Province		 Législature Session	Type de discours	Date du discours Locuteur	 Fonction du locuteur  Parti politique
Terre- Neuve et Labrador 45e	     2e  	Discours du budget	21 mars 2005	 Loyola Sullivan Ministre des finances PC





Mr. Speaker, a year has passed since I presented the first budget of this government under the 
leadership of Premier Danny Williams. It is my privilege to report that, while considerable work 
awaits our collective efforts, our government is on the right track. And we intend to stay the 
course and work together, more vigorously than ever before, to build a new future of self-reliance 
for Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Our government entered office almost seventeen months ago with a mandate and a mission to end 
the giveaways and begin harnessing our resources in ways that will open up bright, new 
opportunities for individuals, families, employers and communities throughout Newfoundland 
and Labrador. In our Blueprint, we presented the people with an eight-year plan to build a 
brighter future. 

However, what we inherited on day one of our mandate was a massive barrier to progress directly 
in our path: a staggering mountain of debt and financial obligations that exceeded the province's 
fiscal means. Independent auditors and advisors, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, expressed 
serious concern that the province's fiscal situation was unsustainable and very troubling. Our 
province was facing billion-dollar deficits that, within a decade, would have nearly doubled the 
province's debt. Without significant decisive action, the situation would have only deteriorated, 
obligating the government to divert more and more of its limited resources from valuable 
programs to debt servicing. 

Over the past year, through a combination of prudent spending and effective negotiating for 
additional revenue, we were able to not only enhance our social programs but also significantly 
improve our province's fiscal situation. The challenges and choices were tough, but we faced 
them responsibly. The new agreements our Premier fought to achieve on offshore revenue 
sharing, equalization and health funding have fundamentally changed our circumstances for the 
better. As a result of the approach we have taken, Newfoundland and Labrador is in a far better 
position at the end of this fiscal year than when the year began. 




Mr. Speaker, before considering our detailed fiscal plans and expectations for 2005-06 and 
beyond, let us reflect on the year we are about to conclude. 

Facing the unsustainable prospect of annual billion-dollar deficits on a go-forward basis, I 
announced in last year's budget speech a multi-year plan to eliminate the province's cash shortfall 
by 2007-08 and reduce the deficit progressively over time in order to position our province for 
long-term fiscal sustainability. 
Several factors that were unforeseeable a year ago have significantly improved our province's 
fiscal circumstances. Premier Williams was successful in negotiating a new arrangement on the 
sharing of offshore petroleum revenue that enables Newfoundland and Labrador to retain 100% 
of its provincial share of the revenue. The impact of this arrangement alone has contributed $134 
million in additional revenue in 2004-05. The Premier was also instrumental in achieving 
significant improvements to the country's Equalization Program which contributed to an increase 
in revenue from this source of $88 million. An increase in royalties related to offshore petroleum 
production, primarily as a result of higher prices, contributed $113 million toward the improved 
provincial bottom line. 

These impacts, in combination with new Health Accord revenue, careful monitoring of 
expenditures and other factors, have helped us reduce the 2004-05 deficit from $840 million to 
$473 million, and cut the cash shortfall from $362 million to just $14 million. These results for 
2004-05 reflect our government's decision to repay the outstanding debt of the Heritage 
Corporation (The Rooms) and the Education Investment Corporation which totaled $117 million. 

Mr. Speaker, our achievements in the past year will continue to benefit us for years to come. 
Revenues in 2005-06 are projected to be significantly higher than we had earlier anticipated, 
primarily because of the new Atlantic Accord 2005, higher offshore royalties, additional 
Equalization, and an expanded Canada Health Transfer. 

Expenditures will also be up as we make strategic investments that will reap significant dividends 
in years to come. We have revised our multi-year fiscal plan to reflect the new circumstances. We 
now project that the deficit in 2005-06 will be $492 million, not the $759 million we projected 
last year; and the cash shortfall will be just $62 million, not the $320 million we projected last 
year. This is indeed remarkable progress for such a short period of time. 

As a result of our commitment to good fiscal stewardship, our government is now well ahead of 
the multi-year goal we set last year of achieving a balanced cash requirement and a significantly 
lower deficit by 2007-08. We now project that we will achieve deficits of $307 million in 2006-
07 and $384 million in 2007-08. Furthermore, instead of a cash shortfall in 2006-07 of $250 
million, we now project a cash surplus of $143 million for that year. And in the following year, 
2007-08, instead of a balanced cash position, we project a cash surplus of $73 million. The cash 
component of the deficit will be gone. 

However, Newfoundland and Labrador will not achieve true fiscal freedom until we have also 
dealt with the liabilities resulting from our accumulated deficits. With the first milestone 
achieved, the elimination of the cash shortfall, we will protect and strengthen this financial 
position by tackling the real deficit which is the accrual deficit. By progressively lowering the 
deficit in this way, we will curb the rate of growth of the public debt; and eventually, our 
province will be in a position to completely halt the growth of our debt and begin lightening the 
burden that our children and grandchildren will have to bear. 




Mr. Speaker, as a benefit of our actions and successes of the past year, we are now in a position 
to announce that there are no new taxes and, with one exception, no tax rate increases in this 
year's budget. 

Our primary reason for implementing this solitary tax increase is not to raise new revenue. It is to 
protect our people and, ultimately, our treasury from the consequences of smoking. Effective a 
minute after midnight tonight, we will raise the tax rate by one cent per cigarette and by five 
cents per gram of fine-cut tobacco. 

The single greatest financial improvement in this year's budget is the impact of the revenue from 
the Atlantic Accord 2005. Our government looks forward to early passage of the enacting 
legislation through the Parliament of Canada so that Newfoundland and Labrador can begin to 
reap the benefits of our provincial share of offshore petroleum revenue and, in particular, the 
benefits from the advance payment of $2 billion. As I have already stated, achieving this new 
revenue is a significant reason for the improvement in our fiscal situation. However, the 
magnitude of our fiscal challenge is such that we cannot afford to squander one precious penny of 
this revenue. It would not only be unwise, but in fact impossible, to accommodate all the requests 
for new funding. Rather, we must respect our moral obligation to invest this revenue wisely and 
strategically in ways that will benefit both current and future generations to the greatest extent 
possible. 

Mr. Speaker, with this budget, we are taking significant new steps to implement our economic 
growth agenda by investing strategically in programs and initiatives that will nurture 
opportunities for development in Newfoundland and Labrador. Like our plan last year, our 
budget expenditure plan for 2005-06 includes measures to shore up our fiscal position and to 
secure and sustain the social programs on which our people rely. 

Mr. Speaker, no area of economic development is more promising or exciting than the 
celebration and promotion of our culture. It is through our culture that we can teach our children 
who they are and who they can become. It is through our culture that we can continue to attract 
tourists from around the globe to experience what is truly unique and worthwhile about 
Newfoundland and Labrador. 

This year, we are investing in the promotion and development of our culture in ways that will 
empower our children and liberate our artists to seize new opportunities for growth. 

On June 29, 2005, we will open one of the most unique and exciting cultural facilities in Canada. 
The Rooms will house the Archives, Art Gallery, and Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador. 
They will offer a combination of excellent programs and services, together with effective 
educational and public outreach programs, to make the institution relevant and meaningful for 
every child and adult in our province. The $6 million in operational funding that we are providing 
this year is a tangible example of our government's commitment to securing and celebrating our 
rich and dynamic culture. 

Support for our artists, heritage groups and provincial cultural events helps maintain the creative 
energies of many of our stakeholders and sustain them as they contribute to the cultural fabric of 
our province. In order to support cultural industries, we will provide $1.6 million this year for the 
province's Cultural Economic Development Program, a 25% increase over last year. The program 
provides support for arts and heritage organizations, marketing, professional development, and 
capacity building. Of this amount, $205,000 will be allocated to support heritage sites and 
organizations, and $100,000 will be provided for a new Literary Assistance Program designed to 
assist writers and publishers with the development and production of indigenous works. 


The music industry is one of the fastest growing and strongest components of a vibrant arts sector 
in the province. In recognition of the need to strengthen and build further capacity within the 
Music Industry Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, our government provided $200,000 
last year. To build on the success of 2004, funding of $200,000 will be made available again this 
year. 

Supporting creative people and bringing stability to the conditions under which they work is a 
key building block of celebrating our identity and fostering creativity. In 2005, the Newfoundland 
and Labrador Arts Council, which is such an important source of support for our province's 
artists, will celebrate its zs" anniversary. Our government's total contribution to the Arts Council 
in Budget 2005 is $900,000. 

In recognition of the increased potential of the film industry in the province, we will allocate $2.3 
million to the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation to fulfill its mandate 
to foster and promote the development and growth of the film and video industry in 
Newfoundland and Labrador. 
Budget 2005 also includes an enhanced Film and Video Industry Tax Credit, which will allow the 
province's growing film and video industry to compete effectively with other provinces in 
Canada. 

In recognition of the importance of preserving and promoting the distinctive architecture of our 
heritage buildings, we are providing $250,000 to the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and 
Labrador this year to continue its important work. 

To fully capitalize on the boundless tourism opportunities throughout Newfoundland and 
Labrador, it is vital that we do more to showcase the wide range of sites and events that we have 
to offer. In our Blueprint, we committed to increase the tourism marketing budget by $1 million 
per year until it is on par with those of our Atlantic counterparts. To keep our promise, we will 
provide another $1 million this year, on top of the $1 
million last year, to bring our province's tourism marketing expenditures to $8 million. 


Nowhere are the prospects for growing our tourism industry more promising than in Labrador. 
Along the Trans-Labrador Highway, along the coast and in the new Torngat Mountains National 
Park, the opportunities for tourism are phenomenal. Destination Labrador is a non-profit 
organization comprising industry and federal and provincial representatives from all regions of 
Labrador. The organization is seeking $1.38 million in cost-shared funding over three years to 
implement a marketing and product development program focused on market readiness. Our 
province will fulfil its commitment to Destination Labrador by providing $300,000 over the next 
three years. We know the private sector will rise to the occasion and we encourage the 
Government of Canada to provide its support for this valuable work. 

An important aspect of our culture and a significant generator of tourism activity is our province's 
legacy of excellence in sport and recreation. Sport Newfoundland and Labrador and the Rugby 
Union have advanced a proposal involving the cost-shared construction of a new $4.3 million 
Provincial Training Centre. Our government is the first funding partner to confirm its investment 
in the project. We are prepared to step up to the plate with our share of $1.3 million over the next 
two years to make this facility a reality. We are confident that Sport Newfoundland and Labrador 
and the Rugby Union will provide their share, and we are urging the Government of Canada and 
the City of St. John's to join us in helping Newfoundland and Labrador's athletes reach their full 
potential in their chosen sports, while contributing to the province's economy through sport 
tourism. 

No community recreation event in Newfoundland and Labrador is more unique or cherished than 
the tri-annual Labrador Winter Games. Organized by the Labrador Winter Games Association 
and hosted by the Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, this event will bring together some 450 
athletes and 1,000 volunteers representing communities throughout Labrador in March 2006. Our 
government recognizes the unique opportunity presented by the games, to mobilize Labrador as a 
community and to enhance the pride and culture of Labrador. We are providing $500,000 in this 
budget to enable preparations for this event to proceed. 


Mr. Speaker, while culture, tourism and recreation offer golden new opportunities for economic 
development throughout our province, opportunities in other sectors are equally exciting, and we 
are preparing to do even more to turn the opportunities into success stories in communities 
throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. 
This province competes for investment and export market share against many other jurisdictions. 
Our economic future will be determined by our success in reaching, and ultimately exceeding, 
not just our nearest competitors in the rest of Canada and other North Atlantic countries, but also 
the emerging economic powers of the Pacific rim. 

Our focus is on building a competitive economy driven by private sector firms selling in 
competitive markets and operating out of all regions of the province. In our Blueprint, we 
pledged to bring forward policies and programs that would facilitate the growth of businesses 
throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. 
For the past year and a half, we have talked to people, organizations and businesses throughout 
the province, and asked them for their input as we developed a strategy to address those issues. 
We heard that access to capital is a problem for businesses. We heard that community-based 
economic development groups need more tools to carry out their mandates. We heard that 
economic and social development should be regionally-based. We have taken these comments 
and ideas and developed them into a comprehensive diversification plan for the province. 

To help address gaps in existing commercial business financing, our government is investing an 
additional $7.9 million on top of the $2.1 million existing Small Business Seed Capital Equity 
Program allocation in order to establish a new $10 million Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) 
Fund. This new revolving fund will provide loans and equity investments to small and medium-
sized businesses. The fund will target strategic growth sectors, such as manufacturing with 
special emphasis on value-added production, information and advanced technology, secondary 
processing, aquaculture and tourism. 


This year, we are also doubling the budget for the Business and Market Development Program 
(BMDP) from $500,000 to $1 million. The increase provides more assistance to new 
entrepreneurs and expanding small businesses to pursue new business ideas and new markets, 
including product development, implementing market strategies and advancing new technologies. 

To capitalize on excellent opportunities in the information and advanced technology sectors, we 
are allocating $1 million this year for the implementation of the provincial Innovation Strategy. 
This strategy is currently being developed in cooperation with the federal government, the 
Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries, major firms in the province, 
Memorial University, the College of the North Atlantic, regional development agencies and other 
key stakeholders. 

Last fall, we also announced our commitment to increase funding for the Ireland Business 
Partnerships from $100,000 to $300,000 in order to increase efforts to identify, foster and 
promote trade and partnership opportunities with Ireland in the areas of business, education and 
culture. Budget 2005 continues that funding commitment. 

Our government is determined to ensure that the opportunities are enjoyed, not just by larger 
centres in our province, but also in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, where the challenges are 
great but the opportunities are even greater. 

Last year, our government established the Rural Secretariat to work with local and regional 
partners in a collaborative effort to build strong and dynamic communities. We recently 
announced that the new structure will comprise nine regional councils and one provincial council 
which will act as advisory bodies to government, providing guidance on rural and regional issues 
in all parts of the province. Each region will have its own Industrial Diversification Strategy 
based on its particular strengths. The strategies will be further enhanced by advanced education 
and applied research and development to cultivate appropriate local industries. 

To ensure strategies have the support to move forward, we are establishing a $5 million 
Regional/Sectorial Diversification Fund. Building upon prime sector strategies, current 
investment programs and enhanced partnerships with federal government, the fund will allow the 
Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development to broker and support investment 
opportunities linked to provincial industry development priorities as well as diversification 
strategies in the regions. Our goal is to contribute to long-term sustainable employment and 
growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in the regions. 

Our total provision of new dollars for strategic investment initiatives this year will surpass $23 
million. Each dollar we invest helps to lever more dollars from other investors, creating the kind 
of momentum that businesses need to grow. 

Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the strong connection between infrastructure and 
opportunity. Strategic investment to improve infrastructure is one of the most effective ways our 
government can stimulate economic growth and contribute to priority social needs. 

Throughout our province, there is a tremendous need for road construction and repair. Last year, 
we raised the value of the Provincial Roads Program from $23 million to $30 million. This year, 
we will again provide $30 million plus $3.7 million that is carried over from the previous year, 
resulting in a $33.7 million commitment to road construction throughout Newfoundland and 
Labrador in the coming fiscal year. 

We will provide a further $40 million, which includes $16.5 million in carry-over, from the 
Labrador Transportation Initiative Fund to continue work on Phase III of the TransLabrador 
Highway network, plus another $750,000 to build a highway depot between Red Bay and Lodge 
Bay. 

Total expenditures under the Strategic Highways Infrastructure Program, and other federal-
provincial programs, are estimated at $31.6 million. 

This brings the total expenditure for road work this year to $105 million. 


Newfoundland and Labrador's "highway" network is not entirely land-based. Because of our 
geography, we do a great deal of our traveling and transporting by sea. As part of our 
commitment to maintain our marine infrastructure, we are providing $1 million in new funding 
for capital improvements to the province's ferry terminals. This funding will enable us to provide 
quality service to ferry users throughout the province while ensuring our terminals will be taken 
care of over the long-term. 

Our government has expressed serious concerns about the past practice of purchasing vessels that 
are not fit for service on provincial ferry routes. Our government committed that we would 
implement a new Vessel Replacement Strategy to ensure we purchase or construct vessels that 
are seaworthy and cost-effective. The $500,000 we provide this year will enable us to proceed 
with planning of this important new strategy. 

Our total investment of new money in our ferry system this year will be $8.1 million. 

Public infrastructure also includes a variety of buildings throughout the province. Government is 
currently spending approximately $400,000 annually to maintain buildings that are surplus to its 
needs. Before these buildings can be sold, reused or demolished, it is necessary that we perform 
environmental assessments and, in some cases, remediation. We will provide $5.4 million this 
year to facilitate the environmental remediation and demolition of four abandoned buildings. 

Mr. Speaker, to follow through on our Blueprint commitment last year to create a Lobbyists 
Registry, we are investing $250,000 to allow the Government Services department to move 
forward with our commitment to a publicly-accessible, computerized registry to track lobbyists. 

This year, through our Government Services department, we are also providing a capital 
investment of $844,000 to move forward with phase four of the Companies and Deeds Online 
(CADO) system. Once phase four is complete in November 2005, consumers will be able to 
search property deeds online back to the 1980s, enabling searchers to spend less time at the 
registry, thereby improving efficiency and reducing the costs charged back to clients. 


Mr. Speaker, infrastructure is vital not only for transportation and public works, but also for 
municipal development. The funding of municipal infrastructure is a partnership involving our 
towns and cities. Municipal leaders have told us that the earlier they can get the information on 
municipal capital works funding, the better they can plan. In fact, the Newfoundland and 
Labrador Federation of Municipalities along with engineering and construction firms told us that 
early announcements would enable them to achieve more favourable tender prices, thereby 
extending the spending power of the public dollar. That is why our government announced the 
Municipal Capital Works Program, the Multi-Year Capital Works Program and the 
Canada/Newfoundland and Labrador Infrastructure Program four months ago on November 26, 
2004. The province's share of $46.5 million brings the total value of this year's capital works 
initiatives to $83 
million. 

We are also busy negotiating two federal infrastructure agreements: namely, the Municipal Rural 
Infrastructure Fund and the rebate of the federal gas tax. The Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund 
is expected to cost-share infrastructure projects valued at $84 million over five years, while the 
federal gas tax rebate will invest a total of $82.3 million in municipal environmentally-
sustainable infrastructure over five years. 

Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador has sufficient natural resources in its inventory to 
warrant the increasing attention we are getting from around the world. These resources include 
oil, gas, minerals, hydro, trees, crops, livestock, fish, wildlife and a host of others. Our 
government is determined to act strategically to ensure that the people of Newfoundland and 
Labrador are the principal beneficiaries of our natural resource developments. 

We are allocating $900,000 to assist the government to position our energy sector to provide for 
long-term benefits for Newfoundland and Labrador. A portion of this funding, $350,000, will be 
used to support the development of a comprehensive Energy Plan that will incorporate the views 
of citizens and industry stakeholders. It will serve as a policy and resource management 
framework that will help us to plan in advance to meet energy demands for both domestic use and 
economic development. 
In the agriculture sector, our government is prepared to build on its commitment to invest 
strategically and build capacity for sustained growth. In addition to $10.1 million that Ottawa and 
the province will provide this year to continue the Agricultural Policy Framework, our 
government will invest an extra $4 million to support new agricultural initiatives and expand 
existing programs. 

With this funding, we will provide $3.5 million this year as part of a five-year agriculture 
development program primarily directed to farmland consolidation and long-term development 
throughout the province. This represents the largest single investment in agriculture-related 
activities in our province's history and it represents our new approach to long-term planning. 

In the forestry sector, we will enhance the industry's long-term sustainability by investing in the 
growth of new trees. We are providing $7.3 million to support various silviculture initiatives in 
the province, including our tree nurseries at Wooddale and Happy ValleyGoose Bay. The funding 
will also sustain research and development initiatives dedicated to improving our reforestation 
efforts. 

To improve access to tree stands, we will continue to provide $3.5 million for forest resource 
road construction. This funding will allow for construction of forest access roads in difficult-to-
access areas and partition wood stands near the communities of Roddickton, Main Brook, Point 
Leamington, Gamba, Gander Bay South and Fox Island River. In addition, it will also provide for 
resource road construction along the South Coast of Labrador near the communities of Port Hope 
Simpson, Charlottetown and Cartwright. The economic benefits provided by resource road 
construction are significant and very welcome in these rural areas of our province. 

It is not enough to harvest our trees; we must also ensure we capitalize fully on the opportunities 
for value-added wood manufacturing. Building on our successes in promoting value-added 
hardwood manufacturing, we will provide $300,000 to support measures to increase product 
diversification in the industry. 

Last year, we stepped in to fund an Inland Fisheries Enforcement Program to curb poaching 
because, in our view, the federal government is not adequately living up to its responsibility to 
provide for enforcement. We are increasing our allocation for this program from $360,000 last 
year to $800,000 this year to provide additional tools and human resources to protect our Atlantic 
salmon stocks and other fish species from poaching. 

To improve the effectiveness of fisheries development, we will move this year to reorganize the 
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture in order to coordinate resource, processing and market 
development activities under a new Seafood Development and Diversification Division. In order 
to address the important and complicated international trade issues facing the fishing and 
aquaculture sectors, the department will increase its trade expertise. 

Mr. Speaker, promoting sustainable development not only secures our renewable resources for 
future generations to enjoy, but it generates economic activity of its own. 

This year, our government will make a substantial investment in environmental conservation 
research by establishing at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College a new Institute for Biodiversity and 
Ecosystem Science. This year, the Institute will become fully operational with two permanent 
staff and an annual budget allocation of $300,000. By supporting graduate student research, the 
Institute will facilitate partnerships with the academic community and promote provincial 
government priorities in natural resource conservation and sustainable use. The Institute will also 
serve as the coordinating body for students in Corner Brook and at other affiliated institutions 
nationally. 

In moving forward with our Blueprint commitment to create the Centre of Environmental 
Excellence in Corner Brook, our government has allocated $500,000 in Budget 2005 for a master 
plan and feasibility studies. Working with Memorial University's Sir Wilfred Grenfell College 
and the Corner Brook campus of the College of the North Atlantic, our government will build on 
the significant environmental industry activity underway in the western region of the province to 
create the centre and anchor Newfoundland and Labrador as an international leader in applied 
environmental research and development. 

We are also ready to begin implementing a long-term Reinvestment Strategy for the Provincial 
Parks System. With the provision of $250,000 this year, we will upgrade La Manche Provincial 
Park by installing a comfort station and related facilities that make the park a more attractive 
destination for recreation enthusiasts. 

Mr. Speaker, by seizing the opportunities for economic development, we will generate additional 
revenue in our province to sustain our valuable social programs, such as health care, over the 
long term. No area of expenditure is larger or more important in this year's budget than health and 
community services. 

Last year, our government consolidated the province's fourteen health and community services 
boards into four Regional Integrated Health Authorities. Boards will be expected to balance their 
budgets in 2005-06. While health boards have made some progress, the collective accumulated 
operating cash shortfalls remain high, totaling about $125 million by the end of 2004-05. 
Maintaining a high debt load over the long term jeopardizes our ability to sustain health services 
and limits our ability to expand current service levels. In this transitional year, our government 
will invest $20 million to stabilize the system, allowing the health authorities to balance fiscal 
responsibility with the need to provide quality, health services. 


In September of last year, our Premier and his fellow First Ministers negotiated a tenyear 
commitment, under the First Ministers' Health Accord, to increase federal health funding to the 
provinces and territories in order to reduce wait times and improve access to services. As stated 
in our Blueprint, shorter wait times will better enable people to access quality health care they 
need when they need it. 

This year, our government will be making several significant investments in new and upgraded 
medical equipment. 

• We will provide $2.6 million toward a second MRI in St. John's, delivering 2,500 new exams a 
year and reducing wait times by four months. 

• We will provide $2 million toward replacing two existing CT Scanners with new multi-slice CT 
Scanners at the Health Sciences Centre and St. Clare's Hospital, delivering 4,000 more 
exams a year and shortening wait times to two weeks. 

• We will provide $1.3 million for new ultrasound equipment in Corner Brook, St. John's and 
Labrador City, and replacement equipment at Carbonear, thereby delivering 16,000 more 
exams a year. Further, we will provide a new ultrasound cardiac package at Captain 
William Jackman Hospital. 

• We will also provide a total of $6.2 million for four nuclear medicine gamma cameras in St. 
John's and Corner Brook; four new mammography units in St. John's, Gander and Grand 
Falls-Windsor; a new endoscopy unit in Corner Brook and an enhanced unit in Gander; 
along with new laparoscopic equipment in Corner Brook. 

Our government will also invest in expanded medical services. 

• We will provide $1.2 million to increase cardiac surgeries by 184 cases annually and improve 
access to echocardiograms, delivering 900 more exams each year. 


• We will provide $3.5 million to increase surgical capacity for cancer patients, resulting in 740 
additional surgeries a year and a 30% reduction in wait times. 

• We will provide $2.6 million to increase surgical capacity for joint replacement at the St. John's 
hospitals, resulting in an additional 340 surgeries each year for hip, knee and joint 
replacements. 

• We will also provide a total of $1.3 million to support dialysis services in Gander and 
Carbonear; Visudyne, a new photo-dynamic therapy for macular degeneration; extended 
mammography and endoscopy services at Grand FallsWindsor; enhanced cardia perfusion 
tests and bone scans at Gander; and extended access to chemotherapy and radiation at the 
Newfoundland Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation Centre in St. John's. 

More than 100,000 residents annually benefit from the Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription 
Drug Program. We do not want to deny beneficiaries of this program access to new, emerging 
treatments because the costs are beyond their means. This year, we are providing a further $7 
million, adding 25 new drugs to treat people with arthritis, cancer, cardiac and lung disease and 
diabetes, among other illnesses. We have added drugs like Remicade and Enbrel, used to aid and 
control rheumatoid arthritis as well as Crohn's disease. Another is Plavix, an important cardiac 
medication. This list was developed and prioritized by health care professionals. This represents a 
total investment in medications of $114 million. 

Our government will keep a Blueprint commitment by investing in health technology, including 
the Picture Archiving Communications System (PACS), the Pharmacy Network and the launch of 
Selfcare-Telecare to improve access to services, particularly residents living in rural and remote 
areas. PACS is a computer system that allows diagnostic images to be digitally captured, viewed, 
stored and transmitted across the province. It replaces conventional X-ray film and greatly 
improves access to patient information by enabling referring clinicians to review patient images 
on computers anywhere in the province. 


In this budget, we make provision to upgrade and build long-term care facilities as well as 
support personal and community care homes across the province. We will provide $2.7 million 
toward a new Corner Brook long-term care home to proceed with detailed design and initial site 
work. We will provide $1.4 million toward a new long-term care home in Clarenville to begin 
detailed design and site work. And we will provide $200,000 to begin planning and develop 
conceptual drawings for a new long-term care home in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. 

Our government recognizes that home support services are an important part of the continuum of 
care. Currently, more than 3,500 individuals throughout our province are in receipt of home 
support services. Effective April 1, 2005, we will provide funding of $5 million to increase the 
home support rate so that employers of home support workers, including both agencies and self-
managed home-support clients, can provide a 50-cent-an-hour wage increase to their workers in 
recognition of the valuable contribution they make. 

Personal care and community care home operators make an invaluable contribution to the long-
term care continuum looking after the needs of our seniors and our most vulnerable members of 
society. In recognition of their role, we will review the rate structure in the coming months. 

Last year, our government began to act on recommendations of the inquiry into the deaths of 
Norman Reid of Little Catalina and Darryl Power of Corner Brook. To build on last year's $1-
million commitment, we will invest an additional $1 million this year for Primary Mental Health 
Services. 

The impact of addictions on individuals and their families can be devastating. I am pleased today 
to provide an investment of $1 million to assist those who are suffering from the misuse of 
prescription drugs. The initiatives the government is outlining today are consistent with the 
advice of the OxyContin Task Force. 
In addition to substance abuse, gambling addiction is a major concern of our government. 
Accordingly, in cooperation with the VL T operators and the Atlantic Lottery 


Corporation, I am announcing additional investments totaling $740,000 to improve gambling 
addiction services and awareness. Further, our government is acting to freeze the number of VL T 
units in our province immediately and to reduce the number by 15% over a five-year period. At 
the end of this period, no location will be permitted to have more than five VL Ts. To assist our 
bar and club owners, we will phase out, over the next four years, the levy that we apply to liquor 
purchases for these operations. We are demonstrating that we are willing to work cooperatively 
with employers to help sustain their enterprises. 
Medical travel is particularly expensive for residents of Labrador. In that light and in keeping 
with our Blueprint commitment, we will provide for the Labrador Medical Travel Assistance 
program to subsidize Labrador West residents who use commercial airlines to access CT scans 
and laparoscopic procedures in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The program will pay 100% of a 
resident's air travel costs in excess of $40. Under a second measure, the province will pay the first 
$500 of travel expenses per resident annually on eligible medical travel claims, while all 
remaining reimbursable expenses will be costshared 50-50. This measure will benefit 
approximately 500 Labrador residents. 

Mr. Speaker, health challenges are not the only barriers to opportunity that many 
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians face. Poverty is another barrier that we have an obligation to 
address. We must find imaginative and effective ways to lift people from poverty so they can 
pursue their goals under their own steam. 

The Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment will support our government's 
goal to reduce poverty in Newfoundland and Labrador by leading the development of a Strategic 
Poverty Reduction Plan. The department will take a comprehensive, integrated approach that will 
address the connections between poverty and gender, education, housing, employment, health, 
social and financial supports, and tax measures, as well as the link between women's poverty and 
their increased vulnerability to violence. 


Our government took action last year to invest in several measures to improve the situation of 
many of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens. We announced a Low Income Tax Reduction 
which will be implemented starting in the 2005 tax year. This year, we will build on those 
initiatives with specific measures to combat poverty. For example, last year we invested in 
indexing the Newfoundland and Labrador Child Benefit for low-income families. This year, we 
will increase the first-child benefit rate to further improve the situation of low-income families 
with children. 

We will also increase income support benefits for couples without children and single 
individuals. Not only have these clients not received an increase in benefits in four years, but they 
have not been helped by recent increases in benefits for families with children. In that light, we 
will provide families without children and single income support clients with a 2% increase in 
their income support benefit rates, incrementally over the coming year: 1 % on July 1, 2005 and 
another 1 % on January 1, 2006. This will cost an incremental $1 million in 2005-06 and $1.8 
million annually. 

This year, we will introduce a second Supported Employment Pilot Program for Single Parents, 
and in a region outside the St. John's area. The initial pilot program has enabled single parents 
receiving income support to achieve increased financial independence by helping them prepare 
for, obtain and maintain employment. 

Our government is deeply concerned that many of our province's young people are resorting to 
the income support system. We want to help our young people find new ways to stand on their 
own feet and feel the pride that accompanies self-reliance. To that end, we will focus our efforts 
to ensure we are able to offer young people better alternatives. 

Again this year, we are providing $6.2 million to the Student Investment and Opportunities 
Corporation for youth employment and career initiatives. These programs play an important role 
in helping reduce student debt, offering career development initiatives and supporting our 
government's commitment to reduce poverty. 


As promised in our Blueprint, we will enable more income support clients, our young people in 
particular, to participate in employment planning and benefit from an aggressive approach to job 
recruitment and placement. Beginning with an extra $500,000 this year, we will commit a total of 
$2 million in new funding for this initiative over the three years ahead. In this way, we will 
increase the number of income support clients who can access these employment services from 
4,200 in the past year to 5,800 in the year to come. By helping clients to find jobs, we will reduce 
reliance on the income support program. 

A primary reason that some young people end up on income support is that they drop out of 
school and find their range of job prospects very limited as a consequence. To encourage young 
people to complete their high school education, we are undertaking a creative initiative. 
Currently, all low-income families lose both the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the 
Newfoundland and Labrador Child Benefit when a child turns 18. Beginning in September 2005, 
we will establish a Stay-in-School Incentive Allowance to offset the loss of child benefits for 
families receiving income support and to encourage youth to complete high school. 

Children cannot learn properly when they are distracted by hunger. We will provide $250,000 to 
the Kids Eat Smart Foundation this year to enable them to continue the important work they do to 
feed our school children. With a surplus remaining from last year, they are well positioned to 
meet the needs of a considerable number of students; and we are prepared to revisit this initiative 
next year. 

We will also adjust income support policies in ways that will help people ease themselves off 
income support more gradually. Currently, income support clients who work can earn up to $75 
per month for singles and $150 per month for families without having their income support 
benefits affected. Earnings beyond this level are deducted from clients' income support 
entitlement, which discourages clients from seeking more hours of work and additional earnings. 
Under new measures to support working recipients of income support, we will allow clients to 
keep 10% of earnings beyond the current cutoff. 


Persons with disabilities often face greater obstacles to opportunity. We want to help these 
individuals capture opportunities for employment and self-reliance. To that end, we are providing 
an additional $411,000 this year under the Labour Market Development Agreement for Persons 
with Disabilities to help these individuals enter the work force and maintain employment. 

Mr. Speaker, some women in our province face difficult social and economic circumstances. To 
support services for these women, our government will increase funding to eight Women's 
Centres, where a fountain of practical help and moral support is available. This represents a 30% 
increase from 2003-04. 

As promised in our Blueprint, our government is also committed to respecting women's 
perspective and rights in formulating public policies and practices by developing a plan of action 
to address women's issues. 
I would also like to say that addressing Aboriginal women's issues will be a key priority for our 
government over the next twelve months. There will be funding to provide for an Aboriginal 
women's conference to advance their recommendations about the social and economic needs of 
this population group. 

We will also continue our commitment to violence prevention through a new violence prevention 
program with new management and leadership; new funding to fight violence against Aboriginal 
women in Labrador; and new funding for a much-needed women's shelter in Hopedale. 

Mr. Speaker, the justice system is one of our society's most important institutions. Like other 
public institutions, it faces challenges. This year, our government will make strategic and 
sustainable investments to enhance justice services with improvements in technology, 
infrastructure planning, and security. We will build on the measures we commenced last year to 
enhance policing services and strengthen our justice system. 

To better protect the public, we are providing additional funding this year to create and support 
four additional RCMP positions. 

We will also be allocating $183,000 this year to support the National Sex Offender Registry by 
providing designated resources to administer and investigate noncompliant offenders in our 
province. This initiative will add one officer to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and one 
officer, along with a public service employee, to the RCMP. 

We will expand the Court Security Program to include the Supreme and Provincial Courts in 
Corner Brook and the Provincial Court in Stephenville, at a cost this year of $183,000. 

We will also provide $400,000 to plan and design a new combined Supreme and Provincial Court 
facility in Corner Brook. 

In addition, we will provide seven new Supreme and Provincial Court support positions to 
improve transcript production and reduce workload pressures for existing staff. 

Our government is working diligently to enhance the responsiveness of the justice system to the 
particular needs of Aboriginal people. This year, we will increase the grant to Labrador Legal 
Services for the Native Court Worker Program, which will benefit Aboriginal people who need 
justice services. 

We will create a Victim Services program for children, which will strengthen justice services for 
victims and witnesses under the age of 16 who testify in criminal proceedings. This program will 
be self-sustaining through the implementation of a 15% Victim Fines Surcharge on various 
provincial offences. This budget will provide $255,000 to support implementation. This initiative 
is long overdue, and will strengthen the role of child victims in the criminal justice system. 


Mr. Speaker, in many respects, this year's budgetary program is about our children and youth. We 
are investing in measures to curb poverty and advance wellness in order to better prepare our 
children to grow to reach their potential. We are investing in infrastructure, economic growth and 
sustainable development to create the economic conditions that will enable our children to stay 
here and prosper here. And we are investing in our education system to ensure our young people 
are ready to seize the opportunities and build a future for themselves that is worthy of the legacy 
we have all inherited from those who made Newfoundland and Labrador what it is. 

We will invest a total of $26 million this year to finance school construction and to cover urgent 
repairs and maintenance. Specific initiatives this year will commence the redevelopment of 
Herdman Collegiate in Corner Brook and a Grade 7-12 school in the Mobile area. In order to 
address major issues with aging infrastructure, we will provide $12 million plus $4 million 
carried over from the previous year, for a total of $16 million. 

We believe it is time for the government to undertake a comprehensive review of school facilities 
and develop a long-term plan to address educational infrastructure needs. This year, we are 
committing $250,000 to undertake this review; and when we have the results in hand, we will be 
in a much better position to tackle the challenges with a long-term facilities plan. 

No less important than our school buildings are the buses that bring many of our children to and 
from school. To promote greater school bus safety, we will invest $3 million in school 
transportation: $2 million to gradually reduce the maximum age of our buses from fourteen years 
to ten, and $1 million to address maintenance and bus driver training issues. This means 53 brand 
new school buses for our children. 

In our Blueprint, we pledged to reduce class sizes one grade level at a time. Our commitment was 
grounded in the recommendations of the Sparkes-Williams report on Educational Delivery in the 
Classroom. This year, we will reinvest $1.8 million to return 52 teaching units to the education 
system in order to reduce primary class sizes. On an annualized basis, this represents a 
reinvestment of $3.1 million in our education system. Currently, 92% of K-1 classes have twenty-
five students or fewer. This reinvestment will provide learning resources to enable school boards 
to further reduce class sizes in our primary grades. 

In our province's schools, no area of curriculum is more important or more exciting to our 
government this year than our new Fine Arts and Culture Strategy for Schools, called "Cultural 
Connections". In keeping with our Blueprint commitment, we will provide approximately $3 
million a year for each of the next three years to implement a comprehensive, sustainable fine arts 
and culture strategy in our schools. Components of this strategy include an additional twenty-
three teaching units to support enhanced music programs; new enrichment opportunities, 
including an Artists in Schools Program, new musical equipment, support for arts festivals and 
the promotion of our students' artistic activities; funding for new curriculum materials 
incorporating more local resources; and funding for teacher professional development initiatives 
to support this strategy. 

As a result of our strategy to reduce class sizes and enhance the range of learning opportunities in 
the fine arts, we will be reinvesting on an annualized basis an additional $4.5 million to redeploy 
a total of 75 teaching units that otherwise would have been lost under the new teacher allocation 
formula. 
We are also providing an extra $2.5 million in fiscal year 2004-05 over and above the $4 million 
base budget to support the purchase of new learning resources to ensure the province's curriculum 
remains current. The funding will enable the Department of Education to revise the outdated 
social studies curriculum, fast-track the implementation of new science curriculum, complete 
implementation of the new mathematics curriculum, and provide Technology Education modules 
at Grades 8 and 9. 

In concert with our Aboriginal Children's Agenda, we will invest $500,000 this year to begin the 
process of addressing issues identified in a federally-commissioned report on Innu education, 
commonly known as the Philpott report. 


We are also determined to foster in our schools an attitude of health and wellness that we hope 
our young people will carry with them throughout their lives. To this end and in keeping with our 
Blueprint commitment, we are providing $1 million for the purchase of physical education 
equipment for schools. This allocation will support the new, mandatory physical education 
curriculum at Grades 10 to 12; but it will also substantially benefit many students in the lower 
grades as well. 

Our investment in education must not and will not end at high school. More and more, our young 
people require a post-secondary education to find jobs and ground solid careers. Last year, our 
government announced a White Paper on Public Postsecondary Education. With work on the 
White Paper about to conclude, we are notionally allocating $14.7 million this year to implement 
its recommendations. We are expecting to release the White Paper this spring. 

To ensure our public post-secondary institutions are affordable and accessible to our young 
people, we will provide the necessary funding for Memorial University and the College of the 
North Atlantic to extend the tuition fee freeze at these institutions. This freeze means tuition fees 
in this province will remain the lowest in the country and 40% lower than the national average. 

Our government last year invested $5 million for research and development initiatives at 
Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic, funding that they will use this year 
and in future years to access federal and private sector research and development funding. For 
every dollar invested by the province in these initiatives, we bring an additional four to five 
dollars to our province. 

Finally, we will provide $230,000 to continue funding previously provided by the federal 
government for its share of the Adult Basic Education Levell pilot program. This funding is in 
addition to the $300,000 currently allocated to support adult literacy programs. We want to 
ensure more of our people have the tools they need to rise to the level of their potential. 


Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by saying how proud I was on February 14 of this year when 
Premier Williams brought home the Atlantic Accord 2005. It was a privilege for me to sign the 
document on behalf of the government and people of Newfoundland and Labrador. What made 
me proud was not the money. It was the fact that we had achieved what the naysayers said was 
beyond our grasp. They said it would never happen, and they were wrong. And there is one 
reason, and one reason alone, why they were wrong, and that is because our Premier stood by his 
principles, with the people of our province standing steadfastly beside him, and we refused to 
back down. 

Newfoundland and Labrador has had more than its fair share of naysayers; and when you are 
steeped in pessimism for so long, it is sometimes easy to lose perspective and hope. When 
communities decline and young families move away, it is all too easy to give in to the fear that 
decline is our destiny. 

But our government believes our destiny is what we make it. Our future is in no one's hands but 
our own. And with the same deep-rooted pride and unshakable confidence that won us a fair deal 
on offshore revenues, we are taking charge of our future and beginning to shape our destiny to 
our own design. 

With this year's budget plan, we have laid the foundation for the kind of investment and growth 
that will give businesses and families the opportunity to survive here and thrive here for 
generations to come. We have improved our fiscal situation, invested wisely and are on a path 
toward balanced budgets. Everything we are doing this year builds on the important gains we 
made last year and puts us on course for a future of selfreliance and opportunity for all. Every 
strategic investment we make in sectors and regions throughout Newfoundland and Labrador will 
open up new avenues of opportunity for those who are ready to rise to the challenge. 

And we will ensure that our people are ready and motivated to seize the opportunities before us. 
By investing in our culture as never before, we will nurture in our people, young and old alike, 
the pride, hope and self-confidence that will never give up on our dream. With renewed faith in 
ourselves and new tools for success in our hands, we will tackle new challenges and create new 
opportunities that will usher in a brighter future for our province. And we will do so together, 
united and indivisible in our goal to build a future of pride, promise and prosperity for 
Newfoundland and Labrador.