News Release
Office of the Official Opposition

Opposition holds Question Period despite government's attempt to run and hide from issues

Opposition Leader Gerry Reid says government’s actions last night in closing the House of Assembly were underhanded and cowardly. Reid says despite government’s attempt to silence debate in the House of Assembly, the Opposition will continue to ask questions on behalf of the people of the province.

This afternoon, the Opposition held Question Period in the Media Centre at Confederation Building. While government ministers were not present to answer questions, the questions were posed in the hope that public scrutiny would force answers to the issues discussed.

"While posing our questions will not result in direct answers from government ministers, that has been the trend in the House of Assembly over the past several weeks," said Mr. Reid. "We have asked over a hundred questions and I cannot recall receiving a single answer to our queries. Our questioning has already forced the firing of a close political appointee of the premier for breaking the law, I question whether there are other examples that the premier and his government are trying to avoid. They have already lost one Tory candidate for the next election, I suggest they didn’t want to chance losing more."

Reid says that if the House of Assembly was sitting today, the Opposition would have asked questions on several issues. These include fibre-optics and the premier’s blind trust, Minister Tom Rideout’s travel, the Bull Arm Site Corporation, a police investigation in MHA Charlene Johnson’s district, the tendering process for the provincial brand, FPI and education issues related to mould and teacher stress.

"While we much prefer raising our issues in the people’s House of Assembly, this is also not a priority of government. It is obvious that the constant questioning over the fibre-optic deal, the Bull Arm Site Corporation, the wastage of taxpayers money on fur coats and signs, the appointment of political friends, lavish office furnishings, excessive expenditures on booze, entertainment and gifts for premiers, and other issues are forcing government to run and hide. This is absolutely shameful and an insult to democracy in Newfoundland and Labrador."

We have heard much about the fibre-optic deal over the past several weeks, but have received very few answers in response to our questions.

I ask the Premier, in the spirit of openness and accountability, will you release publicly the names of the trustees of your blind trust to ensure there is no conflict with the proponents of the recent fibre-optic deal or any dealings you may undertake as Premier?

In October, our office submitted an Access to Information request for Minister Tom Rideout’s travel documentation from August 25^th, 2006 onward. During that period the minister traveled to Iceland, Norway, Russia, Belgium, the Netherlands, England and the Northwest Territories. For some reason, we received no information associated with these trips.

Even though all of these trips took place during the timeframe of our request, the Minister did not file any of these claims until after our request expired. This is clearly circumventing the Access to Information process.

I ask the Minister, why did you decide not to file information related to these trips? Will you provide this information to the public immediately?

In the documentation we have received, over $60,000 was spent by Minister Rideout in travel over the past twelve months. These did not include his European junkets.

I ask the Minister, what is the true total of all travel and entertainment expenditures over the past 12 months?

In the travel documents, there are mysterious trips to Regina, Calgary and Abbotsford when Minister Rideout is in Western Canada attending other events. These visits are paid for by the taxpayers of this province.

I ask the Minister, why are the taxpayers of the province subsidizing your personal visits?

The recent release of the branding information demonstrated more problems with this government following the procedures outlined in the Public Tender Act.

I ask the Minister of Business, why didn’t the awarding of the branding contract go through the proper tender process in the Department of Transportation and Works?

As the Minister of Business refused to answer this question yesterday, I will ask it again today. How much was Target Marketing paid for its untendered, sole-sourced contract to evaluate government wide communications?

In recent years, FPI has spent tens of millions of dollars buying new vessels. Now some of these vessels are for sale or have been sold.

I ask the Minister of Fisheries, what guarantees are in place to ensure that this wont negatively impact the company’s workers or operations in the province?

FPI recently announced that this year it had bought back over 700,000 of its shares, or 5 percent of its total.

They also stated that they would buy back the same number this year.

I ask the Minister, can you tell us if these share purchases will in any way affect the 15 percent share restriction currently in place under the FPI Act?

Two weeks ago we learned that the Minister of Transportation and Works had not submitted a proposal to the federal government for cost shared funding of the Trans Labrador Highway, despite his indication the deal was inked and on his desk.

I ask the Minister, has the proposal now been submitted and when will the funds be signed off and for what amount?

Another school has closed in the province as a result of mould. Presentation Junior High is the second school in the Corner Brook area that has closed as a result of mould problems.

I ask the Minister of Education, with this serious problem facing the students of the province, in particular the Corner Brook area, will you now commit to undertaking an analysis of all schools in the province to ensure there are no further mould problems?

We have seen the NLTA ads designed to bring attention to the problems in the province’s classrooms.

I ask the Minister, when can teachers expect to receive the significant increase in resources that is required to make the pathways model work and when will government address the need to hire a sufficient number of support staff in our schools?

The NLTA has also called on government to change the way in which teaching units are allocated in this province.

I ask the Minister, will government commit to allocating teachers based on an assessment of the educational needs in each school as is being recommended by the NLTA?

There have been some major concerns and issues raised by the Opposition concerning the awarding of contracts at the Bull Arm Site. These concerns have already resulted in the firing of the CEO, Ms. Joan Cleary.

Among the questionable contracts was a verbal contract for winterization of the site. I ask the Minister of Natural Resources, how was the $70,000 figure arrived at and how can we be certain that this is the actual cost of winterizing the site?

Since the awarding of this verbal contract was against the law, why is government now looking to legitimize an illegal contract?

Albeit that Joan Cleary was fired, will there be any further investigation and are there any further legal consequences for anyone who has breached the Public Tender Act in this way?

When will the Minster be providing the details on all contracts that were let at Bull Arm?

Recently, Premier Williams appointed Bill Fanning to the Board of Directors at the Bull Arm Site. Mr. Fanning happens to be a senior employee that has close personal business ties to the premier. Does the Premier see any conflict in appointing what some consider to be "his private sector employee" to a public sector position in the same field as the business he operates?

It was recently reported that police have begun a preliminary investigation into the possible misuse of funds by the former executive of the North Shore Regional Development Association in Conception Bay North. The allegation from the new executive of the development association is that thousands of dollars were directed into Northern Bay Sands, a park with close ties to the family of MHA Charlene Johnson.

The association has also stated that because of the questions it is raising, they have been blacklisted by Charlene Johnson.

I ask the Minister of Justice, what is the status of this investigation?

The new development association says they are having a difficult time securing funds from government as a result of raising these concerns.

I ask the Minister of Municipal Affairs or Industry, Trade and Rural Development, is this true, and if so, is it appropriate to refuse funding to a development association because they are raising concerns about possible wrongdoing?

Media Contact:
Darrell Mercer
Director of Communications
Office of the Official Opposition
709-729-6151 or 709-687-0477