MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

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

I rise today to enter my seventh petition concerning the washroom-restroom, or lack thereof, in the community of Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou servicing the community of La Poile.

Mr. Speaker, the prayer, as stated, pretty well lays it out pretty clearly:

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 where users of the ferry services may utilize washroom facilities; and –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair is having difficulty hearing the hon. member present his petition. I ask members on both sides for their co-operation.

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

WHEREAS citizens of all ages including men, women, children, seniors, 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, such that all users of the provincial ferry system which operates out of La Poile may be able to utilize such washroom.

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, this is my seventh time in entering this petition in this House. Hopefully, it gets the attention of the Minister of Transportation and Works.

I was in Rose Blanche, actually, on Saturday night past for a firemen’s ball, met with several people in that community, and residents earlier that day from La Poile. They are very disgusted, would be the only word, that this matter has not yet been addressed.

Now, we are expecting to get the Budget next Tuesday on the nineteenth. Hopefully, Mr. Speaker, the people will no longer have to deal with and handle these inhuman, unsafe, unhealthy circumstances, and that the Minister of Transportation will find the dollars in order to put a facility there. Hopefully, the facility will not be what they did out of pure embarrassment and disrespect to the people of Ramea when they stuck porta-potties out on the head of the wharf. A porta-potty is not good enough. They need a facility and they need something that is humanly decent to use when they are travelling.

Any person who uses a public transit system in this Province ought to be entitled to the basic services that go with it. That includes having a washroom that you can use. You should not be expected to wait on the wharf in your vehicle, have to use the washroom while you are waiting for the provincial ferry, only to find yourself up behind a rock somewhere because you had to relieve yourself. It is absolutely embarrassing to even have to talk about it, Mr. Speaker, but that is the reality of it. Those are the facts of what is happening.

In this day and age, in this Province, when we talk about being a have Province, well, the people of La Poile do not have a washroom and they are deserving of one.