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March 17, 2016

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVIII No. 7

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Osborne):

Order, please!

Admit strangers.

the public gallery today we are pleased to welcome Rick Stanley of Ocean

Quest Adventure Tours; also in the Speaker's gallery today a former Member

of the House of Assembly, Percey Barrett, and his grandson Adrian Skinner.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

We're also very pleased

today to welcome to the Speaker's gallery Nevaeh Denine, CEO of Nevaeh's

Lemonade Stand, and some of her team, Nevaeh's Angel Foundation: her mother

Holly Denine; grandfather John Denine; Barb Evans; Stephanie O'Brien; Tania

Evans; and Avah Curl.

For

all of you, you know who Nevaeh is, I'm sure. This six-year-old has been

battling cancer with amazing courage and strength. She's also been an

inspiration to all of us. Having the strength to deal with her own battle,

she decided to give back and after seeing the Janeway Telethon, she wanted

the biggest lemonade stand ever.

She

started in July of 2014. Her next lemonade stand is July 24 of this year.

Last year, amazingly Nevaeh raised $40,000

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

While Nevaeh is battling

cancer herself, she's raising a tremendous amount of money for other

children with cancer. She is a hero!

I'd

like to welcome Nevaeh and her mother to the front of the mace, as well as

the Premier and the MHA for the District of Ferryland. All Members of the

House of Assembly have graciously signed a flag and we're going to present

this to Nevaeh today.

(Presenting of flag.)

(Applause.)

MR. SPEAKER:

I'd like to thank all

Members for allowing us to do that today; I think it was very important.

Thank you.

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we have Member's

statements for the Member for the District of St. John's Centre; Baie Verte

Green Bay; Fogo Island Cape Freels; Conception Bay East Bell Island;

Placentia West Bellevue; and Virginia Waters Pleasantville.

recognize the Member for the District of St. John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, what a pleasure to congratulate Holy Cross Junior High Crusaders

boys and girls basketball teams who both won silver medals in recent

tournaments.

The

Crusaders are coached by amazing volunteers Robyn Evans and Mark Delaney.

Robyn has been coaching the teams for six years and runs them on an

inclusivity framework. Absolutely everyone is valuable and gets to play!

Holy

Cross won a recent ArtsSmarts grant to study The Fairy Faith Oral Traditions

with songwriter Ray Lake. They studied traditional stories of fairies in

Newfoundland and Labrador, retold those stories in song and recorded a CD.

It was just fabulous work.

Two

incredible teachers, Lisa Saunders and Raymond Abbott, have been chosen for

the NLTA's Change Lives Campaign. Their work with students has been life

changing for sure. The testimonies from former students are absolutely

breathtaking.

This

year, the majority of Fry Family Scholarships went to alumni of Holy Cross.

This year alone, they won a total of $107,000 in scholarships. From 2006 to

2014, over 41 students from Holy Cross have been recipients of a Fry Family

Scholarship.

Holy

Cross Junior High is truly a community school nourishing and supporting its

students. Bravo to Principal Linda Hart and her fantastic team!

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Baie Verte Green Bay.

MR. WARR:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

would ask all Members of this hon. House to join me in congratulating the

Springdale HATS-Haiti team as they conclude another year of fundraising and

plan their annual visit to Haiti this May.

HATS, or Hands Across The Sea, was founded and is operated by Karen Huxter

of Springdale. She has dedicated the past 20 years to her mission.

Currently, her orphanage provides 18 Haitian children an abundance of love,

compassion and caring, along with the other essentials of a healthy life.

her compound, you will also find the Karen Huxter School and 400 proud

Haitian children who have been given the opportunity to learn. Although the

school currently offers grade one to 11, in September 2016, students will

also attend grade 12.

HATS-Haiti is possible because of volunteers and generous donations. Over

the past three years, the Springdale group of seven have raised nearly

$60,000. Volunteer groups such as theirs can be found across our great

province. They demonstrate characteristics such as generosity, selflessness

and social responsibility. Please join me as we thank them for their

important work and wish them a safe journey in May.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Fogo Island Cape Freels.

MR. BRAGG:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, it's a privilege to stand in this hon. House today and recognize

the efforts of the volunteer fire departments in

Centerville-Wareham-Trinity, New-Wes-Valley, Lumsden and Greenspond.

October of 2015, the Town of New-Wes-Valley volunteer fire department

received two calls within minutes of each other. The first call was for a

commercial building in their town, the second in a cabin area closer to

Greenspond.

The

fire chief called the Greenspond volunteer fire department for assistance.

After extinguishing the cabin fire, we proceeded to the commercial fire.

Upon arrival we joined the New-Wes-Valley, Lumsden and CWT fire departments.

Over 40 firefighters were on the scene. Everyone knew we were dealing with a

fatality.

Those first responders will be forever impacted by what they experienced

that day. There was a somber mood around the scene. No one who responded to

the emergency calls had anticipated a victim. These volunteers in small

towns are rarely trained for such an event. Nevertheless, they handled the

situation with grace and courage.

would ask all Members in this hon. House to join me in showing our

appreciation by thanking these men and women for their faithful community

service.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

stand today to acknowledge entrepreneur Rick Stanley of Ocean Quest

Adventures. This past month Mr. Stanley developed, financed and participated

in a significant future economic business in my district, this being the

Mine Quest adventure diving expedition.

Rick

and 12 of the world's elite divers have embarked on an expedition to

document and map the sprawling tunnels that make up the Bell Island mines.

The mine shafts run kilometres beneath the ocean floor, and are a treasure

trove of historical gems which reflect the mining industry of the era. The

objective of the expedition is to build a road map so that inexperienced

divers can be taken down into the mines without risk.

The

teams plan to open the mines up to the diving public has earned them the

coveted title of Expedition of the Year from the Royal Canadian Geographic

Society.

addition to their award, a further acknowledgement of the significance of

this expedition is evident in that a film crew from the Discovery Channel is

documenting the group's expedition for a two-part series.

ask all Members to join me in congratulating and wishing every success to

Ocean Quest and Mr. Rick Stanley.

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 in

this hon. House today to commend Olympian Kaetlyn Osmond, of Marystown, on

her courage and strength in the face of adversity and overcoming it.

After two consecutive gold medals at the Canadian Figure Skating

Championships in 2013 and 2014, Kaetlyn made all of Newfoundland and

Labrador proud by winning a silver medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

Just

months after returning from Russia, Kaetlyn was sidelined by an injury when

she fell during a practice session, breaking her right fibula in two places,

which required two surgeries to repair.

injury of this magnitude could have been a career ender, but Kaetlyn

unflinchingly embarked upon the road to recovery. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to

report to the House today that she has been back on the ice and back in her

element.

saw evidence of this in January of this year, when Kaetlyn returned to the

Canadian National Championships. Just some 16 months after her major injury,

she earned a bronze medal, finishing just 0.12 shy of second place.

ask all Members of this hon. House to join with me in congratulating this

world-class athlete, our hometown hero, Kaetlyn Osmond, on her remarkable

journey of strength and best wishes on what is still yet to come.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters Pleasantville.

MR. B. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

rise in this hon. House today to pay tribute to one of Newfoundland and

Labrador's greatest legal minds. Earlier this month, Jim Thistle passed away

after a short battle with ALS. He leaves behind a truly distinguished legacy

of public service and a record of achievements in the legal world that

continues to benefit Newfoundland and Labrador today.

1985, Jim played a leading role with the Atlantic Accord, a moment in our

history that paved the way for the development of the offshore oil and gas

industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. Thanks to Jim's role in this

agreement, our province has been transformed into a global player in the oil

and gas sector. Jim later went on to serve his province as the Deputy

Minister of Justice and the Deputy Attorney General.

During his legal career, he worked extensively in energy and natural

resources, environmental and Aboriginal law and he served his profession as

a mentor to dozens of lawyers over the years. Jim was a deeply committed

volunteer and community leader who was well loved by his family and friends.

ask all Members of this hon. House to join me in celebrating the life and

legacy of one of Newfoundland and Labrador's most distinguished citizens.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

The Commemoration

of the First World War and the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel

MR. SPEAKER:

Today for Honour 100 I

recognize the Member for the District of Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

I will now read into the record the following 40 names

of those who lost their lives in the First World War in the Royal

Newfoundland Regiment, the Royal Newfoundland Naval Reserve, the

Newfoundland Mercantile Marine, or the Newfoundland Forestry Corps. This

will be followed by a moment of silence.

Lest we forget: Alexander Chalk, John Fielding Chaplin,

Albert Chatman, Isaac J. Chaulk, Ronald Chaulk, Charles Chaytor, Reginald

Cheater, William C. Christian, Leo Joseph Christopher, Charles Chuck, George

Chuck, Lawrence Edward Clare, William Clark, Dorman Clarke , George Max Clarke, George R. Clarke, George S. Clarke, James Clarke,

John Clarke, Josiah Clarke, Soloman Clarke, Thomas Clarke, Walter J. Clarke,

Bernard Cleary, Charles Allen Cleary, John Cleary, Patrick Michael Cleary,

Cecil Bayly Clift, Albert Cluett, Henry Cluett, Vincent Cluett, John Coady,

Timothy Francis Coady, William Coady, George Coates, Harold Coates, Harold

Gordon Coish, Leo Coish, William Clyde Coish and Ronald Colbert.

(Moment of Silence.)

MR. SPEAKER:

Please be seated.

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, it was

an honour to participate this morning in a ceremony to recognize the 40th

anniversary of the first sitting of the Court of Appeal as the appellate

division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Prior to 1976, both trial and appeal superior court functions were

discharged by a single unit court the Supreme Court of Newfoundland. Each

individual judge sat as a trial judge and in the case of appeal, that

judge's decision would be heard by the other sitting judges.

Mr.

Speaker, the Court of Appeal is a vital component of the justice system in

Newfoundland and Labrador as the court of last resort for more than 95 per

cent of all appeals initiated in the province. Over the past 40 years, there

have been many significant decisions that have directly impacted the

administration of justice for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Today we also recognized the contributions of one of the first justices to

sit on the Court of Appeal, Chief Justice James R. Gushue, who was just 43

years old when he was appointed in 1976 a remarkable achievement for such

a young man. He was known as a polite and courteous writer of good, solid

judgements.

Chief Justice Gushue led a commission that examined the circumstances

related to a 1976 fire at a personal care home in the Goulds that claimed 21

lives and which resulted in many health and safety improvements that are

still in place today.

passed away last October and is dearly missed by his family, friends and

colleagues in the legal community.

closing, Mr. Speaker, I ask my fellow MHAs to join me in congratulating the

Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador on its

40th anniversary.

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.

We,

as well, join with the hon. Member in recognizing this anniversary, and I

thank the hon. Member for a copy of his statement today.

One

of the hallmarks of a democratic society is a fair and progressive judicial

system and today marking the 40th anniversary of the first sitting of the

Court of Appeal, we recognize the immense vital role it plays in the

Newfoundland and Labrador justice system.

Mr.

Speaker, all governments have a major responsibility to ensure that each and

every person has a right to fair and just legal proceedings and the

appellate division adds an additional level of oversight to legal rulings

right here in our home province.

would also like to briefly recognize all of the men and women who work in

our court systems throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and commend them as

well for the support they provide to courts and the work they do for the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of St. John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What

an honour to stand in this House to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the

Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and to

recognize the work of Chief Justice Gushue.

What

an honour to thank Chief Justice Derek Green, the current judiciary and

their teams for their dedication to the court and to the administration of

justice on behalf of our people. Chief Justice Green has done wonderful work

educating the general public about the need to modernize our justice system

and the important issues of access to justice for all people.

all, Mr. Speaker, I thank them for their passion and their compassion.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The

hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

rise today to recognize March as Colon Cancer Awareness Month.

Colon cancer is one of the commonest types of cancer in both men and women

in Newfoundland and Labrador. It often develops with few if any warning

signs. Early recognition for the prevention and treatment of this cancer

often means a greater chance of successful recovery.

Regardless of whether you have a history of colorectal cancer in your

family, talk to your health care professional to learn more about your

personal risk. Your family doctor, nurse practitioner or other health

professional can help you identify preventive options to reduce your risk of

colorectal cancer.

Mr.

Speaker, together with the Department of Seniors, Wellness and Social

Development we're developing a health promotion and healthy living strategy.

We can all make personal lifestyle choices to reduce our risk of developing

cancer. This includes eating a well-balanced diet, regular exercise,

refraining from smoking and limiting alcohol consumption.

encourage all residents during Colon Cancer Awareness Month to speak to

their primary health care providers to learn more about this type of cancer.

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.

thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement today. Also, we

would like to join the government in recognizing March as Colon Cancer

Awareness Month.

the minister indicated, colon cancer is one of the leading types of cancer

in our province today for both males and females. Like many other cancers

and conditions, early detection is key. Mr. Speaker, that's why our

government expanded the province's Colon Cancer Screening Program making it

accessible to residents throughout all regions of our province.

was a goal to have this type of screening performed province wide and I'm

happy that is now the case. The screening program assures that residents who

are at average risk of colorectal cancer can be screened for early detection

and diagnosis of colon cancer. We know that about 90 per cent of colon

cancers that are detected early can be prevented and treated very

successfully.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. P. DAVIS:

We acknowledge the work

as well of those working in health care throughout Newfoundland and Labrador

and protecting the best interests of the people of the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of St. John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. I certainly

recommend that everyone learn about the risks of colon cancer and the

benefits of early detection.

want to add one important measure is the free Fecal Immunochemical Test,

better known as the FIT. It is easier to say. It's an advanced test you can

order from your health authority. It comes in the mail with all the

necessary equipment and instructions.

urge people to check with their physicians about their eligibility to use

the FIT. It's a simple, free test that could save people's lives.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The

hon. the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, the

Newfoundland and Labrador Association for Community Living, a non-profit

organization that works with and on behalf of persons with intellectual

disabilities and their families, have opened nominations for their annual

Inclusive Education Award.

was pleased to meet with this group in February when we proclaimed Inclusive

Education Month. Each year the Inclusive Education Award is presented to a

school for outstanding efforts to develop and design classrooms, programs

and activities so that all students can participate in all aspects of school

life.

Mr.

Speaker, students have a right to attend school with their peers while

receiving appropriate and quality programming in safe, caring and inclusive

environments. Inclusive schools embrace the diversity of our communities and

employ collaborative approaches to teaching and learning.

encourage each of our schools to acknowledge and celebrate inclusive

environments by applying for this Inclusive Education Award. The deadline

for submissions is March 25. Information about the award and the new

guidelines are available online on the Newfoundland and Labrador Association

for Community Living website.

Mr.

Speaker, this government is committed to fostering safe, caring and

inclusive environments enabling all students to reach their full potential.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

would like to thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. We,

too, on this side of the House want to recognize the valuable work of the

Newfoundland and Labrador Association for Community Living and particularly

what they do in our community.

is important that we note that this is the 60th anniversary of the

association. That is a milestone but it is also a testament to the great

work that has been done by their paid staff, but particularly the hundreds

of volunteers who give freely of their time every day to ensure that persons

with intellectual disabilities and their families are provided services.

This

award is a great opportunity to recognize the school that goes out of their

way to promote inclusive education and encourage students to be engaged and

the school community itself to be supportive.

Mr. Speaker, we, too, want to encourage all of our Members here in the House

of Assembly to reach out to your schools, encourage them to make an

application to acknowledge the schools that go out of their way to include

persons with intellectual disabilities.

want to acknowledge the fact that the deadline is March 25. And we, too,

want to encourage everybody to reach out and thank the association for the

great work they've done.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of St. John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

too, thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement, and

congratulations to the Association for Community Living for establishing

this award. It's such an excellent way to make students aware of inclusion

and to come up with their own solutions to make their classrooms and schools

more inclusive.

However, I would like to see the minister acknowledge that many schools do

not have the number of teachers and teaching assistants they need to create

a truly inclusive environment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, the Minister of Finance has indicated that one of the areas in

which government has achieved savings since taking office is travel.

ask the minister: Can she table the details on savings in travel between

December and March 2016?

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Over

the last several days, the Member opposite is continuing to ask questions,

which I have answered. I'm not sure why he is unable to hear the answer, but

I'll try it again.

The

full details of every single savings across every single line are presented

to this House and to the people of the province through the Estimates

process, and then further through Public Accounts. I look forward to

providing that information in the House for the people of the province and

for the Members opposite when those deadlines and dates around budget and

Estimates are planned.

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.

Well, the hon. Member offered to provide the exact details here in the House

of Assembly, and I would also reference this is part of budget 2015-16 and

she had indicated the savings had already taken place and provided a number.

So we were looking for those details.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister, a reduction of MHAs introduced by our

administration, reducing the House from 48 Members to 40, would impact the

number of political staff and result in savings to government.

So I

ask the minister: Can the minister outline the exact savings due to

reduction in MHAs, and are they also included in the savings the minister is

referring to?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

The

specific details around every single line item and every single savings

related to individual line items through departments, through the agencies,

boards and commissions through their annual reports all of that

information is tabled in the House of Assembly, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly all the details the Member opposite is looking for will be

available for him to review at the same time it's going to be available for

review for the people of the province.

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.

keep asking the questions because we haven't been able to get the answers.

Mr.

Speaker, in the Liberal red book it stated a new Liberal government would

implement a provincial autism strategy.

ask the minister: When can we expect to see such a strategy, and who will be

responsible for the development of that strategy?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members here will probably be aware, the Autism Society of Newfoundland and

Labrador produced a very comprehensive review yesterday with a fairly

lengthy executive

summary. Myself and my officials are working our way

through that document.

would hope to use that to inform discussions around a strategy for autism.

We wish to engage with stakeholders, in terms of developmental

paediatricians, in terms of providers of autism support in education and, in

due course, we will develop a strategy and bring that back to the House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We're all very much aware of the many challenges faced by those with ASD, as

well as their caregivers and families. One of those challenges commonly

identified by the autism community is the archaic threshold of IQ 70 when

determining eligibility for service.

recognize the need to address this shortcoming and, as such, I committed

while I was premier to the elimination of IQ 70 standard. Mr. Speaker, I was

very pleased the Liberal Party followed our lead and also announced the same

in the red book just days before the election.

ask the Premier: Are you still committed to eliminating the IQ 70 as

promised, and when can we expect some movement on that?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Member opposite, I thank him for the question, because as he knows, during

many of the forums we took

part in in the election last fall, there were a

number of questions around autism.

the minister just spoke about, the release of a strategy yesterday by the

Autism Society, the autism association made many recommendations and one of

those recommendations of course was to do away with or the removal of the IQ

70. This is something we are still committed to as we are looking forward to

working with the autism association on many ways to improve the lives of

people and families that have to deal with ASD.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

think the Premier is saying they remain committed to it, and I'm glad to

hear that.

Mr.

Speaker, the Liberals also promised to expand the ABA program Applied

Behavioural Analysis, commonly known as ABA. Currently, the cut-off stands

at grade three. While this may be an appropriate threshold for many,

especially those who are enrolled in ABA programs at an early age, however,

for those who are diagnosed later, the grade three cut-off does not suffice.

ask the Premier: Are you still committed to expanding the ABA program as

well past its current scope? When can we expect some movement and more

details on that?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

a little surprised to hear that the former premier would be standing in this

House asking us questions when this could have been done when they had a

number of years to do exactly that and refused to do it. As a matter of

fact, refused to even, in many cases, entertain a discussion which was

meaningful in any way with those impacted by this.

understand the impact this is having, and this is something that will be

part of the overall strategy. We would like to be able to make those changes

but this and many other changes will be part of the overall discussion that

we look forward to having. We realize the importance and how significant

this is, especially within our education system, within our health system

and how it impacts families. So this is something we look forward to having

a broader discussion and we look forward to hopefully being able to

implement these changes.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, Budget 2015 produced a five-year financial plan. The three

bond-rating agencies liked that long-term plan and rated our province's

outlook as stable. A lack of a plan by this government resulted in

Newfoundland's outlook being downgraded to negative.

ask the Minister of Finance: Has she met with the bond-rating agencies to

address this issue? What is the current status of the provincial bond-rating

status?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, the gall of the Member opposite to say that they actually put in a

plan last year and they stand by their plan. Last year, there were

borrowings of almost $5 billion, which they did no borrowing strategy on and

virtually zero success in getting access to any long-term borrowing.

Well, I am proud to stand in this House today and speak to you about the

minister who sits in this very chair and the success and the work that she's

been able to do for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

She's been able to put in

place some long-term borrowing initiatives already, in spite of the failed

plan that you guys announced last year in April.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

remind the Premier that it was him who was out in the public just a short

while ago saying we couldn't get any long-term borrowing (inaudible) the

previous administration. He had to retract what he had said because the

previous administration did have long-term borrowing.

Mr.

Speaker, could the Premier clarify who indeed was turned down, the province

was turned down, by what institutions for long-term borrowing? Why did he

have to retract his statement that the province in the past year had not

received long-term borrowing?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Member opposite knows this was essentially a reopener that was done last

summer nothing new at all. It was a reopener of a loan that was already

put in place.

The

downgrading that took place this year that you've seen recently in the

credit-rating agencies

was as a result of the plan that you guys announced last year, one that

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador took a good look at.

Right now, what they are looking for is some security, some sustainability

for our province. I'm proud to say that our minister is putting a great plan

in place. This government will do just that to make sure that we can secure

the future of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Again, I ask the Premier, he indicated publicly that the prior

administration was unable to secure long-term borrowing. He later retracted

that statement. I'd ask him to clarify that.

well, he indicated there were lending institutions that would not lend

long-term borrowing to the province. I ask him to name those institutions,

if he could.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, why would I

get up in this House of Assembly today and let the people of this province

know and explain to people who would not listen to your plan?

We've been able to, as a result of the efforts of the Minister of Finance

and President of Treasury Board, secure $1.4 billion in long-term financing.

So you might ask: Why is that important?

Well, when you're in a situation where downgrading is based on the plan

the previous administration put in place becomes at risk, it's important

that you put security, that you put certainty in place so you do not have to

worry. You take all those risks, all those variables out of play. That is

what the minister and her team has been able to do, unlike the previous

administration.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, again, I remind the Premier it was our plan that the bond-rating

agency stabilized our bond rating last fall.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Last November they

looked at it and they secured that bond rating. It was later on that it was

changed, I remind the Premier.

The

Dominion Bond Rating agency stated on January 21 that Without a material

improvement in the fiscal and debt outlook supported by a credible

multi-year fiscal plan, a one-notch downgrade is likely. Moody's said on

January 25 they will consider revising their outlook back to stable if the

government implements a comprehensive fiscal plan. Standard & Poor's: If

they develop a credible plan.

ask the Premier: When will your government have a credible, multi-year

fiscal plan ready to prevent further downgrades of our credit rating?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

noticed the Member just said our credit rating. Well, it was your credit

rating that they actually downgraded.

What

I would say, Mr. Speaker, is last year during budget 2015-2016 the previous

administration, which the Member was a part of and which the premier was a

part of, said this: We will need to be borrowing over the next five or six

years. They had said that.

What

they didn't do now if you know that you have to borrow, why would you not

put in place an investors relationship strategy? Why wouldn't you do that?

The previous administration knew they had to borrow, refused to do it, put

the future of Newfoundland and Labrador at risk.

is their plan of the borrowing that led to the $15.4 billion over the next

five years. That is the reason why our minister is putting in place an

investment strategy, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Mr. Speaker, I remind

the Premier it's their lack of plan that the bond-rating agencies have

reacted so negatively, I'll say to him.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

The lack of a plan,

that's where the bond-rating agency is. Lack of vision, lack of direction,

no fiscal policy; Mr. Speaker, it's terrible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Mr. Speaker,

The Telegram reported on February 24 that the Premier admitted the

lack of a plan hurt us and said the reaction will be more positive for

credit agencies if we have a plan we can show them.

What

plan has the Premier provided to financial lenders and institutions to help

secure financing and instill confidence in the fiscal plan of our province?

If so, will he share that plan?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

That plan will be called

budget 2016-2017, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for the

District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Short answers, but we have lots of questions. No worry there, Mr. Speaker.

15-month consultation tour that the Liberals are undertaking is virtually

identical to that which was taken by the New Brunswick Liberal government.

One year later, the New Brunswick government has made massive cuts to

programs, services and jobs.

ask the Minister of Finance: Should the people of our province be prepared

for similar cuts to programs, services and jobs by your government?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

can assure the people of the province that they will have a budget as part

of '16-'17 fiscal that will include multi-year targets, actions in the

short, medium and long term, which we will be discussing as part of our

budget '16. We'll look forward to continuing the dialogue that many people

across this province so desperately have wanted for a decade and were unable

to participate in.

We'll continue to have that dialogue and put a credible plan in place to

make sure that the people of the province are supported, understand and get

what they want when it comes to budget 2016.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Conception Bay South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, during the fall election campaign, as part of their campaign

platform, the Liberals assessed the value of government assets and claimed

they could generate $50 million each year from the sale of those assets.

ask the Minister of Transportation and Works which assets have you placed on

the market were sold since taking office. How much has your administration

raised, to date, through those assets?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

The

work that's being undertaken around getting a deep understanding of the

assets that the current government has at its disposal is ongoing. Part of

our process in building budget 2016 and our ongoing fiscal plans will

include a commitment to do exactly what we said in our platform.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the

Minister of Transportation and Works if he'll make public the full list of

assets the Liberal administration plans to sell and the amount of revenue

expected to be generated through this sale.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

guess what I'm hearing from the Member opposite, he's looking for a fire

sale, maybe. I'm not so sure what he is interested in.

What

we will do before any asset would be sold, that is owned by the province of

Newfoundland and Labrador, there will be full economic analysis that would

be done on those assets, I say, Mr. Speaker. If they bring value and

continue to have value to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador well,

guess what? They will remain an asset of Newfoundland and Labrador; I can

say that, Mr. Speaker.

Anything that has no value to the province, well, we will do what is right.

We can use that money to provide valued services for the people of the

province who are desperately looking for some good management and some good

planning for the future of our 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.

It's

strange for the Premier to say that when every community I go to, every

person I run into, are looking: What is government selling? What buildings

are they selling? It is in your red book, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, the government has not yet taken action on this plan.

ask the minister: Our province is in dire need of revenue; why haven't you

taken any action?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

the Member opposite is going to many communities in our province, I would

ask him to let us know which communities, because when I'm travelling this

province that is not what people are telling me. What they are saying is

they are looking forward to this government and to this team that's over

here putting in a plan that's sustainable, making sure that we make

decisions that are evidence based, that the complete analysis is done on all

the issues that we have facing our province. That is what this government is

committed to doing and that is what we will do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member

for the District of Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Announced on April 29 last year, the Community Sustainability Partnership

provided new and needed sources of funding for municipalities. Included were

partial rebated HST; access to the provincial gas tax fund; a three year

commitment to municipalities operating grants at a value of $22 million;

multi-year infrastructure commitments to address such needs as clean and

safe drinking water. Municipalities right across the province applauded this

plan and this announcement.

I ask the Minister of Municipal Affairs: Is he committed to maintaining

this partnership?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister

of Municipal Affairs.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

I thank the Member for the question. It was a great program that was

brought in. Actually, we all voted for it, and the Members who are opposite.

We voted for it. We agreed with it. We think it's a great plan to sustain

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, like we said, everything will be reviewed in the budget.

Anything we do will be in consultation with Municipalities Newfoundland and

Labrador. I commit that anything that's done on this side, Mr. Speaker, will

be done in the best interest, unlike the former minister who wouldn't sign

$34.9 million to help out rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member

for the District of Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, municipalities right across the province are concerned about

the economic turmoil we have and they're worried about the download of

services to communities through actions taken by our government, which

provided funding from 90-10, 80-20 and 70-30 respective on the size of

communities.

I ask the minister: Are you committed to this type of funding?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister

of Municipal Affairs.

MR. JOYCE:

Again, I thank the

Member for the question. Then again, I have to look at the commitment when

there was so much work that could have been done in rural Newfoundland and

Labrador with this $34.9 million.

Mr. Speaker, I hear the Member talking about all the concerns. I've met

with MNL. None of those concerns were raised to me. I don't know who the

Member is talking to because, Mr. Speaker, we will have meetings next week

hopefully with MNL to discuss some of the GRIs we're doing as a government.

can tell you one thing, Mr. Speaker, one thing we will do that the opposite

government never did: anything that will be done in this province will be

done in partnership. One thing we won't do, Mr. Speaker, is send letters out

to all the municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador asking them to apply

for capital works knowing full well there's not one cent in the budget to

use for rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I want

to remind the minister, I speak to my municipal leaders all the time in my

district.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

That's part of my

job. I work closely with municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador,

especially in my own area. So I have a dialogue with them all the time, I

remind him.

Mr.

Speaker, as part of the municipal fiscal framework, government struck a

committee that would look at regional government structure. It intended for

the committee to report back in April.

ask the minister: What's the progress of this committee?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal Affairs.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

forgot to add one thing we're doing with Municipalities Newfoundland and

Labrador it was a commitment that was in the red book. Every year we would

have a Premier's forum with the Premier sitting down face to face with our

leaders of rural Newfoundland and Labrador to hear their concerns. We won't

be passing on things, Mr. Speaker, through a letter. The Premier will sit

down and face them face to face.

Now,

on regional governance, Mr. Speaker, there is a plan in place to start that.

There are consultations already in place. We feel strong, as the other

government did also, that it's great for Newfoundland and Labrador. We will

follow through on that, but whatever we do will be in consultation with

Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, who's in agreement with this, and

we look forward to the outcomes.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, we were very pleased to see the continuation of our

administration's Downpayment Assistance Program for next year. According to

the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation's website, applications

for 2016-17 will be available beginning on April 1.

ask the minister: How much money has been allocated to this program for the

upcoming year?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Child, Youth and Family Services.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

I thank the Member

for her question, and I would just like to let her know the program has been

fully used for the past fiscal year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

What we are doing, in

actual fact, is we have a wait-list of individuals who have applied for this

program. So rather than putting it out again, we are going to allow those

individuals access to the program first and then announce it again.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the

minister again: Can you tell us how much money you intend to allocate to

this program for the upcoming year?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Child, Youth and Family Services.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

The amount that we

will allocate will be in the provincial budget.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Mr. Speaker, we know from

speaking to those in the real estate industry, as well as many first-time

homebuyers who availed of our innovative program, that it was very well

received and considered an overwhelming success. I contacted the minister

earlier this spring and I appreciate the information supplied to me by her

in early February. I now kindly ask her to update the program.

Can

you tell us, in terms of the funds for this year, have they all been

allocated? Will you be continuing an equal amount of funds, at the very

least for the upcoming year?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Child, Youth and Family Services.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

I would like to let

the Member know that 122 households availed of the program, and we are

evaluating the program.

As I

said previously, the individuals who have previously applied will receive

assistance from the program first. Based on our provincial budget, we will

determine the amount on a go-forward basis.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Can

the Premier give an update on the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade

Agreement? We understand it's moving forward with final translation being

performed. We are able to negotiate almost immediate access to the seafood

into the European Union once the deal is signed, which would be tremendous

for the fish processing sector of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I'm wondering if he could give us an update on where it is and when it could

be possibly signed.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

with any agreement we have with the federal government right now, it's

important that we make sure we continue to dialogue, continue negotiation

and a communication. We've got communication and dialogue and negotiations

happening on many fronts with the federal government, I will say, Mr.

Speaker.

When

the time is right, if we are able to close any agreement or any deal with

our federal colleagues, what we will do is we will make that public at the

time. It would be premature to make any announcement on anything that may

happen until it's final. Unlike the previous administration, who took the

liberty to go down without the federal government being part of it;

therefore, had the signing authority.

When

we finalize an agreement on anything related to the federal government and

Newfoundland and Labrador, the details will all be publicly known, I would

say. Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, recently the minister of trade for Newfoundland and Labrador

indicated in the media that he's negotiating the fisheries fund. This,

however, was negotiated as part of the overall full agreement with

provincial support for the agreement with the federal government.

ask the Premier: Is he renegotiating the previous agreed support by this

province? Is the Premier or the minister suggesting they were offside with

Newfoundland and Labrador's trade team, as the lead negotiator and staff

been readily available, both domestically and nationally, over the past

number of months and year to definitively state there was a fisheries fund

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

you listen to the question from the Member opposite, there's a reference

about renegotiating an agreement. I can say, Mr. Speaker, there is no

agreement to renegotiate. They never were able to finalize an agreement with

their federal colleagues.

As I

said, there are a number of agreements, discussions and negotiations that

are occurring on many fronts with our federal colleagues. It would be very

premature of anyone on this side of the House right now. We are committed to

making sure that all those trade agreements are effective for people in

Newfoundland and Labrador. That is our focus.

When

the agreements are ready to be finalized, it is then we'll make the

information publicly known. It will be then that our federal colleagues will

be present at the table for the finalization.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of St. John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Yesterday the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills said his department

is in the process of doing a full review of the Adult Basic Education

program. The contract with the private colleges ends in two weeks' time.

ask the minister: What's going to happen with the ABE program and the

students after March 31?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education and Skills.

MR. BYRNE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Making sure that there's no gap in educational services is paramount. We do

not want to have learners not being able to attend classes as they normally

would.

Yes,

the contract does end on March 31. What I'm preparing now is a process to be

able to extend the contract until the 1st of September, which is the normal

beginning of the academic year, the normal school year, the normal planning

year.

the process, we then also have time to be able to develop a better plan to

go forward, one that's based on the needs of the program, its overall

sustainability and making sure we have best benefits that result from it. It

will be a much, much, much better plan than what was put in place before.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for the

District of St. John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

November 2015 departmental information note implies the new private

contracts, whether they're the ones that get extended or new ones in

September, will continue, but efficiencies must be integrated into the new

contracts.

ask the minister: How can he stay with an all-private ABE system given how

badly it has worked? Will he now consider restoring ABE to the College of

the North Atlantic?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education and Skills.

MR. BYRNE:

Mr. Speaker, I don't

think there's any contradiction in what I said. What we'll do is we'll put

forward a plan. We'll be able to develop best practices to make sure

learners and the service providers in educational institutes have an

opportunity to participate in the plan as it goes forward.

What

I am saying is that the College of the North Atlantic will indeed have an

opportunity to be able to provide input to potentially participate as well.

What we won't do is block the College of the North Atlantic from being able

to potentially participate in the future like the previous administration

did.

Our

key here, Mr. Speaker, is to make sure that the priority is on learning

opportunities and the learners in communities throughout Newfoundland and

Labrador have an opportunity to receive the best possible education that can

be provided in an affordable, sustainable way.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of St. John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Waterford Hospital ABE was a successful, specialized, comprehensive

partnership program with health and education. It was designed to meet the

very challenging needs of people with mental illness. It too was privatized,

it's services ripped out.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: How are students now doing in this program that

those crucial support services are no longer there? How many students are

there? What are the dropout rates and graduation rates now for this program?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education and Skills.

MR. BYRNE:

In the calculation of the

overall program, one of the things we have to be very clear about is that

some students enter the program for just the purpose of taking one course or

another. Not all students will enter the program for a full three-year

block. Some will enter the program for taking one course for a high school

upgrade; some may want to get into a professional program.

terms of the attrition rates, and this is one of the issues that has been

raised in terms of the original assessment is that the numbers don't

necessarily reflect a full and complete picture. That's why, Mr. Speaker, an

analysis is required. The previous administration, when they made this

decision, in my opinion, did not do so with very solid evidence and facts

before them and that's why I think mistakes were made.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's Centre, for one final question.

MS. ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, the students

at this ABE program are very vulnerable.

ask the minister: Who is monitoring the program now? What is the oversight?

Who knows what's really going on at the Waterford ABE?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education and Skills.

MR. BYRNE:

Mr. Speaker, the entire

program has to be reviewed from the point of view of what's in the best

interest of learners. We have a particular group of learners who have

special and separate needs. That's one of the things what I want to do is

make sure that all the evidence is brought forward, all the data is brought

forward and if hon. Members opposite can provide me with better input, I

would be more than happy to receive that information because that's what

makes for better decision making. It wasn't necessarily what was available

in the past.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Question

Period has expired.

Presenting Report by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of

Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker,

section

28 of the Provincial Court Act

requires that the Lieutenant Governor in Council appoint a tribunal every

four years to review and report on the salaries and benefits of provincial

court judges, and present its recommendations and reasons to the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety. The act which had initially required the report

to be filed by 30th of September 2014 had earlier been amended to require

that the report be filed by 31st of December 2015.

tribunal consisting of Brad Wicks, Q.C., David Eaton, Q.C. and John Whelan

were appointed in December 2014 to make recommendations for a four-year

period from April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2017. Hearings were conducted by the

Wicks tribunal during the 25th to the 27th of May 2015. The tribunals report

was presented to me on December 21, 2015. The tribunals report made

recommendations on salary, pension, interest, sick leave, judicial

indemnity, bereavement leave, cost and per diem judges.

Section 28.2(2) of the act requires that the report must be tabled in the

House of Assembly within 15 days of the start of this session of the House

of Assembly. The act also directs that within 30 days after the report is

tabled a resolution must be submitted to the House of Assembly to confirm,

vary or reject the tribunal's recommendations.

hereby table this report for the House of Assembly.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

give notice that I will move that the House resolve itself into Committee of

the Whole to consider a resolution relating to the raising of loans by the

province, Bill 9,

An Act To Amend The Loan Act, 2015.

Mr.

Speaker, I also give notice that I will move that the House resolve itself

into Committee of the Whole to consider a resolution relating to the raising

of loans by the province, Bill 10, Loan Act, 2016.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

give notice under Standing Order 11 that I shall move that the House not

adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 21, 2016.

Further, I give notice under Standing Order 11 that I shall move that the

House not adjourn at 10 p.m. on Monday, March 21, 2016.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of

motion?

Answers to Questions for which Notice has Been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Cape St. Francis.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

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 the federal government cannot justify discriminating against

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in determining the dates of the

recreational ground fishery;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to be vocal in calling on the

Newfoundland and Labrador to promote fairness, safety and tourism.

Mr.

Speaker, I'm going to get up every day that I can because this is so

important to so many different people in our province. I talked to Members

over on the other side and everywhere you go people at work even here at

the House of Assembly that enjoy getting out for the recreational fishery.

We all believe that it's our God-given right to be able to go on the water

and catch a fish. We do realize that the moratorium came in and there was a

time that we had to stop fishing. It seems like when you talk to most people

even the fishermen when you talk to them, they feel that the ground

fishery is coming back. This is a part of who we are as people.

Safety is a very, very important time. When you look at there's three weeks

in the summertime and a week in September I've been involved in the food

fishery since it started and, to tell you the truth, I'd say last year I

didn't get out at all in September; the year before I think I got out once,

and the year before that once.

Mr.

Speaker, September is a hard time on the water for fisher people. We're

putting people's safety in front of everything else. I think it's important

that we make sure the federal government realizes how important this is to

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. It's very, very important. Not only

is it important it's important that people do not risk their lives to

catch a few codfish. It's important that we don't put people in jeopardy.

spoke to a gentleman yesterday. He told me that September is the time of

year he likes to get his bit of fish to keep for the winter because it's the

best time to do it. We're putting people on the water when it's not safe.

It's not fair to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to be doing that.

Also, another big part of this is our tourism industry. Tourism is a very

important part of rural Newfoundland and a part of Newfoundland in general.

Mr. Speaker, I tell you, when somebody that's not used to going out and

catching a codfish gets the opportunity to go out and catch one, it's an

experience that they hold for the rest of their lives. This can be sold as a

huge tourism attraction for the whole province. If you talk to all the

tourists in boats and everybody that's around, it's a real good idea to be

able to promote that they can go out and have their people on the tour boats

be able to catch a fish.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of St. John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly

sheweth:

Junior High school and send students to a distant school; and

WHEREAS the board has arbitrarily and without consultation reduced the Holy

Cross Junior High school's catchment area and students will have to be bused

to a far more distant school; and

WHEREAS Holy Cross Junior High is an important neighbourhood school with

programs, community partnerships and extracurricular activities designed to

meet the particular needs of the inner-city students who attend it; and

longer accountable to the people who elected them;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to ensure that Holy Cross Junior High

school remains open and to immediately arrange for a democratically elected

And

as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, as you know, I have stood in the House again and again and again

asking the Minister of Education if he would halt the process of reviewing

the possibility of the closure of this school with an appointed board of

trustees.

Today he said that students have a right to attend school with their peers

while receiving appropriate and quality programming in safe, caring and

inclusive environments. And inclusive schools embrace the diversity of our

communities and employ collaborative approaches to teaching and learning.

Mr.

Speaker, Holy Cross Junior High school has about 108 students right now. I

was there the other day and there was an enrolment of another student; 38

per cent of the children attending Holy Cross Junior High have

exceptionalities 38 per cent.

lot of these kids come from a community that is a centre-city community with

very significant socioeconomic challenges. This school is crucial

absolutely crucial to the well-being and education of these children.

We're not just talking about moving a bunch of kids to another building and

amalgamating them. This school has developed over the years partnerships

with the Froude Avenue Community Centre who provides tutoring, partnerships

with Buckmasters Circle Community Centre who provides tutoring.

These kids can all walk to school. If their school is closed, many of the

children who can see the school from their kitchen windows are going to be

bused. What does that mean to them? That means that they will not be able to

attend after-school activities.

lot of these kids, as I mentioned today, are on the basketball teams. These

basketball teams are inclusive; everybody has a right to play. These

children will not be able to play basketball at Brother Rice because the

pool is so big. Also, they have no way of getting home after school; their

parents don't have cars. Their parents can't chauffeur them back and forth

to school. Moving these children would be a disservice to them.

look forward to talking about this again, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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 the remediation of the Manolis

L site is an urgent federal responsibility;

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

House of Assembly to urge government to bring pressure to bear on the

federal government to remediate the

Manolis L site.

And

as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, as we all know, this is not a new issue; it's been off the waters

of Change Islands and Notre Dame Bay for quite some time. It's been an issue

that the hon. Minister for BTCRD has brought to the floor on many occasions

for action. Our former government also lobbied to have this site remediated.

Prime Minister Trudeau has promised to remove the oil from the vessel; he

promised this during the campaign stop in the province. The people via

petition are now calling for action on this and they want the potential

environmental disaster prevented. Is this another promise that people are

waiting on? We need action.

Thank you very much.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further petitions?

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Orders of the Day,

Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I move,

seconded by the Minister of Natural Resources, for leave to introduce a bill

entitled,

An Act To Amend The Vital Statistics Act, 2009, Bill 7, 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 Bill 7 be now read a first time.

it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to introduce

Bill 7 and that the bill now be read a first time?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Service NL to introduce a bill,

An Act To

Amend The Vital Statistics Act, 2009, carried. (Bill 7)

CLERK (Barnes):

A bill,

An Act To

Amend The Vital Statistics Act, 2009. (Bill 7)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been

read a first time.

When

shall the said bill be read a second time? Now? Tomorrow?

MR. A. PARSONS:

Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, Bill 7 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 move,

seconded by the Minister of Environment and Conservation, for leave to

introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The Change Of Name Act, 2009,

Bill 8, and I further move the said bill be now read the first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded

that the hon. the Government House Leader have leave to introduce Bill 8,

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

it the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to introduce

Bill 8, and the bill be now read a first time?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, the hon. the Minister of Service NL to introduce a bill,

An Act To

Amend The Change Of Name Act, 2009, carried. (Bill 8)

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend

The Change Of Name Act, 2009. (Bill 8)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been

read a first time.

When

shall the bill be read a second time?

MR. A. PARSONS:

Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, Bill 8 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, resolution and Bill 2 regarding Interim Supply.

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that we now

call Interim Supply and that I do now leave the Chair.

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, Mr.

Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the

Whole

CHAIR (Dempster):

Order, please!

are now considering the related resolution and Bill 2,

An Act For Granting

To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The

Public Service For the Financial Year Ending March 31, 2017 And For Other

Purposes Relating To The Public Service.

The

hon. the Member for Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Thank you so much, Madam

Chair.

is a pleasure for me to rise to my feet here again today and speak to the

debate on Interim Supply. When I got up the other day I spoke briefly about

my district, so today I think I'll talk a little bit more about my district

and, once again, thank the many people who entrusted me to come back to the

House and represent them here for the next four years.

particular this time, in addition to my constituents as a whole, I'd like to

thank in particular my volunteers, without whom, of course I certainly

appreciate every hour of the day and night they've given me, not just during

the election, but throughout the entire duration I've been in politics. So a

special hats off to you.

I'd

like to say, as an Irish Newfoundlander, happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone

across the province today, Madam Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. PERRY:

Today actually is my

father's birthday. Had my father still been living, he would be 96 years old

today. He was 50 when I came along, so I'm really a good Irish Catholic.

Come from good stock, actually, from up the Southern Shore.

So I

hope everyone does enjoy St. Patrick's Day and everyone pays attention and

are sure not to drink and drive tonight. Anyone who is going out to enjoy

the festivities, make sure you have some rides arranged coming home and I

hope you manage to get a great scoff and a scuff tonight.

Madam Chair, Interim Supply debate is a very important one, of course,

because it allows the government to access funds for the first three months

of this fiscal year, coming April, May and June, while the actual budget for

2016-2017 is being debated here in the House. During that time, of course,

people need to get paid, programs still need to continue and investments

still need to be made in industry. So it's very important it passes

expeditiously, and I certainly will have no problem supporting this bill

when we get to the vote.

terms of some of the investments, Madam Chair, that governments make and

I'd like to talk a little bit about the industrial ones and about my

District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune, which has benefited greatly from

innovation in the aquaculture sector. As a young person, when I graduated

from high school there were no options at the time. It was go to the

mainland. I bucked that trend, myself and many friends of mine, because at

the time aquaculture was just beginning, and fortunately for all of us we

were able to stay living at home.

I'm

very pleased that a large number of my close friends, we'd get up in the

morning we had a routine when I went to school. We all lived on the same

street. My friend would come to my house, two of us would go to the next

house, then three of us would go to the fourth house and a fifth friend

would meet us there. Every day we walked to school together. Of the five of

us, four of us are still living home in Bay d'Espoir. To be able to say that

for a girl of my generation, I'm quite proud and quite happy of how my

region has managed to sustain itself, Madam Chair.

look forward to continued growth in aquaculture in my district and across

the province. I believe it certainly is a crucial part of the fishery of the

future and one that deserves our support. It's important, of course, Madam

Chair, to all of us that it is developed in a sustainable manner. I do

believe it is an industry that will provide rural employment for generations

and generations and generations to come. I look forward to the Minister of

Fisheries and Aquaculture coming to visit us in the very near future to see

first-hand just what an impact it has made on the well-being of our people.

Madam Chair, I'm going to talk a little bit as well today about the

importance I mentioned just a little while ago how important it is that

Interim Supply be passed expeditiously. I'd like to say before I sit down

we don't have much time here today it's equally important that budget

2016-2017 be passed expeditiously. I have to say, as a resident, I'm very

concerned that we may find ourselves waiting until May before the provincial

budget comes down because

AN HON. MEMBER:

What about last year?

MS. PERRY:

It was April. It was late

last year as well. The difference between last year and this year is people

are sitting on pins and needles. They don't know if they have a job

post-budget. They're not spending money. That is declining the amount of

disposable income that we're seeing in our retail sector and in our

restaurants.

I do

look forward to you bringing in the budget. I do implore that you do

whatever you can to bring it in as quickly as possible so that the

bond-rating agencies can take a look and make a decision about the future,

so that people can make a decision about whether or not they're going to buy

that new car. It's absolutely crucial.

The

mental anguish, Madam Chair, you can feel it walking around Confederation

Building. This is my ninth year here in the House of Assembly and in

Confederation Building. I have never felt the tension that I'm feeling

walking through the halls here today. I find it very disturbing. My heart

goes out to them very much.

All

of us as politicians, we know what it's like, especially those of us who

come to this as a profession as opposed to a second career. If you don't get

re-elected, you don't have a job. So you can really relate to the pain these

people are feeling. I think it's cruel to drag that out into May. I think

the federal budget comes down on March 22 and I'd like to see ours come

within a few days of it.

Madam Chair, I would even like to see us keep the House open right through

Easter, not take an Easter break. This is too important to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador. We should sit here. That budget should come down

during Easter and people should be able to move on with their lives.

will take my place now, Madam Chair, and remind you of the promise you made

to the people. You told them you had a plan. We want to see that plan. You

told them they'd like the plan, and I really hope they like the plan. I

really hope Wall Street likes the plan, because it's important to each and

every one of us who lives here.

Please, Mr. Chair Madam Chair, my apologies. It's taking some getting used

to but we are absolutely delighted, Madam Chair, to have you in the chair. I

will get the hang of Madam Chair. It sounds really great.

Please, I ask the government, work quickly to bring the budget down. Do

everything you can to bring the budget down as quickly as possible so people

can get on with their futures, determine whether or not they can stay living

in Newfoundland and Labrador or if they have to go somewhere else to look

for a job.

It's

a crucial time in our history and we look forward to the plan that you're

going to bring down and we truly do hope it's something we will all like.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

CHAIR:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

MR. TRIMPER:

Thank you very much,

Madam Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. TRIMPER:

At least these guys have

a chance to see that I do speak.

haven't had a question yet, but it's great to rise and speak on this bill.

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible).

MR. TRIMPER:

I bet you are; I can't

wait. I shouldn't be inviting that.

What

I thought I would talk about today is what we're all here about, which is we

are a reflection of our experience. I've had some interesting experience in

my career and I sometimes wonder how I find myself in this chair, but

anyway, I'm enjoying the adventure and I'm very glad to be here.

First of all, before I go into talking about finances and so on I just want

to thank all of the supporters I had in Lake Melville; actually, throughout

Labrador and throughout the province. It was like some others of my

colleagues, it was a long run. After winning the candidacy for myself back

in 2014, I left my job and started focusing on this. So it's good to finally

be here speaking about this.

What

I thought I'd talk about in terms of Interim Supply is since we're talking

about money, I thought I would talk about financial structures. In

particular, I have three terms I'm going to speak about. One is chaos, next

is change and, finally, stability.

What

I thought I'd give you as an example of chaos is the 14 years that I spent

in what was formerly the Soviet Union and Russia. If you want to see chaos

around financial structures and systems gone wrong, you only have to look

and live what went on in that country.

started working there in 1990. At the time, the whole region had enjoyed

some 70-plus years of communism, where every day for all of those 70 years

you knew exactly what you were going to spend on a loaf of bread, you knew

exactly how much money you were going to make. Salaries were allocated a

square foot for an apartment and so on. Everything was extremely regimented.

It was totally insular to what was going on in the rest of the world, such

that when perestroika and glasnost occurred and Mr. Gorbachev came along, it

came with a huge upheaval.

feel very lucky to have lived through that time. As I said, I started there

in 1990 at the height of perestroika. Just by way of example, I found that

we would go over there and as we converted money and I remember one time

going in with $200 Canadian, and as I cashed this into rubles I was handed

stacks of money. Because as the government opened itself up under the utter

chaos they had been dealing with over the last seven decades, it just wasn't

prepared. So the denominations on the bill couldn't even keep up with the

hyperinflation that was happening.

While I don't anticipate this kind of fallout from what we just dealt with

in the last 10, 13 years, I do anticipate that there will be some

restructuring; but back to the Soviet Union and Russia. Two hundred dollars

would give us two stacks of rubles that we literally had to carry in a bag.

The Russians called it cabbage. So all of us Canadians all of a sudden felt

very wealthy.

With

it came, of course, a whole bunch of different systems and structures around

values in society. Doctors, teachers and so on were suddenly making less

than waiters and chauffeurs. If you didn't have access to foreign currency

you were now second-class, if not third-class, citizens. It was an amazing

upheaval. It was a great experience. I stopped working there in 2004 when

Mr. Putin came along.

terms of change, and now bringing it back home a little bit, I want to talk

a little bit about Labrador and its history, how it went from a barter

economy, which was essentially fur, sealing, fish, maybe berries although

I doubt if that was traded for goods. Money and currency was almost unheard

of, especially in Labrador, and that's not until approximately the early

1940s with the development of the air base at Goose Bay. With that, and

overnight seemingly, people gave up that traditional lifestyle of working

around a barter system and suddenly were able to enjoy a salary in order to

enjoy some independence and were able to enjoy a lot of the stability the

rest of the country had been experiencing for probably a century or more. It

came as a huge shock to Labrador; they've adjusted and gone forward.

What

I wanted to roll that into, of course, was then stability. Further, on 5

Wing Goose Bay and the importance of that base, it's been a big part of my

life. Since 2003, we started what was called the Goose Bay Citizens'

Coalition, which was trying to point out to federal and provincial

governments at the time and I'm going to throw a kudo across the floor to

the former premier, Danny Williams, who worked with myself and others as we

went to Ottawa that was a kudo and worked with Ottawa to actually find a

way forward for 5 Wing Goose Bay. At the time, foreign allies were spending

tens of millions of dollars, and for every dollar Canada was spending,

allies were spending another two or three. From a business perspective, it

made all the sense in the world. However, we could never convince National

Defence of this.

It's

business cases in situations like that that have frustrated me in the past.

Frankly, at the end of the day, if you can justify what you're doing, how

you're spending your money, you should be able to go forward.

What

I wanted to say is 5 Wing continues to be an important part of our economy.

It's probably generating some $70 million in direct investing from Ottawa.

With the spinoffs, I would say it would probably be in the vicinity of

doubling, tripling that. That goes for the same of a lot of our economies.

If I looked over to my colleague for Labrador West, certainly the mining

industry also does this. It generates a tremendous number of dollars with

spinoffs we enjoy here in our revenue and our coffers.

Recognizing the importance of those industries is an extremely important

role for government, as well as anyone else citizenry and so on. So as

you're going forward of any kind of decision we need to make sure the

economy can continue to function, that government doesn't get in the way of

it, that it actually encourages it, supports it. It doesn't need to

necessarily direct it.

those are some thoughts on Interim Supply. I see I have three minutes left,

so I guess I'm supposed to stand and keep talking. Perhaps I'll just say

thank you to everybody else. That was my maiden stand up, so thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Madam Chair.

it was the hon. minister's first time to his feet, this is my first time

speaking in debate.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. PETTEN:

It's a pleasure to speak

on Interim Supply, thank you.

mentioned cabbage. The last time I bought a head of cabbage it was $6, so

I'm not sure what cabbage he's referring to. It's not the same stuff I'm

familiar with.

first want to congratulate all the Members on their election to the House,

and especially new Members like myself. It is a pleasure to be here. I look

forward to much debate in the coming years. Hopefully, we can all make a

difference.

are speaking on Interim Supply money. During the election I used to go to

door after door and people would ask the question: What did your government

what happened to all the money? It was $20 billion or $25 billion? That

number always floats. I struggled with it at first because I knew there were

good investments made, but you almost had to get your script prepared type

thing because you knew you would be asked the question. It came over and

over again. I never did feel there were any real bad investments, but it was

a good question.

as I continued on during the election, I kept thinking, I need to get more

prepared for the question because it did come up, like I said, day after

day. I know from my own district when I look around and I go up to the new

arena, we have a new town hall and we have a new fire hall and Manuels River

Hibernia

Interpretation Centre, a beautiful state-of-the-art facility. If

you go outside my district I go to every district throughout the province

and there's always a new road. There's a new building. There are recreation

facilities. I look around and I think these are sound investments.

gestured yesterday to the Minister of Fisheries about his amalgamated

District of Carbonear Trinity Bay de Verde, and you don't have to drive

through Carbonear very far to find that there are massive investments in

that district. So I guess it's fine to say: Where did you spend the money?

But my question and it has always been one of them ones, and I've said it

to many people opposite: Are they not sound investments? What's so bad about

those investments?

It's

fine to say sometimes that you would spend it elsewhere. That's fair enough.

That's why the government here now will make those decisions and we'll

critique it for days on end. There was a lot of money spent and a lot of

people have opinions on where we could have done better. That's fair play.

Another thing I noticed I had the privilege in my previous life of serving

under a couple of ministers. I got a bit of a crash course on expectations.

Oil was at $140 a barrel, I believe, when I first came to work with my

former MHA. It was unbelievable when you look at $140 a barrel, we were

running $2 billion surpluses, and at the same time there were people lined

up at the doors of Finance, basically, with demands.

sat in the boardroom with ministers and I heard the requests that came in.

It was hard to say no to any of those requests. When you're left with this

massive surplus, how can you say no to this community group or this

organization or or this municipality that are looking for that new arena? It

is fine to say it now because we're supposedly broke or we are broke, for

now, because of the price of oil plummeting. But then again when the good

times were here, it's hard to say no to those groups that come in looking

for money.

equate it sometimes I use analogies a lot, but I equate it sometimes when

you look at the person who won a lotto. They may be down on their luck and

they are struggling. They are struggling to find a place to live and they

hit the jackpot. The general public will sit back and say, oh yeah, they're

done for life. But when they buy that new home, they buy the new vehicle,

they get a trip and clothes to wear, so they are going to buy some, all of a

sudden that is not really much money any more, then they're struggling to

try to stretch that out to get into the next step in life.

I'm

49; I've lived in Newfoundland for years and years where we struggled to

survive financially. I know what it was like budget after budget. My own

family were affected by layoffs back in the '90s. Every second year you were

bumping, but we all got that and we all understood we were in a fiscal

struggle. We never had the benefit of oil in the '90s, but we finally found

our way and the revenues did start flowing and we did have money. But in

saying you have money, you still have a pent-up demand.

After all these years of being suppressed because it's no good of anyone

coming over to you guys now looking for money because we hear every day

we're $2 billion deficit, fair enough. If you carry that for five years and

all of a sudden you had a big surplus, rest assured they'll be lined up at

the door. That's the fact of the matter.

Sometimes you hear the negativity and, again, like I said, I've heard it

loud and clear. Do you know what? There's not been a government elected to

this House of Assembly that's not wasting money. So I wish you well in your

pursuit to not do that and I really sincerely mean that, but I know that

at the end of the day there will be lots of fingers pointing that way, too.

long as the decisions are made, when you come up with your budget, as long

as you make sound, financial decisions that are not going to shock the

economy, shock people, I guess it's something that we'll have to wait and

see. I mean, you're the government in power so you can do that.

want to finish off that's my rant on finances. I have lots of other issues

I will go into other times, but that was something that I said to my

colleague there for Cape St. Francis; I heard it at the doors over and over

again. It's an opportunity to stand up here and just kind of get it off your

chest. I know it's a play on words and it's popular to say it when you're on

that side, but, I don't know, there are a lot of great investments made to

the province. A lot of your Members now are the beneficiaries. Your

districts, the people of your districts are the beneficiaries to those

investments. I'm sure they all appreciate the investments that were made. I

don't think they would consider it to be a bad investment.

Madam Chair, my District of CBS has benefitted from a lot of those

investments. It's a beautiful district. It's still probably 70 per cent

rural, but it's become more I guess being 20 minutes outside the city, you

kind of get that transient population.

see every day the community is changing. I guess it's changing for the

better, but we have a lot of people don't want to lose the rural aspect of

it. They've come to CBS because it's only 20 minutes away, yet they can go

home in the evening and sit out, go on their quad and not have to worry

about being downtown and getting in trouble for driving down Water Street on

your quad. That's never that popular apparently.

MR. KENT:

And you can get an ice

cream at Bergs.

MR. PETTEN:

And you can get an ice

cream at Bergs. Yes, that's right. Where I live I can actually get on my

quad and go from my house. I really appreciate that.

Like

I said, CBS is a unique district in the sense that it's so close to the

city, yet it's so rural. It's a place that I've lived all my life and I'm

proud to call home.

I'm

also very pleased the people in CBS gave me the opportunity to represent

them. It wasn't easy. I had to go two swipes at it. The first time I saw the

finish line but I tripped on the way. I'd like to say, the second time I

pulled out all the stops. I went for broke on my second bid and that almost

cost me my life, too.

saying that, it's a pleasure to get up here and speak. My time is running

low. I could go into lots of other topics which I'll do another day, but one

final point I'll make in closing.

Conception Bay South has a large seniors population, as a lot of districts

do. I know we have a lot of seniors in CBS. One of my platforms in the

election was an advocate for seniors.

You're not going to solve their problems. I've had the pleasure so far in

the short time I've been elected, actually, to personally deal with a lot of

seniors. It's something that I've really enjoyed. It's great helping seniors

because you're not really helping these are programs that are in place.

They just don't know where to find these programs.

You

walk a senior in through the front door of this building, it's like you're

after putting them into a maze. I get that. My own mother, you wouldn't get

her out to this building for that.

is a real treat to help seniors. I really enjoy it and it's something I look

forward to doing during my term. I have other things that I will be paying a

lot more attention to, especially my district. On that note, I'll finish up

for now.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Member for Stephenville Port au Port.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. FINN:

Thank you, Madam Chair.

It's

a pleasure to get up and speak for the first time, other than a Member's

statement just last week, and speak to the importance of the Interim Supply

bill.

Madam Chair, first of all I'd just like to acknowledge a great gratitude and

thanks to the people of Stephenville Port au Port who supported me in

becoming the newest Member for the district.

Just

70 years ago, actually, my grandfather sat in the national convention, the

very first representative of the Port au Port District, which is now known

as Stephenville Port au Port. So 70 years ago my grandfather had this role

and I'm proud to now take it on myself.

speaking to the Interim Supply bill, it's very necessary of course. We have

to administer funds for the ongoing efforts of government with respect to

supplying programs and services.

find it quite interesting, just Tuesday when we were debating this bill a

couple of Members opposite, there was some acknowledgement of working

together. I believe the Member for Mount Pearl Southlands acknowledged the

Member for Mount Pearl North, and there was recognition of working together.

Of course, we're all in this together and we're all very much well aware of

that. You can see the love right now between the two Members. There you go.

I'm

quite happy to be here and to work together with all of my colleagues. I

must say, representing the West Coast and the West Coast area, we have a

great team of individuals: the Member for Bay of Islands; St. George's

Humber, my colleague, Mr. Reid; we have the Member for Burgeo La Poile;

St. Barbe L'Anse aux Meadows; and as well the hon. Premier, all

representing the West Coast. I'm very proud to be a part of that team and

very proud to work with these individuals.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. FINN:

Not only have they given

me much advice and wisdom in the months leading up to the election and so

on, and continuing to do so, but it's great to work alongside with them in

representing the great West Coast.

When

we talk about the Interim Supply bill, we're talking about keeping the funds

going. One of the things I find quite troubling is the references from the

Members opposite about the Government Renewal Imitative. They're constantly

referring to this fact that there's this 15-month road tour, and this

15-month plan and so on and so forth. Well, I just find it really troubling

that they keep touting that as a reason that we're not doing something.

Well, we're actually doing everything we can. We're reaching out to all the

people of the province for their input right now.

The

Minister of Finance referenced just yesterday, we've had up to 1,800 unique

ideas alone on our Dialogue App. I think the Government Renewal Initiative

is very important. It's very interesting, Members opposite suddenly the

electorate has put them opposite and now they have all the answers. They

suddenly have all the answers and they're not quite sure why we're doing

this Government Renewal Initiative. Well, if they didn't leave us with such

a deficit we probably wouldn't have to go to a Government Renewal Initiative

to seek input.

The

Member yesterday for St. John's East Quidi Vidi, spoke about the fact

we're all elected and we're all elected to show leadership and that's why

the public takes care of our paycheques. We're all elected to show

leadership. What leadership can we show? She went further to reference the

fact that health care is important and education is important. No one's

going to argue that health care and education are important services. I

don't think we'd get any argument from anyone of the 40 Members in this room

today that those two services are important.

When

you refer to the fact that we're now looking at sweeping cuts of 30 per cent

across the board, well, the reality is we're not looking at sweeping cuts of

30 per cent across the board. I don't know how long they can continue to

reference that. In fact, the idea was put forth from the Minister of Finance

specifically suggesting that departments get creative in looking, if they

had to cut 30 per cent. There was no specific reference to cutting 30 per

cent across the board. This was merely an exercise in looking at ways in

which we can save money. In doing so, we're asking all departments to be

creative in looking at that. There was no suggestion of sweeping cuts of 30

per cent across the board.

It's

quite funny when you talk about money, one thing that sticks out to me in my

district in particular and for Members who would have been paying attention

to the media, we had an oil leak in Port au Port Bay, a very, very sensitive

issue. We had oil leaking from a cracked-off pipe that was in the ground for

years and years and years and the government of the day couldn't really

determine who had that oil lease and who had the ownership of that well.

that time, I believe it was in June, the then minister of Environment

wouldn't take the time to come to Port au Port to see it. Around the same

time they happened to send the minister of Transportation and Works to

Romania to christen a ferry. It's just troubling for me, as a Member for

Stephenville Port au Port with a very sensitive issue in my district with

respect to environmental disaster, we couldn't send the minister of

Environment over to look at some oil in Port au Port Bay, but we had no

trouble spending $10,000 to send someone to Romania to christen a ferry that

didn't work anyway. Again, very troubling when you talk about waste of

money.

The

Member for Conception Bay South just acknowledged it's always good to see

what some of the good work is in the district, and there's always a new road

and this sort of thing. Well, there's always a new road, and there's always

going to be a road that needs to have work done on that road. I'm very proud

to sit here with my colleagues and our Minister of Transportation and Works

to acknowledge we have a multi-year infrastructure plan in place. The plan

is in place to take the politics out of pavement, and to take the politics

out of asphalt.

Laying out a plan is what's important, and it's what's important to the

people when you talk about being financially responsible and acknowledging

that every district has work to be done and we need to do so on a priority

basis.

The

Member for CBS also just mentioned there has not been a government that has

been elected that is not wasting money. For the last number of days we've

heard in Question Period from Members opposite with respect to questioning

the Minister of Finance over the savings of $100 million. Again, it is

troubling that it takes three days in a row to ask the same questions around

$100 million when we're over here tackling a $2 billion deficit. I really

find it hard to fathom how they can get up and ask these questions full well

knowing they had every responsibility and every effort to ensure we weren't

left in this position.

just look at they're suggesting we're not showing leadership and we haven't

done things to date. Well, since taking office on November 30 we've done

numerous things to show leadership to the people of this province. Our

Premier acknowledged in December and put out in the public eye the financial

updates reflecting exactly where the circumstances were with the province

after having sent letters to the former premier in September of the same

year asking for a current fiscal update.

here we are asking for information on where the province stands today, we're

not getting any responses and then within three weeks of being elected we're

laying it out there for everyone to see.

Secondly, what we've done as a government to show leadership, to save money,

we've eliminated the funds for the parliamentary secretaries and

parliamentary assistants. We've done that measure. We've also reduced and

taken back some of their stances on taking the pensions and the overpayments

back from our seniors. I mean, how terrible is it, you're over there talking

about wasting money and then we're going to go turn around and get it on the

backs of our seniors of our province. It's just unbelievable to think that

was even a thought.

is very easy to just look and say, you know what, some overpayments were

made. How can you go to anyone who is a senior in this province, who's lived

and worked their entire life and paid taxes, and now go back and say, well,

you had an overpayment, we need to get a few dollars back from you? It's

just unfathomable.

So,

again, in acknowledging our seniors, we've made that effort. We've also

reduced the funds from the parliamentary secretary positions as well. Of

course, this has to be a long-term plan. The Minister of Finance has

acknowledged that there are short-term efforts; there's medium term and

there's long term as well. The very first effort is going to be when we

present our budget 2016.

This

is something that we were doing during our Government Renewal Initiative in

consultation with all of the public of the province to receive their input.

It's not simply just one of these Office of Public Engagement sessions that

the Members opposite used to hold where you'd push a clicker, push a button

and rank your ideas. There's no such thing as ranking your ideas here. We're

opening to receiving all ideas as a part of being an open, transparent and

accountable government.

conclusion and I know that time is getting short there the Interim

Supply bill is a very necessary initiative. We need to keep the programs and

services going for the residents of the province. It's something that's very

important. We all know that this is just a necessary means right now to

improve the Interim Supply bill. Of course moving forward, our budget 2016

will outline a plan moving forward for the medium-, short- and long-term

goals of this province.

I'd

like to thank you, Madam Chair, for giving me the opportunity to speak

today.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much.

I'd

like to congratulate the Member that just got up before me. A great job on

your first speech here in the House of Assembly. Good job.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Also, I would like to

congratulate my colleague for CBS here on the side of me. I think he did a

good job. People don't realize how difficult it is to get up sometimes and

just speak in here. It's not as easy as people you're sat in the House;

you're doing nothing at all. It's a bit difficult sometimes. I congratulate

you for getting up and doing your job today and being part of this debate.

It's

so important that we do what we do here because it is a debate. I'll argue

with some of the points that you just made and disagree with you, but do you

know something? That's what this is all a part of and it's the reason we're

here in the House of Assembly. We all have different opinions.

the end of the day, it's one thing we all have to be the main thing is the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador. I believe that's the reason why we're

all here. I hope everybody is here for the same reasons. It's a good job

today with the new people that came in.

It's

all about doing our best. We're here to represent our districts. We do our

best for our districts. We have people in our districts that need our help.

That's the reason we should be here. I look forward to approaching any of

the ministers or any of the people over on the other side and asking for

that help. That's the reason why I'm here. I hope that you'll be receptive

to whatever I ask for. Sometimes it's a simple little thing that we can do

to help people, but it's a big thing for the person that we help.

Madam Chair, I have to say again, it's a great privilege just to get up here

today to speak to my District of Cape St. Francis. There are opportunities

during this session that we'll all get. When you're finalized you'll be

after getting up about four or five times. You'll be after speaking on

everything that we can speak on when it comes to budget and Interim Supply

and everything else. So it's a good opportunity to get up and be able to

express our opinion and people can see what we're all about.

I'm

very proud of one thing that happened in the last election. We're doing a

great commemoration here of 100 years of Beaumont-Hamel this year. We all

have to look at the people who came before us and what they did so we could

be here sat in the House of Assembly. The right to vote is a very important

part. I can remember my dad and mom I can tell you right now we all voted

because it was a right that they and their forefathers before them gave us,

that right to be able to vote.

This

past election sometimes we all do our best to get the vote out and

everything else, but I'm very proud of what happened in my district the last

time: 71 per cent of the people got out in Cape St. Francis. I'd like to see

it at 91 per cent. I'd like to see 100 per cent, but that was the highest in

the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

I have to say, the

Member for Fortune Bay Cape La Hune was a close second.

It's

important because when you look at districts in the province I really

believe, no matter what side of the House we're on, what side of the fence

we're on, it's something that we really have to make sure we do because to

exercise the right to vote is so important.

found this time in my election, I saw more young people get out to vote,

which is fantastic. Because the more that we can engage our youth to get out

and vote, the more they'll get engaged in what we're doing. So it's very

important that we really do that. It's nice to see that we do that and make

sure that I tell you how it works are your volunteers. They really are the

people who get the people out to vote. As we all know, we wouldn't be able

to do anything without the volunteers. They call people and do everything

else.

hope there's some way we can promote it a little bit more. I hope that

people who watch us here in the House of Assembly want to be engaged and

become part of the political system. The biggest way to become part of it is

to get out and vote. Like I said, 71 per cent, I am very proud. I would like

for it to be 91 or 100, but it's very, very good.

Madam Chair, I sat on that side of the House. I also sat on this side of the

House when we had that many members that we had to sit on this side of the

House. So I've been sitting on both sides of the House, beforehand. It's a

new job for us. We're getting used to it. We're here now, this is our second

week. We're getting used to it. As a Member, I have some portfolios that I

have to be the official spokesperson for as part of the Opposition Party.

I'm very proud of what I have to do because I really look forward to doing

it. It's important to me. I have Municipal Affairs, I have Fisheries and

I've had dialogues with both ministers so far Service NL and workers'

comp.

just want to talk a little bit today about Municipal Affairs. It strikes

home to me being the former Mayor of Flatrock, my dad being the first Mayor

of Flatrock, I'm always proud to say that he was and I'm following in his

footsteps. It's so important municipalities over the years had to

struggle.

can remember when I was Mayor of Flatrock and we were looking for a fire

truck. The split at that time was 50-50. The fire truck was $240,000, so for

a small town the size of Flatrock we had to come up with half the money. At

that time it was a big decision. We debated at council whether we were going

to do it or not. We ended up doing it. The minister at the time was my

former good friend and former colleague and I'm sure a lot of people in

this House that knew him respected him. It was the late Jack Byrne. We ended

up getting a new fire truck.

that time, 50-50 was so huge. We had a budget of $450,000 and all of a

sudden one item on that budget, which was a fire truck a safety issue,

something that we needed, it was very, very important was $125,000 for the

Town of Flatrock to be able to invest.

Municipalities across the province since and, again, I heard my colleague

for CBS talk about different things that happened in his district and where

we're spending money. I believe the investments we've made in municipalities

in Newfoundland and Labrador is huge. Rural Newfoundland and Labrador needed

a 90-10, they needed an 80-20 and communities needed 70-30 because they just

couldn't afford it. We only have one taxpayer in this province. Three levels

of government, but just one taxpayer. It's important we don't download our

services to municipalities across the province because these are volunteers.

always say when I'm finished this part of it I intend to go back and serve

on council. I don't know if I'll be a mayor again, but I really enjoyed my

stay with it because you're really at the ground level. You're really at the

level where if people want to put a shed in their backyard or whatever it

is, it's important to everybody. It's nice to be involved in your

communities, especially in small communities right across the province,

because there are only so few people that really want to step up and do it.

It's

important that these volunteers that are in the small communities of rural

Newfoundland have our support. So some of the questions I asked to the

Minister of Municipal Affairs today and he gave me answers. I don't think

he's going to touch the ratios. I hope he's not.

Even

the money last year that was allotted for Municipal Operating Grants, it's

so important. We've been at this for a long, long while and it's

unbelievable that in this day and age I'm not blaming it on anybody

there's not safe and clean drinking water in our communities. It's very

important these investments be made so that people do have safe, clean

drinking water. It's almost like it's a right and everybody should have it.

There are so many communities across the province that don't have it today.

I hope we don't just cut it off and say, that's it, times are tough and we

can't afford to do this and can't afford to do that. We have to look at the

priorities in the communities.

understand there's going to be some issues with communities that are looking

for things that maybe are not top priority, like drinking water, that we

have to have a look at. But there's a lot of things that our communities and

municipalities right across the province of Newfoundland supply to our

residents that are key and important to the residents in those communities.

can't cut those services because that's the last stage. Once we download

stuff to our municipalities we're going to be cutting. Like I said, there's

only one taxpayer. If you look this year at the Municipal Assessment Agency

and I was pleased in the Throne Speech that they mentioned they are going

to review it because it really does need to be reviewed. Look at St. John's

alone and the turmoil that it caused, even in communities like mine, because

it's about four years and so much can change in those four years when they

get the assessments done.

It's

important that there's some kind of mechanism in place so it can be done

quicker and it can be done fairer. Sometimes when we experience what we

experienced over the last couple of years, where there's a downturn in the

economy and stuff like that happens, it's important that people in

municipalities don't get to feel the brunt of everything.

we go forward, I'm hoping the Minister of Municipal Affairs will do the

proper thing and make sure that municipalities right across the province are

taken care of. As far as I'm concerned, it's the backbone of our whole

economy. It's the backbone of who we are as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians

that we survive.

can't expect taxpayers in rural Newfoundland who, mainly seniors a lot of

people are moving out of these communities have to foot the bill for a lot

of things that are in their communities. So it's important that we keep the

90-10, the 80-20 and the 70-30 ratios. It's also very important the $22

million we promised last year that they were so happy with and so pleased

to get that $22 million that we ensure that is continued for

municipalities.

I'm

cutting down on my time now. As far as I'm concerned, Madam Chair, the

municipal leaders in our province are the key to our

CHAIR:

Order, please!

MR. K. PARSONS:

They're the key to

our communities and it's important that we support them.

Thank you very much.

CHAIR:

I remind the Member his

time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Terra Nova.

MR. HOLLOWAY:

Thank you, Madam Chair.

There are a lot of (inaudible) today. First, I'm really proud to stand up

and speak in favour of this bill.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HOLLOWAY:

As some of the Members

opposite would quickly realize, not too long ago I was actually working in

the public service. As I look across, two of the Members opposite were

actually ministers for a department that I've worked for. It's an

interesting place to be now, Madam Chair, to be on the government side and

to talk about the need to support the things that are going on in this

province.

have some tremendous people that are working in the public service. I was

very proud to be working there for more than 26 years helping communities,

helping individuals, working with voluntary organizations to do some very

great work that is being provided by the people of this province and the

taxes that they pay.

just wanted to talk a little bit today about some of the services that are

provided beyond the public service, and talk about some of the agencies, the

boards and the commissions. In particular, I want to talk about the family

resource centres in the province and specifically the one in my region, in

my District of Terra Nova, the Neighbourhood of Friends Family Resource

Centre.

The

Neighbourhood of Friends Family Resource Centre actually started out as a

literacy centre. In 1998, we had the Strategic Social Plan for this

province. The intent of the Strategic Social Plan was really to break down

the silos in government. It's interesting to see that over the last 10

years, all those silos have come up and departments have started to work in

isolation. We know that today as a government we have to break down some of

those silos again.

During the Strategic Social Plan days, volunteers, government departments

and regions would come together and talk about some of the core issues that

were impacting sustainability of our rural regions. I was thinking as the

Member opposite was talking about rural Newfoundland and rural

sustainability because it's keenly important to someone like me and one of

the reasons that I chose to run for office and to be elected as an MHA for

Terra Nova. Rural sustainability is actually sustainability of this

province.

the role of the regional steering committees after 1998 was to really come

together and government departments to come together, and to talk about what

are those core social and economic issues. Madam Chair, you can't grow the

economy of this province without thinking about the impacts on the social

side of our communities and our regions. They go hand in hand. These

regional steering committees would come together on a regular basis and they

would develop a regional work plan.

One

of the things that we quickly realized I'm thinking back now, this is

2001. As we go into 2003, we quickly realized that there was a need to

support families with children in this province. There were family resource

centres that were being created in other districts, other regions of the

province. What I was finding in my district was that there was a gap. So we

were working with some of our partners in education and in health care in

terms of identifying some dollars that could provide those necessary

programs and services to those families and those children.

I'm

grateful to say that we were able to partner with the Newfoundland and

Labrador Housing Corporation. They were able to provide a housing unit in

Clarenville. So we were able to start to provide some necessary services to

underprivileged families who were struggling, children in particular who

were having some difficulties after school and certainly during school so

that we could enhance the kind of services and supports and relationships

that were going on in those family environments. I'm very proud to say that

we did some really great work.

Yesterday, in the lobby of the West Block we had the Food Security Network.

We also had the Kids Eat Smart. It reminded me of the days when I was

involved with the Family Resource Centre where we partnered with Kids Eat

Smart. We were able to leverage some dollars from various government

departments and we were able to work with Kids Eat Smart. We were able to

offer Homework Haven, but provide nutritious food to some of the kids who

were able to come and participate. We were able to partner with the

colleges, in particular the College of the North Atlantic, so that they

could come and offer tutoring services to those children.

Now,

over time, Madam Chair, what we found was that our success and the success

of the families caused our numbers to grow. So we were forced, if you will,

to move to another part of the community. Now, that's a very good thing when

you're helping people achieve positive results.

think about the sustainability of this province. One of the foundations and

one of the things I spent a lot of time at in my early days as a public

servant was I was helping kids and families nurture their skills and

abilities so that they could become active and proactive members in our

community. So it was a good investment of the dollars that we had and the

dollars that we're talking about here today in terms of the investment into

communities, investment into families and investment into children of the

future.

moved to another part of the community. We decided to do some outreach. Our

outreach decided to go beyond Clarenville. We went to Random Island. We went

to South West Arm. We went to Swift Current. We went to Arnold's Cove and

Come By Chance because there was a great need that was happening.

partnered with the schoo