MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, last spring we raised the issue of asbestos problems at St. Pat’s nursing home in St. John’s after hearing from workers concerned for their health. We recently obtained, under the access to information act, occupational health and safety reports regarding the asbestos exposure at this facility. They confirmed that the building’s asbestos management plan was not followed prior to 2007.

I ask the minister today: Why wasn’t an asbestos management plan being followed, and have any changes been made since to protect the health of workers, patients and families at this facility?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can indicate to the member opposite, we obviously are concerned about the safety and well-being of all residents in long-term care facilities in this Province. I am not aware of that specific study; it is certainly I will look at and have a view of and see what steps have been taken. I can report to the Leader of the Opposition on that.

Also, Mr. Speaker, I can indicate that earlier today I was going through a number of documents in relation to the Budget, and there are a lot of proposals for repairs to long-term care facilities in this Province. So not only are we spending money, Mr. Speaker, in terms of building new long-term care facilities, but we are also doing our best to ensure that the facilities that we do have are kept up-to-date.

As soon as I find the answer, I will report back to the Opposition Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Documentation and e-mail correspondence was exchanged within government on this issue. One departmental official of Government Services stressed the need for a medical surveillance program to be implemented to assess any adverse health impacts on staff and patients who may have been exposed to asbestos.

I ask the minister: Why did you not follow this advice and why was the monitoring program not implemented?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate what the Minister of Health has said, each and every one of the residents of our long-term care facilities are the utmost in our minds and certainly in regard to their safety.

We all understand that various buildings built in the past have had various asbestos problems, so we moved through that in a strategic way in regard to addressing those problems. From our occupational health and safety side of it, we set up a plan and then we moved forward with that plan and we continue to do that on a continual basis. We cannot move it in such a way that it corrects all the problems today, but certainly we correct them as we go through with the plan in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The recommendation was for a medical surveillance plan or program to be put in place. Obviously, this would be for the protection of the workers and the residents.

The report also stated that the employer had not fulfilled the responsibilities for effective asbestos management, and as such, the same deficiencies in workplace controls that were noted in the past continue to exist today.

I ask the minister: In light of this information, are you prepared now to commit to implementing the monitoring program that was recognized and recommended by officials in your department?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Each and every one of our reports by our occupational health and safety officers are taken very, very seriously by myself and my officials. I have every intention of having a look at that report, making sure that we have implemented whatever needs to be implemented, and to make sure that maybe the actual corrective action has taken place already and it do not need to be implemented. Certainly, if anything has to be put in place in regard to the protection of the employees and the residents themselves, I will have a look at that in the very, very near future.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Registry of Deeds, which is located in the basement of Confederation Building, and is accessed by the general public on a daily basis, legal title searchers employed with various law firms throughout the Province work in a vault of the registry where older property titles are kept. These workers have expressed concerns about potential asbestos exposure in this area of the registry, especially after fourteen out of thirty-five of these workers have now been diagnosed with cancer over the last five years.

I ask the minister: Have you completed an intrusive asbestos inspection of the Registry of Deeds, and if so, what were the findings?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Mr. Speaker, there have been studies done on various buildings, including this one, itself, in regard to any asbestos content in any building throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, including the East Block and West Block, or wherever it may be. Also, the Registry of Deeds is in the process of moving down to Elizabeth Avenue to a new location, which should happen very, very soon – a matter of fact, probably by the end of the new year, or early into the new year. So they will have a new place of residence and conduct their business – which will be actually more beneficial to all concerned.

Certainly, we have done all kinds of studies and investigations with regard to asbestos. Asbestos has been a huge problem for this government and past governments, in regard to the life of our buildings that we find throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. So we will move forward and have a look at all those types of things.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the minister confirming that there was some testing done. I ask if he could release the findings of that testing so that those employees could see what was contained in the report.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I have no problem of identifying the actual investigation that may have taken place over in the East Block in that particular area. If there is a report, I shall certainly release it to the public.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Over the summer a provincial working group was formed with a goal of banning the cosmetic use of pesticides in the Province. The coalition, which was comprised of a number of professional groups, raised a public awareness over the use of pesticides and the potential health impacts.

I am aware that the minister met with her Atlantic counterparts to discuss this issue, and I ask her today: What analysis has your department done since that time and what timelines and assurances can you give the public that your department will take action on that request?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, earlier on, I made a commitment to meet with all of the stakeholders that would be involved in the issue of cosmetic pesticide use. I have met with the Canadian Cancer Society and the Lung Association. I have met with people involved in the industry itself in terms of applying the pesticides. The Minister of Health and Community Services and myself has also made a commitment, now that there is a new minister in that department, to meet with the Canadian Cancer Society and the medical association again in the future.

As you said, we continuously do a review of the various regulations in other provinces, and we will make a commitment to ensure that this issue is first and foremost here as well.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The coalition, which is made up of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, the Newfoundland Nurses’ Union, the Canadian Cancer Society and the Lung Association, along with many others, has also been working with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador to have a resolution passed, which recently did at their convention. It was calling for a province-wide ban on cosmetic pesticide use.

I ask the minister: What action is planned to address the resolution that was just passed at their convention and endorsed by all of the municipalities in the Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, we are aware of that resolution. In fact, I have been in touch with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador. I also would like to add to that, I believe the City of St. John’s has also passed such a similar motion as well. Again, we will continue to work toward the issue. There are some things that we are looking at. You have to look at, in the case of Ontario or Quebec, I am not sure at the moment, but there is an outstanding lawsuit now against one of those provinces for banning a particular pesticide. So we want to be careful if we do anything that we certainly do it right and we do not end up in a lawsuit. I would certainly welcome the comments of the member opposite as to where your position is on the pesticides use as well.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Under the Municipalities Act, communities cannot enact bylaws banning the cosmetic use of pesticides, as this piece of legislation does not provide local jurisdiction over safety or general welfare powers. That is what I understand from dealing with the Federation of Municipalities. Without a directive from the department or an amendment to the Municipalities Act, local leaders can do very little to act on this issue without the provincial government bringing forward some kind of legislation.

I ask: If you will commit at the minimum to make amendments to the act to allow these municipalities to have more control and autonomy to enforce these kinds of regulations?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Yes, Mr. Speaker. In response to the question from the member opposite, obviously when concerns are raised - as we have seen concerns raised in this House on any number of issues – we will work with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador. We will work with the groups to make sure, and within departments, to try and ensure that we take the right course of action.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Now that the Minister of Transportation and Works is up, I have a couple of questions for him. I am waiting to see if he has an early Christmas gift, Mr. Speaker, for the people of Labrador. As we know, work is continuing on the Trans-Labrador Highway between Cartwright and Goose Bay, and many people are hoping that this road will be connected prior to Christmas.

I ask the minister: If he can give the people of Labrador and the people of the Province an update on this highway connection and when it is expected to be open to the general public?

He is so excited, Mr. Speaker, he cannot wait for me to finish my question.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: I say, Mr. Speaker, I do not want to look like a scrooge or anything, I want to look like a Santa Claus in this one.

In response to the member opposite, this is a commitment this government made that Phase III, the piece of highway, the Trans-Labrador Highway between Cartwright Junction and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, 287 kilometres. We indicated that we would do everything possible to get it done in this time period of 2009. I say to the member opposite, we are very, very close in the sense that the crews have indeed connected up both sides.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: That is the Santa part. The other part is that of course in coming together there is still a fair amount of work to make sure that that highway section is up to the standards for safety wise. So the crews are working extremely, extremely hard. They have to put down a larger culvert and do some other work but we are very, very hopeful that yes, we can get that open as soon as possible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the great Christmas present but it is certainly an historic event and a lot of excitement in Labrador around it.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to ask the minister today, because as you know, with regard to the ferry operations between the Island and Labrador, there are periods of the year where we have some problems in terms of navigating that particular service because of ice.

I ask the minister today: Has any consideration been given by your government to establish a year-round ferry service between Labrador and the Island now that we will have a road connection over the next year and be open and operational?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Again, Mr. Speaker, the first priority was indeed to get the road open, which we are still working on. Of course, consideration must be given now that that connection is close, that we look at year round. However, that is under consideration and I would have to report back at some time later as to whether we are going to go in that direction, but, again, we need to make sure that we do the proper consultation with the parties involved to see that there is a need and if indeed, how we can fulfil that particular need.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

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

My questions are also for the Minister of Transportation and Works.

Mr. Speaker, the MV Gallipoli, which operates from Burgeo to Ramea, is scheduled for annual refit in the coming weeks. For the first time in the history of these refits the whole crew is being laid off. These workers have years and years of service with the department; yet, at this most sensitive time of year they are being sent home.

My question for the minister is: Why are they being sent home, and is this really necessary?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, on this particular issue, obviously, I would like to check with my officials to make sure I have the facts correct and then I will certainly bring those along to the House at the earliest convenience.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

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

Mr. Speaker, the required maintenance and painting and upkeep of the ferry, of course, is always done by the crew during their annual refits because it cannot be done while the vessel is actually in service. Now it appears that for this attempt to save a few bucks, we have disrupted the lives of these employees, we have forced them on to unemployment, and we have compromised the vessel maintenance program.

I ask the minister: If you could check into this and see if this decision, which appears to be short sighted and not well thought out, could in fact be halted before it has these negative consequences?

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Again, Mr. Speaker, obviously I indicated I would report back, but in saying that, as well, we have an obligation as a government to make sure that our ferries that are operating in the various parts of this Province are in good shape, that they are up to scratch, up to whatever standards are. Fortunately or unfortunately, they have to come out of service at particular times in order for to get that work. I suspect that that is the case here, and unfortunately, in taking out a ferry, that we do have some ramifications. Those I will check on to make sure that they have been done in a manner that is in the best interest of all.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, during September of this year there were about 200 Memorial University students who were on a wait-list for on-campus housing in St. John’s. These wait-lists were reported to be the longest the university has seen for some years. In addition to this shortage of student housing, the vacancy rate for housing in St. John’s was at about 2.2 per cent, which is also an all-time low. Although there was money allocated for the construction of two new residences at MUN campus in the 2007 Budget, at the moment that project is at a standstill and the space originally intended for the new buildings is currently being used as a parking lot.

I ask the minister: Why has the project been put on hold, and when can we expect to see construction resume in efforts to alleviate this housing shortage?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to the member opposite, probably one of the challenges with the housing is the result of the lowest tuition in the country that is attracting students to come to Newfoundland to study.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: The project itself, Mr. Speaker, is not on hold. As a matter of fact, it is far from being on hold. We have had discussions with officials at Memorial as early as the day before yesterday. There are a number of challenges that we face there, that we are trying to work through. If the member opposite is aware of the issue, he would be fully aware that there are multi-millions of dollars committed to this project already. We are in the final stages now of nailing down exactly the number of beds that we are going to build and how much the project is going to cost. I say, Mr. Speaker, the project is very, very, very far from on hold. It is actually a lot closer to moving forward than anything else.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We certainly appreciate what low tuition fees can do in the student population, for sure. Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook is also experiencing a shortage of student housing which poses many problems for students trying to find a place to live, and Corner Brook is currently experiencing a vacancy rate of 0.6 per cent, which is the lowest rental vacancy rate of any large community in the Province. Back in August it was reported that the college was still waiting to hear back from government with regard to additional funding for an expansion of the proposed residence. It was reported at that time that the college had been waiting for over a year to receive an answer on the additional funding.

Again, I ask the minister: Has government committed additional funding for the resident project in Corner Brook, and when is it anticipated that the residence will be open to address the student housing shortage in that area?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the member opposite for his question. It is always a pleasure to stand here and talk about Memorial, and of course Memorial’s sister on the West Coast, Grenfell. We are very proud of the programs we offer over there, and for the same reason we are challenged in St. John’s we are challenged in Corner Brook, because people want to come to Grenfell and they want to study there. They recognize the quality of the programs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: We recognize, Mr. Speaker, the value in Grenfell College and what is over there. That is why we have invested in nearly $30 million for a new academic building within the last three months, Mr. Speaker, for the West Coast.

The answer for the housing for the West Coast is the same as it is for Memorial because it is a part of the same project, Mr. Speaker. We could move forward today and we could do half of a job with a project, but we are committed to do the best we can with the amount of money we have available. Grenfell and Memorial, and their leadership teams are committed to work with us to ensure that when we announce that project is moving forward, it is moving forward with the maximum number of beds we can get and the best dollar value for that project.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, student housing continues to be an issue, not only for MUN but also for CONA, the College of the North Atlantic. At its Labrador West campus, as well as its St. Anthony campus, there are housing shortages. While government has planned to invest $2 million to expand academic buildings, there is nothing on the books in terms of addressing the housing shortage in Labrador West.

Again, I would ask the minister: Will the government also provide funding to address the student housing needs in Western Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I am sure that the member opposite is fully aware that if we do not continue to invest in programs and facilities, there will be no need for student housing because there will be nothing to study in.

Mr. Speaker, I say, first of all, we have to ensure that we have quality facilities that are tailored to the program offerings that we have across the Province, and that is for Memorial University and it is for our public college system.

Mr. Speaker, the commitments that we made demonstrate our commitment to post-secondary education in this Province and we will continue to follow the path we followed for the last six or seven years on that, Mr. Speaker. We will work with the College of the North Atlantic as they identify priorities that they have for growing their programs and growing the enrolment in their programs. If housing is identified, then we will obviously work with them to address that as well.

Mr. Speaker, we have a plan laid out to follow with the College of the North Atlantic, as we do with Memorial. It is a strategic plan to grow the programs and to grow the student enrolment and make sure that the facilities we have there are safe and secure for students and faculty.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the minister of tidings of great joy today. Mr. Speaker, the provincial government’s decision to download operational and maintenance costs for the planned extension to Team Gushue Highway to the cities of St. John’s and Mount Pearl is creating tension between the two communities.

I ask the minister: Why are you downloading your responsibilities to municipalities who will be forced to increase taxes or make cuts to afford these services?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

AN HON. MEMBER: Ho, ho, ho.

MR. HEDDERSON: No; no, ho, ho, ho’s for me, Mr. Speaker.

Again, this road was planned way back in the 1970s. It is a road that is advantageous to St. John’s, Mount Pearl and the surrounding area. It was in the works for as long as I can remember and now it is coming to fulfillment. We believe that we acted in the best interest of the city, the City of Mount Pearl and the surrounding areas. We have done what we needed to do. It is there and if there is tension between those two groups, that is something that they will have to deal with.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, there are fourteen members of government in the capital region who are sitting idly by and allowing their government to treat their constituents in such a heavy-handed manner. This road is a key piece of infrastructure to the capital region and the provincial government should not only build, but also maintain the highway as they do with all other provincial highways in the Province.

I ask the minister: If both St. John’s and Mount Pearl refuse to cover the operational and maintenance costs for the highway, will you continue to build this highway or is this a way of forcing them into submission?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, again, talking about heavy-handedness; we as a government have put in, I believe this year, $800 million in infrastructure throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: If that is heavy-handed - I say to the member opposite, if that is heavy-handed, yes, we are a heavy-handed government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, creating this type of uncertainty and downloading additional costs to municipalities who are struggling to balance their budgets every year is unfortunate. Mount Pearl has already stated they will not cover any cost of maintaining this highway because it is a provincial responsibility.

I ask the minister, again: Why are you refusing to take responsibility for what is certainly a provincial highway?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, again, we see this road as a priority, and as a priority we are certainly looking at a 50-50 funding with the federal government to complete this highway. We realize the importance of it. The only thing that we ask, is that when the highway is built I would see that the - I think the City of St. John’s will take over the maintenance of it. That is co-operation. That is where we need to be, and that is where we are as a government. Again, I would say to the member opposite, we have delivered and we will deliver on this as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, this is a question that I had left over the other day when I asked the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

Mr. Speaker, last year government committed to more than $10 million in its budget for cleaning up contaminated sites including the New Harbour landfill. When the department tested the site in 2005-2006, the concentration of PCBs detected in the soil samples were 66.7 milligrams for one kilogram of soil, which far exceeds the fifty milligrams per kilowatt of soil.

I ask the minister: How much contaminated soil has been removed from the site since last year and what are the soil samples of concentration at this time?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, perhaps we will have to start on the Lower Churchill to get the kilowatts to the landfill.

I will tell the member, last year we did remove 120 tons. Last year we did remove 120 tons of materials with PCBs in them and further delineation work has been done so that further removal can be done in the future. So, 120 tons was removed.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Finance, in releasing fall update 2009, said he was not happy with the percentage of the GDP taken up by oil revenues. He spoke about the need for diversification, yet the update document only talks about large major projects, mainly oil related.

Mr. Speaker, diversification sounds great, but what does it really mean? We have not heard anything about diversification from the Department of Business, or Natural Resources, or the Newfoundland and Labrador Research and Development Council.

So, Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Premier could give us tangible examples of what his departments and agencies are doing to diversify our economy.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The basic part of government’s plan is so that we can diversify the economy, so that we are not totally relying on these non-renewable resources. That is why this government is committed to the Lower Churchill project.

When we first took office, we brought the Province back to surplus after many years of deficits. That enabled us to lower our debt, it enabled us to lower our interest costs, it enabled us to lower taxes so our people would have more money to pay their bills, and to expand the economy. It also enabled us to make investments, strategic investments in program spending and in infrastructure for the very purpose of diversifying the economy, with investments in research and development, with investments in ocean technology, with investments in aquaculture, with investments in agriculture – the list goes on and on and on.

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.

I did not hear anything new in the list that was just thrown out by the Minister of Finance - nothing new at all.

Mr. Speaker, the economic update talks about the increased activity in the major capital projects, mostly in the offshore, and an increase of thousands of employment person hours in 2010 and 2011 related to that activity.

So I ask the minister: What efforts are being made to ensure that we shall have the workforces for this increased activity in 2010 and 2011?

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 the hon. member opposite is aware, the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development has a number of new strategies. An innovation strategy, which is supporting diversifying our local economies. We have an ocean tech strategy, Mr. Speaker, that we are using to bring new companies that are now in an embryonic stage to the point where they able to have programs that they have, and technology that they have into commercialization.

These industries are growing, Mr. Speaker; we have seen them grow ten-, twenty- and thirty-fold in the last number of years. That is the kind of investment that we are making, based upon the money we are getting from the oil and gas. That is the kind of investment that we are making into our knowledge-based industries to make sure that our Province and the companies in our Province are prepared to deal with the future, and deal with the new technologies that are out there, Mr. Speaker.

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.

I thank the minister for the answer he gave, which was the answer to my first question – but I am still glad to get that information that he just shared.

Mr. Speaker, currently there is a gap between people graduating with a skilled trade, their ability to find an apprenticeship position and then being ready to enter the workforce, especially by 2010.

I want to know what the government is doing to get people with basic training the job experience that will be needed to be ready for the employment in these new projects that are in fall update, 2009.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, thank you.

I want to speak up a little bit on what my colleague had to say a few minutes ago. I thank the member for her question. We are very aware of the challenges that we face in apprenticeship in this Province. We are also very much aware of the demand that exists now and what it will be for the foreseeable future for skilled trades in this Province.

That is one of the reasons, as my colleague alluded to, that we made significant investment. As a matter of fact, I think it was June that I, myself, announced a suite of programs that our government is investing in for almost every single campus of College of the North Atlantic across the Province, and that ranges from Burin, to St. Anthony, to Port aux Basques and all points in between. Those programs, Mr. Speaker, are designed to provide some general skills in tourism and fishery-related occupations, but they are also very targeted to industry specific where we are training, for example, in Burin, for a particular course to suit the needs of a particular company in the area.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, we –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to conclude his response.

MR. KING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have also invested heavily in doubling our spaces in the college system to focus on the trades, but in addition to that, Mr. Speaker, we are investing to provide supports to businesses, and enticements, and whatever else we can do to open up spots to allow apprentices more opportunity to go to work with businesses in the private sector.

Mr. Speaker, I say to the member opposite that I hope to have something more to say about that in the coming days.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!