Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Members' Statements — 17 November 2014 (47th General Assembly, 3rd Session, Vol. XLVII No. 40)

2014-11-17

Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)

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November 17, 2014

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 40

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:

All rise.

Madam

Clerk, His Honour the Administrator has arrived.

CLERK (Barnes):

Admit His Honour the

Administrator.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:

It is the request of His

Honour the Administrator that all present be seated.

CLERK:

Members of the House of

Assembly:

September 5, 2014, I received from the Honourable Ross Wiseman, Member for the

District of Trinity North, his letter of resignation as Speaker of this

Assembly. In accordance with the

Standing Orders, I advised all Members of the House of Assembly of the vacancy

in the Office of the Speaker.

I have a

proclamation from His Honour the Lieutenant Governor:

TO:

Honourable J. Derek Green

Chief

Justice of Newfoundland and Labrador, Court of Appeal.

GREETING;

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS

by a letter of resignation addressed to the Clerk of the House of Assembly, the

Honourable Ross Wiseman, vacated the position of Speaker of the House of

Assembly on 5 September, 2014; and

WHEREAS

the House of Assembly will resume sitting at 1:30 o'clock in the Afternoon of 17

November, 2014 in accordance with the adjournment motion passed by the House of

Assembly on the 5 June, 2014; and

WHEREAS

it is not convenient to bring the Assembly together on the said day until the

Members of the House of Assembly have chosen a Speaker;

NOW

THEREFORE, I, the Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador, do authorize and direct you, the said Honourable Derek Green, to

signify to the Members of the said House of Assembly on the 17th day of

November, 2014 that it is my pleasure that they should choose some person to be

their Speaker and to present such person on that day for my approbation.

Your

Honour.

His

Honour the Administrator.

ADMINISTRATOR (Honourable J.

Derek Green):

Members of the House of Assembly, I have it in command of His Honour the

Lieutenant Governor to acquaint you that His Honour having been informed of the

vacancy in the Office of the Speaker of this Assembly and it being necessary

that a Speaker of this Assembly be chosen, it is His Honour's will that you, the

Members of the House of Assembly, do proceed to the election of a Speaker and

that you present that person here today for my approval.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:

All rise.

[His

Honour the Administrator leaves the Chamber.]

CLERK:

Please be seated.

At the

close of nominations for the Office of Speaker at 4:30 p.m. Friday, November 14,

2014, one candidate put his name forward.

Accordingly, further to order 4 suborder (4) of the Standing Orders, I declare

Mr. Wade Verge, Member for the District of Lewisporte, elected as Speaker for

the remainder of the Forty-Seventh General Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

[The

Premier and the Leader of the Official Opposition lead (drag) the new Speaker to

the Speaker's Chair. The Premier and

Leader of the Official Opposition help the new Speaker into his robe.]

MR. SPEAKER (Verge):

Well, ladies and

gentlemen of the House of Assembly, it is my turn just to have a few remarks.

This is quite the honour. I

want to thank the hon. Premier and the hon. Leader of the Official Opposition

for dragging me to the Chair.

I want

to start my remarks by welcoming all of you back to the House of Assembly and by

acknowledging some family and friends I have in the Speaker's gallery: my

daughter, Jenelle; my sister, Marion; two of my nieces, Sara and Michelle; and

two of my lifelong friends, Peter and Jim.

I want to thank you for joining me in this ceremony today.

We have

had a number of changes take place since the House of Assembly recessed on June

5, 2014. I would like to

congratulate the hon. Premier on his election and to wish him well in this very

important position. We also have a

new member with us today and he will be officially recognized and welcomed after

the approbation of the Speaker takes place.

I would

also like to take this opportunity to recognize the great work done during the

past three years by my predecessor, the Member for Trinity North and the current

Minister of Finance, as he occupied this Chair.

Thank you, Sir, for a most excellent job and also for willing to be my

mentor during the three years that I served as your Deputy Speaker.

I wish you well in your current portfolio and I look forward to listening

to you debate matters in this House.

Before too long, I fully expect you will be back to your original form and I

will find myself having to remind you that your time is up.

I was

first elected in October of 2007 and for seven years I have had the honour of

representing the people of Lewisporte district in this Legislature.

It is a job that I have taken very seriously and it is also a privilege

that I am thankful to have had and to have.

sincere thanks must first go to the people of my district who have placed their

faith in me to be their representative in this hon. House.

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all members present

today. You have agreed to have me

serve as your Speaker. This is an

honour and a privilege that I willingly accept.

It is my desire to conduct the duties and the responsibilities of this

office in a fair, impartial, and competent manner.

This is

a position some of you may know that I have wanted and hoped for since first

being elected. The tradition of

dragging a Speaker to take his or her place in the Chair dates back to the

beginnings days of the British Parliamentary system in 1377.

In those days, the Speaker was the person who delivered messages from the

Commons, or the ordinary people, to the Monarch.

It was not a safe thing to be doing because if the King or Queen were

displeased with the news then the brunt of the Monarch's displeasure was felt by

the messenger: the Speaker.

Some of

the Speakers at that time met with a violent death when bringing unwanted news

to the Monarch. Therefore, being a

Speaker was a job that historically people had to be pressured into taking. In

this modern age I feel no danger in accepting this position, and to be truthful,

I did not have to be pressured into it.

In fact, I would have been willing to run to the Chair, because I am

honoured to be able to sit in this Chair and to preside over the proceedings

that will take place in this House.

Finally,

to my close friends and family, especially to my wife Lori, and to my two

children, Jenelle and Latoya, thank you for standing by me, thank you for your

support. You are the people I am

most indebted to. You are the people

who deserve my greatest thanks. I

thank you from the bottom of my heart.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the Leader of the Official Opposition, that the Member for Port de Grave be

appointed Deputy Speaker for the remainder of the Forty-Seventh General

Assembly.

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that the Member

for Port de Grave be appointed as Deputy Speaker.

All

those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, nay'.

Carried.

The hon.

the Premier.

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the Leader of the Official Opposition, that the Member for Bonavista North be

appointed Deputy Chair of Committees for the remainder of the Forty-Seventh

General Assembly.

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that the Member

for Bonavista North be appointed as Deputy Chair of Committees.

All

those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, nay'.

Carried.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:

Mr. Speaker, His Honour the

Administrator has arrived.

MR. SPEAKER:

Admit His Honour the

Administrator.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:

It is the wish of His Honour

the Administrator that all present be seated.

PREMIER DAVIS:

May it please Your Honour,

the House of Assembly, agreeable to Your Honour's command, have proceeded to the

choice of Speaker and have elected Wade Verge, Member for Lewisporte, to that

office, and by their direction I present him for approbation of Your Honour.

ADMINISTRATOR:

On behalf of Her Majesty, I assure you, Mr. Speaker, of my sense of your

efficiency and I do fully approve and confirm you as Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Your Honour having approved

the choice of this House in constituting me as their Speaker, it now becomes my

duty in the name of the representatives of Her Majesty's loyal subjects to ask

that I, as Speaker, may have full access to Your Honour's presence at all times.

ADMINISTRATOR:

Mr. Speaker, I am commanded by His Honour the Lieutenant Governor that your

words and actions will constantly receive from him the most favourable

construction.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:

All rise.

[His

Honour the Administrator leaves the Chamber.]

MR. SPEAKER:

Please be seated.

Before

we begin Routine Proceedings, I would like to observe an old parliamentary

tradition. I have the pleasant task

of formally welcoming a new member who was duly elected in the by-election of

August 26, 2014. The new member is

Mr. Scott Reid, representing the District of St. George's Stephenville East.

I have been advised by the Clerk of the House that the member has taken

the Oath of Office and the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown as required by the

Constitution and has signed the Members' Roll.

The hon.

the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I have the

honour to present to you, Mr. Scott Reid, the Member for St. George's

Stephenville East.

MR. SPEAKER:

Welcome to the House of

Assembly.

Let the

member take his seat.

[Applause.]

MR. SPEAKER:

Also today in the Speaker's

gallery I would like to make mention of Mr. Rex Hillier.

He is the Member-Elect for Conception Bay South.

He will be sworn in within the next week or so and, at that time, Mr.

Hillier will be taking his seat in the House of Assembly.

As well,

in the Speaker's gallery today we have Mrs. Patricia Davis, mother to the

Premier, and we have Robin and Lynn Ward.

Robin and Lynn Ward are the Premier's aunt and uncle and are visiting

from Ontario.

Welcome

to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Again, before we continue, I

would like to welcome back our returning Page Fatimah Rathore and to introduce

three new Pages: Ashley Bradley, Raylene Mackey, and Lauren Stokes.

Welcome

to the House of Assembly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we will hear members'

statements from the Member for the District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune; the

Member for the District of Placentia St. Mary's; the Member for the District

of St. George's Stephenville East; the Member for the District of St. John's

Centre; the Member for the District of Carbonear Harbour Grace; and the Member

for the District of Humber Valley.

The

Member for the District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS PERRY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today to extend congratulations to Alaina Joe for her

prestigious accomplishment of being crowned Miss Teen Newfoundland and Labrador,

2015. We are extremely proud that

Alaina was recognized for the amazingly gifted individual she is, and we are

certainly looking forward to watching her shine during this exciting year ahead.

Alaina

rose to the challenge of meeting Miss Newfoundland and Labrador's rigorous

search for a community-minded, well-rounded young woman with integrity, strong

academic and leadership skills.

Remarkably, Alaina also received the Humanitarian and People's Choice Awards.

Today, I

would like to thank Alaina for being such a tremendous role model for youth, as

well as for her dedication to preserving the Mi'kmaq language and culture her

talent submission of Amazing Grace in

Mi'kmaq was absolutely beautiful.

With her remarkable skills, talents, and giving nature, we will no doubt be

seeing many more accomplishments that will inspire youth in our Province,

particularly Aboriginal.

I ask

all members of this hon. House to join me in congratulating Alaina Joe, who at

such a young age shows the true beauty of the human spirit and what can be

achieved when you set your mind to achieving your goals.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Placentia St. Mary's.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. F. COLLINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise today in this hon. House to pay tribute to Donnie Gibbons of St.

Mary's who passed away on November 9.

Donnie's

fifteen-year battle with cancer reflected the spirit and determination that

characterized his lifelong entrepreneurship in St. Mary's.

His family business interests included retail services, school bus

transportation, construction, ambulance, and funeral services.

Mr. Speaker, Donnie Gibbons was an integral component of the social and

economic fabric of the St. Mary's Bay region, and he was a proud Newfoundlander

and Labradorian.

touched the lives of many, as was evidenced by the hundreds who attended his

funeral service and showed up to pay their respects both in St. John's and in

St. Mary's.

I ask

all members of this hon. House to join me in expressing appreciation for the

great contribution that he made to his community and to his Province, and to

express sincere condolences to his wife Jean, his son George, and daughters

Josephine and Donna.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of St. George's Stephenville East.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. REID:

Mr. Speaker, today I would

like to recognize the induction of eight outstanding women and men this past

October into the Newfoundland and Labrador Volunteer Hall of Fame.

In particular, I would like to recognize Mr. Frank Berkshire of Doyles in

the District of St. George's Stephenville East.

Frank

Berkshire moved to the Codroy Valley in 1966 to teach and immediately immersed

himself in the community. As an

educator, he took

part in extracurricular activities beyond the classroom

including acting as a moderator for the Reach for the Top team, the drama group,

and the school's safe prom. Mr.

Berkshire introduced and coached high school hockey, basketball and softball for

both boys and girls. He established

the first Cub pack in the area, and served as a Scout leader for many years.

Others

inducted this year were: Cecilia Carroll of Torbay; Geoff Eaton of St. John's;

Bridget Leyte of Fogo; Thomas Maddox of King's Cove; William Mahoney of St.

John's; Rita Pennell of Trepassey, and Bruce Templeton of Outer Cove.

I ask

all members to join with me in recognizing the contributions made by these eight

people who have been inducted into the Volunteer Hall of Fame this year.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 1 opened on Henry Street in 1928, the first in

Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1983

it moved to Blackmarch Road, now in the heart of St. John's Centre.

serves its members with pride, compassion and dedication, supporting veterans,

military personnel, their families and the broader community.

For instance, this week they will have a community flu clinic.

They hold bingos, dances and other events, including affordable social

activities for seniors, who often face isolation because of limited incomes.

The

amazing group of volunteers, led by President John Grennig, the executive and

Manger Todd Martin, include the women's group who cater for events.

They receive no government funding and raise money through their Poppy

Campaign to support veterans' badly needing help.

Branch 1 is also home to the Korea War vets and the Canadian Peace

Keepers, of which my own father was a proud member.

Last

Tuesday I attended Remembrance Day services at Branch 1.

Together we attended the Field of Honour, laid wreaths at the Legion

memorial, and paraded to the War Memorial ceremony.

Returning to Branch 1 for soup and sandwiches, we raised a glass to

honour and thank those who have given much to our country and to our Province.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Carbonear Harbour Grace.

MR. SLADE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize the efforts of all those

who have made the Jerry and Bobby Thoms Children's Library a tremendous success

in the Town of Carbonear.

The

children's library was established out of a vision by Tracey Vaughn-Evans, who

saw the need for a

section in the town's library that would address children's

interests. Together, with help from

volunteers and donations from the service clubs and private citizens, especially

cousin David Coish, the library became a reality and was officially opened on

May 24, 2014.

The

library has seen actors, artists, and writers of all kinds volunteer their time

with the children. Through

storytelling and active interaction, the library has attracted children, and

yes, adults of all ages, and has become an integral part of the community.

The

library was named the Jerry and Bobby Thoms Children's Library in memory of

thirteen-year-old Jerry and eleven-year-old Bobby Thoms, brothers who were lost

at sea off the coast of Labrador in 1979.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating Ms Vaughn-Evans and

all volunteers and donors who have contributed to the success of the library.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Humber Valley.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today to congratulate the Town of Cormack on their 50th

Anniversary. The community of

Cormack started in 1946 as part of the Post War Settlement Program.

This was intended to assist the agricultural industry in the region and

to provide a settlement for returning war veterans.

Mr.

Speaker, 163 veterans were approved for the settlement in Cormack, and after

completing an agricultural training program, each was provided with a plot of

land to develop and a loan for a home, farm equipment, and livestock.

Cormack was incorporated on April 8, 1964, and a town council was

established to continue efforts for electricity and telephone services.

Mr.

Speaker, because of Cormack's unique history, the community continues a

tradition of hosting their Remembrance Day ceremonies on the first Sunday

following November 11. I was very

fortunate to have attended the ceremony yesterday to honour the servicemen and

women of our great country.

Ironically, yesterday there was one veteran from that original group in

attendance.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join me in extending congratulations

to the Town of Cormack on fifty years of incorporation.

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.

Mr.

Speaker, back on June 4, the day before this House adjourned, police officers

were targeted while on duty in the City of Moncton, New Brunswick.

Two RCMP

officers were injured, and three lost their lives: Constable David Ross,

Constable Fabrice Georges Gevaudan, and Constable Douglas James Larche.

I had the honour of attending their funeral services on behalf of the

government and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador a day I will not soon

forget. Sadly and tragically, others

who have served to protect us here in Canada have also lost their lives in the

months since then.

On the

morning of October 20, a Warrant Officer with twenty-eight years of service in

the Canadian Forces, Patrice Vincent, was targeted in Quebec while walking in

uniform with a fellow Canadian Forces soldier.

He was deliberately attacked and murdered on a public street.

Two days

later, on the morning of October 22, Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a

twenty-four-year-old Canadian Forces Reservist, was targeted while on ceremonial

sentry duty at the Canadian National War Memorial in Ottawa.

He was approached from behind, while carrying out a most honourable

function in recognition of those who have paid the supreme sacrifice.

He, too, was targeted and another young life was lost.

In the

days that followed, and especially on November 11, Canadians in record numbers

stepped out of their homes with poppies over their hearts to visit war memorials

in their communities, to honour those soldiers and to remember the many, many

thousands of others who stepped forward and made grave sacrifices to protect us

all.

Mr.

Speaker, like all other Canadians, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are feeling

a wide range of emotions as they reflect on these events: anger that anyone

would commit such a heinous act; grieve that precious lives have been taken from

those who love them; but also tremendous gratitude, pride and unshaken resolve

not to surrender our security and our freedom to those who threaten it.

Here in

this House of Assembly, we are elected collectively to represent Newfoundlanders

and Labradorians. I believe it would

be fitting for all of us to rise on behalf of our Province in a moment of

silence to honour Warrant Officer Vincent, Corporal Cirillo, Constable Ross,

Constable Gevaudan, Constable Larche, and the multitude of others who have

served and sacrificed for the rights and privileges that we all enjoy.

I would

ask, Mr. Speaker, that after us as caucus leaders and my colleagues opposite

have spoken, you would lead us in marking a moment of silence in honour of those

that we remember here today.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want

to thank the Premier for the advance copy of his statement today.

I believe it is very timely, given the week that we have just had in many

of the remembrance ceremonies that we have all attended I am sure.

The

tragic loss, as the Premier reminds us today, back in Moncton in June and indeed

in Quebec on October 20, and October 22 in Ottawa, these were all devastating

blows to our men and women in uniform.

Moncton, three RCMP officers were serving to protect the people of that city

when they lost their lives, and two other RCMP officers were injured.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown is from our Province.

He is based with the RCMP detachment in Codiac, New Brunswick, and worked

very closely with officers during that troubling event in the days in Moncton.

Quebec, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent of the Canadian Armed Forces lost his

life while wearing his uniform in public on October 20.

We remember the discussion that came out of this in the events after that

in Ottawa about whether these men and women should wear a uniform.

We all know that our men and women continue to wear the uniform because

of their courage and their bravery.

We are certainly thankful for that.

Just

after two days of the events in Quebec, we saw the horrific attack on our

Nation's capital which claimed the life of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, an Armed

Forces reservist who was standing on guard at the National War Memorial in

Ottawa on October 22.

Today I

speak on behalf of the entire Opposition caucus when I express sympathies to the

families of these brave men. Earlier

this month I had the honour, as we all did, in visiting the displays of the

Armed Forces when the Afghanistan Memorial Vigil was on display here at

Confederation Building. We are all

humbled to hear the stories of the soldiers who gave their lives in the

Afghanistan mission, several who were from this Province.

I will

join, and I encourage the Speaker, as we will participate in a moment of silence

today.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I thank

the Premier for the advance copy of his statement.

I am very pleased to be able to stand and have the opportunity to respond

to his fine statement.

We all

have to remember that we need people whose job it is to protect us as

individuals and to protect our society; people whose jobs require them from time

to time to be in harm's way, as were all the individuals who have been named

here today by the Premier.

These

people, whom we depend on to do this work, also have an expectation of being

protected. When tragedy strikes and

lives are lost, we all also have a duty to remember their sacrifice.

We also have a duty always to do all we can to provide training and

resources to ensure to the best of our abilities the safety of our peace

officers and peacekeepers.

I hope

that the tragedies that have happened in our country over the past months will

be a time for us to reflect on what we have to put in place, both on a federal

level as well as here in our Province.

I look forward to our moment of silence in their memory.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

At the request of the

Premier, I would ask all members to stand and engage in a moment of silence.

[Moment

of silence.]

MR.

SPEAKER:

Thank you; you may be seated.

The hon. the Deputy Premier.

MR.

KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

National Addictions Awareness Week is being recognized

from November 17 to 21 in Newfoundland and Labrador.

This week provides an opportunity for Canadians to learn more about

substance abuse prevention, to talk about treatment and recovery, and to bring

forward solutions for change.

Led nationally by the Canadian Centre on Substance

Abuse, this year's theme places particular emphasis on youth substance abuse

prevention.

Drinking and taking drugs continue to be significant

issues for youth. Alcohol and

cannabis are the most common drugs of choice; however, prescription drugs are

also problematic. Collectively, as a

society, we must all do our part to learn more about prevention and ways we can

improve our existing treatment and recovery methods.

The recently formed Community Coalition for Mental Health in St. John's

is an outstanding example of a community coming together to raise awareness and

take action.

Mr. Speaker, our government invests approximately $100

million annually to provide mental health and addictions programs and services

in the Province through our regional health authorities.

A continuum of services for addiction prevention and

treatment is available and includes youth outreach workers, dedicated addictions

prevention staff, individual and group counselling, withdrawal management and

residential treatment.

In June of this year a new youth residential addictions

treatment centre opened in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Construction of a second adult residential addictions treatment centre in

Harbour Grace is ongoing with an anticipated opening in the spring of 2015.

This past spring, our government launched the

Understanding Changes Everything

campaign which is aimed at challenging, and ultimately changing, the way people

think and act toward individuals with a mental illness or addiction.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all hon. members and members

of the public to help create further awareness around this important issue.

We all have a role to play and as a government, we are committed to

enhancing services and supporting those in our Province who are living with

addictions.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. Substance abuse is a real

issue in this Province. Any time

there is an opportunity to bring awareness to mental health and addictions

issues, we should all take that opportunity.

The last line in the release says that government is

committed to enhancing services and supports.

Eight years ago, government committed to a provincial substance abuse

strategy to prevent and treat substance abuse.

It was not just a commitment on paper; it was a major undertaking by

government. There was a

Province-wide committee that had representatives from government, RNC, RCMP,

community stakeholders, and even individuals in recovery.

The strategy was written; the document was complete.

It took over two years to complete these consultations, do the work, and

write the document. The strategy was

needed then, but government walked away.

Government does not have a strategy to help deal with

these issues. Government says they

are committed to enhancing services.

Sadly, they walked away from the last significant effort to make some real

change in this Province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

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

ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for an advance copy of his

statement. On October 15, over 1,000

people came together at Holy Heart Theatre for the Launch, an initiative I

organized by inviting over thirty-five groups and individuals concerned with the

serious state of mental health services in the Province.

They joined together to form the Community Coalition for Mental Health.

These are much-needed initiatives.

Although Understanding Changes Everything sounds like a great initiative,

raising dialogue is not enough. The

coalition is demanding that government call an all-party committee to take a

good hard look at the situation and to come up with guidelines for overhauling

our mental health and addiction services.

In 2013, government committed to a comprehensive review of the fiscal

framework, and we remain on target to complete our work to inform Budget 2015.

The goal of this review is to examine the existing

provincial-municipal fiscal framework to identify options for efficient and

effective ways for services to be delivered, paid for, and shared in our

Province.

Mr. Speaker, as part of the review, government

committed to consulting with various stakeholder groups in the general public.

These consultations were designed to ensure that the view of

municipalities, local service districts, residents of unincorporated areas, and

all who utilize municipal services were indeed considered.

I am pleased to say that through partnering with both

Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador and the Professional Municipal

Administrators, we are able to engage over 500 stakeholders in the municipal

sector, including local service district Chairs or committee members and rural

secretariat councils. In addition,

written and in-person input was received from the business sector, from

organizations such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business,

Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, the St. John's Board of Trade, and

Chambers of Commerce across the Province.

The department also received feedback from the public through online

submissions and a telephone survey.

As Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs,

I thank all stakeholders who participated in the consultations.

The in-depth feedback has been instrumental in assisting the department

in identifying efficient and effective ways for sustaining service delivery,

recognizing our vast geography. The

department also conducted a jurisdictional review of other provinces and

territories to obtain information about their provincial-municipal fiscal

relationships and certainly their governance structures.

We have taken all that information gathered, as well as

Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador's recent recommendation document, and

are now turning our attention to a series of potential changes that will begin

in 2015 to achieve the core objective of this review.

Mr. Speaker, in the coming weeks we will issue a

comprehensive What We Heard Document from the consultation process and it will

be posted on our department's Web site.

We have made great progress with this review and by

continuing to work together, I am confident that we will be able to produce a

provincial-municipal fiscal framework that will improve communities and regions

in this Province and enhance sustainability into the future.

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.

I thank the minister for the advance copy of his

statement. I see here that the

minister said that we started the commitment in 2013.

Actually, when you made the commitment it was 2008, one year after the

hospital in Corner Brook, Mr. Speaker.

We see here all the municipalities are mainly volunteers, so we need to

help with the consultation because these volunteers need help in their

communities.

MNL has submitted its final report of what is the plan

to the government, Mr. Speaker. They

are hoping for a response and they are hoping to have something in place by

The MNL document was a decision for a fiscal framework

to bring to Cabinet, Mr. Speaker. I

am asking the government now that after six years, after making these

commitments, let's help these volunteers, let's help the communities, let's help

rural Newfoundland to remain viable, and let's help them all work together so we

can say that we as parliamentarians are doing something for rural Newfoundland

and doing something for municipalities and offer this fiscal framework that was

committed back in

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

like to also thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.

I have to remind government, since 1973 municipalities have been looking

at a new fiscal framework and it is yet to be delivered.

Mr.

Speaker, I had the occasion to attend the Municipalities NL conference in Corner

Brook in early October, where MNL presented its

What's the Plan funding document containing suggestions to

government. I hope government has

taken these suggestions in. We can

only hope that whatever government arranges with municipalities it keeps the

taxpayer insulated from any possible increase to their tax rates.

We hope that collectively this message is what government has heard the

most, and that government acts on the recommendations of that report.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Welcome

and congratulations on your new post, and of course, the new Pages that we have

here in the House of Assembly.

Now to

the questions; Mr. Speaker, last January the power went out throughout our

Province. Most people referred to it

as a crisis. In response, government

approved $120 million for a generator at Holyrood.

I ask

the Premier: With winter fast approaching, is this generator ready, and what

will people of Newfoundland and Labrador expect?

Will they expect to have their power on this winter?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I, as

well, congratulate you and the Pages who have now been assigned here today, and

I thank the hon. member opposite for his question.

I can

assure the member opposite, as well as the people of Newfoundland and Labrador,

that Nalcor are working towards taking all the steps and efforts to ensure that

a reliable supply of power is provided for the coming winter season.

We know winters can be quite harsh in Newfoundland and Labrador, and I

can assure you that we intend, and we will hold them accountable, to ensure they

get the work done that needs to be done to ensure that power supply is available

throughout the winter season, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier mentioned a reliable source of power, when already Nalcor has admitted

that the

schedule for the Holyrood generator is under pressure and they will not

know until December when it will be ready to generate power.

The Liberty report, through the Public Utilities Board, reported that

power outages said that the new generating capacity should be the first priority

and ready for December 1, just two weeks away.

I ask

the Premier: Will they meet the deadline or not, and why has this project been

delayed?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, the supply of

power is very important to the people of the Province, especially when we have

harsh conditions that we see in the wintertime.

Everyone deserves to have a reliable service throughout the entire

Province, throughout the Island portion of the Province, and especially

throughout Labrador where winters can be very difficult and very challenging at

the best of times.

understand, and we know that Nalcor are having challenges in meeting their

deadlines. We are assured they are

working hard to ensure they have all the equipment, supplies, opportunity, and

the system in place to provide that reliable service throughout the winter, Mr.

Speaker, and I expect nothing less from Nalcor, that they be prepared for this

coming winter.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, we

expect nothing less. We are two

weeks away from what the Liberty report suggested would be the deadline,

December 1.

Will the

Premier let the people of Newfoundland and Labrador know when this generator

will be ready?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, I am not in a

position today to get an exact final date because these projects are large and

complex and they have so many factors that can impact them.

I am

aware of the date the member opposite is referring to and the importance that we

have this service in place and ready for this winter.

I am assured by senior officials at Nalcor that they are working very

hard to meet the expectations and requirement before the onset of winter in

Newfoundland and Labrador.

As I

have said already, and I will say again, we will hold them accountable.

We expect a reliable service provided by Nalcor, and they assure us they

are working to make sure they can provide that service, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier already said he is working closely with Nalcor.

He has already said they are going to keep Nalcor accountable; yet, here

we are just two weeks away from December 1 and the Premier cannot answer that

one question: When will the generator be ready?

The

reason for the new generator was to meet peak energy demands and avoid another

crisis like last January. It now

seems likely that this generator will not be ready on time.

I ask

the Premier: What is your back-up plan to keep the power on in this Province if

this generator is not ready?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, the entire

Province is well aware of the issues of last January.

I think it is important for the people of the Province to know their

government, and no doubt the Opposition as well, have full expectation that work

will be done by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro to ensure they deliver the power

throughout the winter.

The

member opposite well knows he has had a briefing from Nalcor and Newfoundland

Hydro, he has had all the details of winter readiness.

I think he would agree that there has been a tremendous amount of work

and effort done by the company, Mr. Speaker.

There has been $260 million invested in terms of asset management for

aging infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, a

tremendous amount of work has been done.

There

was a planned date of December 7 for the turbine.

There has been some scheduled risk with parts, Mr. Speaker, but we will

hold them accountable like everybody else in the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

understand that our power system was on alert just last weekend.

This is because Holyrood had 190 megawatts of power out of service, Bay

D'Espoir had 153 megawatts out of service, and Stephenville had 50 megawatts out

of service. According to Hydro's Web

site, the current demand on the power system is 1214 megawatts.

It is nearly reaching capacity.

I ask

the Premier: Can you confirm that the system was on alert, and should the people

of the Province be preparing for more rotating power outages in the near future?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and

Labrador Hydro have been in the power business for well over fifty years.

We have considerable generation assets, Mr. Speaker.

They are old, and we have 15,000 kilometres of transmission line in this

Province. They do their very best to

keep this functioning and to ensure that we have reliability, Mr. Speaker.

I think

it was last weekend we had winds of up to 150 kilometres in this Province.

I think anytime it is important to put that system on alert.

We do know, Mr. Speaker, from reports of winter readiness, a tremendous

amount of work has been done and investments have been made to get those

generation assets up and ready for the winter season.

They have assured us that they will be ready, Mr. Speaker.

Again,

we have high expectations, without question, that they will be ready, and will

be ready to deliver reliable power to the people of the Province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask

the Premier, or the Minister of Natural Resources: Was there an alert last

weekend by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, I would have to

check for sure to see if there was an alert, and if there is I have no problem

reporting that.

As a

matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, I would suspect due diligence by these companies,

certainly from experiences last year and the expectations of the people of the

Province, the expectations of all the work that has gone on from Liberty, to the

PUB, to their internal work, to their external work with Newfoundland Power and

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, that there are lessons that have been learned,

Mr. Speaker, and if there are issues, it is important to let the people of the

Province know what it is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At least

thirty-five children have died while under the Province's care since 2009.

However, of the initial twenty-six deaths reported in the media, the

Child and Youth Advocate only knew of six.

The Advocate has requested legislative changes to make reporting

mandatory.

I ask

the Premier: Will you bring forward those legislative changes in this session of

the House of Assembly?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, nobody, who has

not experienced such a tragedy, can imagine what it would be like to experience

the loss of a child in their family or a close loved one.

They are very, very important matters, Mr. Speaker, and need to be dealt

with very seriously.

In the

past year we have brought forward, and now have in operation

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

a new Child Death Review Committee, which is made up of a panel of experts who

review essentially all deaths of children and youth in Newfoundland and

Labrador. I want to see a

circumstance where both the Child and Youth Advocate and the Child Death Review

Committee can work together in partnership, not work against each other.

I have contacted the Child and Youth Advocate and I have invited her to

come to a Cabinet meeting on her next opportunity to have a full discussion

about what she has been proposing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One of

the findings in all of the Advocate's investigative reports has been about the

high turnover in the department and the fact that she is claiming this is a

factor of the children falling through the cracks.

There have been five ministers in CYFS, Child, Youth and Family Services,

in five years, four in the last fourteen months.

I ask

the Premier: Why is the department's leadership constantly changing with such a

high turnover as has been cited by the Advocate as a factor in children falling

through the cracks?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I tell you there is no correlation between the turnover and changes in

ministerial positions versus in staffing.

There are a high number of staff, and very hard-working staff in the

Department of Child, Youth and Family Services.

I know from my own experiences, in working side by side with child

protection workers, it can be some of the most challenging and difficult work

that a social worker can endure during their career.

I am

pleased to say there are some child protection workers who have many years'

experience working in the department, and what existed prior to the department

through the delivery through health care services.

Mr. Speaker, we have a combination of new, we have a combination of those

who have several years of experience, and we also have people who have great

experience working in the Child, Youth and Family Services department.

I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, they do very good work for the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

Barbe.

MR. J. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, in August, an

access to information request by the media revealed twenty-six children and

youth died while under this Province's care since 2009.

Regrettably, six weeks later, government discovered it missed seven

children and two more had died.

I ask

the Premier: How did his government overlook those seven child deaths?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Actually, it was through a custom query.

Those twenty-six were arrived at through a tedious process with staff

going over and reviewing files, understanding, of course, that some of those

files would have lied with the regional health authorities, as the transitioning

had not occurred throughout that time where it was ongoing throughout.

It was only after that, through a custom query, where we called in

special IT support, that we were able to find the others.

When I

say able to find the others, Mr. Speaker, it is important to know these were not

unknown deaths. These were deaths

that were very well known by front staff, as well as those involved, as well as

all those in the department. It was

through that custom query we were able to find those additional numbers.

It is important to know that these were not unknown deaths whatsoever.

It was the tool we used to pick up those numbers from the dataset we had.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

Barbe.

MR. J. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, the Advocate did

not know that information.

Mr.

Speaker, the minister indicated that these seven additional child deaths were

discovered after a senior staff member requested a customized database search of

records.

I ask

the minister: How confident should the public be in the care of children by this

government when it takes a database search to uncover how many children have

died?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Child, Youth and Family Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. S. COLLINS:

Mr. Speaker, I have every

confidence in our staff. As I had

said, we were the ones, and as the member actually alluded to, we were the ones

who initiated that second search. We

wanted to make sure I had discussions with staff, I wanted to make sure that

the number we put forward was the most accurate and true number.

It was through that custom query, as I had said that we followed up, that

we provided that additional information.

When we

were made aware of it, we let the Child and Youth Advocate know right away.

This is not anything about politics, it is about

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. S. COLLINS:

getting the most possible,

most accurate information out. It is

a very serious topic, one that I take very personally and seriously as minister,

and I want to make sure any information that comes from our department is not

only accurate, but also shared with the Child and Youth Advocate, and that is

exactly what we did.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bay

of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, the new 911

system is flawed and a downgrade for the twelve fire departments in the Western

Region. Government today changed

implementation to part of the 911 system and allowed the RNC to continue

services without extra fees to these twelve municipalities.

I ask

Minister Manning: By these changes you are admitting the system is flawed; will

you do a complete review of the 911 system before downloading on volunteer

firefighters?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the member opposite for his question, because the 911 is very important to this

government. It was only last May

that we brought in legislation, Mr. Speaker, that extended the coverage of 911

across the entire Province. So

whether you live in a very small community in my district, like Lamaline, or a

very large community, like Corner Brook or St. John's, we now provide the

service all across the Province, and right up into Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

The

member opposite references a particularly unique area, with respect to how the

service was previously delivered on the West Coast in the Corner Brook region.

He is correct. The minister

was out in the area Friday and met with municipalities and those who had

concerns out there. I am pleased to

say, as the Premier has said repeatedly, that we are here to listen.

She has

listened to the concerns. She made

an announcement today that we will provide the same kind of coverage for that

area of the Province as they have been accustomed to for a transition period,

Mr. Speaker, recognizing this is an important issue for all of the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bay

of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

I will let the minister know,

the meeting was Thursday. Corner

Brook will have full dispatch. So

Corner Brook is not affected, they will have full dispatch.

Thank God for by-elections, I say, if not this would not be changed, and

thank God that the volunteer firefighters stood up to this government again.

Mr.

Speaker, Minister Manning stated that the 911 system cannot dispatch for the 270

fire departments. She stated the

cost is too high.

I ask

Minister Manning: Will you table the cost analysis to confirm this decision?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

interesting request coming from the member opposite, considering that every day

in the media they are criticizing government for spending on important

initiatives.

Most

recently, we announced a move forward with a new courthouse in St. John's as

part of consolidation of services.

It is going to save the taxpayers money, and we are criticized for that.

Now today they are here, Mr. Speaker, looking for us to spend more money.

I say to

the member opposite, what we have done is the first in Newfoundland and Labrador

to extend 911 service across the entire Province of Newfoundland and Labrador

a bold move, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

An important initiative that

is applauded and celebrated by all of these emergency organizations that had

previously no access, and no ability to access such a service.

I say to

the member opposite, we will continue to move forward with the implementation

plan that we have identified. The

only change is that the minister heard some concerns on Thursday and I thank

you for correcting me. She heard the

concerns and she has responded appropriately.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bay

of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I hope Minister

Manning soon gets elected. At least

she will know that the cost for this 911 will be seventy-five cents, Minister,

per phone in the Province. That is

what is paying for this, not the government.

It is a fee to the people.

Mr.

Speaker, Minister Manning stated in a public meeting that people are happy with

the 911 system. The minister just

stated it himself again. When a call

is made to 911 for a fire emergency, you are forwarded to a beeper.

There is no confirmation that the call was received and no confirmation

that responders will be responding.

I ask

the minister: How can people have confidence in the system when volunteer

firefighters do not?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

say to the member opposite, it is not entirely accurate the picture he is

painting there today. First of all,

as the minister has demonstrated, this is a new service.

It is something brand new for many of us who do not have the luxury of

living in the urban centres like Corner Brook or St. John's, Mr. Speaker, and I

represent one of those areas. This

is brand new for residents in my district and many parts of the Province, and it

is important.

Mr.

Speaker, as the minister has just demonstrated, as we work through this process

if there are bugs or flaws that we need to iron out, then we will work through

it. Clearly, the legislation that we

have introduced and was passed by this House of Assembly is very important and

very progressive. Contrary to the

member opposite, it is being well received throughout the entire Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bay

of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the

minister: If the 911 system is so good, why is Vince MacKenzie, the president of

the fire association of Newfoundland and Labrador, telling the people in his

area who have dispatch and others, do not call 911, it is a delay?

I ask the minister to respond to that.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, I cannot speak

for Mr. MacKenzie. I encourage the

member to reach out to Mr. MacKenzie and he can ask him himself.

What I

can remind the member, Mr. Speaker, is that it is not the provincial

government's responsibility to provide dispatch services.

There are obligations in the Municipalities Act that rests within

municipalities and rests with various emergency providers.

The 911

service that we are providing, Mr. Speaker

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

I have seen the work that they have done in the past, and through my own

lifetime have had such experiences with such matters.

I have

asked the minister, and work is underway, to review the Family Violence

Intervention Court not to reinstate what previously had existed, but to look

at it from a point of view of are we able to provide these services throughout

Newfoundland and Labrador, to rural parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, to other

places outside of the greater St. John's area, just like areas the member

opposite represents.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, when the Premier

was asked in the leadership debate about the Family Violence Intervention Court,

both him and the Deputy Premier stated that the only drawback was that it was

only available in St. John's. The

Premier states that again here today.

So I ask

the Premier: If it was so worthwhile, why did you vote to eliminate it, rather

than expand it back then?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, I would like to

speak to that because the member opposite is fully aware that I was the minister

at the time that the decision was made to eliminate the Family Violence

Intervention Court and I have been very clear on record, probably 100 times in

this House; Hansard will show. The

reason government chose to eliminate the Family Violence Intervention Court was

a budgetary decision. I have been

clear to members of the Opposition.

I have been clear to the Member for St. John's Centre.

Repeatedly, the decision was never made because we did not see any value in the

Family Violence Intervention Court.

Check Hansard, over and over I have been clear upon that, but government had to

make tough financial decisions, and they are not easy.

If you want to be in leadership, you have to make decisions, and that was

one of the decisions we had to make as part of a budgetary process.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for Mount Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, while Minister

Manning was a Review Commissioner with the Workplace Health, Safety and

Compensation Review Division none of the nineteen reviews assigned to her were

completed within the required sixty days.

Although Minister Manning and the Premier say this is not an uncommon

problem, that does nothing to help the injured workers affected.

I ask

the Minister of Service NL: Have these nineteen outstanding cases now been dealt

with? If not, when will this

important work be completed?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can

tell you the work to complete those cases is underway by the Workplace Health,

Safety and Compensation Review Division.

I can also point out to the member opposite

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible).

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

we recognize that there are

issues and backlogs in the review division.

I know that just a few short years ago there was a larger backlog.

When I

was Minister of Service NL and Minister Responsible for the Workplace Health,

Safety and Compensation Commission, I took steps to deal with that backlog.

There is a significant shorter backlog now than there was just a few

short years ago.

The

discussions that I have had with the Chief Commissioner, as well as with the

minister, is that we reflect on the fact that we have to do a better job and we

have to make more improvements to shorten this wait-list even further and that

work is underway.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

answer that we are working on it is of little comfort to the injured workers

requiring to have their cases heard.

Mr.

Speaker, while the unelected minister's outstanding caseload is disturbing

enough, we are told that there is in fact 150 cases outstanding at the workers'

comp review division.

I ask

the minister: How do you plan to address the systemic issues responsible for

these unacceptable delays?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

I am not sure if the member

opposite got my last answer, Mr. Speaker, because I think addressed some of

that, but I will be pleased to address it again.

We have

already taken steps to shorten the wait-list.

There are some, what I would see as systemic issues in the review

division of the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission.

Mr. Speaker, these reviews are important to injured workers.

Now, I get that, and we get that as a government.

We want to make sure that we can provide the best services possible to

injured workers; we are looking through reviews of their files.

That is why I have instructed the Minister of Service NL, and I have had

a conversation with the Chief Review Commissioner, that they work together and

bring forward recommendations to government so that we can review what the

options are available, and we can take steps to correct those backlogs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's North, time for a quick question.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, two national

reports on early childhood education show that Newfoundland and Labrador remains

mired at the bottom among Canada's provinces when it comes to the provision of

child care.

I ask

the minister responsible: When is his government going to get its act together

and actually make early childhood education programs accessible for working

families in Newfoundland and Labrador?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier, for a

quick response.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, very recently,

two reports that were released in relation to early childhood education and I

would like to point out if you read those reports, you look at those reports,

and also talk to people in the industry, that the steps that we have taken as a

government have in large

part improved the opportunity for early childhood

education, and will improve the education of children in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

The

changes we have made in the department, by moving early childhood education into

the Department of Education, has been heralded by people in the industry as a

great move by this government, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Leader of the Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

The

Premier has announced the date of the health summit he is planning as a way to

reduce health care spending. He also

says he wants people to tell him what their concerns and issues are.

In a town hall on health care that I held recently in my district, I

heard many issues presented by the people who attended.

So, in

their name, I ask the Premier: Will his summit deal with the serious issue of

long wait times for specialists in the Province?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, I am quite

pleased that the Minister of Health has begun the process and the process was

recently announced to do a consultative process with the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador, because we have to focus and provide the best health care possible

to the people of the Province.

invest significantly in health care; 39, almost 40 per cent of our entire budget

is invested in caring for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Speaker,

but we are not going to rest there.

Despite putting large amounts of money, it is not satisfactory to us, because we

need to find the best way to deliver the best services for the people.

We have done good work, Mr. Speaker.

We have some of the shortest wait times right now in many areas.

The shortest wait times in Canada for hip and knee replacement, one of

the biggest demands in services, and we have other wait times, Mr. Speaker, that

are the best in the country.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I point

out to the Premier, the issue that I raise, what the people raise, is the issue

around specialists, and he is not hearing that issue.

I ask

him: Will his summit deal with the issues of the almost 50,000 people with

diabetes in this Province, issues such as lack of coverage for diabetic strips

or universal coverage for pumps?

Listen to the issue, Mr. Premier.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, we have more doctors working in Newfoundland and Labrador today than

ever before in the history of this Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

We have the highest

percentage of nurses per capita right here in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

It is specialists who do hip

and knee replacements, Mr. Speaker.

It is specialists who are cardiologists, who are offering leading programs in

North America right here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

We have the shortest wait times in cardiac catheter surgeries and

procedures. We have the shortest

wait times. We have done good work,

Mr. Speaker, to improve wait times in emergency rooms.

This

summit that we are doing, that this government is doing, Mr. Speaker, is going

to work hard to make better the health care services for the people of the

Province throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, seniors across

the Province living on GIS and OAS are calling my office in desperation saying

after paying rent and utilities many have only $150 or less for food,

transportation, and clothing, and that is per month.

They have nowhere else to go.

They are being crushed by this economy.

This is their reality.

I ask

the minister, will he immediately develop a special rental assistance program

for seniors that include s more rent supplements?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, this is another area where we continue to focus and do good work.

We have made great gains in poverty reduction in Newfoundland and

Labrador. Since 2006, I think it is

$1 billion that we have invested in poverty reduction in this Province.

As a result of that, Mr. Speaker, we have fewer people relying on social

programs than ever before. We are

taking steps.

When

people want to transition from social programs to working, to gain gainful

employment, we have done programs such as extending their health benefits.

They can continue to receive those benefits, medications and those types

of benefits, while they transition into the workplace.

We have taken great steps to improve that.

Again, like many other things that we do as a government

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre, time for a quick question.

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the

minister: Why will he not make rent supplements portable so seniors can choose

where they want and need to live?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

apologize for running over the last time, but I was getting to rent supplements

and the great work that Newfoundland and Labrador Housing does.

We make more investments in rent supplements for people in the Province,

particularly seniors. Quite often

seniors benefit from rent supplements that are available.

We have more rent supplements than we ever had before, Mr. Speaker.

As I was

saying to the member opposite, we realize that we have to continue to find

better ways to deliver services to the people of the Province of Newfoundland

and Labrador. They deserve nothing

less than that from us. Our

government over here, Mr. Speaker, is going to continue to work day in, day out

to provide the best services possible for the people of the Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The time

for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Presenting Reports

by Standing and Select Committees

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Service Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. CORNECT:

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the

Select Committee appointed to draft a reply to the Speech from His Honour the

Lieutenant Governor, I am pleased to present the report of the Select Committee

which reads as follows:

To His

Honour the Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Frank Fagan, CM, ONL, CMA.

May it

please Your Honour: We, the Commons of Newfoundland and Labrador in Legislative

Session assembled, beg to thank Your Honour for the Gracious Speech which Your

Honour has addressed to this House.

I move,

seconded by the Member for Port de Grave, that the report be adopted.

MR. SPEAKER:

When shall the report be

received?

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Now.

MR. SPEAKER:

Now.

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, I am assuming we

are moving into notices of motion.

The report is being tabled now but will be spoken to a little later.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. KING:

As I was saying, Mr. Speaker,

I move, seconded by the Premier, that the debate be deferred.

MR. SPEAKER:

Is it the pleasure of the

House to adopt the motion?

All

The hon. the Minister of

Finance.

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to

section 26.(5)(

a) of the Financial Administration Act, I am tabling seventeen

Orders in Council relating to funding of precommitments for the 2015-2016 to the

2020-2021 fiscal years.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of documents?

Notices

of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS

the Province's Child and Youth Advocate has requested that government introduce

legislation for mandatory and immediate reporting of all government departments

and agencies of the death of and critical incidents involving children and

youth; and

WHEREAS

government has not taken a lead in notifying the advocates office of such

incidents, and instead the advocate has relied on calls from the public and the

media to be made aware of cases needing her involvement; and

WHEREAS

legislating a direct reporting mechanism from all departments and agencies to

the advocate would help improve outcomes for all those involved, as would it

improve outcomes for other children and youth receiving services; and

WHEREAS

as a direct result of earlier intervention in specific cases where a death or a

critical incident has occurred, or indirectly, systemic issues can be more

readily identified and addressed.

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Assembly urge government to

immediately introduce legislation for the mandatory and immediate reporting of

all government departments and agencies of the deaths of and critical incidents

involving children and youth.

This

motion is seconded by the Member for St. Barbe.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to

Standing Order 63, the motion just read by the Leader of the Opposition shall be

the private member's resolution to be debated on Wednesday of this week.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for The

Straits White Bay North.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

government has a responsibility to ensure that Internet access is broadly

available so people have the right to be able to access the Internet in order to

exercise and enjoy their rights to freedom of expression and opinion and other

fundamental human rights; and

WHEREAS

the Town of Goose Cove still remains without broadband services; and

WHEREAS

residents rely on Internet services for education, business, communication and

social activity; and

WHEREAS

wireless and wired technologies exist to provide broadband service to rural

communities to replace slower dial-up service;

We the

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

providers to ensure the Town of Goose Cove is in receipt of broadband Internet

services in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As in

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, there are a variety of outlets which we could look at, but by not

acting we are eliminating a town, a municipality.

We are really taking away the services a municipality in the Province can

be offering when it comes to things like high-speed Internet.

The

municipality of Goose Cove would have significant opportunity to expand services

and better communicate with its residents.

We look at that the federal government has a connecting broadband program

with $305 million. We have a Rural

Broadband Initiative, and looking at partnering to find solutions, because there

are so many communities, upwards of 200 in the Province that still do not have

access to broadband Internet. There

are seven in my very own district that do not have access to broadband Internet.

It is just unacceptable in this day and age not to have access to

broadband Internet.

There

are a variety of wired, wireless, and other technologies that can be used to

provide, and we should have universal broadband coverage throughout Newfoundland

and Labrador. It can be done, and it

does not have to be an expensive form to cover these solutions.

We need to work with providers, work with the municipalities to make sure

we overcome these barriers right now.

We can have a smarter economy when we open up the knowledge-based economy

and providing broadband Internet services in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned 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 conduct their work and cannot afford to wait until 2016 to access a

potential plan in partnership with the Muskrat Falls development; and

WHEREAS

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

UNESCO site at Red Bay, 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.

As in

duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, my colleague just talked about the importance of Internet access.

I want to continue to talk about that.

I have twenty-two communities in my district.

Some of them will tell you they have broadband service.

It is not sufficient broadband.

They are closed to sales; they are maxed out.

I have spent the last number of months having meetings with provincial

departments, with ACOA, and with Bell Aliant, the service provider, wondering

how we can come to some acceptable resolution with this.

Mr.

Speaker, we are living in a more advancing technological age where people are

being forced to use the Internet for everything.

I have many fisher people in my area.

They now have to do their licences in an online system.

We have businesses that are paying for their own boosters because the

Interac is too slow for them to use business.

We have hotel owners who are losing business because the Internet is too

slow.

We will

be receiving some improvement in the near future is my understanding in the

Labrador Straits. That leaves me

very concerned about Southeast Labrador, Mr. Speaker.

If we are going to give everybody a fair fighting chance in this Province

it has to be students who need dependable, reliable access to broadband service

to be able to carry out their work.

Working professionals, I hear from on a regular basis, Mr. Speaker, who are

asking for improvements.

Right

now we have a multi-billion dollar mega industrial project in our backyard and

my office every single day hears from people who cannot use Internet in their

own home to apply for jobs. The only

way that you can get a job there is to be able to apply online.

These are just some of their very concerns.

I could go on and on, vehicle renewal and things like that.

I will

continue to call upon government to look at these twenty-two communities,

especially the six or eight in the Southeast, and to work with the federal

government and the service provider to come to an acceptable resolution to bring

us into the twenty-first century, like many other places in the Province.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

the Family Violence Intervention Court provided a comprehensive approach to

domestic violence in a court setting that fully understood and dealt with

complex issues of domestic violence; and

WHEREAS

domestic violence continues to be one of the most serious issues facing our

Province today, and the cost of the impact of domestic violence is great both

economically and in human suffering; and

WHEREAS

the Family Violence Intervention Court was welcomed and endorsed by all aspects

of the justice system including the police, the courts, prosecutors, defense

counsel, Child, Youth and Family Services, as well as victims, offenders,

community agencies, and women's groups; and

WHEREAS

the recidivism rate for offenders going through the court was 10 per cent,

compared to 40 per cent for those who did not; and

WHEREAS

the budget for the court was only 0.2 per cent of the entire budget of the

Department of Justice;

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

of Assembly to urge government to reinstate the Family Violence Intervention

Court.

As in

duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, these petitions come into our office daily.

People from all over the Province are calling for the reinstatement of

the Family Violence Intervention Court.

Today it was very interesting to hear the former Minister of Justice say

it was a budgetary decision. It was

not entirely a budgetary decision when he gave other excuses for cancelling the

court.

Mr.

Speaker, I have contacted the Minister of Justice.

I have contacted the previous Premier with a plan on how the court can be

expanded to serve Corner Brook and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

This plan takes into account already existing infrastructure.

It would take very little money.

As a matter of fact, it is cost efficient.

To have a higher recidivism rate and to incarcerate offenders costs way

more than having a court that costs only $520,000 in St. John's, and to expand

the court once again using existing infrastructure.

It would require very few new hires.

As a matter of fact, all it would require is some extra training for

Crown Prosecutors, for Legal Aid lawyers, for a judge in each of those

locations.

The solution is attainable, the solution is affordable, and

the cost-benefit analysis is absolutely undeniable.

The Premier, the Minister of Justice continues to get letters from

women's groups around the Province who have expertise in this area, and to

ignore those calls , Mr.

Speaker, is unconscionable at this point in our history.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bay

of Islands .

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today

with a petition on behalf of the residents of Western Newfoundland and Labrador

on the hospital in Corner Brook.

WHEREAS

we wish to raise the concerns regarding the recent delay on the construction of

the new hospital in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador.

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

of Assembly to urge the government to commit to the planning and construction of

the new hospital in Corner Brook as previously committed to and in a timely

manner as originally announced without further delay or changes.

Mr.

Speaker, once again, we have seen here today how the 911 system was changed

because of a by-election. I agree

that this system is flawed. We have a

by-election out in Humber East right now and we need commitments from this

government. We need commitments.

As we

know now, Mr. Speaker, they are going to put in the units for a PET scanner but

they are not committing to PET scanner services in the new hospital.

I stand to be corrected here.

I was speaking to the health care committee and I could not find any

documentation to show that there is a full commitment to offer PET scanning

services in the new hospital in Corner Brook.

Here is an opportunity for the Minister of Health now to say no, we will

offer those PET scanning services.

I am

under the understanding, Mr. Speaker, that now, in some of the design stages,

there is some confusion with some radiologists and the radiology department in

there. We had to drag it out of this

government.

Mr.

Speaker, I just want to let the people know, and anybody who has seen the

interview by the former Premier, the former Member for Humber East, Tom

Marshall, who just announced I said it in this House and I was ridiculed

that construction of the new hospital will not start until 2016.

For years we were saying here it was going to be 2014, 2015 and he said

it will not start until 2016.

I urge

the government, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all the residents who are going to use

these facilities, let's do it, let's do it right, let's follow on the

commitments that were made. If

anybody has any concerns about the new regional hospital in Corner Brook, ask

the member, ask Larry Wells, where his government stands on PET scanning

services, where does he stand on all the other services that were committed a

while back, back in 2007.

Seven

years later, Mr. Speaker, here is an opportunity to keep the governments feet to

the fire because once it is done we need to do it right, not like the long-term

care facility where they cut 100 beds.

We cannot have that any more.

We have to do it for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I urge the government to get moving on this new hospital.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

Barbe.

MR. J. BENNETT:

I have a petition.

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 of Newfoundland and Labrador to partner with

the private sector to extend cellphone coverage throughout Gros Morne National

Park and the enclave community of Trout River.

As in

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, the people of Trout River all through the last session sent petitions

to me, and all through this session they are sending petitions to me.

This town of approximately 650 people, which is now in addition to being

an enclave community, is well known internationally because of the blue whale

which went ashore there and two others that were nearby.

It has

now had more Internet hits than any other town in that region.

The Internet hits have been in the millions.

If anybody should go there and decide that they want to call home next

summer, they want to telephone and say, guess what, I am in Trout River, this is

where the whale went ashore; they cannot do it.

The same

issue will happen if there is anybody there who is going to attempt to avail of

the 911 service that people are paying for.

You are in Trout River, you want a 911 service.

You assume the 911 service is all over the Province because people are

paying for a 911 service. People

expect to have a 911 service as government so proudly proclaimed.

In fact, there is no cellphone service there.

What do

you do? Do you go knock on

somebody's door and say, I would like to call 911 because my husband or wife is

having a heart attack or a stroke, or we just had a motor vehicle accident?

From that area they cannot call the police, they cannot call an

ambulance, and they cannot call 911 from a cellphone.

Mr.

Speaker, this is absolutely unpardonable, that government has made no effort

whatsoever to work with the private sector.

This is not even a request for money; this is a request to partner with

the private sector and see what possibilities are available.

An Act To Amend The Elections Act 1991,

Bill 25, and that the said bill be now read the first time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to introduce Bill

25 and that the bill be now read a first time?

All

those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, nay'.

Carried.

Motion,

the hon. the Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development to

introduce a bill,

An Act To Amend The Elections Act, 1991, carried.

(Bill 25)

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Elections Act, 1991. (Bill 25)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

first time.

When

shall the bill be read a second time?

MR. KING:

Presently, by leave.

MR. SPEAKER:

Presently, by leave.

motion, Bill 25 read a first time, ordered read a second time presently, by

leave.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

For the

record, I am not sure if I said Bill 5 or Bill 25.

For Hansard, it was intended to be Bill 25.

Mr.

Speaker, at this time, I move, seconded by the hon. the Minister of Finance and

President of Treasury Board, with leave for Bill 25,

An Act To Amend The

Elections Act, 1991, to be read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

Bill 25 entitled,

An Act To Amend The Elections Act, 1991, be now read a second

time.

Motion,

second reading of a bill,

An Act To Amend The Elections Act, 1991. (Bill 25)

MR. SPEAKER:

Does the member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER:

By leave.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

For the

member opposite, I do not have recreation; that is gone in another direction.

I lost that one.

Mr.

Speaker, I am pleased to stand and introduce this bill on behalf of government.

Bill 25 is entitled

An Act to Amend the Elections Act, 1991.

For those who are paying attention to the debate through the televised

version, basically what we are doing is we are bringing forward an amendment

here to the Elections Act to confirm the validity of the writ that was issued

for the by-elections in two electoral districts, the Districts of Trinity Bay

de Verde and Humber East.

Mr.

Speaker, there is a very straightforward process in place for the calling of

by-elections in the Province.

Essentially, very much what we are doing here today is correcting a procedural

error.

Perhaps

by way of a little bit of background, when the error was discovered, the Clerk

of Executive Council held a press conference sorry, before that happened, met

with all three parties, myself, as well as the Leader of the Opposition and the

Leader of the New Democratic Party, and took us through an explanation of what

had transpired with respect to a procedural error.

It was agreed at that point in time by all three that unanimously we

would support the route we are taking here today to make a legislative change.

I thank the other two leaders of the respective parties for their support

in moving forward.

Essentially, Mr. Speaker, again, for the benefit of those who are paying

attention at home, the error that occurred here was in the gazetting of the call

of the by-elections. So, essentially

what happens is a dual-track process where the writ is dropped i.e. the

election is called. When that

happens, direction is sent to the electoral office and the Chief Electoral

Officer will make the official call of the election and the wheels are kicked in

motion. At the same time, officials

from Cabinet Secretariat would notify the legislative branch of government, and

at that point in time then the information on the calling of the by-election is

gazetted, where it is advertised publicly.

It is a very standard process, Mr. Speaker, that has been used for many,

many years.

What

happened here was as the let me say it this way, as the Clerk explained it to

us, because at the bureaucratic level the Clerk of the Executive Council who

took us through this as the Clerk explained it to us, it was an oversight on

behalf of an employee who forgot to gazette the calling of the by-elections.

So, subsequent to that, a number of discussions occurred, and certainly

the Clerk would have sought legal advice from a number of sources and conveyed

that to all three political parties.

There was some substantial discussion about whether in fact we needed to go this

route or whether in fact the dropping of the writ, the calling of the

by-election, might have been safe as it was.

It was

felt, Mr. Speaker, by the Clerk, based upon advice received and careful analysis

of a number of pieces of advice, that the safest route for all of us would be to

do some retroactive legislation, which we are proposing to do here today, that

would essentially cover off the lack of gazetting of the call of the elections.

The concern, frankly, was that in the absence of this legislation it

could potentially leave the door open for somebody to challenge the legality of

the calling of the by-election and the subsequent result, Mr. Speaker.

Obviously, we are all very concerned about the democratic process taking place.

An election was called, candidates were in place, brochures and other

media had been enlisted, and money spent.

It would have been a considerable decision should something have to halt

that process and start over. As I

said, after a number of discussions, myself and the two Opposition party leaders

agreed with the direction the Clerk had suggested, which was we bring forward

this legislation today.

What the

legislation is doing, essentially it is retroactive to the dropping of the writ

and the process that was followed.

It will make the process we are following today legal, Mr. Speaker, and thereby

avoid any potential for challenges around the process of the dropping of the

writ.

I will

say that, as a result of this, we did have a discussion of a different note with

the leaders around whether or not it is something we need to look at down the

road, the actual process of the gazetting.

There are two independent processes.

Once the writ gets dropped the legislative branch deals with a process

around gazetting.

Whereas from the

Chief Electoral Officer's perspective, he feels everything is legitimate and we

could have proceeded as we did.

There

are two very diverse views on how we ought to have proceeded.

Notwithstanding what we are doing today, without speaking for party

leaders, I think there was a general sense that we may want to take a look at

that as part of a review of the Elections Act at some point down the road.

Right now it is governed by two particularly separate pieces of

legislation.

At least

my read on our discussions is that at some point in time there might be an

interest in trying to streamline that process so that in fact we do not get

caught in a situation like this again.

In fact, give the legislation strength so that once the by-election is

called and the notification is sent to the Chief Electoral Officer, everything

is valid and full steam ahead.

Perhaps the gazetting is not required because once it is called it becomes

public knowledge anyway.

That is

not what we are doing today, Mr. Speaker.

What we are doing today is making a change that will correct the error

that was made, and hopefully will get the support of all members in the House.

I know the officials who were a part of this, Mr. Speaker, have agonized

significantly over this. We have

great officials here in the bureaucracy who work hard on behalf of all of us in

the House, not just government. They

work hard for the Opposition party members as well, every single day.

occasion an oversight happens, a slip-up happens, or somebody makes a mistake.

We all do it, Mr. Speaker.

Having said that, we recognize there are times we need to support our officials.

If an error like this occurs that is, as we are told, not a significant

error and there is something we can do to correct it, then we will.

I will

be certainly supporting the motion.

I would encourage all members of the House to support this motion so we can make

sure the oversight that was made is corrected and that the call of the

by-elections are legitimate and valid and not subject to any court challenges

down the road.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):

The hon. the

Member for St. John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

happy to be back in my seat here again, Mr. Speaker, representing my

constituents in the District of St. John's North.

I guess the seasons are changing outside because we see a bit of snow out

there now. There will be more of

that as we get in towards closer and closer to the Christmas season.

So I hope we can try and make it as much of a productive sitting of the

House of Assembly as we possibly can.

I am

happy to rise in my place and speak to this piece of legislation.

I would like to say from the outset that I am happy to support it, and

all of us here with the official Opposition caucus are supportive of this.

We know how important it is to ensure everything is lined up properly

with the by-elections that are now in the process of people are out there

campaigning, and as the hon. Government House Leader said, they have literature

printed. Of course, government

itself has gone through a significant expense to hold the by-elections.

The Chief Electoral Office has had to rent space, hire people, and spend

a certain amount of money already in order to make sure we can have these

by-elections in a timely manner.

It is

really a question of a timely manner as well, Mr. Speaker.

I do not want to go through too much history, but I am certainly sure

that the people who are home watching this on their TV this afternoon are

wondering exactly how it is we came to this place.

Of course, we have had a lot of change in the House of Assembly over the

past year, year-and-a-half, new members being elected, and members who are here

for some period of time going elsewhere.

It was

back earlier this fall that the former Minister of Finance, Ms Johnson, the

former Member for Trinity Bay de Verde, vacated her seat and decided she was

no longer going to continue to be able to be Minister of Finance and represent

the constituents in Trinity Bay de Verde.

That is certainly her decision and we have to respect that.

It is interesting that she will not be here to see the fullness of the

Budget that was passed under her leadership as Minister of Finance.

She left that position as Minister of Finance.

It was

not a whole lot longer after that, that the former Minister of Justice Mr.

Speaker, this is back when we had a convention of having an elected Minister of

Justice in Newfoundland and Labrador, unlike the present, where we have an

MR.

SPEAKER:

remind the hon. member to speak to the amendment.

MR.

KIRBY:

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

The former Minister of Justice, Mr. French, decided he

would step down from that position and no longer represent the constituents in

the District of Conception Bay South.

There was also another member, the former Premier.

He was Acting Premier, or a reluctant Premier.

As it turns out in the news now he was not as reluctant at all, he wishes

he had to have run for the position to begin with.

Mr. Speaker, the former Premier, who was also at one

time Minister of Finance, also has subsequently stepped down as the Member for

Humber East. That is sort of the

course of the resignations we had from the government Cabinet this fall.

Really, if you think about the sequence of things, the

way those resignations happened to spur these by-elections, ideally or really if

you think about it in a logical way, government would have called the

by-election that had the seat vacated first as the first by-election.

Government did not do that.

They waited, in fact.

They called the by-election for Conception Bay South.

That was Minister French who stepped down after Minister Johnson.

They called that one first.

There is certainly speculation amongst the public, the media, the pundits, and

so on about why they did it that way, why that by-election was called with that

particular timing.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I am prepared to give the hon. member some leeway, but

obviously the amendment is specific to two specific by-elections.

I ask the member to confine his comments to those, please.

MR.

KIRBY:

Thank you for the clarification, Mr. Speaker.

Of course I am just trying to clarify for the folks

watching at home how we ended up here.

I will speed things up a little bit significantly.

I noticed I only have about fifty-four minutes left to speak.

Government decided to call the by-election in

Conception Bay South as the first one they chose to call.

We know Mr. Hillier is sitting in the Speaker's gallery today.

He will be sworn in at the end of the week.

That was how that went.

Government really waited until the last minute, the

eleventh hour if you will, to call the by-election in Trinity Bay de Verde.

It could have been called significantly earlier than it was.

For whatever reasons, whether it was political posturing or strategy or

what have you, there was a significant delay if you look at the time period and

the statutory requirement for government to call that by-election.

Well, they were not in a big rush to do it; there is no question about

that, Mr. Speaker. That was pretty

obvious from the timing there.

As I said, the former Premier, who was really wanting

to step down for a significant period of time, he, by coincidence, I am sure,

decided that he would step down at exactly the same time, which was the eleventh

hour for calling this by-election in Trinity Bay de Verde to replace the

former Minister of Finance.

One of the things we have to realize here, why we ended

up with this today, is that people at the executive levels of government, and

certainly including the Cabinet, but all the people around them and all of the

people who work for Executive Council and really control a lot of the higher

level bureaucracy, if you will, they have a lot to do, obviously.

There are significant sums of money in question.

We look at the volatility of the price of oil, which is what really feeds

a large part of our economy. Those

people who work in those jobs are under a significant amount of pressure and

have a lot of work to do. I guess

you could make the argument that it behooves us, certainly government, as

legislators, and people who are in charge of the timing of decisions to make

sure that decisions are not made in a way that impact the work of those people

who are at some points in the year overburdened by just the amount of work and

the seriousness of the jobs they do.

So, the way I understand this is that government waited

for a significant period of time, appeared to want to get the one by-election

out of the way in Conception Bay South

MR.

KING:

A point of order.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Government House Leader, on a point of order.

MR.

KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I tried to resist the urge to interrupt the hon. member

from speaking. Now, he has a lot he

wants to say about the bill, but the explanatory note on this is very clear.

This bill is not a commentary on whether the government, the Premier, or

anyone on this side of the House ought to or ought not have called by-elections

when they did. The government acted

within the spirit of the legislation provided.

It has nothing to do with what we are debating here today.

This is very clearly a piece of legislation to confirm

that the dropping of the writ for two by-elections in two very specific

districts, this piece of legislation confirms that to be valid.

Nothing more, Mr. Speaker.

There is no opportunity, nothing relevant here to this legislation that provides

a member the latitude to comment on the operations of government or other pieces

of legislation in the electoral act.

I would ask that you rule that the member confine his

remarks to the relevance of this particular bill.

MR.

SPEAKER:

There is no point of order.

The hon. the Member for St. John's North.

I remind the hon. Member, too, it is a limited scope

amendment.

MR.

KIRBY:

Sure.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Thank you.

MR.

KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In terms of the function of government and where this

piece of legislation falls, really, I guess the buck stops with the Attorney

General when it comes to this. Maybe

somebody could clarify about it if I am not correct.

I believe the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer would come under the

Attorney General of Newfoundland and Labrador, would it not?

Unfortunately, the Attorney General of Newfoundland and

Labrador, the Minister of Justice, is not with us here in the House of Assembly.

I am not sure if she is still up in the public gallery or not, Mr.

Speaker, but that would be the Cabinet member who addresses this.

It is hard for me to stand here and criticize the hon. the Government

House Leader for incompetence or what have you because I know that gentleman

across from me is not the minister in this Cabinet who is really responsible for

this bill here today; but I have to say, I find it highly problematic that

people would say this is a bureaucratic error.

Someone said to me at one point in the last year that

government and Cabinet and sitting in these seats, we all know what a privilege

it is, but it is the sort of job that the buck stops with the top.

Problems flow upward, not downward, so someone has to take responsibility

at some point; but I did not hear that when this was introduced.

Like I said, I am reluctant to accuse anyone here

because the person whose office is responsible for this bill is not sitting here

in this Chamber today, Mr. Speaker, and will not be for some time from what I

can understand.

In the end, I find it very uncomfortable.

We ask questions here in the House of Assembly.

I have asked questions about the status

and nature of the education system over time and I am accused of you cannot

attack our teachers that way. If

this was phrased in the same way from this side of the House of Assembly, there

would be members opposite who would say how dare you attack the bureaucracy like

that.

I just cannot see

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR.

KIRBY:

how

you can take so little responsibility for like someone said to me when I was

out canvassing in Salmon Cove the other day, in Trinity Bay de Verde, they

said they cannot even call a by-election right.

That is what the person said to me.

This woman said: I saw the news, and they cannot even call a by-election

right.

Someone has to take responsibility for this.

You cannot just slough it off and blame it on some poor person who

at the eleventh hour, at the

last minute, when this by-election absolutely had to be called, we were at the

drop-dead deadline, it had to be called, that this slipped through the cracks,

but somebody was making the call, Mr. Speaker.

Somebody

was saying we need to issue the writs for the two by-elections.

For the one in Trinity Bay de Verde that we waited until the last

minute for, and the one in Humber East that coincidently happened around the

same time. Somebody has to take

responsibility for that.

I just

think it is really sad to sit here and blame someone, other than yourselves,

because this was a design of government, not of anybody in the bureaucracy.

People in the bureaucracy do not decide when by-elections are going to be

called. No one comes in here in the

morning who is a civil servant and says, I think I am going to call a

by-election today, Mr. Speaker. No

one does that. It is the people at

the top. It is Premier's job.

It is the Cabinet's job.

We are

here today with this bill and I am not going to tie up any more time because I

think I have made my point relatively clear, but we are here with this bill

today, not because of the incompetence of any individual who is a public servant

in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador who was not elected to a seat in

this House of Assembly, Mr. Speaker.

It is no one's fault but this government, waiting until the eleventh hour to

call a by-election that they really should have called even before CBS, but for

whatever reason they waited and waited and waited.

I do not

know if they could not get anybody to run for them out there.

I do not know what happened.

You hear all sorts of stories, but for some reason this was held until the

eleventh hour, the last minute because well, we do not know why.

No explanation has been given.

The only explanation that has been given here today is that someone made

a mistake. It was a bureaucratic

error, and now we have to pass a piece of legislation in the people's Assembly

in Newfoundland and Labrador that says the by-elections that we called wrong,

were actually called right. That

sounds like a joke you would hear somewhere on Bay Street in Ontario.

It is a sad statement, Mr. Speaker, but I will leave it at that.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

Barbe.

MR. J. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, this is a change to the Elections Act to accommodate two by-elections

that were not called right, or were not called in time, or were not called

properly.

The

reason I am going to limit my comments is when I was very first in the House of

Assembly, it seemed to me like we were wasting a lot of time.

I took the number of sitting days and the number of sitting hours and

minutes and divided it by how much it costs to run the House of Assembly.

It worked out to $22,000 a minute.

Twenty-two thousand dollars a minute is what it was a couple of years

ago, so I will try not to use up too many minutes.

I thought a member's statement is a minute, so that is $22,000.

That is a lot of money.

The

reason that this bill is necessary and we have to support it.

If we do not support it, then we would have to have two more by-elections

because these by-elections might be deemed to be invalid.

Constitutionally, they probably would be.

This is

an act to amend the Elections Act, because somebody had a problem and did not

gazette on time the two by-elections.

So that people who are watching can understand what this is all about and

why we are taking time today when we could be dealing with other legislation, it

is not that this legislation is not important.

Clearly it is important because we need to get the by-elections right.

This

government has had some experience with by-elections, so they should know how to

call one. They called one in

Cartwright L'Anse au Clair. They

got that one right. They did not win

but they got it right. The Member

for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair is here.

Then they called in one Carbonear Harbour Grace.

They called that one on time.

That was okay. They called one in

Virginia Waters, a by-election under the same Elections Act.

They got that one right. They

did not win it but they got it right on calling it.

They called one in St. George's Stephenville East.

They got that one right. They

lost that one too. They called one

in Conception Bay South.

They

could have called all three at the same time, Mr. Speaker.

They could have called all three, because all three seats were vacant.

Probably it would have saved the taxpayers some money.

We need

to amend the Elections Act of the Province, Mr. Speaker, for all time to

accommodate somebody not having called the election in time.

The executive part of the government, the Premier's Office, Cabinet, the

people who are charged with calling a by-election, it is not that they did not

have enough time. They have sixty

days to call a by-election and another twenty-one days or so to run the

by-election. That should be lots of

time. At the very last minute, Mr.

Speaker, they ran the clock down day after day after day after day.

They ran the clock down.

The

Elections Act that we are dealing with is an Elections Act which is a good piece

of legislation because it requires by-elections to be called.

We certainly need by-elections to be called.

In the earlier versions, in the predecessors to the act, a seat could

remain vacant for months. It could

remain vacant for a year. In a way,

it is a good thing that we call by-elections in short order.

It is a

bad thing when government literally takes a stopwatch a stopwatch that I think

we should have had in Question Period today.

Timing might have been a little bit better.

When government literally takes a stopwatch and runs the clock down, runs

the calendar down to the very last day, the very last hour of the very last day,

and the people of the Province then have to watch the House of Assembly on the

very first piece of legislation for the fall session, under a new Premier, under

a bunch of new ministers, we have to debate fixing something that they got

wrong.

The last

time we debated something that we had to fix legislation in this session that

MR. SPEAKER:

I am going to ask the hon.

member to stick to the bill, please.

I gave you a fair amount of latitude.

MR. J. BENNETT:

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

This is

about fixing an error made by government, an error in a very simple,

straightforward act. Call a

by-election. Call a by-election

under the Elections Act, because the Elections Act says you must call a

by-election within sixty days. They

did not get it right. They waited

too long, and at the last minute realized: oh, good grief, we called the

by-election. We have the by-election

called wrong. What can we do now?

Well,

let's talk to the Opposition. The

candidates are in the field, and anybody who loses the election on a

technicality, the technicality being that the election was not even really

called because without this legislation being passed, Mr. Speaker, a court of

law on an application for judicial review of whether this election was called or

not, will in all likelihood say no, you did not call an election.

You did not call the by-elections because it needed to be gazetted.

You did not finish it off.

You did not do the job.

Mr.

Speaker, I am not sure how much clearer I can be to the people of the Province

than to say this government, after calling four by-elections and losing them all

now have five by-elections lost; that one out and these two more.

What was the reluctance? Why

did they not call the by-election in time?

Such that we have to fix up another mistake that they want to blame on

people who are paid by the people of the Province, other than the elected

people.

The

elected people should take this one on the chin and say, look, I am really

sorry; we made a mistake. No harm,

no foul, let's change the thing.

Let's get the co-operation of the Opposition to say, which they have, let's

amend the Elections Act so we can save a few dollars; but, no, they want to

blame it on bureaucrats, people who cannot come into the House and defend

themselves, people who are long-standing and hard-working public employees who

know exactly what they are doing.

They

have no recourse, Mr. Speaker. I

think it is really cheap and improper to blame the people who are working for

you when they have done the job, but you did not let them do the job properly

because you waited until the very last hour of the very last day to call a

by-election, which clearly they knew they needed to do.

Mr.

Speaker, I have used six minutes. I

think that will be around $132,000 of the people's money, so I will sit down

now.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. WISEMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

member opposite is concerned with public expenditures, and he has just tallied

up, his own calculations would tell him that he just wasted $120,000 of

taxpayers' money.

This

bill is extremely simple, Mr. Speaker.

This is a very short, brief bill.

I just want to read something to you in the explanatory note: This bill

would amend the Elections Act to confirm the validity of writs issued by

by-elections in the electoral Districts of Trinity Bay de Verde and Humber

East. That is what it is about, Mr.

Speaker, very simply, to make a correction to ensure that the

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. WISEMAN:

two by-elections that we

are currently in the middle of does not find itself being subject to a legal

challenge after the by-elections are over and the people of those districts

having to go through that same process again.

It is simply an administrative process.

Thus far

we have heard two members of the Liberal Opposition get up and talk about

everything from the process of by-elections, and the number of by-elections that

have been held. In fact, we even

heard the Member for St. John's North go through a process of how he got to the

other side. He had a disagreement

with the Leader of the NDP and decided to leave because they could not mend

fences. We have had a

MR. SPEAKER:

I remind the hon. member to

keep his remarks to the bill.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

I will, Mr. Speaker.

I just

assumed that the latitude everybody else had that I may be afforded the same

thing. I will

Document details

Collection	Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	2014-11-17
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	2014-11-17
Language	en
Format	htm
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	598a1189f91ba89f0806d8db848043c65376af78

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (htm).