Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Terre- Neuve et Labrador 32e 4e Discours du Trône 24 janvier 1962 Campbell Leonard Macpherson Lieutenant Gouverneur Liberal Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: In the autumn of last year the Premier of this Province conferred with the Premier of the Province of Quebec on matters of concern to both Provinces in that great part of Newfoundland that is contiguous to Quebec, namely, Labrador. Among these matters is the need to apply on the ground the definition of the Labrador-Quebec boundary laid down by the Judicial Division of the Privy Council. That definition spelled out the principle that the height of land was the boundary. What now appears to be necessary is that height of land be found and precisely staked out on the ground. Some form of permanent staking would appear to be necessary, and my Government and that of the neighboring Province of Quebec are agreed that steps should be taken jointly by them to accomplish that practical and timely task. There is no question of establishing where the boundary should be between Labrador and Quebec, for that matter was determined many years ago and now forms part of the Constitution of Canada. No variation of that boundary is contemplated. I am sure that you will have seen references in our newspapers to the matter of pulp-wood cutting in Labrador. My Ministers have been discussing this important business in recent weeks with all of the companies that have a stake in the forests of Labrador, including Newfoundland and Labrador corporation, British Newfoundland Corporation, and, Newfoundland Pulp and Chemical Corporation. A very satisfactory degree of agreement has been reached on the principle that the pulp-wood forests of Labrador should be regarded and treated primarily as a great source of supply for pulp and paper mills existing, or to exist, within this Province, no matter who actually owns or controls those forests. My Ministers are very pleased to have obtained the enthusiastic cooperation of the great Bowater Company in Newfoundland in this project. The Bowater Company have agreed with my Ministers to an exchange of pulp-wood forest stands in Newfoundland, with a view to assisting in the establishment of a third mill. The details of the exchange are being worked out by all the interests concerned, and my Ministers believe that if these exchanges can be effected in time, and other arrangements made, a commencement may be made in the present year on the construction of that long-awaited and long hoped for third mill. My Government believe that the key to the whole success of the project lies in the successful use of the great pulp-wood resources of Labrador. Mr. Speaker, my Ministers feel that the time has come when some consideration should be given to the representation of the people in this House. Some of the electoral constituencies are geographically so large as to make it very difficult for candidates for public office to canvass them thoroughly be- fore election, and quite difficult to represent the interests of all the people in them afterward. Examples come readily to mind. Most of the whole of the South West Coast of this Island is contained in one single electoral district, that of Burgeo and LaPoile. Similarly, most of the great North West Coast of the Island is made up of one single district, that of St.Barbe. And the great Peninsula of Labrador, with its hundred thousand square miles and more of terrain, is represented in your House by only two Members, each of whom is now expected to cover as much territory in travelling through his district as eight or ten of you might ordinarily do on the Island of Newfoundland itself. This does not make for convenient or altogether successful representation, and you will be invited to provide the remedy. This House had thirty-six Members in it, the same number as now, three-quarters of a century ago. At that time the population of' Newfoundland and Labrador combined was substantially below 200,000 persons. Labrador was not then represented in your House, so that the thirty-six Members of that far-off time represented fewer than two-fifths of the people and very much less territory than you do now. I am sure that we have all been encouraged by the growth that has been experienced in one or two branches of the agricultural industry of our Province in recent years. This is particularly true of the production of eggs. Newfoundland is not yet self-supporting in this industry, but she has made encouraging progress toward self-sufficiency. My Ministers believe that greater progress can be made, and further believe that Newfoundland could come much closer than she is today to a state of self-sufficiency in the production of pork, lamb and mutton .A number of things must be done to help these desirable ends to be reached, and these include the establishment of a mill in Newfoundland for the production of poultry and animal feeds, as well as that of a modern and efficient meat and poultry processing plant. In connection with the latter it would appear to be necessary to have a large new public cold storage, one that would serve not that processing plant alone but the commercial, farming, personal and general public needs of the area. My Ministers ore considering a project for the establishment of all three new plants, and they hope to be able to lay certain proposals before you at this present session of your House. Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: Some important matters will be laid before you for possible enactment into legislation. Upon the recommendation of the Newfoundland Legislative Committee of the International Railway Brotherhoods it is proposed to make some amendments to the Workmen’s Compensation Act. You will be asked to enact into law some form of protection for wives and children of persons who die leaving estates behind them but without making provision for their families. You will be asked to enact legislation authorizing the Government to enter into an agreement for the construction of a large extension to the Grace Hospital in St. John's and providing for the financing of that work. You will be asked to enact legislation curing the situation in which in this Province a personal action dies with the person. This is a rule of the common law which we have shared with England and other common law jurisdictions. This law has been replaced in England and in other Provinces of Canada. The law that you will be asked to pass would provide that in future, on the death of a person, causes of action subsisting against or vested in him shall, with certain exceptions, survive against or for the benefit of the estate. You will be asked to enact legislation to cure the situation under which persons confined to Her Majesty's Penitentiary and serving sentences of one year or less do not qualify for any commutation of their sentences and thus receive no reduction for good behaviour. You will be asked again in this session to consolidate a number of presently existing Acts of former years. Such consolidation becomes necessary after numerous amendments have been made to the original legislation, and you will be asked to enact Bills consolidating The Apprenticeship Act, The Community Councils Act, The Education (Teachers' Pensions) Act, The School Attendance Act, The Social Assistance Act, The Workmen’s Compensation Act, and the Highway Traffic Act. Honourable Members will recall the tragic forest fires which our Province experienced in the summer of 1961. Those of my Ministers who had the responsibility of directing fire fighting operations, evacuating communities, accommodating those who were evacuated and were in many other ways called upon to meet grave emergencies found that it was not always easy to act because there was not sufficient legislative authority. In order that my Ministers may not find themselves similarly hampered on any future occasion, which, we fervently hope, may never arise, you will be asked to enact legislation to enable the Minister of Mines, Agriculture and Resources to take such action as may be necessary in the fighting of forest fires, not only to put out those fires but to protect lives and property endangered by them. The international tensions and problems existing today are such that increasing emphasis is being placed by governments at all levels upon the preparation and implementation of appropriate measures to safeguard the interests and welfare of the civilian population in the event that a war emergency should occur at any time. My Government are fully conscious of their obligations in the connection and, in the present session, legislation will be laid before you to ensure the continuity of government, the preservation of law and order, and the protection of our people not only if a war emergency should arise but also in the event of a civil disaster, such as the terrible forest fires of last summer. Since you last met, the Royal Commission on Trucking has completed its enquiry, and their report is expected to be in the hands of the Government in the immediate future. Copies will be laid before you soon thereafter. Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: The Newfoundland Savings Bank has developed so greatly since Confederation that my Government feel that the time has come when the scope of its operations and its usefulness to the Province should be broadened. At the present time an amount of nearly twenty-seven million dollars, deposited in the Bank by over thirty thousand depositors, has been invested by the management of the Bank in Canadian Government, Provincial Government, and Provincially-guaranteed bonds. Very little of this large reservoir of capital has been invested in Newfoundland, its industries and commerce. In order to provide a more effective use of these funds my Ministers have held discussions with the four chartered Banks which operate in Newfoundland, as well as with one large chartered bank which does not operate in this Province; and as a result proposals were invited by the Government for the taking over of the assets and liabilities of the Savings Bank as a going concern. The offers received were most attractive, and clearly demonstrated the confidence of those great financial institutions (the greatest in Canada) in the worth and integrity of this old institution. The most generous of the offers received came from the Bank of Montreal, and this my Government have decided to accept. The offer accepted by the Government calls for the sale of the Savings Bank as a going concern to the Bank of Montreal for a sum in cash of slightly less than Three Million Dollars. The Bank of Montreal will shortly take over the active management of the Savings Bank and the Government will retire completely from participation in it. My Government have decided, subject to your concurrence, to share the profit made on the sale of the Savings Bank with the depositors of that Bank, each depositor to receive a cash bonus or dividend in proportion to his deposit. It is intended, therefore, to pay on March 31st next, to all depositors who have deposits in the Savings Bank on this day on which I am speaking in this House, in addition to the normal interest that would be paid in any case, an extra bonus in cash of one per cent per annum for the year ending on March 31st next. This will amount to a total of about quarter of a million dollars as a special payment to depositors on the deposits that exist this day, January 24th. My Ministers intend also to pay another one per centum per annum additional interest to those same depositors on those same deposits less any withdrawals, one year from March 31st, namely, on March 31st, 1963. That will be approximately another quarter of a million dollars cash bonus to be paid to those depositors. Then, on March 31st, 1964, a similar payment, amounting to another quarter of a million dollars, will be paid as a final instalment of this special cash dividend or bonus, and bringing the total to about three-quarters of a million dollars to be paid out in extra interest to the depositors. These payments will mean that depositors now receiving 3% will receive on their deposits for the year ending next March 31st a total interest of 4%; on the year ending March 31st, 1963, a total interest of 3¾%; and on March 31st, 1964, a total interest 3¾%. Thereafter they will continue to receive on their deposits the standard interest rate then paid by the chartered Banks of Canada. Most Bankers confidently expect that that rate will have increased to 3% by then. As the total to be received by the Government for the sale of the Savings Bank will amount to just under $3,000,000, and this special cash bonus to the present depositors will be a total of about three-quarters of a million dollars, there will remain of the total a sum of about two and a quarter million dollars. My Ministers propose to set aside one million dollars of this sum as a special endowment for the children of Newfoundland, with special thought being given to retarded children and to the matter of a handsomely-equipped hospital for sick and crippled children. The remaining balance of over a million dollars would be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Newfoundland. My Government realize that these details, as they apply to the depositors of the Savings Bank, may be somewhat lacking in clarity. For that reason a clear-cut explanation will be mailed to every individual depositor. Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: You will be asked to vote Supply to Her Majesty, and to that end Estimates will be laid before you in due course. I invoke the blessing of Almighty God upon your deliberations, and pray that your work in the present session will enure to the benefit of all Newfoundlanders.