Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Terre-Neuve et Labrador 33e 1ère Discours du Trône 20 mars 1963 Fabian O’Dea Lieutenant Gouverneur Liberal Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: In opening this the First Session of the Thirty-Third General Assembly of Newfoundland I would like to say how deeply I appreciate the honour of having been appointed to be the personal representative of Her Majesty the Queen in this Province. This is the highest honour that can be awarded to a Canadian it Newfoundland, and I trust that, coinciding as it does with the opening of this the Thirty-Third General Assembly you, Mr. Speaker, and the Members of this Honourable House and I as Newfoundland's Lieutenant-Governor, will be instrumental, you in passing and I in giving Royal Assent to many measures for the greater good of our Province and its people. In the early part of last autumn the Premier of this Province issued a call for the holding of a conference for the purpose of considering the problems of the fishery. This conference was attended by more than two hundred persons who were actively concerned with the fisheries, and included producing fishermen, fish-buyers, fish-processors, fish-marketers and others. The Government of Newfoundland was well represented by persons from the Department of Fisheries, and from Boards and other organizations connected with that Department. The Fisheries Departments of the Governments of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Quebec attended as interested observers. The Department of Fisheries, as well as the Department of Agriculture of the Government of Canada, were ably represented by senior officials. The conference selected twenty-seven of its members who were then appointed by my Government to be a special Fishery Commission whose task was described as being that of considering the problems of the fisheries, making recommendations for a programme of development, and submitting a final report to my Ministers. The Commission has worked industriously at these purposes, and only within recent hours has submitted its final report. Interim recommendations were, however, submitted to my Government in the autumn, and their second and principal series of recommendations was submitted early in the New Year. In the meantime my Ministers had decided that parallel action could be taken directly, and with that purpose in mind retained the professional services of two distinguished Canadian economists in the persons of Dr. M. W. Menzies and Dr. William Carr. These economists prepared a special report, with recommendations, which my Government decided to submit to the Government of Canada along with the main recommendations of the Fishery Commission. The economists and the members of the Fishery Commission established and maintained close liaison, and succeeded in preparing two separate reports that did not conflict with but rather complemented one another. Together they constitute the most thoroughgoing documentation of the case for a national, coast-to-coast, all-Canada fishery development programme ever, perhaps, formulated in Canada. The Premier of the Province has endeavoured to obtain from the major political parties in the Federal field assurances of their acceptance of the principle advocated, namely, that the fishing industry of Canada as a whole should receive Federal assistance along lines that would parallel the Federal assistance so generously given in the past, and stilt being given, to the farming industry. It is the opinion of my Ministers that large-scale fishery development in Newfoundland can only come as part of a national Canadian programme, in which the principal costs will be borne by the Treasury of Canada. My Ministers had hoped that they would be in a position to bring to you in the present Session official assurances of the Government of Canada that these principles had been accepted and would be carried out. Had they been able to do so it was their intention to ask your careful consideration of a series of proposals which the Province itself would introduce and carry out as the Provincial share of the overall programme. The present Federal General Election has thus far frustrated my Government's hope in that regard, but my Ministers are still very hopeful that they will receive the necessary official assurances before the conclusion of this present Session. It would appear that this would be sometime not too long after the conclusion of this present election. There is a strong desire that the development programme should, at least in part, be launched in Newfoundland in the present year, and we may all hope that this will prove to be possible. One of the most useful conferences to be held in Newfoundland for some considerable time was that which enabled a substantial number of the persons engaged in it to consider the problems of the saw mill and lumber industry and trade of Newfoundland. This Conference, which was called by the Premier of the Province and organized by my Minister of Mines, Agriculture and Resources, brought together a very great number of important facts and succeeded in exposing and explaining much of the true nature of the problems associated with this industry. The whole purpose of the Conference was to provide a meeting ground and, so to speak, a clearinq house for ideas and information connected with saw milling and lumber in Newfoundland and Labrador. You will be pleased, I am sure, to know that the Conference itself has led to the formation of more than one organization of those engaged in the industry, and that various meetings have been held to enable those most directly concerned to evolve policies and solutions in this field. It is quite probable that you will be asked in this and possibly a future Session of your House to consider proposals and reforms to be submitted by these organ- izations. Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: Consideration continues to be given by my Ministers, and by officials within the Civil Service, to the problems associated with the transportation by motor truck of pulpwood and other logs over the highways of our Province. It is abundantly clear that in this new age of road transportation the trucking industry of this Province will, like that of so many other Provinces and States, wish increasingly to use the roads as the principal means of moving pulpwood and other logs to the points of consumption. It is equally clear that the tendency to use ever larger trucks, and to carry ever larger loads of wood, will continue unabatedly. I am confident that you will view this trend with sympathy, even while you feel concern for the deterioration that is almost certain to come in the condition of these roads as a direct result of such heavy usage. Indeed, it is quite apparent that there is here something of a conflict of interest. On the one hand, the Government and people in general will not wish to have roads that are expensive to build and maintain greatly damaged by their use for very heavy loads, and at the same time the increasing numbers of citizens who earn their living and support their families in this trucking business will continue to hold a strong desire to improve their economic status by the use of larger vehicles and the movement of heavier loads of wood. My Ministers propose to invite your attention to this problem in the present Session of your House. In the year 1959 as a result of serious breaches of the law resulting from the Loggers Strike of that year this Honourable House unanimously enacted legislation applying rigid controls to Labour Unions and Labour Union officials. These controls were modified at the Session held in 1960. My Ministers feel now that further modifications may safely be introduced and amendments with that in view will be submitted for your consideration. One of our major problems in public health is the provision of hospital beds, and satisfactory progress is being made in this field. In the present financial year the great new hospital at Grand Falls providing 192 beds has been completed and was only recently turned over to the Hospital Board. The Nurses Home in St. John's providing 330 beds for nurses and staff has been completed and will shortly be in use. The new hospital at Gander provides 150 beds, is nearing completion, and should be ready for use in August or September of this year. An addition to the Grand Bank Hospital of 20 beds is well advanced in construction and should be ready by June. Residences for doctors have been provided at Brookfield, Come-by-Chance and Grand Bank in this year. On the drafting board and to be started in the coming year are new hospitals at Happy Valley, Labrador, 20 beds; Labrador City, 60 beds; Baie Verte, 40 beds; and Bell Island. 40 beds. In addition to this there is the adaptation of one of the floors of the Western Sanatorium which will now provide, for general hospital purposes, 100 beds which were previously used for the treatment of tuberculosis. In addition to all of these provisions by the Department of Health, the Department of Public Welfare has revised the plans for the new Home for the Aged and Infirm. This building will house 260 persons, and a contract for its erection will shortly be negotiated. The Twin Falls Power Corporation Limited has notified my Ministers that it proposes to double its development of hydroelectric power from the "Unknown River" at Twin Falls. My Ministers will therefore introduce legislation to facilitate the development of this water power to its maximum economic capacity. Negotiations are under way between the Government, British Newfoundland Corporation Limited and Golden Eagle Refining Company of Canada Limited for the drilling for oil on the West Coast of the Province. If negotiations proceed satisfactorily, the necessary legislation will be introduced. My Ministers have been informed that Rio Tinto Canadian Exploration Limited have acquired the benefits of an Agreement made some years ago between the Government and Frobisher Limited. My Ministers are happy that a Company· this standing is coming into Newfoundland and a Bill will be introduced confirming and extending their rights under this Agreement. An Agreement made between my Minister of Mines, Agriculture and Resources and Warren S. Axtell providing for exploration for minerals in the Spruce Brook area will be presented for your approval. Bills ratifying Agreements made with British-Newfoundland Exploration Company Limited, Sturgeon River Mines Limited and Advocate Mines Limited will also be submitted for your consideration. A Company is being incorporated to take over the ownership and management of the Fibrply Plant near Donovans. My Ministers hope to be able to introduce the necessary legislation during the present Session. Experience gathered at the last Provincial Election has disclosed certain weaknesses in our Election Act, it being found that certain servicemen and their dependents were disenfranchised. In this respect our legislation is similar to that prevailing in the other Provinces. My Ministers have had this matter under consideration and amendments to The Election Act will be introduced remedying this situation. At the same time my Ministers will recommend that the voting age of electors be reduced so as to enable those of twenty years age and over to vote in Provincial Elections. Because of the great emphasis which my Ministers are placing on the need for technical and vocational education, and in view of the fact that twelve such institutions will be available from September next, it is felt that present legislation is insufficient to handle the programme proposed. A new Bill will therefore be introduced providing for the repeal of existing laws and the enactment of legislation which will prepare the way for greatly expanded work in this field. My Ministers will submit for your consideration a Bill to provide for the training and classification of teachers. This Bill is both a consolidation and revision of present legislation on this subject. Amendments will also be introduced to The Education Act and to The Education (Teachers' Pensions) Act. My Ministers have concluded an Agreement with Robin Hood Flour Mills Limited for the establishment and operation of a feed mill and storage facilities. This Agreement has been executed and a Bill will be submitted for its ratification. It has been the policy of my Ministers to extend the supply of electricity to our people. With this end in view a Bill will be presented providing for the distribution, under the management of a Local Board, of electricity in rural areas which cannot be supplied commercially. A Bill will be introduced consolidating and revising The Social Security Assessment Act. This Bill will clarify existing Acts but no increase in rates is contemplated. A number of Bills dealing with departmental matters will be submitted for your consideration. Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: I will ask that you grant Supply to Her Majesty and, 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 this your First Session will enure to the benefit of all our people.