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April 28, 2015

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 5

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Verge):

Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we have members'

statements from the Members representing the Districts of Port de Grave,

Labrador West, Signal Hill Quidi Vidi, Bay of Islands, St. John's East,

and Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

The

hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LITTLEJOHN:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, today I pay tribute to a true icon in the community of Port de

Grave, Aunt Greta Hussey. She

was a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who became an author,

poet, and local historian.

the fall of 2011, at the age of eighty-nine she re-released her book,

Our Life on Lear's Room, Labrador .

I was present that evening and remember vividly listening to her read

from her book in her strong clear voice.

It brought chills to many in the room, and you too can enjoy the

occasion by listening to her on YouTube.

I invite all members to meet Aunt Greta through technology.

have many fond memories of visiting with her and our great chats.

Like most women of her generation, Aunt Greta was an exceptional

cook. I recall one visit when

she was upset because she burnt the brewis in the frying pan.

Well, let me tell you, I ate the brewis.

She

provided specific instructions for her service last week.

One of those was we will read her in and we will sing her out.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, she also provided for a mug-up.

ask all hon. members to extend their sympathies to her sons: Edwin, Guy,

Rex, Paul, and daughter Maxine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Labrador West.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

stand in this hon. House today to congratulate the Royal Canadian Legion

Branches 47 and 57 in Labrador West on another successful Legion Radio

Telethon. The legions in

Labrador West are very active in the communities of Labrador City and

Wabush, and each year they host a radio telethon to raise funding for

special equipment for the local hospital.

This is the thirtieth anniversary for the telethon.

Even

with the difficult economic times in Labrador West this year, the local

residents and businesses were very supportive of the legions.

Co-Chairperson Bernie Denief set a goal of raising $25,000 and this

year they were very successful in surpassing all expectations by raising

$44,000. This money will go

towards the purchase of a new cardiograph cart machine with a sixteen lead,

able to do more diagnostic work than the current twelve-lead machine.

takes a lot of volunteers to make this event successful and the large number

of volunteers have provided entertainment, transportation, and runner

service to collect the donations was incredible.

ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Branches 47 and 57 of the

Royal Canadian Legion on another successful event.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

pay tribute today to a remarkable woman, who died one month ago today.

Dr. Becky Sjare joined the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in

1993, and it was in her capacity as an outstanding Arctic scientist that I

had the pleasure of encountering her as part of my work with the Voisey's

Bay environment review panel but, it was probably for her untiring work as

an athletic coach and volunteer that she is best known in the community and

will be most fondly remembered.

I am

happy to recognize her in the name of the wonderful community that she was

such a vital part of. On a

Facebook page created in Becky's memory, friends and fellow athletes talked

with affection and love about the time and energy she invested in them, of

her willingness to be at the track seven days a week in all sorts of

weather, and of how her enthusiasm, dedication, and unwavering faith meant

so much.

She

was coach, co-ordinator and official in provincial Summer Games, and on the

Canada Games team coaching staff.

She was on the provincial executive board and a coach with Pearlgate

since 2006.

ask all hon. members to join me in saluting Dr. Becky Sjare, scientist and

volunteer par excellence.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in

this hon. House today to recognize the Meadows Recreation Committee and its

President, Jamie Brake.

Sunday, March 1, I attended the kickoff of the thirty-seventh annual winter

carnival and the official opening of the new Meadows Sports Complex.

This facility speaks volumes to the many volunteers in the town.

While the initial funding was obtained through a Capital Works grant

program to do the ground work, the support and commitment that the town, the

recreation committee, and volunteers have put in to get the facility where

it is today is second to none.

The

first Pond Hockey Championship was held on February 7 and 8 with thirteen

teams throughout the Bay of Islands, Corner Brook, and areas throughout,

participating in the event.

While many people were involved in this project, it was Jamie Brake's

determination and commitment to have a safe, affordable sports facility for

the residents, that the town's new sports complex is a reality and the

response has been overwhelmingly positive.

ask all members to join me in extending congratulations to Jamie and the

recreation committee, the Town of Meadows, the Member for Gander for his

support, and the many volunteers who came together to make this facility a

reality and exemplify what true community spirit is all about.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Mr. Speaker, as MHAs, we

attend many events in our districts.

One of the most moving annual events for me is the Holocaust Memorial

service presented every year by the Jewish Community Havura of St. John's.

this years' service, held April 12 at the MUN Harris Centre, six candles

were lit to remember six million Jews who perished in Nazi concentration

camps between 1933 and 1945. A

seventh candle was lit in remembrance of social democrats, the disabled, the

gypsies, teachers, legislators, and political opponents of Nazi Germany who

also perished.

Actor and playwright Lisa Hurd shared her own family's story.

Lisa related her story about her own escape from occupation and a

certain death; the audience, Mr. Speaker, was captivated.

Almost 200 people gathered to remember so the world never forgets.

The victims of the Nazis died in places well known in our history:

Treblinka, Sobibor, Bergen-Belsen, Belchec, Birkenau, Auschwitz, and more.

Some families here in Newfoundland and Labrador were also touched by

the fact that they also lost family members in the Shoah.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all hon. members to commend the Havura for their commitment

to keeping these events in our collective memory, to help us as MHAs

remember, so the world does not forget.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

the District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

MS PERRY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

rise in this hon. House today to recognize the outstanding public speaking

abilities of our youth in the Coast of Bays region who have participated in

the annual Lions Club regional Speak Out hosted by the Harbour Breton Lions.

The

first place winner for 2015 was Sommer McDonald of John Watkins Academy in

Hermitage-Sandyville. Second

place went to Tammy Snook of King Academy in Harbour Breton, and third place

was captured by Julie Young of Bay d'Espoir Academy, in Milltown, Head of

Bay d'Espoir.

would also like to thank the Lions Club, teachers, parents, judges, and

volunteers who assist the youth in so many ways as they research and prepare

for the speak out. This event

provides an excellent opportunity for young people to develop their oratory

talent and skills.

The

tremendous effort they put into researching and highlighting relevant and

important issues of their generation will certainly show them that they do

have the skills and abilities to make a positive difference in their own

lives and the lives of others.

ask all members of this hon. House to join me in delivering accolades to

these fine young ladies.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise in this hon. House to recognize that today, April 28, is

National Day of Mourning. On

this occasion we remember workers who have been killed, injured, or suffered

illness due to workplace related hazards and incidents.

had the honour of participating in a wreath-laying ceremony today here at

Confederation Building with my colleagues, joining over 100 people who laid

a wreath in memory of loved ones or co-workers.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the St. John's and District

Labour Council for organizing this event.

Mr.

Speaker, the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission recently

reported that the number of workplace injuries resulting in lost-time

compensation claims has remained, for the third consecutive year, at the

lowest level ever recorded in our Province.

Nevertheless, in 2014, eleven workers died as a result of workplace

accidents, and eighteen from occupational disease.

These statistics highlight the need to continue promoting a strong

safety culture at work and at home.

Mr.

Speaker, the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission

collaborates with the Occupational Health and Safety Branch of Service NL to

enhance safety in all types of workplaces throughout Newfoundland and

Labrador. Last year, over 12,800

directives were issued to identify and correct unsafe work practices, and

more than 4,800 inspections were carried out across the Province.

This work benefits employees throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and

their families, and continues to be a foremost priority for our government.

Mr.

Speaker, this day is an important reminder for all of us to be vigilant so

we can all go home safe at the end of the work day.

Our government has proudly partnered with employers, employees, and

labour groups to reduce workplace injuries and deaths, and we are committed

to building an even stronger culture of safety for the future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

I want to thank the

Premier for the advance copy of his statement, Mr. Speaker, and thank you

and thanks to the St. John's and District Labour Council for organizing

today's event.

was moving to see so many different groups and associations that actually

participated in the lobby for the Confederation Building today.

I am certainly honoured to stand here and observe the National Day of

Mourning. The Member for Mount

South and I attended today's ceremony where we laid a wreath in memory of

the workers who suffered injury and illness, or have lost their lives as a

result of a workplace incident.

The

Premier also mentioned the eleven workers who died as a result of workplace

accidents and the eighteen from occupational disease.

We must also remember on this day those who are not counted in those

numbers because not all workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths are

reported as such.

the National Day of Mourning I will reiterate the need to address the

backlog of appeals with the workplace health, safety and compensation review

commission. I would also like to

point out the lack of movement on implementing the recommendations of the

workplace health and safety commission statutory review.

On this day of mourning, we must reflect on the lives affected and

lost.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

too, thank the Premier for the advance copy of his statement.

The fact that eighteen of twenty-nine worker fatalities this year

were due to occupational disease is the legacy of workplace health hazards

in this Province some of which still exist.

Firefighters risk contracting cancers from the dangerous chemicals

they must work with. Mine

workers in Labrador West continually watch out for high levels of silica

dust that causes pneumoconiosis.

Former Baie Verte miners and Marystown shipyard workers continue to get sick

and die because of cancers developed linked to asbestos.

point out to the Premier that these groups of workers and former workers

need proper coverage and compensation for the diseases their job has exposed

them too.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Further statements by ministers?

The

hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

pleased to rise in this hon. House today to recognize April 26 to May 2 as

National Immunization Awareness Week.

National Immunization Awareness Week provides an opportunity to raise

awareness of the value of being immunized against vaccine-preventable

diseases.

Immunization is a key component of public health and goes a long way toward

protecting us from communicable diseases.

By getting our children started with first vaccinations at two months

of age, we immediately protect them from eleven different diseases and place

them on a path of prevention that continues throughout their school years

and into adulthood. Getting

vaccinated not only prevents us and our children from getting sick; it also

reduces the risk to those with less protection, such as infants or those

with chronic diseases.

Mr.

Speaker, our government remains committed to protecting public health in

Newfoundland and Labrador. This

past year we expanded the provincial vaccination program through an

investment of $350,000. These

funds increased access to influenza vaccines for all residents of the

Province, whooping cough vaccines for adults, and added a second dose of

chicken pox vaccine for children.

would also like to call attention to the recent report by the CD Howe

Institute that praises our Province as a national leader in vaccination

rates. The report highlights

what it calls Newfoundland and Labrador's take-every-opportunity approach

to immunization as a key factor in our success with vaccination uptake.

The national average for vaccination rates falls between 70 per cent

and 95 per cent. I am proud to

say that the report has placed Newfoundland and Labrador at the peak of the

national average with a vaccination rate of 95 per cent for childhood

vaccinations.

are tremendously proud of our provincial status as a national leader in

vaccination rates; however, we must remain vigilant in disease prevention

and safety. I would also like to

take this opportunity to alleviate some concern expressed in our communities

after a study falsely linked the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine with

the development of autism. That

study has since been debunked by a large US study involving 95,000 children.

Parents can have confidence in vaccinating their infants against

these childhood diseases.

Mr.

Speaker, as always, anyone seeking information about vaccinations or the

many myths associated with them is encouraged to visit our departmental

website at

www.gov.nl.ca/health . We will continue our

commitment to protecting the health and well-being of everyone in

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

Immunizations are a very important part of public health.

I am pleased to see that we are a national leader in vaccination

rates.

With

respect to specific diseases, we know that HPV infections are the most

common sexually transmitted infection.

Right now, the publicly funded HPV vaccine is only offered to girls

in our Province. Boys can be

vaccinated but only if their parent or guardian chooses to pay out of

pocket.

The

National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends boys be vaccinated.

The Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Medical Association

believes that anything that makes it easier or more accessible for boys

would be a win. Alberta and PEI

already vaccinate boys.

Vaccinating boys would further prevent the spread of the most commonly

spread sexually transmitted disease, would reduce the risk of developing

cancer in both males and females, it sends the message that both girls and

boys are responsible for sexual health, not just girls, and it provides for

gender equity.

Government should seriously be looking at this initiative, and we strongly

encourage parents to get their children immunized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

too, thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.

The government should be proud that the Province has a 95 per cent

immunization rate and thank the public health workers who provide this

service. It is incredibly

important to continue, to educate, and encourage vaccination.

Over the last fifty years, immunization has saved more lives than any

other health measure. We can

forget just how fast and deadly these diseases can be.

would like to mention Dr. Bruce Aylward from this Province who is fighting

to rid the world of polio a preventable, highly infectious virus that

mainly affects children, some of whom are left paralyzed or who die.

We no longer have it in this country, but it still remains deadly in

others. Dr. Aylward believes the

fight is more than just about polio, and I quote him: It's about equity.

It's about social justice and making sure every kid's got a better

shot at a better future.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, the provincial government determined that a comprehensive review of

the Lands Act and service delivery

model was required. This review

will ensure the legislation is still relevant and service delivery model is

the most effective way to manage, administer, utilize, and protect our Crown

lands for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

wanted to be assured that the process would be independent; therefore, we

established a review committee of three individuals from outside government

who are educated, experienced and knowledgeable in the areas of law, policy,

and business process review.

advisory committee was also established to support the review committee by

providing input and information sharing throughout the process.

order to provide an opportunity for all residents and stakeholders to

provide input, the methods utilized included: written submissions, online

submissions, feedback via telephone, or by attending a consultation session.

Mr.

Speaker, eight consultation sessions took place throughout the Province.

Public consultation sessions began on March 19 and continued through

to April 7 in St. John's, Marystown, Grand Falls-Windsor, Harbour Breton,

Corner Brook, St. Anthony, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and Labrador City.

The

turnout at the sessions were significant with over 170 participants

attending including residents and individuals representing a variety of

industries such as agriculture, tourism, municipal government, as well as

the business community. The

department also received approximately twenty-eight written submissions and

eighteen online submissions.

the coming weeks, a What We Heard document will be released on the

Department of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs website.

Mr.

Speaker, now that the consultations have concluded, the review committee

will begin to prepare a final report.

It is anticipated that report will be completed in June and I look

forward to receiving and reviewing the recommendations contained within that

report.

The

provincial government is committed to its focus on listening, collaborating,

and innovation. This review

demonstrates this and will lead to practical and informed recommendations to

ensure the Lands Act aligns with

best practices to better meet the needs of residents and stakeholders alike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

thank the minister for an advance copy.

I thank the individuals for carrying out the report.

I have a few comments to make about it.

I guess one positive is that we might be able to finally see the

report by Don Downer the land use advisory committee which cost the

government $750,000, and the price is still climbing.

That was five years ago.

We are still waiting for that report.

would say to the minister it is great to have a report done.

I know the minister is working on this but the Minister of Service NL

Coppermine Brook, people with leased land by government following every

law cannot get hooked up to electricity.

They cannot even get a letter returned by the Minister of Service NL;

everything is put on freeze.

Guess what, Mr. Speaker? Do you

know why they put it on freeze?

There may be a problem with the sewer.

They were supposed to have it done two years ago.

Admit it in front of seventy-five people the assessment is not even

done.

The

Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs, thank you for trying to

solve this problem. The Minister

of Service NL, do you duty and respond to these responsible people who need

an answer.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. JOYCE:

They have been trying to

get an answer for two years.

MR. SPEAKER:

I remind the minister his

time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

also thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement here this

afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I would

hope that government will act on what I heard, particularly at the session

at the Capital Hotel. It was an

interesting session.

Mr.

Speaker, we heard from landowners talking about ignoring the existing

legislated fifteen-metre buffer zone, trying to prevent people from walking

on shoreline trails. We heard

about the protection of green spaces and nature trails, and municipal access

to Crown lands, just to name a few.

Mr.

Speaker, the big thing that I heard up there amongst the group, the table

where I was, was about enforcement.

Government has for a long time had a problem with enforcing most of

the breaches of the Lands Act as it is now.

I would like to ask the minister: Where is he going to get the

resources to ensure enforcement of the other measures?

Thank you very much.

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. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier announced this morning that he will privatize four long-term care

facilities in our Province; however, he did not mention what the cost to

seniors requiring this care would be.

He did say, however, that private operators would determine the cost.

Currently, these costs are set by government.

So I

ask the Premier: Why are you allowing private operators to determine how

much seniors will pay for long-term care in our Province?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

can tell the member opposite and members of the House, that I was very

pleased and proud this morning to stand with colleagues from the House of

Assembly, and a large room of seniors representing various groups and

organizations from Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker, and announce this

morning that we are going to invest in the future of our seniors, invest in

the future of our people by partnering with private business and

not-for-profits.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

We are going to build

long-term care homes through partnerships in Corner Brook.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

We are going to build

them in Central, in Grand Falls-Windsor.

We are going to build one in Gander, and we are going to build right

here on the Northeast Avalon, Mr. Speaker.

That is bold decisions.

That is taking big steps as a government.

That is finding a way to service the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador who deserve to have good service from their government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, I thought the Premier said this morning that the investment was going

to come from private operators, not from this government.

Will

you please tell the seniors of this Province: Why would you let private

operators determine the cost of long-term care?

What is that cost?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

we sought out new ways of doing business, Mr. Speaker, we found out better

ways, and we sought out better ways to provide services to Newfoundlanders

and Labradorians. We dug down

deep, and we looked across Canada, and we looked to our friends in Nova

Scotia

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

we looked to our

friends in New Brunswick, Mr. Speaker, and we found that partnerships are

working in other provinces in Canada.

They are working in Ontario, they are working in British Columbia,

they are working in the Maritimes, in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and it

is a good way to move forward.

There is no difference in the cost to the people who are going to need these

services, but we are going to provide it.

In doing so, we are going to alleviate some of the congestions, some

of the backlogs that we see in our acute care hospitals as well.

It is a win-win-win, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, I would like to remind the Premier that the media event is now over.

People want details.

How

much, and why are you allowing private operators to control those costs?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

said this morning that we are going to go through a competitive process, and

we are going to allow private entities and not-for-profit entities to

participate in that process.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

They can enter into

the process, Mr. Speaker. We

will go through with assistance from Partnerships BC, a Crown corporation in

British Columbia that has a wealth of experience and knowledge and a wealth

of success in providing long-term care through partnerships.

he wants details, I will give him details, Mr. Speaker.

In March month of this year there was 237 patients in acute care

hospital beds; $50,000 a month acute care hospital beds that were waiting

for long-term care. The result

of that, Mr. Speaker, was that surgeries were backed up and cancelled.

People in emergency rooms never had a room to go.

We are taking steps to fix our health care system and provide the

best services possible for (inaudible).

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

want to remind the Premier of one step he did not take, and that is put the

long-term care site in Corner Brook which would have been 120 beds.

That would have reduced the number of 237 that he just mentioned, I

say, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. BALL:

The Premier says that it

will be more cost effective for government but he did not provide any cost

estimate or any real details this morning.

ask the Premier: What savings do you anticipate from this move to privatize

long-term care?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Surely goodness the member opposite is familiar with competitive processes

and where it is very difficult for us as a government to prejudge and try

and anticipate exactly what private operators, not-for-profit groups are

going to submit as proposals to participate in this process, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

We looked across the

country, and we know that when we deal we have a long-term care facility

in this Province which is privately operated and privately owned, and we are

paying a per month fee, Mr. Speaker.

Guess what? The cost for

long-term care beds with that private operator is lower than we can provide

right in publicly operated systems.

The same thing has happened in other provinces, in Nova Scotia and

New Brunswick.

Mr.

Speaker, what we are doing today is not a lot different than the huge number

of personal care homes we have around the Province.

The Leader of the Opposition owns one, Mr. Speaker, he should know

all about it.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier seems to have a lot of background done on the cost savings.

Why doesn't he just tell the people of the Province, how much do you

anticipate saving?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, I will

tell the benefits to the member opposite and I will tell it to the people of

the House here. We are going

through a competitive process, and until not-for-profits and businesses

submit their bids, we will not know; but we do know that in Newfoundland and

Labrador partnering is a lower cost.

know in Nova Scotia, they can provide services in partnering at a lower

cost. New Brunswick, they

provide at a lower cost, Mr. Speaker, and in BC lower costs.

The examples are numerous, Mr. Speaker.

The examples are numerous right through Canada, right across Canada

that there have been savings. In

some places it has been 10 per cent, 15 per cent, 20 per cent.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

What we are going to

do, Mr. Speaker here are the big savings.

We do not have to pay to build these buildings.

We do not have to pay the capital cost upfront, hundreds of millions

of dollars that we are saving for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

government has engaged, as the Premier just said, with a Crown corporation

from British Columbia to help facilitate this process.

Was

this company selected through an open RFP process?

What is the value of that contract with this government?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

is rather loud in here this afternoon.

I am glad everybody is as excited as I am about this announcement

(inaudible) Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

We extensively searched

for a partner that had the expertise to

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for your protection.

searched extensively for a partner that had the expertise we required to

venture into this new area. We

looked across the country and we found that the best possible solution was

entering into a partnership with a Crown corporation in British Columbia

that has worked with multiple provinces and territories on large procurement

and infrastructure projects.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KENT:

I am very excited about

this opportunity with Partnerships BC.

We are looking forward to continuing to do business with them in the

months ahead.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

will ask the Minister of Health and Community Services, the Premier did not

answer this: Was this an open process?

What was the cost of this RFP?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, after a

great deal of research and a great deal of consideration I can tell the

member opposite that Partnerships BC was the only organization in the

country that we were prepared to enter into a partnership with.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KENT:

We feel that they have

significant experience and expertise, not only in delivering projects on

behalf of the people of British Columbia, but they have partnered with

Ontario, they have provided support in Alberta.

They have done projects just like this in Saskatchewan and Yukon.

They have extensive experience across the country that we will

benefit from.

are entering into a short-term contract to acquire that expertise.

The details are still being negotiated.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KENT:

We anticipate that the

full cost over the life of the entire project

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well

there is another deal, another negotiation that they do not have completed.

Are you telling me that the Minister of Health and Community

Services, the Premier, and the Minister of Finance has entered into an RFP

with a BC company and they do not know how much it is going to cost this

government, going to cost the taxpayers of this Province.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker,

unfortunately the Leader of the Opposition has it wrong because he is saying

over there we entered into an RFP with Partnerships BC.

What we have done is we looked for who is best able to lead us.

We talked to other provinces.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

We talked to other

jurisdictions. We were quite

pleased when we talked the Government of British Columbia and their Crown

corporation in Partnerships BC who has extensive experience.

anticipate right now, I can tell you, that their involvement and their

assistance providing to us because here in Newfoundland and Labrador we do

not have the expertise. We do

not have the background. We do

not have the experience in doing these types of partnerships.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

The contract with

them will cost roughly about $600,000, but I can tell you the people of BC

are quite happy to have Partnerships BC.

The Liberal government of BC are quite happy to have Partnerships BC.

We are quite happy to work with them too, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There are many companies within our own Province that are able to do this

work with providing long-term care services.

Will

the RFP with this BC company provide a provincial preference for

Newfoundland and Labrador companies?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, with

Partnerships BC, who has tremendous experience in these types of

partnerships, the first step is they are going to do a sounding.

They are going to do a sounding throughout the country and here in

Newfoundland and Labrador so that businesses that have an interest in

participating in the process can have discussions with Partnerships BC so

they can understand the lay of the land.

So Partnerships BC could understand the lay of the land in

Newfoundland and Labrador, they can understand the interest, who is

interested in it, what companies can understand what Partnerships BC is

going to do.

The

first step is the sounding, Mr. Speaker.

It is probably going to start

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

It is probably going

to start as early as Friday of this week, but it will be in full go in the

next week or so and we look forward to the response.

We also look forward to the report from Partnerships BC on the first

stage of this process.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, maybe they should get the Crown corporation from BC to start looking

after some ferries in Labrador too, I say, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BALL:

Using private

corporations in private partnerships for constructing facilities is one

thing, but allowing them to control the level of service and cost is

concerning. This makes seniors

worry about the cost of care that they will need.

Currently, government controls the level of service in long-term care

facilities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. BALL:

I ask the Premier: How do you plan to control the level of services in this

new private model?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Good question, Mr.

Speaker. We are going to rely

again and work together with partnerships, like Partnerships BC, and we are

working through the process to ensure that cost is consistent.

Because we are talking about a long-term contract.

We are talking a contract that is going to be like twenty to thirty

years in length so that we have sustainability in long-term care, so we know

where those long-term care beds are going to be, Mr. Speaker.

We know what availability is going to be.

know that the demand is growing, Mr. Speaker.

We want to ensure that we have long-term care beds available for the

aging population of Newfoundland and Labrador.

We are fastest aging population of the Province.

We have to find innovative ways.

We have to find bold ways.

We have to have the guts as a government to make those hard

decisions, and we doing that, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

remind the Premier that one of the reasons why we have an aging population

is because we are losing all our young people because you have failed to

diversify the economy in this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BALL:

I say, Mr. Speaker, the

government just opened a new 460-bed, public, long-term care facility in

Pleasantville. He just went on

to say that he has known all the good stories that are happening in all the

other provinces about privatization of long-term care.

If privatization of long-term care was so good, why didn't you do it

in Pleasantville?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

thought that question was going to come earlier during Question Period, but

it took a little bit longer for the Leader of the Opposition to get to it.

Mr.

Speaker, when we developed our plan, Close to Home, it was a 2012 strategy.

It is one of the strategies that people opposite, members opposite,

say oh, they are kicking around, collecting dust.

Well, Mr. Speaker, we do not have things collecting dust over here, I

can tell you

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

because we are

concerned about the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

We are worried about the programs and we are worried about the

services, Mr. Speaker.

read in The Telegram today

comments from the Member for Virginia Waters.

She shows if you read the paper, you will see what care and concern

they have for public servants of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker,

because she talks about it.

Until she sees the books, she does not know who they are going to kick to

the curb. That is the Liberal

way of doing business. We are

finding new ways, requests for the people and requests for the people who

work for Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of

the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

I say to the Premier, it

seems to me they are going to need a strategy to implement strategies with

this particular government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BALL:

Mr. Speaker, a new

long-term care facility for Corner Brook has been promised now for over

eight years. Government's

functional program calls for 159 beds in that facility, which is 120 for

residential care, ten for rehab, ten for restorative care, fifteen for

palliative care. Today,

government said that a private company would build a 120-bed facility.

ask the Premier: Who is responsible for the other thirty-nine beds as

government promised, or are you planning on cutting those beds?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question.

We are in fact contracting with the private sector to build and

operate 120 long-term care beds; however, we are also going to enter into a

unique contract on that particular facility in Corner Brook.

That also includes the thirty-nine beds that the member references,

for restorative care, for rehab, and for palliative care.

That is all part of the plan.

So there will be a unique arrangement in Corner Brook that addresses

that very need, but the exciting thing about this proposal, Mr. Speaker, is

that as a result of this move today the facility in Corner Brook will be

open a year earlier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

think I have heard that echo before in this Chamber, I say.

The people in Corner Brook have heard it many, many times.

The minister, as he just mentioned in his comments there, seemed

pretty certain that they have talked to a company.

ask the minister, or ask the Premier: Have you had any discussions

specifically with any companies in long-term care providing the service in

Corner Brook?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Service.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, the answer

is no. However, we have on an

ongoing basis received inquiries from companies that are interested in

coming to Newfoundland and Labrador to do business.

There are major players throughout Canada, even as close as in Nova

Scotia and New Brunswick, who have expressed interest in coming here and

setting up shop.

part of the market sounding that Partnerships BC will conduct over the next

couple of weeks, it is players like that they will be consulting with to

determine the level of interest that exists in those players coming to

Newfoundland and Labrador to create jobs here and to do business here.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Member for Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

Mr. Speaker, we were told

in 2007 that the long-term care facility for the West Coast was about to

start. It did not.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. FLYNN:

The Minister of Health

told us that it would begin last summer.

It did not. Then he said

it would begin last fall around election time.

It did not. It is a

litany of broken promises.

Now

that the project is to be a public-private partnership, I ask the minister:

Will this new arrangement mean even more delays and more broken promises for

the people of the West Coast?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I will

acknowledge that the people of the West Coast have waited too long for the

construction of the new hospital campus.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. KENT:

I also want to assure

members of the House, and I want to assure the public, that we remain

committed to building the new West Coast Hospital campus in Corner Brook.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

The announcement today is

going to allow us to get the long-term care component built faster with no

capital investment required on the part of the Government of Newfoundland

and Labrador and the taxpayers of Newfoundland and Labrador, and beyond

that, our operating costs will be less.

The good news for the families of the West Coast and the people who

will be impacted by the construction of this facility is that it will be

open a year earlier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber East.

MR. FLYNN:

Mr. Speaker, we sure hope

it is not later, because the last time we spoke about this project the

minister said he had a big decision to make: call a public tender, or call

an RFP. He said he could not

decide until he had the functional plan.

So I am assuming that the announcement today means that a functional

plan is finally ready.

ask the minister: When can we and the public expect that plan to be made

public?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, the work of

the Corner Brook care team continues on the acute care component of the

hospital campus. We will have

discussions with the Corner Brook care team today around this change of

direction in terms of procurement approach, and the work that has been done

to date will be extremely valuable as we can move forward.

What

I want to say, though, Mr. Speaker, is that the bigger issue here is that as

a result of today's announcement the people who are lying on stretchers in

hospitals, the people who are tying up acute care beds at significant cost

who should be in long-term care homes, those concerns are getting addressed.

Those are real concerns for people and for families in Newfoundland

and Labrador. That is what this

announcement today is all about.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Yesterday, as part of planning to use baby boomers' retirement as a strategy

to manage the public service, the minister announced $300,000 of new

spending that was supposed to provide government insights on how to operate

more efficiently. To many, this

sounds familiar. Back in Budget

2012, this same government announced a core mandate review that was also

supposed to acknowledge the exact same thing.

ask the minister: How much money have you spent doing these reviews, and why

are you repeating what you were supposed to have already done in 2012?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, one thing

the member opposite should have realized from her previous career, that

continuous improvement is just that, it continues.

We are always looking for innovative ways to enhance the programs and

services that we provide. We are

always looking for innovative ways to improve on efficiencies.

make no apologies at all, Mr. Speaker, for always and continuously looking

for ways to do things better. If

we are able to provide enhancements to public services and do it more

effectively and efficiently, we will never stop doing that, and we make no

apologies for doing it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, I remind

the minister that you actually have to start something in order to

continuously improve it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS C. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, in 2012

the core mandate review was one of the cornerstones of this government's

10-Year Sustainability Plan. The

taxpayers of this Province paid $500 million for that plan.

Now this government is going to spend another $300,000 and the

results of the latest review are supposed to be the cornerstone of their

latest five-year plan.

ask the minister: It is time to stop the waste and get the finances under

control, will he explain to the people of the Province why he and his

government continue to do reviews and waste taxpayers' money?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, what she did

not share with the public in her comment a moment ago was that I said

yesterday we were going to engage some outside expertise to work with the

public service. A public

service, I might add, that we have a tremendous respect for and we are

always upfront with.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

I shared yesterday what

our plan was for the next five years with our public service, unlike the

member opposite who says I have to wait until I have a look at the books

before I decide which ones I am going to get rid of.

So we are upfront, Mr. Speaker.

We were very clear yesterday that we are going to work with

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

We were very clear that

we were going to work with our public service

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

We are going to provide

some guidance in that process.

Clearly, our commitment is to work with our current public servants to

ensure that we improve efficiencies.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, in January,

2014, the Statutory Review Committee presented its final report to the

Minister of Service NL.

Stakeholders have had an opportunity to provide feedback and government has

had plenty of time to conduct its analysis to prepare recommendations.

ask the Minister Responsible for the Workplace Health, Safety and

Compensation Commission: When will you be releasing a response to the

statutory review?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

I am

happy to stand on my feet and answer actually the first question from the

member. With regard to the

statutory review, I am happy to say that a great deal of work has been done.

It now sits with government, and we are putting together a response

to that. It is a very important

piece of work. While some people

see simply challenges with workplace health, and safety, I see opportunities

and opportunities of how we can improve the process.

That is where I am as a minister.

That is where we are as a government.

It is an important piece of work.

Let us make sure when we do it, let's do it right.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Mount Pearl South has time for a quick question.

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, according to

the Premier's mandate letter, the minister has to undertake a comprehensive

review of the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Review Division to

examine the backlog.

ask the minister: When can we expect that review?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Child, Youth and Family Services has time for a quick reply.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS:

I will say to the

member that that is a piece of work that is ongoing as well, but I am also

happy to say that with regard to the review commissioner we are actually in

the process of hiring on another full-time commissioner, as well as filling

vacancies that we have on that board.

Through such actions, certainly that will help with wait times.

While we have made progress in recent months and years, certainly

there is more progress to be made, and I think that is an important piece to

it.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Today the government made an out-of-the-blue announcement dealing with the

creation of

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

360 new, badly needed

long-term care beds through privatization.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

We have evidence from

Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the provinces that quality of long-term

care deteriorates when the profit motive is brought in.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

So I ask the Premier:

What evidence does government to have to show that is not going to happen

here?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

few minutes ago, the Minister of Finance referenced the respect that we have

for public servants in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the people who deliver

services for us, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

I want to reiterate

that because I can tell you, I, for one, and as Premier of this Province am

very proud of the work that our people do for government service and

delivery of services throughout Newfoundland and Labrador

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

and that is

especially true as well in health care.

have a standard of care and a quality of care that we are very proud of.

We are going to ensure through this process that the partners that we

are going to have in providing these long-term care beds will have the same

quality of care for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

say to the Premier, the overwhelming evidence is that privatized nursing

homes lower operating costs by paying lower wages, de-unionizing, laying

people off, and cutting staff from these facilities.

So I

ask the Premier: What evidence does he have that quality care can be

maintained for seniors when this happened?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Actually, what we are doing, we are going to provide quality long-term care

beds for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

We are going to alleviate the pressures on acute care beds that we

see; that pushes down to causing surgeries to be delayed.

The

member opposite has stood in her place and talked about, what are we going

to do about the delays in services and the delays in surgeries?

Members opposite has got up and asked us: What are we going to do

about crowded emergency rooms because there is no bed for them to go into?

What

we are going to do is we are going to fix that.

We are going to great steps to fix that.

We are going to provide quality care for the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador. We are going to

provide it in Corner Brook. We

are going to provide it in Grand Falls-Windsor.

We are going to provide it in Gander.

We are going to provide it here on the Northeast Avalon, and we are

going to create jobs while we do it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

ask the Premier he was not around at the time, but his government was and

he should have the answer who, during the consultation process around

long-term care, said do privatization?

Because I certainly did not hear it and it was not in the report.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, we do not have to look too far from this very building, where we

are all located here today, where there is private operator, Chancellor

Park, who provides a privately operated centre and provides long-term care

beds that we pay a per-bed fee for every month.

Mr.

Speaker, I have experienced myself as an MHA when people who are in the

stage of life when they are ready to go to long-term care have contacted me

in my office and said: Can you make it so I go to Chancellor Park?

Because that is the place they want to go.

MHAs on this side of the House have experienced it many times.

People want to go to Chancellor Park because they see it as a good

alternative.

Doing partnerships with private business and not-for-profits is not a bad

thing, Mr. Speaker. It is good

thing. It is going to provide

jobs. It is going to provide

construction jobs. It is going

to provide care for the people of the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

stop-work order has recently been issued at Muskrat Falls for safety

reasons. It is a stark reminder

that Labrador's industrial sites need regular and frequent inspections to

protect workers. Labrador West

has had no OHS officer now for several years.

Flying people in and out simply is not good enough to cover the gap.

ask the minister: Can he tell us when two OHS vacancies in Labrador West

will be filled?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

First of all, Mr.

Speaker, I can confirm that there was a stop-work order issued to a

subcontractor on the Muskrat Falls build.

There were no injuries, so good for that, but we are looking into it.

There is another contractor taking over the work.

Our

OHS officers in Labrador it is very difficult to recruit people to go to

Labrador to live and work there.

We are experiencing it in other departments as well.

have recruited we have two full-time positions around the Island.

We are flying people in and out of Labrador on a regular basis.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. CRUMMELL:

The work is getting done.

The inspections are getting done

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Occupational health and

safety is an important facet of what our government provides to the people

of the Province, and we will continue to do that work and make sure

workplaces are safe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

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

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Occupational cancers among firefighters are recognized and covered by

workers' compensation in other provinces, but not this one, Mr. Speaker

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. MURPHY:

There has been no

movement by government in this Province so far.

ask the minister: When will firefighters be covered for the cancers they are

getting on the job in this Province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Child, Youth and Family Services.

MR. S. COLLINS:

Mr. Speaker, for the

member to suggest that we are not looking at that is certainly foolhardy.

On a case-by-case basis, firefighters are being considered.

want to make sure when we arrive at the decision, whether that is to go with

just career firefighters or volunteer firefighters, or either or none, I

want to make sure that it is the right answer to that question.

It is something very important to me personally as an MHA dealing

with firefighters, particularly volunteer service firefighters.

When we do that piece of work, when we arrive at the decision, again

it will be the right decision.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling of Documents.

Tabling of

Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday in the House

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday in the House of Assembly Question Period, the Member for Burgeo

La Poile questioned me on an MOU between the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary

and the Ontario Provincial Police force, and I am happy to table that

document here today for his perusal.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of

documents?

The

hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. WISEMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant to

section 26(5)(

a) of the Financial Administration Act, I am

tabling two Orders-in-Council relating to funding pre-commitments for the

2015-2016 and the 2017-2018 fiscal years.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of

documents?

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. WISEMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

give notice that I shall move that the House resolve itself into a Committee

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

to Her Majesty, Bill 5.

Mr.

Speaker, I also give notice that I will move the following motion: That the

House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government, the Budget

Speech.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of

motion?

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. Barbe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. J. BENNETT:

To the hon. House of

Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament

assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS there is no cellphone service in the Town of Trout River, which is

an enclave community in Gros Morne National Park; and

WHEREAS visitors to Gros Morne National Park, more than 100,000 annually,

expect to communicate by cellphone when they visit the park; and

WHEREAS cellphone service has become a very important aspect of everyday

living for residents; and

WHEREAS cellphone service is an essential safety tool for visitors and

residents; and

WHEREAS cellphone service is essential for business development;

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

House of Assembly to urge the government to partner with the private sector

to extend cellphone coverage throughout Gros Morne National Park and the

enclave community of Trout River.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, the petitions for cellphone coverage in Gros Morne National Park

and in the Town of Trout River specifically keep on coming forward.

This is still an urgent concern for people.

The

government seems to have changed its focus somewhere.

Over the course of the past year, having had discussions with a

cellphone provider, the cellphone provider had some discussions with this

government. It seemed that

cellphone coverage in certain parts of the park was about to be extended,

specifically in the area around Cow Head because there is an existing tower

already there which is owned by Bell Aliant.

So Bell Mobility could easily tap onto that.

very modest cost the service could be improved dramatically, and gradually

we would increase the footprint of cellphone coverage throughout the park,

including Trout River. Although

this tower probably would not reach that far south.

Mr.

Speaker, for some reason all of a sudden the government put on the brakes.

They did not make a public announcement, but clearly, the cellphone

provider believed on reasonable grounds that cellphone coverage was going to

be extended and it was not extended.

There seemed to be an about-face by government on some moving forward

that they were doing. The

problem has not gone away. The

problem will not go away until cellphone coverage is extended.

saw recently with a snowstorm where approximately thirty or forty kilometres

of road had a series of snowdrifts.

Transportation and Works could clear a drift, they would go another

kilometre or two and there would be another drift, five or six more

kilometres and there would be another drift.

People were stuck in those drifts for a significant period of time.

There was no way for even the workers at Transportation and Works to

be able to communicate back to the department and say we have this cleared

or that cleared.

you could imagine, Mr. Speaker, the department itself is clearing snow and

they cannot give a head's up.

They have to drive to some place after the snowdrift is cleared from the

highway to be able to tell the office, yes, the road is okay.

It is open now.

Mr.

Speaker, this is just unacceptable.

Thank you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Trinity Bay de Verde.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly

sheweth:

WHEREAS the residents of Salmon Cove feel that the condition of Main Street

East, located in the Town of Salmon Cove, is deplorable; and

WHEREAS residents of Salmon Cove are frustrated with the condition of the

road; and

WHEREAS the government has failed to address this problem; and

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

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

make the necessary repairs to Main Street East.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

is my pleasure this afternoon to stand in my place and enter this petition

on behalf of the residents of Salmon Cove.

Main Street East is one of the busiest roads in the Town of Salmon

Cove. It is the location of the

town office, the fire department, the post office, the war memorial, not to

mention the branch road which leads to most of the residences in the town.

Over

the past couple of weeks the Department of Transportation and Works has

addressed some of the issues with Main Street East in Salmon Cove.

I would like to thank the department for the temporary work, but, Mr.

Speaker, it is that, it is a temporary solution.

This road has been receiving temporary solutions for many years now.

It is time that the department take the necessary action to repair

this street.

Again, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the residents of Salmon Cove, I ask the

minister to take Main Street East into serious consideration with this

year's Budget.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

The Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of

Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS Route 438 is the primary highway for residents of Grandois, St.

Julien's, and Croque; and

WHEREAS the current gravel road conditions are dangerous for travel, given

the size of potholes and debris embedded in the road; and

WHEREAS it is government's obligation to provide basic infrastructure to all

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians; and

WHEREAS this is the primary link for residents to health care and essential

services, and enhancement is needed for safety reasons;

We,

the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge government to

allocate funds in the provincial roads maintenance program to upgrade this

section of Route 438.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, this is signed by constituents of mine from Croque and St.

Julien's. There are not a high

number of signatures on this petition because there are not a lot of

residents currently living in these communities but still they require the

services, and each spring the road is in dire condition.

I do want to recognize and acknowledge in previous years that the

minister's staff, Transportation and Works, have done some really good work

in terms of clearing the road and also adding some extra stone and replacing

culverts. The petitioners here

are asking that this work continue, that this gravel road be well maintained

throughout the season.

The

community may have a small population right now but it will have an

exponential population later this summer when Come Home Year takes place in

these communities. There is

economic potential in these towns with the potential of a copper mine.

There was a past marble mine there.

There is still fishing activity that takes place.

We have to look at the economic opportunities in each and every

individual community. I think we

need to find ways to maintain, upgrade, and pave our gravel roads.

Like Route 438, this one needs to be certainly upgraded, and Route

434, Conche Road, should be paved.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS most communities in the District of Cartwright L'Anse au Clair do

not have adequate broadband service; and

WHEREAS residents, businesses, students, nurses and teachers rely heavily on

the Internet to complete an increasing number of everyday tasks online; and

WHEREAS there are a number of world-class tourism sites in the region

including Battle Harbour Historic Site and the Mealy Mountains National

Park;

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

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

work with the appropriate agencies to provide adequate broadband service to

the communities along the Labrador Coast.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, it is only when I am home in the district that I can really get a

firsthand understanding of the frustration the residents there are dealing

with from day to day. When I am

home in the district, in my community it is virtually impossible for me to

do anything with our broadband beyond sending and receiving a simple email.

is 2015, and that is not good enough.

I know the service provider has submitted an updated proposal.

So I am urging government to work with the federal counterpart and to

submit the amount they need and to work with the service provider to

increase the capacity. The speed

is extremely slow, and most of the communities in the region are closed to

sales.

Mr.

Speaker, there are many government programs we could talk about that are

encouraging and promoting people to go online.

There is BizPal, there is Motor Vehicle Registration, but you cannot

push people to do that and say you are going to save money if you fill

things out online when not every community has equal access to that, Mr.

Speaker. We cannot have

everything like larger areas in rural parts, but we can certainly have the

infrastructure to go online and do many things equal to other parts.

This

is a service, broadband, that is seriously lacking in rural parts,

especially in the District of Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

We have a group of concerned citizens there who have started a

Facebook site. There is lots of

feedback and they are looking to see if there is anything that they could do

legally around the frustration with that.

will continue to get up and present a petition on their behalf on this

issue.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of

Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS violent workplace incidents involving convenience store clerks and

gas station attendants are a serious health and safety issue; and

WHEREAS many public and private sector employees are being left in

vulnerable situations, especially in the opening and closing of their

buildings and establishments; and

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

WHEREAS all workers deserve protection from danger and harm; and

WHEREAS current government regulations are woefully inadequate in providing

even basic protection for these vulnerable workers; and

WHEREAS it is the responsibility of employers to keep workers safe, and the

responsibility of government to ensure employers adhere to regulations.

We,

the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to urge government to

immediately enact legislation and regulations to protect workers

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

in hazardous

workplaces, including late-night shifts in convenience stores and gas

stations. This legislation must

direct employers to have a minimum of two workers on site after 10:00 p.m.

and before 6:00 a.m., or have a secure barrier between the worker and the

customer in place between these hours.

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

I am

very pleased to present this on behalf of the petitioners, especially on

this day, April 28, when we are dealing with such a serious issue as the

death of workers both on the worksite and because of disease.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS MICHAEL:

This day of mourning

reminds us of the dangers that workers are under.

Quite recently, I think within the last two weeks, we saw on the news a

worker where three people came in to rob the convenience store that the

worker was working in. Luckily,

it was not at night, but it did show something the person did not get

injured. What it showed was what

could happen when you have just one person working.

Three people came in and were able to do the robbery because there

were three of them and only one worker, they were able to keep the person

preoccupied and have the robbery take place.

What

would have happened if that had been at night, for example?

What could have happened if the people who had come in, when there

was a lone worker, were people who were going to be violent?

In this case, it did not happen.

Recently, I know of a young worker who was in the convenience store where

that worker works, part of a robbery there.

That worker is now in counselling and being helped because of that

robbery, because of the traumatic effect of the robbery on this young

worker.

we really do have to take this seriously this petition that government

does have a responsibility to make it safe for workers.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

St. George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

have a petition related to government's policy related to snow clearing in

rural areas. The petition reads:

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

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

WHEREAS the provincial government has changed policy related to snow

clearing in rural areas of the Province in a arbitrary way without proper

consultation; and

WHEREAS this policy change did not establish procedures for determining when

new roads could be added to those eligible for snow clearing in

unincorporated rural areas; and

WHEREAS there has been significant problems created in relation to provision

of services such as garbage collection and emergency services;

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

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

review and update policies related to snow clearing.

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, this petition was started by a gentleman, Ron King, in St. David's

in the district that I represent.

He was initially, I guess, concerned about his own situation, where

to get to his house in winter he had to clear a public road not just his

own driveway, but a public road to get up to his house.

is interesting that once he began to circulate a petition on this issue,

other people in the area began to recognize that this was an issue that

existed in many other places as well, Mr. Speaker.

So a huge number of people have signed his petition.

I will be presenting them here in the House.

is an interesting issue because the snow clearing policy there is no way

to add new roads, new routes, to the area.

There is no possibility for growth in these rural areas in terms of

areas that can have their roads upgraded or snow cleared for them in the

winter. It is creating a number

of problems for people in these areas.

Also, local service districts in these areas have noted and wrote the

minister on this issue to note that things like garbage collection and fire

services are problems in these areas as well because they do not have the

snow clearing that they need. It

is an issue that needs attention.

What

the petitioners are asking is that government review their policy in

relation to the maintenance of these roads.

Rather than keep the roads maintained, the government has chosen not

to review that policy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for your time.

I ask that government consider this petition.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

would like to call first of all Motion 1, and move, pursuant to Standing

Order 11, that the House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. today, Tuesday, April 28,

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that the

House not adjourn at 5:30 o'clock today.

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

also further move Motion 3, seconded by the Minister of Municipal and

Intergovernmental Affairs, that pursuant to Standing Order 11, the House not

adjourn at 10:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, April 28, 2015.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

motion is that the House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. today.

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

this time I would like to call Order 2, second reading of a bill,

An Act To

Provide The Public With Access To Information And Protection Of Privacy,

Bill 1.

MR. SPEAKER:

Resuming debate on Bill

1, I recognize the hon. the Member for Bonavista North.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CROSS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

is always great most people, when we stand in our place we thank the great

people of our districts for sending us here to represent them.

We know at any time they have a right to change their mind in the

things that we do and deliberation on their behalf.

I certainly hope that I do, in the comments that I make, please the

people of my district and that the relationship may continue.

Today is a new day, Mr. Speaker.

Maybe that is all right to understand.

In the beginning, in starting to talk about Bill 1 today, maybe I

need to set up for everyone who is listening here.

I know everybody is really intent, their ears are peeled, and they

are all paying direct attention but there are people at home who are also

paying attention. They may not

have seen yesterday. They may

not have followed all that has happened before.

So what we are doing here on the floor of the House today, for all of

the people at home, we are debating Bill 1.

Many

MHAs stand up and we pick up a package of paper and we say we are talking

about a bill, Mr. Speaker. Most

bills, when people see it on camera, they pretty much look alike.

The difference with this bill, as I get into my comments, that is a

little different is that

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. CROSS:

Mr. Speaker, this bill is

rather substantial. This bill

has ninety-nine pages in it. It

is probably the largest bill that we have paid attention to.

The Explanatory Notes in this bill are longer than some of the other

bills that come before this House.

That should give some merit to the importance that is being placed on

this, and I will get back to that, Mr. Speaker.

few days ago we did receive a briefing, as everybody has referred to, and in

the briefing there was an excitement on the part of what was happening here

from the people in the department.

We are sort of correcting a course, or we are taking an action that

is improving upon actions of the past.

We are correcting and redirecting or repealing

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. CROSS:

We are changing the

direction in which we are going, Mr. Speaker, to admit that like anywhere

you go, you do need to look ahead, plot what is ahead of you, and steer your

course based on the best possible route of getting to your end goal.

Yesterday I heard the Member for St. John's East when he talked about the

former Premier in deciding about this and he admitted in his talk and said

the Premier actually realized that maybe a mistake had been done, and that

Premier was setting about a course of action whereby we would correct a

previous action.

alluded to the idea of not only is justice being done, perception of justice

is being done. I think that

Premier in his wisdom, Premier Marshall, in selecting the Committee, he had

to show that perception. He had

to really strongly portray that and show that.

Not only was there just an ordinary committee picked for this, Mr.

Speaker, but a fine committee picked because this Premier, Premier Marshall,

had to search for someone who he would assume this is not just a

government that is putting a commission in place that is going to fix a

problem for the government but the people he is putting there, to see this

perception of justice, he chose someone who was a former Premier

representing an opposite side of the House to fit, as a former Liberal

Premier, to steer this commission.

Premier Marshall wanted to make sure that the people of Newfoundland felt

that this was not just getting lip service; it was going to be corrected.

Well, I would like to thank Premier Marshall for his foresight.

I would also like to thank the commission for their fine, intense

activity that took place.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. CROSS:

We feel very sure that

the correct information, the correct intent, was placed in the deliberations

that took place in this commission.

This

commission, Mr. Speaker, has come back with the heftiest bill, I guess, that

we will possibly ever have, and it obviously covers all areas.

From notes, from talking, it has ninety recommendations.

Now, these ninety recommendations are not light recommendation

either. Sixty-seven of them are

legislative; sixty-five are considered in this piece of legislation here.

The

other recommendations deal with policy.

So, this commission also looked at the policies and the procedures

that happen within the Office of ATIPP, within these offices, for the

co-ordinator and everybody else what would happen there.

There is a whole pile of information that this Committee sifted

through. It met with the public

and there was far more attention this time around then there was the last

time around when they were doing the review of the Access to Information and

Protection of Privacy legislation.

Since this report has come, Mr. Speaker, some advance work has been done.

A transition team was formed.

In the anticipation of enacting most of this legislation that the

commission returned as their report, then the department took it so

seriously that they looked it through and they have had to go back to the

Commissioner, the lead Commissioner, former Premier Wells, to talk about the

intent of some of the recommendations, to interpret some of the actions and

recommendations they have such that the legislation was put together

correctly.

What

happens is in through the legislation, through this, we looked at the role

of the ATIPP co-ordinator. We

looked at the fees and the processes and procedures that need to take place.

We also looked at timelines as they are shared, Mr. Speaker.

We also looked at the public interest override.

I will speak to some of these topics individually a little later.

We also looked at the exceptions to the ability for access to

everything, and what are exceptions and things that should not and cannot be

put out there into the public at the current time.

Basically what we have and what we have put together and found put together

here in its greatest form is legislation that is hailed as the best in the

country. Finally, we have what

is best in the country. Now, we

did not go to the worst of the pack before with what we had before, but we

were down in the steps. In the

correction that we have taken, we have come now, Mr. Speaker, to be one of

the leaders in the country.

Mr.

Speaker, what lessons did the government learned?

What lessons did we learn when we looked at this?

We have learned that the public has a vested interest in everything

that takes place. Everybody in

our Province in this great land of Newfoundland and Labrador needs to have a

say, and their say needs to be heard.

That is what this is taking into account.

could have said this legislation would be reviewed again in a couple of

years' time. This legislation

will be reviewed in its due course.

Mr. Speaker, it was important enough that it needed to be done

currently, not further into the future.

We will find obviously all kinds of reasons from both sides of this

House why that had to be done.

Basically, there were some corrections that needed to be made.

Action is taken and will be taken, and it will lead to a much better

process for the people of our Province.

Talking about the role of the ATIPP co-ordinator in this, one of the things

and I am not going to talk about everything.

If you are going to size up all ninety-nine pages and talk through

this, you are going to be here a lot longer than your allotted time.

I do not know if I will take all of my time today, but I will

consider when I am satisfied that I have covered the topics that I wanted to

add to.

have always said when I get up to speak that we have forty-eight individuals

in the House, but forty-seven get an active say in most of the things.

Mr. Speaker, you will get your say in the way it comes out to referee

all of that.

When

everyone in this Chamber gets to have their say, if we all add to the

debate, then even if we said one unique or one different thing, we have

added one little bit of uniqueness to the legislation, or to the comments

that people have to consider.

What I say may help some people on this side to consider, it may help

someone on the other side to consider.

So, in a way, we all have that right to get up and speak and say our

mind and say what we think is the best of how this works.

Well, the one thing about the ATIPP coordinator that I looked at and saw

with this change and the way things are working now is that unless some

other individuals requested to be a part of a search, then the ATIPP

coordinator is potentially the only one who is going to be there which

gives some protection to the person who is doing the search, that they are

not sending this off to some Cabinet minister to do the search or some other

official in the department. That

coordinator is the one who chooses what gets searched and how much.

The

other thing, Mr. Speaker, that is very important is the person who has asked

for the search to be done has an anonymity.

That is the person who is looking does not know who they are

searching for. That way you put

equal weight into the search that you make.

You do the best search you can do.

You do not know who is asking for this.

You have no preconceived notion of how important or how highfalutin

this person is who is looking for the information.

You know fairness is being done.

That is the way things have to be looked at.

You have to look at this along fairness and openness, and the

impartiality that you do not know who you are searching for.

So, the type of applicant and the identity of the applicant is not

known.

Now,

the other part of this is the idea of timeliness.

The whole process has to take place in certain prescribed allotments

of time, and that time has been tightened up.

I am not going to get into the little nitty-gritty details of how

many days it is tightened up, or whether it is now calendar days or work

days. The thing is in the whole

analysis people know that their searches are done in a timely fashion and

information is returned to them, and it is the information they are looking

for.

The

whole idea of fees being reduced or costs being reduced, well, the $5

application fee would probably not be a deterrent to most people, but in

this case it is removed. The

other thing is the number of hours that would go into the looking.

It is just for the looking that you are paying for.

It is not what you are doing with the files to prepare them for the

individual after you retrieve them.

It is just basically looking for the request.

The

other thing I wanted to quickly look at is this idea of the public interest

override. It can override in

both ways, I guess. One is it

can override to prevent information from coming out if it is not in the best

interest of the whole community.

There may be a member of the Opposition, a member of the press, or a member

of the government who wants to know the information, but if the information

they want is not in the best interest of the whole Province, then it should

not come out. On the other hand,

this whole idea of an override should go the other way, just like most

everything.

is to the point that if you have a piece of information you want to protect,

then there is an override that says you cannot keep it if it is in the best

interest of the people. There

are two ways this public interest override goes into play, but the best of

it is, is that it is in the public's interest.

That is the reason why they call it a public interest disclosure.

It is not for the interest of the searcher.

It is for the interest of the public in total.

This is very important that it comes out along that line and people

understand it that way.

Mr.

Speaker, the other thing is with regard to the exceptions of why certain

things may not be available for view for everyone.

Some of these things have not changed and they are going to stay that

way, Mr. Speaker. Although, what

constitutes a public body or what constitutes a part of a town council or

any of these entities is very important as to if it is protected or not, and

if it was not a part of this before.

So, the whole realm of what information is out there that the public

may think they need access to, but it is also the people who look for it and

who are there.

The

whole thing about it is that at this point we are correcting the action.

At this point we are saying in the best interest of everyone, we have

pulled up our socks. We have

tightened this in a way that everybody should feel happy and protected about

the amount of information you can get and the protection is there.

Plus, it is also every other aspect.

is not just the Bill 29 aspect of the two or three recommendations that Bill

29 addressed. This Commission

now has looked at the entire A-T-I-P-P, Access to Information and Protection

of Privacy Act. Once upon a

time, no one had ever really thought about how that flicked together.

Now it is such a thing that you have a word coined now, ATIPP oh I

'ATIPPed' that or I searched that.

So now because of the lingo when everything comes out then we sort

of educate ourselves and we become more finely tuned to that.

It is good that we have the whole idea together, Mr. Speaker.

also thought about how much or how many times an ordinary person in our

Province, Mr. Speaker, looks for information, under what circumstance they

would look under. For instance,

talking about my district, in the last three years, since Bill 29, and up to

today, I have had one constituent who has called looking for information.

No, it is not. It is

personal information about a personal legal matter that the person is

involved in.

The

number of people who would have been accessing information, looking for

anything that Bill 29 or this Access to Information and Protection of

Privacy Act would have impacted if mine is the average type district,

there are very few. The persons

mainly, I would assume, Mr. Speaker, would be people involved with

government on a day-to-day basis, whether they are a part of the

Legislature, or they are a part of the press gallery are probably the two

largest groups that would search for the information.

Maybe our policies and everything else could work to their best

interests in a different way.

Mr.

Speaker, we also heard access not granted is access denied, justice denied.

So if there are not that many people looking for this but the main

thing is if there was one, then they have to have the right to this

legislation that would generate the proper search, the proper way to guide

them through, the ATIPP coordinator guide through the actions to make sure

that in a timely fashion the request for the information is granted back.

think I have really exhausted more time than I thought I was going to do

today. I have not been too

flamboyant about it, or have not whatever, but that is not my style.

I just thought there are a few things there that I have to have a

little say about. Some of it was

coming f r om

constituents; some of it was from my own personal observations.

The ability to be able to stand today to represent and to ask these

questions or to throw that information in there is very important to me, it

is very important to my district, and I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the time

to do that.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):

The hon. the

Member for Carbonear Harbour Grace.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SLADE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, before I start, first of all I would like to thank the people in my

District of Carbonear Harbour Grace for allowing me the opportunity to

speak here on this bill and any other bill.

I would like to thank the people in my district for that.

appreciate the opportunity to rise in this House and share a few words on

Bill 1, Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

I sat here yesterday and I listened to the Minister of Child, Youth

and Family Services, and I have to say that I was a little bit taken back by

the comment that he made. The

comment that he made was that he felt a little bit upset that we were

blaming them for Bill 29.

Mr.

Speaker, I can assure that member over there, that minister, that they have

been blaming us since prior to 2003, and he felt offended by that because we

were doing that. I will tell

you, Bill 29 now, I was not here in this House during the debate on

Bill 29, but I watched it very much so on TV, all seventy hours.

The

media were out there and the Open Line shows and everything else, and they

were telling you, guys, you are making a mistake.

You are hammering Newfoundland into the ground over there.

It was out in the media.

I can guarantee you, that is exactly what was done by Bill 29.

You infringed up on the rights of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians;

that is what this group done.

Mr.

Speaker, it is called Bill 1, in political circles, but out in my district

and other rural districts in Newfoundland and Labrador it is better known as

the backtracking bill. Bill 1 is

an attempt to correct a terrible wrong imposed upon our people and Province

and our democracy in 2012 by Bill 29.

It has taken government over three years and three leaders to right

this wrong.

You

see, this secret government wanted to deny the people of our Province basic

information. I will say, Mr.

Speaker, thank God that Premier Marshall came along and seen the light.

Thank God that he gave the people in this Province an opportunity to

fix this awful wrong that was done to the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Anyway, Mr. Speaker, what this bill did, it made it more difficult to obtain

critical information and data to those who were trying to keep government

accountable, or to private individuals who were just seeking some

information, details on matters of concern to them.

Since 2013, I have been the official MHA responsible for Fisheries and

Aquaculture and I can attest to the difficulty of trying to wrangle

Fisheries and Aquaculture information out of this government, and it is a

revolving door of ministers. Let

me add, that this doesn't just happen in Access to Information requests.

It happens quite regularly in Question Periods.

Mr.

Speaker, I touched on a few outstanding issues on the outright denial, or

the objections placed by this government in trying to access information on

Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Aquaculture, in response to an ATIPPA request early June 2014 from our

office, information on the pesticide, Slice, used in control of sea lice in

aquaculture, government responded that part of the information would require

a fee of $34,900 to process this information.

Yes,

Mr. Speaker, you heard me correct; nearly $35,000 to seek some clarity on

how much and how often a pesticide was being used in our pristine waters by

the fish farm industry. The

public wanted to be reassured the most optimum practices were being used.

you know why it would cost that much?

It is because government was not doing its due diligence.

It was not even tracking this vital information on a systemic basis.

Back

in March 2013, our office had sent a simple request for information of sea

lice in fish farms. Were they

high? Were they low?

Government clearly did not want us to know, or felt that it was

privileged information, or maybe just did not know since they were not doing

their own due diligence.

First, they denied us the information and nearly a year later, in February

2014, they relented under pressure; but and here is the big but, Mr.

Speaker only if we would pay $19,400 to government to release this

information that should have been made public in the first place.

AN HON. MEMBER:

How much?

MR. SLADE:

I said $19,400.

course, we did not pay this exorbitant fee; otherwise, we would have to

layoff somebody in the office.

Even on a promise by one of the revolving fisheries ministers to supply this

information in response to a question in the House, we still did not get

that information, Mr. Speaker.

To top it all off, this is the same information that is mandated to post

online out in British Columbia true story.

I am

proud to report that because of our asking and pressures, what a good

Opposition does, government realized they just were not doing their jobs and

they approved money to not only keep better track of sea lice, but also to

mitigate the levels of sea lice.

Mr.

Speaker and I am going to go back a little bit here now to the other side.

The people in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador when Bill 29

came in, they were absolutely floored that their members on the other side

could sit there and vote for such a thing, and also to let them down, the

way they let them down, and then to call off the debate.

It was absolutely unbelievable.

It was unbelievable that you guys did that to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

July 17, 2014, DFA recognized that its sea lice monitoring process was not

up to par. It announced that it

would provide $80,000 to the aquaculture association to help establish the

test of a new fish health monitoring software for monitoring sea lice

prevalence and evaluating control programs.

New Brunswick have been using this innovative software since 2012

with great success.

So,

Mr. Speaker, there was an upside in making the ATIPP request.

It helped improve the way the department was regulating the industry.

the other ATIPP requests that were rather outstanding, in that they exposed

government being indecisive on issues for years on top of years, in 2010,

government commissioned a report on the direct selling by harvesters to

people in tourism in this Province.

Our office 'ATIPPed' for the report when it was complete in 2011.

We were refused on the justification that the report was in the realm

of Cabinet confidence. In 2014

we 'ATIPPed' a second time for this report that government was not acting on

and it was collecting dust.

heard somebody over there today I think it may have been the Premier

saying we do not sit on reports over here.

They do not collect dust.

Well, I can assure the Premier and this group over here that this is one

report that was collecting dust, Mr. Speaker.

Government came to their senses but not without more stalling.

Yes, they announced they were planning to release the report through

proactive disclosure after forty-five days.

Now that is ironic, Mr. Speaker, proactive disclosure by this

government. If we had not spent

years of badgering them, that report would still be locked away.

Finally, on day forty-six, a copy of the report was quietly posted on

the DFA website. Were it not for

the Opposition's three days of filibustering debate on Bill 29 and public

outcry against the draconian bill, we would not have Bill 1.

Mr.

Speaker, this government does nothing proactively.

It is very good at inaction.

OCI and the Fortune plant is another example I will use of how

secretly this government likes to operate.

Our office recently contacted the Fisheries department to seek

answers on over a dozen questions on the Fortune plant, and if the operator

was holding up to the agreement signed with our Province in December, 2012.

had heard there was more activity in a fisherman's shed than was in that

plant. The response was: None of

the answers could be provided as most of the questions are specific to the

operator's business. This was

the same operator who had clearly broken the solemn agreement with the

hardworking plant workers in our communities who eventually went public with

their concerns and assessment that this government is still choosing not to

be open, accountable and transparent even when it involves the giveaways of

our resources. That is not

acceptable, Mr. Speaker.

conclude, Mr. Speaker, was Bill 29 a mistake?

No, it was not a mistake.

It was a massive mistake, a monumental mistake, a monstrous mistake, a moral

mistake and, yes, even a money mistake.

It will cost the taxpayers over $1.1 million to correct this mistake.

Mr.

Speaker, Bill 1 is like a delayed justice.

Bill 1 is also a clear repeal of Bill 29.

Bill 1 replaces Bill 29.

The official secrets act is in the shredder where it belongs, and that is a

good thing, Mr. Speaker.

The

bill that one democracy watcher called the biggest step backwards in access

in Canada in recent memory. The

bill could be called the DarkNL bill, it is finally blacked out.

The review committee has done a great job.

We would like to recognize their expertise and commitment, and their

ninety recommendations in this process.

To those across the Province who spoke out time and time again

against Bill 29, I think Bill 1 is a reminder that when there are enough

voices speaking and working together change can happen.

support Bill 1, and I would like to dedicate it to the people of our

Province whose voices will always be heard above all the politics.

We are here on their behalf.

This is their Province.

Bill 1 rights many wrongs, Mr. Speaker, but this government has a fair ways

to go before the justice job is complete.

In the words of the review commissioner, Clyde Wells: in the end the

public interest is what is important.

would like to say thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the

opportunity to speak here today.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

is indeed an honour to stand and speak to Bill 1 in this hon. House.

I have heard my colleagues opposite talk very eloquently about where

Bill 1 is. I have heard people

on this side outline exactly what this means for the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador and how it is a very creative, a very innovative, and a very

important piece of legislation that we are proposing.

does two things, Mr. Speaker. It

makes us world leaders and it gives the people of Newfoundland and Labrador

confidence that they have not only access to information that they should be

entitled to, but the protection of the information in relationship to the

work they do with government to ensure that only the information that should

be released to people, that is pertinent to the people of this Province,

should be released. It is a

balance of protecting those who do business in Newfoundland and Labrador

with government and our citizens, and citizens having the rights to have

access to information.

Mr.

Speaker, a very learned colleague of mine said in the introduction of this

piece of legislation: As you know, our government is developing Newfoundland

and Labrador's first Open Government Action Plan reflecting the best open

government practices in the world.

The plan will nurture a culture of openness with government by

promoting access to information and data, and enhanced dialogue and

collaboration on initiatives.

The

Open Government Initiative will exist alongside the strongest access to

information and protection of privacy legislation anywhere in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, that obviously is a testament to what this side of the

House does and outlines for the people of this Province.

It is about getting the right piece of legislation, making sure it

meets the needs of the people in this Province, and ensuring that everybody

in this House can live with it, everybody in this House agrees with it.

have full confidence that when we get to a point when everybody has had

their open dialogue and everybody has voiced their opinions people on all

sides of the House here will vote for this piece of legislation because it

meets the needs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and it puts us as world

leaders. So the people who want

to do business in this Province understand that their information can be

accessed by citizens here, but at the same time there are protections here

around what they do and what is accessible.

Mr.

Speaker, a few years ago I stood in this House and I spoke around the

predecessor to Bill 1. It was

then that I also believed people do need to have protection, people do need

to have access. It is what our

legislation is all about. It is

about protecting the citizens of our Province.

This is another very important part of what we are doing in this

valued House.

the time, it was a very open dialogue.

It was very heated at times.

The filibuster is a very important part of our democratic process and

a very important part of what we do in the House of Assembly.

It shows that everybody has the right as elected officials, and the

people expect them to voice their concerns, be open, be sincere, and reflect

exactly what they are hearing in the public.

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt all hon. members did that, and I

respect that.

also respect the fact that from my constituents I did not hear the same

concerns that others did. That

does not mean it did not exist out there.

I am not disputing that.

My citizens asked if this would affect how the ferries ran.

Would it affect employment?

Would it affect their pensions?

No, it did not. So they

said they were not worried about it.

I wanted to outline to them that it was still very important that

pieces of legislation like this exist and that they take a

part in ensuring

that the hon. members in this House put the right piece of legislation in

place and it reflects their needs.

So they have a right to tell us.

If there is something missing let us know.

We want to correct it.

keep saying in my department, if we are doing something right please tell us

so we continue to do it.

Sometimes and I was a civil servant for most of my life we get

complacent. When things keep

going the right way, we change it for the sake of changing it.

Tell us if we are doing it right so we can continue to do it that

way. If we are doing it wrong,

particularly outline that so we can go back and reflect on it and get input,

have dialogue, and include people so we find out what is the best way of

doing it.

Mr.

Speaker, that is where we are today with Bill 1.

We have started that process.

We went back and we had looked a piece of legislation that we put in

place, but we had heard from stakeholder groups out there.

We had heard from other entities.

We had heard, but particularly from the citizens or a number of

citizens in Newfoundland and Labrador that they were not quite confident

that this could be the best piece of legislation out there to represent

their needs in protecting them and giving them proper access to information.

So,

we went back and said well, if the people are not totally confident we

want them to be confident on what we put in this House and what we put as

legislation. Because it is to

live on for generations and generations and for it to be proper for the

people in this Province, it has to be given the right scrub.

If the right scrub says we need to go back and reflect on exactly

what we did and make it work, then that is the right thing to do, Mr.

Speaker.

this case, I do give full respect to the former Premier who, when he took

over office, sat down and said let's go back and reflect what we have done

over the last number of years, what are some of the things that if we had

our time back now we might have taken a little bit more time to reflect on,

and have a little bit more dialogue around exactly where we are going and be

open enough to listen to Opposition members and to the general public

because they have good views and they have some good experiences and they

have constituents too who have issues around what we do in government.

went back and said okay, let's do that, but let's do it outside of the House

of Assembly. Because if do it in

here we all get labeled, to a certain degree, that we are narrow minded

because we are respecting only those who talk in our ears from our own

constituents. Let's look at the

broader sense, let's look at all of the stakeholders out there, let's engage

them, but particularly let's find an outside entity to drive that process.

That way it is impartial and everybody gets equal opportunity to have

input.

That

is what we did. The Premier went

out, he engaged the process of saying let's pick a group of individuals who

we know have an expertise in different components of access to information,

about how information should be shared, how information should be gathered,

how then the process of outlining to people how they have that access, what

is the complicated parts of it, what is the very easily accessible part,

what does it cost for people, how does somebody in Englee have to access to

it as somebody on Elizabeth Avenue in St. John's has access, how do we make

that parallel workable for people here.

The

vision of the Premier and this Administration was: Let's go do that.

So a process was put in place, a very detailed process of first

identifying who has the creditability and the expertise out there.

Mr. Speaker, obviously we all are aware of the three individuals who

led this process. They are very

articulate individuals, very committed to this Province somebody from

outside who has a specialized skill set in this field so we would know that

we could take into account other jurisdictions.

What would be the mean and what would be the target, where the bar

would be set for making sure that we had proper access to information

legislation.

Mr.

Speaker, those individuals were given a loose terms of reference and asked

help define that. We are giving

you full freedom here to help define exactly what it is we need to do to get

the proper legislation so that the people of this Province are confident

that the decisions made in this House of Assembly will work for them and the

next generations and generations down the road to protect the people of this

Province; and that the piece of legislation that will be brought to this

House should be done so well that all members of this House, regardless of

your political stripe, would stand up and very proudly vote for it and say

yes, the people of this Province got good legislation and are protected.

That is what we set out to do.

process was put in place, an open concept of dialogue and an open concept of

giving people an opportunity to present what their views were, their

understandings; but particularly, at the beginning, the Committee itself

wanted to make sure people had an understanding of what this piece of

legislation would be about. At

times when you talk about legislation in the House of Assembly, the average

person has not been engaged in it.

They have other things in their lives that they need to deal with.

They do not sit down and read the intricate workings of legislation

and the process to lead up to how to get to present a bill in the House of

Assembly.

So,

a process that was more user-friendly or more general citizen-friendly was

put out there to give them an understanding.

If you want to come and make a presentation, here is what we are

asking. We are asking simple

questions. What kind of

information do you think you should have access to in government?

How open should government be with information that you share with

them? How do we make this part

of legislation work for everybody in this Province so it continues to show

that we are an open process here and democracy works?

wanted to make sure and there were no holds barred.

The Premier said to the Committee, we want you to go and develop a

piece of legislation based on what people tell you, not based on your own

views or your own concepts or your own past history, based on what people

tell you, with your expertise, that would meet the needs of the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, the Committee was very in-depth and a year later came back with a

great report. Prior to coming

back with that report, our Premier said he had so much confidence in the

process being used and the Committee members that all recommendations that

were going to be put forward would blankly be accepted.

Because he felt and still does and he has spoken to this that

this process worked for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

It was engaging. It was

all inclusive. It did not

discriminate against any group of individuals or communities.

It gave people those opportunities to have that input.

As a

result, Mr. Speaker, the Premier has acknowledged that all recommendations

will be included. As you can

see, this is not a handful of recommendations.

It is very in-depth. It

is ninety recommendations around legislation and policy which will have a

major impact on line departments, on changing their philosophy, changing

their operational structure, changing the resources they will need to make

sure that people have access to it.

They

talked about how this whole implementation process would work.

They talked about having other resources, having co-ordinators, that

you now have a first line in line departments of going to an individual or

group of individuals who can advise you as to how you can access various

pieces of information, and what in that information is something that would

be exactly what you asked for and how it would be used as you move forward

in addressing issues you may have with government or issues you may have had

with people who worked with government.

Mr.

Speaker, the whole process here was about engaging internal and external

structures that we have, groups within OPE, Municipal Affairs, issues around

the Chief Information Officer, all the things relevant to what would be the

best way, the first dialogue around the information we have, and post it.

One

of the best statements made was by the Minister of Health who is responsible

for the open government policy was around let's prevent our ideal

situation would be people would not come to us through the ATIPPA process

looking for information because it would all be readily available, posted

online, or a simple process where they would know how to access that.

That

is pure open dialogue and an open, transparent government, Mr. Speaker.

That is what we are striving for.

This piece of legislation moves us to that level, along with our open

government policy. We want to

ensure that the people of this Province have that information and that there

are no hindrances. That the

information shared is the information that is relevant to their needs.

Mr.

Speaker, we have gotten to a place now where this piece of legislation

reflects that because of the input by the citizens of this Province, by some

of the stakeholders, by the in-depth work done by the Committee to draft

something that would be not only a good piece of legislation, but would be

something that the average person could take and would understand exactly

what it means and how they access that information.

More importantly, how we as a government and how civil servants in

this Administration understand the role they play in assuring, as citizens

who request information, get that in a quick, efficient, and transparent

manner.

Mr.

Speaker, we have done that very eloquently through this process.

This is not about flip-flopping.

This is about revisiting, realizing maybe there are better ways of

doing things. It is about

re-engaging people. It is about

re-establishing a process here that encourages people to get the information

they want.

are hoping through this process that they will maybe quadruple the

inquiries, but as part of that process the beginning of the initial stages

will be eliminated because the same information that they would be

requesting through ATIPPA will already be available on various websites.

That is about transparency, Mr. Speaker, an