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Oral
Questions
September 9, 2009
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| In the House | Question
Period
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have a
couple of questions today to follow up on the Lower
Churchill piece that we were asking about and debating
yesterday in the House. Government has touted the State
of Rhode Island as a potential market for Lower
Churchill power. In fact, they announced and signed an
MOU with them June 27, 2007, with a great deal of
fanfare at that time.
I have a copy of the MOU,
and I actually accessed it through the State of Rhode
Island government, not through the open, accountable
government they claim to be in the Province.
Mr. Speaker, two years
ago they agreed to conduct a joint assessment for a
long-term sale and purchase agreement of Lower Churchill
power. I ask the minister
today: Has this ever been completed and, if so, can you
table it in the House of Assembly?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Natural Resources and Deputy
Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
In June 2007 we did,
indeed, enter an MOU with Rhode Island, and during that
time it was agreed that we would study the possibility
of us wheeling power and selling power to the State of
Rhode Island. We did the work, Mr. Speaker; Rhode Island
did the work. They found out that they did not have the
capacity to negotiate a long-term power purchase
agreement with Nalcor on behalf of the Province. Nor
were they able, in their Legislature, to do the
regulatory changes that were required in order to wheel
electricity into the state. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, we
learned a lot through that discussion but it was not
possible and we have moved on because other customers
are in a position to be able to do business with
Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
When they signed the MOU
with the State of Rhode Island, there was a big press
conference and there was a whole lot of fanfare, but it
took us two years to find out that it came to nothing,
absolutely nothing.
Maybe
the minister can stand and tell me today what markets or
what customers are you looking to secure power purchase
agreements with, that have the capacity to be able to
negotiate with Nalcor on Lower Churchill power.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Deputy
Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Potential markets exist
for us in Labrador, on the Island of Newfoundland, in
Ontario, through the New England States, and New York.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is
absolutely possible to wheel power through and sell
power. Mr. Speaker, we are doing it today. For the first
time in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador, we are
wheeling power through Quebec from border to border, and
we are able to do that because of the Open Access
Transmission Tariff. We are selling power into the
United States, so it is possible. That is why we have
OATT. Provinces are doing it through the country;
utilities are doing it through the country. It is
entirely possible.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, the minister knows that the Open Access
Transmission Tariff to the market only works if there is
capacity on the line.
When I met with officials
from the Quebec government back in July of this year on
the Romaine project, we were given assurances from them
at that time that they would have completed the first
phase by 2014, putting more power into the grid by that
time from the Romaine River, all together to complete
four stages at 1,550 megawatts of power.
I ask the minister today:
In light of the fact that power
project is coming on stream, in light of the fact that
Prince Edward Island is now producing 500 megawatts of
wind power to go into the North American market –
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
MS JONES: I
ask her: Where are the power
purchase agreements on the Lower Churchill? Even if
1,000 megawatts stays in Newfoundland and Labrador,
where are the markets for the other 2,000 megawatts of
power?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Deputy
Premier.
MS DUNDERDALE: Mr.
Speaker, this is a complicated question and it requires
a detailed answer.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
MS DUNDERDALE: First
of all, she is completed wrong when saying that the OATT
only works when there is capacity. That is not true. The
system operator determines whether there is capacity on
the line, and if there is not capacity on the lines they
tell you what infrastructure is required in order to
create that capacity. You can build it yourself, you can
build it with partners, or you can have somebody else
build it for you. That is the answer to number one.
Number two, Mr. Speaker,
in the New England States alone they require now, with
all of the clean energy requirements, seventy-five
terawatts of energy. If we developed every project that
is in the works in Atlantic Canada at the present time,
Mr. Speaker, we can only provide twenty-five terawatts
of that requirement. Mr. Speaker, we have an energy
hungry world, and thank God in Newfoundland and Labrador
we have the energy to feed it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the minister
talks about access through building transmission lines. So
maybe she can tell me today, because they were late off
the mark in applying for access in New Brunswick to the
grid a year ago, and all the excess capacities went to
Quebec, maybe she can tell me what the action plan is
for the north-south grid. Is it to build a transmission
line through Atlantic Canada, minister? Is that what you
are getting at?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Deputy Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, last year
there was a tendering process out of New Brunswick that
put capacity to wheel 300 megawatts of electricity
through New Brunswick. It was immediate. Anybody that
bid, tendered on that process, had to accept that
capacity and pay the rates for that capacity
immediately. We looked at it, and we were not ready to
make that kind of a commitment. We do not know which
route we will wheel our capacity through. We did a more
appropriate application to the system operator in New
Brunswick for 740 megawatts, border to border, to have a
study done on it so that we understand what the
requirement is going to be in infrastructure and how
much it is going to cost.
So it was not a missed
opportunity, Mr. Speaker. We do not need that wheeling
capacity until 2015, 2016. When we are looking out to
2050, Mr. Speaker, we are going to make sure that the
options work for us and they work for the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: So
they have no market and no access, Mr. Speaker.
Yesterday, I questioned
the Minister of Health regarding a decision to remove
lab and X-ray services in Lewisporte and Flower’s
Cove. I also raised the concerns of local doctors who
say that they are considering leaving without having
these necessary services available. The minister
responded in a very cavalier manner saying that they can
recruit more physicians.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
minister today: Why are you
unwilling to listen to recommendations of these doctors
who have worked for more than two decades in rural
medicine in this Province and why are you inciting them
to leave rural communities and practice elsewhere?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
You know, I do get a kick
out of what the Leader of the Opposition always tries to
put a spin on everything that she wants to put a spin
on.
The fact of the matter
here is very, very simple, Mr. Speaker. We looked at a
project in Lewisporte that was going to be some-$43
million. It started off at about $20 million. We
realized right off the mark that we needed to make
changes in order to be able to accommodate a particular
project that could still work for the people of
Lewisporte and area. We are now committing $34 million,
I say, Mr. Speaker, to a project in rural Newfoundland
and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Mr.
Speaker, I find it appalling that the Leader of the
Opposition would talk about things such as our non
commitment to rural Newfoundland and Labrador. The fact
is that we are putting more money in health care in
rural Newfoundland and Labrador than any other
government that this Province has ever seen, Mr.
Speaker. We stand on that record and we will continue to
do what we are doing.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, he does not answer the questions but it is the
same attitude, if we give you one thing it entitles us
to take something else away.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I
asked the minister about his visit to Lewisporte a
couple of weeks ago and whether at that time if he knew
that the lab and X-ray services would be removed. We
know he told the MHA but the MHA did not understand.
We ask the minister again
today: When you met with the
local committee and toured the facilities did you know
at that time that the lab and the X-ray services in
Lewisporte would close, or did you just find that out
when you got back to your office here in St. John’s?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Mr.
Speaker, I hear my colleague from Transportation and
Works saying that she is too cute by half, and I guess
that is exactly what is happening again now.
The fact is that this
decision was made during discussions, Mr. Speaker, with
Central Health and Community Services, also with
discussions that we had ongoing with the community. The
fact of the matter is, we went out to Lewisporte, and we
told them very clearly that this facility would not be
built or put inside of the new facility. We would not
have X-ray and lab inside of the new facility. That is
exactly what we told them, Mr. Speaker. They understood
where we were coming from and we moved forward on that
basis.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, I ask the minister: Isn’t
it true that you told the people in Lewisporte at that
time that there would not be a one-roof concept for lab
and X-ray services, but you did not tell them you were
prepared to gut their service within two weeks, did you?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Mr.
Speaker, I said exactly what I said, and that was that
there would be no laboratory and X-ray services under
the one roof in the new facility that we were building
in Lewisporte. In terms of –
MS JONES:
(Inaudible).
MR. ORAM:
- if she would let me answer. In terms of a discussion
around what was happening with closing out the lab and
X-ray part of what we were doing in Lewisporte, that
discussion was had but there was no final decision made
on that when I was out in Lewisporte.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister talks about
streamlining services in an ongoing review to identify
which X-ray and lab services would be removed throughout
the Province, meanwhile we are being told by doctors and
radiologists that they have not been consulted.
I ask the minister: If
you are not consulting doctors and radiologists who are
providing the frontline medical services in these
communities, who are you talking with and where are you
getting these recommendations?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Mr.
Speaker, this is an ongoing process. We are looking and
assessing all laboratory and X-ray services throughout
Newfoundland and Labrador. We will be talking to
physicians. We will talk to whoever we need to talk to,
to gain information as to what needs to be done in terms
of looking at the way that we deal with X-ray services
and lab services in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The fact, however,
remains, Mr. Speaker. That if you look at the Cameron
report and you look at recommendations such as number
fourteen and number sixteen, you will see very clearly
that the Cameron report talks about laboratory services
and how we have to look at ways to enhance and change
the way we are doing laboratory work, and laboratory
work and diagnostic imaging usually go together. So we
have to look at both of those particular services as we
go through the Province and look at it. This assessment
is ongoing and we will continue to assess it. In fact,
the assessment of any type of service within health care
is an ongoing process that continues forever, I say, Mr.
Speaker. So we will continue to assess the services and
make a decision based on that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask hon. members for
their co-operation. The Chair is having difficultly
listening to the questions asked and the answers given.
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I always find it somewhat
offensive every time I hear the minister use the Cameron
report as an excuse to be closing down these lab and
X-ray services, because nowhere in the report does it
recommend closure of these services. What it, indeed,
recommends is that there be investments and upgrades in
labs that are around the Province –
AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
MS JONES: -
to bring them to a certain standard of accreditation and
that is what the recommendation says.
I ask the minister today:
Is he using that recommendation
to bring all of these labs and services to accreditation
in that Cameron report as the excuse to close these
services all around the Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Mr.
Speaker, I do not need an excuse to look at improving
services in Newfoundland and Labrador. I do not need an
excuse to look at providing services for people in
Newfoundland and Labrador. I do not need an excuse, I
say, Mr. Speaker, to spend $34 million in a community
such as Lewisporte. I do not need an excuse to spend $10
million or $11 million in a community like Flower’s
Cove. I do not need an excuse to spend $68.5 million in
Corner Brook to provide a long-term care facility for
those people, and on and on and on the list goes. I
certainly do not need an excuse to see the advantages
and need for an MRI machine in Gander, I say, Mr.
Speaker.
We are doing things that
will give people a proper health care system in
Newfoundland and Labrador. We have to streamline, we
have to find ways to measure what it is going to cost us
because there is a cost involved in everything, I say,
Mr. Speaker. We have pressures coming from every side.
We have physicians that need more money right now. We
are looking at everything that we can look at to be able
to give people an enhanced health care system in this
Province, and that is exactly what I intend to do. That
is exactly what this government intends to do.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Now,
Mr. Speaker, that was a whole lot about nothing. But let
me tell you, Mr. Speaker, what the minister does need to
do is to justify his actions to the people of this
Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
Order, please!
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, what the minister does need to do is justify
his decisions to the people of this Province when he
goes out and cuts their services. When he is threatening
and putting their lives in jeopardy to access medical
care in this Province, then, Mr. Speaker, he has a
responsibility to answer for those kinds of decisions.
I ask the minister today,
Mr. Speaker, we already know that there could be other
services cut in regions around the Province. We have
already heard a rumour in Central Newfoundland that
services at Botwood and St. Alban’s are next in line
to close. Maybe the minister
can stand today and dispel those rumours so that people
in those communities can have some comfort?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Mr.
Speaker, I can tell you one thing, I am very, very
pleased that this government has invested a whole lot of
money in health care, because if the Leader of the
Opposition keeps going the way she is going she may have
a heart attack and she will need to have some of those
services provided to her, I can tell you, Mr. Speaker.
The fact here, Mr.
Speaker, is very simple. You cannot go on rumours, by
the way. We do not go on rumours over here, I would
suggest you not go on rumours as well. We have made no
decisions as to where we are going to be going next. We
have said very clearly we are doing a complete
assessment of all laboratory and X-ray services
throughout this Province. We will continue to do that.
When the time is right, when we see fit, and when we see
that there is a savings or we see that there is a
quality of service that can be enhanced, then we will
make that announcement at that point in time. We will
not be making announcements in the House of Assembly,
Mr. Speaker, just based on a whim.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Government has also
indicated that preparations are being made to address
concerns related to the H1N1 virus. Mr. Speaker, this
Province has been without a permanent infectious disease
specialist for adults since March of this year, and
should a serious outbreak of the H1N1 virus occur, we
understand that the expertise of such a specialist would
be critically important.
So I ask the minister
today: Why have your efforts
failed to recruit a new infectious disease specialist
for the Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Mr.
Speaker, it is very important that the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador realize today that H1N1 is
certainly an issue that we face right now as a Province,
certainly as a country and as a world.
Newfoundland and
Labrador, Mr. Speaker, is prepared for H1N1. We have put
in place working groups. In fact, we have identified
areas where we needed to do some work in terms of what
was happening with H1N1. We put a working group in
place. Each and every issue will be dealt with and have
been dealt with, Mr. Speaker. We continue to move
forward. When it comes to an infectious disease officer,
I can tell you now, Mr. Speaker, we have been out there,
we have been looking and we are trying to recruit a
particular individual, and when that day comes we will
certainly be able to announce it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
We asked questions on
this all last session of the House and we were assured
that there would be some strong efforts to recruit a
specialist over the summer and apparently that still has
not happened.
Mr. Speaker, there are
approximately 80,000 students going back to school this
week in our Province and we only have one pediatrician
at the Janeway who specializes in infectious diseases
among children.
I ask the minister: Is
the government not concerned that this one specialist
may not be able to handle the numbers of people that
could be affected, and are additional specialists being
recruited to assist if in the case of a pandemic?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Mr.
Speaker, I can only reiterate what I just said a moment
ago. The fact of the matter is Newfoundland and Labrador
is ready for H1N1. We are ready. If this pandemic should
hit this Province we are ready to deal with it, whether
it be in terms of children, whether it be in terms of
schools, whether it be in terms of anything that happens
in this Province, we are ready to deal with it. I am
very, very confident that our regional health
authorities have stepped forward and put this as a
priority, understand that we need to be ready, and we
are ready, 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.
We are at the beginning
of another school year and already there are two schools
that will be delayed in opening due to the discovery of
mould. St. Mathew’s Elementary in St. John’s,
Peacock Elementary in Happy Valley-Goose Bay are prime
examples of why an improved inspection process is
necessary in our school system. We have continuously
asked government to conduct air quality inspections in
all schools throughout the Province and for inspection
reports to be made public. The Auditor General’s
Report in2008 verified this, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister, as I
have for the past few years: Will
you finally admit that mandatory air quality inspections
in all schools are needed to avoid this pattern of
continuous disruptions?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Minister of
Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KING: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the hon. member
for his question, and I probably ought to say for the
record that we have completed in excess of 400 projects
on air quality in 279 schools. As we speak, Mr. Speaker,
there are less than a handful of schools where there is
any significant trouble.
I say, Mr. Speaker, that
is a testament to the kind of commitment our government
has made in working with school boards.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KING: Mr.
Speaker, let me also say it is very important for the
public to understand that members opposite stand and
they ask the kind of questions that tend to suggest
there is some degree of truth in what he is saying when,
in actual fact, Mr. Speaker, those who do air quality
testing will tell you that air quality tests will only
give you a certain degree of information about detecting
mould in schools.
Mr. Speaker, in
particular, the two schools we are dealing with now, air
quality tests would never have detected mould. It is the
fact that we were in those schools doing maintenance and
repair work to improve the facilities that we found it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Member for
the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the Minister of
Education, those facts are not lies and if what he is
saying is true –
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
MR. BUTLER: They
are not lies what I am repeating here. He is trying to
say that I am spreading rumours and lying.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The Chair has recognized
the hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave. I
ask members for their co-operation.
The hon. the Member for
the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Ask
the parents what they think about it.
I will say this to the
minister: He already made the comment that with
reference to the inspections that were done they only
found out recently. Well, I say they should do the
inspections earlier in the summer, rather than the
schools having to be closed, Mr. Speaker, so parents,
teachers and students have the most up-to-date
information available regarding air quality in the
schools.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
MR. BUTLER: I
ask the minister: Will he
commit to posting inspection reports on-line so that
everyone will know the last date of inspections and the
results of those reports?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KING: Mr.
Speaker, I am not trying to suggest that the hon.
member’s facts are lies. I do not think I used any of
that language, but I will say that some of the language
being used in this House and some of the language being
used in these press releases when they call
government’s infrastrucute plan failing is certainly
misleading to the public.
The public needs to
understand very clearly that it is like renovating a
house or a building. When we engage in renovation
projects in schools, we are going to run into problems
that we did not foresee. It is because we are doing the
work that we are finding the problems, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KING: Mr.
Speaker, I am sure I need not remind the member
opposite, but I do not mind going through it because I
am sure sometimes they have a little trouble
understanding this, given from 1997 to 2003 $5.5 million
only was invested in school maintenance; this year $121
million alone from this government.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Member for
the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: I
say, Mr. Speaker, with all of the money that is flowing
–
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
For the final time the
Chair is going to ask for co-operation; the final time
for members to my left. The Chair will have no other
choice but identify members who are causing a
disturbance in the House.
The Chair recognizes the
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I will say it again, in
case it was not recorded: With all the money they do
have, they still cannot fix the problems.
Mr. Speaker, as a result
of an inspection report by CBC, the Minister of
Government Services became aware in late August that
numerous school buses in the Province do not meet the
CSA standards. Upon being aware of this, the minister
said that he had no prior knowledge of the standards in
question.
Mr. Speaker, the minister
should have known this information, as his department is
represented on the CSA committee regulating school
buses.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
minister: Why were you unaware
of the non-compliance, and what actions are you taking
to fix this problem?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KING: I
say, Mr. Speaker, with 270 schools and 400 projects, we
are fixing something in the public education system, I
guarantee you that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KING: Mr.
Speaker, with respect to the hon. member’s question on
busing, we are certainly fully focused on that issue and
we are fully committed to the safety of our students. I
am reiterating that from my previous message around the
infrastructure investments we are making in education.
It is a priority for our government and, Mr. Speaker, we
are committed so that we have had meetings with the
school bus operators in this Province - myself and the
Minister of Government Services - and we have made a
joint commitment to move forward in addressing the
deficiencies that exist in the system, and we are
committed, Mr. Speaker –
MR. HICKEY: (Inaudible).
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. Member for
the District of Lake Melville, the hon. Minister of
Labrador Affairs, for the final time, for his
co-operation today. That is the final warning.
The hon. the Minister of
Education, to complete his answer.
MR. KING: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
As I was saying, we have
certainly given this our full attention and we have
engaged in a discussion with school bus operators, and
clearly the government’s focus is zero tolerance for
safety regulations.
The D250 standards, Mr.
Speaker, I say to the member opposite, in case he is not
aware, contain hundreds of regulations for school buses,
many of which are not related to safety, but we are, Mr.
Speaker, focused very clearly on safety issues.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister
of Health and Community Services continues to talk about
the review of laboratory and X-ray services in the
Province. He says that his department is doing this
review. He has also said that Health and Community
Services has a plan, and that the changes in Flower’s
Cove and Lewisporte were based on this review and plan.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
minister: Would he please present the House with an
update of that review and with the plan?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: Mr.
Speaker, it is a job to give the hon. member a copy of
the plan when we have not completed the plan yet. I just
said a few minutes ago that we are working through this;
this is an ongoing process.
When we looked at the
Towns of Lewisporte and Flower’s Cove, we looked at
those particular communities right now because we are
building new health care facilities in those
communities. We had to determine what type of program
would go into those particular facilities and, very
simply, we are still working on this plan.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Mr.
Speaker, I ask the minister, very respectfully: Is there
anything on paper that can tell us what they are basing
all their decision-making on, no matter what we call it,
a briefing note or a file?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR. ORAM: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, there are
all sorts of information and discussions that go on with
the Department of Health and Community Services every
day. There have been many discussions that have been had
with regional health authorities, with different people,
and we have been discussing what needs to done in terms
of laboratory and X-ray service throughout the Province.
We have not finished that assessment yet; we are working
on that. When we do finish it we will certainly be able
to report our findings to the House.
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 would like to suggest
to the minister that he may want to get a full plan in
place before they do decision-making.
Anyway, I will go on, Mr.
Speaker. One of the doctors in Lewisporte has said that
she is going to quit due to the reduced services. She is
one of our own, trained here and stayed here to
practice. She is an example of what our medical school
and our Department of Health say they need.
Knowing that we do not
have enough rural doctors, and are struggling to recruit
physicians and specialists, I am sure we were all
surprised to hear the Minister of Health and Community
Services say flippantly in the news that we can recruit
more physicians.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
Minister of Health: Where does he expect to find more
rural physicians? Is he going to pluck them off the
trees?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR. ORAM: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I am very pleased to say
that we certainly appreciate our physicians in
Newfoundland and Labrador. They do a justice to us.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: I
would suggest that every member in this House has, at
some time, had to go and see a physician, and we
appreciate what they do.
I can tell you today, Mr.
Speaker, that we have been very, very pleased with our
recruiting efforts. In fact, today this Province has
more practicing physicians than every before in its
history.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. ORAM: I
know, Mr. Speaker, that the Opposition never want to
hear the good news that we give out.
The other fact, Mr.
Speaker, is that when it comes to the doctors in
Lewisporte or any other place in Newfoundland and
Labrador, as I said before, we want to retain these
particular physicians, we want them to stay in the
communities that they are in, but I can also tell you
that we have been very, very successful in attracting
physicians to rural Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact,
I say, Mr. Speaker, we have had right now three
applications for physicians that actually want to come
into Lewisporte.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The time allotted for
questions and answers has expired. |
