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February 28, 2017

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVIII No. 60

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Osborne):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

welcome to our public gallery today Mark Brown, Weston Bennett, Constable Bill

Day and Corporal David Smyth who will be the subject of a Ministerial Statement

today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

As well, we would like to

welcome to the public gallery Patrick Foran, Ane Christiensen and Sharon

King-Campbell who will be the subject of a Member's statement today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

I would also like to

introduce and welcome two new Pages, Ms. Carmen Thiessen and Ms. Catherine

Bennett.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Ms. Thiessen is a student at

Memorial University majoring in political science and communications studies.

Ms. Bennett is also a student at Memorial University and is currently studying

commerce.

As well,

we welcome back our returning Pages, Ms. Crystal Snelgrove, Tresha Moorhouse and

Mohammed Ali Bakhshi.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

For Members' statements today

we have the Member for the District of St. John's Centre, Baie Verte Green

Bay, Lewisporte Twillingate, Fogo Island Cape Freels, Conception Bay East

Bell Island, and Placentia West Bellevue.

The hon.

the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It gives

me great joy to celebrate Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland as it marks its 20th

anniversary season with a sold-out run of

The Colony of Unrequited Dreams .

Colony was based on the best-selling novel by Wayne Johnston, adapted for

stage by award-winning Robert Chafe and directed by award-winning Jillian

Keiley.

Colony

tells the story of Smallwood's rise to power, the final years of Newfoundland as

a country and the completion of Canada from coast to coast. The material is of

unchallenged relevance within the sphere of 20th century Canadian history.

To mark

Canada's 150th anniversary, Artistic Fraud's

Colony is on tour. Last month it played at Canada's National Arts

Centre in Ottawa earning rave reviews in

The Globe , the Ottawa Citizen and

other national media. The tour continues this month to Halifax's Neptune Theatre

and then onto The Grand Theatre in London. And there will be more.

Twenty-six Newfoundland artists are employed in the production and

Colony will be seen by more than 30,000 theatre goers. Artistic

Fraud is supported by sustaining funds form the crucial Newfoundland and

Labrador Arts Council and the market access component of the Cultural Economic

Development Program.

Bravo

Artistic Fraud, you make us proud! Spectacular!

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Baie

Verte Green Bay.

MR. WARR:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today to pay tribute to an outstanding organization: the

Springdale branch of the Women's Institute. This year, the organization is

celebrating its 80th anniversary of community service, and celebrations are

planned for a full year.

I'm

pretty sure the original founders, back in 1937, had no idea that this

organization would survive through a World War, a worldwide economic depression

and a vote on Confederation that made us all Canadian 12 years after they

formed.

addition to benefiting its own members, the Women's Institute is a pillar in our

community. The institute makes donations to hospitals, schools and charity

groups across the province. Originally called the Jubilee Guild because of its

focus on craft developments like weaving and leather work, the name didn't

change until 1968.

Working

out of their home at the town hall in Springdale, the Women's Institute

continues to improve the lives of their members and their community. They have

been awarding scholarships to local schools since 1963 and, today, they assist

with the breakfast program at a local school as well.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in congratulating the Women's Institute of

Springdale on their 80th anniversary. Here's to the next 80 years.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Lewisporte Twillingate.

MR. D. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House to recognize an outstanding volunteer and outdoor enthusiast

from my District of Lewisporte Twillingate: Mr. Chris Vincent.

Chris

devoted his career as being a physical education teacher and retired from the

Lewisporte Academy as vice-principal in 2006. During his career, he was a strong

advocate for promoting physical activity and healthy living, especially to his

students. He served on the Public Library Board, Lewisporte Age-Friendly

Committee and is a founding member of the O2 Athletic Club in Lewisporte.

Chris is

also a devoted kayaker and instructor. This past year, he was recognized by

Paddle Newfoundland and Labrador with the Austin Anthony Making Waves Award for

his dedicated work and promoting safe paddling within the province. Mr.

Vincent's efforts in kayaking and canoeing include organizing the Central

Newfoundland Safety Day, instructing kayaking courses for schools and at the

Women in the Outdoors session, along with delivering presentations to youth at

Loon Bay United Church Camp.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in congratulating Mr. Chris Vincent on his award,

and thanking him for all his years of volunteer service.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Fogo

Island Cape Freels.

MR. BRAGG:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

always a pleasure to rise in this hon. House and inform my colleagues of great

things that happen in my district. February 13 to 19 was winter festival week in

Centreville-Wareham-Trinity in Indian Bay.

Lorraine

Ackerman and her dedicated group of volunteers hosted the 24th annual event. The

naming of their mascot, a snowman, was the buzz lead-up to the event. Willie

Melt will lead the festival for years to come.

Good

fellowship and community spirit was on the menu every day. The week was filled

with good food, good music and an exceptional snowmobile ride through the back

country and I almost forgot, the bingo.

A couple

of weeks ago, the main topic on a local call-in show was: Will rural

Newfoundland and Labrador survive? To that, I say, ask the people of my district

who dedicate their time and very hard work to make every event a success.

I ask

all Members to join me in thanking the Centreville-Wareham-Trinity Indian Bay

festival committee for another successful winter carnival.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I had the honour to attend an event in my district this past fall that

was about celebrating the accomplishments of students of St. Michaels high on

Bell Island. Only a short few years ago, St. Michaels was labelled as the least

successful high school in Atlantic Canada as it related to academic achievement,

community engagement and social development.

I'm

happy to announce that, as of this school year, St. Michaels has the distinction

of being the most improved high school in Atlantic Canada, a testament to the

administration, teachers, school council, the community, but most importantly,

the students.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

The night saw a great

celebration that included all sectors of the community with a slideshow

outlining the school's accomplishments, speeches by dignitaries congratulating

the school, a musical evening that had music for all ages. The entertainment

included country music star Craig Young, Irish traditional band the Punters and

local rock band Beacon Point. A special note of thanks to Bell Island resident

Kelly Russell for organizing this event.

I ask

all Members to join me in congratulating all involved with St. Michaels high on

their accomplishments.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West Bellevue.

MR. BROWNE:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today

once again to recognize the outstanding success of Canada's national figure

skating champion Katelyn Osmond. I have stood in my place before this hon. House

to celebrate her success before and, today, I do so again and with good reason.

Her career has been remarkable, going from a young figure skater in Marystown to

a strong, young woman receiving professional training in Montreal and Edmonton.

She is a silver Olympic medalist and, as of January, now a three-time Canadian

national champion.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BROWNE:

Her recent performance at the

nationals in Ottawa was nothing short of a combination of skills, determination

and poise, as she came back with furor and ability after her most recent

devastating injury. Her total point accumulation of 81.01 is a new Canadian

record.

Mr.

Speaker, we all celebrate in Katelyn's own personal success, but we can also

celebrate the fact that thousands of young boys and girls who share her love of

this sport in our province, and indeed across the country, now look up to

Katelyn and say, if she can start on the ice in Marystown and end up at the

Olympics, then so too can I.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in saying congratulations to Katelyn and all the

best as you approach the Olympics next year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Land Resources.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise today to recognize a significant advancement for the agriculture

industry.

Earlier

this month, I was pleased to join the Premier and the Minister of Municipal

Affairs and Environment in announcing that additional Crown lands would be

available to the agricultural producers in our province.

Mr.

Speaker, my department has identified 62 areas of interest totalling

approximately 64,000 hectares for agricultural use. To date, 19 of those areas

a total of 15,000 hectares have been reserved for development which almost

doubles the amount of Crown land available for agricultural development. We are

also progressing towards making much of the remaining 43 areas available in the

very near future.

Prior to

making this decision, we consulted with farmers, municipalities and other

stakeholders who are knowledgeable about the industry. Their input was

invaluable.

Mr.

Speaker, this is an important initiative outlined in the

Way Forward: A vision for Sustainability and Growth in Newfoundland and

Labrador . By moving forward with these changes to Crown lands, we are

helping farmers expand their operations; encouraging new entrants to consider

agriculture as a viable career, and advancing food security measures.

Mr.

Speaker, we are delivering on our commitment to increase food self-sufficiency

by at least 20 per cent by 2022.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for the advance copy of his statement. Mr. Speaker, we are pleased

to see additional Crown land being made available for agricultural use. The

minister's word is that we have spoken about this before. In fact, the

recommendation came straight from our 2015 policy blueprint plus it was part of

a review of our Crown lands when we were, the former administration, where it

was part of our plans under the review. Sorry, I lost my train of thought.

committed to relax Crown land policies for farm use and to make food security a

provincial priority. It's a great beginning, Mr. Speaker, and we need to see

additional measures.

If the

province is truly committed to helping farmers and agriculture producers take

full advantage of the opportunities to increase local food production, we need

to see one good announcement followed by others.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I, too,

thank the minister for the advanced copy of his statement. And this is an

important first step towards greater food self-sufficiency and I'm glad to see

this move. However, making land available without providing sufficient money for

established farmers and new entrants to develop this land is an empty gesture.

The industry needs public investment. It will also need a pool of labour, which

currently does not exist. Government will need to help with this issue as well.

These further actions are essential for the industry to grow.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The hon.

the Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, Crime Stoppers Newfoundland and Labrador is celebrating 25 years of

serving the people of our province by working to make our communities safe and

secure. I would like to thank the organization for their dedicated service and

their efforts in gathering anonymous tips to help solve crimes.

This

anniversary is an opportunity to raise awareness of this valuable, collaborative

and community effort, as well as recognize the hard work and dedication of the

volunteers who strive to increase awareness of the program. This is a

community-based organization involving the public, the police as well as the

media. All invest a substantial amount of time and energy to gather important

information to prevent and solve crime.

Mr.

Speaker, there have been over 1,800 cases cleared since this program started,

with over 3,600 charges laid and $9.1 million in goods and drugs seized directly

as a result of the efforts of Newfoundland and Labrador's Crime Stoppers

program.

I would

also like to thank the members of the public who have come forward to offer more

than 36,000 tips to assist in keeping their communities safe. The public's

participation is vital in seeing that those who commit crimes are held

accountable for their actions. Crime Stoppers would not be the success that it

is without the public's assistance.

Mr.

Speaker, Crime Stoppers would also like to remind everyone that if we see

something, say something. And remember, information is provided anonymously.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all hon. Members of this House to join me in congratulating Crime

Stoppers Newfoundland and Labrador on their 25th anniversary in this province.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We on

this side of the House join with the minister and government and the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador in recognizing and celebrating the 25th anniversary of

Crime Stoppers Newfoundland and Labrador, an organization that's done tremendous

work throughout province.

Edmund

Burke said many, many years ago: Evil prevails when good men do nothing. And I

can tell you that crime prevention initiatives and crime protection initiatives

and supports that are provided by Crime Stoppers have spoken, as the minister

has referenced, have been instrumental in solving and supporting the efforts of

those investigating crime and also as a deterrence to crime. That gives people,

good people, an opportunity to assist and support the efforts of our police.

Public,

police and the media working together is proving to be beneficial for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We congratulate all those who've supported

Crime Stoppers through the years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

thank the minister.

How

crucial it is to ensure our communities are safe for all people. Immense

gratitude and congratulations to all those involved with Crime Stoppers 25

years; bravo!

Now,

let's do everything we can to prevent crime, which is often a result of the

problems and challenges surrounding drug addiction. We do need a drug court with

additional treatment and rehab programming. We need more affordable and

supportive housing options and a real comprehensive opioid treatment plan, and

we must act quickly.

Again,

thank you to Crime Stoppers. Bravo for 25 years of dedication.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, here yesterday in the House once again the Premier has clearly stated

there have been no discussions with Quebec regarding hydroelectric developments.

Mr. Speaker, a letter from Quebec, as well as emails, was uncovered through an

ATIPP request that proves otherwise.

So I ask

the Premier: Have you, any members of your staff or any minister responded to

this letter from Quebec Minister Arcand?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

yes, this came up yesterday in the House of Assembly and I did get a chance to

review the email, the letter that had come in from Quebec. Mr. Speaker, no,

there has been no response to that letter. That letter was around the AIT

negotiations that were ongoing, and it was late last May leading up into a

discussion that was going to occur in Whitehorse last year.

Mr.

Speaker, during that meeting, of course, there was significant discussions on

the free flow of electricity to the province. I'm very pleased that during those

negotiations we were able to put in place or we'd be able to negotiate rules

around the free flow of electricity just not through Quebec, but this is a

national item, Mr. Speaker. And we're very pleased to be able to advance this

very important initiative at that table.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

the email trail paints a different picture. The email trail even talks about the

discussion of partnership opportunities. And the letter talks about

hydroelectric development. It's right there in the letter. That very Quebec

letter was also addressed to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and as it's now

called Industry and Innovation, because the department has now taken the focus

off rural development.

I'll ask

the minister of the newly named department: What actions have you taken,

Minister, once you received this letter? What action did you take as a response

to that letter, Minister?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will

certainly say that rural development is a priority and a focus of our

government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. MITCHELMORE:

And, in particular, to the

correspondence that the Member opposite is raising, is exactly what the Premier

is stating. This is correspondence and dialogue as part of the Agreement on

Internal Trade, which is about achieving the free flow of electricity across the

Nation, from east to west, as an energy grid or opportunities that could exist

around the free flow of energy.

And as

Trade Minister, I sat at the table and we entered into a lot of negotiations

around the Agreement on Internal Trade, which has not concluded at this point.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition

Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So the

minister is not going to tell us what action he took in response to the letter

or if he took any at all maybe he didn't even respond.

The

Minister of Natural Resources yesterday didn't want to answer when she was asked

if she had shared the letter with the Premier. Now, Minister, we know that you

were very quick to send the contract of former Nalcor CEO up to the eighth

floor. Let me ask you: Why didn't you send the Quebec letter to the Premier's

office?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon.

Member for his question. Again, this is concerning the Agreement on Internal

Trade and my hon. colleague who just answered the last question, the Minister

for Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation was responsible, was the lead on

that file and the letter was addressed to both he and I.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Actually, what the letter was about was establishing, was the intent it was

presenting the letter to signal the interest and the intent to establish a

business partnership between our two provinces is what it says in relation to

future developments in the domain of energy and more specifically, more

precisely, electrical development. It even goes on to say the development of

hydroelectricity. I don't see any reference there to an Agreement on Internal

Trade.

So we

have the letter from Quebec. It was sent to two ministers. It was sent to the

Premier. The Premier denies ever seeing it, even though he was clearly copied on

the email trail. Even it was forwarded to his chief of staff who said that the

Premier had approved the letter being shared with the premier of Ontario.

So I ask

the Premier: Can you explain to us how you approved sending the letter to

Premier Wynne in Ontario when you say you didn't know anything about it?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think

what the Leader of the Opposition here, as I tried to explain this to him

yesterday, in context of the negotiations around the Agreement on Internal Trade

that was an agreement not about developments, particularly within Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, but I will say if, at any point, negotiations would ever start and

they have not. I make that very clear; They have not. I would think that if

there's an opportunity to create economic benefit and, therefore, improve the

social benefits for people in our province, it would irresponsible for me as

Premier not to at least explore those options.

So those

negotiations are not ongoing, I say, Mr. Speaker. But going back to the reason

why the premier of Ontario would have been included in this, of course it was

the Government of Ontario that were kind of holding the pen and leading the

secretary on many of the issues around the Agreement on Internal Trade.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say

again, the letter is not about the Agreement on Internal Trade. It is not. It

says by the present letter, they're signalling the interest of the Government of

Quebec to initiate discussions means start discussions with the Government

of Newfoundland and Labrador with a view of exploring avenues which allow for

the establishment of a business partnership. And it goes on to talk about future

development: electricity sector; development of hydroelectricity. It's not about

AIT, Mr. Speaker, I'd say otherwise.

As a

matter of fact, the email trail says the same thing. Because it talks about

discussing possible partnership opportunities, et cetera. That means other

things as well. And for the Premier of Ontario, the trail sets out the

discussions were taking place because the Premier of Ontario wanted to see the

letter. She wanted to talk to the Premier of Quebec. She wanted to talk to the

Premier of Newfoundland. That's called discussions, Mr. Speaker.

So I ask

the Premier: come clean with the people of the province and tell us what

discussions are taking place with Quebec?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

coming clean with the people of this province is certainly I've always done,

Mr. Speaker. What this letter is all about is about the Agreement on Internal

Trade, which eventually will be finalized and will become the Canadian Free

Trade Agreement. So, Mr. Speaker, it is being as they say in the legal term

right now, the information is being scrubbed, but what this letter is all about

is about the free flow of electricity through the Province of Quebec.

Mr.

Speaker, that is what that's about. Ontario was involved simply because they

were a big part of the negotiation on the Agreement on Internal Trade, Mr.

Speaker.

I had

meetings with Minister Navdeep Bains on this very issue, Mr. Speaker, as he was

leading some of the negotiations on behalf of the federal government. But I

assure the people of this province, regardless of what the Leader of the

Opposition is saying, regardless of what he wants to believe, this is about the

Agreement on Internal Trade.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last

week, the Minister of Education stated, his words: over my dead body would any

other further cuts to teachers' positions happen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. BRAZIL:

In a bizarre about-face, he

quickly backtracked on his promise of no teacher cuts.

I ask

the Minister: Which is it?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I said

what I meant, and I meant what I said. I clarified my comments and they were

subsequently backed up by the Premier of the Province, and there's nothing

further I can tell you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

So obviously, the Opposition

and the whole of the province heard you change your view on that.

So I

ask: Where you reined in by the Premier's office to change your comments and

come back with something that didn't reflect you standing up for the teachers of

this province? I ask that question.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are

standing up for educators in this province. As I said, I said what I meant, I

meant what I said. I clarified my comments, and the Premier subsequently backed

up those comments. There's nothing further to add.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So in

that vein: Do you stand by your statements that additional cuts would cause

damage that you could not accept as the Minister of Education?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

As I said, Mr. Speaker, I can

repeat it again. I said what I meant, I meant what I said. I clarified my

comments. I have nothing further to add. The Premier has added to that, more or

less, repeating what I said. There's nothing further to add.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So I ask

the minister: Do you stand by your statement that we cannot take any more

teachers out of the classrooms? What actions are you taking to ensure teachers'

positions are safe and our education system is enhanced?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

It's really interesting that

the Member here sat in the House of Assembly when hundreds of teaching positions

were cut in the province in 2013. He never uttered a single word about that at

that time.

Prior to

last year, or the 2015 election, the Premier of the Province, the man who is now

Premier of the Province, said that we would establish a task force on improving

educational outcomes, to do a comprehensive review of the K to 12 system. That

task force has been established. There are four distinguished educators who are

leading that. There have been public consultations all across the province.

Educators, parents, students themselves are participating in the process. We

have gotten very positive reviews on that. We'll get a report on that later this

summer and we'll move from that.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So will

the Minister of Education now admit that the 217 teacher positions he removed

from the grades one to 12 school system in September is a major reason there are

so many challenges in our education system this year?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, it is evident

that it's not only Ross Wiseman who's challenged by mathematics. The Member

opposite has challenges as well. There are 73 73 positions were reduced last

year. Not the number that he's throwing I think it's a new number he's

throwing around now.

As I

said, we've established the Premier has established a task force which is

reviewing the education system, has a broad mandate to look at important matters

such as inclusive education, reading literacy, math, student mental health and

wellness, a host of other issues. They are doing a comprehensive review. This is

a once-in-a-decade opportunity for people to provide feedback. Once we get

recommendations, we will develop a comprehensive education action plan, which we

said would be put into force in September 2018.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

I'm glad the minister brought

up about math because I have to clarify something here. The grades one to 12

system lost 217 teaching positions. He may have replaced the full-day

kindergarten with some additional ones, but the math adds up to 217 positions

lost in the one to 12 system

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

is the reason why we have

so many challenges now. Administrators, the NLTA, the school councils

association all have challenges with our education system right now.

So I do

ask the Minister of Education: The province has already taken out as many

education cuts as possible; will you now ensure no more cuts will happen in this

budget to the education system? That's what you're being asked.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, we don't have a

grade one to 12 education system in this province, and it's shocking that the

Member for Conception Bay East Bell Island would stand here and undermine,

demean and underplay the role played by kindergarten teachers in this province.

I have

been to dozens and dozens of schools this past school year and I've gotten

nothing but positive feedback from kindergarten teachers about the new full-day

kindergarten program that all of the Members of this House of Assembly had

initially committed to, but only the Members on this side of the House of

Assembly saw fit to follow through on.

There is

no one to 12 system. I don't know where that exists, perhaps only in the

Member's mind.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

I remind Members again that

the only person that I wish to hear from is the person identified to speak.

The hon.

the Member for Conception Bay East Bell Island.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

So the minister admits that

cutting 217 positions out of the school system did no harm and did not

contribute to the challenges that are being identified by administrators,

students, parents, school councils and teachers as having a detrimental effect

on our education system.

So I

want to know, the people of this province want to know, the NLTA want to know,

the parents want to know, but particularly students want to know: What are you

doing to ensure that there are no more cuts to our education system in the

upcoming budget?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, if the Member's

genuinely interested in knowing where the challenges in our education system

have come from, he can look at their record in office where they thoroughly

drove this province upon to the rocks, emptied the Treasury. Now, the second

largest expenditure, after health care, in Newfoundland and Labrador today is

paying the interest on the debt that they, mostly, racked up. Education,

unfortunately, tragically, shamefully, today is the third-largest expenditure of

the taxpayers of Newfoundland and Labrador after debt servicing.

That's

their record after 12

years in government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

conversations this past week with the NLTA representatives, with student

councils, with administrators, is all about what is this present Minister of

Education, who's been there since 2015 and has been the critic for four years

prior to that, going to do to ensure the quality of education in this province

doesn't drop off like is being indicated now because of the cuts that were made

in the last budget.

They

want to know what is your plan. We know there's never been a plan about what you

did in the last budget. Let's hope you have a plan in the next budget to improve

our education system. Share it with us, please.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

I'm not sure there was a

question there, Mr. Speaker. I guess I've been invited to provide a response to

whatever that was.

Mr.

Speaker, I've said a number of times now the Premier has appointed a task force

on improving educational outcomes. The intent of that task force is to provide

feedback to the province and we will then issue an education action plan, with

funds supporting that, for the September 2018 school year.

That

task force is made up of distinguished educators from the province. They have a

broad mandate. They are looking at inclusive education, mathematics, early

learning, literacy and reading, inclusive education, as I said, multicultural

education, Aboriginal or Indigenous education and co-operative education. They

have a number of things they are looking at. They'll report back this summer.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

So my question here is: Will

the minister confirm that he will go to bat for the education system in this

province, and the teachers of this province, and ensure there will be no more

cuts to teacher allocations in the upcoming budget? That's what the educators in

this province want to know, it's what the parents want to know, it's what the

taxpayers want to ensure we have an education system that works for the students

of this province.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, I've been going

to bat for educators in this province in this Chamber since 2011 when I was

first elected, and far before that, if that's a surprise to the Member. We have

implemented a number of the promises we made in the election campaign, including

full-day kindergarten. We brought democratic decision making back to the people

of Newfoundland and Labrador by allowing them to elect their own school board

trustees. The Premier had committed to establishing a task force; we have done

that.

So we

are doing everything that we can with the mess that we've been left with by the

previous administration to improve education in this province. If the Member has

substantive recommendations, other than the rhetoric that he is offering us, if

he has substantive recommendations, we're all ears over here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, last week's restructuring by government saw a complete dismantling of

the Department of Environment and Climate Change, with bits and pieces being

divvied up into multiple departments. I ask the former minister of the

department, now the Minister of Service NL, how do you feel about your

government's decision to wipe out that department?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Service NL.

MR. TRIMPER:

Thank you very much for the

question.

I guess

what I could say is that I have the full confidence of the Minister of Municipal

Affairs and Environment, the Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources and other

Members of my Cabinet to ensure that the responsibilities that I had will

continue to be followed by this government.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As an

environmental scientist, with 30 years' experience, the former minister of

Environment and Climate Change is well suited for this portfolio. Many see his

removal from this department as a demotion.

I ask

the Premier: Did you move the former minister of Environment from that

department because he stood up to the federal government and said he was

railroaded by Prime Minister Trudeau on the carbon tax issue?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Absolutely not. I have full confidence in the Minister of SNL right now. I have

confidence in all the Cabinet Members that we have here with this government,

Mr. Speaker. Right now, you know, the current Minister for SNL is still

responsible for a very important committee that's put in place around

methylmercury, as an example, related to the Muskrat Falls Project and the

indigenous communities within Labrador.

We will

always rely on the expertise that we have within his environmental expertise, as

he does a great job as Minister of SNL, like we would every single minister that

we have in this Cabinet.

This is

a team effort over here, Mr. Speaker, and we must check our egos at the door. He

is doing a great job in the Department of SNL, just like he did in his position

as the minister of Environment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

great that the Premier has confidence in him, yet he stripped him of his

responsibilities with the Department of Environment and Conservation or

Environment and Climate Change.

The

recent restructuring of the Office of Climate Change saw the office being moved

to Executive Council, yet the minister responsible is the Minister of Service

NL. So which agency is the lead on this file?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First of

all, I want to make a comment about the revolving door that we saw in the last

administration, where we saw Finance Ministers come and go. We saw four or

like we did the Premier's office I would say, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I want to say right now, I'll just reiterate one more time. I have

confidence in every single minister that we have here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

The Office of Climate Change

right now in the Executive Council, we have just finished the Pan-Canadian

Framework on Climate Change and the former minister for environment will still

be an active participant in climate change in this province.

The

reason why it's in Executive Council right now, because climate change, and

where this will go in the future is a span and a lens that we need to see on

every single department, Mr. Speaker, and I will reach out to any minister that

has an expertise in any field for their advice on any issue that we face.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess

he's going to move everything up to Executive Council now. I guess that's the

plan.

This

Liberal government accepted Ottawa's decision to impose a price on carbon by

2018, a new tax. And now the Premier acknowledges that a lot of work needs to be

done to update the province's climate change plan.

Why did

you choose now to take the Office of Climate Change away from the minister

responsible for it and qualified to do it?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, I

can tell you in that question there was a lot of misleading information because

it's not accurate at all, I say, Mr. Speaker. The Office of Climate Change, Mr.

Speaker now, climate change impacts our province and, indeed, it's a global

issue that many countries are facing right now.

You

know, the former minister, who led the negotiations as fed into the Pan-Canadian

Framework, Mr. Speaker, will always be a part of what happens. But through that

framework negotiation, we were able to take any revenue from climate change or

carbon tax to put that into the general revenue and we could spend it at the

discretion of the Province, I say, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This

restructuring is causing confusion. For example, Mistaken Point is the first

provincially-managed World Heritage Site in the province. Concern is being

expressed that the world is coming and we're not ready.

Which

minister is responsible to ensure that we're prepared for the influx of tourists

and visitors expected at Mistaken Point this year?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the

Minister responsible for Tourism, we're always engaged with all the stakeholders

on the ground and we'll be working to make sure that we're promoting and

attracting through our ads and marketing, and through our initiatives to the key

attractions and the anchor attractions that we have in Newfoundland and

Labrador. And it's quite pleasing to see as well that the federal government has

placed Mistaken Point on one of our postage stamps as well.

You

know, there's a lot of things and a lot of recognition, and we're going to be

working with the committee and with the entity on regional and rural development

matters, as well around how we can provide and enhance the services around the

community and the business opportunities that exist and other tourism synergies

beyond this 565 million-year-old UNESCO site where life got big.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: What have you done to date to meet the UNESCO

obligations that's required from your department?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Any

obligation that has been required by our department, we're living up to that. We

are certainly meeting with steering committees; we're engaged in that process.

The former Minister of Environment and myself actually, we were at Mistaken

Point in Portugal Cove South when this announcement was made and celebrated with

the community and the accomplishments. There's a team of people who are working

with the community and the stakeholders to ensure there is compliance and that

we live up to our obligations to advance UNESCO.

UNESCO

is a very prestigious status when it comes to the four that we have here in

Newfoundland and Labrador. We've been working with Parks Canada as well because

they've been managing the other UNESCO sites and we've seen significant

investments. Just recently, we invested in Red Bay and way finding and helping

out the community there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Well, Mr. Speaker, what a

difference a day makes. Now that the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and

Innovation has reinstated the word culture

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. ROGERS:

the arts and heritage communities have two other crucial and reasonable

requests. Mr. Speaker, the cultural industry represents a sustainable, renewable

growth industry worth $455 million.

So I ask

the minister: Will he reinstate the positions of directors of arts and director

of heritage and ensure that they are filled by recognized, qualified arts and

heritage professionals?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

And this

department and this government recognize the value of culture. I've always

stated in terms of culture, in terms of the economic value of culture is $450

million, in GDP there are about 5,000 jobs. And we invest heavily through our

cultural programs of $18.2 million, and we'll continue to work with the arts

community and the cultural community on a number of initiatives.

One

thing we will not do, though, at this point in time, given the difficult

decisions that government had to make with the flatter, leaner management and

the reductions of management positions is get into any specifics about any type

of position that would be impacted, out of respect for the employee. So I ask

the member to consider that when framing her questions.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Well, Mr. Speaker, his

flatter and leaner plan in fact ignores the need for an advocate where decisions

are made in the area of arts and heritage.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: If he values our artists and their work so much,

will he guarantee funding for the creation phase of their work to the national

average within four years so our artists in Newfoundland and Labrador have

access to funding to at least the same level as their counterparts in the rest

of Canada?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

respect the Member opposite's question. When it comes to funding for the arts,

we certainly contribute as a government, even in very difficult financial times,

to the tune of $18.2 million in the Tourism and Culture division of the

department. But we also recognize the value and the accolades that our arts and

cultural community are achieving and we do work with them quite significantly on

a number of internationalization projects, on ways of which they can export.

We're

really excited that we're advancing the status of the artist legislation. We're

engaged with the arts community. We've had over 250 people engaged in that

process. It's providing a lot of feedback, and this is where we're going to be

getting more information. As well, as we renew our cultural plan, we'll work to

our best abilities to provide for the arts community in terms of funding.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Well,

the word culture may be back in the department's title but the term rural

development has been dropped, just as rural Newfoundland and Labrador faces dire

scientific advice on disappearing crab and shrimp stocks.

I ask

the Premier: What is his government's plan to keep rural Newfoundland alive and

well?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, we

spend obviously a lot of time in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. It's a big

part of my own district, so we're very concerned. And I would welcome the Member

opposite to visit rural Newfoundland at any time.

There

are lots of great things to see around our province, Mr. Speaker. It was

mentioned just a few minutes ago, about making Crown land accessible for

agricultural development. It's a big part of an initiative that over the years

many municipalities, the agriculture industry, the aquaculture industry, it's

all about rural Newfoundland and Labrador, investment in tourism I say, Mr.

Speaker. These are all initiatives that we have put out there. Already, in just

our first year in office, Mr. Speaker, we are making a significant difference in

rural Newfoundland and Labrador, but indeed the whole province as a role.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi for a quick question.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Well,

we've heard that positions have been eliminated in the department.

So I ask

the Premier: If this is the case, who is going to implement his so-called plan

to revitalize rural Newfoundland and Labrador and keep it alive and well, as

he's saying they're doing, which they're not?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

the Member opposite said that she heard well, Mr. Speaker, we held a press

conference last week where we outlined what the plan was. Many positions still

exist in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker,

these were management positions that were taken out last week to create many

efficiencies, but we've also made significant investments into the areas where

those efficiencies will be used to generate activity in rural Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, the other thing about all of this is this is a province, Newfoundland

and Labrador, that has a rural component as larger communities. Mr. Speaker, we

will not give up on any of those areas of this province and we will do the best

job we can to create employment for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Question Period

has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of

Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant

section 26(5)(

a) of the Financial

Administration Act , I am tabling six Orders-in-Council relating to funding

pre-commitments for the 2017-18 to 2022-23 fiscal year.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of documents?

Notices

of Motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition

House Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

I'm pleased to rise today to present a petition: To the hon.

House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament

assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and

Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS Budget 2015

announced a new school for the Witless Bay-Mobile school system; and

WHEREAS the planning and design of this school was underway,

which recently Statistics Canada has recognized the region has having

significant growth; and

WHEREAS the project was cancelled in

Budget 2016 ;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and

call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to reverse its decision and

construct the proposed school for the Witless Bay-Mobile school system announced

in 2015.

Mr. Speaker, the region from Bay Bulls to Bauline, or

Bauline East as it's often referred to, has seen significant growth over the

past number of years. Dating back to our time and our administration, we had

recognized that and certainly planned to meet the needs of St. Bernard's, which

is K to six, and the young families and young kids and young children we're seeing coming through.

With

that, we had built on two additional classrooms. As well, over those years, had

added portable classrooms which would be temporary in nature and would see a new

middle school built as we saw in a 2014 consultant's report of BAE-Newplan,

which quite clearly indicated, looked at the options of what would be the best

options to pursue, whether extensions or rebuilds on St. Bernard's or Mobile

high. It quite clearly indicated the best result was a new middle school,

something along the lines of grades five to eight, which would basically take

the pressure off St. Bernard's and as well take the pressure off Mobile high as

those numbers flow through.

This was

very clearly indicated based on that consultant and that documentation that was

paid for, obviously, by the prior administration. And based on that and the

history and what we saw in 2015 budget, allocations was made for the building of

this new middle school.

Now,

unfortunately, in 2016, the current administration cancelled that, and I have

District as well looking for details on the rationale for a proposal that we

have very little details on putting an extension on Mobile high of nine

classrooms.

But no

one seems to be able to tell us how that's going to deal with the numbers and

what we're seeing coming through in St. Bernard's in the K-6, and how that's

going to be fiscally, I think, prudent in regard to looking at the long-term

solution and how we meet that solution through what's being proposed. Which

again, there's no detail, very little information.

I wrote

on January 5, documentation here, looking for those details. To date, we do not

have them. I know the parent community, the community in general, the

municipalities, the local service districts are extremely concerned and it's

time for the government to move on this, reconsider and address the education

needs that have started in prior years and need to be concluded with the new

middle school in that region.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

To the

hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

Newfoundland and Labrador has the greatest percentage of the workforce earning

the provincial minimum wage in Canada, with women, youth and those from rural

areas making up a disproportionate number of these workers; and

WHEREAS

minimum wage earners do not earn enough money for the necessities of life; and

WHEREAS

government ignored the recommendations of its own 2012 minimum wage review

committee;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House

of Assembly to urge government to implement the recommendations of the 2012

minimum wage review committee and legislate an immediate increase in the minimum

wage to reflect the loss of purchasing power since 2010 and an annual adjustment

beginning in 2015 to reflect the CPI.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

And

while it's been a while since people signed this petition and sent it in, Mr.

Speaker we had so many petitions on minimum wage, it was hard to keep up with

them it is very timely for us to still be presenting the petitions as they

come in because of the fact that government finally is looking at the minimum

wage and does have consultations going on in the province, and looking at the

whole need for indexation. But the problem is that the workers of this province

have lost so much over the last years without any raise that if we just index on

where they are now, they'll never make up their loss.

indexation in and of itself is not sufficient at the moment. And, as this

petition asks for, it asks for the wages to be brought up to make up for the

loss and then do the indexation on top of that. But I think it's important to

look at who are the minimum wage workers in Newfoundland and Labrador. We

certainly know that the majority are women. Approximately 66 per cent were

female in 2015 when a survey was done. We had 12,800 minimum wage earners in the

province, Mr. Speaker.

We also

have a high number of youth; 50 per cent of those workers were over the age of

24 years; almost 40 per cent between the age of 25 and 54 years; 49.5 per cent

were between five and 24 years. That's really quite frightening with the

majority over 19, but we have young people working without any hope; 51 per cent

worked full-time minimum wage jobs 51 per cent; over 75 per cent had a high

school education or better, with 44.9 per cent having some form of

post-secondary education. And they go into post-secondary education hoping that

it's going to make life better for them, and here they are working for minimum

wage; 66 per cent of minimum wage workers were in permanent jobs, while 51 per

cent were full-time.

serious issue, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you very much.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape

St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

To the

House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament

assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and

Labrador humbly sheweth.

WHEREAS

the recreational ground fishery is part of our culture, history and heritage;

and

WHEREAS

the federal government is proposing a tag system for the recreational ground

fishery in 2017; and

WHEREAS

participants have to purchase a licence and purchase tags in order to

participate in the recreational fishery;

WHEREUPON

the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of

Assembly to urge the federal government not to implement a cost or fees to those

participating in the recreational ground fishery in 2017.

As in

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, in the last Assembly I got up several times and spoke on the importance

of this and the importance of us being able to have the right to go and catch a

fish. Today, we understand there's a lot of crisis in the Newfoundland and

Labrador fishery, a lot of people are really, really concerned about it.

You

know, the fishery is such an important part of who we are as a people. It's

important that we get treated fairly and that Ottawa understands our concerns.

Sometimes if you look at what's after happening with the consultations that

happened on the ground fishery, I know the MP for Central Newfoundland had

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape

St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

It's a

job to hear in here.

Again,

Mr. Speaker, I was talking about how the MP for Central Newfoundland and Grand

Falls had some consultations out there because he wanted to see how people felt.

He himself has urged the federal government not to go along with this system;

yet, the minister, our Minister of Fisheries that represents all of Newfoundland

has never came out and said he supported or didn't support the recreational

fishery with the purpose of tags being implemented. I think it's our right to be

treated like everybody else in Canada. There's no tag system anywhere else in

Atlantic Canada nor should there be in Newfoundland.

Last

year, I applaud the federal government. I applaud what they did by increasing

the number of days we could get out there and the weekends. And that was

basically due to safety issues, because sometimes we understand that the weather

here in Newfoundland is not always able to get out and be able to go catch a

fish. So they extended it, and that was great, but we need this government to

stand up for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We need this government to

stand up for the fishers of Newfoundland and Labrador and our whole fishing

industry.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the

hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

there has been an identified lack of mental health services in our province's K

to 12 school system; and

WHEREAS

the lack is having a significant impact on both students and teachers; and

WHEREAS

left unchecked, matters can, and in many cases will develop into more serious

issues;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House

of Assembly to urge government to increase mental health services and programs

in the province's K to 12 school system.

And in

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, as we've been debating in this House over the last year or so about

cuts to our education system and the need to invest in young people,

particularly as we also address some of the other social issues that young

people face, and all those young people face them in a confined situation and a

confined environment, being our school systems.

With

blended classrooms, with cuts, with teachers, with not having access to other

types of programs, that's added stressors. With the general concept that young

people are facing in today's society, one of the environments where we have an

opportunity because we have a captive audience to not only address the issues

that they face within that system, particularly those related to mental health,

but the other ones that they may face in society.

We've

gone a long way in identifying bullying. We've brought in the private sector to

work with us. The corporate world has supported it, the volunteer sector has

done it, the administration have done it, the parents have done it; but,

particularly, teachers and students have engaged how we address one particular

issue around mental health. And that is around bullying. It's one of the key

components of how we address it.

There

are a multitude of other mental health issues that within the school system we

need to be able to have supports. Teachers have identified it, around students

as part of our integration program and the extra supports that are needed.

Challenges from the home environment that carry over into the school environment

have an impact on the mental health of a young person. It has an impact on the

mental health of the friends of a young person, as they see the stresses their

friends are under. And that has a negative impact on them.

There's

an anxiety issue here. We've seen some challenges around questions in the school

system about not being able to get out for recreation purposes and the impact

that has. For kids who are overly active, who need to be able at times to get

their energy levels out. That adds to the mental health within that classroom.

We need

to be able to support the education system so it ensures that the environment

is supposed to be a safe, engaging, happy, learning process. But if we have

challenges, particularly around those related to mental health, if there are

anxiety issues, if there are self-esteem issues, if there are issues around kids

not being open, if there are issues around kids having behavioural issues and

lashing out, all of those are related to supports that can be addressed through

some other means of mental health interventions.

And in

some cases, we need to be able to put the resources into the administration, the

educators, the parents, the volunteer groups that work within the school system.

I do ask and encourage the government the federal government are coming down

and initiating monies around mental health, there's no reason we couldn't

negotiate a parcel of that to be put in our education system to address mental

health in our education system.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

I call Orders of the Day, Mr.

Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. A. PARSONS:

And I would call Motion 2,

Bill 69, first reading.

Mr.

Speaker, I would move, seconded by the Minister of Health and Community

Services, for leave to introduce a bill entitled, the Health Professions Act,

Bill 69, and I further move that the said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded by

the hon. Government House Leader that he shall have leave to introduce Bill 69,

and that the said bill be now read a first time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion,

the hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services to introduce a bill, An

Act To Amend The Health Professions Act, carried. (Bill 69)

CLERK (Barnes):

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Health Professions Act. (Bill 69)

MR. SPEAKER:

Bill 69 has now been read a

first time.

When

shall the said bill be read a second time?

MR. A. PARSONS:

Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, Bill 69 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I call from the

Order Paper, Order 2, second reading of Bill 65.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the Minister of Justice and Public Safety, that Bill 65,

An Act To Amend The

Financial Administration Act No. 2, be now read a second time,

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

Bill 65,

An Act To Amend The Financial Administration Act No. 2, be now read a

second time.

Motion,

second reading of a bill

An Act To Amend The Financial Administration Act No.

2. (Bill 65)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

certainly a pleasure to be back in the House after a break. I really want to

congratulate the House Leader and the team that he had working on the schedule.

Certainly many Members mentioned yesterday how pleased we are to be back in the

House, and certainly this piece of legislation that I have the opportunity to

speak to today is an example of why we should all be proud to stand in this

House.

Mr.

Speaker, Bill 65,

An Act To Amend The Financial Administration Act No. 2,

relates to the tabling of Public Accounts. And for those listening at home to

this afternoon's proceedings, Public Accounts really is the financial statements

of the entire consolidated government and when that information is released to

the public.

There

are legislative requirements across many jurisdictions in Canada, including our

own, that dictate when those records are to be presented to the people of the

province through this particular Legislature. And what we're proposing today is

an amendment to those conditions that would ensure that information that needs

to be provided, not only to this House and the representatives in this House,

but more importantly, I would suggest, to the people of the province, happens on

a regular and consistent basis.

Mr.

Speaker, the act will change the required date of tabling of the Public Accounts

respecting a fiscal year to before November 1 in the following fiscal year, and

it will require that in a year in which a general election is to be held in

accordance with subsection 3(2) of the House of Assembly Act , Public Accounts be submitted no less than 15

days before the date fixed for the general election.

And our

amendments also go on that we would require that, in addition to the tabling of

Public Accounts on the required date, where a general election is to be held in

accordance with the provisions of

section 3 of the

House of Assembly Act other than subsection 3(2) to (5), an

unaudited financial report on the financial state of the province be submitted

in the same manner as the Public Accounts no less than 15 days before the date

fixed for the general election, unless within three months of the date fixed for

the general election, other indicators of financial state of the province have

been made publicly available.

Mr.

Speaker, this is particularly relevant in light of the financial situation that

we are faced with as a government and the financial situation, more importantly,

that the people of the province find our province in right now, particularly in

light of the history around Public Accounts and when Public Accounts have been

released to the people of the province.

As a

government, we have established a vision of sustainability and growth in this

province, but in order to achieve this we must have a solid foundation in which

to work from, and that solid foundation must be strong fiscal management. As

outlined in The Way Forward ,

government must be redefined to address economic, social and fiscal challenges,

and stronger fiscal management is a top priority.

The reason for that is simple, Mr. Speaker, it's to ensure

that the taxes and the revenue that the people of the province are entitled to

see reflected in services is invested and touches those services in the way that

the people of the province expect, and that waste and failure to prioritize is

not something that a government is ever left to not do.

Public Accounts, as everyone in this House should

understand, and certainly those colleagues of mine that sit on the House

committee that reviews Public Accounts would certainly appreciate and I'm sure

the Members opposite who have had the opportunity to not only sit in this House

as elected officials representing districts but also those particularly

who have had Cabinet

positions, would certainly understand that the disclosure of these Public

Accounts in a timely fashion provides for an opportunity for the public to hold

governments accountable.

Public

Accounts is the key accountability to document, which enables the House of

Assembly and its citizens, the citizens we represent, to hold government

accountable for the use of public money. And in an effort to improve the

timeliness of Public Accounts, legislative amendments that I've already outlined

will now require these documents to be tabled on or before October 31 of the

following year.

Mr.

Speaker, I think it's interesting. You know if you look back, as I have had the

opportunity to do, and as my colleagues have as we were preparing this

legislation, and looked at the history of when Public Accounts had been released

back to 1998, most of the Public Accounts have been released in December,

November and January. And as a matter of fact, the earliest that Public Accounts

was ever released for the fiscal year of '15-'16 was the year that we released

Public Accounts last year on October 19, 2016 the most expeditious releasing

of Public accounts that has happened in over a decade.

Mr.

Speaker, those Public Accounts are crucial for a number of reasons. They are

important because as Members of this House, and certainly members of the public

listening at home would appreciate, that Public Accounts is a key accountability

document which enables, as I said earlier, citizens to hold government

accountable for spending of public money. Those documents and those numbers must

be relevant and they must be timely in their presentation to this House.

And

quite frankly, the relevance of those documents and the relevance of that

financial information diminish with the passage of time. With a legislated

tabling date currently defined as 10 months into the following fiscal year, the

value of the information and decision-making process within government is very

limited and stale dated.

Mr.

Speaker, I think it would also be important for Members of this House to

understand and certainly for those, again, listening at home, that improving the

timelines of Public Accounts is also in line with recommendations from the

Auditor General. In 2013, the Auditor General commented in his management

letter, issued around the 2011-2012 Public Accounts, that the Office of the

Comptroller General should continue with its efforts towards earlier tabling of

the province's financial statements.

It's

interesting, Mr. Speaker, that in the three years following that Auditor

General's report, there was only one year out of those three that Public

Accounts was not released in an early fashion. Interestingly enough, Mr.

Speaker, funny enough, it was an election year. Mr. Speaker, that's one of the

reasons why, as a government, we felt it was extremely important not only to

change the date around the release of Public Accounts to allow this House and

members of the public to have more relevant information when it comes to how

government spends its money, but we also thought it was important to address the

issue of what happens in a situation where Public Accounts and the election

dates somehow collide, and we've provided clarity on what the process should be.

We've provided clarity on ensuring that information is provided to the people of

the province because, quite frankly, they have a right to know.

Mr.

Speaker, as I said earlier, the 2015-16 Public Accounts were tabled on October

19, 2016, which was the earliest date of the Public Accounts, quite frankly,

that had been released in the last 18 years. And given the fact that we have

demonstrated the ability to table the Public Accounts during October, we believe

that the legislative tabling date of October 31, as being proposed in this

legislation, is reasonable and allows for agencies, boards and commissions and

departments to provide the information that is fed into Public Accounts in a

timely and responsible manner.

It also

provides additional clarity for the Auditor General when he's preparing his

review of Public Accounts on our expectations as a government and certainly

allows his office to plan and prioritize work to be able to achieve the review

that he would need to do in conjunction with the work around the province's

financial reporting.

Mr.

Speaker, the advancement of the tabling date of the Public Accounts also

provides for greater consistency with the time period that government entities

are required to prepare their annual report. As Members of this House may or may

not know, the agencies, boards and commissions that are governed under the

Transparency and Accountability Act

are required to present their financial reporting into the Office of the

Comptroller General so it can be consolidated into Public Accounts.

accordance with

section 9 of this particular act, the annual report shall

include the audited financial statements of the entity. Government entities are

required to make public an annual report on the preceding fiscal year within the

time frame established by Lieutenant Governor in Council. For most government

entities, this is generally within six months after the end of their fiscal

year. As the majority of government entities included within the Public Accounts

for the year ending March 31, this would result in the majority of those reports

now being made needed to be made public by September 30.

So we

will see, as a result of this legislation, some changes in how the agencies,

boards and commissions have to complete their annual general meetings, as well

as releasing of their own financial information. But, again, based on the fact

that this year we were able to get that information out in the earliest time in

18 years, we feel it's a very reasonable expectation for those organizations.

Mr.

Speaker, the early reporting, as I've said, will help enhance the accountability

of the provincial government on the management of financial resources. It will

also ensure that the relevance of the financial information that's contained in

Public Accounts can be properly analyzed by the committee of the House that

reviews Public Accounts, it can be properly used by government in making

decisions and listening to recommendations from officials who are working on

policy and other directional things that government needs to take a look at, but

it also provides clarity to the people of the province when they see the Public

Accounts in a more relevant time frame than has been in the past.

As an

example, Public Accounts in 2012-13 didn't get released until January 14;

2011-12 didn't get released until January 16; 2010-11 Public Accounts didn't get

released until January 6; 2009-10 Public Accounts didn't get released until

January 20.

So, Mr.

Speaker, you can see that there has been historical shift in now moving that

date back to October. And certainly, as we've reviewed a jurisdictional scan of

best practices by other jurisdictions, we felt the date that we were picking,

which is October 31, would provide more consistency with what's considered best

in class and would also provide an opportunity for information not to become

stale dated before it was released. As was the case when we took office in

December 14, 2015, when we had to release Public Accounts for the prior year in

January, 2016.

As I've

said, the Public Accounts for 2015-16 were tabled on October 19, 2016 the

earliest date that Public Accounts have been released in the last 18 years. Once

again, I should take the opportunity while I'm speaking here to thank the staff

within our Public Accounts division, as well as the Office of the Auditor

General for their efforts in this regard. This is no small feat, and there is a

significant amount of work that goes into preparing these documents and I

certainly want to say thank you to those officials as well.

I'd also

like to take the opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to thank the members of the Finance

Department, including the Office of the Comptroller General, as well as the

Auditor General's team, for the work that has been done over the last number of

months on this particular piece of legislation. It is one that we thought was a

high priority last year. Officials worked on it in the department for many

months, looking at, as I said, as an example a jurisdictional scan. I certainly

want to congratulate and thank them for their hard work and their diligence in

providing amendments to the Financial

Administration Act that reflect a commitment to accountability and a

commitment to being transparent with the people of the province.

Mr.

Speaker, the Public Accounts for the year of 2014-15 fiscal year, as I said

earlier, were not tabled until January 26, 2016. This was the latest Public

Accounts had ever been released in the province, and the reason for that quite

frankly, is that the former administration did not release Public Accounts prior

to the election, or during the election when there's a freeze on government

activities, and certainly what I understand is that that information was

available. I can't explain why the former administration didn't release the

information, but certainly our view was that was information that the public

have a right to know. It is our intention to make sure that that happens on a

more consistent and earlier basis.

I'd

remind those listening at home, and Members of this House, that in the 2015-2016

budget the previous administration forecast a deficit of $1.1 billion. Mr.

Speaker, that number was later revised after the election of 2015 by our

government, to be a deficit of $2.2 billion, a doubling of the initial budget

forecast. In fact, the public was not even provided an update on the 2014-15

forecast as part of the highly anticipated but not released fall fiscal and

economic update by the previous administration.

Mr.

Speaker, it is essential that Public Accounts are released in a timely manner,

as this will enhance as I said earlier the accountability of government on

the management and use of public funds and will provide the public and the

people of this province clarity on where the province's financial situation is.

Early reporting also assists in the aligning of resources within the departments

and government entities to ensure that the provincial government's financial

statements are prepared in a timely manner.

addition, it will inform the provincial government to make the appropriate

resource allocation decisions based on the financial performance of Newfoundland

and Labrador. In addition, these amendments will include that during years where

the fixed date provincial general election occurs, that Public Accounts will be

released no less than 15 days before the date of the election.

Mr.

Speaker, to explain a little bit more of the thought process behind how Public

Accounts will be released in election years, we wanted to overcome the potential

delays such as the province and the people of the province experienced in the

months prior to the last election. To overcome these delays in the release of

the province's financial statements in the years that coincide with a general

election falling within the month of October, we are proposing that the tabling

date for Public Accounts be further amended to a date, as I said earlier, that

is no less than 15 days before the date of the general election.

Further,

in years in which the general election is a date other than an ordinary polling

day in October, as per

section 3.2 of the HOAA, the province will be required to

provide an unaudited report on the financial conditions of the province.

So in a

situation, Mr. Speaker, where the election date is early enough in October that

the Public Accounts would not be completed, there is a requirement to release an

unaudited statement to the people of the province so that they would have

understanding of the financial performance of the province based on the

preceding fiscal year even if the Public Accounts has not been tabled.

The

release of the Public Accounts and other unaudited financial update in advance

of the general election further enhances government's accountability and

transparency to its citizens on the financial management of the province. And

providing a key financial accountability document in advance of a general

election will serve to better inform the electorate.

Mr.

Speaker, the provincial government is taking decisive action to create a

multi-year approach to increase revenues, reduce expenses, eliminate waste and

operate more efficiently and effectively.

The Way Forward outlines the need to further address our new fiscal reality

and to finding short- and long-term sustainable solutions for this province's

finances.

And, Mr.

Speaker, the amendments that we are proposing today provide a level of assurance

to the electorate and the people of the province that the financial statements

referred to as Public Accounts for the province will be released in a timely

manner, regardless of the date of an election, and earlier than they have been

released in some 18 years.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

certainly pleased to rise today to speak to the bill as introduced by the

Minister of Finance. I listened as she presented the bill and went through some

of the issues in regard to the amendments to the

Financial Administration Act and that amendment related to Public

Accounts. As she has said, it will change the date Public Accounts will be

tabled in the House of Assembly. She certainly referenced as well some of the

jurisdictional reviews and scans that were done, and how we would come in line

with many other jurisdictions in regard to this.

The bill

will change the legislative deadline for the tabling of Public Accounts from

February 1 to before November 1. So that means the deadline will be moved up by

approximately three months. Changes are being made for

section 60 of the

Financial Administration Act to

accommodate that requirement.

As well,

the minister referenced in an election year, the Public Accounts will be tabled

no less than 15 days before the election date as well. And then in the case of

an election date, which we know is a set date every four years, it's changed;

they're tabled no less than 15 days before an election date, unless in the last

three months the Public Accounts had been released, a Budget Speech has been

delivered, or other financial reports on the state of the province has been

delivered.

I guess

that would reference various indicators, economic indicators that are often

given during the year, but certainly economic indicators are directed or are

recognized at any time in a budget and I guess those are ones the minister

referenced. Maybe further, she could speak to that. Certainly at times during

the budget, the budget documentation, there are often references made in that to

fiscal sensitivities to key assumptions, those types of things.

They

would be related to things certainly that's relevant to us: oil prices, exchange

rates. When those are announced in the budget, certainly as you follow through

the year anybody can do that and recognize where those assumptions are to at

any particular time during the year it gives some certainty and understanding

of what path we're on based on a commodity market, because, as we know,

commodity markets go up and down. Based on that, projections that you make are

best informed by, certainly, experts in the field in regard to what their

predictions on actual commodity prices will be. So I guess that's what she's

referring to, and I'm sure the minister will probably speak to that later in

debate.

So as

well, I certainly want to thank officials too. We had officials from our

department meet with Finance and certainly thank them for going through it and

providing the information they did provide. As was mentioned before the

Comptroller General made reference to other issues before in regard to getting

the information out and as well the minister referenced I spoke to it as well

in regard to jurisdictions and the legislative requirements and what they are

in other jurisdictions in regard to Public Accounts between September and

January. So that's important as well. So I certainly acknowledge the work done

by the minister in regard to doing this review and bringing it forward.

The

Financial Administration Act is

certainly a guiding piece of legislation within the government's financial

branches and, in a broad sense, tells us what we can do, what we can't do and

how expenses are to be processed, things like how funds have to be approved and

those sorts of things. So in many ways the act is somewhat of a rulebook for the

government on how funds need to be accounted for.

And as

the minister references as well, the Public Accounts are the audited financial

statements of the province's finances. It contains information on the previous

fiscal year, certainly budget surplus, deficits and net debt of the province.

It's important to recognize that it's the prior year's fiscal period, so usually

about and it's the audited financial statement of that fiscal year, the prior

fiscal year. Not current, but prior. And that provides information in regard to

that prior fiscal year.

When we

bring down a budget, we know that there are estimates made for current year, but

there are also revisions of the prior year and they're not actuals. We often

refer to them as actuals. They're the estimates and then the revised number is

in the document when a budget is presented for prior year. And then what this

would do to Public Accounts would basically provide the actuals through that

audit.

And

those numbers would be for the prior fiscal year, which are the actual numbers

and what they are after the audit takes place. It wouldn't be current year; it

would be prior year. But certainly very important in regard to establishing what

the actuals were for that particular year based on the budget, based on

revisions, based on what transpired over that period of time. But what the

minister is suggesting here is that period be moved up in terms of that

reporting and when exactly it takes place.

Again,

the main focus of the bill is certainly to do it somewhat earlier. This is

something we're certainly pleased to support on this side, what the minister is

bringing forward. Again, it goes to the issue of openness, transparency and

bringing it forward for discussion to do that. It's consistent somewhat of other

jurisdictions as well, and it certainly goes to the timing of it.

There

are a couple of items in it that I want to acknowledge. I think it's

section

60(2) and 60(3) of the bill. The two clauses talk about updated information

about the financial health and status of the province in the public domain in

advance of an election. So it talks about 15 days. I think

section 60(2) shall

be laid before the House of Assembly or submitted in accordance with subsection

(4) no less than 15 days before the date fixed for the general election.

I'm not

sure, and the minister can speak to that as well in terms of 15 days, whether

that's viewed as a significant period of time or whether that should be expanded

to be an earlier date than that in terms of getting to predate the election,

time to circulate the information, for it to be certainly consumed by the public

in regard to putting that out. That's up for consideration. As well,

section

60(3) that if there was a budget in the last three months references, not the 15

days, but if there's another circumstance that occurs, that would be fine and

met the requirements of the legislation.

Again, I

get back to some of the comments I made earlier in regard to some of the

performance indicators, or economic indicators that are often in a budget when

it's brought down. And those are ones that certainly various groups, economists,

industry groups, various people in society would follow to look at the

performance and what's happening in regard to, as I said, economic indicator and

performance, and performance back to the actual budget and you track that, and

most people do, in regard to it.

mentioned earlier, things like the something like commodity markets, whether

it's iron ore, whether it's related to a barrel of oil, whether it's related to

the exchange rate on the Canadian dollar, how our export and how that's changed

and what the difference is in regard to whether the rate goes up or down a cent.

It correlates quite clearly to what the return on a barrel of oil is and gets to

what our projection is in revenue from the production of oil and certainly the

export as well. So those are very important in assessing and looking at the

economic situation.

As well,

some other things I guess the minister may speak to later is in regard to

revenue generation and the period of time during the year that we would get some

information from the end of the fiscal year. Obviously, any budget you would

predict revenue generation, whether that be provincial income tax, corporate

income tax, HST, whether we'd have an overpayment or not, those types of things.

We would

need to have that information from the federal government in regard to what

those numbers would be and then we could put it in because they would be actuals

we would put into Public Accounts, that that information would be available. I'm

sure the minister has checked and within that time frame of, I think, six

months, obviously that information would be available and that would be part and

parcel of the process to make sure we have all the data we need to do the Public

Accounts.

So, in

regard to the piece of legislation, we certainly support it. We recognize the

fact of making information available from roughly nine to six months in line

with other jurisdictions in doing that. Obviously, as I said before, this is the

prior fiscal year in terms of confirming what the actual expenditures were at

that particular time and making it available at an earlier time.

certainly support the issue of 15 days prior to an election date. I don't know

what the relevance is of 15 days rather than making it an earlier period and a

greater period of time before that, whether it be 30 days or 60 days. I don't

know if that's possible, but it's just something in reviewing the documentation

that came to mind and why that would be and why we wouldn't be able to expand

that a little further.

Then, to

that point, if there was some kind of fiscal update in an election year, I think

that this 30 days it wouldn't be required to release the accounts within 15

days, but I guess that gets to the point that in recognition there are

indicators during the year that you can follow that would give you the ability

to project where the province is at a particular time based on what the budget

had recommended. And you could follow those indicators, economic indicators,

whether that's commodity prices or other things to be able to determine where we

are at any time fiscally in the province. I guess that's what the reference is

when it's saying the 15 days wouldn't be in effect but you could look at these

other indicators to do it.

So I

thank the minister for bringing this forward. I certainly look forward to debate

in Committee and maybe answer some questions in moving this through the House.

Thank

you very much.

MADAM SPEAKER (Dempster):

The Speaker

recognizes the hon. Member for Labrador West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LETTO:

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It's a

pleasure today to stand in his House to support Bill 65,

An Act To Amend The

Financial Administration Act No. 2.

I think

what this bill does is this is probably one of the greatest bills that we'll

ever do to show that we are serious about transparency and accountability to the

people of this province. Because what we saw in the fall of 2015 when our

Premier, then the Leader of the Opposition, tried to get the information, to get

to see the books of this province and we were led to believe with a $1.1 billion

deficit that turned out to be in excess of $2 billion, I think this will go a

long way to avoid that ever happening in this province again.

I think

this is one of the greatest bills that we could probably introduce in this House

or this city. What this does, Madam Speaker, is change the required date of

tabling of Public Accounts respecting a fiscal year to before November 1 in the

following fiscal year.

requires that in a year where a general election is to be held, which is what we

faced in the fall of 2015, that the Public Accounts be submitted no less than 15

days before the date fixed for the general election. So that will go a long way

to solving the issues we were faced with when we took office on December 1,

What

this Public Accounts tabling date does, I guess, as I said, it improves our

accountability, it improves transparency. What it will also do is an earlier

tabling date aligns resources within departments and entities to ensure

financial statements are prepared in a timely manner. What I mean by timely

manner, not only by the date but certainly that the reports when they do come

out at that time, they're relevant, they're up to date, they mean what they say

and we're not led down a garden path of believing that a deficit, or in years to

come a surplus is not what it actually is.

So we

will never face that again. And that was something, as I said, in 2015 that we

were faced with. I think the minister has outlined, articulated quite well, the

advantages of this bill and what it means for us as a province and us as a

government.

When you

look at the record of the past administration in the releasing of Public

Accounts, it's nothing short of dismal I'm being very kind when you look at

the dates that they were released in the past 10, 12 years, it's shameful rather

than dismal.

AN HON. MEMBER:

Shameful.

MR. LETTO:

To see that we had to come

into office, again when we did come into office, the first thing we had to do

was to release the Public Accounts. And to show the real dire situation that we

were left with was amazing and was certainly it came as a surprise to a lot of

people in this province.

It was a

situation that we had to face, and we're dealing with it day by day. For

instance, in the 2015-16 Public Accounts tabled on October 19, 2016, that was

our first our last year's release. It was released in October. And that was

the earliest date that they've been released in the last 18 years.

AN HON. MEMBER:

How many years?

MR. LETTO:

Eighteen.

AN HON. MEMBER:

Eighteen.

MR. LETTO:

Eighteen years.

AN HON. MEMBER:

That's a long time.

MR. LETTO:

Public Accounts, for

instance, for the 2014-15 fiscal year were not tabled until January 26, 2016,

which was the latest tabling since 1998-99. And it was our administration that

ended up doing that, because the previous administration failed to do it before

the election was called.

We did a

number of jurisdictional scans, the department did and I certainly thank them

for doing that. They've done a great job with this bill and putting in place

something that's workable and meets the accountability and transparency

guidelines that we wish to follow as a government.

Eleven

of the 13 provinces and territories have legislative tabling dates ranging from

September 27 to January 31. And of these 11 jurisdictions, six have generally

released their Public Accounts one to two months in advance of the legislative

tabling date. So we were, I guess again, when you look at the provinces and

territories of this country, we were really behind the eight-ball when it came

to releasing our Public Accounts and being transparent.

I think

the greatest asset of this bill is the fact that when we talk about election

years, that we're going to do that before the election date. And again, I have

to go back and say that this was something that really, really put us into dire

straits back in late 2015, early 2016. And in a year in which a general election

is to be held in accordance with subsection 3(2) of the

House of Assembly Act , the Public Accounts will be laid before the

House of Assembly or submitted in accordance with subsection (4) no less than 15

days before the date fixed for the general election.

We know

that we have set dates for elections, but time to time they change, and our

election date is in October, so and as the legislation outlines, October 31 is

the deadline for release, but we know that in an election year that that has to

change, that we have to do it before October 31.

So I

think we've really done our homework on this, and really taken into

consideration any situation that we may be faced as a government by the release

of Public Accounts. That's what I like about this bill, i t gives us a

good guideline, and it gives the people of this province a guideline of what our

financial situation is in this province, and we are not faced with the surprises

that we were faced with back in 2015-2016.

So again, I have to commend the department, commend the

minister. I know this is something that we recognized when we took office that

had to be done. And I certainly thank the minister and the department for taking

it on themselves and to get it done early in our mandate. There was a lot of

work put into this, but I think what we've done here is we've laid out a good

foundation for our government of being transparent and accountable to the people

of this province and that's what that's all about, and that's what this is all

about, is being upfront with the taxpayers, upfront this is their money. It's

not our money; it's their money. And they should know where we are in the

financial situation of this province, because they're the people who are paying

into this.

So again, I want to thank the minister, thank the

department, and I certainly look forward to hearing from the Opposition. I

notice that the Member for Ferryland had a few comments about it. And, for the

most part, I think they're positive and they're in support of this. I should

certainly hope they would be. It's too bad they didn't follow it, but glad to

see now that they're supporting this on a go-forward-basis.

We also, you know, we talk about the assumptions and the

estimates that we all go through in our budget process, and this is an

opportunity to put some actual figures to the assumptions that we make, whether

it's the price of oil, whether it's other revenues that the province receives,

at least this gives an opportunity to put an actual face to the assumptions

and either substantiates or amends or revises the assumptions that they're made

at budget time and these are things that we can't predict on a definite basis.

You have to predict certain things when you do a budget, as you would do with

any budget. Not only in government, whether it's your own budget or your

organizational budget, I would say that estimates have to be made; but at least

it puts some actual figures and gives us an opportunity to revise, amend or, at

least, substantiate.

When he

said he supports this bill because what it does is it gives us an earlier

opportunity to do the Public Accounts and get them out earlier. Well, I would

suggest what this does is it improves accountability and it proves transparency

and it puts the onus on us, as a government, to be, as I said, again,

transparent and accountable to the people of this province. That's what this is

all about. It's being accountable and being transparent. Nothing else, and

that's what it's all about.

So,

again, Minister, I thank you and your department for the work that you've done

on this. I think it's a great bill. As I said at the beginning, it may be the

bill that really sets the foundation for transparency and accountability for

this government, something that we're looking forward to doing and something

that we will do for the people of this province.

Thank

you, Madam Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the

hon. Member for St. John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Madam

Speaker.

I'm

pleased to take my own turn in standing and speaking to Bill 65,

An Act to Amend

the Financial Administration Act No 2. I sort of look at this bill as being

pretty run of the mill; I'm afraid I can't get as excited about it as my

colleague for Labrador West just got. I think it's good. I am not saying

anything against it. I'll be voting for it, absolutely, and I think it's good to

get the Public Accounts out in a timely fashion, very definitely. I think the

whole province would definitely say yes to that and when we know that there's an

election coming up, I think it's good to have the Public Accounts out before the

election also.

I'm not

sure what difference it will make 15 days before an election, but the thing is

when it comes to the overall financial picture of our province, we may not know

details that will come out in the Public Accounts, but I think we all will have

a fairly good sense at any time what's going on. In 2015, for example, I would

point out that we all knew we were in a pretty bad state, financially. And it

was no surprise to anybody in the province, I don't think, at all, because we

all knew what was happening to the price of oil. We all knew what was in the

budget. We all knew everything that we had to deal with in this province. So I

sort of smile when I hear the government say that they were surprised, that they

didn't know the state we were in, because everybody else in the province knew

the state that we were in. And that's the reality.

However,

having said that, I'm certainly supporting this. I'm glad that this has been put

in place. I'm certainly not saying no to it. But let's not make more of it than

it is. I see a lot of political posturing going on here over this bill today,

and I'm not going to take more time just to do political posturing. It's a good

thing to do and we'll be voting for it.

MADAM SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the

hon. the Member for Stephenville Port au Port.

MR. FINN:

Thank you very much, Madam

Speaker.

It's

certainly great to stand and add to the debate here today. I'm very pleased to

see this bill introduced from the Minister of Finance and President of the

Treasury. Very interesting to listen to her commentary as well, and to put

things into perspective as to where we have been previously under former

administrations, a significant amount of time, at which no one was entirely

aware of where our Public Accounts were.

I'm not

sure I'm on the mic here, Madam Speaker.

AN HON. MEMBER:

There's no light.

MR. FINN:

No? Here we go. We can start

again.

Thank

you very much, Madam Speaker.

It's

certainly a pleasure to rise and stand here today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. FINN:

For those just joining us,

who are listening at home or happen to be streaming online, I just wasn't on the

microphone so therefore, for our good folks downstairs in Hansard that take the

notes and record what we state here in the Legislature, I'm certainly now back

on the record.

Today

we're talking about Bill 65. Of course, just our second day into this sitting of

the House of Assembly so, really, this is the first piece of legislation that

we're debating today. And I think the timing of such is particularly important,

that this is the first bill we'll be debating,

An Act to Amend the Financial

Administration Act No. 2. Basically, in short order, what we're stating is that

we now need to have our Public Accounts released and we have a date that we have

fixed that they will be released. There's a provision in here whereby if a

general election happens to be called other than a fixed election date, as there

are some circumstances that can happen, we have provisions of which they'll be

introduced no less than 15 days before a fixed general election and/or any other

election for that matter.

And I

think that's important because when you look at what we've been trying to do as

an administration in government over the last year, we looked at some of the

challenges that we face. And perhaps one of the biggest challenges was having a

good, solid understanding of where the province's finances were.

And so,

while we were well aware, for those of us who were running in the last general

election, that the state of the province's finances were certainly very bleak, I

guess to put it bluntly, one thing we were not aware of is what the actual

numbers were. And so we said time and time again in the House and it has been

noted throughout the media and other means that the Premier had written the

former premier and now Leader of the Opposition in September of last year and

was looking for an update as to the state of the province's finances.

At that

time, Madam Speaker, we didn't get any actual answer and we were lead to believe

that there would be a $1.1 billion deficit. Well, it just so turns out that

without any release of Public Accounts by the time we took office and had to

release the Public Accounts correct me if I'm wrong, Minister of Finance. I

understand we released the Public Accounts in January. So that was something

that we had to do that, perhaps, they should have done previously, and we were

now being told and we had to tell the taxpayers of the province: I'm terribly

sorry; the $1.1 billion projection in deficit is actually $2.2 billion.

So when

you talk about being misled, and we're trying to properly plan as to what we're

doing with our taxpayers' dollars, we really didn't have any idea. It wasn't

until we took government that we were able to understand that there was an

additional $1.1 billion in deficit. So yes, we were aware that the state of the

province's finances was very bleak but when you talk about another $1.1 billion

that is certainly substantial.

Question Period earlier today there was a question raised, and the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development had pointed out to everyone that we're

spending more in terms of our debt annually, right now, than we're spending on

education in this province. And it's ironic that the figure that we're spending

on our deficit is actually $1.1 billion.

Just to

put things in perspective, so we're spending more on our deficit than we are in

education. We take over office and we're lead to believe that there's going to

be a deficit of $1.1 billion and, in fact, it's $2.2 billion. So in an effort to

ensure that any future administration moving forward does not face that same

circumstance, that's essentially what this legislation today here is doing.

We've

looked across other jurisdictions, as noted by the Member for Lab West. This is

being done all across this great country. And provinces are being open and

accountable in letting taxpayers know, and even letting the Opposition know, as

they all have a vital role to play in government and Opposition certainly has

a role to play. So we're talking about letting people know exactly what's going

on with the state of our affairs.

For the

Minister of Finance to get up and have to say that when we released the Public

Accounts, it was the earliest they had been released in 18 years. I mean, that's

certainly astonishing, when you think about it. I think that everybody would

agree, and I'd be shocked if the Members opposite didn't agree either. I don't

know how any particular government when you look across the country and the

provincial governments are releasing their Public Accounts and letting the

taxpayers of the provinces know and letting industry know and letting business

know and letting departments within government know exactly what they can expect

and exactly what the numbers and the state of the province is, certainly

something that's important.

I would

wager to say it's beyond important. It's absolutely paramount that these numbers

be released and everyone, every single Newfoundland and Labradorian in this

province is aware. You can take it a step further, when you look at going to the

bond agencies and the lending markets. I mean, how are we to appear as a

province when we can't even release our Public Accounts figures at a particular

point in time to let everyone be aware of that.

So I

certainly applaud the minister for bringing in this legislation. I'd be

extremely shocked to see any disagreement on approving this legislation. It was

great to hear from the other Member opposite as well, the Member for St. John's

East Quidi Vidi bear with me there lending her voice to it as well, and

certainly they're pleased. Certainly they're pleased with this move by the

Finance Department.

stated, 11 of 13 other jurisdictions have tabling dates ranging from September

to January, so there's no reason to think that we can't be prepared to do the

same. Six of these jurisdictions generally release their information a lot

sooner as well.

today's legislation is to ensure that we have regular and consistent information

available to folks and everybody can have an understanding, a great

understanding, of where we are. Again, we don't want to see any administration

take over office and form government and have no idea exactly as to what the

state of the finances is. There's no need to be caught off guard. When you talk

about proper planning, you talk about having a plan, you talk about having a

plan in place, how is any new administration going to be able to govern without

knowing the true state of the province's finances? And that was the exact

position that we found ourselves in. It's certainly something you would not want

to leave anyone in the dark on.

As the

Member for Lab West pointed out, it's no different than when you make a budget

for your household. It's almost like a partner, a husband and wife, and the

husband says to the wife well, I'm not really quite sure where we stand but

we'll find out when we go to look at tax time, and be completely caught off

guard and have no ability to plan.

So this

is something that will certainly allow for us, as a government, to plan as we

move forward. And, as I stated, it will give industry, business, those who are

looking to invest in this province, an idea of what they can expect. We'll have

a good understanding as to what we can expect from our lending institutions;

certainly a move to be applauded.

Madam

Speaker, other than that, I don't have too, too much to add. As I say, I can

only give great thanks to the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury. I

look forward to her remarks as we close debate, unless other Members are looking

to lend their voice to this particular piece of legislation today. But I have no

trouble supporting Bill 65.

Thank

you very much for the opportunity to speak to it today, Madam Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the

hon. the Member for Mount Pearl Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I'm not

going to take too long, but I did want to say a few words about Bill 65. First

of all, I want to say that I support the bill 100 per cent. As a matter of fact,

it was only two weeks ago that I had a good discussion on the VOCM

Backtalk with Pete Soucy about this

identical issue, actually, as part of a number of reforms that I believe that we

need to bring to this House of Assembly. This was certainly one of them. I

didn't know it was coming here today, but I'm glad that it is and I will be

supporting it, as I said, 100 per cent.

I do

find it kind of interesting, just listening to the Member opposite, and I think

a couple of them mentioned the fact that this is the first time that we've seen

this done in 18 years. I'm not sure why we would want to bring up 18 years. To

my recollection, in math, the former administration were there for 12 years, so

somebody had to be there for those other years prior to them. I think that would

have been a Liberal government. Not that it really matters, but the fact that

we're bringing this little bit of partisan banter into it, I don't know why we

would want to do that.

Also,

the fact that we're talking about the fact that we didn't know prior to the last

election what the deficit really was going to be. There's no doubt that it

wasn't known what the exact numbers were. I think we can all say that would be

accurate. But to suggest there was nobody had any idea, I think that's a little

bit disingenuous; hence, the reason why the Premier wrote the then premier prior

to the election asking for the information, because everybody knew it had to be

higher than what was projected.

All you

had to do was look at the price of oil, the fact it had dropped, and you could

do the math yourself and you would have had an idea that it would have been

worse. Now, did anyone know it would be as bad as it turned out to be? Probably

not. I certainly didn't, and I'm sure nobody did. But, there's no doubt that we

had to know it would have been worse.

MR. LETTO:

You campaigned on it.

MR. LANE:

Now, I say to the Member for

Lab West, we're going to start off this session again. I listened to every word

he had to say, never said a peep. And already now every time you say one thing

that he doesn't like, all of a sudden we got to get into the heckling game.

Anyway,

I'm going to continue on, but I'm not going to be putting up with any heckling.

I'm not going to be putting up with any of this nonsense, and I'll call him out

and anyone else on it every time. I'll respect you; you respect what I have to

say.

Anyway,

moving on, Madam Speaker. I would just say that and especially given the fact

that I'm supporting the bill. But I just think we're getting a little bit cute

by half by some of the statements being made about who knew what and who didn't

know what and so on. I think we all had an idea that it wouldn't be as bad; that

it would be worse than what was put out there originally, but we didn't know how

bad.

The fact

of the matter is we're doing the right thing now, and that's the important

thing. We're doing the right thing now. They're bringing forth a piece of

legislation that basically, when enacted, is going to provide the people with

the accurate information prior to the election, and I think that's very

important. That way we eliminate all the mystery, we eliminate all the excuses,

and when a party brings forth a platform in future elections, everybody will

know, including, and most importantly, the general public will know exactly

where we stand and then they can gauge the promises contained in all the party

platforms and line it up against what people know the financial situation to

actually be.

That way

the people can hold all of the parties accountable. They can ask questions. They

can question if you're planning on doing this, how do you plan on achieving it,

given this particular situation? Where do you plan on finding the finances to do

this or if you're going to do this over here, where are you going to take from

in order to do it? Please explain, because based on the financial situation, I

don't understand how you could propose this particular thing, whatever it may

be.

So it

makes good sense. It's a proactive thing to do. It's a positive thing to do. I'm

glad it's being done and I will support it 100 per cent.

Thank

you, Madam Speaker.

MADAM SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the

hon. Member for Bonavista.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It's an

honour to stand here today in the spring session to speak on Bill 65, on the

Financial Administration Act and

changes that we're making to it. I'm also looking forward to speaking to Bill 66

when I get an opportunity because it's heavily related to the District of

Bonavista.

With

that said, my friends from Lab West and Stephenville Port au Port and even

Mount Pearl Southlands have made some very good points about having this

information out here.

AN HON. MEMBER:

What?

MR. KING:

I'm willing to give credit

where credit is due.

MR. KENT:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

They made some very good

points about the minister's statement about releasing Public Accounts 15 days

prior to an election. Like they said, it is for accountability and transparency

so the public are not surprised, or to coin a phrase from my friend from Mount

Pearl North or excuse me, Mount Pearl Southlands yesterday, hoodwinked by

what they see or what they're being told by the governing party at the time.

This is

a big step forward, and like I said, goes a long to creating transparency and

accountability; two things we campaigned on in the fall of 2015. What this also

does is it brings us in line with other jurisdictions. So you have a number of

different provinces ri