Legislative ftssirmbly We were fortunate in the past year to enjoy one of the best growing seasons in our history. The grain and the potato crop were exceptional — we were short a little on pasture but that is not unusual in this area — but we had a grain crop last year that was a record and I believe quite a lot of the credit for that would be the foresight on the part of the former administration in introducing that measure of subsidy to farmers for the growing of grain and forage crops. The tobacco growers this year had the best year they had in their history. I don't know the figure, I think it is a quarter or half a million dollars, and at this time I think it is only fair to commend the former Matheson government as it was known for breaking ground in this regard. There are quite a number of tobacco growers now and they are, I think, quite happy with their endeavours. I might mention that it was only introduced in 1969 and the Liberals were out at that time; it was followed by the previous administration. But at that time it was new business, a little speculative to some people. But the Shaw Government gave it every support that it needed at the time, and today we have a very thriving segment of our economy. They did not, at that time, mobilize a wrecking crew to try to destroy it, but they gave it support, as I said already, and we have something worthwhile. It was somewhat different with the present administration in some of the industries whieh this province was enjoying up until a short time ago. They immediately sent in their wrecking crew, as we will call it, and by that action that they took at that time there are hundreds of people out ox work today. Here we have a ease of the wrecking crew at work, here is a case of politics versus progress, something that should not be tolerated in industry. Here is a case of political expedience versus a contented and happy community. Mr. Speaker , there has always been a problem of finding suitable employment for the non-skilled or semi-skilled members of our labour force. But there is no doubt in my mind that the former Government did more to alleviate this problem than any of its predecessors. (Applause) It is understandable that any industry promoted here, be it great or small, to a large extent must be tied in very colaely with the products of the land and the adjoining coastal waters as well as the by-products thereof. The by-products of Foods alone would go a long way in supplying some of the necessary pro¬ tein supplements in our home grown grams if it had been allowed to reach its po¬ tential. It has been rumoured of late that this plant is supposed to open in the not too distant future. I hope, when this plant opens, that there will be no such thing as political strings pulled in order that those men who gave a lot in that there will not go back to work. They should get back on their merits and the sooner they go back the better. (Applause) Transportation has always been of vital importance to people in this pro¬ vince. Geographically speaking, we are separated from the mainland by the North¬ umberland Strait, and in summer the traffic exceeds the transportation possibilities. Then in winter there is the ice problem and it is hoped, with the construction of the Causeway, it will solve this problem. Nevertheless we must always keep in mind that the work of this project is about to start, but it will be several years until it is completed. In the meantime we should be prepared for such conditions as arose last summer. The workers of the ferry were on strike and there is no guarantee, Mr. Speaker , that such a state of affairs may not occur again. This poses a very serious threat to our tourist trade, as well as our economy as a whole. The alternative offered at that time, by the present Government, re-routing the traffic to Wood Islands was, to say the very least, childish. The facilities of the Northumberland Ferries, adequate as they may be for the normal traffic, could hardly be expected to carry the hand-baggage of the traffic that was seeking ad¬ mission at that time. I strongly recommend that the provincial government, along with the federal authorities and the CNR officials, take whatever steps are neces¬ sary to prevent a repetition of that disasterous calamity of last year. There is still another aspect of our transportation system which I have not touched on, and that is our snow-plow service. Perhaps I should say our de-service. I don't know what it was like in some of the other areas but in our area, at times, it was pathetic. Mr. Speaker , it takes more than a coat of yellow paint and a bit of a wedge plow to transform an old derelict truck into a snow-plow. That is what some of the contractors were using this year. (Laughter) In my own area we were serv¬ ed during the last several years by government plows and our operator was Cecil Bell . If you would put that man back to work he could save you a lot of money. —265—