May 3, 2010

HANSARD 10-26

DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS

Speaker: Honourable Charlie Parker

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

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

Second Session

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
SPEAKER'S RULING: Deferring matters in the Law Amendments Committee
upon which there have been presentations.
(Pt. of Priv. by Mr. K. Bain [Hansard p. 1709, 04/30/10])
Not a Prima Facie case of Privilege 1778
TABLING REPORTS, REGULATIONS AND OTHER PAPERS:
Justice: Civil Procedure Rules - Amendments, Hon. Ross Landry 1782
GOVERNMENT NOTICES OF MOTION:
Res. 972, Police Mo. (04/10) - Support,
Hon. R. Landry 1783
Vote - Affirmative 1784
Res. 973, Autism Mgt. Advisory Team: Work - Thank,
Hon. M. More 1784
Vote - Affirmative 1785
Res. 974, Mental Health Wk. (05/02 - 05/08/10) - Recognize,
Hon. Maureen MacDonald 1785
Vote - Affirmative 1785
Res. 975, LWD: Workplace Safety - Encourage,
Hon. M. More 1785
Vote - Affirmative 1786
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS:
No. 57, Income Tax Act,
Mr. H. Theriault 1786
No. 58, Powers of Attorney Act,
Hon. R. Landry 1786
No. 59, Public Utilities Act,
Mr. A. Younger 1786
No. 60, Green Energy Promotion Act,
Mr. A. Younger 1786
NOTICES OF MOTION:
Res. 976, Battle of the Atlantic - Cdn. Men/Women:
Sacrifice - Recognize, Hon. S. McNeil 1787
Vote - Affirmative 1787
Res. 977, Natl. Mental Health Awareness Wk. (05/03 - 05/09/10)
- Mark, Hon. K. Casey 1787
Vote - Affirmative 1788
Res. 978, Miller, Wayne - Shining Star Award,
Hon. J. MacDonell 1788
Vote - Affirmative ~ 1789
Res. 979, HRM Elem. Sch. Choirs -
Free the Children Fundraising, Mr. A. Younger 1789
Vote - Affirmative 1790
Res. 980, NDP Gov't.: Children's Insulin Pumps
- Funding Consider, Hon. M. Scott (by Hon. C. Clarke) 1790
Vote - Affirmative 1790
Res. 981, Millbrook First Nation/Chief Paul: CoRDA Partnership,
Ms. L. Zann 1791
Vote - Affirmative 1791
Res. 982, Natl. Mental Health Awareness Wk. (05/03 - 05/09/10)
- Acknowledge, Ms. D. Whalen 1792
Vote - Affirmative 1792
Res. 983, LWD: Occupational Health & Safety Wk. - Partners,
Mr. K. Bain 1792
Vote - Affirmative 1793
Res. 984, Sinclair, Kimberley/Spincount: Music Awards
- Congrats., Ms. V. Conrad 1793
Vote - Affirmative 1794
Res. 985, Deveau, Louis/Acadian Seaplants - Lt.-Gov.'s Award,
Hon. W. Gaudet 1794
Vote - Affirmative 1795
Res. 986, Patrick Morris Rail Carrier: Sinking - Anniv. (40th),
Hon. C. Clarke 1795
Vote - Affirmative 1796
Res. 987, PolyCello - Fam. Enterprise of Yr. Award (2009),
Mr. B. Skabar 1796
Vote - Affirmative 1796
Res. 988, Emergency Preparedness Wk.: Importance
- Recognize, Mr. H. Theriault 1797
Vote - Affirmative 1797
Res. 989, Gould, Caroline - We'kogma'q's Elder of Yr.,
Mr. A. MacMaster 1797
Vote - Affirmative 1798
Res. 990, Eisses, John - Outstanding Farmer Award,
Mr. J. Morton 1798
Vote - Affirmative 1799
Res. 991, Simmonds, Marko: Musical Accomplishments
- Congrats., Hon. K. Colwell 1799
Vote - Affirmative 1800
Res. 992, Annapolis Valley Lake & Ridge Runners
- Can. Snowmobile Club of Yr., Hon. K. Casey 1800
Vote - Affirmative 1800
Res. 993, Seniors Helping Seniors Prog.: Mahone Bay Area
Seniors Proj. - Commend, Ms. P. Birdsall 1801
Vote - Affirmative 1801
Res. 994, Verschuren, Annette: Jr. Achievement Hall of Fame
- Induction, Ms. K. Regan 1801
Vote - Affirmative 1802
Res. 995, Gail (Bonar) Finney and Kevin Carey Mem. Cancer Shoot:
Organizers/Participants - Congrats., Mr. K. Bain 1802
Vote - Affirmative 1803
Res. 996, Natl. Eating Disorder Info. Ctr.: Campaign
- Congrats., Ms. K. Regan 1803
Vote - Affirmative 1804
Res. 997, Cheticamp Vol. FD: Vols. - Serv.,
Mr. A. MacMaster 1804
Vote - Affirmative 1804
Res. 998, Girl Guides: Natl. Rally Day - Best Wishes,
Mr. A. Younger 1804
Vote - Affirmative 1805
Res. 999, Le Restaurant Cape View - Anniv. (50th),
Hon. W. Gaudet 1805
Vote - Affirmative 1806
Res. 1000, Simensen, Unni: Bus. Acumen - Recognize,
Hon. K. Colwell 1806
Vote - Affirmative 1807
GOVERNMENT BUSINESS:
PUBLIC BILLS FOR SECOND READING:
No. 53, Fur Industry Act
Hon. J. MacDonell 1807
Mr. L. Glavine 1811
Mr. C. Porter 1813
Hon. W. Gaudet 1814
Mr. H. Theriault 1817
Hon. J. MacDonell 1819
Vote - Affirmative 1820
HOUSE RESOLVED INTO A CWH ON BILLS AT 5:57 1820
HOUSE RECONVENED AT 6:06 P.M. 1820
CWH REPORTS 1820
GOVERNMENT MOTIONS:
ADDRESS IN REPLY:
Ms. M. Raymond 1821
Adjourned debate 1837
PUBLIC BILLS FOR THIRD READING:
No. 10, Cape Breton Island Marketing Levy Act
Hon. P. Paris 1838
Hon. Manning MacDonald 1838
Mr. A. MacMaster 1839
Hon. C. Clarke 1840
Hon. P. Paris 1840
Vote - Affirmative 1840
No. 13, Motor Vehicle Act 1841^^^
No. 16, Summary Proceedings Act 1841
No. 18, Vital Statistics Act 1841
No. 19, Motor Vehicle Act 1841
No. 23, Sea, Army, Air and Navy League Cadets Day Act 1841
No. 29, Municipal Government Act 1841
No. 36, Engineering Profession Act 1841
No. 41, Volunteer Fire Services Act 1841
Vote - Affirmative 1841
ADJOURNMENT, House rose to meet again on Tue., May 4th at 12 noon 1842
NOTICES OF MOTION UNDER RULE 32(3):
Res. 1001, Energy Efficient Furnace Initiative:
Prem./Energy Min. - Support, Hon. C. Clarke 1843
Res. 1002, Rafuse, Emily - Apple Blossom Fest.:
Princess Windsor - Congrats., Mr. C. Porter 1843
Res. 1003, Dunfield, Jeff/Donna - Vol. Bus. of Yr.,
Mr. C. Porter 1844

[Page 1777]

HALIFAX, MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

Sixty-first General Assembly

Second Session

2:00 P.M.

SPEAKER

Hon. Charlie Parker

DEPUTY SPEAKERS

Mr. Gordon Gosse, Hon. Wayne Gaudet, Mr. Alfie MacLeod

MR. SPEAKER: Honourable members, we'll call our session to order for a brand new week and a brand new month. I hope everybody had a good weekend. Before we go to the daily routine, I have a Speaker's Ruling here I'm going to read on the issue that arose on Friday.

On Friday, the member for Victoria-The Lakes rose on a point of privilege with respect to what had occurred during the proceedings of the Law Amendments Committee on the previous afternoon. The position taken by the member was supported by the member for Richmond, who was also present at the meeting of the Law Amendments Committee.

Essentially the point raised is that members from both the Progressive Conservative caucus and the Official Opposition requested an opportunity to take the concerns expressed by witnesses before the committee who made presentations on Bill No. 24, back to their respective caucuses to consider with a view to potentially bringing forward amendments to Bill No. 24 for consideration by the committee at its next meeting. The two members say that the chairman of the Law Amendments Committee breached the privileges of the House by not following what they considered to be a matter of precedent in that committee.

[Page 1778]

1777

As I understand it, the position taken by the two honourable members is that over a number of years the tradition and practice of the Law Amendments Committee has been that if a committee member has requested the opportunity to defer voting on a matter upon which there have been presentations on a particular day, until the next meeting of the committee so that they would have the opportunity to craft amendments to the bill under consideration, based on those public presentations with a view to improving the legislation, then such a request was honoured and the matter was deferred until the next meeting day.

The Government House Leader argued that the practice of the committee did not constitute an iron-clad rule and, while it may have been something that happened in minority government situations, it had not always been a convention.

As I said on Friday, I recognize the important role the Law Amendments Committee plays in our legislative process, and I encouraged the three House Leaders to come together to look for compromise on the issue over the weekend, before today, to see if there could be a solution.

I am happy to recognize the honourable Government House Leader to see if such a compromise had been reached.

HON. FRANK CORBETT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Among the three of us, our schedules did not permit us to meet, as you say, to come up with a compromise, but I believe that the overwhelming sentiment of that was that if time didn't permit, you are the proper one to make the decision and we would abide by your decision.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you. I did indicate on Friday that I would give a ruling here today, Monday. It is evident, I guess, at this point that no compromise had been reached, so I now will give my ruling on the point of privilege raised by the two honourable members.

SPEAKER'S RULING: It is my understanding that the practice of deferring matters upon which there have been presentations has been observed, when requested by committee members, over the last number of years in the Law Amendments Committee. However, while I understand the position taken by the two honourable members respecting this practice, I reviewed the relevant authorities and have concluded that the failure by the current Law Amendments Committee to observe the practice does not constitute a matter of privilege.

One of the leading authorities on the issue of privilege in the Canadian parliamentary context is Parliamentary Privilege in Canada by Joseph Maingot. Maingot deals with this issue quite clearly. He says at Page 223 of his second edition that a breach of the Rules or a failure to follow an established practice - which is what I understand to be alleged here - would invoke a "point of order" rather than a "question of privilege."

[Page 1779]

He goes on to state that,"Allegations of fact amounting to allegations that proper procedures were not followed are by their very nature matters of order, and even if valid will not receive priority in debate as would a prima facie case of privilege."

As your Speaker, I am called upon from time to time to decide whether I am satisfied that a prima facie case exists, that there has been a breach of the privileges of this House. In addressing this question I must always give consideration to the significant weight of rulings of previous Speakers both in this House and in other Westminister-based Legislatures. I believe that the authorities are clear that for me to rule that there is a prima facie case that there has been a breach of privilege of the House on a procedural issue in a committee, I must first be charged with a report to that effect from that committee.

[4:15 p.m.]

I am concerned that members are not following the appropriate procedures to bring questions of order or privilege arising in committees before the House. It is important that committee members understand and follow the proper procedures in those committees to deal with problems before those problems can be reported to the House for its consideration.

It is a fundamental proposition that problems arising in a committee of the House should be dealt within that committee, and only after the proper procedures have been followed in the committee should a matter come here to this House. This is set out clearly in O'Brien and Bosc, which is the new version of the book House of Commons Practice and Procedure that members will have known as Marleau. The authority states the following:

"Since the House has not given its committees the power to punish any misconduct, breach of privilege, or contempt directly, committees cannot decide such matters; they can only report them to the House. Only the House can decide if an offense has been committed. Speakers have consistently ruled that, except in the most extreme situations, they will only hear questions of privilege arising from committee proceedings upon presentation of a report from the committee which deals directly with the matter and not as a question of privilege raised by an individual member."

On this point, the authors quote Speaker Milliken and he said this: "In the absence of a report from the committee on such an issue, it is virtually impossible for the Chair to make any judgement as to the prima facie occurrence of a breach of privilege with regard to such charges."

I am concerned that issues of order and privilege that are alleged to have occurred in committees are not first being dealt with appropriately through appeals of rulings within

[Page 1780]

those committees before being brought to the House through reports by the committees. That is what should occur before points of order or privilege arising in any committee are brought here. Generally speaking, a matter alleged to have arisen in a committee, but not reported by the committee, may not be brought to the attention of the House as a question of privilege.

The issue is also canvassed in Beauchesne, which states at Page 222:

"The Speaker has ruled on many occasions that it is not competent for the Speaker to exercise procedural control over the committees. Committees are and must remain masters of their own procedure. On one occasion, after a grievance was raised in the House concerning procedure in a committee, the Speaker undertook to write to all committee chairmen pointing out that when a grievance is not resolved satisfactorily in committee it often results in the time of the House being taken when the grievance is raised in the guise of a question of privilege."

This is an issue that has arisen in this House in the past, and which has been dealt with consistently by my predecessors in this Chair, and I refer honourable members to rulings by Speaker Mitchell on March 23, 1972, by Speaker Russell on December 11, 1979, and again on June 12, 1991. In each of those rulings, those Speakers held that the points of privilege raised should have come to the House as reports, and that they were not properly raised by the individual members.

So I urge all members to familiarize themselves with the appropriate proceedings to deal with disputes in committees, and to follow the required appeals of rulings with which they disagree, rather than bring committee procedural matters to the House. It is important that procedural matters arising in committees be dealt with in those committees, and not brought to the House. These procedures are set out in O'Brien and Bosc, again, at Pages 150 to 153.

Finally, for the benefit of members, the issue of whether matters arising in a committee constitute a question of privilege or order is dealt with in a very useful passage in an appendix in MacMinn's Parliamentary Practice in British Columbia, which examines a number of Speaker's Rulings on this question, and I have attached a photocopy of that passage to this ruling, which I'm making available through the Clerk to all members.

So based on all the above authorities that I referenced, I rule that a prima facie case of privilege has not been shown. Thank you for your attention.

The honourable member for Richmond.

HON. MICHEL SAMSON: Mr. Speaker, a few concerns arise out of your ruling. You've indicated that you would like the committees to submit a report to this House and I

[Page 1781]

must tell you, having been here for 12 years, I've never seen the Law Amendments Committee submit a report to the House. The only reporting we do is when bills are referred back to this House. There is no annual report; in fact, Mr. Speaker, you would be aware that the Law Amendments Committee is not even transcribed. The debates that take place are done verbally and are recorded, but there is no actual Hansard of that committee, which would make it fairly difficult for us to submit a report to the House when there is no Hansard of the committee itself. So it's quite difficult for us to be able to bring forward this issue under the guidelines that you have prescribed. You indicated that it would be your preference that these matters be resolved in committee, and I would completely agree with you. In this case, the actions by the chairman of the committee were brought to his attention, were brought to the committee's attention, and a subsequent vote took place on that.

As you are well aware, we live under a majority government. Therefore, disagreements by the Opposition - to be told to deal with that in committee, it's fruitless, to say the least, in light of the majority that is found. That's why we look to you, as the Speaker of this House, as the referee - the umpire - when there are such disputes, especially when members are concerned that their privileges, especially in the traditions of this House, have been violated. I don't see how that matter has been addressed here, which makes it quite difficult to know how we are to proceed from here, and maybe the Speaker will be able to give us a better sense of what he means by "a report" being brought to the House.

I did note that in the rulings you indicated that you had reviewed in reaching your ruling today, you did not include the ruling by a former Speaker, who is now the member for Cumberland South. When I rose on a point of privilege regarding the actions of the then-chairman of the Law Amendments Committee, he did give a ruling. He did find that the chairman of the Law Amendments Committee had violated the privileges of the members of the House. He did not request a report. Instead he went and reviewed the recordings of that specific committee and made his rulings based on that.

So in light of the fact that our system is based on tradition and it's based on some of the precedents here, I'm just curious as to whether the Speaker would be able to advise whether he did review that specific ruling, as it does seem to be a case in point of what has been raised with you in this case. I did find it odd that that would not have been referenced in reaching the ruling here today.

Obviously we're all prepared to live by the Rules of the House, but following the guidelines you've indicated today of bringing a report to this House from an incident such as happened at the Law Amendments Committee, I don't believe is possible. I don't believe it's practical, and therefore those rules seem to be more for committees that have Hansard, that have transcripts. I don't see how it could apply to such a committee as the Law Amendments Committee, and I'm wondering if the Speaker could give us a bit more guidance on that so that all members will know what is expected in the future when such incidents should rise again.

[Page 1782]

MR. SPEAKER: Honourable member, I thank you for your points, and I'll take that under consideration. I would also ask that you have a look at the written copy that's provided on the ruling here today.

The honourable member for Cape Breton North.

HON. CECIL CLARKE: Mr. Speaker, just further to your ruling here today and the comments from the member for Richmond with regard to this matter that was raised, I would note as well that the concern being raised specifically to the conduct of a committee where the request to the committee was not to not have the matter considered but merely to have the opportunity to caucus. The fact that that would be denied at that level, as was indicated with a voting majority that would deny it - I see the House as the only other place for recourse or redress of that matter.

We concur with the statements by the Liberal caucus with regard to that concern, and also it would be a hope that through you to the chairman of the committee, that when a matter is coming forward for simply having 24 hours or a day to caucus, with a non-pressing bill that with the House with the time to consider it, it would be a courtesy that could be extended. As you had asked the House Leaders to look at an opportunity to find a resolve, what happened in committee was an opportunity to request time just to consider the matter, and I think the opportunity availed itself then for that to have taken place.

So I would hope that by virtue of your ruling and the other points that were raised, we support that. If this continues to persist, that would be a matter we would seek further clarification from the Chair but it is our hope that, with the consideration of these matters, that indeed good judgment will prevail and goodwill when it was just a matter of a request to review and caucus a matter as opposed to doing that where the numbers would have prevented it as was indicated, so thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you, honourable member. I hope certainly, as you do, that it doesn't persist as well and I understand from the Government House Leader that he's still hopeful that perhaps the three House Leaders can get together, discuss this further and we'll no longer have an issue here in this regard. Thank you for your attention.

We'll begin the daily routine.

PRESENTING AND READING PETITIONS

PRESENTING REPORTS OF COMMITTEES

TABLING REPORTS, REGULATIONS AND OTHER PAPERS

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Justice.

[Page 1783]

HON. ROSS LANDRY: Mr. Speaker, before I make my request, I just want to say that I'm a little shocked not to have day 23 or 24 but I'll get used to it. (Interruptions) Wait for it.

Mr. Speaker, I beg leave to table an amendment to the Civil Procedure Rules.

MR. SPEAKER: The amendment is tabled.

STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS

GOVERNMENT NOTICES OF MOTION

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Justice.

HON. ROSS LANDRY: Mr. Speaker, before I introduce my resolution, I beg leave to make some introductions here in the House today. In your gallery, we have members of our provincial police services and the Department of Justice. I would like the House to recognize and welcome the Halifax Regional Police Chief Frank Beazley, who has over 40 years policing service that we celebrated here just recently. From the Nova Scotia RCMP, Superintendent Frank Foran and Inspector Greg Bursey, and also from the Department of Justice, the Director of Public Safety, Fred Sanford. I think among the four of them up there - Fred was also a police officer - they probably have about 150 years of policing services. I would like a warm welcome in the usual manner. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Justice.

RESOLUTION NO. 972

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

Whereas police services provided in our community by municipal police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police contribute to just, safe and secure communities in Nova Scotia; and

Whereas police agencies in Nova Scotia work co-operatively with each other, with government departments, and many individuals and organizations to provide policing service; and

Whereas the work of all those who provide police services deserves the respect, appreciation, and recognition of this House and of all Nova Scotians;

[Page 1784]

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House support May 2010 as Police Month in Nova Scotia.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Education.

RESOLUTION NO. 973

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

Whereas Autism Spectrum Disorder is a complex, neurologically-based optimal disorder that affects thousands of Nova Scotians; and

Whereas the Autism Management Advisory Team, made up of both government and stakeholder representatives, developed a report, dedicated to the memory of James Delorey who touched all of our hearts last winter; and

Whereas their report, which outlines 53 recommendations, will work as a guide as we continue to identify supports and services for individuals and families living with autism in all regions of the province;

Therefore be it resolved that the Nova Scotia Legislature thank the Autism Management Advisory Team for their tremendous work and commitment as we move forward on our commitments, as well as build on and integrate programs already in place.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

[4:30 p.m.]

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

[Page 1785]

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Health Promotion and Protection.

RESOLUTION NO. 974

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

Whereas May 3rd to May 9th is Mental Health Week in Canada and 1 in 5 Canadians are affected by mental illness during their lifetime and most Nova Scotians will indirectly be affected by mental illness through relationships with friends, family members, and co-workers; and

Whereas each year the Canadian Mental Health Association provides support services to more than 100,000 Canadians through the combined efforts of over 10,000 volunteers and staff in locally-run organizations in all provinces and territories, and branches in more than 135 communities; and

Whereas mental health professionals in the province's nine district health authorities and the IWK provide treatment services in our hospitals and in our 50 community mental health clinics to citizens of Nova Scotia experiencing mental health problems;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House recognize May 3nd to May 9th as Mental Health Week and acknowledge the work done by many individuals.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

[Page 1786]

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Labour and Workforce Development.

RESOLUTION NO. 975

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

Whereas North American Occupational Health and Safety Week runs from May 2nd to May 8th; and

Whereas this year's theme is Safety and Health: A Commitment for Life! How Safe Are You?, which highlights the shared responsibilities of employers and employees; and

Whereas all workplace injuries and fatalities are preventable and the province continues to work with its partners to promote occupational health and safety awareness;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House encourage Nova Scotians to create a culture of safety in their workplace and make sure everyone gets home safe.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

Bill No. 57 - Entitled an Act to Amend Chapter 217 of the Revised Statutes of 1989. The Income Tax Act. (Mr. Harold Theriault)

Bill No. 58 - Entitled an Act to Amend Chapter 352 of the Revised Statutes of 1989. The Powers of Attorney Act. (Hon. Ross Landry)

Bill No. 59 - Entitled an Act to Amend Chapter 380 of the Revised Statutes of 1989. The Public Utilities Act. (Mr. Andrew Younger)

[Page 1787]

Bill No. 60 - Entitled an Act Respecting the Review of the Green Energy Equipment Tax Credit in Manitoba for Implementation in Nova Scotia. (Mr. Andrew Younger)

MR. SPEAKER: Ordered that these bills be read a second time on a future day.

NOTICES OF MOTION

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

RESOLUTION NO. 976

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

Whereas the Battle of the Atlantic, one of the most important and longest campaigns of the Second World War, took place between September 1939 and May 1945; and

Whereas during this time more than 2,000 members of the Royal Canadian Navy and 900 Air Force and Army personnel were killed and 24 warships lost; and

Whereas in addition to enlisted members and officers, merchant mariners also made the ultimate sacrifice, with more than 1,700 killed and 70 ships sunk while ferrying supplies to Europe;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly recognize the sacrifice that Canadian men and women made in defence of Canada during the Battle of the Atlantic over 60 years ago.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

[Page 1788]

The honourable Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

RESOLUTION NO. 977

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

Whereas May 3rd to May 9th marks National Mental Health Awareness Week, with this year's theme being Building Your Mental Health: One Support at a Time; and

Whereas this initiative, undertaken annually by the Canadian Mental Health Association, serves to increase awareness and understanding of mental health issues in the general population; and

Whereas one of the suggestions by the Canadian Mental Health Association to maintain good mental health is to build stronger relationships with those who work and live around you, as strengthened bonds will leave individuals with a sense of purpose and connection;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly mark National Mental Health Awareness Week by pledging to follow the steps outlined by the CMHA to make a happier and healthier workplace.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Agriculture.

RESOLUTION NO. 978

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

Whereas volunteer fire departments are among the earliest community organizations; and

[Page 1789]

Whereas volunteers are still needed to operate many fire departments; and

Whereas on April 23, 2010, the Municipality of East Hants recognized Wayne Miller of Maitland with a Shining Star Award for his volunteer efforts for many years with the Maitland District Volunteer Fire Department;

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate Wayne Miller on his Shining Star Award and thank him for his example of community service.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Dartmouth East.

RESOLUTION NO. 979

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

Whereas elementary school choirs across the Halifax Regional Municipality have organized and performed a combined concert every Spring for the past seven years, in support of Free the Children; and

Whereas proceeds from the annual concert have gone toward the construction of five schools across China, Kenya and Sierra Leone; and

Whereas the tradition will continue this evening at Prince Andrew High School in Dartmouth, with the proceeds of tonight's concert going to build a school in India;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly acknowledge the humanitarian efforts of the choir members, directors and organizers of this annual concert, and thank them for generously lending their talents to enhance the education of children in developing countries.

[Page 1790]

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Cape Breton North.

RESOLUTION NO. 980

HON. CECIL CLARKE: Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the honourable member for Cumberland South, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas 88 years ago today, Dr. Frederick Banting and Dr. Charles Best announced they had discovered insulin; and

Whereas since 1922, millions of diabetics have lived better lives thanks to the discovery of insulin; and

Whereas today new innovations in diabetes support, such as insulin pumps, will help even more people lead happy, healthy, and productive lives;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly encourage this NDP Government to consider funding insulin pumps for children in our province under the age of 16 who suffer from type 1 diabetes.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

[Page 1791]

The honourable member for Truro-Bible Hill.

MS. LENORE ZANN: Mr. Speaker, before I introduce my resolution, I beg leave to make an introduction.

MR. SPEAKER: Certainly.

MS. ZANN: I would like to draw everyone's attention to the east gallery and give a warm welcome to some very special guests of mine today - my uncle and aunt, Uncle Noel and Auntie Helen from Australia, and my dad and my mom. Welcome to the House. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Truro-Bible Hill.

RESOLUTION NO. 981

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

Whereas the Millbrook First Nation community has been working on developing resources in their area and becoming economically sustainable; and

Whereas Millbrook First Nation includes an expansive business complex that includes many successful local businesses; and

Whereas Millbrook First Nation and Chief Lawrence Paul entered into a new official partnership with the Colchester Regional Development Agency and by doing so has become the only First Nations community in Nova Scotia to become a full participating member of a regional development agency;

Therefore be it resolved that the Nova Scotia Legislature congratulate the Millbrook First Nation and Chief Lawrence Paul on their new partnership with CoRDA and wish them success in this new role, which will enhance their relationship with the local business community.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

[Page 1792]

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Halifax Clayton Park.

RESOLUTION NO. 982

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

Whereas May 3 to May 9, 2010, is National Mental Health Awareness Week; and

Whereas this year's theme, Building Your Mental Health: One Support At A Time, speaks to the importance of cultivating supports in our workplaces, our communities, and within our own family structures to foster good mental health; and

Whereas CMHA branches across our province will launch a series of public awareness initiatives and events to celebrate mentally healthy lifestyles and positive attitudes;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly acknowledge May 3rd to May 9th as National Mental Health Awareness Week and extend our best wishes to all mental health organizations as they launch a week of initiatives to heighten awareness around the importance of good mental health.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Victoria-The Lakes.

RESOLUTION NO. 983

[Page 1793]

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

Whereas North American Occupational Health and Safety Week is led by the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering in partnership with other organizations and is being held across North America from May 3rd to May 9th; and

Whereas the national launch for North American Occupational Health and Safety Week took place in Charlottetown earlier today; and

Whereas numerous Nova Scotia communities and companies are playing a leading role in North American Occupational Health and Safety Week, including an event at the Evergreen Home for Special Care in Kentville, a week of safety awareness displays at Poly Cello in Amherst and New Glasgow, and a flag raising ceremony along with a healthy breakfast at the Strait Area Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College system in Port Hawkesbury;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly offer our deep appreciation to the many Nova Scotians playing an active role in such an important message-oriented safety week and wish them every success as they foster a safety-minded culture at their workplace.

[4:45 p.m.]

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Queens.

RESOLUTION NO. 984

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

[Page 1794]

Whereas music is an important part of all of our communities and Milton, Queens County, Nova Scotia, has a new business promoting the music of artists from the East Coast; and

Whereas this new business is a radio promotions company providing radio-ready music to radio stations across North America bringing the music of the East Coast to the rest of Canada and promoting the artists who perform that music; and

Whereas the business, Spincount, and its founder Kimberly Sinclair have garnered nominations for Promoter of the Year and Industry Professional of the Year at the Music Nova Scotia Festival and Conference;

Therefore be it resolved that the House of Assembly recognize Kimberly Sinclair of Spincount on setting up a new business promoting music, providing east coast music to radio stations throughout North America and for her recent nominations in the Music Nova Scotia Festival.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Clare.

RESOLUTION NO. 985

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

Whereas the inaugural Lieutenant Governor's Persons with Disabilities Employer Partnership Awards were presented last December in honour of the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities; and

Whereas Acadian Seaplants Ltd. Cornwallis Division received the Provincial Business Award for recognizing the value of employing persons with disabilities and its commitment in the community to youth and middle-aged persons with disabilities; and

[Page 1795]

Whereas Louis Deveau, chairman and founder of Acadian Seaplants, has demonstrated a commitment to the community and a respect and willingness to treat everyone as equals;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate Louis Deveau and his team at Acadian Seaplants for receiving the Lieutenant Governor's Persons with Disabilities Employer Partnership Award and wish them continued success.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Cape Breton North.

RESOLUTION NO. 986

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

Whereas on April 19th, family, friends, co-workers and survivors attended a memorial service at St. Matthew Wesley United Church in North Sydney organized by Cape Breton Regional Municipality Councillor Gordon MacLeod with assistance from Marine Atlantic officials; and

Whereas this memorial marked the 40th Anniversary of the sinking of the 460-foot rail carrier, Patrick Morris, which in an attempt to rescue the eight crew of a fishing boat, Enterprise, was hit by 32 foot waves and 55 knot winds that overwhelmed the vessel breaking open the stern doors and sinking the ship in little more than 30 minutes in rough seas taking with her Capt. Roland Penny, Chief Engineer David Reekie, Second Engineer Joseph Slayman and Third Engineer Ronald Anderson; and

Whereas the remaining 51 members of the crew made it safely to lifeboats and survived to tell the story of this horrific day;

[Page 1796]

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in remembering these men who sacrificed their safety and those who lost their lives in hopes of saving their fellow man.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Cumberland North.

RESOLUTION NO. 987

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

Whereas PolyCello, based in Amherst, Nova Scotia, has been an industry leader in flexible packaging solutions for over 50 years, manufacturing packaging products for companies all over North America; and

Whereas PolyCello, the largest printing facility of its kind in Canada, has been named winner of the 2009 Family Enterprise of the Year Award for Nova Scotia; and

Whereas this company has also retained its status as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies, having won the award in 2008, and again this past year;

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly extend our congratulations and best wishes to the family-run, award-winning PolyCello that has found great success at home in Nova Scotia and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

[Page 1797]

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Digby-Annapolis.

RESOLUTION NO. 988

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

Whereas Emergency Preparedness Week is an annual event that takes place each year during the first full week of May; and

Whereas during Emergency Preparedness Week, activities are organized across Canada to raise awareness of the importance of having an emergency kit, making an emergency plan and identifying risks in the region; and

Whereas these three simple steps can help Canadians prepare for all types of emergencies;

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly recognize the importance of Emergency Preparedness Week and encourage all Nova Scotians to plan for emergency situations.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Inverness.

RESOLUTION NO. 989

[Page 1798]

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

Whereas Caroline Gould was recently named Elder of the Year by the We'koqma'q Mi'kmaw School; and

Whereas at 89 years of age, Caroline is admired in her community for her basket-making abilities, a tradition she has passed on to many; and

Whereas Ms. Gould has passed along the art of leather work, quill work, birch bark work and bead work, and through her teachings has strengthened the cultural fabric of her community;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Caroline Gould on being named We'koqma'q's Elder of the Year and acknowledge the significant contribution she has made to the Mi'kmaq culture in our province.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Kings North.

RESOLUTION NO. 990

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

Whereas John Eisses has invested 40 years in the development of a successful family farm in the Northville area of Kings County and travelled extensively throughout the world, discovering and sharing new technologies with other Nova Scotia farmers; and

Whereas Mr. Eisses is considered a leader by his peers, was among the first to plant high-density orchards, was instrumental in bringing the Honeycrisp to the Annapolis Valley, and has contributed to the modernization of the apple industry in Nova Scotia; and

[Page 1799]

Whereas Mr. Eisses sits on the Board of Scotian Gold Co-operative, is an executive member of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association, and on April 15, 2010 was honoured with the Nova Scotia Institute of Agrologists Outstanding Farmer Award;

Therefore be it resolved that the Nova Scotia House of Assembly recognize Mr. John Eisses for his many contributions to agriculture in the Annapolis Valley and throughout Nova Scotia, and congratulate him on being presented with the Nova Scotia Institute of Agrologists Outstanding Farmer Award.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Preston.

RESOLUTION NO. 991

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

Whereas even before Marko Simmonds from North Preston graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, he worked with civil rights activist Dr. Rosa Parks on the Pathways to Freedom Youth Development Program and also with Canadian Jazz singer Jeri Brown on her BRAVO TV special The Spirit Comes Through; and

Whereas this award-winning artist of the African Nova Scotian Music Awards launched his debut album Marko Presents on iTunes, Amazon.com and Rhapsody Music Stores on December 8, 2009, and his debut single Dance With Me was created to inspire people to love, live, dream, and dance again; and

Whereas on February 19, 2010, Marko recorded live at Government House before an audience of guests invited by the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, the Honourable Mayann E. Francis, O.N.S., DHumL;

[Page 1800]

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate Marko Simmonds on these wonderful accomplishments and wish him all the best in his future musical endeavours.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

RESOLUTION NO. 992

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

Whereas the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations named the Annapolis Valley Lake & Ridge Runners as the winners of the Snowmobile Club of the Year Award for Canada; and

Whereas this accomplishment is especially impressive since there are over 600,000 snowmobiles in Canada, spreading across 12 provincial and territorial organizations, each of which consists of its own local associations; and

Whereas the Annapolis Valley Lake & Ridge Runners snowmobile club is committed to lawful and safe practices, while still maintaining the fun and friendship associated with snowmobiling;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly congratulate the Annapolis Valley Lake & Ridge Runners on being named Canada's Snowmobile Club of the Year.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

[Page 1801]

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Lunenburg.

RESOLUTION NO. 993

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

Whereas the Mahone Bay Area Seniors Project has launched a new program called Seniors Helping Seniors at the Mahone Bay Centre; and

Whereas as the project allows senior volunteers to help other seniors in the community with occasional household tasks, allowing seniors to stay in their homes longer while keeping senior volunteers active in our community; and

Whereas the Mahone Bay Area Seniors Project has two graduate students from Dalhousie University working on the program, which can provide a model to be used in other communities with an aging population;

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly commend the Mahone Bay Area Seniors Project for developing the Seniors Helping Seniors program, which will help people stay in their homes longer while promoting the spirit of volunteerism in the community.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Bedford-Birch Cove.

[Page 1802]

RESOLUTION NO. 994

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

Whereas the Junior Achievement Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame honours business leaders from this province; and

Whereas Annette Verschuren grew up on a small dairy farm in North Sydney, Cape Breton, and went on to work at Cape Breton Devco, then Canada Development Investment Corporation, and then Imasco as vice-president of Corporate Development; and

Whereas Ms. Verschuren then headed to Michaels, the world's leading arts and crafts chain, and in 1996 was lured away by Home Depot to lead its Canadian operation, overseeing its rapid growth from 19 to 179 Canadian stores;

Therefore be it resolved that members of this House of Assembly congratulate Ms. Verschuren on her coming induction on June 10, 2010, into the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame and wish her well as she climbs the corporate ladder.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Victoria-The Lakes.

RESOLUTION NO. 995

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

Whereas since 1992, the Millville Community Centre and the Finney and Carey families have hosted the Gail (Bonnar) Finney and Kevin Carey Memorial Cancer Shoot; and

[Page 1803]

Whereas the first shoot, held in 1992, raised $100 and this year's shoot raised $1,300 and was the kick-off for the April campaign for the Sydney Mines Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society; and

Whereas the proceeds from this year's shoot will go to the Northside Hospital Foundation for the palliative care unit;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate the organizers and participants of the annual Gail (Bonnar) Finney and Kevin Carey Memorial Cancer Shoot, and thank them for their efforts in making life better for the individuals and families who live with cancer.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Bedford-Birch Cove.

RESOLUTION NO. 996

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

Whereas the National Eating Disorder Information Centre has launched an awareness campaign, targeting consumers and fashion magazines alike; and

Whereas NEDIC is sending magazine editors cards that say "Thanks for making me such a successful anorexic" and managers are getting black T-shirts with six-inch waists, urging "Please try this on to experience how your ads make us feel"; and

Whereas NEDIC has set up an interactive transit shelter that encourages travellers to toss their fashion magazines into a bin;

Therefore be it resolved that members of this House of Assembly congratulate the staff of the National Eating Disorder Information Centre on their imaginative campaign to combat eating disorders, and wish the centre every success in raising the public's awareness.

[Page 1804]

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

[5:00 p.m.]

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Inverness.

RESOLUTION NO. 997

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

Whereas the Cheticamp Volunteer Fire Department recently recognized volunteers for their dedication to their community; and

Whereas the department recognized Maurice Bourgeois, Robert Poirier, Gerald Leblanc, and Andre Bourgeois for over 20 years of service; and

Whereas these gentlemen have generously given their time, time away from family, to help those in need;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly extend appreciation to these volunteers for the valuable service they provide to their community.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

[Page 1805]

The honourable member for Dartmouth East.

RESOLUTION NO. 998

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

Whereas Girl Guides has been an organization of choice for girls and women, challenging them in their personal development and empowering them to be responsible citizens; and

Whereas 2010 marks 100 years of the Girl Guides organization in Canada and May 15th will be National Rally Day for Girl Guides, linking young women from coast to coast at 22 venues across Canada; and

Whereas they will also be participating in a national challenge to work towards the eradication of poverty and hunger, one of the goals of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in wishing the Girl Guides all the best for this once-in-a-lifetime chance for members of all ages to come together and celebrate their history.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Clare.

RESOLUTION NO. 999

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

[Page 1806]

Whereas Le Restaurant Cape View, located in Mavillette Beach in Clare, is celebrating 50 years of service to their loyal customers; and

Whereas a warm welcome, coupled with outstanding service, is always given to the people of Clare and surrounding area by Louis and Aline Comeau and their staff; and

Whereas over the years Le Restaurant Cape View has made a significant contribution to the economy of Clare, providing employment and supporting local industries;

Therefore be it resolved that members of this House of Assembly congratulate Louis and Aline Comeau and their staff for the exemplary service they have provided, and wish them continued success in future endeavours.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Preston.

RESOLUTION NO. 1000

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

Whereas Unni Simensen and her family emigrated to Canada from Norway in 1968, and when they came to visit Nova Scotia in 1978 they loved it so much they decided to stay in this province; and

Whereas Scanway Catering was born in Unni's kitchen in 1981, and in the beginning catered to small affairs and created decadent desserts for local restaurants in Halifax and soon became one of Halifax's most respected restauranteurs, opening several restaurants over the past 29 years; and

Whereas today Scanway ships cakes and more all over the world, as well as employing over 100 staff locally, and training young people in the restaurant business while giving them a sense of pride in their work;

[Page 1807]

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House recognize Unni Simensen for her business acumen and work ethic, and thank her for choosing to be a Nova Scotian.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS

The honourable Deputy Government House Leader.

MR. DAVID WILSON: Mr. Speaker, would you please call the order of business, Public Bills for Second Reading.

PUBLIC BILLS FOR SECOND READING

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Deputy Government House Leader.

MR. DAVID WILSON: Mr. Speaker, would you please call Bill No. 53.

Bill No. 53 - Fur Industry Act.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Agriculture.

HON. JOHN MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to Bill No. 53, the Fur Industry Act, a piece of legislation that will provide the industry with the legislative support the industry needs to grow and succeed. Our current legislation for fur farming, which dates back to before the 1970s, falls under Part XX of the Agriculture and Marketing Act and does not give sufficient authority to manage and develop the industry. This new legislation puts in place measures to ensure the appropriate management and development of the industry for years to come.

Government's priorities are to ensure that agriculture contributes to the long-term prosperity and growth in this province and to make sure that this growth is used to secure a

[Page 1808]

bright future for all Nova Scotians. It is time to look at the industry's needs in 2010 and to provide a mechanism to support modern farming techniques.

During the past few months I have had an opportunity to meet with members of the mink industry and address the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders' Association. I have toured the mink research facility at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College and I have visited a few mink farms. I wanted to see for myself how the mink industry works in Nova Scotia. What I have seen so far is impressive.

The fur industry is important to Nova Scotia's rural economy. The industry exports a first-class product around the world and it is growing at a pace not seen in other agricultural commodities in this province. I think about three years ago, if you had asked me what the two major farm-gate receipts were in the Province of Nova Scotia, I would have told you mink and blueberries. So, I think we know that presently, mink is still number one and hopefully the blueberry industry will be number two again. It is to the point that the mink industry can rival the dairy industry for farm-gate receipts.

Over 80 per cent of our mink ranches are located in southwestern Nova Scotia and the mink industry provides significant employment opportunities to those who live in this region and the communities benefit from their hard work. Nova Scotia farmers are facing many challenges. The high Canadian dollar, increased fuel costs and the cost of feed and labour are affecting everyone's bottom line. Not to mention 2009 was one of the worst financial years in recent times. This is a time when attention to the bottom line and working closely with fellow farmers, the auction houses, researchers and government is more important than ever.

Fur farming is a growing industry in Nova Scotia and our province is recognized as producing the best mink in the world. Nova Scotia's fur industry accounted for 53.1 per cent or $45.3 million of the national value of the industry in 2004, rising to $65.3 million in 2008. With an estimated 1.5 million pelts and over $80 million in export revenue in 2009 this government recognizes the importance of the fur industry and values the contribution it makes to the provincial economy. This export revenue generates new wealth to support Nova Scotia's economy. In other words, these are new dollars coming into the province.

So here are a few facts about mink in Nova Scotia. We produce about the same volume of mink as Russia or about 2.5 per cent of the world's production and about half of Canada's production. Currently, there are 159 licensed producers, mostly in Digby County but in nearly every county in the province. The industry works co-operatively in many aspects of the business from feed kitchens to pelting plants and uses waste from fish plants and meat processing plants for feed. As well, many buy fresh, low-value fish from local fishermen that would otherwise not be sold or consumed.

Mr. Speaker, we created this legislation to ensure that the growth of fur farming does not outpace the ability of the industry to manage responsibly. The proposed bill is very

[Page 1809]

comprehensive and covering all the significant issues facing the industry and their neighbours and giving enforcement capability.

In 2009, the Department of Agriculture formed a working group with members of the executive of the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders Association to develop a framework for legislation. In developing this draft legislation, department staff met with staff from the Department of Natural Resources, Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, and the Nova Scotia Department of Environment. We also met with other stakeholders and interest groups to discuss identified issues and the content of the proposed legislation.

Mr. Speaker, these stakeholders and groups included private citizens, the Clyde River Land Use Committee, the Clean Annapolis River Project, Tusket River Environmental Protection Association, Yarmouth County Environmental Justice Committee, Sierra Club, Ecology Action Centre, and the East Coast Environmental Law Association. We appreciate the valuable contributions made by the stakeholders as we drafted this legislation.

Some highlights of the legislation include the need for an operating licence to raise fur, the licence is subject to terms and conditions met by the minister and is renewable; a site approval permit to obtain an operating licence and this permit will allow the department to ensure that a fur farm is designed to meet the standards set out in the regulations. I want to say before I move on that this is a difference.

Previous to this legislation, anybody interested in mink farming in Nova Scotia, or fur farming in Nova Scotia, would put together their facility, they would put the animals in the cages, and then they would call the Department of Agriculture. An inspector would come and inspect the facility and then give out a licence or a permit to operate.

What we've decided in this legislation was that was a bit like showing up after the horse had left the barn. The concerns raised by communities around mink ranches indicated that the department should be a bit more proactive, that we should actually go out and inspect the site before we even tell the proponents that they could start that operation. We wanted to see it before any buildings were up, before any animals were in place, so that we could say, look, this is a fine location or it's not, there are some environmental issues that we think you might want to consider that would make you think you should look for another location. So that is a significant change. Fur farm operators must have an environmental management plan developed by a designated environmental engineer to reduce the impact of the operation on air, soil, water, and biodiversity.

This is a new component in this legislation. Any new operations, new mink ranches, would have to do this before they could be up and running, but any existing operations are not being grandfathered in the sense that this is not a requirement for them, they're just being grandfathered on the time. So they have up to three years to comply with this piece of legislation. They cannot sidestep the need for an environmental management plan. I don't want members to think that this is an environmental farm plan. That's a different thing.

[Page 1810]

We would assume that if the operator is going to go through this process to get an environmental management plan, he would do it in conjunction with the department to ensure that he could meet qualification for an environmental farm plan. Environmental farm plans would allow farmers to qualify for particular programs within the department. The environmental management plan on its own might not necessarily do that. So we would encourage the operators to look at that because they might as well bring it to that standard for the environmental farm plan and that's not to say that one would take them to that place, I'm assuming most environmental management plans will do that, but that's something they should really think about if they're going to spend the money, they might as well take it to a step that allows them to qualify for programs within the department.

[5:15 p.m.]

Fur farm operators must ensure the animals are treated humanely and euthanized humanely. The minister may designate disease, create quarantine areas, and restrict the movement of animals to control disease. Fur farm operators must test for disease and report diseases. The minister has regulation-making authority, including standards, codes, and site reclamation. Fur farm operators must keep records and submit reports to the minister when requested.

Inspectors have broad authority to inspect fur farms to ensure compliance with the Act and regulations, and will be responsible to ensure biosecurity is maintained when conducting inspections. Inspectors may issue orders to fur farm operators to ensure compliance with the Act and regulations. A fur farm operator may be fined up to $1,000 per day for offences under the Act and regulations. The minister may refer complaints about fur farm operations to the Farm Practices Board.

Concerned communities have turned to the fur industry and to government for reassurance that the environment is being managed properly. Our response has been to work with industry leaders to communicate the work that is being done, and to seek improvement when necessary. The executive of the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders Association has been supportive of our effort, and their advice has been invaluable.

In addition to this legislation, the Department of Agriculture will continue to support research and the Nova Scotia Agricultural College for long-term sustainability of the mink industry. The Nova Scotia Fur Institute is helping guide this research.

I want to acknowledge the importance of this work and its contribution to making Nova Scotia's mink industry competitive. Agriculture, including mink producers, is the heart of many of our rural communities and supports many people throughout the region. The mink industry is recognized as producing the best mink in the world and should stand proud as a world class producer.

[Page 1811]

This government looks forward to continued work with the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders' Association to make certain the industry remains positive and continues to contribute to the sustainability of agriculture and rural lifestyles in Nova Scotia. I want to say that the mink industry deserves some credit in this legislation. We recognize that we've had very outdated legislation, we're in the 21st Century. There were concerns in those communities, mostly on environmental issues, and the mink industry really came out to be leaders on getting this legislation written. I have to say, it's one of those cases where you would think the people that you're going to impact the most would be the most difficult to get onside. They worked very co-operatively with people at the Department of Agriculture, my staff, to get this legislation drafted. I say they deserve credit for their efforts and to be proactive for their industry.

This industry is important to the agricultural sector. I think, like many rural communities, we know there's not going to be a particular - I want to say that call centres aren't going everywhere - and we look at the natural resources that you have in any community make a strong base for your economy for which we could value-add, and this is one good example. It has secure jobs in all parts of the province where the mink industry has taken hold.

We want to make sure that it continues to thrive and minimize the environmental impact and is appreciated in the communities where mink farmers exist. This legislation will ensure best practices and a sustainable future for the industry for Nova Scotia, and we'd be very pleased to see it move forward through the Law Amendments Committee and the process here and I look forward to comments by members of the Opposition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you, minister.

The honourable member for Kings West.

MR. LEO GLAVINE: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in my place and offer a few comments around the Fur Industry Act and the legislation that is before us. First of all, moving the regulations and the guidance of this industry from under the Agriculture and Marketing Act I think is very significant, a stand alone piece of legislation. Furthermore, and the minister did point this out, but the industry itself has been wanting this legislation. This has been in the making for a couple of years. It still, of course, has a way to go, in terms of the final set of regulations that will make a final document and one that will, I think, give the industry a very significant direction for the future.

I think at the heart of this piece of legislation is the concept of a management plan, whereby each operation can act as a closed system, as one that will not negatively impact on the environment. I know in Kings County this is an industry that has been established with one or two major operators, but is now expanding. Backfilling some of the losses of the hog industry is a real positive development for agriculture. I think once again, Kings County, on

[Page 1812]

the Valley floor, has fairly significant pockets of population so making this industry viable means making it safe and acceptable for all concerned.

I know the kind of co-operation that I have received in my riding when there were a few what I would call very minimal complaints but how quickly they wanted to rectify those situations is something that I was impressed with.

One of the areas that I've been informed of and having participated in a couple of AGMs of the fur industry, I know how highly regarded the Nova Scotia product is. This is a product that goes around the world. We know that Japan, China, Korea and to some extent India are wanting the pelts that are produced here in Nova Scotia. Of course it is no secret, the tie-in to the fishing industry and the oils from fish product and again, rather than have fish product go into landfills or dumped in the ocean, they are mixed in feed kitchens for the mink. So again keeping a closed system and giving a highly, good protein product to the mink certainly has benefits.

This industry is supported, of course, by research going on at the Agricultural College because it is not without one of the diseases that has plagued this industry. I think this legislation actually, can be an assist, can be a help in dealing with Aleutian Disease because I know that again having a number of ranches very close together and probably my colleague, the member for Clare, will address this because Route 340 is a very prominent area in the production of the fur industry in Nova Scotia and he's very familiar with this area.

I think one of the things that I was pleased with was to have the staff from the Department of Agriculture brief me on the draft, back now quite a number of weeks ago. Again, it's a growing industry, even in the riding where I am. Probably my colleague, the member for Digby-Annapolis, may want to speak to this bill because, again, it's one that's very prominent in his riding.

I look forward to hearing from people in the industry and any others that may have an interest in strengthening this piece of legislation that is before us. Perhaps we can even get a few additional comments brought forward that may, in fact, assist in the regulations that will be drawn up over the next while.

Mr. Speaker, I think, as the minister has pointed out, the environmental management plan is not just a quick environmental assessment. It goes much beyond that and I think it's going to be one of the best safeguards for the viability of this industry and one now, which the agriculture community in general is coming to regard. We know that prices in the fur industry can be cyclical in nature but as they strengthen, they are a well-established industry, about 150 producers in Nova Scotia, it has a very strong future outlook. We can't forget, which has been alluded to, that this is a rural industry. This is one that supports the rural economy of Nova Scotia and we're talking now probably in the vicinity of $100 million industry so it's one that we need to be very firm on the kind of regulations that will guide its advance forward.

[Page 1813]

I especially like in the legislation the site approval plan because this is the area that I'm sure a number of MLAs possibly heard about - where will the next mink ranch be located? This whole concept of a proper site for that next ranch or the expansion of an established ranch is really critical. I know the industry itself wants to be very proactive, very aggressive in making sure they do the right thing. They want to be leaders in their field. I know that the established ranchers will have three years to incorporate the regulations that this Act will bring forward and the cost is going to be borne by the industry, by the producers and so I think this tells us how much they regard the industry now and its potential for the future.

One of the aspects that was easy to take notice of was the family nature of this business, the number of families where sons and daughters have taken over or have gotten into developing their own ranches. Without the mentioning the names here in the House, because I haven't checked with them, it's interesting that four or five families are very dominant producers. When they gather for an AGM, which really impressed me - because I've been at a number of AGMs since becoming an MLA - the whole family is invited to the AGMs; the wives and the children all become part of their gatherings. The kind of commitment that they're making to the industry in Nova Scotia is to be commended, is to be supported, and together, hopefully, we can bring forth the best piece of legislation.

[5:30 p.m.]

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Hants West.

MR. CHUCK PORTER: Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to rise today to speak just for a few minutes on this bill, the Fur Industry bill, and I know a couple of things I want to point out. One is commending the minister on the work that he has done over the past while in getting this together, and I know that the industry has had great involvement. We've had some dealing with them as well, of course. They've been into caucus, gave a report, and I know some of those folks really well. I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes at their AGM through the winter - I can't remember when it was now, but it was back a couple of months or so ago - and just a very great group.

The member for Kings West is quite right - they're a huge family when it comes to this particular industry, and I think they've been very successful because of that. It's an impressive industry, as we've just heard, with their business throughout the world. It's good to see that they're doing that and it's good to see that the industry itself and the local industry in Nova Scotia has had the necessary input. I know they favour the bill and the strength of this bill.

The minister outlined a little bit about how it used to work, and now, moving forward, how things would be tightened up for the better. I think that everybody can expect that to be a benefit and a good thing, those that maybe even - I don't know if you want to call

[Page 1814]

it "complain," but I know in my time, just about four years now as a member, I have a mink farm in my area in Burlington and I've never heard anything but good. So they are doing what's required, doing it well, and they are indeed a good employer, as we've also heard this afternoon. So it's good to see that continue on and I certainly wish them nothing but success as we move forward into the future.

I won't stand and take too much time, but again, I want to thank the minister for bringing the bill forward. I know the industry is happy to have it on the table and to move forward with it and to have that input. So with that, I thank you for the couple of minutes to speak on the bill.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Clare.

HON. WAYNE GAUDET: Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to rise to speak on An Act Respecting the Fur Industry. This piece of legislation was developed in consultation with members of the fur industry along with the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders Association. This new legislation places more responsibilities on ranchers to ensure operations take into account the effect on their neighbours and on the environment. Specifically, the bill requires that fur ranchers obtain a site approval permit before getting their operating licence.

My colleague, the member for Kings West, pointed out earlier in his remarks that future locations of any new mink farm always raise questions in any neighbourhood. I know in recent years there have been lots of questions asked about the potential of starting up a new mink ranch, especially in our part of the province. So I'm pleased to see that the department is involved in determining the site, or a new site, for these farms.

Ranchers will also be required to have management plans that will cover environmental impacts such as water, water management, and disease prevention. These environmental assessments - and I know from discussions that I've had last year with a potential ranch going up - raise a number of questions with people in that community. So these environmental assessments will reassure the general public that ranchers have to meet certain standards and regulations in order to farm in our province. Also, the bill gives the Department of Agriculture inspection and enforcement authority.

I want to just share with you some of the interesting statistics on the mink industry in Nova Scotia. As we have seen, especially in the last 10 or 15 years, the mink industry has seen a steady climb in profit. When we look at the whole mink industry in Canada, Nova Scotia produces about half of the 2.3 million mink produced in our country. That's quite a substantial record for Nova Scotia.

It's not surprising that Nova Scotia is a world leader in mink production. Mink farming started in Nova Scotia back in the 1930s. I know when I was growing up hearing people from my community who were involved in the business and now, naturally, it's

[Page 1815]

moved on to the next generation. Today, there's approximately 150 mink ranchers in our province.

About 80 per cent of the mink raised in our province are raised in Digby and Yarmouth County. I know looking at some of the ranchers that have been in business for well over 50 years in Digby County, we have probably some of the world experts when it comes to raising mink. They have traveled to different parts of the globe sharing some of their own personal research when it came to farming and gathering information naturally from other parts of the world.

The mink industry in Nova Scotia generates almost close to $100 million. That's new dollars coming into our province. Naturally, the mink are sold to different parts of the world. As I understand right now, Russia, China, and Korea are basically responsible for buying a lot of our pelts that are produced here in our province. It was mentioned earlier that Nova Scotia is world-renowned in producing mink. I can tell you Nova Scotia's world renowned for its high quality black mink pelt.

I know some of the farms, as I had indicated earlier, for over 50 years have been working and developing this pelt that's wanted by the market. I know the auction houses are certainly looking for these as well. When you look at the mink industry entirely, it's probably worth close to $100 million a year, but I think when you look at all these spin-off jobs, probably the industry is worth close to $ 0.5 billion to Nova Scotia.

When you look at the hundreds of jobs that are created on the farms, those are very important jobs to have, especially in rural Nova Scotia. I also want to highlight a few of the supporting industries or part of the businesses that have been created in order to support the mink industry and the fur industry in Nova Scotia. Approximately about 10 years go there was a pelting plant, a co-op that basically was built, developed and located in Digby County, on the Langford Road in Weaver Settlement - it creates about 180 jobs. This plant constructed in Digby County, was to service the local industry because of the large number of ranchers that are found at home.

Naturally, mink don't have to be shipped long distances to a pelting plant. I understand the pelting plant we have at home, this facility also serves other ranchers from different parts of the Maritimes. My colleague talked about the feed kitchen. In the Municipality of Clare, a big feed kitchen that was started about five years ago in Meteghan. Just last year, just to try to meet the demand of the industry, they had to put on a large extension. I would encourage anyone in the House who is ever in our part of the province - I'm sure you would find it quite interesting - to tour this feed kitchen in Meteghan.

Also, we have drivers delivering to a lot of the ranches. It's practically every second day the run goes through, but it certainly employs a lot of people inside the kitchen and especially on the road delivering to many of the ranches. We also have some individuals at home - especially at my colleague for Digby-Annapolis' riding, we have drivers driving

[Page 1816]

along the South Shore, along the tri-counties, collecting a lot of the fish meal waste from fish plants that they're delivering directly to these farms as well.

The mink industry certainly has some challenges, and one of them has been Aleutian Disease. Aleutian Disease is a blood illness that has been affecting mink for quite a few years. Right now, especially in approximately the last eight years, we have a new lab located in Weymouth where we have ranchers basically collecting blood tests on a regular basis just to make sure - they want to try to have the best control possible on their animals. So of course we have people working in the lab at Weymouth, and of course we also have people sending some blood work to be done in Truro at the Agricultural College. So when you take into account, again, just the spinoff from the industry itself, you have to do blood work on a regular basis in order to try to control this Aleutian Disease on your ranch.

When we're talking about Aleutian Disease, we also have to mention the researchers. This has been ongoing. I know there is tremendous work taking place at the Agricultural College in Truro. I hope that someday they will be able to arrive at the solution to control this illness.

Of course, you have the many, many businesses profiting from the mink industry. When you look at the building supplies, the home hardware stores, in different communities where mink ranches are found, you look at the trucking industry - the mink industry generates a lot of money in rural Nova Scotia.

The mink industry is second only to the dairy industry in Nova Scotia. As everyone knows, this is a fast-growing business, and who knows where that will take us in the next five years and the next 10 years? When I look at the people who are involved in raising mink in Digby County, I know they can compete with the best anywhere in the world. So there is definitely a lot of potential.

I know when I looked at the hog industry, especially in the last several years where they have been many, many hog farmers leaving the industry, I know some hog farmers in Clare have turned to raising mink. So when I look at this fast-growing industry, like any other industry, there are highs and lows, and especially when you talk to the people who have been in this industry for many, many years, they can share the good times, but they can certainly share some of the bad times with you as well.

They have practically no control with the auction houses when the pelts reach good prices or high prices, but like anything else, sometimes the high prices may collapse, and of course you have to prepare for those rainy days. So when you talk to the people that have been involved in the industry, they can certainly share some of the good times and bad times that they have experienced along the way.

[5:45 p.m.]

[Page 1817]

In closing, this is a positive piece of legislation that ranchers and concerned citizens and government can look forward to being enacted. Updating the regulations around the mink industry is a very positive step for everybody. Again, I am certainly in support for this bill to move second reading and move to the Law Amendments Committee and, of course, to allow the general public and the industry to come forward and share their comments on this piece of legislation. So with those few comments, Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate having the opportunity to raise these concerns and with that, I will take my seat. Thank you very much.

MR. SPEAKER: Thank you, honourable member.

The honourable member for Digby-Annapolis.

MR. HAROLD THERIAULT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased, too, to stand and speak on the Fur Industry Bill. Everything has been said here tonight but maybe I can put a little different slant on it and maybe bring it into better perspective and it won't be in a boat and my friend, the member for Clare, and I may differ a little bit on some of the things.

He said this started back in the 1930s. Maybe it did, I won't argue with him on that but I thought it was the early 1940s. Why the mink industry started down there was because of the abundance of fish that was landed, a lot of fish. Mr. Speaker, I started working on a mink ranch when I was 10 years old. My uncle, Harley Theriault, was next door to me. He had a small farm and his son-in-law - he would have been my uncle - was in the fish business, Llewellyn Raymond. So when I was 10 years old they built this little ranch and in the Spring there would be a couple of thousand in it and in the wintertime, after the pelting, there were probably 500.

I got the job of watering these mink. They never had the water feeders then, they just had the cups on the outside of the cage and I'd take a bucket, I'd go over there before daylight. In the wintertime the water would freeze right on the bucket but I'd keep beating it out and I'd water the mink. When I got home from school, I watered them again. There were only about 500 in the winter so it only took an hour and I could water 500 of them.

In the Spring, when there were 2,000 of them and they separated them out in the cages, it took quite a while, it took the whole day. I'd water 500 of them in an hour - fill their cup with a dipper, just as fast as you could walk. So that is what I did when I was 10 years old. They did that because the mink were part of Uncle Harley's business.

Uncle Harley had some horses - I used to team the horse, too, when I was 10 years old - get up on his back and haul the wagon around with it. I did that before I went fishing, but it was part of it, it was part of the fishery, part of the fishing industry. You did a little bit of everything - you farmed, so they started raising a few mink.

[Page 1818]

I'll tell you another thing good, too, about mink; a few of them got loose down there. People were scared to death, these few mink running around loose but down on the beach, down on the shore, there were rats galore. There were rats, everywhere you looked there were rats running, because of all the fish. Once those mink got down there and got living there amongst them, it wasn't a year and those rats disappeared. There wasn't a rat left but those mink were still there, proud and fat.

Somebody went and caught them. Uncle Harley didn't want to catch them because everybody was happy that the rats were gone. Somebody went and caught those mink, stole them, so Uncle Harley let some more go, to keep the rats cleaned up and that's the God's truth. It's a good business, if it wasn't for that business down there, if something ever happened to that business in Weymouth, it would shut that area down. It would be just as if you shut the oil industry down today, what would happen to the world? Well the same thing would happen to Weymouth, Nova Scotia, if you shut that mink industry down today.

There are a lot of people who complain about it. They say it smells a lot. I lobster fish and I worked in the mink and I always was trying to balance which smelled the worst, the lobster bait or the mink. There wasn't much difference. So if you don't want to smell fish if you don't want to smell mink or you don't want to smell lobster bait, don't come around the coast in western Nova Scotia is all I have to tell you. It's part of life. We lived right next door to Uncle Harley. I walked, from here over to the Bank of Canada there across the road, and there was the mink ranch. In the summertime it would get a little sweet now and then but no sweeter than that lobster bait coming up over the hill from the shore. But there are controversies, the last few years there have been some mink ranchers getting too close to streams, too close to people's homes. It's already there and it's a legitimate, controversial thing. These regulations - I believe it's good, it's long overdue, to keep things in their proper place and their proper perspective, but it's always going to be there, because there are always going to be people that wear fur, there are always going to be people eating lobster. I mean, both are kind of a luxury. Russia and China, they can't get enough of this fur.

There are people here in North America who think there is something wrong with it if you wear fur. So be it, everybody has different opinions, but there's always going to be a fur trade of some sort, everybody is going to wear fur. I'm still waiting for my seal fur coat. Danny Williams has one and I'm getting one too, but that's always going to go on. It's always going to go on, so we've got to work together. When you're on the coast, in western Nova Scotia especially, it's always been there and maybe back - like the member for Clare said - to the 1930s. I thought it was the early 1940s but we won't get in a big argument over that, but it's been there quite awhile.

My uncle Harley always told me, what a perfect solution, to raise these mink along with the other farming he did and here was free food for them. This fish was being dumped back over the wharf, the cutting. I see the member for Shelburne agreeing, he knows exactly what was going on there. This offal, the fish, was ground up and used to feed these mink and

[Page 1819]

it just helped the communities, it put a lot of people to work. It put me to work at 10 years old. I froze my fingers a few times, but I always had a buck or two at the end of the week. It wasn't a lot of money but it was good.

I just want to thank the minister for coming in with this. It's long overdue, and these past three or four years around that area, people are afraid of too much of it happening, getting into the streams, and getting into well water, and I've heard it all. Now's the time to correct it, it's a perfect day to start it, and I want to thank the minister for that and I'll take my seat. Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: If I recognize the minister it will be to close the debate.

The honourable Minister of Agriculture.

HON. JOHN MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all of the interveners on this piece of legislation, I appreciate their comments very much. I think all of the people involved with the industry would appreciate what they said, and the people who live in those communities who are not mink ranchers, would appreciate what they said. They talked about mitigating against concerns about the environment, which was a key component in driving this legislation. I, in particular, want to say how much I enjoyed the comments of the member for Clare who was a former Minister of Agriculture, I appreciate what he had to say.

The member for Digby-Annapolis, really kind of nice down-home, in-the-trenches comments. The one thing he did say that I wanted to mention - and I'm glad that he said it - was the connection to the fishing industry. It's something I think we want to keep in mind about our economic development policies around the fishing industry, that when it comes to fish plants and the sustainability of them, we have to recognize there's a linkage here to another industry. We don't want to make decisions that force or hinder the fishing industry or a particular plant, we like to keep those viable. They have a close connection to the fur industry down there, and it's an important point to consider, that they're linked. I have to say, there's probably a much richer history around this that I don't know about.

I had heard stories about the jet black mink in Nova Scotia, and I'd love to know if it's true. As much as people would take credit for it, because I know there's a particular family where they showed up first and some people said, oh, just two mink out of the cage, and there was no great breeding strategy, no great genetic strategy, but I'm sure the people who developed them are willing to claim it.

Anyway, I have to say, interestingly enough about where we get to, I guess, from where we start, I mean who would have thought? I don't know in what year people started raising mink, if it was in the 1800s or what. I know we've raised foxes and I think, I'm not sure if we do much in terms of bobcats, I don't think in Nova Scotia we do, probably in other jurisdictions, but it's a whole animal husbandry area that requires a lot of on-the-ground knowledge. People who did it actually knew more than any scientist or any researcher ever

[Page 1820]

could have known because there was no extension work for developing that, you kind of learned as you went, the school of hard knocks.

So a lot about the success of this industry is from the people on the ground who developed it and, of course, now we have some resources to go toward research, and certainly I think it's our hope that at some point we can minimize the impact of Aleutian disease on the industry. I know the industry is very concerned about it. I want to thank the member for Kings West for his input, that he stays in touch with people in his area on the industry. I think it's kind of interesting how the industry seems to be kind of shifting to other areas. It seems to be a major component of agriculture in other parts of the province. Whether it actually will ever move significantly out of the southern part of the province remains to be seen but we want it to be a vital component of agriculture and I thank the member for Hants West, as well, for his input.

With those comments, Mr. Speaker, I move second reading of Bill No. 53.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is for second reading of Bill No. 53. Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

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

The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. FRANK CORBETT: Mr. Speaker, I move that you do now leave the Chair and that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House on Bills.

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

The motion is carried.

[5:57 p.m. The House resolved itself into a CWH on Bills with Deputy Speaker Hon. Wayne Gaudet in the Chair.]

[6:06 p.m. CWH on Bills rose and the House reconvened with Deputy Speaker Hon. Wayne Gaudet in the Chair.]

MR. SPEAKER: The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House on Bills reports:

THE CLERK: That the committee has met and considered the following bills:

[Page 1821]

Bill No. 10 - Cape Breton Island Marketing Levy Act.

Bill No. 13 - Motor Vehicle Act.

Bill No. 16 - Summary Proceedings Act.

Bill No. 18 - Vital Statistics Act.

Bill No. 19 - Motor Vehicle Act.

Bill No. 23 - Sea, Army, Air and Navy League Cadets Day Act.

Bill No. 29 - Municipal Government Act.

Bill No. 36 - Engineering Profession Act.

Bill No. 41 - Volunteer Fire Services Act.

and the chairman has been instructed to recommend these bills to the favourable consideration of the House, each without amendment.

MR. SPEAKER: Ordered that these bills be read a third time on a future day.

The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. FRANK CORBETT: Mr. Speaker, would you please call the order of business, Government Motions.

GOVERNMENT MOTIONS

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. FRANK CORBETT: Mr. Speaker, I move that the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne be now resumed.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Atlantic.

MS. MICHELE RAYMOND: Mr. Speaker, before anything else I'd like to say thank you very, very much for the opportunity and the privilege of speaking, through you, in this Chamber for the citizens of the place that is currently described as Halifax Atlantic.

I think every one of us in this Chamber runs the risk of becoming deeply chauvinistic about the place that they represent, and I would be no exception. I am absolutely convinced that I have been asked to speak many times for the people in one of the most extraordinary parts of this province - I know everybody here would say that about the area they represent

[Page 1822]

and I think that is what makes it such an amazing privilege to be asked to act as spokesman for any one of the ridings in this province.

Anyone who knows me has heard me railing for years against being described as a politician, and insisting that all of us here in the House of Assembly are here as representatives and not as politicians. These last few weeks I think have made that distinction (Applause) Thank you - I think these last few weeks have made that distinction between representative and politician all the more pointed and the more essential that we make, and that the people of the province understand be made.

Every one of the seats in this Chamber is occupied by somebody who has been chosen by most of the people in one geographic area to speak for them. That person is a spokesman, but also a portrait of the average of that community: We may have lived abroad, some of us have barely left our communities before we have come to Halifax; we may have had fairly little formal education, we may hold several post-graduate degrees; we may be male, or female; we may be senior citizens, or some of us barely out of school; we may speak English as our first language, or have many other languages at our disposal; and we may have skin of any colour along the range of human skin tone. But on polling day most of the people who voted have selected each one of the people in this Chamber as the person whom they feel - in the words of Robert Stanfield - may not be the best, but at least the best you've got.

It is a long journey that brings each of us to those doors - and they are pretty intimidating doors that lead into this Chamber, and they are doors that very few people get to walk through and none of us undertake it lightly. In this complex and varied and interconnected world most jurisdictions have found it necessary for like-minded people to band together, and this jurisdiction is no exception because we do have one of the most complicated provinces there is.

Sometimes I talk about this as a province of refugees because it is the place where people are likely to first make landfall when they come to the New World, if they come to the northern parts of this continent, and because of that, because of that complex coastline with all of these coves and beaches and tiny towns, places hidden in the woods where refugees - often from the mainstream of belief in the country that they have left, sometimes hundreds of years ago and sometimes only weeks ago - because of that complexity, it is all the more important that we, as like-minded people, find ways in which to associate ourselves.

That process is a challenge. First, as the groups define their beliefs, and then as the constituency associations, which work for Parties, look for the person who might be most representatives of that Party's belief in the local context. It is that Party which at any given time speaks mostly - mostly - to the community of any given area, which will find itself with a given place in the Legislature.

The challenge once we're here, as every one of us knows, gets even sharper, because we're speaking to broadly similar beliefs, all of us, in a very complex jurisdiction, and a

[Page 1823]

jurisdiction which has historically had many, many influences coming to bear under historically very, very challenging circumstances.

We've all pledged to work with the same general principles and to represent our community, and sometimes those commitments can seem unrelated and sometimes they can even seem contradictory. It is a long, hard process that every one of us here works through to choose a course of action and come to an acceptable point, and that extended and intensive co-operation demands great trust amongst all of us. Persistence, I think, and I hope, is rewarded with new understandings so that in the end only decisions leave the room.

By the time those distilled decisions reach this Chamber, we all of us know that they are a pretty potent blend. We have all, by speech, by silence, by listening, by addressing, been a part of effectively creating a point of view which will be refined in this room. It is a pretty intoxicating process, and we are deeply, deeply invested.

Mr. Speaker, that is why I say thank you to you specifically, because you occupy a particularly important and difficult role in this place. It is your presence here which keeps the sometimes very, very powerful and contradictory points of view from taking on a toxic life of their own. You stand here as mediator, and that so-called talking stick, or that talking stick over there, that button you push that turns us on or off at will, the voice of sanity we depend upon, and I thank you for that.

It has been and is a fascinating process to look at how this place works. It is a place where we as individuals really have to step back and cede our individual identities. We are here to fill roles and we sit opposite one another and in front of you because of that, speaking through you. I am grateful that you have been here to make the place and the speech safe for this, so we can really debate the very important points of view which on this coast, this unusual place, I think need to reach conclusion and fruition.

I always talk about this as this place of refugees, this coast, this first landfall, because interesting ideas have taken place here. This is a place which was chosen. Halifax, specifically, and Halifax Atlantic and Halifax Harbour, was the object of covetous attention for centuries, or at least - yes, in fact, for centuries before it was ever settled by the British in 1749, because it was well understood that this projection of the mainland into the eastern Atlantic was one of the places that you would want if you intended to take control of the North American continent or the New World, which everybody wanted to do. It is a defensible place, and Halifax - and Halifax Harbour and the Chebucto Peninsula - was chosen eventually as the ideal place.

So it is because of that that I like to say that the area I represent is one of the most remarkable of many remarkable places in a remarkable province at a remarkable time.

[6:15 p.m.]

[Page 1824]

The area that I represent, Halifax Atlantic, has seen warfare and prisons and quarantines and sanctuary. It has seen subsistence farming and has seen fish stocks of great wealth, and now somewhat impoverished. It has seen poverty and enormous wealth. It has been the home of many people who have spread their enterprises around the globe and it has seen both wealth and generosity and it has been an important part of the shaping of this province, of this continent, in fact. And the world around it has changed but in many ways the changes have been measured and the measurement of those changes, the way that we have undertaken them in this province are something that we look to and that other people look to.

I remember having a visitor some years ago from California who looked up at a sign in the Rebecca Cohn auditorium and it said "No Scent" and that person said, what does that mean? And I explained that Nova Scotia was a place that had decided that in some places it was, in fact, important that scent be recognized as something to which other people are sensitive. Doesn't always happen, but even in that jurisdiction in which sometimes most experimental things are done, experimental things have been done here as well.

With 13,300 kilometers of coastline and 3.5 per cent of this province covered in water I am very proud to represent an area with much of that complex coastline, places where people have come and landed and have moved about and it has provided much of the subsistence for the City of Halifax.

My constituency is, as I always say a nice area, because it's a loop, it's so easy, it's so, so easy to go around my constituency. It leads from the rotary, the place where the peninsula joins Halifax Harbour, leads out there all the way to Sambro, two roads. It's an easy tour, it's a pleasant day's bike ride for many people. Even members of the staff of this House will sometimes come out to enjoy the bicycling and the beauty of that area They come to see the historic sites, they come to see the woods, the alders, to avoid the coyotes and to take pleasure, in many of the pleasures of one of the most delightful cities in North America, a place that has that reputation.

It's interesting, because this area, this first landfall, has also been part of much of the transportation and communications history of this continent, in small ways. People used to travel to town from my side of the Northwest Arm by taking rowboat ferries. Further out, however, further out were some of the first cable landings, satellite, Intelsat. United Nations has set up globes, has set up communications globes, much satellite traffic actually is routed through this area.

I talk about transportation starting with the rowboat ferries though, because we have some influence on even the area which is now defined as downtown Halifax but which is that almost impenetrable, inaccessible peninsula. Any of us who don't represent an area which is downtown Halifax, any of us who have to drive into it know what this means. They know what it means to try to put a car onto the peninsula and they know what it is to find a parking place to get down to this Legislature in a hurry, through the maze of narrow streets that were

[Page 1825]

designed in the 18th Century. So I always use Halifax Atlantic as an example and the Northwest Arm as an example of a way in which traditional methods of solving problems still have their uses.

The Northwest Arm ferry ran up until 1965 when the roads were paved and vehicular traffic became a more common access. But it is something which is still a very popular idea and when it has been running has been very popular amongst the people of that far side and also for the people of the peninsula accessing some of the beauties of the Arm.

At the head of the Arm, actually, was one of the first sources of energy for Halifax. You may have noticed that not only does Halifax have narrow streets, is rocky and it doesn't grow food very well but it doesn't have a lot in the way of water or watercourses. But the far side of the Northwest Arm and the far shores of Dartmouth both have steeper sides and they have watercourses. That was some of the early power source. In fact the early power source for the mills which built Halifax, Hosterman Mill in Melville Cove can actually still be seen - some of the earliest evidence of Halifax and its construction can still be seen if you are driving out Quinpool Road headed towards Halifax Atlantic. You will look across and you will see a long stone loading wharf, an ironstone wharf, which was where barites was brought for paint, and grain was brought later on from the Baltic Sea, all the way up the Northwest Arm in the 18th Century for milling, the power source was there.

I am only sorry though that in my time, in more recent years, I have seen that wall obstructed, parts of that historic wall completely without commemoration, without knowledge of what it meant, by uncontrolled in-filling of the Northwest Arm, which actually does threaten, not only to obliterate some of the inter-tidal life of a fairly fragile area, but also to obliterate some of the context and the knowledge and the potential of that area. I have been sorry to see that and I hope all three levels of government - provincial, municipal and federal, which have obvious jurisdiction, will take up the challenge of protecting the inter-tidal zone and the foreshore - not just of the Northwest Arm, but around this province. The complexity of this coastline is one which we would be very - it would be sad to lose ecologically, socially, historically, economically.

If you keep going past that ironstone wharf, you come to an area of new development, very intensive development - lovely development, actually - which surrounds rather an interesting artifact, a large piece of metal. That piece of metal is probably about this long and it's about that wide and what it is, is the anchor shaft of the Mont Blanc that was thrown, in the Halifax Explosion, across the entire peninsula and landed there. You can see just how narrow that peninsula is if that anchor shaft was thrown from one side of the peninsula, one harbour arm to the next.

Beyond that lies Melville Cove, the other side of that. Melville Cove is the site of one of the things I always like to talk about as an example of why we need to pay attention to Nova Scotia. In the middle of Melville Cove is a small island. That small island has a house

[Page 1826]

and it's surrounded by boats. The house itself is surrounded by glass porches and there are boatyards, cradle yards, there are some stone buildings around it.

That house was built in 1803 and it was built for the prison warden. The prison warden was the person who took care of one of the most notorious prisons of the British Empire. It was the place where people were shipped - and feared to be shipped - from naval battles around the world during the late 18th Century. That three and a half acres held sometimes up to 1,700 men. Whether they had been captured from France, Spain, later on from the new United States, those people were held in prisons. In fact, they were held not on three and a half acres of land, but on half of the land in one and a half acres in crowded prisons.

Many of the people who lived there actually died, either of wounds sustained from the battles in which they were captured or from all the diseases which raged at that time and particularly in crowded circumstances, cholera, typhus, whatever. The people who died on that island, we know from diaries, were wrapped in sheets and they were rowed across to another even smaller island in that cove and they were buried, most of them, in unmarked graves.

When I was growing up, that little lump of land was known as Deadman's Island, but none of us ever thought to question why it was called Deadman's Island. It was just a lump and that's what it was. Somebody suggested a few years ago that it ought to be designated a historic place and there was no interest in that. A few years later a development was proposed that would cut the top off the island, hollow it out for underground parking and condominiums.

At that point people said, why was that called Deadman's Island? With the effort of research, it became very clear that hundreds of people were buried in that place. They were French citizens, they were Spanish citizens, they were Irish citizens - refugees from the potato famines - they were American citizens. There were prison rolls that showed nearly 300 young men who, quite literally, vanished from the United States, disappeared in privateering ships during the War of 1812 and were never heard from again. Their names, their ships, their ages, their hometowns, their causes of death, all of them were neatly listed here in the Nova Scotia Archives and none had ever heard of them again. Sadly, it was only when the U.S. Congress, the French Government and the Spanish Government said this is an important place, this is a graveyard, this is a place where people have been buried from around the world, that local government said perhaps it's a historic place. I worry that that is the story that gets told over and over again in Nova Scotia - that we don't actually realize that we are a place of focus, that we are a place where things have happened and that the world has had its eyes on us, and it continues to have its eyes on us. We have a responsibility to ensure that we act with measured care but that is only one place along the Northwest Arm.

[Page 1827]

Further along, I remember it as fishing villages and fishing shacks in Jollimore, cottage colonies. I should note that the Dingle Tower was built on land which was given in 1909 to commemorate what was thought to be the 150th Anniversary of the First Representative Assembly in British North America - well, it was the First Representative Assembly. We have spoken recently about the 250th Anniversary of democracy. The Dingle Tower was built to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the arrival of representative government in British North America.

The Dingle Tower though, today, is a playground. It's a popular place for children. It's a popular place if you can make your way up all the iron steps and keep your breath and you can see in the darkness, it's a wonderful place at the top to actually go and to look at the city around. I've heard that the flagpoles which project from the four sides used to be a challenge to sailors in World War II who on summer days would come out by ferry from the dockyard and impress their girls by crawling out the flagstaff 250 feet above the ground and leave a piece of chewing gum stuck on the end. I don't know if the chewing gum is still there but the flagpole is and there's lots of caging around it. Don't try it at home.

It was funny to listen to the debate too because I remember there was a mink farm in Jollimore when I was a child. The only thing left now is the mink that you can see scuttling around. That has long, long gone but there are certainly mink who still run along the shore, in and out of the rocks, and they do eat the fish.

Another part of that cottage colony which developed into Jollimore was a fishing village which became a cottage colony gradually interspersed. It boasts Canada's oldest, continuous amateur theatre, the Pond Playhouse, named the Pond because of the frog pond where it stands. The Theatre Arts Guild, a very fine amateur theatre is produced there - five shows a season has been a repertoire for, as I say, close to 80 years now.

I also find many people enjoy walking through the Village of Jollimore. It's another small loop because, again, this is what coves develop. You walk down through the loop. When I was growing up, it was not a popular place to live. It was considered somewhat disreputable because of the houses which are all different, because of the varied setbacks, the little sheds behind, the lack of sidewalks, the narrow streets. Yet, now, it's a tourist area. It's a very popular place to live and I always wonder whether at some point more modern housing developments will actually follow and find some lessons to learn in the varied setbacks, the narrow streets, which demand slow driving and which have even encouraged a little bit of road hockey over the years, but we wouldn't mention that. I don't know if it has brought any of us to world fame, but anyway.

Actually one of the things which is happening in Jollimore, which is very interesting now, there is a proposal. One of the great old estates had several houses on it, including one that had been moved, towed by oxen, because it was an old house. In about 1906, it was towed by oxen to the site. This estate has recently left the family hands but because it has a number of very interesting buildings on it and it has a spectacular garden, the proposal has

[Page 1828]

been made for what's called a bare land condominium. So it will be very interesting to see whether, in fact, this condominium will take place and the common elements of it will be the gardens, the swimming pool, the dock, and the houses will remain. I certainly hope that there is going to be a creative approach to planning over the years that looks back at some of the real charm and some of the great desirability of those places that have retained that.

[6:30 p.m.]

The frog pond that I mentioned is only one of the lower of a series of watercourses and it is a watery place, as I say. The Williams Lake Conservation Company has done very interesting work over the years. Williams Lake has some semi-public places is how I would describe it. The dam which was the source of one of the other watercourses going down those steep shores to what was called Lawson's Mill in the 18th Century, that dam is still there. It is full of leaks, it is basically sandbag and concrete and it has been reinforced in as many ways as it can be, but the lake level does continue to lower. The Williams Lake Conservation Company has held the dam licence since the company was incorporated in 1968, which means that they take the responsibility for ensuring that dam remains there.

It is a challenge and they are providing a number of public services. It's a very popular swimming place, the dam itself is. The municipal beach further along the shore is also a public swimming place and the conservation company ensures that, in fact, that lake does not turn itself into a mud puddle, as it must have been when it was first here.

There's a big rock, and I swim there sometimes, and apparently the man standing here was a strong swimmer because he used to like to swim across the Arm and come over to swim at Williams Lake (Interruption) Joseph Howe - the man who stands above us with his muniments in his hand - is a person who used to swim across and he understood the pleasures of Williams Lake.

This House is partly standing because of Williams Lake and the quarries that were there, the quarries of downtown Halifax and Purcells Cove, which is a fishing village still, to some degree, although it is, of course, experiencing increasing development. There have been some very far-sighted people in Purcells Cove; a couple of families have decided to donate land to the Nova Scotia Nature Trust, realizing that these are very significant pieces of land in the middle of a very large city.

Purcells Cove, like the rest of us, has its challenges. It has recently faced storm surge, and that is one of the things that this complex coastline will, in fact, bless you with because as people have nestled along the coast over the years, they have also built very, very close and we do know that the possibility of sea level rise and actually the certainty of recent extreme weather events mean that people really do need to reconsider how they will either buttress their buildings, move their buildings, whatever the case may be. I know that is a huge debate that the Government of Nova Scotia is going to have to face and face it with both foresight and imagination so that we can, in fact, continue to live at this coastline.

[Page 1829]

Purcells Cove has recently lost part of one of its streets, although it is a city street it is, nevertheless, a coastal street. Purcells Cove, too, actually was recently asked how it felt about the installation of a cell tower and it decided that it didn't. The community of Purcells Cove decided it was not interested in having a cell tower there but they also pointed up the need for some sort of consistent regulations around setbacks for residential property. People have a good level of local concern here.

Fergusons Cove, just further down, is a very, very shallow cove. It faces McNabs Island and Hangmans Beach and it has, of course, been in the news recently. It was in the news 366 days ago as forest fire raged from Spryfield, across the barrens and into that area. Hundreds of people, thousands of people, in fact, were evacuated from the area. There is a great deal of woodland interspersed with property and eight houses, I believe, were lost. Many people were dispossessed in other ways and it was a sharp lesson to all of us as to how seriously we need to take the threat of forest fire in dry weather.

Fergusons Cove has more cheerful aspects, however. The community again rallied recently around one of their own who, running a business, also have pets and the pets include a couple of horses. The horses were rusticated to a stable in Eastern Shore, I believe, for about 18 months, but the entire community of Purcell's Cove rallied, petitioned, and said, we want the horses back. The HRM bylaw was amended in that particular instance to allow the keeping of horses. I should say it's not the only one in that area. It does point out what an interesting interplay there is between rural and urban in a very large municipality, which includes a great deal of wilderness.

Ferguson's Cove is ironically also the site of the fire school, the DND fire school, which trains hundreds of people for the Department of National Defence, but it also trains people from other jurisdictions who come in to the mocked-up building, which is mocked up as the inside of a ship. People go through propane flamethrowers and so on, and deal with hazardous substances and so on. It is the place where our armed forces receive the training with which they can deal with some of the most extreme circumstances that can arise on shipboard. As I say, it is recognized and provides such training to the American forces as well, as I understand it.

If you continue around Ferguson's Cove and past the fire school, you'll come to Herring Cove, which is something that some people may have heard of, again, because of that interplay between municipal and rural development. Herring Cove is a very old fishing village. It is deep and it is narrow and it has experienced spectacular storm surges. It quite literally was drained of water during Hurricane Juan, and the force of the water was so extreme that it threw a fishing boat over the bridge and up into the creek. This happened again in the most recent storm, and I'm not actually going to repeat the name by which the boat has become known. It's the S.S. - Anyway, anyone who has been there knows what it is, and there it sits. The most recent storm surge threw it all the way up into Powers Pond.

[Page 1830]

Powers Pond is interesting, and it's another place where local power sources have come to bear. We have developers from California coming to look at the tidal power possibilities of Nova Scotia. We now have a very serious initiative to look at the potential of tidal power in Nova Scotia, but as I understand it, one of the very first tidal power - and it was combined wave and tidal power initiatives - in the world was at Herring Cove. It was Parsons Ocean Power Plant; it was incorporated, the shares were sold in California and so on. What it consisted of was a large pontoon attached to Tribune Head. It floated up and down, and it combined wave action and tidal action to generate enough power to, I think, it was some 100 houses at the time. The company remained in operation until about 1953, when Osborne Parsons was told that nuclear power was the future and you might as well pack it up. So there was no further development and there's nothing left.

I should point out that Powers Pond was actually used as the back-up source. If for some reason the waves stopped to move and the tides stopped to rise and fall, then Powers Pond would supply the back-up power.

More recently, Herring Cove has been the focus of considerable interest because Tribune Head is the site of one of the three sewage treatment plants, water treatment plants, for Halifax Harbour. There has been debate for years about how to clean up Halifax Harbour. The treatment plant was offered to Herring Cove some 20 years ago, probably, and it has been interesting to watch how consultations have moved towards the siting of the treatment plant, to the compensation of the people of Herring Cove for accepting the treatment plant.

I've been interested too in that there have been certain number of development charges, which actually have ended up falling on the shoulders of the current residents. I'm saddened to see that some people have not been able to afford to stay in the area because of the very high costs of providing fresh water to a small community which actually lies a considerable distance from the water treatment plant. I think that that is something that one wants to take into account on occasions when considering amalgamation of large areas, as was done in 1996, if it's going to actually involve encompassing a number of distant communities and causing different levels of service provision from what has traditionally been used and if it is to require centralized service provision. It can be expensive and one needs to look at the benefits to the amalgamated unit as a whole as well as to the individuals living in the existing community.

Herring Cove retains its character - it's also known, I'm sure, as the site of the polar bear swim. It's the wharf people jump off - I've even been known to do it myself - January 1st, (Interruptions) too smart to do it twice. Cold waters in Herring Cove, but anyway, 70 or 75 people usually fortify themselves at around midnight on December 31st so that they're still ready to jump in the water around 10:00 a.m. on January 1st - always looking for new members. I will say there is very fine emergency services on standby, we have our own fire department in Herring Cove and they're there as well as all the other first responders are on call.

[Page 1831]

New communities develop as well - Bear Cove is something which was unpopulated. There were two or three houses and it has become the site of some really very remarkable houses out along the granite cliffs overlooking the roads into Halifax Harbour. If you would like to see the shipping which comes from around the world to enter Halifax Harbour, that is a very fine place from which to view it.

Portugese Cove shares those rocks, the granite, and it has been responsible for some of the ship wrecks as well, some of the most remarkable ship wrecks which have ever taken place - the SS Atlantic and so on. I always enjoy visiting the people in Portugese Cove, particularly one very fine artist I know, Ray Purcell who has essentially set up a small museum out of the artifacts that his grandfather had rescued from the SS Atlantic. He continues to use those as pieces of his artwork, he continues to build from wharves and everything else and to tell the story, always to tell the story of each of the pieces of art and what place it came from.

Portugese Cove is the home not only of Ray Purcell, but of 12-year-old spelling maven Hannah Cameron, who won the Canspell Spelling Bee a couple of months ago. She's one of the great credits to Herring Cove Junior High. Herring Cove Junior High School and William King Elementary School - Herring Cove with its late French immersion program have also produced many fine musicians and professional musicians. Some of them have actually had to cut short their university careers in order to pursue their musical careers. This is one of the dangers we have of being educated in Herring Cove and at J.L. Ilsley - you may actually have to abandon your education to pursue your artistic career around the world.

Further on, this is partly because there are a number of artists and musicians who live here at Duncan's Cove - we have living here several members of the symphony as well as members of the art gallery. A beautiful small harbour, very few people fish out of it anymore. Also the other road to Duncans Cove leads to Chebucto Head. Chebucto Head has presented its own set of challenges. Chebucto Head, like York Redoubt, is the site of federal property and a road leading to federal property whose ownership has become very unclear since the service exchange which created amalgamation.

When Transportation Canada decommissioned the Chebucto Head lighthouse, unfortunately the road out there was the site of several homes. Many people had actually built homes there which are now included in the Halifax Regional Municipality. The road itself is far from meeting municipal standards and yet neither is it a provincial road. The question is, who is to take responsibility for this. Hundreds of people do travel sometimes 450 people a day will travel out the Chebucto Head Road to view the whales, or in the case of something like the Tall Ships to see what else is going by. Again, it's a place where the three levels of government are going to need to work together to find a solution to this orphaned but very, very busy road.

[6:45 p.m.]

[Page 1832]

Ketch Harbour - another small community which is absolutely wonderfully self-motivated. The Ketch Harbour area residents have shown great initiative in developing - in redeveloping, I guess - an economy which is no longer a fishing economy, but certainly is a very popular residential area and had been a resort area; again, a number of both artists and fishermen there. They've developed a dory club, and I should say that the Brackett sisters have raced at Gloucester and they have won at Gloucester, so the fishermen's races between Ketch Harbour and Gloucester are alive and very much a challenge. If anybody is interested in rowing, it's basically Thursdays. If you want to join a rowing club, it's wonderful exercise. Come out and enjoy a beautiful evening not very far from downtown Halifax.

One of the challenges the club has faced, however, is that of insuring the wharf. The wharf was divested; it was rebuilt with community initiative, but the insurance costs have proven to be absolutely extraordinary. I must say I am very sorry in this case, because like many other cases, it is something where the expenses of insurance for recreational and volunteer activities have become overwhelming, and it's not completely clear whether those activities will be able to continue. So I continue to encourage them to work with the beneficiaries of those activities to help mitigate those costs and to spread them, perhaps, amongst groups and umbrella organizations.

Ketch Harbour more recently has been coming to my attention because of the coyotes. I had an e-mail from somebody the other day who told me, I have two children, one 60 pounds and one 70 pounds. She was concerned about the coyotes which had been lurking about the edges of the playground area and behind the paths. So I have been hearing about coyotes from both sides of the story most recently. I gather, however, that coyotes are no longer seen at Sambro because they simply are not welcome in Sambro or Harrietsfield and it has been made clear to them over the last few months or couple of years. So this may be why they're finding themselves in more populated areas.

Just beyond Ketch Harbour is a road that has been private and gated off for a long time, to Sandy Cove. Sandy Cove is the site of the National Research Council Research Station, Ocean Research. It is affiliated with Oxford Street. It has been a test site for all sorts of projects over the years, and most recently it is a test site rented for wave energy experimentation, and they are doing a great deal of research on algal biofuels. Their international conference is coming to see the production of biofuels from algae. Great tanks onshore - it is a greasy black substance, as good as any crude you could imagine. I am very pleased that the National Research Council has chosen this site. Again, for some of the same reasons that have made Halifax Atlantic a telecommunications landfall, it's a great test site for various energy projects, wave and tidal. There's a nice partnership which seems to be coming possible now.

Further, Brenton Gray's boatyard has been reestablished recently under the aegis of Canadian Marine Engineering, which is a Vancouver shop and is now serving the Sambro Coast Guard cutters and the Dartmouth ferries and so on. So I am very pleased to have a boatyard again closer to town.

[Page 1833]

I keep talking about the history of the area, but the history of the area is one of the most extraordinary aspects of it. I've only gotten halfway around the loop so far, and at Sambro Island is what I would argue is the first and oldest public building in Canada. It has not been well recognized, but within the first couple of weeks of the first session of the first General Assembly of this Legislature, an Act was passed for funding to build a lighthouse at Sambro Island and a poorhouse in downtown Halifax. The poorhouse no longer stands, but the lighthouse, which was built from the duties collected on ships coming in, bringing in rum, still does stand and I would say that makes it, as far as I can tell, the oldest publicly-funded building in Canada and it is my hope that it will receive recognition at some point and that protection as that. It certainly is the oldest functioning lighthouse in North America and, some argue, in both of the Americas, which would make it the New World.

It is still used. There is discussion about the sound of the foghorn. It has been replaced more recently with an electronic foghorn because after the power cable corroded through, the undersea power cable that went out to power the original horn, it has been replaced with an electronic sort of beep, beep, so it perhaps doesn't have a voice heard as far as the other did, but it is still very important to the small boats coming into Sambro Fisheries.

Sambro Fisheries is a co-operative enterprise and I'm always amazed by the resourcefulness which is shown at Sambro, because they are shipping out round fish, they are cutting fish brought in from the Baltic, again, in some cases, they are transshipping, they're supplying the New York market, they are sending lobster shells to China, they are processing everything, absolutely everything, that comes across their doors. Although one of the big challenges, and it is one of the challenges that the province faces as a whole, is a labour shortage. It is difficult to find people to crew the boats at times. But it remains very much the heart of the community.

As is the Sambro Elementary School and the Sambro Elementary School is a very small place, it is a very small place, but its people have shown incredible resourcefulness over the last few months in addressing the Halifax Regional School Board about the importance of keeping that school open, about the academic achievements, the community achievements, the centrality of that school to the community, to the community's definition of itself. Of course, it is not actually close to other schools so, again, in a large municipality and in a very large school board it would involve a considerable amount of transportation to take the children involved elsewhere to study. They really have done some very impressive statistical work on saying that this community is not a dying community at all but it is a thriving community. I will say that one of the reasons that the community seems to be thriving is that people come to live here, they come live in Sambro, in the faith that their children will be educated there and that they will have close contact with the people who are educating their students.

I've realized that I have gotten halfway around the loop so far, but Sambro Elementary always brings to mind my own contacts with the school system as a parent and

[Page 1834]

the importance of community having contact with the school and with the other parents in the school, something which is possible in a small community.

I remember - and I hope she will forgive me for telling this story - my younger daughter coming into my bedroom at one o'clock in the morning, when she was in Grade 11 and telling me that she was off to the park to meet her friends. I said, how is that? She said, well, everybody's going. This had been arranged on cellphones and the Internet and she said everybody's going and I said what about their parents? She said, well, everybody's parents say it's okay. I thought to myself, at one o'clock in the morning, I'm not going to start phoning people's parents. I have no idea whether it is okay with everybody's parents that their 16-year-olds all rendezvous in the dark beside the lake at one o'clock in the morning. I thought, if I knew the parents better, if it was a school which had made an effort at the beginning - I mean no shortcoming of the school, it was just not something that was done - if the school community had the confidence, that the parents would get together at the beginning of the year and establish the kind of ground rules that say that Internet rendezvous at one o'clock are or are not okay, then I think we would have parents who have the confidence in the school community which the Sambro parents do have.

So, again, it is very important to think and, again, it is another aspect of representation, we depend upon our school boards and we depend upon our schools because they have an extraordinarily important central role in the education of our children, not only in the classroom but in the mores of the community and we must never ever let that fall short.

Sambro, a place of huge community spirit has recently regenerated the Sou'Wester Days and the dinner theatre. Many people have connections with Terence Bay and the Terence Bay Wilderness, full of inholding and places where people have been doing logging over the years, has presented a set of challenges involved with the use of traditional means of access which more recently are all-terrain means of access to people's own private in-holdings in the wilderness area, and we're working very hard to resolve that so that people can continue to, as they will, access their cottages or cut wood which they still do.

At Moody Lake, further in, going inland through the Terence Bay Wilderness Area, one comes to Harrietsfield and Moody Lake. There have been donations of protected land as well because this is a very unusual ecosystem, the Chebucto Peninsula. Just as there are designated barrens at Duncans Cove and there's the Terence Bay Wilderness, there have also been private donations of land at Purcells Cove, there have been private donations of land at Moody Lake. So the question is, how do we ensure that once zoned protected areas, things remain protected areas.

Further in, past Williamswood and Williams Lake, is Harrietsfield which is an area which has had much salvage yard activity over the years, but it's still a private water supply although there was the Spruce Lake reservoir overhead. It's also one of the places where there are stables and people do come out for recreation. Killam Properties has recently

[Page 1835]

acquired the Birchlee Trailer Park and I understand are negotiating to establish a wind turbine, or are hoping that they will establish a turbine which will power the trailer park and the new houses which are being added. So, again, this is Halifax Atlantic and that half of the Chebucto Peninsula looking at its energy self-sufficiency needs but in a more modern context.

Spryfield. At Spryfield you're moving much closer into town and Spryfield has complexities of an urban area overlaid upon the history of a very old rural farming area. Spryfield was settled in the 1760s by a Captain William Spry. Yes, indeed, a surveyor general of the Army, he amassed 2,000 acres of land and some of it quite good, he said, at the back of the Northwest Arm. He said that that rocky, stony Halifax Peninsula was obviously not able to produce the food to feed the garrison and the people supporting the garrison.

So he set out to create a farming community in Spryfield. He built what's called the Herring Cove Road. He build a bridge over the marshy area at the head of the Northwest Arm in what is now the rotary area, the Armdale Roundabout area, and food was brought in from the area. So it was a farming area and it was a place that people came to town to live because they often would feel that they could keep the more rural way of live. It was the site of several dairies. There was some wheat farming, potato farming. The Long Lake Park was many thousands of acres of farmland along what is now Long Lake. Long Lake actually was dammed, three lakes that were dammed to produce Long Lake, and water supply going all the way actually to the peninsula at Strawberry Hill. The shores of Long Lake had been farming areas and that land was expropriated in the 1850s by the Halifax Water Company.

So farming moved out but not always completely and I remember it used to be possible on a Sunday to run into a man, old John Umlah, who would go in to tend his grandparents' orchards still in that expropriated land, just taking care of it, and the people of Spryfield have kept a very deep fondness, a deep fondness and a deep amount of use for those rural traditions. The Urban Farm Museum of Spryfield was established basically to make use again of traditional patterns in a modern context. I'm very pleased and proud of the people who have worked so hard on the Urban Farm Museum to create community gardens and allotments and to have lectures. There are now community gardens in the Greystone area which are partly operated as teaching gardens by the members of the Urban Farm Museum Society who have worked extraordinarily hard to reclaim old farmland and make it useful again.

The Greystone area is provincial housing which has recently benefited by a wonderful investment, long awaited, in more than a $1 million from this government in restoring this housing which people love deeply. It has been very interesting to watch three years of children gardening, doing art projects, and so on, outside in the rain, the art projects in the rain, whatever the case may be, but there is a very strong community in this area. I'm glad of that renovation because it means that I won't be asked anymore, I think, is the province going to sell the housing. The fear has always been that this provincial housing lies in such

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a beautiful area, at the top of this windswept cliff overlooking Halifax, the Northwest Arm, and the harbour - the fear has always been, our place is so beautiful somebody else must want it, so I think that there is a great deal of happiness in the community of Spryfield about this.

[7:00 p.m.]

Spryfield has been disadvantaged in some ways by this. It has been short of transportation, and one thing that I remember was very, very short of child care. The difficulties of transportation, and the shortage of child care meant, for a long time, that it would have been impossible for somebody to work in the area if they had small children. They would need to take their child somewhere else, come back to the area to work, then go get the child at the end of the day and then come home. That simply isn't practical and it wasn't happening, so I'm terribly happy that this government has recently invested more than $1 million, $1.3 million in the Jost Children's Centre, which has been delivering really high-quality early childhood education since about 1875. It was educating both mothers and children at that point when it was the Jost Mission. The Jost Mission will be expanding and this means that more people will be able to live and to work in the area.

The other huge accomplishment, something that I'm very glad of is that Spryfield, which is an area that has, on average, a younger population than many parts of the province, and has had significant economic challenges, which lead to health challenges in many cases, Spryfield is going to be the site of a community health team and what that means is that there will be various clinics doing preventive medicine, working out of the old South Centre Mall, which is being refurbished extensively to ensure that there is nutritional counselling, that there is family counselling, mental health, addictions, all the things that people need as the underpinnings of physical and mental health. These things are going to be made available in the community, not on the peninsula, not accessible only by car, and with the challenges of parking fees but accessible in the community.

I think that is a wonderful vote of confidence in the community and its ability to make use of it. Spryfield, certainly I think, is probably one of the most busy areas. There are groups meeting to better the life of the area - three and four groups every night of the week and I think that this is a terrific vote of confidence in this area, and it will be repaid - the work in health promotion and illness prevention is going to be repaid many times over.

The high school, J.L. Ilsley, was the first site of a community health centre, of a teen health centre. It has proven its worth many times as well, and it has become the model for teen health centres around the province. I am really pleased that there is such faith on the Department of Health, and the Department of Community Services, and the initiative of the people of this area to take and to make use of this kind of opportunity, so fully, that it can act as an example for other parts of the province.

I wish I had time, I obviously don't have enough time to talk in the kind of detail that I would like about some of the other extraordinary areas, and initiatives, and people who live

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in this area. People who are making differences at the local level like Peter Saulnier, who was the world's greatest Santa Claus, who acted as Santa Claus, not only in Spryfield, but was recruited by Coca-Cola to travel across North America as the ultimate Santa Claus. Peter died last year and it has been a huge loss to the community. People like Peter Saulnier, people like Boris Worm who is running the world inventory of marine biodiversity; like David Wheeler who has just conducted the energy consultations for the Province of Nova Scotia. It would be unfair to begin naming the kinds of people who are making a difference in this community, at the most local area, in each of these sets of communities and at a provincial level and at a global level.

I have to say that I feel very, very grateful to be asked to speak for the people of this area because they are terrifically innovative. They have a good perspective on the challenges that face this province as it is on the cusp of real change because it is at the edge of new and old world, it is at the edge of ocean and land. It is facing climate change, it is facing economic upheaval. It is facing huge breakthroughs, it is facing and producing huge breakthroughs in the information revolution and in the energy revolution and the people of the area are participating fully.

They are the people of this province, but they are like the people of this province who are participating fully in the challenges that face our world today in the 21st Century and I would have to say that I am enormously grateful to be asked to speak for any of the people of this province, particularly of the people of Halifax Atlantic. I hope that everybody in this Chamber is equally grateful for that opportunity because we really do represent a remarkable place at a remarkable time and with that I would like to move to adjourn the debate.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is to adjourn the debate on the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne. Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. FRANK CORBETT: Mr. Speaker, in consultation with the two other House Leaders, and with the consent of the House, could we move the bills that we passed in Committee of the Whole House on Bills on to third reading?

MR. SPEAKER: The question is that the bills that were passed in Committee of the Whole House on Bills be moved on to third reading.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

[Page 1838]

The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. FRANK CORBETT: Mr. Speaker, would you please call the order of business, Public Bills For Third Reading.

PUBLIC BILLS FOR THIRD READING

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. FRANK CORBETT: Mr. Speaker, would you please call Bill No. 10.

Bill No. 10 - Cape Breton Island Marketing Levy Act.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Economic and Rural Development.

HON. PERCY PARIS: Mr. Speaker, I move third reading of Bill No. 10.

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

HON. MANNING MACDONALD: Do you have to call the third reading first?

MR. SPEAKER: He just moved third reading of Bill No. 10.

MR. MANNING MACDONALD: Well, that was pretty short on closing remarks. I missed it. Did you say anything worthwhile?

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Bill No. 10, the Cape Breton Island Marketing Levy Act and I just wanted to, once again, remind the House that this bill first came here five years ago and it was sponsored by myself at the time and it was passed, unanimously by this House, all three Parties, but somehow never found its way to proclamation and there are various opinions as to why that didn't happen but there's no sense in dealing with the past. Let's deal with the future on this bill and this bill really gives Destination Cape Breton charge of their own house in promoting tourism on the Island. Those who would reject the bill on the basis that it's an additional tax.

You know, the bill has been in effect in Halifax, it's been in effect in the Yarmouth area. It's a bill that helps promote the area. Now, should we have this bill? Do we need to have this bill? Maybe not, but the fact of the matter is there's not enough public money going into the promotion of tourism. The selection of areas in this province where the money is being spent is perhaps lopsided from time to time but this initiative by Destination Cape Breton is a good one; it's a good one to promote the island of Cape Breton and certainly it's one that is long overdue. Everywhere else you go there is promotion tax, there is the ability for people in business to generate business by encouraging people to come. I reject again, Mr.

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Speaker, that argument that if somebody is coming to your area and there is a tax, a small tax like this would be, I don't think they're going to not come to the beautiful Island of Cape Breton because there happens to be a marketing levy, because the rates there are comparable or better in the tourist industry than they are anywhere in this province, and certainly more approval of those rates you'd find up against other larger centres in Canada and in the United States.

So for that reason I'm supporting this bill and I hope that this government doesn't take as long to proclaim it as the last government did. So I would hope, and I'll say again, that if a bill goes through this House, Mr. Minister - now you've heard me say it before, that this is the House of the people and the Finance Minister, the current Finance Minister, used to take great delight in saying that many times in this House, that this is the place of the people - if a bill passes this House, and especially if it passes with all-Party support as this bill did five years ago, then it should have been made law.

What I am saying to you, Mr. Speaker, is I support the bill and I hope that it gets a speedy passage, and also that it becomes law in this province as soon as possible. Thank you very much.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Inverness.

MR. ALLAN MACMASTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will keep my remarks brief. From discussion with some of the operators in Inverness County, they do not support the levy. There are some, no doubt, I am sure that would, but the majority of those I have spoken with do not support it and, consequently, I cannot support the bill either because I represent those people.

Some of the things they have said to me are that they don't want - well, the first thing is a lot of the smaller operators are not having difficulty filling their rooms so they don't feel that incremental marketing efforts would benefit them, and they also have some concern about the levy and its impact on their customers. It's not a large amount, we recognize that, but psychologically every little tax adds up and they have some concern about that, for the minds of their patrons, those who are coming to stay with them.

Also there was some mention as well raised about the value of the marketing, if it may be duplication of existing marketing efforts and there has perhaps been some focus on some of the more urban centres of Cape Breton Island, with previous marketing. Some of these operators don't feel there would be a lot of value for them.

So, for those reasons, I won't be supporting the bill and I would like to state that for the record today. Thank you.

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

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HON. CECIL CLARKE: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I guess, as with various items, there are varying opinions that come forward. Indeed, as the honourable member for Cape Breton South indicated, when the previous government called forward his bill it was in recognition of the effort of Destination Cape Breton that I supported, as the member for Cape Breton North, and applauded him for doing that.

As was also noted, there were concerns that started to emerge with regard to the impact on some of the smaller operators, as has been highlighted by the honourable member for Inverness. So I do believe that as things go forward - what I've also heard is an understanding within the industry and the sector of those opinions, but if it is the case with larger operators that they can do the destination marketing they seek to do, then I endorse that, but I also respect the viewpoints of smaller operators and if that is a choice they would have, in terms of opting out, then I'd respect that.

But even from the period when the member for Cape Breton South brought it forward, it passed the Legislature, it still is maintained in Inverness County that they have concerns there and that has not gone away with the passage of time. However, there are operators who are looking that the passage of time has affected marketing initiatives.

So I will be supporting this initiative, as presented by the government, and hope that the minister and his colleagues continue to work with Destination Cape Breton. Mr. Minister, I know you'll work in earnest with Destination Cape Breton and all the operators. I also believe, from Tourism, Culture and Heritage, you'll be mindful and respectful of the comments of the small operators and how any of these taxes would impact them and to find that balance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[7:15 p.m.]

MR. SPEAKER: If I recognize the minister it will be to close the debate.

The honourable Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.

HON. PERCY PARIS: Mr. Speaker, I move third reading of Bill No. 10.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion is for third reading of Bill No. 10. Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

Ordered that this bill do pass. Ordered that the title be as read by the Clerk. Ordered that the bill be engrossed.

The honourable Government House Leader.

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HON. FRANK CORBETT: Mr. Speaker, would you please call Bill No. 13

Bill No. 13 - Motor Vehicle Act.

Bill No. 16 - Summary Proceedings Act.

Bill No. 18 - Vital Statistics Act.

Bill No. 19 - Motor Vehicle Act.

Bill No. 23 - Sea, Army, Air and Navy League Cadets Day Act.

Bill No. 29 - Municipal Government Act.

Bill No. 36 - Engineering Profession Act.

Bill No. 41 - Volunteer Fire Services Act.

MR. SPEAKER: The motions are carried.

Ordered that these bills do pass. Ordered that the titles be as read by the Clerk. Ordered that the bills be engrossed.

The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. FRANK CORBETT: Mr. Speaker, that completes the government's business today. Again, I appreciate the interventions by all the members.

The business for tomorrow will be Public Bills for Second Reading and, again, with the indulgence of the House, if we have bills reported back and if they see fit to do so, with unanimous consent we could do some more Committee of the Whole House on Bills tomorrow, but that would be after the daily routine and Question Period.

With that said, Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now rise to meet between the hours of 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m. tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER: The motion before the House is for the House to now rise to meet again tomorrow between the hours of 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

[Page 1842]

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

The motion is carried.

The House stands adjourned until 12:00 noon tomorrow.

[The House rose at 7:22 p.m.]

[Page 1843]

NOTICES OF MOTION UNDER RULE 32(3)

RESOLUTION NO. 1001

By: Hon. Cecil Clarke (Cape Breton North)

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

Whereas new energy efficient oil furnaces can save homeowners about $750 a year on their heating bills and are better for the environment; and

Whereas the national award winning Retire Your Furnace campaign and the Energy Efficient Furnace Initiative introduced by the previous government allowed homeowners to receive a rebate of $500 for the installation of an Energy Star rated oil-fired furnace; and

Whereas the Dexter NDP Government does not appear to be as interested in helping Nova Scotians to save money and protect the environment because it refuses to introduce a new furnace rebate program;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly encourage the Premier and the Minister of Energy to actually do something to help the people of Nova Scotia by supporting programs such as the Energy Efficient Furnace Initiative.

RESOLUTION NO. 1002

By: Mr. Chuck Porter (Hants West)

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

Whereas the Apple Blossom Festival, which was established in 1933 to promote traditions and agricultural heritage in the Annapolis Valley, is held annually and has become one of the most important community festivals in Atlantic Canada; and

Whereas Emily Rafuse was crowned as Princess Windsor for the 78th Apple Blossom Festival doing the 2010 Princess Tea held at the Windsor Community Centre and happily assumed her role on April 10, 2010; and

Whereas Emily will represent her community in the upcoming Apple Blossom Grand Street Parade which is one of the largest parades in Canada and includes marching bands and various floats sponsored by community groups and local businesses as she vies for the title of Queen Annapolisa;

[Page 1844]

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Emily Rafuse of her recent win and wish her all the best in her reign as Princess Windsor for the 78th Apple Blossom Festival.

RESOLUTION NO. 1003

By: Mr. Chuck Porter (Hants West)

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

Whereas volunteers come in all shapes and sizes whether they are individuals who are giving of their time or businesses who go that extra mile for their community; and

Whereas Jeff's Service Centre in Falmouth, Hants County, was chosen as this year's provincial representative for the Volunteer Business of the Year for the Municipality of West Hants; and

Whereas Jeff and Donna Danfield have had a hand in so many community projects such as the annual Teddy Bear Jamboree, hauling floats for the local parades, Winterpalooza, the Sam Slick Festival and the annual Pumpkin Festival, just to name a few;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Jeff and Donna Dunfield on being the choice for Volunteer Business of the Year and thank them wholeheartedly for all their tireless efforts to the community.