Judy Foote

[Clarenville High School Choir, June 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the remarkable achievement of the Clarenville High School student choir from my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's.

I join the principal of Clarenville High School, Ian Davidson, and indeed the entire community, in congratulating music teacher and choir conductor Ann Lundrigan, along with her 52 student singers, on winning a gold level award while representing Canada as the only Canadian choir in its category at the Worldstrides Music Festival in New York City on April 11. The public school choir placed third in its category, behind two exclusively fine arts schools.

During the competition, the choir members sang three pieces: Ain't Judging no Man, Praise His Holy Name, and We Rise Again. Their hard work and unmatched enthusiasm earned the students the Spirit of New York award for the entire festival.

I ask all members of the House to join me in congratulating the Clarenville student choir and in wishing it every success. May its perfect pitch continue.

[Canada Post, May 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative attacks on rural communities continue. Already this year, 50 communities in Newfoundland and Labrador have had their postal services reduced, with another 24 facing the same fate. Canada Post is often the only federal presence in these towns, and courier and Internet services are limited or simply do not exist. By reducing postal services, the government is hurting local businesses and limiting access to a service readily available to others. Why does the current government insist on treating rural Canadians as second-class citizens?

[Petitions, April 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is signed by residents who want a ban on hydraulic fracturing. They are calling on the Government of Canada to impose this ban as soon as possible.

[Petitions, April 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two different petitions on behalf of my constituents.

The first petition has to do with what is happening with Canada Post and its decision to reduce services, particularly in rural communities. I have petitions, particularly from the residents of Harbour Breton and the surrounding area, asking the government to get after Canada Post to stop doing this because of the harm it is doing in communities, in particular in those areas where there is no high-speed Internet. The fact of the matter is that this is the only service in some rural communities where people can get not just postal service but other services as well.

[Canadian Kumite Karate Champion, April 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Christopher Coady, a talented 15-year-old from Newfoundland and Labrador who recently won the Karate Canada National Cadet Kumite championship in the under 63 kilogram division.

Christopher's proud grandparents, Patrick and Sarah Brake from St. Lawrence in my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's, justifiably boast about his accomplishments at every opportunity.

As the Canadian kumite champion, Christopher is looking forward to competing at the Pan-American karate championships taking place this summer in Lima, Peru.

Christopher's talent was obvious at an early age, when he started training at the age of six. He has been successful on the provincial and national stage. In addition to being the current national champion, he is the current Atlantic Canada karate champion and represented Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2013 Commonwealth championships and the 2013 Montreal open.

I ask all members to join me in congratulating Christopher and wishing him all the best when he represents Canada at the Pan-American karate championships this summer.

[Democratic Reform, April 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, following the Supreme Court's unanimous decision to rebuke the Conservatives' unconstitutional plan to unilaterally reform the Senate, the current government appears to have given up on reforming the Senate entirely.

As Conservative Senator Segal said, “...there are still changes that could be made that do not...require a constitutional amendment”. For example, he said, “There could be a new approach to how you appoint on a consultative basis”.

Will the government embrace this non-partisan, consultative approach when filling the current vacancies, or will it be business as usual?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 24th, 2014]

With regard to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board’s (C-NLOPB) oversight of operator activity for legislative and regulatory compliance in areas of safety, environmental protection, resource management and industrial benefits: (a) what steps has the government taken to address the issue of safety, as defined by Justice Robert Wells on page 303 of the Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry Report, with regard to (i) prevention of injury, (ii) prevention of loss of life, (iii) the protection of the environment; (b) what steps is the government planning to take to address (i) prevention of injury, (ii) prevention of loss of life, (iii) the protection of the environment; (c) is the government’s definition of safety consistent with Justice Wells’ definition of safety on page 303 of his report, and if not, what is the reason for the discrepancy; (d) is it the government’s policy to address recommendation 29 of the Report and create an independent safety regulator, and, if so, for what reasons; (e) has the government received any correspondence from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador supporting recommendation 29 of the Report, and if so, (i) what was the nature of this correspondence, (ii) what was the government’s response to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador; (f) does the C-NLOPB require all companies to report adrift oil rigs; (g) on what date was the C-NLOPB first informed that the drilling rig GSF Grand Banks was adrift; and (h) did the C-NLOPB notify the public that the drilling rig GSF Grand Banks was adrift, (i) why or why not, (ii) on what date was the public notified, (iii) was there any delay between the first discovery of the adrift oil rig by the C-NLOPB and the disclosure to the public?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 24th, 2014]

With regard to Canada Post: (a) how is a rural area defined for the purposes of post office services; (b) how is an urban area defined for the purposes of post office services; (c) are there classifications for locations other than rural and urban, and if so, what are they; (d) how many post offices in Canada have been closed since 2006, broken down by (i) address, (ii) year, (iii) urban, rural, or other, (iv) province, (v) federal riding, (vi) totaled by province and federal riding; (e) how many post offices in Canada have had their hours of operation reduced since 2006, broken down by (i) address, (ii) year, (iii) urban, rural, or other, (iv) province, (v) federal riding, (vi) total hours reduced by province and federal riding; (f) how many post offices in Canada have seen a reduction in their total number of employees working inside the post office (such as postal clerks, mail handlers, postmasters, etc.) since 2006, broken down by (i) address, (ii) year, (iii) urban, rural, or other, (iv) province, (v) federal riding, (vi) totaled by province and federal riding; (g) how many post offices is Canada Post planning to close, listed and totaled by (i) address, (ii) year, (iii) urban, rural, or other, (iv) province, (v) federal riding, (vi) totaled by province and federal riding; (h) how many post offices is Canada Post planning to reduce service hours, broken down by (i) address, (ii) year, (iii) urban, rural, or other, (iv) province, (v) federal riding, (vi) totaled by province and federal riding; and (i) how many employees working inside post offices does Canada Post plan to terminate (such as postal clerks, mail handlers, postmasters, etc.), broken down by (i) address, (ii) year, (iii) urban, rural, or other, (iv) province, (v) federal riding, (vi) totaled by province and federal riding?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 24th, 2014]

With regard to the Department of Natural Resources advertising request for proposal, file No. cz025.23582-140223: (a) what is the total contract value; (b) broken down by individual expense and totaled for each country location, what (i) are the expected costs, (ii) is the medium of advertising, i.e. print, television, internet, radio, etc., (iii) is the language; (c) will the campaign promote renewable resources, and, if so, broken down by specific renewable resource, what percentage of the total budget will be allocated to promote each type of renewable resource; (d) what evidence was used to determine the need for this advertising campaign; (e) are there similar advertising campaigns planned or carried out by the government, and, if so, what is the (i) file number of each contract, (ii) purpose of each campaign, (iii) total cost for each contract; (f) broken down by individual organization, which targeted intense and sustained international and domestic public relations campaigns in particular does the statement of work refer to; (g) how does the government plan to monitor the effectiveness of the advertising campaign in the (i) short term, (ii) medium term, (iii) long term; (h) on what dates will the government publicly publish the results referred to in (g); and (i) what steps is the government taking to ensure it satisfies section 23 of the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 7th, 2014]

With regard to the closure of the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre St. John’s (MRSC St. John’s), operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, in May, 2012, and its consolidation with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax (JRCC Halifax): (a) how many search-and-rescue (SAR) cases has the JRCC Halifax handled from 2006, through to the closure of the MRSC St. John’s, broken down by month and totaled by year; (b) how many SAR cases has the JRCC Halifax handled since the closure of the MRSC St. John’s which would have previously been handled by MRSC St. John’s, broken down by month and year; (c) what tactical measures were undertaken by the government to mitigate SAR service losses to areas formerly serviced by MRSC St. John’s; (d) were there additional employees hired at JRCC Halifax to deal with the increased workload from the closure of MRSC St. John’s and, if so, how many additional employees, broken down by full-time, part-time and contractual employment; and (e) what training, if any, was given to existing and new staff at JRCC Halifax specific to ensuring local knowledge of (i) the unique Newfoundland and Labrador dialects, (ii) geographic makeup of the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador?