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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My questions today are for the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Mr. Speaker, we have still seen no progress in resolving the impasse that is going on in the crab industry, yet thousands of people in this Province are depending upon this fishery this year for an income. The minister said in a media interview this morning that government would not be bringing forward any short-term measures, and also that the anniversary of the MOU would occur in July and hopefully they would have some solutions to implement at that time.

My question today for the minister is: Is he telling us that they are prepared to lose this season in the crab fishery without getting this issue resolved?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I reiterate, again as I said this morning and I said on Friday, that short-term measures are not the fix. Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition was the Fisheries Minister for, I believe, about six or seven months. We can look back to one of her quotes that said short-term measures are not the solution.

Mr. Speaker, that is not the solution. I got to say, Mr. Speaker, that there is progress been made, that both parties met this morning –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, both parties met yesterday morning. They met yesterday afternoon. They met again last night. I am hoping, Mr. Speaker, that I will get to meet with both parties before this afternoon is out. Mr. Speaker, I hope that something favourable comes from those meetings.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to remind the minister that during that year we settled the impasse in the crab fishery and made sure those plants opened. We made sure that the shrimp industry was going after the boats were tied up for a number of days. We also fought the federal government on the closure of the Gulf cod stock, I say to the minister. We did not sit on the sidelines and be observers while thousands of people in this Province, Mr. Speaker, went without jobs.

I ask the minister today: Is he prepared to lose this season in the fishing industry, in the crab industry, by sitting back, doing nothing, and committing to not invest in the fishing industry of this Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I do not think this is any time to get into, I will say, the gutter politics of it.

The most important thing here, Mr. Speaker -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. JACKMAN: The most important thing here, Mr. Speaker, is to get this fishery open.

Mr. Speaker, during these talks there have been ideas brought forward that I think have very much potential for long-term impact in the fishery. Mr. Speaker, she can say what she wants about getting that season open, but all harvesters, processors and plant workers will tell you that they are tired of the annual repeat that every spring you can expect disruption in this industry. It cannot continue, Mr. Speaker, it cannot because of the success of this fishery and the importance of this fishery to the entire rural parts of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister is not prepared to look at any short-term measures to get this industry going. He is not prepared to invest any money. He has already indicated he has two studies that tell us that the industry for harvesters and processors is not viable at today’s standards.

So I ask you, Minister: What action are you prepared to take?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to have all parties engaged so that we see structural changes in this industry for the benefit of the industry and for the success of the industry in the future.

Mr. Speaker, the thing that has been proposed opens up the potential for trade issues. Once you open that door, you do not know what is going to come through it, Mr. Speaker. We cannot take that chance; it puts too much at jeopardy. Again, Mr. Speaker, it may have some merit for the long term –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, there may be merits for some of this for the long term, but that is exactly what we have to do. We have to get this industry open this year. I am hoping that both sides will have come closer to reaching an agreement, and for the long term, we have to make structural changes.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We certainly see what happened when we opened the doors to Abitibi, I say to the minister.

Mr. Speaker, sealers in this Province have had a very tough season as well. In fact, the markets for their products have been greatly weakened with the ban on seal products in the European Union. We are aware that in Nunavut today there is an ongoing discussion about a ban on liquor products being imported into that territory from the European Union.

I ask the Premier today: Has your government considered putting in ban in place on European alcohol being imported into Newfoundland and Labrador, sold in government operated liquor stores as a means of showing solidarity and our discontent with the ban in the seal industry?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, what this government is very, very proud of is we are the only jurisdiction of thirteen jurisdictions in all of Canada who has not gone along with the European Free Trade Agreement which Canada is trying to enter into. We are the only ones who have stood our ground and said we are not prepared to agree unless there are certain conditions. The seal industry, of course, is obviously one; the shrimp tariff is another one. We have been very successful in having the shrimp tariff reduced and, in fact, removed over time. It has made a huge difference to the shrimp industry.

We will continue to fight for what we believe in. If, in fact, there has to be some kind of a ban on a liquor product or some other European product, that is something that this government would actually be prepared to consider, but it would have to be for the right reasons. We would have to make sure it is properly researched, but it will not be a knee-jerk reaction.

I can say that we are very proud to be the only jurisdiction in Canada standing up for what we believe in on European Free Trade.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am sure it is not lost on the government what the impact of that ban in the European Union has meant to sealers in this Province, especially at this time of the year. I would encourage the government to consider looking at a ban on the import of alcohol from the European Union to express our disgruntlement.

Mr. Speaker, government continued with its $100,000 commitment this year for communications related to the sealing industry, but they did not provide any new strategies or any new marketing plans in terms of how they are going to overcome the severe challenges that we are facing in this industry.

I ask the minister today: What plan does government have to deal with this severe problem and the loss of markets that we have for seals in this Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I think everyone recognizes the challenge that confronts the sealing industry this year. If you listen to the broadcast, the ice conditions are certainly an issue, the markets are there and the price of the pelt is down.

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the Leader of the Opposition that we are working with the sealing industry; we are undertaking some new initiatives. I cannot tell you exactly what they are now, but we are working on them. In conjunction with the sealing industry, Mr. Speaker, we intend to roll those out.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am really comforted to know that there are lots of initiatives being worked on in the sealing industry, but the minister cannot tell me about any of them today. So, maybe tomorrow – maybe the cone of silence is down, the cone of silence on the sealing industry.

Mr. Speaker, we do know that the federal minister has stated – and in fact she indicated this in a meeting I had with her myself in December – that the federal government was looking to China to develop some new markets for different products in the sealing industry.

I ask the minister today if there has been any recent discussions with his federal counterparts, or if there was anything that came from those discussions with China that could certainly help us in the future in developing a new market.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, it would have been good if she had been in Ottawa to try a little seal tasting, Mr. Speaker. One of her Senator colleagues put off a wonderful little feast that she was not there for.

Mr. Speaker, Minister Shea and I have discussed her representation in China. As well, Mr. Speaker, there are companies within this Province that we have had discussions with who are looking at expanding some of their products into the Chinese market. Those discussions are ongoing, Mr. Speaker, and we look forward to success in those particular areas.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to remind the minister I do not have to go to Ottawa to eat seal. I got a full carcass last week. I got it in bottles, Minister, and I would be happy to bring one into you tomorrow, so there you go.

Mr. Speaker, my next question is for the Minister of Environment. The Quebec courts recently ruled that this Province is not a secured creditor for AbitibiBowater’s environmental liabilities. I know the minister indicated earlier this week that they have appealed this decision; however, the existing court ruling basically states that we are on the bottom of the pile to be compensated.

So I would like to ask the minister today: How much will it cost the people of this Province to clean up the environmental mess that has been left behind by Abitibi?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the hon. member mentioned, we did seek leave to appeal the section 99 Environmental Protection Act orders. We understand that that leave to appeal will be heard on May 12.

In terms of the cost of the environmental liabilities, until Abitibi files with us a remediation plan that we in the Department of Environment are satisfied with, only then will we be able to put an actual cost, an actual price tag on the cost of cleanup.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In questioning in the House of Assembly on May 7, nearly a year ago, I asked the government at that time if they would outline the inventory and costs related to the environmental liabilities that were left by AbitibiBowater. The minister said they would undertake to do that, or you were already in the process of doing that.

I ask you: If you have completed that inventory and if you have cost it and if you are prepared to table it?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, under the act the way that we - under the orders that we issued we require Abitibi to submit to us a remediation plan. There were five orders: Botwood, Stephenville, Grand Falls-Windsor, Buchans and some logging camps. So, until they submit a remediation plan to us - and they had one year to submit this plan and they have done some work on it in the past. Until they submit that plan and until we are satisfied with the plan to ensure that the environmental liabilities will be dealt with, I cannot give you a firm, actual cost until that comes to us and we are satisfied with it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is my understanding then that government did not carry out this inventory or costing within their own department.

Mr. Speaker, in last week’s edition of The GEORGIAN newspaper, officials with AbitibiBowater confirmed that no environmental work has taken place at their former site in Stephenville since last year and the company has no immediate plans to finish the cleanup.

I ask the minister: What are government’s plans to ensure that this site is fully remediated and all the environmental issues are addressed?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This government takes issues of the environment very seriously and that is why we issued the orders in the first place. We went before the courts, a decision was made, and now we are appealing that decision. So while this is in the courts, before the courts, Mr. Speaker, we are going to let that process unfold.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My next questions are for the Minister of Natural Resources.

Yesterday, I asked the minister about the $8 million expenditure in her department for professional services. She admitted that some of it was spent on Abitibi related litigation. However, she refused to give me the full breakdown of the expenditure and instead asked me to get it through Access to Information - which the Premier complains he is getting too many of those requests, by the way minister. Anyway, I think the appropriate place to ask and have those questions answered is in the House of Assembly.

I ask the minister again today: Will she commit to provide a break down of the $8 million spent by her department for professional services?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources and Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there was in fact approximately $8 million spent on professional services related to the expropriation of Abitibi by my department last year. We paid a substantial amount of that money to CRA, to Navigant Consulting, to Weirfolds, a legal firm, and Enda Searching, to do particular work around the expropriation itself, around land registry consolidation; CRA, particularly with regard to the remediation requirements in Grand Falls. That work informed our budget, Mr. Speaker, where we budgeted over $9 million to deal with the mess left behind by Abitibi in Buchans.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do not know what the issue is that the minister will not table the information in the House of Assembly.

I will ask her this question as well: Can she tell me if any of this $8 million was used to cover any of the legal costs for AbitibiBowater?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier and Minister of Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: No, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this was work done within government, within the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Justice to cover off costs associated with the expropriation. There were legal fees and legal firms engaged outside of government in that piece of work. They were law firms engaged around the filing and potential filing of an after claim. There was work required to ensure that lands were transferred appropriately from Abitibi to the Crown. All of the money that was spent was with regard to that and to remediation that was going to be required immediately in Buchans.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Government wants to be open and accountable, that is one of the trademarks that they have certainly tried to convince the people of the Province in terms of how they govern.

I ask the minister today: If she would be prepared to table the information and the break down of the $8 million in expenditure?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, we have a freedom of information process in this Province for a very particular reason. We want to –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS DUNDERDALE: – be as open and as transparent and as accountable as possible, providing as much information as we possibly can to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, but at the same time, Mr. Speaker, we have a responsibility to protect information that could be used against us in court hearings, in NAFTA hearings, and so on.

The access to information process makes information available, but also protects proprietorial information that we need in legal proceedings and so on. So that is why we use that process. I do not have that legal background, Mr. Speaker. So through the process all of those values are protected, and that is why we encourage people to use it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: No openness, Mr. Speaker, no transparency. I suggest to the minister, Mr. Speaker, the only one they are trying to protect here is their own botching of this entire issue and deal, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks to the government’s lack of due diligence in finalizing the expropriation legislation, we accidentally inherited the whole of Reid lot fifty-nine and the former AbitibiBowater mill and assets.

I ask the Premier today: How did such a major error take place and why wasn’t this picked up during your review and that by the Department of Justice and the top legal advisers you claim to have gotten on this file, and how much will this mistake cost the people of the Province?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the pulp and paper industry has been in turmoil worldwide for quite some time. A primary objective of this government from 2003 forward was to do everything that we could do to sustain the industry here in Newfoundland and Labrador. We worked hard to do that in Stephenville. We were working hard to do that with Abitibi in Grand Falls-Windsor. It became very clear in a very short period of time that our efforts were not going to be successful because of circumstances way beyond the control of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. We realized that we had to move quickly – very quickly – to ensure that the assets that truly belong to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador stayed in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, in the rush to do that, there were mistakes made and we did expropriate a property in Grand Falls-Windsor, the mill itself, where we did not intend to do it. That is a reality that we have to live with. We cannot return it while the CCAA process is ongoing. Mr. Speaker, we will deal with it when the time is right for us to do so.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No doubt, the industry may have been in turmoil but it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that there are loopholes in the legal agreement that government launched. Right now, today, we have had $8 million in legal bills to show for that. We have a 500-million-dollar lawsuit being launched. We have a property, a pulp and paper mill that we did not even know that we were getting. As a result of government’s accidental expropriation of these assets, AbitibiBowater is now looking to be reimbursed for security and environmental monitoring costs that have been associated with the former mill site.

I ask the Premier today: How much will this cost the people of the Province, not just now but on a go-forward basis?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, when we reached the decision that it was critical that we move in protecting the interests of Newfoundland and Labrador by the expropriation of Abitibi assets, the first people after Cabinet and our caucus that we informed of our intention were the Official Opposition and the NDP. We invited them to a meeting. We then made our officials available to them; we provided them with every piece of information we had, the legal advice we had at the time. They unanimously supported what we did, Mr. Speaker, and nobody was behind them with their arm twisted up behind their back.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS DUNDERDALE: I suppose they asked a few questions themselves given whatever advisers they may have in their back rooms, Mr. Speaker. What we did was the right thing. We will not pay $500 million for the assets. There were legal fees. How naive would you have to be to think that there would not be legal fees involved in the expropriation of any kind of an asset, Mr. Speaker? They have legal advice over there that is supposed - a former Attorney General, I surely thought he would have known that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There were a lot of gaps in the briefing we had, and I remind the minister there was no $8 million in legal opinions. We had about eight minutes, I would say, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to that, now that the government has expropriated the former mill and the people of the Province are responsible for its upkeep and monitoring costs, I ask them if they can provide to us an update on what the future plan will be for that mill and the associated assets in Grand Falls-Windsor.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when it was discovered that we had inadvertently expropriated the mill our first thought was to return the mill to AbitibiBowater. Because they were already in bankruptcy protection, we were not able to do that. The law prevented us from doing that.

Right now, Mr. Speaker, we are maintaining the mill as Abitibi goes through the legal processes associated with its bankruptcy protection. Mr. Speaker, we continue to seek other uses for that mill. That will not stop, Mr. Speaker, and we have under consideration any kind of interest from anywhere in the world in activating that property in Grand Falls-Windsor. We will continue to do everything we can to rebuild and to continue to rebuild the economy in Grand Falls-Windsor.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the minister that during those briefings, as well, we also indicated that there would be a net zero cost to the Province as a result of all of this, in terms of the exchange of assets and environmental liabilities. Mr. Speaker, I can only say that I hope they do not have the same legal counsel on their lawsuit on the Upper Churchill as they had on the Abitibi deal.

Mr. Speaker, we know that AbitibiBowater had partners on the power projects on the Exploits River; namely, Fortis, and the Italian company Enel. There was some question as to what compensation those companies would be entitled to receive from government for their losses and the timeliness of such payments.

So I ask the Premier today: Has any discussions taken place with these companies, and has government provided any compensation as a result of the expropriation?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, let me say, first of all, that the Province has in its possession, in trust for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, the generation assets on the Exploits River as well as hundreds of thousands of hectares of fibre that can be put to the use to drive the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: The value of that is not to be underestimated, even in terms of our pride and being the stewards of our own natural resources and using them to the advantage of the people here in the Province.

Mr. Speaker, we made a promise when we did the expropriation that partners involved in the generation of electricity on the Exploits River will be kept whole. We are still working through that process. We hoped that it would be concluded sooner than it is. The legal processes that Abitibi has engaged in under bankruptcy protection has slowed all of that process. We are working through it, but we intend to stand by our word.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to ask the minister again: Is there a legal obligation now by the government, as a result of this expropriation, to pay out compensation to Fortis and to Enel? If so, how much has been done and where is it, at what stage?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Mr. Speaker, we are in discussions with Fortis and Enel. There are a number of arrangements that have been made with them as we work through this process. We made a commitment to both of those companies that we would keep them whole at the end of the day. We have not moved off that premise, Mr. Speaker. It is a complicated process. It is taking some time to work through it, but at the end of the day those companies will not be penalized because of the action we took with regard to the expropriation.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, between 2004 and 2008, Newfoundland and Labrador lost more physicians to other provinces than it gained in each year. Net losses are mainly due to family medicine physicians moving to other provinces. One glaring example of this problem that the Province was given last week by family doctors was that in thirteen years in Botwood alone there have been twenty-three different family doctors for the same five positions.

Mr. Speaker, the basic themes and the presentations by the doctors over the past few weeks that they have given to government is that in order to have a well functioning health care system we have to have a stable workforce.

So, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier to tell the House what plans his government has not just to recruit but also to retain doctors in this Province.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the Premier indicated a couple of weeks ago, sometimes it is a matter of looking at whether the glass is half empty or half full. We currently have 1,042 physicians in active practice in this Province, Mr. Speaker, the most ever. In the last eighteen months, we have had a net increase of fifty-three physicians. Between September 2008 and September 2009, eighteen specialists were recruited and we lost seven.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, our present physician-to-patient population ratio is the highest in the country. We have now, between 2008 and 2009, recruited 72.5 per cent of Newfoundland and Labrador medical students who graduate. In 2008, Mr. Speaker, seventeen new family medicine physicians took up practice in this Province. So it is a question, Mr. Speaker –

MS MICHAEL: (Inaudible).

MR. KENNEDY: Again, interrupting me.

It is a question, Mr. Speaker, of whether or not you look at the situation that it is better today than it has ever been or you look at the fact that, like elsewhere in the country, we are still trying to recruit the physicians we need.

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 sick and tired of hearing about the glass being half empty or half full.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: I would like to point out that we need to decide where we look for reality. If we look to rural Newfoundland and Labrador, those figures that were just quoted do not mean anything, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair is having difficulty hearing the hon. member pose her question.

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

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

Let’s take an example from rural Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker. We heard today that rural Newfoundland is operating on 50 per cent capacity for psychiatrists.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, we also heard that there are no psychiatrists full time in Labrador nor on the Northern Peninsula, which places great strain on other psychiatrists in the Province to visit those regions, or the patients who must travel to St. John’s or other places where psychiatrists are. Mr. Speaker, we graduate four psychiatrists a year and we cannot even hold on to the four of them.

My question, Mr. Speaker, is: How is this government working with the doctors to recruit psychiatrists to our Province? It is a crying need.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, in this Budget we made several very significant investments in mental health and addictions. We announced a new addictions treatment centre for the Harbour Grace area, to deal with long-term substance abuse. With that, Mr. Speaker, there are oftentimes concurrent disorder and mental health issues.

We are actively recruiting physicians. We are opening up the youth residential treatment centre in Grand Falls-Windsor. We are opening up the centre for youth with complex needs in St. John’s.

When you look at the steps we have taken in the last two years in dealing with these issues –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: - and then you hear some psychiatrist today, in the middle of negotiations, trying to paint a picture that is inaccurate it is really, really unhelpful and, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest also not the way to be dealing with these very important issues.

Mental health and addictions is a very significant issue for this government, one in which we have invested approximately $20 million in the last number of years. We will continue to invest and, Mr. Speaker, what we will do: we will invest in counsellors, we will invest in treatment centres, and we will help people help themselves.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allotted for questions and answers has expired.