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March 15, 2022

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. L No. 36

The

House met 1:30 p.m.

SPEAKER (Bennett):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

Statements by

Members

SPEAKER:

Today we will hear statements

by the hon. Members for the Districts of Mount Pearl North, Grand Falls-Windsor

- Buchans, Lake Melville, Conception Bay East - Bell Island and Cape St.

Francis.

The hon.

the Member for Mount Pearl North.

MS. STOYLES:

Thank you, Speaker.

I rise

in this House to recognize one of the finest organizations in my district, the

Kinette Club of Mount Pearl. This group started its first meeting over 50 years

ago. The Mount Pearl Kinettes is one of the largest Kinette groups in

Newfoundland today and is part of a national organization.

The

Kinette motto is “Serving the Community's Greatest Needs,” and that's just what

they do. All funds raised stay in the community to support local charities. Some

of the projects they do, include: a turkey drive, collecting over 160 turkeys

for the local food bank; the Hearts for Hope campaign, raising money for local

charities like the seniors, single parents and Kirby House; and the sunflower

project, spreading joy by placing sunflowers on people's lawns.

Speaker,

I ask all Members to join me in saying thank you to the Kinette Club of Mount

Pearl.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

MR. TIBBS :

Thank you, Speaker.

I rise

in this House today to recognize a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice by a

woman who has done so much for so many: Diane Murdoch.

Diane

got her first certificate in counselling from a college before going on to

McGill University where she completed her Bachelor of Social Work. During the

time in Montreal, she worked with so many groups such as Ville Marie Social

Services, Jewish social services and Project Pal with psychiatric patients.

In 1993,

Diane moved to Grand Falls-Windsor to work with Child Welfare, a position that

would last 5 years and eventually led to her work with Youth Corrections. From

there she would move on to Community Supports where she remained for the

duration of her long career. It was in this role that Diane did her greatest

work as she helped the vulnerable, seniors and people with disabilities.

Diane

Murdoch fought with her heart and soul to ensure people had the services and

programs that they truly needed. After a lengthy career of hard work and

sacrifice, Diane Murdoch retired this year.

I want

you all to please join me in saying thank you and best wishes to Diane in her

coming years.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Lake Melville.

P. TRIMPER:

Speaker, on the theme of

International Women's Day, the Legislature will recall 19-year-old Zara

Rutherford from Belgium, who was attempting to become the youngest woman to fly

solo around the earth.

Goose

Bay hosted Zara in her ultralight aircraft for two days in the fall, before she

continued her record-setting adventure. She left us inspired and motivated to

encourage other women to pursue careers in aviation.

After

five months, five continents, 41 countries and several challenges including

volcanoes, storms, visa issues and conflict zones, I am pleased to announce that

Zara accomplished her amazing feat and has inspired a generation.

Creating

excitement wherever she went, Zara landed back in Kortrijk, Belgium, on January

20. She was greeted by family, throngs of fans and media, in person and online,

who followed her along those lonely 52,000 kilometres.

The New York Times

reported that Zara's good luck charm was the wings on her flight suit, a gift

from another female pilot, Captain Erin Pratt with 444 squadron at 5 Wing Goose

Bay, something we are all very proud to see.

Please

join me in congratulating Zara Rutherford and thank her for encouraging young

women in Labrador, and around the world, to pursue their dreams.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East - Bell Island.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand

today to recognize the passing of a great legal mind, a volunteer, loving family

man and proud Newfoundlander and Labradorian. I speak of the late Judge Robert

Smith.

I had

the privilege of working with Robert and got to see his commitment, not only to

our legal system but more importantly his commitment to his fellow citizens.

Judge

Smith served for nearly four decades in the legal profession, serving as a

Provincial Court judge in Stephenville, Port aux Basques and St. John's, while

being one of the province's top volunteers with a number of local, provincial

and national organizations.

The

evidence of how Robert's actions as a volunteer had such a positive influence on

the people he served is seen in the number of awards he received as a volunteer.

Robert has been recognized as citizen of the year; top volunteer at the

university level; and acknowledged for his contributions to such organizations

as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Rotary, the John Howard Society, Knights of

Columbus and many more. Robert also had a real passion for theatre, sports and

radio, which he had an extensive background in.

Please

join me in passing on our condolences to his wife Ella, his family and all his

friends.

Rest in

peace my friend.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape

St. Francis.

J. WALL:

Thank you, Speaker.

Today I

recognize a performing arts group in the Town of Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove

known as The Concert Crowd.

The

original group staged its first production in 1968 in the old schoolhouse in

Outer Cove, as the local parish was raising funds to offset the cost of opening

a new school. Asking this presented no real challenge to the people of the town

since singing in the kitchen, dancing on Savage's bridge and penning stories was

simply a way of life for them.

These

concerts were performed regularly, helping to preserve the songs, stories and

dances learned. It also provided a space for new performers to showcase their

creativity.

The

first concerts had a cast and crew of approximately 15, but in the early 1990s,

the group boasted a crew of 40. In 2018, The Concert Crowd celebrated their 50th

anniversary, which was marked by a $10,000 award to Memorial University, now an

annual award to the School of Music and the faculty of arts.

Speaker,

I ask all hon. Members to join me in congratulating The Concert Crowd on their

successes, and we certainly look forward to their upcoming performances in 2022.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Immigration, Population Growth and Skills.

G. BYRNE:

Speaker, an illegal, immoral

and horrific war is raging within Europe. Without any pretense of legitimacy or

justification, the Russian Federation, under its authoritarian leader, has

ordered an occupying army into Ukraine. In its wake, mass civilian casualties,

along with the wanton destruction of cities and villages including the

hospitals, schools, daycares and basic services contained within is causing

human tragedy beyond understanding. Residential neighborhoods have been targeted

and steps towards war crimes proceedings have begun.

But the

people of Ukraine are far from defeated. Unanticipated by their invaders, the

people of Ukraine and their government, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,

have challenged Russia's invading force with courage and unwavering resolve.

Speaker, Ukraine remains standing.

And we,

too, must stand strong and stand with Ukraine.

The

people of Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Canadians from coast to coast to

coast have given voice to our collective resolve to support the people of

Ukraine as we condemn this illegal and unjustified war imposed by Russia.

The

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador stands with Ukraine. We recognize that a

humanitarian crisis is evolving both inside and outside of Ukraine. With Russian

combatants deliberately targeting cities and civilians, nearly three million

Ukrainians, including children and their caregivers, have fled to neighboring

European countries.

Speaker,

it is our duty of conscience and our duty as global citizens, it is our duty as

Canadians to extend an open welcome to Ukrainian refugees, and Newfoundland and

Labrador will be there. Our province is already showing the type of leadership

that is required. Recognizing that an estimated 1,400 of our friends and

neighbours in this province identify with Ukrainian roots, we have created a

Ukrainian Family Support Desk within the Office of Immigration and

Multiculturalism to provide support for efforts within our province.

Speaker,

I have already had several meetings with Minister Fraser, Minister of

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, pronouncing Newfoundland and

Labrador's support, advising him on coordinating an expedited Canadian response

and informing him that Newfoundland and Labrador will be actively welcoming

Ukrainian refugees to our homes, when it can occur.

Speaker,

Newfoundland and Labrador will stand tall. Newfoundland and Labrador will stand

with Ukraine.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Grand

Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

C. TIBBS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

thank the hon. minister for providing us with an advance copy of his statement.

The

horrendous actions of Vladimir Putin are almost beyond words. We have seen his

ruthless military action attack, not only military targets but hospitals,

schools and civilians. Mr. Speaker, blood is on his hands.

I am

proud to be in a country that is united in denouncing this barbaric action in

Ukraine, driven by the vanity of just one man. This time he has met his match in

President Zelenskyy, the embodiment of hope for peace in Ukraine and a peaceful

world. The courage of the Ukrainian people is nothing short of incredible, and

this Legislature is 100 per cent united in supporting all of them.

Mr.

Speaker, as the minister rightfully points out, there are an estimated 1,400 of

our friends and neighbours in this province that identify with Ukrainian roots

and we are here to support them. We are also here to support any and all

refugees from Ukraine en route to Canada and then on to Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, any and all assistance that the Official Opposition can offer

government in supporting the people of Ukraine is something we would be honoured

to provide.

I thank

the minister and his government for taking the concrete steps to supporting the

people of Ukraine. Newfoundland and Labrador has the reputation of opening our

homes and our hearts to those in need; we always have. Let's do everything we

can to live up to this reputation.

Slava

Ukraini! Glory to Ukraine!

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

J. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I, too,

thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. The Third Party caucus

stands with the brave people of Ukraine. We must pull together and do everything

possible as a province for those displaced by war. We hope that in doing so, the

government has learned from its experience with Afghan refugees last fall and is

better prepared to welcome Ukrainian refugees with adequate resources for

housing, education and language supports.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Speaker,

just moments ago the Liberal government tried but failed to address the rising

cost of living in our province. While increases in the Income Supplement and the

Seniors' Benefit will help some of our most vulnerable, there is no relief at

the pumps, grocery stores, rent or all bills for the average Newfoundlander and

Labradorian. This is a case of too little too late. We've been calling for

decisive action since November.

I ask:

Did the minister forget to make changes to the gasoline tax and the home heating

fuel tax?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

S. COADY:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

I'm glad

to rise in this House and discuss this very serious issue. The people of the

province have been under a pandemic, and now with the challenges of the Ukraine

there have been the rising costs of living and the rising costs of food, which

is a very serious challenge.

Today,

we did announce a program to help those most vulnerable. We're providing a 10

per cent increase in Income Supplement, a 10 per cent increase in the Seniors'

Benefit and a special one-time $400 for a family of four, for example, on income

support. These are significant benefits to help the people of the province.

We also

spoke today, Mr. Speaker, about helping people to transition from oil to

electricity in their homes by giving them a $5,000 rebate.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

These

are welcome announcements for a small part of our society who are very

vulnerable, but the other hundreds of thousands of Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians who are feeling the crunch here with the increased cost of living

are getting no relief at the pumps or in the grocery store –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

D. BRAZIL:

– and any other service that

they need right now, because of this government.

It's

clear this announcement was made today only because the Liberals started to feel

the pressure from the citizens of this province and were afraid to face this

House without coming up with some solution that would benefit the people of this

province.

Speaker,

the Liberal government stated again and again how they could not make any

changes to taxes, yet other provinces have taken decisive action to reduce the

cost at the pumps and grocery stores.

Will the

minister admit her announcement does nothing to lower the skyrocketing costs of

living for the Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are faced with this

stressful situation?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I'd say

it's disingenuous for the PCs to lecture this government on financial

responsibility.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

S. COADY:

I will say, Mr. Speaker, if

we had access to the $500 million a year that we have to pay because of their

mistake of Muskrat Falls, Mr. Speaker, if we were able to not have to use that

amount of money –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

S. COADY:

– to offset the doubling of

the costs of electricity, if we're able to provide that money for the other

programs –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Minister of Finance.

S. COADY:

– we would certainly do so.

Regarding the price of gas, Mr. Speaker, we've seen a lot of volatility; we've

seen a rise in the price of oil to almost $130, down to today it's trading under

a hundred. This volatility, of course, is having an impact on gas taxes. The

Public Utilities Board has already done an intervention. Perhaps they'll do

more.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think

it's disingenuous to ignore the needs of the hundreds of thousands of

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

D. BRAZIL:

– who won't be able to

(inaudible) right here in Newfoundland and Labrador as we speak, Mr. Speaker.

Speaker,

people are having trouble affording to live here and the federal Liberal

government is making it worse by working to cancel our offshore oil and gas

industry. The federal Liberals seem bent on cancelling the Bay du Nord Project,

while the Premier sits back and lets Ottawa decide Newfoundland and Labrador's

future.

We need

to know: Whose side are you on, the prime minister or the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will

say to the Member opposite that we have announced a program worth almost $20

million to help the people of the province, especially the most vulnerable.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

S. COADY:

I will say, Mr. Speaker, this

government stands behind the Bay du Nord Project, as we always have. We're the

ones that made an arrangement, made a deal with Equinor to bring that project

forward. We support it strongly. It has very low carbon per barrel; it has been

through a stringent process with the independent assessment agency.

We've

been working to ensure that it gets passed. What that Opposition has been doing

has been very, very precious little. We've been working hard day in, day out to

to ensuring that project progresses.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

amount of money that was just announced is a small pittance of what's needed in

this province to address the cost of living for our citizens here, Mr. Speaker.

I do want to reassure the minister that this side of the House has been

proactive in ensuring that the Bay du Nord Project went forward.

We've

written the prime minister, we've written Cabinet, we've publicly acknowledged

that we would collaborate. I offered to the Premier to go to Ottawa and sit and

plead our case, but we haven't been taken up on that. We collaboratively need to

work, that we would bring the House back to solve any of the issues around our

oil and gas industry.

We would

work with the minister. We support what needs to be done here, Mr. Speaker. So I

want to make that clear to the minister that we support this project and the

people in that industry.

Speaker,

Minister O'Regan last week refused to publicly endorse the Bay du Nord Project,

while the rest of the silent six Newfoundland Liberal MPs are missing in action.

Meanwhile, the federal Fisheries minister wants us to leave the fish in the

water and plant seagrass to help the environment.

I ask

the Premier: Are you content to sit back and allow Ottawa to dictate the future

of Newfoundland and Labrador?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Industry, Energy and Technology.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

happy to be back in this House today and to answer questions on the issues that

face all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians as we move forward. The issue raised

by the Member is certainly one that's of extreme importance to us today and will

be tomorrow.

appreciate his efforts and his promise to co-operate because the reality is this

project is necessary. It is one that we support. It is one that we think is not just for Newfoundland and Labrador,

it will be good for the country. We do think that it will help with the

transition.

I will

point out that as it related to the debate mentioned earlier, I don't think that

this House would have been unanimous in support for this project, but I do know

that the Official Opposition has expressed their support and that is support

that we are glad to hear.

The

reality is that we have done everything in our ability to advocate for this. In

front of closed doors, behind closed doors, publicly, you name it, we will

continue to do so and I remain optimistic about this project.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

I do

acknowledge the minister's statement and I do hope that we make this project go

forward and will, again, reiterate the Official Opposition will do everything

possible to support government in making this project move forward. It is too

important to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

D. BRAZIL:

The Labrador Inn, a hotel

that has been acting as a for-profit shelter in Happy Valley-Goose Bay,

residents there have complex mental health needs, addictions and

inter-generational trauma which has been unaddressed. The staff at The Labrador

Inn are doing their best but do not have any formal training and are left

unsupported. Residents are left unsupported; staff are left unsupported. The

minister's reaction was to hire two security guards.

I ask

the minister: Why did he allow this department to ignore the situation and let

it get to this point?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Speaker, thank you for the

opportunity to respond.

I was up

in Happy Valley-Goose Bay recently and met with the manager of The Labrador Inn.

We talked about the issues that he and his staff are facing. We are working with

him and his staff to make sure they have the supports in place to address some

of the issues that the Member mentioned.

At the

same time, the residents who are at the inn are also supported by the Housing

Hub, which is run by the Nunatsiavut Government. So we have a lot of supports in

place on the ground, working as well with Labrador-Grenfell Health to make sure

those residents are supported where they are and as they need their support.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Terra

Nova.

L. PARROTT:

Thank you, Speaker.

The

price of gas is skyrocketing because the world oil supply cannot keep up with

demand. The world needs clean and ethical oil; we have both. Bay du Nord will be

the most environmentally responsible project in the world.

I thank

the minister for talking about his lobby efforts but I ask him if he will table

all documents of his lobbying to his friends in Ottawa.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Industry, Energy and Technology.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again,

when this process is over, I will be happy to discuss publicly all the different

things that we have done. It is not just with the federal government; it was

with a number of people. In fact, I have remained in close contact with Equinor

throughout this entire process. We have had a number of conversations about

their presence here and the fact that they have committed to Newfoundland and

Labrador, and we want to ensure that that continues.

I've

spoke to Noia on a regular basis and thanked them for their advocacy and for the

advocacy of their members to talk about this project and its necessity for

Newfoundland and Labrador. I've spoken to all of the MPs. I've spoken to

senators in Ottawa – senators from Newfoundland and Labrador. We are all, I

think, in agreement that we want this project to proceed. We do know that it

sits in the environmental assessment stage at the federal level, but I think we

can all say here – and I believe this in my heart and my head – that this

project, it's the right one and it should be approved.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Terra

Nova.

L. PARROTT:

Sadly, while Equinor tries to

fast-track it, the Liberals are trying to stall it. The future of Newfoundland

and Labrador is being decided by anti-oil Liberal MPs from British Columbia and

Quebec, while the Premier and the minister are silent on the issue. Our own

Cabinet minister in Ottawa wouldn't even publicly support saying: “The work that

I do as Newfoundland and Labrador's cabinet minister is very much within the

cabinet room.”

If the

federal minister has backed away from his support, what assurances can the

minister give that this project will be approved?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Industry, Energy and Technology.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think

he's referring to federal ministers. Certainly the ministers on this side have

absolutely been very public and vocal in our –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

A. PARSONS:

– support for the project,

and I would think that if anybody had any questions, they could easily call Noia

or Equinor and they will reiterate and repeat those things. They have no issue

there.

The

reality, though, is that this project is in the federal stages. We've done

everything we can, provided all the information we can and we await that

decision.

again, it's not a decision I can make. If the decision was up to me or to this

team right here, the decision would be made in favour, but we will await that

process. It has to go through its due diligence. We understand that; it's

frustrating. But the reality is we still think that this is the right project

and we continue to do our job.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Terra

Nova.

L. PARROTT:

I wouldn't agree that

everything has been done; they refused an emergency debate.

statement released by Equinor reads: “The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

assessment concluded that 'the Bay du Nord Development Project is not likely to

cause significant adverse environmental effects, taking into account the

implementation of mitigation measures.'”

Has the

provincial minister spoken to the federal minister since he decided to give

himself a 40-day extension?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Industry, Energy and Technology.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So a

couple of things I'd point out. Number one, I don't believe an emergency debate

in this House would've solved anything, because the reality is there are Members

in this House that are against that project. So it would've been a lot of talk,

would've been a lot of attention, but certainly I don't think it would've

changed any of the outcomes that we face right now.

What I

can say to the Member opposite is that I do find it interesting. I wrote a

letter to DFO and to the federal government a couple of years back when we were

at our worst when it came to the oil industry advocating that we needed to

ensure the science that was explicit, that it was followed. I was told by the PC

Member, the Opposition critic, that I should be kicked out of Cabinet for

interfering with science

I say to

the Members opposite – and, again, no, not the Member for Terra Nova, the Member

for Bonavista said I should be kicked out of Cabinet for interfering with

science.

SPEAKER:

The minister's time has

expired.

A. PARSONS:

So, again, I think we should

look amongst ourselves to see do we all really want (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Terra

Nova.

L. PARROTT:

When we heard that Bay du

Nord could be cancelled by the Ottawa Liberals, it was noted that Ottawa may

approve Bay du Nord in exchange for early decommissioning of other platforms

such as Hibernia, Hebron, Terra Nova or White Rose.

Can the

minister tell the people of this province exactly what is being negotiated?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Industry, Energy and Technology.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can

absolutely assure the Member opposite and this House that is a conversation I've

literally never had on any single one occasion with absolutely anybody. There

will be no concessions given for this.

This is

a project that should be approved after it goes through the due diligence

process and the environmental process. It'll get approved because it's right; it

will not get approved because we've given anything up.

I can

tell everybody in this House and anybody who's watching, we will not give up

what is right for Newfoundland and Labrador for Ottawa or for anybody.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Terra

Nova.

L. PARROTT:

Two of the Premier's hand-picked advisors signed a letter from the Sierra Club

calling for the federal government to reject Bay du Nord and transition away

from fossil fuels.

I ask

the Premier: Does he agree with his hand-picked advisors, yes or no?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Industry, Energy and Technology.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

reality is this is a newsflash to everybody here, but there are a lot of people

out there in this world that are against the development of oil projects. Some

of them sit in this House; they've expressed that. There are Members who are on

environmental committees who speak against this.

But a

couple of things I would say: number one, the Premier has made clear on every

single occasion – every single occasion – that he is supportive of this project

and he wants this project to go ahead.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

A. PARSONS:

I can say that I have spoken

and my colleagues have all spoken in favour of this project, we think it's the

right one. In fact, to the point where when I did write a letter to the federal

government expressing my concern with their science, again I would point out

that the Member for Bonavista said I shouldn't interfere with science, I

shouldn't interfere with these deliberations.

Again, I

will advocate for Newfoundland and Labrador every single time I get a chance.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Women in this province

are reporting increased stress and anxiety because of the increased cost of

living. Many women, especially single moms, are trying to provide healthy food

for their children and gas for their cars. It is a fact that the pandemic has

disproportionately negatively impacted women.

Does the

minister agree that it is unacceptable that women make 76 cents for every dollar

made by a man?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister

Responsible for Women and Gender Equality.

P. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It sure

is great to be back in this House of Assembly. It always is; back for the spring

session. I thank the hon. Member, my colleague, of course, for always raising

these important issues we all know.

We can

all appreciate all the challenges that have been faced since COVID, the cost of

living, as we know, but I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, this government is

committed to doing everything that we possibly can, not just the department of

Women and Gender Equality but across government, with regard to the gender wage

gap and all issues that have faced women and gender-diverse people in this

province.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Mr. Speaker, we need to have answers with substance and we're not getting them.

Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in Atlantic Canada without pay

equity legislation, despite the House introducing it five years ago in 2017. In

June, when I raised the issue, the minister said it's certainly not a new issue.

Well,

it's been five years. Will the minister, once and for all, commit to bringing

pay equity legislation to this House during this sitting?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister

Responsible for Women and Gender Equality.

P. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, I

thank the hon. Member for always raising these important issues, but I would

like to remind the hon. Member it's not just several years, it's been multiple,

multiple years and multiple premiers.

What I

will say, Mr. Speaker, believe you me, there has been an interdepartmental

Committee struck; we voted unanimously as a House on a PMR that this is

certainly an important issue.

But I

will say this, Mr. Speaker, the half a billion dollars that we need, that we get

from Ottawa every year to just mitigate our rate hikes would go a long way to

help with issues such as pay equity, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

P. PARSONS:

But we are committed to doing

everything that we can. When there's an update, believe you me, Mr. Speaker, I

will be providing that update to this hon. House.

Thank

you Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Mr. Speaker, let's stop

with the rhetoric; let's get this moving.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Let's debate the

legislation once and for all.

The

minister, in the past, has suggested that she doesn't even have the authority to

bring pay equity legislation to this House.

I ask

the Premier, will he make pay equity legislation a priority and direct his

minister to table the new legislation so women are no longer left behind?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister

Responsible for Women and Gender Equality.

P. PARSONS:

Again, thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Again,

I'll thank my hon. colleague, we can all agree that these are all very important

issues, but what I can say is that we're certainly committed to doing everything

that we can. We have a fiscal reality to live in. We all know that. The Members

on the opposite side know that the most, Mr. Speaker, but rest assured we're

doing everything that we can.

This

Premier has also –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

P. PARSONS:

This Premier has also

extended the mandate – removing it from a standalone department to also include

gender-diverse individuals across Newfoundland and Labrador, and that's a first.

Make no mistake; we are committed to doing everything that we can.

I also

welcome the hon. Member – my door is always open. Come on over; let's get to

work. We're all stakeholders here in this province and the onus is on every one

of us to do everything that we can to support the people who live in

Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, as most COVID-19 restrictions across the country drop, teachers and

students are facing unprecedented challenges in our schools. Our caucus

continues to hear with 50 per cent of students not present and classrooms with

no teachers due to critical shortage of substitutes.

Speaker,

with no online option, how is the government ensuring students receive quality

education in these circumstances?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education.

T. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, if the Member opposite has a list of schools that have closed due to

teacher shortages, I'd like to see it because my understanding from the NLESD

and the CSFP is that there are no schools closed due to that. There are no

classrooms closed due to shortage of teachers.

Yes, the

pandemic and isolation rules, Mr. Speaker, has put a strain on the availability

of substitutes, but we've taken extraordinary measures, including working with

the faculty of education and retired educators, to fill those gaps.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

Thank you.

Speaker,

having teachers trying to teach two different classrooms at the same time is not

the best practice, or even sensible for either the teacher or their students.

Speaker, we had a shortage of substitutes before COVID-19 and now the situation

has gotten much worse as MUN students will be writing exams soon and then going

home for the summer.

How is

the minister going to ensure continuity of education for children of the

province?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education.

T. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, we've had far less learning loss in this province than most

jurisdictions, probably any jurisdiction across the country. We've had more

in-class instruction and when we didn't have in-class instruction, we've had

online instruction in this province. Mr. Speaker, I'd put our record up against

that of any province in this country for the delivery of education to our

students in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

Sometimes facts don't matter,

Mr. Speaker.

I'll

give him credit, though, he hasn't mentioned Muskrat Falls once. He's doing

well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

B. PETTEN:

That is three times.

Speaker,

the critical shortage of substitute teachers has also impacted extracurricular

school activities and sports, as teachers are not able to get leave to accompany

students to events. Teachers are actually being forced into taking their sick

leave.

Speaker,

as we begin to emerge from COVID-19, a return to some level of normalcy in our

schools, how is the minister going to ensure children can enjoy all aspects of

an education?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education.

T. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That is

an important question; I'll give the Member that. Ensuring that school sports

continue is important. We've had discussions with the NLESD regarding this

particular topic. I've had discussions with the School Sports association

regarding this particular topic.

We will,

on a case-by-case basis, Mr. Speaker, if a teacher is not available make sure

that there is somebody available so that school sports can continue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

J. DWYER:

Thank you, Speaker.

This

province is now entering into the third year of a pandemic, the cost of living

is out of control and the Seniors' Advocate position has still been vacant for

more than nine months.

Minister, when will this position be filled?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Speaker, thank you again for

the opportunity to answer the question. As I think all of us know, the Seniors'

Advocate is an important Officer of this House. We look forward to having that

position addressed in the very near future.

But what

I want to add is that, as a government, we are supportive for all the seniors

throughout this province, all the seniors' organizations. In the meantime, while

the office is vacant, we are working with that office, as well as all the

seniors' groups, to make sure their issues are addressed as expeditious as

possible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

J. DWYER:

Speaker, seniors in our

province are facing more issues than just the outrageous increases to the cost

of living. Backlogs for surgeries, housing, long-term care beds, mental health

supports: Speaker, the list continues to grow at an alarming rate. The Seniors'

Advocate is supposed to be in place to provide an expert voice to these issues.

I ask

the minister: Why has this position been vacant for so long?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Speaker, again, thank you for

the opportunity to respond.

One of

the things that I've done recently is met with our Provincial Advisory Council

on Aging and Seniors to make sure that the issues of seniors are brought to the

attention of both me, as minister, and to the government. We will continue to

make sure that council works in the interest of seniors for this province while

we're waiting for the Seniors' Advocate position to be filled.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I wanted

to point out to the minister I never said anything about schools being closed. I

also want to point out that the minister only answered half my question the last

time around, so it's two mistakes.

Minister, I asked you about extracurricular school activities, not just sports.

There's a critical shortage of substitute teachers. It's more than sports

involved; it is extracurricular activities as well.

What are

you going to do to address that issue?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education.

T. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

issue hasn't been brought to my attention at this particular stage; I have been

made aware of school sports and so on. But if there are issues, Mr. Speaker, I

would be happy to work on any and every issue to ensure that our students have a

well-rounded education.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

combined Grade 5 and 6 class at JRS Middle School has joined in to advocate for

the seniors of Labrador West by submitting their ideas directly to the Minister

of Finance and budget consultations.

It is

jarring to learn that the minds of these young children in my district are not

wondering what their friends are going to do this weekend but if their

grandparents will have somewhere close to Labrador West to live.

I ask

the minister: Will this government finally commit the resources needed for the

seniors of Labrador West?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Speaker, thank you again for

the opportunity to respond.

I was in

Labrador West recently and met with the Grade 5 and 6 class who eloquently and,

I would say, professionally presented their views on seniors' issues,

particularly housing issues for Labrador West. I committed to make sure that we

brought back their ideas, their suggestions, their proposal to discuss here with

my colleagues.

I wanted

to congratulate the J. R. Smallwood class for the tenacity of sticking with an

issue that I know is very important to the people of Labrador West.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Torngat Mountains.

L. EVANS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have a

letter here from the chief of the Mushuau Innu First Nation. In spring of 2020,

Simeon Poker, a resident of Natuashish, needed a kidney transplant and he got

his brother approved as a donor and was told that the surgery would follow in

three to six weeks.

This

summer, a year later, I alerted Labrador-Grenfell Health and Eastern Health that

there was vital information not being properly communicated to this patient.

Language barriers are a reality in my district, Mr. Speaker. Chief Nui's letter

stresses this gap still has not been resolved and I believe it is preventing Mr.

Poker from being approved for transplant surgery. The physical and mental toll

is too much, Mr. Speaker. I am now getting pictures of blackened toes and

fingers from diabetes damage.

I am

asking the Minister of Health: Will he reach out to the health authority to

review Mr. Poker's case? I quote Chief Nui –

SPEAKER:

Move on to your question,

please.

L. EVANS:

Please consider seriously our

appeal, as it is a matter of life and death – Chief Nui's words exactly.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

Obviously, I can't comment on the specifics of clinical cases. Transplants are

not done in this province. We have a very active transplant coordination program

and they liaise with either Halifax or Toronto. If there are specifics of this

case the Member opposite wants addressed, I would be happy to do that.

We are,

however, in terms of waits, at the mercy of Halifax. Under normal circumstances,

this has not been an issue but we are aware that COVID has slowed things down

and last year they had a shortage of a nephrologist. I'm happy to look into a

specific problem if the Member opposite would like to provide details.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl - Southlands.

P. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, just the other day I received a call from a family, a couple who are 73

years married. After 73 years of marriage, one of the spouse's health has

declined and now they're going to separate that couple. He's going to have to go

to long-term care in a different facility away from his spouse. This represents

cruel and unusual punishment as far as I'm concerned.

This is

not a new thing. It's been happening. I've had other calls, Mr. Speaker, over

the last number of years on similar situations like this. I understand Nova

Scotia has put in a policy recently, I was told, that couples cannot be

separated.

I would

ask the Minister of Health and Community Services: Is the government considering

some similar policy to prevent this cruel and unusual punishment on our seniors?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much for the

question, Speaker.

These

are always very difficult situations. When you have a senior whose level of care

exceeds the ability of the facility to provide it, our first aim must be to look

after their well-being. Certainly, in this province, long-term care facilities

are challenged to meet the demand for those people who require that level of

care. The regional health authorities work very closely with the family to make

sure that spouses who do not need that level of care can spend as much time

together as possible.

Nova

Scotia simply guarantees to put the individual in the same complex. They do not

share rooms. They are at the other end of a different building in many

occasions. These are difficult situations and, as we increase our long-term care

capacity, hopefully we can look at what potential solutions exist.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl - Southlands.

P. LANE:

I thank the minister for that

answer. While Nova Scotia may not keep them together in the same room, as you

said, they are in the same facility so they are at least able to see each other

every day.

Mr.

Speaker, in a similar vein, I've also had similar complaints from families where

it wasn't a couple, per se, but let's say you may have had a father or

grandparent or whatever the case might be that need to go to long-term care and

they're living in one community – so one example would be they were living in

St. John's and under the first available bed policy, that person had to go to, I

think, Placentia. Now the family are not able to visit their loved one; again,

cruel and unusual punishment.

I would

ask the minister: Are there any plans to address that issue as well?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

Two

issues rolled into one there. The first available bed policy is to deal with the

urgent and pressing issue around care and providing the appropriate care. These

individuals remain on the wait-list for their facility of choice in the

community of choice, assuming that community actually has the facility capable

of managing their clinical care needs.

With

reference to visitation of couples separated by different care needs: the RHAs

actually provide the ability to enable visitation on at least a daily basis, if

at all possible.

I take

the Member opposite's concerns. We are working within the limits of our system

to address them.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The time for Question Period

has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Presenting Reports

by Standing and Select Committees

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I am

pleased to present the first report of the Standing Orders Committee in the 50th

General Assembly.

I do

want to take the time to thank the Members of the Committee for their diligence

and hard work and I recommend this report to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Tabling of Documents.

Notices

of Motion.

Notices of Motion

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

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

Whole on Supply to consider a resolution for the granting of Interim Supply to

Her Majesty, Bill 45.

SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

The hon.

the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

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

Whole to consider a resolution relating to the advancing or guaranteeing of

certain loans made under The Loan and

Guarantee Act, 1957 , Bill 46.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

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

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

Bill 47.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Apparently, I'm busy.

Thank

you, Speaker.

I give

notice that I will on tomorrow introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The

Financial Administration Act, Bill 48.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

notice that the House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

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

Whole on Supply to consider certain resolutions for the granting of supply to

Her Majesty, Bill 49.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Digital Government and Service NL.

S. STOODLEY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

notice that I will on tomorrow introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The

Petroleum Products Act, Bill 52.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

notice that I will on tomorrow introduce a bill entitled,

An Act Respecting

Access To Health And Education Services, Bill 51.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you. Speaker.

I give

notice that I will on tomorrow introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Repeal The

Colonial Building Act, Bill 50.

SPEAKER:

Any further notices of

motion?

The hon.

the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

notice that I will move the following motion: That the House concur in the first

report of the Standing Orders Committee of the 50th General Assembly tabled

March 15, 2022.

SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

The hon.

the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.

S. CROCKER:

Speaker, I give notice that I

will on tomorrow move the following motion: That notwithstanding Standing Order

63, this House shall not proceed with Private Members' Day on Wednesday, March

16, 2022, but shall instead meet at 2 p.m. on that day for Routine Proceedings

and conduct government business; and that if not earlier adjourned, the Speaker

shall adjourn the House at midnight.

SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Lake

Melville.

P. TRIMPER:

Thank you, Speaker.

response to questions arising from the construction of the Muskrat Falls

hydroelectric project, changing climatic conditions and the disastrous flood of

2017, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador undertook a comprehensive

flood risk mapping and flood forecasting of the Churchill River (KGS Group

2020). This million-dollar study was described by government as state of the art

in the province and across the country.

KGS

Group 2020 concluded that under projected climate change and one-in-20-year open

water flood zone conditions, several homes adjacent to the Churchill River will

be subjected to a disaster similar or worse than what was experienced in 2017.

So my

petition is:

WHEREAS

elevation, adjacency and other topographic features in the KGS Group 2020

depicts certain homes to be particularly at risk; and

WHEREAS

there is mental and physical stress taking a severe toll on the residents of

these homes, particularly as each flood season arrives; and

WHEREAS

we are the owners of these homes;

THEREFORE we, the undersigned, call upon this House of Assembly to urge the

government to develop a plan to address the conclusions of your own work,

protect the citizens of this province and provide support to relocate us out of

harm's way.

Mr.

Speaker, I've spoken to this before. It remains an ongoing issue. We remain very

concerned that while this report has been done now for some two years, we have

yet to see meaningful progress in terms of reading the report and following it.

This winter has been particularly severe. We are facing extreme ice conditions.

I would suggest that here we go again, Speaker, with river roulette. Will we

again have a flood this year that could be as serious as what we faced in 2017?

The residents really have no option.

I know

there are other communities within flood zones in this province; however, each

and every other one of them, you can get in your vehicle and drive. The option

out of Mud Lake is to be helicoptered out by basket under a very stressful, very

tense and very dangerous condition. There is no option for Mud Lake. So we

really need support.

commend the citizens and residents that are most affected. They have stepped

forward and said we need this government to listen. I'm going to keep speaking

to it. Nothing has changed, Speaker. Mud Lake and adjacent communities remain

available and willing to sit down and talk to government about helping them get

out of harm's way.

Thank

you very much.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Climate Change.

B. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

thank the hon. Member for the petition.

I did

tour the area up there with the hon. Member last year, I think, it was. I did

see some of the impacts that were there. That's why we put in place a

world-class water monitoring system; that's why we've done that. Obviously,

there have been disaster mitigation funds that have already been dispensed in

some of these cases.

We have

to look at all options on the table. I know that's what we've done when we

visited those individuals before, and we're going to continue to provide that

first top-notch service of water monitoring and flood monitoring up there.

That's what we're going to continue to do as a government and committed to that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

J. DWYER:

Thank you, Speaker.

These

are the reasons for this petition:

The

rising cost of fuel is having a dramatic effect on our truck drivers here in our

province. The drivers are finding it increasingly difficult to pay their bills,

maintain their machines and pay for ever-increasing fuel costs. This means that,

for many, they must spend more time on the road, with smaller margins of

survival and, for those with families, more time away from their homes.

Therefore, we petition the hon. House of Assembly as follows: To urge the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to consider a fuel rebate for truckers

so that they can continue to supply those essential services to many

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that depend on them each day.

These

are the very people that kept our economy going when everything else was shut

down and now they're being impacted the hardest. This is in no way, shape or

form affiliated with the convoy in Ottawa or anything like that, but I did want

to take a different approach in that I wanted to listen to the people and I

wanted to talk to them.

This is

signed by actual truck drivers. This is not going out and getting signatures

from three or four of your buddies or whatever type of thing. This is actual

real people that are really impacted by this. And, like I said, I think it's

incumbent on this government to recognize the people that kept our economy going

when nobody else could. They took risks. They took chances. Now we have to

support them. I think it's time that we give them some kind of rebate or some

kind of tax break on maintaining their trucks.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber - Bay of Islands.

E. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

stand on a petition concerning cataract surgeries in Western Newfoundland.

The background to the petition is as follows:

WHEREAS

there are approximately 750 to 800 people – mainly seniors – who are on a

wait-list for cataract surgery in Western Newfoundland; and

WHEREAS

it will take almost 14 months for these seniors to have the procedure carried

out; and

WHEREAS

many of these seniors had their driver's licences suspended, they can't read the

instructions on their medication properly, they can't read a book or watch TV

due to cataract problems affecting their eyesight, which is having an impact on

their quality of life in their later years; and

WHEREAS

a one-time allotment of funds will eliminate the wait-list for cataract surgery

in Western Newfoundland and Labrador and give these seniors, and others awaiting

surgery, a better quality of life which they deserve;

THEREFORE we petition the House of Assembly as follows: We, the undersigned,

call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and

Labrador to provide the necessary funding required to carry out these

life-changing surgeries in a timely manner.

Mr.

Speaker, I stand here today as I have been talking about this issue now the last

four, five or six months about the cataract surgery –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

E. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, this goes right

from Southern Labrador, right out to Baie Verte area to Grand Falls. A lot of

Northern Peninsula still go to Corner Brook, a lot of the Bay of Islands and in

the Premier's own district.

Mr.

Speaker, I noticed today – and I'm not arguing about the funding that's been

announced today. I think it's great funding. Not enough, but it's good funding.

I'm not disputing it. But we can find $20 million today, we found $5 million to

do studies to see what assets and we can't find $1.3 million so we could take

care of 700 to 800 people – mainly seniors – in Western Newfoundland.

We heard

in the media the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association commenting about

the wait-list for surgeries. There are no times available, Mr. Speaker, to get

these surgeries done at the Corner Brook hospital. The Stephenville hospital is

not even operating for cataract surgery. There's no time available.

I urge

the Liberal government that I was a part of that we're supposed to take care of

the most vulnerable. There's no one more vulnerable than seniors who can't see.

I urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, my former colleagues, help

out these seniors. For the money that's going to be spent, it will give a

quality of life. It will eliminate the backlog. It will eliminate the wait-list

one that's in Corner Brook and Western Newfoundland. I urge the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador to do the seniors a favour and give them back their

eyesight.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Ferryland.

L. O'DRISCOLL:

Thank you, Speaker.

The

background to this petition is as follows:

Eastern

Health has recently repositioned one of the ambulances from the Trepassey area

to the Cape Broyle area. This has left only one ambulance in the Trepassey area.

Residents of Trepassey and the surrounding area are at least two hours from the

nearest hospital.

Therefore, we petition the House of Assembly as follows: We, the undersigned,

call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and

ambulance in a time of emergency by repositioning a second ambulance back into

the Trepassey area to ensure the safety and well-being of local residents and

meet the national standard for response times.

Speaker,

I spoke on this a number of times in the last session. We are getting numerous

calls regarding ambulances in the district. Up in Trepassey area, they're two

hours to the nearest hospital. Once one ambulance is gone, they're in a red

alert stage at that time. It's not acceptable that we don't have a second

ambulance in there.

The

ambulance that did move to Cape Broyle has been down there probably four or five

months. A couple of incidents we've had in the last little while, the ambulance

down there have not even been manned. We have one ambulance gone and the

gentleman that has an issue, calling for an ambulance, and looking through his

window one minute away and can't get an ambulance. It is not acceptable, in this

day and age, that you can look at two ambulances and they're not being manned,

The

minister should step up and look at the owners of these ambulance services and

make them accountable to get this back in order the way it should be.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Torngat Mountains.

L. EVANS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We, the

undersigned, are concerned citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador who urge our

leaders to ensure that the high school students of Labrador will not have to

continue to sacrifice their in-class lecture time in order to attend CDLI

courses online.

Our

Labrador students are burdened with the loss of Atlantic time slots, which is

our local Labrador time zone. A decision that was made to offer all CDLI online

courses in Newfoundland time slots only.

We feel

that this is unacceptable and this decision was made without ensuring Labrador

students would have to sacrifice their in-class lecture time in order to attend

these CDLI courses.

This is

unacceptable because Labrador students are forced to leave their in-class

lectures 30 minutes early to attend the CDLI online courses and arrive 30

minutes late for their next in-class lecture.

As our

students' reliance on distance education grows, we fear that having to juggle

two schedules and losing important class time will deter many Labrador students

from enrolling. Our Northern Labrador students are already burdened with slow

internet speeds averaging approximately 0.2 Mbps to 1.9 Mbps. We feel the

additional burden of sacrificing one hour of class time for each CDLI course is

not acceptable and must be addressed.

Mr.

Speaker, this is not the first time I read this petition, but what really

okay to make these changes, forcing our Labrador students to leave their

in-class courses 30 minutes before the course was done to attend CDLI courses.

Then, when they finish the CDLI online course, arrive for their next in-class 30

minutes late.

That is

a huge burden. As our reliance on online courses grows, it is going to actually

jeopardize our students' academic careers. When you look at what courses are

offered online, the CDLI courses, all the math, all the science courses, the

academic courses that people need to pursue university courses and programs in

their future is basically going to be eliminated.

Not only

that, what I fear on the North Coast of Labrador is students are actually going

to be forced not to take these courses and stick with their in class because

there is too much of a burden and I don't think that is right. I would like the

minister to actually address this petition.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask leave to start the debate on Interim Supply.

SPEAKER:

Is leave granted?

I hear

no opposition.

The hon.

the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I wish

to inform the House that I have received a message from Her Honour, the

Lieutenant-Governor.

SPEAKER:

All rise.

Lieutenant-Governor for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I transmit a

request to appropriate sums required for the Public Service of the province for

the year ending 31 March 2023, by way of Interim Supply, and in accordance with

the provisions of sections 54 and 90 of the

Constitution Act, 1867 , I recommend

this request to the House of Assembly.

Sgd.:__________________________

Lieutenant-Governor

Please

be seated.

The hon.

the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Speaker, I move, seconded by

the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL, that the message, together

with a bill, be referred to a Committee of Supply.

SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

I do now the leave the Chair for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of

Supply to consider the said bill.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on Supply,

the Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the

Whole

CHAIR (Warr):

Order, please!

We are

considering the related resolution and Bill 45,

An Act Granting To Her Majesty

Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For

The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2023 And For Other Purposes Relating To The

Public Service.

Resolution

it resolved by the House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as

follows:

“That it

is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her Majesty

for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial year

ending March 31, 2023 the sum of $2,754,562,200.”

CHAIR:

Shall the resolution carry?

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury

Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

Today we

introduce the Interim Supply bill. The Interim Supply bill is required to be

passed by the House of Assembly to continue ongoing operations for the period

from April 1, 2022, to June 30, 2022, or while budget 2022 and the associated

main supply bill is being introduced, debated and approved by the Legislature.

The

total amount is $2,754,562,200 and this legislation will need to be passed by

the House of Assembly and receive Royal Assent by the Lieutenant-Governor by

March 22, 2022, in order to meet payroll, Income Support and other expenditures

effective April 1, 2022.

The

Interim Supply bill represents approximately 30 per cent of the 2021-2022

budgeted current and capital account gross expenditures and it is based on

allocations approved during Budget 2021 ,

which was approved by the House of Assembly in June of 2021.

Government operations include payroll, Income Support and other expenditure

obligations such as the calling and awarding of tenders, as well as annual

contractual obligations that must be encumbered, pursuant to the

Financial Administration Act .

Allow me

to give you some of the expenditures that this money will help fund. For

example, for Transportation and Infrastructure, this is to get an early start to

summer maintenance; snow and ice control; awarding of the sand and salt tenders;

purchase orders for winter contracts; to encumber funding for ferry operations;

leased accommodations; vehicles supplies; fuel expenditures; and to set up

contract agreements for a variety of contracted services.

For

Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, it will be for the silviculture program,

for example, which is front-loaded at the beginning of the field season; for the

Office of the Chief Information Officer, to encumber portion of the maintenance

commitments; for Immigration, Population Growth and Skills, for a large portion

of the grant program and the Labour Market Development Agreement, employment

development program, workforce development program, youth and student services,

employment assistance programs. For example, in Children, Seniors and Social

Development, there's a substantial number of early grants that require payment

in the first quarter and expected monthly expenditures for child welfare

services.

Those

are some of the expenditures that this Interim Supply bill helps to fund. The

Interim Supply bill will have no incremental impact on government's financial

position in 2022-23 beyond what will be included in budget 2022. As mentioned

previously, the total allocation for the Interim Supply, April 1 to June 30, is

$2,754,562,200.

Why do

we need this amount? Well, it's based on the 2021 numbers. The Interim Supply

bill accounts for approximately, as I said, 30 per cent of the 2021-22 original

budget figures. The base amount of Interim Supply is calculated on funding for

seven pay periods or 25 per cent – three of the 12 months – of all other

expenditures. And not as simple as just dividing the dollar figure by the number

of months. Nothing is simple in finance. Departments make adjustments after the

original calculation to account for items that are required in the first

quarter.

Spending

requirements vary and are based on what part of the year we are working with and

the type of expenditure. For example, if a department enters into a contract to

spend funding, they must encumber or set aside the total value of that contract.

So they would need the total amount included in Interim Supply. Interim Supply

is required to provide funding for the additional three months so that normal

operations can occur while budget 2022-2023 is being debated in the House of

Assembly.

The

majority of funding for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure

comes upfront because they need funding available to enter into infrastructure

agreements. Other departments need to encumber funds to allow for contractual

commitments as well. In this three-month period, the highest amounts can be

attributed to health care; it is always the highest level of expenditure, which

is quite normal; Transportation and Infrastructure, the highest percentage of

budget required in Interim Supply to enter into contracts, large-scale

infrastructure projects; and Education, the second highest level of expenditure

next to Health.

should be noted that Interim Supply does not have any incremental impacts;

again, I say this, on the province's financial position beyond what will be

included in budget 2022. It is simply an advance on funding for the upcoming

budget. It allows government to continue normal, day-to-day operations while we

rigorously debate the new budget. As has been said, the budget date is Thursday,

April 7, so a mere three weeks away.

When

budget 2022 is approved, whenever that date is that the budget is approved, the

amount allocated through Interim Supply will be deducted from that amount

required through the main Supply bill.

I think

that pretty much covers off what we're doing here this afternoon. I could answer

specific questions if you wish on some of the items that are included. The

breakdown that's included as I've said and indicated, the majority is for

Health; second, Education; third, Transportation and Infrastructure. These are

the largest expenditures and then you get into Municipal Affairs, for example.

conclusion, Interim Supply keeps our dedicated public service who deliver all of

government services paid and working, supporting their families and contributing

to the local communities. It allows us to continue operation as we have rigorous

and solid debate here on the budget for 2022-23, which is set to be released on

Thursday, April 7.

With

that, Chair, I conclude my remarks and take my place. I look forward to hearing

remarks from Members opposite and will certainly take the opportunity to speak

again, as necessary.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

Thank you.

The hon.

the Member for Grand Fall-Windsor - Buchans.

C. TIBBS:

Thank you, Chair.

I'm

going to talk about how we can better service the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador through this House of Assembly. I'm going to start out by saying, I

just watched my colleague from Placentia West - Bellevue give a petition and the

Minister of Finance, I'm sure she was busy for a moment, but afterwards she came

over and took that time to talk to him about it. That is great communication.

Kudos to the Minister of Finance for that, because it's much appreciated when

there's a petition put in there.

Chair,

one of the greatest books I have ever read in my life was

The Last Lecture . It follows a professor of Carnegie Mellon

University in Pittsburgh, Randy Pausch, that was given a terminal diagnosis, but

his perspective was absolutely inspirational.

One

portion of his beautiful journey was when he discussed his views on leadership,

which is very important in any sector. Randy was asked who he admired as a great

leader and his answer may surprise most of us here. He said Captain Kirk from

Star Trek . I'm going to explain why.

When he

was asked why, he went on to say Captain Kirk wasn't the smartest, he wasn't the

hardest working; couldn't give medical advice like Bones could, couldn't fix

anything like Scotty could, couldn't fly the Enterprise like Sulu and didn't

have the battle cry as Mr. Spock. This is important.

What did

he have? What he did have was humility and the honesty to realize his

weaknesses. More importantly, he knew how to use the people around him and the

attributes that they possess. The team, he realized he had access to and the

knowledge to use those people, along with available resources to get the job

done right, that's what made him a great leader.

Mr.

Chair, I have seen some great leaders in my lifetime. I've served with them;

I've seen them. Often without title, just great work ethic, the ability to

listen and a moral compass. Though we have all earned the right to call

ourselves leaders, I don't represent all of Newfoundland and Labrador, the

leaders of the Opposition parties do not represent all of Newfoundland and

Labrador and I can assure you the Premier does not represent all of Newfoundland

and Labrador.

You see,

Chair, 40 of us collectively represent Newfoundland and Labrador. A great leader

will recognize this and then run with it. The first leader I see do this from

the eighth floor, by God I'd follow to the ends of the earth and back again to

help the people of my province. Unfortunately, we haven't seen it yet. I don't

believe we will any time soon and that's my opinion.

The

communication from the current Premier about issues that truly affect people is

close to non-existent and that is shameful from this side of the House. I want

to make it clear before I go any further, Chair, this stigma the current Premier

has established does not hold true for all ministers. I have worked very well

with ministers on the opposite side of this House.

The

Minister of Justice not too long ago took my call and called me back right away.

Fantastic to see. The Minister of Energy has always been there whenever I needed

him for anything and it is much appreciated. The Minister of Environment, same

thing. Yes, Chair, even my counterpart, the Minister of Immigration, not to blow

the head up too much, but I tell you what, for the past year that I have been

his counterpart, he has always been accessible. We have to tell you from this

side, we appreciate the ministers from that side helping us with our issues. It

is much appreciated.

This is

not to say that we all agree on everything, but when I reached out to these

ministers about issues important to me and my district, they were only too happy

to work with me because it is the right thing to do. They recognize that and it

needs to be recognized.

I am

very active in my district and my constituents ask the same question I ask: How

can the Premier of the province preach to us about fiscal restraint and

responsibility and then open an office in Grand Falls-Windsor that is

unnecessary which will give his buddy a very lucrative paycheque?

When the

current Premier was first elected I scheduled a meeting with him to discuss the

issues of my district and the province and to let him know that I am available

24 hours a day, seven days a week, here are the numbers you can reach me at any

time. The Premier has called me once in the year and a half that he's been in

his position. That's not good enough.

I wasn't

informed about the change of the name of Red Indian Lake until it was brought

here to the floor of the House of Assembly. A failure in communication.

I have

been asking about the long-term care centre in Grand Falls-Windsor and have been

ignored. By doing this, the Premier and the Minister of Transportation and

Infrastructure doesn't just disrespect me, you disrespect the seniors and their

families desperately seeking simple, simple answers.

This

prompted, after many inquiries, for me to write the following email to

government: As leader, I am pleading with you to please reach inside your

departments and deal with the failure of communication that continues to make

issues more difficult than they need to be. For weeks, I have gone to the

Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to get answers in regard to the

status and delayed opened of the long-term care centre in Grand Falls-Windsor. I

was told it would be open in the not-too-distant future. As of last week, after

my inquiry, I have not received any response. This is not good enough.

As an

MHA, I, too, deserve to be here and work on behalf of my constituents. I, too,

deserve the respect of proper communication from your minister's department. To

be ignored and pushed off is an insult to my position and an insult to the

constituents of Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

I want

to be clear, this does not hold true for all ministers and departments, as I

know many work hard and have worked very well with me, but on this issue, it's

absolutely unacceptable.

There

are very worried families throughout my district who want answers as they make

long-term arrangements for their loved ones. There are 40 MHAs that represent

Newfoundland and Labrador; we all deserve the courtesy of clear communication.

Could anyone please give me an update on when this project will be complete and

ready for occupancy? Mr. Chair, do you know how many responses I got from that

email? Zero, goose egg, none.

A few

people have asked what my problem is with the Premier opening an office in Grand

Falls-Windsor. My response is this: I know the issues in my district and at any

time, the Premier and his team can reach out to me and work with me to address

these issues. Nobody has ever reached out to take full advantage of the

resources that exist in my office, and they are abundant, trust me.

I'm a

rotational oil and gas worker of 17 years that represents so many blue-collared

men and women, personally. Not once have I ever been asked: How can we keep

rotational workers right here at home?

The

biggest problem I have with this office and taxpayers' dollars paying for it is

priorities.

I have

seniors who have to stay in bed while they wait for their home care worker to

arrive so they can go to the washroom. Why? Because their home hours were cut,

fiscal responsibility. Everybody takes for granted you can get up at 3 o'clock

in the morning and go pee. These people can't because their home hours are cut.

Now we have to swallow another office at taxpayers' dollars being opened up for

no reason at all.

If we

are to open another office, might I recommend an office to support the mental

health pandemic that we see so another mother like Andrea Woodford doesn't have

to bury her young son after he took his life. It's raw but it's real. Perhaps a

person to deal with seniors, as Jean Stuckless heats up one room in her house

and wears a blanket through the other rooms to stay warm. It's raw and it's

real. Maybe hire on a veteran to talk to other veterans that we are so proud of,

and a veterans' affairs office, a small branch of government. There are enough

veterans out there and they've served our country well.

There

are so many more options that could have been chosen to actually help the people

of the province; far better options than setting up your buddy and ensuring he

has a paycheque.

If the

intention was admirable and truly to help the people of the province, a great

leader would set up a meeting to say here are the roles of the office and I want

everyone to work together to ensure the initiative doesn't get lost. Instead,

more division has now been created in a time where we should all be working

together.

I am

very disappointed and embarrassed to work with a Premier who believes this is

the path forward. When, in fact, it is the path to failure once again.

If we

are to be successful here in Newfoundland and Labrador, we must recognize there

are 40 leaders and we must work together. If you cannot see this then maybe you

shouldn't be sitting here today.

I have

faith that one day a leader will emerge that will know how to communicate and

utilize 40 personalities in this House. Then, and only then, will our beautiful

province see the light of a brighter future, a future full of pride and

prosperity and the fundamental shift in politics will be the change this

province has missed for so many years. When egos and arrogance are replaced with

humility and sacrifice, people will believe we are doing the right thing for the

province and not just ourselves nor our parties; something I will continue to

commit to.

Mr.

Chair, might I suggest, if we do receive Ukrainian refugees to Canada, and we

are lucky enough to have them right here in Newfoundland and Labrador, I would

suggest that all 40 Members be there when these Ukrainian refuges come. No

lights. No cameras. Not even a shirt and tie. Let's go down, roll up our sleeves

and help wherever we can. United as one. The way it should be in many occasions.

The

announcement today by government, hopefully, will help some people.

Unfortunately, it does not address those blue-collar workers, those moms and

dads that get up and work 40, 50 or 60 hours a week .They're not fighting and

working for a second vacation. They're fighting and working to put food on their

table. They're just making ends meet.

Somewhere along the line, there was a breakdown because if you work that hard

you should be comfortable. Unfortunately, they're not. They're just surviving

like everybody else. We can look back through the years and we can talk about so

many things that got us to this point, but what we need now is a unified

government that can push forward and help the people of the province; help those

hard-working men and women; give them some relief. If we do not find relief for

these people, they will leave. They will go to other provinces. They'll go to

other countries.

As the

pandemic starts to wind down, we see so many other countries opening their

doors, inviting people in, trying to find the incentives to get people to come

to their country. What are our incentives? Come here and there's a four to five

chance that you might get a doctor. That's not good enough. That's not gong to

bring anybody here to Newfoundland and Labrador.

We have,

on average, about 17,000 or 18,000 rotational workers here. What keeps them

here? We have to ask ourselves that question. I have the answer. What kept me

here? What kept me here was a province I was proud of; I knew that I could make

a living in. I enjoyed taking the money back from the West to Newfoundland and

Labrador and putting every cent back in this province, the way most rotational

workers like to do it.

enjoyed my time up there, but make no mistake: I could have saved an awful lot

of money by staying up there and I chose to stay home. We need to look at a plan

to keep people here, to keep these young families here. That is our tax base.

That is what is paying for our most vulnerable and our seniors, and that's the

way it should be. We are all going to be there one day. We should ensure that

there is going to be social programs for us, that there is going to be food on

the table and there is going to be heat in our house. Unfortunately, for so

many, it is not there right now, and that is unfortunate. It will turn people

away from this province.

Somebody

wrote me today about the sugar tax. This is their quote, and I have never agreed

with the sugar tax and I don't now. They said: I don't need the Liberal

government planning my nutrition and my grocery list. We don't need more taxes

here, and taxes are hard to get rid of. As we impose these taxes, it is going to

deter more and more people. As other provinces work hard to give their citizens

a relief, whether it be at the pump or in the grocery store, we have seen it in

many provinces throughout Canada over the past couple weeks here.

One

other thing before I sit and take my place: cabin owners. I have gentleman who

owns a cabin in my district right now; he's been there since 1981. The Crown is

asking him to move his cabin at a cost to himself. There has to be some other

way of doing this. A cabin that has been there for over 40 years, almost 45

years, he is being asked to move it on his own dime. What do you think that man

is going to do? Because he cannot get any common sense over policy.

Thank

you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR:

Thank you.

The

Chair recognizes the Member for Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is

weird standing again, but it is all good.

We're

doing Interim Supply and we have a lot of issues in Labrador West. Our biggest

thing now that we see is that we have grown, but we have grown differently in

the last number of years. We have more and more seniors now staying in the

community. At one time when you go to Labrador West, you work your 30-plus

years, then you have your house back in the community that you originated from

and then you go and retire there. That is not a thing anymore; that is long gone

by the wayside.

We are

now into generation four in Labrador West. There are four generations of people

living in that community. One individual just turned 96. She's been there since

basically day one; 96 years old, still living in the community, still driving:

Mrs. Stamp. She has her kids still living there, her grandkids and her

great-grandkids and potentially great-great grandkids soon. This is the kind of

community we have now.

But if

Mrs. Stamp wants to go live in some sort of Level 2, Level 3 assisted living or

– we don't have that in Labrador West. If she chose to do something like that,

we don't have anything like that in Lab West, and that's very concerning because

we want to grow and continue to develop as a community. We're not a camp; we're

a permanent community. These are the things that seniors are looking for.

We have

a massive lack of (inaudible). What home care workers are typically paid in this

province doesn't match up to the massive cost of living in Labrador West. Right

now, the average price for a home in Labrador West is $240,000. These are 50-

and 60-year-old homes who are now going for more than some houses of the same

age in the City of St. John's.

Someone

working in home care or anything like that just can't afford it. Average rent

costs now are over $1,000 a month. Someone on minimum wage or even up to $80,000

a year just can't afford rent in Labrador West, and good luck finding a place to

rent right now because there's just nowhere to go. We are in a crunch in the

region.

I do

want to thank the Minister of CSSD and the Minister of Labrador Affairs who did

listen and did put the funds – they did say that they were going to do it, and

they did it. We are going to get some of the NL Housing units fixed. That's a

help, but we're still not right there where we need to be when it comes to

actual rentals in the private market.

A lot of

the market developers we do talk to are afraid to invest in Labrador West.

They're terrified to invest in Labrador West because they're afraid of the

resource bust. As much as we want to assure them that IOC has operated 365 days

a year since 1954 and has never stopped production, they're still scared to

invest in the region. I think that's something that the government needs to look

into is how do we reassure developers that this economy and this region is here

to stay. We've produced iron since 1954. We have the opportunity to do that.

So this

is where we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, or should I say a piece of

iron ore and a hard place. We need to reassure the market that building a house

in Labrador West or developing there or opening an apartment building is a

feasible thing to do, and this is where we need to step in and help with that.

I know

one community said if they were given the right access to appropriate funds that

they would build the street, they would build the sidewalks and they would put

the water and sewer in. All the developer would have to do is put up the houses.

And that's something that we really need a serious look at is kind of just to

give that bump in the housing market so that people who are in the private

business can actually build an apartment building, build some townhouses or

something like that. We're in such a rock and a hard place.

I spoke

with teachers in Labrador West recently too. They're having a hard time

recruiting into the region – a very hard time recruiting in the region. The

biggest thing is that they can't afford rent or can't find anywhere to rent. So

they're turning down jobs up there and it's putting a big burden on the schools

in Labrador West. We're missing IRTs. We're missing resource workers. We're

missing just regular workers, regular teachers.

They're

having a hard time getting a French Immersion teacher and they're also having a

hard time getting a math and physics teacher in the high school because anyone

who applied or wanted the job couldn't find anywhere to live. So this is

becoming a serious issue we have is just the recruitment and retention of

everyone that's not in the mining industry: nurses, doctors, auxiliary workers

in hospitals, teachers, IRTs. We just can't recruit and retain these people

because we just don't have anywhere for them to live.

This is

actually causing economic issues because now we have people considering leaving

the region from the mining industry because they just have no access to services

or they're missing teachers, they're missing nurses, lab techs. We're missing

all these people because they just can't find anywhere to live in the region.

And it's such a burden that they're facing because they're not making the same

wages as mineworkers. They just can't compete with it and they are just being

priced out of the market completely.

I had my

assessment on my house that I purchased. I live in a single level mini home.

When I bought it, it was $68,000. Now it's valued at over $200,000. My wife

would never agree that it was worth that much because I have a list of things

that need to be done but, at the same time, it's just an exorbitant cost because

I live on a postage stamp. I think my piece of land and my house is smaller than

this House of Assembly.

So, you

know, this is the thing that we're (inaudible). The market is so overheated

right now. It's pricing completely people out of the market and we just cant get

teachers, doctors, nurses, anyone there because they just have nowhere for them

to live. If we can't provide these services, it's just going to download onto

other issues and we're just going to be spiralling out. It's great, but we just

don't have any developers who are interested in building right now, we just

don't have any interest in that way and we need to do something to actually

bring in these groups so we can actually grow and expand. The newest census

right now, Labrador West grew by 4,000 people since the last census – 4,000 more

people live in Labrador West now. That's wonderful, that's fantastic, but most

of them have nowhere to live.

We could

have the potential to grow even bigger as the market continues to want

Labrador's high-grade iron ore. We're just stuck here that we can't grow, we

can't expand and we can't live up to our full potential. We should be living up

to our full potential. That includes our seniors, that includes newcomers and

that includes everybody that makes Labrador West the wonderful place that it is.

I want to see more people moving to Labrador West and I want to see the

community grow, but if I have nowhere to house them, it becomes a big issue. I

really hope we have a serious look at how we can improve housing, not just

social housing, but just housing in general in this region so that if Labrador

West prospers, the entire province prospers.

That's

the thing. It's a steady hand. We've been at it since 1954. We've been mining in

this region. We continue to have massive outcomes. We're looking 40, 50 years in

the future of iron ore reserves left. So we're not going anywhere. We're not a

camp; we're a community. We're a big community and we're very proud of our

community. That's why we have seniors who want to stay and we have our youth

that don't want to leave and want to continue to work in the industries there

because we've just built such a wonderful community that has a heart and a soul

and everything like that. But we just want some attention brought and something

done to help make sure that people could afford to live there, have a roof over

their head and a good-paying job and to make sure that they have the services

that everyone else gets, and we'd like to have them too.

Thank

you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR:

Thank you.

The

Chair recognizes the hon. the Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and

Skills.

G. BYRNE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Chair.

You

stand where you sit, but you sit where you stand. I want to say a thank you to

you and to Members of the House for this, the opening day of the spring session.

Wonderful to be here to debate and discuss Interim Supply.

Now,

Interim Supply, of course, as we understand, just affords the government the

latitude to be able to continue on that which it's already doing. It's not for

new initiatives; it's for the continuation of government.

So with

that said, I'm very pleased to highlight some of the things that the Department

of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills are doing to advance the

government's agenda to continue on with some of the great work, particularly as

it relates to population growth.

Mr.

Chair, population growth is intricately tied to immigration, but it's not

exclusively tied to immigration. Of course, the greatest challenge that our

province faces, the underlying cause of population decline has been, not only

out-migration but also, of course, comparison of birth rate versus fecundity;

fecundity in terms of birth rate versus death rate. We have far, far too many

people passing away compared to the number of young children, births, that are

occurring in our province. In fact, it's getting close to two to one.

Mr.

Chair, one of the things that I would say, if there is a path or course that the

government is taking that I'm sure the entire Chamber, the House of Assembly,

would echo it should continue to advance, it is the initiatives within

Immigration, Population Growth and Skills. We have really targeted resources

towards immigration, in particular, to take on the population decline, to

advance population growth and it is succeeding. In fact, Mr. Chair, as I've

announced earlier, for the last three consecutive quarters, the population of

Newfoundland and Labrador has, for the very first time in many, many years,

grown.

This is

quite an accomplishment, not just in and of itself but it's occurred over three

consecutive quarters. From a statistical analysis point of view, from a

demographer's point of view, having three consecutive quarters is enough of a

time series and a data pattern to be able to indicate a positive correlation, a

positive trend and that's what we have.

Mr.

Chair, one of the things that I would highlight to the Chamber in advancing this

Interim Supply, you will be advancing money for population growth for advancing

immigration. You'll be advancing resources to be able to continue on with the

work of the Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism. You'll be advancing

money to make sure that our work on supporting refugees and newcomers to our

province is supported. You'll also be advancing things, which are inherently

important to each and every one of us, which is the economic well-being of our

province.

It goes

without saying that immigration – well, it needs to be said, I began by saying

it goes without saying. The truth is that some may disagree but they would be, I

would argue, ill informed with their position. It goes without saying, it should

be said over and over again, that immigration supports economic growth.

Immigrants bring jobs. Immigrants help us maintain existing jobs. They support

businesses in our community that have already created jobs and will continue to

create jobs.

We have

seen through the labour market crunch many positions in the labour market that

have gone unfilled using local job market searches. They have been able to be

filled by newcomers. New skills have been brought into the province that would

otherwise go unfilled.

Mr.

Chair, it is important to recognize that we spend over $150 million a year

supporting the skilling up of the Newfoundland and Labrador workforce. We

provide over $150 million on skills development, on apprenticeship development

and on training opportunities. That is above and beyond – that $150 million

figure does not include the supports to Memorial University of Newfoundland or

the College of the North Atlantic. We really do a deliberate and intentional and

successful effort in skilling up the Newfoundland and Labrador workforce.

But, of

course, there are times when the labour market still does not provide all of the

resources and the skills that are required for each and every job. So that is

where immigration really plays a major role. We have had great successes in our

immigration. In fact, this past year, 2021, in the middle of a global pandemic,

our province realized the highest-ever permanent residency nominations in our

history as a province.

In fact,

the number of permanent residency applications we forwarded to Ottawa under our

Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program and our Provincial Nominee Program, the

number of nominations that we forwarded last year – well, to put it in a

comparative term, we did more nominations in one week last year than was

performed in the entire calendar year of 2007. So that really speaks to how much

we have embraced immigration, acted on immigration and we are succeeding in

immigration.

In fact,

we have a target of 5,100 newcomers to our province, per year, by 2026. We have

already exceeded our targets and expect that global target of 5,100 to not only

be met but, at this pace, we anticipate we may be justified in rearranging that

target and increasing it before the 2026 time frame.

So that

is encouraging news, but I also want to recognize that we have incredible

academic institutions, post-secondary training institutions and trades programs

in our province that we support on a regular basis. This is what we will be

voting for. This is what the House will be reconciling with Interim Supply. We

really encourage everyone to become fully aware of what is happening.

On the

critical issue of Ukraine, many have asked and done so with great heart: When

can we expect to see Ukrainians in Newfoundland and Labrador? Mr. Chair, the

situation in Ukraine or the refugee movement for Ukraine is very different from

what we've seen in other refugee designations or situations. For example, in the

Syrian or Afghan refugee designations and movement to Canada, this was a

situation that was designated by the United Nations Refugee Agency; it was

followed by Canada.

Canada

designated which refugees would come to our country. They provided the

transportation for the refugees to come to Canada. When landed in Canada, Canada

then parcelled out or positioned the refugees throughout all of Canada based on

who was willing and interested and able to take them, which provinces were able

to do so. Then, of course, Canada provided for many supports, whether it be

income, housing, resettlement, language training and other things, but, most

importantly, provided immediate permanent residency upon arrival in Canada.

With the

situation in Ukraine, it's different. At this point in time Canada has announced

that it's prepared to offer a special visa to Ukrainians, those holders of

Ukraine passports, to grant a special visa allowing them entry into Canada for

two years and with a two-year work permit attached. After that, of course, the

visa would expire. So there is no permanent residency that Canada is, at this

point in time, providing; nor are they providing a designation as a refugee; nor

are they providing the transport; nor are they providing the supports after they

arrive. That would be subject to the refugee and their family themselves to

provide their own basic supports.

What I

can report to you, Mr. Chair, is that, as you can be assured, Newfoundland and

Labrador will be standing tall and providing whatever additional supports that

we can, as it's needed. We will be reaching out directly to Ukrainians to

support them in their time of need. Newfoundland and Labrador stands with

Ukraine.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

Thank you.

The hon.

the Member for Cape St. Francis.

J. WALL:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is

indeed good to be back in this hon. House and to see everybody again. Well, to

see most of you again, most of you for sure.

I have

to say to the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board as she gave

notice of motion to the bills earlier, you're going to be busy, Madam, and so

are your staff. I'm glad that we are here to discuss those bills and go forward.

Again, it's a pleasure to speak to Interim Supply.

Mr.

Chair, over the last number of months I can assure you that I've spoken to many

of my constituents, many people that I've known all my life, that I hold dear

and give great respect to those people, but I can tell you people of my district

are struggling. I know my district is not alone. We have 40 districts

represented in this hon. House and I know that everyone is feeling it over this

last number of days and number of months.

When you

look at the average blue-collar worker and those people, an important generation

that is here who are working, who are paying taxes, who are helping to keep our

province afloat; we need to be mindful of those people as well. I know the

announcement that came out today does help a certain portion of our population

but we can't forget about others. We're all struggling no doubt about it.

When I

get a phone call from a constituent who I've known for 40-plus years and those

people who I hold in high regard are crying on the phone, don't know what

they're going to do; a family of four, two parents working, have to park one of

their vehicles and take the insurance off that vehicle because they can't afford

to operate it. When they have to take their children out of their recreation and

extracurricular activities because they can't afford to pay for that at the end

of the month, then we have an issue.

We have

many people who are struggling no doubt about it. We need to keep that first and

foremost in our minds here in this hon. House as we make the decisions. As our

leader has said, collaboratively we can work together, no doubt about it. I'm

open for that. Of course, the people on the opposite side who know me know that

I'm here to do that as well.

We need

to keep in mind all the concerns that they have, the cost of living, rising fuel

costs, the choices that people have to make day to day.

My hon.

colleague from Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans said earlier with respect to

heating one room in your house, that's been said to me many times. I'm finding

it difficult, Mr. Chair, to listen to these people over and over again, because

it hits right to the heart. These are people that we know and respect and you

don't think that they're in that predicament or in that situation. But I can

assure you that I'm hearing it from my constituents. I'm helping them whatever

way I can. Please God that we will all get through this.

When you

look at the many seniors in our districts, as was said earlier about the

pandemic, who've come this through this last two years, no doubt, they're

feeling the effects of it. But you also have to look at the seniors who are

trying to stay in their homes and not being able to afford to do so. They want

the independence of staying in their homes, but many people need an extra level

of care.

I know

one gentleman in my district, at 93 years of age, could not sustain the level of

home care that he needed because there weren't people available to do that work.

And that's been said here earlier with respect to the level of pay for home care

workers, which, as far as I'm concerned, needs to be addressed and the amount of

people that we have in this field. But we have many examples like this gentleman

who cannot get home care and the family, after five and six years of providing

care to the loved ones, they're stressed out and they're physically and

emotionally feeling those effects because we don't have the people to provide

the care to our seniors.

Then

what happens? You have a senior that's medically discharged from the hospital

and waiting for two and three weeks to get a placement into a seniors home. The

last days of their lives – and, my friends, we will all be there, some of us

earlier than others, I can tell you that, but we're all going to be there. It

hits home on a repeated basis, Mr. Chair, when we're looking at what cannot be

provided to the people of the province.

I know

this is not new. This has been a long-standing issue, just on this one alone.

But when we're looking at keeping seniors in their homes, doing what we can for

them, we need to be mindful of what has to be offered to our seniors and to our

loved ones.

I had

the opportunity of joining a seniors' group in Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove

this past week and had wonderful conversations with the people that are there.

Many of them that I've known all my life. When you look at the conversations

that I had with Mrs. Boland or Mrs. Smart or Mrs. Rose and hearing their stories

while sat down having a cup of tea, no doubt causes me to struggle. When you

look at the choices that they are making in their lives, at this point in time,

it causes me to struggle, Mr. Chair.

I have

to say that I'm looking forward to the debate when it's budget time, for

discussion, and to see what's going to be in this budget going forward for

seniors and to provide some relief to them.

On the

opposite end of the spectrum, in part of my outreach to the schools in my

district, I was interviewed by two classes from Cape St. Francis Elementary.

I'll give a shout-out to the Capers in the Town of Pouch Cove.

They had

many questions for me with respect to my role as an MHA and a former municipal

leader, how can I make their lives better. These are children who are very in

tune, Mr. Chair, as to what's going on in their province. They had questions

like: Why can't we have a bigger class size? Why can't we have more teachers?

Why is my teacher in the next room right now? Because teachers are struggling,

as the hon. minister knows, with respect to substitutes and emergency supply, no

doubt about it. It's happening throughout, I'd say, most districts here in this

hon. House.

We all

have to be mindful of what's coming out in this budget. That's why, Madam

Minister, I'm looking forward to the budget coming down to see what is in this,

not only for my constituents, but for the constituents of the 40 districts of

this hon. House.

When we

go through the budget, I'd be remiss to say with respect to transportation and

infrastructure – I can't wait to see what's in there for transportation and

infrastructure because of the state of not only the roads, but the

infrastructure throughout the district. I will be sure to email the liaison and

the executive assistant when it comes to what needs to be done with respect to

transportation and infrastructure in the district.

Mr.

Chair, we have, no doubt, an important job here to do. With the number given by

Madam Minister of $2,754,562,200, that's going to take us up to June 30. That's

not chicken feed; that's major numbers that we're looking at to operate our

corner of the vineyard here in our country. It's something that concerns me. I

know that nothing comes easy, nothing is cheap anymore, and the amount to run

this province, no doubt, is astounding. But we will, I'm sure, look forward to

the debate on the budget.

I'm

looking forward to see what's in the budget for us to discuss it, how it's going

to benefit every Newfoundlander and Labradorian in our beautiful province. We

have to remember each and every demographic here. I'm thankful for what was

announced today; no doubt, it affects a portion of our province who needs help.

But we have to look at the men and women who work day to day and keep their

money here in our province.

colleague mentioned also rotational workers. Very proud of rotational workers in

my district. I have to say – I never thought I was going to say it – my son

Zacharey, at the age of 23, is now a rotational worker in Fort McMurray because

he couldn't find employment here. That hits home around the supper table, Mr.

Chair, I can tell you that. I am proud of him. I am proud of all rotational

workers throughout our province and what they do day to day to keep our province

running.

Again, I

thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to the discussion on the debate on

the budget that is coming up and I thank you for your time and your interest.

Thanks

so much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the hon.

the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.

S. STOODLEY:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am

happy to speak today to Interim Supply, a very important part of the budget

process. I am not envious of the Minister of Finance. She has had many, many

budgets and many, many pieces of legislation. Probably almost as many pieces as

legislation as we do in Digital Government and Service NL, but they are all kind

of at one time of the year. It is a very challenging department, so thank you,

Minister.

I also

think Interim Supply is especially important so that we can guarantee teachers

and health care workers and government employees the reassurance that they are

going to keep getting paid after the end of this month, because I know that is

when the budget year runs out and if, for example, we decided not to bring

forward Interim Supply without having the budget approved, that wouldn't happen.

Approving Interim Supply also gives us ample time to have a fulsome debate about

the budget and go through the Estimates process, which I know we'll do soon. I

think that is very important so that all of our hard-working government

employees know that they'll be getting paid during that time and we can spend

money on very important initiatives like were announced today for the lowest

income residents of the province, Mr. Chair.

I just

want to highlight some of the other initiatives from last year's budget that

were very close to me and the residents of Mount Scio and things that I advocate

for on an ongoing basis. One of them is the Mother Baby Nutrition Supplement. I

wouldn't be eligible but, last year, this government increased that amount of

funding from $60 to $100 a month for people who are pregnant and for kids under

one year of age. This is a significant help, I think, for those on low incomes.

Just to

give everyone an example of some of the costs of having a child, mine is over

one year of age at the moment, but a think of formula that would last a week

would be at least $40. So an increase from $60 to $100 certainly makes a

difference. Any support that we can give to new mothers and new families would

be very important, Mr. Chair.

Another

one that I thought was a great initiative in 2021 was the Physical Activity Tax

Credit. I did my taxes a few weeks ago, Mr. Chair, and I saved my physical

activity receipts and I had some for Alexander as well. We went to The Little

Gym, so we put those in. So I was very pleased with the Physical Activity Tax

Credit and I am getting a little refund from that, so I thank the government and

I think it does a good job.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

S. STOODLEY:

It does a good job in

encouraging – it's just a little push. If you need that extra push to do more

physical activity or engage in a program or for your kids to get into a program,

I think it is a small help that will hopefully push someone to the edge. I know

it doesn't cover everything, but it's an additional tax credit to help show, I

guess, as a government that we hopefully want people to prioritize increased

physical activity.

I think

the Tourism and Hospitality Support Program has been incredibly important to

small businesses, hospitality and tourism industry. In Mount Scio, we have a lot

of hospitality and tourism, restaurants and tourism businesses. I think they

have benefited from these programs throughout the year. That's a very important

program, Mr. Chair.

Another

one from 2021 was the $13 million extra for guidance and administrative support

in schools. I think there was an extra support given – I can't remember the

exact number – for guidance and administration, just acknowledging the

challenging times that schools have had for COVID-19. That was the last two

years of the pandemic, which was, I think, pandemic-specific. I think that that

went a long way to helping residents of the province and schools and families

deal with the extra burden of COVID-19, Mr. Chair.

Another

one from the last year's budget, and I think the budget before that, which is

very important to me and my constituents, the low-income bus pass. As we know,

public transportation is a challenge. It's not ideal; I know that. But helping

people with low income with their transportation costs certainly, I think, helps

them take advantage of things, for example, on sale that they might have at one

grocery store or another and they don't have to worry about the cost of

transportation.

One of

the things that really brought it home to me, Mr. Chair, was during COVID, I had

a constituent who wanted to come see me. I was happy to go visit her or we could

chat on the phone anytime, but she wanted to come see me. At that point, I think

it was just after Snowmageddon when the bus was free. So I remember talking to

her on the phone and she said, I'm so excited to come see you and the bus is

free. She can come see me because she didn't have to pay.

I just

never realized the cost of the bus would be keeping someone from coming to see

their Member of the House of Assembly, if they really wanted to do that. That

was a realization for me of the barriers that I don't think about. I know it's a

barrier. So I am personally advocating for the low-income bus pass and

encouraging that we invest in helping transportation for low-income people, Mr.

Chair.

When

we're thinking about residents of the province, Mr. Chair, I do want to talk

about, just quickly, Muskrat Falls. There's $500 million a year that is going

towards Muskrat Falls that we could be putting towards programs for low-income

residents in the province. I think that is certainly a missed opportunity.

I do

want to recognize the rate mitigation efforts that the Premier has led, meaning

that our light bills will not double. I think people of the province would not

be able to afford that –

AN HON. MEMBER:

I can't hear (inaudible).

S. STOODLEY:

That's okay.

It is a

significant amount that –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

CHAIR:

Order, please!

Thank

you.

S. STOODLEY:

– we're paying to Muskrat Falls to make sure that rates don't dramatically

increase. That's money that we could be building new schools, new hospitals and

implementing the health accord and all these amazing things that we need to do,

but we don't have the money for at the moment.

In terms

of Mount Scio, there are three areas in my district: Elizabeth Park in Paradise,

then we have Kenmount Terrace and the area around the university and the mall.

That's the way I picture it. I've been trying to advocate for different services

for my residents.

One

thing I just realized recently – I thought it would be interesting to share in

this House – is Kenmount Terrace has grown significantly in the last 20 years.

When I went to university not that long ago, Kenmount Terrace didn't exist. It's

just all, kind of, grown since then and now it's the size of Lewisporte. The

City of St. John's has just approved more houses to go in Kenmount Terrace. I

think given the metro and there's not that much extra space, Kenmount Terrace

has seen a significant increase in population. One thing that I do, Mr. Chair,

is advocate for more services for that growing area of the metro region.

I'm also

very excited that in Mount Scio we're very lucky to have the university, the new

adult mental health facility and we have the Health Sciences Centre. Sometimes

when all the health care spending is grouped by district, Mount Scio looks

inappropriately weighted, but it's just because we have the Health Sciences

Centre. We're fortunate to have that in Mount Scio. We're very fortunate that

services for people of Mount Scio are close to home and they don't have to

travel too far, Mr. Chair.

Just to

touch on some of the things in Digital Government and Service NL in terms of the

budget, I know MRD has been a topic of a lot of conversation during this sitting

and since I've been in the department. We're working very hard to make sure that

wait times are going to be improved this year.

One of

the changes that we're making is we're working on allowing people to submit a

photo online. While we're working on that, we've reduced the photo requirements

from 10 years to 15 years. That should alleviate most people who need to get a

photo retaken this coming year. That should alleviate a lot of appointments, Mr.

Chair. So we're hoping to have reduced activity. Of course, we need to

accommodate all the people who want to come in for a new licence plate for Come

Home Year licence plate, or if you have to have a peeling licence plate, you can

come in and get a Come Home Year licence plate at no charge and give us back

your peeling licence plate.

While

we're talking about our department, I'd like to thank the Queen's Printer staff

who will be busy shortly with t