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Oral
Questions
March 23, 2009
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| In the House | Question
Period
MS
JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My questions are for the Premier today.
Mr. Speaker, Justice
Margaret Cameron recently delivered a report into the
faulty breast cancer scandal that has been ongoing in
the Province. It was a damning overview of the problems
that can occur when the appropriate leadership and
accountability are not present in our health care
system. There were sixty recommendations made by Justice
Cameron.
I ask the Premier today: Has
government developed an action plan with timelines as to
when the entire report will be implemented? If so, can
that information be tabled in the House of Assembly so
the public is made aware of it?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: For
the member’s benefit as well, Mr. Speaker, I want to
acknowledge that government already released that report
back the first part of March. In fact, I have a copy to
be tabled in the House for members present today.
There are, as she has
indicated, sixty recommendations in that report. In
fact, many of them, Mr. Speaker, have already been
actioned. We have, over the last two years, made some
significant investments in our health system, and many
of them are targeted towards the issues that are
identified in those recommendations.
I can tell the member
opposite, and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador,
that the government has already made significant
investment towards those sixty recommendations, so many
of them are well underway.
With respect specifically
to the question she asked with respect to an action
plan, I should be in a position, before this session is
concluded, to table in this House the action plan that
she has referenced. Many of the initiatives identified
in that recommendation have not only been actioned prior
to that, but some of the new ones we have already
started to work on in the last couple of weeks.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: I
thank the minister for that response.
Mr. Speaker, government
has also had a number of weeks to review the report
since it has been release to the public, and I ask the
Premier: Has government costed
these recommendations? If so, can you table that
information as well, so that we have an idea of what the
cost factors are to implementing all of those
recommendations?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Some of those
recommendations in there, as I have said, because we
have already actioned them, we have some costs pretty
well nailed down. Some of the other ones, we have some
tentative figures and some order of magnitude of what it
would be, and we would be only too glad to share those
with members of the House, but the ball park we are
talking about is around $100 million.
I think the figures that
we worked up are some $98 million, as a preliminary
estimate of what some of those costs might be. There are
a couple of areas where those figures may be a bit soft
because they are forecasts – because we need to get
some additional information.
The member opposite might
recall that some of the recommendations call for an
independent review to come in and look at a couple of
aspects of the operation. Until that review is concluded
we will not know for certain what might come out of
those, but that is the order of magnitude that we are
talking about and I would be only too glad to share it
with members of this House.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Justice Cameron also
identified the need for more staffing positions within
Eastern Health and in the other four health authorities.
I ask the Premier: In
total, how many new staffing positions will need to be
added at Eastern Health and in the other health
authorities, and when can we see the recruitment of
those positions starting?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That is one area where I
am very pleased to be able to say that we have already
taken some action.
Over the last two
budgets, Mr. Speaker, we have made significant
investments in our lab services, not only in Eastern but
throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, and I will be only
too glad to table those new positions that have been
created in the labs and the associated costs with them.
In terms of the
recommendations of what it might mean for additional
staff in the future, some of those adjustments have
already been made and we forecasted what new ones we
will need to add for this year. Some of the other pieces
growing out of - the implementation, for example, of the
new accreditation process, until we get further advanced
in that process we will not be able to tell you exactly
how many people we will need but again, we have an order
of magnitude. I will be only too glad to share with her
those numbers that we have already created and those
that we are forecasting to create over the course of the
next year or two.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Justice Cameron also
outlined the need for a crisis management plan to be
developed that will help staff deal with and address the
problems in our health care system. She asked that this
be one of the first items of priority.
So I ask the government
today, have you developed a
crisis management plan or is one in the process of being
implemented or developed by the department?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: The
member opposite might recall that in addition to calling
for this inquiry in the first place, our government
commissioned a task force, put in place a task force to
look at adverse events, and as a result of the work of
that task force, we received a report late in 2008 that
outlined for us how health authorities would react in
the event, if there is an adverse event or critical
incident within their organizations and what might be
their response, how might they communicate that, how
might they report it and document it. That will form a
piece of the crisis management recommendation that
Justice Cameron has included in her report and it is a
piece of work in progress.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
The problems that were
outlined in this report were meant to deal with breast
cancer testing in particular, but we all know that this
is just a tip of the iceberg in terms of looking at some
of the challenges that exist within our health care
system. However, we all know that there are many
problems that were discussed in this report that can be
expanded to those other sectors of the health care
system.
I ask the government
today: Will you be expanding
the findings of this report to look at how you address
problems in other areas of the health care system as
well?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
One of the underpinnings of this report, if you look at
the inquiry itself and all the testimony that we heard
throughout that period of time, and pretty well anybody
who testified during that period and the recommendations
themselves imbedded in the body of the report, the whole
theme that runs through is quality; quality improvement
initiatives, focusing on quality, focusing on monitoring
progress, reporting progress, picking up on adverse
events that may occur and putting in place corrective
action.
I think I can say to the
member opposite, the general thrust of that
Commission’s report and some of the commentary we
heard which focuses on quality, I would agree that is a
belief, a philosophy, a mindset and an attitude that
needs to be entrenched throughout our entire system, not
just in our labs, but our health system overall.
I can assure the member
opposite and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador,
that focus on quality improvement will continue to be
our primary consideration as we move forward to continue
to invest, enhance and improve our Province’s health
system.
MR. SPEAKER: Order
please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Patients are still
waiting to be compensated for the problems that they
have faced as a result of this scandal in our health
care system. We know that HIROC, Eastern Health’s
insurance company, is willing to compensate some but not
all. Patients have argued that their mental anguish
alone should include them in any settlement.
I ask the Premier today: What
is government doing now, or will do in the future to
look after the patients who HIROC is trying to exclude
from any potential settlements?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. T. MARSHALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The court action is
against Eastern Health, which is a separate corporation
and has its own legal counsel, but obviously, the
Department of Justice would be available to join in a
review of the liability issues and any potential
settlement that might be involved.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, the Premier has continuously stated that
patients should be compensated, but I have to ask: What
is government willing to do about it?
As you know, there is a
precedent to deal with situations such as this. Under
the Tobin government, in 1996, they did move forward to
compensate victims of Mount Cashel and to alleviate
further pain and suffering for them and their families.
I ask the Premier today: Will
government commit here to compensate any patients and
families who may be excluded from compensation by
Eastern Health and by HIROC?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr.
Speaker, I am very familiar with the Tobin compensation
that took place. I was actually involved in a law firm
that was involved in that particular process. I cannot
give you the exact timeframe or the duration of that
process but that took several years. It may have taken
– I could be off - as much as five to seven years. It
was a lengthy inquiry that took place, then after that
there was a legal process. Court actions were issued.
The questions of liability had to be determined and then
subsequent to that, there was a whole question of a
portion of damages.
So there is a fairly
complicated process that has to take place. As a
government, we need to allow that to take place. There
is a question here of the liability of HIROC, there is a
question of the liability of insurers for some of the
doctors and then there is a question of degree of
damages for people that have been harmed by somebody’s
wrongful action or negatives. So we have to allow that
to take place in order that damages can be ascertained,
and that is a process that we would allow to happen and
be observers in that process. If we can be facilitators
by providing information in any way possible, we would
only be too delighted to do so.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Madam Justice Cameron
also made recommendations suggesting that legislative
changes ought to be made, changes involving apology
legislation, regulation and licensing of medical
laboratory technologists and the Evidence Act.
I ask the Premier: Will
we see any of that legislation during this session of
the House of Assembly?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank
you Mr. Speaker.
As the hon. member
mentioned, Madam Justice Cameron, the Cameron Report did
recommend – I think it was recommendation 56 – that
there be apology legislation passed and the Task Force
on Adverse Health Events also, in one of its
recommendations, recommended the same thing.
Our government has been
looking at the legislation of the six jurisdictions in
the country that do, in fact, have that legislation, as
well as jurisdictions in the United States and
Australia, and those consultations and that
investigation will help inform the government as it
makes a decision on how to move forward.
I can tell hon. members
that that legislation is under very accurate review by
government at the present time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you.
I wonder if the minister
could be more specific. It is suggested that we should
be able to do this in a timely fashion and we did, after
all, take Abitibi Bowater in an afternoon. I do not
think it is rocket science to think that we might get
these changes made, which are fairly straightforward, by
the end of this session, which is May 24.
Can
the minister commit to having something done in that
time frame?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I have been in this House
long enough to know that you do not commit to anything
until you know you can exactly do it. I can assure the
hon. member that we are working –
AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
MR. T. MARSHALL: -
that we are certainly working on this. We are examining
quite carefully the proposed or the recommended
legislation of the Uniform Conference of Law
Commissioners. We are aware that the purpose of the
legislation is to help some of these disputes be settled
on a timely basis. I know a number of people who have
talked about this have indicated that it encourages also
the number of settlements as well as the time it takes
to get a settlement.
The whole idea of the
legislation is to say to someone to take responsibility
for what they have done, to express remorse, to express
contrition, and the legislation will ensure that such an
apology will not be an admission of liability, that it
cannot be used in a legal proceeding to prove liability,
and also to ensure that the apology cannot be used to
void an insurance policy even if the terms of the
insurance policy or legislation provide that.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for
his non-answer again. It is a pretty straightforward
question: Can we get it now or
not? You have just indicated that there are
lots of templates in the country you can use. It is not
rocket science to take one of those and adapt it to our
situation, I would suggest.
My next question talks
about delivering on commitments. We have certainly
gotten lots of indications from this administration that
they have made some commitments they have not delivered
upon.
Mr. Speaker, there
remains a culture of secrecy within the health care
system. People are afraid to speak out because of
punishments they may receive from administrators. We
haven’t seen the promised whistleblower legislation
which was promised some two years ago.
I ask the Premier: What
is government going to do to protect the people who want
to bring attention to issues in our health care system
and other parts of government? When will we see the
whistleblower legislation?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
In our party’s
blueprint in the last election we did indicate that in
our second term we would develop whistleblower
legislation, and we are in the process of doing that. Of
course, we already have a form of whistleblower
legislation. All members of this House joined in the
passing of what I call the Green act which is the House
of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration
Act which provides for protection for those public
servants who might disclose information about wrongful
activity on the part of a member of this House, an
officer of the House, or an employee of the House.
The next step is to move
to extend that protection to those who disclose
information, who see any wrongdoing about general civil
servants.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. minister
to conclude his answer.
MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Officials in the
Department of Justice had been engaged in consultation
at the time of the last session. There were meetings
planned with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with their
information commissioner or with their Citizens’
Representative, and we anticipate that close
consultation to be concluded –
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Mr.
Speaker, they have pulled the switch on us. This was the
Minister of Health who would get on with this kind of
non-answer.
Surely again, Minister, I
say, you have lots of templates for whistleblower and
you know that the act you referred to only applies to
members of the House and not to other government
agencies and bureaucrats.
Mr. Speaker, a task force
was developed to look at and address adverse health
events, and the Minister of Health alluded to it earlier
today in response to one of his questions. That report
was delivered to government some time ago. Again, it was
identified by Justice Cameron as one of the issues
relating to adverse events.
I ask the Premier again: What
is the status of those recommendations? We are hearing a
lot about things we are going to do, going to do. What
is the status of those recommendations? When will we see
a government response to those? Will the costing
associated with it be in this budget?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
The member opposite might
recall during the time we released that report back in
December, I had indicated publicly that those
recommendations, and as much as we, as a government,
concurred that they were solid recommendations, we
wanted to wait until Justice Cameron finished her piece
of work to make sure that if there were some issues that
were addressed in that task force and they could also
potentially be addressed in the Cameron Report - and in
some cases, they actually were. We wanted to make sure
that we had the value of that report as well before we
started to move forward with the full implementation.
One thing I can say
though, Mr. Speaker, one of the foundation pieces in
that task force report was to ensure that we had an
electronic recording system for adverse events in the
Province and we have moved on that. Eastern Health has
actually acquired the necessary software and we are in
the process of rolling that out to the other authorities
as well. So that was a significant foundation piece.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. minister
to conclude his answer.
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Last fall we asked
government several questions regarding pension and
severance programs to workers at the Abitibi mill in
Grand Falls-Windsor, should the company go into
bankruptcy. Government said at that time that they were
looking at options and they would not speculate. Well,
it is four months later and it appears the company is in
further financial difficulty.
I ask the Premier: Have
you had any discussions with Abitibi as to what will
happen to severance and pension plans for workers? Has
government developed any plans to help these workers
financially should a bankruptcy be inevitable?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, we have
been in talks with Abitibi and that is with regard to
our expropriation of their assets. At the time that
those assets were expropriated, the Premier said that we
would compensate them for the bricks and mortar for the
hydro assets. So talks were ongoing with regard to that
issue. As part of that discussion, Mr. Speaker,
severance for the loggers was put on the table for
Abitibi and a request that they do the same for the
loggers in that region of the Province as they did when
they closed their mill in Stephenville.
In terms of the
bankruptcy, Mr. Speaker, we are still not clear where
the company is going. We are watching it very carefully
and we are not going to speculate at this point in time.
We understand where severance will fall and we
understand the implications on pension but we will not
be dealing with hypothetical situations here in the
House or publicly, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
But the minister should
be aware that these people are impacted and speculation
or not, they expect that government will have some
solution or some answer for them if they find themselves
in a position where they can no longer draw down their
severance packages or their pensions. Mr. Speaker, the
minister talks about loggers, and it is my understanding
that there was nothing forthcoming for severance or
pension for the loggers that were impacted at the Grand
Falls-Bowater operation.
I ask the minister: Is
government prepared to respond to that particular group
in terms of looking at early retirement programs,
looking at some kind of pension or severance packages
that could be implemented for those workers?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
In my answer that I gave
to the Leader of the Opposition’s first question I
clearly stated that as part of the talks that we had
with Abitibi, we clearly put on the table severance for
loggers who are not eligible for such payments now under
their contractual arrangements with Abitibi Bowater.
That was squarely on the table.
In terms of pensions, Mr.
Speaker, that is not somewhere that this government has
gone before. We have looked at it from all sides. We
have taken a position that it is not something that we
are going to engage in at this point in time. However,
the union has asked that the government, on their
behalf, put forward several proposals to Abitibi Bowater
with regard to pensions and we are in the process of
doing that, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, the fact that the minister put the issue on the
table does not give me any comfort. Maybe
you would like to tell me what you have achieved in
terms of results?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
At this point in time,
talks have broken off between the government and
Abitibi.
We have to come to a fair
evaluation of what the assets are worth, and what
AbitibiBowater’s responsibilities are in Newfoundland
and Labrador, and we will continue to press those
matters when the opportunity arises, Mr. Speaker; and
the opportunity hopefully will arise again.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister if
they are prepared to take any of the money from the
Community Development Trust fund – an agreement which
they signed with the federal government for well over
$20 million – and use it to fund worker adjustment
programs in this Province like have been used in other
provinces in Canada, primarily in British Columbia?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Five million dollars of
the Community Development Trust fund has been set aside
for economic diversification and development in the
Grand Falls-Windsor region, and that money will be used,
but it will not be used for pensions, Mr. Speaker.
The Community Development
Trust fund is designed for the whole manufacturing area,
sector, which includes the fishery, and there are not
enough funds in there for us to deal with anything with
regard to pensions so it is not sensible for us even to
contemplate going there; but it is designed for
situations that we are facing in central right now and,
as I said, we have earmarked $5 million of that fund to
be spent directly in that region.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
We know that government
provided for up to $700,000 in tax grants to the Town of
Stephenville when the mill closed in that town, to make
up for the tax shortfall that the company used to
contribute.
I ask
the government today what their plan is to do a similar
investment for the Towns of Grand Falls-Windsor,
Bishop’s Falls and Botwood, to help them deal with the
tax shortfall that they are going to be facing as a
result of losing the business of Abitibi-Consolidated.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural
Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SKINNER: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
As the chair of the task
force, we have identified a number of issues that we
need to do some review on. One of them is the issue of
grants in lieu of taxes, payments that would be made to
municipalities that were made by AbitibiBowater in the
past.
We have some work that is
being done in terms of bringing information together for
task force consideration, and as soon as that
information is completed, that review is completed, we
will look at that and make a determination as to what we
will be doing as a government relative to grants in lieu
of taxes.
Thank you.
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
his response. I am glad to hear that you are having a
look at that particular piece of compensation.
Mr. Speaker, we know that
Abitibi has valued the assets that the government
expropriated, at $300 million, and that will be the
amount that the company is seeking to take the
provincial government to court for. I understand from
the minister today that any discussions around the value
of the expropriated assets, those talks have broken off.
I would like to ask the minister today where that
situation is. Is it going to be
left for the courts to resolve, or are there other
actions with which government will proceed?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. David Paterson, the
CEO of AbitibiBowater, in public statements, assigned a
value of $300 million to the assets of AbitibiBowater.
We have a view that the assets are worth less than that,
and we have been engaged in talks for some time with
regard to that issue.
As I said earlier, Mr.
Speaker, those talks have broken off for the moment.
Events are unfolding on a daily, if not hourly, basis
and we will have to see where they take us in the next
few days. That will determine our next actions.
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.
Earlier in our session we
recognized that on March 12, 2009, this Province
suffered a great tragedy in the offshore that took the
lives of seventeen people and left one critically
injured.
Mr. Speaker, although the
questions as to why are as yet unanswered, there are
sure to be recommendations from the investigating
organizations. We shall probably find that there is
still much to learn about offshore safety.
Mr. Speaker, Norway, a
leader in the offshore oil industry for many years,
decided it needed an offshore safety authority
independent from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway was created in
January 2004.
Mr. Speaker, I
respectfully ask the Premier: Would this government
please take on investigating why the Norwegian
government found it necessary to set up an independent
safety authority?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: As
the members of the Opposition clearly understand, we all
take this as an extremely serious matter. We are
monitoring this to the very best of our ability. As
information comes to us we are disclosing it as we did
last week with regard to the suits, the transportation
suits.
There are also other
issues that have been raised with regard to underwater
breathing apparatus, the issues of the Coast Guard - I
am aware of the Norwegian situation - so I think we need
to let the process take its course.
We are in sort of an
awkward, for want of a better term, position on this.
The National Transportation Safety Board are now
conducting the investigation. The RCMP are involved from
their perspective and we have to stand by as observers,
but we are very interested observers. We actually
insisted that we have an observing presence, for
example, on the Osprey recently. So this and
other issues will certainly be taken under consideration
when we feel that the investigation has concluded and
firm findings have been reached at the end of the day.
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 am glad to hear the
Premier mention that he does know about the authority
– which, of course, I would expect he would - and his
openness to whatever comes out of the various
investigations that have to happen.
Mr. Speaker, since the
tragedy we have all heard people in the Province
speaking up about the concerns with regard to the safety
of offshore workers. Of course, the Premier and the
minister have also done that, and he has just referred
to them, but many people feel they do not know what is
going on around safety issues in the offshore.
It appears that while the
Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum
Board does conduct regular safety audits - I think it is
three times a year on each facility - it does not
publish the reports; however, Norway’s Petroleum
Safety Authority does report on what it finds, good and
bad.
In that spirit, Mr.
Speaker, I ask the Premier: Would the Premier be open to
working with the federal government to ensure that all
past and future safety audits conducted by the C-NLOPB
would become public?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
As my colleague across
the House has said, the C-NLOPB has complete
responsibility for operational and occupational health
and safety in the offshore. The board has been given
that responsibility under the Accord Acts. There are
very stringent requirements that have to be received by
companies who are doing any kind of exploration, seismic
exploration or development work in the offshore. There
is a safety officer who does regular audits, and
certainly her question with regard to having those
audits published is certainly something we can take
under advisement, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The time allotted for
Oral Questions has expired. |
