MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?

The hon. the Member for the District of Burgeo & La Poile.

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

I would like to enter a petition at this time on behalf of the residents of La Poile, which is in my District of Burgeo & La Poile.

The petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

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 ferry services; and

WHEREAS there is no restroom, waiting 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 area and washroom facilities.

And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, so far, this is my third petition on behalf of the people of La Poile in this need of theirs. This is probably one of the few locations in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador where a provincial ferry service operates that we do not have such a washroom facility. It is just absolutely unacceptable, unnecessary, and as I say, it is degrading and dehumanizing when people, in the worst of weather sometimes, in the dead of winter, who happen to be waiting for the ferry service - they take a taxi, for example, down from Port aux Basques to get on the ferry, the taxi cab drops them off. They have nowhere to go, there is nowhere to stand in out of the elements. If the ferry is delayed at all they literally, physically have to wait in the cold, and if they need to use a washroom or bathroom facilities, they actually have to go behind the buildings and up behind the rocks.

That is just totally, absolutely, unacceptable, Mr. Speaker, in this day and age, that anybody should have to subject themselves to that kind of treatment. If you are going to provide the ferry service, I think there is a reasonable expectation that if you are there waiting for the ferry, or you get dropped off from the ferry and you are waiting for someone to come pick you up, that you should have access to a washroom.

We know that the Member for Lake Melville, when he was the minister, absolutely insulted the people of Ramea and Grey River, he stuck a porta-potty out on the head of the wharf. Now, I must say, in all due to respect to him, we pounded him enough in Question Period and in petitions that he subsequently did. I hope the current Minister of Transportation can see fit in this year’s Budget to provide this minimal of standardization for the people who use the ferry system.