Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonctiondu locuteur Parti politique Terre- Neuve et Labrador 33ème 2e Discours du Trône 4 mars 1964 Fabian O’Dea Lieutenant Gouverneur Liberal NEWFOUNLAND: Speech from the Throne, Second Session of the Thirty-Third General Assembly, March 4th, 1964 Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: So far as may be judged at this time our Province, in the present year, is to see the commencement of some of the greatest developments in our history, Our great heritage, the hydro-electric resource of Labrador, is on the point of being developed. A total volume of approximately nine million horsepower, so we are informed by qualified persons, may be developed from that great watershed. This would, of course, make it the largest single development of hydro-electricity in the world. It is the property of Newfoundland, and Newfoundland in its wisdom has conceded to the British Newfoundland Corporation the exclusive right to develop it. That Corporation, whose rights you have confirmed to it in legislation enacted in previous sessions, has applied itself energetically to the business of bringing about the development, and all of us share the hope that the Corporation may be on the verge of success. A very great volume of low-cost electricity will, before many years have passed, pour from this area. While Newfoundland would be pleased if most of this were at the outset to be transmitted to other parts of Canada, and to the United States of America, my Government are confident that the Newfoundland people will never be thoroughly content with this development until a generous proportion of the electricity produced is consumed within our Province. My Government have already announced their intention to proceed directly, as a matter of public enterprise, with the development of the hydro-electric resources of the Bay d'Espoir area. The Atlantic Development Board have already indicated publicly their interest in this project, and it would appear to be probable that that Board will assist the Province to bring about the development, and help to reduce the delivered cost of the electricity, by means of a substantial grant of the type which the Board have already given to the Province of New Brunswick. A satisfactory arrangement has been made by my Government with the British Newfoundland Corporation for the supervision of the development of the Bay d'Espoir water-power resources. The Power Commission will continue to expand its production until all economic water power sites of this Island are under production and the electricity so produced is flowing through a network of transmission and distribution lines extending throughout the Province to bring electricity to virtually all parts of this Island. The production of low-cost electricity is now considered to be indispensible to the economic growth of any area, and Newfoundland can be no exception. My Ministers continue their efforts to bring about the establishment of a third mill to make economic use of our pulpwood resources. A statement has already been made with regard to the establishment of a pulp mill at Come-by-Chance. My Government are negotiating for the establishment of yet another pulp mill in this Province; which, if it should come, would make the fourth mill. This fourth mill, it is proposed, would be established on the southwestern shore of Lake Melville, near the mouth of the Kenamu River, just across Lake Melville from Goose Airport. My Ministers are striving to bring about the start of actual construction of both proposed mills in the forthcoming season, and they are not without confidence that their efforts will meet with the success that must be the desire of all our people. Mr. Speaker, the development of our great Newfoundland fisheries is a cause that lies deep in the hearts of our people. The fervent interest of Newfoundlanders in fishery development was manifest in the Fishery Conference which the Premier of Newfoundland called in the City of St. John's in the autumn of 1962. The Premier placed before the present Prime Minister of Canada my Government's proposals for fishery development. These proposals suggested a fishery development programme for the whole of Canada rather than merely for Newfoundland alone. The present Prime Minister of Canada proposed in a letter which was subsequently made public, the calling of a National Fisheries Conference at Ottawa that should be held for the purpose of laying the foundations for a national fishery development programme to be based on principles paralleling those which guide the development of Canada's agriculture. This conference was held a few weeks ago and the declaration that was made at its conclusion by Canada's Minister of Fisheries laid down the principles that had been enunciated by the Prime Minister of Canada in the letter to which I have referred. I am sure that all of us in Newfoundland will now scrutinize each year, for the next few years, the proposals that the Government of Canada will lay before Parliament in the several departmental Estimates of Expenditure which, when taken together, will represent the Canadian Government's share of the cost of the practical implementation of fishery development proposals. It may be necessary to emphasize the fact that a national fishery development programme will require a number of years to prepare, launch and carry into successful operation. No Province of Canada stands to gain more from such a programme than does Newfoundland, and this Province must be prepared to contribute substantially to the cost of it. I am sure that we all pray for its success. My Government have laid the foundations for what they hope, and I am sure all Newfoundlanders hope, is to be an outstanding institution of its kind: the new College of Fisheries, Navigation, Marine Engineering and Electronics. The first small class of students has been invited into the College, and the first short courses of instruction have been completed. A second class, more carefully selected, is about to commence its work. These classes will grow in number and size, as well as variety. The teaching staff, which already includes some distinguished men from both sides of the Atlantic, will continue to be enlarged and strengthened. My Ministers are determined to make new College an important and successful institution, not merely for Newfoundland but for Canada as a whole. You have already learned from the public press of the intention of the Government of Canada to contribute a sum of two and a half million dollars toward the cost of erecting in Newfoundland some form of building to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Confederation of Canada. Two important conditions have been attached to the offer. One is that the Government of Newfoundland shall match the amount to be received from the Government of Canada, which will make it a structure costing at least five million dollars. The other is that the building shall be erected in the capital city of the Province. My Government had already decided, and announced publicly, their decision to erect such a building to be a centre for culture and the arts in Newfoundland. Indeed, my Ministers had already commenced negotiations for the purchase of the necessary site. Canada's gift comes, therefore, with all the greater welcome. In the meanwhile, the Government of Canada had previously announced the decision to contribute a sum amounting to one dollar a person of our population to go toward the Province's cost of celebrating Canada's centenary. This would come to something less than half a million dollars. My Government have decided to make contributions, of a cost-sharing nature, to a number of representative towns in this Province. My Ministers hope that the towns in question will be willing to spend these funds upon some useful, physically attractive, and enduring monument to the Confederation of our great Canadian nation. Details of the arrangement will be laid before you in due course. My Government have decided to proceed in the immediate future with the establishment of a 300-bed hospital for sick children. This new institution, which is to be of the most modern and efficient character, is to be established in the large hospital building at Fort Pepperrell. This very substantial building, which was constructed of poured concrete, and was used by the United States Government as an efficient hospital, is in almost perfect physical condition. It will require remarkably little modification in its constructural detail, and my Ministers are determined to make of it one of the most attractive of Canada's hospitals for sick children. The children's hospital itself will be the heart and headquarters of a children's health centre that my Government plan to establish and operate at Fort Pepperell. In that centre many aspects of child health and welfare will receive carefully-planned attention. Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: You will be asked to give consideration to a Bill dealing with fair employment practices which would seek to have Newfoundland adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the United Nations. You will be asked to enact legislation affecting the Hamilton Falls power development. You will be similarly asked to enact legislation affecting the hydro-electric development at Bay d'Espoir. The principal group of private owners to whom my Government, a few years ago, sold the majority shares in the Newfoundland and Labrador Corporation have agreed to surrender their shares to the Government of Newfoundland. It may be necessary to have this arrangement confirmed by you in legislation that would be introduced for the purpose. You will be asked to enact legislation providing for the establishment of the College of Fisheries to which I have already referred. My Government continue to carry out their policy of attracting into Newfoundland active and energetic mining companies to prospect for minerals. Four such enterprises are presently proceeding, and you will be asked to ratify agreements made by my Government with Leitch Gold Mines, Limited; the M.J. Boylen interests; Consolidated Rambler Mining Company Limited; and Grandroy Mining Limited. My Ministers take great satisfaction from the fact that their efforts have, since you last met, resulted in the opening of the great new asbestos mine at Baie Verte at a cost of nearly thirty million dollars. My Ministers will seek your concurrence in their proposal to create a Municipal Finance Corporation for the purpose of facilitating the growing number of municipalities in raising, by bond issues and other forms of borrowing, the monies they need from year to year to give their respective communities the capital works and other capital improvements demanded by their citizens. You will be asked to consider legislation amending the Summary Jurisdiction Act, the Management of the Grand Falls Hospital Act, the Local Government Affairs Act and the Crown Lands Act. A Bill will also be presented concerning building standards. My Ministers will lay before you a request for legislation affecting the City of Corner Brook, the Department of Health, the Election Act, as well as the Highway Traffic Act and the Wild Life Act. Further proposed legislation that you will be asked to consider will deal with such matters as the adoption and custody of children, communicable diseases, Family Courts, and mentally ill persons. You will also be asked to consider an amendment to the St. John's Metropolitan Area Act, as well as the Urban and Rural Planning Act. Your attention will be invited to the Waters Protection Act, the Companies Act, the Education Act and the Grace Hospital Act. My Ministers will further invite your consideration of the Hog Breeding (Control of Disease) Act. You will be asked to amend the Housing Act, the Income Tax Act and the Local School Tax Act. A substantial number of other Acts and amendments will be laid before you in the present session. Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly: I shall ask that you grant supply to Her Majesty, and to that end Estimates of Expenditure will be laid before you in due course. I invoke the blessing of Almighty God upon your deliberations and pray that your work will enure to the welfare of all our people.