MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

This afternoon we are pleased to welcome to the visitors' gallery, forty grade eight students and their teachers, Dale Parsons and Darrell Lafosse. These students are from John Burke High School in the District of Grand Bank.

Welcome to our House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: This afternoon we have member statements as follows: the hon. the Member for the District of St. John's North; the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Bank; the hon. the Member for the District of Bonavista North; the hon. the Member for the District of Bay of Islands; the hon. the Member for the District of Trinity-Bay de Verde; and the hon. the Member for the District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace.

The Chair recognizes the Member for the District of St. John's North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDGLEY: Mr. Speaker, today I would like to pay tribute to two of the many people in our Province who perform volunteer activities. In this case, the two people are a husband and wife team, Basil and Rose Vokey; and, although they are presently living in Mount Pearl, their volunteer activity centres on a group of seniors who live in St. John's North and Kelly's Brook apartments. Actually, Mr. Speaker, Basil and Rose, who are now eighty-four and eighty-six respectively, were residents of Kelly's Brook for a two-year period, from 1994-1996, when they were only youngsters - in their seventies.

One evening during that period they were among a small group of residents, and Basil and Rose were more or less responsible for a spontaneous sing-a-long breaking out. That evening was basically the birth of their present volunteer activities because, even though Basil and Rose left Kelly's Brook, for the past ten years they have gone there every Friday evening from September to June to conduct an hour-and-a-half session of inspirational singing and readings for the benefit of the residents.

Mr. Speaker, during any one of those Friday evening sessions, there will be up to as many as seventy residents of Kelly's Brook who join together to enjoy the activities that are guided by Basil and Rose. Along with the whole group singing, there will be singing by the men's choir and the ladies' choir, as well as the enthusiastic piano playing of Eleanor Bowering and her sister, Jean Mercer.

Mr. Speaker, Basil and Rose Vokey are two people who give unselfishly of their time for the benefit and enjoyment of others. They are making a valuable contribution, and I ask all members of the House to recognize them for that contribution.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Stephanie Crowley of Grand Bank. Stephanie, who attends the College of the North Atlantic here in St. John's, is the winner of the Newfoundland and Labrador 2006 CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Stephanie was nominated by ACE Cabot. ACE is a national, not-for-profit organization that is encouraging young Canadians to create brighter futures for themselves and their communities.

This Student Entrepreneur Award celebrates the commitment, determination and achievements of student entrepreneurs across Canada. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the award and, in honour of this milestone, the program has been expanded to include ten provincial winners and a grand prize of $10,000 for the national winner. Each winner will be given the opportunity to showcase their business at the 2006 ACE National Exposition in Toronto in May. Stephanie will receive a $1000 cash prize, round trip airfare to Toronto, and three nights' accommodations to attend the 2006 ACE National Exposition.

Realizing she was limited to the type of physical work she could perform, because of a car accident in 1993 which left her with chronic pain and Fibromyalgia, Stephanie decided to supplement her income by focusing her efforts on the gift she was given - her artistic abilities.

Stephanie is now an established, self-taught Newfoundland artist who sells artwork to consumers across the Province, country and abroad. Her road to entrepreneurship was a challenging but successful one. In 1999, Stephanie sold her first piece of original artwork. Since that time, her business has grown rapidly. To date, she has produced six limited edition prints, thirty-three originals, and has expanded her product line to include ornaments, assorted framed collections, and greeting cards. Stephanie envisions one day having her own home-based art and framing gallery. I encourage all Members of the House of Assembly to help Stephanie realize her goal.

Mr. Speaker, I take a special interest and pride in Stephanie. She is the daughter of my cousin Rex Crowley and his wife Emily. I ask all members of this House to join me in congratulating Stephanie Crowley and wishing her success at the National Competition in May.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HARDING: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the athletic achievements of two groups of young students from the Bonavista North area. This past December proved to be golden for volleyball teams from Musgrave Harbour and Carmanville.

The girls' team from Gill Memorial Academy, Musgrave Harbour, captured a provincial volleyball title in dominating fashion. Led by coach Gerald Wheeler, the girls outscored their opponents 250-112 as they swept each of their five matches on their way to claiming the Provincial 2A High School Girls' Volleyball Championship.

Mr. Speaker, in similar fashion, the boys' team from Carmanville mastered their competition and went undefeated in claiming the Provincial 4A Boys' High School Volleyball Championship. This squad dominated the provincial scene in 2005 by also winning Volleyfest 2005 in St. John's, the Papermaking Classic Invitational in Grand Falls-Windsor, and the Gander Collegiate/ Pepsi Invitational. Coach Heather Beaton and the entire team should be extremely proud of their accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, the students from Musgrave Harbour and Carmanville have learned the value of team work, perseverance and the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle. These lessons have served them well on the volleyball court and they will continue to contribute to their future success in all aspects of their personal and professional lives.

I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the impressive student athletes of Musgrave Harbour and Carmanville.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and extend congratulations to Mr. Everett Hann of Meadows.

On Monday, February 27, Mr. Hann was honoured by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of the Deer Lake-Corner Brook detachment for his thirty-five years of volunteer service with the detachment as an auxiliary officer. Mr. Hann has dedicated more than 20,000 hours to the force since joining the auxiliary program in November, 1970. At that time, the force had eighteen auxiliary officers, but today Mr. Hann is one of only five who aid the uniform officers.

Mr. Speaker, over the years, Mr. Hann has experienced many situations during his service with the force, each one interesting in its own way. He has received various commendations over the years, including recognition in the 2001 during International Year of the Volunteer.

On a personal note, I have known Mr. Hann for a number of years and I am very familiar with the hard work and service he has provided to the RCMP and his community.

Mr. Speaker, individuals, such as Mr. Hann, are to be commended for their service to society and I ask all members of this House to join me in extending congratulations to Mr. Hann on his continued dedication and commitment to the Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise the House of Assembly today of a very exciting project and partnership presently underway in our district that provides students a hands-on opportunity to experience the scientific and business focus of agriculture.

Economic students from Baccalieu Collegiate in Old Perlican have partnered with Junior Achievement Newfoundland & Labrador, Spruce Hill Farms Inc., and the Eastern School District, utilizing the greenhouse at St. Francis School to grow herbs.

Mr. Speaker, there is more to this program, however, than the growing of herbs. The skills developed are real life skills that our future entrepreneurs will benefit from throughout their lives.

In fact, this program is so detailed that the students have established their own business, Superb Herbs, and must research their product in detail. As well, students are requiring in-depth entrepreneurial skills that include research on the product itself, to marketing and advertising strategies, budgets and consumer cost.

Mr. Speaker, what is also very interesting about this program is the innovative concept of providing the herbs in consumer friendly containers enabling the public to continuously enjoy a fresh product.

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that you join with me today in extending congratulations to the students, teachers, and all partners involved with this innovative and exciting program.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to congratulate Duane Andrews, a Carbonear native who won the 2006 East Coast Music Awards Instrumental Recording Artist of the Year.

Andrews was nominated for both male artist of the year and instrumental recording of the year, which he won for his first self titled album. His mix of jazz and folk music, along with traditional Newfoundland music and some of his own compositions also landed him an East Coast Music Award for jazz recording of the year for the same album last year.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in congratulating Duane Andrews, the 2006 East Coast Music Awards Instrumental Recording Artist of the Year.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with hon. members and read for the record the contents of a letter that government has received from the leaders of five unions that represent many of our public service employees.

The letter states: Dear Premier Williams: As you are aware, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in NAPE v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Newfoundland that in 1991 the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador discriminated against persons in female dominated job classes when the Legislature enacted the Public Sector Restraint Act. However, the Court also held that this infringement was justified in light of the Province's financial position at that time.

We recognize, therefore, that the Supreme Court of Canada decision extinguishes all legal rights to the pay equity wage adjustments for the period 1988-1991, which were eliminated by the legislation - remembering now, Mr. Speaker, this is a letter from the five union leaders to the government.

That said, despite the extinguishment of the legal rights of those entitled to pay equity, we were pleased to hear that your Government recognizes the need to now find a means to redress the situation. On December 5, 2005 you rose in the House of Assembly to say: - and they quote me at that time - "Now, I know you cannot put a price on doing something that is right, and I accept that fully, but by the same token we have to come up with something that is affordable so that it doesn't compromise other social initiatives that this government wants to do."

It is in that spirit that we write to you today.

We ask that in keeping with your public comments, that you consider making an ex gratia payment of $24 million to the Association of Allied Health Professionals, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees and the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union in recognition of the value of the sacrifices made by our Province's public servants in 1988 to 1991.

Their sacrifice improved Newfoundland and Labrador's financial situation and now, as our economy flourishes, we are reaping the fruits of their labours. Such a gesture would heal the long festering wound which exists between the government and its public servants and permit the forging of a new relationship based on mutual respect and recognition of the value of the work of our public servants. It is time for all parties to put the past behind us.

That is the end of the letter, Mr. Speaker. That letter is signed by: Sharon King on behalf of the Association of Allied Health Professionals; Dave Reynolds for the Canadian Union of Public Employees; Bob Clarke for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1615; Carol Ann Furlong, Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees and Debbie Forward, Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union.

Mr. Speaker, what an ex gratia payment would amount to is a tangible measure of solace for those whom the Province considers to have suffered more than others by the necessary action that it took in meeting the financial crisis of 1991.

Today, I am very proud and extremely pleased to announce in this hon. House, that our government will be fulfilling this request by union leadership and making that ex gratia payment.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Before I call upon the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair to respond, I would like to welcome members of the collective bargaining units to the visitors' gallery. Some of them have just arrived. We welcome you to our House. Visitors are always welcome here, especially today, so we welcome you sincerely.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is definitely good news, I say to the Premier and to members opposite.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JONES: It is not only good news, Mr. Speaker, but it is an honourable effort towards women who work in our public service in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The financial situation of government today does allow us to correct the wrongs of the past and to make them right, and I think it is only fitting that it be done. I am hopeful, Mr. Speaker, that such inequity within our public service never will ever exist again. I hope that women will always work on an equal footing with men in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and indeed in all of our Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, while I commend the government today and I applaud them for the efforts they have made on this particular issue, as I think it is more than noteworthy, I also want to commend them for listening to the leadership of the unions of this Province that represent the many thousands of men and women who work in our public service. I also ask government to continue to listen to the union leaders of our Province, listen when they plead to you that we can no longer tolerate thousands of workers in our public service being laid off, many of which are women as well. I hope that those measures and those pleas of union leaders will also reach the ears of government so that we can maintain a healthy public service in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First of all let me say that it is a very welcome announcement today to hear that the Premier and his government have shown the willingness to redress this long outstanding wrong that amounted to discrimination against women in the public sector of Newfoundland and Labrador. I commend the Premier and his government for taking this step.

I understand that there are certain legal constraints which may have determined the kind of statement that we heard today. I don't have such constraints, Mr. Speaker, and let me say that I don't think it was necessary in 1991 that the action to discriminate against women in the public sector was a necessary action, and I do not agree with the Supreme Court of Canada when they said that gave an excuse - that the financial circumstances gave an excuse - for the government to discriminate against the women of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I will say, Mr. Speaker, that I do want to congratulate the women of Newfoundland and Labrador, the public sector workers and their organization, NAPE, for taking this battle for many, many years, for now fifteen years, all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada and beyond. Because, even though they lost in the Supreme Court of Canada, Mr. Speaker, NAPE and the women of Newfoundland and Labrador made it clear in the public, and through this government, that they were not prepared to accept the fact that their government was allowed to discriminate against them in pay and public sector values.

I want to congratulate them for that, and I know, Mr. Speaker, they gave the message loud and clear that they were not going to forget this issue and leave it alone. I acknowledge that the Premier and his government have recognized that and they have taken this step in order to redress this wrong. I congratulate them for it, and I think that the women of Newfoundland and Labrador have something important to celebrate today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

Oral Questions.

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the Minister of Fisheries.

For over a year now we have heard fish plant workers and trawlermen on the Burin Peninsula talking about how the fish that was traditionally processed in the plants there is being exported to China for processing. It has been talked about on open line shows for that amount of time, and it has also been reported in the media.

On Tuesday, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture stood in the pan of a truck on O'Leary Avenue, and again in the House of Assembly here that afternoon, and said that FPI was doing this without the permission of government - shipping fish to China - and, in essence, breaking the laws of this Province.

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the minister: Why did you sit back for such a long period of time before letting that be known to the people and acting on it?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I believed that - first of all, there had been a request for an exemption. I was told, in briefings, that an exemption for about a million pounds - actually, it was a million pounds - had been given to FPI. Subsequently, Mr. Speaker, after I did more investigations, I concluded, or came to the conclusion, that particular information was incorrect. As I kept asking more and more questions about what was happening, in particular at Marystown and the shipment of unprocessed fish, I gave instructions in January, I believe it was, that there was not to be another fish shipped out of the Province. Actually, I remember calling from Vancouver and giving the deputy those instructions. I subsequently ordered a full audit of FPI and, in the process of having the audit completed, Mr. Speaker, I was informed by my officials, only a few days ago, that, while there had been a request from FPI to ship 4 million pounds of unprocessed fish out of the Province, the request had never been signed off by the minister in the department.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: A good question, Mr. Minister. You say that they did not have permission. FPI said publicly, in the last day or two, that they did have permission. Which is true?

Believe me, I do not have a lot of faith in anything that comes from the board of directors or any official in FPI, but I would like to know who is telling the truth here, you or the officials at FPI.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I suppose, in one way, I should take some kind of offence of that type of question. I have been in this House for thirty years and I have never said anything in this House other than the truth, knowingly or unknowingly. The truth, as I know it, is this, Mr. Speaker - and my reputation and my word, hopefully, you can go to the bank with.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the truth, as I know it, is this: FPI requested an exemption from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to ship 4 million pounds of small, what they call, commercial yellowtail out of the Province. The request was never approved by the department.

I have asked the questions of senior officials in the department: Now, you are sure - there were no winks and nods or anything like that from anybody? No, Minister, the letter of approval - there was never a letter went out from the department.

Officials of FPI were actually called by the previous minister and told that it wasn't going to be approved, Mr. Speaker. So, no, there was no approval and FPI should not be concerned about scandalous statements coming from me. They are coming from me, Mr. Speaker, because they are the truth and it is a scandalous action of FPI in breaking the laws of this Province -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: It is a scandalous action of FPI in breaking the laws of this Province that people should be shaking their heads at, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the minister, I am not questioning your credibility and I am certainly not saying that you didn't tell the truth. I apologize if I offended you, but let me tell you the reason I asked you the question.

On June 10, 2005, six months into the year 2005, into the year that you said FPI didn't have permission to ship out fish, your predecessor, the Minister of Transportation and Works, stood in this House, this very House, in response to a question asked by my colleague, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, about FPI shipping fish out of the Province unprocessed, and responded at that time by saying that FPI had authorization to ship undersized yellowtail flounder and redfish from 3N0 out of this Province for processing.

All I am asking is: Who is telling the truth, you, your predecessor of FPI?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the hon. Leader of the Opposition is wrapping two separate issues together here now in trying to come up with a magic potion of some sort. There was, with the blessing of the FFAW, approval given to ship some unprocessed redfish out of the Province, not only to FPI but to other operators, for example Gaultois.

MR. TAYLOR: Janes.

MR. RIDEOUT: Janes, and there are a number of others. There was a committee put in place, FPI processors and the unions, to make recommendations to the minister, because there were requests coming from everywhere. That committee made some recommendations to the minister that the minister of the day acted on.

In terms of yellowtail, Mr. Speaker, FPI requested an exemption for 4 million pounds and the exemption was never given. They had an exemption for 1.25 million pounds in 2004, I believe. That was given but there was no exemption given for yellowtail in 2005.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: It is obvious that your predecessor when he made that statement in June, and he made it in May as well, didn't know what he was talking about. That is not surprising.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, my next question for the Premier.

FPI has broken its commitments to the people of this Province. It has violated the spirit and the intent of the Act. We have FPI out there saying that they didn't break the law, we have one minister saying that they did, and we had another minister saying that they didn't, and it appears that nobody has been keeping an eye on what FPI has been doing in this Province since this government took control in 2003.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: Don't you think it is about time that you did what we have already asked for, appoint an independent public enquiry into the workings of FPI?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: It never ceases to amaze me how the hon. gentleman can get up here when he sat over here as the Minister of Fisheries and stood back and allowed FPI to run roughshod all over this Province. Your own Premier at the time never bothered to ask the questions. They rolled over and just let this thing go on through. He admitted that he did not know what was going on when he got in the House of Assembly. Now, all of a sudden, he is on his big, high horse and that he has all the answers. Well, this is a very, very complex problem and you know it. You should not be playing politics with it. We had the people from these communities in the galleries here. Their lives, their futures were at stake, and we are taking the obligation and the responsibility for their lives and their futures very, very seriously.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: What I would like to have from you, and the other members of the Opposition and the Leader of the New Democratic Party, is your co-operation to try and work through this problem and to try and find solutions for these people because our minister said in the House, two days ago, that we would stand shoulder to shoulder, side by side with the people of these communities. Well, we will stand on one shoulder and you stand on the other shoulder and we will work together to find solutions.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would say to the Premier, you can get on with all the rhetoric you want shoulder to shoulder. I will tell you one thing, no people with FPI lost their jobs while I was the minister and no FPI fish plants closed in the Province while I was the minister.

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. REID: The question is for the Minister of Fisheries.

FPI has a quota of 13,292 tons of yellowtail flounder, or approximately 26 million pounds. Can you tell us today how much of that FPI shipped out last year, against the law, as you said the other day, and how much of it was processed in this Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: In terms of how much of it was processed in the Province, Mr. Speaker, I will undertake to get the figure and provide it to the House. I do not have it in the top of my head.

In terms of how much was shipped out of the Province, we will have to - I know it is substantial. I know it was substantially more than the 4 million pounds they requested but I think it would be inappropriate for me to put a firm number on it today because there is an investigation underway to gather evidence with the intent of having charges laid against the company. So, until that investigation is complete and tells us whatever it will tell us, I think it would be kind of unfair and inappropriate for me to put a public number on it, suffice it to say that they requested a 4 million pound exemption but they shipped out more than that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in the years preceding the closure of the plant in Harbour Breton, the employees of FPI processed FPI's redfish quota. Mr. Speaker, when FPI closed that plant the officials of that company told the people of this Province, along with the government, that that fish would go to the Burin Peninsula for processing - the redfish. It is my understanding that FPI has a quota of some 4,100 tons of redfish, or approximately 8 million pounds. Can you tell me where FPI's quota of redfish was processed last year, because it was not processed on the Burin Peninsula?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, unit 2 redfish, which was the redfish that would be normally and traditionally processed in Harbour Breton, was left in the water last year; it was not taken. The exemption that FPI had to ship redfish out of the Province was for 3O redfish.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, my question again is for the Premier.

Mr. Speaker, FPI has broken its commitments to the people of the Province. It has broken the law, according to your minister, at least one of them. Either FPI does not know - either the minister doesn't know where the quotas were being processed or he refuses to give us a straight answer on it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, FPI -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Opposition, and he is asking his question.

MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, I fail to see the humour in this, as the people opposite see it, where we have people on the Burin Peninsula who do not know their futures today.

Mr. Speaker, another thing is that FPI will not release financial documents pertaining to all of its operations in the Province, yet it continues to reap devastation on our rural communities.

Again, I ask the Premier: When will you establish an independent public inquiry into the workings of FPI, or are you going to sit on your duff until they move out of every town in this Province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: I am not even going to respond to that comment, but the question, Mr. Speaker, is this. We are going to do whatever it takes to deal with FPI, I can guarantee you that. You can rest assured of that. But we are going to do it in an orderly manner, we are going to do it in a proper manner, we are going to work through it. FPI are meeting with the federal Minister of Fisheries. He has to be part of the solution, the communities have to be part of the solution, the MHAs have to be part of the solution, and we will be part of the solution, but we are not just going to run roughshod and start an inquiry that lasts two or three years. What are the people in Grand Bank, Fortune and Marystown going to do while that inquiry goes on for two or three years? Do you know what is going to happen? They are going to go into the ground.

We are going to take action but we are going to do it in a proper manner, like we do with everything else in this Province. We will develop a strategy, we will follow that strategy, we will get results at the end of the day, like we are going to get for Harbour Breton, like we are going to get for Stephenville, and like we got for Arnold's Cove, your MHA's community! That is what we will get!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the Member for Grand Bank.

MS FOOTE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If the situation wasn't so serious, I guess we would all be thumping our desks over here and laughing, but this is a serious matter, what is happening, particularly in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

This government's approach to rural development is simply: when all else fails, roll out Plan B. Plan B for the fish plant in Fortune is, bring in Cooke Aquaculture. The problem is that Cooke Aquaculture has stated publicly that nothing will happen in Fortune for at least two years without a fish quota.

I ask the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development: Does your Plan B include a fish quota for Fortune? If so, where is that quota coming from and what is it?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries and myself met with a committee of concerned citizens representing the municipality in Fortune yesterday, who are very excited about the thought of Cooke Aquaculture coming in and setting up operations in Fortune. They want to work co-operatively with Cooke Aquaculture. Having a company in their town that wants to be there is a huge plus.

We are going to do everything to work with them and to work with Cooke Aquaculture to secure a future in the fishery of Newfoundland and Labrador for the people of Fortune and surrounding communities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS FOOTE: So at this point we do not know, and the minister cannot confirm, if there is a fish quota for Cooke Aquaculture or where it is coming from, so nothing happening with Cooke Aquaculture in Fortune for at least two years.

Mr. Speaker, when is the minister responsible for helping to revitalize the rural areas of the Province going to realize that if jobs aren't available soon there will be no one of working age left to take advantage of a venture by a company like Cooke Aquaculture?

Minister, FPI closed the fish plant in Harbour Breton in 2004, and today, despite the government's plan for Harbour Breton, people who live there are still waiting for something to happen with the fish plant there. Is it any wonder the people in Fortune are wondering about your Plan B for them? Minister, when will Cooke Aquaculture be operational in Fortune?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have a number of communities, particularly on the South Coast of the Province, who are facing difficulty in the future; and, with the pressures we have on shrimp and crab, no doubt, more trouble is yet to come. However, this government will continue to do the things we are doing, because the results are in the facts.

It is important to separate fact from fiction, something they are not very good at on the other side. Just for the record, Mr. Speaker, out-migration has been lower in the past three years than it has been in the previous nine years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: At the same time, Mr. Speaker, in-migration has been steadily increasing and reached its highest record yet, last year, the highest record in fourteen years, with 10,000 people coming back to the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: In the last two years, Mr. Speaker, the employment rate in this Province has been the highest it has been in the history of the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: In the last two years, Mr. Speaker, unemployment has been steadily declining and was at its lowest rate in the last twenty years.

Those are the facts, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS FOOTE: Mr. Speaker, it is one thing for the minister to stand up and rhyme off from her briefing book; it is another to actually answer questions that are of interest to the people in the area that I represent. I guess that is why you have - the most percentage of people on social assistance these days are the young people, and that is scary for this Province. If you are going to brag about the people who are left in this Province, maybe you should be making sure they have jobs.

Mr. Speaker, contrary to the minister's claims that the government's Plan B for Harbour Breton is working, currently there are twenty-nine former plant workers being forced to move to New Brunswick to work in a crab processing plant. Talk to them! Others have moved to Alberta, while more were being recruited as recent as this week.

While the minister says an operator has been secured for the plant in Harbour Breton, nothing has happened since the news conference will Bill Barry. Mr. Barry announced he needed fish quotas in order to operate the plant. According to the federal Minister of Fisheries, he has not received a request for such quotas from Mr. Barry, or a letter of support from this government for quotas.

I ask the minister: When can the people who depend on the fish plant in Harbour Breton expect to see their plant up and running, as they have been led to believe will happen?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the Member for Grand Bank that I speak to the people in Harbour Breton on a regular basis, at least weekly, and this government -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS DUNDERDALE: - who negotiated $1.5 million from FPI, who negotiated with ACOA to come to the table for the people of Harbour Breton, and our own investment of $1.25 million have ensured that the plant workers in Harbour Breton now will have the same income, annual income, for the next year, that they would have had, had the plant been open.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, the transfer of the plant -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair was unable to hear the hon. the minister, so therefore I have to intervene. There are still some seconds left if she wishes to continue her response.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I checked with the town yesterday. The transfer of the plant is proceeding. It is hopefully going to be completed at the end of the month. Mr. Barry is waiting to move in. He has access to his own quota which he is going to move into the plant to have an operation (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say there are a lot of people still looking for work, Minister, as much as you want to clap and bawl and shout.

With the closure of the Stephenville mill, there has been a major negative economic impact on the Stephenville and the Bay St. George region. We heard of the so-called Plan B by the Premier, which was proven useless.

I ask the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development: What concrete steps have your government taken to assure the viability of the Bay St. George region?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When our best efforts were not enough to keep Abitibi in Stephenville, we immediately put together a task force in Stephenville made up of representation from all levels of government and from the people of the communities who are directly affected.

The communities are working well together. There have been over forty initiatives launched. There is a diversification going on in agrifoods, in tourism. We are having the establishment of a fire and emergency responder academy. We have put $900,000 in, most recently, leveraging out another $2.5 million in investment. There is another series of projects and initiatives. There is an active investment attraction going on in Stephenville with considerable interest from countries all over the world in Stephenville.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, I say to the minister, that sounds so good, but here is what your committee said in the Western Star: Last week, in Alberta, mobile work force ideas were productive. In Alberta, our purpose would be to have a single point of a contract for the companies up in Alberta. That is your plan, move them all up to Alberta. That is what your force is saying out in Stephenville. They are in the Abitibi - I say to the minister, that is what they are saying out in the media. You can check with them. I have it right here, I will show it to you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. JOYCE: During the Abitibi discussions with the provincial government, we saw again the Premier raising hopes and false expectations for the people of the area. The Premier stated that he would expropriate the assets of Abitibi. We now see the equipment of the Stephenville mill being prepared to be dismantled and moved out of the region.

What steps, as lead minister, are you taking to ensure that the equipment will stay at the Stephenville location so potential operators will have a viable operation with all the equipment intact and guarantee the words of your own Premier?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources, and Government House Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Mr. Speaker, I am going to suggest to the member opposite that he do a little more research in terms of getting his facts straight.

First of all, Mr. Speaker, the members opposite always talk about what the Premier said, that the mill would not close on his watch. They neglect to mention that this government reached an agreement with Abitibi. He complains about it today, while members of his own caucus were against the agreement that we reached. So, first and foremost, we did reach an agreement with the company.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Secondly, Mr. Speaker, we have been engaged on a weekly basis with the community and with Abitibi. As a matter of fact, last week the Deputy Minister Responsible for Forestry and other officials from within the department were out and went through the mill. They went through the equipment that was going out and all of the equipment that is now leaving is going directly to Grand Falls and it is very easy to replace with respect to if another operator were found. So, the machine itself, Mr. Speaker, the machine itself has not left. The asset is still intact and if another operator were interested, guess what? They would be operating tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Finance.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. HARRIS: Mr. Speaker, why does the Minister of Finance continue to downplay the significance of VLT gambling addiction in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador by quoting that only 1 per cent of the population are problem gamblers when he knows, and we know, that for VLTs 18 per cent to 24 per cent of players are addicted and these problem gamblers contribute through their losses one-half of VLT revenues, losing $60 million to $70 million per year? Why will he not acknowledge that the single most effective way to reduce this scourge is to limit access by getting rid of these VLT machines that his government supplies to Atlantic Lotto Corporation?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First of all, I am not downplaying the aspect of VLTs in our Province. Absolutely not! Your own colleague sat and asked about a prevalent study, and I am quoting numbers that was done from a prevalent study. I am not disputing the authenticity or the research in that study. I am taking the facts listed in that study and using them. If you think it is wrong, the methodology is wrong, the process is wrong, take it up with the researchers and the people who did their work in that. Do not take it up with me. I believe -

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible) it's your department.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned, as a government, with all forms of gambling and all forms of addictions in our Province. We invested an additional $700,000 to assist with it. We took initiatives - in fact, over a two-year period we will see that there will be a reduction in revenues from VLTs of roughly $20 million. In fact, we announced a year ago today, I do believe, that we will reduce by 15 per cent starting in April 1, 2006 - that will be a reduction of eighty-one per year. In fact, effective April 1, we will be taking ninety out of the system, not eighty-one as we advocated, if you take the raw percentage. We are going to reduce it each year further until there are a minimum of 403, possibly, more machines removed.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

His own study says 18 per cent of VLT users are problem gamblers. Stats Canada says 24 per cent in this Province. Mr. Speaker, there is no indication these measures will have any effect on problem gamblers. The suicides, the jobs losses, the thefts, the bankruptcies, all of these will go on as a result of the scourge of VLT gambling in our Province.

Why will he not do something to eliminate this problem that he is not only standing by and watching, but actively engaged in the business through Atlantic Lotto? He said today, on the radio, to help the bar owners, one half of which, even according to industry sources, would not exist if it were not for VLT revenue. Why was he standing by and continuing to collect $60 million or $70 million through Atlantic Lotto from problem gamblers in this Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We discussed this issue in Cabinet. We looked at all aspects of it. Cabinet debated this thoroughly and made a decision. I will relay that decision here to the House of Assembly and I support the decision of Cabinet on the matter.

What I indicated with bar owners - and he is misconstruing the statement. When we announced it one day, you cannot expect to pull them out the next day. Some have just added machines, just spent tens of thousands of dollars. We will give a one-year leave period from the time we announced it until we take affect. That is fair to anybody who may have spent $20,000 or $30,000. To pull the rug out from under them the next day is unfair. We said we have a five-year plan. It is going to be reduced down significantly there - at a time, I might add, when other jurisdictions in this country have been increasing. We are very cognizant of the problem. I believe that VLTs have a degree of addictiveness to certain individuals. I personally am not a lover of VLTs, I can tell you. We have discussed this at length, as what is an appropriate, responsible approach to gaming in this Province and to any form of gambling. We will take the appropriate action on behalf of the people in the Province as a Cabinet and we will move forward (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

We have time for one short question.

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Justice, I guess most appropriately.

The Premier suggested that we should stand shoulder to shoulder and work together in solving some of these problems, and I agree with that wholeheartedly. For example, I was shocked to hear on Tuesday, when the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture spoke here, that he has run into a problem with FPI from the perspective of they are refusing to co-operate and give him all the information that he needs to do the job that needs to be done. He commented here in this House that he has asked for all the information about the groundfish industry and he was given it. Absolutely, co-operative, but when he wanted to know about the information from the other parts of the FPI operation he did not get it. He does not get the same co-operation.

Now, my questions to the Minister of Justice on Tuesday were geared to the direction of: Can we, or ought we bring FPI back here to put some teeth into it to get where we need to go? I say to the minister again: Are you prepared to consider and have your people draft for the Premier and the Cabinet's consideration amendments to the FPI Act whereby we can put teeth in it, so that we can force FPI to give us the information that we need so that our minister here can do the job that he needs to do? Are you prepared to recommend that, and when can we see something like that? If we want to get productive and constructive, when can we expect to see it?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, if and when the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture determines that we need and require any future amendments to the FPI Act, the appropriate thing to happen is that the minister of that department takes the paper to Cabinet, Cabinet makes the decision and then we -

MR. E. BYRNE: He knows that.

MR. RIDEOUT: Yes, the member knows that.

Then the Department of Justice instructs Legislative Council to do the appropriate draft (inaudible). Mr. Speaker, that is the time-honoured approach right from the day Responsible Government was granted to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and that is what we will do in the future, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allocated for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

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

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant to section 28.(4)(e) of the Financial Administration Act, I am tabling two special warrants related to the 2005-2006 fiscal year; and, Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 26.(5)(a) of the Financial Administration Act, I am tabling nine Orders-in-Council relating to funding pre-commitments for the 2006-2007 to the 2010-2011 fiscal years.

MR. SPEAKER: Further tabling of documents.

Notice of Motions.

Answers to Questions for which Notices have been Given.

Petitions.

Orders of the Day.

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

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

The people who may be watching might have caught me having a quick chat across the House. When you got to Answers to Questions to which Notice have been Given, the Leader of the Opposition replied: We will never get the answers to those, and I said: Well, you have to put them on the Order Paper first.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. JOYCE: (Inaudible).

MR. E. BYRNE: I say to the Member for Bay of Islands, contain yourself. I was just going to also say, to tell the whole story, that my colleague, the Opposition House Leader, said: Not to worry, they will be coming tomorrow. So, I suspect that is exactly what is going to happen.

Anyway, contain yourself.

Mr. Speaker, in lieu of what we began on Tuesday, with the beginning of Interim Supply debate and the motion that we moved, and then yesterday when the House prorogued, from a parliamentary sense, that piece of legislation actually died. The Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board yesterday moved the motion and, with respect to that, I have to move the one now to reactivate where we left off on Tuesday.

In explaining that, I do move, Mr. Speaker, by leave of the House, and consent with the parties opposite, that Motion 1 on today's Order Paper should be the Interim Supply Act, 2006, which was considered by the Committee of the Whole on Supply during the Second Session of the Forty-Fifth General Assembly be considered by this hon. House at the same stage during the Third Session of the Forty-Fifth General Assembly and, at that time, the time used during the debate on the bill in the Second Session, in addition to the time used in further debate during the Third Session, be deducted from the seventy-five hours allocated to the Estimates Procedure in accordance with Standing Orders 71.(1) and 71.(2).

MR. SPEAKER: The Speaker asks whether there is leave.

The Speaker understands leave has been granted.

Is the House ready for the question?

MR. E. BYRNE: Yes.

MR. SPEAKER: All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

The motion is carried.

Motion carried.

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

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I wish to inform the House that I have received a message from His Honour the Lieutenant Governor.

MR. SPEAKER: All rise.

The message is dated 22 March 2006.

As Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I transmit a request to appropriate sums required for the Public Service of the Province for the year ending 31 March 2007, by way of Interim Supply, and in accordance with the provisions of sections 54 and 90 of the Constitution Act, 1867, I recommend this request of the House of Assembly.

This message replaces that dated 15 March 2006, as the resolution moved by the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board consequently was nullified by my prorogation of the Second Session of the Forty-Fifth General Assembly on 21 March 2006.

Sgd:____________________________________________________________

Edward Roberts, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador

The hon. the Minister of Finance.

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move that the message, together with a bill, be referred to a Committee of Supply.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is that the message, together with a bill, be referred to a Committee of Supply.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

Motion carried.

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

CHAIR (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

Bill 2, An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2007 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service.

The Committee is ready to hear debate on Bill2, and the resolution that accompanies that bill.

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

MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

What we are seeking here, in Interim Supply, is approval of the Legislature for a sum of $1,509,510,800 to enable us to carry on the operations of government, particularly over the next three months. Indicating that, there is no huge significant deviation from the Interim Supply Bill of last year which had slightly less money than was listed this year. Last year it was $1,446,010,500.

I mentioned also, before the prorogation of the House, that one of the bigger expenditure areas, of course, from one year to the next year was the Department of Health and Community Services. There is a $34 million appropriation over and above last year's Interim Supply because, of course, overall general operating costs within the system have increased. Of course, we will be having a wage increase. The salary would be a component of that increase, along with various other aspects regarding any particular current or ongoing cost in health care. In particular, Regional Integrated Health Authorities are a larger consumer of services. About two-thirds of the health money that is utilized in our Province is filtered out through the Regional Integrated Health Authorities.

Of course, there are various other departments like Transportation and Works, for example, about $23.5 million over last year's Interim Supply. All of these areas are to carry on the normal functioning of government. They are not reflective, necessarily, of new initiatives. They will be rolled out in the budget and we will be seeing them in the main Supply bill and looking at that. We will be looking at all, the total expenditures of government that would encompass an entire budget, in addition to what is included here in Interim Supply.

Roughly $10 million to Municipal Affairs to carry out their operations; Executive Council about $13 million; about $7.7 million in Natural Resources; significant investment in education, $20.7 million more will be needed. Of course, we have heard some of the tremendous announcements in education. The Throne Speech making reference to, in particular: education is our future. Investment in education is an investment in jobs and an investment in a better economy is an investment in the future. This Interim Supply Bill has a $20.7 million request over and above last year's amount. Of course, the schedules attached there shows for education here, there is a total amount of $284.1 million in the Interim Supply Bill dealing with that. There are no great deviations in other departments from last year's Interim Supply to this year's Interim Supply.

So, it enables us to be able to carry on government. Of course, the bill needs to be passed no later than March 28 in order to be able to process cheques and payrolls to meet certain requirements, especially in more distant parts of our Province, in Labrador in particular, that we can meet payments on a timely schedule.

Over the next number of weeks we will have an opportunity to debate the full Budget, deal with the Estimates pertaining to all expenditures, new initiatives of government here of which some have been announced, some tremendous new initiatives of government have been announced there that -

MR. E. BYRNE: There are a few left there.

MR. SULLIVAN: There are still a few, yes. There is a considerable amount there. I am not sure what the Opposition will have to complain about at all. It seems like their list to Santa Claus came in. I heard some of it through the media there and they have been getting granted there. The more we give them the more disappointed they are. The more they get, the more they are disappointed. They just hate to see all of this prosperity going on in Newfoundland and Labrador.

My colleague, the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development indicated some of the outstanding statistics here in the Province. We have the lowest unemployment rate in our Province since 1981, twenty-five years, the lowest unemployment rate in our Province. The in and out migration factor we referenced to, it is the lowest in three years than all the previous nine years that the Leader of the Opposition sat there in government. Statistics do not lie. Statistics are (inaudible) the truth.

MR. REID: (Inaudible) GDP.

CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. SULLIVAN: Now, he is trying to drown me out and take away from my time here in the House, Mr. Chairman. I am not going to be sidetracked to blabbering on that side, of information that is not factual.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SULLIVAN: We are going to deal with it. I can tell you the spinoffs from GDP, the extra jobs created, the revenue created, the education, the health, the social programs of what were delivered in our Province are a product of our ability to pay for those programs and if you do not have an increase - we have had a tremendous - in fact, we are projecting that GDP growth on a real basis next year will be 6.3 per cent, not counting inflation. So you can imagine about a 9 per cent growth in GDP growth. Some of that reflects back on our Province. Some of that from oil (inaudible) goes offshore. We do not get the benefits. There is not a direct relationship between our revenues and GDP growth from the offshore equating into taxes in our Province. It is not a direct relationship because there is processing elsewhere and we are trying to maximize the jobs occurring from offshore - something the former government did not do, by the way. They allowed engineering and numerous other jobs - I think my colleague from Natural Resources - Leatherhead, England, I think at the time. We allowed numerous jobs in development to go out of our Province.

We are looking at building the economy of our Province. The highest workforce - in fact, our projections over the next three or four years will show that we will have the highest workforce increasing every single year. We will have an unemployment rate next year that will hit close to around 15 per cent - 15.2 per cent this year, the lowest since 1981, in twenty-five years. All we hear on the opposite side of the House is complaining, complaining. Much craves more. On that side of the House, they did nothing and now they want everything. You put us in a situation we had to fix and now we are getting to the point where we are starting to come out of that and we are going to allow the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to be recipients of the benefits that have been worked hard by this government here and worked hard by the Premier of our Province to bring here to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Chair, I am sure the Interim Supply Bill - I say to my colleague, the Government House Leader, they will probably want to pass this today because this is a bill that allows some Interim spending to allow the wheels of government to occur and pay the bills while we are approving the general budget. So, I cannot see one impediment to passing this expeditiously. Let us get on to do the work that is needed in our Province. Let's not waste time tying up valuable time when we could be doing - and be more productive in the House of Assembly. Let's stand up now and unanimously approve Interim Supply so we can process cheques, pay people in the Province, while the budget is getting approved over the next two or three weeks.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is no trouble to hear the hon. Minister of Finance, but whether you understands anything he says now is a whole different situation, let me tell you that.

Mr. Chair, I am sitting here and I am listening to the Minister of Finance tell me today that there is nobody moving out of Newfoundland and Labrador. There is no one out-migrating. They are all happy. They are all home and they are all happy and they are all sitting down today listening to the Minister of Finance talking about how rosy everything is in the Province. Well, Mr. Chair, I can tell him that is not the case. In fact, you can go right around this Province, you can go district by district, and you will find that there are a lot of people, and whether they are moved permanently or temporarily, Mr. Chair, but people are moving. I can tell you right now, there are so many people - I cannot even name them - that I know, who are going away to work in Ontario, in Alberta, in British Columbia. A lot of them are fortune enough to find work that they can come home in four months or in five months and be able to live in the Province for so many months out of the year and be able to keep their families here. Mr. Chair, that is a good thing.

I say to the Member for Mount Pearl - he is over there screeching his guts out at me and I just got to my feet - he can get up right behind me. He can have his ten minutes to say whatever he wants to say here today, but let me tell you this: Seriously, there are a lot of people leaving this Province and they are leaving here to find work because it is an option of last resort for them. Mr. Chair, there are many of them who are going year after year, finding work and they are coming home and their families are able to live here and they are able to come back home. But that is not the case for a lot of other people and, unfortunately, there are many of them who are moving and they are moving on a permanent basis.

I remember just a few weeks ago, I was on a flight from St. Anthony coming into St. John's and I sat next to a lady from Flower's Cove. This woman told me that only a few years ago all of her family was living in that community, and today, not only is her husband working in Fort McMurray, not only is her son working in Fort McMurray, but her parents are living there, her sisters and brothers have moved there. And she said to me: In a few more months, my son, who is still in school here, and I will be leaving as well. It is very sad for us.

I am going to guarantee you, that was not the story of just one woman. That is the story of many people in this Province today, because of the decline in the fishery, because of the changes in the wood operations around rural areas of this Province, that they are being forced to look for opportunities and look for jobs in other areas of the Province, and not because they want to but because they have to. Yet all we hear from the government is how rosy and how great and how wonderful everything is.

I sat there yesterday and listened to the Throne Speech, and, Mr. Chairman, it was like poetry. I heard someone on CBC quote the same thing this morning. It was like poetry because with poetry it doesn't matter what time, what century, what decade or what situation you are into, you can always read it and read meaning into it. Well, this is like the Throne Speech, some day it may have some meaning, but right now, you only have to reflect back to the Throne Speech of a year ago.

A year ago I came in here and I heard a Throne Speech that told us we were going to reduce gambling in the Province, we were going to take VLT machines out of the Province, reduce the number. What happened to it? We never saw it, it never materialized, it was never done.

We heard them talk, in the last Throne Speech, about how they were going to have a Northern strategic plan, a Northern plan was going to be in place that was going to be the guide for the government. Mr. Chairman, where is it? Never saw it, never heard tell of it, never read it, nothing of the sort.

There was a strategy in the last Throne Speech: We are going to have a strategy to define and implement towards reducing poverty in the Province. It was in a Throne Speech over a year ago, I say to the hon. members, yet we haven't seen one thing, not one initiative implemented, not one strategy announced, not one thing done to define it or to implement it. Mr. Chairman, we have over 17,000 children in this Province every day going to school and accessing a food lunch program. That is what we have, Mr. Chairman. We have over 20,000 children in this Province living in poverty today. I think it is probably 29,000, I don't remember the exact number. A year ago, when a Throne Speech just like this was read by the Lieutenant-Governor in the House of Assembly, there was going to be a large strategy, there were going to be measures implemented, it was going to be done immediately, this was going to be counteracted, and we haven't seen anything yet. Now, one of the members said yesterday, stay tuned because it might come up in the Budget on the 30^th of March. It may come up in the Budget, so we will have to wait and see. It is like the poetry, you may be able to read something into it at one point or another.

Mr. Chairman, what else happened in the Throne Speech last year that we haven't seen yet? The cultural plan: Yes, there was supposed to be a cultural strategy, a cultural plan, to revive the industry in the Province. We haven't seen that yet.

Then yesterday, Mr. Chairman, we had to sit through another Throne Speech that talked about another ten or fifteen strategies that are being worked on by the government that are going to solve all the woes and all the problems and all the situations everywhere in the Province. Mr. Chairman, they announced a whole bunch of them a year ago and we haven't see any of them yet.

Mr. Chairman, this is the reality of what is happening. Let me just start in Labrador, because this is a letter I received a couple of days ago from a lady in Goose Bay. Her name is Gillian Saunders and she wrote a letter, not just to me but to a lot of people, about her mother Doris Saunders. Doris Saunders, I have known from the time I was a child. I have known her all my life. She is one of the greatest folklores of Labrador history. She received an honourary doctorate degree from Memorial University for her work for Them Days magazine, in which she single-handedly went out and took the initiative to preserve the history and the culture and the tradition of Labrador society. A remarkable, remarkable women who, unfortunately, in her early sixties, has been inflicted with one of the most terrible diseases to affect our elderly in society, and that is Alzheimer's. Unfortunately, Mrs. Saunders had to be admitted to the Paddon Home, which is a seniors' home in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, for care. In the recent days, her family was informed by the health corporation that: we are sorry, we can no longer allow your mom to stay at the Paddon Home; and, in fact, we are going to have to send her to St. John's to the Hoyles-Escasoni Complex.

Everybody knows, Hoyles-Escasoni is a 377 bed facility, right over here in the next street from Confederation Building, which is a long-term care facility. It is a long ways away from Labrador, and it is a long ways away from the land that Mrs. Saunders wrote about for many, many years.

Mr. Chairman, this is what they told her. They told her that they were unable to provide for Mrs. Saunders any longer in the Paddon Home in Goose Bay because they did not have the specialized workers - or the inability to cover the cost of providing additional staff here in Labrador to look after her.

Mr. Chairman, as I understand it, this is the situation. We know that money is announced for a new seniors' home in Goose Bay, and I think we are all pleased about that, but we also realize, and we have to be realistic about it, that it is probably four years away before we can see residents occupying that facility. In the meantime, what do we do to ensure that our elderly people, like Doris Saunders, have the privilege and have the opportunity to be able to stay in Labrador, in the land they love so much, to be near their family in the last years of their lives?

Mr. Chairman, I think the minister should intervene in this particular issue. I think there is a way that she can stay in Goose Bay, in the Paddon Home. It will require additional staffing, I realize that, but I think that can be accommodated through the Department of Health and through the government. I think that the minister should seriously look at that and should respond to this family because it is only fair, it is only appropriate, that she be able to do that in the last days of her life.

Mr. Chairman, last week, I know people in Labrador were excited, not necessarily in my district, because there was no money announced for my district, the great District of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair. We did not get any of the $47 million that was being passed out in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. I figure, when the Budget comes down on March 30, I am not going to need a calculator to add up what is going to go into Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair on Budget day either, Mr. Chairman, because that is rural. That is rural, that is a small community, can't invest in them. They have to make their way now the best way they can, so we can't spend any money there.

Mr. Chairman, when I listened to the announcement for Labrador, I said, if there is ever a way of buying people with their own money, this is what this is all about. It is about buying people with your own money. This year, the government earned almost $50 million in profit on recall power alone in Labrador - on recall power alone, one sale right into the New England States. They collected a cheque, a profit of almost $50 million, and then they go into Labrador, they announce $47 million with all this fanfare. It is our money. It is our resource. We have earned it. It should stay there. In fact, they should have left it there last year instead of taking it out of it. I spent a full twelve months preaching that. A full twelve months preaching that the money should have stayed there last year. It did not happen. The government put it in their back pocket and they came back to St. John's, so that was it. You tried. This year, again - so now they announce the money, but it is Labrador money. It is from a Labrador resource. It is not new revenue. It is not out of the goodness of the heart of the government. It is coming in on a resource that is directly in Labrador.

Am I glad that it is going to be used to address some of the needs and the problems there? Absolutely, I am. I am really glad about it. I am glad that it is going to be invested into health care facilities and into a home for our seniors, and into building an auditorium which, in fact, Mr. Chairman, should have been built two years ago. It is shameful that the government cancelled that project two years ago. Shameful, absolutely shameful, that they cancelled that project two years ago. In fact, Mr. Chairman, when they did -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MS JONES: The Member for Lake Melville is over there now. Can you protect me, Mr. Chairman?

CHAIR: Order, please!

The Chair is having great difficulty in hearing the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair. I ask the members on both sides of the House if they would refrain from shouting back and forth. Every member will get equal time to speak on this particular debate, and I ask if members would show some respect to the person who has been identified by the Chair.

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Member for Lake Melville will get a chance to huff, puff, spit and everything else now in a minute, and blow off. He doesn't need to be over there attacking me in the few minutes that I have on my feet, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, let me just say this to you, because in all of the announcements that came for Labrador, although it was nothing more or over and above the amount of money that they collected on the recall power last year, or they are going to collect next year, or they are going to collect the year after that, Mr. Chairman -

AN HON. MEMBER: That is not true.

MS JONES: Oh, yes, it is. It is a five-year agreement that is going to bring almost $50,000 a year in new revenue to the government. It may vary by $1,000 or $2,000 a year, but it is within that range. If you are going to spend $47 million this year in Labrador - none of it in my district, I might add, none of it in Northern Labrador, I might add, because we are rural, Mr. Chairman, we are rural. We are small. We are fishing towns. We do not get that kind of investment. Mr. Chairman, what is going to be spent, yes, it is going to spent for a worthwhile cause, but it is nothing over and above what is being derived on a resource right now in Labrador owned by Labradorians, I say. Therefore, it should be invested there and it should have been invested there last year, I say, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, let me get back to the auditorium because this needs to be mentioned. Two years ago there was over $2 million on the table for an auditorium in Goose Bay. The government cancelled it. It was not a priority at the time; other things took precedence. The children there were put on hold; the auditorium was cancelled. The federal government had money committed to that project. They had money committed, the federal government of the day. The federal Liberal government of the day, I might say. Do you know what they did? When it got cancelled, they took their money back and they took their money off the table.

Mr. Chairman, now everybody is supposed to jump for joy in Goose Bay because, instead of the over $2 million investment towards an auditorium, the $2.5 million that was there, now they are going to get - two years later - $1.9 million. They are supposed to jump for joy. They have had to wait two years longer to get $500,000 less money, Mr. Chairman, for this auditorium, and now they still have to go back to the federal government and look for the rest of the money to do the facility.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair that her time for speaking has expired.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I am just going to clue up, because I know I will have another opportunity.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

CHAIR: By leave?

Does the member have leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

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

MS JONES: I just going to clue up because I am sure I am going to want to respond again, after the Member for Lake Melville finishes speaking, because I know he is not happy these days. He got passed over for the Cabinet again. I know he is not happy, and I know when he gets up he is going to want to thump his chest and he is going to want to say: I might not have made the honour role for the inner circle, but I am still doing my job. He is going to want to pat and thump his chest and make sure they know all about it.

Mr. Chairman, I will wait until he is finished and I would be happy to get up and respond and have a few comments. In the meantime, I will take my leave and thank the members for their attention.

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Gander.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Chair, it gives me great pleasure to stand here today in this House. As a matter of fact, I would like to say, before I address the bill in question, Bill 74 on Interim Supply that I think each and every one of the members here on both sides of the House are here to do a good job for their district, as well as my hon. colleague, and I am sure he does. I hear him time and time again in the caucus, and time and time again on the talk shows, fighting for Labrador, not fighting for his district but fighting for Labrador, and in the caucus. That is the way it is.

As a matter of fact, I just noticed that actually there is a change on the bill; it is Bill 2 that I am going to address today, so I will have that for the record as well, which is a normal process in Interim Supply.

I look down at my desk, actually, and I do not know where to start because I have seen a lot of things happen over the last two years. I heard the hon. member mention the Speech from the Throne yesterday, the Speech from the Throne last year, in 2005. I was here in this Province as a business person for some fifteen years when the Liberal government were in power, when the Liberals were in power, and I have seen fifteen Throne Speeches over that period of time. I must admit that, on a couple of occasions, there were a couple of things in those Throne Speeches that I certainly supported, I suppose, and I was very interested in.

One that I will reference is Enterprise Newfoundland and Labrador, a fine program but poorly executed. I spoke in this House of Assembly in regard to that before. I thought it was an innovative and a very, very good plan for rural Newfoundland, and the revitalization of rural Newfoundland, but it was not allowed to work.

I reflected yesterday, as the Speech from the Throne was read by His Honour, on 2004, I reflected on 2005, and then I compared it to 2006. What I see, Mr. Chair, is a continuation of a vision, I see a continuation of a foundation. We started in 2004 in regard to getting the finances of the Province under control, and that was one of the first things with regard to building the foundation. You cannot build a foundation unless you have the finances to do it, and that is absolutely the way it is. You cannot build a business unless you have the finances to do it. If you don't have the ability to borrow, if you don't have the assets to do it, the business will not thrive and the business will not flourish. The same thing applies to Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker. We have to move forward in a very strategic and planned way.

In 2004 there were a lot of questions across Newfoundland and Labrador when we brought in our first Budget. We had just finished up an election in 2003 and people were expecting a lot of things, but in 2004 the Budget showed that we were ready to take on what was needed to happen in Newfoundland and Labrador. We didn't say, and we have never said, that there weren't challenges. There are challenges in Newfoundland and Labrador in various areas and various places and we will address them. As the minister said today, we will stand shoulder to shoulder with those people and we will try to come up with solutions.

I will also say, Mr. Chair, that sometimes when you lay out a plan, a plan that is put together over a very short period of time, it is usually not the right plan. A plan takes time to put into place, a plan takes time to execute. I put together a business back in 1995, and I put together various businesses, and that particular business took me a little over a year to plan and execute and actually bring to fruition, and have it actually open the doors to the general public for business. That is what it took me to do it. In comparison to a small drug store in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, I would think it takes a lot longer to execute a plan and plan a plan and to lay it out and formulate it and make sure it is actually the plan that you need to execute to cure the problem. It takes a lot longer than one year sometimes. Sometimes you can put a plan together in a month or two or whatever and it is actually what you want. I will tell you right now, that it takes longer than that.

I have seen this government work diligently, the Cabinet work diligently, over in Stephenville. They put money on the table in regard to supporting the energy problem that Abitibi had. I heard the Opposition criticize that, and they criticized it when it wasn't accepted, wasn't executed by Abitibi. We did everything possible, the Cabinet did everything possible, the Premier did everything possible, in order to execute that plan. Now we have moved on. We have developed a task force in regards to Stephenville and I think that is going to be a task force that is going to bring many innovative and many opportunities to Stephenville because I hear about them and I think that there are various people in the Stephenville area who are certainly looking forward to it and excited by opportunity.

Also, I heard and I listened yesterday very intently to the different addresses in regards to the Speech from the Throne. I heard today in Question Period and I heard today after Question Period, people talk about out-migration and whatnot. Well, listen, the bottom line of it, is that, yes, there is out-migration and I would believe there was out-migration for as long as Newfoundland and Labrador has existed; either as a Province or as a Colony, out-migration has existed.

As we move in the global economy and as our children are more educated and more aware of the global economy, well, I am telling you right now, that out-migration will happen. But what is happening, which is really exciting to me, is in-migration; people who are investing in this Province, people who are coming in to start businesses, people who are seeing the opportunities. As we educate our children in the cultural aspects, which was also mentioned in the Speech from the Throne and continuation of our commitments last year, that our kids will become aware of the opportunities and certainly capitalize on the opportunities that exist in Newfoundland and Labrador. And they do exist, Mr. Chair, they do exist. It is just that sometimes, and over a period of time - I talked a little while ago in Caucus in regards to attitude. I believe over the years, somewhere, we lost our attitude and our belief that there were opportunities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Our young see bigger opportunities in the bigger lands of Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, the United States, Tokyo or wherever they went to. I do not blame them for that, I absolutely do not blame them, because when I grew up in Ferryland, to be honest with you, when I was a teenager it was a big trip to go to St. John's, a huge trip. There was no such thing as a computer. I had to go to St. John's, it was a full day trip. It was a great trip, I must say, and I met some great people there. Luckily enough, you know, I moved in. I moved into St. John's. I continued my education. I became a pharmacist and I had the opportunity to move to Gander.

Gander, a great district. Gander has been great to me. I think I have worked hard as an MHA for Gander. I have seen some great things happen in the budget for Gander. I have seen some things that have been challenges within the budget for Gander but I think we, as a government, I, as an MHA, have addressed them dead on and head on. I will continue to do that for my district at all times, especially when it comes to health care, especially when it comes to education, especially when it comes to business. I will be addressing them time and time again in caucus and with the various ministers at every chance I get, as my hon. colleague from Labrador does; time and time and time again, as all hon. colleagues do, here and there every time. I mean, I have never seen a caucus meeting yet that did not go over the allotted time. People wanted to talk and people wanted to get their voices heard and people wanted to get their opinions viewed by the various ministers, by the Premier, and I can say also, they were well listened to. I will be honest, because the proof is in the pudding right now because things are happening in the districts.

We have things and pre-Budget stuff that has been announced in regards to provincial roads. This whole two years is about building foundation, building the framework for a brighter future and that is what I believe in, and I have seen it time and time again. We started out in regards to addressing some health care problems, which is very vital to building a framework, good health, wellness; you know, taking care of our seniors. It even affects your morale and your attitude in regards to what can happen in Newfoundland and Labrador. That is exactly what that is all about.

Then we moved into our infrastructure, our direct infrastructure. We have been making great inroads and huge investments in provincial roads. You know, time and time again - I think I counted around $34 million worth of provincial roads, pre-Budget announcements, and most of them, I think, have already been tendered and been awarded and ready to go by the spring. This is the kind of stuff that we see happening in the Province.

I have seen things happening in the health care system. I have seen, and I have often said that in James Paton Memorial Hospital, in reflection of the redevelopment - and I reflect back on that and I would have been the first one to be there to have it finished, but we hit the financial state of the Province that we hit and that is where we are. That was hard, cold reality, but I moved on from there. But, then if we had moved forward in regards to the engineering plan and the plans that were set back fifteen years ago, right now the James Paton Memorial Hospital would not have a dialysis unit. It would not have a cancer treatment centre.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: It would not have an endoscopy. It would not have a digital mammography. The James Paton Memorial Hospital just got a digital mammography unit in Gander, which is one of six in the country, which will reduce wait times by 50 per cent and improve its capacity, you know, ten, fifteen, twenty-fold. That is what we are talking about. That is well-laid plans.

Now we see that we are moved into education in regards to building that framework. We have seen an announcement by the Minister of Education today, a skilled task force. How important that is in this Province, Mr. Chair. How important that is. How often have I heard over the last couple of years about the possibility, not the possibility, the reality of the lack of a skilled labour force. We need people, and that is a fact. We are all talking about the lack of jobs and whatnot, but we are laying the foundation for our young to become skilled labourers, to excel in their fields, to take advantage of the projects that are on the horizon, such as the Lower Churchill, in mining, agriculture, marine, technology. That is the kind of stuff that we are doing. We are laying and laying and laying a foundation for a bright future. That is what we are doing. Maybe at our age -

CHAIR: Order, please!

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

MR. O'BRIEN: By leave?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: By leave.

CHAIR: By leave?

The hon. the Member for Gander.

MR. O'BRIEN: What I see, Mr. Chair, is that we will be moving and maybe - I was going to reflect that at my age, and some of my other hon. colleagues ages here and on the other side of the House, that maybe we will not see the full fruition of that foundation, because that foundation was torn down over a period of time. It was ignored but now we are building that foundation. Maybe, hopefully, I will live a long life. It is on my side of the family, so hopefully I will be there, because it takes time for that foundation to show its fruits. That is exactly what it takes.

If anybody thinks, or you, or my hon. colleagues, or the Opposition believes that you are going to see fruition in regards to well-laid plans in the matter of a day or month or year, it is not going to happen. That is the way it is, but I am telling you right now, as the hon. minister said, we will be there shoulder to shoulder with the people who need it and we will be there day in, day out. That is it!

With that, Mr. Chair, I will sit down and take my leave. Hopefully I will get back at another day.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I appreciate an opportunity to have a few words. This being an Interim Supply money bill, of course, you pretty well have a wide latitude as to what one might wish to speak about. There is lots to speak about when it comes to Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly rural Newfoundland and Labrador. For example, we have a lot of current problems, it might be the Burin Peninsula here one day because of the FPI situation, Fortune, Marystown, Grand Bank. We have had the Harbour Breton piece that has been on the radar in this Province for quite some time. We had problems in the Stephenville area last fall. We have problems, for example, in the Northern Peninsula. Although government tries, as they should, to react to these problems as they arise, we cannot forget that it cannot be a piecemeal solution to a current day problem.

The Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development made a statement yesterday, a very truthful statement. This Province, rural Newfoundland, is undergoing - I believe the word she used was - a massive, social and economic change, transformation. That is true, and it has been going on for quite some years, and the problem, the fear that a lot of people have, is: Where is it going to end?

Now, it is easy to stand up as a critic and say, it is your fault or someone else's fault, and try to place blame, but I don't get into that blame game. To me, it is not a case of who caused it necessarily. Yes, if it is a continuing cause, or it is being caused by someone, you would remove it if you potentially can, but this is about trying to find solutions, as the Premier said, working shoulder to shoulder, one person on one, and one on the other.

I agree with this government; it is not going to be an easy task about what is required for rural Newfoundland, but I do say, whatever you do, don't be so narrow in your focus that we deal only with the current day issues. We cannot have, for example, a retirement plan that only addresses the Harbour Breton issue. You cannot have only Fortune being dealt with.

I represent a district in Southwestern Newfoundland, Burgeo & LaPoile. Don't anybody in this House or anywhere in this Province think that I have forgotten about Burgeo & LaPoile, and I hope when we come to designing these solutions we think about everybody.

We have not done much fishing in Burgeo since 1991. I have a lot of people working on those seismic projects out in Alberta: 200 who pack up every year in October and go away, and pack up again in January and February. A lot of those did not click in under the old schemes, under the TAGS and NCARPs of the days of the early 1990s and take advantage of it, but they are still there and they still need help. So I urge government, in whatever you are doing, stay focused, yes, but not only on the current day issue. A retirement package in the fishery is urgent for everybody.

I had a community - still have a community, partially - called Rose Blanche. Most of us have our famous traditional communities, and we are very proud of them. I do not have a plant in Rose Blanche any more. I have a community called Isle aux Morts. I do not have a fish plant in Isle aux Morts any more. I have a community called Fox Roost-Margaree. We are down to the bare bones in Fox Roost-Margaree, producing a bit of grey sole a few months a year. People do not get enough work.

I have been back to successive Ministers of Municipal Affairs in the fall looking for money year after year because I have a lot of people in my district who cannot make it, and they need to get these grants and stuff in the fall to help them out. Port aux Basques had a plant. Mr. Barry is in Port aux Basques. Thank God, he converted from the plant that he had. He switched over to pelagic and we are going a little bit, but he would be the first one to tell you, they are not doing as much as they would like to do there. A bit of farmed salmon that comes up from down in the aquaculture farm that he cuts there as well - trying to make some work for the people in that area, but very tenuous, does not know from one day to the next what is going to happen.

People in my town, Port aux Basques, in my district, they get wary when they hear stuff. For example, Bill Barry is going to go to Harbour Breton. They say: Oh, my God, Kelvin, the government is focused on Harbour Breton and they are going to give a quota for Bill Barry to go down and get Harbour Breton going. What about us? Does that mean Bill Barry is going to take our pelagic out of Port aux Basques and take it down the coast? They are legitimate concerns.

I just say to government, we have to stay focused. When we come to trying to solve a problem, we do not solve a problem in one area at the expense of another. We have to be very general in what we speak of, and very - not only regional, but we have to be provincial in trying to address the problems.

The FPI thing, a very, very crucial issue. I say to the Minister of Fisheries as well, he talked about leadership on Tuesday, about FPI, or the lack of leadership in FPI. I just got a copy of an FPI press release handed to me. I have asked a couple of questions this week about the FPI situation and I am still confused, and people out here are confused. We have our minister up in the back of a truck talking about investigations of FPI. We have the minister who came in here on Tuesday and, just to quote him, there is no plan. They do not know where they are going. They have no plan for long-term commitment.

I have FPI putting out a press release within the last couple of hours saying the minister further alleged in a news release that FPI has been less than co-operative with the second phase of the provincial government's independent accounting review, which I referred to in my question today, the failure of FPI to give the information. Their response today - this is simply wrong.

You might ask why people are confused. We asked the questions, and we have to be confused if we are getting two answers. We have FPI here saying, he is wrong; and, we have the minister standing up and saying that he did not get the information that he wanted. Which way is it?

If he cannot get the answers that he wants - we are quick to come back here to this House to do the income trust for FPI, a special session. Everybody was gone home last spring, a special session, a free vote in the House, brought everybody back two days and we all had a big debate, voted for FPI. Well, if we can vote in a free vote here last spring for FPI, we can bring back the FPI Act again, and, whatever teeth are not in the act, we can put in there.

Mr. Chair, I will take my leave. I have something in my throat, so I will take my leave and come back later.

Thank you.

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Lake Melville.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

It is indeed a great pleasure, Mr. Chairman, to stand again in this House today. I am bit amused when I listen to my good friend, the Member for Cartwright-L-Anse au Clair, and some of the comments that she made over there. I want to say that I can understand why she is a little sour. I can understand why she is a little bit disgruntled. Why wouldn't she be, Mr. Chairman? Why wouldn't she be? You know, we see an Opposition that is basically in a state of disarray, leaderless, or basically, I guess, from the leader's perspective, operating the party from a remote control from some Ontario government airplane. I can understand why the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair is a little sour. I can understand, you know, when you have your leader going up to Ontario, wanting to ask his wife to raise some money for the Liberal Party in the Province because there is not enough support here for them. I can understand why the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair is a little disgruntled.

I can also understand, Mr. Chairman, that she is not feeling very well these days when it comes to the good news that has come to this Province, and indeed the goods news that is coming to Labrador. I want to talk about some of the facts because, when we listen to the doom and gloom across the way, it really, really makes you wonder. It really would make you wonder.

I can understand why my good friends, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair and the Member for Torngat Mountains, are a little disillusioned, a little sour, but let me say this: they had every opportunity, when they were in government, to do the things that our government and our Premier and our ministers and this caucus are doing for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: The Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair tries to show that she has compassion for the people of Labrador, and I am sure she does, Mr. Chairman, but I can tell you, when she raises the issue about my good friend, Dr. Doris Saunders - and I can tell the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, I am engaged with her daughter Gillian and her family - I can tell you, if she had done the right thing five years ago, when the Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay and the people of the Labrador wanted a long-term health care facility, Dr. Saunders today would not have to come to St. John's because that facility would have been built there at that time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

AN HON. MEMBER: The truth is coming out.

MR. HICKEY: Absolutely!

We are going to work with Dr. Saunders's family, and I can tell you that this MHA is going to give her whatever support she needs and this government will try our best to ensure that she gets the care that she needs.

Mr. Chair, I want to talk about some of the ‘mistruths' that have been basically passed around here today in this hon. House when we talk about out-migration, when we talk about economic growth and we talk about all of those things that the members across the way have been saying, the doom and gloom. Well, let me give you some facts, Mr. Chair. Let's give them some facts. This really what is going on in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador today.

When we talk about economic growth and the GDP, Newfoundland and Labrador has continued to lead the country in the average annual rate real GDP growth. This is a seven-year trend that has been continuing in the past three years. We are expected to lead the country in real GDP in 2006 with a growth of 8.3 per cent, due to increasing mining and oil production. Let me say, Mr. Chair, that opportunities in the mining industry and the oil industry are coming into the foreplay. I can tell you, our government is not giving those resources away. We saw that very clearly last week up in Labrador when the Minister of Natural Resources said to a company out of Quebec: You will not ship that ore to Sept-Iles. That ore will be processed in Newfoundland and Labrador. The giveaways are over, Mr. Chair! The giveaways are over!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: When we talk about out-migration, out-migration has been going on in this Province for a long, long time. Not only in this Province, Mr. Chair, but throughout the country. The only province that does not have out-migration is Alberta, and out-migration has been lower in the last three years than in the nine previous years. That is the facts, Mr. Chair. At the same time, in-migration has been steadily increasing in 2004-2005 reaching its highest level in fourteen years. If they want to know the figures, 10,007 in-migration.

Let's talk about some of the other economic performance factors that (inaudible) employment. In the last two years, Mr. Chair, the employment rate has been at its highest level in the history of the Province. In the last two years the unemployment rate is steadily declining and in 2005, I am happy to report, Mr. Chair, that it was at its lowest rate in over twenty years, at 15.2 per cent. Last year the employment reached a record high level of 214,300. That is the facts, Mr. Chair, and it has remained constant this year.

In 2006, employment is expected to grow by a further .6 per cent. Employment gains have been realized throughout the entire Province, and not just in St. John's, Mr. Chair. In 2005, the largest gains occurred on the West Coast and in Labrador, up 2.3 per cent, and Central and Northeastern Coast up 1.2 per cent. One of the issues that is affecting a lot of this, Mr. Chair, is the declining birthrate is often overlooked. It is often overlooked as a major contributor to the population decline.

Out-migration has been an issue in the Province dating back to the 1900s, Mr. Chair. Out-migration of younger working aged persons is not unique to this Province. Between 2001 and 2004 every province, except Alberta, as I said earlier, Mr. Chair, reported net out-migration of workers between the ages of twenty and forty.

Let's talk for a few minutes about small business. I can tell you, this government and our Premier is steadily working to ensure the survival of small business. Fifty-two point five percent of small businesses were located outside the Avalon Peninsula in 2004. Consequently, small business remains a vital economic contributor to both rural and urban parts of our Province. Those are the facts, Mr. Chair. This is not innuendo. These are the actual facts and they speak for themselves.

When it comes to income, Mr. Chair, in 1997 earned income per person was at 66 per cent of the national average. In 2004, earned income per person increased by 76 per cent of the national average and personal income grew up to a further 3.4 per cent in 2005 as wage gains were realized.

When we talk about investment, in 2005 capital investment in this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador rose by 1.8 per cent to a record, and I say to this honourable House, to a record of $4.3 billion; an incredible feat. A positive sign of building the economy of our Province.

When it comes to industries, Mr. Chair, retail trade has been steadily increasing over the last number of years. Retail sales increased by 2.2 per cent to $5.9 billion and are expected to increase by a further 2.3 per cent in 2006. The value of manufacturing shipments exceeded $3 billion for the second consecutive year in 2005. Real mineral exports, Mr. Chair, are estimated to have grown from 40 per cent in 2005, due to the increase of iron ore shipments from Labrador West and the first ore from Voisey's Bay in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Mr. Chair, Voisey's Bay mineral shipments are expected to approximate $860 million this year. Newsprint shipments are estimated to have increased 4.7 per cent in 2005 to 766,000 tons. White Rose is expected to ramp up to peak production, almost 34 million barrels, and total oil production in 2006 is expected to exceed $140 million. This is not a time for doom and gloom, Mr. Chair, this is a time for us to look towards our future, with a good strategy, as the Premier said yesterday, to work our strategy and to make the right decisions for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and indeed, to make the right decisions for the future of our children and our grandchildren because that is why each and every member on this side of the House is here, Mr. Chair, and I can tell you, that is what we are going to accomplish over the course of the next little while.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: So, I can understand why my good friend, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair, is a little sour these days. She can throw all the rhetoric over across the way she likes, Mr. Chair, but I can tell you, at the end of my four year term I will have no trouble of racking up my accomplishments as an MHA and a Parliamentary Secretary on this side of the House, and I will put it up against hers and the Member for Torngat Mountains any day of the week because we are not talking about it, we are doing - and I said this many times before, Mr. Chair, this government will not be judged by our words, it will be judged by our actions and we have seen that over the course of the last two weeks.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

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

MR. HICKEY: By leave, Mr. Chair?

CHAIR: Does the hon member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: By leave.

MR. HICKEY: Just a few closing comments, Mr. Chair.

The future of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador has never been so bright, and as we continue to invest in education, and as we continue to invest in education, as we continue to invest in health care - and we have made significant investments - and as we invest in infrastructure and training, we will be the bright light. I have no doubt that we will be the bright light of this country, and indeed Atlantic Canada. All the indicators are showing it.

I say to my hon. members across the way, you can try to spread doom and gloom but I can tell you what: this government, this Premier, this caucus, are going to do the right things, just as we did today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HICKEY: When we went and basically said there has been an injustice to our female public servants in this Province, we rectified that today. I can tell you, we are going to do more of this in the future.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.

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

It is a pleasure to stand and take a few moments to, I guess, relate to Bill 2, in some degree, and try to respond to some of the comments that you hear across the way throughout the afternoon.

I want to say to my hon. colleague from Lake Melville, I hope the people in a lot of the communities around this Province - by the way, I am not one who stands for doom and gloom. There have been many good things announced for this Province over the last few weeks, and I congratulate whoever was involved to see that came to reality, the whole works, but I also want to say, with all sincerity, if everybody thinks that everything is all fine right around this Province, especially in rural Newfoundland, I say to my hon. colleague from Lake Melville, he had better smell the roses once again. Because I am going to tell you, there are people in many communities - Harbour Breton, Fortune and Stephenville - who are wondering, I guess, where he is coming from, with the comments that he made, even though there are many nice announcements, good announcements, and good initiatives being made.

Mr. Chairman, I want to just use, I guess, the theme that the Member for Gander used when he was up speaking a little while ago. He said, a good plan takes time to implement. I want to spend my few moments that I have this afternoon on two areas for which I am the critic: Human Resources, Labour and Employment; and Education, the area from K-12. I agree with the comment that he made but, Mr. Chairman, I have to say that a plan was not thoroughly thought out when some changes took place in that department, as well as some of the changes that are being considered for the Department of Education.

I will go with the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment first. Mr. Chairman, I can go right back to my own district. There was an office in Bay Roberts. The office closed and everything was moved to Carbonear. I, as well as the other people in that area, felt that wasn't all that bad of a move - a ten-minute drive, inconvenient for some people who did not have a vehicle, but it was manageable - but, lo and behold, what was the next move? You have constituents calling you and saying, my case worker now is in Placentia, quite a distance for people to travel. With a new system of the telephone technology, which the former minister spoke about, it was very difficult for those people to correspond back and forth with their worker.

Then, a little while after that, I get another call from constituents, our office now is moved from Carbonear to Placentia and, lo and behold, we hit home base; it is all administered now in St. John's. Quite a distance for people to travel, quite an inconvenience.

Why I am bringing those things up, I know next Thursday is Budget Day. Probably the Minister of Finance has the final T's crossed and the I's dotted, but I would like for him to consider some of those things. I mean, now we are flushed with money to the degree that we can do wonderful things around this Province, and I congratulate you and your government for that, but I think the ordinary people have lost a lot by the services being taken away from them. I will give you an example. One gentleman called me last week with regard to transportation to the hospital. He had to be in here on Monday and again on Tuesday. He called his worker on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and unable to make contact at the office in Carbonear. He called me on Saturday and said: Roland, I am unable to get in touch with my worker. I have called the on-call worker, and the response that I got back: You have to call your worker Monday morning. The man had to be into the Health Sciences at 8:30 in the morning to be admitted.

Anyway, I got on the phone and called the on-call worker and she told me the same story. I said: I am sorry, that is not reasonable. The man cannot call his worker for transportation 8:30 in the morning when he is supposed to be at the Health Sciences. Eventually, over a period of time, that issue had been resolved.

That is the type of thing we are finding with the new changes. We had to get involved. If I didn't get involved, that gentleman would not have made his appointment that day.

We talk about appeals. Many people apply for drug cards and services through social services and they are rejected for whatever reasons. They are given the option to appeal. Mr. Chair, the appeal process now, at one time it could be dealt with in the regional office and in a faster period of time for turnaround.

I had one gentleman call me the other day with a transportation issue which had been rejected. When I checked it out for him he said: I cannot believe that I do not have a response back from my first level of appeal. I checked the regional office in Carbonear, I had to call in here to St. John's, and after five weeks his appeal only reached the level of the first stages for that appeal to be considered. Those are the changes that took place. At the time we said: Look, why don't you go slower, move a bit slower and see what is happening here?

Many things are happening like that. The application process: people now cannot go in and see their workers. They have to fill it out, mail it in. There is a major turnaround and it is very inconvenient for those people. What I said when those changes took place - and I believe, as the hon. member said, that a plan has to take time to be implemented. This is a prime example where this did not happen. The people are losing out and services are being taken from them.

Madam Chair, the other issue is with the Department of Education. We saw the draft of the Multi-Year School Organization and Capital Works Plan. The consultants report was the first thing that came down and then the people in the various areas, who had concerns on what was recommended, went and made their comments to the boards at various levels. I went and made a ten minute presentation. That was what we are allowed to do. When the report came back we met at Amalgamated Academy in Bay Roberts, when the Eastern School District brought back their Draft Multi-year School Organization and Capital Works Plan and so on. The Chair of the Board stated very clearly - I asked government to intervene on this, and I know the boards are who run the system, but the Chair stood that day in the auditorium and said: The information that we are releasing here tonight is based solely on what we heard from the presentations, not from the consultant's report or anybody else. I can tell you the report that was read out for my area, there wasn't one recommendation that came from the reports that they received from the people. I do not know where they came from. The boards are not saying what they received from the people when they went around and heard their meetings.

The other day we heard again about 151 teachers staying in the system. Good news! But if there are problems in the schools prior to, with the 151 in the system, surely that is not going to correct the problems. I know there were two other announcements made, $250,000 for the teacher allocation model, another $150,000 to look at the assessment and the study on pathways model. I would venture to say, Madam Chair, that when those studies are done it will all come down to the one item again, shortage of staff, where it is regular teachers in the system, whether it is those who are with special education students or those who deal with children with disabilities. You can study it to death, but the bottom line is, that extra people have to be put into the system to work with and further the education of our children.

MR. DENINE: You should have thought of that many years ago.

MR. BUTLER: Madam Chair, my hon. colleague for Mount Pearl says we should have thought about that years ago. I can tell you, your government should have thought about it before 500 teachers came out in the last two years. Five hundred teachers came out of the system over the last two years and you are going to leave 151 in there and are going to solve all of the problems. It just cannot happen.

I say, Madam Chair, when this system is looked into properly and the teachers - we hear about how you went around and consulted with all the stakeholders. Well the Premier, not too long ago, came back, when the teachers were being dismissed for speaking out, and said he knew nothing about it. Surely goodness, if they were consulted over the last twelve months teachers would not have to be disciplined and removed from the classrooms for speaking out on what now you are trying to correct. It comes down to the bottom line; more teachers in the system, Madam Chair.

MADAM CHAIR (S. Osborne): Order, please!

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

MR. BUTLER: Leave to clue up, Madam Chair?

MADAM CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: Leave.

MADAM CHAIR: By leave.

MR. BUTLER: Just to clue up, Madam Chair, and I thank you for leave: The bottom line is, I will call upon the Minister of Finance and this government to just reconsider, even though there are wonderful things happening, implementing some of the services that have been taken away from those who are the most vulnerable in our society, and to see that this wrong has been corrected.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Bonavista South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FITZGERALD: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would just like to stand today to say a few words on the resolution, Interim Supply, which is something that always happens this time of the year, where we look for an expenditure of money in order to be able to pay those who do a great job for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is what this debate is all about, and I am sure that before the end of March people on both sides of the House will see that that will happen. In the process, a debate will take place and it is a great opportunity to talk about some things that are happening in our districts and in Newfoundland and Labrador in general.

Madam Chair, when I hear people from both sides - I think I can relate to both sides of the House here because I sat for ten years in Opposition and I am fully aware of the responsibility of the Opposition and I am fully aware of what the theme of their conversation and the theme of their debate will be, but I would like to also refer to some of the positive things that are happening.

I can relate to both sides as well because I can tell you that I represent a district where everything is not bright and rosy and red as well. Madam Chair, I have communities that are not much different today, in fact no different, than they were when I sat on that side of the House. I am fully aware of that. In fact, Madam Chair, one community that I always refer to has160 people living there and five people get up in the morning and go to work. That hasn't changed. I, for one, will never stand and say that we have the answer to every community in Newfoundland and Labrador. It didn't happen prior to 2003 and I don't think it will ever happen, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, I get a little bit disturbed when I hear people say that rural Newfoundland and Labrador is dead, rural Newfoundland and Labrador is dying. I think that is an injustice, Madam Chair. I think that is an injustice to the people who have gone to rural Newfoundland and Labrador and have tried to make a difference.

Madam Chair, go out and tell George Greening from Musgravetown who just invested his life's saving in putting a meat market on route 230, employing his family and other people, go out and tell him and convince him that rural Newfoundland and Labrador is dead. Go out and talk to the farmers in Musgravetown and Lethbridge. Two of them are my brothers. One fellow is in the process of investing, being responsible for personally, $1.7 million in building a new dairy barn, state-of-the-art. Another farmer living in my colleague from Terra Nova's district, Madam Chair, who just invested a similar amount of money, put his life on the line, the life of his family, go out and tell him that rural Newfoundland and Labrador is dead. It is a great injustice, I say to people opposite. Those people believe in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Go out and talk to Kevin Sexton in Bloomfield. Go out and tell Kevin Sexton that rural Newfoundland and Labrador is dead, a man who just went out and spent a year, a full year, trying to raise capital to take over a lumber business that was owned by a group of people in New Brunswick that ran the thing into bankruptcy, today employing over seventy-five people with, again, his life's commitment, his life's earnings, his life's savings, his life's investment on the line. Go out and tell him that he is not going to be able to find eighty people to go to work, that rural Newfoundland and Labrador is dead.

Go over to Jamestown, Madam Chair, another district, another community in my district, and talk to Bob Dingwall, the other lumber yard, one of the biggest lumber yards in Newfoundland, that just made sizable investments in the lumber business, employing a similar number of people, probably in excess of eighty people, not on a seasonal basis. Those lumber yards are working year-round, paying good wages. Again, it is a family business. His family is involved. Go out and tell Bob Dingwall that rural Newfoundland and Labrador is dead. There is no future, Bob. Move out of there. Lay off your people. You cannot make a living there. Mr. Chairman, that is not the message that we want to send. That is not the message that we want to send. I think we do it an injustice.

Let's move down to Princeton, where a farmer from Alberta sold off his business up in Alberta, came down to Princeton, invested over $1.5 million of his own money, built a golf course, Madam Chair, and moved his family from Alberta to Princeton. His wife is working. His two sons, who had jobs in Alberta, professional people, moved back to Princeton. Go and tell Barry and Linda Stuber that Newfoundland and Labrador is dead. No need to come here and invest money; this is not where you want to be. What an injustice to be done to the rural parts of this Province. It is terrible.

Go down and tell John Prince, who works as an entertainer up in Ontario, who has taken his life's savings and gone down and invested his money in Princeton by building Prince Haven trailer park - taken his life's savings. Send him the message up in Ontario. He has not moved back to Newfoundland, but he has his life savings invested here. Tell him. Let's send him a message, because it is coming. It is coming from here. Rural Newfoundland and Labrador is dead. We cannot do anything there. Turn off the lights. Move away.

Madam Chair, that is the gravest injustice that any person in this House can ever do to this Province. Madam Chair, do we have challenges? Absolutely. I have two FPI fish plants, one in Port Union, one in Bonavista, unsure from one year to the next what is going to happen. They are not packing up and leaving. They are working with the problems, they are working with their Member of the House of Assembly, they are working with their Member of Parliament, they are working with government, in trying to seek out answers and to get the best results that they can possibly get, and the most work that they can possibly get, from this fishing company, and that is what should be done. That is what should be done.

Now, we can get up and talk about people leaving this Province. Every day, every hour, every minute, we can all come up with a name, but guess what, Madam Chair? Some of the people who leave this Province leave by choice. Some of the people leaving this Province, it is their choice to go to Alberta and make their $25 and $30 an hour. That is their choice. God bless them, I did it myself. It is their choice to go up and work in the oil fields for their twenty-five or thirty weeks so they can make good money, send it back here to support their families, and move back home in the wintertime. That is their choice. Many people living in this Province today work up in the oil fields in Alberta, where their employer pays their way every twenty-eight days to go to an oil field in Northern Alberta, work for twenty-eight days, and their labour is so valuable and their skills are in such need that their employer puts them on a plane and then flies them back home for twelve days. I do not see a lot wrong with that life, to be honest with you, if that is what people choose to do.

Madam Chair, I have a son-in-law who works offshore. He goes out into the oil field at White Rose, on the SeaRose, works three weeks and comes home for three weeks. I do not hear him complaining because it is what he wants to do. Whether that individual gets a boat - and many of them do it, from the same boat that he works on. They go to the boat, they fly them into St. John's and most of them, a lot of them, get on the plane and go back to Alberta and go back to British Columbia because that is where they live. It is not only here in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is not unique to us. If people choose to do that, then I do not see a lot wrong with it, Madam Chair.

I realize my time is up. I just wanted to add those few words. We do not have all of the answers, do not profess to have them. Are we going to resolve all of the problems? Absolutely not! Nobody has ever said they would. Are there going to be challenges? There will be challenges before the Budget and there will be challenges after the Budget.

Madam Chair, let me say to you, let's not go out shouting that rural Newfoundland and Labrador is dead, let's not go out talking about all the negative things, because we serve an injustice to the people that believe in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, invest in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and believe in Newfoundlanders.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I rise to add my few comments to the debate here today.

I say to the Member for Bonavista South: Great speech if all of the things you are saying - which I have no doubt they are in your district. I say to the member: Why don't you take a little drive out in Stephenville. If you wonder why we are bringing up issues, take a drive out in Stephenville. Your Premier stood there at the gates out in Stephenville and said: This mill will not close under my watch in 2003. Go out and see how many people are moving away.

Why don't you take a little trip down to Harbour Breton. When was the last time you were down in Harbour Breton? I do not say it was in the last year or so, or you would not be making such a speech. When was the last time you made a trip down on the Burin Peninsula? I can assure you it was not in the last couple of weeks. I can assure you that. When was the last time you took a trip up the Northern Peninsula? I can assure you it was not within the last year. I can go on and on.

When the Member for Bonavista South gets up and wants to say that everything is rosy and that we should not be bringing up issues on behalf of rural Newfoundland and Labrador, we would be doing them an injustice. I can tell the member and I can tell the members opposite: Until the people of the Bay of Islands say that I am not their member I will raise issues on their behalf. If you call me doom and gloom by being a realist, I am doom and gloom. If the people in Stephenville and the people on the Northern Peninsula and the people in Harbour Breton say to me, Ed, we have issues, we need them raised, I will raise them.

I can tell the member and I can tell members opposite, when you were over on this side there was a lot more doom and gloom, even now with the $2 billion, even if it was not. So, don't anybody stand up in this House and try to tell me that we should not bring up issues on behalf of rural Newfoundland and Labrador because I can tell you, if certain people down on the Burin Peninsula were honest to the people that were elected they would be up here giving the same speeches we are now. They would be asking questions of their own government.

The Member for Bonavista, I am glad things are great in your district but I can assure you they are not rosy everywhere around the Province.

MR. FITZGERALD: Point of Order, Madam Speaker.

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. Member for Bonavista South, on a point of order.

MR. FITZGERALD: I say to the hon. Member for the Bay of Islands, if he is going to repeat what this member said then he should get it accurate, because if anybody wanted to refer back and read Hansard or look back on what I said it was quite the opposite of what the member is portraying that this member said. I say to the member, this member will speak for himself but I do not need you to repeat in a different light what this member said.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: There is no point of order.

The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE: Obviously, Madam Chair, he cannot accept reality. There was no point of order.

Travel around the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and make the same speech.

MR. SKINNER: Tell the truth.

MR. JOYCE: Here is the Member for St. John's Centre saying: Tell the truth, tell the truth! You are hearing it, Madam Chair, inferring that I am not telling the truth. I will give an example. He gave a reply to the Speech from the Throne yesterday - just one little example - and everybody over there applauded when he said he was so proud of the Premier when the Premier stood up and said - I was so glad when you came out and said that the teachers could stand up and speak - time for the teachers to come forth. Everybody applauded. The Member for St. John's Centre said how he was so proud of him. I would say to the Member for St. John's Centre, here is an article in the Western Star. The Mayor of the City of Corner Brook, on the issue of the super school in Corner Brook, is not allowed to speak because the school board would not allow him to speak. So when you stand up here and say, oh, the Premier said teachers could speak, absolutely not true. Absolutely false!

Here is the Mayor of Corner Brook, on behalf of the school board, who cannot speak up for the people on the super committee.

MR. RIDEOUT: (Inaudible).

MR. JOYCE: That is exactly what he said.

MR. RIDEOUT: (Inaudible) an employee of the board.

MR. JOYCE: If the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture wants to have his few words, you can go ahead.

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. JOYCE: You can go right ahead. I will show the article. Once again I will show the article.

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. JOYCE: Then we see the Member for Trinity North going around having these sessions for the seniors, going around this Province. He was Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health.

MR. ORAM: That is good.

MR. JOYCE: The Member for Terra Nova is saying that is good. I say to the Member for Terra Nova, and the member: Were you out in Corner Brook last week when they were moving an eighty-year-old senior from Corner Brook to Port aux Basques because they couldn't find a bed? You are going around giving these big sessions on how: Oh, we are doing this for seniors. Those are the issues I am bringing up in this House of Assembly. Ask the Minister of Justice: Where did you mysteriously find a bed.

Then the Member for Trinity North going around with all these sessions: We are doing this for seniors. Look at the things you are doing to people, the harm you are putting them through. An eighty-year-old senior citizen who had a stroke, who cannot speak for herself, and you are going to move her somewhere where there is no family involved! The Member for Bonavista South: Everything is fine! Everything is great! Go ask those poor family members who last week were going through the stress that there mother was going, and all of the sudden, the Minister of Justice, one of his staff members, leaves a message on their machine saying: Oh, the minister is against that. If the minister is really against that, like your staff member said, why don't you put a halt to Recommendation 172 right now? Why don't you put a halt to it? Out in Corner Brook, you staff are saying that you are against it, so put a halt to it. The Member for Stephenville East put a halt to the recommendations in the Hay Report for her district. Why don't you do it?

When you are out around and out in the media saying that everything is fine, everything is great, it is the personal issues that matter. That is what is being lost with all this here. It is the personal issues that are being lost. If you want to talk about hypocritical? The Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health, when he was in Opposition and he was talking about the drug for Alzheimer's - Opposition Health Policy and Planning Critic, Ross Wiseman, said he is disappointed in government's decision to once again not add Aricept to the prescription drug program. The cost is beyond the reach of many who suffer from this dreaded disease, he says. We are talking not only about significant improvements to the quality of life for patients and their families, but about relieving pressure on one of the most stressed parts of our health care system. This man sat as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health for three years after making those statements and it is still not done. Hypocritical, going around and saying that everything is just fine, everything is just rosy! I should not be bringing up issues around here. I should not be discussing any issues whatsoever around here. Oh, no, and the parliamentary assistant is saying: stay tuned. I hope that drug is included. I will applaud the government if it is done. We have asked for $2 billion. Do you think you can do it? The parliamentary assistant is going on though, hanging around with the Minister of Health. I have yet to hear him stand up in this House of Assembly, since he was Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health, and say that drug should be put under the drug program.

AN HON. MEMBER: Three different Ministers of Health.

MR. JOYCE: Three different Ministers of Health, I was told by my colleague. I have yet to see him make another speech here. So if you want to stand up and say that we should not bring issues forward, that everything is rosy, look at yourself. Look at your own statements that you have made.

If you want to look at rural Newfoundland and Labrador, Harbour Breton. We were just told today that Harbour Breton never even got a quota for shrimp. The Premier was down telling the people of Harbour Breton: No, there is no need to come down, that is in safe hands. No need to go to Ottawa, it is in safe hands. No, don't go out and lobby, it is all taken care of. Now we find out that it isn't. So the whole master plan, the whole strategy that the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development had, now plan one is gone. That was a big part of the plug that she had for Harbour Breton. Now that is thrown out the window. So now we have to go back and plan again.

Let's go down the Burin Peninsula. I congratulate the Minister of Environment and Conservation on his appointment. I congratulate you. Well, let's see if you are going to speak up like you did before. Let's see if you are going to stand up in this House of Assembly now that you are in Cabinet and stand up for the people who put you there. We know the minister from Trinity North is not going to do it. We are absolutely sure of that. Let's see if the minister is going to do that for the people down in his district. I congratulate the minister, because anybody who is willing to put their name forth in a government or to get elected, when you get in Cabinet it does take a lot of extra stress on you personally and your family. So, minister, I do congratulate you in your position because I know the time consuming that it is going to take for anybody to do it. So congratulations on your appointment anyway, but now you have to stand up for the people who put you there. Let's see if you are going to stand up for the people who put you there, because when it is all said and done -

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

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

MR. JOYCE: Leave to clue up?

MADAM CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MADAM CHAIR: By leave.

MR. JOYCE: I say to the Minister of Environment and Conservation, I know the Member for Humber East never stood up to get recommendation 172 of the Hay Report, although his staff is phoning and telling people the minister disagrees with it, but he has not stood up to the government yet and said it has to come off the table. Mysteriously, there was a bed found, and to the Minister of Justice, I think with every situation like that, I hope you are going to come through again. Too bad it takes all the media pressure. Too bad it takes all that, but I hope that no senior from the Corner Brook area will have to be moved where there are no family members to help out with their support. I hope that is done.

Madam Chair, I will be back. Just on one more little point, and I will say this here for all government members. When there are good things done I have no problem praising government, and my track record will show that. My track record will show that if there is something positive, then I will applaud and I will work with the government to get it done. There is absolutely no doubt about it. Be assured, if there are issues for me in the Bay of Islands, Corner Brook area, or if there are issues anywhere that people ask me to raise, I will raise them. I will raise them to the best of my ability until the people of the Bay of Islands turn around and say to me: You do not deserve to be our member. Until then, I will raise the issues and I will not raise the issues with rose-coloured glasses on. I will be a realist.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am confused again today, because it seems that every time the Opposition gets up to speak I get confused about what they are trying to say. I remember just a few months ago, actually it was probably a year ago, this government was accused of not enough consultation. Does anybody here remember that?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Yes.

MR. ORAM: Not enough consultation. It was a big thing over there. In fact, they used to use it as a theme in every Question Period, I believe, not enough consultation. Today, the hon. Member for Bay of Islands stands and talks about the fact that we are having too much consultation because the Member for Trinity North is going around -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Bay of Islands on a point of order.

MR. JOYCE: Madam Chair, it is not the lack of consultation. It is consultation with an eighty-year-old patient who has to move out to Port aux Basques and you will not consult with their families. That is the lack of consultation.

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

MR. JOYCE: When that person has to move to Port aux Basques and the Minister of Justice will not even meet with them, that is the lack of consultation I am talking about, let me tell you!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

MR. ORAM: Yes, that is right, there is no point of order.

The fact is, I do not need the Member for Bay of Islands to tell me how to treat seniors, or tell this government how to treat seniors. I will tell you how we treat seniors. We treat seniors by providing new seniors' homes in this Province, such as the one we are building in Corner Brook. That is what we do!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: We do not treat seniors as the members across the way used to do when my grandfather was looking for a nursing home bed and could not get one either. Not only could he not get a bed, but the fact was there was no long-term strategic plan as to how to deal with seniors. That is the kind of stuff that they did. So, I do not need any lessons from the Member for Bay of Islands about what we did not do for our seniors.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: As I was saying before, and I will continue to say it because there was no point of order. The Member for Trinity North is doing a great service to this Province. He is doing a great service to seniors, because what is he doing? He is going around the Province and he is trying to find out what the issues are for seniors. Is there anything wrong with that? I ask the people of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador: Is there anything wrong with that?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: The Member for Trinity North is going around trying to find out what issues there are for seniors. Are there issues for seniors? There absolutely are issues for seniors. There is no question about that, but we are working towards a plan. We are putting a strategy in place. It is just as the Premier had said yesterday - and I know I am hitting a nerve over there, Madam Chair, but the fact is that the truth is the truth. I cannot help it. I cannot help it that this is a great government to sit with. I cannot help it that we have a great leader who has promised a great future for this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: I cannot help that. I cannot help it that the fact of the matter is that every time we sit in this House it gets better and better and better.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: There is always better news. There is always better news coming through. Again, I am hitting more nerves and you know, that is okay. I do not mind that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: I remember my grandfather, as a minister he would always say: when you are doing good things in the community you are going to get some opposition. I guess when we are doing good things in the Province we are going to get a bit of opposition. I will say this as well, without sounding too conceited, I will say this, that maybe when I am doing the right speech I am getting a little bit of opposition as well. The fact of the matter is, that there are good things happening in this Province. I can tell you that I am proud to stand on this side of the House. I am proud to stand with this government and we are willing and we are ready to face problems head on.

I was interested in listening to the hon. Leader of the Opposition yesterday in his speech just after the Throne Speech came down, when he was talking about the fact that it seems like there is not much change. One government comes and one government goes, and the Opposition talks about how bad it is and the government talks about how good it is. I am going to tell you the difference in it. The difference is simply this, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, through this government, through this Premier, have finally found - one word, and I used it before in this House and I will continue to use it - they finally found hope. And that is what I live for.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: I can tell you, in 2003 - look, do you know what? The members opposite may laugh, as they accuse us of laughing all the time - we are serious about governing this Province. We are very serious about it, I can tell you right now.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. ORAM: Let me say this to the members opposite, if I could have the opportunity to speak without the heckling that we are having.

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: Let me say this to you: If you look at the polls - I don't want to get down and dirty. I don't want to do that, but -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: If you look at the polls, the members opposite have nothing to laugh about, not a thing. If I was sitting over there, I would very, very discouraged today about what the polls are showing.

The good thing about the polls, they don't only show the good numbers for this side of the government. It is not just that. I will tell you what it shows. It shows that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have hope for this Province. I can tell you that right now.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: When we came into power in 2003, I can tell you right now, there was a mess. We can try to explain it out all you want. I heard some talk yesterday about, oh, the government came up with a new way of accounting.

Do you know what? I went home last night, and I lay back and thought: he was talking about accrued accounting as being something new, something different. I couldn't wait this morning to get on the phone and call my accountant, actually, to talk about accrued accounting. Is that a new thing? Am I missing something? Because I am sure that every financial statement that I have looked at since 1996 has shown accruals, every one. So, I said, it can't be right.

Just in case my accountant was off a little bit and didn't know, I went to the hon. Member for Topsail, because I trust her judgement. I think that she pretty well knows what she is talking about in terms of finances, financial statements, and all of these things. I said: Hon. Member for Topsail, please tell me this: Is it possible that this is a new system, that this is something new that our Premier came up with? Her words were simply this: No, no, not at all! This has been around for years.

Do you know what? We didn't make it up. The fact of the matter is that this Province was in trouble financially. We are not out of trouble right now. No, we do not have all the answers. Everything is not perfect, but the fact is that we are moving forward.

If you look at where we were in 2003, I remember the Premier speaking to caucus day after day and saying: Do you know what? Things are pretty bad financially. We have a big challenge ahead of us.

I remember one thing that the Premier said, and I will never forget some of the things that he says, and this is one thing that he said: But I believe that this team is up for the challenge.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: I can tell you right now, members opposite may not think so but the people of Newfoundland and Labrador know we are up for the challenge, and we are up for the challenge!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: When I listen to the members opposite, again, I hear so much doom and gloom. I understand that there are areas in the Province that are finding it more difficult than others, there is no question about that, but I take hope in this -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: If the Member for the Bay of Islands would just give me an opportunity to speak here, I will tell you this: You can be sure that if you look at the doom and gloom that is there - they talk about, as I said, the situations in other areas - let me tell you right now that this Province is in good hands. There is a plan for all of the areas that have been affected. There is a plan for Harbour Breton.

A little while ago, somebody said we do not have a plan for Harbour Breton; there is nothing we can do. I want to tell you that the Premier - Minister Dunderdale has worked tirelessly to come up with a plan for Harbour Breton. The announcement was made. What did I hear from the members opposite when the announcement was made? Oh, that is no good. That cannot work. That is no good.

Look, I am telling you right now, this plan can work and we have to have hope. We have to have a positive attitude about it. The people of Harbour Breton, this day, right now -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: - they see a glimmer of hope, and that is good because we need our people to have a glimmer of hope. I can tell you that our Premier will take on - our Premier and our government will take on - every issue that we have.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: Every community that is finding it difficult, we will stand -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: - shoulder to shoulder with those communities, and we will make a difference.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Yes, I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition for giving me a clap. I appreciate that. The fact is, it is worth clapping for, I say to the member opposite. It is worth clapping for, because the fact is, our government is prepared to deal with issues head on, unlike the previous government. We saw time after time, when the previous government was there, do you know what they did? They brushed it under the rug. They would go to Ottawa. We would have the former Premier Tobin run up to Ottawa and try to get a barrel of money, a real quick barrel of money, and what would he do? He would say: Give us the money that is supposed to come over three or four years. Let us take that up front and throw it all in there, just to make it look good so we can get elected again. That is what the previous government did, but today we do not do it that way. We look at things in a strategic manner. Our Premier, as he said yesterday when he spoke so adamantly and so well, the Premier talked about this - the Premier is good - he said: Look, we have a -

MR. JOYCE: Sit down!

MR. ORAM: I won't sit down, I say to the Member for Bay of Islands.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: I allowed you to stand and talk, and I will stand and talk for as long as I want to talk.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ORAM: Our Premier, yesterday, talked about a strategy. We have a strategy for this Province. You know, it started, as I said, with a bit of a hard time in 2003 but I will tell you right now, this government, this Premier, put together a proper strategy to move forward. If you are in business, there is one thing you learn when you are in business: you cannot just do things on the whim; because, if you do, without proper planning, that business will fail. I want to tell you right now that this government will not do things on a whim. They will not do it because oh, you know what, we need to rally up now as fast as we can. We need to come up with some good announcements so we can get re-elected. It is not about that. It is not about re-election.

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: It is about what is right for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador -

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. ORAM: - and we will continue to do what is right for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. member his time has expired.

MR. ORAM: Just to clue up for a moment?

MADAM CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

MADAM CHAIR: By leave.

MR. ORAM: The Member for Bay of Islands wants me to be nice when I clue up.

Again, you know, Madam Chair, I just want to say today, the most important thing that we can give our people in this Province, the most important thing that we can give our people from Harbour Breton, from Marystown, from Fortune, from all of the smaller rural communities -

AN HON. MEMBER: Jobs.

MR. ORAM: Yes, a job, that is right, but I am going to tell you now, the job will come after the hope comes back. I am telling you, the hope has come back in this Province. I am so happy to be a part of this government. This government is here to work for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. I can tell you right now, we are not going to stop today, we are not going to stop tomorrow, we are not going to stop next week, but we are going to go into the future being proud and doing the things that are right for this Province!

Thank you, Madam Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Madam Chair.

You talk about conversions. You hear about the conversion on the road to Damascus but, Madam Chair, this is a conversion that has happened over the past year, I guarantee you. If the Member for Terra Nova is listening, maybe I will tell him about the conversion that he had.

It is just about a year ago today, we all remember the big strike that was in the fishery last year because this government was trying to foist upon the fishermen and the fish harvesters of this Province the Raw Material Sharing program against their wishes, and that we had the fishermen and the fisher women of this Province out on the street for, what was it, eight weeks last spring? During that eight weeks, when the previous minister was talking about sharing up the quotas of fish between the fish plants and among the fish plants in the Province, the member opposite, the member representing Terra Nova, sent his cousin from - what is the town he is from?

MR. ORAM: A point of order.

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Terra Nova, on a point of order.

MR. ORAM: Madam Chair, the hon. Leader of the Opposition is saying that I sent my cousin. I did no such thing as send my cousin. I would ask him to retract those statements. I did not send my cousin anywhere. What my family do is their own intention, their own belief, not what I would tell them to do. I certainly did not send them to come in and see him or anybody else.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I will rephrase it. At the time when this government was telling the individual plants in the Province how much crab they were allowed to produce, this gentleman's cousin, who operates a plant in Glovertown, came to me and said: Mr. Reid, I have been told by my cousin, the Member for Terra Nova, that I should come and talk to you about the allocation of crab.

MR. ORAM: A point or order.

CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Terra Nova, on a point of order.

MR. ORAM: Madam Chair, I would just like to say, before the hon. the Leader of the Opposition starts making statements that I asked my cousin to go and see him, I think he had better find out that is absolutely false, not true. Nobody has ever said that I said untrue statements. I can tell you right now, it is absolutely, totally, false.

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Madam Chair.

I can tell you, Madam Chair, I do not lie in the House of Assembly. I do not lie! All I am saying is if he has a problem with what I am saying he should take it up with his cousin. That is all I am saying.

Anyway, the hon. gentleman from Glovertown came to me and said: I have been asked or told by my cousin to come and talk to you about the allocation of crab that I am allowed to process this year.

MR. ORAM: A point of order.

MR. REID: Madam Chair, are you going to continue to let him interrupt me and take my time?

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Terra Nova, on a point of order.

MR. ORAM: Madam Chair, again the hon. Leader of the Opposition is trying to give information that I feel and that I know is not correct. If he continues to give incorrect information, I will continue to stand on a point of order. If you give the right information, then that is fine, I will not stand on a point of order, but if you continue to give the wrong information I will continue to stand.

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

MR. REID: Thank you, Madam Chair.

Are you going to allow him, as he just said, to continue to interrupt me for my fifteen minutes here today? All I am saying is what the individual from Glovertown told me. If he has a problem with it take it up with him.

The problem he had is that he did not like the allocation of crab he was given by the Province. He told me, in that conversation - and by the way, Madam Chair, I did sign two or three affidavits with the individual's lawyer in Clarenville who was representing him in court when he was taking the provincial government to court. I did sign affidavits with the lawyer in Clarenville. If you want to know the firm, I will tell you that as well.

During the conversation I had with him, the individual told me, his cousin told me, that the member for the district would have come too only it was in the confines of the House of Assembly when I met with him and he did not want to do that. He did say that his cousin, the member, suggested that if I would go out for dinner with him somewhere he would go with me as well.

MR. ORAM: A point of order.

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

MR. ORAM: I cannot continue to listen to these slanderous remarks about me or my family for that matter. All I will say to the hon. member is, if he wants to prove all these allocations, fair enough, lay it on the table so you can prove it. I can tell you right now, the comments that you are making, whether you were told this or not, are absolutely false.

MADAM CHAIR: There is no point of order. There appears to be a disagreement between two members.

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. REID: Thank you, Madam Chair.

Again, all I am saying to the hon. gentleman across the floor is that is what I was told by his cousin. If he has a problem with it take it up with him. The long and short of it is the gentleman took the Province to court because of his allocation. I was told exactly what I stated here in the House of Assembly this afternoon by his cousin and I will not retract it because it is true. If he has a problem take it up.

Anyway, not to belabour the point, Madam Chair, because I just wanted to make a point - you talk about a conversion! - let me talk about another conversion. The Member for Bonavista South stood up here just then and talked about the role of Opposition, and he was over here from 1993 to 2003.

MR. ORAM: (Inaudible).

MR. REID: Can I get some protection from the Member for Terra Nova, Madam Chair?

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. REID: He stood here for ten years and every single year he rose over here around this time and criticized everything in the Budget, and his pet peeve, I guess, at the time was roads. He told about roads every time he stood in the House of Assembly and the need for more money and more pavement on the Bonavista Highway and elsewhere in his district.

Madam Chair, he gave the impression, in standing here today, that everything again was rosy in his district. Even though he said that it is not all rosy -

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

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Member for Bonavista South, on a point of order.

MR. FITZGERALD: I do not mind the hon. Leader of the Opposition - Madam Chair, I know the Leader of the Opposition was moved by my comments, and I do not blame him for wanting to repeat some of them for the lack of knowledge that he has himself about a lot of issues here in the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. FITZGERALD: Let me say to you, Madam Chair, if the member is going to quote something that this member said, I suggest that he get it accurate and quote him correctly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. REID: Madam Chair, words are important. I did not say the hon. member said everything was rosy. I said he left the impression that everything was rosy. So let me continue, Madam Chair, because everything is not rosy in his district. I see him nodding his head over there in agreement with me now, that everything is not rosy in his district.

I ask the Member for Bonavista South if he wants to rise later, or he can rise now, and tell me: How much crab did the fishermen in his district land last year, and the raw materials sharing plan that this government forced upon them, and this member supported in his caucus, this raw material sharing system which you supported, I say to the Member for Bonavista South, how much damage did that do to your crab fishermen last year? Did they make as much money last year in the crab fishery as they make the year before? Did they get the crab that they had the year before? I ask the hon. Member Opposite from Bonavista South: How many weeks work did your plant workers in the crab plant in Bonavista last year make, and were all of them successful in getting enough work weeks in that plant after the strike that was caused by your government? Did they all get enough work weeks to qualify for employment insurance last year?

If things are rosy on the Bonavista Peninsula, I ask the member opposite: Did you have no need last year for a make-work program? Did every community in your district and every individual in all these communities have enough work last year to qualify for employment insurance, so that you did not have to put a make-work program on the Bonavista Peninsula last year? Think about what you are saying. If you stand and say that there are people who leave this Province by choice, yes, I agree, but I will guarantee you that the numbers that are leaving today, the numbers that we are seeing leaving today, not all of those are leaving by choice, Madam Chair. They certainly are not. We are seeing more of an exodus out of this Province this year than we have seen in recent memory.

The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Natural Resources can get up here all they like and yell and scream and say that is not true. I say go outside the overpass to my colleague, the Government House Leader, go to my district and tell me that I am lying. Come back and tell me that I am lying. Go to the rural areas in the Bonavista Peninsula and tell me that I am lying. Go to the Baie Verte Peninsula and tell me that I am lying. Go to the Northern Peninsula and tell me that I am lying. Go to the South Coast of Labrador and tell me that I am lying. Go to the South Coast of Newfoundland and tell me that I am lying. Go to Stephenville and tell me that I am lying. Go to the Burin Peninsula and tell me that I am lying, that there is no out-migration and that there is nobody looking for jobs and that everyone is leaving because they want to leave, like my colleague, the Member for Bonavista South, said. Is that the case?

What do we get in return? What do we get in return from these individuals? We get the Minister Responsible -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. REID: - for Innovation, Trade and Rural Development standing and saying: Do not worry because we are going to stand shoulder to shoulder with you.

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. REID: All I can say to the minister is you better have broad shoulders -

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. REID: - because if you are going to stand here and stand shoulder to shoulder with the crowd who have gone to Alberta -

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

MR. REID: - you better have them.

MADAM CHAIR: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MADAM CHAIR: I remind the hon. member your speaking time has expired.

MR. REID: By leave?

MADAM CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: No leave.

MADAM CHAIR: The hon. the Government House Leader.

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

It is going to be some act to follow, I can say.

Madam Chair, nobody is suggesting, for one moment, that people in Newfoundland and Labrador, in rural parts of the Province in different regions, are not facing challenges. Anyone who suggests that government does not recognize that, not only would it be silly but it would be a false accusation. Why do we have the certain types of programs we have in place in recognition of that? Why are we trying to work through challenges through no fault of our own that have been presented to us? Because we feel a responsibility, an obligation and a duty to, and we must; but, more importantly than that, we are not doing it because we have an obligation and a duty and we feel we must. We are doing it simply because, if we do not, the essence of who we are culturally and historically is what is at stake. That is why we are doing it.

The Leader of the Opposition, he seems to be an angry, resentful individual of late.

AN HON. MEMBER: Bitter.

MR. E. BYRNE: Bitter, yes.

Yesterday, for example, when I listened to his response to the Speech to the Throne, I think he summed up by saying: I know I sound a bit negative, but that is the reality.

Now let's talk about some realities. In 1993, when I was first elected, from then to 1998, 61,000 people left Newfoundland and Labrador. It is not a contrived number; that is an absolute fact. From 1993 to 1998, 60,000 people left Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. E. BYRNE: One second, now. Just one second colleagues, because the whole story needs to be told.

During the same period, from 1993 to 1998, the population of the Northeast Avalon increased significantly. The point is this: Those 60,000 people who migrated out of the Province did not leave urban centres. They left every community, every cove, every bay, in Labrador, on the South Coast and on the Northeast Coast of the Province.

Now, the fact is also this, I say to colleagues both on my side and opposite: The truth is, in the last three years, less people have left this Province than the previous nine years. In the last two years there has been more in-migration than there has been ever before. Now, is that something that we should all be happy about? Yes. Is it something that we should rest our laurels on? Absolutely not, because it is our view if one person has to leave because they do not want to, then that is one person too many.

We can get into a debate about this and that, but the reality is that this is missionary work that we all have to be part of. This is a pilgrimage that we all have to be part of, in terms of what we are trying to accomplish for rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Let me ask the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair: Three years ago, prior to us becoming the government, there was a management agreement signed with the Metis Nation, for example, on forestry, an agreement that we supported for the last two years. Why? Fundamentally, that agreement was put in place and the Metis were part of the management district she represents, and it was put in place for a reason: to look at, from a research and development point of view, how we utilize or get to a point where the utilization of forestry resources in Labrador is done, all of it, in Labrador.

Now, at the Pan Labrador Forestry Conference which I could not get to, but we have made a commitment - I will meet with the operators in her district, and I will be doing that - we funded, this government funded, the $350,000 study for the value-added wood study in Labrador. It is just about done. What that study will show is a plan for value-added activity to take place in Labrador, for Labrador, by Labradorians, of their resource. We did that; and, while it is an important piece of work and, yes, it is important to talk about it, does that mean we do not have much more to do? No, we have lots to do, but I do not hear any members talking about what is about to happen from that point of view.

Let's talk about, in 1996 - and I can reference this from my own historical point of reference in this House. You want to talk about a difference of two premiers. I don't see our Premier bending down on one knee and kissing the hand of a Prime Minister. I have not seen that. I have not seen this Premier talk about how we are balancing the books, or how it has been balanced, when it actually has been.

When one of the measures announced yesterday, one of the measures announced yesterday in the Speech from the Throne was the investment we are going to make in Hydro. You know why it is necessary for us to do that? People will say, well, it is because it is a legitimate investment opportunity. Yes, but there is a more fundamental reason. Let me say to my colleagues, there is a more fundamental reason. Because, while former Liberal Administrations, which the Leader of the Opposition was part of, and members were part of, as Cabinet - and they had to know it. Any member on that side of the House who sat in Cabinet had to know what I am about to say, at the time, because successively and indirectly continuing to haul revenues and more dividends out of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro so that its debt to equity ratio rose from about 78 per cent to 22 per cent, rose from that to about 87 per cent debt to about 13 per cent equity, they stripped the cupboards. While they were doing that, they had the audacity and the gall to talk about balanced budgets when we were really, in the five years from 1996 until when former Premier - a name that should go unspoken, I should say, in this Province - before Premier Tobin left, in excess of a billion dollars was added to the debt of the Province. From 1996 to 2000, in excess of a billion dollars, when he was out bragging about his ability to turn the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador around, and members over there knew it. That is why we invested in Hydro.

Here is another difference in terms of our approach and past approaches. One of the largest and most contentious debates that I participated in as a legislative and elected member in this House occurred in 1994 when we came, as a Province and as a Legislature - my colleague, the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi would know this very well - within weeks, and I mean within weeks, of selling Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro for $350 million, that would have covered the deficit for the Province for that year.

AN HON. MEMBER: Were you in Cabinet then, Yvonne?

MR. E. BYRNE: No, the Member for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair was not elected then.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. E. BYRNE: One second. Let me finish.

The people of the Province, in conjunction with the Opposition of the day, all Opposition members, and one lone member, a former Member for Virginia Waters, had a hand in stopping that.

What are we doing today? We gave notice yesterday of a piece of legislation to invest in Hydro, to move it beyond its traditional reason for being, which was to provide electricity to rate payers and industrial customers. They have done that for the last forty years by conventional means. They have done it by building dams and they have done it by burning Bunker C oil. In that period of time, over that forty-year history that Hydro has had, people need to understand the asset that we have there. They have forty years in the transmission business. They are the fourth largest utility in the country. They have an expertise that we have never even considered, up until now, of exporting. Our government sees Hydro as a huge engine of economic growth, that we need to reinvest to get its equity position higher and its debt lower, which we are going to do, as was said yesterday in the Throne Speech. On top of that, the notice on the legislation, when it is tabled for debate, will see a move to where Hydro can take advantage of ongoing or emerging projects as our energy corporation so that it can raise the type of funds necessary and create a level of revenue that would be unprecedented in its history to be used for the benefit of every person in Newfoundland and Labrador. That is another difference.

For example, I talked to a young teacher last night who is substituting for the last two-and-a-half years. Two years ago and last year, when teachers came out of the system by way of a formula that was put in place by, I think, it was the Williams report -

AN HON. MEMBER: Sparkes.

MR. E. BYRNE: - Sparkes-Williams report, an allocation that continued to take teachers out and then, at the same time, say, well, we did not take as many out, that report and that recommendation came out of a former Administration, and for the last two years we followed it. For the last two years, in particular, the Member for Twillingate & Fogo, as a former Minister of Education, was highly and heavily critical of us.

Yesterday in the Throne Speech -

MR. SULLIVAN: Actually we only took half the number each year.

MR. E. BYRNE: Yes we did, we only took half the number each year, but that wasn't good enough.

Yesterday in the Throne Speech, and the day before that, my colleague, the Minister of Education, with the President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Union, said there would be no teachers coming out this year as a result of that formula, that it is not working.

AN HON. MEMBER: There have been 151.

MR. E. BYRNE: There would have been 151 more units come out of the classroom. We said no to that. We said, we are going to re-evaluate.

Besides the benefit in terms of, for school boards and principals and vice-principals and administrators not having to say, what programs am I going to have to shave this year, that we put a stop to that - we have stopped it for this year to reflect and stand back about our goals and our aspirations for what should be happening in the classroom. Besides all of the obvious benefits, this young teacher who graduated a couple of years ago said to me, do you know what that is going to do for people who are coming into the occupation like me, for those who are now retiring this year? Because those units are not coming out, that is going to give my generation and my age group as new emerging professionals the opportunity to get access to some of those jobs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: In a sense, the opportunity for the system to renew and revitalize with younger and emerging professionals which is part of the everyday cycle of life we live in. It happens right here in this Legislature. Every election this Legislature looks different and there are new and emerging people who come in and bring a contribution to it.

CHAIR (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

I remind the hon. Government House Leader that his time for speaking is expired.

MR. E. BYRNE: Can I take a moment to conclude?

CHAIR: By leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: The hon. member, by leave.

MR. E. BYRNE: Yesterday we did not hear the Leader of the Opposition, the Member for Twillingate & Fogo, talk about that, although a couple days before that is what he was looking for, he said, from the Budget. He did not expect to get it. Now that he got it, he does not want to talk about it.

We did not hear, for example, the Member for Twillingate & Fogo talk about what this government did for the Fogo Co-op in investing $1.4 million in the Co-op to keep it alive and going, operating in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. No, forgot about that. We did not hear the Leader of the Opposition or anyone else talk about the money that we invested in the Member for Bellevue's district in Arnold's Cove to keep a plant up and running, people working, a resource going in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

We did not hear the Leader of the Opposition talk about yesterday in Labrador West in terms of what this government's approach was to a resource compared to the government that he was a part of when the plan was to let IOC reinvent or reactivate a concentrator pellet plant in Sept-Iles to develop in secondary process a Newfoundland and Labrador resource. When it came to our decisions and our view of the world with another proposal for over a year companies putting pressure on, or attempting to I should say, about the only way this project will proceed is that if it is going to be done in Sept-Iles. There will be some benefits, so we have to concentrate on the some benefit part for Labrador West and Labrador and the area. Finally, when they had their economic feasibility study done, I said: Folks, I am not going to waste your time. The Premier of the Province and the government of the day, as far as we are concerned, if it cannot be done within the borders of Newfoundland and Labrador well then it will not be done.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. E. BYRNE: Guess what? Today they are looking at a potential site in Ross Bay Junction.

Now look, we have an obligation as a government to govern. Our demeanor is important. Our outlook on the Province is extremely important.

I remember growing up - and my father was a great fellow for sayings. I will give you a couple of them he used to say to me and my brothers and my sisters all the time. You know there are two things you need in this world, Edward, you need a good pair of shoes and a good bed, because if you are not in one you should be in the other. In other words, it is better for you, as an individual and a Newfoundlander in Newfoundland and Labrador, to work yourself out than let yourself rust out. That is what he used to say.

Another thing he used to say to me. He used to quote this little saying all the time. I do not know where he got it from - from some poem. He said: It depends on how you look at things. Two men can look out through prison bars, one will see mud and one will see stars. Which one are you? He asked the question. So our demeanor and our attitude and our optimism has to be based on something that is real, and we believe it is, but it also has to be tempered with reality and we understand that. We are not ignorant to the fact that there are challenges in regions, but we refuse to give up the ghost and say: That is it, let's pack her up, let's move on.

If anyone thinks for a moment that if my colleague in industry and innovation, or my colleague the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, could pull a quota out of their top drawer today and put it back in Harbour Breton, that we would not do it, it would be done immediately. You have to ask yourself the question, because you were here and it is important for the debate to be real: Do you have one over there, too, because if you don't, why not? We are facing the same challenges that governments face from time to time but we are trying to do it realistically. We are trying to do it with a view that, yes, this is a tough period in a certain area but we are going to get through it and we put a process and processes in place to work with people to do exactly that. That will be the measure of this government, not what they say.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

CHAIR: Order, please!

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

MR. HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I had not intended to make a lengthy speech today. I had a chance yesterday to say a few words and the day before, but I was quite interested in the comments of the Member for Terra Nova who rose in his place and admitted to the House that when he rises up he gets confused, and then he proceeded to prove the fact by stating that he had been misled by someone yesterday when they said that somehow or other the notion of accounting had been changed by this government, that somebody had misled him. He thought that it had been suggested that accrual accounting had been only invented in the last year or two.

Mr. Chairman, I understand the member may be confused. His own accountant will tell him, yes, when you have expenditures that are incurred on a certain date and they do not be spent until next year, that will show up on his balance sheet. I know the member has not been around government for very long. He says he asked the Member for Topsail and the Member for Topsail assured him, oh, no, accrual accounting has been around a long time. I have to agree with that. Yes, accrual accounting has been around a long time. The Member for Topsail was the Auditor General and she probably was one of the people who told the government that they should report and understand that when they make long-term obligations that they should report them, but that never happened. In fact, it required a national organization of accountants to try and set standards for public accounting. They made recommendations. No governments in Canada had reported their accounts by the accrual accounting method; none. Nobody even knew what the long-term obligations of governments were because they were not reported.

For the first time, the first Budget ever presented to this House using the accrual accounting method came with this government. The first time it was ever presented to the people of Newfoundland was by this government, and all of a sudden what was the year before a surplus was a deficit of some $665 million. That is what happened, Mr. Chair. It was because of that kind of reporting, Mr. Chair, I said it at the time, that if you had an unfunded pension liability in the Teacher's Pension Plan, which we had - probably still have until the matter is straightened out - and if you had hired a teacher today, twenty-two years of age, you would probably be adding several thousands, if not $100,000 to the deficit, because in thirty years time that teacher was going to have to be paid a pension that she would be contributing to for the next thirty years. If you did not do anything about it in the next thirty years, it would be added to your deficit. Well now, Mr. Chair, that is all very interesting and it may well be reality, as the member says, but it has not been suggested, Mr. Chair, that accrual accounting did not exist but it was never the way that the Governments of Newfoundland and Labrador ever reported their accounts. It was never the way that the expenditures of the Province were ever calculated. In fact, these numbers were probably not even known. I would suggest to the hon. member, that these numbers were not even known.

If you go back in time to the government of the previous Tory Administration, back in the 1980s, they did not account their books that way. They did not look at the amount of money that they were costing the people of Newfoundland and Labrador when they made increases to the teacher pensions, when they added opportunities to buy back your service, to buy back your university years and add them to your years of service. They did not count how much that was going to cost in twenty or thirty years time. They did not tell the people of Newfoundland and Labrador: by the way, we just added to the obligations of the people who are not yet born. That only happened when this government brought down its first budget, when they brought in PricewaterhouseCoopers to come up with the numbers. We did not even know the numbers. We did not even know the numbers, Mr. Chairman. We did not even know the numbers because nobody had ever gone through that exercise. So all of a sudden, Mr. Chair, we could not do anything.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. HARRIS: He missed the point entirely of my speech. I am not surprised he is confused, Mr. Chair, because he missed the point entirely of my speech.

The point of my speech, Mr. Chair, was the doom and gloom that was spread around this Province by this government, by this Minister of Finance a couple of years ago, which was being used to frighten the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, to diminish their expectations, because at the same time as they were saying we have a $900 billion deficit, he was saying that we will take eight years to eliminate the cash deficit. Well, guess what, Mr. Chairman? As a result of the increase in oil prices, Mr. Chairman, and as a result of the Atlantic Accord, for which the Premier deserves some credit, we have not only eliminated the cash deficit, we have eliminated the accrual deficit that was first reported in Newfoundland and Labrador two years ago.

As a result of that, Mr. Chairman - Oh, I know the minister made speeches. Even when he was over here he said: Oh, no, the real deficit is not $664 million. Mr. Chairman, the first report as part of this public accounts in this House, as part of the estimates of government, as part of the decision making, as part of the budget, was done two years ago. Mr. Chairman, not only have we not eliminated the cash deficit, which was going to be an eight-year project, we have eliminated, as a result of the new prosperity, the accrual deficit and we will have again this year a surplus. I am glad, Mr. Chairman. I am delighted. I am extremely pleased, but what I want to say, and what I did say yesterday, Mr. Chairman - maybe the member was so confused by my earlier remarks that he did not hear this, so I will repeat them.

What I did say yesterday, Mr. Chairman, as a result of these very quick changes that were supposed to take six or seven or eight years, or even beyond, we are now in a position that we have the kind of prosperity that we hoped for, that we have been able to look after the long-term obligations of the public service pension plan, we have been able to look after the long-term obligations of the teachers' pension plan. Now, Mr. Chairman, what will we get for our prosperity? What I suggested was that there needs to be an agenda of fairness for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, that the kind of problems that we see with respect to poverty, the kind of problems that we see with respect to access to medical therapies through drugs, the kind of problems that we see, the barriers to education that we have seen because of school fees and the cost of textbooks, the need for a school meal program, all of these things, Mr. Chairman, are now not things that can be put off. They are things that people have every right to expect from this government, because as I have said before, what is the point of prosperity for Newfoundland and Labrador if we cannot have a fairer society?

That is the point that I made, Mr. Chairman, and I hope that the Member for Terra Nova is not confused about that. I hope he is not confused about that, because if he is confused about it, I invite his constituents to remind him. I invite his constituents, who go to try and fill a prescription, only to find out the cost of it and have to turn away, to remind him that we need greater fairness in our society in Newfoundland and Labrador. There is a sense of urgency about that, that I do not see when we are talking about a strategic plan or a poverty reduction strategy, or some of those kinds of things. There is a sense of urgency that I feel, Mr. Chairman, that I would like to see the government take on. That is what I was talking about yesterday when I talked about the changes that have been made in public finance and in the perception of public finance over the last fifteen years.

We have made considerable progress as a result of the oil prices. The Premier listed off all the strategies and its successes, and I understand that governments are going to do that. Some of the changes that have been made in the last two years in our finances, the government deserves credit for. They don't deserve credit for locking out the public sector workers. They don't deserve credit for ordering them back to work - locking them out of this Assembly, I am talking about. They do not deserve credit for that. They do not deserve credit for having a public sector strike which after it was over they ordered them back to work and imposed not only a wage freeze on them, but actually took back things that they had negotiated over the years. The don't deserve credit for that, but they do deserve credit for some of the things that have been positive, there is no doubt about that. Some of the initiatives that have been taken have been very positive.

I neglected yesterday to give credit to my colleague, the Member for Labrador West, for example, in pointing out to the government the necessity of some the changes that have happened in Labrador West as a result of this government's actions. The need for a new hospital, something that the Member for Labrador West has championed for the last two years; the need to do something about a new long-term structure for the College of the North Atlantic in Labrador West, one that the Member for Labrador West had brought to this House on a number of occasions and talked about how this government and the previous government was spending $1 million a year in rent for an inadequate structure for the College of the North Atlantic in Labrador West.

So we have seen some positive changes as a result of this government's measures, and I congratulate the Member for Labrador West in convincing the government of the necessity for some of these expenditures. When I pointed out the changes that have been made in our accounting system, I also was able to point out that we have improved the Province's finances to a considerable extent as a result of that. We now have no excuse - and that is the underlying point here - we do not have an excuse. That is what we said six months ago, Mr. Chairman, when we said, from the New Democratic Party, that the government no longer had any excuse to say it could not redress the kind of discrimination that had occurred against women in the public sector as a result of the Public Sector Restraint Act of 1991.

Now, whatever excuse was accepted by the Supreme Court of Canada in saying that there were fiscal reasons for imposing this restraint, they no longer existed and the government was in the position to honor that commitment. Well, the government did not meet the commitment under the legal action that was brought forward, but they did something different today under an agreement and understanding with the players, and they made an ex gratia payment that I think points out the fact that this government listened to the demands of women, that this issue be redressed, that this discrimination against women of Newfoundland and Labrador, perpetrated by a previous government, was going to be acknowledged and something was going to be done to make it clear that this was not something that was to be tolerated.

CHAIR: Order, please!

I remind the hon. Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi that his time for speaking has expired.

MR. HARRIS: By leave for a moment, Mr. Chair?

CHAIR: Does the hon. member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.

CHAIR: The hon. member, by leave.

MR. HARRIS: I did want to make those few points, Mr. Chairman, and I hope that the Member for Terra Nova is now less confused than he was when I started. If he is still confused, then I invite him to meet me later on and I will try to explain it to him further.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

CHAIR: Order, please!

The hon. the Government House Leader.

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

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

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

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, ‘nay'.

Carried.

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

MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!

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

MR. FITZGERALD: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

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

When shall the Committee have leave to sit again?

MR. E. BYRNE: On tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: On tomorrow.

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

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

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

This basically concludes the first week, I guess.

I do now move that the House adjourn and return on Monday, March 27, at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER: It is moved that this House do now adjourn until Monday, March 27, at 1:30 p.m.

All those in favour, ‘aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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

Carried.

This House is now adjourned until Monday, March 27, at 1:30 p.m.

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