MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is my privilege this afternoon to stand in the House of Assembly to present a petition on behalf of the people of Cartwright-L’Anse au Clair, who again have supported our District of The Straits & White Bay North in the remaining of the air ambulance service in St. Anthony. I would like to read the petition. It says:

WHEREAS the majority of residents of Cartwright-L’Anse au Clair rely on the air ambulance service that is currently stationed in St. Anthony; and

WHEREAS the removal of this integral service in St. Anthony will certainly diminish the quality of service that is currently being provided to the residents in Southern Labrador; and

WHEREAS government has a duty to optimize the air ambulance service by putting a third air ambulance service in Labrador as opposed to relocating one that has been working for many decades;

WHEREUPON the petitioners ask the government to maintain the air ambulance service in St. Anthony area and provide a third air ambulance service in Labrador to ensure residents of the whole Province are provided with adequate and essential health services.

And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray. It is dated May 13.

Mr. Speaker, again, I have presented this petition many times in the House of Assembly over the past months. There has been so much argument put against this process - legitimate argument against the process, legitimate argument against Wes Drodge’s report - and, of course, as of yesterday, to get the information that we got that shows that Mr. Banks presented the exact same recommendations, pretty much almost a blueprint, one to the other, of what Wes Drodge did some seven months later is so disgusting, to be quite honest with you, Mr. Speaker.

As this process has unfolded, there have been two statements that have been in my mind often. The first one is the statement of the Premier, who was the Leader of the Opposition at the time in 2001, when he visited the districts of The Straits & White Bay North and St. Barbe, and has been quoted many times in the past weeks in that infamous statement that he made, that: We will not forget the people of the Northern Peninsula.

He certainly has not forgotten; that is for sure. We wish he had, actually, to be honest. We wish he kind of went asleep on that and forgot us.

The other statement that keeps reverberating in my mind is the one that the Minister of Health made just a few moments ago when he said, in pointing his finger: Be careful what you ask for.

It is very unfortunate that those would be the philosophies or the approach that government would take to dealing with a very important issue. This is a very important issue. While there is emotion attached to it in terms of the move and so on, yet it is so important that we have a good health care system, and that we have good response times when it comes to our air ambulance program.

What we have taken are a couple of incidents, a couple of very unfortunate incidents, and we have tried to build a case around that to move the air ambulance legitimately from St. Anthony to Goose Bay. Well, I want to tell you that the people of this Province are not buying into that, Mr. Speaker. This government has been criticized, and it will continue to be criticized. This minister has been criticized for what has taken place.

Again today, I just stand to make the point clear to the people of this Province that this move is a wrong move, it is poor information, and again that it obviously is something that was planned, concocted, and prepared many months in advance.

It is my pleasure this afternoon to be able to stand as the Member for The Straits & White Bay North and be able to speak on behalf of the people of my district, on behalf of the people of the Province, that, again: Reconsider what is being done. It is the wrong move.