Below is an excerpt:

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRIMES: Mr. Speaker, before I get to questions directly related today to the strike, I would like to ask the Premier a couple of questions with respect to what is happening in the Legislature and the public galleries today.

We are aware, and I can tell by looking around because I have been here for fifteen years, that the public galleries today are largely occupied by political staff, which is probably understandable, and management staff, which is not at all understandable, who, we understand, have been ordered here today by the government. Supposedly, Mr. Speaker, these staff are in this building, having crossed picket lines, like we did, because they are providing some essential services and there is something that they should be doing on behalf of the government. I am not sure that sitting in the gallery, at the behest of the government, is one of those essential duties. Mr. Speaker, meanwhile, members of the general public are being denied access. They are being told outside that they cannot come to the public galleries because it is full. I just counted twenty-eight empty seats that are already here.

The question for the Premier is this: Who ordered these people to be in the galleries today? Would he not agree now that if they are here, management personnel, supposedly providing essential services, which is why they crossed the picket line, that won’t he let them go back to work? Could we agree to recess for ten minutes and let some members of the general public, who might like to enter and have been denied, come to this gallery if they choose to do so, Mr. Speaker?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as the Leader of the Opposition has indicated, there are lots of empty seats in the galleries of this Chamber. I can indicate to members present that I certainly did not order anybody into this House today. As the Leader of the Opposition knows, and government members know, lots of times employees of government do actually sit in the galleries and observe the proceedings that go on here. This is very normal.

I do remember, of course, during the Voisey’s Bay debate, when government blocked the galleries and those particular circumstances.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Of course, the hon. gentleman was Premier at that particular point in time and he would remember it.

There are lots of seats, and the public are certainly more than welcome to come in and occupy these seats.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. GRIMES: Mr. Speaker, I was hoping that the Premier would take it as a serious issue. The question, seriously, is this: There are people outside who tried to enter the galleries today and were told that there was no space available. That is a serious issue, Mr. Speaker. All of us can look around and see that there is space available and that there are people in these galleries, we all understand political staff, who have never been here before, who are here to provide essential services as management personnel and surely goodness, the Premier is not going to suggest that it is absolutely essential that they sit in the galleries. They have been here for half-an-hour already, Mr. Speaker, while services to the people of the Province go unattended to.

Will he agree, as an act of good faith, to a recess for a few minutes to let the management personnel go back to work and provide the essential services, which is all that is being provided to the people of the Province -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the member now to finish his question.

MR. GRIMES: - and let those who might want to come into the galleries enter the gallery, Mr. Speaker?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If there are some people outside this Chamber who want to occupy the twenty-eight seats that are available in this Chamber and for some reason they are not being let in and you want to recess to allow them to come in to fill these seats, absolutely, let’s recess and allow them to come in.

MR. SPEAKER: The Chair seeks direction from the House Leaders. It is not required that the House recess in order for visitors to enter the public galleries. Visitors can enter and leave as they wish at any time. That is not a reason to recess the House. If there are visitors on the outside who wish to come in, then they are free to come into this House at any time during the proceedings, or they are free to leave.

However, if there is an obstruction, for example, if the doors are locked or something like that, and if there is agreement to have a recess, then we can do it. I seek direction from the Government House Leader and from the Opposition House Leader.

The point of order raised by the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MR. HARRIS: I think, Mr. Speaker, the point of order relates to the question raised, that if in fact people are being told that there is on room and they are not allowed in, then I think that would call for, if not a recess, a suspension of the House until we can assure ourselves that in fact people are not being prevented from entering. I think that question really should be resolved.

I understand, and we all understand, that the public ought to have access to this House just as members ought to have access to this House. We know that we were denied and we understand that the people are being denied. We should recess until that is cleared up.

MR. SPEAKER: If I could, I think there is consent that we would recess the House probably for five minutes. We will stop the Question Period time and continue it on the end of the time when we come back from the recess.

Before we go, I think we have a question raised by the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. GRIMES: Yes, Mr. Speaker. Again, I appreciate the ruling and appreciate the agreement to do it.

Because of the fact that you have to be very careful with the words of this Premier, I ask again - because he talked about agreeing to a recess to only allow the twenty-eight vacant seats to be filled - would the Premier agree that any management or political staff that would like to go back to work are free to go back to work at the same time, so that there might actually be a lot more than twenty-eight seats available?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. E. BYRNE: I respond with one word, Mr. Speaker: Absolutely!

MR. SPEAKER: I think there is agreement that we will recess the House. It is now 2:15, the House will reconvene at 2:20, and it will be noted by the ringing of the bells.

The House is now recessed until 2:20.