Scott Andrews

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, when we look at the infrastructure program that the government has put in place, moneys have not flowed to the communities. I am familiar with that infrastructure program.

When we talk about the Lower Churchill facility and transmission, it is absolutely very important that we look at a national transmission grid, an east-west national transmission grid to get that power to market. That is something we really need to look at. It is not only Canada. We can look at providing this electricity to all of North America. It is very important that we focus on that. It cannot happen unless the government moves forward with a loan guarantee.

I would encourage the member to go back to his colleagues, move forward so people in my riding can get employment, for people in his riding to get employment, and get this project moving sooner rather than later.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, infrastructure is very important, it is vital to many communities. When we look at social infrastructure, in my mind that means recreation facilities and allowing young people a place to go to spend time with their peers, friends and families.

It is important to look at social infrastructure, recreation facilities, new rinks, new curling facilities and fields for children to play. Many of the old recreation fields in my riding are overgrown because they have not been looked after.

We need to look at the social side of things, and we need to look at the infrastructure that we provide the communities in my riding and across the country. We are not alone. People from many of the areas in my riding are coming to the bigger centres, but we need to look out for the smaller centres and keep connected with rural Newfoundland and Labrador and rural Canada. It is very important that we look at the infrastructure needs of the communities.

We have not seen it in the throne speech, so we need to look at what is going to come down. In times of economic downturn, we need to look directly at what the government is going to provide in infrastructure for communities to get things moving.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 27th, 2008]

It would be a change.

My riding of Avalon has seen great growth and in the regional economy things are going well. The new construction of Vale Inco hydromet plant at Long Harbour will be an exciting thing for the people of Avalon and Placentia Bay.

As their member of Parliament, I am committed to working co-operatively with individuals, businesses, community groups and municipal and provincial governments to build and advance our strength and to assist in overcoming the challenges together.

The throne speech is short on details, but we must focus on important issues for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. I would like to explore some of these and make some suggestions to the government.

Infrastructure for communities is dear to my heart. As a former municipal councillor in the town of Conception Bay South, I have seen first-hand how communities need infrastructure. Water, sewer, roads and recreation facilities are very important to municipalities around our great country.

We need to look at breakwaters for communities like Hant's Harbour to provide protection for fishing vessels.

We need to look at new wharf facilities for places like Ferryland that just lost its wharf.

We must look at recreational facilities for growing communities like Conception Bay South, Bay Roberts, Carbonear, all areas throughout Conception Bay.

Another issue is the penitentiary that was promised by a Conservative government over 25 years ago for the town of Harbour Grace. We have not seen it. The government has not come through on that promise. It dangled the carrot there time and time again. This type of politics has to stop. The government must come clean with the residents and move forward and put the penitentiary in Harbour Grace.

We need clean drinking water and suitable roads for communities like Trepassey.

We need to work together on these issues.

The fishery is another issue that is important to me. We have not heard the government talk about an early retirement package for fishermen or plant workers. It was something that we committed to in our platform and it was something that I heard about when I went around door to door. We must work co-operatively with the government of Newfoundland and Labrador so such programs can proceed and workers can retire with dignity.

The year 2009 will bring many challenges to the fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. With most fish exports going to the United States, it will be hard as these markets are under stress and duress in these economic conditions. It will take the cooperation of all stakeholders to ensure adequate compensation is there for this industry as well.

It is nice to cast a life ring to the auto sector which is important, but we must not forget the fishing industry.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has done considerable work on the fishing industry renewal process and would expect the federal government to cooperate and make the industry better for all involved.

Another issue that has been talked about for many years by the government, when it was in opposition and now when it is in government, is custodial management. It has been and continues to be an important issue to Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Conservative government has provided only lip service to this problem with overfishing continuing to happen on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks. I hope we can work in cooperation to put adequate enforcement measures in place to prevent the unnecessary exploitation of our fish stocks.

I would like to deal with two issues now: protecting our environment and finding clean sources of energy. In the Speech from the Throne the government said under “Tackling Climate Change and Preserving Canada's Environment”:

Our Government will set an objective that 90 percent of Canada’s electricity needs be provided by non-emitting sources such as hydro, nuclear, clean coal or wind power by 2020.

This is where I would like to go for a moment. We talked about a loan guarantee for the Lower Churchill. This is something that our province has been after for a very long time. The Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador has written the federal government on two occasions when it talked about promises and commitments to our province. I would like to read an excerpt from the premier's letter because it makes the point. It states:

The Lower Churchill is recognized as the most attractive, undeveloped hydroelectric project in North America. The project's 2,800 MW will be enough to power 1.5 million homes, potentially displacing between 13 and 16 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, accomplished without significant reservoir flooding. The project could significantly strengthen the national electricity network while greatly adding to security of supply in eastern Canada.

This is a nation building exercise when we look at the Lower Churchill and getting a loan guarantee. In these economic times a loan guarantee would be the best thing to stimulate jobs by building this particular project. We need to work on that and we have not seen any action.

In a response, the Conservative government said that it supported the proposal in principle and believed it was important for Newfoundland and Labrador to have greater control over its energy mix. It said, “A Conservative government would welcome discussions on this initiative and would hope that the potential exists for it to proceed--”. That was two years ago in 2006. What have we seen? No action on this particular issue.

This is something that I want to encourage the government to do, start to move forward, and get this project started. It is also important for the economy.

As I mentioned earlier, it is also important for the environment in my riding in particular. I mentioned the new hydromet plant that is coming to my district from Long Harbour, Placentia Bay, which is a great news story.

However, this project is going to require huge amounts of energy to make it happen. The need for that power from the Lower Churchill to get into the grid and get a line into the province of Newfoundland is important for one important reason, the Holyrood generating station. This is a thermal generating station that burns fuel in a boiler, to convert water into steam. It has been using bunker C fuel for many years and now the plant burns No. 6 heavy fuel oil at a rate of 6,000 barrels per day. The problem is that is creating a lot of emissions into the atmosphere. It is the number seven polluter in Canada.

We have an opportunity to guarantee that we get clean hydro power from Labrador into the grid and into the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to take this Holyrood generating station off line. They have done a lot of great work at Newfoundland Hydro in trying to reduce emissions but we need to do better.

In closing, I would like to talk about children, students and seniors. During this time of economic downturn and times of restraint, we must not forget about the most vulnerable in society, those who cannot look after themselves. Children must have adequate compensation for their daily essentials and for their families to acquire adequate child care. Students must be able to avail themselves of adequate financing for education and be ready to accept the responsibility of our future leaders. We must not forget about them. As Liberals, we care about the less fortunate in society.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank the voters of Avalon for giving me this opportunity to represent them. They have given me their overwhelming support and for that I will be forever grateful.

I also want to thank my workers and my family who helped my campaign. In particular, I want to thank my wife, Susan, who is my dedicated soulmate, my friend and my CFO in my campaign. She kept everyone on their toes.

I want to also to thank my mom, Erma, and my family and friends for helping me achieve this goal. Without their hard work and dedication, this would not be possible.

As I went bay to bay, shore to shore and door to door during this campaign, I met many friends, old and new. I renewed acquaintances. I made some really good new friends for the first time. Those friends were former Conservatives who came over to work on my campaign.

This is a very humbling experience speaking in this chamber today. I am pleased to be sharing my time with the member for Don Valley West today.

We are all here for the same reason, to make our communities, our province and our country a little better place to live.

The people of Avalon sent a message in this election, and that message was on the Atlantic accord. The people were upset that a promise made to our province had been broken. That message was simple.

On that important issue, the member for Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley did exactly the same thing. He stood up for the people whom he represented and they recognized that.

Now we must put that behind us and we must move on in a new spirit of co-operation with the provinces and municipalities. We must work together. The government mentioned this in the throne speech, and I will quote from it. It states:

Our Government will also take steps to strengthen the Canadian confederation. It will respect the jurisdiction of the provinces and territories and will enshrine its principles of federalism in a Charter of Open Federalism.

Hopefully the federalism that the government has proposed is to work with the provinces and not be confrontational.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to congratulate the hon. member on her election to this honourable House.

As a former municipal councillor in my hometown of Conception Bay South, I was pleased to hear the member talk about the importantance of municipalities and the role they play in our communities and provinces. Municipal councillors are on the front lines of politics in our country. It is they who look after most of the infrastructure, and infrastructure needs are great for all municipalities.

She referred to Mayor McCallion, who is the longest-serving mayor. I wonder exactly what the mayor and her council would suggest as some plan of action for the current financial crisis.

[Frank Deacy, November 25th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, on this first occasion to speak in this honourable House, I see fit to speak honourably of the life of Mr. Frank Deacy.

Mr. Deacy was originally from Galway, Ireland and moved to Newfoundland in 1971. He was a high school teacher and taught at Holy Spirit High in Conception Bay South.

Mr. Deacy was very well-known for his active participation in the founding and promotion of Newfoundland rugby. As a player, coach and builder, he was an inspiration to many players who were fortunate enough to play under his leadership.

Mr. Deacy was a founding member of the two Newfoundland clubs, elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame, a long-standing officer of the Newfoundland rugby union and a director on the Board of Rugby for Canada. Recently he served as treasurer of the CBS Monument of Honour committee.

His life was cut short but his impact on his community, his friends and his family will be with us for a long time. I would like to extend my sincere condolences to his wife, Marie, his daughter, Robyn, and his son, Colin.