MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand today to present a petition on behalf of the residents of the District of The Isles of Notre Dame.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, residents in The Isles of Notre Dame, in the communities of the Twillingate-New World Island area, is very upset by government because of the acute care beds that were closed in their hospital.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot hear a thing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask members for their co-operation.

I remind hon. members as well that is unparliamentary to sit with your backs to the Chair of the Speaker. I remind members as well that if they have private conversations if they would take them to outside, please, and allow hon. members here to carry out the work of the Parliament, allow petitions to be presented, listen to the directions that are given from the Chair, and allow the Orders of the Day to be presented when the time comes.

For the final time, I ask members for their co-operation.

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for your ruling.

I know it is hard for government members to listen to petitions from their constituents that are coming to the House of Assembly, but it is the reality. Their constituents are not happy and that is why they are sending these petitions to the House of Assembly. Mr. Speaker, it says:

WHEREAS there were fifteen acute care beds in the Notre Dame Bay Memorial Hospital Health Centre; and

WHEREAS five of the acute care beds closed this past summer and did not reopen in the fall; and

WHEREAS the availability of acute care beds is critical to the people of Twillingate and New World Island; and

WHEREAS the shortage of acute beds is resulting in people being denied admittance to Notre Dame Bay Memorial Hospital Health Centre; and

WHEREAS the people of Twillingate-New World Island do not want to see their health care services cut;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the government to reinstate the five acute care beds in the Notre Dame Bay Memorial Hospital Health Centre.

Mr. Speaker, the petitions that I have come from communities like Moreton’s Harbour, Valley Pond, Bridgeport, Summerford, Virgin Arm, Cottlesville, Twillingate, Carter’s Cove, Toogood Arm, Cow Head, Herring Neck, Bayview, Cobbs Arm, and the list goes on actually. These people are not happy. They are not happy at all because they depend upon the services of Notre Dame Bay Memorial Hospital for all of their health care services in that immediate area. When five of their acute care beds closed last year for the summer, it was under the impression that they would reopen in the fall. Instead, what the government did was played very cute with the people in this area. They told the people in the area that they would install, or make available, five restorative care beds because they knew there was a need as well for restorative care beds in that particular area. They said we will make those beds available to you, but what they did is they took the five acute care beds that were in the hospital, they designated them as restorative care beds and that was the plan that they handed the people.

To make matters worse, Mr. Speaker, the MHA for the area, the MHA that the people elected in Twillingate-New World Island area to come to this House of Assembly to represent them, went out there with the minister and tried to pull the wool over people’s eyes, tried to sell the people a bill of goods that we were going to give you five restorative care beds when, in fact, they were closing down acute care beds in this hospital.

The people in the area are not happy about it. They are petitioning the House of Assembly, they are petitioning the government to do something about it, and they are petitioning their MHA to stand up and to represent their issues.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.