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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, last week in the House of Assembly the Minister of Environment stated that within days of receiving information last fall about health and safety concerns in Buchans she made it public. On page 9 of the CRA report on the Buchans site, it cites a Human Health Risk Assessment report that was commissioned in 2007, yet the information was not disclosed by her department publicly until the fall of 2009.

I ask the minister: When did you receive a copy of that health risk assessment report that was completed by Jacques Whitford in 2007?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, I really want to thank the member opposite for her question because it gives me the opportunity to clear up the misinformation that CBC has put out there this morning.

Back in September 2007, the Town of Buchans did contact the Department of Environment at the time with an issue. Mr. Speaker, quickly we hired a consultant to go out and do a Human Health Risk Assessment. That piece of work was done in literally less than months. The report came to our office in December 2007, at which time my officials went out to the Town of Buchans, gave the report to the Town of Buchans in less than days. The Town of Buchans at that time, Mr. Speaker, asked to have a public meeting. That public meeting was held and my officials were there. In fact, Mr. Speaker, CBC carried the reports of that within days after the public meeting.

So, a completely wrong story this morning and I thank the member opposite for the opportunity to clear it up.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just to get back to the Jacques Whitford assessment that was done, can the minister tell us when she received that report?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this report that was done by Jacques Whitford was done on a specific area, the Mucky Ditch, which was exactly what the town asked for. It came in December, 2007. I do not have the exact date before me, but within days, Mr. Speaker, officials from the department went to the Town of Buchans, met with the mayor and the council. They were very pleased with the work that was done. We held a public meeting, the public meeting was reported on, and that site was in fact remediated that very summer.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I understand from the minister that she did hold a public meeting going back to, I am assuming, 2007 in the community of Buchans.

I ask her to indicate the date that that meeting was held and if it was indeed a public meeting as opposed to a meeting with the municipality?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, I suspect that the Leader of the Opposition is doing the same amount of research that CBC did on this, Mr. Speaker, and that is why I have to clear that up here this morning.

The public meeting was held March 25, 2008 and CBC, as well as many other media outlets, reported on it that following Monday.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the minister indicate to me if the Jacques Whitford report was presented to the town and to the public at that time and the report made available? Can she also tell me if she provided notification to the town in writing that she had those reports and what it contained?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, not only did we give them the report, but if she wants to go into our Web site a lot of the information is up on the Web. So, that is how open we are, 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 clarify, because the facts are important, and I ask the minister again: If she provided the information to them in writing, and if so, can she provide a copy of that for me?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, there is one statement that she said that is certainly true and she should live by that, the facts are important. That is why I need to put the correct facts out there.

The report, not only was it up on the Web, but, Mr. Speaker, we went and hand delivered it to the town. I mean, you cannot get more interactive than hand delivering it to the community.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, officials in my department spoke to the Mayor of Buchans this morning, because again, when these things are put out in the media there is a certain amount of alarm that is raised and we do not want that unnecessary fear and panic out there. Mr. Speaker, the Mayor of Buchans did not know where this story was coming from. He understood at the time that we went out, we gave him the report, he asked for a public meeting, we did the public meeting and the site was remediated. End of story, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Quite simply, I ask the minister again: Did you provide written notice to the Town of Buchans?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would assume that hand delivering a copy of the report would be better than a letter in writing but I can certainly go back to the department and see if it was put in writing. The main point here is that we gave them the report, we acted on the report, we did everything that the town wanted to do and the issue has been remediated, and the Town of Buchans and the Mayor of Buchans, whom we spoke to today, have absolutely no issue with it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate her doing that and to please provide us with a copy of that letter, if it exists.

Mr. Speaker, we now know that the minister also had the CRA reports regarding contaminated Abitibi properties in her possession since last year and that documentation was filed with the Quebec courts to justify the minister’s claim of recovery of cleanup costs against Abitibi.

I ask the minister: When did you first discuss these CRA reports with the municipalities of Grand Falls-Windsor, Botwood, and Stephenville, and who did you speak with regarding them?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess she is recycling her questions from last week, but I will gladly give the answer again this week.

Mr. Speaker, what we did when those reports were being done is that it came to our attention that there was immediate health and safety concern in the community of Buchans. That is where we threw all of our attention, that is where we prioritized, that is where we acted quickly.

Mr. Speaker, in all the other communities, while there are environmental issues and that they do need to be remediated, they are not of a health and safety nature, Mr. Speaker. There was one instance in one of the reports I looked at in Botwood that I thought there may have been an issue, so what we did is we went out and we met with the Mayor of Botwood and the council of Botwood and that turned out to be a non issue when it came to immediate health and safety. Mr. Speaker, the Mayor of Grand Falls himself was in the media last week and said this is what is to be expected of an industry site and there are no surprises here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: I ask the minister again, Mr. Speaker, quite simply, a very simple question, it does not take a long, complicated answer to provide the answer.

I ask the minister again: When did you first discuss the CRA reports with the municipalities of Grand Falls-Windsor, Botwood, and Stephenville, and who did you speak with minister?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, as part of a Phase I assessment, part of that involved interviewing people who worked on the site, interviewing the community, interviewing the town council.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: Those pieces of work were done by our consultants. So the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor, the Town of Stephenville, the Town of Botwood was certainly interviewed along the way. Discussions were had with those communities along the way, but in the instance where there was immediate health and safety concern, we went out to the community in the Town of Buchans. In the Budget this year, to the tune of $9 million to remediate that site, Mr. Speaker. The tenders are going out in the near future. If, in any case, as I said last week, there was an immediate health and safety concern we would have certainly gone out immediately to those towns, as we did in Buchans, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is obvious that the minister did not undertake to meet with those groups at that time and if she did, why isn’t she disclosing the information to the House?

Mr. Speaker, the CRA reports clearly identified environmental contamination at sites in the municipalities of Botwood, Grand Falls-Windsor, Stephenville, some of which would be dangerous to human health and some of which is harmful to the environment.

I ask the minister: Did you give written notice to these towns of those contaminated sites and provide them with copies of these reports?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the Leader of the Opposition wants us to hold a public meeting, call all the residents in and say there is no issue for health and safety in your residence. That is not necessary, Mr. Speaker. Where it was necessary we went out and did that; exactly, that is what we did in the case in Buchans, Mr. Speaker.

If there had been an issue we would have did the exact same thing. I do not know how to put it any plainer and simpler to her, that this was an immediate priority; that is where we focused all of our attention in dealing with that issue and committing the $9 million to the people of the Town of Buchans so that the health and safety concerns would be addressed there.

All of these other issues are industrial issues. There was a piece of work done but there needs to be more work done. A Phase I and a Phase II assessments were completed on these properties but in order to know what the risk assessment is of these, that is exactly what we asked Abitibi to do, go do the further phase assessments and do the risk assessment, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr.Speaker, I say to the minister, it is not what we want it is what you are obligated to do as a minister. Mr. Speaker, under section 27 of the Environmental Protection Act it states that the minister shall give notice in writing to a municipality where the contaminated site is located.

Minister, I ask you again: Did you give notice in writing, once you obtained this information, and provide it to the Towns of Botwood, Stephenville, and Grand Falls-Windsor?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, we did exactly what we were supposed to do. In the case of the Town of Buchans there was an immediate health and safety concern, Mr. Speaker -

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: - and we acted quickly.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot tell the member opposite often enough how if this had come up in any of these other communities, Mr. Speaker, we would have done the exact same thing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The Chair is having difficulty hearing the hon. minister and hearing the questions asked. I ask members for their co-operation.

The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, to leave the impression that there were health and safety issues, Mr. Speaker, that is totally untrue and unfair of the member opposite, too. She just mentioned that in the preamble to her question. That is not the case. Mr. Speaker, where it was the case we acted.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Under the act that the minister is obligated to follow in her duties in carrying out the role as Minister of Environment in this Province, Mr. Speaker, it says that she shall give notice in writing to the municipalities where these contaminated sites are located.

I ask you again, minister: Did you give notice, and will you table the copies of those letters in the House of Assembly today?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, yes, we provided notice where notice was warranted. Mr. Speaker, notice was certainly warranted in the case of the Town of Buchans. Mr. Speaker, in these other sites - look at the Grand Falls mill for instance. Mr. Speaker, that mill has been operating for 100 years, long before we had a Department of Environment, long before we had an Environmental Protection Act, Mr. Speaker. So these contaminants have been around a while.

The Leader of the Opposition leaves the impression that we are only doing this now that Abitibi has pulled out. Mr. Speaker, back in 2006 as part of the certificate of approval, we required Abitibi at that time to come up with a decommissioning plan, long before there was any talk of them moving outside the community. We have been working on this. The Department has been very diligent in ensuring that the environmental guidelines and quality for the people of those communities are certainly met.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to remind the minister that there is no distinction in our act between the environmentally contaminated sites and human health and safety risks. However, it is very clear what it requires you to do as minister.

I ask you again: Did you provide the written notice of these contaminated sites to those municipalities as was required of you as a minister?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, the people who live in these communities, the councils and the mayors themselves – I heard the Mayor of Stephenville on, I heard the Mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor on, we have spoken to the Mayor of Buchans many times, the Mayor of Botwood. They all know what is in their communities, Mr. Speaker.

We prioritize; we went out with the Town of Buchans and all of these communities, Mr. Speaker. There was contact made with the Town of Botwood. I personally made contact myself with the Mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor. Mr. Speaker, the Mayor of Stephenville full well knows on an industrial site that there is going to be environmental contamination.

The point that the member is missing, Mr. Speaker, is that these are not of a human health and safety concern. If they had been, we would have done the exact same thing we did in the Town of Buchans. I do not know why the member cannot get that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister knows that she failed in carrying out her duties and she has no information to provide. She did not hold the public sessions in the communities as she was supposed to, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the ministerial orders that were issued by the minister related to the Grand Falls-Windsor mill site, she states that contamination has migrated or unless remediated will migrate off the Grand Falls-Windsor site.

I ask the minister: If you feel that this contamination is migrating off the primary mill site, as stated in your ministerial order to the courts, why have you not disclosed this information to the public so that they can be aware of this risk?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, speaking of failing in carrying out our duties, we had a line of questioning here started by the Leader of the Opposition today, it was completely based on an untrue story, not based on fact, and totally incorrect information. So, let’s not go there.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the Grand Falls mill –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: – we have security in place. We are continuing with the environmental effects monitoring on the Exploits River, we are continuing to do all of the sampling of the discharge that goes into the river, and to date, there has been no reason for concern there.

That is exactly why we are continuing to monitor it, Mr. Speaker. If something should come up that is of a human health and safety concern, the mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor can be rest assured that I will personally contact him myself.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the minister again: Why would you disclose information of contaminations and concerns about it in a court case, but not disclose it to the public in this very community that is affected?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS JOHNSON: Mr. Speaker, the contamination on these sites is certainly a concern –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

MS JOHNSON: – when it comes to an environmental perspective. They are on an industrial site. There is arsenic there in the ground from the years of the coal days.

Mr. Speaker, certainly, that is to be expected. However, if there was something on these sites that were of a human health and safety concern - they say if you repeat it often enough, eventually it will sink in. So once again, I will say that if it was of a human health and safety concern, Mr. Speaker, we would certainly be in contact with the town of whatever community it is, the people there, and if need be, public meetings will be held – but to call people into a public meeting, and to call all the residents in and say there is no issue of residential concern here just does not seem to make sense.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Back in March, we raised the issue of fifteen striking workers on the Burin Peninsula who were job coaches for people with disabilities. They have been on strike since November of 2009, and these employees were making anywhere between $9.37 an hour to $10.63 an hour. At that time, the Minister of Finance said that both sides remained far apart. Yet, we understand the cost to settle the dispute is only $17,500 additional income per year.

I ask the government today: Why are you leaving these fifteen workers, these fourteen disabled clients, out in the street for the sake of $17,500; yet, you are paying a Child and Youth Advocate $175 an hour and a CEO in this Province $35,000 a year in housing allowances?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There are twenty employment corporations in the Province that hire job support workers who in turn work with people with disabilities and help them perform their jobs in the community. Three of those are represented by NAPE, the other seventeen are not. Government is not the employer and government is not the negotiator, except for Burin where government, under the provisions of the Public Service Collective Bargaining Act, is the negotiator.

Negotiations have been ongoing. There have been lots of discussions between the parties, but, unfortunately, we remain far apart.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister knows that NAPE is the bargaining agent for these individuals. He also knows that any increase in wages will have to come from the Provincial Treasury.

So I ask you again, Minister: How can you justify paying out housing allowances to CEOs, $175 an hour salaries to others in the Province; yet, keep these fifteen people on the street for the sake of $17,500?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: As I indicated, Mr. Speaker, negotiations have been ongoing. We understand each other’s position quite clearly. The two sides get together from time to time. Sometimes different people will talk to different Members of the House of Assembly, different members of government and when that happens we would get together but, unfortunately, we do remain far apart.

Mr. Speaker, groups like the Employment Corporation provide a very valuable service to people of this Province. Government values what they do and government supports them financially, but that does not mean they are employees of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. That does not mean they are entitled to whatever benefits, both financial and otherwise, that the employees in the Province get. They are employees of the Employment Corporation and not employees of government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It was this government who insisted that the same clauses that were in the last Public Service Commission contract also be in the Burin workers’ contract, which include market adjustment, extended earnings loss and sick leave entitlement. However, on the other hand, Mr. Speaker, government is not prepared to leave in the reclassification review clause that the Public Service Commission employees will receive.

I ask the minister: Why would you treat these employees any different? Why would you expect them to have some of the same conditions in their contract; yet, have others left out that they want to have included?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Speaker, as I said these employees work for the Employment Corporation. They are not employees of the government. It is not appropriate to have employees classified under the government system when they are not employees of the government. This is the government’s classification system and an outside board cannot commit to pay employees under the government’s classification system. It is very simple.

Government is not the employer. Government, for the most part, is not the negotiator with the exception of Burin.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Obviously, government is becoming somewhat more choosey these days about what agreements they decide to get involved in because they had no problem getting involved with VON out on the West Coast a couple of years ago, which resulted in a minister in the Cabinet ending up resigning.

I say to you, Minister, the only way that this is going to get resolved is if the government is prepared to agree to the reclassification and put in the extra money in a contract for these employees. Are you telling me today that you are satisfied to leave these fifteen workers out in the street and the fourteen people with disabilities who need the service at home with no services?

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. MARSHALL: I think it is important to note that it was NAPE that took the employees out. Government did not force the employees out.

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated there are twenty of these Employment Corporations. The seventeen who are not unionized are earning $11 an hour and Burin is earning just under that, as is Port aux Basques. Mr. Speaker, government will continue to negotiate. We are prepared to be reasonable, but the offer that the employer has made in this circumstance is, in our view, fair and reasonable, especially in these very uncertain economic times.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, we know that the people in Burin today are on strike. We also know that there are two other groups in a strike position and they have given a strong mandate to their union, from what I understand, the people in Stephenville and Port aux Basques. For these people, Minister, you know it is just about the pay cheque – not just about the pay cheque but about the job, the job they do in providing services to these people.

I ask you, Minister: Will you commit today to do something to resolve this issue (inaudible) –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!

Did the hon. minister hear the question?

I ask members for their co-operation.

The hon. the Leader of the Opposition, if you would be kind enough to repeat your question.

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, we know, as I said, that there are two other groups in the Province, in Stephenville and Port aux Basques, that also have a mandate to go to a strike, and for all of these employees, Mr. Speaker, it is about providing services to their clients, to the people they represent. They earn very low wages.

I ask the minister today: Is he prepared to make this a priority of his government and put the resources there to get this settled so that these individuals can go 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, with respect to Bay St. George and with Port aux Basques, government has no involvement as employer. We have no involvement - we are not the negotiator. Government does provide funding to the associations, because we value the work that they do; and, with respect to Burin, government will continue to negotiate with NAPE, but government has made a fair offer of 20 per cent over four years – I think 21.40 per cent is the actual offer - and under the circumstances, Mr. Speaker, that is a very fair and generous offer.

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, many concerns have come out as a result of the Wells Inquiry and the Gulf of Mexico disaster, around offshore worker safety and the environment. Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of Natural Resources said she is confident that the C-NLOPB will protect worker safety and the environment even in untested deepwater drilling, and mentioned that they have a chief safety and a chief environmental officer.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Natural Resources to tell the House how many other personnel are working in health and safety and the environment portfolios at the C-NLOPB, besides these two officers.

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 are a number of other officers. I know that there are three environmental inspectors, and there are several other people involved in occupational health and safety, Mr. Speaker. I will endeavour to get those exact numbers and provide them to the Leader of the NDP.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

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

I had a follow-up question, but I will wait until I hear the full answer on the numbers before I ask my next question, but I will go on.

Mr. Speaker, since 1989 we have had draft occupational health and safety regulations for offshore health and safety. They have never been put in place, and are now out of date and need to be reviewed. Some of the safety problems that came up during the Wells Inquiry are a result of the federal and provincial governments contracting out their responsibility for health and safety to the C-NLOPB. The C-NLOPB reports to the federal and provincial Departments of Natural Resources, which are primarily concerned with production and development, not the safety of workers.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister: When are occupational health and safety regulations for the offshore going to be put in place?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there are occupational health and safety guidelines in draft form. These form part of the authorization to drill in our offshore, and are required to be followed by the operators. Mr. Speaker, these OHS Regulations involved three jurisdictions: ourselves, the Province of Nova Scotia and the federal government.

These guidelines have been ten years in the making, Mr. Speaker, a complicated piece of work, but I am happy to report that all Legislatures of the three jurisdictions will be bringing that forward in the fall sessions of our respective Parliaments.

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 certainly look forward to seeing that legislation when it comes to the House.

Mr. Speaker, given that a number of problems surfaced during the Wells inquiry, and a number of issues have been raised by local scientists that environmental monitoring has not revealed the extent of oil spills and their impact on sea birds, fish and other wildlife to the public, I ask the minister if she could tell us: What is the C-NLOPB’s capacity to do research and get that information out to the public?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Deputy Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, certainly, some of that work will form part of the review that is ongoing. We have available to the C-NLOPB and to governments the effect of the wind, the waves, on oil spills on our offshore. Mr. Speaker, there is a great deal of science around the effect on fish. Up to this point there is not known to be any effect on fish from oil spills, although there is a significant effect if there is fishing gear in the area.

The most vulnerable population to oil spill, Mr. Speaker, are birds. There is significant science available on that piece, but we always look for other opportunities to increase the information we have and we support the C-NLOPB in that effort, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The time allotted for questions and answers has expired.