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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Mr. Speaker, there has been an impasse in the crab fishery again this year and challenges in that industry are being highlighted. As we know, processors today are not prepared to buy at the price that is there; fishers are not prepared to fish at the price that is there. However, Mr. Speaker, in the Budget yesterday government predicted that we will maintain performance levels to last year’s standards, yet there were hundreds of fisherpeople lining the steps of Confederation Building, Mr. Speaker, who certainly feel that they are not able to contribute in this industry at the present time with the price that is there.

So I ask the minister: What is your plan for the industry to get it rolling this season, to meet the performance targets that you set in yesterday’s Budget in light of the situation we currently face?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One thing I am certain of is that the hundred or so people who were on the steps of the Confederation Building yesterday did not want to be there. All they want, Mr. Speaker, is a fair price for their fish and likewise, the plant workers want to be able to work.

We cannot force people to fish nor can we force processors to harvest. One thing though, Mr. Speaker, that has to happen and that is the people who are representing those groups have to sit together. Mr. Speaker, I am hoping before this evening is out that I will sit with the individual, the leader of the union, and the leader of ASP and that I am going to ask them to consider where they stand and really come to terms with getting this industry started. That is all these folks want; they want to get on the water, they want their price. We want the work in the Province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There is no question what these fishers want. There is a question of how they are going to achieve it, minister. Because there is no appropriate loans program for harvesters in this Province, Mr. Speaker, no lines of credit to support their industry, they feel that they have fallen at the mercy of processors to bail them out, and because of it, they have lost their sense of independence in this industry.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JONES: I ask the minister today, if his government will support the industry with programs and financial services, Mr. Speaker, that will allow them to be not just independent harvesters, but to be financially independent as well in this industry?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, there was a process started last July, and everyone - I would think probably everybody in the Province has heard me say it and have heard the acronym MOU spoken.

Mr. Speaker, on December 17, I wrote a letter to both the ASP and the union stating to them that I felt there was not enough action. On December 30 I met with them and I asked them to present proposals to me by January 22. On January 22, Mr. Speaker, I met with them, those proposals came in. I got on the plane on February 12, submitted that to Minister Shea on February 15, and expressed to her that we would be coming forward with a plan of action from the Province. A unified plan of action, Mr. Speaker, that I hope will result from the MOU.

The issues that the Leader of the Opposition is raising, Mr. Speaker, I certainly hope that we can resolve many of those issues in that process. Again, I go back to my previous point, it means that the parties involved have to sit together. Mr. Speaker, I have to be honest with you, at this point they have not done that to the serious degree that I think they should, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to say to the minister, we support the process of the MOU but it is a longer framework for the industry, and right now we have a crisis that needs to be dealt with in this industry.

I ask the minister today: Does he agree that the processors have really become the bankers for the harvesters in this industry and therefore they ultimately control what happens?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I think there is so much mistrust in this industry that it is hard for me to give her an answer on that. I think if we are going to find a solution and a betterment for this industry and this Province, that is exactly what has to happen.

I have said on a number of occasions, if the parties involved want to make this the best industry that it can for this Province, lay themselves openly upon the table, expose what it is that makes this industry happen and put a lot of that mistrust to rest, because until that happens, this industry will go on – I mean everybody here knows it. This seems to be a rite of season. We settle something for a while; people go away, next spring they are back again. It has not been resolved and it is time that all parties sit down and find a solution here, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, I am hearing from people in the industry that they have lost their sense of independence because they have not had the financial support mechanisms available to them and they have had to rely upon the processors in this Province to be able to bail them out and continue in the industry. Back in 2002, the Premier, who was the Leader of the Opposition at that time, claimed there was collusion in the industry. Seven years have passed since that point.

I ask the Premier today: Do you still feel there is collusion in this industry, because fishers are telling me that seven years later the issue has not been dealt with? In fact, the problems have worsened and they certainly feel that they have no sense of independence left.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, at the time the allegations of collusion were made the hon. member opposite was in government. I understand she subsequently became a Minister of Fisheries. They did not deal with it. Those allegations of collusion, as I remember, were dealt with, I think at a national level by the Competition Bureau.

At that time I was concerned because of various power plays that were going on within the industry, but I agree wholeheartedly with the Minister of Fisheries. It is about time everybody got together and tried to come up with solutions. We seem, as a government, every year to face the same problems. Everybody comes in; there are demonstrations on the steps of the building. We do not want it, you do not want it; the people of the Province do not want it.

We find there are various factions within the fishing industry that are working against each other, and that is not good. We are not here to divide and conquer. We are not here to pit one against the other. I think it is about time, as the minister has said, that people come in and just lay their cards on the table and try and find out if they can work and find a solution, but when one is trying to play one against the other, that is just the opposite of collusion. It is a lack of co-operation, and co-operation is what is needed here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is a serious issue because many rural communities in this Province are affected. Twenty-five thousand families are impacted by what happens in this industry. It is all right to say that people have to sit at the table and they have to talk, but there are some clearly identified problems that exist. Some of these, government has control over to fix immediately. When a fisher harvester today has to be beholding to a merchant because no bank will give him a line of credit, because his industry is falling each and every year, he cannot afford gear, he cannot afford bait, where does he go?

I ask the minister, this is a problem that you can fix, your government can fix by investing in this industry and investing in these fishers; I ask that you do it.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am not sure what the question was contained in that, but I will say one thing, Mr. Speaker, since coming into the portfolio, I have held eighty meetings. I have been in this portfolio for 120 days, Mr. Speaker. Take Christmas out and see how many meetings have been held.

One thing that I have learned, I have travelled around – sixty-one of those meetings by the way have been with independent, some of these people in the galleries. One thing that I have discovered is that one plan does not fit all. What is needed in 3PS is not the same as is needed in 2J or 3L.

I am certainly hoping, Mr. Speaker - and we cannot let this MOU process linger on forever and a day, there has to be some resolution to it. Individual planning – and, Mr. Speaker, I would certainly hope that the issues that she is raising would come out in that process, because we have working groups within that.

For now, Mr. Speaker, we have a more immediate problem and that is on April 1, this fishery is set to start. I am hoping that after a meeting this evening with Mr. Butler and Mr. McCurdy that we can find a way to get this fishery started.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, we understand that in New Brunswick today there are processors that are prepared to come into Newfoundland and Labrador, pay $1.75 a pound for crab, pay thirteen cents a pound to truck that crab out of the Province; yet our own processors are indicating that they cannot pay even $1.35 a pound for crab.

I ask you minister - we are talking about the same Canadian dollar, the same markets. I ask you: Has your department investigated this, and can you tell me why there is such a discrepancy in these prices?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I think in the event of this happening every fall, you would almost have to ask yourself the question: Why haven’t parties come together and answered those questions before? This is not the first time that this has happened. We have made some inquiries into other jurisdictions, and I am waiting to get more of that information. There are jurisdictions that have informed us that they are not paying $1.75. There are things that seem to come into play, in terms of the way the crab is processed and frozen and so on and so forth. So there are many, many factors here that come into play.

Mr. Speaker, I think if we are going to find a resolution to this, and I listened to some of the people that were interviewed yesterday, we have to come to terms with these issues that are confronting us. It is an awful thing when we have to fight with other jurisdictions to gain what we rightfully think we deserve, but it is a terrible thing when we have to fight amongst ourselves and we cannot find a solution, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We understand from those in the industry that a one cent reduction in the price of crab to a harvester actually means an extra $1 million in revenue to processors. So we certainly understand why the price is such a huge factor – one cent or two cents either way.

Minister, for the last couple of years fishers in the Province have been talking about bringing in outside buyers because they feel that they are no longer in a competitive environment in Newfoundland and Labrador when it comes to selling their fish.

I would like to ask your department: Have you looked at what the impact would be of doing that on the Province versus what the benefit would be to the industry?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, I indicated to the group that I met with yesterday, of the sixty-one that I met with, I believe the issue was raised on outside buying about fifty-seven times. I have said to anybody, on anything, I am willing to sit and discuss anything with anyone.

There is one thing that I made clear on April 23 to the inshore council – I have to get the names right. That was, that I will not enter into discussions about this unless we consider plant workers as well. I am the Minister of Fisheries for the Province; that involves making sure that I represent the harvesters, but also, we have a number of plant workers that have to be considered here.

So, I have to say that a week ago yesterday, I received a letter from the union indicating that they were interested in some potential outside buying, and Mr. McCurdy made it public in an interview on Friday, that being around three species, plus the crab, if the processors did not buy. It is unfortunate that it had to come to a bind before we consider even looking at something like that.

I go back to my point, Mr. Speaker, that I intend to meet with both parties today, and to see if there is a way we can find a way forward in that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. There is currently a strike that has been taking place on the Burin Peninsula for the last eighteen weeks. It is having significant impact on fourteen NAPE workers and their fourteen clients who are disabled whom they assist through the supported employment program.

Mr. Speaker, this strike, they feel, is unnecessary because government is trying to take clauses out of their collective agreement that the same government asked be included.

I ask the minister today: Why are you reneging on a past commitment to these particular workers, and why are you leaving them on the street when the only thing they really want to do is get an agreement and get back to work?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, to clarify, government is not the employer here. The men and women in Burin and Marystown work for the Burin-Marystown employment corporation, they are the employer, but by law, government under the Public Service Collective Bargaining Act is the negotiating agent just as NAPE negotiates on behalf of the employees. That is different in Bay St. George. It is different in Port aux Basques where NAPE has been certified there under the Labour Relations Act and government has no direct involvement.

We have been meeting with NAPE. We have had lots of discussions. We have taken the advice to sit at the table. We were there for two days last week. Unfortunately, both sides, we remain apart and we remain far apart on the issue.

Government has, under the circumstances, made a 20 per cent wage offer over four years. Given these uncertain economic times and given what has happened in other jurisdictions where people are instituting wage freezes, a 20 per cent offer over four years is fair and is reasonable.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is just an observation; we have two groups of protesters in the gallery today, and if St. Anthony were not as far removed from this hon. House we would have a third.

When government announced last week that the air ambulance service would be taken from St. Anthony and relocated to Happy Valley-Goose Bay and this decision was based on a flawed consultant’s report that did not look at the ramifications of such a move to the entire provincial air ambulance system.

I ask the minister: Why did government limit the Terms of Reference of this report to an evaluation of the Northern Peninsula and Labrador instead of looking at the entire Province?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First, let me say that I understand the implications of this decision. I recognize the anger and disappointment of the people of St. Anthony, and they have sent me lots of e-mails. I have not received any e-mails from the member opposite, although he did write me a letter.

Mr. Speaker, the premise put forward by the member is simply -

MR. DEAN: (Inaudible).

MR. KENNEDY: I am sorry did he say something? I did not hear it.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

I ask the hon. minister to continue with his answer.

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the premise put forward is simply false. Essentially, let me do this very quickly, in 2009 the 623 other flights that are referred to on page 4 of the consultant’s report, of those, 380 were picked up by the St. John’s airplane, or 61 per cent; seventy-nine were picked by a charter or 13 per cent; and 130, or 21 per cent, were picked up by St. Anthony. Mr. Speaker, 74 per cent of those 623 flights were picked up by the St. John’s airplane. That relates to Gander, Deer Lake, Burin, Grand Falls-Windsor and Stephenville.

Mr. Speaker, the reason that we looked at the Terms of Reference that we did, we were having problems in Labrador. Mr. Speaker, I met with George Kean, the President of the Steelworkers Union today, and when he described to me what he had encountered with that family last week, I feel, Mr. Speaker, that we had to move quick, that we did move quick and we made the right decision.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, the people of the Northern Peninsula and Southern Labrador rallied over the weekend, and they certainly believe this report is flawed There were some 1,000 or so signatures collected on Saturday evening in St. Anthony arena. They include people who work in the medical community and have first-hand experience with the service. Unfortunately, response times to emergencies on the Northern Peninsula, Southern Labrador, Central Newfoundland, and Western Newfoundland will now have a delay.

I ask the minister: Why didn’t the report look at the response time delays that will now be experienced in other regions of the Province as a result of this move?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the consultant looked at the number of flights that were travelling from Labrador as opposed to St. Anthony, and it was almost double the flights. Secondly, Mr. Speaker, we are dealing with a population base of approximately 26,000 people in Labrador to 2,476 people in St. Anthony, for 13,000 people in that rural secretariat region. What we have, Mr. Speaker, is very significant industrialization in the Labrador area so that was another risk factor that we had to look at.

Mr. Speaker, also, the airport in St. Anthony is fifty kilometres away from the community as opposed to Happy Valley-Goose Bay is right therein.

Mr. Speaker, we invested $8 million last week to buy a new airplane. There is a second medical flight services team, and we feel that the St. John’s airplane can cover the rest of the Province, as it has done, and that this airplane will now have a quicker response time to Lab West and to Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the minister is indicating that it had to be one or the other, so one life is more valuable than the other, I would assume is what he is trying to say.

There are 120,000 people on the West Coast and Central Newfoundland that are serviced by the air ambulance service in St. Anthony if there is a backup in St. John’s or whatever. They are disenfranchised today because of your decision.

The people who run the air ambulance service, Mr. Speaker, are front line workers who have knowledge of the system, how it functions, how to improve health care. However, neither the director nor the dispatch operators nor paramedics nor pilots were ever considered during this review process.

I ask the minister, again: Why were these front line workers, who know the most about the system, not consulted to determine where the gaps existed and where improvements could be made?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite just referred to Central Newfoundland. The statistics for Gander show that out of 100 flights, sixty-nine were picked up the King Air in St. John’s, fourteen were picked up by charter, and thirteen by a St. Anthony plane. In Grand Falls-Windsor, Mr. Speaker, there were seventy-four flights: forty-seven were picked up by the St. John’s King Air; eight were picked up by the St. Anthony King Air; and nineteen by charter. In Deer Lake, Mr. Speaker, 101 flights were picked up by the King Air in St. John’s, thirty-two by St. Anthony. So I do not know where the member opposite is getting his statistics. However, Mr. Speaker, this is the same individual the other day who referred us to gutting rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, in the last number of years we have invested in roads, alone in the Northern Peninsula $16.45 million as opposed to $3 million when the Liberals were in power. We have invested in companies like Canada Ice, which I am sure that the member opposite is familiar with. We have invested significantly and perhaps someday he can deal with that in this hon. House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. DEAN: We can deal with any issue, Mr. Speaker. The St. Anthony hospital is the most often medical care facility that uses the service of the northeast fishery fleet. This area has some of the roughest seas and worst weather, and there are many medical emergencies that require immediate care. Our hospital has been used to stabilize workers injured at sea before they are air medevaced to St. John’s.

I ask the minister: How will response times for emergencies involving fishing crews be impacted and why was that not examined in this report as well?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. KENNEDY: Yes, Mr. Speaker, shame on the member opposite for suggesting even that one life is more valuable than another. You tell that, sir, to the people of Lab West and what they have encountered in the last period of time. You tell that to Tracey Best in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. You tell it to these people.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I will give you a very simple number. Goose Bay, Lab West, St. John’s; St. Anthony, Lab West, St. John’s - thirty-five minutes in the difference using the King Air, Mr. Speaker. Thirty-five minutes difference can mean a life when you are talking about a medical emergency.

In the St. Anthony hospital, Mr. Speaker, over the last period of time, we have invested just in capital equipment and repairs and renovations alone $13.4 million. INTRD, Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated, looking at news releases of August 15, 2006 and May 24, 2007, has invested in a bottling plant in the St. Anthony area. Mr. Speaker, we have invested in schools. There is a new school planned for St. Anthony. In Flower’s Cove, we announced in the Budget past $5 million to begin the construction of the Flower’s Cove (inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the air ambulance service.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

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

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are talking about the air ambulance service and not the schools.

Mr. Speaker, the report commissioned by government is based on a flawed Terms of Reference. It has insufficient research data for the entire provincial system and it was limited in scope to one region of our Province.

So, I ask the Premier this afternoon: In light of such an insufficient report being used to justify the removal of such an important service, will you put it on hold, reissue a tender to have a proper study that evaluates the needs and gaps of the entire provincial air ambulance service before making such a colossal mistake?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WILLIAMS: No, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MR. DEAN: That was what I expected.

Mr. Speaker, the minister came to the Northern Peninsula in October and pretended to care about health care issues in our region. We know it was just a show, and after a by-election –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Order, please!

I ask the hon. members to my left for their co-operation.

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DEAN: Let me say again, Mr. Speaker, that the minister came to the Northern Peninsula in October and pretended to care about health care issues in the district. We now know it was a show, and it took a by-election loss to see just how vindictive and deceitful he is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. member used the word deceitful to accuse another hon. member here of being deceitful. If he did –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

That is what the Chair understood. If he did, I ask the hon. member to withdraw the remark.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, I will apologize to the minister when the minister agrees to –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Order, please!

I ask the hon. member if he used the word deceitful if he would kindly withdraw the remark before the Chair has to take more action.

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

MR. DEAN: Mr. Speaker, I ran my campaign –

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Order, please!

The Chair realizes the hon. member is a new member here in the House and the Chair realizes that he is probably not aware of the way to withdraw remarks or to pre-qualify them by making a statement, but I ask the hon. member to withdraw the remark immediately or the Chair will have no other choice but to take other action. For the final time, I ask the hon. member to withdraw the remark.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Since the hon. member is not willing to withdraw the remark, I name you, Mr. Marshall Dean, and ask you to leave this House for the remainder of the sitting day.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Order, please!

I ask the hon. member to leave the Chamber immediately. I ask the hon. member to leave the Chamber immediately.

[Mr. Dean leaves the Chamber]

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I spent some time last night reading Budget documents and was surprised to read on page 166 of the Estimates that under the Energy Policy government overspent by $8 million in professional services; that is a lot of money.

Mr. Speaker, we have in the gallery fifteen workers from the Burin Peninsula, job coaches for persons with intellectual disabilities who are asking for a total of $75,000 over four years to give them a modest wage increase. Mr. Speaker, some of these workers will be making less than the minimum wage when it goes up in July if they still have their jobs. These fifteen workers and their seventeen clients certainly have had the brakes slammed on them, I say, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the Minister of Finance: Could he give a clearer answer to this House why this government is refusing to agree to the modest demands of these fifteen low-income workers?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, I have answered that question in the House previously and I have answered it again here today. We are negotiating on behalf of the Burin-Marystown employment corporation. We have met on many occasions. We are attempting to come to an accommodation. Unfortunately, our positions are apart. We cannot come to an arrangement, but our government has offered a 20 per cent wage increase over four years. In these uncertain economic times when other jurisdictions in the country are in fact instituting wage freezes, a 20 per cent wage increase is extremely fair and reasonable.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I say 20 per cent over a minimum wage allowance or salary which amounts to $75,000 over four years certainly, honestly, cannot be too much to be asked for by these people. I cannot believe the answer that I was just given.

Mr. Speaker, if the government is negotiating and they really want something to be reached, I want to know why, when the union requested that a mediator be brought in, the answer was no? I ask that question of the Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment, why there is not an agreement to bring a mediator in to get this resolved?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, with the Labour Relations Agency we have many highly trained professional mediators who are at the disposal of the striking workers and of both parties. We have appointed a senior mediator who has been working with the parties and, in addition to that, the Director of Labour Relations was involved in the situation herself last week. So we believe that we have some very highly trained; some very professional people there who are able to work with both parties and who are ready any time to continue to sit down with those parties.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!