March

25, 2009

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVI No. 55

The House met at 10:00 a.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: Mr. Speaker, His Honour the Lieutenant Governor has

arrived.

MR. SPEAKER: Admit His Honour the Lieutenant Governor.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: All rise.

Mr. Speaker leaves the Chair.

His Honour the Lieutenant Governor takes the Chair.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS: It is the wish of His Honour the Lieutenant Governor

that all present please be seated.

MR. SPEAKER: Your Honour, it is my agreeable duty on behalf of Her

Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, Her faithful Commons in Newfoundland and

Labrador, to present to Your Honour a bill for the appropriation of Interim

Supply granted in the present session.

CLERK: A bill, "An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of

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

Year Ending March 31, 2010 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public

Service." (Bill 76)

HIS HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR (John C. Crosbie, PC, OC, ONL, QC): In

Her Majesty's name, I thank Her Loyal subjects, I accept their benevolence,

and I assent to this bill.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

It is now my duty to deliver, at the Prorogation, the Speech from the Throne

for the First Session of the Forty-Sixth General Assembly of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador today, March 25, and I will now proceed.

I think I should just warn all the members, because you will not realize this

yet, but this is a fairly lengthy document and I don't want you to blame it on

me. I hope I will be able to deal with it in its fulsomeness, because it

certainly gives a complete picture of what the hon. House has been doing.

This year I am going to sit down, as I am in a weaker condition than last

year.

The First Session of the Forty-Sixth General Assembly of this Honourable

House of Assembly is now about to be prorogued, but before releasing you from

your duties, I wish to thank you for the careful and sympathetic attention given

to the important matters brought before you by My Ministers. It does not always

appear that way, but I am taking a bit of a liberty here. Your commitment to

your work and diligence deserve our appreciation and acknowledgement.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

Seventy-four pieces for legislation were enacted during this Session of the

Honourable House. In particular, legislative initiatives were taken in the areas

of natural resources, health, education, government services, justice, culture,

municipal affairs, innovation, labour and the House of Assembly.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

As its very first order of business, My Government introduced and this House

approved a significant amendment to the Labour Standards Act to provide

employees with a right to unpaid leave to serve in the Reserve force of the

Canadian Forces. Jobs of individuals who leave to serve their country are

protected and available to them upon their return. My Government also brought

forward an amendment to the Student Financial Assistance Act to ensure that

Canadian Forces Reservists who are full time post-secondary students and intend

to return to post-secondary after deployment, will be exempt from having to make

payments on their student loans and will not be charged interest on their loans

during the period when they are deployed. These measures reflect My Government's

determination to stand by the women and men who bravely serve our country.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

Two years ago, in its 2007 Budget, My Government introduced a bill that

reduced personal income taxes in Newfoundland and Labrador by the largest amount

in the history of the Province. Income tax rates in Newfoundland and Labrador

became the lowest in the Atlantic Provinces. In the past year, My Government

introduced several pieces of legislation to further reduce taxes for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. An amendment to the Income Tax Act, 2000 has

reduced the rate of personal income tax by one percentage point in each personal

tax bracket, retroactive to January 1, 2008. An amendment to the Retail Sales

Tax Act and the Tax Agreement Act has eliminated retail sales tax on insurance

premiums. An amendment to the Health And Post-Secondary Education Tax Act has

exempted the first $1 million of an employer's payroll, thereby eliminating

the payroll tax for an additional 308 small and medium-size businesses in our

Province and reducing the tax burden for 578 others.

My Government also introduced legislation to amend the Income Tax Act, 2000

and repeal the Financial Corporations Capital Tax Act to provide for

harmonization of the provincial capital tax with the federal capital tax.

It introduced an amendment to the Labour Relations Act to establish the

Labour Management Arbitration Committee to improve the Province's labour

relations framework.

My Government also brought forward an amendment to the Pension Benefits Act,

1997 to require a pension plan sponsor to fully fund a solvency deficiency on

the wind-up of the plan, thereby providing greater protection for employees.

Consistent with the recommendations of the Green Report, the House approved

an amendment to the Members of the House of Assembly Retiring Allowances Act to

repeal and replace the definition of MHA salary.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

This House approved an amendment to The City Of Mount Pearl Act, The City Of

St. John's Act And The Municipalities Act, 1999 to allow St. John's, Mount

Pearl and other municipalities to make regulations to control and manage the

discharge of prohibited materials into the sanitary sewer and storm water sewer

systems.

The House approved an amendment to extend the provisions of the Lobbyist

Registration Act to the City of St. John's and its controlled entities, the

St. John's Transportation Commission and St. John's Sports and Entertainment

Limited.

The House approved

An Act To Amend The Access To Information And Protection

Of Privacy Act to extend provisions respecting intergovernmental relations to

the Nunatsiavut Government, the first self-governing Aboriginal body in

Newfoundland and Labrador.

My Government brought forward

An Act to Provide For The Protection Of

Personal Health Information to establish a set of comprehensive privacy

protection rules applicable to the collection, use, disclosure and disposition

of personal health information by the public and private sector component of our

health system.

Consistent with the reforms to the Province's justice system that have been

made in light of the recommendations of Lamer Inquiry report, My Government

brought forward an amendment to the Legal Aid Act to ensure provision of the

right of counsel of choice in certain circumstances - for example, when a person

is charged with murder, manslaughter and infanticide.

In light of the Turner review and the Child and Youth Advocate's

recommendations, My Government brought forward

An Act To Amend The Child And

Youth Advocate Act to provide expanded investigatory powers substantially in the

same form as those afforded to the Office of the Citizens' Representative, and

to add the four regional integrated health boards and the Office of the Chief

Medial Examiner to the

schedule of the Act to expand the Advocate's reach.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

The House approved an amendment to the Real Estate Trading Act to remove the

residency requirements that inhibit labour mobility for out-of-province real

estate agents obtaining a license in the Province. The amendment was required to

bring the profession into compliance with Canada's Agreement on Internal

Trade.

In consultation with the Arts Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, My

Government brought forward an amendment to the Arts Council Act including

changes to ensure the Council remains relevant to the arts community, to

accentuate the Council's involvement in the creation of the arts and the arts

policy, and to emphasize the Council's operation as an autonomous

organization.

My Government is proud to have brought forward

An Act To Establish The

Newfoundland And Labrador Research And Development Council to enable the

creation of a new research and development Crown corporation that will expand

the amount of R&D taking place in our Province and ensure that necessary

infrastructure and resources are available so that best in-class expertise can

be developed and our economy can continue to diversify and mature.

In 2007, this House passed the Energy Corporation Act to create the Province's

new Energy Corporation with a broad mandate to pursue energy development within

the Province; and in 2008, it passed legislation that will give the Energy

Corporation some additional tools it needs to operate effectively on behalf of

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. Striking the proper balance between

providing full accountability and protecting competitiveness, this amendment

facilitates the establishment of subsidiaries of the corporation; provides

safeguards for commercially sensitive information relating to the corporation,

its subsidiaries and other corporations with which they have business dealings;

and provides reporting requirements for the corporation and its subsidiaries.

My Government also brought forward

An Act To Enable The Issuance Of Water

Rights To The Energy Corporation Of Newfoundland And Labrador For The Lower

Churchill River. This amendment, consistent with the Province's Energy Plan,

provides the legal framework to issue Lower Churchill water rights to the Energy

Corporation when requested.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

My Government also brought forward an amendment to the Forestry Act that

gives the Province flexibility to issue cutting permits that could support the

competitiveness of the sawmill sector and provide timber for emerging forest

sector operations, both of which are significant rural employers. The

legislation ensures that persons or companies who are using timber for the

greatest good have optimal access to that timber.

One of the key achievements of this Session was enactment of

An Act To Return

To The Crown Certain Rights Relating To Timber And Water Use Vested In

Abitibi-Consolidated And To Expropriate Assets And Lands Associated With The

Generation Of Electricity Enabled By Those Water Use Rights, returning the

timber and water rights to their rightful owners, the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

Among the other legislative measures enacted during this Session were:

An Act

Respecting Registered Nurses;

An Act Respecting The Practice of Dentistry; An

Act Respecting Embalmers And Funeral Directors, who should never be forgotten;

An Act Respecting The Practice Of Engineering And Geoscience;

An Act Respecting

Architects And The Provision Of Architectural Services;

An Act Respecting

Chartered Accountants;

An Act Respecting Certified General Accountants;

An Act

Respecting Certified Management Accountants;

An Act To Amend The Student

Financial Assistance Act;

An Act To Amend The Management Of Information Act; two

acts to amend the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity And Administration

Act; two acts to amend the Rooms Act; two acts to amend the Provincial Court

Act, 1991;

An Act To Amend The Judicature Act;

An Act To Amend The Law Society

Act, 1999;

An Act To Amend The Partnership Act;

An Act To Amend The Support

Orders Enforcement Act, 2006;

An Act To Amend The Mental Health Care And

Treatment Act;

An Act To Amend The Mineral Act;

An Act To Amend The Forestry

Act; two acts to amend the Liquor Control Act;

An Act To Amend The Members Of

The House Of Assembly Retiring Allowances Act; The Provincial Count Judges'

Pension Plan Act; The Public Service Pensions Act, 1991; The Teachers' Pension

Act And The Uniformed Services Pensions Act, 1991. In addition, the House

approved the repeal of more than a dozen acts that were no longer required.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

I thank you for the large measure of Supply you have granted. I assure you

that the appropriations that you have granted have been and will be expended by

My Ministers with care and efficiency.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Honourable House of Assembly:

It is my pleasure that the First Session of the Forty-Sixth General Assembly

now be prorogued and it is prorogued accordingly.

His Honour the Lieutenant Governor leaves the Chamber.

Mr. Speaker returns to the Chair.

MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!

Pursuant to the Speech by His Honour the Lieutenant Governor, this House now

stands prorogued. We will return again at 2:00 o'clock this afternoon for the

Speech from the Throne.