"Geographically, Springdale has a large catchment area and the Provincial Court administration has justified the location based on it being a small claims processing center, not based on the number of cases in the actual area," said Parsons. "I am not aware of any changes which justify a closure of the courthouse at this time. Government has already made a number of questionable decisions without proper analysis being done. For example, school board reorganization has not provided the expected savings, even though services were cut.

"I would like to get answers to several questions. What additional travel costs will now be incurred by government and the public? Why was the town council not consulted when this decision was being made? What savings are expected to be experienced as a result of this closure?"

The Liberal MHA believes the Conservative government is moving ahead with a plan to gut services out of rural Newfoundland and Labrador. "During the budgetary process we saw a number of services being slashed in rural Newfoundland and Labrador without just cause. For example, the weigh scale was closed in Port Aux Basques, 20 front line HRE offices were closed and driver examination services discontinued in rural areas. This government has spent the past nine months attacking rural Newfoundland and Labrador."