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May 9, 2022

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. L No. 50

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

SPEAKER (Bennett):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

Before

we start today, I'd like to welcome a new page here today. Her name is Amber

Rideout. Amber has just completed a Bachelor of Arts with a major in French at

Memorial University. She is also our tour guide for this summer, and will be

assisting as a page this afternoon. And I may add she's from the beautiful and

scenic District of Lewisporte - Twillingate.

Welcome

Amber.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by

Members

SPEAKER:

Today we will hear statements

by the hon. Members for the Districts of Terra Nova, Ferryland, Burin - Grand

Bank, Placentia - St. Mary's and Mount Pearl North.

The hon.

the Member for Terra Nova.

L. PARROTT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Everything we do affects the world we live in. We do not have limitless

resources, and we have the power to destroy or create. We need to teach children

to create, care for and respect our world.

The

kindergarten and Grade 1 classes at Holy Cross School in Eastport learned ways

to take care of our Earth when they returned to class after Easter break. They

worked very hard to clean up garbage left behind by others who – I quote from

one of the students – don't take care of our Earth.

They

were not pleased with the mess left around the schoolhouse and trails and would

like to see that their efforts were not in vain.

These

kindergarten and Grade 1 students put on their gloves with garbage bags in hand

and set out to make a difference for their school and community. They spent the

day making the school grounds clean and a tidy place to both live in and play.

Small

changes can add up over time, so it's important that we look at the small

things. These students are to be congratulated for making a change.

Teach

them young. They are our future.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Ferryland.

L. O'DRISCOLL:

Thank you, Speaker.

I rise

today to recognize and congratulate Sullivan's Songhouse, who have been awarded

the Cultural Tourism Award for 2022, presented by Hospitality NL and

Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism.

The

award recognizes the offering of an advanced product and/or experience that

celebrates the inherent value of a community culture, heritage and lifestyle.

Mr. Sean

Sullivan owns and operates Sullivan's Songhouse in his hometown of Calvert on

the Southern Shore. Sean provides his guests with a two-hour musical getaway

with some good Irish-Newfoundland folk music, up close and personal in his

old-fashioned outport kitchen in Irish heart of Newfoundland.

Sean is

usually joined by a special guest musician at every session, where they will

serve up an authentic song session that is both engaging and entertaining.

Sean

brings with his memories and experience of growing up in a house where songs and

stories were a major part of his Irish-Newfoundland heritage.

Speaker,

I ask all Members in this House to join me in congratulating Sullivan's

Songhouse on their Cultural Tourism Award and wishing them much success in the

future.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Burin

- Grand Bank.

P. PIKE:

Speaker, the Burin Peninsula

and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador has lost a true visionary, an

effective and innovative leader and a strong advocate for his community, Grand

Bank Deputy Mayor Clayton Welsh.

Clayton

passed away on Friday, April 29, surrounded by the love of his life, his wife

Marjorie and his daughters Cawley and Kelli.

Clayton

spent his working career as a recreation and sports consultant with the

provincial government. He was very involved in designing and promoting

recreation programs including involvement in the Canada Games.

Clayton

grew up in historic Grand Bank and was very active in soccer, hockey and golf.

As a mater of fact, Clayton was a founding member of the Grande Meadows Golf

Course. He served as mayor and deputy mayor for 20 years, a member of the

Schooner Regional Economic Development Board, a board member with the Community

Youth Network, a member of the joint towns and community councils on the Burin

Peninsula and many other volunteer organizations.

Clayton

was a friend to all who knew him. He will be remembered for his heart-warming

laugh, his love for his family and his kindness and sincerity.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in extending sincere condolences to his family.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia - St. Mary's.

S. GAMBIN-WALSH:

Speaker, the Placentia Area

Historical Society was incorporated in 1972 and celebrated it's 50th birthday on

March 27. It took on the role to promote the study, knowledge and preservation

of the history of the Placentia area. Placentia's history goes back to the 16th

American and Canadian.

The

Historical Society's flagship in promoting this history has been the O'Reilly

House Museum, open seasonally and housing artifacts going back over 450 years.

The society recently acquired the former St. Luke's Anglican Church. Both the

former church and the O'Reilly House have heritage designation.

The new

activities this year for the society will be adapting the former church, now

known as the St. Luke's Cultural Heritage Centre, into a performance centre and

museum. Events being planned include the escape room game based on Placentia's

history and called Placentia Plunder, a speaker series and musical performances.

The

Placentia Area Historical Society has a membership of 28. This is Come Home Year

and the society looks forward to a very active year guided by its board of

directors. The present executive consists of President Tom O'Keefe,

Vice-President Anita O'Keefe, Secretary Winnie Barry and Treasurer Ann

Devereaux.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

L. STOYLES:

Speaker, I rise in this House

to acknowledge Mrs. Ida Leonard.

Mrs.

Leonard passed away on April 12 of this year at the age of 100. She was born in

Scotland. She joined the Royal Air Force during World War II where she met her

husband and moved to Newfoundland as a proud Scottish war bride. She moved to

the community of Shoal Harbour where she raised nine children.

This

Second World War veteran of the Royal Air Force lived an extraordinary life

filled with challenges and joy. She raised her children with fierce

determination and unconditional love.

Moving

to Shoal Harbour was a culture shock for Mrs. Leonard. In Scotland they had

running water and indoor toilet facilities; it was a modern life for the time.

In Shoal Harbour she adjusted to a different life, having to go outside to use

the outhouse, carry water, work hard in the vegetable gardens and keeping

animals.

Later in

her life she moved to Conception Bay South and then to Mount Pearl – God's

country. She was a proud and active member of her district legions and often

spoke of her life stories. She was laid to rest in the Field of Honour in Mount

Pleasant Cemetery.

I ask my

colleagues to join me in tribute to the life of Mrs. Ida Leonard.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I wish

to inform the House that an airlift of 166 Ukrainian refugees under the hand of

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador is on its way from Poland.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER A. FUREY:

Mr. Speaker, as atrocities of

war are inflicted on Ukraine by Russia, the people of this province are standing

up and standing tall. We stand with Ukraine.

The

world has been reminded of what is the true face of courage and resolve in

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. As his nation fights for freedom, we

all do what we can to support and ease the burdens of Ukrainian families.

When the

crisis hit Ukraine, our province stepped up immediately with a

made-in-Newfoundland-and-Labrador solution.

To our

knowledge, we are the first state actor in North America to organize a

humanitarian airlift of Ukrainians to our shores. Our understanding and our

place on the world stage is reflected in this deliberate act.

course, none of this work would have been possible without the tireless

leadership of our good friend, the Minister of Immigration, Population Growth

and Skills – well done!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER A. FUREY:

What he and his department

continue to accomplish is incredible. Other provinces and indeed the federal

government are looking now to follow our example thanks to their tireless work.

I am

reminded, Mr. Speaker, of each and every time Newfoundlanders and Labradorians

stepped up to help, often in times of local or international crisis. Disasters

at sea, sending our own during the First World War when we could least afford

it, 9/11. When people are in need, Newfoundland and Labrador is there.

Mr.

Speaker, today, our long, staunch history of supporting people in times of

crisis, we are carrying on. I wish to thank this House for its continued support

for our collective efforts and to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador for

their incredible generosity that they have laid out during this time of crisis.

Much

work remains. Slava Ukraini.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker, and I

thank the Premier for an advance copy of his statement.

behalf of the Official Opposition, I extend a warm welcome to the Ukrainian

refugees who are currently en route to our beautiful province. It is my hope

that these individuals and families who are fleeing from the atrocities and

horror of war will be met with a generous and encouraging community where they

can feel safe and supported.

I look

forward to getting to know them and listening to their stories. I can only

imagine the struggle, the fear and the emotional turmoil that this needless war

has inflicted upon the residents of Ukraine. While I welcome those who are en

route to our province, I continue to think of those who are still facing danger

and I hope for a resolution to the senseless invasion.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

J. DINN:

I, too, thank the Premier for

an advance copy of his statement and congratulate the government on this

initiative.

We would

also like to welcome these new arrivals to our province and let's do our best to

make sure that this is the place where they want to stay and thrive. We,

therefore, call on government to redouble their efforts in immigrant retention,

invest in the necessary supports so that these new arrivals feel truly welcome

and supported, as they become part of our communities.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The hon.

the Minister of Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you, Speaker.

I rise today to acknowledge National Nursing Week and

to recognize the contributions of those in the nursing profession.

The theme of National Nursing Week 2022 is We Answer

The Call. This theme reflects the determination and dedication nurses continue

to show while rising to the occasion for their patients, the public and

colleagues alike.

Speaker, our government understands the impacts of the nursing shortage in our

province. It is an issue that is being seen across this country.

We continue to work collaboratively to increase the capacity in our educational

programs

increasing seats in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program by 25 per cent

and graduation numbers in the Practical Nursing Program by 40 per cent. As

well, we are working to strengthen

recruitment and retention strategies across Newfoundland and Labrador. While a

career in nursing is focused on caring for others, we appreciate the need to

care for our nurses by enhancing the quality of nursing work life.

The pandemic further brought to light the pressures that nurses and all health

care workers experience every day and showed the crucial role that nurses plays

in the community.

Speaker, I ask all hon. Members to join me as we once again thank nurses for

always rising to the occasion.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Topsail - Paradise.

DINN:

thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

I am honoured to rise in the House today to commend the

hard-working, dedicated, courageous nursing staff of our province during

National Nursing Week.

This

year's

National Nursing Week theme is We Answer The Call and we, the Official

Opposition, cannot agree more. When COVID-19 struck, they answered the call. As

our hospitals are facing backlogs, they answer the call. When our seniors

require attention, they answer the call.

Speaker, we are privileged to be able to stand in this

hon. House and recognize our nursing staff because they answer the call. I

encourage the people of our province to say thank you. Thank you to all our

dedicated nursing staff for t heir tireless efforts today and every day.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Torngat Mountains.

L. EVANS:

I Thank you minister for an

advance copy of his statement.

We also

take this opportunity to thank nurses for the extraordinary efforts they make to

give us the care that we need. It is time for this government to reciprocate. We

love our nurses, so show them the love. Ensure that nurses have all the supports

they need to do their jobs so that they are no longer pushed to their limits and

we stem the tide of burnout and resignations in the system.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Are there any further

statements by ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker,

gas in this province is now approaching the $2.10 per litre mark.

Speaker,

is the Liberal government planning to continue providing excuses while seniors

and families suffer?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is

a national issue – in fact, it's an international issue, as we addressed in

Budget 2022 . We're addressing that

with $142 million provided to the people of the province in a holistic approach.

As opposed to just tackling one specific issue, this is a holistic approach to

the cost of living, Mr. Speaker.

appreciate the anxiety that the rising fuel costs are causing with people and

families in particular, and businesses. This is an international problem sparked

of course by supply issues, largely driven by the externalities of the Russian

war in Ukraine, Mr. Speaker, and I can't control that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

applaud $142 million, but the people of this province are saying it's not enough

and it's not going in the right areas.

Speaker,

the Premier says this is a global problem, but I remind him that he has been

elected to help fix problems affecting the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Why does

the Premier continue to force people to choose between groceries, gasoline and

medicine?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We, of

course, recognize that this is a problem, but we don't control inflation, Mr.

Speaker, and it'd be wrong for any state – subnational – to think that they

could. That's how you lead to poor decision-making, which compounds the problem,

frankly.

What we

are doing is taking a holistic approach. I'm not saying that this is the last

set of measures; we'll see where all this goes in terms of a world stage. But we

believe that we have a holistic approach that has touched many people in this

province, Mr. Speaker, and we will continue to look at other avenues. But to

think that we can control inflation is frankly wrong and really irresponsible

from the Member opposite.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

But you

do control a fair bit of the taxation on gasoline and fuels. That does have an

impact on the cost of inflation in Newfoundland and Labrador particularly. It

costs more than $2 per litre of gasoline in this province right now. That's too

much. People simply can't afford this. Alberta has taken action; Ontario has

taken action.

Premier:

Why are other premiers taking action while you allow the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador to suffer?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

First of all, Mr. Speaker, we

have taken action: $142 million worth of action. We've also addressed the cost

of living, by the way, by controlling electricity rates with the rate mitigation

deal. All of that contributes to inflation locally, but again, we don't control

the externalities that are at play at the geopolitical tension on the world

stage. We are doing our bit within the restrictive fiscal envelope that we were

left with, because of – say it with me now, gentlemen and ladies – Muskrat

Falls.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What

we're hearing from the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly our

seniors and our most vulnerable, is that it's not hitting the mark. It's not

doing what it needs to do to help the people of this province.

Speaker,

it's not just driving we're talking about. The cost of increases are seen on the

grocery shelves. Sugar costs $3 a bag. Milk is now $2 a tin, shocking increases,

yet the Liberals continue to make excuses for why they can't help.

I ask

the Premier: While other provinces act on the cost of living, why are we pricing

seniors out of their next cup of tea?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Other

provinces are also struggling, Mr. Speaker, as are other countries. This is a

combination of push-pull dynamics within the inflation environment. We don't

control the global economic forces at play. There are a large number of

externalities, not the least of which is the war in Ukraine, which is impacting

not only the supply chain directly, but indirectly through the price of gas.

We don't

control that. What we are looking at is ways internally within our fiscal

restraint that we can responsibly look after, through a holistic approach, the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker, and we will continue to look

for innovative ways, recognizing the challenges in front of us.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

All

we're encouraging the Premier to do is use what he can control to help the

people of this province. What they've used right now isn't helping the people of

this province. That's what we're hearing from our constituents.

Speaker,

as we ready our province to receive tourism this summer, the provincial

government has made sure the cost of living for tourists gets a help by

eliminating the fees to enter provincial park sites.

I ask

the Premier: Will parking at hospitals around our province also be made free of

charge?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker, and I thank the hon. Member for the question.

Mr.

Speaker, what we've done is eliminated the fees for provincial historic sites

for the entire province. He said for people visiting, but it's also for

residents of the province. As the Premier has said and the Minister of Finance

has said, there were measures in our budget, and we realize the challenges that

are being created right now, but we will do what we can to help support and

rebuild the tourism and hospitality industry in this province. It was the one

that was most devastated.

The

Member opposite stood here on Thursday afternoon and talked about how important

the tourism industry and hospitality industry is to this province, Mr. Speaker,

and I thank him for that. We will continue to support that industry, as that

rebuilds too.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

And

there's nobody on this side of the House who doesn't' support the tourism

initiatives in this province, and we're very supportive of it. What we're

talking about here is if we're going to do something for the tourism industry,

when we have people suffering after six, eight or 10 hours in emergency, to come

out and still have to pay fees, that's the last thing on their mind, the last

thing they should have to face.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

D. BRAZIL:

Speaker, all we're asking is

for the Premier to consider the hardships faced by the people living here in

Newfoundland and Labrador. Food and fuel is getting more expensive by the day.

The last thing people need to see, when they head out of a hospital, is another

bill for parking.

Speaker,

when will the Premier take real action to help the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have

taken real action, and I'll reiterate, Mr. Speaker, $142 million directly to the

people of the province. We believe that this holistic approach touches a lot of

people –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER A. FUREY:

– in this province, Mr.

Speaker. It touches people who own homes, it touches people who own cars and it

touches people on low income, people who are on income assistance, Mr. Speaker.

We're touching a lot of lives with that, but we also recognize that we still

have fiscal challenges –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

We still have fiscal

challenges in this province, Mr. Speaker. We're still booking a $350-million

deficit, Mr. Speaker. We are interested in a holistic approach that contemplates

the future of the province not just –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER A. FUREY:

– short-term political

rhetoric, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Premier,

I'd say, say it with me: Upper Churchill. That's how lame your excuse is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

B. PETTEN:

Speaker, the mayor of Baie

Verte has quit over frustration with treacherous roads and complete lack of

response from the minister's department. Speaker, the town has been told they

must upgrade infrastructure which is below the provincially owned road before

any repairs will be made.

Speaker,

why is the minister using pressure tactics to delay the needed repairs?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Infrastructure.

E. LOVELESS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm not

using pressure tactics; I'm using responsible tactics. When I met with the mayor

a year ago, I asked him to provide a blueprint of the town's infrastructure

under the roads, because I did not want to invest taxpayers' dollars putting

pavement on the road when we know there may be a possibility that the

infrastructure needed replacing under.

That's

what I asked for; I haven't got a totality in terms of a blueprint of that.

Until I get that, we really can't have a serious conversation about what we will

invest in the Town of Baie Verte. But I will continue to work with the MHA that

represents the area very well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

Thank you, Speaker.

The

minister needs to help this town; they need help. They're having trouble

financially; that's what the real crux of the problem is here, and he knows

that.

Speaker,

the Baie Verte Peninsula has two operating lines and health centres that are on

a constant diversion, which has increased traffic significantly. Residents are

actually driving on the wrong side of the road to avoid bad sections.

Why is

government ignoring these serious safety issues?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Infrastructure.

E. LOVELESS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I take

exception to the fact of ignoring, because I drove the area with the MHA, the

deputy minister was with me, when the LaScie road was facing many challenging

conditions due to weather, because the freeze and the thaw was taking havoc on

their roads. Even the assistant deputy minister went up to get into the car with

the MHA to drive and see it first-hand.

There

are many challenges; there are many roads in the province that have challenges.

But we have to stay within our fiscal envelope as well and be responsible for

all taxpayers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker,

the town submitted an estimate over a year ago and has not heard from the

minister. In the meantime, the former mayor wrote the Premier saying: The sheer

level of ignorance and lack of respect exhibited by the minister is

unexplainable and unacceptable.

Why is

the minister offering insult as opposed to help?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Infrastructure.

E. LOVELESS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sometimes that Member goes to areas that don't need to go, as far as I am

concerned. Talking about ignorance, I am not being ignorant to the Town of Baie

Verte. We had an estimate that was presented last year in the department. It is

not an application. They didn't apply for anything. Until they do, I am willing

to work with the Town of Baie Verte.

This is

not about the mayor. This is not about the minister. This is about the Town of

Baie Verte and finding a way to help them out. I am trying to do that, along

with the MHA, and we, hopefully, will come to some kind of resolve but being

responsible always to the taxpayers' dollars of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Thank you, Speaker.

I am

sure we all look forward to a quick resolution for the people in the Baie Verte

region so that that can be solved and they can take care of their roads, and I

am certainly looking forward to the improvements in my district.

Speaker,

I ask the Minister of Finance: How much money does the provincial government,

her Liberal government, collect on a litre of gas in terms of taxes?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of the Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker, for the

question.

It is a

very important question and I will give it on a global basis. The provincial gas

tax collects $141 million a year. That's the provincial gas tax. We have

provided $142 million in cost-of-living assurance to the people of the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Speaker, the minister keeps

telling us what she has done. In case she is not aware, they are collecting

approximately 43 cents a litre. That's how much the provincial government is

getting per litre in gas taxes right now in the Province of Newfoundland.

I ask

the minister: Do you believe that's fair to the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador who continue to struggle to make ends meet?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of the Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Speaker, the Member opposite

does understand that we do have a provincial gas tax that collects 14.5 cents

per litre – 14.5 cents a litre. I can hear him muttering under his breath across

the way. Please be respectful. I did not do that to him.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

S. COADY:

Again, 14.5 cents. In

aggregate, that works out to be $141 million. I believe the Member opposite is

misinterpreting the carbon tax and the HST in saying that the province controls

those. As I have stated in this House, the HST is a harmonized tax with the

federal government.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Speaker, I'm having a

challenge because the minister is refusing to be honest with the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador. I asked her how much does the Liberal government

collect in taxes on a litre of gas. It is not just carbon tax and HST and

gasoline tax, and that roughs out to 43 cents a litre.

Can the

minister confirm that number? That's all I want.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, this is an hon.

House and we have a right to a respectful workplace. I ask the Member to

withdraw calling me dishonest in this House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

S. COADY:

I take quite offence to that.

He asked

the question about how much is levied on a litre of fuel and, as I said, the

provincial gas tax is 14.5 cents. If he wishes to rephrase his question to ask

about carbon tax, I can certainly get him those numbers. Or if he wants to know

how much we get on the harmonized sales tax, I will certainly be happy to get

those numbers.

But I do

ask for a respectful workplace.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Speaker, I certainly take

back if the minister thinks I said she was dishonest, I have no problem taking

that back. That is not my point.

My point

is I would simply ask the minister to tell us, exactly, at the end of the day,

on a litre of gas, how much do you collect on carbon tax? How much do you

collect in HST? How much do you collect in gasoline tax? Maybe you can add those

numbers up and tell us what the amount is.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you.

appreciate the withdrawal of that inflammatory comment by the Member opposite, I

really do, and I do appreciate a respectful workplace.

I will

say to the Member opposite, I'd be very happy to break down the carbon tax and

the HST on a per litre basis and provide it to him. I have provided him what the

provincial government levies on a litre of gas.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Ferryland.

L. O'DRISCOLL:

Thank you, Speaker.

We'd

like a real answer rather than a pat answer that we get every single time that

we get an answer.

Speaker,

our office has heard from a number of landlords who are being forced to evict

tenants rather than keep renting where oil heat is provided. The cost of fuel is

so high that the heat savings from an empty apartment are greater than the money

taken in from rent.

Why is

the Liberal government contributing towards our housing crisis by pushing people

out on the street?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Speaker, thank you for the

opportunity to respond to the Member.

Certainly, the government is not in the business of forcing anybody out on the

street. Within the ambit of the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation,

we support our tenants through a heat subsidy and other landlords can do

otherwise if they so choose.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Ferryland.

L. O'DRISCOLL:

Well, they're looking for a

break on home heating rebate, and we haven't got that yet either. So hopefully

somebody can do something to help out the people of this province.

Speaker,

furnace oil has doubled in a year. People who rent properties with heat included

are talking a huge loss, which puts pressure on the landlord and tenant alike.

Why is

the government forcing landlords into bankruptcy and tenants out on the streets?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Again, Speaker, thank you for

the opportunity to respond.

Again,

the government is not forcing any landlord to evict anybody based on any

factors, whether its cost or other issues. We work with landlords, we have a

rent supplement, which we provide to many landlords to support our tenants

across the province, and we have not heard from any landlord suggesting what the

Member is putting forth.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Ferryland.

L. O'DRISCOLL:

Speaker, all we're asking is

that you look at the taxes that are on gasoline in this province, and all those

prices have risen since the budget has come out. That's what the people are

looking for; they're looking for a break.

Speaker,

I talked to a landlord yesterday who just filled his own tank for $2,000. It's

costing landlords more and the tenants are feeling the pressure to stay away

from the thermostat.

I ask

the minister: Why is your government forcing tenants to choose between heat and

home?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Digital Government and Service NL.

S. STOODLEY:

Thank you, Speaker.

So as

part of the landlord tenant process, there are rules in place that protect

landlords and also protect tenants. There are rules around when landlords can

increase rates, and rules to ensure that tenants know the stability of their

rent. Anyone who's impacted is welcome to make an appeal to the Residential

Tenancies board. We have a tribunal, a quasi-judicial process that makes rulings

in favour according to the legislation.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Exploits.

P. FORSEY:

Speaker, a farmer emailed our

caucus indicating his fertilizer costs has increased 100 per cent. The fuel bill

has increased 186 per cent, grain 109 per cent and herbicides up 101 per cent.

Speaker,

the dairy industry in our province is on the verge of collapse. Why is the

minister sitting back and letting our milk supply dry up?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.

D. BRAGG:

Mr. Speaker, I don't mean to

smile, but I think we're a long ways from the milk supply of this province

drying up when we have one of the biggest dairy producers east of Montreal

that's on the West Coast of this province, who are exporting milk. So we're a

long ways from that drying up.

We do

realize that the price this year has gone up. There's no doubt about that.

Fertilizer has gone up, and not thanks to the war in the Ukraine, but because of

the war in Ukraine. They're the major supplier for that.

There

are some challenges no doubt, but we have a CAP program worth millions,

multi-millions of dollars that farmers avail of each year, so I encourage each

farmer to get out and get in an application for the CAP to help offset some of

their price. If they buy machinery, we can help them through the CAP program.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Exploits.

P. FORSEY:

Speaker, this farmer called

it the scariest time in the farm's history. Instead of gearing up, they are

parking equipment and sending people home.

Given

our geographic isolation, is government allowing a food shortage this year?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.

D. BRAGG:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

If we

are to meet our goals this year, we will exceed our 20 per cent in food

sustainability for this province in fruits and vegetables, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

D. BRAGG:

We're already self-sufficient

in chicken, eggs and milk and we're looking to be more self-sufficient this year

in our fruits and vegetables, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Exploits.

P. FORSEY:

Well, we're hearing from

farmers that they can't expand.

Speaker,

the farmer is now paying 85 per cent fuel surcharge on everything he brings in.

Here's a quote from the farmer: Animals are leaving the Island by the truckload

because people can't afford to feed them.

Speaker,

this is a desperate cry for help but the government has been silent. Why has

government not done anything to help this industry?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.

D. BRAGG:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

I would

encourage that farmer to phone me direct. No farmer has reached out to my office

to talk about any such instance in this province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

D. BRAGG:

So I would encourage that

farmer or the Member opposite to provide me the name and I will personally reach

out to that farmer, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Exploits.

P. FORSEY:

Speaker, they've been crying

on the airwaves, on the news and on the open lines the last week or so.

Speaker,

the farmer goes on: Our little bit of food security we were building is now

being destroyed. Closed farms, less jobs, higher prices and more products being

imported.

This is

a stinging indictment of the failure of this government. Why has the minister

turned his back on the Newfoundland and Labrador farming industry?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.

D. BRAGG:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Quite

the contrary, Mr. Speaker, we have not turned our back on the farm industry. We

have dedicated ourselves to be out in the field assisting wherever we can. We

have the facility in Wooddale in which we provide seed potatoes. We do crop

transplants for those farmers. They are getting 100 per cent success with the

trop – crop transplants. Sorry, trying to be a bit of a tongue twister and

racing against the time.

So,

again, no farmer has come to me. I'm not aware of any farmer coming to anybody

in my department. Whether it was on Open

Line or not, I would suggest they reach out to the people and reach out to

the farm agriculture reps in your area, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Topsail - Paradise.

P. DINN:

Thank you, Speaker.

It is

interesting to hear the Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture talk

about being self-sufficient in eggs and milk. That's because half of the

province can't afford them. That's why. It's the cost of living. That's the cost

of living and if anything is categorically wrong, it is that the prices of those

items have not gone down – have not gone down.

D. BRAGG:

Terrible.

P. DINN:

The minister says it is

terrible. I agree 100 per cent with the minister; it is terrible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

P. DINN:

Speaker, personal care homes

in our province last saw an increase in the subsidy in 2017. Costs have since

ballooned and revenues have been reduced, especially by slow-moving assessment

and placement process.

After

being ignored for years, when will personal care homes and seniors receive a

much-needed subsidy increase?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

Opportunity to address a very important sector of our community supports:

personal care home operators. I have met with them and my staff continue to do

so on a regular basis. We have provided significant support, financially, and in

kind during COVID and we have met with them on their issues around subsidies.

We have

gone back to Deloitte who provided us with a report on subsidy rates.

Henceforth, realizing that they don't reflect the current changes in the cost of

living, I have told each of the sectors that have come to me from the personal

care home division and we're working with them as we get Deloitte's new numbers,

Speaker. We have heard them.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Topsail - Paradise.

P. DINN:

Thank you, Speaker.

It is

great to hear them, but we need action because seniors can't wait – can't wait.

Speaker,

every day we hear from seniors and their families about delays in accessing

personal care homes. The process of admission to these homes is antiquated and

under-resourced while seniors suffer.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

P. DINN:

You talk about respect in the

House. We've got the whole crowd over here talking while I am talking about

seniors – seniors – and they still babble on.

When

will government overhaul this obsolete, single-entry assessment system for a

more modern and efficient admission's process for seniors in this province?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

The

single-entry system has actually been a recommendation of various groups

analyzing the personal care home sector. I am pleased to inform the House that

placements in three of the four health authorities are well above prepandemic

levels. Certainly, we have caught up on those issues.

Eastern

Health has been challenged and with the ending of the Good Neighbour Agreement,

Eastern Health are bringing in additional resources to process the backlog. It

is, however, a situation that is improving and we will work hard to make sure

that it is resolved completely.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Speaker, I recently spoke

to the executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society who expressed her

disappointment in the budget. They have been lobbying several Ministers of the

Crown since spring of 2021 for program funding in this budget; funding they

would use to support women and gender-diverse individuals who are involved in

the criminal justice system. Speaker, this organization is looking for funding

to help people heal and transform their lives.

I ask

either the Minister for Women and Gender Equality or the Minister of Justice and

Public Safety, why did she fail to secure funding for Elizabeth Fry in this

budget?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker, and thank

you for the question.

course, we meet with all sorts of groups throughout the province and we do know

it's important that people not just end up in the justice system permanently;

they have to work their way out of it. And we are working with these individuals

and these groups to make sure that they can do that to the best of their ability

so that they become productive members of society, which is what we all want. We

don't want the vicious cycle of them returning back and forth through the

justice system.

One

thing that we've certainly spoken about a lot lately is the construction of a

new penitentiary in St. John's, to replace the 150-year-old penitentiary, which

will go a long way to achieving those goals that we have and we would much

appreciate if all the Members on the other side support the construction of that

facility here in this province.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Speaker, that doesn't

answer the question. The executive director of Elizabeth Fry said to me – quote

– In the beginning, conversation was open and hopeful. However, since January

2022, while there have been meetings taking place, they are often follow-ups to

previous meetings, adding little value. It seems to me that the minister is

meeting just for the sake of meeting, without any intention of helping this

organization help women.

So I ask

again: Where is the commitment to provide funding to Elizabeth Fry?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker.

And yes,

I have met with the executive director of Elizabeth Fry, and was happy to go

there on the opening of their new building here in St. John's as well. We will

continue to work with them and answer them when they have questions about issues

in the province.

But with

regard to the recent budget, there was no formal funding request from that

group, and we've certainly met with other groups in here that have received

funding from the Department of Justice and Public Safety, and wage as well, and

we'll continue to work with those groups to improve the livelihood of people in

the justice system in this province.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

J. DINN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker,

the Minister of Education has consistently assured us that the necessary

additional teaching resources have been put in schools where children of refugee

families will attend. Yet teachers in these schools tell me that they haven't

seen these resources and don't know what the minister is talking about.

I ask

the minister: How does he explain this blatant discrepancy between what he said

and what is actually reality?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education.

T. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker,

we have put additional resources in, based on the increased enrolment in our

schools, including the newcomers from Afghanistan. What's been identified by the

this year's budget as well. We are voting on the budget in the very near days

and there will be additional resources based on the budget put into our K-to-12

system as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Ottawa works toward a national pharmacare plan I ask the minister: Has he been

in talks with Ottawa about NL being the pilot project, as pharmacare was in

their 2021 election platform?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

Certainly I have discussed with federal officials. Following, maybe, in PEI's

footsteps where they have such a program currently. We were very actively

engaged before. Quite frankly, it has been sidelined a little bit during the

current wave of Omicron, as staff were diverted to deal with that. But that is

one of the things on our agenda for our next FPT call. I look forward to

informing the House of what progress we have been able to make.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

In the

2021 election, the Premier came to Labrador West and campaigned on changing

MTAP.

I ask

the Premier: Was that just another campaign tactic, as Labradorians are waiting

to join the province in equal access to health care?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

The

Medical Transportation Assistance Program stacks up extremely well against other

jurisdictions. Indeed, it is the broadest in terms of the ability to get

coverage.

From the

point of view of changes, we have made significant changes to the policy, which

help people from the Big Land. We are certainly, internally, looking at how to

streamline this. Particularly in the light of Health Accord NL's comments around

access. We look forward to being able to bring something forward in due course.

Speaker,

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Torngat Mountains.

L. EVANS:

Speaker, last week the

minister responded to questions about access to abortion. The Athena centre is

based in St. John's and only travels once a month to Corner Brook and Central

Newfoundland, with no services available for Labrador.

I ask

the minister: Would this government put more funding into the Athena centre to

add Labrador to their monthly travel services?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

Access

to abortion services has certainly been a topical conversation in the media this

weekend. It has been highlighted that if you live more than 150 kilometres from

the United States border, access is a challenge across Canada. We have

recognized this; we have changed the way that the Athena centre is funded to

take them away from an unpredictable and fee-for-service base but they are now

receiving steady and stable funding.

For the

benefit of the House, you do not need a referral to access Athena's services.

This can be done over the phone or virtually. They are the experts. They have

been our resources, and they will continue to serve the people of Labrador as

well as Newfoundland.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Torngat Mountains.

L. EVANS:

Still a lack of access,

Speaker.

The

executive director of Planned Parenthood has said that they've heard from

patients in rural areas who are unaware that the abortion pill is available.

I ask

the minister: Will the government put all information about accessing abortions

on their website where more people can access it?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you, Speaker.

Yes, I

think that was dealt with in another commentary by the director of the Athena

centre. Certainly, from our point of view, if this is a mater of awareness,

delighted to see what tools are available that we've currently not used.

Again,

for the benefit of the House and any of our viewers at home, you do not need a

referral. You simply need to pick up the telephone and call the number. They

provide a wraparound service with counselling, procedures where appropriate and

support afterwards.

It is an

excellent service, one I commend Ms. Ryan's dedicated decades of service to this

province. Certainly happy to look at communications.

Thank

you, Speaker.

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 Member for

Placentia - St. Mary's.

S. GAMBIN-WALSH:

Speaker, pursuant to the

motion of referral of April 7, 2022, and in accordance with Standing Order 72,

the Social Services Committee met on five occasions: April 8, 12, 13, to May 2

and 6, 2022.

The

Social Services Committee have considered the matters to them referred and,

pursuant to Standing Order 75(2), have directed me to report that they have

passed without amendment the Estimates of the Department of Justice and Public

Safety; the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs; the Department of

Children, Seniors and Social Development; the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing

Corporation; the Department of Health and Community Services; and the Department

of Education, and recommend that the report be concurred in.

Speaker,

I'd also like to say of the 6½ years that I have been engaged in Estimates,

either chairing or as a Member; this was the most respectful time that we have

had Estimates. I want to thank all my colleagues for that.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Further presenting reports by

standing and select committees?

The hon.

the Member for Burin - Grand Bank.

P. PIKE:

Speaker, pursuant to the

motion of referral of April 7, 2022, and in accordance with Standing Order 72,

the Government Services Committee met on three occasions: April 11, May 5 and 6,

The

Government Services Committee have considered the matters to them referred, and

pursuant to Standing Order 75(2), have directed me to report they have passed

without amendment the Estimates of Consolidated Funds Services; the Department

of Finance; the Public Service Commission; the Department of Transportation and

Infrastructure; the Public Procurement Agency; and the Department of Digital

Government and Service NL, and recommend that the report be concurred in.

SPEAKER:

Further presenting reports by

standing and select committee?

The hon.

the Member for Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Pursuant

to the motion of referral of April 7, 2022, and in accordance with Standing

Order 72, the Resource Committee met on five occasions: April 7, April 12, May

3, May 5 and May 9, 2022.

The

Resource Committee have considered the matters to them referred, and pursuant to

Standing Order 75(2), have directed me to report that they have passed without

amendment the Estimates of the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology;

the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation; the Department of

Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture; the Department of Environment and Climate

Change; and the Department of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills, and

recommend that the report be concurred in.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

Are there any further

presenting reports by standing and select committees?

The hon.

the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I am

pleased to present this addendum to the first report of the Standing Orders

Committee in the 50th General Assembly. I thank the Members of the Committee for

their diligence and hard work, and I recommend this addendum to the House of

Assembly.

SPEAKER:

Any further?

Tabling

of Documents.

Notices

of Motion.

Notices of Motion

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Speaker, I give notice that I

will move that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to

consider a resolution respecting the imposition of taxes on carbon, Bill 60.

SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

The hon.

the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker,

I give notice that I will on tomorrow move the following motion: That this House

concur in the report of the Standing Orders Committee tabled on May 9, 2022.

SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

notice that I will on tomorrow move the following motion: That notwithstanding

Standing Order 63, that this House shall not proceed with Private Members' Day

on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, but shall instead meet at 2 p.m. on that day for

Routine Proceedings and to conduct Government Business, and if not adjourned

earlier, the Speaker shall adjourn the House at midnight.

SPEAKER:

Further notices of motions?

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you, Speaker.

I give

notice that on tomorrow I will move in accordance with Standing Order 11(1) that

this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

SPEAKER:

Further notices of motions?

Answers

to Question for which Notice has been Given.

Answers to

Questions for which Notice has been Given

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you, Speaker.

reference to a question that was asked earlier about wait times for personal

care home placements, I'm pleased to inform the House that since Eastern Health

staffed up to deal with the backlog, there are now only 29 individuals awaiting

placement at Eastern Health.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Any further answers to

questions for which notice has been given?

Petitions.

Petitions

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista.

C. PARDY:

Thank you, Speaker.

Crown

Lands' enforcement of the provisions of the

Lands Act abolishing squatter's rights

against the Crown has created undue hardship for Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians who honestly and in good faith have occupied and developed their

lands.

Historical title in Newfoundland trace back centuries and people have developed

their land for generations based on informal title. There is significant

disconnect between the Crown Lands' position on private land claims and the

reality in communities throughout the province.

The

District of Bonavista is one of the oldest settled areas of the province and its

residents find themselves unable to sell or mortgage or develop their lands

because they cannot get clear title.

We, the

undersigned, call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador to make a legislative amendment to allow for a

mechanism to resolve existing private land claims on Crown land and revisit the

1976 legislation to abolish squatter's rights against the Crown.

The

district I serve, Speaker, Bonavista was settled in the 1500s. We had

prohibition against lands, ended sometime in the early 1800s by then the British

– us being a British colony. The House of Assembly didn't begin until 1832.

We've had land going back before the House of Assembly was established in

Bonavista.

If you

look at the Land Use Atlas now and you google, and you look at all of Bonavista,

much of Trinity, a significant part of CBS and Torbay, but focusing on the

District of Bonavista, they're all in blue. Because those are being quieted.

They don't own the land according to the Crown Lands.

What is

the problem that we have? We have people now through generations who are looking

at moving the property, or getting clear title, and the only obstacle for doing

so is Crown Lands.

What's

it doing to the residents of Newfoundland and those in Bonavista, Trinity and

Port Rexton? It's costing them thousands of dollars in court costs to have a

lawyer, and that's only those who can afford to do so.

It was a

suggestion in the previous government back in 2015 that they would change and

allow for squatter's rights for any 20-year period, not just 1956 to 1976, but

any 20-year period. We are out now, can't find anybody back or very difficult to

find somebody of sound mind that can verify land position back in the early

'50s, therefore it's practically impossible to settle land on the system we

have.

I look

forward to speaking more about it when time permits.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

again, present this petition from Labrador West for seniors on seniors' housing.

The petition is to increase it in support of seniors. The reasons for the

petition:

The need

for senior accessible housing and home care services in Labrador West is

steadily increasing. Lifelong residents of the region are facing the possibility

of needing to leave their homes in order to afford to live or receive adequate

care. Additional housing options, including assisted-living facilities, like

those found throughout the rest of the province for seniors, have become a

requirement for Labrador West. That requirement is currently not being met.

WHEREAS

the seniors of our province are entitled to peace and comfort in the homes which

they have spent a lifetime contributing to its prosperity and growth.

WHEREAS

the means for the increasing number of senior residents in Labrador West to age

happily in place are currently not available in the region.

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, call upon the House of Assembly to

urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to allow seniors in Labrador

West to age in place by providing affordable housing options for seniors and

assisted living care facilities for those requiring that care.

Once

again, I bring this petition because, once again, the seniors of Labrador West

continue to ask me to bring this petition, as they feel like they are not

getting the same adequate access to care as other regions of the province. It's

a growing community, but, at the same time, seniors are continuing to choose to

stay in the region. Many of these seniors, this is where they're from. Many of

them came there as small children with their parents and some of them were even

born there.

So we're

seeing a rise in seniors living there and we'll probably continue to see a rise

in seniors there as our population in Labrador West continues to actually grow

and change. With the current housing crisis in Labrador West, where you can't

even find anywhere to rent right now, is also applying pressure on seniors, too,

as they don't have any options to downsize. Many of them are widows living in

big four-bedroom houses that they can't sell because they have nowhere else to

move into something more appropriate. So this also creates challenges for

seniors on a fixed income.

We're

seeing a changing dynamic in the region and we really need to take a look and

address this going forward because seniors just want to live in peace and

dignity and be able to enjoy their life instead of having their needs not met.

You

know, these big multi-story houses is very hard on seniors, many of them with

mobility issues. I know one who actually chooses to live in their living room

because they just find it too hard to go upstairs sometimes.

So it's

getting a little out of hand here. We really need to see something addressed.

Part of the thing is, you know, home care – we don't have any access to adequate

home care in our region so that puts a lot of pressure on the system. But, also,

we don't have a personal care home like every other district in this province

actually has. So this is getting to be something that really needs to be looked

into immediately.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Thank you, Speaker.

The

Local Service District of West Bay and the town of Lourdes have an agreement in

place for the extension of water services to West Bay. The water service does

meet the provincial standard and the communities agree in principle on extending

the water supply into West Bay pending funding.

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

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to secure funding through the Department

of Transportation and Infrastructure to ensure safe drinking water for the

residents of West Bay.

Speaker,

one of the fundamental principles of the Health Accord has to do with the social

determinants of health. One of those social determinants of health is access to

clean drinking water. Right now, the people that live in the community of West

Bay do not have access to clean drinking water.

Their

challenges with small drilled wells that they have in their community, the water

tends to run out in the summertime. They are constantly forced to carry water in

buckets or to go get it from another source, while at the same time there is a

water system that was built in the town of Lourdes that was built as a regional

water system. It has the capacity and the ability to service the entire

community of West Bay.

So we

urge the government, again, to consider the funding application for the

community of Lourdes and West Bay to help them start the development of what

will be a continuation of a regional water system that already exists and extend

it into the community of West Bay.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Exploits.

P. FORSEY:

Thank you, Speaker.

The

entrance to Sandy Point on the Trans-Canada Highway travelling east is a

dangerous intersection with many safety concerns.

Therefore we, the undersigned, call upon the House of Assembly to urge the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to increase signage and construct a

left-hand turning lane on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Speaker,

this is still an ongoing issue in the district. I have had meetings with two

ministers. I have had discussion now with the third. He was going to look at the

area. I know the minister is familiar with this area.

The area

to Sandy Point is back towards the Bay d'Espoir Highway but they use the

intersection further up, eastward towards Jumpers Brook, turning left on that

lane, which there is no left turning lane and everyone uses that. You have about

200 people out in that area, so as they turn left, you have heavy trucks, you

have fast traffic sometimes barrelling down on them and they're concerned that

somebody is going to get seriously injured or even worse.

The

residents of Sandy Point would like to have the signage changed from back where

it was by the Bay d'Espoir intersection up towards the Jumpers Brook area so

there is lots of signage and even a left turning lane if we could.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Torngat Mountains.

L. EVANS:

Thank you, Speaker.

We, the

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

leaders to ensure that the residents of Northern Labrador community of Postville

have access to adequate health care.

The

community of Postville, Labrador, has only one Labrador-Grenfell Health nursing

position in the community of Postville at the single community-nursing clinic.

This means that there is only one clinic nurse physically present in the

community. This nurse does not have access to RCMP support services during a

medical emergency because the community does not have RCMP stationed in their

community.

The

community of Postville is isolated with no road access to the outside world. The

only means of year-round transportation is by aircraft. Often, inclement weather

prevents air services, including medevac, which is medical evacuation service,

from getting to Postville. Also, if the loan nurse becomes ill or inclement

weather prevents nursing relief from reaching the community of Postville, they

will be without a nurse.

We, the

undersigned, call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador to ensure that the community of Postville has adequate

nurse care in the form of two clinic nurses stationed in the community.

Now, it

is National Nursing Week, Speaker, we talk about the quality of health care but

also the quality of the life for the nurses is equally as important. A lot of

times there are call-outs after hours in the community of Postville. There is

only one nurse physically in the community. A lot of times nurses have to be

thinking if they're the one single nurse stationed in Postville, what are they

facing?

Luckily,

Postville is a very law-abiding community, which is probably why the province

gets away with actually having no RCMP officer present in the community. There

are no professional services available to that nurse in the form of having an

RCMP officer there. Emergencies are emergencies, right – no professional

supports. What about a mental health crisis? What about a huge accident where

there are multiple casualties?

The

point I would also like to make about the one single nurse and the lack of

resources and supports for that one single nurse is, really, we're impacted by

transportation. If we were connected by road access, the RCMP and the nurses in

adjacent communities could actually support that single nurse. But we're not

tied in by road access and we're actually hindered by inclement weather, bad

weather, no transportation access. So it's really important for us.

The

point I'm trying to make is that with this community of Postville, we are really

isolated. So we need to actually have two nurses in our community of Postville

and we also need to have regular RCMP presence. If the province is actually

going to treat Northern Labrador, especially the community of Postville –

SPEAKER:

The Member's time has

expired.

L. EVANS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Orders of the Day, Mr.

Speaker.

Orders of the Day

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call

from the Order Paper, Motion 6.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Speaker, I move, seconded by

the Deputy Government House Leader, that under Standing Order 11(1) this House

not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. today, Monday, May 9, 2022.

SPEAKER:

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.'

Motion

carried.

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Justice and Public Safety, for

leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The Access To Information

And Protection Of Privacy Act, 2015, Bill 59, and that said bill be now read a

first time.

SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

the hon. the Government House Leader have leave to introduce Bill 59 and that

the said bill now be read a first time.

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.'

Motion

carried.

Motion,

the hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety to introduce a bill, “An Act

To Amend The Access To Information And Protection Of Privacy Act, 2015,”

carried. (Bill 59)

CLERK (Barnes):

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Access To Information And Protection Of Privacy Act, 2015. (Bill 59)

SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

first time.

When

shall the said bill be read a second time?

S. CROCKER:

Tomorrow.

SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, Bill 59 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I call

Motion 1.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Terra

Nova.

L. PARROTT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Always

an honour to stand in this House. The Minister of Tourism alluded earlier that

he felt that, with questions, sometimes we're picking on tourism. Well, I'll say

between our tourism, our oil and gas, our fishery and all of the other

industries we have in this province, this party is 100 per cent behind him.

Because we ask questions doesn't mean we don't support him. It just means

sometimes questions have to be asked and sometimes the timing of funding is

suspect.

We're

living in a really troublesome time right now in this province, and it's really

imperative that we all open our eyes and see what's going on. To say that the

cost of living has affected everyone would be an understatement. Unfortunately,

it strikes hardest the people who can least protect themselves. If your income

doesn't increase, or your taxes don't decrease with the cost of living, the

effects are swift and ruthless.

So I'd

say imagine that you're on a fixed income or you're on government supports.

Imagine being a single mom or a single dad. Imagine being sick or having a sick

child or family member – and I'll do even better, now imagine that you live in

Newfoundland, where we have the highest rate of everything. Highest rate of

cancer, diabetes, obesity, seniors, poverty, mental health issues and

unemployment.

As I

said a few weeks ago, it's quite simple. As the cost of living is going up, our

chances of living are going down. And it's a really sad state when you think

about that. You know, when we sit in this House and we debate the budget, it's

not about debating the tools that government has; it's about debating the

choices that they've made. Everybody knows the fiscal situation of this

province, and we know that it's not great. But that doesn't mean we can't make

different choices.

Here's

the reality. Today in the House of Assembly, there was a simple question asked

about how much money the province collects in fuel tax. It wasn't about

provincial tax; it was about how much the province collects. The number is

somewhere around 42 cents. We have the ability to defer some of that. Now it's a

start. The Premier said this is all caused by global issues.

Well, we

have very important issues that are happening right here in this province that

we can help change. The global issues will always be out there; the cost of oil

is affected by the dollar, it's affected by geopolitical issues with war and

other things, the Middle East. We all understand that. Anything from shale gas

in the States to fracking to supply and demand, global issues are always going

to be a part of what we do and see here.

But the

reality is we have to start focusing more on our provincial issues. And a great

example, as the Health Minister said today when asked a question about MTAP, he

said: Our MTAP program is equal or better than almost everywhere in the country.

And you know what? Perhaps it is. But here's what he didn't say: Our ability to

transport people and our transportation infrastructure is worse than everybody

in the country.

they're not comparable. You cannot compare those two things and expect to give

the people who need the answers the answers that they require. You can't expect

a patient to fly from Labrador to St. John's and have an appointment cancelled.

No more can you understand getting sick in Corner Brook, Gander, Grand Falls,

Clarenville, St. John's costs the same as it does getting sick in Bonavista,

Burin, Goose Bay – entirely different world.

Those

are the things that we don't do as government. We don't look at the – to quote

the Premier and his key phrase – holistic. Well, perhaps he should start looking

at the province in a holistic way, because the reality of this province, and the

reality of the world we live in, is that all things are not equal.

Today,

big announcement on busing in Metro – great announcement, much needed. There's

no question, but it forgets about rural Newfoundland. And guess what? When the

minister sits and talks about tourism or the minister sits and talks about

fisheries, rural Newfoundland, 100 per cent, they generate lots of revenue.

Labrador West, Tacora, IOC, lots of revenue. Goose Bay, lots of revenue. Baie

Verte Peninsula, two new mines, lots of revenue. Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans,

lots of revenue.

There

are lots of things to be excited about, but what we need to understand is we can

quell our excitement to look after what's happening today. What's happening

today is people are hungry, people are afraid and people are choosing between

heat – actually, they're choosing between heat and food, and it's really a

shocking thing.

The

Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture said today that he was unaware –

unaware – of questions that were asked by my colleague from Exploits. I can tell

you what, on May 4 he got a letter; the same letter that we got that outlined

everything in those questions. Him and the Premier got the letter, and he sat

here today and said he had no idea what we were talking about. That letter went

to him and the Premier. They both had it, but they don't know anything about it.

So either they're not listening or they're not reading their emails. There's

something going on, because we got it and they got it. But they say it doesn't

exist. There is the problem.

We've

got lots of opportunities in this House to make the right choices for people.

One of those choices is as simple as deferring the sugar tax this coming fall.

Doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a lot to very low-income people I can

guarantee you that.

Another

way we can do it is to reintroduce the home heating rebate. Government says it's

still there. Well, maybe perhaps a portion of it still is, but it doesn't go far

enough. People need more – people need more. A line of questioning in this House

today that talked about landlords evicting people so they can raise the cost of

rent to include what is happening with their heating costs is very real. I've

heard it in my district, as have many other people on this side of the House,

and I'm certain that they've heard it on that side of the House too. But guess

what? Once again, they're not listening. What a shock.

At the

end of the day, it's all about choices. Now, we can go back in time and we can

quote Muskrat Falls, and we can quote all of the things, but when this

government came in in 2015 and introduced 300 new fees or taxes, they knew the

economic state we were in. They knew it in '15. They made all kinds of promises,

and here we are still in an economic state that predated COVID, that they knew

was there because of Muskrat Falls and nothing has changed. As a matter of fact,

I'll even go as far as to say from '15 to 2019 we were bullish on

Advance 2030 and now that's gone out

the window. We have one project, which I'm very happy to see, Bay du Nord. It's

wonderful but I suspect that this government has traded off the rest of them,

which is sad. It could be our future.

The

former minister, the current Minister of Finance, touted the 600 Hebrons,

Hibernias and oil finds that she was going to progress and bring to light. None

of them happened and here we are in a mess. We're in a mess make no mistake

about it. So when we talk about our sectors and we talk about our potential, you

talk about our mining industry, it's spectacular what is happening in the mining

industry. I applaud the minister for what is happening in the mining industry.

It's exciting. It's a glimpse of what could happen tomorrow, but we have to get

electricity for that first. We have to get electricity, because these mines are

not going to operate on windmills or solar power. They need electricity and it

has got to come from somewhere. That means these guys have to bring Muskrat

Falls over the line, something that they haven't been able to do in seven years.

So here we are.

Mr.

Speaker, when I talk to seniors – and I raised the question last week but I will

say it again: between our seniors and our truck drivers, professional people who

need medicals, even our pilots, they can't get a family doctor. So imagine being

a senior who needs to have a medical on an annual basis or a professional

long-haul driver or a pilot or a ship's captain or any of these positions that

require annual medicals and not being able to get it done. Actually, on the edge

of losing your job or losing your ability to drive and your freedom because you

cannot access health care to get a medical. That is where we have come. That is

the reality of where we are today. That's not a one off-call, that's a call that

people get on a daily basis and it is a shocking state.

Then we

get call 811 or call – it just doesn't happen. People aren't getting in. These

collaborative clinics, people are being turned away. I raised concerns last week

about a gentleman from Charlottetown. It's pretty funny, I raised it here in the

House of Assembly and the next morning he got a phone call and he could get in

to the new collaborative clinic that is going to open up in Clarenville. So he

said that is amazing. Can you tell me when it is going to open? No idea.

Couldn't even project it. They couldn't ballpark it, but you can get in when it

does open.

How is

that a solution? How is that going to fix the problems that we have in our

health care system? I can tell you it's not. We are hearing from doctors that

are concerned. We are hearing from the NLMA. We are hearing from the Nurses'

Union. We are hearing from all of these people.

The

Minister of Transportation stood up here in the House last week and he talked

about fear mongering. I'm not fear mongering; I'm simply stating the facts. I

can tell you right now, when I've got a senior or a mom or a dad with a sick

child, or when I've got a Member in my own caucus or someone in this House who

can't access the health care they need because they're ill, that's not fear

mongering, that's stating the facts. The fact is it's unacceptable and there's

no solution. There is no solution. The reality of that fact is that this

minister has had seven years to address it.

Now, if

he never stood in this House and said that he knew the issue seven years ago, I

may give him a pass, but if he didn't know them six years ago, that's

unacceptable. If he didn't know them five years ago, now we're really going down

the wrong path, aren't we? I don't need to carry on with four, three, two or

one, because this situation has been in place for a long time. He could have

changed it. He could have fixed it. He could have done something. When the

Premier came on board he knew the solution by his own admission. He ran almost

solely based on our health care system and the state we're in. And instead of

fixing the problem, he reappointed the same minister into the same position.

Here we are two years later in a bigger mess. It's gotten worse.

I'm not

going to say that COVID hasn't had something to do with that because we're not

silly in this House, we know COVID has played a role. But the problems existed

pre-COVID, much the same as our financial issues. In March of 2020 when the

previous premier wrote the letter to the prime minister and said that we have

these existing problems and we're on the brink of bankruptcy – Snowmageddon did

not cause that, COVID did not cause that. It was all pre-.

Now, let

me put something else into perspective. That was one year away from this

government's promise of balanced books. They promised to have the books balanced

by 2021. In 2020 they wrote a letter to the prime minister of this country – I

guess if the federal Liberals are their cousins we'll call Mr. Trudeau their

uncle. They wrote a letter to their uncle and said we're on the verge of

bankruptcy12 months prior to their promise of having the books balanced. What

does that tell you? It tells you we're nowhere close. Now the promise is

'25-'26. Guess what? Pretty skeptical, I have no faith in that. Not one little

bit.

The

people in this province right now are struggling with absolutely everything –

everything. Now we talk about our ability to supply food, we talk about our

ability to employ people, we talk about our robust fishery and mining industry

and tourism and it's all good. It's all key to how we move things forward

there's no question. When we stand here and we question things like the

investment in NASCAR, it's not because we don't believe in tourism or NASCAR. I

believe that will be an economic driver, no different than in my region; I have

White Hills. I know what $100,000 means. It probably means a $500,000 return.

We're

not stunned to any of that, but it's about timing. It's about the timing of the

Premier going to Ireland. It's about the timing of the Premier going to Ottawa.

It's about the timing of the Premier putting an office in Grand Falls-Windsor.

When people are starving, when people can't afford to put fuel in their vehicles

and drive to a doctor's appointment, we're spending money that we don't have to

spend. And the reality of it is that boils down to choices.

So it's

not about questioning government and their budget, it's about questioning some

of the choices that they didn't make in this budget. The reality of it is this

budget doesn't go far enough to help the people that need help the most. It does

not go close to far enough. People are not buying electric cars; people are not

switching their homes. One hundred and forty people, I believe, applied to

switch their homes from oil to electric. Guess what? Not going to cut it.

Then you

take into consideration that if they switch from oil to electric and they decide

to put a heat pump in, they've got to have a secondary source of heat. I know

one Member in our caucus quoted this morning, the Member for Stephenville – he

had a constituent get a quote. Oddly enough, I had a constituent bring a quote

to me and both within $2000 of each other. So between $18,000 and $20,000 to do

the conversion. Government's offering $5,000, when people can't afford to put

beans on the table. So they're going to come up with another $15,000, when they

can't afford to buy a can of beans.

I got

people calling me who said: Mr. Parrott, we used to bring grocery bags to the

food bank, full. Now, we're going there with empty grocery bags, hoping to bring

them home full. Imagine, we have food banks reaching out that are out of food,

that don't have the supplies to help people. Now, that's not fear mongering.

That's stating the facts. Don't take my word, call any food bank in Newfoundland

and they'll tell you the same thing. They're hurting. Every one of them.

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

L. PARROTT:

Yeah and the people that are

going there, like I said, are the people that used to supply the food banks.

It's a scary fact of life and the reality of it is that every single person now

– and you want to talk about what we can do as a province? Well, the first thing

is we got to get our supply chain figured out 100 per cent. Because our supply

chain – we take our goods, our produce and ship it across the island twice.

We're paying double for no good reason. The reality of it is we're not looking

at the logistics of getting things here, and there are options, there's no

question.

You talk

to any trucking company in Newfoundland and Labrador and ask them one question:

Would they rather have their trucks full of freight land in Argentia or Port aux

Basques? I can guarantee you almost all of them, I would say overwhelmingly,

would say Argentia because they don't want to drive 800 kilometres across the

Island.

Mr.

Speaker, before I came in here today I got an email from a gentleman who just

moved back from Alberta – moved to Random Island, 6,467 kilometres; him, his

wife and his children drove with a big trailer in tow right across the country.

When he got to Random Island he said he was shocked. He drove across the entire

province and he said by far the very worst stretch of road that he hit was from

the causeway on Random Island to where he was staying at his parent's house.

But that

is not his story; his story gets a little different. He came here with hope and

promise of moving back to a province the he loved, the same reason I came back

here and the same reason that most of us live here, because we love this

province. Newfoundland and Labrador is endearing to every single person in this

House, I have no question. But the reality of it is, is that it makes some of us

mad sometimes. It kicks some of us sometimes, but that doesn't stop our love for

it.

So he

came back and he tried to get a doctor. He tried to get a doctor from Gander to

St. John's and everywhere in between and he can't get a doctor. He needs a

doctor, his family needs a doctor; we won't get into that, but they need a

doctor.

This is

a gentleman who was just about to build a $500,000 home on Random Island. He was

going to build a $500,000 home on Random Island, just moved back from Alberta

with his wife and children. She is from Alberta, for the record, and now he is

talking about going back to Alberta. He had one sentence which rang clear with

me and it says it all. He said: Me, invest in Newfoundland; when Newfoundland

invests in my family, I'll come back. Until that time, you won't see me.

Now that

makes a lot of sense to me. When you have people trying to come here, much the

same as our Ukrainian friends that I welcomed today, anyone who wants to move to

Newfoundland, they come here and they don't know what they got or what they have

in front of them. We all need health care on some level, every one of us.

When

they move back here and they can't get the care, not only that they deserve but,

in a lot of cases, that they need. Why would they stay when they can go to other

provinces, live the same life, have a cost of living that is much lower, have

access to health care – not better, we're got a fine group of doctors and nurses

in this province, I guarantee you. We've got some of the best health care

professionals in the world; there's no question about it.

But ask

them if they are overworked, the answer will be yes. Ask them if they are

overburdened, the answer will be yes. Ask them if they're stressed, the answer

will be yes. Every one of them. Every single one of them is at a point where

they are ready to break, yet we don't make the right choices.

Now the

Health Accord, I have no question that the Health Accord is going to help this

province, but it's a 10-year plan. We need a plan for today and we don't have

it. The saddest part about the plan that we need for today is the Minister of

Health had seven years to come up with and fix it – seven years. If any other

person for any other company or job did the same, they would not be in the

position I can guarantee you. I can guarantee you they would not be there. It

makes absolutely no sense.

So here

we are seven years later, in the midst of a crisis, that was going on pre-COVID

and here we are. Same spot, spinning our wheels, hoping that it's going to fix

itself.

Listen,

if you want any faith whatsoever that the government is going to listen to the

Health Accord, listen to one of the first sentences in the Health Accord when

they say: the social determinants of health weigh 60 per cent on health

outcomes. Then think of this budget and what it has done for low-income people

and the cost of living in this province. The biggest portion of the Health

Accord is being ignored all ready, think about that. That speaks volumes. So

what hope does that leave for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians? Very little.

I urge

the Premier, with all of my heart, when he's looking at a holistic approach,

understand that St. John's isn't rural Newfoundland, that the Avalon isn't rural

Newfoundland, and there are two different levels of care.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber - Bay of Islands.

E. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

going to stand and have a few words in the main motion. But before I do, Mr.

Speaker, and I know there's a bit of controversy lately about me, about some

things going on. I understand that, because I stand on principle; always have,

always will.

But I

just have to read something into the record, Mr. Speaker, because I think

The Joyce Report of October 18 is

where a lot of this started about me trying – trying, which never happened, no

foundation to it – to encourage somebody – I ask the Minister of Energy to

listen to this because it would be very important to him – trying to expose

someone or put someone in a position. I just have to read something that someone

sent me from Newfoundland and Labrador Housing. I'll read it, Mr. Speaker,

because it develops the budget, about hiring and all that.

Here it

comes from a staff member: Because of the importance of filling the position –

this was a senior position, a manager in Western Newfoundland for Newfoundland

and Labrador Housing in Service NL – with the best candidate available, we're

conducting the competition for the Western regional director within the two-tier

interview process for both internal and external applicants. The first two

rounds of interviews involved the panel meeting the applicants over a period of

time, over an hour or so to try to get the sense of who they are and assess

their communication and interpersonal skills to determine how they might fit as

the leader of the Western regional hospital.

The

second round of interviews would dig more into the applicant's training

experience, competency related to the actual work. The first round of

interviews, which included six interviews via video conference and two

in-persons, were conducted July 18-20, resulted in three of the external

applicants, including a screening out – they blanked that out. The remaining

five applicants will be moved on to the second round of interviews with two

internal.

So this

was a management position in Corner Brook, Mr. Speaker. And here is it, buddy's

name, I won't say his name, but it's here on the record that they sent me: As

minister, I am not satisfied with the process. Have you personally reviewed the

résumés of the final candidates? Can you forward the advertisement for the

position to me? As we discussed, I want the final interview process to be

completed by two individuals external to Newfoundland and Labrador Housing and

our executive HR personnel. We need to discuss this.

This is

very important, Mr. Speaker, because November I almost got crucified in this

House. This is very important for a false statement. Also, the top three

candidates and reasoning for ranking are to come to you, as the CEO, and myself

for the final decision. Thank you, Sherry Gambin-Walsh.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I remind

the Member –

E. JOYCE:

Oh, I'm sorry, because I'm

just reading what's here. Sorry about that, okay, sorry about that – the

minister.

So here

we are, Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to put it in the House so everybody would

just know what was put in the report that I apparently did, which wasn't even up

at the time, which information showed it wasn't even up. But here's the minister

of the Crown, the same one saying you should never get involved with the

process, here she is demanding that the names come to her for the final

decision. That was the minister at the time –

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

This

issue has all been dealt with in the House of Assembly and ruled on.

E. JOYCE:

I'm just reading about

hiring, how we should hire people.

SPEAKER:

That has nothing to do with

the budget. We're in the budget debate right now, so ask the Member to be

relevant.

E. JOYCE:

Oh, that's right; you were

parliamentary assistant to her, that's right. Were you parliamentary assistant?

That's right.

SPEAKER:

Are you questioning the

Chair?

E. JOYCE:

No, I'm just asking if you

knew about it.

SPEAKER:

The decision has been made.

The hon.

the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.

E. JOYCE:

I'm going to get on with

other things now, Mr. Speaker, and talk about some of the stuff that's happening

in this House, especially around the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

One of

the things that's been brought up on many occasions is health care, and we're

talking about nurses. I just want to tell you a little story.

We just

had a recruiting class, about 100 nurses in the province. There were people

looking for full-time work. They contacted me because they were wondering, so I

wrote Eastern Health.

Eastern

Health got back and said, yes, we'll get someone to contact them. Do you know

what this person was told? We don't need your services at this time. That

person, plus two others who just right now graduated, went and moved to the

hospital in Nova Scotia. They found out last Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday that

they weren't going to be hired full-time, they put an application into the

hospital in Halifax and they just got hired. Three of them moved yesterday and

started work today.

AN HON. MEMBER:

Nurses.

E. JOYCE:

Three nurses just graduated.

So when you hear of questions about, well, we've got a lot of vacancies here,

that's one example that I just dealt with myself last week, trying to get nurses

just graduated hired here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, I'm going to read a part of an email that I got from a constituent. I'm

going to read a part of this email and it's touching. It's touching because what

do you say to these people? Hopefully I can find it now in a second. What do you

say to these people? I want to read it and put it on the record, because I stood

in this House and talked about nurse practitioners. I just want to read what

email these two seniors sent me:

Eddie, don't like bothering you but I'm so upset. Blank and I are without a

family doctor. Both our wonderful doctors retired in November. I will soon need

my prescriptions renewed; I called 811 and a nurse was very nice but told me she

could not help me with the information I wanted. She said if I called 811 a

nurse practitioner could refill my prescriptions.

I always

get blood work done before my doctor will review my meds. She wanted to keep

check on my kidney functions. Anyway, she told me that they can't order blood

work and I should go to a nurse practitioner clinic. That would be great but why

a senior on OAS has to pay for medical care if they can't find a doctor? Isn't

MCP supposed to be for everyone? I heard the Minister of Health and Community

Services on the radio show talking about the collaborative care clinics and how

could you register me online to get a clinic. Good for St. John's. According to

a nurse I was talking to, there's no collaborative care in Corner Brook. If you

get a chance to speak to someone in the Department of Health, would you please

try to get some answers for me? Sorry, Eddie, for being long-winded but I am so

upset about this.

So here

are two senior citizens on the West Coast have to pay to go see a nurse

practitioner and the minister says that he's in negotiations with the Nurses'

Union. Two seniors now, frightened they might not get their meds and frightened

that they might just renew it without the blood work – without doing the test. I

asked the minister that on several occasions over negotiating with the Nurses'

Union. He won't meet with the Nurse Practitioner Association, but here they are

two seniors on the West Coast. That's just two, there are many more. There are

many more here in this province, especially in Western Newfoundland, that can

use these services, but have to pay a fee to go see a nurse practitioner. Can

you believe that?

Here you

are trying to ask the minister – here's a way to help out on it and, Mr.

Speaker, they just won't budge. Everything is fine in health care. They have the

plan. Everything is just fine. Relax. Tell that to the thousands of people in

Western Newfoundland who don't have a doctor. Go out and tell them. Go tell

these two seniors. I ask the minister to call; I'll give you their numbers. I

know them personally. Call these two seniors and tell them everything is fine.

How can we not?

I heard

the Premier on many occasions: We have to think outside of the box. We have to

think what worked before and didn't work. Wouldn't putting nurse practitioners

and be able to invoice MCP – wouldn't that be a great idea? Wouldn't that be a

great idea so that we can expand these types of services for the people who

don't have doctors?

I know

two people who have two years left, I think, before their residency; I think it

is two, maybe a year and a half. One is going to be a psychiatrist and another

one is going to be ear, throat and nose. They're engaged. They, in six years,

have yet to be contacted for recruitment in Newfoundland and Labrador. They

actually called one health authority and they said we'll get back to you. Never

got back to them. Two, 26, 27 years old. Those are the kinds of things that

frustrate people because they know these people on the West Coast. Here are two

young professionals want to come back to Newfoundland and Labrador, want to work

in the Western region, yet they haven't been contacted. It is shameful.

So if

the Minister of Health is listening attentively, there are ways that we can help

out a lot of seniors. Here are two, an example. I have a long list, Mr. Speaker,

of people who are looking for doctors, who can't get doctors. So what do you do?

You explain to me what to do, because I'm out of answers bringing up to this

government about options; options that can help people, options that people are

willing to help.

When I

spoke last week about the nurse practitioners, they had over 4,000 visits then.

Four thousand people in Western Newfoundland who had to pay a fee to see those

people to get a prescription done, or to go and get some blood work, or may have

needed a medical certificate for their driver's licence. Four thousand that they

had to pay. We have an easy solution here. We have a very, very easy solution

here, Mr. Speaker, yet we can't get the government to move on it one bit.

I have

to speak on the cataract surgery in Western Newfoundland again. I have to speak

on that, Mr. Speaker. When you talk about the cataract surgery in Western

Newfoundland and I heard – the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands is here also.

As he was saying, there's a lady here who's a caregiver for her husband. Needs

her eyesight, a caregiver –

P. LANE:

He got cancer.

E. JOYCE:

He got cancer and now she has

to pay over $6,000.

P. LANE:

Thirty-two hundred dollars

per eye.

E. JOYCE:

Thirty-two hundred dollars

per eye because the quota is up. There's something wrong. That's here also.

There is something fundamentally wrong. There's space there. There's capacity

there. Everything is fine to do it, but it's just the will.

I know

in Western Newfoundland, I know the minister wrote me there about two weeks ago,

three weeks ago about the information about how much it costs to pay for the

supplies, and then pay for it when it's done at a private clinic. The private

clinic itself comes up, I think it's $960, $945, something like that – I don't

have it in front of me.

The

minister and the cost at a provincial authority, Western Health, say for

example, or the Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital in Stephenville, it's over $1,200.

The minister writes me, puts in a letter, no, no, no, the facts that we have

it's only $500-and-something. The part that the minister is not bringing up,

that's one eye, but most people get two eyes done. When you add two of them

together, it is the cost for the surgeries at the regional authorities.

It just

amazes me why this government – I don't know if it is personalities or what.

That is something the minister has to decide himself or the Premier, because the

Premier is well aware of it. I just don't know, Mr. Speaker, if it is just

personalities. For the minister to say that it is only $500-and-something to get

it done, it is not; it is usually two eyes. That is what the Grant Thornton

report came back and said, both eyes, over $1,200. It is cheaper when you do it

at the Apex building; it is $900-and-something, 23 per cent cheaper – 23 per

cent cheaper to do it.

The

capacity is there; they can do it. But because of a quota and because we won't

even allow them to do it there – it is not going to cost any extra money because

if you found some surgical time at the Western Memorial Regional Hospital, you

could go get it done. There is no problem to get it done at the Western Memorial

Regional Hospital if there was surgical time. They can't do it as efficient, Mr.

Speaker, because the time is just not there with the backlog of surgeries and

other things. If you could and you give them five days a week for the next two

or three months, you could end up having them done, but there is no surgical

time, as I said..

So if

they allow them to do it at Apex building, they want to do it in the nighttime

and weekends, within three to four months, there would be no backlog and it

doesn't cost the province any money. It doesn't cost the province any additional

money; it will save funds.

So why

that is not done when the Premier of this province stands up here and says,

okay, we're going to look outside the box. What a way to look outside the box.

Say to the three specialists at the Apex building, okay, what we're going to do

now is we're going to allow you to go ahead and get the surgeries done. Charge a

cheaper price than it would be at the Western Memorial Regional Hospital. Charge

the MCP the same amount as you would if you did it at the hospital and there

wouldn't be people waiting another year and 14, 16, 18 months to get their eyes

done. I'm not sure how long this person –

P. LANE:

A year and a half.

E. JOYCE:

This person if they went

through the system – that the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands was talking

about – has to wait a year and a half. Just think about that. Here is a person –

P. LANE:

Who is going to look after

her husband then in the meantime if she can't see?

E. JOYCE:

Who is going to look after

her husband in the meantime if she can't see? Then, all of a sudden, you have to

get home care in, you have to get people in to take care of them, you have to

make sure that the medication, you have to get the blood work done – she can't

drive; she can't do any of that anymore. So here it is, capacity to get it done,

funds to get it done, but because we have a quota system in this province for

cataract surgery, you can't get it done.

Western Newfoundland, it is the same thing. There is capacity there, there's

ability to get it done there, yet for some reason this government refuses to do

it. Absolutely refuses to do it.

So I

would urge the government, once again, put a bit of water in the wine if you

have a personality conflict. Think about what we're been elected for. We've been

elected to serve the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. If we're elected to

serve the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, we should do it to the best of

our ability. And if we can do services for 800 seniors on the West Coast for

cataract surgery, which is going to be cheaper, more efficient, and they could

have their eyesight back in three to four months, instead of 14 to 18 months,

shouldn't we do it? It's a win-win situation, Mr. Speaker, and I refuse to give

up on the issue because it's so important to the seniors.

And I

hear it and I see them. I actually know the people. Not all of them, of course.

You can go right from Baie Verte right down the Northern Peninsula they come to

Corner Brook, right in the Corner Brook District, Bay of Islands District and

Stephenville area. I know the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port is getting

calls out there and he's nodding his head saying he does get calls about the

cataract surgeries.

So why

can't we as a government say okay, b'ys, here's the way we want to alleviate the

suffering of 800 seniors and we just won't do it. God knows how long

negotiations are going to take to get nurse practitioners on the MCP. So the

seniors and these two seniors that I just spoke about, keep paying your money,

but if you're lucky enough to have a doctor, you don't pay a cent. You go ahead.

You want to talk about a two-tier health care system, there it is right there.

You want to talk about that we need a health care system right across the board,

there it is. If anybody in this House wants to talk about a two-tier health care

system, look at the seniors who have to pay a nurse practitioner and the ones

who have a doctor who don't. That's the issue, Mr. Speaker.

If you

want to look at cataract surgeries – and the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands

was this morning when he was talking about it. So it's just not Corner Brook,

Western Newfoundland, it's also in the St. John's, Mount Pearl area.

So there

are ways to do this. There are easy ways for us to do this, but we just need the

will. We need to say, okay, we have a problem. It's all right, Mr. Speaker, to

say we have a problem. That's all right. Many times ourselves we could say,

okay, yeah, we have a problem; what can we do to fix it? There are easy fixes

for both of it – easy fixes. Just that we've got to get the will to do it. As

long as we stand in this House and keep debating, no, we can't do it or, no, we

shouldn't have to do it, there are people in this province suffering.

There

are people in this province right now, seniors, who got to pay for medical care

when they shouldn't have to pay. There are people in this province who can't get

their medication filled because they can't even read it, and they can't drive to

get to it. We could get this fixed easy.

I see my

time is up, Mr. Speaker, and I'll have lots of opportunity during debate.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER (Trimper):

Thank you.

Any

further speakers to the main budget motion?

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I move,

seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader, to adjourn debate on Motion 1.

SPEAKER:

It has been moved and

seconded that we adjourn debate on Motion 1.

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.'

The

motion is carried.

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Speaker, I call from the

Order Paper, Concurrence Motion, report from the Resource Committee.

SPEAKER:

The motion is that the report

of the Resource Committee be concurred in.

The hon.

the Member for Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I rise

on Concurrence for this. I want to thank the Resource Committee. During

Estimates, I know we had a lot of great Members and we also had some Members

substitute in, so I want to thank the Committee but also Members that actually

participated as well, who substituted in, and also all the people that came in

from all the different departments and stuff to provide Estimates.

It's

really much appreciated to do that. It does take some time; it is a long

process, but they all took the time to come here and answer our questions. So it

was very much appreciated from everyone. I do want to thank all of them and

thank my colleagues.

Also

there is a lot of staff from different caucus offices that participated too,

that sat with us through it. We did meet five times and it was great insight

into all the different parts of the different Committees and that. You learn a

lot, you find out a lot and it is a big learning exercise. So I do want to thank

them all for that.

Inside

of that, though, not as the Vice-Chair of the Committee, but me as Jordan the

Member for Labrador West, I do want to say there is some interesting stuff in

there and there's some stuff that you learn along the way and it brings a bit of

how these departments work and how these different things actually operate, and

it's quite fascinating sometimes. You don't get to see the whole big picture

every single day. Sometimes an assistant deputy minister or director or

something there sheds a little bit of light on some stuff. It was good,

especially with the Resource Committee, to see different industries and stuff

that operate throughout the province.

Sometimes you don't realize that there is certain operations out there chugging

along that you don't know about, little small industries that operate in the

background. We get an opportunity to learn about different things like that,

that you just never thought that was here.

I know

especially with the Resource Committee, too, we talked about agriculture and

stuff like that. It's just fascinating. I grew up in a community that never had

– other than your community garden or anything like that, you don't realize

there is a large agricultural industry in this province. It's fascinating to see

that we have that ability, but also that there are proposals for potato farming

in Labrador West, all done out there. It's just interesting. There are different

abilities to expand and grow that industry. I just never thought of the

potential for commercial-scale potato farming in Labrador West. It is

interesting to see these are different things that are coming along and moving

along.

I do

want to mention – we talk about the home industry, the industry that built and

continues to provide for the region in Labrador West – iron mining and the

magnitude on which scale that is done. We are looking at now just continuing to

grow, and grow on both sides in Labrador West. Just across the border they're

also expanding their operations so more and more and more iron is coming out of

the ground. The job aspect of it is they just can't get enough workers. It's

just not for the mine industry but mine services and community services. The

magnitude that it is right now is absolutely fascinating.

It was

interesting to see an advertising campaign for one of the mines. The ad was:

Join us for the next 150 years. Just to show that's the outlook, their current

outlook is 150 years. So can you imagine a mine advertising itself saying: We're

good for 150 years. That just shows how much of the resource is in the ground in

Labrador West that they're advertising: join us for 150 years.

I have

to say tonnage wise this is the largest industry in the province right now, just

the weight of it. But it operates the last railroad in this province. In this

province, some job postings are for conductors and enginemen. This is a very

thriving industry in our province, in mining, and now you're starting to see it

trickle out through different parts of the province. To talk about that in

Estimates was great, because we're looking at a big future with lots of

opportunity and stuff like that.

I know

the commodity markets can be like a dog's stomach, up and down, but the

consistency is still there. Even during the last downturn in the iron market, it

went down and it got scary for a little while. But, at the end of the day, we

were still persistent. We still got through it. People still had jobs and people

still continue to mine iron, and now we're on the other side of it. As we've

seen in the last three years a consistent price in the $100-something a ton

which is the golden area for the ability, not just to mine and make it work but

also to see reinvestment back into the industry.

It was

important that we see that, but we also see the opportunities for gold and other

deemed critical minerals now, so, hopefully, we'll see a lot more investment

into the region. We should be pursuing is like a dog with a bone, pursuing the

industry, because we're just seeing between Vale and Tesla to sell nickel into

the battery-making markets.

People

are watching us, people are seeing us; people are seeing that the opportunities

are there for that industry. I'm looking forward to seeing what other

opportunities we can pursue in that market, but also to take stock of what we

have and what we're currently producing.

Then we

go to gold, it's interesting when you think of the gold industry and the mining.

It's not always about jewelry and coins and everything like that, gold has a

massive market, but it's in the electronics industry. Every little microchip,

every single thing that we have now at our disposal between our phones and even

the key fob to start your car, everything like that, there is a little bit of

gold in every microchip that's out there now. The gold industry is not just for

shiny new coins or shiny new anything, it actually has a very valid

part in the

electronics world.

We, as a

society, as a whole, if we continue to work down the path of technology and

things, gold will continue to be a massive key

part in that world. We have some

of the largest gold deposits in Eastern Canada. It's good that we see that

investment and stuff has paid off after many years of exploration and the

geoscience and everything like that, because a mine doesn't start after the

prospector stakes their claim. It's a 10-year process just to get to the point

where a lot of junior miners are today.

It is a

long process and when you actually finally get that final mine licence, it is a

big deal for these mining companies and stuff, especially the junior miners, the

small ones that are trying to compete on global scale, it's great when they get

to the point where they can actually put shovels in the ground and start hiring

for mining and stuff.

It's a

labour-intensive industry so it does hire a lot of people, and not just the

actual mining part of it. Mine services is a massive industry and all the other

wraparound supports that does come with mining. It is good to see that there.

We talk

about resources and the different resources of this province, but you also have

to look at the biggest resource of all is people. People in this province

investing back into the people of this province is key, because, as you can see

now, where I come from in Labrador West, we're trying to find people to work and

everything like that. So investment back into people, into training, education,

but even just to make their lives a little bit easier, especially in northern

and rural communities. The investment back into people will always pay back

twofold.

It's

important that we take the opportunities when we do look at resources to look at

the opportunities, but look at the people who are going to work in the resource

industries, look at how people are going to contribute to the resource

industries. Because, at the end of the day, these people are what actually

operates the equipment and processes the fish and all the other things. At the

end of the day, it's people. That is when we reinvest back into it.

Then,

also, the business owners and people who have a dream. Invest back into them and

you always get twofold back. That's the thing that you have to look at is when

we're doing these projects and stuff like that, make sure that there is

investments back into the people, but also the communities that will host this

industry. Because sometimes what we've seen is, like during a boom or a rapid

expansion of an industry, sometimes the communities have a hard time dealing

with it from a resource point of view, but also from a point of view of how you

create, how you service and how you manage.

always found that in our area the biggest thing always, as it is right now, is

where are we going to put people to live. All these new people moving into the

area, how much is this going to haul onto services and how much is it going to

affect – I know my colleague from Lake Melville, I know when they did Muskrat

Falls they had a lot of issues with road conditions and the amount of traffic on

roads and stuff like that, because they had so much of a massive influx into the

region that it did actually start to have an impact on the roads and services

and stuff like that.

So it

doesn't matter if it's mining, if it's hydro development or anything, the

investment has to go back into the communities that are going to host these

people. We're going to work in these industries as well. Even sometimes when you

invest into a region, it actually helps spur industry and spur resources and

spur this kind of development into there. So there's also the other side of the

coin per se, that sometimes a little bit of investment into a community could

also increase the value of what comes out in resources.

So it is

a bigger picture; it is a lot of things going on and a lot of moving parts. But,

at the end of the day, you have to find that sweet spot where investment is

going to return in value. That's what I think about, too: Where are we going to

put these resources; how will we manage these resources; and how does it all

work at the end of the day?

It is an

interesting area when it comes to the province and when it comes to Estimates

and the budget. There is some value in there and there's a lot of value in

hearing from all the people in Estimates on these different departments and

things like that. But also, we stop to think about: how do we maximize

investment, but all at the same time as how do we maximize the human resources

so that we know that we have Newfoundlanders and Labradorians working, trained

and ready for this.

Because

there is some stuff here that we, as a province, have the ability to become the

corner of the market, especially with the new technology that's developing, but

also the change in how economies work, a