LAE - LENNOX PASSAGE BR. WORKSITE: OH&S REGS. - NON-COMPLIANCE

MS. ALANA PAON: Mr. Speaker, my question is about the Lennox Passage Bridge, which connects Isle Madame to the mainland.

The Lennox Passage Bridge is a six-and-a-half-metre bascule, or a drawbridge that is powered by electricity. The bridge is manually operated by a provincial employee in an operating booth stationed on the west side of the bridge. The operating booth does not have a toilet, or a sink with running water - no sink, or running water, Mr. Speaker.

[page 3420]

MS. TAMMY MARTIN: Mr. Speaker, this morning we were looking forward to hearing about the government's commitment to expanding the Labour Standards Code to include provisions for leave from work related to intimate partner violence. However, I must say that the provisions leave a lot to be desired.

I'd like to ask the Minister of Labour and Advanced Education if he can explain why the province will deny a few days of paid leave to survivors of intimate partner violence.

MS. ELIZABETH SMITH-MCCROSSIN: Mr. Speaker, in lieu of our Minister of Labour and Advanced Education not being here, I will direct my question to the Minister of Business.

...

MR. SPEAKER: I just want to remind the honourable member that it's outside of the Rules of the House to indicate who is present and who is not present. Just keep that in mind.

[Page 3949]

MR. HUGH MACKAY: Madam Speaker, it's often said that one of the attributes of being a successful bagpiper, a player of the great highland bagpipes, is that one has to be full of hot air, and so I will try to do my level-best to keep up on the playing field with my colleague the member for Pictou West, with great respect. (Interruption)

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[Page 3962]

MR. SPEAKER: Just before we move on to Question Period, I want to take a second to remind all members that member's statements should not be used to debate any legislation or resolution currently before the House.

There is a lot of legislation before the House, and I'm not intimately familiar with all of it, sometimes they slip through - one did earlier - but I just want to draw your attention to the rules, which, hopefully, everybody has at their fingertips, on their desks.

[Page 4037]

MR. TIM HOUSTON: Did they cover it up?

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. The honourable member for Pictou East will come to order. If I have to speak to you one more time, I'll have to ask you to excuse yourself.

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[Page 4050]

MR. TIM HOUSTON: It's the cover-up we're worried about.

MR. MACLELLAN: It's the cover-up, okay. Mr. Speaker, now we're in the cover-up. Again, that's the (Interruptions)

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. The honourable member for Pictou East will excuse himself for the balance of the debate.

[page 4029]

HON. CHRISTOPHER D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Speaker, I know you'll be ruling in a few moments about our request for an emergency debate. Again, it's predicated upon the discrepancy between the minister and the Premier and the police and how they made their decision.

Mr. Speaker, we find through this Question Period . . .

MR. SPEAKER: Order please. There's no further debate on the topic that's already been submitted. So, I do appreciate the effort.

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[page 4030]

MR. BRAD JOHNS: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to talk on this. What I find really frustrating in this whole thing is this whole concept of trying to cloud the issue and a sleight of hand that the government seems to be . . .

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. Honourable member, I want to remind you that the phrase "sleight of hand" used in that context is unparliamentary.

The honourable member for Sackville-Beaver Bank.

MR. JOHNS: I apologize. Is misdirection an appropriate word?

MR. SPEAKER: I have to hear how you're going to use it.

MR. TIM HOUSTON: So it smells of a cover-up. We start off with, well, we couldn't say it because the police didn't want us to, but when the jig is up on that one, it becomes, well, we couldn't say it because somebody else told us that maybe the police said that we shouldn't disclose the information.

MR. SPEAKER: Just before we move on to the next question, I want to remind the honourable member that it's not proper to ask questions "on behalf of" individuals, or constituents, or groups. So, just a wording thing.