The creation of the Department of Natural Resources, formerly Mines and Energy and Forest Resources and Agrifoods, and the Department of Education, formerly Education and Youth Services and Post-Secondary Education, were announced by Premier Williams on Friday. These changes were announced along with other departmental changes throughout government.

"Is this Premier committed to an effective post-secondary education system in this province and the development of our energy resources?" asked Mr. Grimes. "Both of these files are of such great importance that it is wrong to lose focus and combine them with hundreds of other files that will compete for attention on a daily basis.

"The development of our offshore resources, the creation of a new electricity policy, development of the Lower Churchill, renegotiating the Atlantic Accord and the development of our natural gas resources are just a few energy files that could help grow this province’s economy. It appears this premier has lost focus and has regressed back to the days of an ineffective department that had to deal with too many files. Nova Scotia has created a Department of Energy to specifically deal with their offshore resources. Now, it appears that our government expects fewer people to handle a much bigger workload and expect the same attention level to these files. For Mr. Williams to preach about new economic development and then diminish the importance of one of our key industries is unacceptable.

"We have also witnessed the gutting of our Department of Post-Secondary Education that focused on ensuring our citizens had access to vital educational programs and services that would help us grow as a province. We have witnessed several key positions eliminated in this department that will no doubt have a negative effect on the delivery of educational services. We obviously see how much of a priority education will be to this government.

"Twelve senior civil servants lost their jobs on Friday, people who have dedicated their careers to the public service. Premier Williams has also indicated that his cuts are not finished. The Premier obviously doesn’t understand the impact his cuts are having on the morale of the public service. This once again demonstrates that this government is only concerned about dollars and cents and have no regard for the lives of the public servants they are impacting, nor the programs their cuts will have on the people of the province. If these are the initial cuts to government services, I fear what is in store for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador over the next several months."