14 novembre 2002

HANSARD 01/02-125

DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS

Speaker: Honourable Murray Scott

Published by Order of the Legislature by Hansard Reporting Services and printed by the Queen's Printer.

Available on INTERNET at http://nslegislature.ca/legislative-business/hansard-debates/

Annual subscriptions available from the Office of the Speaker.

Second Session

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2002

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
PRESENTING AND READING PETITIONS:
Commun. Serv. - Capt. Spry Lodge: Elevator - Install,
Mr. Robert Chisholm 11612
Justice - Electoral Boundaries: Lun. Co. Communities -
Changes Oppose, Mr. D. Downe 11612
PRESENTING REPORTS OF COMMITTEES:
Law Amendments Committee, Hon. R. Russell 11612
STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS:
Health - Head Injuries: Diagnostic Guidelines - New, Hon. J. Muir 11613
Nat. Res. - Wild Plant Species: Status - Review, Hon. T. Olive 11616
GOVERNMENT NOTICES OF MOTION:
Res. 4720, Myers, Joyce MacDonald - Sport/Commun.:
Contribution - Acknowledge, The Premier 11619
Vote - Affirmative 11620
Res. 4721, PSC - Long Service Award Ceremony (25 yrs.):
Recipients - Congrats., Hon. E. Fage 11620
Vote - Affirmative 11620
Res. 4722, Tourism & Culture - Acadian Celebration (2003-05):
Planning Efforts - Recognize, Hon. Rodney MacDonald 11621
Vote - Affirmative 11621
Res. 4723, Sharpe, Richard: Chef of the Yr. - Congrats.,
Hon. J. Purves 11621
Vote - Affirmative 11622
Res. 4724, Arthritis Ctr. (N.S.) - Opening: Participants - Congrats.,
Hon. J. Muir 11622
Vote - Affirmative 11623
Res. 4725, Boone, William/Rogers, Kevin - Gov't. N.S. Scholarship
Recipients: Lbr. Coll. Prog. - Completion Congrats.,
Hon. D. Morse 11623
Vote - Affirmative 11624
Res. 4726, MacQuarrie, Angus: Death of - Tribute, Hon. A. MacIsaac 11624
Vote - Affirmative 11624
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS:
No. 153, Public Utilities Act, Mr. K. Deveaux 11624
NOTICES OF MOTION:
Res. 4727, Educ. - Higher: Access - Universality, Mr. D. Dexter 11625
Res. 4728, Health - Home Care: Liberal Gov't. -
Involvement Recognize, Dr. J. Smith 11625
Res. 4729, Gov't. (Can.) - Canso Trawlermen's Assoc.: Northern
Shrimp Quota - Access Allow, Mr. Ronald Chisholm 11626
Vote - Affirmative 11635
Res. 4730, Agric. & Fish. - Pork Ind.: Safety Net Progs. -
Adequacy Explain, Mr. J. MacDonell 11627
Res. 4731, Steelmaking Museum - Dev.: Artifacts Comm. - Congrats.,
Mr. Manning MacDonald 11628
Vote - Affirmative 11628
Res. 4732, EHS Paramedic Base - Upper Tantallon: Grand Opening -
Congrats., Mr. W. Estabrooks 11629
Vote - Affirmative 11629
Res. 4733, Commun. Serv. - Early Childhood Dev.: Funding -
Gov't. (Can.) Thank, Mr. W. Gaudet 11629
Vote - Affirmative 11630
Res. 4734, Transport. & Pub. Wks. - Prov. House Accessibility:
Dept. Employees - Thank, Mr. M. Parent 11630
Vote - Affirmative 11631
Res. 4735, N. Preston - Community Ctr.: Participants - Congrats.,
Mr. Robert Chisholm 11631
Vote - Affirmative 11632
Res. 4736, Red Tape Task Force: Report - Table, Mr. R. MacKinnon 11632
Res. 4737, Birchmountain Bluegrass Band: Music Awards - Congrats.,
Mr. W. Dooks 11633
Res. 4738, Tallahassee Commun. Sch. - Veterans Recognition
Ceremony: Participants - Congrats., Mr. K. Deveaux 11634
Vote - Affirmative 11634
Res. 4739, N. Preston Rec. Assoc. - Commun. Ctr.: Announcement -
Congrats., Mr. D. Hendsbee 11635
Vote - Affirmative 11636
Res. 4740, Pub. Libraries - Funding Review Comm.: Recommendations -
Implement, Mr. J. MacDonell 11636
Res. 4741, Johnson, Gail/MacNamara, Shirley - Warden/Dep. Warden
Richmond Mun. Council: Election - Congrats., Mr. M. Samson 11636
Vote - Affirmative 11637
Res. 4742, Educ. - University: Access - Min. Ensure, Mr. W. Estabrooks 11637
Res. 4743, Serv. N.S. & Mun. Rel. - Insurance Rates:
All-Party Comm. - Implement, Mr. B. Boudreau 11638
Res. 4744, Dist. 18 Bus. & Commun. Dev. Assoc. -
Anl. Golf Tournament: Fundraising - Congrats.,
Mr. Robert Chisholm 11639
Vote - Affirmative 11640
Res. 4745, Halifax Fairview MLA - FOI Fees Rollback: Non-Support -
Chastize, Mr. M. Samson 11640
Res. 4746, PSC - Long Service Awards (25 yrs.): Recipients -
Congrats., Mr. R. MacKinnon 11640
Vote - Affirmative 11641
ORAL QUESTIONS PUT BY MEMBERS:
No. 1287, Health - Long-Term Care: Assessments - Effects,
Mr. D. Dexter 11641
No. 1288, Prem. - Terrorist Attacks: Response - Plan Details,
Mr. Manning MacDonald 11642
No. 1289, Educ. - Debt Reduction: Delay - Reasons, Mr. W. Estabrooks 11644
No. 1290, Remembrance Day Res. - Filibuster: Prem. -
Instructions' Source, Mr. D. Downe 11645
No. 1291, Transport. & Pub. Wks. - Hwy. No. 104 West.
Alignment Corp.: Revenue Performance - Tolls Effect,
Mr. G. Steele 11647
No. 1292, Gov't. (N.S.) - Borrowings: Amount - Details, Mr. D. Downe 11648
No. 1293, Health - Nursing Homes: Assessments - Practice End,
Ms. Maureen MacDonald 11650
No. 1294, Health - Care: Spending - Adequacy, Dr. J. Smith 11651
No. 1295, Commun. Serv. - Reg. Res. Serv. Soc.: Wage Parity -
Address, Mr. J. Pye 11653
No. 1296, Transport. & Pub. Wks. - Spending: Pre-Election -
Budget Effects, Mr. B. Boudreau 11654
No. 1297, Agric. & Fish. - Pork Producers: Nat'l. Net Income -
Benefits Explain, Mr. J. MacDonell 11655
No. 1298, Prem. - Departmental Overspending: Students' Sacrifice -
Dichotomy Explain, Mr. D. Wilson 11656
No. 1299, Health: Promised Youth Initiative - Announcement,
Mr. J. Pye 11658
PUBLIC BILLS FOR SECOND READING:
No. 152, Uninversité Sainte-Anne-Collège de l'Acadie Act 11660
Hon. J. Purves 11660
Mr. W. Estabrooks 11660
Mr. W. Gaudet 11661
Mr. K. Deveaux 16663
Mr. M. Samson 11664
Hon. J. Purves 11668
Vote - Affirmative 11669
ADJOURNMENT:
MOTION UNDER RULE 5(5):
Sports - St. Margarets Area: Recreational Facility -
Lack Explain:
Mr. W. Estabrooks 11670
Hon. Rodney MacDonald 11673
Mr. J. Chataway 11675
Dr. J. Smith 11676
ADJOURNMENT, House rose to meet again on Fri., Nov. 15th at 9:00 a.m. 11678
NOTICES OF MOTION UNDER RULE 32(3):
Res. 4747, Heathcote, Blake: Testaments of Honour - Congrats.,
Mr. Ronald Chisholm 11679
Res. 4748, Kids Against Tobacco Smoke (KATS) Prog.:
Participants - Congrats., Mr. R. Hurlburt 11679
Res. 4749, Educ. - Pictou Co. Continuous Learning Assoc.:
Efforts - Applaud, Mr. J. DeWolfe 11680
Res. 4750, D'Entremont, R. Irène: Order of Can. - Congrats.,
Mr. R. Hurlburt 11680
Res. 4751, Riordon, Bernard: Order of Can. - Congrats.,
Hon. Rodney MacDonald 11681
Res. 4752, NSCC/Larsen Packers - Ind. Challenges: Solutions -
Congrats., Mr. J. Carey 11681
Res. 4753, Burke, Bernard E. "Bernie": Death of - Tribute,
The Speaker 11682
Res. 4754, Melanson, James - Baseball (N.S.) Hall of Fame:
Induction - Congrats., The Speaker 11682
Res. 4755, UCW: Anniv. (40th) - Congrats., The Speaker 11683
Res. 4756, Jonah, Marilyn & Gary: Foster Parenting - Congrats.,
The Speaker 11683
Res. 4757, Brown, Roger - Historic Cumberland County South;
Land of Promise: Publication - Congrats., The Speaker 11684
Res. 4758, Advocate Dist. HS: Coyotes Girls Cross Country Team -
Congrats., The Speaker 11684
Res. 4759, Jackson, Grant/Knowlton, Bill/Lindsey, Rick: Bravery -
Congrats., The Speaker 11685
Res. 4760, Oxford Reg. HS - Gr. 9 Classes: Postcards to Veterans -
Congrats., The Speaker 11685
Res. 4761, Spicer, Katie: Achievements - Congrats., The Speaker 11686
Res. 4762, Van Vulpen, Kurt: Minitube Fdn. Scholarship -
Congrats., The Speaker 11686
Res. 4763, Parrsboro Reg. HS - Golf Team: Championship Placement -
Congrats., The Speaker 11687
Res. 4764, Advocate Dist. HS - Coyotes Girls Soccer Team:
Regional Champs - Congrats., The Speaker 11687
Res. 4765, Willis, Austin: Order of Can. - Congrats., Hon. T. Olive 11688

[Page 11611]

HALIFAX, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2002

Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Second Session

12:00 NOON

SPEAKER

Hon. Murray Scott

DEPUTY SPEAKERS

Mr. Brooke Taylor, Mr. Kevin Deveaux, Mr. David Wilson

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. Before we begin the daily routine, the subject for this evening's late debate was submitted by the honourable member for Halifax Fairview:

Therefore be it resolved that this government tell the people of St. Margarets area why they do not have a proper recreational facility to accommodate the population in their area, why they are not on the priority list for provincial funding, and where the tax money is being allocated.

This will be debated this evening at 6:00 p.m.

Order, please. We will begin the daily routine.

PRESENTING AND READING PETITIONS

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Atlantic.

11611

[Page 11612]

MR. ROBERT CHISHOLM: Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here signed by over 710 people mainly from Spryfield. The petition was gathered by a group of approximately 40 residents of the Captain Spry Lodge in Spryfield and I will read the operative clause, "THEREFORE WE THE UNDERSIGNED hereby request the Minister of Community Services to undertake immediate action to have an elevator installed in this residence so as to ease the burden for our senior citizens who have contributed so much to our society." I have affixed my signature and I therefore table it.

MR. SPEAKER: The petition is tabled.

The honourable member for Lunenburg West.

MR. DONALD DOWNE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby table a petition signed by 151 residents of Lunenburg West and area. The operative clause is, "We the undersigned support the residents of the communities of Italy Cross, Middlewood, Crousetown, Petite Riviere, Broad Cove, Cherry Hill and Voglers Cove who oppose the proposed boundary changes in the final report of the Nova Scotia Electoral Boundaries Commission Report dated August 2002 and request they go back to the original boundaries set forth by the Nova Scotia Legislature Assembly (1992) . . ." I have affixed my signature to this, bringing it to the grand total of 1,237 signatures signed to this petition.

MR. SPEAKER: The petition is tabled.

PRESENTING REPORTS OF COMMITTEES

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Chairman of the Law Amendments Committee, I am directed to report that the committee has met and considered the following bills:

Bill No. 147 - Volunteer Fire Services Act.

Bill No. 148 - Securities Act.

and the committee recommends these bills to the favourable consideration of the House, without amendment.

Mr. Speaker, further to that I would ask for the concurrence of the House to have these bills included on today's order paper.

[Page 11613]

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for the bills to be debated today.

Is it agreed?

I hear a No.

[Ordered that these bills be referred to the Committee of the Whole House on Bills.]

TABLING REPORTS, REGULATIONS AND OTHER PAPERS

STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Health.

HON. JAMES MUIR: Mr. Speaker, with your permission I would like to make an introduction in advance of my statement.

I direct the attention of the members of the House to the east gallery where we have two visitors with us today: Dr. John Tallon and Dr. David Clarke. Dr. John Tallon is the Medical Director for EHS, the Provincial Trauma Program and is also an emergency medicine specialist at the QE II. He is accompanied by Dr. David Clarke, a neurosurgeon at the QE II and I understand he's had some professional association with at least one of the members of the House. I would ask all members to give them a warm welcome. (Applause)

Mr. Speaker, like every other province and territory, many of our small emergency rooms throughout the province are staffed by family physicians. Some work on call and others work scheduled shifts to ensure care is available for people who are seriously ill or injured in their communities. One of the most difficult clinical situations these physicians face, is a patient with a potential head injury.

More than 700 adults and several hundred children are hospitalized each year as a result of head injuries. However, for some family physicians who staff our emergency departments, these injuries are relatively rare. While more than 700 adults and several hundred children are hospitalized each year as a result of head injuries, many family physicians who staff our emergency departments will see very few cases.

Today, I am delighted to share with the House, news of a new tool designed to assist these doctors to quickly diagnose and treat these trauma cases. It is the result of work by the Division of Neurosurgery at the IWK Health Centre and the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, along with our own Emergency Health Services branch. Together they recognized this serious issue, and looked at ways that could help benefit both the emergency room doctors and, most importantly, their patients.

[Page 11614]

Mr. Speaker, today I share with you gratitude for the work this group has undertaken. Together, these partners have now developed a unique new head injury guideline, which is now in use across Nova Scotia in our emergency departments. The guidelines are visible in emergency departments across the province, in the form of a poster, helping physicians diagnose serious head injuries faster. This means patients get the care they need sooner.

This simple tool provides simple, easy-to-use guidelines to help determine the signs of a serious head injury. It provides relevant information for contacting Emergency Health Services, to access air medical transport and it outlines a process for paging the specialized trauma teams at the QEII and the IWK. With neurosurgical expertise concentrated in Halifax, the need to diagnose and move serious head injury patients from across the province to the QEII or the IWK quickly is essential for the best possible outcomes. I know that the poster has been used in my own community, at the Colchester Regional Hospital, and that the doctors appreciate the clarity and the simplicity of the guidelines.

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment today to congratulate and thank the people involved with the development of this new resource, and I want to take a moment to sincerely thank the family physicians in our emergency rooms in centres across this province for their hard work and dedication to the care of Nova Scotians. I would also like to let the House know that this poster is on display today on the ground floor of the Legislature. I urge members and guests to take a moment and have a look at this for themselves, at this very helpful work. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Needham.

MS. MAUREEN MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister, first of all, for the courtesy of providing his statement in advance of this sitting in the House today. I, too, on behalf of the NDP caucus, would like to extend congratulations and our gratitude to our visitors and others who have contributed to this initiative which will be very important in the diagnosis and treatment of people who have suffered brain and head traumas. I want to say that it's very nice of the minister to acknowledge the work of others, that's an important thing to do, but I want to say that I'm disappointed in the minister that he hasn't risen in his place to make a ministerial statement regarding a comprehensive health strategy for those Nova Scotians following a head trauma, particularly a brain injury.

[12:15 p.m.]

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows full well of which I speak, the fact that people with brain injuries in our province are severely disadvantaged and they're left to a very random process of whether or not they're going to receive services. I also would like to say to the minister that I'm looking forward to him standing in his place and making an announcement of what his plans are to stabilize small emergency rooms across the province, like New Waterford, like Digby, like other places where they have experienced real difficulties due to

[Page 11615]

the doctor shortages in those communities and the kinds of cuts that the district health authorities have had to take onboard as a result of this government's focus on their fiscal concerns, their concern about budgets and not about people. So with those few remarks, I take my place. Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Dartmouth East.

DR. JAMES SMITH: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for the opportunity to address the ministerial statement today. I, too, would like to welcome our guests and just note to them that if things get a little too tough in neurosurgery and emergency room medicine, there's always a retirement plan, it's called the House of Assembly, for retired physicians. Welcome to that facility today. If they can hang around, you never know, we might be in need of their services.

Seriously, to the minister, I would like to say thanks for his early statement being sent to our office, I was very pleased, for the information of the House, to provide my copy to the minister so he could read from it. So it works both ways - what goes around comes around - and I think that shows good cooperation.

Seriously, this is in many ways a very simple tool, but it's a very important tool. I remember visiting small communities like Neils Harbour, Dr. Buffett showing me the value of telehealth and guidelines that he uses for whether to transport or not to transport. Those decisions are often made by family physicians, as the minister's statement notes, but also with the help nurses and some more specialized nurses in the nurse practitioner field. As we see this develop, this primary care level developing with nurse practitioners, these types of tools are really important. I did get a chance to glance at the guidelines downstairs. I notice it separates the age group, which is extremely important, because children are not necessarily just small adults, they have special needs and they have special signs and symptoms of their own.

So I think it's part of a program in emergency health care and early pre-hospital care, Mr. Speaker, that is so important, that goes along, as I mentioned, with Telehealth. I would encourage the minister and his government to continue the expansion and the use of that role not only in areas of trauma, but also in areas of consultation of all kinds from rural small communities in Nova Scotia to the more tertiary care medical centre here in the metro area. We're very pleased to be part of a government that has brought in the Emergency Health Services and the air transport that is of such high quality, that is an integral part of these programs.

Mr. Speaker, it also gives us a chance to highlight the importance of legislation that has not been proclaimed yet by this government. It has to do with the prevention of head injuries for those using scooters, particularly as an interest of mine, but also for skateboards and other mobility mechanisms that really do contribute very much - we know the studies

[Page 11616]

are in and they're showing that these types of mechanisms do contribute to head injuries. We've seen what's happened, the positive effects of seatbelts in this province and across the country. There's still work to be done and this government has a responsibility to proclaim that Act. I know my time is very short but I just wanted to compliment the minister for the initiative today both from a prevention initiative and also from a diagnostic tool that can aid those in communities who often have to work alone or in conjunction with family physicians, nurses and other health care workers to make the decision whether to keep the patient in their own community or quickly get them into a centre of specialized care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Natural Resources.

HON. TIMOTHY OLIVE: Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure today to share with you and my colleagues here in the House my thanks to several scientists and experts from provincial government departments, universities and conservation agencies who have recently completed a review of the status of all known wild plant species in Nova Scotia.

Under the National Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk, provincial, territorial and federal governments made a commitment to monitor the general status of all wild species in Canada. The Province of Nova Scotia, through the Department of Natural Resources, has been assessing wild species in this province since 1996. The results of these assessments are available on the department's Web site.

Today I'm pleased to announce that the 1,664 known plant species found here in Nova Scotia have been reviewed. The general status assessment for these plants took several hundred hours over a period of four years.

I must commend the calibre of the professionals who participated in this process. Those involved in this project include: Ruth Newell and Sam Vanderkloet of Acadia University; Marian Munroe and Alex Wilson of the Nova Scotia Museum; Sean Blaney of the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre; Dr. Nick Hill of Mount Saint Vincent University; Rick Hoeg of the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Fisheries; and Dr. Liette Vasseur of St. Mary's University.

The general status process is a first-alert system that provides us with an overall indication of how well species are doing in Nova Scotia. It is a tool that helps us identify which species populations are secure, which species are sensitive and which ones are at risk.

I am happy to say that 60 per cent of all native plant species assessed are considered to be secure. The review also showed that about one-third of the wild plants are non-native species that were introduced by humans.

[Page 11617]

This is the first comprehensive status review ever undertaken of all wild plants in Nova Scotia. This information can now be used when we are making decisions pertaining to environmental and land use planning here in the province.

The assessment information is available on the department's Web site under the Wildlife Division. I would like to thank my staff for the time and work they put into this process and in ensuring the information is available to the public. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Hants East.

MR. JOHN MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister for his statement prior to coming to the House today. I, too, am pleased that the department carried out this study. I think it's important for all Nova Scotians that this type of work is done and I congratulate the minister and in particular, the scientists who were involved in that study.

I'm going to assume from what the minister said that when he talked about plants he was referring purely to plants and so I'm hoping at some point in the future that he will do the same type of intensive study on the fungi in the province as well.

Probably it couldn't be more appropriate that the Minister of Natural Resources makes this statement; this is the minister who is in charge of forestry in the province. I want the minister to know and to think about why it is that plants adapt to their environment and I want the minister to recognize that all plants, even within a particular species, are not created equal, that there is genetic variation even within a single species as much as we even see that all the members of a family are not identical unless you fall into the category that I do.

So, Mr. Speaker, I want the minister to be aware that there is no way of knowing which plants will be selected by any particular change in the environment but changes do occur that select some of those plants purely by the luck of the draw, that they have the gene pool that gave them characteristics that are advantageous because of that change. Therefore, they live to pass their genes on to the next generation and therefore you see a slight shift in the makeup of that species.

Mr. Speaker, there is really nothing in the gene pool of the plants in this province that prepares them for things like clear-cutting 100,000 acres a year and considering that the province has not stood up and made any definitive statement on Kyoto, we have experienced severe droughts and high temperatures. Most plants in this province are not geared to be sustained under that so I would wish the minister, as Minister of Natural Resources, would take this into consideration and come up with a plan to secure even the 60 per cent that are secure because that means 40 per cent are at risk in this province.

[Page 11618]

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Victoria.

MR. KENNETH MACASKILL: Mr. Speaker, I too want to thank the minister for his statement today and for also sending a copy over to the caucus office so we would have it prior to coming to the House to give us an opportunity to review it and respond to it with some degree of accuracy.

Mr. Speaker, I think the task that was completed by these scientists is vital to the future of our natural habitat in the Province of Nova Scotia and if we are to ensure that species are there for future generations, we must first understand what is out there. To find out what is out there for the benefit of both plants and wildlife because our wildlife cannot survive without plants and it's part and parcel of the whole working of nature.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the working group of experts who put this report together. Their work is commendable and I too, like the former speaker, may be a bit alarmed at the number of the species that are safe at 60 per cent. It may be impressive but then again, as the former speaker has said, what about the 40 per cent that are at risk.

My next question would be, Mr. Speaker, what will be done with the information that was given to us? If the result is a comprehensive plan of sustainability, then this work will have a greater value. The good work that has been done, we hope it won't land on a shelf somewhere gathering dust because I think we have to achieve a higher number than 60 per cent.

So again, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister and the dedicated expert scientists for their valuable work in what has been done and we hope that they will continue to work and put their work to good use and to keep us informed as to where we are in terms of species at risk in the province.

MR. SPEAKER: Just before we move to Government Notices of Motion, I recognize the honourable member for Dartmouth North on an introduction.

MR. JERRY PYE: Mr. Speaker, in the east gallery we have Joan Jessome, the President of the NSGEU, 25 members of the NSGEU who represent the regional Residential Services Society. These are individuals who work with adults who have mental and intellectual disabilities.

[12:30 p.m.]

Mr. Speaker, they work hard and they are professional in the delivery of their services, and so on. They're here to bring their fight for wage parity, with respect to institutional workers who do exactly the same work, to this Legislature. They're here watching the sitting of this Legislature, and they certainly want to talk to each member of this

[Page 11619]

Legislative Assembly with respect to the fairness and parity. I would ask that this House give them a warm welcome for the services they provide. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: I would ask our guests to rise and receive a warm welcome from the House. Welcome to our guests who were introduced and, of course, welcome to all our guests in the gallery.

GOVERNMENT NOTICES OF MOTION

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Premier.

HON. JOHN HAMM (The Premier): Mr. Speaker, prior to reading my resolution, with your permission, I would like to introduce two guests in the gallery. We have with us today Jody Myers, the daughter of Joyce MacDonald Myers, and Penny LaRocque, the 1983 Canadian Women's Curling Champion. I would ask our guests to rise and receive the welcome of the House. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Premier.

RESOLUTION NO. 4720

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the late Joyce MacDonald Myers was an avid sportsperson and demonstrated exemplary accomplishments in her fields of tennis, badminton and curling; and

Whereas in addition to holding many sports titles - including a provincial tennis title, several provincial badminton titles and four provincial curling titles - Joyce Myers served as President of Sport Nova Scotia, President of the Nova Scotia Tennis Association, Director of the Canadian Badminton Association, a six-time member of the Canada Games Mission staff, and a head official at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul; and

Whereas throughout her life, Joyce Myers did much to give back to her community and to the world of sport, including coaching many individuals and teams to provincial and national curling titles, establishing the Sports Heritage Centre and helping to found the Nova Scotia Senior Games;

Therefore be it resolved that members of this House acknowledge the great contribution Joyce Myers made to both sport and to her community as an athlete, mentor, coach and volunteer.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

[Page 11620]

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried. (Applause)

The honourable Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

RESOLUTION NO. 4721

HON. ERNEST FAGE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas today the Government of Nova Scotia will hold the 37th annual Long Service Award Ceremony to honour civil servants who have achieved 25 years of service; and

Whereas a total of 215 provincial employees are celebrating this career milestone among friends, family and co-workers; and

Whereas all Nova Scotians have benefited from the programs and services these employees have provided and continue to provide every day;

Therefore be it resolved that members of this House extend their congratulations to these women and men on the occasion of their 25 years of service to the people of Nova Scotia.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Tourism and Culture.

[Page 11621]

RESOLUTION NO. 4722

HON. RODNEY MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Nova Scotia will be hosting three years of Acadian celebrations starting in 2003; and

Whereas we are working in partnership with groups such as the Acadian congress committee and la FANE to further enhance Acadian tourism in Nova Scotia; and

Whereas a joint committee on Acadian tourism is preparing a strategic plan that will be integrated into the Nova Scotia Tourism Plan and the celebrations will be integrated in the province's marketing communications, including the Travel Guide, the Festivals & Events Digest and Wall Map, and the Vacation Value Books;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House recognize the ongoing planning efforts surrounding the Acadian celebrations from 2003-05, and the significant opportunity we have to welcome the world to Nova Scotia.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Education.

RESOLUTION NO. 4723

HON. JANE PURVES: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Chef of the Year is awarded to an individual who has shown an outstanding contribution and support to the Nova Scotia Association of Chefs and Cooks, and its members; and

[Page 11622]

Whereas this year's Chef of the Year is also a valuable employee of the Department of Education in the Apprenticeship Training Division; and

Whereas individuals are nominated for this award by their peers, based on their contributions to the association of culinary trade;

Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Richard Sharpe on this prestigious award from his peers, and on his contributions to the culinary arts trade in Nova Scotia.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Health.

RESOLUTION NO. 4724

HON. JAMES MUIR: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Arthritis Centre of Nova Scotia celebrated its grand opening on Thursday, November 14th; and

Whereas arthritis affects more than 144,000 Nova Scotians and more than 4 million Canadians; and

Whereas the Arthritis Centre is a partnership of the Arthritis Society, the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre and the Queen Elizabeth II Foundation and will provide a team approach to the treatment of Nova Scotians with arthritis;

Therefore be it resolved that the House congratulate and thank the Arthritis Society, the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre and the Queen Elizabeth II Foundation for the establishment of this new centre of excellence for arthritis in Nova Scotia.

[Page 11623]

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Environment and Labour.

RESOLUTION NO. 4725

HON. DAVID MORSE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas a goal of the Department of Environment and Labour is to provide two bursaries on behalf of government for people actively involved in the labour movement who are looking to enhance their knowledge in labour relations; and

Whereas the Government of Nova Scotia has provided financial support for the Labour College of Canada since 1963; and

Whereas the Government of Nova Scotia has been an important factor in facilitating Nova Scotia workers' participation in the Labour College's Residential Program;

Therefore be it resolved that this House acknowledge Mr. William Boone and Mr. Kevin Rogers recipients of the Government of Nova Scotia scholarship, on their successful completion of the Labour College's Residential Program.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

[Page 11624]

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations.

RESOLUTION NO. 4726

HON. ANGUS MACISAAC: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas former Antigonish County Warden Angus MacQuarrie passed away on November 9, 2002; and

Whereas Mr. MacQuarrie who served as a municipal councillor for 33 years and warden for 21 years, and under his leadership Antigonish saw new schools built, several rural communities saw sewer and water systems installed and an industrial park built in Lower South River, just a few of his accomplishments; and

Whereas Mr. MacQuarrie was a leader in the preservation of the Celtic culture and his talents as a piper, fiddle player and Gaelic speaker live on through his children and grandchildren;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House join me in expressing our condolences to Mr. MacQuarrie's family and friends for their loss and express our sadness for the loss of a man who was dedicated to Antigonish County.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

Bill No. 153 - Entitled an Act to Amend Chapter 380 of the Revised Statutes, 1989. The Public Utilities Act, to Provide for the Appointment of a Consumer Advocate. (Mr. Kevin Deveaux)

[Page 11625]

MR. SPEAKER: Ordered that this bill be read a second time on a future day.

NOTICES OF MOTION

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition.

RESOLUTION NO. 4727

MR. DARRELL DEXTER: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas a recent graduate of Dalhousie University was awarded a scholarship of $1,500 for academic excellence; and

Whereas this graduate returned the money, asking that it be used to help needy students; and

Whereas this student wrote, "I have had a tremendous privilege and this is a reflection of my values - to help students that did not have the same privileges as me . . . Education is a right that everyone should have access to,";

Therefore be it resolved that this House agrees that everyone should have access to higher education and urges the government to provide the student assistance and the freeze on fees that are necessary to make this happen.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

I hear a No.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Dartmouth East.

RESOLUTION NO. 4728

DR. JAMES SMITH: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the accuracy of facts is often a notion that escapes the NDP; and

[Page 11626]

Whereas yesterday in this House, the honourable member for Halifax Needham stated that seizure of seniors' assets was a policy brought in by the previous Liberal Government, when in fact this is not true, as it was a municipal and provincial policy which began back in 1981; and

Whereas between the years 1997 to 1999, the call by the NDP with regard to health care for seniors was home care and wage parity for long-term care nurses, not the issue of covering health care costs for seniors in long-term care facilities;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the Legislature recognize that it was a Liberal Government who not only created a home care program from scratch, but also addressed the long-standing issue of wage parity for nurses in long-term care settings; facts that conveniently escape the NDP as they use flashy brochures, billboards and misinformation to trick seniors and their families.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

I hear several Noes.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Guysborough-Port Hawkesbury.

RESOLUTION NO. 4729

MR. RONALD CHISHOLM: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas in a July 11, 2002 news release, the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans cited the growth in northern shrimp quotas from 37,600 tons in 1996, to 110,052 tons this year; and

Whereas despite the tripling of the quota, the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans remains insistent that the Canso Trawlermen's Co-op not be given access to any of this quota; and

Whereas because of the federal minister's refusal, the fish processing plant in Canso has been forced to close for an extended period of time, leaving many workers without enough hours to claim employment insurance benefits;

[Page 11627]

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly unanimously endorse the Canso Trawlermen's Co-op's plea for northern shrimp quota and encourage the federal minister, in any way possible, to change his views and provide residents of the Town of Canso and area, a boost to their economic future.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

I hear several Noes.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Hants East.

[12:45 p.m.]

RESOLUTION NO. 4730

MR. JOHN MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries constantly chides the Opposition members for not understanding the issues within his bailiwick; and

Whereas the minister claims that Nova Scotia hog producers are well protected through the existing agriculture safety net against the chronic low prices and high feed costs affecting the hog industry; and

Whereas not once in this House has the minister actually explained to Nova Scotians exactly how and when programs such as the Canadian Farm Income Program (CFIP) and the Net Income Stabilization Account (NISA) will cut in and provide adequate protection for hog producers whose bank accounts are hemorrhaging;

Therefore be it resolved that the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries explain in detail in this Legislature how the existing agriculture safety net programs are adequate to protect our pork industry through this current crisis.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

[Page 11628]

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

I hear several Noes.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Cape Breton South.

RESOLUTION NO. 4731

MR. MANNING MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Sydney steelmaking and Sydney Steel have been a major contributor both economically and socially to the history of Cape Breton and the surrounding area; and

Whereas the closure of Sydney Steel is truly the end of an era for industrial Cape Breton; and

Whereas Eric Parsons, chairperson of the artifacts committee for a museum dedicated to the history of steelmaking in industrial Cape Breton, along with the committee have toured the former Sysco site earmarking a variety of artifacts to be placed on display in the future museum;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate this committee for preserving a piece of our history and wish them every success in the development of a steelmaking museum.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Timberlea-Prospect.

[Page 11629]

RESOLUTION NO. 4732

MR. WILLIAM ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Tantallon area paramedics celebrated the grand opening of the new Emergency Health Services Paramedic Base in Upper Tantallon on September 7th; and

Whereas this base will assist in continuing to provide quality service; and

Whereas EHS plays a vital role in the delivery of health services in our province;

Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate the Tantallon area paramedics on the grand opening of their new Emergency Health Services Paramedic Base in Upper Tantallon.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable Leader in the House of the Liberal Party.

RESOLUTION NO. 4733

MR. WAYNE GAUDET: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas this morning the Minister of Community Services announced that he will be providing training for early childhood in the amount of $1 million; and

Whereas these programs provide opportunities for early childhood educators to pre- and in-service training; and

[Page 11630]

Whereas these programs come slowly as a courtesy of the federal government who has contributed $12.1 million to Nova Scotia this fiscal year for early childhood development;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this Legislature recognize and thank the federal Government of Canada for their contribution to early childhood development.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Kings North.

MR. MARK PARENT; Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, before I read my resolution I would like to welcome to the gallery four Kingstec students from the campus in Kentville who are taking the office information technology program and have come down to talk with PC caucus staff, and they talked with my secretary earlier about the work that she does. I would ask them to stand and receive a warm welcome. They're Darlene Ward from Canning, Linda Crawford from Kentville, Judy Bennett from Canning and Krista Anthony from Windsor. If they could stand and we could give them a welcome. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Kings North.

RESOLUTION NO. 4734

MR. MARK PARENT: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas recently I took part in an exercise whereby I spent a day in a wheelchair to experience just how challenging it is for those who must do so every day; and

Whereas after this experience I realized how important the recent work to make this House accessible to those who are physically challenged was, a request from the League for Equal Opportunities (LEO) which moved forward due to the co-operation between the Office of the Speaker, LEO, and Transportation and Public Works; and

[Page 11631]

Whereas changes include a new sidewalk and exterior lighting leading to a fully accessible entrance, complete with power assist doors as well as accessible washrooms;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House acknowledge these efforts designed to ensure that Province House is physically accessible to all its citizens and thank employees of Transportation and Public Works who did such a fine job while respecting the heritage of Canada's oldest legislative building.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Halifax Atlantic.

RESOLUTION NO. 4735

MR. ROBERT CHISHOLM: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the community of North Preston is one of the oldest and the largest communities of African-Nova Scotian people in the province; and

Whereas North Preston has been without a community centre to provide services and programs for the almost 5,000 residents in the area for several years; and

Whereas construction will soon begin to erect a new multi-purpose facility in this community;

Therefore be it resolved that the House congratulate the members of the North Preston Recreation Committee, the North Preston Ratepayers Association, the St. Thomas Baptist Church and the many residents of North Preston for their hard work, commitment and dedication in bringing this initiative to a successful conclusion.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

[Page 11632]

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Cape Breton West.

RESOLUTION NO. 4736

MR. RUSSELL MACKINNON: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Premier John Hamm promised a more efficient and effective government for the people of Nova Scotia; and

Whereas Premier Hamm established a red tape task force, made up of Tory backbenchers, more than three years ago; and

Whereas this red tape reduction task force and its recommendations have since fizzled into total obscurity;

Therefore be it resolved that Premier Hamm be directed to table a final report of this red tape task force or admit this entire exercise was the Premier's way of keeping his restless backbenchers occupied.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

I hear several Noes.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Eastern Shore.

[Page 11633]

RESOLUTION NO. 4737

MR. WILLIAM DOOKS: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Birchmountain Bluegrass Band was the big winners at the Eastern Bluegrass and Oldtime Music Awards held in Truro on October 19, 2002; and

Whereas the band won in five of the nine categories that they were nominated, including Band of the Year and Recording of the Year; and

Whereas many of the band members won individual awards in the categories of fiddle player, mandolin player and composer of the year;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate the Birchmountain Bluegrass Band on the winning of five Eastern Bluegrass and Oldtime Music Awards and wish them continued success in their musical endeavours.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: The member, who is quite a fiddle player himself, is requesting waiver of notice.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

MR. MANNING MACDONALD: Yes, Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. I would ask the indulgence of the House for the resolution that was presented by the member for Guysborough-Port Hawkesbury, if the "therefore be it resolved" could be read. There seems to be some confusion about that particular (Interruption) My helpful friend over here - the only people confused around here are the NDP on more than that issue.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. That's a reasonable request. It's not a point of order. Order, please. Perhaps during Notices of Motion we could request the honourable member to read that into the record. In the interim, we will recognize the honourable member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage on a notice of motion.

[Page 11634]

RESOLUTION NO. 4738

MR. KEVIN DEVEAUX: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas every effort must be made to ensure the children of today and of coming generations are aware of the sacrifices made by our veterans and those that made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms; and

Whereas Tallahassee Community School in Eastern Passage hosted a ceremony on November 8, 2002, to recognize the efforts of the veterans who live in Eastern Passage; and

Whereas the ceremony included traditional songs, poems and the laying of wreaths in memory of those who fought in war and in peace;

Therefore be it resolved that this House recognize the efforts of Tallahassee Community School and, in particular, Principal, Doug Pickup, and teachers, Pat MacDonald, Marg White and Florence McCarey-Payne, in ensuring we shall never forget.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Guysborough-Port Hawkesbury, on the resolve of his previous resolution.

MR. RONALD CHISHOLM: Are you sure you don't want me to read the whole thing over again, Mr. Speaker? I appreciate the members of the Third Party reconsidering their decision to reject this resolution.

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly unanimously endorse the Canso Trawlermen's Co-Op plea for northern shrimp quota, and encourage the federal minister in any way possible to change his views and provide residents of the Town of Canso and area a boost to their economic future.

[Page 11635]

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is now carried.

The honourable member for Preston.

RESOLUTION NO. 4739

MR. DAVID HENDSBEE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the community centre in North Preston was destroyed by fire in 2000, leaving a large void in the community; and

Whereas the joint federal-provincial funding of $1,981,332, along with a $1 million contribution from HRM, the Halifax Regional Municipality, was announced yesterday to build a new multi-purpose community centre in North Preston that will house recreational programs and provide space for public services such as the RCMP, Health, and Social Services; and

Whereas by investing in communities like North Preston, the government is building a stronger Nova Scotia;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate the North Preston Recreation Association and all the residents of North Preston on the news that a new community centre will be built in their community, and recognize all three levels of government for coming together to meet this community need.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

[Page 11636]

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Hants East.

RESOLUTION NO. 4740

MR. JOHN MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas public libraries are the most heavily used public community facilities in Canada; and

Whereas the Colchester-East Hants Regional Library is the community's primary access to books, information, lifelong learning resources, and cultural discovery, serving a population base of 71,060; and

Whereas many libraries, including Colchester-East Hants Regional Library, are presently facing a crisis because of the drastic cuts to recommended funding increases which have left these institutions unable to plan, maintain and develop programs to serve the residents;

Therefore be it resolved that the Premier urge his government to implement the recommendations of its own Regional Public Libraries Funding Review Committee, and provide the funding increases needed so libraries do not lose any further ground in their attempt to maintain and upgrade services for their clients.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

I hear a No.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Richmond.

[Page 11637]

RESOLUTION NO. 4741

MR. MICHEL SAMSON: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the changing of the guard has taken place at Richmond Municipal Council with the election of 10-year District 10 veteran Councillor, Gail Johnson, as Warden; and

Whereas the position of Deputy Warden went to District 5 Councillor, Shirley MacNamara, also a veteran councillor with 12 years' experience; and

Whereas with these changes Richmond County now has the distinction of being the only municipal unit in Nova Scotia to have two women serving in the kingpin positions; (Interruptions)

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate Warden Gail Johnson and Deputy Warden Shirley MacNamara on their unanimous elections, while thanking them for their many years of service and wishing them well in their new positions of leading the Municipality of Richmond.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Timberlea-Prospect.

RESOLUTION NO. 4742

MR. WILLIAM ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas a TD Bank analysis released yesterday predicts that the cost of sending a child born today to university for four years will be close to $125,000, costs that threaten to put university out of the reach of many Nova Scotians; and

[Page 11638]

Whereas the analysis further states that tuition and academic fees have been rising at a pace far above the national average of inflation in the last few years, and there's no reason to believe this trend will not continue; and

Whereas Nova Scotia's tuition fees and student debt ratios remain among the highest in this country and the Minister of Education refuses to implement a tuition freeze and her promised new student debt relief program is, unlike her helicopter-flying deputy minister, still parked in the hangar;

[1:00 p.m.]

Therefore be it resolved that the Minister of Education act now to ensure broad access to university by Nova Scotians by implementing a tuition freeze and/or a student debt relief program with teeth.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

I hear several Noes.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Cape Breton The Lakes.

RESOLUTION NO. 4743

MR. BRIAN BOUDREAU: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas insurance rates continue to rise in this province while this Conservative Government continues to make excuses for not addressing the insurance problems; and

Whereas the Liberal caucus has time and time again called for the establishment of an all-Party committee to undertake a complete and comprehensive review of the insurance industry in Nova Scotia; and

Whereas the Nova Scotia Government deserves to give drivers in this province the opportunity to become involved in the discussion on the broad range of insurance issues;

[Page 11639]

Therefore be it resolved that this is an important issue that affects many Nova Scotians and the Premier and the minister responsible for insurance must begin to take responsibility for this issue by calling for an all-Party committee.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

I hear several Noes.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Halifax Atlantic.

RESOLUTION NO. 4744

MR. ROBERT CHISHOLM: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the District 18 Business and Community Development Association recently held their third annual golf tournament; and

Whereas this event brings community and business together in a spirit of goodwill; and

Whereas the tournament provides the opportunity for the Chebucto Boys and Girls Club to hold a silent auction and much-needed funds;

Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate the District 18 Business and Community Development Association for their initiative and commitment and for their continued support of the Chebucto Boys and Girls Club.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

[Page 11640]

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Richmond.

RESOLUTION NO. 4745

MR. MICHEL SAMSON: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the NDP member for Halifax Fairview yesterday displayed beyond a reasonable doubt the true class act he is with a savage attack against a Liberal bill to roll back FOIPOP fees and make government more accountable to the people; and

Whereas this is the same (Interruptions)

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. The honourable member for Richmond has the floor.

MR. SAMSON: I think he'll want to listen to this. (Interruptions)

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. (Interruptions) Order, please. Honourable members, please respect the fact that the member for Richmond has the floor.

MR. SAMSON: Whereas this is the same impartial individual who, in 1998, authored a study examining the political contributions made to both the Liberal and Tory Parties; and

Whereas this same impartial individual apparently forgot to examine the hundreds of thousands of dollars given to the NDP yearly by labour unions in order to determine what influence their donations had on NDP policy;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House chastize the member for Halifax Fairview for claiming to support open and accountable government when he failed to support a Danny Graham Liberal plan to roll back freedom of information fees.

MR. SPEAKER: The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Cape Breton West.

RESOLUTION NO. 4746

MR. RUSSELL MACKINNON: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

[Page 11641]

Whereas Long Service Awards for the year 2002 have been announced by the provincial government; and

Whereas these awards honour provincial employees of the Public Service of Nova Scotia for the past 25 years of service; and

Whereas Lawrence MacDonald of Sydney River, Kevin Saccary of Port Morien, Donna Jean Tobin of Sydney Forks and Scott W. MacLeod of Big Ridge, Marion Bridge, are this year's recipients of Long Service Awards, along with others;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House recognize and congratulate this year's recipients of the 2002 Long Service Awards.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

ORAL QUESTIONS PUT BY MEMBERS

MR. SPEAKER: Oral Question Period will go until 2:05 p.m.

The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition.

HEALTH - LONG-TERM CARE: ASSESSMENTS - EFFECTS

MR. DARRELL DEXTER: Mr. Speaker, there is apparently no end to which this government will go in order to extract every single cent from seniors who are entering long-term care facilities. One senior has been assessed to pay for the entire cost of her care for nearly nine years before the province will kick in a single penny. Now, her niece, who has power of attorney, reports that in spite of the phenomenal amount the province will get - they are objecting to $19,000 she gave away over a three-year period - the department is demanding that this be included in the assessment. Can you imagine, that senior department

[Page 11642]

officials are trying to say that these cases don't arise anymore. I want to ask the Premier, will you admit that the system is putting seniors and their families through the wringer?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, I will refer that to the Minister of Health.

HON. JAMES MUIR: Mr. Speaker, in the past three years this government has put about $90 million into continuing care. The care which the people receive in the long-term care facilities in this province are probably second to none in Canada. I think people appreciate that.

MR. DEXTER: Mr. Speaker, when the Premier refuses to answer and when the Minister of Health gives that kind of vacuous reply to a sincere question, he should be ashamed of himself. These are people's lives we are talking about here. The niece can't get the money back. She didn't spend it in the first place, her aunt did and yet the department has required her to sign a form that says that the $19,000 will be included whether she can recover it or not. She has no idea who is going to pay the money if the assets should be depleted. My question to the Minister of Health is, why are you forcing families to become collection agencies for the province?

MR. MUIR: Mr. Speaker, in the past three years we have made numerous improvements in continuing care, including improvements in the assessment policies. As the honourable member knows, I can't comment on any individual case on the floor of this House. As the honourable member knows as well, if somebody is unhappy with the decision that has been made, then there is a process that deals with that.

MR. DEXTER: Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the province knows full well that it will likely never pay a dime towards the cost of the health care of this senior but they are not prepared to concede that $19,000 cannot be retrieved. They told the niece that if she didn't agree to include this in the assessment, they would not allow her aunt to enter the long-term care facility. I want to ask the Minister of Health, when is enough, enough when it comes to taking seniors' savings and have them pay for health care that should be covered?

MR. MUIR: Mr. Speaker, long-term health care costs are about $168 million in this province, the government pays about $134 million of that or 80 per cent.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Cape Breton South.

PREM. - TERRORIST ATTACKS: RESPONSE - PLAN DETAILS

MR. MANNING MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Premier. We learned today that according to a U.S. State Department list the Greenwood Air Base is a potential terrorist target. We know that since September 11th of last year the province has indicated that it will work with federal and municipal officials to ensure that law enforcement

[Page 11643]

and other emergency response units remain coordinated and ready to meet the need of Nova Scotians. The province has stated that it will put together a plan to respond to possible terrorist attacks. It has been 14 months since September 11th. My question to the Premier is, is the plan completed and what does it consist of?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, first of all, I thank the member opposite for the question. The indications in the media that it well may be that Canada will be further implicated in terrorist acts is a distressing one. I am aware of no information that would indicate that the Province of Nova Scotia is any more jeopardized at this point than it was say a month ago before all this information came forward, but I am confident, and Nova Scotians should feel confident, that those who are responsible for our safety, including the RCMP and the Emergency Measures Organization, are prepared for even the worst of eventualities. I know the member opposite, while he asked the question, full well understands that any action that would be forthcoming as a result of terrorist activity would not be discussed on the floor of the House; in other words we're not about to tip our hand to those who may be a danger to us.

MR. MANNING MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I think it's very appropriate on the floor of this House to try to find out whether Nova Scotians should be comfortable with what this government's doing about a potential terrorist attack. I think that's very appropriate. Nova Scotians, reading or hearing this information this morning, will certainly be concerned about how the federal and provincial governments are ready to meet these new threats. According to the reports, we also noted there may be other potential sites in the Maritimes on this list, including the Point Lepreau power station in New Brunswick and the Confederation Bridge.

My first supplementary to the Premier is, what plans are in place to protect Nova Scotia's other important military and financial sites, for example, the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, again a good question. What I can say is that among other things that have been done subsequent to September 11th, there has been an identification made of certain soft spots that in fact might be targets here in Nova Scotia and plans are in place to provide a proper surveillance of those particular areas and I will say, in terms of the pipeline, in addition to what the RCMP and others are doing, the pipeline companies themselves are providing extra security measures as a result of what happened on September 11th.

MR. MANNING MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, today we're trying to find out what the province is doing about this particular problem. All of us here know Canadians and Nova Scotians can no longer consider themselves separate from the world of terrorist threats and the reactions of those terrorist threats. A year ago the federal government allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for its anti-terrorism campaign, some of which was to be used by the

[Page 11644]

provincial governments for their security efforts. My final supplementary to the Premier is, can the Premier indicate how much Nova Scotia received from this fund and how is it being currently allocated?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is aware that, among other things, the emergency response organization in this particular province, by being under one roof, is particularly well prepared to deal with eventualities in this province whether they be related to a terrorist event or some other catastrophic event that could occur outside the realm of terrorism. I would say that those who are responsible for our protection in this province are doing their job.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Timberlea-Prospect.

EDUC. - DEBT REDUCTION: DELAY - REASONS

MR. WILLIAM ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, through you my question is to the Minister of Education. The Minister of Education is backing out of one of her very important promises. In July this minister promised a debt reduction announcement. In fact, her deputy in the celebration that was brought to the media's attention of July 23rd - and I will table this - the celebration of the minister's birthday, the deputy minister, Mr. Cochrane, told the students that there would be some information in about six weeks. That was July 23rd in an article written in The Chronicle-Herald by Amy Smith. Now the minister says the Tories can't help the students with debt because they're trying to juggle the books. It's no secret that the biggest part of the budget they're trying to juggle is a tax cut. Madam Minister, you know that less than 5 per cent of Nova Scotians think a tax cut should come before health or before education. Why won't you commit to this House that you are holding out on students so that this government can afford a tax cut?

[1:15 p.m.]

HON. JANE PURVES: Mr. Speaker, it was more of a statement than a question, as we know. Certainly, this government is not going to hold out on students because of a tax cut. This government is simply trying to grapple with all the pressures that are on us, including a great many from the Party opposite, so that we can do some good things next year, and helping out students will be one of them.

MR. ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, this is not about students, this is about the forthcoming election. That's what this issue is about. This government has broken this promise three years running. Now they're trying to hold on to the only promise they have left, a tax cut. It's highlighted on Page 14 of that infamous corporate plan. Meanwhile, Nova Scotia is the only province in this country without a debt-reduction program for students. Madam Minister, it's clear, students don't fit into your government's corporate plan. Could you clarify for us and for Nova Scotians, who told you to cancel your student debt

[Page 11645]

announcement? Was it the Premier, was it the Finance Minister, was it the Minister of Justice or was it your high-flying deputy minister?

MISS PURVES: Mr. Speaker, the prophet of doom and gloom over there is wrong, the promise has not been cancelled.

MR. ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, the minister knows her government promised to improve loan remission, instead they've cancelled it, or postponed it, or we will take care of it later. For three years they've been prepared to sacrifice the future of young Nova Scotians. Now she's checked the preliminary budget for 2003-04 and the Conservative promise is on hold again. Madam Minister, why have you raised the hopes for these young Nova Scotians only to have them dashed with these sorts of announcements?

MISS PURVES: Mr. Speaker, our government, for the past three years, has been ensuring that young Nova Scotians do have a future, and it won't be in some version of "Canuckistan" favoured by the socialists over there.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Lunenburg West.

REMEMBRANCE DAY RES. - FILIBUSTER:

PREM. - INSTRUCTIONS' SOURCE

MR. DONALD DOWNE: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Last night the government members filibustered the debate on the resolution supporting the establishment of an all-Party committee to provide an opportunity for veterans and all Nova Scotians to have their opinions heard with regard to designating Remembrance Day as a statutory holiday in the Province of Nova Scotia. This committee would provide an opportunity to show respect and to reflect on what veterans have done for the people of the Province of Nova Scotia.

Mr. Speaker, I've never been so disappointed in the members across the way as I was last night. Their display was offensive and insulting to members on this side of the House, to veterans and to their families. My question to the Premier is, did the Premier instruct his caucus not to allow a vote on this resolution last night?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, I wasn't aware last night that the resolution was before the House. What I can say to the member opposite is the way in which this province observes Remembrance Day is the proper way. Unlike other provinces that have full commercial activity during Remembrance Day, this province, to its credit, has observed Remembrance Day appropriately. One of the things that impresses me when I go to Remembrance Day services, which I understand all members of the House are in the habit of doing, is the increased participation of young people, thanks to the activities in our school system that are now reminding young people of the importance of Remembrance Day, and thanks in large

[Page 11646]

measure to the activities of the Legions. If the veterans and the Legions are of the opinion that making a change in the legislation that refers to Remembrance Day - we, as a government, would be very happy to entertain a solicitation on this particular matter.

MR. DOWNE: Mr. Speaker, I want to read a quote from the Premier from a letter that he wrote to a column in The Chronicle-Herald on Remembrance Day. "It is also the duty of government to do everything we can to ensure that the sacrifices made by women and men who fought to preserve the freedoms are never forgotten." But when it comes time to show the true honour and true respect for veterans in this province, what does this Premier do? He allows his members to filibuster a debate instead of allowing all Nova Scotians the opportunity to be consulted on this important issue.

My question to the Premier is, why doesn't the Premier support the motion to allow all Nova Scotians and veterans to be consulted on this very important matter?

THE PREMIER: I can remind the member opposite that, thanks to the activities of one of the members of our caucus, we now have in this province the Veterans Memorial Highway. We now have in this province an initiative that in fact will result in licence plates designating veterans to be such that will allow all Nova Scotians to identify a veteran when they look at a licence plate. If, in fact, there is a problem here to be fixed, if we are not in this province acknowledging Remembrance Day in the appropriate fashion, this government is prepared to act. If there's nothing out there to fix, then I wonder what it is the member opposite is bringing to the House of Assembly.

MR. DOWNE: This Premier's approach is nothing more than hypocritical. His written word says one thing but his actions give us another answer. He's more interested in his PR campaign to giving token praise to veterans than actually doing something very specific. Or maybe the problem is he's not willing to issue and give study for a resolution coming from the Liberal side, maybe he's more interested in PR than the fact that some resolutions can come from other sides of this House. I want this Premier to know that that resolution was given to me by a veteran in Lunenburg County and it never came from Don Downe, but it came from (Interruptions)

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. Order, please. Would the member please place his question as it is his final supplementary. His question only; he already did his preamble.

MR. DOWNE: My question to the Premier is, why are you afraid of a non-partisan, all-Party committee having a mandate to consult with Nova Scotians on this issue?

THE PREMIER: I am disappointed that the member opposite feels that this kind of debate should be undertaken in this House relative to one of the most important observances that we make on an annual basis in this province. On the other hand, that member is not a veteran, this member is not a veteran - I will listen to veterans on this particular issue.

[Page 11647]

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Fairview. (Interruptions)

Order, please. The honourable member for Halifax Fairview has the floor, please respect his opportunity.

TRANSPORT. & PUB. WKS. - HWY. NO. 104 WEST. ALIGNMENT CORP.: REVENUE PERFORMANCE - TOLLS EFFECT

MR. GRAHAM STEELE: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transportation and Public Works. The Highway No. 104 Western Alignment Corporation has just completed its fifth year of operation. During these five years they've experienced, in every year, significantly higher than expected traffic volume and revenue. This year's annual report shows that revenues are 25 per cent higher than projections. Despite this performance, we have learned today from the Western Alignment Corporation that they plan to implement scheduled toll increases in 2004 and every year after that.

My question for the minister is simple. If the revenue performance continues to be so far ahead of projections, why should Nova Scotians continue to face higher tolls?

HON. RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, as the honourable member is probably aware, there is a fund set up within the corporation to take care of maintenance. This year we had the first draw-down on that maintenance agreement, I believe it was $1.25 million. We intend that we will continue to fund that fund for repaving, et cetera, of the highway in the years to come.

MR. STEELE: Mr. Speaker, either the minister knows that that answer has nothing to do with the issue I'm raising, or he doesn't. Either possibility worries me. The people in Nova Scotia, especially the people of Cumberland-Colchester better hang onto their wallets, because even though the corporation is sitting on a large and growing pile of cash in the capital reserve account, not the maintenance account the minister is talking about, millions of dollars in the capital reserve account, there will be a 25 cent per car increase in 2004, plus seven years' worth, all at once, of inflationary increases.

So the toll is going to go up probably by $1 in 2004, and if this isn't bad enough, it's been confirmed that there is absolutely no provision in the Liberal-negotiated agreement to allow the tolls to be reduced. My question for the minister is, since the highway is making so much more money than the government ever imagined, what steps will the government take to seek an amendment to the agreement to allow for a toll reduction?

MR. RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, at the conclusion of the agreement, the highway will belong to the province. Because of the fact that the highway is proving to be generating more money than anticipated, the debt will be paid off that much earlier.

[Page 11648]

MR. STEELE: Mr. Speaker, the minister is talking about the people of today subsidizing the people of 30 years from now. That's not fair; that's not right. Despite this exceptional revenue performance, Nova Scotians today won't see the benefits. I want to ask the minister, again, a very simple question, why is the corporation sitting on a large and growing pile of cash? Why are people paying higher tolls when they could be reduced, if the government wanted to?

MR. RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that the highway will be paid off long before 30 years expires. In fact, it will be down to about 16, 17 years.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Lunenburg West.

GOV'T. (N.S.) - BORROWINGS: AMOUNT - DETAILS

MR. DONALD DOWNE: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Just recently the Premier was asked the question, what is your greatest risk in regard to a balanced budget, and the Premier replied, the biggest threat to a balanced budget is spending more money than you take in. My question to the Premier is, will the Premier tell this House and all Nova Scotians how much this government has borrowed in the last two years to pay for government expenditures?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for again bringing up a very important issue, and that is the fiscal responsibility of this government. The member opposite seems to have difficulty understanding what it is the government is doing and has done to improve the fiscal responsibility of the province. One could hardly expect the member opposite to provide an objective view of the activities of government. Those outside of government are very congratulatory of what this government has done.

I will read a couple of endorsements, and I am prepared to table them, as is the custom of the House. We congratulate this government for staying the course they promised us when elected, Jeff Somerville, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and I will table that. (Interruptions) Another comment, Mr. Speaker: Convincing the people that this is the right route will be a daunting task, but the government should be respected for taking this political risk and standing by its convictions, Robert Caswill, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia, and I table that.

MR. DOWNE: Mr. Speaker, the answer to the question to the Premier is you borrowed over $400 million more than you've taken in, in regard to keeping your expenditure going. I want to take the Premier on a trip down memory lane - April 28, 2000 - when the Premier was speaking before a meeting of Construction Management Bureau Limited. In his speech the Premier said, "We have to stop piling up debt before it's too late. We have to start living within our means . . . stop mortgaging our children and grandchildren. Otherwise, we're going to end up financially . . . and morally bankrupt." My question to the

[Page 11649]

Premier is, why is the Premier continuing down the road to financial and moral bankruptcy by borrowing more money every year that he's in power?

[1:30 p.m.]

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, again I say it would hardly be expected of the member opposite to be objective on the performance of this government, but I will quote here a statement by the Investment Dealers Association of Canada, "The IDA commends the Government of Nova Scotia for its commitment to balance it's [sic] budget this year, despite a wide deficit a year earlier. The government is half way through its four year plan to bring financial security and lower taxes to the province . . . a balanced budget projected for fiscal [sic] puts the province on track with the goals set by the Minister of Fiancé [sic] two years ago." This is a statement by the Investment Dealers Association of Canada, and I table that.

MR. DOWNE: John Buchanan is liable to show up next, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Premier, you're simply not living up to the comments that you have made publicly. Your words in the past three years have been hollow and empty. Mr. Premier, you're still borrowing at a rate of $11,000 an hour, each and every hour of every day. Instead of living beyond your means and borrowing more money, when is this Premier going to instruct his Finance Minister, or his Acting Finance Minister, to commit to a real strategy to start paying down a debt and living within your means?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, in response to the question, I will provide the House with two interesting quotations. The first occurred in the February 21, 2002, edition of The Chronicle-Herald and in response to a questioning this person said: This government is hell-bent to balance the budget and they're going to do it regardless of what. That quotation is from Dr. Jim Smith who sits on the Opposition benches with the member opposite.

Mr. Speaker, this is a statement from Standard and Poor's rating service, "An improvement in fiscal performance during the past three years, in large part due to measures undertaken by the current administration to control spending and reduce budget deficits. The government . . ."

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. Mr. Premier, the time allocated to respond to that question has expired. (Interruptions)

Order, please. Order, please.

The honourable member for Halifax Needham.

[Page 11650]

HEALTH - NURSING HOMES: ASSESSMENTS - PRACTICE END

MS. MAUREEN MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I want to use yet another example to illustrate this government's unfair policies for seniors in nursing homes. The son of a senior in a nursing home has had to repeatedly fight for his elderly mother's rights. First, this government tried to charge her the full value of a cottage in which she only had a third interest and then she was billed for a full day for a bed she was only notified was available at the end of the day in question. I want to ask the Premier, when will your government end these practices of pushing seniors to hand out every conceivable dollar your government thinks you can get from frail seniors?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, I refer that to the Minister of Health.

HON. JAMES MUIR: Mr. Speaker, the honourable member knows that if somebody is unhappy with the financial assessment, there is an appeal process.

MS. MAUREEN MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, the minister knows how ridiculous that appeal process actually is. In 2001, this senior used up all her assets for her care. In May 2002, she received an inheritance. Her family reported and willingly put the money toward the cost of her care. For their honesty, this senior was rewarded with a reassessment for the year 2001 and told to retroactively pay an additional $26,000. When the family pointed out the legislation makes no provision for retroactive reassessment, they were told this is how the government interprets the legislation. I want to ask the Minister of Health, Mr. Minister, do you think that reassessment is fair, do you think that reassessment is right?

HON. JAMES MUIR: Mr. Speaker, last year there were about 900 financial assessments done on people entering long-term care. I want to just point out again that one of the unique things about this province versus some other jurisdictions not necessarily in Canada is that people receive the same level of care regardless of the amount they are able to contribute towards it. Of the 900 financial assessments that were completed, 40 of those were appealed, and only 15 of those went on to the second stage of the appeal process, and of those that went on to the second stage, four were granted.

MS. MAUREEN MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, the minister knows full well that people only use those processes if they have somebody available to fight for their rights, and not all seniors do. If this senior didn't have someone to fight for her rights, it would have cost her thousands of dollars that she shouldn't have had to pay. Her family is fighting right now for another $26,000 in retroactive payments that this government claims they want for her care. My question to the Minister of Health is, how can you stand in this House and state that your system is fair, when you know full well seniors have to fight for their basic rights in this system?

[Page 11651]

MR. MUIR: Mr. Speaker, I'm distressed to hear that honourable member take a shot at the people, the staff who do those assessments. They're good people and they do it with compassion.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Dartmouth East.

HEALTH - CARE: SPENDING - ADEQUACY

DR. JAMES SMITH: Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. Mr. Premier, despite the extra $63.5 million over the next four years for district health authorities, they still won't have enough financial resources to deliver proper services. The additional money will not cover the increased costs, and I believe the Premier knows that. In the last election, it was a different story. During the election the Premier said: Health care providers have told us that $1.5 billion is enough money to run a quality system in this province if it is used properly - $1.5 billion. Now that the government is spending $2 billion on health care, could the Premier please inform the House today, who told him that $1.5 billion is enough for health care in Nova Scotia?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, I'm very surprised that the member opposite would try to remind the House of the state of the health care system that we inherited back in 1999. I'm very pleased to be able to report to the members of the House that we have initiated a number of improvements to the health care system. Unlike the member opposite, who was unable to put in place a proper program for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis in this province, this Minister of Health was able to do that. Despite the fact that we had unacceptable waiting times for CAT scanners in this province, this Minister of Health has been able to address that problem as well. There is now a CAT scan in every regional hospital across Nova Scotia. As well, we are addressing the issue of unusually long waits for MRIs by putting a new MRI in the Cape Breton Regional Hospital. Many of the problems that we inherited have now been resolved.

DR. SMITH: Mr. Speaker, I think this side of the House deserves some credit for finding the money from Ottawa that was in the trust account in the Bank of Montreal and when that was brought to the attention of this government, that we knew where the money was, they pulled it out and they put federal money, federal dollars, into these CAT scans and osteoporosis densitometry machines.

Anyway, to the Minister of Health, the government since elected, has thrown $0.5 billion dollars more into health care and yet the services are inadequate, the waiting times are increased. This is the same government that said it had a plan for health care. The Premier has also said money alone will not fix the health care system and the ministers keep asking Ottawa for more money. My question to the Minister of Health is, how much more money does the system need in order to deliver an adequate health care system for Nova Scotians?

[Page 11652]

[1:45 p.m.]

MR. MUIR: I think the honourable member, if you want the truthful answer and he knows it as well as I do, there will never be enough money to provide the health care system that people in this system would ideally like. You know that, I know that and everybody in the Opposition benches knows it.

What I want to talk about just for a minute is there was this press release that came out from the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia yesterday which indicates that there are 154 more nurses licenced to practise than there were at the same time last year. (Applause) There are some other things in this document I would like to draw to the attention of the House: there are 214 more employed on a regular full-time basis than there were last year, there are 68 more employed on a regular part-time basis; and the other thing, there are 96 less nurses employed on a casual basis than there were last year. We sat down and our plans for health care included a nursing strategy. It appears that nursing strategy is paying off.

MR. SPEAKER: The minister will table that document.

The honourable member for Dartmouth East.

DR. SMITH: Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier and I thank the Minister of Health, maybe he could table those figures, but what he's talking about is not a net gain of nurses, he's talking about the transferring from part-time or temporary to full-time. But we could have some up to date figures and he could table them. My question to the Premier is, on July 18, 1999, the Leader of the Conservative Party issued a press release on the blue book. It stated that the total cost of the four-year plan is $190 million or approximately 1 per cent of the provincial government revenues over that period. Well, $0.5 billion more in health care and still the system has to be fed in trying to meet waiting times and line-ups for tests. The question to the Premier, why won't the Premier and the Minister of Health here today simply end the charade and admit that they never had a plan for health care and they still don't?

THE PREMIER: I wish I could make a speech in response to that question. First of all, I would like to correct something that the member opposite said. There are 106 more RNs employed in this province than there were one year ago. The member opposite is having trouble hearing because there's a lot of noise in the House. On the other hand, the member opposite must acknowledge that this government does have a plan. As a matter of fact, it was just a week ago that they debated in this House and brought to the attention of the government that they had uncovered a secret plan. Well, we never had that opportunity because they didn't have any plan, secret or otherwise. (Applause)

[Page 11653]

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Dartmouth North.

COMMUN. SERV. - REG. RES. SERV. SOC.:

WAGE PARITY - ADDRESS

MR. JERRY PYE: Mr. Speaker, my question will be to the Minister of Community Services. Members of the NSGEU Local 66, Regional Residential Services Society are fighting for wage parity with their counterparts who work in an institutional setting. Currently workers earn between $4 and $5 less an hour than the staff doing the same job in different types of facilities. That's hardly fair to these hard-working professional people. My question to the Minister of Community Services is, when will he address the parity issue of these workers?

HON. PETER CHRISTIE: Mr. Speaker, as the honourable member knows, they're in discussions with their employer. There have been a number of contracts that have been settled and the negotiations are going on. That is where it should be solved, at the negotiation table.

MR. PYE: Mr. Speaker, and that's not enough. These staff are dedicated, they offer a valuable service to the mentally- and intellectually-challenged adults, they handle medication, create programs for their clients and look after their daily needs in the community based on location such as small options homes, supervised apartments and group homes. I ask the Minister of Community Services, is their work any less valuable to their 200 clients than the workers in an institutional environment?

MR. CHRISTIE: Mr Speaker, indeed, those workers provide a valuable service which is why the department contracts with the people of those facilities to provide that service to people. I would repeat to the honourable member, he knows that there are discussions between the employer and the people who are talking at the negotiation - and that is where it has to be resolved.

MR. PYE: Mr. Speaker, I would remind the honourable minister that he holds the money bag. He is the guy who can make the changes, he is the guy who can pass it up to the negotiators on behalf of the Department of Community Services. These individual employees earn $13.71 an hour and do the same work that their counterparts get $18.93 an hour to do. It is time to put some equity into the wage scale.

My question to the Minister of Community Services is, will he commit to meet with these employees and their union representatives to respond to their concerns on wage parity now and put some money in that bag for that wage parity?

[Page 11654]

MR. CHRISTIE: Mr. Speaker, the member had a couple of questions. One question was, would I meet with them? I did have a note from the president of the union, who sent it down here a few minutes ago to ask me to meet with her after this. I indicated I would. There's been a number of contracts that have been negotiated. Those contracts have been negotiated at the bargaining table and that's where this should be resolved also.

MR SPEAKER: Order, please. Just before I recognize the honourable member, I would caution ministers, especially, on the final supplementary, to please try to be a little more succinct in your responses.

The honourable member for Cape Breton The Lakes.

TRANSPORT. & PUB. WKS. - SPENDING:

PRE-ELECTION - BUDGET EFFECTS

MR BRIAN BOUDREAU: Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Transportation and Public Works. Yesterday, the minister announced two tenders for next year in Yarmouth and Cumberland Counties. Paving is required throughout Nova Scotia, not just in Tory ridings. What is more alarming, however, the minister is committing spending

that won't show up until after the next budget. My question, could the minister explain why he continues his rash of pre-election spending without regard to whether they balance their budget or not?

HON RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, it has been common practice in this province for many years to permit departments to make 50 per cent of their previous year's capital commitment as a forward expenditure in an upcoming budget year.

MR. BOUDREAU: Mr. Speaker, I wish to table in this House a list of roads and schools worth $154 million of borrowed money. This is just the tip of the iceberg minister. While post-secondary education and other departments sacrifice for a balanced budget, this minister has a limitless credit card where he can go out and spend what he likes when he likes. Will the minister table in this House a list of all the projects that he has had to borrow money for in the last two years? Will he include the full value of those projects?

MR. RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, it is quite obvious that the member opposite is not in favour of the policy of this government, which is to bring our highways in this province up to a Canadian standard. After their government, for 10 years, neglected the highway system and ran the system into the ground, now we're having to pick that up. I would like to advise the honourable member that the work we have done this past year in Cape Breton far exceeds what that previous government did in their six years in government from 1994 to 2000.

[Page 11655]

MR. BOUDREAU: Mr. Speaker, this government promised to end pre-election spending. Thanks to this minister, taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowed money; that's borrowed money that will have to be paid for by our children and our children's children. How can the minister justify putting more spending on the government's credit while other areas of government have to make sacrifices for a balanced budget?

MR. RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, I just can't believe that that honourable member opposite is advising this government to stop spending on hospitals, on schools, on roads and on bridges; I just don't believe it.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Hants East.

AGRIC. & FISH. - PORK PRODUCERS:

NAT'L. NET INCOME - BENEFITS EXPLAIN

MR. JOHN MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, my question will be for the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. The minister has told us time and time again that the existing safety net programs are adequate to protect our pork producers. The minister has, however, been very long on rhetoric but very short on details. So will the minister explain exactly how the Net Income Stabilization Account program will benefit our pork producers who cannot trigger their accounts?

HON. ERNEST FAGE: Mr. Speaker, as the honourable member knows, individual accounts are private information, but what I can say to the honourable member is that in Nova Scotia, certainly since this government - and in anticipation with the industry - recognizes that the hog industry is cyclical, that every two to three years the price dips and then it returns. We initiated equitable red meat NISA which doubled the amount of contributions they could put in. Those dollars are in their accounts now and those producers have the opportunity to withdraw the funds if they want to make an early withdrawal.

MR. MACDONELL: The minister would know that that red meat account applies to all red meat, not just to pork. He would also know that they can't make an interim withdrawal until the end of their business year, which for some will be months yet, so they're going to be without help for months to come.

I want to ask the minister, because I heard him talking the other night - Tuesday evening - with a farmer outside this Chamber, and the minister told this gentleman, who had stated that he would be losing $25,000 per week, the minister advised him to talk to the Farm Loan Board. So if the minister supports loans of tax dollars to farmers from the Farm Loan Board, why doesn't he support a loan to farmers collectively through Pork Nova Scotia?

[Page 11656]

MR. FAGE: Mr. Speaker, again, there is a whole cadre of programs that we have prepared and offered to individual hog producers, because their business is private business. It's not the business of this House or it's not the business of the public at large. There are financial institutions, there are management institutions, risk management institutions in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and we've recommended, as I did to that producer, to talk to those people.

MR. MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, he recommended to that individual to talk to people who can't help him, and the minister obviously won't help him. I didn't think the minister could provide any reasonable explanation here today, so I want to ask the minister why he had no problem giving ADI, which is now AgraPoint International Inc., $2 million - not a loan, they don't have to pay it back, and he cut jobs to do it - yet the hog industry in this province creates 1,500 jobs and they are looking for a loan they're willing to pay back. I want to ask the minister, who is more important, your friends at ADI or the hog farmers of this province?

MR. FAGE: Mr. Speaker, as usual, the member opposite shows his lack of knowledge of what takes place in the agricultural industry. The dollars supplied to ADI are for specialist services. Those dollars are for staffing and those dollars are controlled by a farmer-majority board that decides what services the farming community wants and they supply them to themselves. Agriculture risk programs - this government has doubled the amount of money that goes into those programs over the last three years to ensure that there are funds there when commodity prices downturn or there are problems.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Glace Bay.

PREM. - DEPARTMENTAL OVERSPENDING:

STUDENTS' SACRIFICE - DICHOTOMY EXPLAIN

MR. DAVID WILSON: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. In the last three years this government has told Nova Scotians that it has to live within its means. They promised health care would only need a small investment, yet three years later this government is spending $2 billion where they once said $1.5 billion was enough. Students who are faced with high debt loads have been told they have to make sacrifices in order to balance the budget, but the Minister of Transportation and Public Works can borrow as much money as he likes. My question is to the Premier. Why is it okay for some departments to grossly overspend and borrow more money, while students in this province are being told that they have to make sacrifices?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, I can say to the member for Glace Bay that all government departments are operating with the same set of rules, that being you operate within budget. Now, the Minister of Transportation and Public Works is doing that, the Minister of Health is doing that, and the Minister of Education is doing that. By good fiscal

[Page 11657]

management and by focusing on the priorities of Nova Scotians, we are spending the money where Nova Scotians say they want it spent and I think that is the right of taxpayers.

MR. WILSON: Mr. Speaker, I think any Nova Scotian would know that's not good fiscal management. The Premier doesn't appear to get it. What it is, is it's the height of hypocrisy to say that you have a balanced budget and then you go out and borrow an extra $100 million. It is simply wrong as well to tell students that there's no money for them, but your ministers can overspend by as much as they like in some departments, or they can go out and put money on their credit card. My question for the Premier is, why does he think it's okay for students to shoulder an inordinate amount of the burden of a balanced budget while some government ministers can spend whatever they like?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, to correct the member for Glace Bay, the government has the same instructions to each and every department and that is you stay within your budget, and that particular approach has, in fact, been endorsed by a number of external agencies. I would like to report to the members of the House what the Toronto-Dominion Bank said about the fiscal management of this government: "The Government of Nova Scotia should be commended for staying the course on its deficit elimination plan, no easy feat given the sizable magnitude of recent shortfalls." Now, that is the statement made by the Toronto-Dominion Bank and I would think perhaps, if I table it, the member opposite would give it a little bit of consideration.

MR. WILSON: Mr. Speaker, the Premier can table as many of those documents as he wants in this House, the fact of the matter is it doesn't add up, Mr. Premier, it just doesn't add up. The Health Minister says sorry, we need another couple hundred million dollars and he gets it. The Transportation and Public Works Minister can go to town on a credit card, but students are being told that the budget has to be balanced on their backs. Why won't the Premier simply live up to his promises on post-secondary education instead of nickel and diming every student in this province?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member opposite, the member for Glace Bay, that this government takes very seriously the commitments that it made during the election of 1999 and one of those commitments, among others, was to look at how we're going to handle student debt in this province and this government will act on that commitment.

[Page 11658]

[2:00 p.m.]

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Dartmouth North.

HEALTH: PROMISED YOUTH INITIATIVE - ANNOUNCEMENT

MR. JERRY PYE: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. Last Spring the minister told the House that mental health will be one of the most pressing health issues in the next 10 years. He promised a youth initiative. We are still waiting for that announcement. Meanwhile the situation is getting worse, the in-patient unit in the IWK was full for half of 2001-02, denying access to patients from across the province. Mr. Minister, you know that when a child can't get treatment an entire family is frozen, so why are you stalling and when will you announce the promised youth initiative?

HON. JAMES MUIR: Mr. Speaker, we've already announced part of the youth initiative. One of the things, honourable member, is the Bland-Dufton report. I've said in this House before, in this session, it will take some time to implement that. We have a committee that has recommendations that are just about being prepared to pass to the government, and we will act on those recommendations as we are able. I can tell you that the mental health services for children and youth are better in this province now than they were last year at this time.

MR. PYE: Mr. Speaker, I think that announcement, what the minister is saying, will come around about the same time the election is called. We have learned that a youth initiative was sitting in front of the minister and his fellow Cabinet Ministers not too long ago, but nothing happened.

I would like to table a monitoring report for the Cape Breton District Health Authority and it shows that children can wait up to two months for a referral, and this DHA is better than many. The Minister of Health knows that early treatment is key. He knows that mental health disorders account for more hospital days in Canada than any other illness. Mr. Minister, in 2001, 384 families waited over two months for out-patient service - 384 families.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. Would the member please place his question?

MR. PYE: What will it take for you to quit stalling and improve the mental health services for children in this province?

MR. MUIR: Mr. Speaker, the honourable member knows, and I have heard him say it before, there were 10 or 12 reports done on mental health in this province, with recommendations, that sat around and gathered dust. This is the first government that has seriously acted on one of those reports, and we will continue that progress.

[Page 11659]

MR. PYE: Mr. Speaker, this government has put the issues of seniors, students and now children on the back burner. Meanwhile they give tax breaks to multinational corporations. They've had a mental health steering committee in the works for two years - a mental health steering committee. A proposed youth initiative sat in front of the Health Minister and he sent it back. While he stalls, the waiting list gets longer. Mr. Minister, how much longer are you going to make the families in this province wait?

MR. MUIR: Mr. Speaker, the government is committed to improving mental health, and we've made strides this past year. The honourable member knows, because I've said it before in this House on a number of occasions, that we have a group that has made recommendations based on that Bland-Dufton report and we are going to act on those recommendations as we can. The honourable member for Dartmouth East asked me last week about the new facility for really troubled people, and I told him that we hoped to be making an announcement on that in the near future.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Cape Breton The Lakes.

MR. BRIAN BOUDREAU: Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations. On May 1, 2002, the people of Nova Scotia had yet another example of this Tory Government's user fees. ATV registration fees increased by 300 per cent, going from $10 to $30. ATV owners were deeply angered at this increase because they feel they do not get as much back from this government as they put in. Renewal fees have remained unchanged at $10, yet ATV owners are being charged $30. My question to the minister is, why is your department charging ATV owners $20 more per year than . . .

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. The time allotted for the Oral Question Period has expired.

The honourable Minister of Natural Resources on an introduction.

HON. TIMOTHY OLIVE: Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you and all members of the House Clint Schofield and Doug Ritcey from Dartmouth. They are both members of the Oakwood Terrace Board and I would ask all members of the House to give them a warm welcome. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: Yes, welcome to our guests in the gallery and welcome to all our guests in the gallery.

The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, would you please call the order of business, Public Bills for Second Reading.

[Page 11660]

PUBLIC BILLS FOR SECOND READING

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, would you please call Bill No. 152.

Bill No. 152 - Université Sainte-Anne-Collège de l'Acadie Act.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Education.

HON. JANE PURVES: Mr. Speaker, I would like to say a few words about this bill if I may.

AN. HON. MEMBER: En français?

MISS PURVES: A few words, en français. I would just like to say that this legislation is something that we see as a good move for post-secondary education in Nova Scotia, particularly francophone post-secondary education. Both these institutions are unique and valuable, but put together they will be stronger. There will be stronger post-secondary opportunities across Nova Scotia for the new institution and for all students taking courses or degrees at the university.

One of the things that the new institution may be able to offer, Mr. Speaker, is at least part of a teaching degree in French in the metro area which may help us improve our education and retention of French teachers in Nova Scotia. So I would like to say that it has been three years in the making, it has attempted to protect all employees, that it has the support of both institutions, their boards, the Acadian community and it certainly has the support of this government and, hopefully, the support of this House in order to strengthen francophone education in Nova Scotia. Therefore, I would like to move second reading of this bill. Merci, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Timberlea-Prospect.

MR. WILLIAM ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, this particular bill in its presentation to the House is so appropriate and I know that those members of the House who are fortunate enough to be bilingual, certainly this is the format that many of the bills in future generations hopefully will be presented to the House. For members who haven't had the opportunity, of course, one side of the bill is presented in English and the corresponding translation is on the other side. It is quite appropriate that that sends the right message on this particular piece of legislation as we look at the integration of the Université Sainte-Anne and the Collège de l'Acadie.

[Page 11661]

I want, first of all, to pay a compliment to the Minister responsible for Acadian Affairs, the Minister of Finance, who provided me, as the Education Critic for the Official Opposition, the opportunity to meet with a number of the staff and to go over the legislation and it's with that I would like to point out that this coordination and this integration will benefit francophone and Acadians throughout the province and throughout the region because that's a real concern I think we should know, Mr. Speaker, that there are Acadians and francophone from other parts of our region interested in coming to institutions, post-secondary institutions, here in this province.

Truly there is strength in numbers. This coordination has been well thought out. In particular, I would like to congratulate those involved on the legislation for paying close attention to the provision for the Civil Service collective agreement, which is included in this particular piece of legislation. That shows some foresight that shows some good thoughts and that's the sort of legislation that this caucus certainly can support.

I think it is also important to note that the Education Minister has drawn attention to a very important service which will hopefully be provided by this new, stronger, integrated, education institution in this province, and that is in the teaching degree en français. And I want you to know Mr. Speaker as you well know from the previous career that I had, it is very difficult to get quality French teachers, whether they are teaching in the core program as we call it, or they are teaching in immersion. It is a real consequence that we have the quality and the quantity of French teachers in this province. That is a concern for many parents, it's a concern of course for administrators, when we look at what we are trying to offer in the immersion program or other French delivery in the school system in Nova Scotia.

I look forward to this particular piece of legislation going through to Law Amendments. I would like to thank the Minister responsible for Acadian Affairs and the Minister of Finance, for providing me the opportunity to meet with the staff of these two groups, and I would say in probably the worst French you've heard in a long time, Félicitation, it is something that we can support as it moves ahead to Law Amendments.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Leader in the House of the Liberal Party.

MR. WAYNE GAUDET: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and speak in favour of Bill No.152, an Act to Integrate the Université Sainte-Anne and the Collège de l'Acadie; loi portant regroupement de l'Université de Sainte-Anne et du Collège de l'Acadie.

This bill that's before the House will allow both of these Acadian French post-secondary institutions to merge into one post-secondary institution. This partnership between l'Université Sainte-Anne et le Collège de l'Acadie, has long-term benefits.

[Page 11662]

It is appropriate to have the post-secondary teaching institutions to join together in order to better serve their student population. I'm pleased to see the broad support coming

from both institutions. From all levels, this merger is seen as favouring higher efficiency.

M. le Président je tiens à féliciter et à remercier les équipes qui ont travaillé à la préparation du projet de loi qui vise la fusion de nos deux institutions acadiennes. Je dois souligner que les commentaires que j'ai entendu ne sont pas futif. Ce développement permet

de mieux servir la population acadienne.

Comme collectivité, nous avons encore du chemin à faire dans notre développement.

Pour continuer à grandir, le tout à fait approprié de joindre toutes nos forces. Ce développement n'enlève rien à nos deux institutions. Au contraire, cette union permettra de mieux servir notre population.

Mr. Speaker, at this time it is appropriate to realize and appreciate the positive impact

Universitè Sainte-Anne has had on the Acadian community in Nova Scotia. For over a century, Université Sainte-Anne has played a vital role in the development of the Acadian community of Nova Scotia.

In recent years, le Collège de l'Acadie is recognized as bringing post-secondary instruction to our Acadian communities across the province. The move to merge these two

institutions will be of benefit to the Acadians. It will assure close co-operation between forces engaged in offering courses after high school graduation. This development will have a positive impact, not only on education in our Acadian communities, but also on the social, cultural and economic well-being of these communities. This merger sends a positive signal and shows a commitment to higher efficiency.

[2:15 p.m.]

We will celebrate, in 2004, 400 years of French-speaking and Acadian presence in Nova Scotia. It is a time to engage in a reflection on a solid plan to build on our past and aim for a renewable future. All Nova Scotians have a vested interest in the growth of the Acadian population. During four centuries we have made a significant contribution to our province. Let us all share the optimism generated by these two institutions as they join forces focusing on the future.

In closing, I want to personally thank everyone who was involved in this entire process of making this partnership between Université Sainte et Anne-Collège de l'Acadie a reality. Thank you very much.

[Page 11663]

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage.

MR. KEVIN DEVEAUX: Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to stand for a couple of moments - I know my colleague from Timberlea-Prospect rose as the Education Critic, and as the Acadian Affairs Critic I just wanted to stand for one moment as well and recognize the importance of Bill No. 152. It's a bill obviously our caucus will support.

I think it's important for two reasons. First of all it sets a good example that I think maybe we should be looking at along the lines of our English universities and colleges as well. The more that we have co-operation the more that we ensure that people in this province can more easily transfer from college to university. Post-secondary education has changed dramatically. You hear now today of many people who get their Bachelor of Arts and then go to community college and get the technical skills to be able to go out and work in the work force. It's no longer that someone has one or the other or some are streamed into community colleges and some are streamed into universities, it very much is a to-and-fro and a back-and-forth between the two institutions and the more that we have that co-operation across Nova Scotia, English or French, I think our students will be better off and our education system would be better off.

Importantly as well, as the member for Clare, the Leader in the House of the Liberal Party noted, this is something that I think reflects the importance to the Acadian community and for the Acadian community. For 400 years the Acadian community has been in this province, has been on this land, and they've done much in developing the province in what it is today and I think it's also important to note that this hopefully is one more means by which the government and the institutions of the government are there to assist the Acadian population, to ensure that it not only continues where it is but continues to grow and continues that sort of the abatement of the French language, where the French language has started to decrease in some areas where people have become anglicized, not unlike myself, in the past, because of my family connections, maybe now we will have more opportunities for Acadians to be able to learn in their own language, be able to continue to learn in their own language and to work in their own language and therefore it will no longer be a situation where the Acadian language and the number of people speaking it is going down, but maybe we will see someday where it begins to go up.

These are two very good things that can happen from this bill. More needs to be done and more needs to be reflected in government institutions and in the way the government spends money that's provided for French education in this province, but Bill No. 152 is a good first step and we look forward to hearing at Law Amendments the comments of those involved. Thank you.

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MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Richmond.

MR. MICHEL SAMSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a pleasure to rise and make a few comments on Bill No. 152 and I want to take this opportunity to commend the minister for having brought the bill forward and my colleagues in the House for their comments that they have made to date on Bill No. 152.

As has been said, Bill No. 152 specifically is going to bring together a merger of the Université Sainte-Anne and the Collège l'Acadie, along with all of its campuses which are located in Acadian communities throughout the Province of Nova Scotia.

I want to take this opportunity to commend all of the administration and staff at both the Université Sainte-Anne and the Collège l'Acadie who have worked for many years to bring this merger together and who have brought this legislation before us here today. Specifically I want to congratulate. M. André Roberge, Recteur, Université Sainte- Anne and Monsieur Allister Surrette, ancien Député de cette assemblée and the Président du Collège de l'Acadie and all of their staff certainly congratulate their students and the professors who have made both le Collège de l'Acadie and l'Université Sainte-Anne such a success as institutions of higher learning, here in this province.

It is all of our hope, that bringing together these two institutions is going to provide an enhanced level of services for the Acadian- and French-speaking communities, and even for the English speaking communities who do enroll in the programs of the Collège de l'Acadie and the Université Sainte-Anne, and that by bringing the two together that we will see better services, better programming, new programming that will come to areas such as my own in Petit-de-Grat and the different communities throughout the entire province.

I do want to take this opportunity to note on the record, that it is my sincere hope

that putting the campuses of the Collège de l'Acadie and the Collège de l'Acadie itself, in the Université Sainte-Anne, that it will in no way lessen or lighten the services that are being offered by le Collège de l'Acadie.

I want to tell you right now that le Collège de l'Acadie and its campuses located throughout the province, have been instrumental and pivotal in the community economic development in the communities where they find themselves. Not only should I say economic development, they've been pivotal in the social, educational, and cultural development of those communities. And in that, I speak of communities such as Petit-de-Grat, Sydney, Chéticamp, Pomquet, Greenwood, Halifax and all the communities along the

South Shore and the French Shore here in this province.

They have been instrumental in allowing us - when you look for example, I've spoken many times about the economic development success that has taken place on Ile Madame in Richmond County, and le Collège l'Acadie has been a pivotal player in that success, which

[Page 11665]

is why it is my sincere hope today that this merger will be a positive thing. That it will enhance the level of services, and that no way will the services be lessened because of the university. As you know, when you look at the two players here, you have a very large player and you have a smaller player that are involved. We all know that Université Sainte-Anne has a much bigger overhead, a much higher capital cost involved in the delivery of their service than the Collège, so, it is essential that in bringing the two institutions together, that that level of service does not change.

Yet, at the same time, is a wonderful opportunity to remind the Minister of Education, that the success of this merger, the continued success of l'Université Sainte-Anne

and the Collège de l'Acadie is dependent on continued support by the provincial government

in providing the necessary funding and support services through the Department of Education, and through this entire government.

If one looks at the level of funding that is being offered to the Nova Scotia Community College system, which is the English language college system compared to what is going to the Collège de l'Acadie and l'Université Sainte-Anne from this government, it pales in comparison.

I can not encourage the minister enough to dedicate the necessary funds to this new entity, which I believe will be called Université - Collège de l'Acadie or, Université Sainte-Anne - Collège de l'Acadie, I don't know if they settled on a name yet, but this new entity's success will be dependent on continued support from the minister. I don't want to try to be

too negative here, but the minister will recall that a few years ago, she had made a cut of $500,000 to the Collège de l'Acadie. Now, that money has been put back on the table, my understanding is, and I would encourage the minister, not only should that money have been put back on the table, but that new resources and funding should be made available, especially in light of the merger, which is going to take place.

I have no doubt that the administration, the staff and the students will make this merger a success, along with the board of governors that will oversee the institution, but I cannot remind the minister enough that as the Minister of Education, she also will play a pivotal role in the success that will be achieved by this new institution.

M. le Président cela me fait plaisir comme député de Richmond de prendre ma place. C'est aujourd'hui de me lever debout et de parler quelques mots sur le projet de loi numéro 152, qui va amener ensembles les deux institutions du Collège de l'Acadie et ses campus à travers la province AEC l'Université Sainte-Anne, qui se troupe à Pointe de l'Église ici en Nouvelle-Écosse.

[Page 11666]

Comme je l'ai dit déjà, cela fait plusieurs années que les deux institutions sont en train de travailler ensemble, pour vouloir amener leurs deux institutions comme un et d'offirir les services comme un institution, à la place d'en avoir deux comme les propres systèmes d'administration et puis de vouloir être capable d'être un institution qui donne le plus de services possible aux étudiants et aux différentes comunautés.

Je vais prendre cette occasion pour féliciter M. André Roberge, le Recteur de l'Université Sainte-Anne et M. Allister Surette ancien député de cette assemblée, et le Président du Collège de l'Acadie. Eux, AEC tout leur assistant et AEC toute l'équipe qui se troupe dans leur institution, qui ont travaillé très dure pendant les dernières quelques années pour faire ce projet de loi une réalité. Je les félicite et je félicite tous les étudiants qui ont participé dans l'Université Sainte-Anne et le Collège de l'Acadie.

Comme je l'ai dit en anglais, le Collège de l'Acadie, les dernières dix années a joué

un très grand rôle dans les comunautés acadiennes à travers de cette province dans le développement économique, social, culturel et le développement de l'éducation dans nos régions.

Je suis fier de dire, que cette année, le Collège de l'Acadie qui se troupe dans la comunauté de Petit de Gras qui est dans le comté de Richmond, célèbre son dixième anniversaire cette année. Cela fait déjà dix que ce collège se trouve dans notre comunauté.

Comme vous le savez bien, notre comunauté a été frappé très dure quand que la pêche a fermé dans les années 90. C'était une période très difficile pour notre comunauté, pour les anciens travaillants de l'usine, pour les anciens travaillants sur les chalutiers, qui tout d'un coup se sont trouvés sans emplois. Je peux vous dire que le Collège de l'Acadie a travaillé très dure pour assister à ces anciens employés de vouloir se former en éducation, d'avoir de nouveaux degrés, de pouvoir trouver de nouvels emplois et je peux vous dire que le Collège de l'Acadie chez-nous, nous avons des personnes qui se rendent au collège à 18 ans apres avoid find Lear éducation à lécole secondaire. Nous avons aussi des personnes qui ont 40 ans, 50 ans, 60 ans, même plus desfois, qui vont au collège soit pour des services dans la langue française, soit dans des différents programmes qui sont offerts déjà au campus. C'est pour cela que le collège joue un rôle très important.

Comme vous le savez bien, le Collège de l'Acadie est une des premières institutions

qui a commencé à employer la technologie qui est connu comme V-Tel. Cela est la technologie où nous pouvons avoid des professeurs qu'enseignent des classes, comme par exemple, nous avons un professeur qui enseigne ici à Halifax et pendant qu'il est en train d'enseigner on est en train de l'enregistrer AEC une caméra et c'est envoyé à tous les campus

à travers de la province. Je pense qu'il y a dix campus du Collège de l'Acadie si je ne me trompe pas c'est 9 ou dix. C'est une façon très nouvelle dans l'éducation, et c'est desfois difficile de ne pas avoid le professeur dans la classe devant nous, mais c'est vraiment une très bonne exemple de la nouvelle technologie dans le secteur de l'éducation que nous avons pu

[Page 11667]

prendre dans cette province, de vouloir avoid nos citoyens un bout de la province à l'autre pour travailler ensemble pour développer notre système d'éducation dans cette province.

Ce que je veux dire aujourd'hui, ramener ensemble le Collège de l'Acadie et l'Université Sainte-Anne, est sans doutes une occasion de vouloir offrir meilleurs services dans nos comunautés acadiennes à travers de la province. Cela a été sugéré qu'au Campus du Collège de l'Acadie à Petit de Gras par exemple, ce sera peut-être possible maintenant d'avoir des cours offerts au niveau universitaire. Je suis très content de cette idée parce que cela que le Collège de l'Acadie fait AEC ses différents campus, permet à nos citoyens de rester dans nos comunautés et de vouloir faire partie de Lear comunauté et non pas avoid besoin de laisser leur chez-eux pour aller à l'étude. Pour plusieurs personnes qui vont au Collège de l'Acadie, ils n'ont pas les moyens d'aller à l'université. Ils n'ont pas les moyens d'aller soit à l'Université Sainte-Anne, soit St. FX, soit ici à Dalhousie, Halifax, Sainte Mary's, Mount St-Vincent, c'est donc impossible pour eux. Alors, le Collège de l'Acadie c'est une manière pour eux de rester dans Lear comunauté, de participer dans les évènements de Lear comunauté et en même temps d'avoir une formation dans leur éducation de choix.

C'est pour cela que je suggère que l'université continue à travailler très dure pour agrandir les services qui sont offerts maintenant aux campus du Collège de l'Acadie. Pour nous à Petit-de-Grat, nous avons eu dix années de succès, des étudiants qui ont gradué de ce programme et que notre comunauté a profité des avoid AEC nous. J'espère que la nouvelle

institution qui va être créé pour ramener l'Université Sainte-Anne et le Collège de l'Acadie ensemble va être une institution que nous serons très fiers de, pas seulement comme la population acadienne, mais comme tous les gens de la Nouvelle-Écosse, parce comme nous savons bien, ceux qui prennent les services du Collège de l'Acadie et l'Université Sainte-Anne ne sont pas seulement des acadiens ou même des personnes qui peuvent parler français.

Comme vous le savez, l'Université Sainte-Anne est très bien connue à travers des maritimes, même à travers du Canada pour son programme d'immersion qui est offert aux personnes qui ne comprennent pas ou ne peuvent pas parler français. Je pense qu'il y a un cours d'été, je pense que c'est six semaines de long ou quelque chose comme cela, et c'est un cours qui a eu un très grand succès pour les personnes qui ont participé.

Peut-être si la Ministre de l'éducation se troupe AEC six semaines de temps où elle n'est pas trop occupée, elle voudra peut-être prendre l'occasion de vouloir aller à l'Université de Sainte-Anne et participer dans le cours qui est offert là pour augmenter ses connaissances de la langue française et de se prononcer dans la langue française.

J'aimerais aussi mentionner que mon Colègue de Timberlea Prospect a fait une remarque sur le fait que lorsque nous regardons nos projets de lois, que nous voyons qu'il est présenté un bord en anglais et un bord en français. Si nous allons Ottawa à la Chambre des Communes, nous pouvons voir que tous les projets de lois à Ottawa sont présentés dans cette façon.

[Page 11668]

Je suis très fier de voir aujourd'hui que le projet de lois qui a à faire AEC nos institutions d'éducation en français, est présenté à ce niveau et j'espère que nous pourrons peut-être voir la journée; je ne sais pas si mon colègue de Timberlea Prospect et moi même seront encore ici, mais j'espère que nous verrons peut-être la journée qu'ici en Nouvelle-Écosse tous nos projets de lois seront pésentés de cette façon. Je suggère aussi que la journée que la journée viendra peut-être que le rapport officiel de cette assemblée à Hansard, nous verrons le même genre de présentations en anglais et en français pour que tous les membres

puissent lire et voir les débats qui ont pris place, et les projets de lois dans les deux langues officielles.

AEC ces commentaires là, j'aimerais de dire que j'ai confiance que ce projet de lois et de ramener les deux institutions ensemble sera un grand succès. Je soulève l'importance de ne pas oublier le rôle important qui est joué par les campus du Collège de l'Acadie à travers la province, j'aimerais de féliciter tous ceux et celles qui ont fait de l'Université Sainte-Anne le succès que c'est aujourd'hui, féliciter tous ceux et celles qui ont fait le Collège de l'Acadie et tous ses campus le succès que c'est aujourd'hui et encore féliciter la direction de l'université, la direction du collège, la ministre même de l'éducation et son gouvernement de vouloir ramener ce projet de lois ici devant nous. Pour mes colègues dans le parti NPD et pour nous mêmes qui ont déjà indiqué notre support pour ce projet de lois.

Just in closing, I again want to thank the administration of l'Université Sainte-Anne,

the administration of the Collège de l'Acadie who have made their institutions tremendous success in this province and who have worked very hard to bring this project forward, this law forward, Bill No. 152. I congratulate the minister for bringing it forward, her government, and I'm also pleased that my colleagues in the NDP have indicated their support. Without a doubt, our caucus looks forward to supporting this bill and seeing its implementation in the near future.

MR. SPEAKER: Merci beaucoup. If I recognize the honourable Minister of Education it will be to close the debate.

The honourable Minister of Education.

HON. JANE PURVES: Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate the remarks of the members opposite and I appreciate their support. I would also like to say that on this side of the House, I know the Minister responsible for Acadian Affairs would have liked to have been able to speak to this bill. He has been very supportive and very helpful in the process that led to the development of the bill. I know the members opposite would love for me to have six weeks to spare some time, and if and when I do I would love to study French, more than I had learned at school.

[Page 11669]

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to just briefly respond to the point raised by the member for Richmond about the importance of the economic development activity of the college. I do understand that. One of the college's fears was, of course, being totally swallowed up by the university, because of its prestige and so on. It is our hope, also, that this merger will work well to continue the work of the college, but also to be able to offer university level courses through the physical facilities of the college which are so good, and also to be able to expand the presence in Halifax because there is a large francophone population in Halifax which might want to take advantage of post-secondary francophone education if it were more available in the city. That said, I would move second reading of this bill.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is for second reading of Bill No. 152. Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

Ordered that this bill be referred to the Committee on Law Amendments.

The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, I move the House do now rise to meet again on the morrow at the hour of 9:00 a.m. The House will sit from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon or until we're finished business, whichever occurs first. The business tomorrow will be Committee of the Whole House on Bills.

MR. SPEAKER: The hours tomorrow are from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon or until the business of the House is completed. The motion is to adjourn.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

The topic for this evening's late show debate was submitted by the honourable member for Halifax Fairview.

"Therefore be it resolved that this government tell the people of St. Margarets area why they do not have a proper recreational facility to accommodate the population in their area, why they are not on the priority list for provincial funding, and where the tax money is being allocated."

[Page 11670]

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION UNDER RULE 5(5)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Timberlea-Prospect.

SPORTS - ST. MARGARETS AREA:

RECREATIONAL FACILITY - LACK EXPLAIN

MR. WILLIAM ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, I guess we would call this the early edition of the late show. I want you to know this is an important issue. This is an important issue for constituents in the growing constituency of Timberlea-Prospect, it's an important issue for the growing constituency of Chester-St. Margaret's and, of course, the member for Sackville-Beaver Bank also has people who live on the Hammonds Plains Road in close proximity to the one and only ice surface between the Lunenburg line and the old city limits.

The one and only ice surface where young people in the community I represent, or lacrosse players when the ice is out, or other people who want to have a recreational facility. These young men and women have had to travel outside of their community to go to other parts of the HRM. Actually, in the case of minor hockey, Mr. Speaker, you should know there are people in my community, young men and women, who are playing hockey and ringette and who have to travel to Chester to get the ice time that's necessary because of the growth in the community.

Mr. Speaker, I have had the privilege of presenting a petition to this House, a petition that was signed by community activists who want to know where this facility, proposed that it is at this stage, stands when it comes to this government. In return, to a letter that I wrote early to the Minister assigned the responsibility for the Nova Scotia Sport and Recreation Commission, very promptly I received - to the minister's credit, to his staff - a reply. I will table the reply for the members of the House who are here. The concluding paragraph, we're asking, where are we on a priority list? Surely there must be a priority list.

The Minister of Transportation and Public Works tells us there's a priority list for roads and bridges, mind you he won't make it public but he tells me at least there's a priority list, which indicates planning. Surely, the Minister assigned the responsibility for the Nova Scotia Sport and Recreation Commission has a similar priority list. The answer to the questions I've asked, the concluding paragraph says that in view of the above - which is in answer to the question that I want - the Sport and Recreation Commission will continue to work with the members of the community on this worthwhile project.

I have put this resolution forward, and I have been asked by community members to get the minister, if possible, on the record so that I can take to the next board of directors' meeting of the St. Margarets Community Centre some kind of commitment from this

[Page 11671]

minister on what his department's plans are for this growing community. I want you to know there are some dedicated workers in the community I represent, who have spent many long years. The current board of directors is headed by Tim Hill. I want, however, to point out that there are other people in this community, close friends, people I have worked with for many years, who have been involved back as early as the early 1980s in a project in which they had to force the same member, when he represented Halifax-St. Margaret's, the member at that time, Jerry Lawrence, to support the building of the original St. Margarets Centre.

I was on the board of directors at the time, Mr. Speaker, and let me tell you it was a battle to get Mr. Lawrence to commit to the fact that it was important that we had this community centre. Perhaps some of that might have had to do with the fact that that current Tory member didn't live in the constituency, but the facility was finally opened in 1988. It was opened because of people like Dennis Doyle, Danny Smith and Rennie Smith, legendary community volunteers. Two of those three that I just mentioned are members of the St. Margarets Lions Club.

It's really important that we remember that the service club in the community, the most important service club in the community - and I say that because we're the only one, incidentally, the only service club in the community - we service a growing community that has many needs, and one of the commitments that we have made is that we would like to see the expansion to the St. Margarets Centre go ahead. We have devoted funds, we have devoted energy, but what we need is a commitment from this government and this minister to say that this project will receive the adequate funding that's needed.

There is always that allegation that there's politics involved when it comes to assisting sports and recreation. There are politics involved. The Springhill arena had to be replaced, not a question. The Yarmouth facility was an embarrassment to a town of that size. The old Yarmouth rink, and I know you, Mr. Speaker, and I have played in that old rink, haven't had the privilege of playing in the newest rink yet, but a community like Yarmouth deserves that sort of facility.

We cannot, under any circumstances, have that sort of allegation out there, oh, there's always politics involved in the building of these sorts of facilities. Incidentally, in 1988, when the St. Margarets Centre was opened, it was opened during an election. As people in the community say, bring on an election. Bring on an election, we will get the Shad Bay Bridge fixed, which they're currently doing, we will get some more paving on the Peggy's Cove Road, which apparently hasn't even come on the radar screen of the member for Chester-St. Margaret's, and we will get a commitment, if there is an election, because how else are you going to deliver the votes in Chester-St. Margaret's? Or how else are you going to deliver the votes in Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville? How else are you going to unseat the current member for Timberlea-Prospect if you don't go in there and say we are going to commit whatever number of millions of dollars of funds to the expansion of this arena?

[Page 11672]

Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear on something, I'm not just talking about a second ice surface, I'm not just talking about the fact that our young people have had to travel all over metro and as far as Chester to play hockey, to play ringette, I'm talking about the fact that there will be meeting rooms, that there will be a facility there for community meetings, there will be areas that we could actually have a weight-lifting room and a gymnasium, and the plans eventually look to the fact that we would look down the road to having a closed-in, indoor swimming pool.

Mr. Speaker, one of the people that I hear a great deal from is the president of the TASA Hockey Organization, the Timberlea and Area Sport Association. TASA's President Scott McCarther is frustrated. As a resident of Boutiliers Point, I want you to know Scott McCarther doesn't even live in my riding, but Scott McCarthur and those other young men and women involved in that growing hockey organization, TASA, they want to know where we are on the priority list when it comes to the proposed expansion for the St. Margarets Centre.

[2:45 p.m.]

If you come into St. Margarets, you will realize it serves the growing community of Timberlea. The communities along the Prospect Road and the Peggy's Cove Road, from Hubbards, all come to the Hubley Centre. In the Hubley Centre is the focus of growth in this booming community. Now, if this government wants to put its money where its mouth is, and when you look at the commitment and the good-news announcement that was made - and I'm sure I will hear some of these platitudes later - about the million dollars, or whatever that is going to be contributed over the next couple of years to sports and recreation and health of young people, well, the health of young people, and maybe even the health of one oldtimers' hockey player who, at this stage, is standing here to speak, our health and the health of these young people will be enhanced in the growing community that I represent by the expansion of the St. Margarets Centre.

Not just another ice surface, which we will take immediately and the demand is there. Not just that gymnasium or weight room, but the opportunity to give some focus to our community. A community centre; our community deserves that. A community centre where people can come together whether they're members of the Lions Club, whether they're playing oldtimers' hockey, whether they're involved in a lacrosse tournament in the Spring, this is a facility that's used year-round. It's overused and it's very important that the minister, today, makes it very clear about this government's intention to support this much-needed facility. Thank you for your time, Mr. Speaker.

[Page 11673]

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Tourism and Culture.

HON. RODNEY MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take the opportunity of thanking the member who brought this resolution forward. Indeed, the issue of recreational facilities across our province is an important one and it is certainly one that we have focused on as a government in the recent years.

I know in past years, various governments of different political stripes have indeed saw fit to make investments in recreational facilities because they are an important component to every community across this province, whether it is an arena, whether it is a soccer field, whether it is a community hall. During my past, through my time thus far as the minister responsible for sport and recreation, I've had the opportunity of visiting many of these facilities, including Legion halls. For example, I went down to Yarmouth and visited one of the Legion halls down there that took advantage of the RFD program, indeed many arenas.

The member mentioned a couple of arenas, that being Yarmouth and, indeed, the Millennium Centre in Antigonish, both extremely fine facilities in their own right. Certainly, both those areas did require those new facilities. I can see the optimism in the southern part of this province now with that new facility. I think it was a wise investment. I certainly do acknowledge the fact that that investment was announced previous to our becoming government. We did follow through on that commitment as a government. We felt it was extremely important and, of course, the Millennium Centre as well. Of course I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Maclean's ranking of St. F.X. University, my alma mater, and congratulate them on that.

Mr. Speaker, in the last number of weeks we also had the opportunity to see another important arena. Just shortly before becoming minister, I had the opportunity, in fact days before - we all heard about the collapse of the roof in Springhill. They brought the roof down as some people would say. Certainly I know that was an issue that the Speaker of the House, the honourable MLA for that area, brought forward to my attention right away. It was great to see that we were able to move forward with respect to that project.

On these large infrastructure projects, as with our RFD program for the smaller projects, they're designed to help communities with up to a third of the funding necessary. Whether it's a pool or a community hall or field or park, they are certainly intended for where activities are going to take place. Certainly they have acted as a catalyst to leverage additional funding. We've been very successful in that. In fact, this has been an ongoing issue that I've brought up with the federal minister responsible for amateur sport. My belief, Mr. Speaker, is that the federal government should also have a separate Recreational Facility Development program at the federal level other than just the infrastructure program we have, because that would bring a focus to recreational facilities across our province. I know that other ministers across the country, including the minister from Manitoba, or Saskatchewan,

[Page 11674]

I apologize, has been very vocal on that issue as well and certainly I will continue to impress that upon our federal colleagues.

I am happy to say, Mr. Speaker, we have been successful in leveraging for large infrastructure projects such as the Springhill arena and I will table the press release. This is with respect to our involvement in that program and also the infrastructure program was involved as well. I commend our Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, the member for Antigonish, who really stepped up to the plate with respect to that project and certainly that is something that we have to be continually looking at as a Sport and Recreation Commission. We all know that there are many projects around this province and I agree that this project is an important project and, of course, I stand by the letter I have written to the member. I do know that that member, along with the member for Chester-St. Margaret's who's going to be sharing my time with me, has brought this forward on a regular basis. I know that they feel it's important and I know their commitment to physical activity in their respective areas. I can give that commitment that we will continue to work on this project. I know there is a need for a second ice surface.

Mr. Speaker, obviously, there are many projects. There are projects in North Sydney, the arena obviously needs replacement there, places like Port Hawkesbury, places like St. Margarets. There are pools across this province. There are a number of different sport soccer fields that are required to be built as well. These are all part of the process and we continue to work and provide those dollars for planning and to provide those dollars for upgrades or, indeed, new facilities and we will do that with respect to this project. We will work with the local groups involved that have been brought to my attention by local people and certainly we make that commitment.

When the funding becomes available, Mr. Speaker, we will certainly be willing to become part of what I believe will be a very good project. Of course, we have to balance that with a variety of other projects which are also at the table, very important projects, but I certainly do make that commitment. Just an idea on the time, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER: About four and a half minutes.

MR. RODNEY MACDONALD: Four and a half minutes, okay, I will be sharing the last couple of minutes with my colleague.

Add to that fact, Mr. Speaker, I do want to talk about one specific facility, we saw just in the last couple of days, and I have a copy of it here, and although we weren't specifically involved in the major part of the funding for the North Preston Community Centre, indeed, it is a good example of how we have been involved traditionally through the RFD program, but how the infrastructure fund became involved in a large-scale project. Perhaps the opportunity will be there through the infrastructure program for this project, you know, that's yet to be determined. Those are opportunities which may exist for this particular

[Page 11675]

project and certainly something that we have partnered with in the past through the Sport and Recreation Commission. So I will table that because the member for Preston should be congratulated because that is a good solid project.

Mr. Speaker, I make a commitment to the member that we will continue to work with the local community on this project. I believe that this project will happen. At what point this happens, it must be balanced along with the many other projects that I have mentioned across the province. There are many priorities and many communities and, indeed, I look forward to continuing the work with respect to the additional ice surface and the additional opportunities which exist in this particular area.

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Chester-St. Margaret's.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Chester-St. Margaret's.

MR. JOHN CHATAWAY: Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the opportunity given to me by the minister and I think what he just basically said, he's all for it, but we can afford it as we go along because the other thing is, here's the other way of doing business, if it's sports or anything, or any government say, okay, everybody comes in, yes, we will do this, we will do this, we will do this and we will do this and then all of a sudden (Interruption) I only have a few minutes and I very much respect the time that I'm given. But basically, of course, we can't afford it all and I'm very happy that the minister said he's for it and, indeed, when that comes, it will be there for generations.

One of the greatest things is to get to know the area that you do represent and certainly many, many people in Chester-St. Margaret's use this facility many times. It's wonderful what they've done - Sports and Recreation - with this rink; of course the people from that area are athletic. I know the Premier just this afternoon gave a resolution in memory of Joyce MacDonald Myers and she's from that area.

Less than a year ago, Wilson Boutilier, who is a bus driver, started a strategy to have all the athletes at Sir John A. give in memory of him to help athletes. It's a wonderful facility, and it will be a wonderful facility. Can it be improved? Yes, it can be improved. Is the area growing? Yes it is one of the fastest growing areas in Nova Scotia, and I would very much appreciate the minister coming out and laying down what is going to happen in that area. I'm sure everybody would be very interested in the plan and we very much appreciate you showing that you are very, very aware of the area and the needs there, and we are certainly going to do something in the future for it and that's very much appreciated. Thank you.

[Page 11676]

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Dartmouth East.

DR. JAMES SMITH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak at late debate on a resolution that addresses a need in a rural community in Nova Scotia. In using my time this evening, I would hope that I could also address some matters relative to my own riding.

The issue is one essentially of recreational facilities for communities such as the St. Margaret's Bay area. I'm not going to speak at length on the merits of a facility going to the St. Margaret's Bay area; if the member in that riding believes there's a need for a facility in the community, then it must be so. They have done well in that area - as the member has noted - there is good community support for ice surfaces, pools, library facilities, and those other initiatives.

I strongly believe and support that all communities must have access to facilities they can use as a focal point for the provision of services - recreational services, health care services, educational opportunities for the young, adults, and seniors. We're now seeing the CAP sites throughout the rural communities which have been a tremendous addition and opened up a whole world of the Internet to rural communities - these need focal points.

You call them what you will; I think the easiest thing is to probably say community centre. It means different things in different areas. The population needs are different, the demographics are different, but all of them build a sense of community, a sense of community that sometimes in our development of suburban communities, and actually even in rural communities, that there's been a lot of out-migration. There's been perhaps a lack of that sense of community.

I would like to point out the benefits of a community centre for a moment. It can be used as recreation, it can be used for the delivery of government services, closer to people in the community. Such was that when I went to work in the Woodlawn community in the Dartmouth area, in 1964; there was a great deal of high-density residential living and high-need, single-parent families, those types of issues that were placed quite a distance from the services that tended to be down in the core of the city and that created problems, to say nothing about the obvious transportation problems and the transit services at that time.

[3:00 p.m.]

So what sort of a community we want, Mr. Speaker, is well beyond roads, sewers and lighting. As you well know, it involves the services to access those people. This is what I think the honourable member was thinking of here today, particularly when this resolution was brought forward. It gives us an opportunity to speak of our own communities when we debate these resolutions. It is so important that all ages are addressed, particularly children and youth, those who may be more vulnerable in our society, and, particularly, the seniors.

[Page 11677]

I know there has been a study done in our Dartmouth East community, a couple of studies in fact, and it has clearly identified the needs of seniors and particularly with youth and adolescence.

Mr. Speaker, a community must deal with the holistic needs of that community, and by addressing those needs will enhance a sense of community. That is not in any way to diminish the needs of recreational facilities. I think that is a health and wellness issue that we've been very vocal on, particularly these last several years, that there are communities in this province with practically no recreational facilities, and that's a shame. It's a sadness for the people who are growing up in those communities and it's a sadness for the people who are growing older in those communities. This situation of lack of recreational facilities quickly threatens a community; it's a viability and whether that community will be one that young families will want to move to and to grow up in. It can become a very high-risk area for social dysfunction.

I want to use the rest of my time, Mr. Speaker, to speak about the Dartmouth East community I have had the opportunity to represent since 1984. In that community, very prominent and very noteworthy for me, has been the East Dartmouth Boys and Girls Club. They've been offering a program the last three or more years without a facility to do so. That has been a challenge that John Burton, the executive director, and his staff, Dave and all of those at that facility have really done such an excellent job under extremely difficult, I would say almost impossible, situations. This is the east part of the Dartmouth community, and that still remains a very high-need area of recreational facilities and also social and other programs that governments, at all three levels, offer to a community.

Thanks, in this community, to the Kinsmen, the church such as St. Luke's in that area. They have provided temporary space for the staff and the children to run programs. They, in some way, have been able to make things work in that community and, for that, the staff and all the volunteers, the board members and the large number of volunteers who are recognized yearly at awards night really deserve a great deal of credit. Thanks to the churches in those areas that have allowed the programs to be offered in their halls and in their basements, such as the Breakfast Program for the smaller children who are in the school in the early grades in that community.

However, Mr. Speaker, when organizations like the East Dartmouth Boys and Girls Club need to spend their time worrying about where programs are operated from instead of the content of these programs, then the east end of Dartmouth becomes a community in need. The East Dartmouth Boys and Girls Club deals with a population that many of them are known as at-risk and, to their credit, they have worked extremely hard and efficiently and effectively and they have worked creatively to address the needs of that particular community that they serve. If there ever was a community and a group so deserving of a community centre, such as we're discussing here today, from which they could operate in the east end of Dartmouth, it is that community.

[Page 11678]

We have the Akerley Campus, the community college there. They have an ice surface. They have a pool, and it is shared with the Y in that community and they offer a great service. There is daycare in the community, but it's not quite complete without the East Dartmouth Boys and Girls Club to have a facility to operate.

So I would see the need, and I have tried to advocate for and I've dealt with politicians at the federal level and the municipal level, the infrastructure programs, to deal with a program that is not fully entrenched with a concrete, specific program, but to have flexible programs and a facility that can be mixed and matched as to the needs of the community.

Recently there's been tire slashing in this area of great note, hundreds and even thousands of dollars in some cases. These have been identified, have been accused and it is alleged that these acts have been perpetrated by 13-year-olds and 14-year-olds. I just know there's going to be another call for restitution and all the other issues, there's going to be a call for a community centre for children to be able to have programs, such as can be offered out of the East Dartmouth Boys and Girls Club, but also other programs.

The infrastructure programs are available, Mr. Speaker - in bringing my comments to a close. Also in this HRM area, the metro community, there will be competition with the Commonwealth Games. I hope that we don't suffer at the local level, whichever way this proceeds. There is money for the infrastructure. Sometimes the programs aren't high on that list, but we need programs at the local community level. While I do support the larger facilities for soccer, at the local level we need very cost-efficient programs.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for the time that's been allotted here this evening. It gives me an opportunity to speak on behalf of the area that I've had the opportunity to represent since 1984.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. The time allocated for the late debate has concluded.

[The House is adjourned.]

[The House rose at 3:07 p.m.]

[Page 11679]

NOTICES OF MOTION UNDER RULE 32(3)

RESOLUTION NO. 4747

By: Mr. Ronald Chisholm (Guysborough-Port Hawkesbury)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas it is critical that we do not forget the noble and valiant efforts of our Canadian soldiers; and

Whereas "Testaments of Honour" by Blake Heathcote is a book that preserves the memories of more than 200 Canadian war veterans; and

Whereas among those sharing their recollections of World War II are four Nova Scotians: Guysborough's Joe Jamieson, Sydney's Alex MacInnis, Halifax's Alec Borgal and Wolfville's Alex Colville;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House express our appreciation to Blake Heathcote for preserving the memories of our Canadian heroes and express our gratitude to these men not only for their noble service to Canada but for sharing their experiences to the author for this book so that we 'never forget'.

RESOLUTION NO. 4748

By: Mr. Richard Hurlburt (Yarmouth)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness, disability and premature death in Canada; and

Whereas Kids Against Tobacco Smoke, otherwise known as KATS, is a program designed to help educate Grades 4 and 5 students in the Yarmouth area about the effects of smoking; and

Whereas teachers, parent volunteers and officials from the Yarmouth Leisure Services Department and Public Health Services work together to deliver the facts about tobacco to 40 students from the Port Maitland, Meadowfields, Plymouth, South Centennial and Arcadia schools; these young people then present this information to their fellow students in their respective schools;

[Page 11680]

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate all the participants of the KATS program and wish them success in achieving their goal of educating the youth of Yarmouth on the hazards of smoking.

RESOLUTION NO. 4749

By: Mr. James DeWolfe (Pictou East)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Pictou County Continuous Learning Association is presently providing an invaluable service to help tutors and educators enhance their teaching skills; and

Whereas our government, in the 2002-03 budget, increased funding for the Nova Scotia School for Adult Learning by $950,000 for a total of almost $2 million; and

Whereas the adult education coordinator for Northern Nova Scotia said the Tutor Instructor Training Program is one that can assist those taking the course in making their community a better place to live;

Therefore be it resolved that MLAs applaud the efforts of the Pictou County Continuous Learning Association and the Department of Education for their insight toward enhanced adult education and wish them continued success.

RESOLUTION NO. 4750

By: Mr. Richard Hurlburt (Yarmouth)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas R. Irène d'Entremont of Yarmouth was invested into the Order of Canada by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in a ceremony held at Pier 21 on October 26, 2002; and

Whereas a founding President of MIT Electronics Inc., Irène d'Entremont is one of the first women in our region to work in business; and

Whereas she has also used her insight and strong business instincts in her many volunteer activities, including the Yarmouth YMCA which has flourished under her leadership, and the Law Commission of Canada;

[Page 11681]

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate R. Irène d'Entremont on her investiture into the Order of Canada for her outstanding contribution to her community and Canada.

RESOLUTION NO. 4751

By: Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Tourism and Culture)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Bernard Riordon of Halifax was invested into the Order of Canada by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in a ceremony held at Pier 21 on October 26, 2002; and

Whereas during his 30-year tenure Mr. Riordon has transformed the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia from a small operation to an internationally renowned institution; and

Whereas he has increased the national and international profile of Atlantic Canadian culture with the development of touring Atlantic Canadian art exhibitions;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate Bernard Riordon on his investiture as officer into the Order of Canada for his national service and merit of a high degree.

RESOLUTION NO. 4752

By: Mr. Jon Carey (Kings West)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas there is a growing shortage of skilled workers in Nova Scotia's meat-cutting industry while consumer demand increases; and

Whereas Larsen Packers Limited, with pork-processing operations in Berwick, Nova Scotia, continues to grow their company and are looking to hire individuals who are well-trained and understand the complexities of the meat industry; and

Whereas Nova Scotia Community College has a strong track record of collaborating with businesses to meet labour market challenges and today has announced a formalized training agreement with Larsen to provide a 16-week program;

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Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House applaud the joint efforts of the Nova Scotia Community College and Larsen Packers Limited for establishing a creative solution to industry challenges that will ultimately benefit the meat-processing industry, the college system and all Nova Scotians.

RESOLUTION NO. 4753

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Bernard E. "Bernie" Burke, one of Nova Scotia's most renowned bandsmen and ambassador for his town and province, passed away on October 29th; and

Whereas Mr. Burke was the director of the well-respected Parrsboro Citizen's Band for 47 years, acted as bandmaster, training officer and commanding officer of the Parrsboro Sea Cadet Corps, was official bugler for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 45 and was choir director and organist at St. Brigid's Church; and

Whereas Mr. Burke was Parrsboro's Citizen of the Year in 1987, owing to his commitment to his community, including being a member of the Parrsboro Volunteer Fire Department, President of the Parrsboro Junior Chamber of Commerce, the first Chair of the Parrsboro March of Dimes and Provincial President of the Canadian Bandmaster's Association;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House join me in extending condolences to Mr. Burke's family and friends, and assuring them that his contributions to Parrsboro will long be remembered.

RESOLUTION NO. 4754

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Mr. James Melanson, the minor baseball coach and advocate for recognition of past ball players, was honoured in Halifax as a community builder by the Baseball Nova Scotia Hall of Fame; and

Whereas Mr. Melanson was recognized for his achievement for his dedication to building and developing baseball in Springhill, Nova Scotia; and

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Whereas Mr. Melanson is a 25-year veteran coach and richly deserves the recognition for being instrumental in minor baseball from the Baseball Nova Scotia Hall of Fame;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate Mr. James Melanson for receiving the honour of being inducted into the Baseball Nova Scotia Hall of Fame, and wish him all the best in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 4755

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the United Church Women recently celebrated their 40th Anniversary; and

Whereas these women support numerous organizations throughout Nova Scotia through fundraising efforts, mainly their quilting group; and

Whereas in recognition of their efforts, the Wentworth Church held a special service on October 20, 2002, to help celebrate their 40th Anniversary;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate the United Church Women on their 40th Anniversary, and wish them many more years of success and wish them all the best in the years ahead.

RESOLUTION NO. 4756

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas foster parents play a vital role in providing a safe and nurturing environment for foster children in need of guidance and love; and

Whereas Marilyn and Gary Jonah of Athol have been long-term foster parents for three and a half years; and

Whereas the Jonah family has provided security and comfort to numerous foster children since they became a home for foster children;

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Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate Marilyn and Gary Jonah and all foster parents for their selfless devotion to those children in need of stability and love in their home environment.

RESOLUTION NO. 4757

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Roger Brown, a retired school teacher from Parrsboro Regional High, recently published his third book titled, Historic Cumberland County South, Land of Promise; and

Whereas the book takes a comprehensive look at the southern section of Cumberland County, examining the diverse history of its towns and communities; and

Whereas Mr. Brown travelled throughout the communities obtaining first-hand stories and history of each area;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate Mr. Roger Brown on his recent publication and recognize the historical significance of his book.

RESOLUTION NO. 4758

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Advocate District High School Coyotes cross-country team had a very successful day at the Chignecto-Central Board Championship held at Oxford Regional High School; and

Whereas the Lady Coyotes won their first ever cross-country banner in senior girls and all 11 Advocate runners advanced from the meet to the provincials; and

Whereas the Coyotes brought home the provincial banner for the first time, earned by the winning team of Lesley Ross, Mallory Ross, Helen Ross, Jessie Ross, Katie Spicer, Melinda Ells and Coach Pat Spicer;

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Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate the Advocate District High School Coyotes Girls Cross-Country Team on winning the cross-country banner, and we wish them continued luck in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 4759

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas on May 25, 2002, at Five Islands Beach, Grant Jackson, Bill Knowlton and Rick Lindsey, three cottage owners, ventured out in rough waters after seeing two people in the water beside a boat; and

Whereas the three made their way to the pair in distress, and found a mother and son about two miles off the beach, who were desperate to be saved from the dangerous unpredictable currents of the Bay of Fundy; and

Whereas the mother and son had been in a kayak that had capsized, and they had been in the cold Atlantic Ocean for about 40 minutes when the three men pulled them from the waters and headed to shore and safety;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate Grant Jackson, Bill Knowlton and Rick Lindsey on their courageous act of bravery, and wish them all the best in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 4760

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas in honour of Veterans' Week, November 5-11, 2002, Grade 9 students at Oxford Regional High School are sending personalized postcards to war veterans; and

Whereas the Grade 9 students are being provided with a personal contact who will assist their understanding of the role that the veterans played in the preservation of the democratic society we now enjoy; and

Whereas the Grade 9 students filled out and sent postcards to war veterans or their families in remembrance and thanks for their service to this country;

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Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate the Grade 9 classes at Oxford Regional High School for their unselfish act of gratitude, and we wish them all the best in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 4761

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Katie Spicer of Advocate, Nova Scotia, is unquestionably the best female soccer player in Cumberland County and has amassed 30 goals in just nine games for her Advocate District High School Lady Coyotes; and

Whereas Katie Spicer also will attend the three-day tournament in Calgary, Alberta, as well as being a member on the under-17 Nova Scotia Provincial Team; and

Whereas Katie Spicer continues to be a valuable member on the soccer field, she also maintains an honours average and concentrates on her studies as well as preparing for her high school basketball squad, and looks forward to graduation and beyond;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate Katie Spicer on her achievements in high school soccer, as well as her successes in other sports and school-related activities, and wish her continued success in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 4762

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Kurt van Vulpen, 19 years of age, of Warren and currently attending the University of Guelph, recently received the Minitube Foundation scholarship; and

Whereas Kurt is currently working towards a Bachelor of Science degree with plans on becoming a veterinarian as his experience on the family farm (Jomar Farms) was evident in his essay for the scholarship application; and

Whereas the scholarship committee selection was based on academic achievement, written essay, extra-curricular activities, and reference as only three scholarships were handed out by the Minitube Foundation;

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Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate Kurt van Vulpen on receiving the Minitube Foundation scholarship.

RESOLUTION NO. 4763

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Parrsboro District High School golf team placed fourth in the Northumberland Region Championship held in Antigonish; and

Whereas the fourth place finish allowed the team to advance to the provincial championship on October 7, 2002, at River Oaks Golf Club located in Meagher's Grant, Halifax; and

Whereas team member, Cody Hebb's round of 78 led the Parrsboro contingent and was fourth overall with the other team members, also shooting well with Haley Winters (Captain) with a 152, Ryan Willigar, 80, and Matthew Gamblin, 93;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate the members of the Parrsboro Regional High Golf Team on placing fourth in the championship.

RESOLUTION NO. 4764

By: Hon. Murray Scott (Speaker)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Advocate District High School girls soccer team, the Coyotes, captured the regional title to earn the right to host the provincials; and

Whereas the Coyotes dominated the competition at the Northumberland Regional Championships to win the tournament, giving them the second regional banner in a row for the ADHS girls soccer team; and

Whereas the Coyotes now move on to the provincial championships that they will host in Advocate in November;

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Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate the Advocate District High School Coyotes on their title as regional champions, and wish them the best of luck in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 4765

By: Hon. Timothy Olive (Natural Resources)

I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Austin Willis of Dartmouth was invested into the Order of Canada by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in a ceremony held at Pier 21 on October 26, 2002; and

Whereas Mr. Willis has entertained and informed Canadians for 40 years on radio, television, film and the stage, appearing in the West End and on Broadway, in Hollywood and European films, and was a regular on CBC's Of All Things and Cross-Canada Hit Parade; and

Whereas Mr. Willis was an instrumental player in the project, Comrades in Arms, an undertaking that keeps alive the memories, achievements and sacrifices of World War II veterans;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate Austin Willis on his investiture as a member into the Order of Canada.