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December 5, 2019

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLIX No. 26

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Reid):

Are the Government House

Leaders ready?

Order,

please!

Admit

strangers.

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we will hear Members'

statements from the hon. Members for the Districts of Ferryland, Humber - Bay of

Islands, Mount Pearl - Southlands, Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans and Fortune Bay

- Cape La Hune.

The hon.

the Member for Ferryland.

MR. O'DRISCOLL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

today to recognize and congratulate the organizers of the 10th annual Calvert

Masters Golf Tournament. The event was held August 22 and was organized by

volunteers from the community of Calvert.

It is an

event where current and past residents and friends of the community are invited

to play in support of a charity. The first five years the charity of choice was

the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation, and the past five years were the

Janeway Children's Hospital Foundation.

The 2019

event raised $53,500 for the Janeway. All net proceeds will assist the Janeway

Foundation to acquire the newest pediatric medical equipment, continued

education, life-saving research and vital programming for pediatric care.

The last

10 years have been a great success. Organizers have raised over $565,000. Thank

you to the community of Calvert for choosing to support children's health care

and cancer care charities in the province. The committee is confident the event

will continue for years to come as golfers compete for the coveted green jacket.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all Members in this House to join me in congratulating the

organizers of the Calvert Masters Golf Tournament on another successful

tournament.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber - Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have

the honour today to rise in this hon. House to recognize a lady who promised she

would do a jig for me on her birthday. So I'm looking forward to tomorrow, as

Mrs. Lillian Mae Wells of Cox's Cove will celebrate her 107th birthday.

Born in

Gillams, Bay of Islands, on December 6, 1912, Mrs. Wells was the oldest of five

children born to Edmund and Margaret Blanchard. In her younger years, she worked

in the woods with her father cutting wood and helped out with whatever needed to

be done. She worked in the herring store, operated her own convenience store and

took in boarders every winter.

In 1949,

as a young widow, she moved to Cox's Cove with her five daughters to work as a

housekeeper for Benjamin Wells, a widower with four children. In 1953, they

married and had two more children. She now has 23 grandchildren, 33

great-grandchildren, 20 great-great-grandchildren and two

great-great-great-grandchildren.

With the

help of family and home care workers, Mrs. Wells still resides in her home and

she enjoys company dropping by for a chat. I recently visited her and she was

very witty and she even got her little jab in about me.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all Members to join me in wishing Mrs. Lillian Wells on a very

happy 107th birthday. Thank you, Mrs. Wells.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It gives

me great pleasure to rise in this hon. House to recognize the accomplishments of

two individuals who have given their time and talents to the sport of soccer in

the City of Mount Pearl and have recently seen their achievements recognized by

being inducted into the Mount Pearl Soccer Hall of Fame.

Dave

Bailey's playing career epitomizes the consistent, competitive qualities

necessary to achieve a high standard of success in sport, which can be attested

to by his teammates in both minor and masters soccer over a 36-year span. During

that time, he has demonstrated tremendous skill and has won numerous team and

individual awards.

Jon

Kelly represented the Mount Pearl Soccer Association as a player for 24 years

starting in the Under 8 division and continuing through to the men's Challenge

Cup team. Like Dave, Jon, too, received numerous team and individual accolades

over the years and was a coach's dream taking on every role assigned with

passion, competitiveness and heart. Jon's playing career was cut short due to an

injury, but he continued to give back as a coach from 2005 to 2016.

I ask

all Members of this hon. House to join me on congratulating these two quality

individuals on a tremendous soccer career and on being inducted into the Mount

Pearl Soccer Hall of Fame.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Grand

Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

MR. TIBBS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

today to recognize Mr. Bruce Moores of Grand Falls-Windsor for his extensive

life as a volunteer. Mr. Moores has devoted 42 years of service to the Grand

Falls-Windsor Fire Department as a captain. He has spent many mornings over the

years feeding children in the breakfast programs up to three days a week.

Mr.

Moores has spent time as a councillor for Grand Falls-Windsor and as a scout

leader in Botwood in his earlier days. In the past, he has received Citizen of

the Year for Grand Falls-Windsor, as the list of volunteer work goes on and on.

Turning

77 on December 25 of this year, his birthdate is fitting as he has dawned the

red suit and white beard on many occasions, bringing smiles to children's faces

in the Santa Claus parade.

November 14, Bruce Moores was inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador

Volunteer Hall of Fame.

I ask

Members to join me as we honour one of our longest serving and dedicated

volunteers, Mr. Bruce Moores.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MR. LOVELESS:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to

recognize a noted citizen of Bay d'Espoir who was recently featured in an

episode of CBC's Land & Sea .

Mr.

Ralph Coombs is a long-time lumberjack of this community who resided there all

of his life. He and his wife Beatrice raised six children who have all made

their own impacts in life, but no bigger impact than what the life of their

father has taught them. To sum up the children's words: Dad is amazing.

Mr.

Coombs is a great example of how to live your life on the simplest of terms.

Having worked in the construction industry until he retired at 65, he then went

to work in the woods. Not one for sitting down, with a passion, he made the

forests of the area his personal workspace, harvesting wood by the chord, making

memories with his children up at the cabin and helping his neighbours.

At 89

years old, he treasures his time working with his chainsaw, just as he treasures

time with family. A positive outlook on life keeps him going and his life's

lesson is one for all of us.

Ralph,

keep that chainsaw going.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. CROCKER:

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to

rise in this hon. House today to invite the public to join us this evening for

the 33rd annual Christmas Lights Across Canada ceremony here at Confederation

Building.

Every

year, capital cities across Canada participate in this event by simultaneously

lighting beautiful displays of Christmas lights to kick off the holiday season.

Our

event begins at 6 p.m. in the main lobby of the East Block here at Confederation

Building. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Band and the Holy Trinity Elementary

Choir will provide entertainment and we will have hot chocolate, cookies and

other refreshments.

seasonal blessing will also be delivered by Captain Jeff Payne.

Six-year-old Emma Clarke from Victoria is our special guest of honour this year.

She will have the privilege of lighting the 60,000 lights here on Confederation

Building and along Prince Philip Drive.

Mr.

Speaker, you may have seen Emma recently in the news story regarding a unicorn.

Family friends made her dream come true just last weekend. Emma is a bright and

brave young lady, Mr. Speaker.

We are

thrilled to have Emma, her big brother Ryan, and her mom and dad Courtney and

Glen joining us this evening.

Mr.

Speaker, I encourage everybody to join us this evening as our Christmas Lights

Across Canada ceremony kicks off the season right here in St. John's.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

to thank the hon. minister for an advance copy of his statement. Mr. Speaker, I

know all Members on this side of the House join me in marking Christmas Lights

Across Canada. Having participated in this ceremony myself a number of times

over the years, I know first-hand what a wonderful event it is.

Mr.

Speaker, it's great to see Emma Clarke of Victoria and her family – older

brother Ryan, and parents Courtney and Glen – will be joining the minister later

on this evening. Emma's inspirational story of courage has touched the hearts of

everyone throughout the province. Let her story remind us of the true meaning

and spirit of the Christmas season.

closing, Mr. Speaker, I encourage all hon. Members to attend this evening and

watch Emma welcome the holiday season.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

MR. BROWN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement. As a father of two girls, I

can also appreciate Emma's love of unicorns. I'm very happy Emma got to meet a

real live unicorn last weekend.

I join

all hon. Members in wishing Emma, her family and everyone in this province, a

Merry Christmas and happy holidays. We hope, Mr. Speaker, that the rest of the

province gets to enjoy a white Christmas like back home in Labrador.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The hon.

the Minister of Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Protecting our offshore environment and the safety of our offshore workers are

fundamental principles. That is why I recently hosted a meeting with

representatives from the Natural Resources Department, the C-NLOPB and Natural

Resources Canada to discuss further opportunities to strengthen the protection

of our offshore environment.

During

our meeting, we discussed compliance and enforcement, looking at global best

practice and penalties and order-making powers. I also held a separate meeting

with operators that focused on improving safety performance and environmental

protection of the province's offshore. We discussed things such as enabling

proactive measures when modernizing our regulatory framework, and improving the

collaboration and communication in our offshore.

As a

result of these meetings, just this week the C-NLOPB hosted their first annual

Spill Prevention and Response Forum here in St. John's. The forum featured over

100 participants from regulatory agencies, government departments, oil and gas

industry companies, along with fishing industry representatives. The forum was

an opportunity for participants to take a collective review of the lessons

learned from the spills that have occurred in our offshore and take the

necessary measures for prevention. I understand it was very productive, Mr.

Speaker, and a valuable session.

As we

move forward, we will continue this vital dialogue and collaborative approach to

improve, strengthen and support offshore regulation and ensure the protection of

our offshore environment and the safety of our offshore workers.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East - Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement.

I know I

speak for all Members of the Official Opposition when I say that we are in

favour of natural resource development, but only when it is done in a safe,

sustainable and environmentally responsible manner.

Mr.

Speaker, one issue in our offshore is one too many, and any amount of oil spills

is unacceptable. That is why I'm pleased to hear about the recent forum. I

encourage the minister, the C-NLOPB and our offshore operators to continue to

come together and discuss how the entire industry can become incident free.

Our

environment, and more importantly, our workers are too important to be put at

risk.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

thank the minister for the advance copy of her statement.

It is

nice to see the minister taking a collaborative approach on this issue. This is

a welcome first move in better protecting our offshore environment and offshore

workers. I look forward to seeing tangible action in this area, including the

creation of an independent offshore safety and environmental authority, which

our party has been calling for since 2009.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of

Health is a highly educated surgeon who knows the need for governance by

professional ethics, yet yesterday I listened to him defend the indefensible by

blaming a minister's breach of ethics on the rules around lateral transfers.

How does

the minister square a high set of standards in his professional life with a

lower set of standards for ministers and the public service?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Unfortunately, the Member opposite has misread my comments in

Hansard . I'd be happy to arrange for a supply of those. He's taken

them out of context.

What I

was talking about was the importance of the transfer of experience and knowledge

between health care front-line workers and between the department and the

Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information.

I am

being misquoted, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

Mr. Speaker, let me help the

minister come to grips with the issue.

They say

you are defined by the people you spend your time with.

Is the

Minister of Health content to be defined by a government which has abandoned the

principle of ministerial responsibility?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Mr. Speaker, I think 45

seconds would be way too short to delve into that particular arena, at all.

What I

can say quite clearly, Mr. Speaker, is my comments yesterday were phrased in the

context of health care and the value that we have derived as a department from

bringing in clinicians with considerable experience to share that with us, and

for people with government experience to share that governance experience with

front-line health care providers. As a result of which, the people of this

province benefit considerably. They are the winners – as they were

characterizing yesterday about winners and losers. They are the beneficiaries of

that knowledge and experience transfer.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

All of which is beside the

point, Mr. Speaker, of how he can coexist in a Cabinet with ministers who have

committed gross mismanagement.

The

Minister of Justice and Public Safety is himself a highly educated lawyer who

governs himself by a professional code of conduct.

How does

the minister square this with serving in a Cabinet with a minister who has

committed gross mismanagement of public funds in violation of the Members' Code

of Conduct?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I was

waiting for the Leader of the Official Opposition to have a crack at me.

One

thing I will say is I will certainly not take any lectures on ethics from the

Member opposite. That's the first thing I'm going to say to this House here.

All I

can say is that I'm very happy to serve as the Minister of Justice and Public

Safety. I have taken an oath to this government and I have taken an oath to the

people of this province. I'll continue to do so and serve at the discretion of

the Premier.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

Mr. Speaker, the Premier is

the only witness saying he did not give the order to hire Carla Foote.

Would

the Premier clear the air by requesting that the Commissioner for Legislative

Standards give an opinion on the matter?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier did not direct me in this matter.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Torngat Mountains.

MS. EVANS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There's

documented wrongdoing of a minister in the Premier's Cabinet; yet, he fails to

do the right thing and remove this minister from his Cabinet.

I ask

the Premier: Is this the kind of legacy that he wants for his Cabinet?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I've answered

quite a few questions on this over the last few days. We have completed a

review. I also said in my remarks a few nights ago when I was speaking to this,

that you could actually take the name of this minister, that this review and

this report is about, and if you go back in history, you could put many names of

many ministers, Mr. Speaker.

This was

about a process that we're talking about. We've identified some areas where we

have concerns. The minister has seen the review. He has offered an apology, as

the Commissioner has said as part of the penalty would be a reprimand and human

resource review if we see fit.

Mr.

Speaker, right now this is about a process that's been long-standing, and what

we want to do is make sure we do a review to put a better process in place.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Torngat Mountains.

MS. EVANS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

actions of this minister is a blatant abuse of power; yet, he remains in

Cabinet. People in Newfoundland and Labrador have been contacting me with

questions that I can't answer.

I'll ask

the Premier: Is the Premier keeping this minister in his Cabinet because the

minister was simply following the Premier's orders?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

No, that is not the case, Mr.

Speaker, and I've mentioned this quite a few times.

What

we're talking about here is a process, as I just mentioned, that's been around a

long time. I would challenge people, and people that would have been in a

situation to have signed RSAs and complete RSA forms in their political life.

There are quite a few people, I would say, because there are literally thousands

that would have been done by previous ministers and previous premiers, and

ministers that are currently sitting in our own Cabinet.

What's

at question here is this process about incomplete RSAs, Mr. Speaker. I think we

must keep focus on what this review is all about here, and actually how we move

people amongst agencies and around government and why it's necessary that we do

that; about professional development, making sure that people get the skill sets

that are multi-skilled that can be better employees.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Grand

Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

MR. TIBBS:

Mr. Speaker, here is a

question from many people across the province here.

There

have been three ministers removed from this Premier's Cabinet over the past few

years. The most recent in September. We have two reports by Officers of this

House concluding gross mismanagement by another minister.

I ask

the Premier: When is he going to get control over his Cabinet and give the

governance to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador like he promised?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, we have done a

tremendous amount of work, when you look back over the last four years of

governance, since you brought it up, about putting things and controlling the

affairs of this government. That is what this question was all about.

Number

one, I could speak to things like Muskrat Falls; I could speak to things like

the financial structure. This is what we've been doing over the first mandate.

As a

matter of fact, we went to the people of the province and sought a second

mandate, Mr. Speaker. We are in a minority government situation here, trying to

work with every single Member of this government in co-operation for the benefit

of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Mr.

Speaker, we have done a lot of work. One of the priorities we're focusing on

right now is rate mitigation as an example. When you talk about getting control

of the affairs of this province, rate mitigation remains the number one priority

for this government and should be for all Members of this House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for Grand

Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

MR. TIBBS:

I disagree. I think what

we've been doing so far has been using the House's time to apologize and

sidestep.

The

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment served as a town clerk and manager

for a municipality of our province. Many municipalities in our province have

codes of conduct and ethics for both councillors and staff.

How does

this good minister square a commitment to ethics in his previous role and

serving in a Cabinet with a minister who has committed a gross mismanagement of

public funds in violation of the Members' Code of Conduct?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I can't let the

preamble go here. When I mentioned that the number one priority on

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians would be rate mitigation as a result of the

Muskrat Falls Project, the Member stands up and says he disagrees with that

being the number one priority.

Well,

people that are talking to me, I can assure you – that the rate mitigation in

our province right now, the 13 pieces of legislation that's been already gone

through this fall session of the House of Assembly making our school zones,

construction zones safer; Clare's Law as an example. I will tell you, there's

been a lot of work that's been done. Yes, we're in a situation that we're

debating this resolution that's currently on the Table and we'll be reviewing

that as we go.

Mr.

Speaker, I say to the Member opposite: The number one priority that I'm hearing

from Newfoundlanders and Labradorians is electricity rates as a result of

Muskrat Falls.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for Grand

Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

MR. TIBBS:

One last question to the

Premier, Mr. Speaker: When are we going to start using the time of this House

for those priorities and not his Cabinet?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, there are 40

Members in this House of Assembly, and as we speak to resolutions like this,

every single person has a role to play in what we actually debate in the House

of Assembly. Already, we've had 13 pieces of legislation that we've been able to

get through with the co-operation of Members opposite. I think for those 13

pieces of legislation, this has been a pretty good fall session. We want to see

more of that.

I can

assure you, I am willing to work and change legislation, put good legislation in

place to benefit all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, but it takes all 40

Members of this House of Assembly to be able to do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista.

MR. PARDY:

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development is a former officer with the Royal

Newfoundland Constabulary, which adheres to a code of ethics, as does the

profession of teaching. The RNC recruits new officers, it asks that applicants

be of high moral and ethical character and be capable of projecting a positive

police role model to the community – one in which I'm sure this minister has

done a good job in doing.

How does

the minister square his commitment to public service as a police officer and

serving in a Cabinet with a minister who has committed gross mismanagement of

public funds in violation of the Members' Code of Conduct?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. WARR:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

thank the hon. Member for the question.

Yes, Mr.

Speaker, I've had the opportunity to share some time with the RNC in my career.

I took great pride and great honour in representing a time-honoured police force

in this province, as I've enjoyed my time here within this government and within

this House of Assembly. We will continue to do the good work of the people of

this province.

As we

move forward, I certainly wish the members of the Royal Newfoundland

Constabulary all the best and ensure that they are providing excellent police

services to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista.

MR. PARDY:

Mr. Speaker, I value the

comment by the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. I would

have liked for him to have answered the question as to the current

Mitchelmore Report that we're currently doing.

The

Minister of Service NL graduated as a nurse, a discipline that has a rigorous

code of ethics and holds a certificate in leadership from Memorial University.

How does

the minister square her commitment, ethics and leadership while serving in a

Cabinet with a minister who has committed gross mismanagement of public funds in

violation of the Members' Code of Conduct?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Service NL.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, I

am a very proud Member of this Cabinet, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

This is my second post since

2015. I, too, took a Code and I'm very proud to be a Cabinet minister.

Mr.

Speaker, I must say, nursing was a wonderful career, there's no doubt. This is

my third career. I take the ethics and the values that I learned in nursing and

I bring them into governance, and it's working quite well. I'm proud to be here,

Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

MS. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

In his

report, the Citizens' Representative stated on page 30: “Specifically, we find

that Minister Mitchelmore fundamentally mismanaged his obligations pursuant” to

Code of Conduct provision 10, which requires “That his relationship with

government employees should be professional and based upon mutual respect and

should have regard to the duty of those employees to remain politically

impartial when carrying out their duties.”

How can

the Premier keep in his Cabinet a minister who fundamentally mismanaged his

obligations and thereby violated professional ethics under this Code of Conduct?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, there's been a

review – and the Member opposite just spoke to one of the sections, I think it

was page 30 she said. There was a significant amount of material within this

review that has been put forward to the House of Assembly. There's been actually

two reviews and then over to the Commissioner to actually try and articulate,

identify and suggest what appropriate measures should be taken.

Mr.

Speaker, the Commissioner himself, during the review of the findings and the

evidence that was presented, actually had four options, which he at the time

said a reprimand would've been the appropriate action. We've been through this

process, as well as many other ministers that have sat in Cabinets of all

administrations for a number of years. We've seen ministers – and I can assure

you, there's been a lot of them – that have been able to, in this very similar

situation, remain Cabinet ministers.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

MS. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Mr. Speaker, the

Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development has served on the Memorial

University faculty of medicine admissions board which evaluates those wishing to

become physicians that will be held to some of the highest ethical standards.

How does

the minister reconcile her commitment to ethics, while at the same time serving

in a Cabinet with a minister who has committed gross mismanagement of public

funds in violation of the Members' professional Code of Conduct?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I've

been serving in this House, thanks to the wonderful District of Cartwright -

L'Anse au Clair. I've been through a by-election, a hotly contested nomination

and two general elections. It's very humbling, Mr. Speaker.

I remind

myself every single day what a tremendous privilege it is to serve. I remind

myself of the values that my grandparents that raised me instilled in me, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. DEMPSTER:

One of my mottos in life is

that little poem, “The Man in the Glass.

“When

you get what you want in your struggle for” life “and the world makes you king

for a day.” It's about going back to “The Man in the Glass,” Mr. Speaker.

What

we're talking about here today is an independent review. There are

recommendations on the floor. We're going to vote, Mr. Speaker, later on those

recommendations.

My first

day in this House of Assembly in 2013, a current sitting Member was standing up

apologizing. We need to be careful, Mr. Speaker. I've seen lots of changes here.

None of us are blameless; we do the best we can.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR. WAKEHAM:

Mr. Speaker, in his report of

June 11, 2019, the Citizens' Representative stated again on pages 31 and 32:

“The net effect is that The Rooms are overcompensating for the position of

Executive Director of Marketing and Development in the range of $30-$40,000 per

year.” Reasonable people would expect a Minister of the Crown to exact strict

scrutiny to a request for additional salary expenditures.

I ask

the Minister of Finance, who has been working to reduce expenditures: How can he

accept the gross mismanagement of public funds by his Cabinet colleague?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I take the role of Finance Minister very seriously. We are looking at

finding efficiencies in government.

I've

heard Member after Member after Member today ask how we can sit in a caucus with

somebody who has grossly mismanaged funds. I'd ask Members on the other side how

they can, because the funds of this province were grossly mismanaged, Mr.

Speaker, under the previous administration when you look at things like Muskrat

Falls, when you look at a deficit of $1 billion in

Budget 2015 that actually ballooned to more than double that. So I'd

ask the same question.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR. WAKEHAM:

Mr. Speaker, I don't know

when a defence of an action became something along the lines that because they

did it, we can do it too. I'm not sure that's sound defence. I agree the Finance

Minister is working hard at his job.

Mr.

Speaker, the Finance Minister has directed all ABCs, which would include The

Rooms, to manage their budgets and reduce spending. The Rooms went over budget

by $1.5 million in 2018-2019.

I ask

the Minister of Finance: How is this justified?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As like

many boards, agencies and commissions, they're given an allotment based on the

funds available to the province. That's the same case with The Rooms

Corporation, slightly over $6 million. They have to fund the operations within

that budget.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the

report of June 2019, the Citizens' Representative stated: “… Minister

Mitchelmore either directly authorized the salary level for Ms. Foote through

his signature on the Request for Staffing Action Form, and/or he acquiesced in

her receiving that level of pay. Having done so, we find that Minister

Mitchelmore grossly violated his obligations as contained in

section 8 of the

Code of Conduct.”

understand that only the Premier has the authority to remove a minister from

their portfolio, so I ask: How can the minister keep his Cabinet minister who

grossly violated his obligations?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

You're correct, Mr. Speaker,

I say to the Member opposite. Yes, Cabinet Members serve at the prerogative of

the Premier. That's been the way it's been in Parliaments, in Legislatures for

quite some time.

What I

will say, though, is that when people actually move around government, it's

typical, and what we've seen historically, if you look and do a review of where

people would've been with transfers of people around various agencies and within

departments within government, we will see that when they transfer from one

department to another, one agency from government and so on, they typically

transfer with the salary and with the benefits that are associated with the

current position. That's been the way it's been for a number of years and there

are lots and lots of examples that would have been out there that allows that to

happen.

Mr.

Speaker, we are acutely aware of the finances of this province. The Finance

Minister here has done a remarkable job in making sure we get the fiscal impact

on this province. We always endeavour to do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for Topsail -

Paradise.

MR. P. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

appreciate the Premier saying how acutely aware he is of our finances.

In his

report, the Citizens' Rep stated: “We conclude that Minister Mitchelmore grossly

mismanaged his obligations with respect to the Code of Conduct given his

involvement in the appointment of Ms. Foote to The Rooms and the setting, or

permitting to be set, her salary at $132,000.” Acutely aware of our finances.

Good

leadership characteristics: honesty, accountability, integrity and the ability

to do the right thing. In this instance – this instance – how can the Premier

keep in his Cabinet a minister who grossly mismanaged his obligations?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I'll answer the

question simply by saying, one of the things about being acutely aware and being

accountable and responsible for the affairs of this province, we do take this

very seriously and spend a lot of time doing so. It's one of the reasons why,

last week, I spent a considerable amount of time working with other provinces

and working with the Prime Minister to actually get this province back in a

better fiscal situation.

One of

the things about that, Mr. Speaker, I certainly was not shy in calling an

inquiry into Muskrat Falls for the same reasons. So when you look at

transparency and accountability, Mr. Speaker, that Muskrat Falls inquiry, which

came from decisions that would have been made by prior administrations, we

accept the responsibility that we have taken on in trying to manage that project

as well.

There

are two administrations in place here, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to advocate

for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to make sure that we put this province on a

good path for the future.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

Mr. Speaker, would the

minister, subject of the Mitchelmore

Report , clarify his answer earlier. Did the Premier's chief of staff or

other officials speaking or purporting to speak with the authority of the

Premier, give him direction on the hiring?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

said previously in the House of Assembly, the Premier did not direct me in this

matter. I signed the request for staffing action and my testimony is in the

report that is put before the House of Assembly, and the recommendation is a

reprimand by the Commissioner for Legislative Standards who is a statutory

officer of the House of Assembly.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

With due respect, the

minister did not answer the question. Did someone speaking for the Premier or

purporting to speak for the Premier give him that direction?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Educations, Skills and Labour.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

encourage the Member to read the report that is put before the House here today.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A woman

is going blind because the government won't cover the eye injection she needs to

keep her vision. She needs the shot every two weeks, $1,800 a shot, about

$47,000 a year, which, coincidently, is the difference between Carla Foote's

salary and the salary that The Rooms approved.

When

will the Premier stop defending the waste of public money that could be saving a

woman's eyesight?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I have

met with various representatives from the Canadian National Institute for the

Blind, as well as officials with the Pharmaceutical Services Division in my

department and we are working on a proposal with the help of the ophthalmologist

in this province. We would expect something to come from this process

imminently, Mr. Speaker. As soon as I get something, I will be happy to inform

the House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader, for a quick question.

MR. BRAZIL:

Minister, insulin pumps – out

of $50,000 coverage is not being covered. That's $50,000 that is being given to

Carla Foote.

When

will the Premier stand up and put the money into health programs for people

instead of political patronage?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

The

insulin pump program is one of the leading programs in the country in actual

fact. I was speaking with my colleague in Nova Scotia; they still have an age

cap. We had representations from diabetes advocates and in the light of that we

have lifted that, Mr. Speaker. People will now no longer age out of the program.

We have

revamped the administration behind that program. With the use of centralized

purchasing we hope to be able to expand that program further over coming months

as the financial situation allows, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier has accepted the Commissioner's findings in the

Mitchelmore Report . He has also signaled that an apology may be

insufficient. The Premier has the power to solve this problem right now by

imposing more appropriate punishment, as has been proposed by Opposition

Members.

I ask

the Premier: Will he finally show some leadership, end this farce and resolve

this matter now?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, what I said to

the media yesterday was that we're in a debate here in the House of Assembly.

What I said it would be premature for me to make any suggestion of where this

would be, based on the debate that would occur on the floor of the House of

Assembly.

As this

debate continues and we get into the final decision-making, we'll see, Mr.

Speaker. But it's very clear in the report that the Commissioner for Legislative

Standards has recommended a reprimand in this particular case. So what is

required here is to actually define what that reprimand would be.

Yes,

I've accepted the report, the concurrence of the report. We've accepted that

with the recommendation that a reprimand would be something that would be in

place. Also, to the point where there would be a review of the HR and moving of

officials around government within our province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MR. J. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On page

10 of the Citizens' Representative report, the deputy minister of Tourism,

Culture, Industry and Innovation at the time notes that he was asked by the

Cabinet Secretariat to notify people who needed to be notified of Ms. Foote's

hiring. As I understand it, the clerk of the Executive Council coordinates

operations of the Cabinet Secretariat.

I ask

the Premier: Since he has consistently denied any role in his hiring, is he now

saying that it was the clerk who made this decision on her own?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. Just

like I said, there was no involvement in this and there was no direction. The

clerk is always involved when you look at situations like this. As a matter of

fact, some of these are – and this has been explained in the briefing that was

given there.

Mr.

Speaker, that's the process that's been around for decades, and I'm sure people

opposite would've been part of this, would understand that. It's not unusual in

situations like that for the clerk to be participating in the HR changes that

would occur.

Mr.

Speaker, that's what's happened. This is a process that's been around for many,

many decades. I would encourage people to actually get an understanding – part

of that is in the report – of how this process works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Now for

the $8-billion question, Mr. Speaker. The

Transparency and Accountability Act requires semi-annual reporting on the

economic and fiscal position of the province. This means the fall fiscal update

is now two months late. The Auditor General is waiting on his report and his

fellow MHAs are waiting on his report.

I ask

the Minister of Finance: Will we see the fall fiscal update in this sitting of

the House?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Considering the budget was late this year, Mr. Speaker, we are roughly within

the six months. I was absolutely hoping to be able to deliver the fall fiscal

update today. I checked with my officials in the department. They tell me they

are still working on it. I'm just as disappointed as the Member opposite, as I

was hoping to do it today.

Mr.

Speaker, as soon as it is ready and the officials have the work complete, we

will have the fall fiscal update put before the people of the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MR. J. DINN:

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development has suggested she sees herself as the

self-appointed government co-chair of a body similar to the community-government

task force on emergency shelters proposed by the Third Party.

I ask

the minister: When can we expect the community co-chair to be appointed, and

what is the timeline for this undertaking?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Mr. Speaker, I believe what

the hon. Member is referring to is we've been doing some work with our community

groups, our non-profits around our shelters and the direction that we're moving

in. I'm happy to report to this House that on the 22nd of November I invited all

of our partners. We had 100 per cent participation show up and we had good

conversation. At that table it was recognized we needed to bring in some other

relevant departments like AESL, like Health, Mr. Speaker. It's very complex; it

doesn't just rest in one department.

I was

happy to sit down this week with two Members from the NDP. I've told them I'm

not opposed to having them be a part of this going forward, and we're actively

moving on this. The City of St. John's is interested in playing a role. The

chair of the Canadian Mental Health Association has reached out. I told him I

welcome him at the table as we work together to find solutions to what is a

complex issue, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Question Period

has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling

of Documents.

Tabling of

Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Leader of the Third

Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'd like

to ask leave to table a series of emails I have received concerning the

Mitchelmore Report . I think these are

worthy of documenting and making part of the public record. I would like to ask

leave to be able to table these.

MR. SPEAKER:

Does the Member have leave to

present these documents?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

Seeing no objections, I ask

the –

MS. COFFIN:

May I speak to these, Sir?

MR. SPEAKER:

No, it's just tabling of the

documents.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of documents?

Notices

of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Minister of Health

and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

to give notice that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To

Amend The Medical Care And Hospital Insurance Act, Bill 20.

further give notice that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act

To Amend Various Acts Of The Province Respecting The Publication Of A

Summary Of

A Decision Or Order Of An Adjudication Tribunal, Bill 22.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

The hon.

the Minister of Service NL.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

Mr. Speaker, I give notice

that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act Respecting The

Protection Of The Health Of Persons Exposed To Radiation And Respecting The

Safety Of Persons In Connection With The Operation And Use Of The Electrical And

Mechanical Components Of Radiation Producing Equipment And Associated Apparatus,

Bill 23.

Mr.

Speaker, I give notice that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled, An

Act To Amend The Highway Traffic Act, Bill 21.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for Topsail -

Paradise.

MR. P. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This

petition has been presented a number of times:

WHEREAS

many students within our province depend on school busing for transportation to

and from school each day; and

WHEREAS

there are many parents of school-aged children throughout our province who live

inside the eastern school district's 1.6-kilometre zone, therefore do not

qualify for busing; and

WHEREAS

policy cannot override the safety of our children;

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

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

Newfoundland and Labrador to eliminate the 1.6-kilometre policy for all

elementary schools in the province and in junior and senior high schools where

safety is a primary concern.

Mr.

Speaker, this has been an ongoing issues, especially up in the Topsail -

Paradise District, Conception Bay South, Harbour Main and, of course, in other

areas throughout the province where the shoulders of the road are probably the

best place for kids to walk to and from school. Not all areas have sidewalks.

Not all areas have appropriate snow clearing.

We are

now approaching the winter season, or approaching Christmas, kids will be

getting out for a break and then going back. The roadways, the walkways will be

less than what they are now. Children, in some instances, will be climbing over

banks of snow to get to the bus; those who walk to school, who can't get the

bus. So it becomes an increasingly unsafe condition for children to and from

school.

behalf of the individuals who have signed this petition, I ask that government

look at this policy again, look at the issue around safety to ensure that when

the conditions are bad that there are safe ways to get back and forth to school

and look at addressing the courtesy busing and the courtesy stops because they

are certainly not dealing with the issue.

This

issue needs to have a permanent solution where kids and children can get to

school safely who are within that 1.6-kilometre zone.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development with a response.

MR. WARR:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

appreciate and thank the hon. Member for his petition.

Mr.

Speaker, as I've said many times in the House, this province has one of the best

busing policies in the country. Over the past several years, every bus run –

1,100 bus routes within this province have been reviewed and we've added an

additional 706 courtesy stops on the 1.6-kilometre zone. The current policy is

working.

Again,

as I mentioned earlier before, I've had the opportunity to speak with both the

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment and the Minister of Transportation

and Works on some additional initiatives around student safety, and we will

continue.

I will

say, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of our government, student safety is paramount, and

I appreciate the hon. Member in bringing his petition forward.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

MS. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

WHEREAS

the District of Harbour Main includes the Conception Bay Highway, Route 60,

specifically Conception Harbour; Roaches Line, Route 70; and Hodgewater Line,

Route 71. These roads are high-volume roads with significant moose sightings.

Travellers require maximum sightlines to limit moose accidents on these

important roadways. Immediate and ongoing brush cutting maintenance is required

for the safety of the people that use them on a daily basis.

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

undersigned, urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to immediately

take the necessary steps of brush cutting on the Conception Bay Highway,

specifically Conception Harbour, Roaches Line and Hodgewater Line, to ensure

driver safety and improve sightlines for the driving public that these

high-volume roadways each day.

Mr.

Speaker, I bring this petition on behalf of many concerned citizens and members

of the local service districts in these areas, specifically, the Town of

Conception Harbour and the local service district of Roaches Line. Since my

election some six months ago, I've heard from many people – specifically in

Conception Harbour, for example – who have stopped at my constituency office in

Holyrood and talked about the serious concerns they have, as well as members of

the local service district in Roaches Line.

As a

result of these concerns, I've personally contacted the Transportation and Works

depot that is responsible for the area identifying the issue with the brush

cutting. I was advised that with respect to this they have limited equipment and

that this job of brush clearing was beyond what the depot was capable of doing.

They only have a small brush cutter and thus have to contract the work out.

These are serious issues here with respect to safety and we ask that this be

given appropriate attention before there's a tragedy.

Also,

Mr. Speaker, members of our community in Roaches Line and community members and

leaders in the local service district have said that the last time the brush was

cut in Roaches Line was in the late '80s. This was about 30 years ago. We are

long overdue for having this work done.

Their

main concern, Mr. Speaker, is that there are so many moose sightings in this

area and by having the brush cut back, citizens, they say, as well as those who

travel through the community, would have a better chance of being able to avoid

a collision. There are many areas throughout the community where the brush is so

close to the road that you have to ease your way out in the middle of the

intersection before you can even see oncoming traffic. As well, we did have a

collision in the Conception Harbour area. We attribute that, or there's strong

belief, that was caused because of the inability to have appropriate sightlines

by the vehicles.

Mr.

Speaker, this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately. I have

many people who have signed the petition and we ask that the necessary steps of

brush cutting take place.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I'm

going to actually please the Member opposite. That work actually has been added.

I can share with you –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CROCKER:

Mr. Speaker, as a department,

we do about $2 million a year of brush cutting. She is correct; most of the time

our depots don't actually have the capacity to do heavy brush cutting, and it is

something that we contract. But I can certainly share with her the areas that

have been added to an existing tender, and if there are other areas of concern

we can certainly look at those as well.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MR. J. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

following petition concerns the Ragged Beach moratorium on development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. J. DINN:

The reasons for this

petition:

Ragged

Beach is an uninhabited, dark coast which is important to the sustainability of

the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve as it protect fledgling birds from the

effects of light pollution.

Ragged

Beach is an international tourism destination, a key attraction on the East

Coast Trail and brings spinoffs to the Southern Shore.

Current

and future development could negatively impact the bird sanctuary, the East

Coast Trail and the beach itself.

In 2014,

a commissioner recommended that 99 hectares of Crown land along the Ragged Beach

be set aside as a Crown reserve, but this has not been done.

The

provincial government has a responsibility to protect Ragged Beach as an area of

provincial interest.

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

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to implement an immediate one-year

moratorium on development in the Ragged Beach-Mullowney's Lane area of Witless

Bay to assess the significance of this area and develop a plan to protect the

dark beach.

The

request is reasonable. As early as this morning, the Minister of Municipal

Affairs and Environment was sent an email by representatives of those interested

in preserving Ragged Beach to request on-site investigation of damage by

excavator to public Crown lands in the Ragged Beach area. They have requested

that the staff, including environmental assessment and protection division

staff, do conduct an immediate on-site visit to determine how the damage can be

best remediated, determine whether an offence has been committed and determine

what remedies and penalties should be levied for the offence.

So what

they're asking for in this petition is something that would render these

complaints and emails unnecessary. To take a pause, to look at what needs to be

done to protect this area. As we well know, there are a dedicated group of

volunteers who yearly – the puffin patrol – ensure that the species is

protected. When they come ashore on the roads of Witless Bay where there's an

excessive amount of light, they're confused. At least you have a dark beach

there, Mr. Speaker, where they're not going to encounter that problem, but if we

expand the development it's just going to exacerbate the problem.

What

they're asking for is not to stop, but let's pause and take a good look at it. A

pretty reasonable request of government.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

With a response, the hon.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment.

MR. BRAGG:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker, and I thank the Member opposite for the petition. It's a great petition

indeed.

The Town

of Witless Bay has a town plan in which they have to adhere to. Any time they

are going to change their town plan there are always public consultations for

that and approval from the minister's office. Any permits required outside of

that, especially water resources, would come to our office and we would approve

as such.

There

was some work that was done out there a couple of weekends ago. We had staff on

site; we made sure everything was done within the parameters of that permit.

We'll deal with things on a case-by-case basis as they come forward to us.

Mr.

Speaker, I can't stress this enough: The town has a town plan. I would encourage

everyone to review the town plan and discuss it with the town council.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

These

are the reasons for this petition: Every day emergency medical professionals,

emergency medical responders, primary care paramedics and emergency medical

dispatchers provide vital medical emergency and transition services to the

residents of Newfoundland and Labrador. Their duties are essential for delivery

of medical service in all regions of our province, especially at times of

serious health crisis when residents needs access to immediate medical attention

and/or transport to acute care facilities for, often, life-saving medical

treatments.

While

the importance of these medical professionals cannot be understated, currently

in our province they are not automatically deemed as essential services, meaning

no provision exists for a continuation of their services if an employee or an

employer service disruption occurs. In other Canadian jurisdictions, these same

medical professionals are deemed as essential services in labour relations

legislation, ensuring service is never interrupted and residents always have

access to emergency road ambulance. In Newfoundland and Labrador this protection

does not exist.

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

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

Newfoundland and Labrador to immediately start the process for road ambulance

health care professionals to be deemed as essential services under labour

relations legislation, ensuring no interruption in emergency medical services

across our province under any circumstances and that an appropriate arbitration

process be introduced that ensures a resolution mechanism formally exists and

any interruption in this vital service is avoided.

Mr.

Speaker, this is about ensuring that we have available health service,

particularly when it's at the emergency level. Nothing more than our first

responders, particularly when we're looking at the ambulance services that have

to be providing the service for those individuals.

We all

know the valued service that firefighters do on a professional level and a paid

level, but we also realize the valued service, the immediate impact service that

ambulance drivers have and what they do then to ensure the stability of the

injured individual. They're stabilizing until they get to one of our primary

care facilities for health interventions.

Mr.

Speaker, we want to ensure, because it is a labour market – so we have employers

that may have issues around funding and services with their employees. We have

employees that may have issues around the services, the provided wages and other

issues that they may have with their employer. Both have the ability and have a

right – under our labour laws they have a right, as it stands right now, to

either lock out their employees or a union has a right and the employees have a

right to either work-to-rule or go on strike.

As we

know, a number of our paramedics and our emergency response professionals are

part of a particular union in Newfoundland and Labrador, so they have collective

agreements. If they feel that collective agreement is being violated, they have

a right to exercise their rights and privileges. If the employer has that issue

with their employees they have a right to stop it.

We ask,

Mr. Speaker, that this be taken seriously and that essential services be brought

forward for debate in this House.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

The

Member opposite brings up a very important point. Our paramedics in this

province do perform incredibly valued work and valuable work. They actually fall

into three broad groups, one of whom are effectively public sector employees

within a collective arrangement. My recollection is that there is an essential

workers' agreement with that group.

The

other two – one is volunteer and they are community groups. The others are

employees of private companies, some of which are unionized and some of which

are not. Certainly, from my point of view, in our discussions with ambulance

operators on a go-forward basis, this is something we would be very concerned

about factoring in. I welcome the petition from the Member opposite.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

MR. DWYER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This

petition is presented on behalf of the residents of the Town of Swift Current,

Black River.

Highway

210 is the main road going through the community of Swift Current. In the town

it's known as Seaview Drive. It's a part of their community.

The

Department of Transportation and Works currently are working on a two-year

highway project on highway 210 from Garden Cove towards Pipers Hole, which looks

like it might be concluded this year.

The

current tender for the highway work includes highway 210 only. The side roads of

Swift Current are not included.

The side

roads in Swift Current are in deplorable condition. The side roads have not been

repaved since the initial paving in the early 1970s. The side roads, which were

used to divert traffic during the current tender construction contract, are in

worse shape now due to the extensive traffic it endured.

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

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

Newfoundland and Labrador to consider paving/upgrading of the side roads

including Darby's Cove, Sharpe's Lane, Maple Crescent, Old Church Road, Academy

Hill, Hollett's Point and Shoal Cove Heights in Swift Current to the current

existing road upgrade project as an add-on.

I do

notice there that on this particular petition, there is somebody that has signed

it with the last name Crocker. I wouldn't want anybody to miss out on any

invitations for Christmas dinner or anything.

MS. DEMPSTER:

(Inaudible.)

MR. DWYER:

Thank you, Minister Dempster.

It's

incumbent on us to understand that when we have these towns in our districts

that the highway does go through, we have to realize that these are people that

are living in a town no different than we live in our own smaller towns. They

deserve that respect. To divert traffic onto a side road and then have that

become more deplorable and not do anything about it is, kind of – I guess it's

incumbent on us to make sure that we're not putting them in a worse situation

than what they started with.

Like I

said, on the side of the contractor, it's been very professional work. The one

thing that I would ask the minister is that we have a look at the grade and

class of stone that was put on the actual sidewalk piece of the road as opposed

to the side roads themselves, and to make sure that the right grade of ditching

is there. We want to make sure that the water runs off correctly, as opposed to

building in certain areas of the runoff.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call

from the Order Paper, Order 3, third reading of

An Act To Amend The Enforcement

Of Canadian Judgments Act, Bill 12.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

I move, seconded by the

Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, that

An Act To Amend The

Enforcement Of Canadian Judgments Act, Bill 12, be now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

the bill now be read a third time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK (Barnes):

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Enforcement Of Canadian Judgments Act. (Bill 12)

MR. SPEAKER:

The bill has now been read a

third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and that its title be as on

the Order Paper.

motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Enforcement Of Canadian Judgments Act,”

read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill

12)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Order 2,

third reading of

An Act To Amend The Public Trustee Act, 2009, Bill 11.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development, that

An Act To

Amend The Public Trustee Act, 2009, Bill 11, be now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

the said bill be now read a third time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Public Trustee Act, 2009. (Bill 11)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and that its title be as it

appears on the Order Paper.

motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Public Trustee Act, 2009,” read a third

time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 11)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

From the

Order Paper, Motion 2.

Mr.

Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury

Board, that a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The Cannabis Control Act, Bill 19,

be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

the hon. the minister shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To

Amend The Cannabis Control Act, Bill 19, and that this bill be now read a first

time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion,

the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board to introduce a

bill, “An Act To Amend The Cannabis Control Act,” carried. (Bill 19)

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Cannabis Control Act. (Bill 19)

MR. SPEAKER:

The bill has now been read a first time.

When

shall the said bill be read a second time?

MS. COADY:

Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, Bill 19 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

From the

Order Paper, Motion 3.

MR. SPEAKER:

Motion 3.

The hon.

the Member for Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

As most

of the people in this House of Assembly know, I usually get up and say what a

privilege it is to be here and to represent the people of Cape St. Francis.

Today I really don't feel that way because I don't believe that I should be

here. I don't feel that we should be debating what this motion is about.

I think

we have more important business in the province. I believe that we should be

debating what the people in the gallery came here today to listen to about their

concerns and about concerns of the residents right across this province. It's

very unfortunate that we're here doing it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

But it has to be done.

Interesting, in my caucus – which we have a fantastic caucus. I told Members of

caucus I've been here I think this is the 24th session now for me sitting in and

listening, whether it's the spring or the fall session. Out of all of them I've

never experienced anything like I have experienced in this session.

I take

great pride in doing my job as an MHA as do nearly every Member in this House of

Assembly in representing the constituents that elected me. I don't believe that

the constituents of Cape St. Francis want me in the House of Assembly debating

the conduct of Members, they want me to be debating things that are important to

them and unfortunately we're here.

I know

the newer Members of this House of Assembly – this is not the norm. This is

definitely not the norm. This whole sitting has been unbelievable. It's been

hard on Members and it's been hard on families, too, because you talk about

people's personal lives.

listened to Paddy Daly coming in one morning and he talked about the craziness

of the House of Assembly. He gave names, he said the Dinn-Byrne thing, the

Lester-Byrne thing, he said the Parsons-Osborne thing and he put my name to it.

I said that's unfair because I had nothing to do with it and I said things were

handled differently.

I have

to stand up in this House of Assembly today and recognize the Minister of

Finance. He had the decency to apologize.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, not only did he

apologize, I was driving home and I received a phone call. The question he asked

me, he said: Are we still friends? I can assure the Minister of Finance we are

still friends.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

We're here now all this week

debating the conduct of a minister. We spent two days debating the conduct of

another minister. I don't know if that minister called the two people that he

was involved with and apologized or wondered what it was, but it's time for us

to stand up and make sure we realize what we're doing here.

We're

here to represent our people. We're here to make sure that the lives of

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians gets better. That's the reason we come to the

House of Assembly. That's the reason we knock on doors. That's the reason we go

around and tell people: I'm there to listen to your concerns.

I'm

after having four elections and it's a great feeling when you knock on a door

and someone says: b'y, thank you for what you did for aunt so-and-so, or that

was good that you did this for that person. That's what we're here for. There

are going to be roads built, there are going to be hospitals built, but the

individuals that we can help is what we should be here for – the little things.

I always say the little things to some people, to us, are huge for other people.

watched the Minister of Health here answer questions. We asked him about

cataracts and surgery and stuff like that. He made an announcement last week

about we're soon going to get it and we're going to be able to do it in private

clinics. I have an elderly gentleman in my district who can't drive anymore

because he needs cataract surgery. His wife is in a home. He feels very

uncomfortable asking every day for someone to drive him back and forth. He says

I have to wait two years for this surgery.

We need

to be here discussing that in the House of Assembly to make sure that we can get

more surgeries for people like that man. That's what we should be here for. Now,

unfortunately, we're here for what we are and that's what I need to talk about

today.

I'm not

like this. When I hear comments of a gong show and what those politicians are

like, I'm tared with that brush. Do you know what? I can assure you that

everyone who put their names – especially the new people, we're tared with that

brush, but that's not who we are.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

That's not just on this side

of the House, that's on that side of the House, too. There are good people over

on that side of the House and good ministers and I have no problem. Really, I

try to gain respect from everybody in this House because I want the same respect

back that I give to you; I think you're going to give it back to me. That's what

we're here for.

This is

an unfortunate – not unfortunate, it's something that shouldn't happen. I'm not

going to get right into what everybody else had to say here, but I'm not going

to get into the right thing and the wrong thing. The Minister of Finance did the

right thing. He apologized; he called me, got it over with. And, listen, you

know what? It was a slip of the tongue. It wasn't the point that I was

(inaudible), but it was the point that it was personal. That's all it was. I

assure you, that minister never meant one thing with it. But that's an apology.

What's after happening in this situation, I think more than an apology is

required.

There

were two investigations done. It was done, and Officers of the House concluded

that this was gross mismanagement. Now, whether a slip of the tongue or gross

mismanagement, I think they're two different things. I really believe it.

The

minister in question, I can say, and the Premier – I listened to the Premier's

speech, and he said about what a good minister he is and how good he is with his

constituency. I don't doubt that. I don't doubt that one bit at all. He got

re-elected; obviously, the constituents in his area thought he was doing a good

job so they re-elected him. No problem at all.

I'll

always go back to my – the wisest man I ever met in my life was my father. He

used to say to me all the time, he'd say: Tell the truth. Always tell the truth.

You'll never go wrong by telling the truth. That's part of what this is all

about, what we're looking for here. We're looking for the truth. We stood for

four days now and asked questions, without any answers.

The same

questions that were asked on Monday were asked again today. People of the

province want answers. Listen, I don't want to see the hon. minister – I'm not

out to get his jugular; I'm not out to get him or anything like that. I'm just

out to say, listen, sometimes we make mistakes, but we have to own up to those

mistakes. That's what this is about.

Listen,

that minister came down in my district. A good minister. We had an issue in

Bauline with cellular service, and the minister came down. I had the Town of

Bauline come in and meet with him. Then, within a couple of weeks, he said: I

have a way to get that done. He came down and we met with the Town of Bauline

and, in a couple of months, had an announcement in the Town of Bauline: they're

getting cellular service. I'm not questioning whether he's a good minister.

The

Premier got up the other night – I wasn't here but I listened to it afterwards –

and talked about what a good minister he was and we can't do that to a good

minister. I can assure you there are a lot of good ministers. There are three

good ministers that are not in Cabinet anymore. They were good ministers.

I had

the former minister of Education – when we built a new school down in Torbay, I

had a lot of questions. He called me up and said if you have a lot of questions,

I'm coming down to have a look at the school, why don't you come with me. I went

down with him and he was a good minister. That's it. We'd never have a water

system in the Town of Pouch Cove if it wasn't for the former minister of

Municipal Affairs because he found a way to do it – a good minister.

The

Member for Lake Melville – I'll always remember it. I remember the night the

breaking news came on about what he had done. It was wrong. I remember looking

at him on CBC. Before the interview they showed a clip and he was sat in the

chair all by himself. Do you know what? I felt so bad for that minister then. I

said I wouldn't want to be going through that. He made a mistake and he owned up

to his mistake. Good for him.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, we'll all make

mistakes in life. There's nobody in here that's perfect, but sometimes you make

a mistake and you have to pay the price. I'm not in here today to attack

anybody. I respect everybody on the other side. I respect everybody that puts

their name on a ballot, because I'm telling you right now – someone says to me

all the time, how do you do it? How do you be a politician? How do you do that?

They don't understand that there are times you can do little tiny things that

can make a difference in people's lives. I don't know about the rest of you, but

when it does happen, I feel really good. It's satisfaction.

Sometimes we'll look at Muskrat Falls – I was here when Muskrat Falls was

debated. So was the Minister of Finance, so was the Member for Mount Pearl -

Southlands and so were a couple of my colleagues. I'm not saying anything; I

voted for Muskrat Falls on the information I was given. I honestly can tell the

people of the province and tell the people of this House, I didn't vote for it

because I said, no, let's do Muskrat Falls, I don't care about anything else. I

did it because I thought it was the right thing to do.

If any

vote comes to this House again and I believe it's the right thing to do, I will

do it again, but I can only do it based on the information people give me. I'm

not an engineer, but I have to be able to stand up in this House of Assembly and

represent my people, and that's what I'm doing.

Mr.

Speaker, we're here today and we're discussing this. I look at many different

things in what we should be discussing.

listened to the Member for Torngat Mountains yesterday. She talked about a CBC

report – and I watched the same report – where an elderly lady talked about her

friend over in the Health Sciences on a gurney for two days. What's more

important? Is it more important that we discuss what we're discussing here

today, or is it more important that we make sure that that lady gets proper

health care?

I think

it's more important we address the needs of the people of the province, but we

have to do this. I don't think we should be four days at it. I think the

minister or the Premier of this province should have had this ironed out long

before now.

I look

at people in the gallery here today, they're not here to listen to this. They're

here because they have a cause and we should be talking about their cause.

If you

talk to people in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and not only people

on fixed incomes or not only seniors, everybody is concerned about electrical

rates. I'd like to be here discussing what we're going to do about the

electrical rates. I don't want to see rates double. I'd rather be discussing

that today and finding out a solution that we can all come together and say:

listen, we got a solution found, let's do it.

If it's

getting money out of the federal government and the Premier and Cabinet

ministers have to go to the federal government and get a deal, I hope you get a

deal. I hope for the people of the province electrical rates don't go up. If you

get a deal, God love you, great. Because that's what the people of the province

want to see from their elected officials.

Our

financial situation – again, Mr. Speaker, we are here and sometimes we throw it

back and forth, it's their fault; no, it's your fault; it's their fault. I don't

care whose fault it is. We have a problem in this province when we have people

who don't have proper housing, people don't have proper care, whether it's

dental care, whether it's eye care or whatever it is. Those are the things we

should be discussing here across the floor. Those are the things we should be

working on.

Again, I

go back to the point that this could have been done a lot quicker than it was

done. This could have been finalized if people had to stand up and say: listen,

I did wrong, and what I did wrong I know that I have to do what I got to do. I

honestly believe when something comes out as blatant as this and when you get

Officers of this House say, completely mismanagement, an apology is not good

enough.

I'm not

this one, pictures of that one. I like someone when it's their birthday or

whatever it is, but you'll never see me on it very much because I just do that.

today and I looked at some of the comments. The people of the province, that's

what they want us to do.

Again,

we've spent two days here with a minister and he withdrew statements. That's all

he did, after two days in this House of Assembly. Then, the next argument was:

it's their fault; it's our fault; it's their fault.

When a

person calls another person a criminal, another person a racist, is that what we

want to hear in the House of Assembly? No. Is that what the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador want to see us in debating? No.

I just

think there comes a time when people have to stand up and say, listen, a mistake

was made on this. This is something that should never happen and let's make sure

that it doesn't happen again, and do the right thing – do the right thing.

That's all.

When

people make a mistake and it's a slip of the tongue, no problem at all. An

apology is good enough. I have no problem with an apology. Again, we've seen in

this sitting of the House of Assembly – it's really hard to justify to the

public what we're doing. I don't want to be tarred with the brush that we're in

here arguing over this stuff all the time. I do not want that. I want to be

showing that I'm in here representing the people that elected me.

I was

down to St. Clare's yesterday and I was sitting down having a plate of fries –

shouldn't have a plate of fries mind you, but I was having a plate of fries –

and this lady came over and she said to me: That's shocking what's happening in

the House of Assembly. That's shocking what that minister said to you. I just

looked at her and I said: Yes, but that was only a slip of the tongue. I said:

I'll tell you something now, that minister apologized. He called me afterwards

and wanted to know if we're good friends. I said: I'll tell you what, we're

still good friends.

But the

general public doesn't see that. They don't see it. They don't realize – I hope

people are listening to this today – that everyone over on that other side I can

call friends. I can call colleagues. I hope I can go to them. I've gone to other

ministers. I've gone to the Minister of Health several times and every time I've

gone to him he's accommodated me and said: Kevin, let me see if I can do what

(inaudible).

I had

the Minister of Education come down to my district – busing issue – and met with

parents down on the road 8 o'clock in the morning.

People

out there have to see this. This is not what the House of Assembly is about,

what we're doing here. For the new Members, this is not what it's all about. I

feel bad for you because this is really your first full sitting in the House of

Assembly, and to see what's after happening in this sitting, it's unbelievable.

It's – I

hate to say the word – embarrassing, but it is. It is, that we're here – and

like I said, Paddy Daly on Open Line

one morning said how crazy we were as Members. That's not what I want to hear.

That's not what I want to hear the constituents in Cape St. Francis hear about

Kevin Parsons. I want the people in Cape St. Francis to say that Kevin Parsons

worked hard, he did his job in the House of Assembly and when we need him, he's

there for us. That's what every Member in this House of Assembly wants. We want

to represent our constituents.

So all

I'm calling on today, and all I want to see here today – we'll probably finish

this debate today or Monday. I don't care, whenever. I'll stay here until

Christmas Eve; it doesn't make any difference. We'll finish this debate, and the

debate should be about what happened.

There

was a job that 77 people applied for. It was cut down to three people. One

person was given the job for two days. Then all of a sudden, that job was taken

away from that person, was taken away and – whoever gave the direction – was

given to – and let me tell you something, Mr. Speaker, I do not know Carla

Foote. I feel bad for that lady, because I'm not sure if she has children or if

she has loved ones, friends and stuff like that, but her name, her picture is

all over the news, everywhere else.

I don't

know that lady. I don't want to be here discussing what happened with her. I

don't know her. I'm not a person that wants to get into anyone's personal lives.

She has children. I have children. We all have family. We don't want to hear

that. I don't want to see that. I don't know what the lady is thinking about

what's on the go here in the House of Assembly, but that's not what this is

about; it's about doing things and making sure in the future that we do the

proper thing. That we, as elected officials, understand that the public is not

going to put up with what happened in the past. What happened in the past,

happened in the past; this is the future.

Just

look at what's happening in society today when we talk about hockey coaches. I

played 18 years of senior hockey and I wasn't a very nice guy. I was rough and

tumble, but do you know what? I left it all on the ice. But I had coaches that

were true gentlemen. I never had the opportunity to play with any coach that

wasn't a good guy. I hear what's happening to young Druken, and stuff like this.

Society has changed.

People

want everybody in society to do the right thing. I want this House of Assembly

to do the right thing. If the Premier is not going to take him out of Cabinet,

then the minister should resign. That's what I want and that's what the people

of the province want.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Before I recognize the

Minister of Finance, I just want to remind Members that we – I noticed some

Members are wearing buttons today that promote a cause. I just want to remind

Members that on June 14, 2012, we had a ruling that buttons promoting a cause or

conveying a message were not in order. I just want to make Members aware of

that.

I should

have made you aware of it earlier. I saw some people wearing things, but I

wasn't sure what the message was on it. My eyesight is not what it used to be. I

couldn't see what it was.

I just

wanted to make Members aware of that ruling so we can all abide. Sometimes we

wear ribbons or pins that don't convey a message, but support a cause. That is

permitted in the House, but when you have a button that promotes a cause and has

a message written on it, that's the ruling that we have against that. I just

wanted to make Members aware of that.

The

Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Like the

Member who spoke just before me, this is not an easy topic to talk about in this

Legislature. Mr. Speaker, I'll speak briefly about the incident that happened

between he and I last week.

Anybody

in this Legislature or anybody in the province who knows me knows that I'm not

mean spirited. It was a slip of the tongue and I was mortified. Not because of

the criticism, Mr. Speaker, because when you say something wrong you deserve to

be criticized, but because we've served in this Legislature, on the same side at

one point, and (

a) I felt I offended a friend, which I didn't intend to do; and

(

b) I was mortified because those words rolled off my lips. I've long advocated

in this Legislature for respect and civility and that's part of the reputation

that I have out in the general public.

I have

children. I want them to be able to go to school and feel that their dad is

respected. I've always carried myself in this Legislature – don't often get

heckled, I believe, because I'm not mean spirited; you make your point, you

don't always agree, but still to this day, Mr. Speaker, those words I spoke, I'm

mortified by because I just didn't feel right as they came out. I apologized.

The Member said that I did call him on his way home from work, because, first

and foremost, we are friends, so I had to make sure that I called him.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. OSBORNE:

Mr. Speaker, in talking about

being mortified, one of the worst feelings for somebody who has enough

self-respect in the Legislature and values that respect in the general public,

is to be called by the Speaker or to be called by another Member for doing

something wrong.

I'm

going to get into the issue at hand, Mr. Speaker, and I am going to talk about

the past a little bit. It's not to identify anybody, or to name anybody, or to

say that what happened in this particular case should be forgiven because it was

done in the past, but we have to learn from the past in order to correct the

future in part.

This

minister under question in the Legislature today has been called by the House.

I'm not saying that the embarrassment that that individual is facing, not only

in this Legislature, but in the province and in the media is enough, we have to

change the process. I think everybody recognizes that. We have to change how

this is done.

Mr.

Speaker, I'm going to go, probably, in two or three directions on the statements

that I'm going to make today. One is that fact that he's faced a considerable

amount of embarrassment. Other Members across this House has said, yes, he is a

good minister, that's got nothing to do with it. He has to be punished.

Mr.

Speaker, (

a) I think he's been shamed, and I think that's important to

recognize; (

b) because this Legislature is going through a transformation, we

have the Independent Appointments Commission and the Public Service Commission,

where, in the past four years, we've had over 600 merit-based appointments. Not

chosen by the politicians, but the recommendations that were made by the IAC are

based on merit. In the previous four years to us forming government, those

appointments would have been politically motivated. I know of one department,

literally, the day before the writ was dropped in 2015, one minister in one

department signed off on 44 appointments.

Now,

that doesn't make this right and I'm not making that argument. That had to

change, and that has changed with the new merit-based process that is in place

today. Unfortunately, the general public don't realize that there are over 600

appointments that have been made through the merit-based process because we're

caught up in talking about a political appointment or a political decision. Our

agencies, boards and commissions, there has been over 600.

This

particular position was a position that wasn't included in the IAC or Public

Service Commission process, nor was it supposed to. That's why I say maybe that

has to change and we have to look at how these positions are chosen, so that we

can clean it up as we did with the IAC process and the Public Service Commission

process.

Mr.

Speaker, I'm in this Legislature now going on 24 years. In two or three months,

I'll be celebrating my 24th anniversary in this Legislature. I have seen many,

many, many appointments that were politically motivated not so long ago. In

fact, at Newfoundland and Labrador Housing an individual who was there was

brought back to run a political campaign and then appointed again and then

brought back to run a political campaign and appointed again. That was accepted

at the time because whether it was right or wrong, it was expected. It was part

of the process; it was part of the way things were done. That's the only example

I'm going to point out because this is not about identifying anybody who was

appointed or identifying anybody who's made the appointment, it's just to

clearly identify the fact that these appointments were made.

Now that

we're going through a transition and the general public expect more, expect

better of how these appointments are made, the spotlight has been put on one

individual. The spotlight has been put on that individual, Mr. Speaker, because

that individual made an appointment that became very political – or very public

I should say – and in part maybe because the individual had a political

connection. The reason I reference the Housing example is because that had a

political connection as well.

I agree

we need to make things better. The Premier has announced the process and that

shouldn't be criticized. I know it was criticized on the Legislature floor here,

but it's identified that there needs to be a new process in this report, Mr.

Speaker. That's the reason. It wasn't to throw people off what was happening. It

was because it was identified in the report. The Premier acted swiftly in

following what was identified in the report to create a different process.

I think

we're happy to do that, just as we did with the IAC process and what we did with

the Public Service Commission in ensuring that these are merit-based

appointments. That's what the general public wants. They want a cleaner process.

One of

the reasons I mentioned earlier that I was mortified, Mr. Speaker, is because I

have, for many years, called for greater respect and great civility in this

Legislature. I've been one of the champions of that. If we are going to demand

the respect of the general public, we have to deserve the respect of the general

public, which is why that process has to change as well. So we are going to

change it.

When I

sat in the Speaker's chair and we made a decision on a ruling in the

Legislature, sometimes we all know in the Legislature when the Speaker and the

Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chair of Committees go out to look at what the

decision is going to be made, we look at precedent that has been set in other

jurisdictions and, oftentimes, other jurisdictions are called to find out what

the precedent is. Because when you make a decision from the Chair of this

Legislature, it is precedent-setting. Anywhere in the British Commonwealth under

the Commonwealth legislatures, the British parliamentary system, any decision

that's made from the Chair sets a precedent.

I think

what we're doing here today sets a precedent, because never before in the

British parliamentary system has a Member been made to pay financially, Mr.

Speaker. Members have been asked to apologize. Again, I point out that the

Member has been called before the public of the province, called before the

media, has been criticized and, obviously, feels that; but we have to make a

decision here, knowing that this has a domino effect. That a decision we make on

a point of privilege or on something that comes from the Commissioner of

Members' interests – now, that's not to say we need to do something because we

do, but I think we need to think very carefully about what it is we do, Mr.

Speaker, on this decision.

I want

to talk about that for a moment because, in this, the Commissioner of Members'

interests identifies that further scrutiny and review from his office is to

undertake what is appropriate, corrective action and what is necessary. He goes

on to say that: “The Citizens' Representative had the statutory jurisdiction

under

Part VI of the Act to make the above noted findings and conclusions.” It

is not his role to revisit those findings “but rather to determine what

appropriate corrective action should be recommended in the circumstances.”

So it's

important because this report, Mr. Speaker, has been quoted and pieces pulled

out of it. So I think it's important to really consider what we're doing here

today.

The

report goes on to say: “It is noteworthy that the Speaker of the House of

Assembly also forwarded the Citizens' Representative report to the Clerk of the

Executive Council. If changes or clarifications to human resource policies are

required as a result of this matter, the task of recommending that corrective

action is best completed by the Clerk of the Executive Council who can work with

appropriate government departments.”

I know

the Premier consulted with the clerk in looking to do a review of how these

appointments are made. So, in part, that is corrective action and we will get a

cleaner process similar to the Public Service Commission, similar to the

Independent Appointments Commission.

Now, how

do we deal with the individual? Mr. Speaker: “In providing the Citizens'

Representative reports to” the Commissioner for Members' interests, he

identifies that his “duty is to decide what … corrective action is necessary

given the findings of the Citizens' Representative with respect to Code of

Conduct violations.”

With

respect to the Code of Conduct violations, there are four very distinct actions

that can be taken. I'm going to read those out for the purpose of people that

are in the gallery, for the purpose of anybody who may be watching this. Because

all Members of the Legislature know what those four actions are.

It's

under

section 39 of the act, and it reads: “Where the commissioner determines

that a member has failed to fulfill an obligation under the code of conduct, he

or she may recommend in the report under

section 38 (

a) that the member be

reprimanded; (

b) that the member make restitution or pay compensation; (

c) that

the member be suspended from the House of Assembly, with or without pay, for a

period specified in the report; or (

d) that the member's seat be declared

vacant.”

The

Commissioner for Members' interests has these four items and will make a

recommendation to the House of Assembly and to Members of the House of Assembly

to carry out one of these or multiple of these items identified.

So, Mr.

Speaker, if we are going to follow what the Commissioner for Members' interests

has identified, one of these four items – he goes on to say that: “There have

been differing opinions from the Clerk of the Executive Council, the Citizens

Representative and legal counsel for” the minister involved as to the nature of

the appointment of the individual involved – and I'm not going to say her name

because her name has been bandied around here and this, obviously, has to be

very stressful for her and her family as well.

“Accordingly, the mitigating factor in determining the appropriate penalty is

that there are a number of differing opinions as to what was the proper

procedure.” It goes further, Mr. Speaker, to say: “Therefore, it is my opinion”

– the opinion of the Commissioner for Members' interests – that the minister

involved “should be reprimanded in accordance with s.39(

a) of the Act.”

That's

why I say, Mr. Speaker, that what we do here is precedent setting. He's made a

recommendation. The recommendation was

section 39(a), that the Member be

reprimanded. The recommendation wasn't that the Member pay restitution or

compensation, it wasn't that he be suspended from the House with or without pay

and it wasn't that his seat be vacated, it was that he be reprimanded. If we are

to go further than that, what we've been instructed to do and as Members of the

Legislature, it is our duty to reprimand the Member involved.

He is a

colleague. I will say he is a good minister. Members on the other side have

identified that. Members on this side have identified that. He has followed the

same procedure that was followed for years in making appointments by ministers.

Not to

say that it's right, not to justify it, but that procedure needs to change and

the Member needs to be reprimanded. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Mr.

Speaker, (

a) the Member has obviously been shamed, his named has bandied around

for days in the general public; and (

b) the procedure that has been followed for

years in making these appointments is going to change. We are fixing the

problem.

There

are Members in this Legislature on both sides, that have made similar

appointments – current sitting Members. We need to change the process,

absolutely. We need to reprimand the individual, absolutely, but I would ask all

Members of this Legislature to exercise caution in what that is. It is very

unfortunate that Member had the spotlight put on him for a practice that was

accepted politically in this Legislature, accepted within the public service and

accepted publicly for decades. No longer acceptable, I agree. It needs to

change, but that individual had the spotlight put on him, Mr. Speaker. Let's be

very careful in how we resolve the issue.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Lane):

The Speaker recognizes

the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR. WAKEHAM:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There

are many of us who are, as you have alluded to earlier, new Members in the House

of Assembly. We were elected to represent the interests of the people in our

districts and the people of the province.

I have

always said what's good for the people of the District of Stephenville - Port au

Port is good for the province and what's good for the province is good for the

District of Stephenville - Port au Port. The past few weeks we have found

ourselves spending more time dealing with behavioural issues instead of district

and provincials issues. We have seen the resignation of one minister, the

apologies of two others and now a minister who has been found of not only

breaching his Code of Conduct, but grossly mismanaging his obligations under

that Code.

At the

same time as I'm standing here today debating this motion, there are people in

our province who are wondering where their next meal will come from. There are

people in our province making the decision of whether or not they can afford to

continue to live in this province and there are people in neighbourhoods

wondering if their schools are about to close. The Premier could have dealt with

this report and ended this by accepting the minister's resignation, as the

people of this province are demanding. Or if the minister has not offered his

resignation, then he should have asked for it.

Mr.

Speaker, this government came to power on the promise of removing patronage out

of appointments. Let me read you some quotes. These are from the Premier's own

words: “This is why we made the commitment and our government will change what

has become a very tired practice of placing politics before qualifications. In

the past, what we've had is a process that allowed for entitlements. It allowed

for people to actually do favours for their friends, do favours, in some cases,

for their family members.”

Another

quote: The objective here is to help us so that we can put the best people in

place, “so Cabinet Members, like we've seen in the past, cannot go out and tap

on the shoulders of their fiends, call up their buddies, call up their family

members, in some cases, and say, come on, I've got a little job here, you're

entitled to it because you helped on my campaign, or you've done this here, or

you've done something for us so it's now my time to give back to you. This

selection process here takes all of that out of the way.”

Another

quote: “We have now taken steps to take the politics out of political

appointments. It is fair. It is a measured process, one that will provide this.

It will provide greater consistency, greater transparency, improve

organizational performance. You will have better people who are more

experienced, merit based and the technical expertise to make the decisions that

are so important to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.”

Mr.

Speaker, those are the words of the Premier. The people of the province expected

the same thing to happen. I was surprised and disappointed yesterday when the

minister or the Premier was asked a question by my colleague in relation to this

same speech and his answer to the question was this – in

Hansard he simply said: “Mr. Speaker,

once again we're getting politics mixed up with some of the decisions that are

being” made. “What the Member is referring to there is IAC, the Independent

Appointments Commission, and these are about Tier 1 and Tier 2 appointments.”

Mr.

Speaker, I can only take from that, that in fact there is a two-tiered system

that the Premier has and that the people who work in the public service of this

province do not get the same treatment and the same respect. As a matter of

fact, the legacy they have given the public service has been the complete

opposite. Under the leadership of this Premier and his government, we have seen

more patronage appointments of prominent Liberals into jobs whether they have

the qualifications or not. What seems to matter is their connection to the

Liberal Party.

The

appointment of Ms. Foote, also an individual with strong ties to the Liberal

Party; the one example where an independent body completed a review of a

patronage appointment and concluded gross mismanagement and interference by this

minister. Basically, they got caught and now the Premier refuses to take action

to ensure the integrity of his Cabinet and fire this minister from his Cabinet.

Others have been removed for less.

If two

independent Officers of the House were not enough to conclude that the minister

abused his position, the Premier now thinks it is necessary to spend more

taxpayer money to do further review. The Citizens' Representative knows what

happened here. We all know what happened here. The minister blatantly abused his

powers and forced The Rooms to hire Ms. Foote.

We're

here in this House debating not what the minister did but what corrective

actions need to be taken. Why do we need another review? If he did nothing

wrong, we would not be here. He failed as a minister. He failed to uphold the

core values of the public service and that is what I am here to talk about, the

public service of this province. Values that every day the hard-working public

service strive to uphold, but clearly this minister and this government chose to

ignore in the interest of ensuring their friends get the jobs.

The core

values of fairness where all employees conduct their work objectively and free

from influence and bias and are supportive of the diversity of our clients.

Respect; where all employees treat clients in a just manner and accept

responsibility for their work obligations and contributions. Professionalism;

where all employees strive towards service excellence and continuing

professional development, utilizing their unique competencies to advance the

vision of the organization.

This

report confirms that we all know has been going on in the public service since

this government came to power. There has been a revolving door of highly

competent professional public servants being pushed out. As a matter of fact,

there were 15 assistant deputy ministers who were given their notice on the one

day alone. These actions have cost the taxpayers of this province hundreds of

thousands of dollars, if not millions.

These

people were not let go because they were incompetent. They were not let go

because they weren't doing a good job. These were career public servants who had

worked for Liberal governments in the past, who had worked for PC governments in

the past, but were simply let go because this government wanted to hire someone

else. This is exactly what happened at The Rooms. The Citizens' Representative

found this to be the case, the Commissioner for Legislative Standards agreed,

yet the Premier fails to take action.

Mr.

Speaker, we just saw it at The Rooms, but there have been other cases. For

example, the former vice-president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal

Party and co-chair of the party's successful 2015 election campaign has landed a

senior position with the Department of Health and Community Services in May of

2017. This individual was appointed as the director of Pharmaceutical Services,

a position that comes with an annual salary of about $90,000 and was appointed

to the post without any competition and after they fired, without cause, the

former director of Pharmaceutical Services. How is that even possible in a

public service?

There is

a long list, Mr. Speaker, not enough time to go through them all here. The

biggest failure of this government and this Premier is what he has done to erode

the professionalism and the independence of the public service.

The

clerk of the Executive Council is this province's top public servant, which is

supposed to be a non-partisan position with significant responsibility to uphold

the integrity of the public service. The clerk's submission to the Citizens'

Representative defends the gross mismanagement of the minister. The Citizens'

Representative disagreed with the clerk and, in commenting, even said he was

perplexed. Obviously, the clerk of the Executive Council's ability to be

non-partisan has been compromised. What a message to send to the hard-working

public service.

To be

clear, we are not dismissing the role of the clerk of the Executive Council. We

are questioning her role in this review and the fact that the Citizens'

Representative considered her submission but did not change his conclusion of

the minister's gross mismanagement.

The

Citizens' Representative concluded that the employment of Carla Foote at The

Rooms did not comply with the Public

Service Commission Act . The legislation charges the commission with

responsibility to protect the merit principle. Its main purpose is to ensure

fairness in the hiring process. The minister grossly violated the principles of

hiring within the public service.

Fairness

means decisions are made objectively, free from bias, patronage or nepotism. How

could this province's public service have confidence that the hiring process

will be conducted free from political interference? This is what I feel is the

biggest failure here, the failure of this government to promise one thing and

deliver a completely different outcome. This, in fact, is the definition of a

hypocrite – preaches one thing and does another. The public service is not

better off because of this government's actions to remove patronage. The public

service is not better off because of the actions of this minister. He failed the

public servants at The Rooms and this government failed all public servants

across the province. The minister did wrong, but I believe it is the Premier

that should be apologizing for his lack of leadership in dealing with this gross

mismanagement that has undermined the entire public service.

Mr.

Speaker, I say to the Premier: You can end this now. Do the honourable thing and

accept the resignation of your minister, and if he has not offered it, ask for

it.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Speaker recognizes the

hon. the Member for Harbour Main.

MS. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I cannot acknowledge and accept what the Minister of Health and

Community Services said in this hon. House of Assembly yesterday. I have

reviewed Hansard very carefully to

ensure my accurate reporting of his words and to ensure that it is not taken out

of context.

claims today that his words were phrased in the context of health care. However,

Mr. Speaker, I would argue that it is clear and evident in his comments and

unequivocal they are in their intent. Please allow me to repeat them.

There

are words spoken by the Minister of Health and Community Services: “There was a

reference to mistakes being made. What I would argue, however, is there may be

some errors of process but what if the actual mistake we're really referencing

is a systematic, long-standing, cross-party government practice that we have now

been forced to recognize was never designed as a system. This system is not

unique to this government, it is not unique to this department. It has existed

for decades.

“I can

go back to my own department ….” He then talks about lateral transfers, and what

is very key here, Mr. Speaker, are the concluding words of the Minister of

Health and Community Services are the following: I “support the contention that

it is unreasonable to unduly victimize one individual for a mistake that is

embedded in the system.”

Let me

repeat it: I “support the contention that it is unreasonable to unduly victimize

one individual for a mistake that is embedded in the system.” Those are the

words of the Minister of Health and Community Services.

Mr.

Speaker, those are the facts. That is the evidence. I ask the people of the

province to evaluate for yourself these statements made by a senior minister of

this government. Ask some of these questions: Do you believe this is what is the

central issue here? Does this have an air of reality, based on what you've heard

and what you've seen over the last few days? Do you believe that Minister

Mitchelmore is being unduly victimized by a mistake that's embedded in the

system? Do you believe that this is about a mistake that is embedded in the

system, that it's a flaw in the system, rather than a misuse of public power, an

abuse of authority?

Mr.

Speaker, I look at this and I review this, I think very, very hard about this

and it is very troubling. The minister is not acknowledging the contents of this

independent report. I would argue this is clearly a flat-out denial of

responsibility by a senior minister in the Cabinet of this government. Sadly, it

appears that he is keeping in line and following the Premier's lead, which is

comprised of denial of responsibility.

Mr.

Speaker, the leader, the Premier, who throughout these past few days, in his

messaging to all of us in the hon. House of Assembly and to the people of this

province, consists of deflecting responsibility, ignoring the facts, turning a

blind eye to the wrongdoing that is clear and based on uncontradicted evidence

as we've seen by the report – a blind eye to the inherent breach and violation

of ethics by Minister Mitchelmore.

Mr.

Speaker, the facts are in the report. We only have to read this report. The

facts here are black and white. I'll refer to just a few of those facts, and we

will let the people decide.

In the

report, the Citizens' Representative stated, on pages 29 and 30: “We conclude

that Minister Mitchelmore's actions in intervening to facilitate the hire of Ms.

Foote at The Rooms not only breached his Code of Conduct, but grossly mismanaged

his obligations under that Code.” And this is a Code of Conduct. We all have to

adhere to it. It's about professional ethics. It's about ethics within the House

of Assembly.

We also

see in the report, on page 30: “The fundamental objective of his holding …

office is to serve his fellow citizens with integrity in order to improve the

economic and social conditions of the people of the Province.” We've heard from

others about this – my colleagues. What about that job? What about that job of

improving the economic and social conditions of the people of the province? We

have not been able to give proper attention to this because of this scandal

that's occurred.

When we

look at this, Mr. Speaker, we have had no choice but to discuss this and debate

this, and why is that? Because when we're talking about misuse of public power

by elected officials who are put in here by their constituents, by the people,

this threatens so many things, Mr. Speaker, in our society, what we see here. It

threatens ethical values. It threatens justice. It, in fact, destabilizes our

society and it endangers the rule of law. Hence, it is important that we give

this its due recognition in terms of addressing it.

Mr.

Speaker, I would argue this is not about what we would have senior ministers

say, that it's an error of process. That's not what we're talking about. This is

about a breach of ethics. It's about misuse of power and authority, perhaps even

akin to corruption. When we look at what corruption is, in essence, that's a

misuse of public power by elected politicians that are elected to represent us.

Mr.

Speaker, it is of grave concern to myself and many of us, especially the newly

elected Members in the House of Assembly. We cannot believe what we're hearing

and what we have seen in this session and especially with respect to what has

occurred in terms of the hiring of a person.

Again, I

look at the individual, how the individual who had that job was personally

impacted. How can that be justified? How can you put an individual, someone in a

job for two days and later give it to somebody else and say, no? What do you

say? What do you say to that person? How do you honestly justify that action?

Sorry, we made a mistake, we have someone else.

Mr.

Speaker, as my colleague from Torngat Mountains said yesterday, we, especially

the newly elected Members of the House of Assembly, won't be a part of this. We

cannot condone this. We have to stress that things have to be changed. We have

to have a different culture here.

When we

look at this policy we just passed last week with respect to the harassment

policy, well harassment within the definition, the first thing that's stated in

that definition, it includes abuse of authority, and here we are.

Mr.

Speaker, these are not happy times. These are sad times. These are sad times for

all of us and mostly for the people of the province who need to have elected

representatives who ar