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Oral
Questions
April 30, 2009
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| In the House | Question
Period
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
My first questions are
for the Minister of Health.
We notice, Minister, that
just before the House started here you had a news
conference this afternoon advising people of the
situation regarding our state of preparedness with
respect to the swine flu, that epidemic - we are Level
5, shall we say, at this point -that is on the go. That
is certainly welcome news, of course.
You did mention in the
course of that news conference the fact that we were
prepared, as best we could be, and you referenced
regional committees and so on.
My first question is:
According to the government’s pandemic planning
document, there is supposed to be established a
pre-pandemic phase, a provincial pandemic committee, and
several regional committees. I
am just wondering if the committees that you referenced
outside in your news conference were indeed the
committees that were established regionally pursuant to
that document, or are they committees established
particularly to deal with that swine flu pandemic that
is ongoing now.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
This discussion around a
pandemic has been on the go for quite some time, and as
a government we have been very proactive dating back, I
think it was 2005 and 2006 particularly, we made
significant investments to prepare ourselves for what
might become some day a pandemic.
What I was referencing
outside the House after, Mr. Speaker, was a reference of
our provincial strategy, nothing to do with the swine
flu outbreak that we are dealing with right now, but our
preparedness for pandemic, period.
The investments we made
over the last two or three years reflect that kind of
infrastructure, that kind of planning structure, that
kind of committee structure that exists, both
provincially and through each of our four regional
health authorities. My reference earlier was clearly
around an overall structure to deal with the swine flu
today, yes, but anything else that might happen in the
future.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Mr.
Speaker, according to government’s pandemic planning
documents, government assumes that the peak impact on
this Province of a pandemic would be within two to four
months of the pandemic arriving in Canada. That means
the pandemic that we are possibly talking about right
now, which the World Health Organization is suggesting
is imminent, that pandemic might fall smack in the
middle of a nurses’ strike.
What
contingency plans does government have in place to
address the realities of the swine flu pandemic during
any potential strike that we might have regarding the
nurses, because that was not alluded to in a news
conference today?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, I think it is important to separate two things
here, and it is also important to use as we make
reference to pandemics. Right now, today, there is a six
stage process the World Health Organization goes
through. So we do not actually have a pandemic until we
get to that final stage. So we are not referencing the
fact that we have a pandemic today. I think that is
clear for the public to better understand that
particular piece.
The second thing that the
question talks about in terms of our state of readiness
should there be a strike or should there be some other
event taking place in our Province at that particular
time. The pandemic planning that we are talking about
maps out a response to manage what might be an influenza
outbreak at some point in time, and if it becomes a
stage six where we have a true pandemic then we have an
action plan to deal with that.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. minister
to conclude his response.
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
In the event that there
is a work stoppage and nurses in the Province choose
some time next week that they are going to actually go
on strike then we have a contingency plan worked
through, in some cases with the union, as to how we
might provide emergency services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I do not know where the
minister is getting his timelines, but I personally
watched the World Health Organization announcement last
night and the word: eminent, is not my word. The word
imminent is put out by the chief doctor who is heading
the World Health Organization on this issue, and it was
her wording that the pandemic is imminent. So, to talk
even in terms of days or next week what we are going to
do – that is why I raised the question, because it is
their wording, not ours.
Mr.
Speaker, with no infectious disease specialist currently
working in the Province – and I would think that would
be a very important specialty in the case of a pandemic
– what impact will this have on patients should an
outbreak take place, because you already indicated we
are, in fact, doing testing in this Province, as we
speak, for some people who are suspected of maybe having
this?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Just
to speak to the point that the member raised in his own
commentary around where we are. The first five stages is
a state of readiness.
We have been on a state
of readiness for quite some time. In fact, the state of
readiness started several years ago when we started to
plan for a pandemic, which was the structure that I
referenced earlier in my question.
To say, Mr. Speaker, with
respect to the infectious disease specialist, I said
earlier, in response to a question by the media, it
would be in an ideal circumstance, we would love to have
an infectious disease specialist. In fact, we are
recruiting for them, as I have mentioned in this House
many times. In fact, we are recruiting for the second
and the third, I say, Mr. Speaker.
Within the absence,
though, of having someone like that here, one of the
things that is really important when you start talking
about pandemic, you have the resources of the World
Health Organization, you have the resources of the
Public Health Agency of Canada, and we have been working
very closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada,
together with all other provinces.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Just before Christmas, in
the last sitting of this House, the Minister of Natural
Resources committed to looking into potential financial
irregularities at the Chicken Marketing Board, that were
reported to our office, and we raised it in questions.
Our sources told us at
that time that a forensic audit was taking place, but to
date, we did not receive a response from the minister. I
understand that you have now received a forensic audit. Could
you tell us who, in fact, prepared the audit, and are
you in a position to release the results of the audit at
this time?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister Responsible for the Forestry and
Agrifood Agency.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am going
to divulge the name of his source. It is the Leader of
the Opposition, and I gave her that information in
Estimates, earlier this week, that these actions had
been taken. We told her that the report had been
received, although I had not been briefed at this point
in time.
Mr. Speaker, the Chicken
Marketing Board was audited on a regular basis. There
were some questions raised in this House that there
might be some irregularities there. We went to an
outside agency and asked them to come in and do an audit
again. They told us they would not do so unless they had
some evidence of wrongdoing, and there was none, so we
came internal to government, had the audit done, and I
am happy to report to the House, Mr. Speaker, that there
are no irregularities.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister must surely
have a problem with timelines because she did her
Estimates on Monday night of this week with the Leader
of the Opposition. My questions were asked in this House
of the minister last December. That is the source to
which I refer, that told us there was indeed a forensic
audit being done, which you denied at the time and you
said you would check it out and get back, which the
minister failed to do, and has not done now until it was
taken out of her and pried out of her in the Estimates
Committees again.
Mr. Speaker, the people
who contacted our office certainly believe - and this
was back in December - the people who contacted our
office and provided the information back in December had
very good information that there were financial
irregularities. These people made significant
allegations.
I ask the minister: Can
you confirm that anyone in your office was, in fact,
dismissed as a result of what happened involving this
matter?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister Responsible for the Agrifoods Agency.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Mr.
Speaker, when these issues were raised here in the House
of Assembly, we went back and we checked into the issue
and we took the appropriate action. We have done an
investigation. There are no irregularities to report,
Mr. Speaker, unlike – given the discussion that we had
yesterday - when irregularities were reported to the
Minister of Justice back in 2000, he kicked the Auditor
General out of the House of Assembly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Opposition
House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
A very timely question of
reference because my next question indeed talks about
the Auditor General. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to
see that the department did go off and do the audit as a
result of our questions. She obviously had not done it
herself.
Mr. Speaker, we
understand that the Auditor General, as well - besides
the forensic audit, we understand that the Auditor
General as well - is currently doing, or recently did,
an investigation involving the Chicken Marketing Board.
I ask the minister: Can
you confirm that this is indeed correct, whether the
Auditor General recently did a review, if the review is
completed, and, if so, are you in a position and would
you table his findings?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Minister
Responsible for the Agrifoods Agency.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I do not do
a regular check on what the Auditor General is doing. He
audits departments and the work of government on a
regular basis. I can tell you this, Mr. Speaker: It has
not been brought to my attention that the Auditor
General has any issues around accounting or auditing
with the Chicken Marketing Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: I
guess that means, Mr. Speaker, he is in there.
Mr. Speaker, my next
question – I will move on to another topic here - our
federal regional minister, Minister MacKay, announced
today $136 million in funding that will ensure that
Halifax is the Atlantic Gateway. Unfortunately, our
Province has lost out once again. Minister MacKay stated
in a news release that this funding will allow Halifax
to play their role as a major trade gateway to the
world.
I ask the Premier: What
recent discussions have you had with Minister MacKay and
the federal government regarding our Province’s
position as the Atlantic Gateway, and were you advised
that this funding announcement would be coming today?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, I have spoken to Minister MacKay probably three
or four times in the last six weeks and raised all kinds
of issues with him: cost-shared funding through
transportation and works. We talked about the Gateway.
We have talked about all kinds of other projects, kept a
constant dialogue going. He did not phone me up today to
tell me that this announcement was made, nor would I
expect him to, but we have made all appropriate
submissions to the federal government. We are
maintaining a dialogue with them. If they choose not to
fund us at this particular point in time we couldn’t
care less, quite frankly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister MacKay, in his
words, stated that it was thanks to the strong
relationship between the federal and Nova Scotian
governments that communities in that province will see
the benefits of the Atlantic Gateway that will allow
them to remain competitive and prosperous.
I ask the Premier: Is
this another instance where the poor state of
federal-provincial relations is costing the people of
this Province new money and investment from the federal
government?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: This
is a situation, Mr. Speaker, whereby we were promised
$10 billion from the federal government. They refused to
provide that to us, so we took issue with it and we
stood up on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador; because with that kind of money we could have
paid off our entire debt. They subsequently turned
around during the last Budget and basically took away $1
billion to $1.5 billion from us.
On that basis, we are not
prepared to turn around and kiss the backsides of the
federal government under any circumstances. If that
means that we have bad federal-provincial relations,
then so be it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Nobody is talking about
kissing backsides. We are talking about doing your job,
whether you are a Premier or a minister.
I say to the Premier: You
alluded to the fact that you have had several
conversations with Mr. McKay in the last six weeks. Has
there been any discussions between you or any of your
ministers with regard to the Atlantic Gateway that we
could look forward to seeing some money coming here, or
are the state of affairs, in fact, so bad that there is
no conversation even ongoing in that regard?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, I can only tell you that I have had several
discussions with the minister. I have had meetings with
the minister. My ministers have had meetings with
counterparts and that minister. We have done everything
appropriate from our perspective to ensure that we have
basically covered ourselves to make sure that we
represented on behalf of the people of the Province.
Now I come back to the
other principle. We can only go so far. If these people
are going to abuse the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador, if they are going to slap us in the face,
there is nothing we can do about that. What we did do is
we conducted a very successful ABC campaign, which
ensured that these clowns did not end up with a majority
government across this country. As a result of that,
they do not have a majority government. Hopefully, there
will be an election and they will be kicked out of
office. That is our goal. Then we will see where it goes
there, and we will see what Mr. Ignatieff or Mr. Layton
can do for us at the end of the day.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we went
through the Cameron Inquiry which promised improvements
in cancer care data bases and communication protocols.
After going through all of that in February we were
astounded when we learned of a case of a lady who went
seven months without the results of a positive cancer
testing. In the past few days, we have learned of two
more cases where people are not receiving timely
information regarding their cancer diagnosis. It is very
clear that people are still falling through the cracks.
Minister, with all of
your promises for improvements in the system, why
are patients experiencing these communications problems
still?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: I
cannot defend the story in the paper today, for example,
about the test results that were not communicated to
patients. That is totally unacceptable. That is
something that we as a government will ever condone; not
something we condone of our employees, not something we
condone of each of our health authorities.
The investments we have
made in health care in the last three to four years
particularly have been significant. The recommendations
that came out of Cameron and the taskforce on adverse
health events, we have made a commitment to, in fact,
implement those recommendations. I made a commitment to
this House during this session. I tabled the action plan
that maps out our process to ensure that we have all of
those recommendations implemented, all with the view of
commitment to implement the recommendations, the
investments we have made, the energies we have put into
improving our health system are all with the view of
making some improvements to ensure that the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador have a quality health system.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you.
Mr. Speaker, despite all
the investments that the minister talks about having
made and the activities and relationships talked back
and forth between his department and Eastern Health, the
most recent cases of diagnosis delays should have been
picked up if the appropriate oversight measures were in
place.
I ask the minister: When
are these oversight procedures - which you have known
for some time obviously cannot be working because these
things keep happening. When are the oversight procedures
finally going to be implemented to protect patients?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: The
recommendations to deal with oversights coming out of
those two reports, some of them have been implemented,
some are in process.
One of the things that is
very difficult to do, Mr. Speaker, is to have full
control over the actions of individual employees on a
day-to-day basis. Those recent examples that have hit
the media, and there has been some discussion about it
in the public domain. If you trace it back, to tie it
back to the individual performance of individuals who
work within the authorities, one of the things that is
very difficult to do with processes and procedures is to
actually monitor and govern the day-to-day actions and
the individual actions and functions of each individual
employee on a day-to-day basis.
In a broad way, oversight
processes are in place to detect trends, problems in
process to ensure that there are improvements made, but
the day-to-day actions of individual employees are
extremely difficult to police. I want to make sure
though, Mr. Speaker –
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
My next question is for
the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Mr. Speaker, there is a
growing concern in the fishing industry that a dispute
regarding prices for lobsters and crab could threaten
both industries this coming season. The minister, in
fact, was supposed to speak on The Fisheries Broadcast
yesterday to address this issue, but apparently he says
he was in the House until 5:00 p.m.
I ask the minister: Is
the crab and lobster fishing industry in jeopardy, and
what is government, particularly your department, doing
to assist in finding some solutions?
AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: He
was not here at 5:00 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Minister of
Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. HEDDERSON: Mr.
Speaker, again, I take a little bit exception. I was
here until 4:45 p.m., by the time I got back to my
office it was well past 5:00 p.m., plus I had a personal
thing that I had to address after the House yesterday,
which is of no business to him. So I will bring it up.
Like I said, if you are going to go there, I will go
there as well. My business is my business and when I can
share it I will, but I am telling you right now is that
you have gone over the line on that one. Absolutely! I
say too, not the first time, and I am getting kind of
tired of it. I am getting a little bit tired of it.
Mr. Speaker, all I can
say is, we are doing, again, the due diligence we should
be doing, supporting the fishing industry and making
sure that all the intelligence is done so that the price
setting board can make the decision that is absolutely
necessary at this particular time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I struck a nerve that
time.
Mr. Speaker, we have
spoken with harvesters, crew members, and plant workers
who are concerned that the pricing impasse could impact
their livelihoods, obviously.
I ask the minister: What
contingency plans, if any, are in place to help protect
the workers who might get caught in the middle of this
controversy?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. HEDDERSON: Again,
Mr. Speaker, we are into a situation right now where
there is no doubt the world economy is having a
traumatic impact on the markets with regard to fish. We
are in the middle of this and we are working as hard as
we can, as a government.
I also say, Mr. Speaker,
that on the harvesting side, on the processing side, and
with regard to the price setting board, we are all
working diligently to try to find our way out of this.
Again, we are not going to leave anyone high and dry. We
are going to do what we can in order to assist, whether
it is plant workers, whether it is harvesters, or
whether it is processors, to make sure that this
industry, which is most important to this Province, is
the industry that it should be.
Again, there are factors
that we are dealing with right now that are far beyond
our control, but we are trying to deal with them as best
we can, and we will find a way, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Yesterday, the Minister
of Environment responded to our concerns about the
drastic decline of the woodland caribou by stating, our
questions were making her hungry, and I hope I can get
through my questions today without causing that to
happen again.
In 1996, the habitat
study on woodland caribou in Jasper National Park stated
that the use of radio collars weakened caribou and
caused mortality rates, and groups such as the Sierra
Club and the Canadian Wildlife Federation have fashioned
this practice.
Given
the fact that your department is spending many dollars
of the $15 million budgeted on those radio collars, has
your department looked at these studies and considered
the effect of the collar use on the caribou?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS POTTLE: Mr.
Speaker, you can guess what I am having for supper
tonight.
Anyway, there is a
five-year strategy on the go to study the woodland
caribou, to study the predators of those caribou. We are
using the scientific information that is coming back
from that to move forward, I say, Mr. Speaker. Until we
get that information – and we have had a very
successful year; we are only into our second year – we
will use that scientific information to make our next
moves.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, in response to a question yesterday, the
Minister of Environment and Conservation said she has
been in steady consultation with the stakeholders, but
we know the outfitters in the Province are not satisfied
and they staged a Save the Resource rally outside the
office of the Wildlife Division over the weekend.
The hunting and fishing
guide for 2009-2010 states that the department has a
future plan to include stakeholders in their work,
through a caribou management committee. I ask the
minister: What is the status of
this committee at this time?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS POTTLE: Mr.
Speaker, like I said, the strategy is involving
scientific information. We have had great success in the
last year, and part of that were hunter education
workshops. We reached all the various regions of the
Province that are being studied, and we have had great
participation there so we know the word is getting out,
and we know that they appreciate that government is
doing due diligence here and going to use the scientific
information to move forward.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, we have had discussions with the Outfitters
Association, the president, Mr. Cyril Pelley, who
expressed concerns to us that members of his association
were originally asked to participate in the caribou
management committee, but that this committee quickly
fell by the wayside.
I ask the minister: Why
did this committee disband, and what will it be replaced
by and when?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS POTTLE: My
apologies, Mr. Speaker, I do not have that information
but I will bring it back.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: I
thank the minister for that, Mr. Speaker.
The outfitters feel that
the committee was shut down due to outfitter demands
that action be taken on the coyote, and more protection
given to caribou calving grounds.
I ask the minister: Why
is your department dismissing the observations and
concerns of the outfitters?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS POTTLE: Mr.
Speaker, we are only into the second year of this
strategy that is gathering scientific information, and
we are releasing it to the public as we get it. We are
consulting with stakeholders, with the various people
interested in this problem we have with woodland caribou
on the Island. We are going to make our informed
decision with the information that we gather from the
scientific information. We have very good people on
this.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, clearly, the
government was caught by surprise yesterday with the
extent and the kinds of letters and information that
were being sent out to the widows of former Abitibi
workers and to pensioners. Mr. Speaker, we were all
aghast at the coldness of AbitibiBowater which left many
seniors in a state of confusion and worry for their
future yesterday.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
Premier today: Would he give this House more information
about government’s response to the incomplete and
unsatisfactory correspondence about the cancellation of
the unfunded pensions?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SKINNER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as we know
in this House, there have been a number of decisions
that AbitibiBowater, as a corporate entity, has made
over the last little while which have certainly been
against what we would consider to be fair and reasonable
to the former employees of the mill in Central
Newfoundland and Labrador.
In terms of the situation
as it currently exists, as I indicated yesterday, there
are court proceedings happening today, as I understand
it. The company is petitioning the court for a certain
suspension of payments, and the union is petitioning
against the company’s petition to ensure that those
payments continue.
After today’s court
proceedings, Mr. Speaker, due to the court-induced
creditor protection that AbitibiBowater is under, we
will have a better understanding of where all of that
lies.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the workers
and the families left in the wake of the shutdown of
AbitibiBowater are in a state of anger, confusion, and
worry for their future. Many people are saying to me how
worried they are about the situation out in Grand
Falls-Windsor and the whole Central area.
Mr. Speaker, will the
government set up an emergency office to offer all those
affected, with needed advice and consultation about the
services that they may access as needed, and help in
navigating the bureaucracy?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SKINNER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we have an
office set up in Grand Falls-Windsor to assist with
that, as a matter of fact, the kinds of services that
the former employees of AbitibiBowater have been looking
for, whether it be services in terms of looking for
retraining, whether it be services in terms of looking
for information about pensions, about severance, whether
it is about employee assistance programs, medical
issues. All kinds of questions have come forward, Mr.
Speaker. We have a team of people that happen to be in
the Grand Falls-Windsor region. As well, we have put
people in some of the other field offices that we have.
We have been in touch
with many hundreds of those employees who have contacted
us. We have not waited in our offices for those people
to come to us, Mr. Speaker. We have actually been on the
phone contacting them, to see what kind of assistance we
as a government can provide. That has been a very, very
productive exercise and we think we are doing good work
there.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have
stories of men in particular who have never walked into
an office before, having to deal with people in HRLE or
in Service Canada, not understanding what is being said
to them, coming out, having to get friends to try to
explain to them what the process is and what they are
going through.
Mr. Speaker, I do not
think those services are being offered. Could the
minister speak more clearly to those special needs?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Minister of
Innovation, Trade and Rural Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SKINNER: Mr.
Speaker, let me make it perfectly clear: The people who
are out there requiring assistance from this government,
or looking for assistance from this government, will get
it. Whether they get it in an office, whether they get
it in their home, whether they get it in a union hall,
wherever we need to go to provide service to the
employees and the former employees, we will go and do
that. We are doing that, as I said already.
There are a multitude of
issues that have arisen here, that a number of these
employees have come to us asking for assistance on. Some
of these people have come in and have needed twenty
minutes or half an hour of our time. Some of these
people who we have interacted with, we have been with
them for hours, and we have been with them for hours
over many, many days, and we are still with them, Mr.
Speaker, but the assistance is being provided. We are
being told by the people we are providing the assistance
to that they benefit from that, and we will continue to
do that until the need is met.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
The phone calls we are
getting in our office are telling me that you are not
reaching everybody, Mr. Minister, so I think you had
better check on that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MS MICHAEL: Mr.
Speaker, the people affected by the mill closure need to
know for their own peace of mind what plan government is
bringing to the table to negotiate for the severance and
unfunded pensions of the workers as well as the other
assets.
I ask the Premier: When
is government going to be back at the table negotiating
with AbitibiBowater?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, as recently as yesterday we were in contact
with the CEO of Abitibi. At that point in time we had a
discussion which was a reflection of previous
discussions, whereby any negotiation or any discussion
or any passing of a cheque over to Abitibi would have to
look out for and safeguard the interests of the workers
from a severance perspective, so that severance issue is
clearly on the table. It has been acknowledged by
Abitibi. Now, as to whether they will dispute payment,
that is a whole other issue, but from our perspective,
fortunately we are in the driver’s seat.
As a result of taking the
action that we have taken, we hold the assets. If we had
done absolutely nothing and this company had gone into
an arrangement or receivership and ultimately into a
bankruptcy, there would be no right to recover
severance; there would be no holding of assets; there
would be no cheque to be passed over, so we would not be
in a position to do what we are doing. Fortunately, we
did what we did.
We have already said, and
the minister has already stated - both ministers have
already stated - that we will be there to support the
workers on severance, but we have to go through a
process. We have to go through a process now whereby we
have the negotiation with the company. As well, there is
now a court arrangement. So anything that we do will
have to be sanctioned by the court. We are going through
all the proper procedures, but at the same time, we are
safeguarding the interests of the workers when it comes
to severance. So, I can give you that assurance.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order
please!
The time allotted for
questions and answers have expired. |
