"If the minister is serious about making sure the government provides full and accurate information on issues of public concern, he should answer the following questions that have been provided to our office by affected people who have not been able to get an answer to their e-mails and letters to the minister.

The Leader of the Opposition would like the minister to respond to questions about several issues including: the work being done on school road extension in Tors Cove; the layoff of road maintenance supervisors and why workers are not being recalled for construction work.

"In relation to the maintenance and upgrade of School Road Extension in Tors Cove I would like to ask a number of questions. What was the status of this road before your government came to power? Was it a government road? Was the snow cleared on this road before this year? Has it been reclassified in any way? Has it been added to the provincial road system since the election? What was the rational for any upgrading or reclassification? How is this road different from many other roads around this province which have residents living on it? Why is this road being treated differently than other roads in similar circumstances? Have any other roads around this province been included in the provincial roads system or been reclassified since November 2003?

"There are a number of questions in relation to the layoff of road maintenance supervisors and the slow recall of road construction workers. Were road maintenance supervisors recently contacted and told not to report to work the following week? Were these same road maintenance supervisors later that same day contacted and told to ignore the first call and to report to work as usual? Are these road maintenance supervisors still unsure of the stability of their positions? Exactly what is happening with these workers? In relation to the recall of road construction workers, why have so many of them not been recalled this year? Have tenders been late being awarded and has this delayed the start of construction? Are there any other problems? What is the status of the bifurcation road?"

Grimes says he asks these question in the hope that the Minister has turned a new leaf and that he is now going to provide full and accurate information. "I am somewhat skeptical that this will be the case given that in the past they have refused to answer written questions on the order paper in the House of Assembly and have obstructed requests made under freedom of information legislation."