PDF Version

March 26, 2020

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLIX No. 34

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the House of

Assembly did not sit according to the Parliamentary Calendar in 2020. The

Assembly adjourned on March 12, 2020, and did not sit again until March 26,

2020, to hear urgent matters. The House then adjourned to the call of the Chair.

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR.

SPEAKER (Reid):

Admit strangers.

Order please!

We're going to get started. It is a bit of a –

well, it is a very unusual situation that we find ourselves in, but I want to

thank all parties for agreeing for us to have this different sitting, different

rules and different seating arrangements.

We also have exemption from the order to not

have more than 10 people at a gathering and we've taken precautions as advised

by medical professionals in terms of social distancing in this House and the way

we operate here. I'm going to table this exemption for Members.

While I'm doing that, I just want to thank the

Table Officers of the House, the Sergeant-at-Arms and people in the Broadcast

Centre and Hansard will be recording this later on. Members of the media are

here so we're trying to, as much as possible, keep with the principle of

openness and transparency in terms of what happens in the House. Having said

that, we're going to proceed with the session.

Orders of

the Day

MR.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, welcome to this adapted House and thank

you for everyone for being here today. As anyone who's watching, it's modified.

We have maintained all the requirements from the Public Health orders: social

distancing, physical distancing, making sure that we have plenty of sanitizer

available to us and minimizing the number of people in the House.

I thank the Table Officers and you, Mr.

Speaker, for your help during this very difficult time. The 10 of us who are

here today to represent the 40 of the House – this is the minimum requirement,

of course, for the House of Assembly – we will do our utmost to represent the

people of the province in making sure the legislation that goes to the House

today is in their best interests. I know all of us take our role and

responsibility very seriously.

My colleagues who are home, I know that there

are a number of Members of the House of Assembly who are likely tuning in this

afternoon. They've all had the opportunity for briefing today as well on the

bills and the bills have been presented to them.

Mr. Speaker, I know many of them may be

watching today. I want to thank them for their hard work in their communities

and in their districts. I can tell you that they've been working very, very hard

trying to disseminate information, assist as possible in making sure that

everything that can be done and should be done is being done. I thank them for

those efforts. It's been long days, long nights and big effort on behalf of a

lot of people.

To my colleagues who are here in spirit, but

perhaps watching on television, thank you for what you are doing. I certainly

thank those that are able to join us today in this hon. House.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice and by leave, and

seconded by the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave, move the following

motion: That notwithstanding any Standing Order of this House, that Routine

Proceedings of the House of Assembly are suspended for this sitting day and the

Orders of the Day provided for in this motion shall be dealt with in the manner

provided by it; that notice of motion is deemed to have been given on the

following bills: the Interim Supply Act, 2020, No. 2, Bill 29; the Interim

Supply Act, 2020, No. 3, Bill 30;

An Act To Amend The Loan And Guarantee Act,

1957, Bill 31; the Loan Act, 2020, Bill 32;

An Act Respecting Certain Measures

In Response To The COVID-19 Pandemic, Bill 33; and that the bill,

An Act

Respecting Certain Measures In Response To The COVID-19 Pandemic, Bill 33, shall

be deemed to be read a first time; and that notice shall be deemed to have been

given under Standing Order 11(1) that this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. today,

Thursday, March 26, 2020.

I so move this motion, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Was there a seconder for that motion?

MS. COADY:

Yes. The

Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Okay.

Motion has been moved and seconded.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this

motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON.

MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR.

SPEAKER:

All those

against, 'nay.'

Carried.

MS. COADY:

Thank you,

Mr. Speaker.

I would like to mention that while the

galleries are closed and the Speaker's gallery is closed, we do have media here

today. I thank them for their hard work during the last number of days and I'm

sure in the weeks ahead. I've noticed them working around the clock and I

appreciate, on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, their efforts

of keeping everyone informed and for their dedication to that task, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, and I think there are members in the gallery, so thank you very much

for doing that.

Mr. Speaker, I call from the Order Paper Bill

32, the Loan Act, 2020.

MR.

SPEAKER:

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

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

These are strange times, indeed. I thank all

of my colleagues for being here, in particular those that are part of the

all-party Committee dealing with COVID. I think that has been an exercise that

has worked very well in dealing with these strange times and what the province

is dealing with. I commend all Members of that Committee for their dedication

and what they bring to the table, their insight on that particular Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I know that brevity is the order of the day because we have a

number of bills to deal with, so I won't tie up much time. I'll just speak very

briefly about this particular piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker. It gives the

province the ability to borrow. We will be borrowing a little more than we had

anticipated borrowing.

I'm also very thankful, Mr. Speaker, for our Table Clerks because they always

keep us on track.

Mr. Speaker, I did neglect to put this into Committee, so I give notice that I

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

and Means to consider certain resolutions relating to the Loan Act 2020, Mr.

Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that I should now leave the Chair.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, the

Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole

CHAIR (Bennett):

Order, please!

We're now considering Bill 32,

An Act To Authorize The Raising Of Money By Way

Of Loan By The Province.

A bill, “An Act To Authorize The Raising Of Money By Way Of Loan By The

Province.” (Bill 32)

Resolution

Be it resolved:

That it is expedient to bring in a measure to authorize the raising from time to

time by way of loan on the credit of the province a sum of money not exceeding

$2,000,000,000.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the

Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I will get directly to what we're doing here. We are borrowing money

to allow for the operations of the province. This is normal procedure, we do it

every year, except of course in those years where we have surpluses. I would

like to see more years with surpluses, but that's not always the case in our

province. It allows the province to meet its day-to-day financial commitments to

respond to revenue volatility.

We know, based on the oil price war between Saudi and Russia, that there's

considerable volatility today with oil prices. We're trending in the $26-$27

range for oil. We know that there are additional expenses as a result of

COVID-19, Mr. Chair. There are some areas where we'll save some money in terms

of travel over the next three months. For example, as departments are not

operating at normal, travel has been suspended until we get beyond COVID.

The areas where we'll save money are considerably less than the areas where

we'll have additional expenses. Mr. Chair, we have a number of initiatives where

we're going to be putting forward to try and help businesses or individuals and

so on get through this, so that when we come out the other end of COVID-19, our

economy is impacted to a lesser degree than it would be without those

initiatives.

We also have revenue concerns. Every conceivable source of revenue in the

province will be impacted, Mr. Chair, in terms of the economy slowdown we'll see

from business tax, payroll tax, income, retail sales and other taxes that are

due to the province; changes that the federal government made in terms of

student loan guarantees and our province signing on to those; changes that we've

seen the federal government make in terms of deferral of the payment of income

tax.

We know that oil revenue is going to be significantly reduced until oil prices

get back to normal. Oil production is still happening. At any day, Mr. Chair,

the oil companies may decide to suspend production based on where COVID-19 is

going and how that's going to have an impact. So the loan bill is higher this

year than what we would normally expect, but it's to deal, essentially, with the

unknown.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

MR. CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the Opposition House Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Indeed, it's an honour to stand in this House again and speak; it's in

challenging times. It's in a unique situation that we're here. I do welcome my

colleagues back.

To the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, while we all realize there are

challenging times happening right now and probably in the near future, we are a

very resilient group of individuals; 500 years ago we proved that, the 500 years

since we've proven it again and again and again and 500 years from now we'll

prove it again.

We will get through this. There are unique things that have to be done. We've

come a long way in just a couple of weeks in collaborative approaches to

addressing the challenges that people have in our communities, in all parties

putting partisan politics aside to ensure that the best things are done for the

people of Newfoundland and Labrador. So hats off to the political will to do

that, but, particularly, to those health care workers, to every other civil

servant or every other individual out there who provides services to people to

ensure they have products that they need, that they're kept safe and that things

continue to move at a pace that ensures everybody's healthy as we go through

this.

I do want to reiterate what the Premier said, what the Minister of Health has

said and what the chief medical officer has said: please be safe. The best way

to do that, if you don't have to be out in the public, if you don't have to have

contact with people, please don't. If there are issues that you are dealing

with, adhere to all the regulations and all the best practices to keep safe.

Mr. Chair, with that, again, we realize that government has to function, even

though it may be a challenging approach to how we're going to do it, the monies

need to be put in play so people are still paid, we can still address particular

issues and we still have the flexibility to ensure, as we divert from one

priority to another, the monies are there to do it.

We fully support the minister's endeavours and the government's endeavours here

in this House of Assembly to borrow the $2 billion to ensure we get over this

challenging time and that our province gets an opportunity to serge forward.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

MR. CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Third Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This is a defining point in our generation. We have unprecedented problems

facing us today and I think that coming together here is the right thing to do.

We are all adhering to the guidelines. We are doing the right things to keep the

public safe.

As government, in addition to keeping our public safe, we need to keep our

finances safe and we need to ensure that there is an economy and a society that

is going to be viable once we make our way through this hardship.

The primary role of government is not to find business opportunities or generate

revenue; the primary role of government is to even out ups and downs in an

economy. When we reach a point in our economy where we're in a recession or

we're in difficult times, it's the time for government to step in and smooth

that time. Then, when we see boom times, government is also smoothing but also

saving for those bad times. What we're seeing now is a very real realization

that we are in a very difficult time, and it is time for government to step up

and ensure the safety and security of our people.

In invoking this loan bill, we are enabling our government to provide the

supports that are necessary to help everyone make our way through this in as

best as we possibly can. For that reason, I'm happy to say that myself and my

caucus do support this bill.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's always a pleasure to be in this hon. House and to represent my

constituents, the people of Mount Pearl - Southlands. I wish it were under

different circumstances, however.

Before speaking to the bill, I do want to certainly throw out a big bouquet to

the Premier, to our Minister of Health and Community Services, in particular,

and to Dr. Fitzgerald. I think they have done an absolutely stellar job in

keeping the public informed and offering some very good advice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. LANE:

I wish more people would take that good advice. Unfortunately, that's not the

happening in all cases, but I do think they have done a great job in managing us

through this situation thus far. I thank them for that.

Also, I think we would all be remiss if we did not recognize and thank all of

our front-line workers, in particular those within our health care system that

are dealing with this. Thankfully, we haven't seen much pressure in terms of our

actual acute care facilities at this point. God willing, that's not going to

happen, but if it does, I know they will be prepared. I thank them for their

service.

Certainly, for all the other people who have to go out and work. When we think

about people that are working in our grocery stores, as an example, they are, in

a lot of cases, the unsung heroes in all of this. It's not a group of

individuals that normally we think of, because we go about our day-to-day lives

and life goes on and we take a lot of these for granted, but I mean these people

are literally at the front lines providing essential services, whether it be

food or medications in the case of our pharmacists, our truck drivers that are

bringing goods into the province. All the people who are, what we would now deem

essential, I think it's very important that we recognize what they're doing for

us all. I certainly thank and commend them all. I hope that they all stay safe.

God willing, they don't have to deal with the effects of this virus.

I would also be remiss, Mr. Chair, as well, if I didn't mention – and I'm only

going to bring this up once just for Hansard, for the record. I just want to say

that I do appreciate – I think all Members talked about the collaborative

approach that's been taken with this corona virus issue and the all-party

Committee. I think that's wonderful. I think it's something that the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador have been calling on all parties to do for a long

time. I'm glad it's happening.

I just want to say for the sake of Hansard and for the public record that this

all-party Committee excluded the independent Members, so myself and the Member

for Bay of Islands have not been included in any of this. I'm very disappointed

that happened. I'm not going to mention it anymore, but I wanted to put it on

the record.

In terms of speaking to the actual bill itself, we're going to be granting the

ability for the government to borrow $2 billion. I understand the necessity of

that. Services have to continue; government has to go on. We have needs. We have

perhaps greater needs than ever under this current situation. Obviously, I'm

going to support the bill from that perspective.

I do want to point out though, that while it's important that services continue,

while we recognize the challenges that we have in dealing with this virus – and

there are going to be extra expenditures, there's no doubt about that; as the

minister said, there will be some savings but the expenditures will probably

outweigh the savings in the normal course of business – I think it's still

important that we all recognize that we're borrowing an additional $2 billion,

with a B, again this year, on top of what we've been borrowing year over year

over year. I'm not putting it on the government. I'm not. I say for the record:

I'm not. They're doing what they have to do. I appreciate that, I really do.

The point is once this is all over and we get through this, we have to really

start realizing and buckle down to dealing with the huge year-over-year deficits

and the huge debt, whether it be our provincial debt, whether it be what's going

to be accrued through Muskrat Falls and the concerns and so on.

We've seen the Auditor General's report that came out a while ago about our

provincial debt. I have to be honest with you, it concerns me. I'm sure it

concerns us all. I know we're focusing on this virus right now, but in the back

of our minds this is something that we have to be thinking about as we continue

to borrow more and more money.

With that, I would say to the Minister of Finance – who I have the utmost

respect for, and I will say that for the record, 100 per cent, never a question,

never will be. But I will say to the minister, that as we go through this

exercise of borrowing this money – and I realize the extra expenditures related

to the COVID and related to the fact that oil has dropped and the devastating

impact that's having on our budget, we cannot, and I'm sure he would agree – we

cannot simply be in a mindset that says because we've got these additional

expenditures we're just going to borrow more money and write more cheques that

we can't cash.

I think it's important that at this time, more than ever, we start looking at

some of the expenditures. And we have to ask ourselves, can we find savings? If

we're going to incur additional expenses because of the COVID virus, are there

things we could be doing to save money in order to avoid borrowing more money? I

think that's important that we need to get ourselves there.

I'll give one example – and this has nothing to do with any particular program,

any minister, any department, it doesn't; I swear, it doesn't, but I did see an

announcement, I think it was yesterday, maybe the day before. There was an

announcement by the minister responsible for fisheries and agriculture – I

forget the exact name of the department – and this is not on him, either, I'm

just saying. An announcement about, I think it was $500,000 for the community

gardens, as an example.

Now, I got nothing against community gardens. Church of the Good Sheppard in my

district has a community garden. I sent it to them, so if they could upgrade

their gardens and apply for their share of the pot. I did, that's my job as

their MHA. I'm not against community gardens, I'm not against that concept, but

given the fact we're going to have these additional expenditures – I use that as

an example – and going to borrow $2 billion, with a B, then you have to

question, maybe, for this year only – I'm not saying cancel the program in

totality, but maybe for this year only, should we be spending that money?

That's just one little thing. I'm not picking on that program, it's just that

happened to be an announcement that came out yesterday that just stuck in my

mind. I'm sure there are all kinds of other ones. I'm not talking about cutting

essential services or cutting jobs or anything like that, I'm just saying that

this year in particular – we have these additional expenditures and we're

borrowing $2 billion – that we have to be mindful. It cannot just simply be

business as usual; we've always done it so we're going to keep doing it.

If we can get an extra year out of our fleet, for argument's sake, maybe we

should. If we can defer a capital project until the following year – we're not

going to do it this year; we just can't afford to do it this year – maybe that's

what we need to do.

But simply saying we were planning on this amount of money, we were going to

borrow X amount, now because of the anticipated expenses related to this COVID

outbreak it's going to cost us more. If the automatic response is we'll just

borrow more money – and I'm not saying that was the thought process; I'm just

putting it out there. If that was the automatic response, then I don't think it

should be. I think it should be how can we find savings to divert those savings

to pay for the additional expense.

That's the only comment I make on it. Other than that, I understand it has to be

done. I'm going to vote for it, I'm going to support it and I thank the minister

for bringing this forward.

The other thing I want to mention is my colleague for Bay of Islands – because

we did have a discussion about these bills. He's not here and he needs to be

represented. His people need to be represented as well. He said to mention to

the minister given where we are financially and everything else, this is the

time to start digging into the ABCs. The time has come to really dig into

agencies, boards and commissions and start finding real savings in those

operations so that we have the money to pay for all this stuff.

That was something that government did commit to do. I know they've done some

things. I know the minister has done some things with them, but there's a lot

more I think that could possibly be done, a lot more scrutiny that needs to

occur so we can find savings so we don't have to keep borrowing more and more

money every time an emergency comes up.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: Seeing no other speakers,

shall the resolution carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, resolution carried.

A bill, “An Act To Authorize The Raising Of Money By Way Of Loan By The

Province.” (Bill 32)

CLERK (Barnes):

Clause 1.

CHAIR: Shall clause 1 carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, clause 1 carried.

CLERK: Clauses 2 through 7

inclusive.

CHAIR:

Shall clauses 2 through 7 inclusive carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, clauses 2 through 7 carried.

CLERK:

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative

Session convened, as follows.

CHAIR: Shall the enacting clause

carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, enacting clause carried.

CLERK:

An Act To Authorize The Raising Of Money By Way Of Loan By The Province.

CHAIR: Shall the

long title

carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, title carried.

CHAIR: Shall I report the bill

without amendment?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, that the Committee report having passed the resolution and a bill

consequent thereto, carried.

CHAIR: The hon. the Government

House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I move the Committee rise and report the resolution and Bill 32.

CHAIR: The motion is that the

Committee rise and report the resolution and Bill 32.

Is it the pleasure of the Committee to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again,

the Speaker returned to the Chair.

MR. SPEAKER (Reid):

The hon. the Member for Lewisporte - Twillingate.

MR. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, the Committee of Ways and Means have considered the matters to them

referred and have directed me to report that they have adopted a certain

resolution and recommend that a bill be introduced to give effect to the same.

MR. SPEAKER:

The Chair of the Committee of the Whole reports that the Committee have

considered the matters to them referred and have directed him to report the

resolution passed without amendment.

When shall the report be received?

MS. COADY:

Now.

MR. SPEAKER:

Now.

On motion, report received and adopted.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. The Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that the resolution be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the resolution be now read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

Be it resolved by the

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

That it is expedient to bring in a measure to authorize the raising from time to

time by way of loan on the credit of the province a sum of money not exceeding

$2,000,000,000.

On motion, resolution read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that the resolution be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the resolution now be read a second time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

Be it resolved by the House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as

follows:

That it is expedient to bring in a measure to authorize the raising from time to

time by way of loan on the credit of the province a sum of money not exceeding

$2,000,000,000.

On motion, resolution read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

leave to introduce a bill, the Loan Act, 2020, Bill 32, and I further move the

said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the hon. the Government House Leader shall have

leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Authorize The Raising Of Money By

Way Of Loan By The Province, Bill 32, and that the said bill now be read a first

time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, that the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board to

introduce a bill, “An Act To Authorize The Raising Of Money By Way Of Loan By

The Province,” carried. (Bill 32)

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Authorize The Raising Of Money By Way Of Loan By The Province.

(Bill 32)

On motion, Bill 32 read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that Bill 32 be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a second time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To

Authorize The Raising Of Money By Way Of Loan By The Province. (Bill 32)

On motion, Bill 32 read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that Bill 32 be now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that Bill 32 be now read a third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Authorize The Raising Of Money By Way Of Loan By The Province.

(Bill 32)

MR. SPEAKER:

The bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass

and that its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, “An Act To Authorize The Raising Of Money By Way Of Loan By

The Province,” read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the

Order Paper. (Bill 32)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Bill 31,

An Act To Amend The Loan And Guarantee

Act, 1957.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole on Ways and Means to

consider certain resolutions and a bill,

An Act To Amend The Loan And Guarantee

Act, 1957.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that I do now leave the Chair and that the House

resolve into a Committee of the Whole.

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, the

Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole

CHAIR (Bennett):

Order, please!

We are now debating the related resolution, Bill 31,

An Act To Amend The Loan

And Guarantee Act, 1957.

A bill, “An Act To Amend The Loan And Guarantee Act, 1957.” (Bill 31)

Resolution

CLERK: That it is expedient to

bring in a measure further to amend The Loan and Guarantee Act, 1957, to provide

for the advance of loans to and the guarantee of the repayment of bonds or

debentures issued by or loans advanced to certain corporations.

CHAIR:

Shall the resolution carry?

The Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

A little bit of levity before we continue with the serious business of the day.

Somebody can retire from the House, but the House never retires from the person.

I got a message from my mother that she's tuned in and watching us.

Mr. Chair, this is another important act. We have to provide this loan guarantee

to the Stephenville Airport by March 31 or they go in default. I actually met

with the Stephenville Airport a couple of years ago prior to approving the loan

guarantee at that point and talked to them about some of the things they're

doing in trying to secure additional business.

They've attracted a number of Hercules aircraft for refueling. In fact, I know

during Snowmageddon the Canadian troops that eventually made their way to St.

John's, many of them actually landed in Stephenville. It is a secondary landing

site in the event an international flight runs into trouble, Mr. Chair.

It's important that we provide this loan guarantee to the Stephenville Airport.

It's the same amount that we've provided for a number of years, but it allows

them to continue their operation. I know they have the support of the Town of

Stephenville and they are looking at ways of expanding and bringing additional

business to the Stephenville Airport.

Mr. Chair, I'm supporting this bill that I'm bringing forward today.

CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the Opposition House Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I'll just stand for a second to support this bill.

When I was minister a number of years ago, I had the privilege of meeting with

the airport authority and looking at the asset. It's a very valuable asset.

Unfortunately, the last number of years there's been some struggles around the

airline industry in attracting continuous tenants there, but you have a very

vigilant group out there. You have the support of not only the Town of

Stephenville but surrounding communities itself.

It's a very valuable asset that we shouldn't give up. We should be able to keep

supporting it because no doubt as they reach out and start to secure more

tenants it will be an economic driver, not only for that region, but for

Newfoundland and Labrador.

We, on the Opposition side, fully support this and we wish the airport authority

and the Stephenville region all the best in making this a viable entity.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the Third Party Leader.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

To jump off on that, I have heard – and I stand to be corrected – that

Stephenville Airport is also an alternative for the space shuttle landing. That

is another very good reason to keep it open.

This being a loan guarantee, if this is a very simple thing that we can do to

help sustain the infrastructure in that particular region, who already has

enough hardship in addition to COVID-19, in addition to everything else that's

been happening, I think this is the right thing to do and I fully support it.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the

Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I, too, will support this bill. It's just a loan guarantee. Obviously, as

everybody has already said, we do have a valuable piece of infrastructure to the

province. Certainly, we know there are challenges there and have been challenges

there over the years, but hopefully we get to a point, in the province, when

things turn around. We know we have lots of opportunity with all of the oil

prospects out there and so on that we have confidence that things will turn

around at some point in time. Hopefully, we will see, when that time comes, that

it's going to pay off for us all, for the province as a whole.

Certainly, even right now, it is still providing that service for people in that

part of the province. The town is committed, all the players are committed, so

we're just simply supporting it.

The Member for Bay of Islands just wanted me to, I guess, inquire with the

minister – perhaps the minister responsible for business – was there anything at

all tied to this renewal or is there simply some separate plans that he has

heard about which has to do with, apparently, some consultant bring hired from

Manitoba or whatever to come out and do whole review of operations. I'm just

wondering if there's any validity to that, what it is they're actually doing,

who's involved, what the price tag might be.

There were some talks it could be a couple of hundred thousand or more for that.

This was a question that the Member for Bay of Islands, on his behalf, asked if

I would bring it up at this time to the minister and ask the minister to just

inform us all what's going on at Stephenville Airport as it relates to trying to

turn things around and improve situations.

Thank you.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the

Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the hon. Member for the question. He is correct. There are some inner

workings that are happening in the background of this that are not hinged upon

the loan guarantee but are part and parcel of when the loan guarantee is

affirmed here today, we hope, that they can move forward and work towards

bringing in whether it be a consultant from Winnipeg to look at this. We haven't

received the final proposal on that yet, but that will be coming in shortly,

from my understanding of working with the town as well as Stephenville Airport

Corporation.

I hope that answers your question.

CHAIR: Seeing no other speakers.

Shall the resolution carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, resolution carried.

A bill, "An Act To Amend The Loan And Guarantee

Act, 1957." (Bill 31)

CLERK: Clause 1.

CHAIR: Shall clause 1 carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, clause 1 carried.

CLERK:

Be it enacted by the

Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as

follows.

CHAIR: Shall the enacting clause

carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, enacting clause carried.

CLERK:

An Act To Amend The Loan

And Guarantee Act, 1957.

CHAIR: Shall the

long title

carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, title carried.

CHAIR: Shall I report the bill

without amendment?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, that the Committee report having passed the resolution and a bill

consequent thereto, carried.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the

Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I move the Committee rise and report the resolution, Bill 31.

CHAIR: The motion is the

Committee rise and report the resolution and Bill 31.

Is it the pleasure of the Committee to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again,

the Speaker returned to the Chair.

MR. SPEAKER (Reid):

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Lewisporte - Twillingate.

MR. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, the Committee of Ways and Means have considered the matters to them

referred and have directed me to report that they have adopted a certain

resolution and recommend that a bill be introduced to give effect to the same.

MR. SPEAKER:

The Chair of the Committee of Ways and Means reports that the Committee have

considered the matters to them referred, have adopted a certain resolution and

recommends that a bill be introduced to give effect to the same.

When shall the report be received?

MS. COADY:

Now.

MR. SPEAKER:

Now.

On motion, report received and adopted.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that the resolution be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the bill now be read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK: That it is expedient to

bring in a measure further to amend The Loan And Guarantee Act, 1957, to provide

for the advance of loans to and the guarantee of the repayment of bonds or

debentures issued by or loans advanced to certain corporations.

On motion, resolution read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that the resolution be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It has been moved and seconded that the bill now be read a second time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK: That it is expedient to

bring in a measure further to amend The Loan And Guarantee Act, 1957, to provide

for the advance of loans to and the guarantee of the repayment of bonds or

debentures issued by or loans advanced to certain corporations.

On motion, resolution read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The Loan And Guarantee Act,

1957, Bill 31, and I further move that the said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the bill now be read a first time.

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, that the hon. Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board have

leave to introduce a bill, “An Act To Amend The Loan And Guarantee Act, 1957.”

(Bill 31)

CLERK: A bill,

An Act To Amend

The Loan And Guarantee Act, 1957. (Bill 31)

On motion, Bill 31 read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that Bill 31 be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the bill now be read a second time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The Loan And Guarantee Act, 1957. (Bill 31)

On motion, Bill 31 read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. The Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that Bill 31 be now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that Bill 31 be now read a third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The Loan And Guarantee Act, 1957. (Bill 31)

MR. SPEAKER:

The bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass

and that its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Loan and Guarantee Act, 1957,” read a

third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 31)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. The Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Interim Supply Act 2020, No. 2, Bill 29.

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I wish to advise the House that I have received a message from Her Honour the

Lieutenant-Governor.

MR. SPEAKER:

All rise, please.

The message from the Lieutenant-Governor:

As the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I

transmit a request to appropriate sums required for the Public Service of the

Province for the year ending 31 of March 2021, by way of Interim Supply, and in

accordance with the provisions of sections 54 and 90 of the Constitution Act,

1867, I recommend this request to the House of Assembly.

Sgd.: _________________

Lieutenant-Governor

Please be seated.

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

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move that the message from Her Honour, as well as Bill 29, be referred to a

Committee of Supply.

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that the message, together with a bill, be referred to a Committee

of Supply and that I do now leave the Chair.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, the

Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole

CHAIR (Stoodley):

Order, please!

We are considering the related resolution and Bill 29,

An Act Granting To Her

Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service.

Resolution

Be it resolved:

That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her

Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial

year ending March 31, 2021 the sum of $200,000,000.

CHAIR: Shall the resolution

carry?

The Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Madam Chair.

This particular bill today – generally, when we do Interim Supply there is an

amount that goes into contingency in the budget and we generally wait for the

budget, but the contingency amount in budget last year – I think was $22

million, if memory serves me correctly. We didn't use all of that. Some years we

don't use any contingency. Some years we use some.

Last year, I think the rainstorms and so on, on the West Coast and the damage

caused by those and there was an issue with Child, Youth and Family Services

where they required some funding for children in care.

Madam Chair, the reason for this particular funding this year, and the reason

it's not in the initial Interim Supply, we didn't anticipate what was happening

with COVID. This particular funding at this particular time gives government the

ability to provide funding unforeseen at this particular time. In other cases,

we know where the funding is going if there are initiatives already announced.

Those initiatives are discussed by the all-party Committee.

The commitment that I've given the all-party Committee, because this is such a

large amount of money this year – the intent outside of the initial or the

original amount of contingency generally on an annual basis, $20 million or $25

million. The fact that this is considerably more, the commitment I've given to

all Members of the all-party Committee, and it's good to have it on record

today, is that if we're going to use this fund which is intended for COVID

purposes and initiatives through government for COVID, that I would inform the

all-party Committee of any amounts.

What could this be used for? We have no idea at this particular stage what some

of it will be required for in dealing with COVID, but if one of the health

authorities have to hospitalize large numbers of people and need additional

equipment or additional resources or additional funding for that purpose, that's

what this funding is for. We certainly hope we won't need to use this funding

that's put in contingency, but the reason we're putting it there is for the

unforeseen.

Madam Chair, this, I think, is very important. We've discussed this with the

Official Opposition and the Third Party. I apologize to the independent Member;

in hindsight, I should have called and told you that we were putting this amount

forward as well. So I'll apologize for that in advance.

The reason for this is to deal with COVID. Again, what I've already indicated,

some of this we already know where it's going, but a much smaller amount, but

for the unforeseen as well.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

CHAIR: The Opposition House

Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Again, it's an honour to stand here as we talk about how we financially ensure

that people are safe and that we have enough money to put programs in play and

continue the province moving forward.

As the minister has noted, contingency funds are normally much smaller than this

amount, but as we're preparing here and we don't know what the uncertainties are

in our society right now, we want to ensure that there's enough flexibility for

government to be able to ensure programs and services continue and if there's an

unfortunate need in one area or if there's something that can alleviate some of

the stresses and some of the health concerns for our citizens in another area,

that the flexibility is there, that it's not an encompassing process to be able

to transfer money in that particular area.

I do remember a decade ago, Igor – people can remember that – that we weren't

prepared to have enough money there and there was a mad scramble to be able to

do it. Now, knowing that there's enough money there in case of a critical

situation that we have presently right now, that we have that flexibility to do

it, and the fact that minister has reassured us publicly now, too, that this

money will only be used when necessary and then it will all be taken part and

parcel of the budget process when we get back to some normality in the House of

Assembly.

We on the Opposition wholeheartedly support this and we look forward to

hopefully never having to use it because we get over this hump without too many

challenges around having to draw down our money, but it's there to ensure people

are safe and healthy.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The Leader of the Third

Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Ms. Chair.

Thank you to presenting this. I'm not at all surprised by the $200-million

amount. This is not unprecedented. Looking back to last year, we had more than

$300 million in contingency, I believe, because we had our payout of our

severances. I'm not sure that went in contingency or not –

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MS. COFFIN:

Wasn't contingency, I'm sorry, but it was a large sum that was designated for a

particular purpose, so this is not unusual.

Even thinking this through a little bit, of some of what the unforeseen things

were, some of the foreseen things could be something as simple as needing to

plant seedlings or to have an expanded transfer of plants, because we could

potentially have a disruption in our fresh produce. These things need to be

considered. We need to have ample opportunity and ability to respond to these

needs.

I will offer a little bit of caution. Within this $200 million, if there's money

there that's going to be used to help alleviate stress on businesses or on

individuals, I think we need to do that with some caveats as well. Certainly,

there have been examples in the past where we have subsidized businesses for a

variety of different reasons, but some of those have not come back to the

benefit of people of Newfoundland of Labrador. I can give an example of a

$1-million either grant or loan given to a company who then moved their

headquarters out of Newfoundland and Labrador. So I don't think that's a prudent

move.

Now, given the guarantees that I have from the Minister of Finance that this

money will be allocated and accounted for appropriately to all Members of our

joint panel – and I assume everyone in our House of Assembly – I feel quite

comfortable that this money will be used prudently and properly. I have no

hesitation to allow this bill to pass.

Thank you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR: The Member for Mount Pearl

- Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I say to the Minister of Finance I accept your apology. I'm sure the Member for

Bay of Islands, who is home watching this, does as well.

Madam Chair, obviously, once again, I'm going to be supporting this. I wasn't

aware it was coming, the same as some other Members probably would be, but I am

now. I understand the rationale. We need to have a contingency in place.

I just want to take the opportunity to continue to drive home the message

though. I'm sure I'm not saying anything that the Minister of Finance is not

thinking in the back of his mind, and probably trying to do anyway, but I just

want to emphasize the fact this is a contingency fund.

In my past life in the municipal world – I'll just go back to that – I think

about change orders. Every time you'd do a project, you'd put in money for

contingencies and change orders and so on. You could rest assured I would always

say, b'ys, if we're going to put in a couple of million dollars here for

contingencies and change orders, it's just as well to add it on to the price of

the project, because every last dime is going to be spent.

So, again, I just throw that out there as caution. I know the minister is

responsible and he's going to do the right thing – I'm not suggesting otherwise

– but before we start dipping into contingency money, let's try to find savings

from within and divert money from other programs. Not essential services, again

– I'm not talking about slashing jobs, none of that old foolishness, I'm not

talking about that, but ways that we can divert, whether it be deferring certain

things or whatever so that we can find the savings within our existing budgets

so that we don't have to be spending and borrowing more money that we don't

have. I think it's important that we continue to be of that mindset as we

proceed.

The only other point I would make, I did hear the minister indicate that there

was a commitment made to the all-party Committee that as money is spent for

these contingencies, which would be specific to the COVID virus situation, that

the Committee Members would be informed of those expenditures, what they would

be spent on and so on. Given the fact that myself and the Member for Bay of

Islands are not part of that group, I would ask that we would also be – if the

minister is going to send the Committee information about what money is being

spent on COVID, then myself and the Member for Bay of Islands have the right to

know, and the people we represent also have the right to know. So I would ask

that we be included in this email list.

Thank you.

CHAIR: Seeing no other speakers,

shall the resolution carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

CLERK: Clause 1.

CHAIR: Shall clause 1 carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, clause 1 carried.

CLERK: Clauses 2 through 4

inclusive.

CHAIR: Shall clauses 2 through 4

inclusive carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, clauses 2 through 4 carried.

CLERK: The Schedule.

CHAIR: Shall the

Schedule carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion,

Schedule carried.

CLERK:

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative

Session convened, as follows.

CHAIR:

Shall the enacting clause carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, enacting clause carried.

CLERK:

WHEREAS it appears that

the sums mentioned are required to defray certain expenses of the public service

of Newfoundland and Labrador for the financial year ending March 31, 2021 and

for other purposes relating to the public service.

CHAIR:

Shall the

preamble carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

An Act Granting To Her

Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service.

CHAIR: Shall the

long title

carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion,

long title carried.

CHAIR:

Shall I report the bill without amendment?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, that the Committee report having passed the resolution and a bill

consequent thereto, carried.

CHAIR: The hon. Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Madam Chair, thank you for leading us through this Interim Supply.

I move that the Committee rise and report the resolution and Bill 29 carried

without amendment.

CHAIR: The motion is that the

Committee rise and report the resolution and Bill 29 carried without amendment.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again,

the Speaker returned to the Chair.

MR. SPEAKER (Reid):

Order, please!

The hon. the Member for Mount Scio.

MS. STOODLEY:

Mr. Speaker, the Committee of Supply have considered the matters to them

referred and have directed me to report that they have adopted a certain

resolution and recommend that a bill be introduced to give effect to the same.

MR. SPEAKER:

The Chair of the Committee of Supply reports that the Committee has considered

the matters to them referred and directed her to report that the Committee have

adopted a certain resolution and recommend that a bill be introduced to give

effect to the same.

When shall the report be received?

MS. COADY:

Now.

MR. SPEAKER:

Now.

On motion, report received and adopted.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that the resolution be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It has been moved and seconded that the resolution now be read a first time.

All those in favour of the motion?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

Be it resolved by the House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as

follows:

That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her

Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial

year ending March 31, 2021 the sum of $200 million.

On motion, resolution read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that the resolution be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the resolution now be read a second time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

Be it resolved by the

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her

Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial

year ending March 31, 2021 the sum of $200 million.

On motion, resolution read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Minister of Service NL, for leave to introduce the

Interim Supply bill, Bill 29, and I further move that said bill be now read a

first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the bill should now be read a first time.

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, that the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board to

introduce a bill, “An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For

Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending

March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service,” carried.

(Bill 29)

CLERK: A bill,

An Act Granting To

Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 29)

On motion, Bill 29 read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation,

that the Interim Supply bill be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a second time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying

Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31,

2021 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 29)

On motion, Bill 29 read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that the Interim Supply bill be now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBER:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act Granting To

Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 29)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass

and that its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, “An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For

Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending

March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service,” read a

third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 29)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'll call from the Order Paper, Bill 30, Interim Supply Act, 2020 No. 3.

MR. SPEAKER:

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

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor no sooner got home but she came back with

another message. I wish to inform the House that I have a message from Her

Honour.

MR. SPEAKER:

All rise.

Message from the Lieutenant-Governor:

As Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, I transmit

a request to appropriate sums required for the Public Service of the Province by

the year ending 31 March 2021, by way of Interim Supply, and in accordance with

the provisions of sections 54 and 90 of the Constitution Act, 1867, I recommend

this request to the House of Assembly.

Sgd.: _________________

Lieutenant-Governor

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

MR. OSBORNE :

I move, seconded by the hon. Member for Torngat Mountains, that the message,

along with Bill 30, be referred to a Committee of the House.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that I do now leave the Chair and that this resolution

be referred to a Committee of the House.

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, the

Speaker left the Chair.

Committee of the Whole

CHAIR (Bennett):

Order, please!

We are now considering the related resolution and Bill 30,

An Act Granting To

Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service.

Resolution

That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her

Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial

year ending March 31, 2021 the sum of $1,971,702,600.

CHAIR: Shall the resolution

carry?

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

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We passed, a couple of weeks ago in the Legislature, Interim Supply for three

months. This here will extend it six months. The

schedule on the back with the

additional amounts, which will reflect the original amount in the initial bill

for a six-month Interim Supply. All of these amounts are similar, when you add

Interim Supply one, I guess, and Interim Supply two, adds up to the amounts we

saw on the six-month Interim Supply.

The reason for this, Mr. Chair, quite honestly, we don't know if we're going to

be back here before June to debate the budget. We're not sure how COVID is going

to unfold, what the impacts are going to be.

You see 10 Members here today spread out throughout the House for social

distancing. We're not sure when we're going to be back here to debate the budget

and if Interim Supply is needed to be extended – that's the intention of this

today – to ensure that government operations can continue; the important work

that our health care workers are doing through this global crisis can continue;

that other work by other government agencies and departments can continue; that

individuals continue to receive their paycheques; and those on income support

continue to receive their benefits.

Mr. Chair, I will admit myself, when the department initially asked for a

six-month Interim Supply – I spoke to this in the Legislature prior to passing

Interim Supply and indicated that even I didn't fully appreciate at the time

whether or not we needed six months, and the fact that we do. Today, we're here

and we do.

It's no reflection on anybody really, because two weeks ago we didn't have any

cases in the province. A week ago we had four, and today the numbers are

considerably, considerably higher than that. We can anticipate over the next

number of days that the numbers continue to increase.

I'm not sure, I'm guessing by now that the update has been given, so people in

the province know we're up to 80 cases today. I anticipate tomorrow that number

will be higher and the day after will be higher again. What I will implore on

people throughout the province is to stay home. As the prime minister has said,

go home and stay home. That's the best way we can fight the spread of COVID, Mr.

Chair.

Until we can get beyond this and we see no further cases in the province, we're

not sure when we'll sit in this Legislature again to pass the budget. This

Interim Supply guarantees that the services of government will continue, should

we have to go beyond June before we're back sitting in the Legislature.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and it's indeed an honour again to speak.

This is about reflecting on, ensuring that, as the minister had said, our valued

civil servants and everybody out there and all the people that we contract work

with have the ability to be paid. They still have to maintain their financial

security and ensure that their staff are taken care of and all the necessary

resources are very valuable.

The minister is right. A few weeks ago when we stood in this House, when it was

first proposed around a unique approach to interim funding, a six-month

proposal, nobody on the Opposition side agreed with it at the time and we

actually made an amendment that was supported by the government to pull it back

to the three-month concept. Then it wasn't about COVID-19. That wasn't the big

thought process then, from a perspective here, it was worrying about the

uncertainty from a political environment. We could have been, in the next couple

of weeks, into an election because there were changes about to happen.

The world has changed, and I say that because that's what we have to be

cognizant of. Priorities take preference over politics, and that's where we are

right now. We're here about the priority of the safety of our residents and the

security of this province.

We, on this side, and my colleague the Member for Torngat Mountains, who is

joining me in the House to debate the legislation here today, is cognizant of

the fact that we need to ensure that the people in Newfoundland and Labrador

have the ability to have financial security and that the government has the

flexibility and the process we have now, the collaborative process of ensuring

that things are vetted through different avenues to get the best process and the

best programs in play is indicative of what we need to do for people in

Newfoundland and Labrador. We have probably turned the corner on a new approach,

not only in politics but how we operate in the House of Assembly.

So hats off to all of us. The independents have a role to play in that. All

three parties have a role to play in that, but particularly our civil servants

have a role in helping us direct where we go.

This money will ensure, for the next six months, we have some stability. We

would hope it's over in six weeks, but we need to be reassured that things will

continue and we can continue to fight the challenges we have and ensure people

are safe.

Mr. Chair, we totally support the additional three months. We hope we're back in

this House prior to that and we're debating a budget because everything has

worked out well for people in Newfoundland and Labrador and we know look at the

going forward and addressing the financial needs of the province.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the

Leader of the Third Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, this is very pragmatic. This provides stability and certainty at a

time when our province most needs it, at a time when we are facing tremendous

uncertainty and instability.

By offering an additional three months, giving us a six-month Interim Supply, it

is going to allow us to provide vital services such as health care, as well as

things that would normally happen anyway like road clearing and snow clearing

and driver's licences and a variety of other things, so the certainty that those

are going to continue during uncertain times is absolutely vital. At the same

time, this also provides some certainty for public servants, many of whom are

working during this time. Several of whom have actually had to come to work,

like we see right here today, but also many more who are working from home. That

certainty is also very important because that's what's going to keep our economy

and our society running.

At the same time, we also need to ensure that payments to individuals and

businesses, that we're going to help them bridge the gap through this

uncertainty and ensure that they are going to be able to survive until our

economy and our society recovers from this. That is absolutely vital as well.

It's for those reasons, in addition to many, many more, that I fully support

this bill. I look forward to seeing a budget in due time, but for now I think

that this will provide us the certainty and stability at a time when we

absolutely need it the most.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

CHAIR:

The Chair recognizes the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm glad to be able to speak to this. The first thing I want to say, and I kind

of alluded to it earlier but I just want to put it on the record, on behalf of

the Member for Bay of Islands – and I want to assure the people of Humber - Bay

of Islands that their Member has reached out to me. We've discussed all these

bills in as much detail as we could with the time that we had allotted, because

things came kind of fast.

The bottom line is that he's watching what's going on here. We had a good

discussion, and some of the comments I'm making reflect his comments as well. On

a couple of occasions, I talked about his concern about the agencies, boards and

commissions. Now is the time for us to really start thinking about digging into

finding savings where we can, as opposed to borrowing more money.

Of course, there are questions around the Stephenville Airport and there will be

other things that come up. There are a number of things we agreed on and there

were a couple of specific things he had. I just want to, in fairness to him,

because I said I would – and for anyone who's watching from his district, not

everybody could be here for obvious reasons, but we did have a good chat. Like I

said, he is watching and anything that I'm saying here, a lot of it we talked

about and he's in agreement of. If there are any specific questions that he had,

I will bring them up so that the people of the area know they are well

represented in that regard.

Mr. Chair, obviously, as I said, I'm going to support this. I think as the old

expression goes, hindsight is 20/20 and at the time, as the minister alluded to,

he had brought in a six-month Interim Supply. Of course, over on this side we

all kind of freaked out a little bit, thinking something is up politically and

it got changed to three months. I think I might have said, actually, at the end,

like the minister did – I'm not sure if I said it here or if it I said it to him

privately – I don't know, maybe we should have went for six months after I

reflected on it.

I don't think anybody thought that we were going to be in this position with

COVID. I don't know if we necessarily realized the seriousness and the impact it

was going to have at the time. Obviously, now we do. We need to do what we can

to ensure that our public servants get paid and that we're able to continue on

with services that the people need and require at this time, so I will be

supporting it.

I just want to take an opportunity because where this is Interim Supply – it's a

money bill – we have a little bit of flexibility. I'm not getting on to any

topics, only COVID-related things, I will say to my colleagues there; I only

have seven minutes at most anyway. There are a couple things I was asked by

constituents and other people, just to bring up. I committed I would so I will.

First of all, I don't know about other Members, but I received I don't know how

many emails from pet owners who are very concerned about veterinarian services.

I woke up the other morning; I think I had 180 emails. Where did this come from?

I think 150 of them or more were from people concerned about shutting down of

veterinarian services. That apparently did happen during Snowmageddon when they

called the state of emergency.

I know the Minister of Health and Community Services has come out and indicated

that veterinarian services are still available to the public. They all get that.

Everyone gets that. That's not really their issue. Their concern is because it's

not considered an essential service, so to speak, or it's not declared an

essential service, they just have a concern that if we were to go into

state-of-emergency mode, if you will, and put further restrictions, they're

afraid that vets will have to shut down.

All they're looking for from government is an assurance that even if we had to

ramp things up even more and shut more things down that, at the very least,

emergency veterinarian services would be available. If the minister were to come

out in one of his briefings and tell everybody that and say it on the record,

I'm sure everybody, all the pet owners out there, would be happy and have that

peace of mind.

I just put that out there to the Members opposite to bring it up to your

colleague. That's all they're looking for, and I think it's very reasonable, to

be honest with you.

Child care centres – again, I don't about others but a lot of concern with the

daycare operators. I know I just happened to take a flick at my BlackBerry

there, and I've got – I'm like, where did this come from, and now there are a

load of complaints coming in, apparently, because when government just deemed

that for emergency workers, nurses and emergency workers and doctors and so on,

that regulated daycares can open to take their children, because, obviously, we

need them on the front lines working, someone has to look after their kids. All

fine and dandy, but, apparently, in what was sent to them, now they've been

told, or threatened, whatever way you want to look at it, in their mind

threatened, that this is not asking you to open, we are telling you, you have to

open or we're going to cut your funding and your subsidies if you don't open.

Now they're saying you are forcing me to open up and put myself and my family at

risk and so on.

If anyone hasn't seen that yet – I just noticed it – it's an issue. I understand

we're in unprecedented times and there are going to be tough calls that have to

be made, but I'm just saying, there are still issues with – there are

unregulated daycares, of course, as well that have concerns about that.

I had someone from an unregulated daycare who said that because the minister

announced free daycare for all of the emergency workers, now I had a couple of

nurses, for example, who had kids in my unregulated daycare who said, I'm sorry

I'm going to drop out now because I'm going to get free daycare over here at the

regulated ones and now they're left – because I can get free government daycare,

so to speak.

I know it's like a Catch-22, no matter what you do there are going to be issues,

but I just throw it out there that there are still concerns as it relates to

child care.

I've also had a number of people who have concerns about people who are arriving

at the airports and are not self-isolating. I know we've all heard that. I know

that we do have health officials now, when the planes come in, that are greeting

the passengers or whatever and giving them information, telling them to

self-isolate and so on, which is good. But I've had a few people sort of say

maybe there should be a member of the RCMP or RNC stood up next to that person,

basically, just to send a message that we are serious and we do expect you to go

in and self-isolate. If you don't, to hand them a piece of paper that basically

talks about the fact that you can now be fined, lose your driver's licence and

so on. In other words, step up the enforcement, strengthen that message to

people coming in through the airports who are not necessarily self-isolating.

Those were just a few things, I'm sure there are others. Those are just a few I

happened to jot down. We all know that these are issues. There's not going to be

a perfect solution. At the end of the day, as I've said to many people who have

raised any number of concerns, there is no perfect solution. A lot of this is

what I would call the honour system and we are depending on people to do the

right thing. Unless we're going to go around and have martial law or something

and have the army going up and down your street and a tank and armed soldiers

forcing people to stay in their house and all this kind of stuff, unless we're

going down that road, which I certainly hope we're not, then we are depending on

people to be sensible and do the right thing. This has been said over and over

and over again. I know a lot of people get it; I think most people get it.

Unfortunately, there are still some people who do not.

I commend the government for bringing in that policy now to get tougher on

people who feel it's okay to put our families lives at risk because they don't

want to stay home. I think that was unfortunate, but it was needed and I'm glad

it was done. If we have to do more, then so be it.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

CHAIR: Seeing no other speakers,

shall the resolution carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, resolution carried.

A bill, “An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying

Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31,

2021 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 30)

CLERK: Clause 1.

CHAIR: Shall clause 1 carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, clause 1 carried.

CLERK: Clauses 2 through 4

inclusive.

CHAIR:

Shall clauses 2 through 4 inclusive carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, clauses 2 through 4 carried.

CLERK: The Schedule.

CHAIR: Shall the

Schedule carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion,

Schedule carried.

CLERK:

Be it enacted by the

Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as

follows.

CHAIR: Shall the enacting clause

carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, enacting clause carried.

CLERK:

WHEREAS it appears that

the sums mentioned are required to defray certain expenses of the Public Service

of Newfoundland and Labrador for the financial year ending March 31, 2021 and

for other purposes relating to the public service.

CHAIR: Shall the

preamble carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

An Act Granting To Her

Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service.

CHAIR: Shall the

long title

carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion,

long title carried.

CHAIR: Shall I report the bill

carried without amendment?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, that the Committee report having passed the resolution and a bill

consequent thereto, carried.

CHAIR: The hon. the Deputy

Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I move the Committee rise and report the resolution and Bill 30 carried without

amendment.

CHAIR: The motion is the

Committee rise and report the resolution and Bill 30 carried without amendment.

Is it the pleasure of the Committee to adopt the motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR: All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again,

the Speaker returned to the Chair.

MR. SPEAKER (Reid):

Order please!

The hon. the Member for Lewisporte - Twillingate.

MR. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Committee of Supply have considered the matters to them referred and have

directed me to report that they have adopted a certain resolution and recommend

that a bill be introduced to give effect to the same.

MR. SPEAKER:

The Chair of the Committee of Supply reports that the Committee have considered

the matters to them referred and have directed him to report that the Committee

have adopted a certain resolution and recommend that a bill be introduced to

give effect to the same.

When shall the report be received?

MS. COADY:

Now.

MR. SPEAKER:

Now.

On motion, report received and adopted.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave, that the

resolution be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the motion now be read a first time.

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

Be it resolved by the

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her

Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial

year ending March 31, 2021 the sum of $1,971,702,600.

On motion, resolution read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Lewisporte - Twillingate, that

the resolution be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the resolution now be read a second time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK:

Be it resolved by the

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the granting to Her

Majesty for defraying certain expenses of the public service for the financial

year ending March 31, 2021 the sum of $1,971,702,600.

On motion, resolution read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Member for Torngat Mountains, for leave to introduce the

Interim Supply bill, Bill 30, and I further move that the said bill be now read

a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the hon. Government House Leader shall have leave

to introduce Bill 30, the Interim Supply Bill, and that the said bill now be

read a first time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, that the hon. Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board to

introduce a bill, “An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For

Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Year Ending March 31,

2021 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service,” carried. (Bill 30)

CLERK: A bill,

An Act Granting To

Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 30)

On motion, Bill 30 read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

that the Interim Supply bill be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER: I t

is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a second time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act Granting To

Her Majesty Certain Sums of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 30)

On motion, Bill 30 read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Minister of Service NL, that the Interim Supply bill be

now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a third time.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK: A bill,

An Act Granting To

Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public

Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes

Relating To The Public Service. (Bill 30)

MR. SPEAKER:

The bill is now read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and

that its title be as on the Order Paper.

On motion, a bill, “An Act Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums Of Money For

Defraying Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending

March 31, 2021 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service,” read a

third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 30)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Bill 33,

An Act Respecting Certain Measures In

Response To The COVID-19 Pandemic.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

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

that Bill 33,

An Act Respecting Certain Measures In Response To The COVID-19

Pandemic, be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It has been moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a second time.

Motion, second reading of a bill, “An Act Respecting Certain Measures In

Response To The COVID-19 Pandemic.” (Bill 33)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

These are challenging times in which we all live. We are faced with an unusual

circumstance with a pandemic, Mr. Speaker.

I, first of all, want to recognize the Members. I said it earlier, the Members

in this House today who have come forward at a time in representing this House

of Assembly – there are 10 of us today in this House. Just for the record, I do

want to make sure that we recognize the Member for Torngat Mountains, the Member

for Conception Bay East - Bell Island, the Member for St. John's East - Quidi

Vidi, the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands, the Member for Waterford Valley,

St. John's West, the Member for Placentia - St. Mary's, Virginia Waters -

Pleasantville, and the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave. I also want to

recognize you, Mr. Speaker, from St. George's - Humber, who are sitting in the

Chair today, and the Chairs of Committee, the MHAs for Lewisporte - Twillingate,

and Mount Scio, for being here today.

I looked around the room a little earlier and I did want to note that we have

parity in this House this afternoon and equality. There are 50 per cent females

and 50 per cent males here today from various regions around the province. It is

important to note that.

I want to recognize Table Officers who are here this afternoon. They have been

stalwart and important during this epidemic, Mr. Speaker, this pandemic, and we

appreciate them. I want to recognize the many, many civil servants who have

risen – I can only say this much, they have done more than was ever expected by

anyone.

I could tell you there were people overnight here last night. There were people

who worked throughout the evening to make sure we had legislation. We just

received some of the legislation, this omnibus bill, moments ago. I've been

speaking with my colleagues from the House over the last week preparing them for

what we were seeing coming out of the various discussions and the various work

that was being done – sorry, Mr. Speaker, I was distracted there for a moment –

throughout government to address some of the pandemic concerns and the impacts

that it was having.

So this omnibus bill, Mr. Speaker, has four parts, and I'll introduce each of

the parts briefly and then speak to each of the parts. But I did want to

recognize the incredible work of Cabinet Secretariat, the incredible work of the

departments that this impacts. The co-operation, collaboration and support from

my colleagues in the Opposition – the Official Opposition, the Third Party, the

independents – all came together, worked through the legislation, co-operated

into late last night and today. I certainly, on behalf of the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador – and not just on behalf of the Liberal Party but on

behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador – thank them for coming

together, supporting each other and working through the challenges that we are

seeing.

As I said, Mr. Speaker, this omnibus bill has four parts.

Part I is an amendment

to the Hydro Corporation Act, 2007, to increase Newfoundland and Labrador

Hydro's borrowing authority by $500 million and the Crown's debt guarantee of

$2.6 billion to accommodate a reduction in revenues anticipated as a result of

COVID-19.

Part II is an amendment to the Labour Standards Act to provide job protection

for individuals who will miss work as a result of the public health emergency

for communicable disease set out in the regulations – in this case, COVID-19.

Part III is an amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2018, to allow for

eviction notice periods to be extended to not less than 90 days where a tenant

suffers loss of employment or reduction of income due to COVID-19 public health

emergency.

Part IV will enact a new statute entitled Temporary Variation of Statutory

Deadlines Act, which will temporarily allow a minister, the Premier, the Speaker

or the Lieutenant-Governor in Council to vary a statutory deadline or time

period for not more than six months. This authority is a temporary measure that

will expire and cease to have effect at the end of the next sitting of the House

of Assembly.

Allow me to walk you through and walk the Members of this House and the public

through what each of these amendments mean.

Part I, the Hydro Corporation Act,

2007, amendments:

Section 30 of the Hydro Corporation Act, 2007, sets out the

borrowing limit of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, as well as the amount of the

corporation's debt that may be guaranteed by the Crown.

The current borrowing limit of the corporation and maximum amount of the debt

guaranteed by the Crown are both $2.1 billion. At this point, it's not known if

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro will suffer revenue impacts as a result of

COVID-19 pandemic; however, if this pandemic continues, this borrowing will

ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro can access funds, expediently if

required, to deal with such a situation.

Part II, the Labour Standards Act, and we do have the Minister of Service NL

with us this afternoon for any questions that may be needed to be addressed, the

labour standards amendments and the Labour Standards Act currently provides

various types of job protection leave to employees such as parental leave, sick

leave, bereavement leave and family-responsibility leave. Currently, the act

provides only seven days of unpaid sick or family-responsibility leave, beyond

this an employer is not required to hold an employee's position.

Given the public health emergency, there is no legislative job protection

provided to employees who cannot perform the duties of their position for a

period beyond the existing seven-day limit. The bill will provide authority for

the Lieutenant-Governor in Council to designate a disease as a communicable

disease for the purpose of this act. In this case, there would be a designation

of COVID-19, as a communicable disease, under the act. This would then provide

job protection to employees in a variety of situations including for employees

under medical investigation, supervision or treatment related to a designated

communicable disease.

For employees acting in accordance with a communicable disease order under the

Public Health Protection and Promotion Act related to designated communicable

disease. For employees in isolation or quarantine as a result of information or

directions provided by the government or chief medical officer of health related

to the designated communicable disease. For employees acting under a direction

from their employer due to concerns that the employee may expose others in the

workplace to a designated communicable disease.

For employees who must provide care or support to individuals set out in the act

such as a person's spouse, children, parents or siblings. For clarity, this

includes a circumstance related to a school or child care service closure for a

reason related to a designated communicable disease. For employees who cannot

travel back to the province because of travel restrictions related to a

designated communicable disease. This would cover the many situations we are

familiar with related to extensive disruptions especially related to air travel

and particularly international air travel. For employees who cannot perform the

duties of their jobs for other reasons prescribed by regulations made by the

Lieutenant-Governor in Council related to the designated communicable disease.

The bill would require an employee who takes this leave to provide evidence to

the employer as to their entitlement to the leave, if requested. The evidence

requested must be reasonable in the circumstances and at a time that is a

reasonable in the circumstances, but an employer cannot require a note from a

doctor or a nurse practitioner as evidence.

The entitlement to the leave will only last as long as the Lieutenant-Governor

in Council has designated the communicable disease in regulations and that the

employee meets the criteria I referenced moments ago. The entitlement to the

leave will terminate when the Lieutenant-Governor in Council makes a regulation

to remove the designation of the disease or when the employee no longer meets

the criteria.

The bill sets out an extensive list of family members. At

section 43.39(4) for

whom an employee is eligible to provide care and support, as I noted previously.

In addition, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council can designate additional

individuals for the purpose of this

section if necessary.

The bill prevents an employer from dismissing an employee where they are

entitled to the leave and requires the employer to reinstate the employee to his

to the leave ends. If an employer dismisses an employee in contravention of

this, the onus will rest on the employer to prove that the reason for the

dismissal is not related to the communicable disease leave.

The bill includes various powers to make regulations for the Lieutenant-Governor

in Council including to designate communicable diseases, to set dates on which

entitlement to the leave begins, to prescribe additional reasons or family

members beyond those listed in the act or exempting classes of employees from

the application of

section 43.39 or a provision of it. That is the

section that

sets out the reasons the employee may take the leave. These regulations may be

made with retroactive effect.

We do have the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation with us who

can answer questions to that particular section.

Part III, Mr. Speaker, is the Residential Tenancies Act, 2018, and, as I said,

we have the Minister of Service NL with us concerning this amendment. The bill

will amend

section 19 of the act to extend the length of notice that a landlord

must provide to a tenant where the landlord seeks to evict the tenant for

non-payment of rent. Currently, the act requires notice periods that depend upon

a particular lease for week-to-week rent. The current notice period is three

days for renting month to month. Or on a fixed term the current notice period is

10 days. The bill would extend this notice period to 30 days.

The extended notice period will apply only where a tenant can demonstrate loss

of income as a result of employment loss or a reduction in work hours as a

result of the COVID-19 public health emergency. A tenant would be required to

provide the landlord proof of the loss in a form of documentation from the

person's employer, either in writing or by email, or by an affidavit. If you are

participating in self-employment or you're a musician in downtown and don't have

an employer per se – you're self-employed; you're part of what's referred to as

the gig economy – you can certainly provide an affidavit.

The bill also provides that if necessary, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council can

extend the 30-day notice period related to this public health emergency. These

provisions would not provide a blanket ability for tenants to stop paying rent.

That's key, Mr. Speaker. It only applies where there is a demonstrated loss of

income related to COVID-19, such as those workplaces that are closed due to the

pandemic and whose employers have reduced their work hours.

The final section, Mr. Speaker, is concerning Temporary Variation of Statutory

Deadlines Act. Many statutes and regulations set out deadlines and time periods

for certain things to happen. For example,

section 5 of the Transparency and

Accountability Act requires category 1 government entities, such as departments,

to publish strategic plans every three years, not later than three months after

the beginning of the first fiscal year of the period covered by the plan.

Departments are currently in the final year of the existing three-year plans,

meaning that new plans must be made public no later than June

Section 24 of the Law Society Act, 1999, requires an annual general meeting of

the Law Society to occur each year in the month of June. ATIPPA, 2015, includes

many timelines for everything from responses to requests to the complaints

process. In recognition of some of the challenges expected related to the access

to information regime, the OIPC, the Office of the Information and Privacy

Commissioner, obtained an order from the Supreme Court last week which provides

him with a 65-day extension for access to information requests and to complete

formal investigations related to complaints and issue reports.

Given the ongoing COVID-19 situation and the disruption this is causing

governments, the private sector and individuals, this bill is being proposed to

provide a mechanism to vary deadlines and time periods set out in legislation.

We can now go through the bill

section by section.

Section 2, the only definition provided in that act, includes subordinate

legislation as defined in the Statutes and Subordinate Legislation Act.

Section

9(1)(

e) of that act reads: subordinate legislation includes a regulation,

proclamation rule, order, bylaw, or instrument that is of a legislative nature

and made or approved under the authority of the act.

Section 3 authorizes a minister, on the advice of the Attorney General, to “vary

a deadline or time period prescribed in

an Act administered by that minister for

a period not exceeding 6 months. To find out which acts are administered by

which ministers, we can look to the departmental notices issued under the

Executive Council Act.

Normally, any change to

an act can only be done by the House of Assembly, but

this bill would create a time-limited exception to that, only in respect to

setting deadlines or time periods. It's very limited in scope, Mr. Speaker.

Section 4 authorizes the Premier, on the advice of the Attorney General, to

“vary a deadline or time period prescribed in

an Act listed in

Schedule A of the

Executive Council Notice, 2019 for a period not exceeding 6 months.”

Section 5 provides similar authority for the Speaker of the House of Assembly by

authorizing the Speaker to “vary a deadline or time period prescribed in

an Act

listed in the

Schedule for a period not exceeding 6 months.” This

section also

authorizes the Speaker to do so retroactively to March 14, 2020 if required. You

may recall this is the date that the province first directed persons returning

to Newfoundland and Labrador from outside the province to self-isolate for 14

days.

Mr. Speaker,

section 6 provides authority for the Lieutenant-Governor in

Council, on the advice of the Attorney General, to vary by order any act of the

province administered by a minister or by the Executive Council for a period not

exceeding six months.

This is similar to the power provided to ministers under

section 3 and the

Premier under

section 4 with a couple of differences: first, variations made

under this

section can occur retroactively to March 14, 2020, again, the date of

the order; second, variations under this

section are considered subordinate

legislation. These orders would be drafted by the Office of the Legislative

Counsel, similar to acts and regulations, and would be published in

Part II of

The Newfoundland and Labrador Gazette.

Section 7 sets out the notice requirements where a variation is made under the

act. In all cases, notice must be published in the Gazette and on a government

website, so for a department, this could be a departmental website. In the case

of the Speaker of House of Assembly webpage, this ensures that the public can

access and become informed of any changes.

Section 8 confirms that where a deadline or time period is varied under the

authority of this act, a person who complies with a revised timeline is

considered to have complied with the act in which the deadline or time period is

set out.

Section 9 provides that this act terminates at the end of the next sitting of

the House of Assembly. This ensures that the authority provided by the act is

time limited and extends no longer than is required to deal with this ongoing

public health emergency.

It is important to note that this bill does not eliminate any requirement to do

anything. It merely provides a means to vary time periods where they are not

feasible, given the circumstances we are in. The act does not make any changes

to substantive law or authorize anyone to do so. These are about administrative

or procedural time periods only.

On that, Mr. Speaker, that is the omnibus bill before you. It's unusual for us

in this Legislature to deal with an omnibus bill, but it was expedient for

purposes of this House of Assembly to combine these bills because they're all

related to COVID and the requirements under COVID to address conditions and

concerns. That's why it's presented in one bill, Mr. Speaker, versus having four

and having to do each of these four. It's more expedient to do them as one. That

is with concurrence from my colleagues. We've put them all together, Mr.

Speaker. There will be questions; we will deal with those questions as we go

through Committee.

I'll now take my seat and allow my colleagues to rise to discuss this bill in

second reading. I'm just looking to make sure that everyone is ready and

available to do that, Mr. Speaker, but we will take any questions or any

variations during Committee and deal with them as we can.

Thank you for the opportunity. I thank the Members of this House of Assembly and

my colleagues watching and working in their constituencies today, but I'm sure

very engaged in what's happening in this House of Assembly and what's happening

in their constituency. We certainly do appreciate all the hard work that they're

doing.

Again, much thanks to the civil service, the people that stayed very late and

worked hard to make these amendments and changes and recognize what changes

occur. Again, to this House of Assembly, the Table Officers and all those that

are gathered here today, we certainly recognize and appreciate the efforts that

they have made.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, this is a very unique piece of legislation that we're bringing forward

here as an omnibus bill itself that has a multitude of particular changes in our

existing legislation. My colleague, the Member for Torngat Mountains, will speak

to a particular piece of that, or maybe more than one piece of it, relevant to

what we're discussing here.

While we endorse and support moving this along, there's no doubt when we get

into Committee there are going to be a few questions here because, as it was

noted, we only got this recently. There's been a lot of moving parts here. It's

been an exceptional working entity here of co-operation and staff trying to move

things forward. Again, we're trying to maximize the time in the House of

Assembly to ensure bills and legislation are put in play to let government and

all the outside entities, including the House of Assembly, do its job in an

efficient manner.

There's no doubt, there are a few questions here. We've been back and forth and,

as we speak, Mr. Speaker, there are changes being played out behind the scenes

to ensure that we have the right amendments to the legislation. It's not

anything that's earth shattering, but it's very important to ensuring timelines

and proper wording so that we don't put people at risk when we're trying to

eliminate risk for them.

Sometimes when you get caught up in the whole flow and you're talking 20, 30 and

40 different clauses, there becomes an issue around – specific wording might

restrict the real intent of what you were trying to do. Our haste may have

gotten us to this point, but our due diligence now is going to ensure that we

rectify any nuances here that need to be dealt with.

There's no doubt there are going to be a couple of questions there that we're

having around the landlord and tenants act. Some of them have been worked on as

recently as the last hour or so and some are still being worked on. There may be

some clarification or some concern around the act, representing temporary

variations of the deadlines and time (inaudible). Particularly, one of the big

issues, while we've had some discussion on this on a conference call this

morning, might be around the time frames around the Elections Act itself.

I know the stress has to be there for clarifications around the fact that this

all ends once the state of emergency ends, would be my understanding, and can

only be pushed out for a maximum of six months. But when you're talking about

the Elections Act, there are concerns around – we had this discussion and I was

brutally honest three weeks ago and I was brutally honest a half an hour ago

about why we couldn't support, on this side, a six-month interim financing,

because we weren't sure of the political landscape and how it may have played

out in the last number of weeks.

Now, we know a lot of things have changed dramatically. We know that the Liberal

leadership has been pushed out and rightfully so, but there's a clause in here

that still brings up some concern and it's particularly around the Elections Act

and what may or may not be instituted in that period of time. We're going to

probably want some clarification, on the record, as to what exactly that would

mean when we get to those particular discussions.

A lot of the other timelines, we see the validity. There's no doubt they'll all

have to be taken into account as we move things forward. The perspective, from

where I sit, is around the emphasis on, once the state of emergency ends, then

so does all of the timelines associated with this piece of legislation to change

the reporting process for those particular entities or the acts that have built

into its legislation a reporting process to the people of Newfoundland and

Labrador and to the House of Assembly and the respective departments or agencies

that it falls under.

There are a couple of things that, when we get into Committee, there'll be some

clarification questions asked. There may or may not be a need for an amendment,

depending on how the discussion goes. But with that being said, I'm very pleased

on how things got put together. Like all of us, we would have liked more time to

digest it and give some additional feedback. We have to give credit to the line

departments and their officials for dealing with a particular situation in an

expedited manner and trying to reflect all the particular needs when we're

dealing with the challenges we are in our society around COVID-19.

I'll take my seat on that. When we get to Committee, I may get up to speak on a

couple of other issues relevant to that as we start digging a little bit deeper

into

interpretations and meanings and potential other ramifications that they

may have. We'll get a chance to speak to this a little bit later on some other

issues.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this, too is a prudent piece of legislation and I look forward to a

discussion of it in Committee. There are a couple of things that I would like to

reiterate. The Opposition House Leader did make some very valid points in terms

of the definition of what the next sitting is, as we see in

section 9 of that

Schedule. We also have some concerns about the Elections Act, 1991 and what the

implications are for that and whether or not they are truly necessary. I'm sure

those discussions will come up as we go back into Committee.

I would also like to point out a couple of other little things. In terms of the

Hydro Corporation Act, 2007, I think it is also quite wise to prepare for the

possibility of individuals facing hardship who are unable to pay their bills.

It's prudent to allow Hydro the opportunity to be able to borrow and to be able

to offset some of these things.

I will caution that once we make our way through this public health emergency, I

would think it very, very inappropriate for all of these bills to come due

immediately and I would like to recommend that Hydro also take that into account

and look at alternate payments schemes, as well as possible forgiveness of some

bills. So that's some additional things that we can contemplate into the future.

I would also like to point out that the Labour Standards Act – this is a wise

move as well – will also allow individuals who find themselves without

protection of unions to be able to access some federal funding. It's going to

make that a whole lot easier for individuals who have less protection in the

workplace access to some federal government supports and programs that are going

to be able to help them weather this very, very uncertain time.

However, I would like to point out that we have lost a very important

opportunity to be able to add paid sick leave to individuals who are in

non-unionized workplaces. While we have allowed the ability for these

individuals to get sick and access federal funding, any individual who is sick

for another reason – for example, a simple flu, which the influenza, we're also

going through a resurgence of that in our province right now.

Individuals, unless they are directly affected by COVID-19, if they fall ill,

they do not have any protection. They do not have access to any federal

government programs and services, nor do they even have access to paid sick

leave. This extends to people like our grocery store workers, our delivery

drivers, the people who we are depending on the most right now. The people who

are the most vulnerable are not being afforded simple protections like that, and

I think that's an omission that perhaps we ought to reconsider.

In addition to that, Residential Tenancies Act, I'm going to echo the same

concerns as I did with the Hydro Act. It is good that we are enabling

individuals – especially those, again, who are most vulnerable – the opportunity

to have a little bit of deferral of their rent. What I would hate to see is that

these individuals are faced with a huge rent bill once we make our way through

this. Again, it would be terrible to see that someone has their rent deferred

for a month or even two months, depending on how long this goes, but then only

to face a multi-thousand-dollar bill immediately after this pandemic has passed.

I think we ought to think about that a little bit more comprehensively and

ensure that the individuals who are paying rent are not left in the lurch, but,

at the same time, we also need to make sure that the individuals who are the

owners of the rental apartments are also protected as well. So I think that's an

important piece to add to our discussion.

I think there is one other thing that perhaps I need to bring up in this context

– and this might be a clarification piece that we'll see once we go to the

Committee of the Whole – and that would be any timelines that we're seeing at

Nalcor right now, certainly that they have been given some timelines that are

suggested and not legislative. But I think that perhaps we also need to look at

that piece of legislation and see if any of their timelines need to be adjusted,

then we ought to act prudently there as well.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to discussing this more in

Committee.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm glad to have the opportunity to speak to this. I will say, Mr. Speaker, up

front, before seeing this bill, we did agree with the omnibus bill.

I hope this is the last time I see an omnibus bill in this House. I hope this is

not going to be the new norm. I have concerns about one bill in particular,

which I'll get to and, certainly, I'll get to when we get into Committee, the

one about changing all the timelines on a number of acts and the fact that when

we look at it we're talking: Auditor General Act; the Child and Youth Advocate

Act; Citizens' Representative Act; Elections Act, 1991; House of Assembly

Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act; House of Assembly Act;

Seniors' Advocate Act; and the Statutes Act.

We have eight significant pieces of legislation and contained within those eight

pieces of legislation I would suspect there are going to be a number of

timelines associated, different clauses. There are going to be clauses in all

eight of those that are going to have timelines on things, like 30 days for

this, 60 days for this, six months for that, a year – whatever it is.

I absolutely understand that we have a pandemic and I appreciate all the work

that's been done. I'm not knocking anybody, I'm really not, but I have to say

that we have eight pieces of legislation, significant pieces of legislation,

where timelines could be changed for whatever reason and whatever purpose and

we've had zero time.

Really, if this was done – and I understand where we are in the situation, but

if this was to be done right, I would have time to take out eight pieces of

legislation and have the time to go through it, comb through it clause by clause

and anywhere where there's a timeline for anything, I would be able to

understand what is the timeline, and now that could be changed for up to six

months. What impact would that have on this, what impact would it have on

something else and so on.

I kind of feel, on this piece of the omnibus bill only – and I'm not suggesting

that the intent is anything but honourable, I'm really not, but the reality of

it is, when it comes to this piece of the omnibus bill, I'm voting on the blind.

I really am. I'm voting on the blind because I've had no opportunity to look at

this piece of legislation and to look at what could possibly be changed and what

the implications could be for any one of those eight pieces of legislation. I've

had zero time to do it and I just have to trust that it will be done for the

right reasons and done in a way that most people would agree with, including

Members of this House, including me if I vote for it.

Of course, the fact that it's part of an omnibus bill, even though I might have

an issue with that one, if I vote against that, then people could say then that

means you voted against changing the Labour Standards Act to protect workers. Or

you voted against protecting people who lose their jobs and now they could be

thrown out on the street after three days or 10 days by their landlord. By

voting against it, even though I might agree with all those other things, if you

vote for one – you have to vote for it all or vote for none of it. That's the

issue with an omnibus bill.

Of course, we know it was an omnibus bill related to this whole SNC-Lavalin

thing and everything federally. That was all kind of snuck in there as part of

an omnibus bill. I'm not saying there's anything snuck in this. I'm not trying

to make that comparison. I'm not. I'm just saying that's the danger of omnibus

bills in general.

I'm not talking about this omnibus bill and I support everything except I have

concerns about that. I want to say that's true, but it is a concern. I would not

be doing my duty as an elected MHA if I did not bring that concern forward. I

wouldn't be. So I am bringing