"This government has now been in power for almost 20 months, yet it has done very little to address issues in rural areas of the province," said Foote. "The Premier announced this week that the Department of Business is now putting together an advisory board that will make recommendations to government. While the idea of an advisory board is a good one, the businesses and communities in rural Newfoundland and Labrador expected that some action would be taken by now.

"The composition of the new business advisory board is a clear example of how the Premier doesn’t think about rural Newfoundland and Labrador when making decisions. While those named to the board are credible individuals, the inclusion of several representatives from communities off the Trans Canada Highway would go a long way to creating an understanding among the advisory board of the difficulties faced by those who live in rural Newfoundland and Labrador and what businesses there have to do to survive. Undoubtedly, there are business people from the Burin Peninsula, Bonavista Peninsula, Connaigre Peninsula, Northern Peninsula, Coastal Labrador and other areas who would have welcomed the opportunity to share their experience and expertise to the board and therefore with the Premier.

"Once this board has a series of meetings and makes recommendations that could be implemented by government, the PC mandate will already be over. The people of this province believed the Premier when he promised a plan for the rural areas of this province. They believed him when he said to trust his government to take immediate action to make their lives better. At this rate, the government’s mandate will end with no investment made in these areas and I find that completely unacceptable.

"If the Premier doesn’t have a plan or ideas as he said during the election, then he should tell the people who have put great hope in this government when they voted in 2003. The Department of Business has done nothing but exist on the books while the Premier has ignored the plight of the people in rural areas of the province.

"For the second year in a row, the Premier failed to make an appearance before the budget estimates committee to explain the operations and expenditures of this department. Minister Dunderdale was commended by the Premier at his news conference for carrying the department while he was otherwise occupied, yet during the estimates process, the Minister claimed that she didn’t have the knowledge and could not answer questions regarding this department. Why did the Premier take responsibility for a department of government and then ignore it? In doing so, he has ignored a crisis situation which many rural communities are facing."