Question Period: April 2, 2012
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in The Telegram this weekend the Premier spoke of –
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS MICHAEL: - 600 federal government jobs in the Province.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Speaker recognizes the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
In The Telegram this weekend, the Premier spoke of 600 federal government jobs in the Province and noted that she anticipated a loss of between twenty and thirty jobs. There are actually thousands of federal jobs in the Province, and the cuts could number in the hundreds.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: How could she have been so wrong about the number of people working for one of the biggest employers in this Province?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I take full responsibility for the miscommunication. It was entirely mine. I meant to say 6,000 between 250 and 300. I omitted a very important zero in all of those numbers; the fault was mine, not the newspapers.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Between 6,000 and 7,000 workers and it will be hundreds of jobs that will be lost, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, with the report of the Public Utilities Board today with regard to Muskrat Falls, government’s best attempt to thwart real discussion and debate on the Muskrat Falls proposal has failed.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Once Nalcor really has the proposal to be looked at, would she allow the PUB to do a full review and then, once government is properly informed, a real debate on nothing else but Muskrat Falls in this House?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we provided a mandate to the PUB. Nine months later and $2 million later, the PUB says that they are not prepared to make a recommendation unless they have sanction numbers, Mr. Speaker. Sanction numbers that they would not have been able to do that piece of work on even if we had given them the extension to the end of June, Mr. Speaker. I do not know how long they were intending to do this review. Mr. Speaker, while I put that forward time and time again in this House, members of the Opposition kept telling me that it was completely unacceptable and that they wanted a full debate here in this House, Mr. Speaker. We are going to provide all the information to them and to the rest of the people in the Province and we are going to have a debate right here –
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
It is this government, Mr. Speaker, who were the ones who gave an incomplete feasibility study to the PUB. They knew what they were doing; they asked the PUB to make a decision on a feasibility study, and they never told that to the people of this Province, Mr. Speaker.
The Premier has been touting her experts on Muskrat Falls for months –
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS MICHAEL: – while ignoring the recommendations and conclusions from a wide range of independent experts, Mr. Speaker. Now, the Public Utilities Board has concluded the information provided by Nalcor is not detailed, complete, or current enough to make such a determination.
So I ask the Premier, Mr. Speaker: Will she finally heed the advice of the experts out there who have been putting out the information, or is she determined to gamble taxpayers money and proceed with this proposal without in-depth study?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I suggest to the Leader of the Third Party that you do some homework as well, and read the terms of reference, read the terms of reference to the PUB. They were asked to make their recommendations based on Decision Gate 2 numbers – feasibility numbers – very clearly stated in the terms of reference. I also suggest that you read the report as well, because in the report the PUB acknowledges that based on Decision Gate 2 numbers that it is the least-cost alternative, Mr. Speaker.
MR. KENNEDY: (Inaudible) on 65.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER DUNDERDALE: The same conclusion – page 65 – the same conclusion arrived at by Navigant, Manitoba Hydro – their expert, I might say, Mr. Speaker, the Consumer Advocate, and Dr. Locke.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, I love the way the Premier delights in interpreting this report the way she wants to interpret it.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS MICHAEL: I cannot use it as a prop, Mr. Speaker, but it is sitting here on my desk, and, believe me, I have just spent the last two hours combing it.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier has taken delight in quoting MHI conclusions regarding the least-cost –
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS MICHAEL: Mr. Speaker, the Premier has taken delight in quoting MHI conclusions regarding the least-cost option, without paying any attention to the risks and uncertainties that MHI itself pointed out regarding load and reliability of the transmission line. The Board concludes that the gaps identified by MHI – and I point out all the gaps have to do with the interconnected option – in Nalcor’s analysis –
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MS MICHAEL: – have the potential to significantly impact the viability of their interconnected island option.
So: Will the Premier now admit that serious doubt has been cast on Nalcor’s conclusions and direct Nalcor –
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Third Party was so poorly impressed with Manitoba Hydro that she did not present to them, Mr. Speaker. With all of the knowledge that she professes to have on hydro power generation, Mr. Speaker, you would think that was something she would have looked forward to.
Mr. Speaker, she refers to Manitoba Hydro. I am happy to tell her that we have engaged Manitoba Hydro to do a complete analysis of sanction numbers, Mr. Speaker, and Decision Gate 3 numbers. All of that information will be made available to her and to others in preparation for the debate here in the House.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I point out to the Premier that it was the PUB I did not make an oral presentation to. In my written presentation, I pointed out I had been muzzled by the mandate of the government and therefore did not take their time.
Mr. Speaker, the PUB was loud and clear about their many concerns regarding the Muskrat Falls proposal. It noted that industrial customers had serious concerns and suggested the PUB, under its statutory mandate, should have the opportunity to further review in an open and transparent way the areas of concern outlined by both the board and MHI.
So I ask the Premier: In light of this damning report, will she mandate the PUB to do further review?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. KENNEDY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We have always made it clear that we would consider all of the information and reports, including the PUB. We have always made it clear also that the Decision Gate 3 or sanction numbers would be crucial in terms of making our decision.
So what the Premier has announced here today, Mr. Speaker, I thought the Opposition would be happy with. They will have their opportunity of a full special debate on Muskrat Falls. An independent expert, Mr. Speaker, has been engaged who will continue their work and provide the information. We have indicated that we will provide studies on natural gas and wind, Mr. Speaker. So everything I thought they were asking for we are giving them today.
Mr. Speaker, as for the conclusion of the PUB, essentially their recommendation is no recommendation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Since the beginning of the Muskrat Falls proposal, I have been asking government to slow down and examine all of the options available in the short and medium term on the Island for electrical generation. Government has consistently and categorically refused to even consider doing it. Today the PUB says Nalcor’s load forecast does not demonstrate an immediate need for the significant amount of new generation Muskrat Falls would produce.
So, Mr. Speaker, in light of today’s PUB report, I ask the Premier: Will she now direct Nalcor to do an independent, in-depth study of the many isolated Island options?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, this government alone has spent eight years planning this project. Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Third Party says she spent two hours reading the report. I suggest you spend two more because in the report the PUB acknowledges that –
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
PREMIER DUNDERDALE: - it got the reliability information from Nalcor in March but has not read it nor commented on it, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s North.
MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This government has said that it will replace the provincial student loan program with a new needs-based grants program.
Can the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills tell us if this new grant program will be in place when the academic year begins next September?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS BURKE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to remind the hon. member that Newfoundland and Labrador is touted as having the best student aid package in the (inaudible).
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, back in the 1990s, the Liberal government at that time took away the grants that students received. Mr. Speaker, this government has been instrumental in bringing back the grant program as part of the student aid package in this Province.
Mr. Speaker, at this time – and the program is already in, we would like to expand the program within this mandate. Mr. Speaker, at this time students who borrow will not have to pay back the first 60 per cent of the provincial portion of their student loan because that is a grant at this time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s North.
MR. KIRBY: Mr. Speaker, we know that the minister has recently hired a high-priced consultant to look for places to cut in her department.
I ask: What is this government going to do if this consultant decides that the promise to phase out student loans is a promise that should be cut?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister Responsible for Advanced Education and Skills.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS BURKE: Mr. Speaker, I can say that the consultant, or any consultant we have hired who is helping us looking at any initiatives or any work that we do in this department, will be very supportive of our initiatives within the student loan program and where we are moving and our reasons for doing that. As I said, we have the best student aid package in the country, Mr. Speaker, we eliminated the interest on student loans and we have had a tuition freeze in place since 2004. We will stand on our record for what we are doing for students.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the PUB points out many issues around transmission line design criteria and lack of adherence to best practices in their work.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Why did she not direct Nalcor to use best practices in all instances in the work they have done?
MR. SPEAKER: I am sorry, but the time allocated for Question Period has expired.
