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MR. CHAIRMAN: Order, please. The Committee of the Whole House on Supply to consider the estimates of the Department of Education shall begin. We left off with the Progressive Conservative caucus. They have 26 minutes left.
The honourable member for Cumberland South.
HON. MURRAY SCOTT: Thank you. I want to welcome back the minister and her staff. The other night I was asking the minister about some issues in my own riding of Cumberland South. One I didn't get to that evening was with regard to the renovations at the community college in Springhill.
The community college in Springhill has done a tremendous job over the last number of years with regard to the number of students. I believe last year they had the highest per capita increase in the province. It's actually bursting at the seams. It's a building that requires renovations, and it's much appreciated that the department is moving forward on that plan. I just wonder, could the minister take a moment and update me on the department's plans on the renovations for the campus at Springhill?
HON. MARILYN MORE: I welcome the question from the honourable member. I just want to say that I am rejoined again by my deputy minister, Dennis Cochrane, on my left and Darrell Youden, who is the senior executive director of Corporate Services, on my right.
I agree with the honourable member, that community college has an excellent reputation and the staff are doing an incredible job, and I understand it's a very capable student body there as well. The college is going to benefit from the knowledge infrastructure program funding that will be - part of it is contributed by the federal government as part of their stimulus package. The rest is coming from the province.
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There are two initiatives that have been considered: a curtain wall replacement and a satellite location. The province will be contributing approximately $1.1 million to those two initiatives combined. Thank you.
MR. SCOTT: Thank you, Madam Minister, for the answer. Could the minister break down that $1.1 million for me? I appreciate that - collectively between the two projects. I'm wondering when that curtain wall project is slated to move forward - my understanding was right away, or it was being tendered soon - and what the amount of that is, when that may happen, and then I'll have another question concerning the satellite.
MS. MORE: The curtain wall replacement - the total project cost is $1.2 million, of which $605,000 is coming from the province in this budget. You were going to ask another question about the satellite location, or did you want the financial breakdown there? It's estimated that it will be $1 million, and half of that will be the provincial share. Thank you.
MR. SCOTT: Thank you again to the minister. So $1.2 million is the curtain wall project and $605,000 was provincial money or federal money? Provincial money. So leaving $600,000 - so it's 50-50 cost shared is it? Roughly? When is that expected to take place?
MS. MORE: I don't have the exact timetable, but those projects have to be completed by March 31, 2011, so obviously sometime between now and then.
MR. SCOTT: Mr. Chairman, just a last question around that. You mentioned a satellite location, can you explain a little more to me about what that means? Where's that going to be? What's that going to entail? Is that going to have any impact on the present location in Springhill?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, as the honourable member knows, there is a branch of the community college that's operating in Amherst and they're currently in rented facilities. I believe the original intention of the community college was to build a facility to accommodate those students. That is still being reviewed. I don't think they've made a final decision. They certainly haven't come to the department with their final plans. It won't take away any of the students from Springhill. The school population will remain the same, if not increased, because of the demand for those seats and it's just to make community college education a bit more accessible by spreading it over the county that way. So we don't have a definite plan for that part of the KIP expenditure as we do for the curtain wall replacement, but that's as much as we know now. It's still under review by the community college board.
MR. SCOTT: Mr. Chairman, as opposed to putting that kind of investment in the adjoining community, is there any consideration being given to actually put that investment in Springhill where the community college has been for about40 years and enhancing that facility where it presently is?
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MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, that concept hasn't been discussed with either the minister or the department. I believe the original intention was to make the programs as accessible as possible to the residents of Cumberland County. I believe that's still the operating principle, but whereas this is less certain than the other project, we don't have a final plan for the satellite location. So it may be that they're rethinking some of that, I'm not sure.
MR. SCOTT: Mr. Chairman, I guess just in closing on that, in regard to the community college, I will publicly make a request to you that you consider any infrastructure investment in Cumberland County, in regard to community college, that you would make it in Springhill where we've had a facility that has been in the community, as I say, for decades. There's a wonderful service there. They have a great staff. I've said on many occasions, when you go into that facility, it's almost like going home. They just do a fantastic job there and I would hope that your government and your department would consider any infrastructure money being spent on community infrastructure in Cumberland County, that you would consider spending that money in Springhill where I believe the constituents I represent would like to see it spent. So I would ask publicly that you at least have your department and your government consider that.
MS. MORE: Well, certainly I would encourage the honourable member to make that suggestion to the president and board of the community college. We don't suggest or choose their capital projects and I'm sure they would be pleased to meet with you and discuss that possibility.
MR. SCOTT: Mr. Chairman, I will do that. Back to the issues I left off with the other night, we were talking in regard to EAs - we call them EAs in my area - educational assistants. I just have a few questions, Madam Minister. Based on the importance of supporting inclusion within our school system, is there a better process that the minister believes could be undertaken that could be put in place so that children are not waiting for support in our classrooms?
[4:45 p.m.]
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I actually would like to table the teacher assistant guidelines for student services. Thank you. I'll just mention that what I would like to also table at a future time - I don't have it with me at the moment - is the press release that apparently came out either today or yesterday from your school board, talking about the teacher assistant positions and mentioning how many more were - I believe they're hiring a lot more over the next couple of weeks, and I don't have the exact figures, but I recollect that it's very close - I believe 38 that they're hiring. So it would be very close to the same number as last year, and I would be pleased to make a copy of that press release available.
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The honourable member may remember that several years ago his government, through the Department of Education, had a special education review done. It's exactly the recommendation from that review that has become sort of the provincial guideline for the funding for special education. It covers the wages and benefits of most of the EAs, or teacher assistants, and some boards choose, because of their own local expertise on the situation, to add to those numbers, and sometimes they use money out of their general operating revenue to do that.
I believe that the board is a little over average compared to some of the other boards for the provincial average in the province, but they're trying to match their resources to the needs of the children in their student population. Certainly they adjust those figures on an ongoing basis to make sure that those student needs are their top priority, and I was very encouraged to see the release, to realize that they had reviewed their final enrolments for the end of September and that they were modifying their plans to meet those additional needs.
MR. SCOTT: Mr. Chairman, I think the minister would have to agree that here we are in October and trying to fill those positions now, so that obviously means children are without the resources that they require since school started. Would the minister explain - and I know you did the other night, but I just want to make sure I understand - exactly how does the province allocate the funding to each of the district school boards, and how does the minister justify some district schools having EPAs that work 5.5 hours a day versus other districts where EPAs or EAs work six hours a day? Is one district of students more deserving of an education than others?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned earlier, the provincial guideline is 104 students from a general population of students to 1 teacher assistant. Certainly boards are the employers of all their staff, and they allocate staff depending on their priorities and the student needs within their school system. So the department provides a general category for special education and the board then matches the money available, including, as I said earlier, some allocation from their general operating funds occasionally to meet those needs. So they determine the number and categories of staffing that they want in their schools, and the number of hours and wages, yes, are actually a local negotiation and so the boards do that locally.
Those are all decisions made by the regional school boards, outside the mandate of the Department of Education. We don't get involved in those operational details, so I'd encourage the honourable member to speak to the board officials and they might be able to give a more detailed explanation of how it's done in that particular region. Thank you.
MR. SCOTT: The minister would obviously be aware that special needs children who require an EA, in a lot of cases it's not until the beginning of the year they're told whether or not their child is going to have that additional resource when, in fact, those job postings are started in May, I believe, in this particular case, as a result of a contractual agreement.
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Would it not make sense to try to help make parents aware earlier in the year whether or not their child will receive a resource person?
MS. MORE: I'd certainly agree with the honourable member, the earlier the notice the better for all concerned, including the families of special needs students, but also the staff who are wondering whether they're going to be rehired for the coming school year.
Boards need some flexibility. Often the provincial budget is not determined by the time that boards need to decide on their minimum staff applications for the coming year. They tend to lay off more than they have to, knowing that they will have the capacity to hire more on as needs are identified and as the budget process has stabilized.
This year was an unusual year in that even though they had a general understanding of how much money they'd get, we're discussing the budget now in October. Those final decisions haven't been made. They do the best they can with the information they have on the envelope of funding they're getting provincially and on their expectations of which special needs students are going to be in which schools. They provide a basic level of service and if they can free up more money and add more teaching assistants as they get into the school year, that's a benefit to everyone.
Those students certainly would have had their needs met, perhaps at a lower level, but certainly would have met the standards and guidelines of the provincial Department of Education. If they can get more time from a teacher assistant, then I think we should commend the board for making some wise decisions and making sure they were able to enhance those programs and services even though it's October, better now than not providing it for the entire year.
MR. SCOTT: Thank you, minister. I'm sure the minister is aware, could the minister explain to myself and the House how a parent is notified when they have a child who has had resource for a number of years prior, how they're notified they will not have a resource person for their child in the upcoming year, or maybe shared between several students?
MS. MORE: As I understand it, that information and those decisions pass from the student services personnel in the school board to the principal, who would be in regular contact with the parents. I think most parents can assume they're going to get the same level of service, unless their child has progressed or their needs change.
Because of the close working relationship between families and special service administrators and the school administration, they're usually in continuous discussion with each other, and so this would not - these things are done in consultation. They're not done without involving the families, and I certainly was encouraging anybody who contacted me, whether they be an MLA from that area or a school board member from that area, to suggest to parents that if they have concerns - this was over the summer, when some of these rumours
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were going around that these assistants weren't going to be in place - that they talk to school officials, and most of them were reassured with the information they received. So we just need to make sure that they understand that information, that it's available, that they understand the process for getting it, and put them in contact with the appropriate personnel at the school board.
MR. SCOTT: Mr. Chairman, I'm wondering if the minister could tell me, if a parent realizes then that their child is not going to receive the resource they've had right along in the upcoming year, are they able to appeal that? Is that information available in each and every school to explain to a parent that, if they're not satisfied with the fact that their child is not going to have a resource person, they can appeal? Is the process that they would follow available in all schools?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, certainly most boards have a variety of information tools that are made available to parents. These may be pamphlets or contact names and addresses but, in particular, many of these students are on an IPP - an Individual Program Plan - and so they would also have access to the school board guidelines for the provision of those services. So if they ever had questions, they should be encouraged to go to the appropriate personnel in the school board and discuss their child's needs, because it may be that Special Services has assessed that child to require different support in the coming year. Some of these students are in high school and certainly are being given more coping skills, and as they get older they may not require as much one-on-one service.
MR. SCOTT: Madam Minister, just one last question. I am aware that there was testing done within our schools and results on literacy and mathematics are made available to the public. Can the minister please confirm if this testing includes special education students or tell me what testing results are provided to the public regarding students who are on individual programs or plans?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, the honourable member is correct that students on IPPs, which are the Individual Program Plans, can be exempt from the provincial and national assessments, and this is a policy that was certainly supported by his government and the Department of Education over the last number of years. All of the testing results, the process, who was tested, all of the general categories, that information is made available in the minister's report to parents and guardians, and I was very pleased to distribute that report on behalf of the former government and the former Minister of Education in June. So those materials were sent out to all of the education partners as well as to the individual schools, and were made available to the school advisory councils, to staff, and to any parent who would like to take a look at them.
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[5:00 p.m.]
MR. SCOTT: Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to thank the minister and her staff for her forthright answers, I appreciate it. I would ask if you would - the other night when I had some questions about renovation money in Cumberland South, is it possible for you to table those documents that had those numbers, please?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, yes, I have a considerable number of documents to table later this evening. I also just received a copy of the press release and I'm wondering if the honourable member would like to have the highlights of it and then I will table the press release.
It is issued by the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board and it says that the school board posts 38 positions for educational assistants. To quote the superintendent, he said there is a misconception in the community that we have cut services for students with special needs, that's just not true.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Order, please. The time has expired. You can finish it if you want, just a force of habit.
MS. MORE: Okay, I'll just summarize here. The board has in fact increased service hours for students with special needs from 1,905 hours per day last year to 1,910 hours per day this year, even though student enrolment declined by over 800 students. So I will table this, it has additional information that I won't go into at the moment.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable member for Kings West.
MR. LEO GLAVINE: Mr. Chairman, thank you, Madam Minister and deputy and Darrell, for having the opportunity to ask a few questions. I could use an hour pretty easily but I respect the new Education Critic who still has some questions to ask, so I'm going to be very disciplined and just ask a few questions today.
One of the supports - and I know it hasn't been easy for this deputy minister to really give this program what it needs. I want some explanation because this could be the year when he really did twist the minister's arm and make things happen his way, as opposed to the previous minister who he could not succumb easily to real needs in the public education system. She could match him at every turn. I'm talking about the tuition support area.
In the previous year, 2008, 53 students were supported. This year there are 25 students supported. Now, I've only brought one to the minister's attention, but I could have brought others, and I'm wondering why this dramatic drop in support of only 25 students. These are program needs that you and I, Madam Minister - and I know the deputy - would love to see addressed and met in the public education system. I long for that day. But I know
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it can't be done at the present time. We don't have some of the expertise, we don't have the level of funding, so we have worked to assist parents with a tuition support agreement.
I go back five or six years now dealing with the department on this issue. I know that it may not even be appropriate for the minister to go to a graduation at Bridgeway or Landmark East, but I've attended five out of the last six graduations at Landmark East and if you want to hear stories that are really beyond belief of what had been going on in the public education system and their movement into Landmark East, about children who were abandoned and given up on in the public education system who will go on to university and go on to thrive. I want to know about this year's level of support, what is the future of this program under your government?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, the honourable member raises a very important issue and I know when we were both on the other side of the House, we often shared common views on some of these issues. I agree that all Parties in this Chamber would like to be able to provide more money for special education support within our public school system. That's certainly going to be something that my government strives for.
In response to his question. Yes, the numbers are down in terms of applications for beginning tuition support. I'm not sure that we have an answer for that. I can guess at a few possible factors that have influenced that decrease. I think, partly, for children with learning disabilities and other conditions, those numbers are decreasing just as our overall student population is decreasing. The Department of Education has certainly done nothing to discourage parents from applying for that. There are certain criteria. I myself, when I was an Opposition member, became frustrated at times because the application process adheres to insisting on those criteria. I think a lot of parents are finding other ways of supporting their children within the Public School Program and that may have impacted on the lower numbers this year.
I recently had the opportunity to meet with executive members of the Learning Disabilities Association of Nova Scotia. I was very impressed with their recommendations, the history of their experience, and was very pleased to find out about how successful some of their after-school programs are. It turned out, I hadn't realized, that one of them is actually offered in a school in my constituency and children from the general area are encouraged to attend that after-school program. So I think parents are looking at a variety of other supports in the community and in the school system.
But I think, perhaps, most importantly, the professional development and additional support that we're providing teachers and schools within our system, in terms of enhancing the educational opportunities for children with learning disabilities and special needs, is starting to work and so fewer families feel that they need to leave the public school system. So I give credit to the teachers and schools that are making tremendous progress in helping to meet the comprehensive needs of some of these students.
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MR. GLAVINE: Mr. Chairman, I can appreciate some of the comments made by the minister, however, is this program advertised? Do parents truly know about this assist that is there for them, I think is one of the things? But it also leads me to a more global question, have you and your government fully embraced the special education review that was done and will we see its implementation?
MS. MORE: The special education review is now under review by my office. That's why I've been meeting with some of the stakeholder groups who were involved in that process and made those recommendations. I'm hearing first-hand, having very good discussions with them on the situation, and clarifying and providing additional detail on those recommendations.
I just want to remind the honourable member that the three schools he is talking about are private schools. I think it would be very unlikely that a public school system would be advertising or promoting children and families leaving the public school system. I have no idea what kind of promotion those schools do but I know one of the concerns expressed by a number of families around the province is that even if the tuition support being provided by the department, if you meet certain criteria, is an interim step. They're saying, first of all, they want to see those programs, those services, provided in their neighbourhood schools and they're also concerned about access and equity because two of the schools are in Dartmouth and one is down in Wolfville, so only a certain segment of the population that might be interested can actually access those schools on a practical, day-to-day basis.
This is a very complex issue and I understand - as a retired educator, the honourable member fully understands. So we're certainly trying to balance what we can afford with the acute, very important needs of these children and their families. My government certainly would like to see an investment of public tax dollars into these programs and services in the public school system so that all children can benefit, and that they would be available from one end of this province to the other.
MR. GLAVINE: Mr. Chairman, I couldn't agree more with Madam Minister in terms of all our school boards having high-quality special education, so that from Primary to Grade 12 children don't have to leave. But she will, I'm sure, concur with me that there are some students who have severe learning problems and we don't always have the expertise available to deal with them.
Going on to another area, another one of the landmark studies done by the previous government was teacher education. I'm wondering, has Madam Minister reviewed that document and where are we with its implementation?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, that committee has reported and the department has been consulting, again, with some of the partners who are represented on that committee. There are two recommendations about creating particular committees and I think there's some
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interest among the stakeholders now in combining them into the one committee that would also look at practicum issues. So certainly it's our intention and we're proposing legislation for the Spring session to cover the new teacher education Act, and in due course I think you'll see more detail on that.
MR. GLAVINE: I was wondering, Madam Minister, and perhaps with some reliance on the deputy minister here, do you know if all of the education programs offered in Nova Scotia have a strong curriculum around classroom management?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I'm advised that actually was one of the issues that the committee was asked to look at and that's one of the purposes of setting up this advisory committee, to look into further detail on classroom management and what's the best way to support creating good techniques with new teachers but also, obviously, we need to be looking at the best kind of professional development for teachers who are currently in the school system. So the honourable member raises an important issue and it's one that's very much at the core of this new committee.
[5:15 p.m.]
MR. GLAVINE: I'm certainly pleased, Madam Minister, either with legislation or policy guidelines, that there will be a strong emphasis placed on this area and I look forward to seeing those developments in the coming months.
Since Madam Minister and I arrived here at Province House, we were the recipients of a landmark document that is being used, in fact, across the country and that is the Nunn report. I felt right from the word go that a cataclysmic mistake was made in not putting this under the administration, the auspices, the guidance of Education. I felt that was where the real achievements and real direction could come. We know that whether it's the dropout problem, whether it is behavioural issues, all of these kinds of areas do seem to come forward in those very crucial early adolescent years, a lot of the mental health issue we know. Once again, we know of schools, we hear of schools that just don't have the personnel, whether it is diagnostic, assessment, support, guidance and so on.
I'm just wondering where Madam Minister feels that some of the implementation of the strongest pieces - I didn't review two or three of the pieces, or I don't want you to review two or three that I feel are very important because I have a short period of time here - I would just like a little bit of a sense of where the minister will go with the Nunn report in areas that maybe she has been able to determine are not as strong as what that report said could accomplish certain goals.
MS. MORE: I'm pleased that the honourable member has raised this issue. Certainly the Education Department is a very valued partner in the implementation committee of the recommendations for the Nunn Commission report and I believe there is a committee of
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deputy ministers and the lead is taken, as the honourable member suggested, by Community Services, but I believe we also have Education, Health, Health Promotion and Protection, and Justice at the table. The Education Department has already been able to initiate a number of changes that we feel reflect the intent of the report and the recommendations.
Certainly there has been considerable professional development among our professional staff as to the recommendations and the objectives. We've introduced, at various levels, considerable awareness around mental health and I was very pleased just earlier this week to attend an announcement, or actually an exercise whereby we watched a combined Grade 4 class out of Portland Estates Elementary School, with their teacher facilitating the exercise, do what they call a class meeting. They started off by complimenting each other, they go around a circle, and we took part, the superintendent was there, and also a couple of psychiatrists from the IWK and from Dalhousie University.
It was fascinating the way these young children were able to share their feelings and what was working well and what was not working well. This is all part of the new emphasis on creating more openness around mental health through our school system and as the children grow older, obviously the approach is a bit more sophisticated.
In addition, we have SchoolsPlus and we're piloting this program in four school boards. It's a way for interagency co-operation and collaboration in the delivery of programs and services, even after school, to high-risk families, but there are also many benefits, of course, for the general school population where these four pilots are taking place.
So there are a number of exciting initiatives, there's more to be done, and Education is very pleased to be integral and part of that.
MR. GLAVINE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Madam Minister. I'm pleased to hear one concrete example, and we know that some of these initiatives are going forward in our school boards.
In regard to school boards, I would have to say that during my career, two or three of the outstanding things that probably happened in our school and in our classroom did not come from the Department of Education. They came because there was a school board that was, I felt, enlightened, progressive, very child-centred, and wanted to at least see an initiative put on trial.
I'm just wondering where you're going to go in terms of autonomy of school boards. We know now that there is very little non-directed funding. There is some, but not very much. If there is one thing that I heard time after time as Education Critic, whether it was the South Shore, AVRSB, Cape Breton, and HRM weren't there for all the time when I was the critic, as we all know, but I'm just wondering where you feel there could be a good balance and even some direction from the minister around that autonomous piece.
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MS. MORE: I'm so pleased that you raised this issue. I'm just wondering how much time the honourable member has left, because I think I probably could use all of it and more. (Interruptions) I'm not sure if the honourable member is aware, but I spent a considerable part of my life fighting for elected school boards, and I'm very proud to say that I'm the first woman elected to a school board in Nova Scotia. So the concept of that level of government being fully elected - they were partially elected in my day, so I'm delighted with the evolution. I very much respect the mandate and the autonomy of our regional school boards, and I certainly value their work.
In my tour around the province over the last couple of months to meet with all eight boards, I was able to reassure them that I had full confidence that they would represent the values and the ethics and the priorities as indicated to them by their communities. Certainly they identified some problem areas, and I reassured them and the Nova Scotia School Boards Association that I would be very pleased to work alongside them, to strengthen leadership, to strengthen training and educational opportunities for board members.
In my day, we actually had - it was back in the days of the Atlantic Institute of Education. I'm not sure if many people in this Chamber would actually remember that facility, but they did excellent work and they worked alongside the NSTU and the School Boards Association and the Federation of Home and School to develop seminars on a regular basis, several times a year, for school board members, professional staff, people taking doctorates and whatnot in education. It was a great chance for all of those various sectors to learn and work together.
So I think there are lots of opportunities to help school boards address some of their challenges. Obviously, the chief one is the amount of money available as funding for our public school system. While most of the money that they currently get is discretionary funding, very little of it is actually targeted or dedicated to specific projects, so they do have considerable flexibility that way. We look forward to a day when the fiscal reality of this province is such that we can invest much more money into public education.
I want to say, especially with the school board and the area that the honourable member represents, one of the discussions we had around that board table was the fact that there were very innovative, exciting things happening, and as we went around the table each of them was able to describe to me something very unique, or very effective, from the family of schools that they represented.
I was very impressed and very encouraged to hear about, despite - I know they would all like more money, obviously that was a common theme on the way around the province, but I was amazed at what they were able to do, how well they invested the taxpayers' dollars now and how they were able to allocate it in ways that would represent some of the special interests and needs of different areas. All the schools aren't carbon copies of each other and even though they're all required to offer the Public School Program, there were some very
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interesting and innovative initiatives happening in each school. So I congratulate all the school boards across the province and I must say, I'm really looking forward to working with them. Thank you.
MR. GLAVINE: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. As I conclude, I want to thank the minister and her staff. When it comes to initiatives and things new and unique, I know that is what has kept the deputy minister young and very keen on education issues, so I look forward to working with you over the next months.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable member for Bedford-Birch Cove.
MS. KELLY REGAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Federal post-secondary funding is allocated to the provinces on a per capita basis rather than on a per student basis. Nova Scotia is hardest hit by this practice since the province is an importer of students, so money doesn't follow students when they go out of province for their post-secondary schooling. This funding structure has meant the province has introduced differential tuition fees for out-of-province students to the tune of $1,000. Former Nova Scotia Education Minister Karen Casey had committed to lobbying the federal government to change the current federal funding formula. I'm wondering, will you encourage your federal counterparts to adopt per student funding?
MS. MORE: Yes, that was an essential plank in the Campaign for Fairness of former Premier Hamm. My government sees absolutely no reason to change that focus and that ask of the federal government.
We have been trying to catch up with the public funding of universities since the early mid-1990s and there was a considerable drop in federal transfer payments that were dedicated to university education in those days. It has been very difficult to reclaim that lost funding territory, so either more money available federally or changing that formula would certainly benefit the Nova Scotian taxpayers. Thank you.
MS. REGAN: So do you agree that it is important to encourage students from outside the province to attend our institutions and if so, what will you do, what will your government do, to address the differential fee that has been created?
[5:30 p.m.]
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, the honourable member has recognized that we're trying to decrease the differential between Nova Scotian students going into Nova Scotia universities and out-of-province university students to $1,000, and we have enough money in the trust to bring it down to that. It's almost a philosophical issue in a way, as well, because there's a lot of push back from Nova Scotian families who feel that if there is any advantage, they would like to have that additional funding go to help make university or
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post-secondary education more accessible for the children in their families because, you know, they feel that they're paying taxes and their family should benefit. So it's a complex issue, and certainly if the fiscal reality were different, we might be able to look at that again, but I can't foresee any change in that differential over the next couple of years.
MS. REGAN: I think the other day when we left off we were sort of in the middle of talking about post-secondary education review, and when I asked if you might possibly do one, I think your answer was that's a possibility. Some key issues have arisen that sort of give need for there to be a review. Declining enrolments, deferred maintenance, and access barriers for students, particularly those with low incomes or under-represented groups, would be some key areas. If we're not going to do a review, what I'm wondering is, what plans does your government have to address those issues of declining enrolments, deferred maintenance, and access barriers?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, the honourable member certainly recognizes some of the key financial pressures on the post-secondary system. In my ongoing discussions with the various university presidents and their senior officials, these issues come up meeting after meeting. I'm certainly not getting a sense from any of them that when money becomes available to take some action to alleviate some of those cost pressures that they need to have it reviewed before that happens. So each of those issues can actually - a strategy, and hopefully funding down the road would become available that can be applied to each of those issues.
None of the university presidents or administrators are suggesting to me that they don't know what the pressures and challenges are for their system. Believe me, they can easily identify and articulate those issues in meetings. So I think our current challenge is to free up enough money when our revenues start increasing again so that we can assist them with their plans and strategies to tackle.
The former government brought in a couple of initiatives to help deal with deferred - well, one in particular to deal with deferred maintenance, and certainly the stimulus money that has come down from the federal government for the universities has been applied to that pressure as well. So they know what the issues are. They have clearly explained them to me and my department. So as a government, over the next several years, we need to find the available funding to assist the universities to work towards alleviating some of that pressure.
MS. REGAN: Actually, one of those infrastructure projects is one I wanted to ask a couple of quick questions on. The Cape Breton University submitted an infrastructure proposal for the Centre for Sustainability in Energy & Environment. Part of the centre's mandate was to address environmental issues around the Sydney Tar Ponds. This project was denied while all other projects submitted by other universities were funded. I'm wondering why it was denied, and will your department look at funding the project at a later date?
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MS. MORE: The honourable member is correct. The Cape Breton University actually proposed two projects. The one, requiring $6 million, was approved. Then the university decided they would prefer to go with the larger initiative, which is at a cost of $15 million. We helped negotiate moving the originally approved $6 million into the larger project. Those discussions are ongoing and we're anticipating a favourable outcome, but not sure. As we often like to say in this House: soon, very soon.
MS. REGAN: At this time, I would like to move on to Labour and Workforce Development. I think we might have to have a little recess here?
MR. CHAIRMAN: The Minister of Education with some closing comments.
MS. MORE: Yes, I would like to make a few closing comments. I want to thank the members for their questions. I will ensure that any commitments we have made to the members for more information will be fulfilled. Perhaps I could table that package now.
Also, I would like to make an offer. If any member is interested in more information regarding the school board funding formula, my office would be pleased to set up a presentation with one or both of my colleagues to explain it further. I also want to thank Deputy Cochrane and Mr. Youden for helping me address the questions that have been put to me and their colleagues, both in the gallery and back at the Department of Education, for following the discussion and making sure any additional information is brought to the House in a timely fashion.
Mr. Chairman, Nova Scotia has an excellent education system that's the envy of other jurisdictions. While I can't take credit for it, except for perhaps my former school board days, I have to say it is a privilege and an honour to be the Minister of Education. I want to thank the dedicated teachers, professors, counsellors, administrators, bus drivers, support staff and many, many others involved in our education system for their ongoing efforts. Their commitment and passion are very much appreciated and they're a huge part of what makes Nova Scotia a learning province.
This budget, as you know, is largely a holdover from the previous government and I look forward to speaking to the Committee of the Whole House on Supply when my government's first budget is up for discussion next Spring.
At this time, I would ask that the proposed budgets for the Department of Education, for public education and assistance to universities, be passed. Thank you.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Shall Resolution E4 stand?
Resolution E4 stands.
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Resolution E5 - Resolved, that a sum not exceeding $455,802,000 be granted to the Lieutenant Governor to defray expenses in respect of Assistance to Universities, Department of Education, pursuant to the Estimate.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Shall Resolution E5 carry?
Resolution E5 is carried.
We will take a short break now as the minister will prepare for another departmental change. Stay tuned, we'll be right back.
[5:40 p.m. The committee recessed.]
[5:54 p.m. The committee reconvened.]
MR. CHAIRMAN: Order, please. I call the Committee of the Whole House on Supply back to order. We will now deal with the estimates of the Department of Labour and Workforce Development.
Resolution E14 - Resolved, that a sum not exceeding $160,859,000 be granted to the Lieutenant Governor to defray expenses in respect of the Department of Labour and Workforce Development, pursuant to the Estimate.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable Minister of Labour and Workforce Development.
HON. MARILYN MORE: Mr. Chairman, it is my honour to present you, my colleagues and the people of Nova Scotia with the details of this year's budget for the Department of Labour and Workforce Development. I would like to introduce the Deputy Minister, Margaret MacDonald, on my left, and Laurie Bennett who is the manager of Financial Services on my right. Also, I'd like to thank the staff from the department who are in the gallery and back at the department. They'll be listening very carefully in case there's any additional information that needs to be tabled. Thank you.
In its first year as a new department, 2008-09 has proven to be both a challenging and exciting time, with a vision of fairness, safety and prosperity for all Nova Scotians by living, learning and working to their highest potential. This department has made some accomplishments of which we are very proud, but perhaps even more importantly, we are very enthusiastic about this department's potential as we continue to bring out our best in training, skill development, education, regulation and compliance.
This is a department that is very focused on its priorities for today and its goals for tomorrow. Our government has been very clear in saying that this is largely the previous
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government's budget. Making substantive changes so late in the fiscal year is very difficult. Still I would like to share with you some changes from the previous budget.
Our federal funding transfers for this year will increase by $16.8 million for the Canada-Nova Scotia Labour Market Development Agreement, $8.2 million for the Canada- Nova Scotia Labour Market Agreement and $1.9 million for the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers as a result of the federal stimulus package. We are adding $200,000 in our share of the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers. I will expand on these points throughout my opening comments.
Now I will highlight some of this department's accomplishments and some of our priorities and goals. As well, I will touch on some of the groundwork to achieve a made-in-Nova Scotia approach to align training and skill development with economic needs. We provide learning opportunities to help individuals play a greater role in their communities and with their families. We protect Nova Scotians' employment rights and their health and safety at work. This department touches Nova Scotians at work, at home, in their leisure activities and in their pursuit of lifelong learning.
Nova Scotians have high expectations for this government and the workings of this department. They look to my department to achieve workplace fairness and safety to help them in times of workforce transition in these tough economic times. The staff at Labour and Workforce Development accept this challenge.
A couple of months ago, on July 1st, my department took over responsibility for the development and delivery of skills and employment training under the Employment Insurance Act that was previously delivered by the federal government. This is the essence of the Labour Market Development Agreement which was signed in June 2008. A second agreement, the Labour Market Agreement, was also signed in June 2008. The Labour Market Agreement, commonly referred to as LMA, is a federal-provincial funding envelope designed to help people who are not eligible for employment insurance programming to join, or rejoin, the workforce. It has a particular emphasis on removing barriers to people being or becoming employed.
Under these two agreements the Government of Canada will transfer more than $0.5 billion to the province over a six-year period that began in 2008. At the end of the six years, the current Labour Market Agreement will expire, while the Labour Market Development Agreement will continue indefinitely.
Our department created a new division, Employment Nova Scotia, to develop and coordinate the resources needed to meet our commitments under these two agreements. This division works closely with other departments to improve employment outcomes for Nova Scotians. Employment Nova Scotia has offices across the province ready to serve clients who are eligible for our programming.
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In 2009-10 Nova Scotians will receive $98 million under the Labour Market Development Agreement. This is made up of an annual base allocation of $81 million and includes the additional $16.8 million from the federal stimulus package.
[6:00 p.m.]
The LMDA - Labour Market Development Agreement - funding eligibility and programming are targeted to unemployed individuals who are EI-eligible. Under the second agreement, the Labour Market Agreement, Nova Scotia will receive $27 million, which includes a base allocation of $14 million, unallocated funding deferred from last year, and an additional $8 million from the Strategic Training and Transition Fund. The Labour Market Agreement provides us the flexibility and the opportunity to target programs and services for those who are not EI-eligible.
For the current fiscal year, we expect to invest our $18.8 million Labour Market Agreement allocation as follows: $5.5 million to enhance client access, $6 million for skill development, $4.3 million for workforce attachment and retention, and $3 million for workforce development. An additional $8.2 million from the federal stimulus package will be invested to help workers, communities and employers affected by the downturn in the economy.
These funds will enable the Department of Labour and Workforce Development to work with other departments to address workforce needs in the changing economic climate and to respond to industries experiencing challenges. Funding from these agreements also supports the province's Poverty Reduction Strategy, positioning Nova Scotians to break free from the cycle of poverty.
A great example of this is my department's One Journey: Work & Learn program. This program is delivered in partnership with the Department of Community Services, business, industry and community agencies. Participants who successfully complete industry-approved, job-specific training, move into jobs with partnering industries and employers. Eighty per cent of participants in One Journey are employed.
Part of our workforce is made up of older workers. Some of us here today may shudder when I define an older worker as aged 55 and over. Through the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers my department, in partnership with the federal government, provides unemployed older workers with the skills they need to return to the workforce. Since 2007, 23 projects have helped close to 300 older workers in Nova Scotia. More than 40 per cent were hired, started or are starting their own business and dozens are pursuing further training or have acquired better job-seeking skills.
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I'm happy to report that this successful program has been extended for three more years. My department will contribute $200,000 annually over the next three years, leveraging more than $1 million a year from the federal government.
I'm going to switch gears slightly and focus on another important priority of this government and my department, workplace safety. Last year there were 29 workplace fatalities in Nova Scotia, the highest number since 1992. This number is unacceptable. The Occupational Health and Safety Division continues to work tirelessly with the Workers' Compensation Board and other partners in workplace safety to bring that number to the only acceptable level, zero.
My department recently announced an administrative penalty system under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Currently, compliance is achieved through education, promotion, enforcement and prosecution. While these approaches have had some success, more needs to be done. The administrative penalty system will encourage greater compliance. Safety is a shared responsibility. All Nova Scotians will benefit from greater compliance with our health and safety legislation.
Safety in general is an extremely important element of our work. Included in that is fire safety. Every day volunteer firefighters put their lives on the line to protect Nova Scotians. We regularly work with stakeholders, including professional and volunteer firefighters, to keep them current with best practices. We also help municipal fire services with their recruitment and retention efforts. This money, $145,000, will support these efforts in rural Nova Scotia.
I'd like to take a moment to talk about legislation that focuses on labour mobility. The Fair Registration Practices Act supports best practices in regulated occupations. This year, $110,000 will be dedicated to a fair practices office. This initiative will promote fairness in Nova Scotia and ensure that new immigrants and new workers understand which credentials they need to have work here. The office will also ensure that a proper appeals process is in place.
During the Department of Labour and Workforce Development's strategic planning process last year, concerns were raised around areas within the department that were under-resourced. The department was reorganized to achieve the desired outcomes of that strategic plan. This year, $293,000 will be reallocated to improve policy and communications within the department. Additional resources will also be dedicated to the conciliation services. This will build more sustainable capacity for conciliation services within the labour services branch. Labour services' conciliation capacity will be increased through a $200,000 investment. These conciliators will help to maintain a stable labour environment we enjoy in this province. This will let us continue to position ourselves as a forward-thinking department, equipped to address the challenges and opportunities for a changing economy.
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Earlier I mentioned that this department touches on many aspects of Nova Scotian life, including leisure activities. The Atlantic Lottery regulations are a good example. These regulations will restore players' confidence in the lottery system and better protect Nova Scotians and retailers. All ticket and on-line games offered by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation will be covered by these regulations; video lottery terminals will be excluded. The Alcohol and Gaming Division of the department will oversee and enforce the regulations. New staff will be hired at a cost of $250,000 to implement and enforce these regulations.
Our government is committed to ensuring that legalized gambling is conducted in a responsible and regulated manner. We are implementing a $100 annual fee for video lottery terminals to help the province recover some of the costs of regulating 1,594 VLTs in 225 establishments across the province. The 629 VLTs at 139 establishments with club licences will be exempt from the VLT fee. These machines are in Legions, volunteer fire departments, social clubs, et cetera.
In conclusion, thank you for the opportunity to share the many successes we've achieved in our first year and the many goals we hope to achieve in the future. I would be pleased to take questions now. Thank you.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable member for Bedford-Birch Cove.
MS. KELLY REGAN: Mr. Chairman, I guess first of all I'll deal with the issue that's on everyone's minds tonight, and that would be the looming strike date being set for the community college. The other day, when the president of the college sent out an e-mail - which I did table here in the House - to her colleagues from the college, she indicated that the operating budget for the college had, in fact, been cut. I'm just wondering if that's so, and if so, by how much and what was it cut to?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I just want to explain to the honourable member that the community college funding for the operation of the community college system comes out of the Department of Education budget. I understood we were starting the Department of Labour and Workforce Development, but I believe I know part of the answer, so I will attempt to answer it.
The amount submitted by the board of governors and administration of the college differed from the amount that was granted by, I believe, about $1 million. They did get an increase this year, and I know that my officials who are in the post-secondary education division are working with the administration of the college to verify why the additional $1 million was requested and what that was meant to cover. That clarification is currently going on, but the community college system did receive an increase, even without considering that amount of money over last year, but I don't have those materials with me and I'd be pleased to get additional information and table it. Thank you.
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MS. REGAN: Throughout this whole process I've been a little mystified by why, if in the past the government has always settled with the NSTU, the public school teachers, first and then has proceeded to give the same raise to the college teachers, why they would not have done the same thing this year. If they felt, in fact, that was too generous a raise to give to these 900 teachers after giving it to many more teachers, why wouldn't they have had a smaller raise in the first place?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, again, this is a question for the Department of Education, and I don't have those background materials with me, but it's my understanding that there was no agreement with the former government during their deliberations during the collective bargaining process that would lead to a settlement for year one and year two. That was an outstanding negotiation that our new government inherited, and the collective bargaining process is continuing as it's designed to do. Some of those questions obviously could be answered more specifically by the former government, but that might have been a question I could give you more detail if it had been raised during the Education estimates. Thank you.
MS. REGAN: The minister has stated in her role as the Minister of Education that she understands the anxiety of students and their families. Do you understand the anxiety the entire province is feeling now about a looming strike, the first-ever teachers' strike in this province?
[6:15 p.m.]
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, yes, as I've answered many times during various proceedings of this Legislature, I do understand the impact of a potential strike. Certainly my government values the collective bargaining process. It was designed and is continuing in the way that it was meant to. It allows the employer and the employees to sit down with one another at a bargaining table and work out their differences so that they can hopefully arrive at a mutually acceptable result that would be in their best interests and the best interests of the citizens of Nova Scotia. I think it is critical, as Minister of Labour and Workforce Development, to not get involved in that process and to ensure that it continues, or encourage the parties, actually, to get back to the table. You can't resolve your differences if you're not talking to one another.
As I've said many times before, I understand, I value both sides in this situation. I have the utmost respect for the faculty and professional staff at the Nova Scotia Community College as I do for the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. They're all reasonable people and I do encourage them to get back to the table, sit down and discuss this matter. It's in their best interests and also the thousands of students who feel threatened and anxious about the outcome of the process. So there's not much more I can say. It's an important process and it's a hard-won right of the workers of this province. It has worked exceedingly well in
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labour negotiations for hundreds of years and I just encourage people to sit down and talk to one another.
MS. REGAN: Mr. Chairman, I find it interesting that the Minister of Education has stated that the collective bargaining process has worked well and the process of the government is going to respect and honour this process and allow it to continue. The problem is that when you put on your Minister of Labour and Workforce Development hat, I mean if you look at this process critically, it is not proceeding well. They're not at the bargaining table. The Teachers Union is going to set a strike date this evening. So I do not understand how you can say that the process is working well when, in fact, what we are well on the road to is our first-ever teachers' strike in the province. So now that, as the Education Minister you haven't stepped in, now with your Labour and Workforce Development hat on, will you step in to get the two sides back to the table?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, taking a strike vote and making a decision about whether or not to go out on strike are actually parts of the process. When I say it's working well, by that I mean we're not having political interference, that the process is going through the steps as they are designed to. Certainly, as Minister of Labour and Workforce Development, I support the process but also, both sides realize that they have access to conciliation through the department, they've used it over the summer and I would certainly encourage them to take advantage of that stage in the discussion as well. Thank you.
MS. REGAN: I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear what you said at one point. Was it something about - you said this was part of the bargaining process and there was no "something" interference? I just didn't hear the phrase you used.
MS. MORE: Yes, I was just explaining what I meant when I said it was working well. The process is evolving step by step as it is designed and set out in legislation. What I suggested was that political interference is a way of it not working well. When I say it's working well, I mean it's following the process as it's designed in the legislation. My government intends to stay out of it and encourage the two sides to come together and to reconcile their differences. Thank you.
MS. REGAN: Well, with great respect, I do realize that the Minister of Education and the Minister of Labour and Workforce Development has in fact stayed out of it. But I would put to you that, in fact, the Deputy Premier has not stayed out of it and the Premier has not stayed out of it. We've had two conflicting versions of the concept du jour happening here. We have the Deputy Premier saying that it's 1 per cent and that's it; we have the Premier saying maybe that's not exactly it. So I would put to you that there has, in fact, been political interference and that you might as well join in with the rest of them because everybody else seems to be doing it.
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Will you admit that by allowing this strike to take place and letting students sit at home, who are not going to meet their course criteria, you're actually inhibiting the workforce in Nova Scotia?
MS. MORE: I fully understand the impact a potential strike would have on the lives and education of the students currently attending the community college as well as the disruption it would bring to the faculty and professional staff. I am not going to change the process. I am not going to negotiate, here on the floor, with the honourable member. She knows my views on all of these questions, so if she'd like to put her points in Hansard, I encourage her to make her statement, but my answer is not going to change. Thank you.
MS. REGAN: Thank you, minister, for indulging me for putting my views on record then. I've been the member of three unions and, over the years, I have to say I never heard anyone in any of the three unions I was involved in - one of them was an extremely large union - I never heard anyone really refer to a strike as part of the collective bargaining process. It was the breakdown of the collective bargaining process. It was when the process failed. I fail to see how going on strike is part of the collective bargaining process, that's when the collective bargaining process is broken.
My question to the minister is, how are your government's actions actually helping more NSCC students graduate and enter the workforce?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I feel I must remind the honourable member that we're doing the Budget Estimates for the Department of Labour and Workforce Development and it is my responsibility to protect the collective bargaining process. I'm not going to stand on the floor of this House and suggest that withdrawing services is not part of the collective bargaining process nor am I going to say that faculty and professional staff shouldn't have an opportunity to negotiate their salaries and benefits. So this is the process, as I said earlier, that has worked very well throughout the history of the labour movement in Nova Scotia, and we'll just have to wait to see what the outcome is. If we interfere with the process, then perhaps government needs to micromanage all of these things and not let the employer and employees reach conclusions using the process.
MS. REGAN: Well, Mr. Chairman, that's not what the teachers who are calling me and writing me are saying. They can't understand why this department has let it get so far, why they are actually going to be going out on strike, I'm assuming next week, because you've had this laissez-faire attitude and you're just letting this happen. I have to say I'm frankly stunned that a strike is listed as being part of the collective bargaining process. So in today's edition of The ChronicleHerald, the Deputy Premier made it clear that the government is getting involved simply by writing the letter that he did. He said: I remain hopeful that the parties will agree to go back to the table so they can reach an agreement, but the plain truth is that wage settlements of the past three years are not affordable today.
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Does this not confirm what we have been saying all along - that the government does have an important role to play in this situation? My question to the Minister of Labour and Workforce Development is, since a strike is imminent, will you engage the union and resolve this matter to avoid a strike that will affect thousands of students and thousands of workers?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, as Minister of Labour and Workforce Development I cannot force any group to do anything. My role is to protect the process through which they can come together with the assistance of conciliation, or whatever other support service they may ask for as part of the collective bargaining process, to allow them as reasonable adults to sit down together and to work out their differences and come up with a conclusion that both sides can live with.
MS. REGAN: The Deputy Premier continues to remark: Other governments have legislated wage freezes or rollbacks; this government has rejected those measures. He made this statement in late September as well. Is that your position as well?
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable Minister of Labour and Workforce Development would ask that you repeat the question, she didn't hear it, please.
MS. REGAN: The Deputy Premier continues to remark: Other governments have legislated wage freezes or rollbacks; this government has rejected those measures. He made this statement in late September. Is that your position, as well, Madam Minister?
MR. CHAIRMAN: Order, please. I was wondering if some of the members in the Chamber this evening would mind taking their conversations outside. The minister and also the honourable member are having problems hearing, so I would remind you to take your conversations outside at this time. Thank you.
[6:30 p.m.]
MS. MORE: Within my role as Minister of Labour and Workforce Development, my responsibility is to ensure that the supports and services are there for both sides to reach their own settlement. That is the only decision-making role I have as minister.
MS. REGAN: I would put to you that the 1 per cent increase the government is offering is in fact a rollback for workers because in Nova Scotia, prices, excluding energy, increased 1.8 per cent from 2008 to 2009 and food prices increased 5.2 per cent from 2008 to 2009. With respect to food inflation, for example in Nova Scotia, a 1 per cent wage increase is in fact a rollback, especially for those who are on the lower end of the wage scale since they're going to have to use more of their income to pay for food. Will the minister admit this wage increase is, in fact, a rollback, and I'm wondering, did you, as Minister of Labour and Workforce Development, have input on the decision to make that increase 1 per cent? If not, why not?
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MS. MORE: I just want to remind the honourable member that, as I've explained several times here already, my role as Minister of Labour and Workforce Development is to support the parties in reaching their own settlement. I'm protecting the process and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on those while this process is underway. Thank you.
MS. REGAN: I'm just wondering, what will your government do to get the parties back to the bargaining table and resolve a strike, should it occur?
MS. MORE: I fear I'm repeating myself, but I just want to remind the honourable member that as Minister of Labour and Workforce Development, I'm honouring the process. Certainly if and when the two parties are interested in conciliation or mediation, I would ensure those services would be available through the department. Thank you.
MS. REGAN: I'm not sure I'm any the wiser after that exchange, but we'll plow on. I'd like now to move to the Chignecto-Central strike. I'm just wondering, are there any contingency plans should that occur? What is your plan to transport children should we have a strike?
MS. MORE: As Minister of Labour and Workforce Development, I have no role in that situation. That question perhaps could have been raised during the Education budget and, you know, if you want to sit down, I'd be pleased to answer it another time. But I have my Labour and Workforce Development hat on, I have that staff here, those budget books are open.
MS. REGAN: Quite right, minister. Now that Labour and Workforce Development is its own department, what action has your government taken in order to keep Nova Scotians working in Nova Scotia?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, this actually would take considerable time to answer, so perhaps I'll just briefly say that we're doing a number of initiatives on a number of different fronts to ensure that we have as well-trained, knowledgeable, skilled, and literate a workforce as possible to match the job opportunities that are becoming available. Certainly, you know, through our apprenticeship programs, through working with employers and the Nova Scotia Community College, we're also encouraging employers to do as much on-site training in-house to upgrade the skills of their current workforce.
We're making sure that we do all the research possible to provide the best available information on demographics and labour-force statistics so that students in high school, community college, and universities are best able to match their particular interest and skills to the job openings. It goes on and on and on, but certainly the funding that we're getting federally from the Labour Market Development Agreement and that Labour Market Development Agreement added to the investments that the provincial government is making through its provincial budget are all helping to achieve a better-trained and safer workforce
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in this province. So if you have a specific question, I might be able to give a little more detail.
MS. REGAN: Well, actually I was hoping that you would give me that, that you would tell me what the various initiatives were rather than sort of a big overview. We're here to ask for estimates, we're here to ask for details - that's why we're here.
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I would be pleased to give additional details. I certainly outlined a number of them in my opening comments. I'm going to refer to some of them in answer to the honourable member. One example is my department's One Journey: Work and Learn program. As I mentioned earlier, this program is delivered in partnership with the Department of Community Services, and business, industry, and community agencies are also involved in the partnership. Participants who successfully complete industry-approved job-specific training move into jobs with partnering industries and employers. I'm very pleased to report that 80 per cent of the participants in One Journey: Work and Learn program are employed.
Another very exciting initiative is an older workers program. As I mentioned earlier, this applies to Nova Scotians aged 55 and over, so I must say, that includes a considerable portion of our population. It's the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers and my department is working in partnership with the federal government. We're providing older workers with the skills that they need to return to the workforce. Since 2007, 23 projects have helped close to 300 older workers in Nova Scotia. More than 40 per cent of those have started, or are in the process of starting, their own business and dozens more are pursuing further training and have acquired better job-seeking skills. This successful program has actually been extended for three more years.
Another exciting initiative is one called Parents as Career Coaches. It was piloted a few years ago in the Nova Scotia Community College. Parents were asking for assistance in being more knowledgeable in terms of what advice they can give their children who wanted to make course selections and move into certain pathways towards certain careers. So in 2006, Labour and Workforce Development purchased the program and they engaged Career and Transition Services to deliver the program to the parents of students enrolled in the Options and Opportunities Program, O2, in the public school system.
During that first pilot year 120 parents and 16 schools participated. There was a huge demand for the program so the next year it was then offered to all high schools in the province. This year 33 schools and 500 parents participated in the Parents as Career Coaches - sorry, that was in 2007-08 - and last year 33 schools and over 600 parents participated. So it's obviously a very popular program. Parents and guardians take the kind of advice and encouragement they give their young people very seriously as they are making these very important decisions during this crucial transition time and they seem very appreciative of having the latest in demographic and labour market studies so that they can be a true support
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to their children in this process. So perhaps I'll stop there but those are just some examples of the kinds of innovative and critical programming that's going on through the department.
MS. REGAN: Thank you, minister, that was the kind of detail I was looking for. We need nurse practitioners and other health care professionals here in the province but they're slipping away to other provinces and even the United States. I'm wondering, what's the plan from the Department of Labour and Workforce Development in terms of creating job opportunities for health care professionals in Nova Scotia and keeping them here?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I don't have all the details but certainly we're partnering with other provincial departments such as Community Services and Health to encourage marginalized groups of Nova Scotians to get training in those areas through the community college system. There's additional funding now available through the federal transfer of funding to our department to really focus on bringing under-represented groups into some of those training programs. That would include groups such as Aboriginals, women, African Nova Scotians, persons with disabilities, people who have immigrated to our province. Those are potential areas where we can get a lot of skilled workers with the appropriate programming who are currently living in our province. We need to enhance their opportunities to move into the workforce and be either re-engaged or engaged in paid employment. Thank you.
[6:45 p.m.]
MS. REGAN: Thank you, minister. I'd like to move now to the Building for Growth sessions and the support teams for lay-offs. The province held Building for Growth regional information sessions throughout the province this Spring. These sessions covered career development and training as well as talent development for employers. I'm wondering how many people attended these sessions, and is this something the government will continue to do with jobs losses affecting every corner of our province?
MS. MORE: I appreciate the recognition from the honourable member that it was a very successful strategy, and we will be reviewing the results and evaluating it in terms of whether or not to continue it. But it was very popular and reached a broad array of citizens in various parts of the province.
I also want to mention at the same time our worker transition services. These are available when there are what we call shifting labour market requirements. It may include setting up interim transition centres; it also covers career development and exploration, literacy, and essential skills training and retraining. Often we have these sort of critical needs teams around the province so that if we hear there's going to be a potential closure or a lay-off or some sort of major transition within a certain sector, these teams can immediately be rallied and meet with the workers, and based on the kind of input and where they want to go and what sort of training and up-skilling they require, they can provide those services.
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I believe it runs - it's interdepartmental, so we have the advantage of working with other departments as well. I've had some personal experience - that kind of initiative came into effect with the closure of the Moirs factory in my own constituency. I must admit, this was my first exposure to the worker transition service program, and I was extremely impressed. I had a chance to talk to a number of the workers who took part. These were workers with very different needs; some of them had university degrees, some had graduated from high school, and the programs and services were tailored for their specific needs and the gaps in their learning and education. Many of them found employment in other areas of the community.
It seems to work extremely well, and I want to give full credit to the departments and all the people who rally around a potential closure or change in the workforce status. Thank you.
MS. REGAN: Acrobat Research Limited of Mississauga stated recently that they're laying off all 48 workers at their Canso call centre and all 38 people at their Cheticamp unit as of October 29th. I'm wondering, what will the province do to help these 86 people who have lost their jobs? Will one of these critical need teams be going there? Can we expect that kind of assistance?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, yes, the worker transition services that I just described are currently in effect in those two areas working with those workers and, you know, I'm assuming it's going to have as positive an outcome as it did with the Moirs manufacturing plant.
MS. REGAN: Mr. Chairman, we know that a workers' support team arrived in Kentville in January of this year and met with staff affected by the layoffs at ACA Co-operative Limited and Eastern Protein Foods. The team was led by Labour and Workforce Development and Service Canada; it includes the Departments of Economic and Rural Development, Community Services, and Kings Community Economic Development Agency. So I'm just wondering, what did this support team accomplish, what was its purpose - I mean obviously to get them back to work, but anything beyond that - and how many people laid off from these plants were successful in finding employment again? I guess from that answer I'll know whether you think it's effective or not.
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I'm sure the honourable member recognizes that as minister I don't get involved in that level of detail of operation, but certainly I can find out the information and either table it here in the House or arrange a meeting with our executive director of Workforce Development so you can get those details.
MS. REGAN: On July 1st ,under a federal-provincial agreement, Nova Scotia took on responsibility for training and skills development under the federal Employment Insurance Act. Now, this agreement will help Nova Scotia develop training and other programs to
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strengthen the provincial workforce and meet the demands of a changing economy. I'm just wondering, has this transition been smooth and is the province meeting its mandate in this transition?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I apologize for the delay. Yes, the devolution went extremely well. I was very privileged, actually, to attend a reception to thank a number of the key organizers for that transition. I was very impressed. I think about 77 of the approximately 100 federal staff decided to work for the provincial government and so we've had significant openings or job opportunities to fill in the other positions. By all accounts, the transition has gone extremely smoothly. I couldn't begin to describe the complexity and the number of decisions that had to be made to allow that to happen so smoothly, but I do congratulate all those involved.
We now have 77 former federal employees who have been integrated extremely well into the program here in Nova Scotia and they're providing incredible service. So we're very delighted and this is certainly going to be a huge bonus for workers in our province.
MS. REGAN: I would like to move on to the Workers' Compensation Board and here in Nova Scotia our WCB reported a total comprehensive loss of $248.6 million in its 2008 annual report. Now, that compares with a $103.5 million loss in 2007. The board says the increase was due to the volatility in global financial markets which affected WCB's investment portfolio. It says it maintains a diversified investment portfolio to balance returns and risks. The 2008 loss and ongoing financial challenges are also making it difficult for the board to maintain its strategy for the eventual elimination of its unfunded liability. I'm wondering, is the government aware of this critical situation facing the Workers' Compensation Board?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, certainly the government, and actually all members of this House, are very aware because I just tabled last week, I believe, the quarterly report from the Workers' Compensation Board. Their current situation and plans for the future, they're very transparent about them. They make quarterly reports to this House and I also have had several meetings with the executive director. I just met recently with the interim chair of the board and probably will be meeting with the members of the board when the session is finished.
As the honourable member can appreciate, it's a bit of an arm's-length board. It's set up under legislation but, as I said, they're very transparent about their operations and if it's any sort of barometer of how well things are going, I must say as an MLA in my own constituency office, I have fewer and fewer complaints coming in about the Workers' Compensation Board. So I'm assuming that considerable progress is being made in terms of improving that safety net for insured workers in this province and I want to commend them. Certainly their investments have suffered the same way all investments have in the current
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economic situation, but they're very experienced, they have a recovery plan, and I have full confidence that their assets will rise very quickly.
MS. REGAN: I would like to move on to some issues surrounding injury. The rate of injury, according to the WCB, went from 2.57 persons - sorry, I better go back here a bit. The number of people who were injured on the job in 2008 was 31,753 compared with the 2007 total of 32,030. The rate of injury went from 2.57 in 2007 to 2.48 in 2008. Now, the reduced number of workers injured on the job is really important, and it shouldn't be underplayed, but the fact remains that 29 Nova Scotian workers died while on the job last year and nine of them were in the fishing industry. The Workers' Compensation Board is encouraging the creation of a safety association within the fishing industry. Can you tell us anything about the creation of this safety association dedicated to the fishing industry and is there anything that your department is doing to expedite its creation?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, yes, I do have some information for the honourable member about the Fisheries Safety Association. There are several others. This one, I think, is probably one of the more recent safety associations. In 2007 there were actually over 800 injuries in the fishing sector and from 2006-07 there were 391 person years lost to workplace injury in that industry. The injury rate - no surprise from those stats, actually - in the fishing industry is among the highest in Canada.
[7:00 p.m.]
The department is working with the fishing industry to set up this safety association because not only are they concerned about the individual loss of life and injuries on the job, but this affects the rate at which they're assessed as well. They have many reasons to want to work together to encourage and support each other in a safety association, to raise awareness, to raise standards, to raise safety practices and to decrease those statistics. They're highly motivated and the Workers' Compensation Board give them full co-operation and support. Thank you.
MS. REGAN: I'm just wondering what specific steps is your department taking to help them create this safety association? I'm glad everybody's co-operating, but I'm wondering what exactly it is that your department is doing.
MS. MORE: As minister, I don't have that level of detail. These are collaborations between the sector and the Workers' Compensation Board, but if the honourable member is interested in sitting down, I could arrange a briefing. It's been a very successful model and I just want to mention some of the other sectors in Nova Scotia that have safety associations as well.
There's the Trucking Safety Association, the Construction Safety Association, the Retail Gasoline Dealers Association have one and there's one for the forestry sector and now
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the fishing sector. They've been very effective in lowering accidents and death rates within their sectors and certainly in lowering their assessment fees.
MS. REGAN: I think that pretty much wraps up what I have to ask. I'd like to think the minister for attempting to answer my various questions.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable member for Cape Breton West.
MR. ALFIE MACLEOD: I will be sharing my time with the honourable member for Argyle. Madam Minister, there is an increase of $26.8 million from what we tabled in our budget in May compared to the budget that was tabled on September 24th in the Department of Labour and Workforce Development. Could the minister please outline where the extra $26.8 million in expenditures is?
MS. MORE: It's accounted for by the federal funding transfers. They increased by $16.8 million for the LMDA, the Labour Market Development Agreement; $8.2 million for the LMA, the Labour Market Agreement; $1.9 million for the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers, which was part of the federal stimulus package. The province is adding $200,000 as our share for the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers.
MR. MACLEOD: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Madam Minister, could you expand a little bit on what exactly is going to take place with the program for targeted older workers?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I would be delighted to give a few details about the targeted initiative for older workers - $200,000. I just want to remind people, as I mentioned earlier, that the definition of an older worker for this program is age 55 and older. We will be partnering with the federal government and it provides unemployed, older workers with the skills that they need to return to the workforce. Since 2007 there have been 23 projects that have helped close to 300 older workers in Nova Scotia and more than 40 per cent of those have started, or are currently in the process of starting their own business, so they're very entrepreneurial, and dozens are pursuing further training or have acquired better job-seeking skills as a result of their involvement in this targeted initiative.
MR. MACLEOD: Thank you, Madam Minister, for that. You say that a number of these people have been involved in retraining. Would they be retrained using the community colleges as a part of that?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I don't have a lot of details on that but I believe community groups can apply for some of this funding and provide that training within the community. It may be in some regions of the province that it does involve the community college system. Certainly if the honourable member is interested, I can get additional
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information and table it or set up a meeting so you could get more details from the people actually involved in the operation and application screening process for that program.
MR. MACLEOD: Mr. Chairman, yes, I would be interested in sitting down with some people and just getting a better understanding of that program because, as we all know, a lot of the workforce is growing older and you said it's for people 55 and over, we're all getting there sooner than later, so it would be of interest to me.
Maybe just to change gears a little bit, your department is also responsible for the Fire Marshal's Office. Bob Cormier does an excellent job there, but I've heard that he's talking about assisting Nova Scotia's volunteer fire departments with their recruiting process. I wonder does this mean he's just simply talking to them or does he have a budget that can help them with their training and other needs because, today, when you have a volunteer firefighter, they have to go out and they have to get their Level One and there's an expense to that. Sometimes it's a deterrent for some of the departments. (Interruption) It's about $2,000 to get a Level One accreditation.
MS. MORE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a little bit of information on it. As the honourable member probably recognizes, the volunteer fire departments are a municipal responsibility, so the Fire Marshal's Office would be helping more on the training side. They may be offering advice and information on the best practices around recruitment and how to train new volunteer fire department members, but they wouldn't be providing any money for that, with the individual volunteer fire departments.
However, the department does make an annual contribution to the Waverley fire training facility. I believe that the department does occasionally enter into discussions with individual fire chiefs around the province as to specific training needs and requirements. So I suggest it is a continuum of support and those might be some of the specific examples. Thank you.
MR. MACLEOD: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and Madam Minister, thank you for that answer. We've talked a lot about the community college facilities and the talks have broken down. You've mentioned on several occasions in this House about allowing the process to take its natural course.
My question to you is, once it has taken its natural course and talks have broken down, the Department of Labour offers different services for - it doesn't matter what organization or strike situation looms, the department has a role to play at that stage.
What role do you see for the Department of Labour and Workforce Development when it comes to a situation like we have right now with our community colleges, where nobody is at the table, they are not talking. Where do we go from here? What role does Labour and Workforce Development have in that?
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MS. MORE: Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I've explained, the process has various steps and certainly taking a strike vote and going out on strike are parts of that process. At all times, through the Department of Labour and Workforce Development, there is access to conciliation services and both sides know that. It happens even informally, it doesn't necessarily have to happen at the table, so either side can be talking to a conciliator.
I, as minister, certainly would not be aware of that because that would be interfering with the process. Conciliation and mediation are two areas where the department can offer its expertise in terms of facilitating a conclusion to their discussions. As I've said, many, many times I'm really encouraging both sides to get together and continue to talk because when they're not talking to one another, nothing can be resolved. So I would say conciliation and mediation, at this stage, are services that they know are ongoing and can be accessed at any time of the night or day. Thank you.
MR. MACLEOD: Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thank you, Madam Minister. I guess the question is, with all that has been going on this last week, with all the talk of the potential strike, with all the challenges that you have because you wear two hats and both hats have an involvement with what is going on with the community college, have you as minister offered the services of your Department of Labour and Workforce Development when it comes to conciliation or mediation?
MS. MORE: Thank you, Mr. Chair. As minister, that would be very inappropriate for me to do. I know that my staff are doing their jobs. They've had long experience in working with employers and employees and helping them through the collective bargaining process. I have full confidence that my staff are available to either and both sides, as needed. Thank you.
[7:15 p.m.]
MR. MACLEOD: Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Madam Minister. I have the greatest faith in the world in your staff as well, but you have a responsibility - with the other hat you wear - to make sure that these people receive their education, to make sure that there isn't a work stoppage. So I fail to understand how it would be inappropriate for a minister to offer the services of a department which is there for the people of the Province of Nova Scotia, regardless of what the situation.
You have the ability to offer the service; you are aware of a service that is required by a group of people. Why is it inappropriate for you to ask those people to receive such a service? I don't understand that.
MS. MORE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Both sides in this situation are very well aware of what services are available. They've accessed them in the past, and I cannot force
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any body, organization, union, or group of people in this province to accept assistance or help. They know it's there. I encourage them to use it.
You're asking me these questions, I know, in my role as minister. I take my responsibilities very, very seriously, I'm receiving expert advice from my staff on what is appropriate, and I have full confidence that at all levels of the department my staff are doing the appropriate and necessary thing to help when asked in this situation, but I certainly can't step in and mandate a solution.
The collective bargaining process is an honoured way of resolving differences in this province. It has worked extremely well for over 100 years, and I have faith that reasonable people will sit down together and talk through their situation and arrive at an acceptable ending point for them and the students in this province. Thank you.
MR. MACLEOD: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Minister, there is no doubt in my mind about how sincere you are about your job and how seriously you take it - none whatsoever. At no time did I mention that I wanted you to force anybody to do anything. At no time did I say I wanted you to mandate anyone to do anything. What I asked was, have you offered the services of your department to these people? That's all I want to know. I did not say "force," I did not say "mandate." Have you offered the service, and that, Madam Minister, is in your mandate.
MS. MORE: I guess what I'm struggling with, Mr. Chairman, is the definition of "you," and that's why I was trying to explain the difference between me, as a single person, and "you" - the "you" being my role as Minister of Labour and Workforce Development. Certainly my department are the arms and legs of the minister, and they have offered those services, they're well-known to both parties in this situation, so I'm not clear on how specific the honourable member is trying to be. If he means did I personally go meet with either side and offer those services? No. But have those services been offered through staff in the department? Yes.
MR. MACLEOD: See, that was easy. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I don't have the button that they have on the Staples commercial to say that was easy.
What we needed to know, or what I needed to know, was indeed that the services have been offered. Madam Minister, the way I understand how things work around here is if something went wrong, it's your fault, so if something went right, it also should be credited to you. If the department has offered those services, then yes, you've done it as minister, and that was what I was getting at.
With that, I appreciate your answer very much. I am going to turn over the rest of my time to my colleague from Argyle.
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HON. CHRISTOPHER D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Chairman, it's my pleasure to stand and speak for a few moments on the Department of Labour and Workforce Development. We know the time is getting late, and I thank the minister and her staff for being here and maybe answering tedious questions, but I think they're all important questions. I know the member for Cape Breton West is trying to get to the root of the issue. The challenge, I think, that you as minister are going to find yourself in is this sort of dual role that you do have. You are a Minister of Education and responsible for the community college, but at the same time you're the Minister of Labour and Workforce Development, responsible for the Trade Union Act. Through those two pieces, there's going to be some conversations with yourself to try to come up with the solutions.
Yes, we know conciliation, I think, had already been offered at some point, and the next piece along is going to be arbitration. I think what the member for Cape Breton West was coming to was, has arbitration been offered? If arbitration has been offered, is it binding arbitration, is it - I mean, there are a number of permutations of arbitration. Has that come into the discussion? I know we'll probably talk about this during emergency debate later on today, but maybe just as a quick question and then I'll move on from there and maybe ask some more questions to different divisions of your department.
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, as I understand it, at this stage in the collective bargaining process, conciliation and mediation are services that my department can offer both the employer and the employees.
MR. D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Chairman, having had the opportunity to sit at Labour Committee on a number of occasions, talking about impending strikes and collective agreements coming to a close and offers and all that stuff, I know the challenge that this is going to present - one that will take a lot of work on behalf of the Labour Committee to make sure that the right offers are put out there - but at the same time, your role as Minister responsible for the Trade Union Act is going to, I think, challenge you in a way.
I remember the discussions that I would have with the previous minister, Mark Parent, and he always tried to keep his role pure when it came to the dealings with unions. He was the Minister responsible for the Trade Union Act, but in his particular case, he wasn't the Minister of Education at the same time. I think those dual roles will find yourself - not in difficulty, necessarily, but a challenge I think at times over the next number of days.
Anyway, let's go back maybe to ask a few things about the budget, then I've got a couple of questions on some programming. I know the member for Cape Breton West asked about the $2.8 million and what we're seeing is that your FTE count has changed from 272 to 270. Could you maybe bring us up to date on what happened to those two jobs?
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MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I can give the explanation initially for one. Originally when the Fair Practice office and review, the review staff - there were two people, and now that it's operating there is one person doing that job.
We'll identify the second one and table that information. I was just guessing - I don't know. I had mentioned earlier that 77 of the federal staff moved over to the provincial staff, but about 25 people chose not to come. Whether or not some of those positions or one of those positions might still be outstanding I'm not sure, but we'll get that information and table it. Thank you.
MR. D'ENTREMONT: I would also probably surmise from that that even though there is a $26.8 million increase to the budget - I'm thinking that's the transfer programming that continues to come from the federal government - there's a considerable drop in program - not a considerable, but a drop in administration expenses from about $826,000 to $717,000. I'm probably guessing that's that one job, and maybe a couple of ancillary pieces that are going there, so I'm not going to ask any - I mean, thanks, but I know there are two jobs missing, so that probably would equate to that as well.
I want to go back to the fire marshal issue. I know the member for Victoria-The Lakes probably would like to ask some questions about this, maybe later on, as being a previous fire chief. I myself am not lucky enough to have been a chief, but I have been a fireman for a very long time, as I know that the member opposite has spent some time in fire fighting. Wasn't that in your bio? Yes, exactly, doing forest fire work, which I did. That's how I got - I don't want to call it stuck in fire fighting, but my first touch was working with DNR on a fire we had back of Argyle one summer. I spent two weeks in the woods and it was an absolutely wonderful experience.
Anyway, like the member for Cape Breton West was talking about, Bob Cormier is doing an excellent job as fire marshal, and there has been a lot of discussion lately on the training required even to be a very basic firefighter. I know that should someone at some point decide that you need to have a level one, I would have to resign my position as a firefighter because I haven't been able to get to that point yet, because for the last six years I've been busy with this. It takes about, I think, almost 2,000 hours in order to attain your level one, and that doesn't count to taking your level two.
There's considerable requirement at this point for, let's say, a volunteer to become a firefighter. I'm just wondering, what are your thoughts and what are you feeling or what have your discussions been with Mr. Cormier on fire training and maybe the minimum requirements for firefighters in these volunteer fire departments?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I'm going to speak a little from general knowledge on this to start off. Certainly I've had several meetings with the fire marshal, and I've been very impressed with the depth of his knowledge. I have to say, shortly after becoming the Minister
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of Labour and Workforce Development I had the opportunity to hear him on CBC, and I must say I glowed with pride to think that this was our provincial fire marshal, because he was so knowledgeable, provided very practical information and was reassuring, yet at the same time motivated me to do what he was suggesting, so I think he's exactly the right person, in the right job, at the right time.
[7:30 p.m.]
We all realize, in this House, how complex and sophisticated the knowledge is that firefighters need today. The type of fire, the combustible materials, the chemicals, the toxins - it's a completely different era than it was many years ago, even when I was fighting forest fires. One can appreciate, for the safety of the firefighter and the safety of his or her colleagues and success in effectively putting out the fire as quickly as possible, that much more training and education to become even a volunteer firefighter, let alone a professional full-time firefighter, require.
I can appreciate the challenges this is for not only members of the community who want to safeguard their community and volunteer in that capacity, but also for the people who manage those volunteers. So, as I understand it, the fire marshal has ongoing discussions with the volunteer fire departments, especially through the chiefs. More money has been put into the Waverley fire training facility. I know that their programming certainly reflects the challenges to being a volunteer firefighter these days. I'm not sure that I have a lot more information.
I know that recruitment, training and retention of firefighters are key issues that are identified every time we have discussions with the fire chiefs. The Deputy Fire Marshal, three fire chiefs and a human resource specialist are working on a committee that has been meeting with fire departments around the province to develop a program similar to Ontario's, which is much further ahead in terms of recruitment and retention. So they've given Nova Scotia permission to use a similar strategy here in the province.
This committee is going around the province gathering information, listening to what the challenges and issues are and trying to give some initial advice on sort of best practices, what has worked well in Ontario, and hopefully can be modified and replicated here in the province.
Also, the province has a number of initiatives to assist the volunteer emergency responders. As I'm sure the honourable member realizes, we have free vehicle registration, there is the eligible credit of $500 for income tax filings. There's a $5 million grant for infrastructure and equipment. There's no sales tax collected on the first $125,000 toward new fire trucks and there's the GST tax break.
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Some of the other initiatives that are being looked are multiple fire department responses and this would just ease the concern of community members if they don't have a fully staffed and equipped volunteer fire department. Also, there's some early work done on working with employers to release employees for working for emergencies during the work day. Certainly there's more recruitment, I would say, with visible minorities and other under-represented groups, to encourage them to become involved with their volunteer fire departments. The issues are recognized and there are a number of attempts going on to try to help communities resolve them. Thank you.
MR. D'ENTREMONT: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Madam Minister, thank you for that response. You know the Maritime Fire Chiefs' Conference, I believe is in Yarmouth this year, there are a lot of opportunities to sit down with a lot of these volunteer organizations, a lot of these fire chiefs and organizations and I invite you to come on down to Yarmouth. I can't remember if it's in July or June, but I know it's a really great opportunity to see the technology that's required today in firefighting, that's available to fire departments today and, of course, for a tremendous cost.
I know our fire department just recently picked up a new command truck, we just picked up a new tanker. About six years ago, when I was treasurer, we picked up a new pumper. I'll put it this way, our new pumper - when I bought it and started paying the bills on it, it cost us $125,000, which today would be a phenomenal deal. A pumper or a tanker that we picked up, which has, of course, a smaller pump built in, but mostly is used for carrying water, I think has come in at somewhere like $190,000. So from an equipment standpoint, it is about half the truck - it has a bigger tank, but half the truck - and costs that much more. So I can only imagine, where some of these fire departments are trying to pick up new equipment, they are finding it more and more difficult, or more and more of a strain on their area rates or municipal councils, in order to purchase these machines.
The other added point that the fire service is continually struggling with is their infrastructure itself, the fire departments. I know our fire department was probably built when the fire department first got incorporated, back in the 60's, and I can tell you it is looking pretty hard. I know there is a move afoot to build a new one. I know the program wasn't yours but the provider fund that was available, should something come along over the next budget year, we'd look at that with the Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations.
I can say again, I really enjoyed my time, I met Mr. Cormier on a couple of occasions, of course they were never under great circumstances, we've had either a fire and he's doing an investigation or what have you, but an extremely knowledgeable gentleman and one who, hopefully, we'll be able to keep.
I'll move on from that one. There are a lot of questions here about labour and maybe I'll stay off those ones. So workforce development, maybe we'll move into that one. First of
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all I want to ask you a question, and I remember a discussion we had a number of months ago. It sort of fits in around sort of a smaller program.
There are a lot of individuals in our province who are trying to take that next step. Let's say they work part time for Canada Post or they work at Tim Hortons, or what have you, and they want to take a course in order to get another job. They know they can probably qualify for another job at a better paying location than the one they're working at today.
My best example, really, would be a friend of mine, Charlene d'Entremont. Charlene has worked part-time for Canada Post for I'm guessing 12 years, at this point. In order for her to get a full-time job, she needs to have her French competency. By hook and by crook she has been able to take a few courses in French through Université Sainte-Anne and really she's like a step away. So she came to me and she was looking for some funding help, to help her pay for this last course she would need in order for her to make that jump from pretty much full-time part-time, she's been doing it for 12 years now, to a full-time position with Canada Post. But there's no program like that out there.
She needed, what is it, $300 or $400 to pay for the French course in order to better herself. Has there been any thought around those - I know there's been a move afoot when it comes to the receipt of employment insurance, so you won't necessarily be penalized for quitting a job to go take courses to better yourself, there's been that move afoot, but has there been any thought of a smaller, $300 or $400 grant program that would help people take extra training to take that next job or next move in their careers?
MS. MORE: I'm not sure that I can answer that question. Certainly within some of the Labour Market Development Agreement funding there is some opportunity for individual training, but you have to meet certain criteria, and I just don't know enough about this individual. If you wanted to provide details to my department, I'd be pleased to have someone check into it to see if they could match this person up with the particular training opportunities that she's looking for and needs to move on.
I also just wanted to mention, I do have the information on that second position you were asking about. If it's possible, I'd like to provide it and I just want to mention that, interestingly, this didn't come to me, although it should have. It's the reduction of the funding for an executive assistant for the minister. It happens that I do have one EA and that funding comes out of the Department of Education, so that freed up the funding in the Department of Labour and Workforce Development to be used for other business.
MR. D'ENTREMONT: Thank you very much, Madam Minister, for that further clarification on the position. I know there's been a move afoot by the Premier, and by your government, to minimize the use of executive assistants. The only comment I would have on that is there's a lot of work in both of those departments and another one would have helped. I'm sure you can do it with just one.
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When it comes to Charlene, I did provide the information to Stu Gorley at the time to look into it and I believe we did get a message back from Carmel d'Entremont and there was really no program that Charlene would have fit in. I think it's a bit discouraging that she's so close and I think, in the end, she's paid the money to take that course anyway. This is the challenge - she sits in this class, through Université Sainte-Anne, with a number of provincial employees who are getting their funding covered. They're taking French courses through funding that I end up providing through the Office of Acadian Affairs and the Public Service. She sees these people getting help, she's trying to better herself, she has no help.
Just more of a thought that maybe at a later date, or as your negotiations or discussions are going on either on the LMA or LMDA, to maybe try to find a little program, it's not a lot of money for language training, whatever that might fit in. I think a lot of people are just that far away from really being that much better. People are always trying to get that next step in life in order to better provide for them and their families. That's just more of a thought for a later date.
MS. MORE: I appreciate the suggestion from the honourable member. Actually, with some of the new Labour Market Agreement money, we may be able to build in some flexibility to actually tailor programs to individual needs. That certainly is a recognized issue and I'm glad you raised that example. We're looking at that, because you've identified a gap that has been recognized and as we develop our priorities and criteria for some of the new LMA money, it might be very possible to do exactly that. Thank you for your suggestion.
[7:45 p.m.]
MR. D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Chairman, I'm going to move over a little bit and it's partly in the same vein of trying to take that next step and trying to be able to provide for family. I wanted to talk a little bit about the Poverty Reduction Strategy. I was very happy to have been a part of the government that brought the Poverty Reduction Strategy forward and, of course, I thank the minister. At that time she did attend the announcement and the rollout when we did it at Kingstec. Who knew that in a very short period of time later, you would be one of the ministers responsible for it?
I'm just wondering what steps have been moving forward on this file - you know, it does set some aggressive pieces. I'm just wondering, where has Labour and Workforce Development gone in the last number of months in moving toward some of our targets and getting some of the programs up and running?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I do thank the honourable member for raising that issue because I'm sure he recognizes that it's very important to every member of this Chamber and I have a special interest in it. I'm delighted to have the opportunity to co-chair the Poverty Reduction Strategy for the province with the Minister of Community Services. There have been several meetings since my government took over. The deputies meet on a regular basis
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but I just met, last week actually, with the other co-chair and our senior staff to develop some next steps. We're bringing together all the ministers involved who are on the ministerial committee, in another week or so, for a meeting, and we'll be taking the implementation steps necessary to move that initiative forward.
As the honourable member realizes, considerable money from the Department of Labour and Workforce Development will be invested in some of the recommendations and will be an integral part of moving those recommendations forward. So, thank you, it's in hand. As you realize, it's a very complex, multi-faceted issue and progress will be very slow but we are moving forward.
MR. D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Chairman, you know, it took tremendous discussion to get us to this point and I know it will probably take a tremendous amount of discussion to get us to the next steps as this strategy truly kicks in and gets working. I know we'll get to ask questions to the Minister of Community Services when her estimates come up, but the challenge always was to provide dollars today that can be utilized by let's say an IA client, or do we build the programs, which your department has, in order to provide them with a way to provide for themselves? The old adage, or if you want to get biblical for a few moments as well is, give someone a fish and they'll survive for a day; teach them how to fish, they'll survive for life, and that's kind of the program I think our philosophy always was, to get the true basis so that people can do for themselves and that's going to be tremendous, not to say that there are going to be some requirements along the way to keep people well, to keep people provided, as that journey truly takes flight.
So I look forward to seeing the next steps of the Poverty Reduction Strategy and truly to see our vision of - not necessarily poverty free because I think that anyone who goes with that great view that we'll take everybody out of poverty by 2020, or whatever it is, I think we're destined to fail, but if we truly set those reduction targets and keep taking those steps, in a short period of time we'll see a tremendous difference, especially for the disabled, for children, those target groups where we really need to make the difference.
I know my time is getting short here, I've got about 10 minutes left and I know you might want to have a quick closing up. I don't think the Liberal Party will be asking any more questions after me, so I figure if my hour ends at about 8:03 p.m., and I probably could take some Liberal time but I'm not. (Interruption) So I'll move to a couple more questions. Thank you. The member for Cape Breton South there, he's saying to fill my boots but think my boots are pretty much full.
As I was saying, there's something else that I really wanted to spend a couple moments on, I mean you are the minister responsible for, Part II of the Liquor Control Act and also Part II of the Gaming Control Act, and there have been some new lottery regulations that went into place on October 1st that, of course, were strengthened early this year. Is the minister able to provide some idea on how many charges have been laid under that lottery
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Act and maybe how many convictions were obtained in the last year? I'm just trying to think if these changes, as we continue to edit and strengthen these gaming regulations, lottery regulations, are having an effect on Nova Scotian lives?
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, those regulations only came into force on October 1st. So I don't have any statistics over the past week but if the honourable member is interested, I could give just a little bit of information on the background of that. You probably noticed in the budget that we've allocated $250,000 for staffing to enforce those regulations. The intent is to restore players' confidence in the lottery system and better protect Nova Scotians and retailers. All ticket and online games offered by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation will be covered by these regulations but VLTs will be excluded. The Alcohol and Gaming Division of the department will oversee and enforce the regulations. So I just wanted to provide a little bit of general information and certainly we'll be able to track the effectiveness of them as time goes on. Thank you for the question.
MR. D'ENTREMONT: Thank you very much, Madam Minister, through you, Mr. Chairman. I know the Liquor Control Act, as well, is one that works for us to a certain degree. I was wondering how the liquor inspectors, you know, maybe how - does that still fit under the Department of Labour and Workforce Development or did that get moved? (Interruption) Oh, okay, good, I see sort of an acknowledgment by the deputy there.
I'm just wondering how their work is going - do we see an increase in charges laid and are the beverage owners doing a good job in keeping minors out of the establishments and those kinds of things? I'm just wondering maybe where, a quick overview of liquor inspectors and the Liquor Control Act.
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, I don't have those statistics with me. I can make them available and table them if the honourable member wishes. Just in a general way, as the honourable member probably realizes, the inspectors tend to do their work on sort of a risk base evaluation. So licenced premises that perhaps have caused some problems in the past tend to be the ones that are more regularly inspected. If people have a pretty good reputation that they're complying with the regulations, they don't visit those establishments as often and certainly within HRM, the inspectors have a very close working relationship with the police services. So, they can get up-to-date information on which areas perhaps they need to go into more regularly. So if you're interested, I could certainly provide those statistics, but I don't have them with me tonight.
MR. D'ENTREMONT: Underage drinking continues to be a challenge, especially here in the HRM, especially when university gets going, especially when somebody has an Alberta permit. There seems to have been a few ways for individuals to get around the ID issue. It's good to hear that we're keeping on top of that situation. I know from the gentleman we have in southwest Nova Scotia, I believe it is Mr. Muise - we see him on a regular basis
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out and about. I know there is always some room for new opportunities, new ways to look at this situation.
By the way, I do have a constituent that's eyeing for a job, he talks to me on a regular basis. I want to mention the name right here and make sure it's in Hansard and I can show him I actually asked the minister about it. Happy is his name. Actually his name's Sylvester - would you believe that - Bourque, but Happy Bourque we call him. He's been an RCMP auxiliary for years and years, so he has some law enforcement ideas, but I can tell you, he keeps waiting for that day that there's an opening in southwest Nova Scotia so he can apply for that job. I've asked, it's in Hansard, and now I can actually show him and say I talked to you about it.
Let's move to another very important part that Labour and Workforce Development looks at, which is OHS, Occupational Health and Safety. I have to commend the department, I think we've done a really good job in the awareness campaign. The commercials are still running, I still love the bucket and I still love the ladder. They are very effective commercials. Why I like the bucket one is you have the bucket sitting quietly, but when whoever falls over top of that bucket, the sound that the clunk makes, the hair actually stands up on the back of your neck. You go, oh, that's going to hurt.
Ultimately, I think that's a very important part. What do you envision as some next steps in that awareness campaign? There's also a campaign going on for young workers, especially university students and things like that, so give us a quick breakdown of some of that awareness campaign that is going on.
MS. MORE: The honourable member correctly recognizes that younger workers tend to have a higher injury and death rate in the workplace. That has become a priority area for the OHS council. I've met with them and am continuing to get regular updates on their work. One initiative that we're extremely excited about is the inclusion of workers' safety in the Grade 9 curriculum. This is a co-operative venture with the Department of Education and it's being piloted this year and we're expecting - we'll certainly review and evaluate the results, but initial reports seem to be that teachers are very excited about having that in the curriculum.
A lot of students, actually, after Grade 9, start to have part-time and summer jobs. If they're working part-time, sometimes they don't have the opportunity to take full advantage of the workplace safety programs, so this is a way to raise their awareness. It's very difficult sometimes when you're that age you feel you're invincible. We're very excited about that.
As I mentioned earlier this evening as well, we have a number of safety councils with various sectors, the most recent being the fishing industry, which has had a very high incidence of injuries and death and we're very pleased the sector has taken up the challenge to work collaboratively with the Workers' Compensation Board. Based on the results of
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other safety councils in other sectors, we expect an improvement in those rates. We're consulting on the internal responsibility system. I don't have a lot of information about that but certainly if the honourable member is interested, I could get more details. We've been very active over the last several months developing H1N1 protocols for the workplace and very detailed and informative packages are available on the Web site and I believe have been sent out to some of the major employers.
[8:00 p.m.]
So those are just some of the areas that the department has been working in but I share your interest in this. We're all aware, we all know workers who have been either injured, hopefully not killed, but certainly injured at their place of work and that's part of the mission of the department, to make sure that not only are our workers skilled and trained for their jobs but that they can work in a very safe environment. So there's a lot of interest and priority given to occupational health and safety throughout every aspect of the department.
MR. D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Chairman, yes, I think the work towards youth is important and I know that for myself, I started at 15-years-old working in a fish plant. Fish plants by design are probably not the safest places in the world. I can remember from those early days of jumping up to here in herring and trying to push them out the back and why we didn't drown is beyond me, climbing up on gurry bins that have augers in them, why we didn't fall and lose ourselves in those - it just goes on and on from there.
I also come from a community that relies on fishing. Every couple of years it seems we lose a friend that got caught up in some rigging and went overboard and it continually goes that way, but especially when it comes to youth, to understand the issues around them, what's dangerous and what's not dangerous, and I'm going to leave you with, the more I look back at it, the more it makes my heart palpitate.
When I was working for a fish plant and during the summer a lot of times before the Georges Bank would open up again and we would start getting haddock in, we would clean up the plant. So you would end up painting things, cleaning up and making sure you're pressure washing all the equipment. I remember one day painting the peak of, what was it called, the parish centre, and actually the fish plant had bought it to use it as storage. I forget how far that peak was up in the air but I remember putting a gray box on the forklift, putting my ladder fully extended in the gray box and extending the forklift all the way to the top and climbing to the top of that. I don't know how many feet that is, I know the member for Shelburne remembers the height of that parish centre, but there I was painting at the top of that and I'm sure that happens on many occasions.
So any help to make youth understand the dangers of what they do is very important because we do want them in the workforce, we do want them to learn that, but at the same time we need them to be safe.
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That, Mr. Chairman, is the end of my questioning on behalf of our caucus. Thank you very much to the minister for her time here. You have a wonderful deputy minister. All the years that I've been in government and otherwise, I've always enjoyed my time with Margaret. She is a wealth of knowledge and will work to her best for the Province of Nova Scotia. So thank you very much for your work and I look forward to this budget moving forward.
MR. CHAIRMAN: That completes the time allowed for the honourable member on this round.
The honourable Minister of Labour and Workforce Development to make some closing comments on her estimates for the Department of Labour and Workforce Development if she so wishes.
MS. MORE: Mr. Chairman, before I start I just want to thank Deputy Minister Margaret MacDonald and Laurie Bennet for their assistance this evening. As well, I want to thank the many other staff in the Department of Labour and Workforce Development for their commitment and dedicated effort to bring fairness, safety and prosperity to workplaces and communities across Nova Scotia.
We know, Mr. Chairman, that there are many challenges ahead as we work to develop Nova Scotia's workforce. I know the staff in this department is up for the challenge.
I also want to assure the honourable members that I will direct my staff, at the earliest opportunity, to gather together any information that I've agreed to table.
MR. CHAIRMAN:. Shall Resolution E14 stand?
Resolution E14 stands.
On behalf of all the committee members, we wish to thank the honourable minister and her staff for their presentation. That concludes the debate on the estimates of the Department of Labour and Workforce Development.
The committee will now recess for a few minutes.
[8:06 p.m. The committee recessed.]
[8:11 p.m. The committee reconvened.]
MR. CHAIRMAN: Order, please. The Committee of the Whole House on Supply will now be called to order.
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The honourable Government House Leader.
HON. FRANK CORBETT: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wish you would now call the estimates for the Department of Economic and Rural Development, Resolution E3.
Resolution E3 - Resolved, that a sum not exceeding $95,243,000 be granted to the Lieutenant Governor to defray expenses in respect of the Department of Economic and Rural Development, pursuant to the Estimate.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable Minister of Economic and Rural Development for opening comments.
HON. PERCY PARIS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It gives me great pleasure to stand in my place this evening to speak on estimate debates as it relates to Economic and Rural Development.
Just for a point of clarification, as we go through this evening, I'll do some opening statements. I would suspect that there are a number of agencies under my domain and I think that if we could entertain questions related to Economic Development and then maybe we could move on to NSBI and do it in a more . . .
HON. MANNING MACDONALD: Not a chance.
MR. PARIS: I'm seeking clarity because . . .
MR. MANNING MACDONALD: It's not a separate warrant for NSBI. The same warrant as the one you're talking about.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Just allow the Chair a minute here to recess with the Clerk.
I am advised that the Department of Economic and Rural Development falls under Resolution E3 and Nova Scotia Business Inc. falls under Resolution E25. So if I understand correctly, the minister is speaking on Resolution E3 with regard to the estimates for the Department of Economic and Rural Development.
The honourable Minister of Economic and Rural Development.
MR. PARIS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me today I have Ian Thompson, Deputy Minister for Economic and Rural Development, and Joyce McDonald, Director of Finance for Economic and Rural Development. Senior staff from the department and our agencies have also joined us, and they are in the gallery.
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The vision set out in Nova Scotia's economic growth strategy, Opportunities for Sustainable Prosperity, defines a thriving Nova Scotia as the best place in Canada to live, work, and to do business, and also to raise our families. It is this strategy that drives the work of Economic and Rural Development.
Mr. Chairman, while I have been with the department only a few months, I have been impressed with the staff and their sheer commitment to helping Nova Scotians achieve economic prosperity. This has been a challenging year; it's been a challenging year for economies across North America and around the world. Nova Scotia has fared well, thanks in large part to some of the initiatives and tools we have in place that are making it possible for Nova Scotia to respond quickly to the needs of businesses in communities. The budget estimate for the Department of Economic and Rural Development for 2009-10 is estimated at $95.2 million, compared with the estimate of $91.6 million in 2008-09.
[8:15 p.m.]
I'd like to take a few minutes to highlight some of the important work that will result from this year's estimate. As you are aware, Nova Scotia received $34.9 million from the National Community Development Trust over three years. The fund is administered by staff in the Department of Economic and Rural Development. Already, funds from the trust are helping Nova Scotian communities that have been impacted by the economic challenges we face here in the province.
This year, a total of $15.6 million was allocated to projects including $500,000 towards the revitalization of Canso's waterfront infrastructure; $700,000 awarded for economic diversification in the community of Weymouth, $300,000 in 2009-10 and $400,000 in next year's budget. Mr. Chairman, $2.5 million was awarded to Bowater-Mersey to support the manufacture of a new and sustainable product line. Of the $15.6 million, $9 million is included in various departmental budgets and $6.6 million is in the budget for the Department of Economic and Rural Development.
At the provincial level, we are investing in business and communities to help them survive and thrive. Funding through the Community Development Trust gives us extra resources to help improve productivity, innovation and education here in the Province of Nova Scotia.
One of the ways we are helping to create a positive business climate is to make highspeed internet access available in all areas of Nova Scotia. We must do this if the province is to compete in the global market. By providing 100 per cent access for Nova Scotians, we will help improve the quality of life and the economic prosperity of rural and remote communities. All three levels of government have embraced this initiative and have made substantial commitments to its success.
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The budget for the Department of Economic and Rural Development contains $10.4 million for the broadband initiative this year. Today, more than 90 per cent of Nova Scotians have access to broadband. This number will grow as existing infrastructure is used and new infrastructure is put into place. When the broadband project is complete, Nova Scotia will become one of the most connected jurisdictions in all of Canada and throughout North America. In the meantime we will continue to update the public on our progress on a regular basis.
Guided by our community development policy, Nova Scotia is recognized as a leader in community economic development. Our 13 regional development authorities, or RDAs, have proven to be a valuable asset in community building. Whether it's downtown revitalization, broadband expansion, e-commerce capacity, immigration activity, increasing exports or addressing literacy, RDA activity builds strength in our communities.
This year, the Department of Economic and Rural Development will commit $2.1 million to fund the RDAs in their important work. This matches recent announcements from the federal government.
We will also, Mr. Chairman, continue to grant community development funds for specific projects, focus on creating economic development strategies and communities for growth and prosperity. The grants are based on reimbursements as the criteria are met. The capacity of these funds is generally $1 million a year. Nova Scotia supports the development of strong and vibrant Mi'kmaq communities and encourages partnerships that enhance their economic development.
Mr. Chairman, we are working actively with our Mi'kmaq and federal partners to identify ways to increase their economic development opportunities. This year's budget provides $250,000 for the Mi'kmaq Community Development Fund. As the original inhabitants of the province, the Government of Nova Scotia recognizes the significant contribution that Mi'kmaq make to the province's economy, culture and sustainable communities.
Mr. Chairman, while we are creating a positive business climate to help attract new business, we are also making strategic investments to help sustain established businesses by providing access to capital, capital that will help them innovate and grow. Many of our investments in economic and rural development are made through the Industrial Expansion Fund, commonly known as the IEF. The 2009-2010 budget contains $33.2 million for the IEF. Investments through the IEF are going a long way toward helping businesses become more productive and competitive in the face of increasing global competition, a strong Canadian dollar and high energy prices. The financial return on our investments through the IEF is important but it's also important to consider the potential impact of our decisions on the livelihood of Nova Scotian families, on the ability of communities to survive and for them to grow.
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Mr. Chairman, it is equally important that we recall and remember the potential of success of other related businesses and services. For example, a $12.2 million performance guarantee - made through the IEF - is helping Irving Shipbuilding to secure the contract to build nine patrol vessels. This $194 million project will employ 150 Nova Scotians and it will provide opportunities for 50 local companies to bid on $32 million in needed goods and services.
Mr. Chairman, another example of an IEF funded program is the Small Business Loan Guarantee Program. It's a joint program with the Nova Scotia Cooperative Council, Credit Union Central and credit unions across Nova Scotia. Thanks to this program we've been increasing access to capital for small business up to a maximum of $150,000. In the past five years, more than 450 businesses have benefited from these loans. About 2,850 jobs have been created or maintained as a direct result.
In 2009, Mr. Chairman, the Immigrant Small Business Financing Program was added as an offshoot of the original initiative. Through the program loan guarantees are available to immigrants who have been in Nova Scotia for up to five years. It is designed to help them establish new businesses and grow existing businesses. The program helps encourage immigrants to stay and work in Nova Scotia, enriching our culture and the economy.
Mr. Chairman, as we consider investments through the IEF, we want to be sure that the taxpayers of the province are receiving the best possible return on those investments. To that end, I will soon bring forward a plan to ensure that an independent analysis of potential projects is included in the IEF decision-making process. An independent analysis of the IEF for the six year period end in March 2007 showed the fund created or maintained an estimate of 11,000 full-time jobs. It also had a return of $1.89 for every dollar invested.
The analysis also shows that the fund helped generate $7.2 billion in sales, including exports; $1.7 billion in household income and $213 million in provincial tax revenues. It directly contributed $688 million to Nova Scotia's gross domestic product, or 2.4 per cent. Mr. Chairman, no matter how you look at it, these are positive numbers and the IEF is having a positive impact on Nova Scotia businesses, communities and people.
Another valuable investment program is the Community Economic Development Investment Fund, or CEDIF, which was introduced in 1993. The fund provides local capital through the sale of shares in community-based businesses. As an incentive, the province offers a personal tax credit of 30 per cent to investors. This capital helps entrepreneurs invest in and grow their companies, at the same time providing an investment vehicle for Nova Scotians. Forty-two CEDIFs have attracted investments valued at more than 4,100 Nova Scotians over the last eight years, and assets now total more than $30 million.
Mr. Chairman, in today's global marketplace productivity and innovation are necessary to compete successfully. This is true of all sectors of the economy. Productivity
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and innovation involve the development of new and improved products and processes in the adoption of state-of-the-art technologies. Last year we established our Productivity and Innovation Voucher Program. It encourages small business to work directly with our universities and Nova Scotia Community College to find solutions to business challenges.
Mr. Chairman, last year more than 180 businesses applied to the program and 50 received vouchers in the amount of $15,000. We are close to completing an evaluation of the pilot and, with $500,000 in the budget, we plan to launch the second round of the program soon.
Mr. Chairman, speaking of productivity, the new Manufacturing and Processing Investment Credit was announced to Nova Scotians very recently and will be administered by the Department of Economic and Rural Development. Basically the program offers a 10 per cent credit to businesses in the manufacturing and processing sector that are investing in machinery and equipment to make their operations more competitive, more productive and more sustainable. The program will begin on January 1, 2010 and will have a budget of $4.5 million this year and a four-year budget of $25 million after that.
[8:30 p.m.]
Mr. Chairman, we know that Nova Scotia faces many challenges in the coming year, including currency fluctuations, global competition, and a shrinking workforce. In order to meet these challenges, our businesses must become more competitive, they must become more productive, and they must become more sustainable. This new program will strengthen our ability to compete and it will ensure that we have secure jobs to support families and communities. We announced the framework of the program in the budget. Now we are working with the industry to develop an application process and finalize program details for late November or early December.
I should also mention recent changes to the equity tax credit as another important measure to encourage investment in Nova Scotia small businesses, cooperatives, and community economic development initiatives. Individuals investing in eligible businesses now qualify for a 35 per cent income tax credit. Economic and Rural Development is also responsible for procurement. A new sustainable procurement policy is breaking new ground.
We are investing in people. In Economic and Rural Development, together with our agencies and partners, we are supporting innovation by building on capacity of individuals. Nova Scotians must have the skills and tools to identify and seize opportunities to sell their ideas, their products, and their services. Through the department's Student Employment Program more than 1,000 university students had meaningful opportunities to enhance their skills in their field of study and contribute to our economy by growing and retaining talent within the Province of Nova Scotia. In 2008 we spent a total of $3.3 million for this program.
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This year we are committing $3 million to ensure we continue to invest in opportunities for learning and growth.
Mr. Chairman, we are growing our economy in partnership with five agencies. As Minister of Economic and Rural Development, I am also responsible for five agencies, and together we play a vital role in growing our economy. Nova Scotia Business Inc. referenced in its recently released annual report of 2008-09 that there is no question that we are living in the most challenging economy of the past half century. Industries, companies, and individuals in the province, across Canada, and around the world face challenges. Yet great things are still happening in Nova Scotia. Domestic businesses are investing in themselves with an eye to the future. They're diversifying markets, building on existing relationships, and increasing productivity through innovation.
As Minister of Economic and Rural Development I had the pleasure to see this in action during an announcement with Copol International Limited in North Sydney. It just happened a few weeks ago, Mr. Chairman. Copol is investing in itself with a commitment of $600,000 of its own money to improve equipment, develop new products, offer biodegradable packaging to its product line, and to further market itself in export markets, and the company commits to retaining its workforce of 48 valued employees. Through NSBI we are supporting the company's effort with a $208,000 payroll rebate.
Companies are demonstrating that now is the time to keep pushing forward, and NSBI will continue to support our local companies as they expand and make productivity enhancements. NSBI will keep working to bring new investment to the Province of Nova Scotia.
Mr. Chairman, inNOVAcorp helps early-stage Nova Scotia companies commercialize their technologies and succeed in the global marketplace. Its internationally recognized High Performance and Incubation, HPi, is their business model. It incorporates incubation infrastructure, business mentoring and seed and venture capital investment designed to move at the speed of business to help high-potential, Nova Scotia, knowledge-based companies overcome traditional hurdles through business growth. Key industries include information and communities technology, life sciences, clean technology and advanced manufacturing and aerospace. InNOVAcorp's daily interactions with entrepreneurs, private industry, angel investors and venture capitalists, academia, industry associations and public sector agencies help fuel sustainable economic growth in Nova Scotia.
Mr. Chairman, inNOVAcorp manages the Nova Scotia First Fund. The fund's investment strategy targets emerging venture-grade technology companies with high growth potential and attractive risk return prospects. In April 2009 the Province of Nova Scotia made a financial commitment of $30 million, over 10 years, to this fund, which will enable inNOVAcorp to continue to proactively identify, support and raise capital for high potential, innovative Nova Scotian companies. The increase in investment capacity of the Nova Scotia
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First Fund will enable inNOVAcorp to fulfill its mandate to build and further strengthen the province's knowledge economy.
Mr. Chairman, inNOVAcorp's I3 Technology Startup Competition is encouraging the formation of new, potential, Nova Scotia knowledge-based companies - I3 standing for idea, innovation and implementation. The competition is meant to foster and support entrepreneurial spirit, build local business capacity across Nova Scotia and encourage the formation of new technology startup companies. In 2007 and 2008 the competition received 121 formal submissions from entrepreneurs across the province. Five zone winners received $100,000 each, in a combination of cash and in-kind businesses that will used to further develop their startup venture. The overall winner, MorSwift Machines Inc. from Digby, was awarded $100,000 seed equity investment.
InNOVAcorp has been working one-on-one with about 30 to 40 other entrepreneurs and companies that made submissions to the I3 competition to help them take the next positive steps for their ventures. This year's competition, which was launched on September 9th, closes when the grand prize winner is announced on February 9th.
Mr. Chairman, I'd just like to bring attention to you, to the House and to the gallery that this year we are up significantly, we are up to 133 submissions this year, which is a significant increase from last year. I should add that this increase is coming from rural Nova Scotia. A short list will be announced on October 22nd.
Another agency important to our economy is Trade Centre Limited, or TCL. TCL attracts world-class concerts, sports, conferences and trade shows to Halifax. Hosting major events and conventions is the key economic driver for the Province of Nova Scotia, generating jobs, economic benefits, and tax dollars for the benefit of all Nova Scotians. Last fiscal year, Trade Centre Limited generated nearly $176 million in direct and incremental expenditures. Ticket Atlantic sold tickets for 298 events in the same period.
Mr. Chairman, under a new province-wide major events initiative, TCL's Major Events Division will continue with its mandate to bring large-scale events to Halifax and help build this capacity in other communities to further their economic goals. As a result, we are the proud host of the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier in Halifax and the 2010 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in Sydney. TCL's World Trade Centre, Atlantic Canada Division, continues to host and lead international business missions and train Atlantic Canadian business in international trade. Working closely with the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal and HRM, Trade Centre Limited is contributing information toward the overall process of developing a new convention centre.
Film Nova Scotia has two key functions: investments and financing and marketing services. It promotes and provides location scouting and logistical assistance to the international film community. This organization administers the province's film industry tax
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credit, which was increased in 2007 to 50 per cent for filming in Halifax. For films shot in rural Nova Scotia, the credit is 50 per cent with an additional 5 per cent should a company shoot three films in two years. The tax credit is one of the highest in Canada and is a strong incentive to film in rural Nova Scotia. In fact, the Nova Scotia film industry had its best year on record, with $150 million in production activity in 2008-09.
Nova Scotia's film industry employs 2,000 individuals and has generated more than $100 million annually in the province for the past decade. The film industry contributes to the province's economic and cultural prosperity and presents Nova Scotia on the national and international stage as a rich and vibrant community.
The Waterfront Development Corporation, or WDCL, has been planning, coordinating, promoting, and developing properties and events on designated waterfronts around Halifax Harbour for more than 30 years, and in Lunenburg since 2005. WDCL is working with partners in Lunenburg to identify challenges and opportunities for the revitalization of this working waterfront. Over the past year a number of long-term leases were secured. This is good evidence of the potential for attracting quality, sustainable tenants and creating a vibrant waterfront for the community.
In Dartmouth community partners in the Waterfront Development Corporation officially opened the Shubie Bridge, an important connection for the Dartmouth Harbour Walk and the community.
In Bedford a partnership project with Halifax Regional Municipality is underway to complete a $200,000 land use study. If approved by HRM, this plan will guide a multi-million dollar development of the Bedford waterfront. The partners are also incorporating public consultation sessions during the planning stages. Recently WDCL celebrated the official reopening of Murphy's Cable Wharf and the waterfront destination overall. Halifax Magazine also recognized the improvement at Murphy's Cable Wharf by presenting them with one of Canada's Top 10 New Attractions designations.
[8:45 p.m.]
Finally, I'd like to mention the success of the Tall Ships Nova Scotia Festival produced by the corporation. It generated $27.5 million for the province last year over 10 days in the summer. The event was hosted in Halifax, Lunenburg, Shelburne, Yarmouth, Port Hawkesbury, Louisbourg, Sydney, and Pictou. More than 600,000 people visited the ships throughout the festival and more than 60,000 people came from outside the province to attend the event.
I would like to conclude by saying our approach to economic growth in Nova Scotia means that we seize today's opportunities without compromising tomorrow. We work together for a strong, competitive economy; vibrant, sustainable communities; and a healthy
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environment. Economic and Rural Development is working closely with the Department of Environment and the Green Deputies Forum to implement the 21 ambitious targets, the province's environmental goals, and the Sustainable Prosperity Act to make Nova Scotia one of the cleanest and most sustainable environments in the entire world. We will be counting on all Nova Scotians to work with us as we return this province to a sustainable financial path and from there to the social and economic prosperity that we're all working toward.
I appreciate the committee's indulgence with these opening remarks. I thank you, Mr. Chairman and the House, and I'll be happy to hear comments from the floor and try to answer all questions as best I can.
MR. CHAIRMAN: The honourable member for Cape Breton South.
HON. MANNING MACDONALD: Mr. Chairman, I'll be sharing my remarks with the member for Preston, who will be picking this up in the morning. He's actually the Critic for Economic and Rural Development, but I told him I would step in for him tonight for a few moments.
I want to say at the outset that the minister has an excellent speech writer - I was quite impressed with the speech that he gave over there. It must have been somebody from the previous government who wrote it, because all the minister did for 40 minutes was congratulate the previous government on everything that was done in Economic and Rural Development, and while he said he wasn't going to be talking about (Interruption) Yes, the previous government, thank you very much, Mr. Minister. I would be more interested in hearing what you're going to do, you know, and what your government is going to do in regard to economic development, tourism, and NSBI.
It was interesting that the minister mentioned NSBI three times in his speech, although he said he wasn't going to talk about that tonight, he wasn't ready to - but he did, which gave me a bit of an opening to say a few remarks about it. As NSBI is part of the minister's portfolio, I go to the Public Accounts of Nova Scotia, Volume 3, Supplementary Detail, and I see one line here on Nova Scotia Business Inc., Grants and Contributions - $23,312,758. That's all that's mentioned in the Public Accounts: one line on an agency of this government that spends the kind of money that NSBI does.
Now, the Minister of Finance previously, when he was in Opposition, talked about accountability, openness in government, transparency - and here we are. We have a major part of the Department of Economic and Rural Development's operation that we don't know what their salaries are, we don't know what they spend their money on, we don't know what they're doing from day to day. They're literally invisible here. In the Speech from the Throne this year there was absolutely almost no mention of economic development at all, and very little regarding NSBI.
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So over the course of the next few days we hope to be talking about the promise that former Premier John Hamm made about bringing in NSBI to take the Nova Scotia Department of Economic and Rural Development out of political decision making and into policy making in the future. Now what we've seen happen and what we're stuck with now is two sections of the same department, both of them giving out loans in Nova Scotia. If there was ever a need for a change in giving out loans in this province, you just have to mention two things - amusement parks and potatogate - when it came to the Department of Economic and Rural Development. That's the reason why the former premier wanted to separate them but somehow NSBI started looking at some of these and said it doesn't fit our mandate because it doesn't pass the smell test.
It goes back to the Department of Economic and Rural Development who miraculously gave loans to these people and we all know what happened with that. Mr. Minister, what we're going to pursue over a period of time is the fact that there should be one agency dealing with public money in this province and that should be an agency that's totally accountable to this legislature. I tell you, the previous Minister of Finance when he was in operation agreed with me when I argued that NSBI should be reporting to this legislature. Everything about NSBI should be open and transparent and NSBI should have a critique done on their own department about whether or not they're worth the public money.
The argument has been made that if they want to operate independent of government, well that's fine, if they're not getting taxpayers' money to do it. But as long as they're getting taxpayers' money, as long as they're being paid with taxpayers' money and as long as they're operating by giving taxpayers' money to business concerns in this province, then they should be open and accountable like the Department of Economic and Rural Development is, or any other department of government, the Department of Finance, the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage - all of those are accountable to this legislature. NSBI has one line in the Public Accounts, one line and I'm saying the taxpayers deserve to know more about this organization than we presently know at this point in time.
I'm going to pick this up at some point over the next two days and talk about NSBI and the role that I envision for that organization. In other words, I don't think you need two over there giving out public money, you just need one. Which is it going to be? Thank you very much and I'll adjourn debate.
MR. CHAIRMAN: Order, please. The time allotted for debate in Committee on Supply has now expired.
The honourable Government House Leader.
HON. FRANK CORBETT: Mr. Chairman, I move you do now rise and report progress.
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MR. CHAIRMAN: The motion is carried.
The committee stands adjourned.
[The committee adjourned at 8:53 p.m.]
