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 again this afternoon to be able to stand and present another petition to the House of Assembly. I would like to read the prayer of the petition:

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS we, the students of French Shore Academy in Port Saunders, from the Towns of River of Ponds, Hawke’s Bay, Port Saunders, Port au Choix, and Eddies Cove West appreciate the facility we currently learn in; and

WHEREAS unfortunately, the sense of fairness and equality existing at school is absent on the outside due to essential services not equally available in all our towns; and

WHEREAS the lack of high-speed Internet in River of Ponds, Hawke’s Bay, and Eddies Cove West puts some students, or our school, in an acceptable disadvantage at learning today in the twenty-first century;

WHEREUPON your petitioners call upon all Members of the House of Assembly to urge government to direct funding to ensure high-speed Internet services are provided in these towns to allow equality and fairness of all members of our student body.

And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, we realize that great strides have been made in bringing high-speed Internet services to our Province. The minister mentioned in Question Period, I believe it was, that 80 per cent of the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador now enjoy high-speed Internet, and that is great. This petition today is not on behalf of the 80 per cent, it is on behalf of the 20 per cent who do not enjoy it. We realize there are regulations that govern that, and rules and so on that we can hide behind, but the bottom line is that we have young people today, in particular, who are trying to educate themselves, who are trying to get ready for post secondary education, and they are at a great disadvantage.

Mr. Speaker, this petition that I have here today, I note that it is signed mostly by Grade 8 and Grade 9 students. I do not know if we can really appreciate what it must be like for a Grade 8 or Grade 9 student to be living today, in this day and age of technology, and not having high-speed Internet in their home. It truly is a great disadvantage, it truly is a setback. They are not interested in who is responsible, they are not interested in how much it is going to cost, they are not interested in regulations and so on, all they are interested in is the fact that when they want to go on the Internet, as students anywhere else in this Province would do, as the other 80 per cent would, they simply cannot do it.

That is why they have taken the initiative to get their petition together. That is why I am pleased this afternoon to be able to stand and present it for them. I am not sure why I need to stand, they do have a member in the House of Assembly who represents them, but for some reason he has chosen not to present it for them, and in his absence or whatever, I am pleased to stand and present it. Not only for them, but for all people throughout this Province who are finding themselves in the same situations. There are literally dozens of communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador that do not have high-speed Internet.

Mr. Speaker, it is unacceptable, and it is time that this government, with the resources that we have, with the finances that we have, with the incomes that we have, with the Budget coming down tomorrow, it is time that these students have the assurance that very soon they will be able to enjoy the same technology as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.