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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, today people from the St. Anthony region held a demonstration on the steps of Confederation Building as well as in the St. Anthony area. The concerned citizens group came here today to meet with the Premier; they came to deliver the message that moving the air ambulance from one location to another will not necessarily improve the services.

I ask the Premier today: Will he commit to meeting with these people who have come so far from the Northern Peninsula and hear their issues and hear their concerns? Mr. Speaker, we are of the understanding that there was a refusal to meet, and in fact, his office had instructed them that they should send a letter, request a meeting and when they get to it, they would get to it.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Mr. Speaker, over the last period of weeks I have met with the town council of St. Anthony on a number of occasions. I have also met with the MHA for the region.

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition stated today that the moving of the plane will not necessarily improve services. I can indicate that the moving of the plane will improve services to the people of Labrador especially and will not result in a diminished service to the people on the Island portion of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, it is also important to recognize how this issue came about. On December 15, 2009 the Leader of the Opposition presented a 3,000-name petition to this hon. House asking to establish a medevac team and a medical flight in Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, we have two airplanes in this Province. We were in a situation where we had to look at providing the best possible service. A consultant prepared a report, and based on a number of factors, it was concluded that the best centralized service is in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister knows full well that the request was for a third air medevac service for this Province to be based in Labrador to serve the people of the Province better. Mr. Speaker, we are getting no answer from the Premier today as to whether he is prepared to meet with these people from the Northern Peninsula who have come here to bring their message to government.

Mr. Speaker, a week ago the air ambulance team that works with this service in the Province took the opportunity to review the report from the minister’s office and to counteract a number of things that they felt needed to be counteracted in it. That information was given to the minister, and what was evident was this: Both the consultant’s report in the minister’s office as well as the one by frontline workers indicated that the most critical issue was the availability of a medical flight team.

I ask the minister today: Why was there no further investigation into the lack of such a team being based at St. Anthony?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, in relation to the petition, again it stated quite clearly: to establish a medevac team in Labrador, and there was no reference to a third airplane.

Mr. Speaker, I have reviewed the report prepared by the Labrador-Grenfell employees and I have also had an opportunity to meet with one of them when the town council came to St. John’s. Mr. Speaker, what is interesting is that the Opposition jumped up and down when the report first came out questioning the numbers, questioning the recommendations.

What has happened is that the numbers are correct that we have provided. Also, this Labrador-Grenfell report prepared by employees of Labrador-Grenfell indicates agreement with Recommendations 2 to 7. Essentially, they elaborate - and there are some good points raised. Essentially, Mr. Speaker, they disagree with the placement of the plane.

So at the end of the day, we have Lab West in a very heartfelt plea last week asking to have an air ambulance. We have Happy Valley-Goose Bay and we have St. Anthony. We had to make a decision. The Leader of the Opposition asked us to make a decision. She put the petition before the House and we acted on it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister knows the difference. Even in briefing notes in his own department going back to September, it was noted that the Official Opposition were asking for a review to enhance services in this Province, adding a third air ambulance.

Mr. Speaker, the consultant’s report that was used to justify this move has been shown to be flawed, incomplete and did not consider the needs of the entire Province as a whole.

I ask the minister today: Why wasn’t the location of all air medevac aircraft part of this full review?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, the petition presented by the Leader of the Opposition stated: We, the undersigned residents in Labrador, call on the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial government to establish a medevac response team and aircraft in Labrador. Mr. Speaker, there was no reference again to a third airplane. We have done what the Leader of the Opposition asked us to do and now we are being criticized for it. So is she saying that there should not be a plane in Labrador? Is that what I am hearing today?

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition in a letter to me - and I replied to her letter - outlined a number of concerns with this report. She referred to diminished service in the rest of the Province. Mr. Speaker, the statistics indicate that outside of St. Anthony, 74 per cent of the flights on the Island portion of the Province are responded to by either St. John’s King Air or the charter flights. Mr. Speaker, there are twice as many flights out of Labrador. The population of Labrador is twice that of the St. Anthony, Port au Choix region. We have heavy industrialization in the Labrador area.

Mr. Speaker, the arguments against this report are based on what might happen, but what I would suggest to the Leader of the Opposition: You should sit down with the Best family in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, sit down with the Mitchell family in Lab West and sit down with the Perry family (inaudible) -

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is quite obvious that this minister hears what he wants to hear and the plea has always been – from the people in Labrador – for a third air ambulance for this Province, and that is the part minister that you ignored. The reality is this, Mr. Speaker, the decision is based on a study that has been flawed, that does not encompass the full air medevac services for the Province, and neither does it look at the response times to every single region of this Province, including the West Coast of Newfoundland.

I ask you today, minister: Will you not conduct another review that is all encompassing and looks at the full air medevac services for this Province, including those communities in Labrador that have to use a chartered Twin Otter aircraft?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we have conducted the review of the statistics as to the Island portion of the Province and we have looked at Lab West. I met last week in Lab West, we had some good discussions. Well, Mr. Speaker, there appears to be a group that in the leader’s mind are forgotten, and that are the people on the North Coast of Labrador, the people of the Nunatsiavit government, the people of the Innu Nation. I received, Mr. Speaker –

MS JONES: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

An important question is asked, an important answer is given. I ask members for their co-operation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, we received a very nice letter today from the Mayor of Rigolet stating: this is a forward move for our people and I commend you for it. I would ask you to not bend to the pressure to move the services. You made a good decision.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. minister not to go reading from correspondence and just to paraphrase.

The hon. the minister, to complete his answer.

MR. KENNEDY: So, Mr. Speaker, what we have looked at is all of the factors. We have looked at the recommendations by Mr. Drodge; we will improve the dispatch times. Last week, when I met with the doctors in Lab West I indicated, Sir, that we would –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, I indicated last week, when I met in Lab West, that we would utilize Quebecair if necessary; we would utilize charter services as necessary, and what I am told by the experts in the area, Mr. Speaker, is that two dedicated King Air, along with charter services, allow for the services to be provided to this Province as a whole.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, a medical flight servicing from St. Anthony hospital was used up until two years ago when government implemented a new flight service program and discontinued the regular use of the team out of St. Anthony.

I ask the minister today: Why was this policy not re-evaluated and a flight team re-established at St. Anthony when problems were identified in the air ambulance services?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

Difficulties with the air ambulance certainly came to the forefront in July of last year with the incident in Labrador West on July 15. Then on September 18, Mr. Speaker, we had a very unfortunate incident in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. What we did, based partly on the petition presented to the House and also on the meetings I have had with the town councils in Labrador West and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, we decided to commission a report. That report looked at all aspects of the air ambulance service in terms of the improvements necessary. We will improve dispatch times, Mr. Speaker. We have made a significant investment with a new airplane and also with a second medical flight services team.

What we are looking at, Mr. Speaker, is not the provision of services to one area. We are looking to the provision of services to this Province as a whole to best protect the interests of the residents of this Province. When you look at that, Mr. Speaker, we will now have a second airplane with a medical flight services team in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. We feel that, Mr. Speaker, the interests of all residents of this Province will be better protected and not of an individual town or region.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, fatalities are very unfortunate, obviously, and my fear is that in the move we are going to have fatalities in my region instead of in Labrador, and we do not want it in either.

Recommended by the air ambulance staff, again I would ask: Is the government prepared to conduct a full investigation into all the fatalities with any connection to past air ambulance services and flights and determine the reasons for the fatalities, both in Labrador and the Island, in order to really identify the gaps in the system and make the necessary changes to improve them?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, one of the advantages of the plane being placed in Happy Valley-Goose Bay is that now all areas of this Province will be within sixty minutes of air ambulance service. That did not take place while the plane was stationed in St. Anthony. Also, Mr. Speaker, with the utilization of charter planes, improved dispatch, hopefully partnerships with Quebecair or the Quebec government, we will also be able to better serve the individuals of Lab West. Mr. Speaker, what I would suggest to the members of the Opposition –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, what we are trying to do here is provide services to all residents of the Province. The people in the North Coast of the Province, Mr. Speaker, will be better served.

To the point from the Leader of the Opposition, we do have Fermont with mining developments there. We met with all the mining companies, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. KENNEDY: What we are looking at are providing services that will benefit all residents of this Province and that is what we will continue to do.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Further questions?

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

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That sixty minute policy is going to be difficult at times when 28 per cent of the respondents that St. Anthony does today are being done by Goose Bay. You cannot send a plane from Goose Bay to Gander in sixty minutes unless you really improve the speed time over what it is today.

Mr. Speaker, the consultant’s report is missing key variables as well, such as geography, weather, services available, staffing levels and a host of other issues. These issues are highlighted by front line workers again in their submission to the minister.

I ask the minister: Why were these critical components not part of this review?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If I could just use a couple of examples here to highlight, Mr. Speaker, how the service currently works. If you look at right now in terms of Stephenville, for example, Mr. Speaker, 59 per cent of the calls were serviced by St. John’s air ambulance and 17 per cent by a charter aircraft. So 76 per cent of the calls to Stephenville were out of St. John’s or by charter. In Deer Lake, Mr. Speaker, 68 per cent of the air ambulance transports originated from St. John’s and 10 per cent were handled by a charter – so again, 78 per cent.

So what we are seeing, Mr. Speaker, is a response time that is coming out of St. John’s, in any event. Also, Mr. Speaker, the forty-five minute drive to the St. Anthony airport will certainly now no longer be necessary as a result of the proximity of the Goose Bay airport to the hospital. So what we will see, Mr. Speaker, overall – at least I am informed by the experts in the air ambulance – is a very significantly improved service that will look after all residents in this Province.

Mr. Speaker, last week in Lab West I heard story after story of people with a plaintive cry to have an air ambulance in their area. Mr. Speaker, we have three areas now saying they want an air ambulance. We have resources that we have to try to use as efficiently, as effectively as possible to produce results and to protect all people in this Province, and that is what we are trying to do, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, the air ambulance staff, who could certainly have helped significantly improve the air ambulance service, were never questioned or never consulted in the whole process. Have they provided the minister with an expanded terms of reference that would clearly improve the air ambulance service and ensure the best possible for all of our Province?

So I ask the minister: Have you reviewed the fourteen recommendations put forward and are you willing to undertake a broader review that addresses these concerns?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, I have reviewed the report prepared by the Lab-Grenfell employees, and it is important to recognize that these employees do work with Lab-Grenfell in the air ambulance, either as pilots or at the airport.

Now what we are doing here is attempting to provide the best possible service. It is interesting to note - and if you go back through Hansard, you will see all of the references to inaccurate numbers; you will see the references to an incomplete report. The report certainly elaborated on some of the recommendations made in the Drodge report, but at the end of the day, they agreed with Recommendations 2 to 7, and the only recommendation they did not agree with was the placement of the airplane.

What I said to the people of Lab West last week in a meeting with approximately 500-600 people there at least, and what I will say to the people here today, is our decision is made, there will be no review, the air ambulance will be transferred to Happy Valley-Goose Bay as soon as possible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

[Disturbance in the gallery]

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. visitors in the gallery here, while you are always welcome, you are not to sure your pleasure or displeasure for anything that happens on the floor, and I ask you to immediately refrain from interrupting the proceedings here in the House of Assembly.

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

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, during the by-election last fall, the Premier travelled to the Northern Peninsula and reversed the decision on the Flower’s Cove clinic because he heard first-hand from the people of the region. So, the Minister of Health, as he just mentioned, held a public meeting just a few days ago in Lab West regarding health care concerns in that region.

I ask the Premier: Will he and his minister commit to coming to St. Anthony to hold a similar meeting that he can meet with our people in the district and fully understand the impact their decisions are having on them and the health care delivery of our region?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Mr. Speaker, during the by-election, the Premier and myself and other ministers were present in the area; we heard the concerns of the people in relation to the health care system. I met extensively, Mr. Speaker, with the town council of St. Anthony; I have heard their concerns.

Mr. Speaker, in the last number of years, I think between 2004 and this Budget, we have invested, as a government, approximately $12 million to $13 million in capital equipment alone in the hospital and the long-term care facility in the St. Anthony area. We have also invested money in Roddickton, and we have announced that the new health centre in Flower’s Cove will proceed.

We are aware of the issues, and we are acting on the issues as outlined in the Budget. There is, at this point, no need for a meeting with anyone in the St. Anthony region.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess they said a lot of things in the by-election they do not mean now.

Mr. Speaker, the government opposite continues to pour money down the drain in this Province, yet they refuse to buy things like a third air ambulance for the people of the Province, or address the issues in the fishing industry.

My questions today are for the Minister of Fisheries. The crab fishery in our Province is affecting thousands and thousands of people. Their incomes are about to be lost, yet the government is continuing to insist that they have no role to play in providing solutions or leading any solutions to the problem.

I ask the minister: Given the most manic approach with respect to the development of the oil industry, the assistance that your government has given to the forest industry recently, why have you not been more active in heading off the crisis in the fishing industry to date?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I think we have been more than active in leading this process.

I have to remind the Leader of the Opposition that the first meeting of both sides in this negotiation was on March 30 at my request. The first proposal that we received from either side was not this Saturday but the Saturday before. Again, that was at our request. If you look at the offers that we have made around buying the marketing arm, getting into marketing, getting into the MOU process whereby we have committed money, we have committed over and over again.

The issue here, Mr. Speaker, is if we want to make a change for the long term that is what it is all about. There was a model put forward Tuesday by the processors, a model - I would call it the Alaskan model. It is a model that is used in this Province around the sale of shrimp, off-shore shrimp and lump roe.

Mr. Speaker, I think there are merits of that program that can be worked in this Province. As a matter of fact, both the FFAW and the processors work together to bring it forward. The processors say they can get it working this year, and the union has some issues with it. I had my staff call both the FFAW and the processors to say that we are willing to help out in this. We are willing to bring the licence fees in line with Atlantic Canada; that means a commitment of $1.1 million from us. We are willing to put in cost association with the administration of this model.

Mr. Speaker, we are doing whatever we can to get this process through and get this fishery started.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, the meeting the minister talked about must have been the famous ten-minute meeting that lasted on the crab fishery and then it ended. Mr. Speaker, the reality is, for the past six months, the only thing that government have done is called on unions and processors to sit down and to have discussions. Mr. Speaker, what we are hearing is that they are bringing nothing to the table, only an empty briefcase.

I ask the minister today to lay out for the people of the Province what his government is prepared to do for investment in the fishing industry to get this industry going for this season.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I have just outlined some of the finances that we are willing to put forward. Mr. Speaker, just listen to this: We have had the Dunne report; we have had the Vardy report; we have had the Jones report; we have had the Cashin report. These are reports that people have gone out and looked at why we find ourselves in this situation every year.

Mr. Speaker, I suppose we could issue another report, but it does not solve the problem. Two questions that need to be asked of the people of the Province: Why is it that every other jurisdiction can start their fishery on a timely basis? Why is it that the price of crab in this Province seems to be lower than in other jurisdictions?

Mr. Speaker, if we are going to find a solution and get this fishery started on an annual basis, we have to answer those questions. There are the three parties that were involved in finding that solution: That is us as a government - and I outlined some of the initiatives - the processors and the union.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, that is about the best admission I have heard from the Minister of Fisheries that they have no solutions and there is nothing that they can do.

Mr. Speaker, the fishermen through their union are asking for about $10 million or $12 million in bridge financing for this season. The government continues to insist that they cannot do this because they would be in violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Again, I think it was on Friday the minister stated this in a press release, and he also said that he had an external legal opinion.

I would like to ask him today if he is prepared to table that legal opinion in the House of Assembly, and has his department even evaluated what assistance they can provide to the industry without constituting a free trade risk.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, about the issue of inventory financing, we think there is merit to it – we really do - but we cannot put ourselves into a situation of countervail.

I will invite the Leader of the Opposition to come over to my office, to sit down and let us go through that legal opinion and then see if she is willing to lay it on the line that she is willing to take the chance of some of the inherent issues that arise out of that.

Mr. Speaker, this legal opinion is simply not wishy-washy, maybe, if. This legal opinion is very, very clear. Mr. Speaker, the solution to this is not to debate that. The issue is finding the longer-term solution that makes this fishery better for this Province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, the violation of the NAFTA agreement did not hold this government back when they expropriated the assets from Abitibi that could cost the Province upwards to $500 million, Mr. Speaker.

Having said that, I ask the minister, why all of a sudden the NAFTA agreement is such an impediment to doing anything in the fishing industry, the very industry that could save 20,000 people in rural communities all across this Province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, maybe she needs to be aware that we have stepped in. The reason that Arnold’s Cove is up and running and doing so well, we as a government stepped in and bought the quota of High Liner. We will invest in measures such as that, Mr. Speaker, but we are not willing to put ourselves at risk, and simply making the decision could put the industry at risk for the future, Mr. Speaker. We are not willing to do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

Mr. Speaker, this government based their decision to move the air ambulance from St. Anthony to Happy Valley-Goose Bay based on the report that people who work in the delivery of air ambulance services call flawed. Mr. Speaker, people from Labrador West turned up to a meeting by the hundreds last Thursday, and people from St. Anthony came in protest to the steps of the Confederation Building today, at their own cost. Mr. Speaker, this government is dividing the people of the Province without looking at the implications of its action. The minister even stood here today and read from a letter from one of the communities in Labrador, from the mayor.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Will this government admit that it has made a mistake in not putting a third air ambulance in place and show respect to the people of St. Anthony and meet with them as they have done with others?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

When this report was commissioned there was urgency to the situation. That urgency, Mr. Speaker, was further outlined with the incident that occurred in Lab West, the unfortunate incident on March 18. What we are trying to do, Mr. Speaker, is to address the health needs of all the people of this Province. The numbers, Mr. Speaker, show that there are twice as many flights being picked up out of –

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi, on a point of order.

MS MICHAEL: The minister is looking at me as if I spoke. I did not say a word.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MS MICHAEL: Sorry.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services, to complete his answer.

MR. KENNEDY: Sorry, Mr. Speaker, I thought I interrupted her question. It is hard sometimes to determine.

Mr. Speaker, what I indicated was that we looked at the numbers that were present over the last number of years by accessing those numbers. We looked at the way the service is provided. We looked at flight times, Mr. Speaker. The report is not flawed. The report may not be as comprehensive as the Lab-Grenfell employees would like it to be and there are certainly some good suggestions in that Lab-Grenfell report.

Mr. Speaker, what we have to look at is the advice being provided by experts which say that two dedicated aircraft, in conjunction with charter services, can suffice. The two dedicated aircraft, Mr. Speaker, are best located in St. John’s and in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. We then have to utilize a charter aircraft as necessary. We look at the other recommendations, Mr. Speaker, made in the report that were confirmed by the Labrador-Grenfell employees, such as the operation of the twenty-four seven service, Mr. Speaker, and what we have done here is made a decision that I would suggest just accords with common sense.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the minister indicated earlier in Question Period that he had been touched by meeting with people in Labrador West and by the experiences that they have had. Well, if he had bothered to come to the steps of the Confederation Building today, Mr. Speaker, he would have seen the stories of people who were helped by having an ambulance and a medevac team in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, or in St. Anthony.

So I ask the minister: Why wouldn’t he come and hear the stories of the people from St. Anthony and been affected by their stories as he was last week by the stories in Lab West?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

In a meeting in Lab West last week there were numerous issues discussed. It was not simply air ambulance. We looked at the need for diagnostic equipment. We heard from the residents, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the need for hospital services. We looked at all of the issues that affect the people in Lab West. The issue here today, in terms of the people of St. Anthony, is to review a decision, which I have indicated, has already been made and will not be reviewed.

We feel, Mr. Speaker, that the decision which is made is the right one. We have not heard – earlier, I think it was around December 16, the Member for The Straits referred to the fact: What about the 603 other flights? Well, we have broke down about 603 other flights and showed that the majority of them, Mr. Speaker, are responded to by the aircraft out of St. John’s or by the charter aircraft. So again, to reiterate, two dedicated aircraft with charter services, I am told, are sufficient to address the needs of this Province, and if and when a need for a third air ambulance is required we will look at that and even then, when you look at the report, Mr. Speaker, the numbers indicate that Deer Lake would be the spot for a third air ambulance and not St. Anthony.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The time allotted for questions and answers has expired.