MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It gives me great pleasure today, on behalf of the residents of La Poile, and anyone who happens to travel on our provincial ferry system in that particular area, whether you be tourists, or whether you be anyone from inside of this Province, for any given reason. The petition reads:

WHEREAS the people of La Poile must use the provincial ferry system in order to travel to and from La Poile; and

WHEREAS the people of La Poile and visitors are required to wait at the Town of Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou from time to time for the ferry; and

WHEREAS there is no restroom-waiting room area at the Town of Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou where users of the ferry service may utilize washroom facilities; and

WHEREAS citizens of all ages, including men, women, children, seniors, and disabled persons, require washroom facilities as a basic human need in the course of their travels, and particularly while awaiting the transit systems; and

WHEREAS it is an abuse of human dignity, as well as health and safety regulations, to allow such degrading and dehumanizing circumstances to continue;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to immediately construct and operate a waiting room-restroom facility at the Town of Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou such that all users of the provincial ferry service, which operates out of La Poile, may be able to utilize such waiting room-washroom facilities.

And as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, I believe this is the fifth such petition that I have entered into this House. I have had no indication from the Minister of Transportation and Works that he is going to be doing this any time soon. I think they have waited long enough. The citizens of La Poile are not second-class citizens, they do not need to be treated nor deserve to be treated like second-class citizens.

I believe this is probably the only remaining provincially serviced ferry route in this Province which has no washroom facilities whatsoever. Absolutely, not acceptable, inappropriate, inhumane, and besides being unhealthy, it is contrary to the very own laws that this government would insist upon from any other public provider of services. You expect people to use the service, you have to go to the wharf to catch the boat, yet you have no facilities available for them, for the basic of human needs, which is a washroom. I have seen cases from this government where they put porta-potties out on the head of the wharf, and expect that people who live in rural Newfoundland in these isolated communities should accept that, keep your mouth shut and this is good enough.

Well, Mr. Speaker, that is not good enough for anybody who lives in this Province, whether you live in St. John’s or you live in rural Newfoundland. The have had enough of it. They are quite fed up, and this government needs to look at this seriously, do something about it and stop this degradation of residents, and anybody who travels to these particular areas.

I shall continue, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the residents to bring forth this petition – I do not care if it is another ten years – until we see something done by this government. It is just embarrassing to the government and makes them look bad. They deserve to be embarrassed because of it. The sooner they remove this, improve the situation, and eliminate it, the better for all concerned.