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January 21, 2015

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 60

The

House met at 2:00 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Verge):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

Today I

would like to recognize several members of the Community Coalition 4 Mental

Health along with co-chair Megan Barnhill.

We also

have with us a group of students from Holy Heart High School today.

Welcome

to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we have statements from

the Member for the District of Bellevue, the Member for the District of Fortune

Bay Cape La Hune, the Member for the District of Baie Verte Springdale, the

Member for the District of St. George's Stephenville East, the Member for the

District of St. John's East, and the Member for the District of Carbonear

Harbour Grace.

The hon.

the Member for the District of Bellevue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today to recognize the good work of Annette and Chris Higdon

from New Harbour. On September 20,

2014, about 100 residents of New Harbour and surrounding areas participated in

the Red Shoe Crew-Walk for families.

The

Ronald McDonald House was started thirty-five years ago and is now worldwide.

It is a place for the families of sick children to stay.

The Red Shoe Crew-Walk is a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House

where all donations and items raised go to support the annual operation of

Ronald McDonald House in accommodating sick children and their families from

across the Province.

The walk

in New Harbour started and ended at the Lions Club and they raised $25,000 for

the house. In total, more than 3,200

people participated from thirty-six communities throughout the Province on the

weekend of September 20-21, 2014.

The total amount raised in this Province was $242,000, along with about $45,000

worth of donated items.

I ask

all members to join me in congratulating Annette and Chris on their appreciated

efforts and great work in organizing this event.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS PERRY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House to extend congratulations to three very bright and dedicated

young ladies who received $1,000 Electoral District Scholarships from the

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

From Bay d'Espoir Academy, sisters Whitney and Kendra Willcott-Benoit,

and from King Academy, Kelly Stone, excelled in their academic studies and

received the highest marks based upon public examination results.

We are very proud of their achievement and wish them the very best of

luck as they pursue their post-secondary education.

Attaining academic excellence is a great and rewarding challenge, and I know

these fine young women are well positioned to succeed as they continue their

journeys on different career paths.

As they entire life with almost endless choices and countless possibilities the

proven qualities of perseverance, dedication, and resilience coupled with great

initiative will serve them very well indeed.

The tools they have acquired through their strong work ethic will

certainly allow them to accomplish their dreams in the years ahead.

I ask

all members to join me in congratulating Whitney, Kendra, and Kelly.

With what they have achieved already, there is no doubt that they have

very bright futures ahead of them.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Baie

Verte Springdale.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. POLLARD:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today to congratulate the friendly, picturesque community of

Beachside for its first ever Come Home Year celebrations.

From July 25 to August 2, the cozy community hall was packed as people

from all walks of life and from near and far converged upon the quiet town,

which I might add is the current Speaker's hometown.

Co-chairs of the organizing committee, Tonya Pelley and Betty Lou Young, are to

be applauded, not only for their strong leadership but also for their

extraordinary dedication and hard work.

The committee worked tirelessly to ensure that everyone would enjoy

themselves and go away happy that they attended.

Without their vision, the opportunity for people to meet, rekindle faint

memories, and forge new relationships simply would not have happened.

Also,

the whole town and the surrounding people are to be commended for supporting the

celebrations. It is events like

these that not only drop extra funds in the community's coffers but also promote

community spirit, community pride, and community sustainability.

I am

delighted to ask all colleagues in this hon. House to join me in sending

accolades to the community of Beachside for its first ever successful Come Home

Year celebrations.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Without bias, I agree with

the member; Beachside is a great, little town.

The hon.

the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

today to congratulate a group of curlers from Stephenville who became the

provincial champions at the under-21 men's curling championship recently.

The team includes: Skip, Greg Smith; Third, Ryan McNeil Lamswood; Second,

Kyle Barron; Lead, Craig Laing; and Coach, Scott Lamswood.

The team

will now represent Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2015 national junior men's

curling championship, which will take place at the Corner Brook Curling Club

from January 24 to February 1. The

team has played at the Atlantic level in the past and are now looking forward to

having an opportunity to play against the best in the country.

Mr.

Speaker, the Newfoundland team will be playing at the Corner Brook Curling Club

from January 24 to February 1. It is

a tremendous opportunity for the hometown fans to get out and support the team.

I encourage everyone to do so, and I also call on members of this House

to show our support for the team from Stephenville.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

September 6 last year, I had the absolute delight of attending a party

celebrating a rare and wonderful event, the sixtieth wedding anniversary of

Eugene and Jessie Ryder of St. John's East.

Jessie,

ne Whiffen, and Eugene are both originally from Bonavista, where they were

married in 1954. When you think of

how our Province and city has changed in the length of time that they have been

married, Mr. Speaker, you only need to know that before leaving the paid

workforce to raise her family, Jessie worked at the old Ayre's supermarket on

Parade Street and at the Candlelight restaurant here in the city.

Eugene

in his lifetime worked for Canadian Marconi, ITT, the Canadian Coast Guard, and

then spent more than twenty years as a taxi driver so you can see why I like

him very much, Mr. Speaker, we have a connection.

They

have three children, two daughters and a son, and just one grandchild, whom they

are very proud of, a young man who has just started law school at the University

of New Brunswick.

It has

been a full marriage, Mr. Speaker, and I can assure you that after sixty years

they can still throw a great party.

I ask

all hon. members to join me in congratulating Eugene and Jessie Ryder of St.

John's.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Carbonear Harbour Grace.

MR. SLADE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate the St. Francis Robotic

Team, also known as the RoboDogs, from Harbour Grace on winning the Provincial

Lego Robotics title on Saturday, December 4.

The

RoboDogs won first place in the Robotic Performance category, second place in

the Project Presentation category with the design of an interactive classroom,

the Skills Canada Gold Medal in Robotics, and first place overall.

Members

of the RoboDogs team include Mitchell Peach, Madison Squires, Emma Mercer,

Abigail Chafe, Hope Finlayson, Kiera Legge, Kyla Mercer, Katie Shute, Emily

Galway, and coaches Norm Littlejohn and Randy Dobbin, who have been with the

team for years. The team was a crowd

favourite at the competition because of their sportsmanship and interaction.

provincial winners, the RoboDogs have received an invitation to attend the World

Festival International Robotics Competition being held in St. Louis, Missouri,

in April. This is a worldwide

competition that will include eighty-five Lego teams from over thirty countries,

including six teams from Canada.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the RoboDogs on

winning the Provincial Lego Robotics title and wish them every success at the

World Festival in St. Louis.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to

note that today is Weedless Wednesday, an annual event held during National

Non-Smoking Week in Canada. The

purpose of Weedless Wednesday is to encourage smokers to stop smoking today, and

to let it be the start of a process of quitting for good.

Sooner or Later, Everybody

Quits is the theme

of National Non-Smoking Week, with the point being that smokers may want to

choose their own quit date, before it's chosen for them.

Quitting

smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health.

It can also be a very difficult process, and it does not always happen

with the first attempt. We recognize

that, Mr. Speaker. That is why, as a

government, we continue to support programs and services designed to help people

quit smoking, and to prevent them from ever starting.

Mr.

Speaker, this past October, we launched a $700,000 Provincial Smoking Cessation

Program for individuals with low income, which allows adults who meet

eligibility requirements under the Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug

Program to have access to two smoking cessation medications (Champix and Zyban)

to help them in their efforts to quit.

The Province also supports the Alliance for the Control of Tobacco and

the Newfoundland and Labrador Lung Association's Provincial Smokers' Helpline,

which hears from about 1,400 individual callers each year.

Tobacco

control in Newfoundland and Labrador takes a comprehensive approach that

includes public education, legislation, school and community policies and

programs, and the taxation of tobacco products.

And we are seeing positive results, Mr. Speaker.

The rate

of smoking in this Province has decreased from 29 per cent in 1999 to 20 per

cent for those aged fifteen and older.

While this is still high, the good news is that the rate among young

people aged fifteen to nineteen has gone from almost 30 per cent to just over 12

per cent, while the rate for those aged twenty to twenty-four has gone from

about 38 per cent down to 24 per cent.

This is

encouraging, Mr. Speaker, because we know that a healthier population today

means a reduced burden on the health care system of tomorrow; but more

importantly, it means an increased opportunity for individuals to live longer,

happier, healthier lives.

I invite

my colleagues in this House to join me in recognizing Weedless Wednesday and to

provide whatever support they can to family members and friends who are trying

to quit.

Mr.

Speaker, I did have the opportunity to attend an event this morning sponsored by

the Smokers' Helpline, the Lung Association, and Eastern Health.

Heart and Stroke were there.

There is one message they wanted me to get out: For those who smoke, on the

cigarette pack there is a toll-free number.

If they call that, they get the Smokers' Helpline and there are people

there to assist.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, I thank the

minister for the advance copy of his statement.

The Official Opposition would also like to recognize Weedless Wednesday

as awareness to encourage people to stop smoking.

It is still a problem, especially among our younger generation.

It is certainly not only among our younger generation, as I know we have

colleagues here in the House who are in the process of trying to quit smoking as

we speak. I encourage them in that

effort.

While we

have taken stands on smoking, we know that smoking remains the largest

preventable cause of death. I am

very lucky in my lifetime that I never had the opportunity to smoke.

My parents did not smoke, which was very unusual in that era.

My dad was at sea all his life.

I know

as a teacher, as a principal, I had students say to me at one point in time: Mr.

Hillier, how come you did not smoke?

My answer was I guess it was just luck of the draw because at that point in time

any of us could have

AN HON. MEMBER:

Pardon the pun.

MR. HILLIER:

Pardon the pun.

While

the number of smokers in the Province is in decline, we have a long way to go

before we can claim to fully kick this habit.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I, too,

thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.

It is really good to see that we do have an improvement in smoking

cessation, but we still have a far way to go.

After

years of calling for help for people to access smoking cessation drugs, I am

glad government finally introduced assistance for low-income people where rates

can be high. I am glad there is a

pay-as-you-go option for payment of full prescriptions because many people find

it difficult to pay upfront for costly medications.

I do ask

the minister to consider the need to extend the program to low-income persons

and seniors who are not eligible for the Access program when it comes to paying

for medications, and to make the treatment available more than once a year.

We know it is a hard addiction to get rid of.

I am

lucky enough that the two times I tried as a teenager to smoke, I inhaled and

choked and said it was not worth it.

Once you are addicted, I know that it is very difficult.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I am delighted to rise today as the Minister Responsible for the Office

of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency to announce the release of a new action

plan to create a culture of environmental sustainability within government's own

operations.

In 2011,

our government released strategic frameworks for taking action on climate change

and energy efficiency in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Progress on these important issues requires action by all, and it is

critical that government continues to demonstrate strong leadership.

Mr.

Speaker, the Greening Government Action

Plan outlines forty-six commitments across five strategic objectives.

These objectives are: increasing waste diversion; improving the

sustainability of government buildings; integrating green considerations into

transportation decisions; increasing the procurement of environmentally

preferable products and services; and effectively engaging employees on each of

these issues.

There

are many benefits to improving the environmental sustainability of our

operations, Mr. Speaker. Saving

energy has the potential to lower operating costs and reduce greenhouse gas

emissions, which is an important step in addressing climate change.

Additionally, increasing the demand for environmentally preferable

products and services can generate new business opportunities in the Province.

Mr.

Speaker, the Greening Government Action

Plan builds upon the significant steps we have already taken towards

improving the environmental sustainability of our operations.

Actions to date include ensuring new government buildings are constructed

to meet environmental standards, transforming our fleet to include 34 per cent

fuel-efficient vehicles, and developing guidance to integrate green

considerations into procurement.

I look

forward to the implementation of this action plan across government, Mr.

Speaker, as we continue to take practical steps to improve the environmental

sustainability of our operations.

Mr.

Speaker, I will table this report for my hon. colleagues.

The report is also available online.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for The

Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Mr. Speaker, I thank the

minister for an advance copy of his statement.

Investment in environmental sustainability is important and this

government has been a poor leader in ensuring that their operations are run in

the most efficient manner. They have

abandoned much of the 2007 Energy Plan and of creating a culture of

conservation.

December of 2013, I requested the details of all the energy audits conducted on

government buildings since 2011. The

response was only twenty-six sites of which energy audits were conducted.

That is right, only twenty-six sites in a three-year period, yet this

government continues to spend millions heating vacant schools and other

buildings.

I asked

for an inventory of all energy-efficient and hybrid vehicles in government's

inventory since 2011, listing only six new vehicles that fit that criterion in a

two-year period. So either

government has a very small fleet or many more vehicles have gone missing from

their inventory. When asked about

government's pilot project on new energy efficiency advice servicing the House

and the plan, it was noted fiscal restraints made it impossible.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for the advance copy of his statement here today.

This

government has to lead by example, Mr. Speaker.

In putting together the action plan they should also allow municipal

governments to have enough funding so that they can carry out the necessary

changes to their own infrastructure to put such climate change and energy

efficiencies in place, energy efficiency programing.

Energy

efficiency and climate change is everybody's business, Mr. Speaker, and the

fiscal means should be put in place to allow everybody in the Province to

participate.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier says he is concerned about the deficit and will make the tough

decisions, but he has yet to show leadership and cut the size of his Cabinet or

cut the Parliamentary Secretaries.

In fact, the only move that this Premier has done with his Cabinet is to

increase one since becoming Premier, and that increase was an unelected

minister.

I ask

the Premier: Will you finally show courage and cut your Cabinet today?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, we as a government in the Province in our Province we face a very

significant challenge, fiscal challenge, as a result of the world oil prices

that are having an impact on Newfoundland and Labrador and other provinces in

Canada, and other countries in the world.

I have said that here repeatedly in the House of Assembly, Mr. Speaker.

I have

also said repeatedly, and I will say it once again, is that we are considering

all avenues that are available to us to deal with those very difficult fiscal

challenges, Mr. Speaker, and that includes all of our operations of government.

It includes Cabinet, as I said; yes, it is on the table.

Parliamentary Assistants are on the table, Government House Leaders are

on the table, Whips are on the table.

Everything is on the table, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There

are a lot of tables in the government, I would say, Mr. Speaker.

I cannot imagine what it is like in some of those offices within

government these days with lots of new tables coming in; but, I remind the

Premier, it is not what you say, it is what you do.

Show the courage to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, do the right

thing, cut the size of your Cabinet.

In 1993,

the Mahoney Commission on electoral boundaries in our Province was very clear.

All representations to the commission had to be matters of public record

and open for public scrutiny, but now the Department of Justice is delaying us

access to records while they review them and see if there is any redactions that

are required.

I ask

the Premier: All these presentations were supposed to be public, so why are you

delaying the release and considering redactions?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

I will speak as long as he

does not cut my position, Mr. Speaker.

I am prepared to stand.

I thank

the member opposite. I am not

totally familiar with the details of the question, but I will say to the

Opposition Leader that there are a number of nuances in both reforms.

As I understand it, there was a public commitment made at one level that

those who submitted presentations

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I would

ask members to listen to the answer that is being provided.

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

understanding is that in one particular reform there was confidentiality assured

to those who submitted presentations.

In the second reform mentioned, that was not the case, but I am prepared

to follow-up on that and table the information tomorrow to clarify that for you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

While the minister is seeking

clarification I understand today that he is doing two jobs but one thing we

will not need clarification on is this.

There was no Bill 29 when these presentations were given to the boundary

commission in 1993, but this government is now trying to hide these

presentations under the privacy legislation.

Even with the draconian Bill 29, that will allow Cabinet documents to be

released after twenty years. Well,

guess what, Mr. Speaker? It is over

twenty-one years since these presentations were given.

I ask

the Premier: The commission was very clear that these records were to be made

public; will you release them today?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to

the Leader of the Opposition, I do not mind multi-tasking.

I will take on lots of challenges over here and do my best with each one.

certainly make the commitment to you, absolutely, that any documents that are

available to the public will be made available.

As I said a few moments ago, my understanding is that we have a legal

obligation to ensure we do not violate anyone's rights.

I am

also advised that all of the documents for one particular review have been

forwarded and made available to the public through the Legislative Library.

I will entertain today to make sure that the others are provided right

away.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It seems

a lot of scrutiny for a presentation that was supposed to be made public and it

is twenty-one years old. One more

question on that for the minister before I finish in this line of questioning.

We asked

the Justice Library for a copy of the presentations and first they said they had

to be redacted. Then they said we

would have all presentations within one hour un-redacted.

Then suddenly they said there could be redactions and the process could

take days.

I ask

the Premier: These presentations are twenty-one years old and they were supposed

to be public; why do you need to review them?

Why would you need to review a public presentation before you release

them?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

said a few moments ago to the hon. the Leader of the Opposition, my

understanding is that we have made available to the public all of the documents

from the first House of Assembly reform.

I cannot answer as to why officials would feel the need to do as he

suggested they have done. I really

cannot respond to it.

What I

will do is I will commit in the next Question Period, I will certainly be

prepared to provide you with further information to clarify any misunderstanding

that might have occurred and ensure that the documents are made available in as

quick an order as possible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, the unelected

Minister of Justice is denying the Opposition access to papers that are over

twenty-one years old, that were made public in the first place.

I ask

the Premier: Will you overrule Minister Manning and do what is proper, release

the documents now?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To be

clear, it was my understanding in the last question that the Leader of the

Opposition asked, that it was not the minister but it was actually officials

that they have been dealing with on this.

So to be clear, my understanding is it was not the Minister of Justice,

it was officials who have suggested that they need to review the documents.

As I

said a few moments ago, Mr. Speaker

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

realize the Member for Bay of Islands gets excited when I answer questions, but

I just ask that he let me have time to answer the question that I have been

asked by the member opposite.

As I

said a couple of moments ago, one set of documentation documents have been

provided at the Legislative Library, I am told, and I will entertain moving

forward right away today to find out what the holdup is on the others.

I will provide further information tomorrow to clarify any

misunderstanding or misinterpretation, but it would be the objective of

government to make sure all of those documents are available to members of the

public.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, we are hearing

now from the Government House Leader that officials in the Department of Justice

are redacting documents apparently on their own accord.

I ask

the minister: Would you please ask the Minister of Justice why her officials are

redacting documents that were made public twenty-one years ago?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The hon.

member asking the question probably did not hear what I was saying because of

the heckling that was going on at the time, but I think Hansard will reflect

tomorrow morning, I believe, that it was the Leader of the Opposition who

suggested that officials were redacting.

I did not say any such thing.

What I

said was I would investigate the allegations made by the Leader of the

Opposition to try and determine why in fact that is happening, and at the same

time

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

He is

excited again. I get that, but I

will get my answer out in my thirty seconds.

I will

entertain to provide all documentation that ought to be made public in a short

fashion, and I will seek clarification on both lines of questioning that I can

present to the House tomorrow.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate

that the Minister of Tourism is going to ensure that the Minister of Justice is

doing her job, but I think this falls on the Premier, who appointed the minister

in the first place. They are saying

that they are going to release information that ought to be released.

Well, I would say when the report was done, Justice Mahoney said it

should all be published.

So I say

to the Premier: You do not need to wait until tomorrow; you can do this right

now. Will you stand here in this

House and ensure that we get all the information that your Department of Justice

and your unelected minister are not making available?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To be

clear, I am actually the Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural

Development, Responsible for the Research and Development Corporation, and

Government House Leader. I say to

the member, check Hansard. It was

not me who suggested officials were redacting information; it was the Leader of

the Opposition who said, unequivocally, that you were unable to get access

because officials were withholding information.

response is the same as I have given in the last five questions.

I will seek to find out clarification on that.

I am prepared to table that information tomorrow.

One set of information you asked for has been made public, and I will

move right away to make sure that the remaining information you seek will be

made available publicly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, the Premier

called this special session of the House of Assembly.

The documents that we are being denied, apparently under Bill 29, pertain

directly to Bill 42 and the debate we are having right now.

The Department of Justice, and I would assume the unelected Minister of

Justice, are denying the Official Opposition from having access to documents we

need to have a proper debate. The

Premier wanted a special session; we would like an informed debate.

again, I ask the Premier, who is responsible for appointing this minister: Will

you overrule this clear misjudgement, this abuse of the act, and release the

documents that are supposed to be released and available to the public?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Maybe

the member opposite is not understanding what the Government House Leader has

maybe the member opposite, I will try again, is not understanding what the

Government House Leader has been saying here in the House this afternoon.

He has made a commitment that he would look into the concerns raised by

the members opposite. He will seek

to have a resolution to this, a speedy resolution to this.

I do not

think there is much more that he can say, or we can do, other than make the

commitment that he will get to it at the very first opportunity, Mr. Speaker.

He has committed to do that, and we fully support that process.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

I am glad to hear that the

Premier fully supports the delaying of information to this House of Assembly.

That is absolutely ridiculous.

I would say to the Premier, what I do not understand is why documents

that were supposed to be made public were suddenly redacted this morning when we

requested them.

I say to

the Premier: If you want to make tough decisions, if you want to take

responsibility, will you stand here and promise us

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. A. PARSONS:

that we get this

information right now and overrule your minister who is abusing her judgment?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I remind

the member it is very strong language to be directing towards the minister.

First of all, the member likes to use the term Bill 29.

I remind the member that if he wants to talk about Bill 29, ministers of

the Crown have actually no role in redacting information or approving or

disapproving.

There is

an ATIPP co-ordinator who is a bureaucrat, an official of the department who

controls that, which takes me back to the very first question asked by the

Leader of the Opposition where he suggested they are having trouble with

officials releasing information. It

is nothing to do with making this an issue about the Minister of Justice, as my

colleague opposite is trying to do here.

I am

told, as I repeatedly say, that one set of information has been provided to the

Legislative Library. I am also told

that the second set of boxes of information just arrived at the department from

storage today and it will be provided within the very near future.

I will provide further information to clarify this tomorrow in Question

Period, if the member will permit me.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of

Business, Tourism, Justice, and the AG and whatever it is seems to know an awful

lot about this process that he is not supposed to know anything about.

I ask

the Premier again will you stand here in the House we are here to debate Bill

42. We would like to have all the

information we need to have, including the Mahoney Commission.

Will you stand here and simply promise us that we can have it now and

stop relying on your Bill 29 and your unelected minister to block the documents?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will

correct the member on one thing; I am not the Attorney General.

I do not have a law degree and I do not have the right to act as Attorney

General in the Province. I never

did, even when I was in the position of Minister of Justice before, for the

record.

The

other thing I would remind the member, if he wants to play politics with this,

the question is why his government in 1993 did not release the information when

they were in power, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KING:

Having said that, Mr.

Speaker, my commitment remains firm as reiterated by the Premier.

One set of information was made public today already through the

Legislative Library. The second set,

the boxes arrived today, the information will be made public.

I will

seek clarification from my hon. colleague, the Leader of the Opposition, as to

why there has been some confusion and misunderstanding between his office and

officials. I am prepared to talk

about that and table that information tomorrow, if they would like.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I can guarantee

the minister there is no confusion in the e-mail trail that we have from the

Department of Justice and other officials in different government departments

that are blocking these documents.

Almost

four years have passed since government announced $4.5 million to begin

replacement of the Waterford Hospital.

Another $700,000 was committed in 2013 for planning.

I ask

the Minister of Health: How much money has been spent to date on replacing the

Waterford Hospital?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Considerable funds have been invested to date and progress has been made.

In fact, we suspect that site preparation for the new hospital to replace

the Waterford Hospital will be completed in this current calendar year and

construction of the brand new facility will commence in 2016.

I will

get the exact figures on what has been spent to date, and I would be happy to

table them in this House and provide them to the hon. member.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I understand

that the government has spent a considerable sum to develop this plan that meets

the mental health needs of today.

I ask

the minister: You are in the middle of this process; you are saying that the new

mental health hospital is not on the chopping block?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

I do not think, Mr. Speaker,

that there is anybody in this House who would suggest that the current Waterford

Hospital is not in need of replacement.

It is one of the oldest large health care facilities in our Province and

while it has served us well, it is in need of replacement.

We have

a master plan and functional program underway, and we have spent over $500,000

to date on that process which demonstrates our commitment.

We have also begun site preparations, as I have said, which will be

completed later this year. It is a

project that we are committed to. It

will take time to build the state-of-the-art facility that we intend to build,

but we are very committed to the project, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Mr. Speaker, Bay St. George

is facing a health care crisis. The

clinic in Jeffrey's has been without a doctor for over a year now and the doctor

in the Town of St. George's has left late last year.

Residents are often left to travel long distances and wait long hours in

the ER in Stephenville just to be seen by a doctor.

I ask

the Minister of Health and Community Services: Can he provide an update on your

efforts to resolve this health care crisis in Bay St. George?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

be happy to provide this hon. House with an update.

I have had at least three different conversations with the member since

he was elected on this very issue because it is an important one to our

department, it is important to Western Health, and it is definitely important to

the constituents that he represents.

In fact, just yesterday in this House we agreed to have a conversation later

today about this very issue, so I assume that he is still interested in doing

that.

We have

provided some capital funding in recent years to construct a new clinic in

Jeffrey's. The vacancies in some of

these communities are very concerning to us, and we are currently exploring new

models that will make the delivery of primary health care sustainable in that

region of the Province. It is time

to try some new approaches. We have

tried for years to recruit family doctors in certain areas.

We will continue to try, but maybe it is time to be a little innovative,

and I know the member shares my view on that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Mr. Speaker, this situation

has been going on for over a year.

People have not been able to get the type of health care services they need.

I want

to ask the minister: What new actions will he be taking to resolve this

situation at Jeffrey's and St. George's?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, as I have said,

I have had numerous discussions with the member on this issue, and I am happy to

talk to anyone on the West Coast and in the communities affected about this very

issue. Efforts have been ongoing to

recruit physicians, and we have had doctors travel from Stephenville and Corner

Brook to provide service to these communities, but it is clear that that is not

a sustainable approach and we need to do more.

One of

the ideas that came up at our health summit focused on primary health care last

week was the use of other health care professions to deliver services in primary

health care. Nurse practitioners,

for example, have worked in various communities, including in the member's

district.

So it is

time to look at some new approaches, and I am prepared to work with Western

Health and work with the communities affected to explore some of those options.

I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that is well underway.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

Mr. Speaker, this government

has for the past eight years made promises to the people of Western Newfoundland

on the new hospital, and there has been delay after delay.

In light of the Premier's comment a few days ago saying that everything

is on the table, I have got calls from the West Coast and people are worried.

So, I am

asking the Premier: Will the Western Regional Memorial Hospital be on the option

table, or will you fulfill your commitment to the people of the West Coast of

Newfoundland?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

I appreciate the preview of

the questions today, Mr. Speaker, because I had a conversation with the hon.

member just this morning about the new West Coast hospital and the plans that

are underway.

We have

invested millions of dollars already in the planning process and in the

preparation process, and the Western Memorial Hospital is another health care

facility in this Province that is in need of replacement.

We want to build a state-of-the-art facility that will meet the needs of

the citizens of the West Coast not just now but well into the future.

There

will be more services. There will be

more beds. It will be a

state-of-the-art facility that I think will serve us well for many years to

come. We are very committed to it.

I look forward to releasing the functional program and plans in the next

number of weeks.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

Mr. Speaker, I am new to the

House and I thought this was Question Period.

I did ask the question is it on the chopping block, but let me continue.

There has been a commitment from this government to begin the long-term

care facility also in 2015. We have

already seen many years of delay.

I ask

the minister: Will the construction of the long-term care facility begin in 2015

also, or is that on the chopping block?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, over the last

number of years we have expanded long-term care beds in numerous regions of the

Province, but we still recognize that in each and every one of our health care

regions there is still an incredible demand.

The Western Region is no exception.

We have

big demands for long-term care in Western, in Central, in Eastern, and in

Labrador-Grenfell. The new long-term

care facility will be a very important component of the new West Coast hospital

campus. I look forward to getting

that project underway in 2015.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for The

Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Mr. Speaker, government

reported only $28 million in environmental liabilities by 2013 year-end.

Your government left taxpayers on the hook for avoidable environmental

liabilities including accepting environmental costs for the Come By Chance

refinery, hundreds of millions for the botched Abitibi mill expropriation, and

other industrial sites.

Does the

minister even know how much this government's environmental blunders will cost

the taxpayers? Will he make this

figure public?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Mr. Speaker, our officials

are certainly aware and our government is aware of where the impacted sites are

throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

We are monitoring all the sites.

We are doing assessments all the time.

We are doing remediation work in certain sites as well.

Hopedale, for instance, is one of those sites.

On the

outside end of things, there have been numbers thrown around about Come By

Chance oil refinery, but they are the outside numbers, Mr. Speaker.

Full remediation of some of these sites is not going to happen.

Some remediation for some of these sites will be happening.

It is very difficult to get to a finite number based on individual

impacted sites throughout the Province.

It is

not an easy question to answer, Mr. Speaker, but we are on top of this.

We have a full inventory of impacted sites in this Province, and we are

monitoring the situation very closely.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for The

Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

He should make those figures

public, Mr. Speaker.

The

Auditor General outlines the Public Sector Accounting Board's new standards.

They demand that government's financial statement recognize the full cost

of remediation of contaminated sites as a financial liability by 2015.

I ask

the minister: Have you even undertaken an assessment of the full costing to

clean up these contaminated sites, and will its value be recognized in the 2015

financial statements?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Mr. Speaker, we value the

Auditor General's input into this issue.

We certainly have been taking his considerations very, very seriously.

Again, what I stated earlier, we have everything under control.

We know exactly what is going on in the Province in terms of impacted

sites in Newfoundland and Labrador, on the Island portion and Labrador as well.

We are

working towards identifying exactly what that number is, but, Mr. Speaker, it is

a very difficult number to get to.

On a case-by-case basis, there is a lot of work that needs to be done.

Again, Mr. Speaker, that work is ongoing.

We are protecting the environment for the people of this Province for

future generations. We take that

responsibility very, very seriously.

I know I do, and I will continue to do that work, and my department will as

well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Accounting standards state

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is

very hard to hear sometimes, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much.

Mr.

Speaker, Bill 42 mandates the electoral boundaries commission to do the review

demanded by the bill within 120 days of the appointment of a chairperson.

I ask

the Premier: Will he follow the commission's recommendation if it says it just

cannot do the work in that short time frame?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

There appears to be a lot of

questioning of the capabilities, the competencies of a commission yet to be

appointed. There seems to be a lot

of doubt about whether these people can do a piece of work within 120 days.

I read

yesterday in the House, into the record, a piece of a report that came out in

2006 where the commission of that day said a future report could be done within

six months. Now, Mr. Speaker, we

have members standing periodically and asking questions about the ability to do

this piece of work in 120 days. I

would say let's get on with the debate, pass the resolution, appoint the

commission and get at the work at hand.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I invite

the minister to do his mathematics.

Six months is two months more than 120 days.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS MICHAEL:

I ask the Premier now: That

if the general election cannot be called by the legislated deadline, what will

he do?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Maybe math was not my strong

suit.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

However, I was not too bad

Speaker, within six months. I was

not equating 120 days to six months, I said within.

Mr.

Speaker, let me repeat, the commission is not yet appointed.

The plan is and I am very certain and confident that Chief Justice

Green will appoint someone who is very capable, very competent, and would fully

understand before accepting the appointment what the task at hand would be.

If Justice Green appoints a chair of that commission, and you, as the

Speaker, appoint four other individuals, they will know what the task will be

before they accept that appointment.

I am certain, capable competent people can do this piece of work.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

once again going to ask the Premier, because he has not answered the question

this week. Why has he put this

commission in place now instead of waiting for 2016?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The hon.

member opposite is well aware that the commission was scheduled to take place

next year in 2016. The results of

the work done by the commission would not take place until 2019.

The hon. member opposite asking the question is in agreement that we

should reduce the size of the House of Assembly.

The Leader of the Opposition is in agreement that we should reduce the

size of the House of Assembly. I am

in agreement that we should reduce the House of Assembly as well.

The

commission was going to do the work next year, Mr. Speaker, and we have asked to

do it a year earlier. That is what

this bill is about. It is a year

earlier. If you think about the

fiscal crisis that this Province is facing, we need to find every opportunity to

rightsize government and use every opportunity to take advantage, as we are

doing right now, Mr. Speaker, to fix this fiscal problem that we have

approaching all of us. This is going

to have impact on every one of us in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS ROGERS:

Thank you.

Mr.

Speaker, today we will debate a private member's motion calling for a select

committee on mental health. In light

of both the Premier's and the Leader of the Opposition's public acknowledgement

of the need for committees and modernization of our Legislature and the critical

need for an overhaul of our mental health services in the Province.

I ask

the Premier: Will he support the motion to immediately strike on all-party

select committee on mental health?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to the debate today.

I want to thank the Member for St. John's Centre, once again, for

bringing what is a really important issue to the floor of the House of Assembly.

I am sure we will have an informed debate today.

honestly believe that a lot of the things that today's motion is calling for can

be achieved another way. So, what I

suspect we are going to argue about today is approach.

We all agree there is more work to be done to address mental health

services and to improve mental health services in Newfoundland and Labrador.

We can

look at the current state of mental health services.

We can receive expert testimony.

We can report on the findings; and, ultimately, we can put a new strategy

in place to drive forward mental health and addictions services in Newfoundland

and Labrador, and that is certainly our intention, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The time

for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling

of Documents.

Notices

of Motion.

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Before I

recognize the Member for Virginia Waters to present her petition, I just want to

take a moment to bring everybody's attention to Standing Order 92, Every Member

offering a petition to the House shall confine himself or herself to the

statement of the parties from whom it comes, the number of signatures attached

to it and the material allegations it contains.

In other words, to the subject of the petition.

In no case shall the Member occupy more than 3 minutes in presenting a

petition.

I just

wanted to remind all members of that.

That any comment on the petition you are presenting shall be in relation

to the subject matter of the petition and, indeed, your time limit is three

minutes.

The hon.

the Member for Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

the electoral boundaries commission was legislated to be appointed in 2016 to

determine any changes to electoral districts in the Province; and

WHEREAS

the undersigned agree with a reduction in the number of electoral seats; and

WHEREAS

the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would have

allowed the time necessary to properly carry out the necessary public

consultations; and

WHEREAS

the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would have

allowed sufficient time necessary to properly evaluate the population and

demographics of each district and properly calculate the necessary adjustments

for a change in the number of electoral districts; and

WHEREAS

the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would have

allowed sufficient time necessary to properly evaluate the geographical

implications of a change in the number of electoral districts; and

WHEREAS

the government is attempting to change legislation to appoint the electoral

boundaries commission early;

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

of Assembly to urge government to ensure that, with or without the completion of

the work of the electoral boundaries commission as a result of appointing a

commission early, it will not interfere with the legislated and mandated

requirement to hold a provincial election in 2015.

As in

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I present this on behalf of members of the public from the District of

Placentia St. Mary's. The reason I

present this petition, quite frankly, is there are many people in this Province

who have grave concerns. Contrary to

the Minister of Finance's comments earlier, many people have concerns about this

commission's ability to do responsible work

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible).

MS C. BENNETT:

I think it is Placentia St.

Mary's responsible work in the amount of time.

Mr.

Speaker, I have spoken to representatives of the last commission that was done

here. I have spoken personally to

representatives of the commission that was done in New Brunswick.

I have also looked at as is my responsibility I believe as a Member of

this House of Assembly every single jurisdiction across Canada.

There is not one jurisdiction in Canada that has completed this work in

less than 180 days. That does not

include the amount of time required to allow Elections NL to do its operational

work.

This

government has repeatedly failed to recognize the operations that are underneath

the legislation that they bring in and the impacts and ramifications that takes

place. By rushing this particular

piece of legislation and making sure that they put a time frame in that many

people in the Province, people who are representative in all our districts

believe is a time frame that is unreasonable, they believe that they are setting

the commission up for failure, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have a

petition related to health care services in the Heatherton to Highlands area.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petitioners undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

there has not been a permanent doctor in the clinic at Jeffrey's for almost a

year; and

WHEREAS

the absence of a permanent doctor is seriously compromising the health care of

people who live in Heatherton to Highlands area and causing them undue hardship;

and

WHEREAS

the absence of a doctor or nurse practitioner in the area leaves seniors without

a consistency and quality of care which is necessary for their continued good

health;

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

of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to take actions

necessary to result in a permanent doctor or other arrangements to improve the

health care services in the Heatherton to Highlands area.

Mr.

Speaker, this situation has been going on for a while in Jeffrey's.

It is over a year now that there has not been a permanent doctor in

Jeffrey's. People are not able to

get the health care services they need.

In St. George's just before Christmas, the middle of December, the doctor

there left. So, the people in St.

George's find themselves in a similar situation.

They are having to travel long distances to obtain health care.

They often have to wait in emergency rooms all day just to get simple

things like a prescription refilled.

People

are not getting the type of service they need, Mr. Speaker.

Many seniors have called me and told me that they are not getting the

care they need. They are not getting

their test reports in a timely manner.

This is how serious the situation is, and it has gone on for too long.

People are frustrated and people are upset.

It is fine to have hearings about health care, but if you cannot provide

this type of basic service, it is not worth anything.

This has

gone on too long too long. We have

to find a solution and it has to be found soon.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair has less than a minute to present

her petition.

MS DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the

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

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

WHEREAS

the community of Cartwright will be a gateway to the upcoming Mealy Mountains

National Park Reserve; and

WHEREAS

the establishment of a national park reserve, a tourism demand generator, will

significantly increase the potential for tourism development in all communities

of Southeastern Labrador; and

WHEREAS

developing tourism in Southeastern Labrador will contribute to the economic,

social, and cultural well-being of the communities and the people throughout the

region;

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

of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to finalize the

land transfer agreement with Parks Canada so as to allow for the establishment

of the national park in the Mealy Mountains of Labrador to occur before the 2015

tourism season.

As in

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, since I do not have much time I just want to say this file has been

ongoing since 2007 and I would urge the government to (inaudible)

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I remind

the member her time has expired.

Orders of the Day

Private Members'

Day

MR. SPEAKER:

In accordance with our

Standing Orders, it now being 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, Private Members' Day, we

must now go to the Member for St. John's Centre to begin debate on the private

member's resolution that stands on the Order Paper in her name.

The hon.

the Member for St. John's Centre.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Assembly urge government to

immediately strike an all-party committee on mental health to conduct

Province-wide public consultations, review the current state of provincial

mental health services, receive expert testimony on best practices in mental

health care delivery, and report its findings with the goal of improving mental

health programs and services to better serve the needs of the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

It is

seconded by the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

Mr.

Speaker, I am very happy and honoured today to stand in this House to speak to

this motion. Although this is a

private member's motion it is not my sole motion, it is not the sole motion of

my caucus, it is the motion of thousands of people across the Province who have

come to town hall meetings, who have come to symposiums, who have written

letters, who have signed petitions, who have made phone calls, who have

contacted their individual MHAs, who are asking for this.

They are

asking for it in desperation. They

are asking for it in strength. They

are asking for it in hope. They are

asking for it from a place of expertise, a place of resilience.

They are asking for it because they know it is needed.

They are asking for it because they know it is the right thing to do.

They are asking for it because they have

trust in this House of Assembly to honour the work that needs to be done in the

area of mental health services across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, just shortly, a little time ago, I read a tweet that was sent out by

Amelia Curran who is one of our multi-Juno, award-winning singer-songwriters,

who is an advocate in the area of mental health, and who is doing a lot of work

right now, public work, talking about her own experiences of mental health,

doing all kinds of work around mental health.

She did a fantastic video called

This Video . It is available

through YouTube and it is about breaking down the stigma of mental health.

She tweeted today, Waiting on pins and needles to hear about today's

petition being put forward in HofA.

Mr.

Speaker, I would also like to say that I know there are thousands of people in

Newfoundland and Labrador waiting on pins and needles today to see how this

debate will go in the House, to see whether or not their particular member, and

whether or not each and every member in this House of Assembly will agree to

work together, will agree to employ every single legislative tool we have as

leaders to ensure that we can come up with the best possible mental health

services in the Province. Because we

know that not only the one in five people in Newfoundland and Labrador who

suffer from mental health challenges are affected by mental health, but we also

know that their families, their friends, their communities are also affected.

Sometimes this is a matter of life and death, and sometimes it is a matter of

resilience and hope, and that is what we are talking about today.

I particularly am encouraged by the people who come to the gallery who

are concerned. There are people

watching all over the Province online in our debate, and our debate is about

hope today.

Our

debate is about modernizing our Legislature.

Our debate is about the possibility of all of us working together on an

issue that the Minister of Health himself, on December 8 in this House of

Assembly, said: I would like this is after I had presented a petition on

behalf of the thousands of people who are concerned about the issue of mental

health. Everybody in the House, it

was a very unusual day in the House that day.

presented a petition on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and

the Official Opposition decided they wanted to get up and speak to that petition

because they knew how important it was.

Then the Minister of Health decided he, too, wanted to get up and speak

on the petition. As a matter of

fact, Mr. Speaker, people in this House were scrambling to get up to speak to

the issue that was addressed in the petition.

The

Minister of Health, on December 8 said and I am taking an unusual step here

today, Mr. Speaker, as well. I want

to honour the words of the Minister of Health because I believe he is truly

concerned about the issues of mental health services in the Province, mental

health and addiction services. I

also truly believe he wants us to be able to provide the best services we

possibly can.

Our task

today is to convince him, his party, and his caucus that the best way to address

this is to do a thorough investigation, a comprehensive investigation, a

thorough consultation process that has been done by other parties and by other

governments across the country and across the Commonwealth.

This is our task today, to convince him that it is absolutely crucial we

all work together.

He said,

I would like to talk about mental health.

I would like to talk about one of the highest priority issues facing our

Province and also facing the Department of Health and Community Services.

I want

to assure everybody in Newfoundland and Labrador that we are well aware of the

challenges people are facing with mental health and addictions issues in this

Province. It is a real concern and

it is a growing concern. Access to

timely and appropriate care and supports is absolutely essential.

Mental

health and addictions issues will inevitably touch most of our lives.

In fact, one in five people in Newfoundland and Labrador will experience

mental illness of some form in their lifetime.

More than any other illnesses, these are illnesses that are pervasive and

they affect everyone, either directly or indirectly, through a family member,

through a friend, through a colleague.

He also

went on to say, We do provide about $100 million annually for mental health and

addictions programs and services.

Mr.

Speaker, in this time of economic uncertainty, we have heard this bandied about

in this House for the past two days.

The price of oil has plummeted. We

know that there are grave, grave economic challenges facing this Province.

What we have to do as legislators is ensure that every dollar that is

spent is spent efficiently and effectively.

That is our task as well.

Again, I

am very happy to stand here today to speak on behalf of the many people who I am

sure all of us, every single MHA in this House, have received calls from people

who are suffering from mental illness crises, or their families, begging for

help. Particularly in rural areas

where we know there are huge gaps in services.

I want

to thank all of those who work in the area of mental health and addictions.

Our health care providers, our frontline

workers, community groups who have been taking on more and more and more of the

work, often with very limited resources.

I want to thank the advocates who continue to raise the issue and push

for change, and policy-makers, both elected and unelected, who know that mental

health and addictions not only directly affect the one in five people in

Newfoundland and Labrador but everyone, because, again, we are all connected in

our wonderful home of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I want

to thank those who work with passion and compassion, with absolute commitment.

I also want to particularly thank folks with lived experience, who have

so courageously stepped forward to tell their stories in hopes of helping to

create awareness, challenge stigma, and to push for better and more response

services for all people who are dealing with mental health and addictions

issues.

I cannot

think of anything that takes more courage in this day and age than to step

forward and to talk about your own experience as someone who is dealing with

mental health issues, to publicly share that story, to publicly share your story

about mental illness because of the devastating effects of stigma associated

with mental illness. I want to thank

those brave determined people again who work with passion and compassion.

In the

past little while we have heard from the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.

During his leadership campaign he said he would initiate House of

Assembly reform within his first 120 days as Premier.

He said, as well as identifying measures to increase parts, he wants to

identify measures to increase participation by all members and improve

efficiency and effectiveness in the House of Assembly.

I would interpret that as using every possible tool available in this

Legislature for us to be able to work together.

The

Leader of the Official Opposition said if he was elected Premier he would make

committees part of the Legislature.

He said, There will be an active committee structure in place in the House of

Assembly. Absolutely.

The

leader of our caucus here repeated our party's consistent call for active House

of Assembly standing committees, which could deal with issues such as Muskrat

Falls in more detail. She said, I

wish that that was the route that we had been following here.

You can

have a discussion in an all-party setting that's more intimate and you can get

more details than the structure of the debate in the House.

The

Minister of Health, himself, in his leadership platform said, I will form an

all-party committee to guide the Open Government Initiative from action plan to

fruition. Each year, in cooperation

with this all-party committee, the Minister Responsible for the Office of Public

Engagement will table an annual report in the House of Assembly.

This annual report will provide an update on the progress of the Open

Government Initiative and will set out the priorities and goals for the upcoming

year.

I would

like to say, Mr. Speaker, that sounds like support for using a select committee

in dealing with urgent and particular issues in this House.

Again, the Minister of Health, in his leadership platform said, it will

set out the priorities and goals for the upcoming year.

We know

that we have to look at what is happening in our mental health services here in

the Province. Last June, I had a

mental health town hall. I expected

about sixty people; there were over 300.

People actually had to be turned away.

At that town hall we heard the pain of people's stories.

We also heard potential solutions.

We heard from experts. We

heard from people with lived experience who are experts in their own experience.

We heard from family members.

We heard from general population. We

heard from health care providers.

As a

result of that, we heard that people wanted to get together again and really

address issues like stigma. So then

we had another event called The Launch, which was attended by over 1,000 people

at Holy Heart of Mary Auditorium. It

was a thing of beauty, Mr. Speaker, but it was the result of over thirty

community groups and individuals coming together and meeting every Friday

morning for months.

It was the coming together and working together with a

common goal that resulted in such a successful event.

The goal was not the event itself and out of that event

came the demand for an all-party committee, a challenge by all of these people

who were working together, a challenge to this House to do the similar thing, to

work together, to work together to take on this huge task of mental health

services

MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):

I remind the hon.

member her speaking time has expired.

MS ROGERS:

of coming up with this

strategy for mental health services in the Province.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I look

forward to hearing from the people in the House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can

sincerely say that I am honoured to have a chance to participate in this

important debate this afternoon. It

is a critical topic. Again, as I did

in Question Period, I will do it again.

I want to thank the Member for St. John's Centre for raising this issue.

I appreciate her kind words as well.

I am sincere in my desire to make the system better.

Members on all sides of the House, I believe, want to make the system

better because this is a very personal issue.

I would venture to guess that there is nobody in this House of Assembly

or nobody watching the debate today who has not been touched by mental health

and addictions in one way, shape, or form.

I think

of my own family members and close friends who have had experience dealing with

very difficult mental health issues.

As the member rightly points out, one in five people in our Province, one in

five people in our country will experience some form of mental illness during

their lifetime.

I know

that the member is very sincere in her desire to bring about change in our

system and to make improvements. I

can tell her, as I have personally, and I can share with members of this hon.

House that I, too, am very committed to bringing about the kind of change and

improvements that are needed. While

we have come a long way, no doubt we still have a way to go.

I did

have a prepared speech to give today, but I would rather try to respond to some

of the comments that the member has made and try to provide some more personal

perspective on this issue that we are debating today.

The

all-party committee issue is what we are really debating today, because I think

we are in agreement on just about everything else, I would say, Mr. Speaker.

When I look at the resolution that we are debating today, we are talking

about reviewing the current state of provincial mental health services.

I can assure you that the Department of Health and Community Services,

under my leadership, is very much committed to doing that, not next year, not in

six months, but right now.

We are

ready to begin a consultation process that will result, over the next few

months, in a brand new mental health and addictions strategy that will guide us

forward for the next decade, to build on the work that has been done since the

2005 strategy was adopted.

The

motion also references receiving expert testimony on best practices in mental

health care delivery. As part of the

process that we are about to embark upon, that is a critical component as well

and it needs to happen. The motion

talks about reporting findings with the goal of improving mental health programs

and services to better serve the needs of the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador. Through the process that

we are about to embark upon, I sincerely believe that we can achieve all of

that. If I did not believe that,

then I may very well be able to support the motion today.

What we

are arguing about is not the need to do more around addressing mental health

needs and improving services in this Province; the debate today is specifically

about whether we should put an all-party committee in place.

I do believe that the member opposite sincerely wants to see improved

services; that is the ultimate goal.

We need to find lasting solutions. I

honestly do not believe that the all-party committee approach is the best way to

achieve that.

The

resolution that we are debating today is much about process and a lot of the

debate even so far has focused on that.

I think we need to focus on effecting change in the system.

We have a process that can achieve that more efficiently and effectively

that our department is about to roll out.

sincerely think that we can achieve everything that an all-party committee could

potentially achieve through the process we are going to roll out in the weeks

ahead. It will be a full,

Province-wide consultation process and everybody in the Province is welcome to

get involved. We want to consult

with over 500,000 people in the Province, not just politicians.

We want to engage the public, not just all the parties that are

represented in this House.

When we

look at what is happening in other provinces, there are a few that have had a

select committee or an all-party committee, but the vast majority have followed

a similar process to what we followed, with considerable success.

One

province just released in December a brand-new mental health and addictions

strategy, which I have reviewed; I have it here with me today.

The Province of Saskatchewan has done some good work.

Many other jurisdictions in the country have as well.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, a lot of the issues that we are facing

when it comes to mental health and addictions services in the country are very

much the same from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

I think

we definitely need to learn from the experiences of others.

The core issues are very similar.

There is more demand for services today than ever before, and we need the

health care system to be positioned to respond to that.

The cost of services has increased, which is a challenge for every

government in the country, and we somehow have to figure out how to deal with

that.

People

have told us, through town halls like the member hosted, through our primary

health care summit, through regional forums that we have had in recent weeks and

months, that access to these services is a critical issue that needs to be

addressed.

Awareness is also a challenge as well.

What we have also learned is that sometimes people just do not know where

to go, they do not know who to call, and they do not know where to turn.

As the Minister Responsible for Health and Community Services, that

concerns me greatly.

We have

a HealthLine; we have a Mental Health Crisis Line.

We have hundreds of mental health service providers in our Province.

That is not to say we do not need to do more.

I am not suggesting for a second that the current service level is

adequate, but there are a lot of resources that perhaps are not being utilized

enough. Maybe people are not even

aware that some of those resources exist.

We have some work to do around that as well.

There

needs to be a greater focus on recovery.

We have seen that in some of the recent mental health strategies that

have been rolled out in other jurisdictions.

There needs to be a greater focus on prevention and early intervention.

Those are the kinds of things that I would envision a new mental health

strategy focusing on. In the next

few months we want to embark on a consultation process that will allow everybody

in the Province to have a say, because we want to make sure we get it right.

I am

committed to driving the kind of change that is required.

I am committed to addressing many of the points that are raised in the

motion today. I do not believe we

need to strike an all-party committee in order to do that.

I believe the approach we are going to take will achieve better results

faster, and perhaps more cost effectively as well, although getting the best

results is certainly my primary concern, and I will be accountable for that.

The

process we are about to embark upon is one that I would welcome all Members of

the House of Assembly to get involved with, and all of your constituents as

well. It is one that I am sure I

will be reporting on regularly to this House.

We have

a responsibility as a government to govern.

We have a responsibility to show leadership on the issues that matter

most to people in the Province. I

know that mental health is top of mind for many people living in Newfoundland

and Labrador.

As the

Health Minister, on my very first day on the job, I gathered some of the senior

folks in the department into our little board room and I outlined several

priorities. At the top of the list

was mental health. I really believe

we can do better and I really believe we must do better.

I believe society expects us to do better.

I think

some of the solutions that we can arrive at we actually need to work with the

community to put those solutions in place.

We have many organizations and potential partners in the community that

perhaps can deliver some of the services that are needed even better than we

can. We are very open to that.

That will all be part of the conversation that we want to have over the

next few months.

If there

is one issue as Health Minister I want to have an impact on and make a different

with in the months ahead, it is this one, I assure you.

I am prepared to be held accountable for that.

All we

are arguing about today is approach.

We are not arguing about the need to do better.

We are not arguing about the need for more support.

We are not arguing about the need for a new strategy.

We are arguing about what is the best way to achieve that.

I sincerely believe the best way to achieve that is the approach we have

been working on for several months.

The

Member for St. John's Centre referenced this debate being about hope.

I want to assure members of this House and, more importantly, the people

of Newfoundland and Labrador, the general public, that there are lots of reasons

to be hopeful. While we have come a

long way over the last decade, we still have a long way to go, but we now are

about to embark upon a process that will get us there.

I hope that our new mental health and addictions strategy will be the

best in the country and that others will look to us to show leadership.

I want

to join the Member for St. John's Centre in applauding the work of the Community

Coalition 4 Mental Health. I thought

the launch event, that I know the member was personally involved in, was

inspiring. I do want to also applaud

those who had the courage and the strength to share their stories, because that

is incredibly powerful.

The

member also references the work of Amelia Curran.

I, too, want to applaud that work.

I saw this video. I have

watched it many times. I have

tweeted about it. I have posted on

Facebook. I have encouraged others

to watch it, both inside and outside this House.

I have

also taken the opportunity on two occasions, maybe three, to meet with Ms Curran

and Mr. Maunder, the producer of that video, to explore how we can get that

message to more people, to explore how we can work together and perhaps

collaborate to raise awareness about the need for more people to get involved in

this process we are about to begin.

Also, we want to let people know there is hope, they can effect change, and

there is help available if they need it.

That is something I will continue to work on, and I certainly appreciate

the support we have received to date.

The

community coalition can play a very important role in this process as we move

forward. I have invited the

community coalition to meet with me.

I am looking forward to hearing first-hand their views and concerns.

I hope they can be part of some of the solutions that we will work

together on in the months ahead.

I have

also appointed two of the leading members of the Community Coalition 4 Mental

Health to our Ministerial Advisory Council on Mental Health and Addictions, and

I will be meeting with that group over the next couple of weeks.

I say that because I think that demonstrates how committed we are to

working with those in the community who have raised these very serious issues

and are committed to driving change, and are passionate about it.

I think there is a vital role for those folks to play, and I really do

welcome their input.

The

advisory council we have in place contains a number of people who are also

involved in the Community Coalition 4 Mental Health.

These are people the Department of Health and Community Services, and

other departments in government, are working with on an ongoing basis.

I see a greater role for that advisory council.

They are going to play a lead role in the consultations that are about to

being.

Mr.

Sheldon Pollett has been appointed as the interim Chair of the advisory council.

He works with Choices for Youth, which is an outstanding organization

helping some of our most vulnerable young people in this region.

He is well aware of some of the challenges facing our population when it

comes to mental health, particularly those facing our young people.

We have

great people at the table we are willing to work with to drive change and to

build a strategy that is going to improve mental health services in the

Province. I would argue perhaps even

transform mental health services in this Province.

There is

a role for other parties to play as well.

Debates like today are important.

I know we have differing views on how to approach this challenge, and I

respect that, but in terms of the process that we will roll forward with, I want

the continued input of the Opposition parties.

We had

the Premier's Summit on Health Care just last week.

I was pleased that both Opposition parties actively participated.

As they will recall, one of the major themes for the day was mental

health and addictions. There were

even some potential solutions that came about as a result of the discussions

that occurred through that one-day process.

Even in each of the regional forums that we held, and there were thirteen

of them over the last couple of months, mental health was an issue that was

discussed in each and every one of them.

Some of

the solutions are obvious. We are

challenged to redeploy resources and shift resources, and find new resources to

make things happen. We have to be

creative and we have to be innovative in doing so, but I believe we already know

a lot of what we need to do.

So, for

that reason, I am anxious to lead a public engagement process that makes sure we

arrive at the right solutions, and then let's get the strategy in place.

Let's debate it. Let's talk

about it. Let's find out who in the

Province and who in our communities can get involved in working with us to

deliver on that and make it happen, because the kind of change that is needed is

not change we can wait for years to attain.

Some of

the systemic change that is needed will take time, but there are things we can

do today and tomorrow. There are

things we can do in the months ahead.

I can assure you, the government that is led by our Premier is very much

committed to taking action and showing leadership because we all recognize the

importance of this issue.

I also

want to assure you that our team at Health and Community Services is willing to

meet with anybody who has a view to share, or a story to tell, or an idea, or a

concern, or a suggestion on how we can improve mental health services in the

Province.

I see

the member opposite shaking her head.

I can only stand before you, Mr. Speaker, and tell you that that

commitment is a sincere one, and we really believe that we can bring the right

people together to arrive at the solutions that are needed.

We have to come up with a strategy in the next few months that is the

right one. I do not think we need to

study it for months. I do not

believe we need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop it, because

I do think that in some cases the solutions are obvious.

So, let's make this work.

A select

committee would turn this into an event, and an advisory council and the

consultation process and the strategy ensures that this is a journey that is

ongoing, that everybody in the Province can be involved in.

We want to hear from people working in the system, from experts, from

consumers, from families with lived experience, and I am confident we can build

a strategy for the next ten years that will get us to where we need to be.

This

cannot be about petitions and speeches

MR. SPEAKER:

I remind the hon. member his

speaking time has expired.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will

just conclude by saying this has to be about people and solutions, and I am very

much committed to that.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I am

very happy as the seconder of this motion to be able to stand and speak to it.

I have been here with all kinds of ways in which to proceed and I am

trying to decide which is the best one, but I think I am going to hit it head-on

and that is respond to the minister's position with regard to the all-party

committee.

colleague has eloquently expressed the needs in the Province.

I know in her summation today she will do that again, the needs with

regard to mental health care in the Province.

She has been eloquent in this House over the past months when we were

sitting in the fall and in the spring with regard to mental health.

What the

minister seems to be caught up on is the whole issue of an all-party committee.

I want to speak to this issue to try to get him to understand why we

think the all-party committee is necessary.

Just a couple of days ago, January 15, I think I am put off by the fact

that we are in the House in January, so I am getting my dates mixed up.

I am forgetting what month I am in because I think this is history making

that we are sitting here in January.

January 15, the Premier sent a letter to the Speaker of the House and has asked

the Speaker of the House to look at a number of things to help us work better in

this House of Assembly. That

specifically is one of the things that the Premier has asked the Speaker to do:

to put in place our Standing Orders Committee, which we do have, which never

meets, but we have it. I think I am

on it. To put that committee in

place and to ask it to look at how we operate in the House of Assembly.

The

issue of all-party committees or standing committees has been spoken about

publicly by the Premier and I think even by the Minister of Health and Community

Services. I remember some years ago

when I first brought up the issue here in the House of Assembly, the whole issue

of standing committees which are all-party committees and the fact that they

exist elsewhere in the country, and that we really need to use that structure

more here in our Legislature to have a more democratic process, the minister was

not a minister then and he actually one day said to me: Lorraine, I would like

to talk to you a bit about what it is you are talking about when you bring up

standing committees in the House. He

and I had a chat about it. We are

going to have another chat about it today, Minister, and why I think we need it.

We have

a Standing Orders book. For those

who are not part of this House this is the second time today by the way I

think somebody stood with the Standing Orders book.

I think the Government House Leader used it either today or yesterday.

Everything that is the rules to run how we operate here is in this book.

We refer to it, the Speaker refers to it, and House Leaders refer to it.

Under Order 65 or from Orders 65-70 we have Standing Orders that deal

with committees.

The

first committees that it deals with, you have Standing Order 65.

It has five sections to it and one

section has seven parts to it.

It describes what standing committees are, who the standing committees

are in terms of what the titles of the standing committees are, and what the

function of a standing committee is.

The Standing Orders also talk about how many people, what would be the maximum

number for a standing committee, what they deal with, et cetera.

Under

section 65(5) it says that the standing committees are directed by the

Legislature. The Legislature gives

the work to the standing committees.

What they are then supposed to do is to examine and inquire into all such

matters as may be referred to them, and to report from time to time, and except

when the House otherwise orders, they can send for people to come in, witnesses

to come in. They can have access to

papers and records that are needed.

They can take that evidence and make recommendations back to the House.

They have the power to get the information that as individuals we do not

have the power to do here in the House and as MHAs.

The

all-party standing committees could be doing so much work.

Legislation, for example and my colleague referred to when I stood in

the House and talked about Muskrat Falls.

If our Resource Committee there is a Resource Committee on paper.

At the time of Estimates, we discuss the budgets.

That Committee can sit down and quiz the Department of Natural Resources,

for example, on how the money is being spent in that department and what is

going on inside of that department; but that is the only time that Committee

gets directed by this House to do anything.

If that

Resource Committee had been operative all year-round, as our Standing Orders say

they are they say they are operative all year-round.

If they operated all year-round, that Resource Committee could have taken

the legislation around Muskrat Falls, could have had a full and open debate in

the Province, could have gone around the Province and held public consultations,

and all the people who were trying to get their opinions out through talk shows

and through letters to the editor and in whatever way possible around Muskrat

Falls, they could have come to open meetings held by an all-party committee in

an open and transparent and accountable process and have been listened to and

perhaps when we had gotten to the legislation here in the House itself, we may

not have had to have filibustered for the numbers of days that we did because we

might have been able to do something working together in an all-party committee.

That is the purpose of an all-party committee.

They have them in Ottawa in the House of Commons, they have

them in other provinces, and they work.

It is surprising that even in Ottawa right now where we have, as we all

know, a pretty intransigent Prime Minister, one of their all-party committees

last year the makeup reflects the Legislature, so the majority are the

government people on it, but you have all the parties that are in Opposition are

represented. One of the committees

that they have actually made a recommendation to the government that the

government did not particularly like, but the standing committee, which was

dominated by the government people, made the decision to make the recommendation

to bring a motion through. So, an

all-party committee can be pretty powerful.

Now, you have the standing committees, but you also have

select committees. I think that my

colleague is aware of the fact that her motion, which I have seconded, is

referring to a select committee. A

select committee does exactly what it sounds like.

It is given a particular task to do, but

the rules that guide it are the same rules that guide an all-party standing

committee. A select committee is

also an all-party committee and the rules that guide the standing committee

guide them.

Now, I

went through all of that because I am using this as an opportunity to help maybe

start the discussion in the Province with regard to how we could be working

better, and this motion is giving us the opportunity to do that, to look at why

all-party committees are the way to go. One of the big reasons is because the

all-party committee is accountable to the Legislature, not just to the

government but to the Legislature. I

have no problem with advisory committees to ministers.

In my

past as a social justice activist in the Province, I actually sat at least twice

on advisory committees to ministers and it was a good process.

I have no problem with them.

Advisory committees are important; however, if you have an all-party committee

tasked to do something, that all-party committee is accountable to us here.

Everybody in the Legislature has to receive the report from the all-party

committee. The work they do has to

be public. It has to be seen.

People

who come and who present have to be it has to be an open process.

Obviously, there could be topics, and I think mental health care could be

one of those topics where maybe there are times there have to be in camera

meetings. Maybe if somebody wanted

to come and meet, they do not want to be identified publicly.

That could happen, obviously; however, the overall intent of an all-party

committee is to be public, is to have the resources to make sure that everybody

comes in and gets to say what they want to say.

With all

due respect to the minister, and I appreciate the process they went through with

the summit and with the regional meetings that led up to the summit that

happened last week, one of the things I heard at the summit in my own experience

was it was not open enough for just free discussion.

We did not have enough time for free discussion.

I was

glad I was invited by the Premier to be there, and I am glad that I went, but I

heard people say we did not have enough time.

It was a very planned session.

You had to do your comments within the plan that was set,

whereas if you

have an all-party committee that is out in the community holding a hearing,

people come and they say freely what they want to say.

They do not have to do it within two minutes or three minutes.

They can sit there and they can speak, and they can make sure that the

all-party committee hears what is being said.

We have,

as has been referred to, in the legislation, a rule that says there has to be a

legislative review of our mental health care in this Province and how the

legislation around mental health is being followed.

There was a report in well, they did their review in 2011.

That was the first review, actually, under the new legislation.

The committee that did the review well, it was the Newfoundland and

Labrador Centre for Health Information, certainly an organization that has

people with expertise to do the work but not an organization that is accountable

to the House of Assembly. It is not

an organization that is ruled by the governing rules of all-party committees

that would allow for the kind of process that all-party committees would follow

if we followed our Standing Orders here.

Anyway,

the centre did do its work. They did

a report that was completed in April 2012, and released publicly in November

2013. Now, let's look at that.

They did their work in 2011.

They completed their work in 2012, and the government did not publicly put that

report out until November 2013.

I would

suggest to all of us to reflect on that, because if we had an all-party

committee that had to be making regular reports to the House of Assembly

because that is one of the rules for the all-party committees we would know in

an ongoing way what the work of the committee was coming up with.

They would have to make regular reports here to the House.

We would know what they were finding.

We would not have to be waiting two years.

I would

like to recommend to the minister that 2016 is the next year for the review to

be done of what is happening, according to our legislation.

It is every five years. The

last study that was done was started in 2012.

I would like to recommend to the minister that this would be such an

opportune time to put a select committee in place because that select committee

could do the work this year, in 2015 of gathering the information of what is

happening in the Province, of doing that under the rubrics of our all-party

committees, under our Standing Orders, which gives our committee so much power.

They

could start the identification of issues in a much broader way than what the

minister is suggesting. They could

start that identification of issues.

Then that committee would bring its recommendations here to this House and we,

as the Legislature, could identify, for whoever is going to do the review in

2016, what it seems like the review should be focused on.

The all-party committee has done its work coming up with the voice of

people in the Province, the experience of people in the Province, telling us

here in the House of Assembly what the issues are out there.

Then those recommendations go to the group who is going to do the review

in 2016 to see how to deal with those issues not just identifying what issues

are, but actually coming up with how to deal with them.

That is

my recommendation to the minister. I

am trying to explain to you why this process could actually do everything that

you are talking about but do it in a way that is open, transparent, accountable,

and accountable in a much broader way than an advisory committee to the

minister.

That is

not to insult you, Mr. Minister.

That is not to insult anybody on the committee.

I know the names of the people on the committee.

They are wonderful people who I think would be delighted if there were an

all-party committee put in place to do the work that is being referred to in the

motion that is here on the floor today.

I am

delighted the Official Opposition sees the wisdom of the all-party committee

being in place. I would like to

think the minister can change his mind between now and 5:00 o'clock and vote for

this motion.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I remind

members of the gallery that you are very welcome to be here, but it is not

appropriate to participate in the debate on the floor.

I thank you for being here today, but it is not appropriate to

participate in the debate on the floor.

Thank

you so much.

The hon.

the Member for Baie Verte Springdale.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. POLLARD:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

certainly delighted to stand in this hon. House today to speak to this very

serious, complex issue, illness that demands our fullest attention and that

pervades every crevice in our society.

My comments will be strictly geared to our social marketing campaign.

When you

get an opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to highlight mental illness and addictions, it

is a good thing. More talk and more

dialogue means that incrementally we are making a positive step, one more

positive step in the right direction.

One more conversation, one more dialogue, and one more motion is chipping

away at the stigma of mental illness and addictions.

We all want to slay this giant.

What is

a stigma? The Mental Health

Commission of Canada defines stigma as negative and unfavourable attitudes and

the behaviour they produce. It is a

form of prejudice that spreads fear and misinformation, labels individuals, and

perpetuates stereotypes.

This

cold, icy grip of mental illness tentacles reaches far and wide, Mr. Speaker.

It has no respect of persons, cultures, ages, or families.

It leads to exclusion, which leads individuals to internalize their

negative feelings, which leads again to lower self-esteem, lower self-concept.

This in turn, then, will lead to probably more isolation and more

secrecy, and that person or that individual suffering from mental illness will

be very reticent in talking about their illness.

They will keep it to themselves as a secret.

So this stigma attached to this mental illness is very serious indeed.

It is a real problem that needs our attention and needs everybody's

attention.

Stigma

against people with mental illness is oppressive.

It alienates. It prevents

many from seeking help, denies them access to the support networks and treatment

they need in order to recover from the illness.

Stigma

is pervasive. It often results in

inequality in employment, housing, education, loss of family, and, yes, friends

as well. This is a very eye-opening

statement: Many people living with mental illness or addictions say it is more

difficult to live with the stigma than it is with the disease or illness itself.

Wow, that should grab our attention, Mr. Speaker.

We know

that stigma excludes. It isolates.

It breathes secrecy. It is a

real enemy. If we slay this giant of

stigma attached to mental illness, it would certainly be a huge step forward,

Mr. Speaker.

believe we are making progress by talking about it today and I would like to

thank everybody, all stakeholders who brought this forward today.

By talking about it today in this House of Assembly, I think we make

incremental steps in slaying this giant.

One of

the greatest challenges in advancing mental illness and addictions awareness is

accepting the fact to eliminate the stigma, finding ways to eliminate the

stigma.

The

Provincial Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Council to the Minister of

Health and Community Services identified addressing this challenge as its top

priority and led the charge to develop a Province-wide, multi-year, anti-stigma

social marketing campaign.

In order

to gage the general public's attitudes and beliefs and to confirm existing

evidence of stigma toward those with mental illness and addition, the Department

of Health and Community Services commissioned the service of a local research

company prior to the start of the development of the campaign.

The

research methodology included Province-wide focus groups with individuals and

families with lived experience of mental illness and addictions, as well as a

Province-wide telephone survey of 600 people over the age of eighteen years.

Based on the research findings, Mr. Speaker, it was determined that the

most effective approach to changing attitudes regarding mental illness and

addiction is to normalize, so to speak, it by bringing awareness to the fact

that one in five of us will experience a mental illness or addiction in any

given year; that is 20 per cent of the population of Newfoundland and Labrador.

In May

of this year we launched Understanding Changes Everything, which aims to

challenge and ultimately change the way many people think about mental illness

and addiction. I believe we are all

learning incrementally about this serious illness.

There is a strong effort on everybody's part to understand, to listen,

and to demystify this illness. The

more we talk about it, we can demystify this illness.

The

campaign inspires hope and helps those of us who live with mental illness and

addiction toward recovery. Recovery

does not mean a cure; however, recovery happens inside of us when we have hope

that we can still have a meaningful and a full life, even with the symptoms of

an illness.

Recovery

begins when the stigma is sort of diminished and when we get all kinds of

supports that are available from our friends, families, clergy, counsellors,

what have you, Mr. Speaker. Recovery

begins when people feel that they are able to make decisions regarding their

lives. They take personal

responsibility for those decisions and have hope for themselves for the future.

I have

to reiterate, Mr. Speaker, we never underestimate the power of hope.

Hope is very powerful. It

empowers the individual to persevere, to carry on, and to believe that there is

light at the end of a dark tunnel. I

believe as a society we are providing hope to that individual who feels that

they just cannot carry on any more.

The

individuals featured in the Understanding Changes Everything campaign inspire

hope by portraying everyday people who, despite living with mental illness and

addiction, are leading fulfilling and successful lives.

Just like with cancer or diabetes, having a mental illness and/or

addiction, it is just one part of a person's life.

It does not define who that person really is.

The

first phase of this campaign is almost complete and consists of three television

commercials, online and cinema advertising, as well as promotion through social

media, including Facebook and Twitter.

The campaign has been well received by individuals and families with

lived experience of mental illness and addiction, community and advocacy groups,

and residents throughout the entire Province, Mr. Speaker.

In fact,

people have told us how moved they are when they see insightful and powerful ads

on television. For some, the ads

also elicit a very emotional and a very heartfelt response.

The next

phase of the campaign will focus on creating awareness and reducing stigma and

discrimination in the workplace.

Phase II of this campaign will be launched early in the new year.

This campaign is challenging each and every one of us to reflect on how

we think and act towards individuals with mental illness and addictions.

It all begins with just a little bit more of understanding.

One of

the most effective ways to decrease stigma is to take time to listen to someone

who has experienced a mental illness or addiction and really hear their story,

Mr. Speaker.

Stigma

reduction begins when we begin to understand and change how we think, how I

think, about the illness. The tag

line of our campaign, Understanding Changes Everything, reinforces this

sentiment. Residents are encouraged

to visit

www.understandnow.ca to view these campaign materials, learn about the mental illness and

addiction, and find ways to reach out to a family member, a friend, or a

co-worker with a mental illness or addiction, reach out for supports.

Whether it is by reaching out to a family member, a friend, or a

co-worker with a mental illness or addiction, each of us has an important role

to play in creating stigma-free communities, stigma-free towns.

Remember that understanding changes everything.

believe everybody in this House, everybody in this Province, without exception,

each person can make a difference how?

By simply listening, by supporting, by understanding this complex illness

with a very caring heart and an open mind.

I believe that this is occurring now and we all try to make improvements

to slay this giant that pervades everybody in this society and impacts every

single person.

I just

want to say thank you to the Minister of Health, thank you to the Premier for

their sincere leadership in this issue.

There is no question they are out in front of this.

I would like to thank the Opposition over here and the Third Party as

well, and all the stakeholders right across this Province for their initiative

and for their boldness in bringing this issue forward.

I really, really thank them because every dialogue, every conversation is

one step closer to everybody trying to understand the problems.

I just

want to thank the minister for his sincere approach to this.

I believe that the best approach is the path we are now on.

We just stay the course and I believe we will get the results we all

want, and that is to try to deal with the person with mental illness the best

that we can, and try to understand one another.

impacts every single family in some way, shape, or form.

As the minister said earlier, everybody in this House is impacted in some

way, just like cancer, just like diabetes, just like heart disease, and it poses

a severe problem. It will create a

lot of stress to families. It even

creates a lot of stress for the person going through the illness and disease.

It also creates a lot of stress to people who are supporting that person

with the disease.

really has a pervasive impact upon all of us.

I just want to encourage everybody on our side of the House this side

of the House, and all the stakeholders involved when we get together, when you

have the chance, make proposals or make suggestions.

I want

to thank you so much for bringing this forward.

I want to thank the opportunity, Mr. Speaker, for me to be able to speak

to this issue today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour

to stand today and speak on this important issue.

I congratulate the Member for St. John's North in bringing this

AN HON. MEMBER:

Centre.

MR. HILLIER:

St. John's Centre.

The

Member for St. John's North suggested that I recognize him and I guess I got

caught up in it, but it is the Member for St. John's Centre.

I want

to welcome the people from Holy Heart.

I know that students at Holy Heart in the past months have put together a

strong, active group supporting mental illness within the school.

I congratulate them on that.

I want to talk a little bit about students in my talk and let you know where I

was coming from. I was a principal

of one of the high schools in St. John's at one point in time.

Mr.

Speaker, while mental illness transcends income levels and geographic

boundaries, these two factors play a huge role in how accessible treatment comes

about. For instance, if one of us or if a

public servant is having mental issues, we can avail of our Employee Assistance

Program. Early intervention, having

someone outside your social circle to talk to; we can do wonders for many

people.

If you

do not have private health insurance or an EAP, access is limited.

Wait times are too high. For

many clinicians in the private sector, accessing them is an issue.

Mental health care often comes too late, the issues develop into a more

severe situation, and by the time help is received it may be too late.

Private clinicians can take clients within a week or two, but many people

do not have the luxury of easy access to mental health services.

If you

do not have access, Mr. Speaker, the question comes: What happens then?

When people lack access, they self-medicate.

It is no wonder addictions issues are so prevalent when mental health

services are lacking. The OxyContin

crisis was just one example of the substance abuse crisis happening here in our

Province.

Mr.

Speaker, these are my briefing notes, as my colleagues across the way have

briefing notes. There are all sorts

of statistics involved and examples involved where multi-party committees have

been successful. I am sure if we can

move in that direction in this House it would be successful here as well.

I wanted

to move a little bit away from that today and just talk about and try to put a

personal face on some of these people we talk about who, as a result of not

having access, begin to self-medicate.

Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, I spent thirty years in a high school in

St. John's. I have colleagues with

me here in the House today or former teachers who will certainly be able to

follow what I am saying with some degree of agreement.

In the

last five years of my career in school I was involved in administration.

That was about the time of the OxyContin

crisis. My background is physical

education with a degree in leadership that brought me into administration.

I had absolutely no background in counselling.

I think I did one course in drugs and behaviour at university as many of

us did.

I found

myself towards the later stages of my career counselling five or six students

who were very much involved in this OxyContin crisis.

They were friends, they knew each other, and they knocked around

together. Teachers in the classroom

at times would have called them lazy, or they would refer to bad behaviour,

unmotivated, what are the parents doing, and so on.

For

whatever reason, they attached themselves to me.

I know my mother would say all you need to do is give somebody a hug.

Perhaps that is why they attached themselves to me.

We would sit down and talk very frankly about where they were with their

addictions, why they had gotten to where they were, and was there anything we

could do for them?

I have a

couple that I remember. That is

seven or eight years ago now, but I remember Bobby.

Bobby would come in and sit down with me at recess time.

How are you doing today, Bobby?

I am having a good day today, Sir.

What do you mean a good day today?

No pills yet, Sir. I said,

good Bobby. He said, I had a few

draws before I came in, but I have not had any pills yet.

That is the reality in Bobby's life, trying to sit Bobby down in a

classroom and teach him Canadian democracy while he is trying to figure where he

is getting his next pill.

Chris

would sit down and say, Mr. Hillier, you do not know what this is like.

This is Thursday. The seniors

got their cheques today. Tonight I

am going to get a call from a senior wondering if I want to buy their

prescription. He said, you do not

know what it is like, quote, to send a girl into a doctor to get a pill for you.

Mr.

Speaker, it becomes even worse when one or more of these students you lose.

I do not mean they quit school.

I mean they overdose. They

commit suicide. They die of an

eating disorder.

We think

in terms of parents having to bury their children, but I know the students at

Holy Heart understand what it is like when you lose and have to go through that

grieving process for a student. That

is the reality for these kids. We

try to make this non-political, but if there is money available and the money is

not being spent and these kids do not have access, it has to be political.

Mr.

Speaker, my son is thirty-one years old; I have a godchild who is also

thirty-one. She was born on June 28,

1983; John was born on December 28, 1983.

I have pictures of them as infants sitting in the bathtub, sharing a

bath. I was best man at their

parent's wedding, and we vacationed together.

I took my son to our church and they took theirs to their church.

She was a great pianist; my son was not.

Both of them were involved in sports.

In Grade

7 she started to self-medicate. She

has not been in school since Grade 7.

She had no access to treatment here in Newfoundland.

She went from thirteen to fourteen to fifteen as bad behaviour, lazy,

non-motivated. What kind of parents

does she have at all? They realized,

no, it is bigger than that.

She was

sent off to treatment centres on the mainland.

You can only understand it I guess from a parent's view, when you get a

call from Edmonton saying that your eighteen-year-old daughter is missing on the

streets of Edmonton. So you jump on

a plane and you go to Edmonton to try and find your daughter.

In the

meantime, and I guess I will let you know who that young lady is now, in the

mid-1990s there was a parent with her daughter who became the face of OxyContin

addiction here in Newfoundland.