Nova Scotia Legislature - Hansard - Assembly 61, Session 3

HON. ROSS LANDRY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my capacity as Justice Minister, I hereby beg leave to table the 2010 Annual Report of the Nova Scotia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Review Office.

MR. SPEAKER: The report is tabled.

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STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Premier.

HON. DARRELL DEXTER (The Premier): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise in my place today to inform this House that the Province of Nova Scotia will be providing $100,000 in funding to the Red Cross for Japan's relief effort.

Mr. Speaker, on March 11^th Japan was hit by one of the largest recorded earthquakes ever. It spawned a deadly tsunami which slammed into the small island nation, leaving a huge swath of devastation in its path. Thousands of people are dead, many more are missing or injured, and almost half a million people are homeless. The devastation has been described as the country's biggest crisis since the end of World War II. The confirmed death toll exceeds 10,000 people. It will cost the country as much as 25 trillion yen, or between $200 billion and $300 billion, to rebuild.

Mr. Speaker, according to the World Bank, it will also take Japan up to five years to rebuild and recover from the damage that this earthquake and tsunami has inflicted on their country. Nova Scotians have been shocked and saddened by the magnitude of the crisis and, in particular, by the extensive damage experienced in many of Japan's fishing communities. As a fishing province, Nova Scotia can only imagine how this would severely impact not just their industry but their way of life.

Mr. Speaker, we wish to express our deepest concern and sympathy to the people of Japan, particularly to those who have lost family and friends and to those who continue to suffer. We would also like to offer comfort to our fellow Nova Scotians who have loved ones in Japan who have been impacted by these disasters. Nova Scotians recognize that major disasters require a huge amount of international support and a shared responsibility to help countries get back on their feet.

Mr. Speaker, we are world-renowned for our generous and caring spirit and this effort serves as no exception. I commend the Japanese Society of Halifax, along with individual Nova Scotians and companies who have raised funds to help the victims of this disaster - thank you for your thoughtfulness and contributions. We hope that the province's financial support will help make a difference to our friends in Japan. Thank you. (Applause)

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

HON. STEPHEN MCNEIL: I want to thank the Premier for an advance copy of his speech today.

Mr. Speaker, Nova Scotians watched with horror the devastation that struck Japan on March 11^th. On behalf of the members of the Liberal caucus, I extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the people of Japan in the aftermath of this tragic natural disaster.

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The ties between Japan and our province are strong. There's a connection of family and friends that span both of our borders. Halifax has been twinned with Hakodate for nearly 30 years - both are port cities, both have a star-shaped citadel at their centre, and both are similar in size. While Hakodate is located north of the earthquake's epicentre, significant damage has occurred. The bonds of family and friendship will remain resilient as Japan goes through a period of both recovery and rebuilding. As was mentioned earlier by the Premier, Nova Scotians are generous people. The Japanese Society of Halifax, as well as individual Nova Scotians and companies, have raised funds in support of this relief effort and these efforts are making a difference.

Mr. Speaker, it is only fitting that our government show leadership and join with them and offer our financial support as well. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan not only today but into the future. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

HON. JAMIE BAILLIE: Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to thank the Premier for providing us with a copy of his statement in advance and giving us, the members of the Progressive Conservative caucus, an opportunity to lend our wholehearted support to the funding that the government is providing to the Japanese relief effort.

Like people all over the world, Nova Scotians felt helpless as they watched the devastating coverage of destroyed homes, crumbling infrastructure, and heartbreaking human suffering. We rejoiced at the miraculous rescues, and we wept for those who were lost. Our hearts continue to go out to the thousands of Japanese who are searching for a loved one, caring for an injured relative or friend, or grieving the death of someone they loved. This humanitarian gesture that the government is making today on behalf of all Nova Scotians will hopefully ease the helplessness. So many here feel it will provide some comfort to the Japanese people who are struggling in the aftermath of the earthquake and the tsunami that swept through the Island of Japan on March 11^th.

As the Premier said, Nova Scotians live on and by the sea and, Mr. Speaker, Nova Scotians know too well the truth in Herman Melville's description of the sea in the classic Moby Dick: "When beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the ocean's skin, one forgets the tiger heart that pants beneath it; and would not willingly remember that this velvet paw but conceals a remorseless fang." We respect that awesome power and we want to help.

Mr. Speaker, Nova Scotians are well-known for their generosity of spirit and have a well-earned reputation for lending a hand to those in need. Today's announcement is in keeping with that concern that we all feel, so I want to join with the Premier and all members of the House and all Parties in thanking the Japanese Society of Halifax and the Nova Scotia companies and many individuals who have made donations and raised funds for the victims of Japan's disaster. These gestures make us all proud to be Nova Scotians. Thank you.

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MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Health and Wellness.

HON. MAUREEN MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to stand before you today to share information on how our Better Care Sooner plan is making a real difference for Nova Scotia families. Nothing is more important to Nova Scotians than health care. Almost two years ago we put together a genuine plan for today's families with that in mind. Government knew and agreed with Nova Scotians that emergency departments were overcrowded; we agreed that patients were waiting too long to receive emergency care, and we planned to do something about it. This plan included a promise to open more hospital beds to admit patients stuck in emergency departments. I'm pleased to say to the honourable members of the House of Assembly that we have done just that. (Applause)

Six months ago I stood in the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre and announced government's investment in new beds and a rapid assessment unit. On that September day I was optimistic about the tremendous potential of the new unit and our promise to help patients. Now, patients from across the province are diverted to a rapid assessment unit for faster access to specialist care.

Today, Capital Health is reporting that nearly 1,200 patients have benefited. These are people who have travelled by ambulance from communities as far away as Sydney and Yarmouth. While our highly-trained paramedics do their very best to keep patients comfortable, the last thing people need is a long wait after such a long drive. Our investment in the rapid assessment unit was intended to reduce emergency department bottlenecks and provide Nova Scotians with better access to emergency care sooner.

I'm extremely pleased to share with the honourable members that this is exactly what is happening. The additional medicine beds have helped decrease the bed wait time for admitted general medicine patients by more than one hour. As well, significantly fewer patients are experiencing the frustration, disappointment and delay in care caused by cancelled surgeries. The number of cancelled surgeries has dropped by more than half as a result of the new beds. (Applause)

On the advice of Dr. John Ross, we are improving patient flow. Sandra Janes, the health services director for emergency medicine and geriatrics at Capital Health, says that the rapid assessment unit has made a huge difference. Ms. Janes says that with the number of visits to the emergency department increasing, this unit helps move people more quickly. Her colleague and site chief, Dr. Sam Campbell, agrees with her. He says that the unit has been a great success and is the first step in solving overcrowding.

One of the government's most important commitments is to provide Nova Scotians with better health care. Our Better Care Sooner plan that we announced in December is based on standards that set and raise the bar on quality care. This plan delivers government's commitment to keep emergency rooms open and shorten wait times. I'm especially pleased to stand here today before you and the honourable members of this House to say that Capital Health is helping us achieve this by providing Nova Scotians with more timely access to the emergency care they need.

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At this time I would like to welcome our colleagues from Capital Health who have joined us in the House today. With your indulgence, Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce Dr. Sam Campbell, who is the site manager of the ER at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre; Sandra Janes, who is the health services director; and Sue Harris, who is the manager of the Queen Elizabeth II emergency. (Applause) They represent a few of the many health care workers who are helping our government keep its commitment to providing Nova Scotians with better care sooner. They are all part of the team that is helping to get patients through the ER faster, and I thank them and I encourage them to continue their good work to reduce the time patients wait.

It's a pleasure to share the progress that we have made but, believe me, I understand and this government understands that there is still more work to do. We will do this work, we are doing this work and we are committed to getting the job done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Clayton Park.

MS. DIANA WHALEN: Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today and respond to the minister's statement on behalf of the Liberal caucus. I would first like to thank the minister, as well, for providing a copy of the statement yesterday, which is a great help to us. I'd certainly like to acknowledge that there has been success at the ER at the Capital Health District and I think that it's good to have an update.

We often have our ministerial statements taking us forward with new initiatives or the first announcement of something. Today we are hearing back about an announcement that was made some months ago and a progress report. From that point of view, I think the House appreciates being kept up to date, and I certainly would like to acknowledge the hard work of Capital Health and the district here at Capital Health District. The players like the executives, the site managers, Dr. Campbell - who had taken me, as well, on a tour of the facility about a year ago - I know they've worked very hard to try to improve the service to the patients who are coming. That is important because it is a tertiary care hospital and we're the centre for many patients from around the province.

I wanted to say today, as well, that the rapid assessment unit was in place even during the past government, so two years ago. I think it has been expanded and I think the new medical beds may be helping to move people more quickly through, but we have had a rapid assessment unit in place so I think it is a continuation and an expansion of something

that was begun and was a positive move for the province. So just to acknowledge that it was in place and that where you see something good you'll move forward with it and expand it as well.

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Again, I think we need to acknowledge the hard efforts and congratulate all of the players at Capital Health District for their initiative and planning and advice that they provide to the Department of Health.

While we're talking about the improvements there, we can't lose sight of other hospitals even here in metro, like the Dartmouth General Hospital, that continue to see some very challenging times. There are patients that are admitted and discharged all through the emergency room even after spending days in the hospital at Dartmouth General Hospital. We are still hearing of the Code Orange calls indicating severe overcrowding at Dartmouth General Hospital so we want to mention, as well, that has to somehow translate into the other major facilities here in the province. Certainly anything that is going to decrease the suffering of people as they come into the emergency room, I think, is great and to hear that it has helped - I think the minister said they have counted 1,200 people who have had the opportunity to have faster service - is very important. Although the minister didn't mention it, there is the opportunity, as well, for paramedics to be on the road rather than stuck in emergency rooms.

The main point we would like to say today is that there are many challenges elsewhere in the ER system and in the overall accessibility of doctors, and we hope to hear more from the minister about that. Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Argyle.

HON. CHRISTOPHER D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister for providing a copy of her statement to our caucus last evening. I would also like to welcome the health care professionals from Capital Health who have taken time from their busy schedules to join us here this morning. The work these people do - and thousands of their colleagues across the province - is vital and is very appreciated by the people they serve and by all of us here in this Legislature.

There is no doubt that too often Nova Scotians wait too long in overcrowded emergency rooms and any measures that reduce the frustration and fear that people experience while waiting for care is to be commended. That's why I'm pleased to congratulate the minister this morning on the progress her government has made at the QE II. Reducing the bottleneck at the emergency room is good news for Nova Scotians who need emergency services for the dedicated men and women who are also frustrated by the inability to provide service in a timely manner. But I do have to agree with the minister when she says there is more to do.

Today the minister told the House about a reduction in emergency wait times and admitting times at one hospital, a large hospital, but only one. Nova Scotians in many communities around the province are still faced with long wait times to be seen at their local ERs or worse, they must deal with the chronic closures of their emergency rooms. Many of those people would not have access to emergency rooms if they had a family doctor.

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Today's statement is cold comfort for the many people who continue to wait too long for other procedures. The Canadian Institute for Health Information - or CIHI - recently reported that less than 75 per cent of hip replacements, knee replacements, cataract surgeries and cancer radiation treatment patients receive treatment within the benchmark and they are not receiving better care sooner. The institute said wait times are increasing for CT scans. These Nova Scotians are receiving good care later.

Mr. Speaker, I point out that these statistics do not take away from the progress that the minister is reporting at the QE II but to illustrate how much work there is to do in our province, work that has direct impact on Nova Scotians. We are lucky to have the many talented health care professionals in our province. We just have to provide them with a sustainable health care system that serves them and serves all of Nova Scotia better.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank the minister for his statement today.

GOVERNMENT NOTICES OF MOTION

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Health and Wellness.

RESOLUTION NO. 1

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

Whereas the Premier has designated April as Daffodil Month in Nova Scotia, in order to raise awareness of cancer in our province; and

Whereas the Canadian Cancer Society has recently unveiled a new daffodil pin to symbolize a badge of courage in the fight against cancer; and

Whereas the Canadian Cancer Society has been very active for the past 75 years in their goal of eradicating cancer and improving the quality of life for Nova Scotians living with cancer;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly support the efforts of the Canadian Cancer Society by wearing the daffodil symbol, to show that Nova Scotia is determined to beat this horrible disease, and support those Nova Scotians and their families who are living with cancer.

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Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate, and with your indulgence I draw the members' attention to staff and volunteers from the Canadian Cancer Society, Nova Scotia Division, who are here in your gallery today. Thank you. (Applause)

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 Premier.

RESOLUTION NO. 2

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

Whereas Nova Scotia had the opportunity to host the Canada Winter Games this year, and Team Nova Scotia was honoured to accept the Centennial Cup for being the team to demonstrate the most improvements since their last appearance at the Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas more than 5,000 Nova Scotians demonstrated a remarkable effort when they volunteered their time and energy to ensure that the Canada Winter Games would be a success for Nova Scotia; and

Whereas every event of the Games was well-attended by Nova Scotians who were there to cheer for our team, for the many local musicians who performed at the Celebration Square, and for the young people from every other part of Canada;

Therefore be it resolved that the House of Assembly recognize the outstanding efforts of the volunteers, athletes, and the people of Nova Scotia for contributing to make the 2011 Canada Winter Games a tremendous success.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

Is it agreed?

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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 African Nova Scotian Affairs.

RESOLUTION NO. 3

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

Whereas Jason Downey of North Preston and Matt Whitford of Kentville are two young African Nova Scotian boxers who represented Team Nova Scotia at the Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Mr. Downey and Mr. Whitford both won gold medals in their respective weight classes, in front of a packed house at the Halifax Forum during one of the most thrilling events of the Games; and

Whereas these young men are not only great athletes but role models of hard work, courage and determination, who have been celebrated in their communities;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House join me in congratulating Jason Downey and Matt Whitford for their fine performances, and wish them success in their future endeavours in and out of the boxing ring.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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 Finance.

RESOLUTION NO. 4

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HON. GRAHAM STEELE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall:

(1) read and table the message from Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor transmitting the Estimates of Sums required for the service of the province for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, for the consideration of this House;

(2) table the Estimates Books;

(3) table the Crown Corporation business plans;

(4) table the Estimate and Crown Corporation business plan resolutions;

(5) deliver my Budget Speech; and

(6) move that the Estimates of Sums required for the service of the province for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, being Supply to be granted to Her Majesty and the Crown Corporation Business Plans be referred to the Committee of the Whole House on Supply.

Mr. Speaker, for the information of the House, the budget will be presented next Tuesday, April 5^th. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The notice is tabled.

The honourable Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

HON. WILLIAM ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, may I be permitted to do an introduction before I introduce this particular piece of legislation?

MR. SPEAKER: Most certainly.

MR. ESTABROOKS: In the gallery opposite we are joined this morning by five wonderful people who have made a long-time commitment to improving legislation in this province - and they are going to be joining me in the Red Room for a bill briefing here in a few moments. I would ask them to please stand: Constable Sherri Curley from the RCMP; Sergeant Brian Herrick from the RCMP; Superintendent Don Spicer from HPD; and Susan MacAskill and Margaret Miller from MADD Canada. Thank you for being here. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: I welcome all our guests to the gallery and hope you have an enjoyable day watching our proceedings.

The honourable Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

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HON. WILLIAM ESTABROOKS: If I may be permitted a further introduction. I know she is not prepared for this, but in the gallery opposite is one of the people from Communications Nova Scotia who routinely makes me look good as the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, which means of course she walks on water but, more importantly, during the next nine months she is going to have the opportunity to go on maternity leave, and I would like to acknowledge her good work and of course recognize the fact that we will miss you during the next number of months, so if you could stand, please recognize Lindsay Lewis. (Applause)

Thank you, Lindsay. I'm sorry to embarrass you, but I was going to do that ahead of time anyway.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

Bill No. 1 - Entitled an Act to Amend Chapter 293 of the Revised Statutes of 1989. The Motor Vehicle Act. (Hon. William Estabrooks)

Bill No. 2 - Entitled an Act to Ensure the Health and Well-being of All Nova Scotians in the Use of Efficient Hydraulic Fracturing. (Mr. Andrew Younger)

Bill No. 3 - Entitled an Act to Modernize the Government of Nova Scotia. (Hon. Jamie Baillie)

Bill No. 4 - Entitled an Act to Review the Provincial Tax Regime. (Hon. Stephen McNeil)

Bill No. 5 - Entitled an Act to Require Balanced Budgets, Limit Government Spending and Reduce the Harmonized Sales Tax to Thirteen Per Cent. (Mr. Allan MacMaster)

Bill No. 6 - Entitled an Act to Amend Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2010. The Finance Act, Respecting District Health Authorities. (Mr. Leo Glavine)

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

NOTICES OF MOTION

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Clayton Park.

RESOLUTION NO. 5

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

Whereas the month of April marks Canadian Cancer Society's Cancer Awareness Month; and

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Whereas volunteers across the province will sell daffodils and participate in a door-to-door residential campaign to raise funds for research, public education and patient services; and

Whereas while there is progress being made in the area of cancer prevention and treatment, there is still work to be done;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the Legislature recognize the month of April as Cancer Awareness Month and extend our appreciation to the Canadian Cancer Society and its dedicated volunteers, who together are working to overcome cancer and create healthier lives for all Nova Scotians.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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. 6

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

Whereas on March 2^nd, 240 sailors and a Sea King helicopter detachment on board HMCS Charlottetown left Halifax Harbour to take part in Operation MOBILE, Canada's response to the situation in Libya; and

Whereas the brave men and women of HMCS Charlottetown will be away from their loved ones for up to six months on this deployment; and

Whereas the Canadian Forces has a well-earned reputation of making a difference in difficult situations and all Nova Scotians are proud that HMCS Charlottetown is once again answering that call;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly salute Commander Craig Skjerpen and the crew of HMCS Charlottetown for their bravery and wish them a safe return to Nova Scotia.

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Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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 Pictou East.

RESOLUTION NO. 7

MR. CLARRIE MACKINNON: Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the member for Pictou Centre, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas recently local fiddler Fleur Manville was presented with a piece of history; and

Whereas the Overseas War Veterans Association presented Fleur with a fiddle believed to have been made during the Second World War and has been in possession of several members within the association over the years; and

Whereas the fiddle contains years of history and is only passed on to those whom the association feels should be honoured;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly not only congratulate Fleur Manville on her recent recognition, but congratulate the Overseas War Association for making sure such a fantastic piece of history remains in the local area and in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Colchester North.

RESOLUTION NO. 8

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

Whereas Reading Recovery is a research and evidence-based program designed to assist Grade 1 students in learning to read; and

Whereas since 1995 Reading Recovery has helped 23,000 struggling young readers achieve success in Nova Scotia's public school system; and

Whereas Reading Recovery has been identified as the best short-term early intervention program in North America, ranking first in a field of 153 programs recently assessed;

Therefore be it resolved that the Minister of Education acknowledge that cancelling the Reading Recovery program was a mistake and continue to provide the opportunity for Grade 1 students in our public school system to benefit by participating in Reading Recovery.

MR. SPEAKER: The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Victoria-The Lakes.

RESOLUTION NO. 9

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

Whereas a Cape Breton teen with the compassion and the drive to help others has volunteered for World Vision by raising awareness and funds to fight poverty issues in Africa; and

Whereas Anna Fricker of Groves Point started volunteering with World Vision at the age of 16 when she organized a local 30-hour famine and travelled to Tanzania as a World Vision youth volunteer; and

Whereas Anna was recently selected as one of Canada's top-five teen philanthropists;

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Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly show how proud we are of Anna by congratulating her on being selected as one of Canada's top-five teen philanthropists and thank her for the amazing heartfelt work she has done and continues to do.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Guysborough-Sheet Harbour.

MR. JIM BOUDREAU: Mr. Speaker I beg leave to make an introduction.

MR. SPEAKER: Most certainly.

MR. BOUDREAU: In the east gallery today we have the Mayor of Canso, Frank Fraser. Mayor Fraser was here yesterday with us at the opening of the Legislature and I want to acknowledge his attendance yesterday, as well as his attendance in the House today, so if you would join me in welcoming Mayor Fraser. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Community Services.

RESOLUTION NO. 10

HON. DENISE PETERSON-RAFUSE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas Mrs. Glenda Redden, a resident of Chester Basin, received the Crystal Tourism Award of Excellence for Golden Hospitality; and

Whereas Mrs. Redden works at the Lunenburg Visitor Information Centre and was the driving force behind the 250^th Anniversary Celebration of Chester Basin; and

Whereas the Crystal Tourism Award of Excellence is given to people with pride in their service and who go above and beyond to enrich visitor experience;

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Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House of Assembly extend congratulations to Mrs. Glenda Redden on being awarded the Crystal Tourism Award of Excellence for Golden Hospitality, and thank her for all her hard work and dedication that she gives to visitors, her community, and the Province of Nova Scotia.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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. 11

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to February 27^th; and

Whereas J.P. Deveau was Chair of the 2011 Halifax Canada Games Board of Directors and Host Society; and

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games was a successful and positive event that brought excitement and spirit to the core of Atlantic Canada, uniting Nova Scotians and celebrating our province on the national stage;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating J.P. and the 2011 Canada Games Board of Directors on their successful event, and thank J.P. for his dedication and to the growth and spirit of Nova Scotia through his many volunteer endeavours.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

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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 Argyle.

RESOLUTION NO. 12

HON. CHRISTOPHER D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Canadian Cancer Society recognizes April as Daffodil Month for its campaign to raise money for life-saving cancer research, public awareness programs and community services; and

Whereas daffodils are the first flower of Spring and chosen by the society because the bright, cheerful flowers create an atmosphere that radiates hope and faith that cancer can be beaten; and

Whereas each day more Nova Scotians are impacted by the disease and we need to work together to overcome cancer and create healthier lives for all;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly honour so many who have been impacted by cancer and recognize April as Daffodil Month.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable Minister of Environment.

RESOLUTION NO. 13

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

Whereas South Side resident Patricia Nickerson has been chosen by her peers as the Representative Volunteer for the Town of Clark's Harbour for 2011; and

Whereas Patricia Nickerson has spent almost a lifetime volunteering in her community, proving to be an invaluable asset for more causes and organizations over the years; and

Whereas Patricia Nickerson, who was nominated by Branch 148 of the Royal Canadian Legion, is described as a volunteer among volunteers who is a credit to her achievements and community;

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate South Side resident Patricia Nickerson for being chosen by her peers as the Representative Volunteer for the Town of Clark's Harbour for 2011.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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. 14

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

Whereas Abby Murrin is a student at Caledonia Junior High School in Dartmouth; and

Whereas Abby competed as part of the Artistic Gymnastics Team Nova Scotia in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February, competing in many events including Team Event Female; and

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Whereas Abby represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Abby on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Cape Breton West.

RESOLUTION NO. 15

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

Whereas Frank Sutherland of Richmond County passed away this morning after a seven-year battle with cancer, surrounded by his loving family; and

Whereas Frank was a past district vice-president of the Progressive Conservative Party, a former candidate, former constituency association president, recipient of the Progressive Conservative Party's President's Award, and a dedicated grassroots volunteer who gave countless hours to the Party and to the Province of Nova Scotia; and

Whereas Frank, active with the Bonnie Brae Seniors Club in St. Peter's, was also a music lover who founded the Stone Mountain Music Festival and enjoyed celebrations with a ceilidh;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly remember Frank Sutherland's lifetime of volunteerism and public service, and send our deepest sympathy to his daughters, family, and many friends at this very sad time.

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Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate. As well, I request a moment of silence.

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.

[A moment of silence was observed.]

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville.

RESOLUTION NO. 16

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

Whereas 15 members of the Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville community participated in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax this February; and

Whereas these athletes represented their communities as members of the Nova Scotia women's hockey, synchronized swimming, ringette, artistic gymnastics, short-track speed skating, and freestyle ski teams; and

Whereas each and every athlete and staff member trained diligently to be able to participate in the Games, and their hard work has made them great role models to other young athletes and members of their communities;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly congratulate the 15 members of the Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville community who participated in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax and wish them best of luck in their future competitions.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

[Page 53]

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. 17

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 Bedford-Hammonds Plains district is a fast-growing area where the design for a new high school to replace Charles P. Allen High School is underway; and

Whereas this government is not planning the new school with enough space for its increasing population which, by Halifax Regional School Board's own numbers, will see 1,326 students attending a school built for 1,200 on opening day in September 2013 and 1,554 students by September 2018; and

Whereas this failure could see labs repurposed as classrooms, which would leave students unable to use the labs for experiments, a situation which already exists at the much smaller C.P. Allen building;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House of Assembly urge Halifax Regional School Board to adjust its proposed school size request to reflect the size of the population it will serve, and urge the NDP Government to protect lab space.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

Is it agreed?

I hear several Noes.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

RESOLUTION NO. 18

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

Whereas the federal and provincial governments recently recognized 2011 as the Year of the Entrepreneur in recognition of the role small and medium-sized businesses will play in securing the nation's and the province's ongoing economic recovery; and

[Page 54]

Whereas 97 per cent of businesses in Nova Scotia are considered to be small or medium, and all of them succeed because of the entrepreneurial spirit of the people who own and operate them; and

Whereas Nova Scotia's innovative and resilient entrepreneurs make important contributions to our province's economy and will continue to play an essential role as Nova Scotia recovers from the recent economic downturn;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House salute the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our entrepreneurs during 2011 - the Year of the Entrepreneur in Nova Scotia and Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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. 19

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

Whereas the Annapolis Valley District Health Authority works to improve the health of individuals, families and community, and has a broad range of programs designed to benefit its employees; and

Whereas Medicorp Incorporated identifies organizations from across the region that show leadership in progressive workplaces and forward-thinking human resource policies; and

Whereas Medicorp Incorporated has identified the Annapolis Valley District Health Authority as one of Atlantic Canada's top employers;

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Therefore be it resolved that the Nova Scotia House of Assembly congratulate the Annapolis Valley District Health Authority for being named one of Atlantic Canada's top employers, and wish the DHA every success in its efforts to raise the profile of the Annapolis Valley as a great place to live and work.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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 Yarmouth.

RESOLUTION NO. 20

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

Whereas the Yarmouth-New England ferry is an essential part of Nova Scotia's transportation infrastructure and serves as a vital economic link between the province and Canada's greatest trading partner and international friend; and

Whereas the Leader of the Official Opposition committed, in Yarmouth on March 22^nd, to ensure a Liberal-led and provincial government would provide the necessary investment to ensure restoration and long-term operations of a viable Yarmouth-New England ferry service; and

Whereas the member for Queens, on behalf of the NDP Government, issued a press release stating that she was pleased "that Mr. McNeil is supporting our NDP Government's position on the Yarmouth to Maine ferry";

Therefore be it resolved that this government follow through on this commitment to allocate the necessary funding to ensure restoration and long-term operations of the Yarmouth-New England ferry.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

[Page 56]

Is it agreed?

I hear several Noes.

The notice is tabled.

The honourable member for Victoria-The Lakes.

RESOLUTION NO. 21

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

Whereas the Victoria Co-op Fisheries, based out of Neils Harbour, recently took part in a trade mission to Las Vegas, Nevada; and

Whereas the co-operative in Neils Harbour catches and also markets and processes lobster and crab, and was the only Nova Scotia business taking part in the trade mission to Las Vegas in February; and

Whereas the Victoria Co-op Fisheries was first established 56 years ago, in 1955, and presently has 150 boats fishing out of seven harbours, while employing 160 people;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly applaud Osborne Burke and his team at Victoria Co-op Fisheries for their dynamic business, and wish them continued success with their export business to the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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 Glace Bay.

RESOLUTION NO. 22

[Page 57]

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

Whereas the BAYplex in Glace Bay and all rinks across Cape Breton hosted 124 hockey teams, their families and large crowds and enthusiastic hockey fans during the renowned Vince Ryan Memorial Adult Hockey Tournament last weekend; and

Whereas the thousands of male and female athletes who visited Glace Bay and other host communities enjoyed the hockey culture and warm hospitality that we offer time and time again; and

Whereas the success of "the Vincey" provides lasting benefits for our future generations, as the proceeds of this tournament go directly to a scholarship fund for Glace Bay High School and all high schools in Cape Breton - and I did cover the cost of the ambulance myself, Mr. Speaker;

Therefore be it resolved that the House of Assembly join me in congratulating tournament organizer Rich Warren, the Vincey Board of Directors, the 250 volunteers and the people of Glace Bay who made the 22^nd annual event a smashing success.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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 Argyle.

RESOLUTION NO. 23

HON. CHRISTOPHER D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas the Tri-County Women's Centre in Yarmouth celebrated their 100^th Anniversary of International Women's Day on March 10^th at a banquet held in the Lions Club in Yarmouth; and

Whereas this year's International Women's Day theme is Strong Women, Strong World, which brings to light the leadership roles women play as leaders, caregivers and educators at the local, provincial and international level; and

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Whereas the honourees this year - Doris Landry, Dr. Shelagh Leahey, Edith Tufts, Elaine Smith, Ada Fells, Marilyn Francis and Joan Semple - come from many different backgrounds and cultures but their combined contributions have made our community a better place for women and their families;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating this year's Tri-County Women's Centre honourees on their many achievements and contributions and thank the Tri-County Women's Centre for highlighting these empowering women.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

The honourable member for Cape Breton West.

RESOLUTION NO. 24

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

Whereas the Keltic Gospel Male Chorus of Cape Breton celebrated its 60^th Anniversary on March 27^th with a concert at the United Protestant Church in Sydney River; and

Whereas the chorus began in 1951 at the Trinity United Church in Whitney Pier - yes, Mr. Speaker, in Whitney Pier - with only 10 members; and

Whereas the Keltic Gospel Male Chorus is thought to be the group with the greatest longevity of its kind on Cape Breton Island and has endured because of its love of gospel music, fellowship and the rewards that come from giving to others;

Therefore be it resolved that that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate the members of the Keltic Gospel Male Chorus on their 60^th Anniversary and wish them many more years of worship through song.

[Page 59]

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.

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

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

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

The motion is carried.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Deputy Government House Leader.

MR. CLARRIE MACKINNON: Mr. Speaker, would you please call the order of business, Government Motions.

GOVERNMENT MOTIONS

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Deputy Government House Leader.

MR. CLARRIE MACKINNON: Mr. Speaker, I move that the adjourned debate on the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne be now resumed.

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

HON. STEPHEN MCNEIL: Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to yesterday for a moment and recognize the fact that Her Honour was here along with Chief Justice MacDonald and yourself, who was sitting in the Chair, all of whom represent the community of Whitney Pier and what a proud day it must have been, not only for your families but for the entire community of Whitney Pier and, indeed, how pleased we are that we were here to witness that. There is nothing quite like getting an opportunity to see a community be able to celebrate its own and be able to recognize its own. Congratulations to you for being part of that yesterday. (Applause)

Having said all that, I was a bit surprised to find out that the member for Glace Bay actually hurt himself in the Pier. The ambulance picked him up in the Pier. He knows now where the border to his riding is.

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I also want to recognize the Chief Clerk, this is his first session in his new position, and thank him for the dedication and the service that he has provided to our province in the past and I know that he will into the future. Congratulations on your new appointment and all the best of success.

I also want to recognize the Deputy Clerk who is here and this is her first session. She spent some time with us in the last session but this is her first session in her new role and we want to wish her all the best. Don't be afraid if I start yelling behind you on the odd occasion.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, as I was going into the last election campaign and reviewing - it's interesting in this House - traditionally it has been the case that a government, after a general election, will lay out a vision of where it wants to go in a Speech from the Throne and then implement that vision over the next number of years between then and the next general election. In this case, we're doing something new. We're laying out a Speech from the Throne with no vision, every year.

Following the last election campaign we talked. One of the hottest topics was emergency room closures across this province. The NDP, during that campaign, committed to keeping emergency rooms open 24/7 from one end of Nova Scotia to the other. Communities across this province believed them, were working with them. I believe all Parties acknowledged and recognized that would be the goal. From what we've seen in the Speech from the Throne yesterday, they talked about keeping emergency rooms open. What they've actually done is change the names of the emergency rooms that they're actually going to reduce hours in.

It was interesting as I followed Dr. John Ross's report and his solution for emergency rooms around this province really focused an awful lot on access to primary health care. He actually moved away from talking an awful lot about emergency rooms and what he talked about was the access point for Nova Scotians. If you follow and read the report, what he is actually saying is that Nova Scotians do not have access to primary health care in the venue that is required, whether it is in a clinic, whether it is in a doctor's office, whether it is in the dietician's office, whether it is visiting their pharmacist to get a medication review, looking at what the medication is going to do. What he was looking for was a long-term view about how we're going to fix the access point into primary health care. What this government has done is actually reduce the hours of service in out-patient or emergency rooms - whatever you want to call them - across this province, which means Nova Scotians actually have less of a chance of entering into the health care system to receive that primary health care.

We had laid out what we thought were some reasonable ideas on how we could do that. We believe, and I still believe it's a good idea, that we would dedicate 20 medical seats at Dalhousie Medical School, that the Province of Nova Scotia would fund the tuition for those medical students who are prepared to work in under-serviced areas across this province. We had committed to a five-year program. That would allow 100 family physicians to be distributed across this province to be out there to allow Nova Scotians to have access to primary health care where and when they need it.

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As you probably just recently heard, 20 of those students have been returned to New Brunswick. We believe - and I believe most Nova Scotians believe - it was a wonderful opportunity for this government to show leadership, to go out and dedicate those seats to those medical students who would sign a contract with us and work in under-serviced areas across this province. Instead, they were extremely disappointed to hear that not only we were not doing that, but Dalhousie Medical School was selling those seats to Saudi Arabia. Now think about that for a second - we have a chronic shortage of family physicians across this province, and what we are doing today is educate doctors for Saudi Arabia. How is that making health care more accessible for Nova Scotians, Mr. Speaker? It simply is not.

It would have been a reasonable approach that we would have dedicated those seats so that Nova Scotians would have access to a family physician. Instead, what do we do? We invest millions of dollars in a paving plan to compete against the private sector. Makes absolutely no sense.

Government has a responsibility, Mr. Speaker, to deliver the services that Nova Scotians want: quality health care, quality education, looking after those most vulnerable in our community. It is not the responsibility to compete against the private sector. It's to take our precious, hard-earned tax dollars and direct them in a way that will deliver the services that Nova Scotians want and deserve.

Mr. Speaker we also laid out to this House that we believe there is a wonderful program that will go a long way to reduce the cost in the health care system and that is by funding insulin pumps.

Mr. Speaker not only would that provide a better quality of life for those Nova Scotians suffering from diabetes, but it is been proven that it would also reduce long-term health costs in this province. I know that it's looking beyond today, both of those ideas would be looking beyond today to find solutions to the challenges facing our province but that's what governments need to do.

Mr. Speaker, recently in the Throne Speech in New Brunswick, the Government of New Brunswick with all of its challenges, recognized the value of funding insulin pumps and went ahead and did it. Good for the people of New Brunswick. Good for that government to recognize the value of funding insulin pumps and recognizing the long-term value and reduction to the health care cost in that province.

We as a province need to begin to look long term. There were a lot of phrases yesterday, health care sooner, better, all but when you actually go out and talk with communities and engage them, no one feels that access to health care is better today than it was 18 months ago. As a matter of fact, many communities are very concerned, because of what may happen, what may transpire.

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Mr. Speaker, we need to reassure Nova Scotians that we have a long-term plan on how we're going to deal with the access to primary health care and I would encourage the Minister of Health and this government to adopt the idea of dedicating those medical seats to ensure we can distribute family physicians across this province to allow Nova Scotians to have the proper access point into the health care system.

Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, it was mentioned that Nova Scotia has had the worst economic growth in the last 20 years. It has also had the worst economic growth in the last 21 months. The NDP talk about this hypothetical number, a $1.4 billion deficit. (Interruptions)

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

Order please. Thank you. The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. MCNEIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NDP like to talk about a hypothetical number of $1.4 billion deficit. This is a real number, they've added $1.7 billion to the debt of our province. The HST has increased (Interruptions)

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. Order, please. The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition has the floor, please.

MR. MCNEIL: And I thought we had gotten along so well yesterday. Mr. Speaker, the real number is $1.7 billion that the Minister of Finance has added to the debt of this province. And he is on the verge of adding millions more next Tuesday; a 2 per cent increase in the HST; 1,400 user fees across this province are going up, downloading millions of dollars onto the municipalities that will end up on the residential tax bills of every Nova Scotian across this province. (Interruptions)

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please, order please. The honourable member has the floor. This is the last time that I'm going to say this this morning. (Applause) This is the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. MCNEIL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's why we were voting for you 18 months ago to be the Speaker of the House.

Those are real numbers, those aren't mine, those come from the Minister of Finance's own department about the numbers I have laid out in front of you. There are real challenges facing our province and the only economic tool that this government seems to have is the Industrial Expansion Fund. They've spent millions of dollars to distribute across this province with no business plans, not laying out and justifying how they can sit around the Cabinet Table and distribute that kind of money.

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At this point, we've seen no real benefit to the job growth in this province. There has been a tremendous amount of money spent in Pictou County, and yes, I can tell you that Pictou County deserves economic development, like Yarmouth and every point in between from here to Sydney. As they've been spending that money, the unemployment rate is going up in that community. That should tell you that policy is not working and has failed.

We have laid out an idea where we believe aggressively reducing the small business tax in this province would be a positive thing for growing our economy. We would be investing in the men and women who have weathered tough economic times before; we would be able to distribute that economic stimulus from one end of Nova Scotia to the other, into every community. We would be investing in those Nova Scotians who would be staying here for the long haul. (Applause)

When a small business makes an investment in their company, they look across their table and they recognize very early on that when they bring someone on to the payroll they're not just bringing on an employee, they are bringing on a neighbour. They are bringing on someone in that community who could potentially be coaching their children, someone who they see at social events. The very last thing they do would be to give them a pink slip. They would ask them to help weather the tough economic times that our province is in, has been in before, and will be in again. They would ask them to help weather that, and for that employment will be there, consistency within the community will be there.

Those are the people we should be reaching our hands out to and engaging in in terms of finding our way not only through this tough economic time but finding our way forward so that when this downturn is over, as it will be over, those men and women will be ready and prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that will exist at the end of it, to continue to grow their businesses and continue to invest in Nova Scotia communities from one end to the other. (Applause)

Yesterday I was pleased to hear talk of the venture capital pool that the Premier has been talking about, particularly talking about the one involving Atlantic Canada. Our concern is the fact that we are a non-competitive community at this point. We have some of the highest taxes in all of the Atlantic region. When I think about that venture capital being available in Atlantic Canada, unless we tackle the fact that we are not competitive - let's be honest about that - until we begin to tackle the idea that we are not competitive as an economy, what we are actually doing is putting a pool of capital together for our neighbouring provinces - those that have made some tough decisions, those that have begun to move towards making sure their economy was competitive, that their tax system was competitive and that they would be able again try to grow their economy.

While we support the idea of a venture capital fund, it is imperative that we as a province take a comprehensive tax review and look at where we can adjust our tax system so we can create economic opportunity and jobs. It is so important that we reach out across and give the signals that we understand what the business community is facing and that we are prepared to be their partner. They talked in the Speech from the Throne about growing the economy and growing the private sector. Well, we fully support the growth of the private sector but when you see a government make a decision to go into the paving business to compete against the private sector, the two things don't add up. They are conflicting messages and it is sending the wrong signal across this province.

[Page 64]

The idea that government can deliver the paving in this province cheaper than the private sector is simply not true and the department staff acknowledges it's not true. That decision does one thing - it discourages the private sector from investing, it discourages the private sector from being optimistic about the future and it discourages the private sector from growing our economy. If we are going to find our way in the tough economic challenges, if we ever want to get off the bottom of the economic growth chart in this country, it will be the private sector that will be able to deliver those services cheaper to Nova Scotians, more effectively and more cost effectively.

I would encourage this government, while it has gone down the road of buying a chip seal plant, that it stops at that point and does an honest assessment of the real value of that plant before it spins millions more dollars on a paving plant to compete against the existing ones already in this province.

We had high hopes when the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal laid out a five-year road construction plan. Mr. Speaker, we supported that. It was long overdue. Industry was calling for it. It made sense. What we had hoped that signalled was that government was going to then begin to look at how it tenders projects across this province, that we would begin to see 70 or 80 per cent of the roadwork for this year already out being tendered so the private sector then could compete, begin to look at what their work would be over the 12-month period, look about how they could best deliver the best price. Instead - and these aren't my numbers, these are coming from their own department - they are either behind schedule or at the same pace they were in years past at letting out tenders. That's not a way to get competition, that's not a way to get the best price for the people of this province. Lay the work out and let the private sector then go and compete for it under the ideas and rules of this government.

One of the reasons why they say they're going to compete in the role of business against the private sector is because they say there have been some tenders that have been too high. Well, you have a mandate to say no. If you believe you're being gouged by someone, say no and re-tender and ask other companies to compete. That's what government should be doing, not going out and spending money, foolishly chasing the idea that you can compete with the private sector.

Even if you believe the argument of government on this issue - and I think this is what really highlights the flaw in the argument and why I think private sector is nervous across this province - their argument at the beginning was we were going to compete because we thought we were being gouged in some areas. Well, they're not competing. What they're going to do is take half of the chip seal projects and they're going to do them in-house. They're not going to be tendered, they're not going to allow anyone to view them, they're not going to be assessed - they're going to be done in-house. Then what they're going to do is they're going to put the other 300 kilometres out in the flawed tender system that they accuse to be flawed. How is that going to give you the best price? All that is going to do is build a bureaucracy and cost taxpayers more money year after year from one end of this province to the other. We went down this road decades ago. It was flawed then and it is flawed now.

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I was pleased to hear yesterday, there was talk there was going to be a re-emphasis on tourism in southwestern Nova Scotia - we were going to make it a destination. Well, my suggestion to this government, if they want to make southwestern Nova Scotia a destination, work hard to reconnect an international link to ensure that our tourists from the eastern seaboard have access into our province. (Applause)

I have had the opportunity to be in southwestern Nova Scotia, in Yarmouth. As many of you know, I represent the riding of Annapolis. As I've travelled this province, I have understood the impact that the ferry service had in our communities. I must tell you I did not fully appreciate the impact that was happening in Yarmouth until I spent some time there a few weeks ago.

Regardless of where you go, regardless of who you talk to, there is one issue on the minds of the people of Yarmouth and that is, when are we going to have our boat back? When are we going to show some leadership as a province to sit down, bring the partners together, make sure that we do not lose another tourism season, make sure that we do not force more small business operators to make that tough choice and that is to sell, close up or move away?

There is an opportunity we see, and I think most Nova Scotians will see - the issue of shale gas. This has been talked about an awful lot and I know the member for Dartmouth East has spoken on this a number of times. We see this as an opportunity to grow our economy, potentially. As was mentioned earlier today, the issue around fracking - which is a way that basically pumps pressure and fluid into the ground and forces that gas out and allows us to capture it - there have been major concerns raised about that.

We believe, and I believe most reasonable Nova Scotians would believe, that we should be proceeding very cautiously and making sure that we've laid out some regulations around the idea of fracking before we start opening up our border to our natural resource. That resource is going nowhere. We want to make sure that when we do go and have it extracted that we are doing so in the best interests of Nova Scotians and not putting at risk our environment or the water table in this province.

We believe we can do that. We believe we could be leaders in that, but we want this government - before they issue any permits for fracking in Nova Scotia - to have lain out very clearly, some guidelines and regulations around that issue. That when people come into this province to invest, to work here, to go in and extract our resource, they know very clearly from the beginning what is expected of them by us as a province. It is part of the energy mix and it can be part of growing our economy.

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I was very pleased yesterday to hear that we're moving forward on the Lower Churchill Falls. I was pleased to hear the Prime Minister be here and commit yesterday to loan guarantees. Those are positive initiatives that will allow the private sector in this province to continue to go down that road. As all of us know in this House, it was Emera who struck a deal with Nalcor of Newfoundland to make sure that link comes into our province. It is now - and I've said this before - our responsibility to continue to work together to see this project come off the blueprint. Yesterday's announcement by the federal government - and I'm sure, no doubt, that the Premier had been talking and working through his federal counterparts to ensure that they understood how important this project was for our province and that he was there and gave our case. I think it is important that each of us, as we travel this province, make that case in our own communities.

All too often this project is looked at as one being made between large energy corporations that are doing very well. I believe it is also there to get us to a point where we will get stable energy pricing - not cheap energy, let's be honest about that - but equally as important it will be building the infrastructure that will allow us as a province to begin to build a renewable energy sector, which will set us off for decades to come.

Yesterday in this House - and I want to reiterate it again - we also are prepared and willing to support the work that the Premier is doing, that the government is doing, and I believe that all Nova Scotians want to see happen, and that is making sure that the national shipbuilding project ends up coming back here to the Irving Shipyard here in Halifax. That is a positive project not only for the shipyard of Halifax but it is a positive project for the entire Province of Nova Scotia from one end to the other. And any time that we can co-operate and work together to ensure that our national government understands where we fit in the federation and the importance of Nova Scotia in ensuring that we can deliver the contracts they are looking for, then we, as a group of elected officials, have a collective responsibility to work together - and we will make that commitment to the Premier again, here today, in this House.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday there was talk in the Throne Speech regarding how we help those Nova Scotians living in poverty, how we help those Nova Scotians who need our support to go forward. Some initiatives that were there which we were encouraged by, which was allowing families to stay on income assistance as they go through universities, their children go through post-secondary education, is a positive thing. As well, I believe we need to make sure that we allow those Nova Scotians who have fallen on hard times and are relying on income assistance to support their families - we need to find a better way to make sure that we provide them with the quality skills they will need to move off income assistance and into the workforce.

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We also need to look at the idea of the clawback system, making sure that we are encouraging them and helping them go find work, that in the end we don't strip back dollar-for-dollar, taking away the incentive. It is my hope that as we see some issues rolled out in terms of how we have been dealing with our poverty strategy, it will be those kinds of initiatives that recognize when people want help, when people want to move forward and want to work, that government is there to be able to help them do that, as opposed to what has been for too long, being in the way or penalizing them financially or, quite frankly, not helping them get the skills required to go forward. To do what I believe many and all Nova Scotians want to do, which is live and work in a productive way, to provide the best they can for themselves and their families, and be involved in their community at every facet, not only from the work side but also from dealing with the many positive things that happen, from the community organizations to reaching out and helping. So we would be encouraged, as a caucus, to help the government move forward on some of those initiatives.

One thing is concerning to us though, Mr. Speaker. I think the most powerful tool that a government can give its citizens is a quality education. We have some real challenges in the public education system. Regardless of where your child fits on the education spectrum, people aren't happy, people are concerned - it doesn't matter where. I've made this statement before - I believe and fully support inclusion. It is my belief that the model we are using isn't working, we need to look at it and we need to ask ourselves, how can we do this better? How can we provide a better educational opportunity for those students, as well as ensuring that we have the supports there to provide and give every student an opportunity to reach their maximum potential?

Mr. Speaker, when I look at that, we've been debating for too long the issue of Reading Recovery - it has surprised me, quite frankly, that the debate has gone on as long as it has. It was my belief that it was a decision made in haste, without looking at the evidence that supports the positive effect this program is having on students from one end of Nova Scotia to the other.

Mr. Speaker, I had a wonderful opportunity to be on the South Shore at a public meeting and heard so many positive stories about families whose parents were standing up talking about without Reading Recovery they're not sure where their child would be today. I felt like I could tell them where their child would be - and that would be struggling their way through the remainder of their public education. What this program did was provide a new lease on life for those students.

It was wonderful to hear this lady talk about her daughter. She talked about how she could not get her daughter to go to school. Her daughter was sick, her stomach was bothering her and it didn't matter what happened. Then she was able to enroll her in the Reading Recovery program, Mr. Speaker, and look out. This young lady's confidence soared. Her ability in the classroom took off. Her classroom teacher said, what a difference, what a contribution she is making today to the entire classroom education because of this program of Reading Recovery.

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It's an intensive, one-on-one intervention, Mr. Speaker, one that has been tested across this continent and other places, one that always comes out on top. Do we think there are challenges still in the system on how we deal with literacy for some Nova Scotians? Absolutely, but what we want, and what Nova Scotians want, is Reading Recovery to be reinstated to allow boards across this province to implement Reading Recovery and then do the add-ons that will be required to help those Nova Scotians who still need help later on. (Applause)

Mr. Speaker, the one thing we should be doing in looking at - and as a government everything we should be doing - should be based on good evidence and making sure the outcomes are what we want. Well, I would challenge government to go into the Department of Education and find one other program that has been evaluated, been looked at more often than Reading Recovery, and I would challenge them to find any program that is delivering better outcomes than Reading Recovery. We should not be cutting it. What we should be doing is enhancing programs around it to ensure that Nova Scotians in Grade 1 and beyond are reaching their basic level of understanding of reading and allowing them then to soar through the public education system.

Imagine the benefit to us for every child that we give a new lease on life, a new lease on life by teaching them how to read in Grade 1 - imagine the benefit to us in the long run as a province. But on the flip side, for every child that we fail, the cost to the public system goes on for a long time, Mr. Speaker. So, again I would say to you and say to the members of the government - particularly the Minister of Education - how important Reading Recovery is, how important it has been, and how important we believe it can be to ensuring that young Nova Scotians are getting the kind of education they need and the opportunities they need to grow, mature, and flourish into the young people whom we know that they can be.

Mr. Speaker, after having an opportunity to look at the speech last night, and as I started off earlier, I talked about historically in this House what would happen. A government would get elected, it would lay out a vision in a Throne Speech, then it would attempt to implement that vision over a three or four year period, and then Nova Scotians would pass judgment on it. Instead, what we have had here in less than two years are three Throne Speeches. What we've had is a Party that had a vision to get elected but no vision to govern.

Mr. Speaker, because of that lack of vision, Nova Scotians are paying every day, dearly, for a government that has been more focused on being elected than governing. We know there are tough challenges facing this province. What Nova Scotians hoped for on June 9^th was some leadership and change. What they have here is a government caught in the headlights and not knowing where to turn. On one hand they say we're going to fix the emergency room issue and access primary health care. Well, the fix is closing them. They say we're going to grow the private sector and then on the other hand we're going to compete against it.

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The list of contradiction after contradiction goes on throughout this Throne Speech and the previous two. It's not too late for this government to accept the mandate Nova Scotians gave them, focus on governing and stop focusing on trying to be re-elected. With those few words, I'll take my seat. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

HON. JAMIE BAILLIE: Mr. Speaker, members of the Legislature, special guests, ladies and gentlemen, this is my first Address in Reply to a Speech from the Throne, so I would like to begin for a moment by again thanking the constituents of Cumberland South who have sent me here. I know, like many members know - perhaps all members know - that no matter what we do in our political life, the greatest honour that we will ever have is to have been selected by the voters to represent them here in this Chamber. Despite all that happens, all the ups and downs, the good and the bad in political life, knowing that there is a group of constituents that have sent you here to be their voice, to raise their concerns and their issues, to fight for them, it is a great honour. So it is with them in mind that I rise today, it is with them in mind that I come to work ready to support good policy when I see it and ready to oppose bad policy also when I see it.

I would like to start, Mr. Speaker, by congratulating you, sir, on your election as our Speaker and to thank the member for Pictou West, who is your predecessor, for the service that he has provided to this House. I certainly look forward to working with you and I know the members of the Progressive Conservative caucus look forward to working with you to make the level of debate and the quality of the decisions made by this House as high as we can possibly make them.

I just want to say a brief word to the member for Kings North and the member for Truro-Bible Hill for their remarks yesterday, in moving and seconding the Speech from the Throne. It is not often that I hear Nelson Mandela quoted in this Chamber but it was nice to hear and I'll say that particularly to the member for Truro-Bible Hill.

I would like to express my thanks and congratulations to the Leader of the Official Opposition for the remarks that he just made. I can't help but note that he was subjected to a verbal barrage by the Minister of Finance at one point in his remarks. I wasn't going to do this but in support of his speech, I would like to table a document. I have with me the Budget Highlights document for the fiscal year 2010-11; I'm hopeful that the Minister of Finance will recognize it when I table it. It was received at the Legislative Library on April 6, 2010, which must be on or about the date of his last budget. It includes a table of the net direct debt of the Province of Nova Scotia.

What is interesting about this document, Mr. Speaker, is that it says that the net direct debt as of the end of 2009, immediately before that bunch took office, was $12.324 billion. It forecasts that for the end of this year - which actually was yesterday - that the net direct debt would be $14.002 billion, a difference in growth of $1.678 billion, making it true to say that they've increased the debt since they took office by $1.7 billion - as the Leader of the Official Opposition stated - in their own documents. I will table that and I would encourage all Ministers of the Crown, starting with the Minister of Finance, to read it when they get a chance before they engage in needless and inaccurate heckling of the Leader of the Official Opposition.

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For all of us in this House, while we may disagree from time to time, I think it is important that disagreement be contained within our own borders. My father is from Pictou County and he taught me a long time ago that although Stellarton may fight with Trenton (Interruption) Thank you for the applause, I hope I have a few more of those from the member for Pictou East. He taught me a long time ago that although Stellarton may fight with Trenton and vice versa, once you go over Mount Thom you are all from Pictou County, and I agree with that.

That is why I know that we can all agree from all sides of this House, to be in support of the government working with the Irving Shipyard as they pursue a very important contract under the National Shipbuilding Procurements Strategy, and the same is true of the Lower Churchill deal which the Prime Minister of Canada saw fit to support last night. As the Leader of the provincial Progressive Conservative Party, I was very proud when leaving our provincial borders to go to Ottawa a month ago to be able to speak to the Prime Minister and the relative ministers about both of those initiatives, and I want to assure all Nova Scotians that when they may see us disagree from time to time in our province, that we are as one on those two agreements, which are of important and massive interest to our province when we are outside our borders.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank the men and women of our Armed Forces, in particular those serving on the HMCS Charlottetown and the crew of the Aurora aircraft based at 14 Wing Greenwood, who will be away from their families on an extended trip backing up the Canadian campaign to protect the citizens of Libya. As well, as we look around the world at the unfolding tragedy that is ongoing in Japan, it reminds us, Mr. Speaker, that in Nova Scotia our problems are very small indeed. And yet we do have problems.

There is an old saying, and I don't know who said it - I'm hoping maybe the member for Truro-Bible Hill, or some other member, will find me the source - there is an old saying that I have believed in strongly since I was a child. That old saying is, Our fathers were fishermen and farmers, so we can be businessmen and politicians and our children can be poets and musicians.

Well, my great-grandfather, Henry Baillie, farmed in Salt Springs in Pictou County. His son and my namesake, James H. Baillie, was a local grocer and business person and mayor of the Town of Pictou. His son, my father, was the first Baillie to graduate from university, and here is where my story gets interesting. When my dad went to work, his business-person father advised him to get a government job. The pay wasn't great, but you would be secure and you would have a good pension. That was the view of government in the 1960s.

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Now time went on and when I graduated, at a time of government cutbacks, my own father advised me to go into business, which I did, first as a chartered accountant, and then eventually as CEO running our credit union. I left that job just last Fall to go into politics, running for the leadership of my Party and as an MLA. Someday soon it will be my turn to advise my own children about their career choices. Like all parents, like all people in this House, I want them to soar as high as their talents and their ambitions will take them. In short, I want them to choose their own version of poetry and music.

The reason I am here, and the reason I believe all of us are here, is because I am worried about what I will tell them. The one constant in all of the advice in the Baillie generations is that it was assumed that you could do whatever you wanted, wherever you wanted, here at home in Nova Scotia. It was assumed that the next generation would be a little better off than the previous generation. This has been, until now, a constant truth. Now we are not so sure.

I suppose any Party could introduce its own 14 strategies, five studies and three committees to address the issues that are facing Nova Scotia today. But after two years, that would be a cruel April Fool's joke. Unfortunately for Nova Scotians, as I think of the Throne Speech, it's apparent that April Fool's Day came one day early here in the House of Assembly in Halifax this year. A government that promised change looks more and more like the same old, same old, everyday April Fool's. Saying you want change is not the same as actually changing things - April Fool's - launching dozens of studies and schemes doesn't mean you have actually achieved anything - April Fool's.

For a province facing real population decline, promising an immigration study in three consecutive Throne Speeches is no longer funny. For a province that is so reliant on a vibrant forestry sector, promising a new natural resources strategy over and over, throwing the industry into turmoil and uncertainty is no longer funny. For a province that is recovering from recession, raising the HST by a record amount and then boasting of a new economic strategy is no longer funny.

The Speech from the Throne unfortunately demonstrates how little progress we have actually made in areas like living within our means, creating a competitive tax environment and attracting investments over the last two years. These critical elements to creating a growing economy are what will keep our children here.

In fairness to the NDP, they came to power during a period of global recession. But saddled with the promise to balance the budget that year, they could have been honest with Nova Scotians about the dilemma they faced. But they didn't do that. Instead they played the same old game of blaming their woes on predecessor governments. This tactic contained an inconvenient truth for them. According to the Auditor General of Nova Scotia, they hadn't, in fact, inherited a mess from their predecessors. They inherited eight consecutive audited surpluses and balanced budgets. This is the word of the Auditor General of Nova Scotia.

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Faced with this inconvenient truth, they chose to concoct a structural deficit, a fiction that they had to slay. They engaged Deloitte and the Deloitte report is very clear about the goofy assumptions that bunch made Deloitte follow to concoct this fiction. Now many Nova Scotians went along with this in the hopes that the government would actually rein in spending, bring finances to a better place. Instead, government spending has gone on unabated; it is up 9 per cent over the past two years. We have record taxes and fees instead. That report from Deloitte cost the government around $100,000 but the true cost to taxpayers has been hundreds of millions of dollars more in extra HST and other taxes and fees - April Fool's.

After two years of a majority government there is little to brag about in this Chamber. We were presented with a Throne Speech with no proof of progress on the deficit, on ER closures or jobs. In fact, it seems as though the goalposts they set for themselves are constantly shifting. The government has boasted of coming in under budget on spending, but they themselves set those budget targets. So it is not right to brag about beating your own soft targets. It is an old trick.

The question is, when - when - will they get on with achieving real results? In the Throne Speech yesterday they again, for the third time, talked about their plan to keep ERs open. Now it has been pointed out by others on this side of the House, we no longer call them ERs, we call them something else. But just today in the real world I got notice from All Saints Hospital in Springhill listing the hours that their ER will be closed. We still wait for real action and real results, not just new names for the same old problems.

We know that rehashed studies and plans, in reality, won't create a single job, keep an emergency room open or lower people's taxes. I worry that Nova Scotia is actually in worse shape today than when the NDP took over, because the real numbers don't tell a good story about where Nova Scotia has gone under this government. There are some obvious indicators: we have the highest sales tax in the country; we have among the highest income tax in the country; thanks to their breaking of their agreement with municipalities, we'll likely soon have among the highest property taxes in the country; and we do have among the lowest rates of economic growth in the country. All of those statistics are related.

We also have a per capita debt, a per person debt that is the second highest in Canada and it is growing - $1.7 billion as stated in the last two years. It is growing and will continue to grow as long as the NDP stick to their slack plan to someday, somehow at some future date, actually truly reduce and eliminate their budget deficit. Next year's projected deficit, we hear from the Minister of Finance, will be $370 million. Their deficit in 2009, when they took office, was $329 million. That is not progress. Those are facts; those are the numbers. The government preaches one thing, but program spending continues to go up. We are clearly heading in the wrong direction. After all, it is only through truly balanced budgets that we will make any progress on reducing our province's $14 billion debt.

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I mentioned that we have a per person debt that is the second highest in Canada. In fact, it is closing in on $14,000 per man, woman, and child in this province. I put special emphasis on "child" because it is our children who will inherit that debt. It is they who will bear that burden. We know that we have fewer and fewer young people who are here to carry that weight.

Mr. Speaker, you know it is expensive to carry that much debt. We are already spending 10 per cent of our revenue on meeting our debt payments. Imagine if your income was $50,000 a year and you had to spend $5,000 of it just on interest every single year. I can tell you, I saw that every day at the credit union, and it is a sad, sad state for a person to find themselves in. It has a significant impact on their quality of life as it begins to decline; it hurts their ability to provide for their family or save for their future.

Deep down people know that for government, a debt that size is just another measure of deferred tax. New graduates leaving our education system know this to be true, that that debt will eventually show up in higher taxes and fewer services. They are already weighing that into their decisions about where they will build their own future, and too few of them are choosing to stay in our province and too many of them are choosing to move away. That is why, when a government chooses to run a deficit, when it chooses to run three deficits in a row, as we know the NDP will do during its term in office, that is why we know when they do that that the talk about keeping our young people here at home, the talk about bringing new people to our shores, the talk about creating new jobs and prosperity is nothing more than just talk.

Perhaps we should do a strategy on talk, Mr. Speaker, because the choices they make, the lazy, lackadaisical way they go about balancing their books - the choices they make show the opposite. The Throne Speech yesterday, with all of its plans, strategies, committees and studies show us that the NDP is actually putting off for tomorrow what they should know we need to do today. The result of that delay is that someday someone will have to pay.

Mr. Speaker, we have been here before and I would like to point out some differences between the NDP Government's approach to financial management today and the approach of 10 years ago, the last time this province found itself with a significant deficit and needing to balance the books. In 1999, after six years of Liberal Government, program spending in Nova Scotia was just over $5 billion per year and there was significant pressure from the NDP then to increase it. But there was also an inherited deficit - a true one, an audited one according to the Auditor General - of $497 million on $5 billion of spending. In other words, a true deficit that was over 10 per cent of the provincial budget. By contrast, the projected deficit for the upcoming year of $370 million is just about 3 per cent of the total provincial budget, a much lower hurdle for the government to clear.

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In 1999 that deficit was dealt with by controlling spending. In fact the records will show that in 1999, program spending grew by only 0.3 per cent over the year before; in 2000, it grew by 3.6 per cent; and in 2001, it grew by 1.9 per cent. All of those numbers are within the constraints of inflation of the day and population growth, and by the end of the third year the budget was balanced. I might point out that it was balanced at the old rate of HST, at 13 per cent, without recourse to digging deeper into people's pockets, as this bunch has done.

We might wonder why that is. Why are we seeing this now almost two years into their term, after two budgets and one more to come next week, that there is still no progress on the deficit even though the HST has been increased by that much? The answer is their program spending is up by 9 per cent over the last two years; this at a time when there was virtually no inflation and the population has been flat. Not surprisingly, with that level of extra spending, we've made no progress on the deficit but we have the honour of paying 2 per cent more in HST for that privilege.

On top of that the government has taken steps to just shuffle the cards around. Last week we learned that they broke an agreement with the municipalities to shift $50 million of cost onto their shoulders, not only breaking agreement but ensuring that our property taxes will go up by a similar amount. I might add, with regards to the HST - now the highest in the country - God help us if the Liberal Party is ever elected to the Government of Canada because we know with the support of the federal NDP that the national HST will be going back up to the higher rate, from 5 to 7 per cent, and we won't be sitting here at 15 per cent, we'll be sitting here paying 17 per cent in Nova Scotia and we'll see what that does to our economy then.

Did the government have to do this? Was the budget so tight that they had no choice but to raise taxes? Well let us look at the evidence. In 2004 the total provincial budget was close to $6 billion. Here we are seven years later, after seven years of minority government - and Progressive Conservative Government, it's only fair to add - and the budget is $9 billion, a 50 per cent increase. Nova Scotians can ask themselves if they feel 50 per cent better served by their government today than they did in 2004.

Or another example, in 2004 the employment of the Government of Nova Scotia - the departments of government, not counting our teachers, nurses and doctors who are working in schools and hospitals, just the core of government itself - employed 9,000 people. Today the government employs 11,000 people, a 20 per cent increase. Our population is the same but we have 20 per cent greater number of public servants working for the government than we did just seven short years ago.

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One more indicator, Mr. Speaker, in 2004 provincial government spending accounted for 21 per cent of our province's economy; our GDP. Today that amount is 30 per cent. At a time when all businesses and households are required to find ways to tighten their belts, to become more efficient, the government is in effect becoming much less efficient and if there's anyone who doubts that the NDP could have achieved a balanced budget this year, consider this. Right next door, in New Brunswick, they have a deficit that's almost three times the size of ours - a real deficit. Their newly elected Premier wasn't in his job for more than two weeks when he ordered civil servants there to find 2 per cent cost savings in their departments, and he gave them two weeks to do it. They presented their first budget just a few days ago and it forecasts a $290 million reduction in their deficit - $290 million in one budget, their first budget - and there is no increase in the HST to make it happen.

So as I said earlier, we are now about to see the government's third budget and the projected deficit is larger today than it was in actual fact in 2009. They say their plan is working. They say their plan is on track. We say it has already failed. Our caucus believes a different approach is in order. Our caucus wants to make sure that the government becomes more efficient and responsible. That is why our Finance Critic introduced balanced budget legislation that will make it the law that the government must balance the budget every year - a law that the NDP itself repealed. We must not only bring back that balanced budget law to stop the growth in debt for the sake of our children, we must go further. We must learn the lessons of the past, something that the NDP refuses to do.

Another principle in that legislation, which we are bringing forward, is that we will not allow the growth of government program spending to be greater than our population growth and inflation as a way to force efficiency in government like every other Nova Scotia business and family has to do. If government grows beyond those measures, we should always stop and ask ourselves, can we really afford to take the easy way out and raise taxes like the HST or do we work within a government that we can afford? Despite the 14 planned strategies and committees talked about in the Throne Speech yesterday, none of them were asked to find a way to reduce our high level of taxation. We pay the highest sales tax in the country, one of the highest business taxes in the country. We are headed in the wrong direction and it is stalling our economy.

I know personally, Mr. Speaker, that the HST increase alone has been enough to close real businesses in Cumberland County and send too many shoppers across the border to New Brunswick, but what we don't know is how many other businesses, how many other employers across our province have had to cut back on a person or two to get by? The NDP last year announced a $200 million economic development strategy, bizarrely, roughly the same amount as they will take in in new HST revenue. In other words, they raised the HST by 2 per cent and now propose to spend the money to encourage the economy to grow, attempting to put back in what they've just taken out. That is not only absurd, it is bad economics.

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Last year when the NDP had Deloitte cook up what the deficit could be a few years out, one of the assumptions that they made them use was that there would be no growth in our overall economy over the next few years. At the time I thought that that was an overly pessimistic assumption but now, sadly, we can't be so sure.

In the Throne Speech the government pointed out that Nova Scotia consistently has the lowest economic growth in the country and that is very sad. We also have the highest taxes, the highest debt and the highest rate of government spending. Unfortunately, while the NDP identifies the problem, their solution is to pile on more of the same, more taxes, more regulation, more spending, in the hope that somehow that will make a difference.

Mr. Speaker, as I said a few moments ago, the government was elected because the people wanted change. They wanted someone to learn the lessons of the past and propose a better way forward, but that is not what we saw in the Throne Speech yesterday. People and businesses need to know that tomorrow will be better than today. A Throne Speech is supposed to be about that, about pointing a better way forward, about identifying a new way of getting to that better day that we all want for our province - not about looking back, not about reporting on the great strategies and studies and committees and commissions that we have underway, that is not what a Throne Speech is for, it is supposed to be about hope and growth and opportunity.

The people need to know where we're going. In this session, in this Throne Speech, what we find out is that when the government sees that the private economy needs a boost that their answer is to get into the paving business, to take over business that is done in the private sector. In fact, the government's plan will make them the third largest paving company in the province, and they are proud of it. Never mind the 30 contractors who do this for a living now and the hundreds of people they employ. It was done without any consultation with their employers or with the industry. They had no warning that their taxes and the taxes of their staff would be going to create competition for them.

That is what is planned for this session of the Legislature. Sadly, it is very consistent with what happened in the last session of the Legislature where the government brought forward a seemingly innocent labour bill that would have subjected our private employers to some extreme new labour laws, again without any consultation with the very people whom it affects.

For a government that likes to put out a press release patting itself on the back, when the sun comes up in the morning it is very telling that they snuck those labour provisions into an innocent bill in the Fall and we only found out about the paving contract when the tenders were out on the Internet this Spring. The fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, that up until now we have enjoyed 20 years of relative labour and management peace in our province. That balance is essential to promote a growing economy and ongoing prosperity. Now all of that has been put into jeopardy by the actions of this government.

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My response, our response, to the Speech from the Throne actually comes in the form of raising additional questions and I am hoping that at some point the people of Nova Scotia will get satisfactory answers. Why won't the NDP balance the budget this year and stop the rate of increase in our provincial debt dead in its tracks? Why won't they take steps to ensure that we have a competitive tax environment? Why aren't they doing all they can to project a positive investment in economic climate? After all, all these things are within our grasp. They are the result of choices that a government can choose to make.

Now I know, Mr. Speaker, that they are going to get up and tell you that there are no easy answers, that it just seems easy when you are in Opposition but it is different when you are in government. Well I have an answer for them, we know it's hard. We also know it can be done. We have been tough on the government today because we believe they are taking us all in the wrong direction. We have, however, vowed to take a different approach to the role of an Opposition Party, to set a higher standard. My Party's key legislation in this sitting is the Modernizing Government Act, which offers bold, new steps to put people back on top of our political system, where they belong, that allows them to force debate on real and meaningful issues here in the Legislature.

I am sure I am not the only member of this House, Mr. Speaker, who has run into constituents and other Nova Scotians who see what goes on here in this Chamber and feel that too little time is spent on issues that really matter to them and too much time is spent on spin and trivia and other things.

I agree with them and I know other members agree with them, and so it's time to put people back in charge, to let them have their say. That is what the Modernizing Government Act is all about.

We also have a dozen other bills aimed to set this province back on a better course. Criticism is certainly part of our job, but not criticism for criticism's sake. We, for example, look at the Speech from the Throne yesterday and I can tell you personally I was very pleased to see the 211 service mentioned as a step forward. (Applause) The hard-working and dedicated people at the United Way, people I know well, deserve that support. It is an organization that I and many others in this House currently support and have in the past. They're working hard to make services that Nova Scotians need available to them in a much more accessible way.

The hydro deal with Newfoundland and Labrador, Emera and Nalcor is a wonderful opportunity for our province and for all of Atlantic Canada. The commitment of the Prime Minister yesterday, the ongoing work of the government to make it happen, we also support. The National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, we're all in this House, as one, behind the shipyard as they pursue that work. It is the next generation of Nova Scotians that will be the beneficiary of all of that work.

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We want our province to choose to have a growing economy and a growing population, to choose to create more opportunities and greater prosperity. We believe that we can create a modern, dynamic economy where the next generation can grow and thrive. Every service, every program that we now count on - whether our hospitals, our schools, our care for seniors, our education system, or social services - they depend on our success in this area.

Let me just spend a moment on some of the non-economic things, some of the things that are not costly, that the government is silent on at the moment, that we encourage them to take action on.

Last week I think we all were deeply affected and moved by the tragedy of a young girl pushed to suicide by bullying at her school. This is an area that we all need to work together on to ensure we have meaningful reform, meaningful processes for schools to follow to deal with this. We should make sure that principals and advisors in schools have all the teeth they need to deal with these issues before they come to that tragic end. If the government sees fit to bring forward meaningful change to allow that to happen, I know we'll be the first ones to get up and support it.

There are lots of things that are mentioned in the Speech from the Throne. Now we want to see real change and meaningful results. This is an area where we can work together to make real, meaningful things happen. We must no longer be the place where we talk and talk and talk and get little done. I no longer want to hear about the great potential of our province - it would be nice to actually realize that potential someday.

We no longer want to be the place where people pay the highest taxes, get the lowest services, have the highest debt, work as hard as they work and have a government reach deeper and deeper into their pockets. Not only for our time, we must provide hope for all time, that there is a better way, there is a better way forward to make true my grandfather's story that we are practising business in politics so that our children can truly be the poets and musicians that we want them to be. That is what we should dedicate ourselves to here today. Thank you. (Applause)

MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville.

MR. MAT WHYNOTT: It is certainly an honour to stand here today to address my honourable colleagues and friends for the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne. Mr. Speaker, I do congratulate you as well on your election as Speaker in this historic Chamber. I know that you will do a good job in this role, mostly because you are a good friend to every single member in this House, on all sides of the House. Mr. Speaker, you're certainly a good friend to me. You've been a mentor for me as I learn the ropes as an MLA. (Interruptions) It's true, you've taught me how to deal with my constituents, to understand that you are there as an MLA to represent your people and I know you do that well.

[Page 79]

It is hard to believe that I stand in this Chamber 22 months after being elected and I guess you ask yourself the question, where has the time gone? I know that many members of this House who have possibly even sat here back to 1998, or previously, ask themselves the same question, where has the time gone? You know, 22 months into this job, I'm honoured to have this opportunity to serve the people.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I also recognize and congratulate you for being elected as the Deputy Speaker of this Chamber. It is the first time in awhile, I believe, that a woman has served as Deputy Speaker so congratulations on that. (Applause)

No question, that the job as an MLA certainly has been a learning curve for me. (Interruption) Yes, that's right, Madam Speaker, it has been a learning curve for me. Some days we are an untrained psychologist. Some days, we are a poverty advocate, we are an environmentalist, sometimes an untrained teacher, a financial expert and I think what's important to remember is that we're a listener. We try to listen to the people whom we represent wholeheartedly, to understand what their struggles are, to understand where they want this province to go.

I think that in June 2009 that's what happened. Madam Speaker, we have seen that time and time again. I know when I hear from the constituents I represent, they want this province to move forward. I think sometimes that we as MLAs don't necessarily sometimes get the information out that's very important to our constituents. We need to tell them what government is doing for them. We need to ensure that they hear from us, so I have taken it upon myself to - at least once a week - get out on the doorsteps, not only during election times, so that people know who I am, what I represent and what this government represents.

Madam Speaker, that has been certainly humbling to me. What it does is it grounds you as an MLA. People want to know that you're there for them and when I knock on their doorsteps they're blown away that I'm there. They say, well, is there an election going on? I say, no, there is no election going on. I'm here because that's the commitment that I made to you as an MLA, to stay connected with the people that I represent. If I can possibly give some wisdom to my other fellow colleagues, it is to do it, to go out and actually talk to your people, not just when they come to us but go out and talk to them.

Madam Speaker, in the 22 months as being an elected official, I've had the opportunity to attend many different ceremonies, ribbon cuttings, announcements, anniversaries, sports events, and we have cake cuttings, and the list goes on and on.

Madam Speaker, one of the events that I . . .

MADAM SPEAKER: There's a little bit too much chatter in the room, please, as the member continues.

[Page 80]

MR. WHYNOTT: Thank you, Madam Speaker. One of the events that I enjoyed greatly over the past couple of weeks was the departure of the Canada Games. We said goodbye to many of the volunteers, the athletes, the mission staff, and the volunteers and trainers from every province in this country, every province and territory in this country from coast to coast.

Madam Speaker, there are 15 athletes and mission staff from the constituency of Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville who were in attendance at the Canada Games and those names include: Madison Faulkner, artistic gymnastics from Middle Sackville; Breanna Lanceleve, women's hockey from Middle Sackville; Halie MacDonald, women's hockey from Middle Sackville; Steffannie Moak, women's hockey from Middle Sackville; as well as Savannah Newton, women's hockey from Middle Sackville.

We also saw athletes in synchronized swimming: Brooklyn Hurlburt, from Middle Sackville; Krista Vey, in ringette from Lower Sackville; Madison Fifoot, artistic gymnastics; Brittany Avery, ringette; Lindsay Devison, speed skating; David Merrigan as a mission staff person; and of course Austin Landry, free style skiing team.

I know, Madam Speaker, many of us in this Chamber had the opportunity to get out to some of the events, to go to some of the artistic events that took place. And I think that a lot of us, I know on this side of the House and I assume on the other side of the House, but I know certainly on this side of the House that we were proud to see Nova Scotia host such an amazing event that I know we are all very proud to have held here in Nova Scotia.

But the message, my message to the athletes in particular, is that your community is very proud of you and that we can't wait to see you on the world stage.

Madam Speaker, part of the legacy of the Canada Games is the infrastructure that was put into place for various recreational facilities across the province. I know that a lot of buzz was around the Canada Games Oval. We saw thousands of people from not only Halifax, HRM, but right across the province come to the capital to use the facility. But there were also some smaller venues that were able to receive some infrastructure funding. That included two facilities, in particular, from around the constituency that I represent and that includes Sackville High, as well as the St. Margarets Centre in St. Margarets Bay. Those two centres have always been a key part of our community, in particular the St. Margarets Centre. They received an expansion of their rink, as well as Sackville High received funding for a brand new sound system, as well as chairs for the gym.

Like other members of the House, I'm sure that people in here had the opportunity to present medals. It was certainly an honour for me to present medals at Sackville High for the games that were held there.

I guess I was very proud to go into those venues that I was able to participate in, we saw such professionalism. We saw dedication from our volunteers, our volunteers and our staff, and what's very important here, Madam Speaker, is that we had a lot of our young people who were involved. In particular here in HRM, I know that the Halifax Regional School Board had not just one week but two weeks off so that people were able to be part of the Games. I think that was a successful mission, successful so that people were able to come and enjoy those games.

[Page 81]

At the end of the day, Madam Speaker, you know, you see so many people coming together and I think I can speak for a lot of people in this Chamber that there was a buzz around the province. People were proud, they were out going to the events and that's important. Some of us, I'm sure, attended the opening and closing ceremonies, but one of the things after the closing ceremonies that a lot of our people on this side of the House certainly heard from constituents on, was the video of our Premier, showing that he was out enjoying the games, taking the time to get to know not only the athletes of Nova Scotia but athletes from right across the country. I think what it showed was that he is the type of person that we elected him to be. He is a Premier who understands people and he cares for them, so that video certainly reminded many Nova Scotians of that. It also promoted tourism. I mean I'm very proud to have seen that, to have seen the amount of people who got to go out and see the many venues here in this province.

So with that, Madam Speaker, I would like to also move on to a few other things that I've been able to be involved with, around government's commitment to various projects that will benefit the people that I represent. That includes the government's commitment of $2 million to the Halifax Regional Municipality for the BMO Centre. The BMO Centre is a beautiful facility. It is one that when you walk in, it's a sense of newness, it's a sense that it's always full. There are always people there and with the four rinks that they have, it gives more opportunity for our young people and our elders to actually participate in sport. I must say that every time I've been there, it has been an uplifting experience to say the least.

That facility opened back in the Fall and I was proud to be there not only at the ground-breaking ceremony but at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. They built that facility, it was probably, I would say it's the first event I attended as an MLA, and within 18 to 20 months, that facility was built and opened up. So, you know, kudos to the Halifax Regional Municipality for their vision on this and, again, it's such a wonderful place to be when you're there. People are talking, people are having conversations, and it's certainly a good thing to see.

Madam Speaker, another facility I was proud to be at was the opening of Northwood's Ivany Place. Northwood, a non-profit organization here in Nova Scotia, provides long-term care services for our seniors and that facility, I believe, has over 150 beds there. I would say there are probably more but about 150 beds and, again, another great thing for our community - not that it's in the constituency that I represent, it's just on the border but, again, it's a great thing to see.

It's interesting, Madam Speaker, people that I've spoken to whose family members are there, parents, grandparents - you know, when you drive along the Hammonds Plains Road, you see it and kids I know have said Mom, Dad, that looks like Legoland, because there are so many different colours on the outside of it. But the idea of that - and I'm sure my colleagues will love to hear this story - the idea of that is that it will allow parents who want to take their kids to visit their grandparents to say, look, that's where Grammy lives in section blue of the left wing or in section red of the right wing. So it certainly gives a sense of pride there for those kids. That opened up, I would say early summer or in the Spring and it is full. Again, it is a government commitment to make life better so that we are actually building more nursing homes in this province.

[Page 82]

Madam Speaker, I also had the opportunity to be at the sod-turning for the White Hills nursing home, which is a smaller nursing home in Upper Hammonds Plains. There will be about 60 residents there. This is a new facility but it is to replace aging facilities out in the Spryfield area. So again, we will see more residents there, a great opportunity for our community.

I have spoken to many of the managers at these two facilities and one of the things I've always encouraged them to do is to reach out to our young people so that those young people in our high schools or in our junior high or elementary schools have an opportunity to go into those facilities and really have them understand how we should contribute or understand what our seniors have done for this province and this great country, so I'm certainly proud of that.

Madam Speaker, one of the great things that I am proud to say as well is that in the 2009 election I was able to say that we followed through on a commitment called the suburban priorities team. The suburban priorities team is working hard, we're pulling through initiatives that will make life better for the people who live on the outskirts of HRM, things that due to amalgamation, or due to urban sprawl, there was not planning in place, so we want to be able to help the municipality deal with that through various initiatives. I'm proud to say that I'm part of a great team who sit on that committee for this government.

Madam Speaker, I'll make one last quick comment and then I'll be adjourning debate. This coming Spring, I can't wait to see the opening of Margeson Drive, a great project that has seen such positive buzz in our community. I'll tell you, I've heard various rumours that many people - there are at least three people I know of who are talking about opening up new businesses in Middle Sackville, just because of Margeson Drive because it will give people better access to Highway 101 and so on. So again, I am very much looking forward to that.

With that, Madam Speaker, I will take my place and continue debate, hopefully on Monday. With that I move adjournment of debate for today.

MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you. Before recognizing the honourable Government House Leader, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your vote of confidence in allowing me to fulfil this role. I'm very proud to be part of a handful of women who have had that opportunity in the past and I certainly will do my best.

[Page 83]

As well, I'd like you to share a message with all members of the House, those who are not here, I forgive you now for the occasional misspeaks on the Mr. Speaker versus Madam Speaker, and you did a great job, I should say, to our member for Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville.

The motion on the floor is to adjourn debate.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

The motion is carried

The honourable Government House Leader.

HON. FRANK CORBETT: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move that the House do now rise to meet at the hour of from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Monday. After the daily routine, we will be continuing with the Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne. I move that the House do now rise.

MADAM SPEAKER: The motion on the floor is that the House do now rise to meet again on Monday at 7:00 p.m.

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 House rose at 11:45 a.m.]

NOTICES OF MOTION UNDER RULE 32(3):

[Page 84]

RESOLUTION NO. 25

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Nate and Mats Stone, 10-year-old twin brothers from Springhill, Nova Scotia, had been saving their pennies for hockey school; and

Whereas when Nate and Mats read an article entitled A Penny for Your Thoughts, they did not hesitate in giving up their savings to 7-year old Joanna Lushman who had been donating her pennies to the Relay for Life to help fight cancer; and

Whereas Mats and Nate had been collecting pennies for the past year and were planning to put the money toward a summer hockey program in Prince Edward Island;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Nate and Mats Stone on their unselfish donation to the Relay for Life, which will make a difference in the lives of many people struggling with cancer.

RESOLUTION NO. 26

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas the Oxford Mini Girls team was victorious over Advocate on January 17, 2011 with a 47-16 win; and

Whereas scoring for Oxford were Emma Oderkirk with 14 points, MacKenzie Mattinson with eight, Taylor Mattinson with six, Paige Oickle and Bethany Warwick with five points each, Daphny Mitchell with three and Chloe Simpson, Ashley Wheaton and Olivia Lyness with two points apiece; and

Whereas the Oxford Mini Girls Basketball Team has been doing a great job this season and continues to make their school proud;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate the Oxford Mini Girls Basketball Team on this impressive win and wish them continued success in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 27

[Page 85]

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Bronson Beaton of Springhill was the only member of the Nova Scotia Canada Winter Games Hockey Team from Cumberland County; and

Whereas Beaton was an alternate captain on the team and notched two assists during the games; and

Whereas Bronson Beaton had an incredible experience at the Winter Games and at the Athletes' Village and hopes to be drafted to the Junior ranks next year;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Bronson Beaton on this outstanding play during the Canada Winter Games and wish him continued success in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 28

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Ronda Bagnell of Wentworth, Cumberland County, was one of many volunteers who were essential to the success of the recent Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Ronda is a member and a season pass holder at the ski facility and was thrilled to volunteer and see all the athletes from all over Canada enjoying themselves and competing; and

Whereas Ronda's volunteer efforts involved a significant time commitment, starting about a year ago with frequent preparation meetings in Halifax, Wentworth and Truro;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Ronda Bagnell and thank her for her volunteer efforts at the Canada Winter Games and wish her well on all future endeavours.

RESOLUTION NO. 29

[Page 86]

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Sydnee Balser helped her team bring home the gold when the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 to 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Sydnee Balser and the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 30

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Danika Beaton helped her team bring home the gold when the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 - 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Danika Beaton and the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success in the future.

[Page 87]

RESOLUTION NO. 31

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Brenna Casey helped her team bring home the gold when the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 to 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Brenna Casey and the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 32

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Leah Crowe helped her team bring home the gold when the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 to 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Leah Crowe and the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success in the future.

[Page 88]

RESOLUTION NO. 33

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Kristen Gogan helped her team bring home the gold when the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 to 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Kristen Gogan and the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 34

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Taylor MacDonald helped her team bring home the gold when the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 to 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Taylor MacDonald and the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success in the future.

[Page 89]

RESOLUTION NO. 35

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Steph McCormick helped her team bring home the gold when the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 to 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Steph McCormick and the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 36

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Meaghan Moore helped her team bring home the gold when the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 to 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Meaghan Moore and the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success in the future.

[Page 90]

RESOLUTION NO. 37

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 to 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success.

RESOLUTION NO. 38

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Trisha Thompson helped her team bring home the gold when the Springhill High School Golden Eagles won their third straight victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship; and

Whereas the Eagles claimed their fifth title in eight years by defeating the Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 58 to 47 in the final game; and

Whereas members of the championship team are Trisha Thompson, Brenna Casey, Kirsten Gogan, Taylor MacDonald, Danika Beaton, Leah Crowe, Meaghan Moore, Steph McCormick, Sydnee Balser and Jill Casey;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Trisha Thompson and the Springhill High School Golden Eagles on their victory in the NSSAF Division 3 girl's provincial basketball championship and wish them continued success in the future.

[Page 91]

RESOLUTION NO. 39

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Madison Swan was named game star with the Oxford Regional Education Centre Senior Ladies Golden Bears as they hosted and won a six-team basketball tournament in February; and

Whereas Oxford defeated South Colchester Academy by a score of 56 to 23 with the help of their game star Shannalee Smith and went on to defeat their rival, Musquodoboit, by a score of 55 to 26 with the help of Cassie Newell, the game star; and

Whereas Oxford faced off with Amherst in the final game, with Oxford coming out on top 52 to 48 with the help of Madison Swan, their game star, which won them the tournament;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Madison Swan on being named game star with the Oxford Regional Education Centre Senior Ladies Golden Bears as they won the tournament and wish them continued success throughout the years.

RESOLUTION NO. 40

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Cassie Newell of the Oxford Regional Education Centre Senior Ladies Golden Bears was named game star when they hosted and won a six-team basketball tournament in February; and

Whereas Oxford defeated the South Colchester Academy by a score of 56 to 23 with the help of their game star Shannalee Smith and went on to defeat their rival, Musquodoboit, by a score of 55 to 26 with the help of Cassie Newell, the game star; and

Whereas Oxford faced off with Amherst in the final game, with Oxford coming out on top 52 to 48;

[Page 92]

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Cassie Newell on being named game star and commend Oxford Regional Education Centre Senior Ladies Golden Bears for their victory at the tournament.

RESOLUTION NO. 41

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Paige Black was named Tournament All Star with the Oxford Regional Education Centre Senior Ladies Golden Bears when they hosted and won a six-team basketball tournament in February; and

Whereas Oxford defeated the South Colchester Academy by a score of 56 to 23, and then defeated rival Musquodoboit by a score of 55 to 26 with the help of Cassie Newell, the game star; and

Whereas Oxford faced off with Amherst in the final game, with Oxford coming out on top 52 to 48 with the help of Madison Swan, their star;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Paige Black on being named Tournament All Star when the Oxford Regional Education Centre Senior Ladies Golden Bears won the tournament and wish the entire team continued success throughout the years.

RESOLUTION NO. 42

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Bethany Warwick was named the game star in the game against Spring Street Academy, helping the Oxford Mini Girls A Basketball Team win the bronze medal at the Cumberland League Tournament; and

Whereas the girls played six games over a five-day period during the Westmorland Basketball Tournament, which was the end-of-the-year playoff; and

Whereas those receiving bronze medals were Taylor Mattinson, Bethany Warwick, Olivia Lyness, Ashley Wheaton, Daphny Mitchell, Chloe Simpson, Lydie Wood, Paige Oickle, Mackenzie Mattinson, Jessica Simpson, Kya Milton, and Emma Oderkirk;

[Page 93]

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Bethany Warwick on being the game star and helping the Oxford Mini Girls A Basketball Team win the bronze medal at the Westmorland Basketball Tournament.

RESOLUTION NO. 43

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Ashley Wheaton was named the game star as she helped the Oxford Mini Girls A Basketball Team defeat the Sackville team during the team's bronze medal-winning performance at the Cumberland League Tournament; and

Whereas the girls played six games over a five-day period during the Westmorland Basketball Tournament, which was the end-of-the-year playoff; and

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Ashley Wheaton on being the game star and helping the Oxford Mini Girls A Basketball Team win the bronze medal at the Westmorland Basketball Tournament.

RESOLUTION NO. 44

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas the Oxford Mini Girls A Basketball Team played six games over a five-day period during the Westmoreland Basketball Tournament, which was the end-of-the-year playoff; and

Whereas Chloe Simpson was named the game star in the game against the Pugwash team during the tournament; and

[Page 94]

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Chloe Simpson on being the game star, which helped the Oxford Mini Girls A Basketball Team win the bronze medal at the Westmorland Basketball Tournament.

RESOLUTION NO. 45

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas the Oxford Mini Girls A Basketball Team won the bronze medal at the Cumberland League Tournament; and

Whereas the girls played six games over a five-day period during the Westmorland Basketball Tournament, which was the end-of-the-year playoff; and

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate the Oxford Mini Girls A Basketball Team on winning the bronze medal at the Westmorland Basketball Tournament and wish them continued success in the years to come.

RESOLUTION NO. 46

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Taylor Mattinson was the game star in the game against the Cumberland North Academy during the Cumberland League Tournament; and

Whereas the Cumberland North Academy Mini Girls A Basketball Team played six games over a five-day period during the end-of-the-year Westmorland Basketball Tournament, clinching the bronze medal; and

[Page 95]

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate the Oxford Mini Girls A Basketball Team on winning the bronze medal at the Westmorland Basketball Tournament, and commend Taylor Mattinson on being named the game star.

RESOLUTION NO. 47

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Theresa Ryan of Oxford had her poem Ever Forward accepted and published in the Canadian National Institute of Poetry Anthology; and

Whereas Theresa has had three of her poems published in recent years, and has had several of her songs recorded by various artists; and

Whereas another of Theresa's poems called The Messenger will be submitted for publication in next year's Canadian National Institute of Poetry Anthology, a publication that represents Canada's best poetry;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Theresa Ryan on this outstanding achievement and wish her many more years of success.

RESOLUTION NO. 48

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Alyssa Theriault, of Cumberland County, performed beautifully at the recent Robert McCall Memorial Figure Skating Competition in Dartmouth; and

Whereas seven-year-old Alyssa tied for first place in the Introductory Category; and

Whereas Alyssa is a member of the Oxford Area Skating Club;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Alyssa Theriault on her first place win in the Introductory Category in the Robert McCall Memorial Competition and wish her continued success in the future.

[Page 96]

RESOLUTION NO. 49

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Rayliene is one of 20 Nova Scotia students participating in the Nova Scotia International School Program, an exchange program in which students learn leadership skills, a new language, and a country's culture; and

Whereas Rayliene Thompson of Oxford is the only student in Cumberland County to travel to Mexico in March to attend classes and lectures as part of the exchange program; and

Whereas during her two-week stay Rayliene will be attending leadership school, learning Spanish, working in a local orphanage, and absorbing the Mexican culture;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Rayliene Thompson on participating in the Nova Scotia International School Program and wish her continued success in all future endeavours.

RESOLUTION NO. 50

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas for the past five years Yvette Yorke, of Five Islands, has opened her home to the community with a Christian book club lending library for all ages; and

Whereas Yvette has a selection of over 1,000 books, including Christian, self-help, healing, or inspirational books; and

Whereas Yvette Yorke also stocks DVDs and music CDs at her lending library, which is open the first Wednesday of the month;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Yvette York on five years of opening her home as a lending library for her community and wish her many more years of success.

[Page 97]

RESOLUTION NO. 51

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Ron Bickle, a native of Springhill, has been appointed Operations Manager of CFTA 107.9 FM, a radio station which is expected to hit the airwaves late Spring; and

Whereas Ron Bickle is a seasonal radio veteran with 33 years under his belt as an on air personality, newsperson, technician, creative writer and, most recently, as production manager for four MBS stations; and

Whereas the Tantramar Community Radio Society was very pleased to have Ron Bickle head up operations at its new FM community radio station:

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Ron Bickle on being appointed Operations Manager at CFTA FM and wish him continued success in the future.

RESOLUTION NO. 52

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Avard and Jean Bentley were recently honoured for 30 years of dedication in promoting this province's maple syrup industry; and

Whereas the Bentleys built their first sugar camp on Westchester Mountain in 1978 and this family-run business has prospered and grown to be one of Nova Scotia's largest operations; and

Whereas Avard Bentley has been a director of the North America Maple Syrup Council since 1986 and was inducted into the American Maple Hall of Fame in Croghan, New York, in 2001;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Avard and Jean Bentley on being honoured for their success in the maple industry and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

[Page 98]

RESOLUTION NO. 53

By: Hon. Jamie Baillie (Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party)

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

Whereas Doug Marshall, of Springhill, was one of two people honoured by the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia at the Party's successful provincial annual meeting; and

Whereas Mr. Marshall, who has served as president of the Cumberland South PC Association and its predecessor constituency for the last 25 years, received the Party's President's Award; and

Whereas Doug Marshall has been a true community leader, Party builder and team player for decades and exemplifies the Party's grass roots;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate Doug Marshall on being honoured with this prestigious award and wish him well in his future endeavours.

RESOLUTION NO. 54

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas North East Point resident Colby Smith captured the 2010 Sportsman Class Championship at Scotia Speedworld on September 12, 2010, accumulating 1,096 points for the crown; and

Whereas the 25-year-old driver had what has been described as a breakout season in 2010, capturing three checkered flags and posting consecutive top five finishes in the second half of the season at Scotia Speedworld; and

Whereas Colby Smith has been involved competitively in motorsport racing for a total of five years, including three years at Scotia Speedworld, and has aspirations to expand his racing horizons;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate North East Point resident Colby Smith for capturing the 2010 Sportsman Class Championship at Scotia Speedworld on September 12, 2010.

[Page 99]

RESOLUTION NO. 55

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas Alex Dash was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team were undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

Whereas the 2010-11 NSSAF senior boys soccer championship is the continuation of a strong sports legacy at the Lockeport Regional High School where four more senior boys provincial championship soccer banners dating back to the 1976-77 hang with pride in the gymnasium;

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate Alex Dash of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

RESOLUTION NO. 56

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas James Hanf was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team were undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

[Page 100]

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate James Hanf of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

RESOLUTION NO. 57

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas Emmett Buchanan was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team were undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate Emmett Buchanan of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

RESOLUTION NO. 58

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas David Wamback was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team were undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

[Page 101]

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate David Wamback of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

RESOLUTION NO. 59

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas David Crowell was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team were undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate David Crowell of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

RESOLUTION NO. 60

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas Colin Meagher was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

[Page 102]

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team were undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate Colin Meagher of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

RESOLUTION NO. 61

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas Carson Allen was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team were undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate Carson Allen of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

RESOLUTION NO. 62

[Page 103]

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas Cameron Williams was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team was undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate Cameron Williams of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

RESOLUTION NO. 63

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas Allan Hupman was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team was undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate Allan Hupman of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

[Page 104]

RESOLUTION NO. 64

By: Hon. Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries and Aquaculture)

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

Whereas Alex Dominie was a member of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team that captured the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship in Cheticamp on November 6, 2010; and

Whereas the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team was undefeated in provincial qualifier and championship action, blanking the NDA Acadians 6-0 in the banner contest; and

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate Alex Dominie of the Lockeport Greenwave senior boys soccer team for capturing the Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation (NSSAF) Division 4 provincial championship on November 6, 2010.

RESOLUTION NO. 65

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Madison Faulkner of Middle Sackville participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Artistic Gymnastics team in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

[Page 105]

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Madison Faulkner of the Middle Sackville community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

RESOLUTION NO. 66

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Breanna Lanceleve of Middle Sackville participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Women's Hockey Team in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Breanna Lanceleve of the Middle Sackville community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

RESOLUTION NO. 67

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Halie MacDonald of Middle Sackville participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Women's Hockey Team in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

[Page 106]

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Halie MacDonald of the Middle Sackville community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

RESOLUTION NO. 68

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Steffannie Moak of Middle Sackville participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Women's Hockey Team in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Steffannie Moak of the Middle Sackville community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

RESOLUTION NO. 69

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Savannah Newton of Middle Sackville participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Women's Hockey Team in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

[Page 107]

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Savannah Newton of the Middle Sackville community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

RESOLUTION NO. 70

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Brooklyn Hurlburt of Middle Sackville participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Synchronized Swimming Team in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Brooklyn Hurlburt of the Middle Sackville community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

RESOLUTION NO. 71

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Krista Vey of Lower Sackville participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Ringette team in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Krista Vey of the Lower Sackville community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

[Page 108]

RESOLUTION NO. 72

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Madison Fifoot of Hammonds Plains participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Artistic Gymnastics team in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Madison Fifoot of the Hammonds Plains community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

RESOLUTION NO. 73

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Brittany Avery of Hammonds Plains participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Ringette team in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Brittany Avery of the Hammonds Plains community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

[Page 109]

RESOLUTION NO. 74

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Mary Avery of Hammonds Plains participated as a manager for the Nova Scotia Ringette team in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to support her competitors on the national stage against some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained her athletes diligently for months and her hard work has made her athletes great role models to other young athletes in her community;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Mary Avery of the Hammonds Plains community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

RESOLUTION NO. 75

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Lindsay Devison of Hammonds Plains participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Speed Skating team in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas she represented her community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in her sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas she trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and her hard work has made her a great role model to other young athletes in her community;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Lindsay Devison of the Hammonds Plains community for her participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and wish her the best of luck in future competitions.

[Page 110]

RESOLUTION NO. 76

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas David Merrigan of Hammonds Plains participated as Mission Staff for Team Nova Scotia in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas he represented his community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to assist athletes in competing on the national stage with some of the best athletes in the country; and

Whereas his hard work and diligence has provided him the opportunity to be a role model to young athletes in both his community and province;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate David Merrigan of the Hammonds Plains community for his participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and wish him the best of luck in future competitions.

RESOLUTION NO. 77

By: Mr. Mat Whynott (Hammonds Plains-Upper Sackville)

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

Whereas Austin Landry of Upper Sackville participated as an athlete on the Nova Scotia Freestyle Skiing team in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax this past February; and

Whereas he represented his community on Team Nova Scotia and was able to compete in his sport on the national stage with some of the best competition in the country; and

Whereas he trained diligently for months to be able to participate in the games and his hard work has made him a great role model to other young athletes in his community;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House of Assembly thank and congratulate Austin Landry of the Upper Sackville community for his participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and wish him the best of luck in future competitions.

[Page 111]

RESOLUTION NO. 78

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th ; and

Whereas Chuck Bridges was Vice Chair of the 2011 Games Board of Directors and Host Society; and

Whereas the Canada Winter Games was a successful and positive event that brought excitement and spirit to the core of Atlantic Canada, uniting Nova Scotians and celebrating our province on the national stage;

Therefore be it resolved that members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Chuck and the 2011 Games Board of Directors on their successful event and thank Chuck for his dedication to the growth and spirit of Nova Scotia.

RESOLUTION NO. 79

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th ; and

Whereas Susan Hill coached Team Nova Scotia's Cross Country Skiing in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Susan represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Susan on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

[Page 112]

RESOLUTION NO. 80

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Curtis Gibbs of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Alpine Skiing in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Curtis competed in many events including Giant Slalom Male, Slalom Male and Super-Combined Male; and

Whereas Curtis represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Curtis on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 81

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th ; and

Whereas Keltie Saulnier of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Alpine Skiing in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Keltie represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Keltie on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

[Page 113]

RESOLUTION NO. 82

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Olivia Verge of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Alpine Skiing in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Olivia competed in many events including Giant Slalom Female, Slalom Female and Super-Combined Female; and

Whereas Olivia represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Olivia on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 83

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Brandon Dimmer of Dartmouth competed as part of both Team Nova Scotia Archery and Team Nova Scotia Target Shooting in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Brandon competed in many events including Recurve - Individual Male and Team Mix, as well as Air Pistol - Individual Male and Team Male; and

Whereas Brandon represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Brandon on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 84

[Page 114]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Kyleisha Dickson of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Artistic Gymnastics in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Kyleisha competed in many events under Team Event Female including Vault, Uneven Bars, Beam and Floor; and

Whereas Kyleisha represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Kyleisha on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 85

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Patrick Hennessey of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Biathlon in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Patrick competed in many events including 10km Sprint Male, 15km Individual Male and 12.5km Pursuit Male; and

Whereas Patrick represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Patrick on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 86

[Page 115]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th ; and

Whereas Sean Hennessey of Dartmouth managed Team Nova Scotia Biathlon in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Sean represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Sean on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 87

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th ; and

Whereas Brian Seidel of Dartmouth coached Team Nova Scotia Biathlon in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Brian represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Brian on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 88

[Page 116]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Jason Downey of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia boxing in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Jason placed first in his weight class, winning a gold medal on February 25^th; and

Whereas Jason represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Jason on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 89

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas John McInerney of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Cross-Country Skiing in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas John competed in many events including 10 km Free (Interval Start) Male, 15 km Classic (Mass Start) Male, and 1,000 km Sprint Male; and

Whereas John represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating John on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 90

[Page 117]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th ; and

Whereas Marc Brophy of Dartmouth coached Team Nova Scotia Men's Curling in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Marc represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Marc on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 91

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Nicholas Burdock of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Men's Curling in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Nicholas and his team placed fifth overall in Men's Curling; and

Whereas Nicholas represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Nicholas on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 92

[Page 118]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Amanda Colter of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Women's Curling in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Amanda and her team placed fourth overall in Women's Curling; and

Whereas Amanda represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Amanda on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 93

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Laura Kennedy of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Women's Curling in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Laura and her team placed fourth overall in Women's Curling; and

Whereas Laura represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Laura on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 94

[Page 119]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Eric Sampson of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Men's Curling in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Eric and his team placed fifth overall in Men's Curling; and

Whereas Eric represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Eric on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 95

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Tia Dolliver of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Figure Skating in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Tia placed second in Special Olympics Singles Level III Female, winning a silver medal; and

Whereas Tia represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Tia on her silver medal at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 96

[Page 120]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Katherine Short of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Figure Skating in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Katherine competed in many events under Singles Novice Female, including Short Program and Free Skate; and

Whereas Katherine represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Katherine on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 97

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Stephanie Walmsley of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Figure Skating in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Stephanie competed in many events under Singles Pre-Novice Female, including Short Program and Free Skate; and

Whereas Stephanie represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly join me in congratulating Stephanie on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 98

[Page 121]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Amy Chandler of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Freestyle Skiing in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Amy competed in many events including Moguls Female, Dual Moguls Female, Aerials Female and Halfpipe Female; and

Whereas Amy represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Amy on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 99

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Colin Sutherland of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Freestyle Skiing in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Colin competed in many events including Moguls Male, Dual Moguls Male, Aerials Male and Halfpipe Male; and

Whereas Colin represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Colin on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 100

[Page 122]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Julianne Bruce of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Women's Hockey in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Julianne and her team placed eighth overall in Women's Hockey; and

Whereas Julianne represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Julianne on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 101

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Matthew Highmore of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Men's Hockey in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Matthew and his team placed seventh overall in Men's Hockey; and

Whereas Matthew represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Matthew on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 102

[Page 123]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Evan MacEachern of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Men's Hockey in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Evan and his team placed seventh overall in Men's Hockey; and

Whereas Evan represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Evan on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 103

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Erin MacIsaac of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Women's Hockey in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Erin and her team placed eighth overall in Women's Hockey; and

Whereas Erin represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Erin on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 104

[Page 124]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Jordan MacKeigan of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Women's Hockey in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Jordan and her team placed eighth overall in Women's Hockey; and

Whereas Jordan represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Jordan on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 105

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Zachary Taylor of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Men's Hockey in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Zachary and his team placed seventh overall in Men's Hockey; and

Whereas Zachary represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Zachary on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 106

[Page 125]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th, 2011; and

Whereas Benjamin Zisserson of Dartmouth managed Team Nova Scotia Judo in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Benjamin represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Benjamin on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 107

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Ellen Fraser of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Ringette in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Ellen and her team placed sixth overall in Ringette; and

Whereas Ellen represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Ellen on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 108

[Page 126]

BY: Andrew Younger ( Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th; and

Whereas Natasha Burgess of Dartmouth coached Team Nova Scotia Snowboarding in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Natasha represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Natasha on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 109

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th; and

Whereas Wanda Taylor of Dartmouth participated in Team Nova Scotia as a manager during the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Wanda represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Wanda on her participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 110

[Page 127]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Emma MacAulay of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Snowboarding in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Emma competed in many events, including Parallel Giant Slalom Female and Snowboardcross Female; and

Whereas Emma represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Emma on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 111

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Kita McRory of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Snowboarding in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Kita competed in many events including Parallel Giant Slalom Female and Snowboardcross Female; and

Whereas Kita represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Kita on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 112

[Page 128]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Noah Ferguson-Losier of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Speed Skating in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Noah competed in many events including Long Track 100m Male, 500m Male, 1500 Male, 3000m Male and 5000 Male; and

Whereas Noah represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Noah on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 113

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th; and

Whereas Bertrand Losier of Dartmouth managed Team Nova Scotia Speed Skating in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Bertrand represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Bertrand on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 114

[Page 129]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Elisabeth-Anne Roy of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Speed Skating in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Elisabeth-Anne competed in many events, including Short Track 500m Female, 1000m Female, 1500m Female, Super 1500m Female and 3000m Relay Female; and

Whereas Elisabeth-Anne represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Elisabeth-Anne on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 115

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Chad Hagen of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Squash in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Chad competed in many events and placed seventh overall; and

Whereas Chad represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Chad on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him

every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 116

[Page 130]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Jessica Doucet of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Synchronized Swimming in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Jessica competed in many events, including Team Female and Figures Female; and

Whereas Jessica represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Jessica on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 117

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Mali Heroux-Rhymes of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Synchronized Swimming in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Mali competed in many events, including Team Female, Duet Female and Figures Female; and

Whereas Mali represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Mali on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 118

[Page 131]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th; and

Whereas Jennifer Powell of Dartmouth managed Team Nova Scotia Synchronized Swimming in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Jennifer represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Jennifer on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 119

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th; and

Whereas Erica Ans of Dartmouth managed Team Nova Scotia Table Tennis in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games; and

Whereas Erica represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Erica on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 120

[Page 132]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Kaitlyn Jollimore of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Table Tennis in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Kaitlyn competed in many events including Singles Female, Doubles Mix and Team Female; and

Whereas Kaitlyn represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Kaitlyn on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 121

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th; and

Whereas John MacPherson of Dartmouth coached Team Nova Scotia Table Tennis in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas John represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating John on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 122

[Page 133]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Morgan O'Hearn of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Table Tennis in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Morgan competed in many events, including Singles Female, Doubles Female and Team Female; and

Whereas Morgan represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Morgan on her achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 123

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

Whereas Liam Dimmer of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Target Shooting in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Liam competed in many events, including Air Pistol - Individual Male and Team Male; and

Whereas Liam represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Liam on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 124

[Page 134]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas Caleb Purdy of Dartmouth competed as part of Team Nova Scotia Target Shooting in the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Caleb competed in many events, including Air Rifle - Individual Male and Team Male; and

Whereas Caleb represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Caleb on his achievements at the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 125

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th; and

Whereas Joseph Smale of Dartmouth participated in Team Nova Scotia as Mission Staff for the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Joseph represented Team Nova Scotia and his hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that that members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Joseph on his participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish him every future success.

RESOLUTION NO. 126

[Page 135]

By: Mr. Andrew Younger (Dartmouth East)

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

Whereas the 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax from February 11^th to 27^th; and

Whereas Maureen Smith of Dartmouth participated in Team Nova Scotia as an artist for the Halifax 2011 Canada Winter Games in February; and

Whereas Maureen represented Team Nova Scotia and her hometown of Dartmouth with pride and enthusiasm, bringing positive energy to the Games and exhibiting good sportsmanship;

Therefore be it resolved that the members of the House of Assembly join me in congratulating Maureen on her participation in the 2011 Canada Winter Games and wish her every future success.

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