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December 12, 2016

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVIII No. 57

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Osborne):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

welcome to the public gallery today a number of firefighters representing career

and volunteer firefighters from across the province who will be the subject of a

Ministerial Statement: the St. John's Firefighters Association, Local 1075;

Local 1222, led by Mr. Doug Cadigan, president; and the Newfoundland and

Labrador Association of Firefighters, led by Mr. Duane Antle, president.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

It would be a great day for a

fire drill.

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today for Members' statements

we have the Members for the Districts of Exploits; Cartwright L'Anse au Clair;

Stephenville Port au Port; Placentia West Bellevue; and Terra Nova.

The hon.

the Member for the District of Exploits.

MR. DEAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

2016 has

been, and continues to be, a year of celebration for the Town of Northern Arm.

2016 marks its 125th anniversary as a town, and a new sign has been erected to

commemorate this significant milestone. The theme of this year of celebration

is: Proud Beginnings; A Promising Future.

On July

1, there was a ceremony to mark the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel, during which time

a plague was unveiled, revealing the names of former residents who fought in

various conflicts throughout history. Two additional plaques were unveiled this

day as well.

One was

to the memory of Mr. Arthur Jackman, who generously made land available to the

town for a recreational area and playground. The other was to the memory of Mr.

Reg Hemeon, a former resident and town mayor, who penned a beautiful poem

describing the rich heritage of Northern Arm in 1991 when the town was

celebrating its 100th anniversary year.

September, an anniversary dinner was held at Faith United Church Hall. The year

will end with a special New Year's Eve bonfire and fireworks.

I would

ask all Members to join with me in congratulating the Town of Northern Arm on

this, the occasion of its 125th anniversary.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Nelson

Mandela once said education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to

change the world. I rise today in this hon. House to recognize three outstanding

young students from Cartwright L'Anse au Clair who was recently awarded

Electoral District Scholarships.

The

recipients from my district this year were Hayley Parsons and Devon Beals from

Labrador Straits Academy, and Effie Powell of William Gillett Academy.

These

scholarships are awarded to high achievers who are attending a post-secondary

institution and are based on the results of their public exams. Hayley, Devon

and Effie were each awarded $1,000 in recognition of their many years of hard

work and proven academic excellence throughout their school careers.

Each of

these bright young minds is a credit to our province's school system, and they

will no doubt go on to accomplish big things in their post-secondary careers and

beyond. I wish them every success as they take the next steps.

I ask

all hon. Members of this House to join me in congratulating the three Electoral

District scholarship winners form Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville Port au Port.

MR. FINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is

with great honour that I rise today to acknowledge, Mr. Ken Hines of

Stephenville. This past weekend I had the opportunity to take in the annual

Garage and Automotive Christmas party, at which time, the local association paid

tribute to Mr. Hines.

Ken's

business, Ken & Son Ltd., was acknowledged for reaching 50 years of business. I

presented Mr. Hines with a certificate recognizing this milestone, alongside

Stephenville Mayor Tom O'Brien who also presented Mr. Hines with a

congratulatory note.

Ken is a

very soft spoken, dedicated and extremely diligent business owner. Over the

course of his 50 years in business serving the residents of the Bay St. George

area, he provided employment to hundreds of individuals, who, in turn, learned

in great detail from him the inner workings of a busy automotive repair and gas

station.

To this

day, Hines' Esso, as it's known, is one of the few remaining service stations in

Newfoundland and Labrador that still provides full service at its gas pumps.

I ask

all Members to join me in congratulating Mr. Ken Hines on achieving 50 years in

business.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Placentia West Bellevue.

MR. BROWNE:

Mr. Speaker, honoured guests,

including Mr. Duane and Kelly Antle of Come by Chance, and all hon. Members.

I rise

today to call attention to an important issue relating to safety as we head into

the holiday season. Instances of impaired driving have been shown to increase

during this time of year, and I ask all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to

enjoy the holidays responsibly and think before getting behind the wheel.

I have

had the privilege of working in close collaboration with the Burin Peninsula

chapter of MADD Canada in bringing awareness to the issue of impaired driving in

our province and in the region. I, along with my colleagues, am committed to

reducing the rate of impaired driving.

As we

head into this holiday season, I thank members of our law enforcement, emergency

services and first responders who take on the important task of making our roads

safer. It is up to each of us, Mr. Speaker, in what condition we choose to be in

when getting behind the wheel.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in calling awareness to this issue, and to remind

those we represent that impaired driving is a choice, and a choice that

sometimes brings devastating consequences.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Terra Nova.

MR. HOLLOWAY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today, I

rise in this hon. House to recognize the efforts of volunteer firefighter Mr.

Tony Rose, a long-time resident of Clarenville.

Volunteer firefighters throughout Newfoundland and Labrador make invaluable

contributions to the people and communities in which they live. We all know that

firefighters take time away from their families to respond to emergency

situations often putting their lives at risk in order to help someone in need.

These homegrown heroes often spend time raising funds for important community,

provincial and national initiatives such as Muscular Dystrophy.

For more

than 27 years, Tony Rose has played a leadership role with the Clarenville

Volunteer Fire Department to raise funds for Muscular Dystrophy Canada. Since

1954, firefighters throughout Newfoundland and Labrador have been supporting

this organization's mission and mandate.

In 2015,

their combined efforts raised over $100,000 to help combat this genetic

disorder. Earlier this year, Tony was recognized for his passion and dedicated

efforts when he received the 2016 Muscular Dystrophy Canada's Firefighter of the

Year award.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in congratulating Mr. Tony Rose for receiving this

prestigious award for his efforts as a volunteer firefighter.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this

hon. House today to say how pleased I was on Friday to join the prime minister

and provincial and territorial counterparts in moving forward with the

Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

Consistent with the commitments made in the March 2016 Vancouver Declaration,

the Pan-Canadian Framework builds on

actions of the provincial and territorial governments to reduce emissions and

adapt to the impacts of climate change. It also identifies actions that will

seize opportunities for clean economic growth throughout Canada.

recognition of the diversity of provincial and territorial economies, First

Ministers worked to ensure that the framework could accommodate fair and

flexible approaches to fighting climate change.

Newfoundland and Labrador joins a framework that demonstrates we can work

co-operatively as a nation, while still recognizing the specific and unique

local circumstances that our province faces.

made-in Newfoundland and Labrador plan will address the province's particular

social, economic and fiscal realities while contributing to the fight against

climate change.

Our plan

will: safeguard the competiveness of onshore and offshore industries. It also

takes into account the significant costs we incur to decarbonize the electricity

sector and includes our recognition of remote and isolated diesel off-grid

electricity generating systems, and transportation. It also ensures the province

will have full discretion to direct the use of any carbon price revenues.

Mr.

Speaker, climate change is a serious global issue and all sectors will need to

be part of the transition to a lower carbon economy. The Government of

make sure that we contribute to the objectives outlined in the Pan-Canadian

Framework.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I thank

the Premier for the advance copy of his statement today, even though I'm

somewhat surprised by his indication of how pleased he was on Friday. Friday's

Globe and Mail reported that

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier said his government is putting in a framework

for an eventual carbon price on its large industry emitters, but he's not

committed to impose a province-wide carbon price that would meet the federal

standard. We need flexibility from the federal government the Premier said.

So I

look forward to hearing the details from the Premier as his statement today

appears to be in stark contrast to what was reported that he had said just three

days ago.

It will

be interesting to see if the Premier's celebration includes the best interest of

industries such as mining, oil and gas industries, employment and also the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I, too,

thank the Premier for the advance copy of his statement. While I support the

idea of flexibility to allow provinces to develop their own plans to combat

climate change, I hope that in this province there will be more to it than

simply doubling the gas tax as government did in this year's budget.

I trust

that safeguarding the competitiveness of onshore and offshore industry will not

prove to be code for delaying greenhouse gas reductions of large emitters,

despite the existence of our Management of

Greenhouse Gas Act .

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Service NL.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this

hon. House today to note that today, our government will honour a commitment we

made to firefighters.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE:

This afternoon we will

introduce amendments to the Workplace

Health, Safety and Compensation Act to provide firefighters with presumptive

cancer coverage.

Firefighters are exposed to significant risks whenever they answer the call to

protect our families and communities by fighting house and industrial fires.

Mr.

Speaker, there is growing evidence that this also includes an increased risk of

developing many different types of cancer.

Firefighters in Newfoundland and Labrador have been asking for presumptive

cancer coverage for more than a decade, and we are pleased to respond by

implementing this legislation not just for career firefighters but for

volunteers as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I congratulated

Fire Chief Cecil Kerr of Gillams in a previous statement for being named the

Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year by the Association of Canadian Fire Chiefs.

He is a

great example of how volunteer firefighters throughout the province set a high

standard of community service. It is only fair that those volunteers should be

afforded consideration in terms of this important benefit, and we were pleased

to include them.

Mr.

Speaker, I look forward to debating the amendment we will bring forward later

this afternoon, and ask all Members in this hon. House to support this great

worthwhile cause and our firefighters to keep our families and our communities

safe.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape

St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I want

to thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. Firefighters, both

career and volunteer, put themselves at risk every day to ensure the safety of

our communities. Their brave dedication, we owe great gratitude to them. We, as

the Official Opposition, are pleased to support the introduction of presumptive

cancer coverage for both career and volunteer firefighters.

I know

first-hand what it's like to be a member of a volunteer fire department. I have

family members, my father, my brother and now my son work with St. John's

Regional Fire Department. So I know, as a family member, the dedication and the

effort that these people put into it.

I also

know that volunteer firefighters are so important in our communities. Coming

from rural Newfoundland, they put their lives at risk every day for us. So this

is very important to all firefighters in our province. We will be supporting

them and I would like to thank them for their service.

I'd also

like to congratulate Cecil Kerr of Gillams for being selected as Volunteer Fire

Chief of the Year. Congratulations!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I, too,

thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. Congratulations to all

firefighters, career and volunteer, who have fought so long for this

legislation. The provincial NDP has been calling for it since 2011 when we

included it in our campaign platform, and I'm delighted to see this government

respond.

Firefighters perform an essential service for the community, putting themselves

in harm's way on our behalf. They deserve this important benefit. We are pleased

the legislation will be introduced today and we most certainly will be

supporting it.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, Premier Wall of Saskatchewan did not sign on to the pan-Canadian carbon

tax stating he was worried that it would decrease competitiveness in the

country. Premier Wall said that there hasn't been an economic assessment done on

a tax.

I ask

the Premier: What assessment has our government done and how will it impact

industries in Newfoundland and Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I did

have the privilege of spending a bit of time with Premier Wall on Friday. As a

matter of fact, he sat right next to me during all the discussion.

The

difference where he would be as Saskatchewan where we would be as Newfoundland

and Labrador is we were able to create quite a bit of flexibility in the annex

on our Pan-Canadian Framework . So we

have protections that are required.

Especially as a concern for us is how we provide electricity for many of our

rural and remote communities, especially those within Labrador who rely on

diesel to supply electricity. So this is all outlined in our annex.

We're in

a good spot on climate change, Mr. Speaker. There are quite a few opportunities

for Newfoundland and Labrador, both in wind power and probably in the future for

some further hydroelectricity developments.

Mr.

Speaker, it's about the opportunities for us as a province to make sure that we

are positioned. We've done that with our annexing the

Pan-Canadian Framework .

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, Premier Wall has some very strong feelings about the decisions that

were made. He's in fact considering court action to block the implementation of

a carbon tax.

I ask

the Premier: Saskatchewan has a similar economy to Newfoundland and Labrador. If

the tax is bad for Saskatchewan, then why are you eager to sign on without due

diligence?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'd just

like to remind the former premier that back in 2015 the beginning of this is

where his signature is. As a matter of fact, he was the one back in 2015 that

where we are today, it started with a process around the national energy

strategy in 2015. That led into the Vancouver declaration and then led into

where we were in finalization of a framework.

So this

is exactly where it is. It's a framework right now. Within that framework there

are significant opportunities for Newfoundland and Labrador to provide economic

benefit, to provide social benefits. I'm surprised that the former premier is

suggesting that he doesn't believe that climate change and the impact of

greenhouse gas emissions that's what he's saying now because when they

sanctioned Muskrat Falls it was all about that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier is quite well aware that's not what I'm saying at all. In fact, his

Minister of Environment walked out of meetings in October because the federal

government blindsided the meeting in forcing carbon tax on the provinces.

I'll ask

the Premier a very simple question: Why are you signing on now? Tell us what's

changed. What protection did you get for Newfoundland and Labrador industries,

the economy and jobs?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When the

minister met a few weeks ago, there were points of clarification that were

required. I just mentioned one as an example of what would be the impact on many

of our rural and remote communities that rely on diesel to generate electricity

in their communities. That was important to us, I say, Mr. Speaker.

That

clarification is now in place. We've outlined that in our annex, as well as our

ability to remain competitive both on our onshore and our offshore industries.

The most

important thing in all of this is the discretion and the flexibility we have in

using that revenue. Any revenue generated by the carbon pricing will stay in

this province to be used solely at the discretion of this province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Coming

out of the First Ministers' Meetings, the provinces and the federal government

agree that the country should use more renewable energy. Now, Muskrat Falls is a

prime example of renewal energy.

I ask

the Premier: Given that the prime minister is in support of renewable energy,

will you ask him to step in and ensure unrestricted free flow of green,

renewable electricity through Quebec?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

there are multiple mechanisms and opportunities that we have as first ministers

to identify areas of how electricity flows. I think the former premier is

forgetting the fact that there is more than one opportunity that we would have

there. We are working very closely with our Atlantic premiers right now to

explore options we would have.

Mr.

Speaker, the commitment of the federal government to this province, we've just

seen that with the enhancement of the federal loan guarantee of up $2.9 billion.

Significant benefits to our province from that aspect of it.

Mr.

Speaker, what we do know is that under the auspices of a Muskrat Falls Project,

it was clearly the former premier, during their discussions they felt that that

would be their best opportunity.

Mr.

Speaker, I will assure you of this, any future opportunities for develop in our

province will not be on the backs of the ratepayers.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A very

interesting statement by the Premier there, I can assure you. And he won't

answer the question if he'll ask the prime minister for support or not.

Well,

I'll ask the Premier this: Will there be a carbon tax exemption as a result of

the hydro investments being made here in this province?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A few

questions ago, the former premier talked about what is different. One of the

things right now is recognition for the Muskrat Falls Project and indeed the

investments that this province and the ratepayers of this province are making

into renewable sources of energy, Mr. Speaker, and there will be other

opportunities.

Mr.

Speaker, we have the recognition for projects like Muskrat Falls as it displaces

Holyrood, the diesel-fired generator of nearly 500 megawatts. That's important

because that will reduce about 10 per cent of our carbon emissions, about 1.2

tons of emission.

These,

clearly, are objectives that we believe in, Mr. Speaker. Like most countries in

the world right now, we understand the impact of carbon emissions. We're going

to deal with it with our federal colleagues.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'll ask

the Premier if there will be exemptions for isolated areas such as Labrador that

rely on electricity generated by fuel similar to the exemptions made to the

territories.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

suggest that anyone should go in and read the Pan-Canadian Framework. It would

actually help us make better use of this Question Period because all those

answers are outlined in the annex. As a matter of fact, in the press release

that we put out there, there's even a link provided to that information.

Clearly,

going back a few weeks ago, the discussion was around north of 60, yet we have

all the same challenges that our rural and remote communities, in particular, in

Labrador would have to deal with when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions

because of their location. They are off grid, Mr. Speaker. We have made

provision in this particular annex so that they would be included.

But, Mr.

Speaker, what's fundamental about all of this is that any money collected from

carbon pricing can be used by the province to offset the specific situation that

the former premier just mentioned.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I just

remind the Premier the people of the province like to have the Premier on the

record because sometimes it's difficult to get him on the record and to answer

questions, as we're seeing here in Question Period here again today.

Mr.

Speaker, the British Columbia premier fought for specific exemptions for her

province. I ask the Premier: How will the new carbon tax impact exploration and

development of our offshore?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Premier

Clark in BC was in a situation; they already have carbon pricing. They have

legislation in place to take their carbon pricing up to $50 per metric ton for

carbon pricing in BC. As a matter of fact, they have a surplus in BC right now.

They are one of the few provinces that would have that surplus.

The

concern for Premier Clark was that they wanted other provinces to catch up, is

the word she used, to where they are. Provided in the BC annex, there are

provisions made through that. There will be an interim review in 2020 of the

types of progress that all provinces are getting from the various initiatives

that they have in place.

So we

already have that, Mr. Speaker. We already have that in our annex. So indeed the

situation that Premier Clark wanted to find herself in is where we were already,

based on the information that we have provided.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

quite clear the Premier doesn't want to answer the question; he wants to give

the information he wants to give.

But, Mr.

Speaker, on Thursday past we asked several questions to the Minister of

Transportation about snow clearing. He assured us over and over again there was

a solid plan in place. Now, the Liberals reduced snow clearing policy failed its

first test that very night and into Friday morning after what some many consider

to be, at best, a moderate snowfall.

So I ask

the Premier: Will you reinstate 24-hour snow clearing and the staffing of depots

effective immediately to ensure the safety of the general public?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess

my answer today is the same as it was last week, and the same as it was the week

before. We are very, very clear on the fact, and I thought I made it clear that

a dedicated 24-hour snow clearing that the previous administration had in place

is what we removed. We have not removed 24-hour snow clearing. We have said that

we will have 24-hour snow clearing, if the conditions warrant. And that's

exactly what we're doing, Mr. Speaker, and we're following through on that.

The

Member referenced last week. If he had checked on the references on that, the

snow started around 3 o'clock, so if, in fact, there was a 24 hour in place, he

would have had some of his plows out on bare pavement.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, it

sounds like the Minister of Transportation is saying the conditions didn't

warrant. Dozens of cars off the road, significant delays, ice buildup on the

roads and the conditions didn't warrant.

So I'll

ask the Premier again: Will you put the safety of the people of the province

first and direct your minister to bring a policy in that keeps roads safe and

clear around the clock, especially the busiest roads in our province?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly, for Members opposite, safety is important to all of us very

important. As I mentioned before and as I will mention again, if there are

conditions that warrant us and our resources to be out, our forces to be out

during the 10 o'clock to the 5 o'clock, we will certainly do that, Mr. Speaker.

And I

also want to tell the Members opposite that, in fact, with the 24-hour snow

clearing they talked about, it covered 4 per cent of the province 4 per cent.

I know that some of these highways have higher volumes of traffic, and we are

monitoring that. I can assure you and assure this House and assure the people in

the province that if, in fact, the conditions warrant us to out, we will have

our resources out there to make sure that safety is important to us.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, on December 8, the Minister of TW stated they were relying on the RCMP

and the RNC to help monitor and report road conditions.

I ask

the minister: When did he consult with these police forces, and did they commit

to pick up the slack left by your government cuts?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

Mr. Speaker, we're not asking

anyone to pick up the slack. When I was here last week, I think I was very clear

and I talked about there are a number of tools in which we can trigger getting

our resources out. One of the tools we have measurements in place and we have

targets in place that would do it. I also mentioned, Mr. Speaker, that there are

a number there are first responders who are on the highways. There are police

forces that are on the highways. That could be a tool as well. If, in fact, they

find areas that are not conducive to safe driving, they can call in.

I also

made a reference I didn't say the general public are going to be out reporting

in; I said there's an opportunity. It's no different than we have signs up

throughout the province whereby if you spot moose, you call a number in. We're

not depending on these people, but there are conditions that could necessitate

us calling in and getting the resources out, Mr. Speaker, and we'll continue to

do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

reached out to a number of law enforcement officers across the province this

weekend, none, zero, were aware that they were now responsible for monitoring

road conditions in the wake of your cuts.

When

were you planning on notifying them?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Minister of Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

be certainly willing if the Member opposite would like to provide me with the

numbers that he had contacted. And I did not make any statement last week that

these people would be the ones who are going to be monitoring.

I said

it's another tool that we have where these people are on the highways at all

times throughout the night, and there may be situations whereby these members

can find areas, it could be black ice, it could be areas that there's freezing

rain, and if the conditions of the road would require, it that would be due

diligence on their part to certainly be able to report that. And we would have

our supervisors then go out to monitor the situation if, in fact, it is

necessary for us to get our forces out. I made it very, very clear, Mr. Speaker,

that we will do that and we will continue to do that.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

How does

the Minister of Justice and Public Safety feel about the Department of

Transportation and Works downloading services unto the already stretched

resources of our provincial police services?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

It is obvious the Member

opposite is not hearing what I'm saying, and I did not say that our police force

is tasked with monitoring the conditions of the roads. I didn't make that

comment, Mr. Speaker.

I talked

about the fact there are a number of tools that we can use, or resources that we

can use, people that are continually on the highway certainly would if there's

an opportunity and they see a situation and I want to make it clear again, Mr.

Speaker, I don't know how many times I've got to say this. They are assuming

that 24 hours that we're not going to have people out there. That is not the

message.

The

message is, Mr. Speaker, if conditions warrant having our resources at 12

o'clock or 2 in the morning, we will have those resources out. I can't be any

clearer than that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, we are hearing that regional staff in the depots have voiced serious

concerns regarding elimination of 24-hour snow clearing.

Was this

cost-cutting method suggested by your front-line staff and officials in TW, or

was it a top-down directive based solely on dollars and cents?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I don't

know how many more times I've got to repeat the same message that we have not

removed. There are opportunities and there can be opportunities for us to have

our resources out there at 10 o'clock or 12 o'clock or 2 o'clock. We have not

removed that. We have removed a reduced, dedicated 24-hour service.

I must

say, Mr. Speaker, it was reduced. There was not a full crew on anyway. It was

only the 4 per cent of this province of the routes that were there.

When the

Member opposite talked about numerous situations last week, there were four

situations that came to me. I don't want to bring those up in the House, but if

the Member would like to know about the situations, I can explain to him the

four incidents we had last week as well, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, does the minister deny receiving correspondence from regional staff and

operators concerned with the cost-cutting measures negatively impacting highway

safety?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

Mr. Speaker, when this is all

said and done, if we continue to have the snow that we're having or forecasting,

in the end it may not be a savings or if you want to talk about reduction.

I have

made it very, very clear. The message is very, very clear: If conditions

warrant, we will have our forces out there.

The only

difference this year versus last year is that we do not have a dedicated crew

from 10 o'clock to 4 o'clock in the morning in a depot waiting for it to snow or

waiting for it to freezing rain. They're in their homes and we will call them in

if, in fact, the conditions warrant. We will continue to do that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'll ask

again: Does the minister deny receiving correspondence from regional staff and

operators concerned with cost-cutting measures negatively impacting highway

safety? If he admits that, would he please table it here in the House?

Thank

you very much.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If the

Member opposite is so interested in that he can ATIPP it and get it, I guess,

that information.

I am

telling you right now, Mr. Speaker, the message is exactly the same as what we

have. We will monitor the conditions of the road and if, in fact, it warrants us

to have our resources out, we will have our resources out. It's very, very

clear. We will provide the resources that are necessary so that safety is number

one.

I might

add, Mr. Speaker, as well, winter conditions are not summer conditions. We must

all realize there are going to be times, even if we have daytime clearing, that

there may be slippery areas and may be snow covered areas that we have to drive

according to the conditions.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, we received a message Friday morning from an individual from Topsail

travelling to Long Harbour for work. He stated the highway conditions were

horrible. He stated that plows were unable to push the ice from the highway

because of ice buildup.

I ask

the minister: What are you doing to improve you're monitoring plan to ensure ice

buildup does not occur on major roads?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal Affairs.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I just

want to remind I was a critic for four years. I remember when this government

at 9 o'clock at night rain, snow, sleet, ice had to get home, get to the

depots, get off the roads.

remember in the Bay of Islands, how an ambulance had to call a tractor at 2

o'clock in the morning to plow the road to get to the person who passed away to

get an ambulance to him. So don't go telling me that 4 per cent of this province

doesn't deserve the same as the Bay of Islands when they need snow protection,

when they need it, just because you tell someone to go home at 9 o'clock.

The

people in the Bay of Islands deserve the same snow clearing as the 4 per cent

that you're here fighting for today and so does the 96 per cent of the province.

So when you want to look at it, look at what you guys had in place because I was

a part of it. I saw when ambulances needed tractors to come through, I was the

critic. I was there when you told everybody to get back to the depot at 9

o'clock. Shame on the Opposition over there!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

point here is there are 13 most major routes in the province which have heavy,

heavy traffic. Just last week on the East Coast, in the Avalon area when there

was a small amount of snow, people trying to travel to Bull Arm, people trying

to travel to Come By Chance, people trying to travel to Long Harbour. Thousands

of workers trying to get to work expressed difficult conditions that were not

safe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

Dozens of cars off the road.

The

point is these are our heaviest travel routes, highest number of people moving

on them, leading to the biggest hospital in the province, here in St. Johns as

well. What we're asking the minister opposite to do is ensure the safety of

people on these heaviest travelled routes.

Minister, will you change your plan? Your plan did not work on Thursday night.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I tell

the Member opposite, if he's talking about dozens and dozens of cars off the

road and certainly the reports of dozens and dozens of cars off the road did not

come in, as I said very clearly, Mr. Speaker. If, in fact, the conditions that

we had, our crews is he saying that our crews were not effectively out? Our

crews were out at 4:30 in the morning. The weather conditions started at about 3

o'clock. So if, in fact, the 24-hour snow clearing was in, then obviously the

resources they had would have been out clearing bare pavement.

Mr.

Speaker, we are monitoring this and we are on top of this. We have professional

people who are doing it. We will continue to do that because we want to make

sure that safety is important to us and we will continue to do that, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, can the Minister of Natural Resources advise if CF(L)Co is undergoing a

corporate restructuring?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you very much for the

question. It's an interesting question.

Not that

I'm aware, Mr. Speaker. I'll certainly take it under advisement and find out if

there are any changes that I need to be aware of, but it has not been raised to

me at this point.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

minister says she's not aware, but I'll just ask the question: Have any

employees of CF(L)Co been advised that this restructuring will take place in the

near future, possibly in January?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I've

been in close contact with the CEO of Nalcor. He has not advised me at this

point that he's anticipating any changes, but I will take it under advisement

and provide information.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Manitoba's premier refused to sign the proposed climate change framework over

his serious concerns regarding Ottawa's lack of attention to the health transfer

issues.

Given

the importance of health transfers to this province, why would you not consider

doing the same?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

there were a number of concerns certainly around the

Pan-Canadian Framework and as it connected to health care. Mr.

Speaker, they are two very separate concerns. As most premiers in the country,

they supported the Pan-Canadian Framework

exclusive of really a decision on health care. Premier Pallister himself

supports climate change endorsements and supports the

Pan-Canadian Framework and I'm very confident that he will sign on

to this.

Now the

decision and how we get more federal involvement into health care, that was a

separate meeting. Mr. Speaker. I would anticipate in the next few days that we

will see our officials getting involved in this from the minister's level.

that's an ongoing discussion on how the federal government would be involved in

health care, Mr. Speaker. Our voice will be heard with the experience that we

have at that table.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for Mount

Pearl North, for a very quick question.

MR. KENT:

The Manitoba premier, along

with Ontario and Saskatchewan's premier, said this past Friday that the federal

government's approach to health spending is not remotely close to sustainable.

Does the

Premier agree with that assessment?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Minister of Health

and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

The

issue of health funding falls under two mandates; one is the premiers and First

Ministers which is related to the Canada Health Transfer. My mandate relates to

money that's been labelled as the accord. Those discussions are still ongoing

and I'm given to believe that we will be having a meeting about this in the very

near future.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Friday night, the Premier and his counterparts were behind closed doors

supposedly discussing the Health Transfer with the prime minister.

I ask

the Premier: Why is he not demanding publicly, like other premiers, that Ottawa

maintain the regular 6 per cent annual increase of the previous health accord

very simple.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, I

guess it is a simple solution if you're the leader of the Third Party. Mr.

Speaker, in that room there was quite a bit of discussion on health care and how

it fits. I would just like to remind the Member opposite that it wasn't just two

or three premiers that signed on to that letter. Every single premier in this

country signed on to that letter which went to the prime minister of Canada.

Mr.

Speaker, what we are concerned about is a couple of things. One is that any

money that goes into federal transfers would be impacted front line so we get

the improvements in health outcomes. It's just not about spending money on

health care; it's about how we create effective and meaningful outcomes for our

health care service.

As the

minister just mentioned, in the next few days there will be meetings with the

federal minister of Finance and the provincial ministers of Finance and Health

and Community Services.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Mr. Speaker, last week the

Minister of Health and Community Services said the decision to reduce coverage

of diabetes test strips was consistent with other provinces. But our cap for

diabetics at low risk is 50 test strips compared to 200 in Ontario, Saskatchewan

and BC.

I ask

the minister: Why is he limiting one of the most effective, important items

necessary for people to effectively monitor and control their diabetes?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Minister of Health

and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

The

issue of diabetic test strips, our policy has been to line up the supply with

the clinical need based on best evidence and evidence-informed decisions. Since

the program started, there has been an option for prescribers to ask for extra

strips, if that was felt in the clinical interest of the patients.

Thus

far, we have received 437 requests out of a diabetic population serviced by our

plan of 22,800 people, an incidence of 1.9 per cent, which we would suspect

means that the plan is working and our test strip levels are appropriate to the

need.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

aware the Minister of Culture has received numerous letters, emails and phone

calls from individuals and organizations from the arts, archive, museum,

academic and research communities about his Bill 56 regarding The Rooms. Many

have also met with him. Many are leaders with extensive experience and expertise

in their field.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: What are the main concerns that they are raising

with him?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Business, Tourism, and Rural Development.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the Member opposite for her question. I meet constantly with organizations and

groups that are involved in culture, heritage and the arts, and I have been for

the last year.

The

Member opposite, when we were in the House of Assembly last week, when Bill 56

came before the floor to make improvements to the

Rooms Act , the Member opposite, when questions or concerns were

raised, had any opportunity during the second reading or the Committee portion

to put forward an amendment, or make any type of suggestion or change at that

time.

The

Member for St. John's Centre is a very experienced legislator here in the House,

as is her colleague, and chose not to put forward any amendment or improvement

to Bill 56, chose not to defer it to a Committee or take time on it and didn't

register a vote on that one.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

Mr. Speaker, I know that many of those people who have written him have stated

specifically their concerns. And I did have a recommendation for the minister,

and here it comes again: Mr. Speaker, the concerns raised by all these very

experienced and knowledgeable experts are very critical. The minister has done

none previous consultation at all on this bill.

I ask

the minister: Will he shelf his Bill 56 and do a thorough consultation as

prescribed in

section 10(

b) in the current act, and then revisit a bill that

will reflect the outcome of that consultation? Why this reckless rush?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I say to

the Member opposite that this House of Assembly is the place where we debate

legislation and that there's equal opportunity for any Member to put forward an

amendment to legislation during second reading and through the Committee stage.

The Member is quite clear of that and chose not to. Also, chose not to register

a vote in terms of Bill 56 in the Committee stage, and when we look at

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE:

The Rooms as our premier

cultural facility, we're quite proud as a government

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. MITCHELMORE:

for our investment in The

Rooms. We put $6.5 million into The Rooms in this year's budget, and The Rooms

itself will continue to be the premier space for the province's Art Gallery,

Archives and Museum of the province.

That

will not change, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Oral Questions

has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

MS. MICHAEL:

Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi, on a point of order.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

calling a point of order with regard to the comments by the Minister of

Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development, making comments with regard to

registering a vote. I think, and I put to the Speaker, it is making reference to

a person's presence or non-presence in the House with which Beauchesne's

specifically refers to, that we should not make any comments that refer to a

person's presence in our out of the House.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Government House Leader, on a point of order.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Firstly,

I'm unsure I never heard in the

preamble the specific Standing Order that was

referenced. Secondly, I think that the votes on any piece of legislation in this

House are noted in the House in Hansard .

So any person in this province can go in and see how a person votes on any piece

of legislation or whether they vote. They can count the names, which are clearly

recorded by the table staff, and which was clearly noted about a vote not being

cast by the minister.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for St. John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's my

understanding from reading Beauchesne's and others, that it's not what happens

for the general public that were called upon in this (inaudible), it's our

behaviour here in the House. What Beauchesne's says if I'm mistaken, you can

let me know is that no attention should be drawn by Members in the House to a

person's presence.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I'll

hear comments from the hon. the Government House Leader. I'm not going to permit

debate on this. The Speaker will make a ruling.

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, again.

I don't

believe the minister in his comment made reference to whether a person was

present in this Chamber or not. The reference was made to a vote, which anybody

has access to see and which is clearly noted in

Hansard .

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

I will make a ruling on the

point of order raised by the hon. the Member for St. John's East Quidi Vidi.

Allusions to the presence or absence of a Member or minister in the Chamber are

unacceptable. Speakers have consistently upheld this prohibition on the ground

that there may be places that ministers or Members have to be in order to carry

out their obligations.

I will

ask the Member to withdraw his comments.

The hon.

Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

I withdraw, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Presenting Reports by

Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling

of Documents.

Notices

of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West Bellevue.

MR. BROWNE:

Mr. Speaker, I rise to give

notice that I will move the following private Member's motion, seconded by the

hon. Member for the District of St. George's Humber, a resolution to reduce

impaired driving:

WHEREAS

impaired driving continues to be the leading criminal cause of death in Canada;

and

WHEREAS

according to a 2013 Statistics Canada study, since 2001 the largest increases in

impaired driving in Canada have been in British Columbia and Newfoundland and

Labrador; and

WHEREAS

according to MADD Canada, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death

among 16 to 25 year olds, and alcohol and/or drug impairment is a factor in 55

per cent of those crashes;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House urge the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador to consider taking further measures to curb impaired

driving, such as: implementing mandatory interlock systems; impounding of

vehicles at the warning stage; zero tolerance for blood-alcohol content above

zero per cent for drivers with less than three years of driving experience; and

zero tolerance for impairment by illicit drugs for drivers with less than three

years of driving experience.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

private Member's resolution just entered by the Member for Placentia West

Bellevue, pursuant to Standing Order 63(3), shall be the resolution to be

debated this Wednesday.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Answers to

Questions for which Notice has been Given

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, in response to questions last week in this hon. House, for the Member

for Conception Bay South, I'm happy to table the most recent traffic counts for

the province's 13 highest priority routes.

Mr.

Speaker, before tabling, I would just like to state that the previous

administration's 24-hour snow clearing policy involved a reduced workforce and

schedule from December 1 to April 1 in only 13 of the 289 snow routes we have in

this province, nine of which were limited to five days a week and not seven days

a week. This represents 4 per cent of all routes in this province. Under the new

approach that we have, there has been no change to daytime service levels.

Overnight equipment will be mobilized as warranted by weather conditions to

ensure the roads are as safe as possible.

Mr.

Speaker, before concluding my remarks, my message is the same as the previous

administration: Drive to weather conditions and a reminder that snow means slow.

If you don't have to be on the road during a blizzard, than people should

consider that and the conditions and drive according to them or not be on the

highways at all.

Mr.

Speaker, I just want to point out that nine of those 13 routes, when we talked

about, had only 24-5. I do have the numbers for the traffic counts from 10 p.m.

to 5 a.m. and they range in order between 2.8 per cent and 6.5 per cent as being

the highest, and that's between 10 o'clock and 5 o'clock in the morning.

So, Mr.

Speaker, it's my pleasure to table this information today so that the Members

opposite can get an accurate account of exactly the number of cars, the latest

traffic counts that we have that are on the highways between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further answers to questions

for which notice has been given?

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

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 humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

there has been a reduction in the hours of operation for X-ray services at the

Placentia Health Centre. Service has been reduced from 24 hours a day, seven

days a week to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday; and

WHEREAS

this reduces the availability of an important diagnostic tool for physicians at

the Health Centre having a direct impact on patient care. The reduction in

service impacts the ability of physicians and nursing staff to perform their

jobs and can potentially delay diagnosis and treatment;

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

of Assembly to urge government to reverse this decision and restore the

provision of X-ray services to 24 hours a day, seven days a week service.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, there have been similar petitions signed by over 1,800 residents who

have serious concerns about health care cuts that have taken place affecting

services at the Placentia Health Centre. I want to present some of those

concerns on behalf of residents today. Their main concern is this has reduced

the full-time function of the emergency room at the Placentia Health Centre.

It's important to note that this health centre services the entire region of

Placentia, the Cape Shore, Fox Harbour, Ship Harbour, even St. Mary's Bay North

and Long Harbour. So you can't predict that someone requiring an X-ray will only

show up from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.

If the

resource is available at the site, physicians should have unrestricted access to

the use of the equipment. The current set up with the service not being

available on weekends or after 4 o'clock on weekdays puts a restriction on the

diagnostic ability of the professionals working there. On weekends or after

hours, people now either get referred to Carbonear Hospital or asked to come

back when the technician is available. This has the potential to delay

treatment. Multiple trips to the health centre must also create a burden on the

system overall.

I'd also

like to point out that following the initial announcement of this change, the

Mayor of Placentia asked Eastern Health if the on call lab technician could

operate the X-ray machine if called in for blood work. Eastern Health did agree

to this; however, not all of the lab technicians are cross-trained on the use of

the X-ray machine. So now it all depends on who is called in for the lab, and I

think this works out to be about half the time.

Placentia is a thriving, growing region and a growing community but cuts to

services that negatively impact amenities will also impact the overall growth

and development of the community. It's sad to have to present these concerns on

behalf of residents of the region. Again, hundreds of residents have expressed

concern and we will continue to bring these concerns to the House of Assembly.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

To the

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

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

WHEREAS

Newfoundland and Labrador has the greatest percentage of the workforce earning

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

areas making up a disproportionate number of these workers;

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

of Assembly to urge government to legislate an immediate increase in the minimum

wage to restore the loss of purchasing power since 2010, and an annual

adjustment to the minimum wage beginning in 2016 to reflect the Consumer Price

Index.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I'm very pleased once again to present this petition on behalf of those

who have signed it. We continue to receive this petition in our office and

recently the minister responsible has announced that nothing is going to be done

about minimum wage until 2017. This means that people working for minimum wage

will not have had any increase since 2010.

One of

the most important parts of this petition, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that people

want the loss of their purchasing power since 2010 to be recognized in any

raise. All they are getting next April is 25 cents an hour, and the following

fall 25 cents an hour. Let me put on the floor the fact that in the period of

time since 2010 to now, the minimum wage when it went up went up by 5 per cent.

Bakery products in that time from 2010 to 2015 have gone up 23.2 per cent; eggs

have gone up 21.2 per cent; meat has gone up 29.3 per cent; fresh fruit, 19.5

per cent; shelter, 13.5 per cent; heat and lights, 14.2 per cent. All items

averaged out, 9.9 per cent.

How are

people on minimum wage supposed to feed themselves and their families, keep

themselves and their families warm? The minister refused to recognize the need,

number one, to bring minimum wage up this year more than a need and then to

also recognize the rise in the cost of living.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER (Bragg):

The hon. the Member for

Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today; 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

on July 26, Dorset Fisheries' plant in Norman's Cove-Long Cove burnt to the

ground with a massive industrial fire; and

WHEREAS

the plant employed about 240 people from the immediate area, and many who are

now without work;

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

of Assembly to urge government to take immediate action to provide residents

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Order,

please!

MR. K. PARSONS:

of Norman's Cove-Long Cove

area the necessary supports needed to rebuild their local economy.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

I heard

the minister just go with 240 people, but when he sees the petitions that I'm

going to present in the House of Assembly over the next couple of days, there

are hundreds and hundreds of names from that area where people are very, very

concerned. If you want to look at this petition today, there are 100 names on

this petition here today from people who are in that area concerned about the

fish plant. They're concerned about the future; they're concerned about the

future of what's going to happen to that area.

Most of

these employees of the plant are elderly people in their late 50s and they are

finding it very difficult this time. They don't know where they're going to go

to work. They've gotten no answers from government; they've gotten no answers

from their local MHA. I got up a week ago, Mr. Speaker, and I asked for the

minister to hold a public meeting to let the people in the area know what's on

the go with their fish plant. They've heard nothing. They've heard nothing from

their MHA and they've heard nothing from this minister.

I have

over 100 names here and I have more names. I have more petitions to present, so

just stay tuned to the number of people. There are hundreds of people out in

that area who are concerned about their future, Mr. Speaker. There are hundreds

of people out in that area who want to know what's going to happen, whether

their plant is going to be rebuilt, whether they're going to have jobs. It's

time for the government to give the people the answers they're asking for.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

I call Orders of the Day.

MR. SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I call Order 6,

second reading of Bill 59.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal Affairs.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the Member for Lab West, that Bill 59 be read the second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It has been moved and

seconded that Bill 59 be now read a second time.

Motion,

second reading of a bill,

An Act To Amend The Workplace Health, Safety And

Compensation Act. (Bill 59)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal and Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

pleased to rise in this hon. House today to speak on Bill 59, an amendment to

the Workplace Health, Safety and

Compensation Act and regulations.

The

Premier and I were proud to attend this event this afternoon when Mr. Doug

Cadigan, President of IAFF, Local 1075, the St. John's Firefighters Association,

Mr. Duane Antle, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Fire

Services and Mr. Dennis Hogan, Chief Executive Officer of WorkplaceNL. Together

we made the announcement that we will be advancing this amendment to offer

presumptive cancer coverage for career and volunteer firefighters.

recent years, there has been a lot of scientific study regarding the higher

incidents of cancer among firefighters. There has also been a lot of discussion

about the dangers posed by fighting fires in homes and industrial settings. In

these settings there may be consumer goods or industrial products that produce

dangerous carcinogens which they burn.

Since

2003, our provincial firefighters have lobbied for coverage under the

Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation

Act that responds to these realities.

Statutory review of our province's Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation

Commission in 2006 and 2013 supported their call for more support but the

recommendations were not acted upon. While firefighters throughout Newfoundland

and Labrador were advocating for change, most other provinces in Canada added

this kind of coverage to the workplace health and safety benefits. We saw this

as a significant issue, and made the concerns of firefighters a focus of our

election platform last year.

Upon

election, Premier Ball gave me a mandate to work with stakeholders to bring

forth legislation to protect firefighters in our province. I am pleased to say

that we consulted, we collaborated and we finally completed the work to achieve

what firefighters have wanted for a long time.

Adding a

presumptive clause to our legislation means a firefighter who serves for a

specific period of time and develops a specific form of cancer is presumed to

have developed that cancer as a consequence of their work. This benefit will

help firefighters by speeding up and simplifying the process to have this

specific type of claim approved.

I am

pleased to note that this new benefit will not increase assessment rates

currently paid by employers who fund the workers' compensation system. In fact,

just last month the average assessment rate charged to employers by WorkplaceNL

was reduced by 6 per cent from $2.20 to $2.06 per $100 of assessed payroll.

With the

legislative amendments, qualifying firefighters will receive wage loss benefits,

medical aids and certain other benefits throughout WorkplaceNL, while health

care costs associated with firefighters' cancer treatment will be a part through

the Medical Care Plan, restructuring benefits in this way to reduce demands on

the WorkplaceNL injury fund. For firefighters to qualify for this benefit, they

need to submit documentation that includes their term of service, the nature of

the work and the number of times they fought fires in their career.

I am

pleased to note that staff from our Fire and Emergency Services division and

Municipal Affairs will provide assistance to volunteer departments to ensure

documentation practices used across the province meet the administrative need of

WorkplaceNL. We look forward to pursuing this work in a partnership with them.

The

legislation we are bringing forward today is another example of how our

government listens to people and creates beneficial change with their feedback.

We look forward to working with firefighters to spread the news about this new

benefit and to make vital benefits available to firefighters who need them.

I would

like to acknowledge Dave Burry, past president of the St. John's Fire Fighters

Association; Deanne Howe, director of Policy and Planning of Advanced Education

and Skills; and Derek Simmons of the Fire Commissioner's office in St. John's.

All these people have done an incredible amount of work on this file and I want

to thank them for their efforts.

I want

to take the opportunity to briefly provide details about this new benefit we

will roll out. This coverage will cover 11 different types of cancer and has

been outlined in the press release associated with this announcement. This new

coverage will come into effect January 1, 2017, with the coverage for career

firefighters being retroactive to approximately one year, back to December 14,

2015. The retroactivity reflects our election promise to provide presumptive

cancer coverage to career firefighters.

For

firefighters to qualify for this new coverage they will need to submit

documentation that will include: their terms of service, the nature of the work

and the number of times they fought fires in their career. The benefits provided

by WorkplaceNL are rebuttable, meaning a claim can be denied if there's

presumptive evidence that the cancer was caused by something other than

employment as a firefighter.

This

approach is a standard practice among the 10 other provinces that have already

introduced this coverage. It is recommended in the 2013 statutory review and

will simplify issues that the benefits are distributed appropriately.

I share

the Premier's pride in being able to extend this benefit to firefighters in the

province, including approximately 350 active career firefighters and 5,900

active volunteer firefighters.

Working

with Doug Cadigan, Duane Antle and other representatives from firefighter

organizations on this issue has been a wonderful experience. They are great

people who know how to come together and work for the greater good.

excellent example of that is a career firefighter of St. John's Regional Fire

Department helping their volunteer counterparts advancing their training.

Specifically the St. John's Regional Fire Department has committed to provide

information and training to volunteers regarding their wellness fitness

initiative. And I thank Doug very much for reaching out that olive branch.

These

initiatives deliver a preventative and occupational health care services program

for these firefighters and emergency medical workers. Firefighters has evolved

significantly over the years and this program is a part of a new practice and

new training that is aimed at reducing the chances that firefighters get hurt on

the job or develop occupational illness later in life.

commend Mr. Cadigan, Mr. Antle and all the firefighters in our province for the

way they come together to share the resources, protect their communities and

serve the greater good.

I will

conclude by noting how pleased I am that we are able to go beyond the election

commitment our government has made last year. The original commitment was to

provide coverage to career firefighters, so I'm proud to have exceeded that

commitment by including all volunteers as well.

worked hard to make that possible because our province relies heavily on the

tremendous work of these volunteers. I want to thank Premier Ball, Mr. Cadigan,

Mr. Antle, all firefighters, WorkplaceNL, government staff and everybody else

who played a role in making this benefit possible for our firefighters.

Mr.

Speaker, on a personal note, I attended many firefighters' balls, many, a lot

across the province, and I always said when I look in the gallery when something

happens a fire, accident, people like me, we run away from it; people in the

audience, they run to it. That's why they deserve that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JOYCE:

Madam Speaker, 90 per cent

and the Member for Cape St. Francis, I know you're a part of that also. I just

want to recognize that you were a part of this also, and I know we had chats

about this. I know that he support this and I know he will support that. I just

want to recognize that.

Madam

Speaker, in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, which I deal with, and I know a lot

of people, 80 to 90 per cent of their calls now are medical. So when you look at

this small bit of coverage for the service they give Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians, to our families, this is just a small thing that we can do to say

thank you very much for your service, continue the service and thank you for

keeping our people safe in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER (Dempster):

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Madam

Speaker.

It gives

me great privilege to get up here today to be able to talk about this. Again

when the minister came in with his Ministerial Statement today, I spoke about

the importance of firefighting in my family. I can say, for years, my dad was

down in Pleasantville when there was a Pleasantville there. He was also on the

tug in St. John's Harbour when St. John's had a tug down there for fire

protection in the harbour in St. John's. So he goes back a long ways. I won't

say his age, but he was there a long while.

I had a

brother also that served 33 years with St. John's Regional Fire Department, and

some of these fellows up here behind you can tell some stories about him too,

because he was a big man, we'll say, and did few things. And now I have a son

who's in the fire department.

I know

the dedication and the service that these people put in place. Minister, I agree

100 per cent with you that when I go to any volunteer firemen's ball or anything

at all, I always have the opportunity to say thank you. I think the residents of

Newfoundland and Labrador always say thank you to our firefighters, because we

know that you protect our lives every day. And we're so happy and so fortunate

to have such dedicated people behind us. I got to say, it's an honour to be here

today to be able to speak to this bill.

I'd also

like to say that we're 100 per cent supporting the presumptive cancer, because

you look at what you people do for us, this is a small thing that we should be

doing for you. So I just want to say thank you very, very much.

When you

look at the fire departments in our province, as the minister mentioned, I know

there are some large volunteer organizations in our province that do some

incredible work, but when you look at some 5,900 active volunteer fire

departments. I will just speak about the couple that are in my district.

I look

at the Pouch Cove Volunteer Fire Department that takes care of Pouch Cove and

Bauline and I look at the Torbay Volunteer Fire Department that responds to

calls in Flatrock and Torbay. Both of those fire departments have wait-lists;

people waiting to get in because they want to do what you do: protect our

people. That's important. I'm sure that's like that all over our province.

It's

very important for us as governments to realize the importance of what people

do, and I think we do. I think over the last number of years we've seen an

increase in funding to volunteer fire departments. We've seen an increase in

funding towards fire trucks. We've seen an increase in funding towards breathing

apparatuses, bunker suits, you name it, whatever's there.

So we

should. You people should be protected and have the best possible service and

best possible equipment that you need to protect us, because that's what you do.

As the minister mentioned, we're running out and you're running in. There's a

big difference.

We're

very fortunate in this province to have 278 volunteer fire departments in small

communities all over this province. We're very fortunate to have so many people

the families. When I go to a firemen's ball, I always look at the firettes.

Every firemen's ball or anything you go to, you'll always look and see what they

do. They do fundraising all year round to give the small things that are needed,

the things probably government doesn't provide. It's a community thing. It's a

family thing and it's important that we make sure we do everything we can to

make sure our firefighters have everything they need.

The

minister spoke that they included the volunteer firefighters. I know the

commitment earlier was for career. We committed to both, but it's important that

we all got it right. It's important that we all got it right here today and

we're doing this here today for the people who protect us.

The

minister also mentioned about documentation. I know the people at Fire and

Emergency Services, I dealt with them over the years, it's important to make

sure that all our volunteer fire departments have proper documentation because

documentation today may be the result of you getting the coverage 10 years from

now. So it's important that we get it out there to all our volunteer fire

departments that they let everybody know who is doing the fire, what the fire is

so they can be covered down the road.

There

are two parts to the coverage, really. The MCP is going to cover all the medical

expenses. Normally if it's an injured worker, a lot of times you go to when

you're an injured worker you have to go through workers' comp to get the

medical. So this part of the legislation is you just go through your MCP. It

covers all the medical part. I think I'm correct on that, Minister.

The

other

part is it's the injury fund at workers' comp. That will cover the

benefits part of it. So it's important that firefighters know when they do go

for any medical reasons, with cancer or whatnot, that they know the coverage is

done through MCP. They don't have to go down to workers' comp. They don't have

to go and apply for funding or see if they're going to be covered or not, it's

covered through MCP. That's a nice part of this bill also.

Like I

said, the injury fund that the minister mentioned; recently, we did a statement

here in the House of Assembly and it talked about fewer injuries in the

workplace right now. That fund has come down from $2.02 to $2.06 coverage on the

AN HON. MEMBER:

It's $2.14.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Yes, $2.14. It's dropped by

0.6. That's what it's dropped. So it's important that fund is there to support

anybody. Please God, no one has to claim this in the future, but we know that it

will be there.

The only

thing about the bill and I know there's a reason for it; it must be a reason

for it right now the career firefighters will be covered from December 14 on.

I'll have a couple of questions for the minister when we do get to Committee.

Volunteer firefighters will start on January 1, 2017.

The

other interesting thing about this bill is there are a lot of provinces that

don't cover breast cancer. This part of this coverage will also include breast

cancer which is very important because we have a lot of females in firefighting,

volunteer and career. So it's important that they also be covered.

Mr.

Speaker, I'm just going to conclude now by saying that it's a great bill. I'm

pleased to be able to support it. I just want to thank all firefighters in this

province for what you do to protect all of us.

Thank

you very, very, very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the

hon. Member for Labrador West.

MR. LETTO:

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It's a

pleasure for me today to stand here and support this bill, Bill 59. I will say

from the outset that I know since we took office back in December and the

minister took on the ministry of Service NL the hours that have been spent by

the minister and the people in our department in working with the volunteer fire

departments, the career fire departments and the St. John's Fire Department.

There has been considerable time and effort put in over the past few months to

make this bill a reality today.

When you

look at the time these people have been lobbying for this, I think it's a

momentous occasion that we're standing here today and being able to speak in

second reading to a bill that these firefighters have been fighting for since

2003; 2003 when the International Association of Fire Fighters and the St.

John's Fire Fighters Association have been lobbying since then for presumptive

cancer coverage and today we have responded. We have responded, Madam Speaker,

in a bill that reflects the importance and our recognition of the role that

firefighters play in our province.

I come

from a town where we have a combination. We have paid career firefighters on

staff and then we have five to be exact 30-odd volunteer firefighters. When

you look at a bill like this today we're putting in a bill that is going to

take care of presumptive cancer. When you have two firefighters going into a

fire, a career and a volunteer because they do work together, one is covered and

the other one is not, it just does not make any sense. We're pleased today to

stand here and to be able to put in this legislation that reflects the

dedication and importance of our firefighters whether they be career or

volunteer.

I go

back a year ago, and I know it because I've had the conversation with the

Premier, who was the Leader of the Opposition at that time, and we recognized

that firefighters have been fighting for this for so long. We recognize the

importance that this carries.

We made

a commitment back in November 2015 that we would move ahead with legislation for

presumptive cancer treatment, and here we are today living up to that promise

and we're living up to a commitment that we see as very important for this

Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LETTO:

Madam Speaker, as I said

earlier, this did not come easy. It took a lot of work on behalf of a lot of

people, a lot of staff, WorkplaceNL, Service NL, the minister and the

firefighters association as well. We saw the need and we all came together, and

we worked together over the past few months to make this a reality today. We

want to thank firefighters, we want to thank WorkplaceNL, we want to thank all

our government staff and the minister and the Premier, and everyone else who

played a role in making this new benefit possible and accessible to all

firefighters.

Adding a

presumptive clause to our legislation means a firefighter who serves for a

specified period of time and develops a specific form of cancer is presumed to

have developed that cancer as a consequence of their work. Including this kind

of coverage in the Workplace Health,

Safety and Compensation Act ensures that risks associated with firefighting

are accounted for properly by the legislation. We recognize 11 forms of cancer,

and I know the Member for Cape St. Francis alluded to it.

recognize that firefighting, fire departments and who makes up those departments

is changing. We recognize the role that female firefighters provide to a fire

department, and its growing ever and ever more each day. We are seeing more

female firefighters, and that's why we recognize that. That's why we decided

breast cancer would be included as a form of cancer that it would be included

in this legislation here today. We recognize the role that female firefighters

play in our communities. So we're very pleased to be able to do that.

Madam

Speaker, I won't take up any more time. I just wanted to make those couple of

points. As the parliamentary secretary to Service NL, I want to recognize again

the work of the department and WorkplaceNL in making this legislation a reality

today.

I want

to say to the firefighters of this province, we thank you for all you do, you

are our first responders. As the minister said in his closing remarks, when

we're running away, they're running in. And we certainly recognize the safety

factors involved and the peril they put their lives in each and every day to

keep us safe, to keep our families safe, to keep our communities safe.

So thank

you, thank you, thank you.

Thank

you, Madam Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the

hon. the Member for St. John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Madam

Speaker.

I'm very

pleased, more than pleased to stand today and speak to Bill 59,

An Act to Amend

the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Act.

The

minister, the parliamentary secretary, our colleague from Cape St. Francis have

all spoken to why this bill is so important and why we are all pleased to be

standing in this House today supporting this bill. It's a bill that's long

overdue.

mentioned, actually, in my response to the Ministerial Statement that in 2011

we, as a party, had this whole thing of recognizing presumptive cancers and

other diseases in our platform in the 2011 general election. Both during that

time and prior to the election, for some time prior to the election on different

occasions, I met both with the career firefighters and also with volunteer

firefighters.

At the

time, one of the concerns that were always expressed by volunteer firefighters

was: Were they going to be recognized and treated the same. It's always been a

concern and I'm so happy that the piece of legislation we have in front of us

today does recognize both the career and volunteer firefighters.

Both

groups amaze me. The work that they do is just something a lot of us can't even

conceive of doing. And then, you know, you just cannot put a price on people's

lives. The fact that firefighters who have become sick with the cancers and the

diseases that are listed as part of this bill, that they've had to fight so hard

to prove each time that a cancer or disease comes and it's caused because of

their work.

We've

had a similar history in the province, too, with regard to miners. We know what

the miners in Baie Verte have gone through. We haven't had a good history here

in this province we really haven't with regard to recognizing diseases

caused by the work that somebody does. So everything that we can do to honour

their work and to honour their lives, really, by recognizing there are some

things which are now proven, scientifically proven and we shouldn't have to

put people through having to prove case after case after case that their cancer

or other disease has been caused by the work that they do.

This

bill is going a long ways to taking care of one of our groups. I congratulate,

as all the rest have done, the firefighters both the career and volunteer

firefighters who did not give up the fight, who kept pleading that this would

eventually happen and here we are today doing it. So, obviously, I'm delighted

and I'm supporting the bill.

I do

have some concerns. Questions were asked in briefing and we didn't get a full

answer, so I'll want the minister to speak to a couple of these questions that I

have. If we don't get answers in response to the second reading, well then I can

ask again in Committee.

One of

the things is the retroactivity. Career firefighters must have been diagnosed on

or after December 14, 2015; that's when the Liberal party took government. So

they have to have been diagnosed on or after December 14 in order for their

cancer to be presumed caused by work. That means that there's a whole load of

workers out there who were diagnosed prior to December 14, 2015 who still have

to go through the old process.

You

could have people who were diagnosed in December of 2015 or in November of 2015

with one of these presumptive illnesses, presumptive cancers that we now

recognize as presumptive but because they were diagnosed prior to that date, the

date that this government took office, they will still have to go through the

process of proving that the cancer that they have was caused by the work while

we have in place

an act that now says, yes, indeed their cancer was caused by

the work.

So I'm

really concerned about that. I'm sure there have to be firefighters out there

who are going to be affected by this. As I said, maybe somebody who was

diagnosed two days before December 14 or a month before December 14. Why are

they going to have to go through having to prove something that we now recognize

in a piece of legislation when it gets passed? So it's problematic and I'd like

to have more discussion with the minister about that. I guess we can do that

when we get into Committee where we can push our questions and talk back and

forth, but I certainly will be wanting to do that when we go into Committee.

The

other thing is that's for the career firefighters; the volunteer firefighters,

it's not retroactive with them. It starts on January 1, 2017, so in a couple of

weeks' time. The volunteer firefighters must be diagnosed after the bill coming

into force on or after January 1, 2017. Again, there was no real answer given to

questions in the briefing with regard to why that's the case. So again, we are

going to push back and forth to try to get some clarity around both of those

dates.

Because

it's going to mean that we're going to have a lot of people falling between the

cracks, diagnosed before those dates, even though we now have legislation in

place having to prove it seems to me that any one of these workers who meets

the criteria of the new act, then why wouldn't they fit into the new rules? It

doesn't make sense. I really would like an answer from the minister on that. As

I said, we will push for that.

understand there will be problems with regard to lack of documentation for some

workers, especially when it comes to the volunteer firefighters and that's

understandable. I mean, I do understand that; therefore, I do understand what

that may be part of the reason for the later date for the volunteers, I don't

know.

I say to

the minister: I really do support this bill but that doesn't mean that there

can't be some questions asked that we want answers to, that we didn't get

answers to when the questions were asked in the briefing. That's all I'm saying.

That's legitimate. That's what being here in the House of Assembly is all about,

is to making sure we fully understand.

I do

know there will be a problem with regard to the record keeping, especially for

the volunteer firefighters. They don't keep the records maybe the same way as

the career firefighters where there are also staff to help with all of that.

So I

would like the minister to tell us what the plan is for working with the

volunteer firefighters with regard to outreach and training. How is it going to

be done? How can we ensure that the volunteer firefighters will keep the same

records that will be needed? Because there are restrictions and there need to be

restrictions. Obviously, there have to be restrictions, but you have to have

proper bookkeeping or record keeping to show why somebody should be covered. How

are the volunteer firefighters, in particular, going to be assisted by the

department in making sure that happens? I'm sure the minister can speak to us

about that and I look forward to what he has to say.

I won't

go on any further because, as I said, my colleagues all spoke to the bill;

everybody knows what's in the bill. I'm really happy to vote for the bill but I

do want to get answers to a couple of my questions.

Thank

you very much, Madam Speaker.

MADAM SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the

hon. Member for Virginia Waters Pleasantville.

MR. B. DAVIS:

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I'm glad

to be standing here today in the House of Assembly to speak on this legislation

here, Bill 59. Firefighters are some of the most important people working within

our communities, whether they're on a volunteer or career basis.

Firefighters do the critical job, as the first responder teams, to save lives. I

know this from my experience on city council in St. John's. I had numerous

conversations with President Cadigan, who's in the gallery here today, about

this very topic. I'm very happy to be here today, to be on this side of it to

actually vote it into legislation today, we hope, and to move it to the next

level anyway.

Ten

other jurisdictions in the country have this legislation now and it's important

that we bring it forward here. Many of my colleagues have spoken already about

many of the issues we face with respect to the presumptive cancer legislation,

but I'm not going to get into those because I don't want to belabour the debate

for that purpose.

I just

want to make sure that I say thank you to the work of many people: WorkplaceNL,

the associations, the unions, the minister and obviously our staff in government

to bring this legislation forward. We're not just debating the legislation.

We're actually delivering on a campaign promise here today. We're excited about

that on this side of the Legislature for sure.

Generally, when firefighters show up to a scene it's utter devastation for the

people they're coming to support and help. Hopefully, if they get there in time,

they can stop that devastation. This is just one little thing we can do as the

Legislature to alleviate some of the concerns you guys and girls may have in

doing the job that you do in our communities.

I just

want to say a big thank you on behalf of the residents of Virginia Waters

Pleasantville and of course throughout our whole province. Thank you very much

for the work you guys do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the hon. Member for Topsail Paradise.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for

the opportunity to rise today and speak to Bill 29.

I'm

quite glad to see this come before the House. I spoke to that earlier today

after the press conference held by the Premier and the minister downstairs. I

spoke publicly then to support the legislation being brought forward and the

steps they've taken. As we go through second reading and Committee, I'm sure

we're going to have some questions to ask about certain aspects of it, but

generally speaking the bill is a good thing. It's a good thing for firefighters,

not only career firefighters but volunteer firefighters.

Madam

Speaker, I misspoke at one point in time. It was several years ago now. I was at

an event when I was a councillor in Conception Bay South. In Conception Bay

South, they have a composite fire department. They have firefighters who are

career firefighters and they have firefighters who are volunteer firefighters.

I have

to watch behind me as I tell them this because I referred to the career

firefighters as professional firefighters and I learned it was certainly wrong,

and it was very quickly pointed out to me because they are all professionals.

That is so true. They are all professionals in every sense. Just because they do

it as volunteers or they do it as a full-time, paid career, they are still all

professionals. And it was a lesson, misspoke, and a term I used interchanged,

which was inappropriate and I shouldn't have, because I fully respect what they

do, the work they do, and when they're called upon.

Madam

Speaker, I could stand here today and use all of my 60 minutes to talk about

experiences that I've had in the past, in my past, in my former career, with

firefighters. I'm sure not everyone here wants me to use up my time to talk

about stories of the past and stories of days gone by. But I can speak to many

of them, and I can speak to some of them in great detail. They weren't all good

experiences; they were very difficult and challenging experiences.

learned during 9-11 and the saying came, as people were running out for safety,

uniformed services, primarily firefighters, were running into the building to

save lives. It's kind of clich in some ways that description. But that's

exactly what happened on 9-11. But it also happens every day. If they're at a

motor vehicle accident, when people are moving back because they don't like to

deal with the destruction and carnage that sits before them well, quite often

it's firefighters you'll see quite regularly at those scenes who are going in to

look after what other people are hesitant to get involved in or are prepared,

trained, or able to deal with.

Again, I

could give you countless stories back and as I'm talking to you here now,

Madam Speaker, I think of stories back very early in my career, back in the 80s,

when technology wasn't anywhere near what it is today, training wasn't;

strategic approaches to fires, automotive crashes and so on was quite different.

I look at my colleague across the way and I can see he's contemplating and

thinking about his past experiences as well. But they were always there and when

something became difficult in those types of circumstances, our professional

career and volunteer firefighters, no matter where they were in the province,

were ready to go to work.

It's not

only in urban areas. The St. John's region, for example, has very fine,

first-class fire service. Very recently I attended the opening at a new fire

station in Paradise, which is part of the St. John's regional fire service. And

just the best of equipment from my view, anyway it looked like the

best of equipment there for firefighters. That's not easy

to do.

It takes

a tremendous amount of investment and planning to ensure that, even taking a

building, for example and they built it; I don't think there are any steps

inside the building. I stand to be corrected. There are ramps and so on in

there, some ramps. The new fire station in CBS as well, another great

investment, very similar in the way they are done, but I'm sure the firefighters

who work there could point out some differences and nuances, preferences and so

on.

But it

speaks to the continued development of professionalism, training and ability in

fire services. And what that means is when they are better equipped to respond

then it hopefully the idea, of course, is to save lives, to reduce the loss of

life, and also to improve on people who are injured, improvements to structures

and being able to save structures.

course, human life comes first and everything else comes after that. Strategies

change, equipment changes, experience changes and how you do business on a

day-to-day base changes as well.

I heard

in the debate earlier today 278 fire departments in our province. A pretty big

number, a pretty astronomical number when you think about it, and all of them

have different levels of equipment. I've been in fire stations visited fire

services in rural parts of the province that have equipment back in'70s,

probably some of them may even have equipment older than that, that gets very

little use but it's still there and functioning, and then there's a combination

of new equipment.

5,900

active volunteer firefighters in our province; a huge number when you think

about it, 5,900 people who volunteer to respond to emergencies when needed; 350

active career firefighters; and there are 1,700 retired volunteer firefighters

in our province. So a very large number of people impacted by this new

legislation and I'm very glad to see it.

I know

last year, a year ago, we were all in campaign mode and we were all working on

election campaigns and so on. For me, I became the minister of Service NL back

in 2011 and workers' compensation fell under that purview, as well as a whole

list of other matters, other items. And I took an interest in

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MADAM SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I remind

all Members to keep the noise level down in the Chamber and maybe take your

conversations outside.

Thank

you.

The hon.

the Member for Topsail Paradise.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I took

an interest in the legislation and there was a lot of discussion about it. While

we had very good presentations made to me, as minister, in subsequent years that

followed, we had really good presentations made to say that here is a good

reason why this legislation should take place. We also had, I would think, Madam

Speaker, at least an equal number of presentations, pieces of information,

documentation that said we shouldn't.

In 2015,

when we were all getting ready for the election, we all made some commitments on

it. We made a commitment for career and volunteers. Members opposite made a

commitment for careers, but I'm glad I don't want to focus on that; I can't

overstate it, Madam Speaker that they included volunteers in the legislation

as well because there are almost 6,000 of them around the province.

It's

interesting, because if they became injured there was workers' compensation for

them. If they became physically injured during the response to a scene or a

fire, if they became physically injured there was coverage for them already but

the presumptive cancer coverage did not exist.

There

are some questions we're going to have when we get to Committee, because when we

get to Committee we can ask questions of the minister and I'm sure he's going to

be able to provide them. We have some questions that we're going to be asking

for clarification and we'll get to those. I won't belabour those anymore because

we'll get to those when it comes into Committee.

For

those who are watching at home and those who are interested, there are a number

of primary cancer sites and primary cancers that will be included in this

coverage including brain cancer, bladder, colorectal, esophageal, leukemia,

lung, kidney, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, testicular, ureter and breast cancers; but

all of them have a specific number of years of service required in order for the

presumption to take place. Very similar to what New Brunswick I think it's

pretty close to the New Brunswick model that has happened here. That's the model

that I've liked in the past, is what New Brunswick has done.

It's

interesting on those because some of these are the more frequently diagnosed

cancers in Newfoundland and Labrador. I think prostate cancer right now is the

most frequently diagnosed; breast cancer, which is listed here. Colorectal is

one of the top four. Lung cancer is one of the top four as well, and

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma something I know a little bit about having experienced

it myself and being a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor today.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a cancer that's a lot of it is not understood where

it comes from. A lot of people don't understand or they haven't put their finger

on exactly the cause of it, but it is well known that environment is a

significant factor in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. There are many varieties of

non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

remember a time several years ago. I was working in Corner Brook at the time and

I was at a fire scene. The officer in charge had invited me in to show me

aspects of the scene as they were getting ready to turn it over. I remember

going in and I remember the heat. First of all, I felt the heat, but then there

was something in the air that I found it was really difficult for me to breathe.

I probably shouldn't have been in there. In today's standards you'd never be in

there without a breathing apparatus but I was in there at the time.

I think

about that one because I think about how often firefighters because you can't

always have a breathing apparatus on at all times when you're exposed to any of

this, but you should as much as you can. I know there are standards and stuff

involved with it but especially years ago. As times goes on, the standards get

higher. I think about that because that quite often impacts some of these

cancers, the exposure to the environmental aspects that can cause many of these

cancers, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma being one of them and others there besides that.

That's what's key here because the longer you serve as a firefighter, then the

increased likelihood and risk to the firefighter for these defined cancers.

So I'm

quite happy that the government has done this. We'd like to see other workers'

compensation additions to legislation for not only firefighters but other first

responders.

We had

made a commitment for cardiac coverage as well. In some jurisdictions they have

a 24-hour clause if there's a cardiac event. So if a firefighter attends a scene

and they're doing very physically demanding, labour intensive and difficult

efforts that they're making at the time I know in some jurisdictions if

there's a cardiac event, within 24 hours of that, it's presumed to have been

caused by that very strenuous and difficult task and work, stress and strain

that had been put on the firefighter at the scene or an event within that 24

hours preceding it.

Another

one, Madam Speaker, that's significantly growing, very quickly growing and the

understanding of this is growing very quickly is on PTSD. Similar to my

comments earlier about I could share experiences with you, I can certainly share

experiences with you where events have had an impact on those responding.

Firefighters certainly come in to that category as well. I know many events

where firefighters and other first responders have had an impact because of a

significant event, being exposed to a significant event.

What

we're learning now, more than ever before about post-traumatic stress, is that

quite often it's the accumulation or stacking of those events. So one event, an

individual of any first responder can handle with some level, and then another

event and then another event and another event. As time goes on over years and

years of service, it's becoming better known and understood today that those

events can have a negative impact on people, and particularly front-line

responders who attend these types of events over and over again.

So PTSD

is a significant one. I know it's significant for firefighters, police officers,

with medical responders and others who assist and support in a career role or in

a voluntary role throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. I think it's important

that the government not stop just with this legislation, but to continue to look

at the other aspects that are impacting firefighters and first responders around

the province, such as the cardiac presumptive clause. As well as on PTSD,

because PTSD is a big one, is a significant big one. We yet don't understand the

full ramifications of it.

Again, I

thank the minister for bringing forward the legislation. I thank the government

as well for bringing this forward. I would be quite happy to stand in my place

and support the legislation, but as it works its way through the House I'm sure

we'll have some questions for clarification from the government. I congratulate

all firefighters in Newfoundland and Labrador on this legislation coming to the

House.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Stephenville Port au Port.

MR. FINN:

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It's

certainly a pleasure to stand and speak to Bill 59,

An Act To Amend The

Workplace Health, Safety And Compensation Act.

As we've

heard over the last 30 minutes or so, this is directly related to the amendment

around presumptive cancer care and what that means to the career firefighters

and the volunteer firefighters throughout our province.

I won't

take a great deal of time, Madam Speaker. I just thought it would be important

to take a few moments to highlight this and kind of really what this means,

particularly coming from a rural perspective. The district that I'm so fortunate

to represent, Stephenville Port au Port, in the town, the municipality of

Stephenville, we have a combination of career firefighters that work alongside

our volunteer firefighters. To the Member, the parliamentary secretary, the

Member for Lab West and his points earlier and the Minister, who had pointed out

as well, this is something that of course how can you say we need care and

protection now for a career firefighter working alongside of volunteers.

It's

certainly important from the rural perspective, and then what becomes more

unique and more interesting is that the geographic area of the Port au Port

Peninsula in its geography, the majority of protection takes place from

volunteer firefighters. So I think to have that piece covered here as opposed to

just the career firefighter is certainly something that's really important.

actually just had the opportunity this past Saturday night to attend a volunteer

firefighter appreciation dinner in the Town of Kippens. The Town of Kippens had

some struggles recently with their recruitment efforts, so they held a

recruitment fair day back in early October on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday

afternoon. They encouraged everyone to come out. They had games set up for the

kids to spray the hoses and try and tug along the weights and what have you and

go through a few obstacles. It was certainly a hit. It recruited over a dozen

volunteer firefighters just on that day in that volunteer effort alone. That was

certainly something we were all pleased to acknowledge this past Saturday

evening.

It was

also great to point out to the members there that evening that this legislation

would be forthcoming. I would be remiss not to state that this was a promise

from the campaign back in the fall and certainly something that I know the

minister has spent some significant amount of time on.

I had an

opportunity to attend the briefing on this piece of legislation last week, with

the minister and his staff and WorkplaceNL staff, certainly phenomenal from all

around the table, by all ends, the amount of work and time that went into this.

Everyone

who sat around that table and had input in this recognized this was something

that was coming for quite some time, was way overdue. It was particularly so

given that not only do we have two statutory reviews in this province that

recommended this change one in 2006 and again 2013, and that was a statutory

review; our statutory offices have reviews and this was recommended twice at

least in the last 10 years.

As the

Leader of the Official Opposition alluded to, it's something that landed his way

in 2011. They had some decisions to make whether or not recommendations could be

for it or against it. I won't wager to have any knowledge of what those

conversations were and it's unfortunate they weren't able to bring it forward.

I'm not

trying to take any political shots, Madam Speaker, because he just clearly

indicated they would certainly be in full support of this legislation, which is

great to hear. I do know the Member for the Third Party acknowledged they will

be in full support of the bill as well and, of course, some questions in

Committee.

Some

questions that may come in Committee, for those who are listening and for those

who are joining us here in the House today, the Committee piece is where we'll

get into some of the nitty-gritty on some of the few things that happens here.

It might be around what types of cancer are covered. I know there was extensive

jurisdictional scan across the country to see what some of the common types of

cancer are that would need to be included in this legislation. I know some work

was done to ensure we match up with other areas there.

course there are some concerns for an employer. I guess if you're an employer,

concern being around what contribution is being made to the workplace safety

fund. I guess, just to be clear here, under the WorkplaceNL fund, the income

benefit to perhaps a member who has been

injured, that would stay there; the health care costs will stay with the

MCP; and there are some kind of nuances and specifics there I'm sure the

minister will get into.

I guess

one of the important things to point out as well is the years of service that

would allow you to be covered and again I know the minister will get into, but

it doesn't have to be consecutive years of service. It's accumulative years of

service, so there's nothing to suggest that if I volunteered for three or four

years and then for some reason or what have you moved away, then returned back

home and started volunteering again so, it's accumulative years of service. So

I think that was a very important piece that the staff did in their due

diligence in recognizing this as well.

And

there's just one final thing I'll conclude on, and I think it was mentioned by

the Member for St. John's East Quidi Vidi, and it was around record keeping

and some of the difficulties there. I know at the briefing they went into great

detail about how they were going to work really strongly with the different fire

departments to ensure that these records are kept and kept ongoing.

I think

with a lot of the training that takes place now, with a lot of the newer

training and I know for out in Stephenville right now, the Town of

Stephenville has been partnering with the Town of Kippens and they do all their

training together. Then, of course, the Port au Port Regional Fire Department

that services the entire Port au Port Peninsula, they'll do their fire training

together. So with some of these joint, combined training efforts now there's

some real effort that has been made at the various municipalities for these

firefighters, be it career or volunteer, to make sure that records are being

kept as the training was completed. That would give them more indication as to

how long someone has served and when they served.

So while

a point raised opposite, I don't think it's a nuance there to overshadow. I

think the important piece and the good news here today is that this is something

that our government was committed to moving forward on and certainly something

that the minister and his staff took every opportunity to do. I'm very pleased

to see it happen here within the first year as well.

So with

that, Mr. Speaker, I'll take my chair. I just, again, wanted to congratulate the

staff for bringing it in and a huge congratulations and sincere heartfelt thank

you to those who, every day, put their lives on the line to ensure that we all

have a safe place to call home.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Warr):

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West Bellevue.

MR. BROWNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

certainly an honour to rise today to speak to this bill, Bill 59, which provides

for presumptive care for career and volunteer firefighters. Much has been said

about this bill and certainly the specifics of it will be debated no doubt in

Committee stage, so I won't get down in the weeds. But on a very high level, I

wanted to rise here today to say a special thank you to our firefighters.

I've had

the opportunity now this past fall to attend three firefighter banquets in my

district in Marystown, in Southern Harbour and in Arnold's Cove. In fact, we

just delivered a new fire truck to Southern Harbour. So it's very important that

we continue to support our firefighters but even more so than that, Mr. Speaker,

and I think the point was raised to me, this is not only about firefighters,

this is about their families.

There

are people who stay at home when our firefighters get the call, and those people

don't know what's going to come back and what's happening out there while their

loved one is gone. The people in the gallery today know this much better than

me, but I've always felt it was a tremendous honour to be in the presence of

firefighters. When I worked as an aid to Minister Judy Foote along with my

colleague for Burin Grand Bank, we went to all kinds of firefighter banquets

from the Burin Peninsula as far as Port aux Basques. I can tell you that while

each department has it's differences, what binds them all is a selfless

determination to ensure that their families and our communities are safe.

personally wanted to thank the minister responsible for bringing this forward. I

quite don't care what party promised what in the last election, Mr. Speaker. The

fact of the matter is that this minister got this done after 12 years of

advocacy, working with the stakeholders, and I'm very proud to be part of a

government that's bringing this forward.

Last

week, I had the opportunity to stand in this House on another piece of

legislation brought forth by the Minister of Health regarding mental health and

addictions for young people. I made the comment when I spoke to the bill that

this was the day why I entered politics and I'm just flabbergasted almost just a

week later I can stand in my place again to say this is the kind of bill that I

joined politics to support, to make lives better, to support our firefighters

and our first responders.

I won't

belabour the points, but I wanted to pay special recognition to Mr. Duane Antle

who was in the gallery today. He is the president of the Newfoundland and

Labrador Association of Fire Services which represents the volunteer

firefighters and he's also the fire chief in Come By Chance. He has done

excellent work for that area.

He's not

in the gallery right now, Mr. Speaker, and I will tell Members of the House why

he isn't. He's actually on his way back to Come By Chance where they're hosting

a regional firefighting training exercise tonight. So that is the kind of

dedication that we're talking about and the kind of dedication that our

government made sure we were going to recognize through this legislation. I can

guarantee you that I'm very pleased to stand and support this bill. We have so

many fire departments in the province made up of both career and volunteer

firefighters who deserve our respect and recognition.

I rose

in this House before to give a Member's statement on the Norman's Cove-Long Cove

fire department that has done a lot of work this year, especially when it came

to the fire at the fish plant. They did a terrific job in responding to that, a

very challenging circumstance, but the day I rose to recognize them, they

actually responded to a crash on the Trans-Canada where they found four deceased

family members. So there are a lot of things that go on in the life of a

firefighter that we don't always see or hear about in the media, Mr. Speaker.

The

message I want to bring forth today is that we support the firefighters, but

this is also for their families. I think that's a very important message to get

out there.

With

that, I will take my seat. I want to again thank the minister for bringing forth

this legislation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

If the hon. the Minister of

Service NL speaks now, he will close the debate.

The hon.

the Minister of Service NL.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

today to close debate on second reading on this and recognize this very

important bill brought forward. I have to say to the Leader of the Opposition,

the former premier, this is not about politics. This is about the firefighters

in this hall. This is about the people out in the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador. This is not about who did what or who promised what. This is not what

this is all about. This is to ensure that we're doing the right thing.

I just

find it sad. It was such a good day. Everybody wanted this day and all of a

sudden, that's not what we promised, that's not what they promised. It's just a

sad day. I'm so disappointed. I wanted to do this because of the right reasons

to do it, because all the information was there.

I say to

the Lead