canada Summer Games, which is expected to bring somewhere in the vicinity of 20,000 visitors to this province in 2025 with a huge economic activity of about $110 million.

These are huge numbers. It's big for our province and it's big for – and not only are they going to come for the Canada Summer Games, they're going to come and they're going to stay a little longer. They're going to come a little earlier and they're going to spend some of that hard-earned money that they make in other parts of the country in this province. It's also about 550 jobs that'll be created by this.

Outside all of that, we look at the key aspects of Canada Summer Games, is the legacy that it leaves behind. We don't need to look any further than in the '77 games, which was before I was born, but Minister Crocker was old hand there at that when it was on the go. In the '77 Summer Games, the legacy piece that was left behind was – the huge legacy piece was several assets that are still around today. I don't have to look any further than the Aquarena. The amount of impact that has made on the people and the well-being of health and mental health in this province has been amazing.

I look forward to what's going to happen when we bring those investments forward. I look forward to the City of St. John's becoming successful in their bid process. I know they're working through it. As a St. John's MHA, along with my colleagues from St. John's here, I'm sure we're looking for it to be a massive success. In unfettered Newfoundland and Labrador patriotism, hopefully, we'll be able to bring home significant medals and do some real good work there. That only happens with us pushing, collectively, as a group in the House of Assembly to try to support our athletes in any way we can. Whether that means the bake sales that they're going to have or making sure they get to go to the high-level competitions that are important.

Many of us around this House of Assembly have been involved in athletics at a high level. Not so much me, but there are some other people in this House that have been. I've been involved from a coaching standpoint. It's a real important piece that we can all be involved in.

As these games get closer – and I know the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave is going to speak a little bit more about this, I'm sure, when we get to that point when the bid is awarded – I think it's going to make a big impact on this province. I look forward to what we're going to be able to do together as a group of well-meaning individuals to bring this to the forefront.

Mr. Speaker, I know my time is expired. Thank you very much, and I look forward to further debate.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. FORSEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It was great to be a part of Estimates again this year. Actually, it's my second time, so it was great to be a part of it, along with my colleague from Cape St. Francis. We did spend five hours there. Probably that's why we spent the five hours there; it was because of the Member for Cape St. Francis. It was great to be there. I appreciate the minister for bringing in the public sector to help us out with the Estimates and answer the questions.

I'll start breaking down some of the things that the Chair of the Resource Committee, the Member for St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows – just start breaking them down as he mentioned them. He mentioned forestry. Forestry, certainly, in our area was a big contender and still is, of course. It's been known as the fibre basket. Abitibi, of course, was there for years, since 1905. Now, forestry has just been taken basically from the Central area, from our resources, and it's going to the West Coast; it's going to the Bonavista Peninsula; it's going to Twillingate area, that area.

Again, I'm not knocking that, Mr. Speaker, because it's certainly creating employment for all areas of Newfoundland. We all want to see Newfoundland survive and we all want to see jobs and create employment for all parts of Newfoundland. If that means forest product from that area being used in other areas, that's fine. It's like the fishing down in Bonavista or wherever: You have one enterprise mixing with the community people in there. We all have to work together to make things work and make things happen.

The problem with our area – and I'm sure the minister does realize this – is that when the product is going to the West Coast, when the product is going down to Bonavista or whether the product is going down to Twillingate area, Summerford, you have general contractors in the area that are seeing this happening and they're saying: Why can't we get more of this product? Why can't there be something used, basically, in the Central area as a secondary processing unit, something that can be used there to create more employment in our area?

That's what people see. When they see the trucks leaving our area, going out over the highway with timbers and logs being used in other areas, it creates a bit of frustration. I'd like to see more happening with that in our area, Mr. Speaker. We could use the employment in our area as well. There are things we can look at.

I know the minister in Estimates did say there's a pellet plant going to Summerford. That's taking some of the fibre products out of Central to go down there so they can make the pellets to create fuel for a couple of government buildings, which is great. You're creating a bit more employment down that way. Then I have local commercial harvest cutters that are being turned down for permits. That creates another animosity, that sort of stuff, amongst the forest industry because you have permits that are being taken away from contractors.

I had one call me only two weeks ago. He did have a permit for that area, only to find out two months later that they've taken the permit away from him. They find it hard to understand. I know with the 280,000 cubic metres – the permits that were released from Abitibi, all those permits are gone. Two hundred cubic metres is gone. They're gone to the outside area; they're not being used in Central.

General contractors are not getting the chance to avail of permits, permit areas, to get the allowable cuts that they need in their area. I have them from Millertown right on down to Botwood, Peterview, in our area, that's being rejected in regard to permits, when you're seeing truckloads of timber, truckloads of logs being driven out over the highway and it causes a lot of animosity. That's something we can hopefully work to create more employment in our area in regard to the forestry sector and keep things in the Central area, or diversify some way to keep everybody happy, so many permits of each kind. We need to be able to work with that industry in the Central area to create more employment and I'm sure we can, Minister.

I'll jump to farming. Farming is another big industry, certainly, of the Exploits District. During COVID, of course, food self-sufficiency became a big priority. It was a job of wondering if we were going to get enough food to the Island. That was earlier the spring when we didn't have our crops growing, when we didn't have much food availability, wondering if we were going to have enough food to get us through the summer. Of course, then our farmers came on stream, our crops started growing and then they had a great year regarding the crops. There's more we can do in that area in regard to farming.

The Wooddale area, of course, is a big area for the farmers in the Central region. With that being said, I know the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation mentioned the need for cell service and that stuff. For the farmers in Wooddale, they need the Internet. They need cell service. They need to be able to have coverage just to be able to do business, Mr. Speaker, so that they could avail of products, avail of new initiatives; new ways of doing things, new areas they can tap into; ways they can sell, the ways that they could market their products. All that is done through the Internet and things today and it would be a great tool for those people to use. I'm sure the Internet in that area would be a big help to the farmers.

Not only that, there are dairy farmers. We've mentioned the vegetable farms. We have slaughterhouses. I did have a meeting with the minister this morning. I appreciate the meeting with the minister this morning to take a farmer in. We discussed some of his issues with regard to a farm that he has, the animal farm. With some help there for our farmers in Central, maybe we can make this work a little bit better. Take some worry off the farmers, help them out a little bit more and keep them employed so they can employ other people as well.

Farmers are a big asset to our communities. They keep us fed, they keep us employed, they keep others employed and they're hard workers, Mr. Speaker. They're probably one of the hardest workers in our province, and the fishermen, of course. They're up from daylight to dark. They work seven days a week when they're getting ready for what they do.

With a little bit more help, again, Wooddale – I've heard irrigation seems to be a little bit more of a problem in the dry seasons because their water availability is not all that great. They utilize as much as they can. It's another way that we could help out the farmers in the Central area. When farmers are away, when they're hearing announcements on the West Coast with regard to farmers over that way and new buildings and new farms being used over there, a little bit more in the Central area would be appreciated as well so that we could work with the farmers and keep everything working fine and everybody being employed. That's another area we could tap into.

Another area that was mentioned by the Chair was the Crown lands. Crown lands, of course, are another big issue, and my colleague from Cape St. Francis just mentioned it. Crown lands are certainly a big issue. I get calls from all over the province in regard to Crown lands, as far as applications taking too long being approved. From what I've seen, some applications have been there four or five years and still not approved. It is a bit long. The problem with it, of course, there are too many departments, not that it's not needed.

There are a lot of departments involved before it gets the actual approval of Crown Lands: You have to go through Water Resources; you have to go through Service NL and you have to go through the Department of Transportation, all of those, and there's a list of them. By the time each one gets back – I think they might have a 30-day time limit for each one to get back, but I don't know what happens in that 30 days because that 30 days certainly turns into two and three years some fast.

It's something that has to be looked at there to get those Crown land applications moving a bit faster, Mr. Speaker, so that it can create more employment. Crown land areas, they want to build cabins; they want to build houses. There's probably other construction they want to do, and that also creates employment. That keeps the economy moving, keeps the hardware stores going. People want to get that going. Approvals of faster Crown lands, Mr. Speaker, would be a big asset to Newfoundland as well, and especially the Central area and the Exploits area. I've heard a lot of people with a lot of complaints in regard to Crown lands.

Another one mentioned, Mr. Speaker, is tourism. I know tourism and outfitters probably sort of go hand in glove. The outfitters this year certainly have had one of the worst seasons they've ever had. That was due to COVID, of course. We all know that. This year, there are no hunters coming in from the States or other parts of Canada. They can't get in here. That was big employment. A lot of money was coming into the outfitters, to the guides, to the people that use it, to the grocery stores, that sort of stuff, who make a spinoff from the outfitters. That's an area that needs to be taken serious.

I'm getting a lot of calls from outfitters; they want to be helped in some sort of way; maybe not even this season. Maybe they can afford to keep themselves for this season, but next year probably where they lost all their licences. I know each outfitter probably has 25 to 30 licences, something in that area. Maybe instead of not having any licence this year, maybe they can increase the licence for next year.

If they had 25 or 30 or 20, whatever the numbers are, instead of going with 25 that they had this year, maybe they can step theirs up to another extra 10 or 15 licences for next year so they can have a chance to get back some of the costs they've lost. That's something that can be probably looked at. We're all feeling for the outfitters. I'm sure the minister has had calls on this side as well, but that's something we can look at. We have to look at rebounding our economy with the outfitters and that's probably a way to look at it.

Mr. Speaker, having said that, the minerals, of course. This year, yes, we've had a good report from our mineral resources. Marathon Gold, of course, is moving in the Central region and that's great to hear, it really is. It's going to create a lot of employment for our area. We've heard up to 200 workers, that sort of thing, and that is great news.

If we could get our Crown lands going in that area, get our minerals going, get our forestry product going, I think Central Newfoundland would be in a very, very viable position on keeping itself sustainable and maybe even getting more people coming to this area and making a living here and staying here, Mr. Speaker, because it is a beautiful area to live. It's a great area to be.

Again, on tourism, we have one of the best salmon fishing rivers that's on the Island, Mr. Speaker. We can certainly avail of that to keep people on our Island. There are a lot of things that could happen.

We have to get our minerals and our resources all tapped in the one time. If we could do that, Mr. Speaker, I know this would benefit the Central area of the province because that's where we have our forestry. That's where we have our minerals. I'm not saying the rest of the province doesn't have it either, of course they do, but it seems like there's a lot of it combined in the Central area. There's forestry, minerals, farming, outfitters, which is the animals and the moose.

We have a lot of resources to tap into, it's just if we can utilize it all at the one time – so much at a time, not all at one time, but utilize so many pieces of it at a time, that way we can create a lot of employment for the Central area, for the Exploits District especially. That's my area. That's my district that I'm concerned about, but it's all a big region. It all goes around a big region. If we could do that, Mr. Speaker, and tap into all those at the one time, it would be a great benefit to Central Newfoundland, a great benefit to Exploits and a great benefit to Newfoundland as a whole.

Mr. Speaker, having said that, I'm just going to speak a little bit about my district, seeing I have the opportunity. I sat here last week in regard to roads in the district. To have all this, certainly, we need good roads in that area. I sat here during Question Period and I heard the minister slap his hand on the table to say there's not a district in the province that hasn't had roadwork this year.

Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm the one that must have gotten left out because I didn't have a bit of roadwork. I can correct the minister on that one. I'd like to see roadwork done in our area. I've already talked to the previous minister of Transportation, so that department already has our issues that we have, and I said that to the minister. I'm open to having another chat with the minister on that.

Health issues; again, Mr. Speaker, I can't help but not acknowledge it. The 24-hour service in the Dr. Hugh Twomey Health Care Centre, the lab services in Grand Falls-Windsor. I can listen to the Minister of Health, the Member for Gander, talk about the testing that's going to Gander and money going in to rebuilding the academy. He has a 30-bed long-term care unit in Gander as well. We have one, yes, 20 beds in Botwood, but he has a 30 beds as well in Gander. With that, he has a $4.5-million project announced for a sports complex in Gander. It's great for the Member for Gander, actually. I wish I could say the same thing for Exploits.

With regard to the Estimates Committee, Mr. Speaker, it was great to be a part of the forestry and Crown lands and speak on that. Maybe myself and the minister can have some conversations concerning that and hopefully come up with some ideas. We can probably take a ride around the Central area. I know he's familiar with it. He just takes the turnoff just before he gets there, that's all, so he doesn't have to cross the Bond Bridge to get there. He's more than welcome any time at all. I would certainly take him around. We can have a visit to the communities and we can take a look around and see what's happening in the district and tap into some of those resources and see what we can get going to help the industry and help our Central area to develop into a thriving area that it used to be. It seems to be an aging population. We would like to bring in some youth; we would like to bring in some younger families to stay in our area, to help us grow our area and to develop our area.

With that, Mr. Speaker, my time is just about done. I'll say it's just been great to have been a part of Estimates and I look forward to having another chat on the district issues at another time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. BROWN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Like I said, it's a privilege to sit in this House on behalf of the wonderful people of Labrador West. It's a very unique district. Like I like to say, we're as west as you could possibly get in this province. I don't have any saltwater in my district, but we do like to play in the dirt and that's what we do really well in Labrador West. We like to make big holes. I have the last remaining train in this province as well, so if anyone is looking for that train tourism, you can head up my way.

I got to sit on the Resource Committee and go through Estimates there on that. I want to thank everybody that participated in that. It's a great experience. I know last time I wasn't quite sworn in through all the Estimates, so this time I got the full experience. I want to thank my Committee Members and that for that. It was a great few evenings, I have to say, even though some of them went long. It is quite a learning experience and you do get a deep dive into each department and that. It's a good, new perspective and I recommend it to anybody.

I want to say, like I said, if I didn't talk about mining first. I came out of the mining industry myself. I grew up in the mining industry and I have a long history in Labrador West with the mining industry. Both my grandfathers went up to Labrador West in the '50s. It was a different time then. Everyone was looking for work. We just joined Confederation.

My grandfather Ricketts, he went to work up in the railway in the '50s to build the initial railway that went right up to Schefferville. He always used to joke that everyone would take a break but he'd go fishing because he was taking advantage of being up in Labrador at the time, so he'd go trouting. He said he ate well while he was up there and he ate a lot of trout. My other grandfather, my grandfather Brown, went up in '59 and he was one of the first crews in, at the time, the Carol Lake project.

We have a long history of mining in Labrador West. Like I said, myself and I know some of my other hon colleagues like to see who is the mining capital of this province. But you know what? We all have our great attributes and we've all contributed to this province in mining and that's the thing, too: People don't realize we have a long-standing history of mining in this province.

There are some copper mines that are so many years old. If you want to go right on back –

AN HON. MEMBER: Tilt Cove.

MR. BROWN: Tilt Cove, yes, that's right. Tilt Cove is one. But if you want to go really far back, there's a Ramah Chert quarry that's ancient. Indigenous people of this province were mining at one time.

This is a thing that this province has is a lot of rich resources in this province. The first inhabitants of this province were actually mining. Ramah Chert is found in Ramah, Labrador, but evidence of it has been found right throughout North America. We, as a province, and even before we were actually a province, mining is a part of the aspect of human nature and we want to continue to develop this industry. There's so much great potential in this province when it comes to mining.

For a person who came out of the mining industry, it's actually quite exciting that we have the potential. We know that a lot of these resources are in this province and there are markets for all of it. There are markets for all of this potential, like an old school teacher used to tell me: Put your thinking hats on, and we can come round and we can actually find solutions find markets and find ways to markets these minerals. We can do it in a sustainable way with minimal impacts on the environment.

The other great aspect of this province that we have is our technology sector. There's a lot of potential there in different types of technologies, the exploration of mining techniques that are a limited impact on the environment. There are people in this province that are looking at this, researching this. We have some bright minds in this province. Just down the street from this House of Assembly are some very bright minds of this province, just there at Memorial University. We have the potential. We have the industries. We have it all here.

We can segue that into the other industries of this province, other historic industries of this province. If you look at the fishery, forestry, these are natural renewable resources. Mining at one time, once the mineral is out of the ground you can't put it back there; it won't grow back. But when it comes to the fishery, forestry and farming, these resources are renewable resources. They have the ability to renew, but we have to make sure that we put everything in place and do our research and our homework, when it comes to this, to make sure that they do renew.

There's a bright future in forestry; there's a bright future in the fishery; there's a bright future in farming in this province. All these industries have potential. They all have a bright future ahead. These are industries that potentially could last a lifetime. We just need to make sure that we do it in a sustainable way, make sure that we have the best in technology and research going into it to make sure that we leave something for the next generation and an industry for the next generation.

My family went into the mining industry and the forestry industry. I don't have much family when it comes to the fishery industry, so I don't, unfortunately, have the insight that some other people do, but the people I do talk to say there's a bright future ahead for all these industries. It's just that we need to put our thinking caps on and realize the potential of what we have.

We live in a very beautiful province. We're very lucky to live in this province because we have so much potential surrounding us; we have very bright minds. Even having Memorial University in our back pocket is a blessing to us because they do some amazing work. They punch well above their weight. It's internationally recognized. They have a wonderful group of people and teams down there that are doing research; they're looking at new ways.

They all have this perspective because there are only half a million of us; we almost know everybody. I'm sure you can walk into a room and find out you're related to somebody in this province. This university has the perspective of talking to more people and getting that first-hand knowledge. That's why we're so fortunate where we are.

We're ready to face the future as a province. We've come through some challenges as a people and I'm sure we can get through this. There's no doubt about it. We just need to make sure that we all work collaboratively and we work together for the best interests of all these things.

My hon. colleague here talked about tourism. I'm a big fan of the tourism industry. I sat on a few boards in my previous life because I see the tourism potential of my own District of Labrador West. It's not historic like beautiful Bonavista or Twillingate but it's a different type of tourism, it is adventure tourism. There's a whole industry out there, there's a whole group of people out there that want to just see natural, pristine beauty. They just want to step out of their vehicle and see nature as it was left, the way it was just made.

That's the beauty thing we have here in Labrador. We have a substantial amount of beauty and natural beauty left. A lot of places in the world don't have that blessing but we do. The opportunities and tourism in Labrador are phenomenal. It's a whole different world and it's untouched, but it's also an untapped market. With the right investment and the right people in the right places, it's something that we can develop. It's a tourism package that we can develop to market to the right group of people who are looking forward.

It gives us another ace because it expands our market; we have more potential to market ourselves to a broader audience. That way, no matter who we're sending the message to, it appeals to a lot of different people. That leaves us more room to grow as an industry. That's what people want. They want a mixture. They don't want one or the other; they want a mixture of things to do. So that's where we are.

When the Trans-Labrador gets fully paved, that's going to be a game changer for us for sure. Also, if we can convince our Quebec counterparts to finish paving their end of the highway, then it'll be even more so of a game changer for us, because that way you can drive from large urban centres on the Mainland right through Labrador and then on to the Island. This will open up a new market to a more casual tourist.

We have that there. It's ready to go and we just need the right investments in the right places to the right people and we can open up another whole market. Like my hon. colleague said, too, once we're out of these difficult times and restrictions start to lift, I'm sure a lot of people who had their dreams and their hopes of coming to this province will show up, because we know that they were there. Before COVID they were ready to come, but also during COVID they were still kind of beating at our doors wanting to come in. Hopefully, they will still be there when these times change and we can allow them in to experience this wonderful province we call home

During these unfortunate and interesting times that we are in, we also have a few things that reared their heads up, especially with access to the Internet. As I'm sure a lot of hon. colleagues in this House understand, some places are still not to a point that is required for this modern world. Especially in the business world and the education world, we still need access to reliable, high-speed broadband Internet. This is something that we really need to take into account. We really need to add some perspective and investment because a lot more things have moved online during these times, but some things may stay online.

To stay competitive as a province but as a people and to stay on top of our education stuff, we need to make the key investments to make sure that no matter if you're in Nain or if you're in Gaultois or if you're somewhere in Bonavista or Labrador West, that we're all connected with a reliable service that people can use. It can also open up a lot of doors for rural places that may have a business idea they can do from home, or they can get an education from home if they're unable to attend in person. This opens up a whole new world for people to advance themselves as a people.

Home businesses have become a more commonplace thing. We see a lot more people moving to a home-based business. Having reliable access to the Internet also creates these smaller businesses in rural areas. Sometimes they may even advance the ability that they may be an online business, but they can hire a friend or two with their business. It creates some small gainful employment in rural areas. Access to broadband now is not just a novelty like it used to be; access to broadband Internet is now moving to shifting as a requirement for the business and education world. We need to make sure that we have these abilities to be able to access Internet in a way that seems more accustomed in other places.

I do want to touch on the arts and culture area as well. I notice a lot more people during these times actually have taken up more writing, more visual arts and these kinds of things as a business, as well as a way of expressing their culture and also for a host of other reasons. Continued investment in the arts and in the culture sectors is a way to keep who we are as a people, as a province alive as well. Also, as a tourism point of view, too, it kind of works that way because a lot of people outside our province – and people that used to live in our province – are always looking for these cultural items and pieces, especially in the visual arts realm.

Continued investment in culture and in arts is always a good thing. It always gives people a means to express themselves as a people. It gives us, as a province, a way to show our art, our culture and who we are as a province to the outside world. It's very important that we continue to do these things and continue to invest in these things. Any investment in the arts and culture is a good investment in my opinion.

It works in the film industry too. We know that our film and television industry seems to be moving forward, especially in the last number of years. This is a great thing to see. Going along with the new movement in technology, these are things that we can do here more efficiently, more effectively. Then, couple that with our unique province and our unique landscapes as a province, we can capitalize on filming here in this province and building another industry tied in with arts, culture and tourism.

Investing in this industry, I think, is a positive because it builds on top of our arts and our culture. I'd love to see film crews even up my way. It would be a great expansion of an industry. If anyone wants some natural snow scenes I know a place to go, I know a place that has lot of snow right now. Any of the film crew out there looking for some snow, I can point you in the right direction right now. I think I have 20 centimetres of it in my backyard.

Expanding our film and television industry is a good way to showcase who we are as a province and build a unique industry here too. I know other jurisdictions in this country have built up that. I know a fairly interesting statistic. I was told one time that right now Canada is sucking up all the film crew jobs out of Hollywood. As a country, as Canada, we are filming more major films and more major television shows in our country than our American cousins. We can capitalize on it as a province, as well, because of our untouched beauty, our unique landscapes, things like that.

If you know of any major film production, we should get a slice of that pie, as well as filming of – major motion pictures and television shows are moving north of the border into Canada. It's great to see that we are moving forward, but a little bit of investment here and a little bit invested in the technology sector, I think we could really capitalize on this industry as well and move into a great thing.

Before I close, Mr. Speaker, I just want to talk about my district a little bit more. Labrador West, we're a unique place in this province and a very unique province we are, too. We've seen some hard times; we've seen some great times. During these COVID times, it's amazing to see that, as a district, we continue to move forward and progress. It was a busy summer in my district. A lot of work that I didn't think was going to get done in the mining industry, the mining companies managed to get done. It was great to see that we managed to stay safe and keep people employed and keep people working. That was great to see, but that took a lot of hard work, it took a lot smart thinking and a lot of dedication on a lot of people's parts. We want to make sure that all those people that did work hard to keep Labrador West safe – thank you and keep up the things you're doing because it's great.

We still have our challenges when it comes to health care, retaining doctors and things like that because the uniqueness of our district also causes a resource strain on our district. We need to make sure that all the resources are in place to make sure that we can retain the services that we need on top of being there. I like to call it the Fort McMurray effect where a lot of good-paying mining jobs sometimes outweigh the public service jobs and the essential worker jobs. We always have to pay attention to these things, that we make the right investments in regions to retain the certain services that we require as residents of the region and as residents of the province.

We want to make sure we keep our focus and that we're providing the services to the people of a district. Hopefully, we can overcome these things. I ask to make sure that we keep an eye on these things as we move forward, that we will be able to retain services and stuff in the strange situation that makes up Labrador West when there's a mining boom on. I know, like I said, we always have our challenges with social housing and stuff.

I also want to take a minute to make a point here about mental health and addictions. It's always an ongoing issue in my district. Thankfully, it's a more talked about thing now. It's not something that's hidden; we actually openly talk about the mental health and addictions issues that always face the residents of Labrador West. We seem to statistically always have a higher prevalence in my district, so we want to make sure that we continue to provide those services and the availability of these services to people who require them.

Also, I want to let those people know that if you're in a mental health crisis or you have an addiction, don't be afraid to reach out to somebody because there's always someone listening and there will always be someone there to give you a hand up, so don't be ashamed and afraid. If you're in crisis, make sure you reach out to the right people so that way you can get the help you need, and we're there to give you the help you need.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER (P. Parsons): Order, please!

The Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MR. LOVELESS: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

I'll take my time, I guess, to speak now, to talk about departmental issues, but before I do, I want to say I represent the most scenic, rural district in the province, which is also beautiful.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I just want to reference two individuals who celebrated 72 years of marriage this past week; 72 years to Chesley and Ada Loveless. I just wanted to mention that before I move into –

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

MR. LOVELESS: Yes, absolutely, it's worth clapping, I guess, for 72 years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. LOVELESS: Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to talk about the fishery – it's been talked about before tonight – and certainly reference some of the comments that were made by Opposition Members.

The Member for Humber - Bay of Islands also mentioned earlier today about the potential for redfish quota; he mentioned Bill Barry, who's a big player in the industry and has been around for a long time. There is potential there and I look forward to seeing what this redfish quota will mean for the industry.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to focus on the traditional fishery. I want to mention and talk a little bit on the Atlantic Fisheries Fund and the significance and importance it is to this industry in this province. Before delving into that, it's always beneficial to mention the value of the fishery, which is at $1.4 billion. That's significant to this economy and employs more than 15,000 people in 400 communities in this province. It was said earlier that we were founded on the fishery and it will keep us for years and years to come, but we need to do it right. Absolutely, we need to do it right because it's too important to those communities.

In talking about the Atlantic Fisheries Fund, across the Atlantic provinces there have been received 1,200 to 1,300 applications to date, and applications from Newfoundland and Labrador alone equal 532 applications, which account for approximately 44 per cent of the applications. That shows that we are involved in that process because it definitely is very, very important. The applications received were the highest and the number of projects approved to date is 276. If you go through this province you'll see evidence of the approvals of those applications. Some of them are small projects. They can range from automatic jiggers to insulated tubs and even research and development. This all goes to improving the resource and the product in the fishery, which is very important.

Also, the larger projects; I know some Members mentioned the Arnold's Cove fish plant. If you want to witness an application approved, just walk into that plant and you'll see how the Atlantic Fisheries Fund is certainly helping that company and the people that work in that fish plant, which is 400-plus and consistent. Madam Deputy Speaker, the Atlantic Fisheries Fund is certainly a great investment into the fishery.

I mentioned before, this year's fishery, no doubt challenged by COVID-19 but overall it's been – as harvesters would say, many that I've spoken with – a good year. Were there challenges? Absolutely. There were many questions at the beginning of the season whether it should get a go ahead or not, and it did. The harvesters, processors, fish plant workers and others adjusted to the challenges of COVID-19 and made this industry another good year.

I know in my district in talking to lobster fishermen, again, their comments were that it was a good year. They didn't expect it to be this good this year, so that was positive. Also, halibut – there are other industries within the industry. In my district, the halibut catch rates were up. I don't have significant crab fishermen in my district, but I know I have friends that are big crab fishermen that said – and I echo the thoughts from across as well – it was a decent year. That's good to know that with the challenges this year we're going to have a better year next year and the years to come, I believe.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I just want to touch a little on the Royal Greenland issue. I thank the Member for St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows, too, who is very concerned and he echoed some of his thoughts in his speech about how important it is for the community and moving forward. I know there are questions around it, but in the days ahead I believe it will prove to be a good decision.

The board certainly recommended that it was a good business deal. I take that experience on that board very seriously. I met with them, the board, and I also met with Royal Greenland after. I have to say, the conversation we had around what they're going to be doing in Newfoundland and Labrador is very optimistic and it was a positive meeting. I said before that they've been around for a few years now, 600-plus jobs with a $21-million investment. So that's nothing to sneeze at.

The board also asked about giving consideration to the topic of foreign investment, corporate concentration. Right now, the board does have a mandate to look at corporate concentration. The board asked me, moving forward, to take a look at whether that's around a policy decision on foreign investment. I said absolutely, but let me make it clear that they did not say that foreign investment was of a concern in terms of not moving this deal forward. I've asked my staff, and as recommended by the board, to consult with stakeholders in the industry and to start that process. We are developing that plan and we'll be rolling it out very soon.

If I could, Madam Deputy Speaker, just referencing some of the comments that were made by the Member for Cape St. Francis, he talked about proper management, joint management, adjacency principle, and I agree with his words. I know he's quite versed on the fishery and I agree with the words he said.

He also referenced a VOCM story that talked about demand for fish. The story predicts that seafood consumption could see a significant increase over the next few decades. That's great economic opportunities for Newfoundland and Labrador, which is certainly a good news story. Because as we all know, we need some good news stories after this year of 2020.

The article also referenced educating young people. We need to educate younger generations about fish, and I certainly agree with that.

The Member also talked about the price of shrimp. I certainly understand his point and I would even encourage him, I told him the other day, to encourage him to have a conversation with Royal Greenland around that concern. I really do encourage him to do that because I value his opinion.

The sealing industry; well, we know it has suffered and it's not where it should be. We hope we can restore some of that in that industry in terms of its return to this province. I know some Members talked about hard workers. Well, they were hard workers, too, and remain hard workers.

Madam Deputy Speaker, just to touch on agriculture a little. There's nothing like visiting parts of the province to witness the agriculture that's going on or fishery or whatever the case may be. I visited the West Coast in the last month and a half, the day they were pouring the footing on the cold storage unit on the West Coast, and another one in Labrador. Again, I talked about quality of product. We know that the better the quality of the product, you have a superior product, then you're going to get a good price in return for that product.

I visited Comfort Cove-Newstead and an older gentleman there, 81 years old, was still working away on the farms. He was very excited about his business and asking me to open more land to him. I communicated to him that I would do my best to open up those opportunities for him to supply food to our province.

I also visited the fish plant there in Comfort Cove-Newstead with the MHA. We had a great visit and talked about some of the importance to them. It's what it's all about. Those communities that are employing people, we need to keep those communities going because they are the lifeblood of those communities.

Also, with the same MHA, the Cottles Island sawmill there; very impressive with some of the finished products from their sawmill. The management there are very upbeat and enthusiastic about what they have there and what they want to do.

I visited the West Coast, the dairy farms, looking at secondary processing, which is also crucial to that industry, and the potato farms and other farming operations.

I also visited the wildlife lab there. That wildlife lab is new and creating more opportunities to the support staff for research. As we know, research in any industry is important because it helps us, at the end of the day, to make better decisions regarding conservation in this province.

This past Friday, Madam Deputy Speaker, I visited Country Ribbon. I'm a lover of chicken, so I had a good time there. It's another employer – we talk about 300 jobs.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

MR. LOVELESS: Was that funny?

The jobs are important, but also important is we talked about the food supply. Fruit and vegetables are a part of the food supply, but the Country Ribbon operation there is certainly important as well for the management and for the workers.

Madam Deputy Speaker, this past Friday I also had the opportunity to visit the Smiling Land Farm. If there are people here that have not been there, go there. I see the Member for Ferryland is smiling, so he must've been there. I know he has. I want to thank Larry Puddister and, certainly, his crew for taking us through. I know some Opposition Members were there. One was with me, as well, in our tour. If you leave the Smiling Land without a smile, you didn't listen or you didn't follow the tour, I guess. I know I left with a smile on my face, but also a warm heart.

If you listened to Larry's story and why he's doing it, it will certainly warm your heart, no doubt about it. He has a young son; I met his wife. We saw the horses that are there and the goats, ducks and the honeybees. That was certainly an experience as well, as we got a chance to taste some of the honey. In talking to the gentleman there, he certainly knows a lot about honey and honeybees and how important it is. For me, I love honey.

The long-term plan for the Smiling Land is impressive and it should be supported. As minister, I told Mr. Puddister I would do my part in making sure that his end goal is reached. At the end of the day, he'll put lots of smiles on lots of people's faces, no doubt.

Crown Lands, I guess I have to talk about it.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

MR. LOVELESS: I hear the Member across, but I do have to thank the staff at Crown Lands because I know it's stressful. We get a lot of complaints about Crown Lands. They're doing their best.

We hired an additional assessor recently that I believe will help out with the backlog as well. We all know around the application process, there are a lot of referring agencies and departments and that can run into a long time. When I hear that applications have been in the system for years and years and years, it's bothersome. How I fix that or we fix that or we come up with a solution, I'm open to ideas from other people. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

AN HON. MEMBER: You're doing a wonderful job.

MR. LOVELESS: I heard the Member across saying I'm doing a wonderful job. I appreciate that.

I know the Member for Exploits referenced outfitters hit hard. I met with a group this morning, after I met with the Member for Exploits. We talked about important opportunities and they, certainly, in a very respectful way, expressed to me the challenges they're facing. It's an industry that is one of many that's been challenged by COVID-19.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I'll also reference some of the comments made by the Member for Exploits. He talked about taking from Central to other parts of the province. I take his comments very seriously. I know what Central Newfoundland and Abitibi-Price – my father worked with Abitibi-Price and forestry seemed to be a central area, used to be the focus and the centre of forestry in our province.

I'm open any time to sit down, from any Member, to talk about how we can improve Central Newfoundland when it comes to forestry or any industry. I certainly appreciate his comments. He also referenced some permit holders and the opportunity or, I guess, not – less opportunities for them. I welcome any time, if you want to come over at any point and sit down, we can certainly – if you want to give me that individual permit holder, I would be willing to listen to them and what their concern is and to see if I can help out in terms of our department.

Farming, the Member also talk about farming from a perspective of food security and we are striving, I guess, to do better. We can always do better.

I know several Members have also talked about cell coverage and how important cell coverage is and broadband. Down in my district, I know we're making some investments in it, but it's something that needs to happen, if we want industry to grow in those rural parts of the province. Down in my area with the aquaculture, those aquaculture companies are out on the water and stuff and they need the cell coverage, they need the broadband because, as the Minister of Tourism referenced as well, we need technology in any industry, especially in rural Newfoundland to make sure that it strives.

Madam Deputy Speaker, my time is running down. I would like to thank all the Members opposite and on our side for comments around, whether it's fishery, forestry or agriculture. I appreciate their comments. With that, I will end.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It's great to finally have the opportunity to say a few words today. I don't know if anybody can remember Welcome Back, Kotter. I feel like Horshack down here today: Ooh, ooh, ooh, Mr. Kotter. But he wasn't listening, but anyway I got my chance.

Madam Speaker, it's great to speak to Estimates and, of course, we're talking about the Resource Estimates. I will have a couple of comments on those, specifically, but I do want to go back, I guess, to a couple of general comments as it relates to the budget, which would include all industries and all aspects of all these committees and sectors. I don't want to sound like a broken record, as much as maybe I do, but I think it's important to add to this discussion and throughout the entire budgetary discussion a couple of very important facts.

One fact being that we're going to be borrowing over $2 billion – with a B – again this year; the fact that we have a net debt now of over, I believe, $15 billion. I don't believe that includes Muskrat Falls or any of the implications of rate mitigation or anything else.

On top of that, we're into an over $15-billion net debt and, again, borrowing over $2 billion this year. In all likelihood, more borrowings of more billions of dollars over the next few years because, of course, we were supposed to have a balanced budget by – I think it was 2022 was the original plan. That plan, of course, has been sort of thrown out the door now, so God knows when we will be to a point where we will be projecting a balanced budget or any sort of a surplus for many years to come. We can only look forward to that $15-plus-billion net debt to actually increasing to a much larger number as we proceed.

Of course, we also know that we had issues and concerns that were raised by the former premier as it related to this year's budget and his letter to the prime minister about the fiscal situation we were in. I believe he said the time has come, or whatever the words he used. It certainly spoke to the fact that we were in big-time trouble. Certainly, the way it was put out there is that if not for the Bank of Canada stepping in, we would be very challenged on our ability to even borrow money.

Interestingly, and I suppose a little bit of an education to myself and others, when we went to the Estimates and spoke to the Minister of Finance and officials with the Department of Finance, they did clarify that it's not that we couldn't borrow any money. I think clearly the impression that was put out there, either intentionally or unintentionally, but the way it was certainly interpreted, perhaps by the media, perhaps by other people in the province – and not to say that it's not a serious thing, because it certainly is. The impression was given that we would not be able to borrow.

Finance officials said, no, that's not true. They are confident we would have been able to borrow, but we would have been borrowing at a much more higher interest rate. That's what they had indicated – higher than what we're already paying. To suggest that we couldn't borrow at all, they're saying it is actually not factual, but that does not take away from the overall fiscal situation that we're in. I think it's important that we continue to raise this, continue to remind ourselves of the dire fiscal circumstance that we're in, that we were in prior to oil prices dropping out of her, prior to COVID-19, but certainly it has gotten much worse. Of course, now we're seeing all these issues again with our oil industry, not just the impact on royalties, but now we're seeing the huge impact on jobs, whether it be with Husky and our other oil projects, or whether it even be now our oil refinery. It's very, very concerning. Of course, we heard about the Grieg project and what's happening now with Grieg and more jobs that are going to be lost there.

I think it's important that this continue to be a focal point within the debate and the commentary that is made. That always has to be in the backdrop. I understand; I do. As an MHA myself, obviously if there's a government program out there, if there's a piece of money out there, whether it be capital infrastructure, I'm going to make sure that Mount Pearl and St. John's – Southlands and so on – is getting its share. Every MHA is going to do the same thing. If there are any grants out there, recreational grants and so on, and there's a pot of money, we're going to make sure that organizations in our district get the share of that pot of money. I'm not suggesting otherwise.

That's part of the MHA's job. That's a big part of the job. We all get that, but I think we have to temper some of the – when I see some of the more generalized comments that I hear throughout debate – not necessarily this evening, but over the last few weeks – about we should've had this in the budget and we should've had that in the budget and there's not enough money for this and there's not enough money for that and so on, I get it, but again, we have to put it in context of where we are to financially as a province.

I don't envy the government. It's not this government or past governments or any future governments. I don't envy anybody who now is sitting in the seat of government, the Premier, the Minister of Finance, all the ministers. I don't envy them. It's a lot easier to govern when you've got all kinds of money and the biggest decision you're going to make is what are we going to spend the money on. That's a totally different circumstance. But, b'y, when we're into a situation here where there are critical services that are required and we just don't have the cash to do it and we're borrowing and borrowing and borrowing, I don't envy the government. I really don't.

The can has been kicked down the road for far too long. It's been kicked down the road for far too long. Something is going to have to give. At some point something is going to have to give and everybody knows it. Everybody knows it. It kind of brings me to my colleague in Mount Pearl North, when he spoke there before supper and he referenced some of the tough decisions that are going to have to be made. He's not wrong in what he's saying but I did hear a number of people, when he was saying it, saying: Oh, shut down rural Newfoundland; it's against rural Newfoundland.

It's not against rural Newfoundland, at least not from my perspective. I have all kinds of family in rural Newfoundland. My mother was from Wesleyville, Bonavista North. I spent all my summers there. That's very, very rural. All my wife's family are from St. Mary's. I was down there the weekend, moose hunting. I never got my moose. I'll get him. I didn't get him this weekend. I'll get him though. I have family all over this province, all over: the East Coast, the West Coast and Central. My father was from the Northern Peninsula, Englee.

It is not about being against rural Newfoundland or anything, but we have to be realistic about if we're going to tackle the debt and the deficits, there are going to have to be things that are going to have to change. A lot of that might change in the urban regions too. I'm not saying that the urban regions are going to be left out of all this, definitely not. We have to find efficiencies though and we have to start doing things differently.

You have this task force now with Moya Greene and I think you're living in la-la land if you think that she's going to come back – what do you think is going to be in that report? When she finally comes out with that report of that task force, does everybody think that she's going to say status quo? We're not naive enough to think that she's going to say status quo, are we? Of course she's not.

Something is going to have to give. Something is going to have to change. We have to try to do it in a thoughtful way. We have to look after the most vulnerable citizens. We have to be outcome-based and make sure whatever services people need, they'll receive them. Maybe they'll receive them differently but they'll receive them. Technology is going to have a role to play in all of this. There's no doubt about it. Virtual care, things like that, absolutely, it's going to play a role, but some things have to give. Some things are probably going to have go. That's another reality. I know nobody wants to talk about it, but it's a reality.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MADAM SPEAKER: Order, please!

Having trouble hearing the speaker.

MR. LANE: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Some things are going to have change, and some things are probably going to have to be consolidated and they're going to have to go. That's just a reality. I know nobody wants to hear it and I know if it was something that's going to be in my district or anyone else's district, they're going to fight for it. That's their obligation, to fight for it.

I'm not talking about tearing apart rural Newfoundland. I'm sure the Member for Mount Pearl North is not talking about tearing apart rural Newfoundland, but there are some things that they're either viable or they're not viable. I can remember even in Budget 2016 – now, I'm not saying that now to go beating up on the government. It is what it is. That's the past. I can remember in that budget they were talking about the libraries. I'm going to use the libraries as an example. They were going to shut down a whole bunch of libraries and everybody went off their head: Oh my God, you can't shut down the libraries. And there was this movement against it.

I understand why people would be against shutting down libraries and the value of libraries and books and reading and learning and all that. The reality of it is: What did we do? What did the government do? They paid a million dollars to a consultant to do this very extensive report and consultation. It was a very good report and, no, it didn't recommend to shut down all those libraries they were going to shut down, but there was a recommendation to shut down some and to expand others and improve others and have different ways of delivering books to different communities.

I can remember a Member – I won't name the Member – on the government side – still there now in the Cabinet – who said to me at the time: Paul, they were going to shut down seven or eight libraries in my district and you know what? If they had come to me first, we could've shut down half of them and there wouldn't have been a blink, because we had a couple of libraries where there hadn't been a book taken out in a full year. Not one book taken out.

There was another one there where there was a library, or they called it a library, and I believe it was either a government building or a town building that they could've easily taken it out and put it over. There was part of it not being used; they could've consolidated the two buildings or the two things and made a library. They would've kept a small library but got rid of another facility that wasn't needed. It was costing money and so on.

There were things that could've been done, but instead they hired a consultant, spent a million dollars, took it, put it on the shelf and forgot that it even existed and did nothing because of the backlash at the time. The reality of it is these are the types of things that have to be revisited. I'm sure these are things that Ms. Greene and the other task force are going to come up with any number of things.

By the way, I don't think she's going to come up with too much that hasn't already been discussed or Members haven't thought of themselves or talked about. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of stuff that's going to be recommended that everybody already knows what it's going to be, but there's not a will there to do it.

If we're going to do it, if we're going to do what's right, there has to be a will on behalf of all Members, all parties, to take the politics out of it. I know that's a big ask. I know it's a big ask but you can't go on the one hand saying something – the Opposition, I'll just say as an example. The Opposition can't be on the one hand saying we're in the hole, we have to do something to save money but then the minute the government does it, then dump on them for it and say I wouldn't have done that. It can't work that way.

If we're serious about it and we really want to work together, then we have to look at some of these things, look at the recommendations. As long as people are still receiving the services, maybe in a different way and it makes sense, then we all have to come together and kind of agree. We're all going to have to take a collective hit in some of these areas. We're all going to have to take a collective hit politically to do the right thing that needs to be done. I think it's really important we start thinking about it that way.

Madam Speaker, I have five minutes left, so I just want to speak to one of the specific areas that's in here under the resource sector. You're probably going to say now, why is he going to talk about the fishery? A guy from Mount Pearl, what would he be talking about the fishery about? Well, I'll say, Madam Speaker, we have one wharf and I think four vessels in Mount Pearl; it's in Mount Pearl North. The wharf is in Powers Pond and the vessels are four canoes they have in the boathouse that they do in the summertime. That's it. That's all we have.

I can say this, if you go in to Donovans Business Park and Kenmount Business Park, as an example, or along Topsail Road and so on, you would be shocked. Maybe you wouldn't be shocked, but there are a ton of businesses in Donovans and Kenmount Business Park that are either solely or partially impacted directly by the fishery. They service the fishing industry in one way or another, either solely or in part.

The fishery has an impact on Mount Pearl. It has an impact on St. John's. It has an impact on all of the urban areas, whether it be businesses that supply the fishery or offer services to the fishery. If somebody is working in the fishery and they're earning a living in the small rural areas, where are they going to spend their money? A lot of the money is being spent in Gander or Grand Falls or Lewisporte or St. John's or Mount Pearl or Corner Brook or whatever. That's where they're going to spend money. That's where their money is getting spent, a lot of it, not to mention it's a billion-dollar industry and the overall benefit to the province as a whole. If one part of the province is doing well, we're all doing well. The fishery is important to us all.

I haven't heard a lot of discussion about the fishery in this House of Assembly, not nearly as much as we should. I say the Member for Cape St. Francis, as the Fisheries critic he has raised it a number of times. He has. He talked about the fact that he had a couple of private Member's motions. He did. I can remember the last time he had a private Member's motion a year or two years ago on the fishery and it was a feel-good moment. Everybody in the House of Assembly, we all supported it. Many people spoke to it on all sides and there was a collective clap and hear, hear! It was sort of like a feel-good moment.

Stand up for the fishery in Newfoundland. Wonderful. But what did we do? What happened? We all gave ourselves a clap and then we went home, and the next day we started debating whatever the next piece of legislation was. That was the end of it. How much follow-up was there? There was zero follow-up.

When I hear about some of the issues in the fishery – and I'm far from an expert, believe you me, in this, but I do know about the issues around the buddy-up system. I know about the foreign vessels, the overfishing and the issues we've had and how they got there. They're there because Ottawa lets them there because of deals they make on other things benefiting other provinces.

When you hear about fish being dumped, it breaks my heart. I understand that if you're over – and I think it's Norway. I could be wrong, but I believe in Norway it's actually illegal to dump the fish. Here, in Newfoundland and in Canada, it's illegal to keep it. Over there it's illegal to dump it. The fish must be brought in. I believe the fishermen would be given – or fisherpersons or fishers or whatever the terminology is, harvesters – a certain amount of money so that it's not costing them money to bring in the bycatch. I think they get paid a nominal amount just to cover their gas and whatever, but they have to bring it in. Then that fish, I believe, goes to food banks or whatever they do with it, but it does not get dumped.

When you hear about the issues around fishery science, hear about issues around the seals, seal predation, and as John Efford said: the seals are not eating Kentucky fried chicken. And he was right. Issues around joint management, issues around having to cut your vessel up into pieces to meet some arbitrary vessel length to catch certain species. Then to have the nerve of the government to allow the animal rights groups in to clean up our ocean after they called us a bunch of barbarians and having them come here to Newfoundland. These are the things we should be collectively acting on, not just talking about it in the House of Assembly but actually acting on it.

MADAM SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Member's time has expired.

MR. LANE: Okay.

MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you.

The hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It's a pleasure to speak on the Concurrence Resource Committee. Before I start my comments, I want to recognize the staff when we did our Estimates there a few weeks back. Their input, their involvement and their answers to the many questions that were asked during Estimates, which is never easy. You don't realize it sometimes.

I had the opportunity to be on that side of the House some years back and I do understand what's required of the staff and departments preparing for Estimates; let alone the ministers, but the staff in general. There's a lot involved and it was something that was an eye-opener to me when I first went there. I do appreciate what they do and I want to thank them. I know the Committee for Industry, Energy and Technology, the staff and the minister's department did a great job. So I want to recognize them for that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PETTEN: Madam Speaker, as Concurrence debate comes up I guess we'll try to stay to task in the department and some of the issues facing the province, I suppose. When you speak of those issues, the West White Rose or we speak of Come By Chance, I guess you speak of oil and gas in general. You look at the refinery, you look at the West White Rose Project, you look at oil and gas in general, and we look at the iconic pictures of the Hibernia platform and the SeaRose and Terra Nova – I look at it in Conception Bay. I'll look at it tonight when I go home, I guess, if it's still there. It was there yesterday.

It's a beautiful view from the bay in the nighttime. With the lights on, it's absolutely stunning. Obviously, that's not where we want it. It's nice to see it where it is as optics, but it's not where it needs to be, obviously. It needs to be out pumping oil, employing Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

In this House we hear a lot of back and forth. There's a lot in the media, a lot of heated debates and a lot of conversations. Really, right now, oil and gas has become one of our mainstays in this province. We always hung onto the fishery and the fishery will always be a very important part of this province, hopefully until eternity. It's something that's near and dear to all of our hearts because that's our existence.

Oil and gas has played a very, very important role in the last 25 years, since Hibernia came on stream, to our provincial coffers and to the province. I mean, oil and gas is a big line item in the revenue. The mere thought of that not being – I suppose in existence but not being to what we need it to be as a province is kind of frightening. When you think of oil and gas, like I said, we talk about all those platforms, those projects and what have you, but it's the people in our districts.

I've said you have discussions, and even amongst your own caucus and all that sometimes you lose sight. It's the boots on the ground. It's the people that are affected. Nothing was more evident than that rally that was there a few weeks back on the steps of the Confederation Building. That's where it's at. Those are the people that are affected the most.

Sometimes we all, on all sides of this House, all politicians – current, previous – complicate the issue. I go back in time. Before I was an elected official, I was in with the previous administration, so as this all transpired and our oil and gas industry was developing, I used to always be puzzled how complicated things were made. A lot of smart people complicating something that should've been really basic, because it is about jobs; it is about the economy.

It's simple: You pump the oil from the ground; you sell it to markets, people employed. It's no different than taking fish out of the ocean. But if you listen to some of the debate that's happened in this House over the years, there have been filibusters, there have been endless, endless debates on the industry and you think this is pretty complicated. If you're listening to some of the way that it's going back and forth – we're getting complexities of royalty agreements and equity stakes – the average person does not get it.

I've heard this conversation and I've said it in this House many times – the Tim Hortons debate. Now, since COVID, that becomes less and less an option because the gatherings are much smaller and you can't do it now. I used to always remember – and I look forward to it happening again soon – going to Tim Hortons. There's a group of people – and we all have them in our districts, the regulars. They come from all walks of life. They used to always make the point – they'd watch the House of Assembly or they'd watch the newscast and that – why is it so complicated? It's not that complicated.

Why aren't we being more clear about it? You'd sit down, you'd have a coffee with them, you'd explain it out in, I call it the layman terms, the Coles notes version. When you'd leave they'd be like, yeah, that makes sense, that's perfect and you'd feel better yourself. Then you come in here and you give yourself an hour or a half an hour of a debate or Question Period or a piece of legislation – and I used to feel I didn't have a clue. I'd leave – like, oh my God, what did I tell them? I was confused but I think most people in this Legislature can attest to that.

I've talked to previous ministers (inaudible) the opposite way when a lot of the debates went on and they've said the same thing. Now when we're faced with a very critical, crucial time in our presence right now, we get in here and it's debate. It happens and it's going to happen, but what's the end game? What are we really worried about? What's our number one concern?

The number one concern is the jobs. It's an industry. When I started off by saying I'm equating it to the fishery, you know the fishery. There's not a person in this Legislature, there's not a person in this province who doesn't know the value of our fishery and how an emotional topic the fishery is. Even when the fishery is at its peak or not at its peak, the fishery in general is a very emotional topic. I know for Members opposite and Members on my side, the fishery is a very big part of their districts; it's a very big part of the province. My reason for highlighting the fishery is the oil and gas is every bit as important. Then, sometimes, in some cases, dollars and cents wise it's one of the biggest revenue line items in our budget.

We go to Ottawa, we go through our government opposite, our ministers and the Premier and we look for support from federal MPs, we look for support from the province to go to Ottawa to support us to get this oil and gas industry back on the ground, get what's required, get the investments, get people at the table and most times you hear crickets, there's nothing happening. Over the years, when you look at our fishery, our fishery has gotten a fair amount of help. It's been many times the fishery was on its knees. One time in particular was the shutdown of the groundfish which was catastrophic to the province; as everyone remembers TAGS came into being at the time. The federal government stepped up. They helped out. They retrained. They did what was required. At that time it was a huge cash infusion to the province.

Now we fast-forward to 2020. Based on a lot of other circumstances we're getting faced with an industry that's struggling to survive. There's a lot of concern there. We get a $320-million cheque but you can do what you want with that. It doesn't matter what you do: pave roads, build schools, renovate hospitals, help pay for the mental health facility – whatever you want to do. It doesn't matter; you can do whatever you want with it.

Is that the answer? No, obviously it's not, but the answer is taking the oil and gas industry for what it means to this province, like it means to every other province in Canada that are oil and gas producers. They've gotten help over the years and we're not asking for anything different than every other province gets when they need help.

Why is it Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have to put their cap in hand to say thank you for whatever they are offered? That's not what Confederation is meant to be. That's not our place in Confederation. It never has been. That's not a part of Confederation. You go and you look at other provinces; namely, you look at Quebec. You look at what Quebec gets out of Confederation. It astounds me that we as a province have to say: $320 million, thank you very much and we're going to move on. I think that's woefully inadequate.

I believe that you have this merger that's happening now and I've read some commentary and some social media points about it. The thing was you're asking a government to bail out Husky and they should've done this privately with this merger. This merger is irrelevant to us. That's a private business deal and that's not our concern.

We've always advocated that the government needs to help out the West White Rose Project and help out the workers of Newfoundland and Labrador. What Husky and these other companies, these multi-billion dollar operations – that's not our problem. We're worried about the West White Rose Project and the workers that it employs and the workers that we hope it continues to employ, whenever and if ever it'll ever get off the ground again. That's what we're worried about. We're worried about Come By Chance Refinery and the 500 direct jobs and the probably 1,500 indirect jobs. That's what we're worried about.

We're not worried about we don't have any input because it's a private business. That's not our concern. Our concerns are those projects, the workers and the jobs in this province that mean so much to every community throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. When I go back, I'll equate back to the fishery.

We talk about the fishery and it affects all those little communities and all those small towns. The oil and gas industry is no different, but they've been handled totally different. One reason for that which comes to mind with me is – and I've talked to people that would be in the know – in Ottawa the mentality is this green economy, this green energy, the green initiatives. You can't do green without having the finances to do it. Oil and gas does provide that. We're not ready to go to a full green economy yet; we're not even close. How are we going to pay for these green initiatives? How are we going to convert?

Oil and gas is going to be with us for a long time. You can't close the door on oil and gas and think you're going to open a new door in the green energy. It's not happening. But the mindset in Ottawa is that we're going green and they really don't care about the oil and gas. They really don't care.

We care. People in this province care. We, as a party, care. We care a lot about it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. PETTEN: You go out West. They care. Anyone that's affected by this – Saskatchewan, they care. Anyone that has this as one of their main budget lines, they care. It's unfortunate that there aren't enough people in Ottawa to care to stand up for the people of this province.

There about a week or so ago, it was really disheartening when I watched the newscast and our Minister of Natural Resources – the federal minister of Natural Resources when asked about the Husky investment. Again, it's not about Husky as a company; this is about the West White Rose Project. When asked about any federal monies he said no, just no.

I'm sure people don't want to see federal monies being spent in this – investing money into an oil and gas project, but they can buy pipelines, invest in casinos, $12 billion or $14 billion to Quebec. The last time I was in Quebec wasn't that long ago and there was a lot of economic development up there. There are no real struggles up there. Billions for everything else but no, no, no, forget – here's $320 million, now go pave whatever road you want to pave, build whatever school you want to build and if you want to give some to oil and gas, that's up to you, but we're done. This minister of Natural Resources is actually one of our seven Newfoundland MPs. He's one of ours.

Madam Speaker, as a resident of this province – forget about my position right here at this table – that's insulting. That's insulting to me and it should be insulting to each and every Newfoundlander and Labradorians out there that thinks that this answer is adequate.

I understand that the minister may have his hands full dealing with the mindset in Ottawa; I get that. I've been told from various sources that is a big problem he's faced with. The best thing he could do and the most supportive, we'd all applaud it, tell everyone so. Tell the people why he's having so much trouble.

You can never go wrong when you stand up for the people you represent. If you're Newfoundland's representative and you can't get something through and everyone in this province knows how important it is and you can't get through, forget about your minister's post, stand on your morals, stand on your ground and say, I cannot get through because of this. You'll go much further.

Don't be this no response because that's the message you're giving. To anyone else it wouldn't be acceptable. I don't know why he finds it acceptable to say no, because it's offensive. I'm not the only one who said it's offensive, others repeat: Did you hear that news? Did you hear that news? Yeah, it's offensive.

You don't have to support Husky. You should support the workers of this province. You should support a project that has over $2 billion invested into it that's sitting down there now idling, doing nothing and we're now at least another year out. That's the part that they need to look at and say: Is that answer acceptable? No, it's not acceptable. It's not acceptable to me; it shouldn't be acceptable to anyone in this province.

Madam Speaker, through all the conversations about oil and gas, and I talk about the fishery and whatever, there's another point I'd like to make in the last few minutes I have. It is something that, again, I've talked about this before and it's been a long while but it comes back to me and I sit in the House on days, we're in a night sittings tonight, and you'll listen to a lot of conversations and a lot of debate. Some days it drags all of us down because some of the conversations are not uplifting. Sometimes it can be distressing because you're listening to it. You're looking for that good news. You're looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.

It wasn't so long ago we had – I don't know if we had any light but we had a mindset. We felt good about ourselves. We had a bounce in our step. We were proud people and I believe, I still believe this, we are very proud people. I think that's what makes Newfoundland and Labrador so special. We fight for what we have. We fight to try to keep what we have and that's why I find it offensive sometimes when I feel that people are not fighting hard enough for stuff that we shouldn't – we shouldn't expect it to be as a handout, that's a right in Confederation. We deserve that. What we give back to the rest of this country and we get back in return, there's no mistake we are deserved and owed a lot more than we ever get.

Pick up, be a proud Newfoundlander, stand your ground. I don't care what stripe you are, if you do that and you stand your ground, people will gravitate to that; people will respect that.

We have a new Premier and I will be the first to say, if I think he does something that's credible and noteworthy, I would send the message myself, I would thank him. It doesn't matter about the stripe on that. As a province, as a people, we should rise above everything if you're doing what's right for the people and our province. You can never go wrong. Follow that mentality and you'll never go wrong. But if you go and you try to do what's right for political purposes or not to upset this one or not to ruffle this one, we will never get there. Don't offend this one. Call it as you see it. Don't be afraid to say what you feel. If you feel that way, say it.

Again, in the day-to-day life, most people respect that. Sometimes we get caught in this political bubble and we have a little crowd of the dos and the don'ts: We can't say something; we're afraid to say something. If you say this, you'll be going against this; if you say that, you'll go against that. Madam Speaker, sometimes that will become tiresome for – I know I get tired with it and I'm sure a lot do, too. You listen to that same thing over again and sometimes you find – you have to give yourself a shake sometimes – you're doing that somewhat yourself.

Something I try to do – and I think most of my caucus can attest to for me – I try to speak my mind. I try to be fair, helpful, but I'll never shy away from what I believe in. Sometimes that may annoy people that are over here with me. I know it does. I don't ever believe in if you have a strong view on something, it may not be – I may be the only view in the room. I'll be a team player. But if it's something that I cannot live with, something that I really feel strongly about – and a lot of these things in our province I do feel strongly about – I will never back away from it; I'll never be convinced because this is what you should do because of this. You have to give me very good reasons.

Just to say it's because you're PC or you have to do that because this one agrees or you have to do that because that one agrees, that's not who I am. When politics is said and done that may be the reason I walk away from it. If that's the case, that's fine. In politics sometimes it's like in life: You have to live with your decisions. But it's a lot of decisions – if you're principled, if you can't go to bed and sleep, you're not going to make the decisions. It's as simple as that. You have to be very principled.

I believe if you're principled in life and you're principled in politics, you will make decisions that make sense. You will always make mistake, but you can never go wrong when you have principles and you do what's right for the people of this province.

Right now, we will speak a lot, but the people of Newfoundland and Labrador need our help and they need it now.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Corner Brook.

MR. BYRNE: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

Tonight, I'd like to take an opportunity to speak about my district, the beautiful and historic District of Corner Brook because I think I have a lot to say. There is a lot to be told about Corner Brook. We have an amazing culture within the City of Corner Brook, within my district. We have an amazing economy; we have an amazing social infrastructure. We have a lot of things going for us.

I'll begin my comments by commenting on something which has been the mainstay of the economy and the social fabric of our city for well over 95 years and that is the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, our newsprint mill in our city. Madam Speaker, we have a tremendous resource that's available to us that has been churning out jobs and value to the economy and to the general region for many, many years. It appears that will be sustained into the long term. I'm very proud of that because we've worked successfully with the company to be able to maintain that presence and not only the output, but the attitude that goes with it. It has proven to be successful.

Madam Speaker, in the newsprint market it is challenging, no doubt. Everyone recognizes that the newsprint market is challenging, as people gravitate away from printed copy of newspapers and more and more to online or to specialty publications. Yet, our newsprint mill continues to expand into markets that were otherwise not serviced before and it's succeeding. This is a tribute, not only to the company itself but, in particular, to the workers, to the employees of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, both in the mill and in the Woodlands divisions and within its management. I feel very well connected, very proud of my own connections to this particular operation, but more, in particular, my connections to the people who make it work.

Madam Speaker, things like partnered investments have proven to be extremely important in this regard. For example, just recently to assist in the logistics or the transportation capacity and opportunity for the company, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador partnered with other governments, including the Port of Corner Brook, to invest $12 million into a new logistics system, a new crane service.

Now, Madam Speaker, that may not sound remarkable to some, but it is. Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, the newsprint facility there that was born in 1925, it began construction in 1923, it has always had a competitive advantage because it's at a seaport and it was able to service markets well outside of other interior mills, other newsprint mills located in the interior parts of the North American continent and elsewhere.

Corner Brook Pulp and Paper being on a seaport has been very successful in supplying markets elsewhere. Well, with the addition to this loading crane, the cost of shipping – this is quite remarkable – has been reduced by upwards of $70 a ton, making the mill more competitive now than ever before. Now, that's remarkable because the price of newsprint at roughly $500 a ton – and there is quite a significant body of fluctuation there – to be able to save $70 per ton, that is quite significant.

Another initiative that has enabled the Corner Brook Pulp and Paper operation to be so successful, so viable, even in difficult times is an initiative with the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture in a timber exchange. Exchanging timber resources between area six and area 10; getting access to greater spruce inventories for that mill, very, very important.

Sometimes it's the things that don't cost any money that can make a huge difference and that is one of such examples where it comes down to shear political will and determination, but most importantly the intention to work in partnership with each other, recognizing the value that each partner brings.

Another innovation that, I think, will be important in the future is our forestry products innovation centre located at Corner Brook. There the provincial government invested just roughly $6 million of a $9 million initiative to bring increased training to the employees of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, but also to use the facility as an innovation hub, not only for the purposes of the paper mill but also for the community at large generating ideas towards and momentum towards entrepreneurship and innovation.

Mr. Speaker, there's a lot going on in Corner Brook and I highlight the mill because it is a stable pillar to our economy. While newsprint mills throughout North America and indeed through the world have been closing their doors, have been turning off their boilers and extinguishing their operations, Corner Brook Pulp and Paper today is very much a very going concern and a strong entity.

When we consider that initial investment back in 1923, '24 leading to the opening of the mill in 1925, there's another initiative underway right now which I find quite impressive, and that is the construction of our brand new hospital. At a square footage of just over 600,000 square feet, much larger than the existing hospital, it is the largest project to occur in the history of the City of Corner Brook since 1924. At a construction value of over $550 million plus the additional contract value of just over $200 million, this is an innovative build which is proving successful in Corner Brook and has been used as a model for other parts of the province.

Mr. Speaker, we could speak of some of the criticisms about P3s and other things; clearly those criticisms are not valid in Corner Brook or in other projects which have been embarked under this government to build up health care, build our health care resources, our capacity in this province. Mr. Speaker, I would challenge anyone at all, whether they be in this House right now or outside of the House, to go to Corner Brook and say this is not a good project to be invested in.

I tell you, if anyone were to try that, if they were to try to gain support from the people of Corner Brook or the surrounding area by suggesting this project was not well built or well designed or well financed or well initiated, you would find yourself in a very, very bad predicament, if you were seeking political office and suggesting that, because the overwhelming support from the people of the area in this particular project is well pronounced. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, not just on a theoretical level but in a practical level. We've already had one facility built on that exact same model, which is absolutely incredible in the level of amenities, the design, the construction. It came in on time, on budget and it was built in the exact same model as the Corner Brook Acute Care Hospital build.

We have the long-term care facility in Corner Brook, a 145-bed facility: 120 long-term care beds, 15 rehab beds and 10 palliative care beds for a total of 145. That facility is now open. Mr. Speaker, the reviews are just outstanding. People have said they cannot believe their eyes, the amenities. It has been arguably overengineered. These are the comments not from the builders, not from government, but from the people who go into that facility. They're just astounded at the fact that as you walk in through the front doors, there's a community hall; there's this feeling of setting that is like a true home that anyone would want to consider as an option, especially in requiring alternative care measures, whether you be a senior or someone requiring alternative care for your health care needs.

Mr. Speaker, those are two very important bookends: We have the true beginning of Corner Brook with the construction of the paper mill and today, after 95 years, the second, if not arguably, potentially – depending on how you consider the time value of money – the largest project in the history of Corner Brook. The largest construction, the largest build is occurring right now today with our acute care hospital. I'm very, very proud to be the Member for Corner Brook that helped bring that about with my team.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. BYRNE: Mr. Speaker, Corner Brook is a place which is a service centre to other areas. We recognize the value of not only our manufacturing industries, in particular our newsprint, our paper industries, our service industries, but as well our resource industries. It's why I was very proud as the minister responsible for Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture to work collaboratively with the government and with the stakeholders in those sectors to make sure we build up resources within the West Coast of Newfoundland and, in particular, the Bay of Islands and Corner Brook area.

It has been mentioned by the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands that redfish is an important resource which will contribute to the economy of the area in the next short while. No truer words could be spoken. This is a phenomenal opportunity that has to be taken advantage of.

How is the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador preparing for that eventual increase in quota as a result of the increase in biomass? We're doing it by positioning ourselves to have a competitive advantage when that fishery opens. We are doing that by conducting science-based investigations on the biomass on the status of the stock itself. We're working with fishermen directly through the Atlantic Fisheries Fund to support that initiative but we're also supporting our fishery processing operations to get ready for that eventuality.

The Barry Group of companies, headquartered in the Bay of Islands, is investing literally tens of millions of dollars in preparation for this resource. We are working collaboratively with the federal government to make sure that the resource is shared disproportionately higher to Newfoundland and Labrador.

When I say disproportionately, I say that with my tongue in my cheek, because we are well deserving of a significant majority share of that resource based not so much on historical attachment because this, of course, has been a fishery that has been closed for 25 years. We are doing so because we're earning that keep; we're earning that place by doing scientific information, investigation and research on the resource; we're building up the socio-economic capacity to be able to take full advantage of the resource and we are participating and encouraging Indigenous partners to participate in that resource.

I was very particularly delighted that the former minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada came to the West Coast, came to the Bay of Islands and signed a formal declaration that the Qalipu First Nation, Mi'kmaq First Nation, would indeed be a significant beneficiary of that resource; that they intend to use to partner with processing operations and with local fishermen in the local area.

On the issue of agriculture, Mr. Speaker – we're delighted what's happening in the fishery and I'm pretty proud of some of the things that are making a difference there. We're seeing other positive signs, whether it be the Labrador Gem Seafoods operation in Ramea. Incredible operation, a very small footprint in the past, but producing value-added seafood for the world marketplace. I am delighted with that.

Mr. Speaker, since I have the floor and the absolute undivided attention of every Member of the House, I'd like to speak about the pellet plant industry of our province. It's been spoken of earlier that we are investing significantly in pellets in our province by encouraging a biomass conversion opportunity for public buildings. What a difference that is compared to the previous strategy of putting next to $20 million into a single operation which has never produced a pellet in its history. I might take that back. I think it did produce about five pounds of pellets.

Our government offered an RFP to an existing pellet producer in Central Newfoundland in Summerford –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER (Reid): Order, please!

The noise level in the House is a little high. I'd like to hear what the Member has to say.

The hon. the Member for Corner Brook.

MR. BYRNE: I thank you for the protection, Mr. Speaker, but I'm confident I have the undivided attention of every Member of this House.

When we invested we took a decision, a different tack, a different strategy to develop the pellet industry in our province. What we did is we partnered with an existing pellet manufacturer under an RFP basis. We put forward an opportunity to be able to supply biomass conversion of public buildings far cheaper than the $20 million invested, which never produced one pellet. Oh no, again, sorry, I take that back. It produced five pounds of pellets. What we're doing is we're partnering directly with existing industry to be able to create a market opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, why this is important goes beyond just simply supplying one operation with the ability to create more jobs in Central Newfoundland and Labrador. What makes this so important is it does two things. Well, it does several things: One, it fights climate change; secondly, it supplies a secondary market for small diameter wood, or lower value wood, a market which was normally pulpwood, which now, of course, with the closure of two paper mills, two Abitibi mills in 2008 and 2009, those two paper mills now, there is less of a demand for pulpwood.

Sawmills, as we know, Mr. Speaker, are very dependent on the synergistic relationship between the paper industry and the sawmills to be able to supply an exchange of sawlogs and pulpwood. With the closure of those two paper mills back in the previous decade, we knew that we had to find a better marketplace for that small-diameter wood. Well, pellets are one of those such markets. It creates greater stability for the forest industry. How does that relate back to Corner Brook, Mr. Speaker? It makes the entire forest sector stronger.

It also goes without saying that when we supply this, we fight climate change; we create a secondary product for sawmills. But here's what we also do: We create a new opportunity in biomass conversion which is equally important. A whole lot of benefits come with that. You know what, Mr. Speaker? We didn't do it by putting $20 million into a plant that never produced one pound of pellets – no, sorry, it produced five pounds of pellets. So that money was extremely well spent.

Now, Mr. Speaker, on the agricultural front. As we know, the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, the Forestry and agrifoods branches, the headquarters are based in Corner Brook. Some of the richest farmlands that are available to us are, of course, on the Island portion of the province, generally, but a significant value on the West Coast and Central.

Mr. Speaker, the department is expanding its food security footprint by leaps and bounds for each and every one of us. Things such as the Wooddale centre for excellence, centre of innovation for forestry and agrifoods, the Transplant Program producing literally millions and millions of additional pounds of vegetables and literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue for farmers. It's quite extraordinary. You know, Mr. Speaker, it's really important that opportunity not be wasted or those vegetable transplants not be wasted.

With that said, Mr. Speaker, we can speak at length about all the different innovations that have occurred in agriculture. Each and every one of those have a direct link and advantage for the City of Corner Brook because as a supply centre for so much of the area, the region around Corner Brook, including the forestry and agriculture sector and the fishery sector – but we recognize, this government recognizes that rural Newfoundland and Labrador, coastal Newfoundland and Labrador, agricultural Newfoundland and Labrador, they stand on their own two feet. Those areas deserve to be invested in.

That's why this government, as we saw in the main Estimates of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture which passed unanimously by all Members of this House – it was just a glowing tale of endorsement for the government's position on our resource industries. It really, really does speak to where our province is going. We're investing in our cities but we're also investing in our rural communities, our rural economy and it's making a huge difference.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you and all Members of this House for the undivided attention which has been bequeathed to me.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Seeing no further speakers, is the House ready for the question?

The motion is that the report of the Resource Committee be concurred in.

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