I would like to share with honourable members and read for the record the contents of a letter government has received from the leaders of five unions that represent many of our public service employees.

The letter states:

Dear Premier Williams:

As you are aware, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in NAPE v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Newfoundland that in 1991 the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador discriminated against persons in female dominated job classes when the Legislature enacted the Public Sector Restraint Act. However, the Court also held that this infringement was justified in light of the Province�s financial position at the time.

We recognize, therefore, that the Supreme Court of Canada decision extinguishes all legal rights to the pay equity wage adjustments for the period 1988-1991, which were eliminated by the legislation.

That said, despite the extinguishment of the legal rights of those entitled to pay equity, we were pleased to hear that your Government recognizes the need to now find a means to redress this situation. On December 5, 2005 you rose in the House of Assembly to say:

It is in that spirit that we write to you today.

We ask that in keeping with your public comments, you consider making an ex gratia payment of $24,000,000 to the Association of Allied Health Professionals, Canadian Union of Public Employees, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees and the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses� Union in recognition of the value of the sacrifices made by our Province�s public servants in 1988 to 1991.

Their sacrifice improved Newfoundland and Labrador�s financial situation and now, as our economy flourishes, we are reaping the fruits of their labors. Such a gesture would heal the long festering wound which exists between the Government and its public servants and permit the forging of a new relationship based on mutual respect and recognition of the value of the work of our public servants.

It is time for all parties to put the past behind us.

The letter is signed by: Sharon King, Association of Allied Health Professionals; Dave Reynolds, Canadian Union of Public Employees; Bob Clarke, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1615; Carol Ann Furlong, Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees; and Debbie Forward, Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses� Union.

What an ex gratia payment would amount to is a tangible measure of solace for those whom the province considers to have suffered more than others by the necessary action it took in meeting the financial crisis of 1991.

I am very proud and extremely pleased to announce in this honourable House today that our government will be fulfilling this request by union leadership and making that ex gratia payment of $24 million.

2006 03 23                                                1:50 p.m.