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May 27, 2026 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Vol. LI No. 32

The House met at 10 a.m.

SPEAKER (Lane): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

I would like to rule on a point of order raised by the Member for Mount Scio under Standing Order 49 on May 21, 2026.

The Member stated during Question Period that the Minister of Energy and Mines referred to the Opposition House Leader as misleading the public. She further asserted that this House has found on numerous occasions that misleading is not parliamentary when it applies to a person.

I have reviewed Hansard and have confirmed that the minister said the following: “ I’ll go back again and say the Member for Windsor Lake sat on the LeBlanc inquiry. He knows how this works. There were three different models discussed there. He’s misleading when he stands and says what he just said.

“The reality of it is that Gull Island, CF1 and CF2 are three entirely different things and the water management was. These guys tried to put it all in one brown paper bag and give it away again.”

Standing Order 49 prohibits unparliamentary language. It’s clearly stated in House of Commons Procedures and Practices, Fourth Edition, paragraph 1,335: “Personal attacks, insults, obscenities or allegations that a Member has lied or deliberately misled the House are not in order.”

The word “misleading” is not categorically unparliamentary. It is not necessarily a violation of Standing Order 49 to say that a statement made by another Member is not factual, as a Member can inadvertently make an incorrect or even misleading statement. However, I once again remind Members that it is unparliamentary to imply a dishonest intent by suggesting that a Member has deliberately stated something that is false or misleading.

Viewed in context and keeping in mind the tone, manner and intention of the Member speaking, I find that the statement in question made is unparliamentary and I would ask the minister to withdraw his remarks.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

L. PARROTT: Withdrawn, Speaker.

SPEAKER: Thank you.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

L. PARROTT: Thank you, Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader, that notwithstanding Standing Order 63, this House shall not proceed with Private Members’ Day on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, but shall instead meet at 2 p.m. on that day for Routine Proceedings and the conduct of Government Business.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.

L. PARROTT: Thank you, Speaker.

SPEAKER: All those against, ‘nay.’

Motion is carried.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

L. PARROTT: Thank you, Speaker.

I move that notwithstanding Standing Order 9, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader, that this House not adjourn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27, but shall continue to sit for the conduct of Government Business and, if not earlier adjourned, the Speaker shall adjourn the House at midnight.

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

All those in favour, ‘aye.’

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

SPEAKER: All those against, ‘nay.’

Motion is carried.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

L. PARROTT: Thank you, Speaker.

Order 6, Bill 13.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.

L. PARROTT: Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands, that Bill 13,

An Act to Amend the Forestry Act, now be read a second time.

Motion, second reading of a bill, “An Act to Amend the Forestry Act.” (Bill 13)

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

P. FORSEY: Thank you, Speaker.

It’s a pleasure to be up here this morning to bring in the bill to amend Forestry Act. It’s a bill that needs to be done.

Speaker, this provincial government is committed to help ensure Newfoundlanders and Labradorians live safe in their communities. Since taking office, we have made great progress delivering on that goal. Budget 2026 includes more than $7 million for equipment, supplies, staffing, to provide volunteer firefighters with training and equipment to respond to floods, forest fires, medical calls and other emergencies. This includes more than $400,000 for five new emergency services’ positions to strengthen public safety.

We are committing $730,000 to hire 25 additional firefighters in 2026-27, with another additional 25 in ’27-’28.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

P. FORSEY: We are providing an increase of $1.76 million in helicopter support to ensure continued timely wildfire response, wildfire management and resource enforcement efforts. With this support in place and forest fire season now in effect throughout the province, our teams of trained and dedicated firefighters are gearing up to protect our people, homes and entire communities when they are needed in this season.

For the first time in years, Speaker, we have support of the full fleet of water bombers to help them through that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

P. FORSEY: As we continue to provide those resources necessary to fight wildfires, our department is also focusing on wildfire prevention. Based on the recent response to our call for applications to the Community Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Program, communities are taking huge interest in doing all they can to prevent wildfires. More than 130 communities recently applied for funding to develop wildfire resiliency plans and projects. Following a thorough and unbiased review of applications, we provided funding to 58 communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador to help with that firefighting protection.

A second round of funding is coming soon to assist even more communities in our province. I would suggest that when we announce that, that communities take advantage of that program to help enhance their communities and that also includes fire breaks so that communities can get involved in that.

Our provincial FireSmart staff are working with communities to raise awareness of simple steps residents can take to reduce risk of wildfires. All of these initiatives reaffirm our focus on building safer communities.

Today, we are digging deeper into legislative tools we use to protect people, our communities and forest resources from the threat of wildfire.

Following the historic wildfire season of 2025, we completed a full legislative regulatory review of the forest fire related provisions of the Forestry Act and Regulations. The Forestry Act has seen very little change in 35 years. We all know that modern legislation to protect people, communities and forest resources from wildfires is long overdue, that’s why those changes are coming.

The legislative amendments we are proposing today are designed to modernize, clarify and strengthen the tools the department can use to regulate burning during forest fire season. They also expand the authority of forestry officials during emergencies to support fire control or suppression efforts and address public safety concerns. You’ll find most of this is about our public safety concerns.

The proposed amendments to the Forestry Act include moving penalties now included under the Forestry Act to the Forest Fire Offence and Penalties Regulations . This will ensure the minister has flexibility to amend penalties, if required, during emergencies without requiring the House of Assembly to open. We won’t have to bring it back to the House. It also keeps all forest fire related penalties in one place.

Expanding fire-related offences to include a person who recklessly or negligently starts a fire, in addition to the current offence related to a person who deliberately starts a fire. This restructured legislation is intended to help defer unlawful and unsafe activity.

Allowing the minister to include all areas of the province in a fire ban proclamation where necessary for the protection of the forest land by modernizing and clarifying language in the act related to offences including adding a definition of flammable vegetation, highway, industrial operations and roadway to ensure there is no room for misinterpretation.

Expanding areas of the province that the minister may declare as restricted travel areas to also include municipal parks, provincial parks and private campgrounds. To avoid confusion and ensure safety and consistency in restricting travel in an area due to forest fire conditions, parks and campgrounds will be included if restrictions on travel are required.

Expanding the areas of the province for which a permit to burn is required to light a fire during forest fire season. This will include all forest land; all land with 300 metres of the forest land; and all land that contains flammable vegetation.

Clarifying and expanding the authority of forestry official. For example, we propose giving forestry officials the authority to order individuals to leave an area if required to support firefighter control and suppression efforts. This includes creating an offence where a person does not comply with that order.

Creating offences that cover a variety of situations such as igniting a fire, causing a fire to be ignited or failing to extinguish a fire after the permit to burn has been cancelled or suspended. These may seem like small actions but absolute clarity is required when communicating those rules. We want to ensure there is no room for misinterpretation.

When our proposed amendments to the Forestry Act pass, we will release other changes associated with the regulations including forest fire offence and penalty regulations, mill regulation and forest fire regulations. Regulatory changes will further strengthen our ability to modernize, clarify and strengthen provisions related to the forest fires including penalties for fire-related offences.

As I mentioned, our teams of wildland firefighters supported by local volunteer fire departments and resources are ready for action if necessary.

We know from experience that they do everything possible to protect our people, homes and entire community. Those firefighters and volunteer firefighters do a great job, professional job in protecting our communities. We need to help them with the provisions that they need including regulations and help them along the way to do their jobs.

I would like to thank all the officials, all the people in the volunteer fire departments, our own crews, pilots, officials and workers for their continued efforts and especially the years they’ve already punched. I would like to wish them all success again this year and thank them, especially, for their service.

We know from experience, they will do everything possible to protect our homes and entire communities but preventing wildfires from starting is the most important thing we can do to ensure all our communities are safe in Newfoundland and Labrador. Residents, volunteers, government officials, forest and commercial operators all have a role to play. The amendments we are proposing reflect a whole of society approach in preventing and mitigating wildfires.

We consulted with Indigenous groups and organizations and other stakeholders including sawmill operators and forestry companies for feedback on the proposed amendments. We will continue to work closely with all the stakeholders through the implementation of these amendments. We believe these proposed changes address not only their concerns but the interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, as we work together to prevent wildfires.

That’s the intent of this bill, Speaker. As I mentioned, the intent mostly is to protect our communities, protect our people, protect our individuals so that everyone is safe throughout forest fire season. We all have seen what can happen. We’ve seen the devastation that was caused last year in CBN. We saw what happened in 2022 in Central Newfoundland especially up around the Martin Lake fires. We saw what happened in Labrador, of course, the Churchill Falls area, what happened there, and how those monsters now are coming into our communities and destroying them.

We need to be able to have everything in place that we can to protect our communities and our workers while those scenes are happening because forest fire behaviour has changed. It’s more rapid and more intense. Anyone can tell you forest fires have changed, especially with structure fires that can happen. A forest fire comes into communities, attacks the structures that are there, they’re more flammable today. They got more chemicals. The materials that they are using, they burn faster, burn quicker and rapidly. So we need to be very protective of our communities, very protective of our forest.

Forestry is a big industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, always has been, and a big part of our heritage, a big part of our culture. We need to protect our forest as well as our people to have that forestry industry going for years to come.

With this act changing from legislation into the regulation it gives the opportunity to adhere to those regulations and to protect the people of our province. We need to do that. We need to ensure that we take all precautions. Safety is utmost and I think those regulations and the proposed amendments will do just that.

So with that, Speaker, I’ll take my seat and I’ll let someone else have a chance to speak on this act.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

E. LOVELESS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, certainly a privilege to stand here today and talk about another important topic of interest to us as a province – not to us as a province, I guess, but as a country and as the world – is facing in terms of climate change and what climate change is doing to our weather patterns and the challenges that’s bringing with it, Mr. Speaker.

What the minister is bringing here is certainly a good plan, I believe, to start with. It’s important that we do not react but we do respond. That requires involvement of officials which are quite engaged because I certainly can appreciate the work that goes on in terms of those officials putting in a lot of work. Those officials, I had them when I was minister, I’d like to thank them this morning for all they do, because it’s about protecting our communities and protecting this province. It’s becoming more challenging and with that challenge comes a cost.

The minister talked about forestry and how important it is. Forestry, and I guess the forestry industry, has changed in terms of the paper industry and the need for it, but in this province, we know that Corner Brook Pulp and Paper is certainly an integral part of the forest industry, the newsprint industry. We know they employ 400-plus workers across its mill, power plants and its forest operations. Just for stats alone, in 2025, newsprint production totalled approximately 158,000, almost 159,000 tons. That was down from 2024. There is a trend there.

We know that’s a concern in terms of the mill operations, but I’m just stating this factual information to give light to the importance of the newsprint industry in this province.

Also, not just Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, they work in conjunction, I guess, in agreement – most times – with Newfoundland and Labrador’s lumber industry. They include three large, integrated saw mills: Sexton Lumber Company Limited; Burton’s Cove Logging & Lumber Ltd.; and Cottle’s Island Lumber Company Limited. Together, they represent nearly 95 per cent of the province’s lumber production.

So I just wanted to put that on record in terms of the role that they play in this province and how important it is from an employment perspective, but, also, I guess, for these operators, Mr. Speaker. I certainly visited all of them during my tenure, as minister, to see their operations and to see the challenges that they faced. The changes that are coming forward in this piece of legislation protects them, because they have wood materials, saw pellets and sawdust that can create fires.

They know that they have to have their individual plans in terms of protecting their businesses, but it’s also the concern for the government and the minister and working in conjunction with them to ensure that they have their fire mitigation plans as well.

The minister started out by saying we have made great progress. I agree, but as I said last night in some of my remarks, that progress didn’t happen in seven or eight months. I think it’s important to recognize that because this is too important, there’s a lot of work that has been done over the years by officials and us, when we were in government, to listen to those officials, not only listen to those officials but visiting the saw mills, talking to the firefighters, talking to the volunteer firefighters in our rural communities and asking them what do they need in order to do a better job.

The minister talked about 25 additional wildfire firefighters. That’s indeed a good thing. It’s not just about hiring additional workers but it’s also equipping them with the resources that they need. The minister talked about we have a full fleet of water bombers. We do and that’s a good thing. As I said before, in terms of fires, you can have 100 water bombers, and depending on the state of the fire, then they necessarily can’t be put into the line of fire, so to speak, because of the state of the fire.

We need more aircraft assets other than water bombers to assist those pilots that are flying into, as I said before, the line of fire which can be very dangerous as well, but anybody who’s been in those aircraft, talking to the pilots and how they are specialized in what they do in terms of retrieving water from a lake or wherever or a body of water and then taking that water to the fire areas and extinguishing, it’s super amazing as far as I’m concerned. Those pilots are to be commended. I don’t think they’re talked about enough.

We talk about the water bombers a lot but the water bombers wouldn’t get off the ground if it wasn’t for those pilots and the people who assist and the people that maintain the aircraft. It’s certainly a piece of it for sure.

The minister also talked about wildfire prevention plans; also a good move. He talked about a second round of funding, that’s very important, but I think no matter who is governing, the time has come when we recognize that we have to do more, we have to invest more in terms of helping to avoid, I guess, not avoid but help with situations as last year’s fires.

We saw again last year, which seems to be getting worse every year, in terms of the extent of the burning, we saw it in various parts of the province and it’s very concerning. I remember last year when I was in my office on the fifth floor looking out and seeing the fire that close to industrial gas stations and everything. It was a frightening moment to realize how close we are and if the wind changed direction, it could have been disastrous.

The enormity of what we’re seeing in terms of fires is becoming a new reality and we have to be ready for sure. As I said, responding to it and not reacting. We are living in different times and we have to be ready and I think this is a good move towards being ready.

The other thing, as well, in terms of fighting fires is we do have a friendly agreement with other provinces to assist if we need their craft and we assist them if they need our aircraft which is a good plan. I know it’s a costly venture, as well, but we can’t put a price on lives and saving communities. That’s a good plan and that will continue, I know. It’s all towards helping us face the enormity of forest fires in the province.

I know the minister referenced some changes in the Forestry Act . We will have some questions in Committee for sure to seek clarification on things that are happening or what the minister is trying to do here and the officials are trying to do as well. Also, I thank the officials for taking time to brief us a couple of days ago and allowing us to ask some questions but we have more questions that we’ll certainly ask to the minister.

The changes allow the minister to suspend a licence or suspend all or a part of a mill operations being carried out under licence in prescribed circumstances. There are two descriptions there that I would seek answers and clarification because I reference a mill that, at one point when I was minister, due to an electrical problem, was shut down – the whole operation. It should never have happened because the electrical part didn’t interfere with the other parts of the operation. I’ll seek clarification when we get to the stage on that.

There are a lot of references in Bill 13 about creating an offence. I also will seek clarification on that from the minister and expanding the areas of the province. There are a lot of reference to expanding the areas of the province, but that’s certainly in relation to forest travel and forest fires, all in an attempt to help with the fire mitigation plans from a provincial perspective. It also references no longer exclude provincial parks, municipal parks and private campgrounds from the application provisions of the act relating to forest travel. I believe that’s important.

That’s from, I guess, a provincial responsibility and the assets we have in our provincial parks. That’s certainly an important piece of it as well. There are other things, as I said, Mr. Speaker, that I’ll seek clarification during Committee stage.

I also reference in a lot of the descriptions here, “allow a forest official to order a person to leave an area for the purposes of controlling or extinguishing a fire and create an offence where the person does not comply with the order.” I have some concern about that, allowing a forest official to order a person – I guess the concern is around adding responsibility of duties for the forest officials. Are we overwhelming them with their responsibility? Are they properly trained? Is there additional training required?

Making sure that they’re equipped, from a training perspective response time, I think that’s important just adding on extra duties to the forest official. I’m sure the department and the minister is looking at that and ensuring that they are equipped to do their job once they’re out in the field.

Also, there’s a lot of reference as well, I think I referred to it before, allow a forestry official – that’s referenced three or four times. Also, “clarify that a person who cuts or removes trees from forest land or engages in an activity that is likely to cause a fire during a period other than the forest fire season is required to obtain an operating permit where required by the regulations.” I know in a rural district a lot of people sometimes say to me, why can’t we just cut wood along the roads? We could do your brush cutting for you with those blowdowns, let us clean it up.

But people don’t realize the dangers of it, especially during conditions that are critical, warm and we know now with climate change that’s happening, the weather patterns that we’re having. This year we had a lot of snow, but we didn’t have a lot of frost. So in the ground, there’s not a lot of water based in the ground that people think that it innocent, oh, I’ll just have a brush fire, cut some of the brush that’s around my property or grass or whatever, innocently, but certainly proposes a danger.

I had it happen last year in Harbour Breton, innocently someone started to burn some grass and it was pretty close to being disastrous. Not to blame that person for what they did, but certainly for them to recognize that you have to be more cautious and self-aware of what’s around you in terms of burning, whatever material.

I think the minister referenced last year’s fires and challenges. It was very challenging. As an MHA representing a rural area where your only vein in and out, really, is – we have a ferry system, but that doesn’t carry vehicles. The only vein in and out is the Bay d’Espoir highway, Route 360. When that closes down, the rage of the fire is a lot to contend with, but then you have more challenges with people getting to their cancer treatments, getting out for work. It can become a rage in itself, not just the fire alone.

That leads me into the educational piece. So we can bring in fines, we can bring in warnings from whomever, but the unfortunate part about it is some are going to do what they want to do no matter what. So I think it’s the dangers of, the educational component of it, to alert people of what their actions will result in because last year, in terms of the Martin Lake fire, as the minister referenced, Mr. Speaker, I have a family – and I’ll certainly speak to the minister about it – that lived in, not in a cabin, it was their home. They lost everything.

She was pregnant at the time and very stressed for her own concern and the baby’s concern. It was a very difficult time. I reached out to them yesterday to see if they had any resolve to their file. I don’t think so. I’m not even sure the minister is aware of it but I’ll certainly have a side conversation with him to bring about their concerns because they had proof that they were living in that and going to their employment close to Central Newfoundland. They lost everything they had there because it was a place of residence for them. That was unfair to them, but we understand.

There were a lot of people – when fires happen, they want to get to their cabins. They want to make sure that their cabin is not being destroyed. There was a tremendous effort last year from fire breaks to firefighters doing their best. We all had daily updates. We don’t realize what goes into the efforts of trying to keep that blaze away from destroying properties. It can become very, very devastating for all of us because it connects all of us. We have friends that have cabins. I think about that family that I just referred to.

They’ve been devastated and, unfortunately, had to make some other arrangements in terms of living arrangements, but it’s been difficult on them, but thank God that the mom and the baby are good and all is well there.

The educational piece, and also the consultation piece, I think that falls under the heading of educational piece, and the minister mentioned Indigenous groups. I know we each signed a forest management agreement with Miawpukek First Nations back a few years ago and we worked on it for years. We believe it was the right thing to do from having access to lumber that, not necessarily used but they could use it, and also their intent was to provide wood source, heat source for seniors in their community.

I asked during the briefing, does this affect their forest management agreement and are there any adjustments that need to be made to their forest management agreement to help them because they have access to that resource and that could be, I guess, dangerous as well. But knowing the council at MFN and their community group, I would say they are prepared. They have their own plans, but it’s nice to work in conjunction with the provincial government, that we work with them because they live in the area, they hunt in the area and they cut wood in the area. For them, it’s the same concern as protecting all of us, in terms of living down in that area.

In terms of the sawmill operators, the feedback from them, I believe it is a crucial piece as well to ensure that they have their input into how the plan should move forward. I know that’s been done in terms of communicating with them because they’re the front-line workers as such, in terms of what we should do, protect their properties, therefore, protecting all of us in the province that’s in and around those operations.

I’m going to take my seat. I’ll have questions, certainly, during Committee stage seeking clarification on some issues. But this is definitely a good move forward in terms of preparing the people of the province, preparing communities and we can’t highlight education enough, what we all need to do to have better planning and have our fire mitigation plans in place.

There’s a lot more work to do, for sure, but this is a good step forward in many steps that I’m sure will come forward. We all know that there’s a financial component to it and there’s investment in this year’s budget. There have been investments in previous budgets and that’s all a good thing because it’s an investment, it’s not a cost; it’s an investment into the future of communities, the future of this province.

I guess from a fire prevention perspective, too, in terms of the plans for Central Newfoundland, Gander, the facility that’s proposed there as well, I encourage the government to move ahead with that because I believe the training component could be a lead for us, as a province, in terms of Atlantic Canada. I think that would better prepare us in terms of investment into the organizations and the entities that are involved in fire mitigation and helping to keep our province safe.

But we all know there is a big challenge ahead of us, we need to be prepared. I believe this is a good move in the right direction to be prepared. I look forward to others discussing on this and I’ll have some questions for the minister in Committee stage.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. George’s - Humber.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

H. CORMIER: Thank you, Speaker.

I rise to speak in support of the proposed amendments to the Forestry Act , Bill 13. These amendments are truly necessary and focused on very important goals: protecting the people, protecting communities and protecting our forest resources of Newfoundland and Labrador from the growing threat of wildfires.

Our province has always had a deep connection to the land. Forests are part of who we are. They support jobs, tourism, recreation, wildlife – and I was unsuccessful in the moose draw this year – traditional lifestyles and the natural beauty that defines Newfoundland and Labrador.

In recent years, we have all seen the increasing danger posed by wildfires, not only here at home but across Canada. Wildfires are becoming larger, more unpredictable and more destructive. Communities are being evacuated, families are losing homes and firefighters are being pushed to their limits. Governments everywhere are recognizing the modern challenges require modern legislations.

This is exactly why these amendments are so important. The Forestry Act has changed very little in more than 35 years. Think about it. The Forestry Act has changed very little in 35 years. Over those 3½ decades, technology has changed, emergency management has changed, forestry practices have changed and the risks associated with climate and wildfire activity have changed dramatically, yet much of the legislation governing wildfire prevention and response remain outdated.

These amendments represent a long overdue modernization of the act. They will clarify the rules, strengthen enforcement, improve public safety and give forestry officials the tools they need to respond quickly and effectively during emergencies. Perhaps, most importantly, these amendments place a stronger emphasis on prevention because wildfire resources are essential. The best wildfire is the one that never starts.

Speaker, our government has already demonstrated a strong commitment to wildfire preparedness and emergency response. We have increased funding for emergency services and volunteer fire departments. We have returned the fifth water bomber to service. We have hired additional wildfire fighters and we continue to invest in prevention, mitigation and community readiness.

I know the fifth water bomber has been a bit contentious on the other side of this House but, at the end of the day, does it really matter, as long as that bird is flying this summer to protect the families.

Those investments matter, but legislation matters, too. Good legislation creates accountability, good legislation provides clarity and good legislation gives officials the authority to act quickly while public safety is at risk. That is what these amendments aim to accomplish.

Speaker, one of the most important changes involve strengthening the province’s ability to regulate burning during forest fire season. As Members know, forest fire season is currently in effect from May 1 to September 30, on the Island, and May 15 to September 30 in Labrador, the Big Land. During this time, permits are required for many forms of outdoor burning. These rules exist for a reason. A single careless act can quickly become a devastating wildfire and we’ve seen that.

Unfortunately, many wildfires are caused by human activity. Sometimes, it’s accidental; sometimes it’s negligence; sometimes it’s simply a failure to understand the risks, but regardless of the cause, consequences can be enormous. Homes can be lost, businesses can be threatened, forests can be destroyed and lives can be placed in danger. That is why the proposed revisions strengthen the province’s authority surrounding fire bans, enforcement and emergency response measures.

The amendments will also create responsibilities for forestry operators and industrial users operating in the forest areas. These sectors play a critical role in our economy. Many already operate responsibly and safely, but when conditions become dangerous, everyone must do their part to reduce risk.

Speaker, I can speak from a lived experience. Last summer, as an employee of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, we shut down because of the wildfires. We had to, the forests were too dry for the equipment to operate in the woods and we ran out of wood, so we took downtime, took an opportunity inside the mill to do some maintenance, but it effected the livelihood of some people inside that mill, especially our junior employees who didn’t have the vacation allotment like this old dog had. I could take the time off and not worry about it, but some of those younger kids couldn’t with young families. So it does effect.

These changes can help ensure stronger requirements, better compliance and clearer expectations.

Speaker, another key amendment introduces a significant new provision related to reckless starting of wildfire. Think about that – reckless. Why would someone want to do that? I think most people in this province would agree, if careless and reckless behaviour causes a wildfire that threatens communities and put lives at risk, there must be consequences.

The updated language around offences and penalties will strengthen accountability and make enforcement more effective. At the same time, moving penalties into regulations allows government to respond more quickly when updates are needed rather than waiting for lengthy legislative changes. That is practical, that is efficient and that is a responsible government.

Speaker, I also want to highlight the extensive consultation that took place throughout this review process. The department consulted with sawmill operators, forestry companies, industrial sectors and stakeholders across the province. That matters because effective legislation is built through collaboration. The first time I spoke in this House, I talked about collaboration. It’s so important, regardless of the side, that we all work together to make this province better for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

As these amendments move forward, that collaboration will continue. Speaker, prevention must remain the centre of this conversation. Every year, forestry officials remind the public about the importance of safe burning practices, checking hazard ratings, properly extinguishing campfires and reducing fire risks around homes and properties. Simple actions can make a tremendous difference.

Cleaning brush around the homes, keeping wood piles away from buildings, ensuring ATVs and chainsaws have spark arresters and avoid open burning during high-risk periods, these are practical measures that protect families and communities. While legislation alone cannot prevent every wildfire, it can create stronger rules, clear authority and better public awareness.

Speaker, when we think about wildfires, we often think first about the firefighters, and rightfully so. Wildland firefighters, volunteer fire departments, emergency personnel, pilots, forestry officials and first responders perform extraordinary work under extremely difficult conditions. They work long hours; they face dangerous situations and they do so to protect complete strangers.

Speaker, in my District of St. George’s - Humber, every fire department we have are volunteers: Pasadena Fire Rescue, Steady Brook, Little Rapids, Massey Drive, Gallants, Stephenville Crossing, St. George’s, Flat Bay, Bay St. George out in Codroy Valley, all volunteers who give up the time tirelessly to train and protect people.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

H. CORMIER: These amendments support those front-line workers by ensuring we have stronger legislation behind them. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the volunteer fire departments across Newfoundland and Labrador. Every department, whether paid or volunteer, thank you for what you do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

H. CORMIER: In many communities, volunteers are the first people to answer the call. They leave their families, they leave their jobs and their homes to protect others. Whether in the Humber Valley, Bay St. George, the Northern Peninsula of Labrador or anywhere else in this province, these individuals deserve our gratitude and our support.

Speaker, we’ve all watched the devastation wildfires have caused in other provinces and territories; entire communities evacuated, homes reduced to ash and families displaced for months. We saw that here in our own province last year in Carbonear - Trinity - Bay de Verde. Those events remind us that preparation matters, modern legislation matters, clear authority matters and strong prevention measures matter. No government can eliminate wildfire risk entirely, but governments do have a responsibility to prepare, modernize and respond. These amendments are part of fulfilling that responsibility.

This legislation is about protecting people. It’s about protecting communities. It’s about protecting the forests that are such an important part of Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s about ensuring that our laws reflect today’s realities, not realities of 35 years ago.

In my maiden speech, I spoke of my connection with the mill in Corner Brook. I’m a third-generation employee at the mill. If we didn’t protect our forest, if there wasn’t a forest out there, I probably wouldn’t be here today. When the Cormiers landed in Codroy Valley back in the early 1600s, 1700s, some were farmers, some were fishermen but, my crowd, well, we were loggers.

The minister from Deer Lake drove across the Island with me and, in my car, I have a CD player – yes, my car is that old, I have a CD player.

AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

H. CORMIER: There is only one CD in that car and that’s an interview that my brother, Keith, had done Christmas Day 1975 with my Grandfather Cormier. He talked about his life history and the life story. The minister remembers it well. He talks about logging in Rattling Brook. We were coming through the Exploits area. We were driving through the area at the same time that the CD was talking about logging in that area. It was quite remarkable to bring us back to that time when they were just using bucksaws, not chainsaws.

These proposed amendments modernize the Forestry Act . They strengthen wildfire prevention. They improve enforcement, provide greater clarity and they help ensure Newfoundland and Labrador is better prepared for the future.

In closing, I encourage all Members in this House to support these amendments and support the continued work being done to keep Newfoundlanders and Labradorians safe.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

J. DINN: Thank you, Speaker.

I’ll start with picking up on what the hon. Members said. I remember there was a Land & Sea show on the loggers and I’ll tell you, that it was one hard lifethat they led, no one can take that away from them. I remember the gentleman they interviewed, he had his life written on his face, it was as clear as that.

We will support the changes that are being put forth here. If nothing else, as the minister said, it’s precautionary. It’s about being committed to ensuring the people live safely in their communities, especially communities that are –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

J. DINN: – tied closely to the land around them, that government is committed to doing everything to protect communities.

Many of these measures here are seen as prevention and mitigation. It’s about making sure that we don’t have to respond but that we can indeed prevent the need to respond.

The other aspect of this is that there were wide consultations and we may have a few questions on that as well later on, but, for the most part, it seems to be an expansion of the powers of government to be able to respond to fires, the ability to fine, the ability to suspend licences and to give forestry officials the power they need to carry out their jobs and to prevent what had happen to us last year.

There’s been an acknowledgement from several people now that forest fire behaviour has changed and, yes, it has changed. As the minister said, they ignite and burn more rapidly. I would say that if you notice anything over the last few years, the winds have gotten a lot more intense, the gusts and so on and so forth, summertime, wintertime, it doesn’t make any difference now.

I’ll talk a little bit about climate change in a minute, but the fact is fires are happening, not just here in Newfoundland and Labrador, but across the country and across the world.

Thirty-five years have indeed changed. I think last year we saw for the first time some of the lowest water levels in major bodies of water, Grand Lake, Humber River, you name it. Obviously, we’re not only getting wind but we’re getting dryer summers as well, much dryer and hotter.

I think in Montreal this week they’re already into the 30-degree, 38-degree temperatures. This is May, I know we don’t usually get a spring until much later maybe, but the fact is it’s getting dryer and hotter. So we’re now forced to change our behaviour. In response to that, as several Members talked about, in 35 years, conditions have changed and the act needs to keep up with it.

Certainly, I would say that was brought home this summer past. We had smoke from Conception Bay North and Paddy’s Pond. We had the smoke from the wildfires in Western Canada but this smoke that came over the city, came over other parts of the province, represented severe destruction of communities, devastation. It impacted people’s lives. It took away their homes, devastated their communities, placed people at risk, uprooted people and so on and so forth.

The Member for the district well knows how that impacted. I know that my wife and I went out to Carbonear to the school to help – and just so you know, Carbonear is where my family is from and we still have the land there and heavily wooded land, too, I might add. One thing struck me, Speaker, is one day that we were going out, we drove by just as the fire around Paddy’s Pond was starting. The fire trucks were coming out of there. I guess they realized, at this point, there is nothing they could do. At that point, it was just smoke coming up on the other side of the pond. By the time we came back in, it was a raging inferno. That’s how quickly it took off.

I know years ago, in New Brunswick, when they had a fire ban, major dry summers and I remember driving behind a vehicle and they threw a cigarette butt out the window. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be a problem but, in a tinder-dry situation, something like that can ignite a major fire. We know we saw last year’s restrictions on the use of chainsaws, ATVs and so on and so forth in multiple provinces in reaction to this. It’s forced us to change.

Certainly, we’ve brought up the issue of climate change, and I heard that mentioned here a few times. The question usually is asked, do you believe in climate change? I think the better question to be asking is, do you know what it means? Do we know what it means?

Well, we got a taste of what it means last year in the cost to people’s livelihoods, to their homes, to the destruction of communities, of our natural resources and so on and so forth. While it’s good that we’re looking for ways to respond to it and make sure that we can mitigate this and reduce the cost and the impact on people’s lives and make sure communities are safe, I think, at some point, we’ve really got to look at, not just here in Newfoundland and Labrador, but finding ways to collaborate with other provinces to address the issue of climate change and try to at least mitigate that as well. That’s what’s underlying a lot of this.

I will say that the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune talked about the need for education, and I can’t agree more. I do remember when I come back from the West Coast and I’m over that way fishing or whatever, there are a couple of signs, at least one that I remember on the way in that is a big sign that has the relative speeds of a forest fire, a caribou and a person. There should be more along those lines because one thing, it draws your attention to just how fast a forest fire moves. There’s no way you can outrun it, not as a person.

But I think that kind of messaging along the highway, even, as people go, is a constant reminder because the more education, the less need for regulation as well. Maybe people’s attitudes haven’t changed because when you think of Newfoundland and Labrador, what we see outside today is more or less what we’ve come to expect. I do remember, like, May 24 was a time when you might very well wake up with snow around your tent, or in June we’ve had snow. I do remember that.

I will say this, the one last thing I’ll end on because I think the education piece is important. As a salmon angler, I walk into a few rivers, such as the Salmonier River, and you see the amount of garbage that’s left on the way out. It’s not directly related but, I think, in many ways, sometimes having reminders to people, not only in how we treat our natural environment, that taking those steps to treat it with respect is important. Not just in terms of garbage in the woods, but also in how we go about making sure that we don’t burn it down and ourselves and other people with it.

I will end with this, because we’ve got the fifth water bomber back and forth – and I know that’s something that my former colleague from Labrador West pushed heavily, and having that stationed in Labrador West as well. I will agree with the Member for – I got names down, but not necessarily where – St. George’s - Humber, it doesn’t matter where it came from, as long as we’ve got that out there.

A few weeks ago, I met with a firefighter pilot, and he actually does firefighting in Australia – he’s a Newfoundlander – Greece and so on and so forth, but he was telling me about the Air Tractor AT-802 Fire Boss aircraft equipped with float planes. I know he has written the government on this as well, and the government departments on this, but he talks about that this is the plane that he flies exclusively and that is used in these jurisdictions to fight forest fires.

Compared to a new Canadair 415, which will cost $40 million to $50 million, and a new Super Scooper 515, he estimates would be about $60 million, a Fire Boss is roughly about $4 million to $5 million. Float plane equipped, it’s a lot cheaper and probably would allow for greater coverage as well.

New Brunswick recently brought four of these planes into their fleet. So while we have a fifth water bomber, maybe there’s an opportunity here to draw on the experience of this veteran pilot, whose had 15 years in this area, to look at how we expand our fleet with more reliable crafts, and just as effective, that would give ourselves greater coverage. If we’ve got to change and update this act, that’s 35 years since it was last updated, then it’s not only important to update the act and update the regulations, but also maybe to update the equipment that we use to make sure that we have the best coverage possible.

From the reading I’ve done on this since I met with pilot – and we had a good chat about this. He flies these planes. You can imagine then, if you had five or six of these planes flying in tandem, you could cover a lot more area in many ways and probably a lot more efficiently.

I think as we go forward, to the government, I believe this bill is certainly a genuine attempt here to address a very serious problem and make sure that we do not have a repeat of what we had last summer. I applaud the minister for that. This is a serious issue and we’ve got, what I could call, immediate action on it, but I think we might as well start planning for the future in that, when we’re looking replacing equipment, we consider what else is out there. In our budget, in a province with own financial issues, maybe there’s a way of getting a better, bigger bang for the buck and also being able to respond more quickly and more efficiently to the fires that occur.

I do recommend that you at least investigate the AT802 Fire Boss aircraft float plane. It’s being used in other jurisdictions. New Brunswick has them. Right now, they bought four new ones and maybe it’s a path that we can go down, too, if not to replace the current fleet, but to supplement them as well.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.

P. PARSONS: Thank you, Speaker.

I’m stand today to speak Bill 13,

An Act to Amend the Forestry Act. While this bill is presented is largely administrative and technical, the reality is that it also has a response to very real anxiety that we all experienced last year across the entire province during the devastating wildfire season of 2025.

As was said in here, climate change is real. We are seeing the change in patterns. Wildfires are not something that happen in other places anymore. People were devastated – people are still devastated. People are still displaced. People still need to receive compensation, which, to my understanding, they haven’t, as of yet. Certainly it’s a real discussion and, again, it’s important to be ready.

Also, something that I’d like to see go further are relationships with other jurisdictions, as we’ve seen last year. We know aircrafts, for example, and teams from not just outside of Canada, but the United States were here to help us and things would have been far worse if we did not have that support. I’ll just take my memory back to what happened in Spaniard’s Bay in a cemetery, how a fire was ignited by an ornament on a gravesite. That’s how the fire started.

Again, this graveyard lays at the top of the community and things could have gone badly, but thankfully because of that aerial support that was literally just down the road, further down in Conception Bay North, attending to those blazes down there on the North Shore, they were able to get there quickly, but we could have had another devastated community and town dealing with what people on the North Shore are dealing with.

Those aerial supports were necessary. They made all the difference. So it’s very important to develop those relationships with other jurisdictions and to ensure that they are there at the ready when we need them.

Another big challenge that we saw is that there were simultaneous blazes happening everywhere, across our province and Labrador, and across the country. We know that was happening. So much so that the our neighbours to the south, the Americans, were actually complaining about the smoke blowing up from Canada. They were actually complaining about that as if it was something that Canadians were intentionally doing or even wanted to contend with themselves.

But there are aspects of the bill that we support and modernizing the outdated language makes sense. Clarifying authority during wildfire emergencies makes sense. Improving coordination around burn permits, forest access, restrictions and emergency response tools certainly makes sense. Ensuring Forestry officials have clear authority during the high-risk fire situations is reasonable.

Also, the key question is will these amendments actually improve wildfire preparedness and emergency response on the ground, or are we simply expanding the powers on paper without ensuring that the people, equipment, communication systems and front-line capacity exist to support them?

One of the biggest themes throughout this bill is the expanded authority. The minister can prohibit burning through proclamations. The Forestry officials can suspend permits. Officials can order people out of areas. Officials can requisition private equipment during a fire. Officials can seize evidence related to fire investigations.

On that note, too, about the private equipment, hats off to the people who are willing to step up and offer their equipment. We saw that last year. People were ready to help and willing to help by using their own personal equipment.

Officials can seize evidence related to fire investigations, and Forestry officials are now explicitly granted peace officer powers under the Criminal Code for enforcement purposes. These are significant powers, and with these significant powers comes the need for transparency, however, accountability and the proper training, as we know.

So what training will Forestry officials receive before exercising expanded evacuation authority or peace officer powers? These are, again, questions for Committee. How will enforcement decisions be reviewed? How will government ensure consistency across regions, particularly in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and Labrador itself? Because, as we know, uneven enforcement during an emergency situation creates confusion and confusion during emergencies can put lives at risk.

I actually received that first-hand feedback about some volunteer firefighters who were on the scene and they were attending, particularly in CBN. Then, when officials came out, provincial officials, there was a bit of confusion there about what orders were being given. Again, we can’t also forget the value of local knowledge of the lands in the communities that our volunteers are serving and they have been for years and decades.

Some areas still struggle, as we know, with reliable Internet and cell service. We do know that was also a promise on the campaign trail of the now Premier to invest much more to improve cellular service throughout the entire province. Again, we’d like to see that. That wasn’t in the budget.

Some areas still struggle with reliable Internet and cellular service, and that’s a fact. So government needs to answer the very basic question on how will people actually know when a fire proclamation is issued? How will they know when a burn permit is cancelled? How will they know when the travel restrictions are in place? If someone unknowingly violates an order they never received, that becomes both an issue of fairness and public safety.

The bill also broadens the scope of land subject to fire prevention rules. It now applies, not only to forest land itself, but also to land within 300 metres of forest land and land containing flammable vegetation.

Again, the intent may be understandable, but how will ordinary residents determine whether their property falls within those rules? I mean, it’s something to be considered to even develop some sort of special relationship with regard to media – radio, television, mainstream media.

So what exactly qualifies as flammable vegetation? Will government provide clear public guidance, or will residents and small operators be left trying to interpret vague rules during wildfire season while facing penalties that government has not yet even fully outlined?

The bill removes specific monetary penalties from the legislation itself and, instead, leaves them to regulation. Officials have said that it is because of government-needed flexibility during last year’s wildfire season when fines had to be introduced quickly. I applaud that. I remember that we were all sitting by the TV and the radio and even keeping an eye online about the actions that were taken and literally the day-to-day or the hour-to-hour events that happened during the wildfire season.

I remember we, as a government, had to increase fines, and rightfully so because we rely on common sense and the common courtesy of respect. Let me tell you, and as my colleague mentioned, even so much as flicking a cigarette butt out the car window, we see it every day. I still see it. I’m sure everybody in here sees it throughout their communities. That’s something that can very well start a fire, especially in the dry conditions that we saw last year. Again, people need to use common sense. Check the provincial sites; check the municipality sites.

I think, as well, it would be beneficial to develop consistent communication and planning with municipalities and give them the authority to impose their own bylaws, which they do have, to increase fines. That may be something that they want to explore, because it’s everybody’s responsibility to do their part.

Education, we can’t emphasize that enough. Maybe it’s something that we can also start seeing in our schools is education about safety of burning and campfires and all of that stuff. Like I said, it’s everybody’s responsibility and it’s never to early to start learning about fire safety because it’s a reality that we do certainly contend with here now in our province, along with the rest of the country.

Flexibility cannot come at the expense of transparency. The public deserves to know what penalties are being considered, how severe will they be and how will government distinguish between accidental mistakes and reckless behaviour, because enforcement must be proportionate.

One

section that deserves careful scrutiny is the authority to require private equipment and assistance during wildfire response efforts. In emergency situations, co-operation, as we know, is essential, but if government can compel the use of private equipment, then government also has an obligation to clearly outline compensation, liability protections and timelines for payment. If someone’s equipment is damaged in helping during a wildfire response, what happens then? Those details will matter.

Finally, the bill repeatedly assumes the existence of sufficient capacity within a system. Do we have enough Forestry officials? That’s a really good question. That’s something that we need to know. Do we have enough wildfire suppression personnel, enough equipment, enough communication infrastructure, enough coordination capacity within municipalities, volunteer fire departments, Indigenous governments and emergency management agencies?

Again, it goes back to having that consistent dialogue and to having those plans in place because expanding legal authority without expanding operational capacity risks creating legislation that looks strong on paper while front-line responders continue carrying impossible workloads.

We all want stronger wildfire prevention. We all want safer communities. Everybody does. We all recognize that climate-driven fire risk is becoming more serious and more unpredictable. The government cannot legislate preparedness into existence. Preparedness requires investment; preparedness requires staffing; it requires communication systems that people can trust; and, perhaps, requires government to support the front-line responders and emergency personnel expected to carry out these expanded responsibilities. That is the standard that this legislation should ultimately be measured against.

So it certainly is good. It’s a step in the right direction and, again, I can’t emphasize enough that it’s everybody’s responsibility. We work with municipalities, we work with law enforcement even and expanding fines and holding to account the responsibilities is essential and perhaps who knows, maybe some of these fires could have been prevented. But going forward, the best legislation that we can have and to support the people on the ground, is the best thing that we can do as a provincial government. Also, let’s bring in our federal government counterparts and our colleagues in on this conversation because, again, we’re all stakeholders here in our province, in our country.

That said, I look forward to Committee. Again, I thank the minister for bringing it in. I know he’s passionate about the topic. We’re all here to work to create the best legislation moving forward.

Thank you, Speaker.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s East - Quidi Vidi.

S. O’LEARY: Thank you, Speaker.

It is my privilege to speak on behalf of the residents and the constituents of St. John’s East - Quidi Vidi. Of course, I’m very pleased to see the minister and his department bring forward this bill for amendment. We know that we live in a time where we need to make these kind of adjustments and expanding the authority and emboldening the preventative and mitigation of fires in all our communities is crucial. I’m very happy to see the attention going to this.

Obviously, I, too, even though I’m a St. John’s resident and representing people in the downtown core, I have had lots of people who have lost their homes in the CBN fire and we’ve experienced this tragedy in many other areas as well.

I’m going to speak from an urban vantage point. Obviously, we’re talking about forestry, but when we talk about parks and other capacities it all intersects in terms of the amendments that are being put forward.

We’ve got a long history in the City of St. John’s of unbelievable fires. We’ve got the Great Fire of 1846; the Great Fire of 1892; to the Knights of Columbus in 1942, so many people lost their lives, so many people homeless as a result of fires. Only in recent years, in 1992, of course, we saw the CLB fire in the city centre. Fires are a huge concern for everybody and even though we could talk about forestry and forest industries, we know that there are patches of woods and fires that certainly are in urban areas as well.

I lived just below the CLB and watching the flankers coming down of the burning building. Of course, the Big R went up as well, we had to evacuate from our home in anticipation of that. So, you know, there are many people who understand the fear of fires and how it can impact their lives. But I just wanted to give a little bit of a perspective from an urban vantage point.

I’m certainly very happy to see that, as part of the amendment process, the department held numerous consultations and conversations with industry and communities, and as my colleagues mentioned, we’ll probably get into a little bit more about that otherwise.

The areas in particular that are of interest to me, the department spoke with Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador; Pippy Park; Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation, especially with the elements that are applied to provincial parks and campgrounds. So I’m very happy to see that engagement and certainly we’ll talk a little bit more about that in Committee.

I did want to just reference as well that I had the incredible opportunity and privilege to work side by side with a lot of the St. John’s Regional firefighters in my former municipal role, as did my colleague here as well, MHA Korab. We see the hard work that happens with firefighters, whether or not it’s urban or rural, and they need to be commended. They need to be supported. These are incredible workers in our community and so a big shout-out to those folks as well.

I want to just kind of focus in now on urban parks. One of the major concerns of mine, and I will certainly table this letter for the minister because it hasn’t been brought to his attention. It’s certainly starting to make the rounds here now. But one of the big concerns that I have brought forward is about Pippy Park.

In my former role as a board member for the Pippy Park Commission, in 2013, the Newfoundland and Labrador health authority basically imparted a no smoking ban on all the property and so be it, we’re working towards healthier environments and such. Unfortunately, one of the side effects that happened about that – and that was the CEO, Vicki Kaminski, I believe, at the time, brought that ruling down. What ended up happening was those people who are smoking had nowhere to go. There were no little kiosks, no outdoor stations, nothing, so people basically ended up needing to go and have their smoke and, of course, they ended up on Long Pond trail.

I spoke with the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Arts and Recreation, as it does fall underneath her purview as well with the parks and campgrounds. This has been an issue that I have been trying to address, both in my role as a former board member and as a city representative, and now as an MHA who is a critic of this particular area.

It’s not just about healthy living and people walking on trails and going through smoke. We are now in a time where we know that there are huge risks involved to cigarette butts being disposed of in an inappropriate fashion.

Since 2013, there has been a lot of smokers who have been frequenting the Long Pond trail. I have numerous correspondence and have been vocal about this issue for a very long time; however, it is now becoming an issue of safety. It’s no longer just about people who are trying to get out and enjoy themselves in health and wellness on the trails in an urban park that is supported under the Tourism, Culture and Arts and Recreation portfolio.

Of course, my colleague, the MHA for Mount Scio, has been apprised, as the MHA for the area as well. But I wrote a letter again trying to tackle this issue on January 21, to the members of the board, to try to problem solve, to try to find a solution here, because it’s not just about healthy living any longer. This is about fire potential and safety risks in an urban park.

If one of those cigarette butts – and there are many of them. Anybody who chooses to go on Long Pond trail, which is a beautiful urban trail, a walk around Long Pond, just across the street from us folks here in the House of Assembly, just one cigarette butt, we know, can cause a huge forest fire. That’s Pippy Park right there. This is an ongoing concern since 2013, and there needs to be some sort of resolution.

I do have a letter that I would like to table to the minister so he’s aware as well. Because Forestry, obviously, there are lots of intersections here. I will provide that for the minister as well, but I think we need to start thinking outside of the box. Fires happen everywhere. Forestry is everywhere in our beautiful province, and especially in the parklands. These are some of the major issues that are of concern to me.

The issue was about trying to tackle preventative methodology. Let’s get out there and start educating people about not throwing their cigarette butts out the window, things like that. There are a number of initiatives that we can do. I’m really pleased to see, of course, many of the considerations that are brought forward in the amendment that are going to tighten those things up.

We know that we need to tighten up the regulations to address the unlawful and wilful fire starters that are out there, because there are. Most times, when we see fires set and proliferated in a number of areas, it’s because of negligence, and that is with education.

I think there’s an educational component to this as well, but I think that we need to start shifting our focus into a more serious framework where we know that these kind of things are huge threats to our lives. In the City of St. John’s, I think this is something extremely important for us to look at. It’s on our doorstep here for the hon. Members of the House of Assembly and I think it’s something that we can easily problem solve. There have been many solutions brought forward, but I certainly will be bringing it to the minister’s attention.

Again, I like to just thank the minister and his department for bringing this forward. I think that we’re going in a really great direction. This is modernizing. We know we live in a different day and age when it comes to fire risks and safety. So we need to do everything that we can do, from every corner of this Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to try to tackle it.

Thank you, Speaker. That’s it for me.

SPEAKER: Seeing no further speakers, if the minister speaks now, he will close the debate.

The hon. the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Thank you, Speaker.

I appreciate the comments of the Members. I think it’s all agreed there that this bill is a good initiative to put in place. I think we have agreement from all the Members, so I appreciate the conversation, topics, stories and the initiatives and how they feel, and some of the things that they’ve seen throughout the forest fire season and that sort of stuff.

I think it’s good to hear that. I did make a couple of notes as they were going along. The Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune mentioned climate change and the weather changes – and so did the Member for St. John’s Centre – and we’ve seen it over the years, yes, drier climates, drier weather changes and how that affects, especially, the swiftness of the fires and how they can relate and how they are more active in the drier conditions. Sure, it does take those steps.

That’s why we need to be putting on those steps of protection and more of the amendments to the act. We can update. As we said before, as I said earlier, forest fires changed, tools and equipment have changed, so our regulations and legislation have to change as things change.

Those are good points that they brought up there. It’s good to see that he agrees with those measures. He talked about the industry and the stakeholders and how important the forest industry is throughout our province. So did the Member for St. George’s - Humber mention his relationship with the forest sector.

It’s good to see that. We did have consultations with those stakeholders to put those measures in place. It’s good to see that we did have those conversations, and I know that the Member knows of the act and how this changes things. Like he said, he has appreciation for it.

He does have some questions, I guess, in the committees, and that’s good. I know there will be committees, but he mentioned education and awareness. I did hear that, probably from all of the Members, basically, education and awareness. I’d just like to point out that through the tools that we have, education and awareness, the awareness part will be through other means. There are all kinds of media, radio, Facebook posts now and that sort of stuff. The awareness, when the fire index is high and that sort of thing, we will be making posts and announcements on that stuff as we move along.

As far as the education piece – and I mentioned it previously – we put $2.26 million into our Community Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Program. That was for education and awareness and what they can do to prevent fires and help prevent with fire breaks and whatnot.

So we just put $2.26 million. We’ve been training firefighters. There’s fire school training going on right now, actually down at the Burin Peninsula, as the Member from there mentioned yesterday that there was training going on there, and I did attend that over the weekend. It was great to see all the volunteer fire departments, volunteers coming in from different areas, taking

part in that.

The more training and tools that we can provide those people with, the more they’ll do their jobs more adequately and professionally. That’s the kind of stuff we have been doing and we’ll continue to work with those people.

Of course, the education piece that was done through the Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Program. Again, we have another round coming and I would encourage all the communities who didn’t get one to put their applications in again with the criteria that’s needed, and we’ll be certainly looking at more applications. That’s part of the education process and programs that we’ve done.

The Member for St. George’s - Humber, of course, mentioned that the act hasn’t changed in 35 years. He just mentioned the way changes have been and 35 years there has been no changes made to the legislation and the regulations so it’s time that we did take that initiative. I know everybody agrees with it. It’s good to see that we’re taking that initiative and he agrees with it as well.

He agrees that the rules and regulations need to be put in there to protect the communities and the industry, of course, that he talked about. He mentioned checking the fire indexes all the time and practical measures. Practical measures come with the Wildfire Prevention program that we put it. All of that can go into prevention and awareness.

FireSmart has been going into schools for years and teaching some of the FireSmart. We all know Smokey the bear. He goes into all those places. They’ve been teaching wildfire prevention for years throughout our schools. It’s good to see that, but the more we can do, the more education, the more awareness – and I do believe that everybody is starting to see that now. You’ll see it on Facebook posts. I see it every day now. As soon as there’s a spark, as soon as there’s a fire, as soon as there’s something happening, you’ll see people sharing Facebook posts of what to do and how to do it. It shows their concern.

It really does. It shows their concern and they are, of course, aware of what can happen. They don’t want it to happen. I know that. You can see that. So the awareness comes as a holistic part. I think that’s being done through all of our parts, even the general public.

He mentioned the volunteers, of course, the firefighters during the wildfires last year, all the volunteers that were out there. Not only the firefighters, there were other groups of volunteers as well. I can remember the Lions Clubs stepping up, that’s one in particular that I know. I only say that because I’m a member of the Lions Club, so that comes to mind, but there were a number of volunteer groups and organizations that gave up their time during the forest fires last year and previous years. I’d also like to thank them for their efforts as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

P. FORSEY: The Member for St. John’s Centre, he does agree with the changes. He said the awareness and education, he agreed that we should be doing more with that. So I just indicated the awareness and how we’re going to do that, the education that we provide. I think that’s pretty explanatory.

He mentioned the smoke for the firefighters. Even the smoke for those firefighters with the chemicals and the different materials that they’re using today, sure, it causes bigger health issues, it really does. It increases our demands on our hospitals and our health, the smoke, of course, we can see what can happen there.

St. Johns’ East - Quidi Vidi agrees with the bill, I can see those changes coming. She made some good points with regard to the community stuff that can be done, so I appreciate those points.

Overall, I think everybody is in agreement with the bill so I’ll just sit down now because we’ll let this go to Committee. I’m sure there’ll be some questions in Committee.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: Before I call the question, I did note that when the Member for St. John’s East - Quidi Vidi was speaking she referenced something that she wanted to table. I would ask her, at this time, if she could just let me know what that is and we’ll see if we can get leave of the House.

The hon. the Member for St. John’s. East - Quidi Vidi.

S. O’LEARY: Thank you, Speaker.

This is a letter that documents the issue that I was bringing forward and would love to bring to the attention of the minister.

SPEAKER: Okay.

Does the Member have leave to table the document?

AN HON. MEMBER: Leave.

SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

I will now call the question.

All those in favour of the motion?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

SPEAKER: All those against, ‘nay.’

The motion has been carried.

CLERK (Hawley George): A bill,

An Act to Amend the Forestry Act. (Bill 13)

SPEAKER: This bill has now been read a second time.

When shall the bill be referred to a Committee of the Whole?

L. PARROTT: Now.

SPEAKER: Now.

On motion, a bill, “An Act to Amend the Forestry Act,” read a second time, ordered referred to a Committee of the Whole House presently. (Bill 13)

SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.

L. PARROTT: Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands, that the House do resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider Bill 13.

SPEAKER: It has been moved and seconded that I do now leave this Chair and that the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider Bill 13.

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

All those in favour, ‘aye.’

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

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 (Dwyer): Order, please!

We are now considering Bill 13,

An Act to Amend the Forestry Act.

A bill, “An Act to Amend the Forestry Act.” (Bill 13)

CLERK: Clause 1.

CHAIR: Shall clause 1 carry?

The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Thank you, Chair.

As I alluded to in my remarks in terms of consultation, which is a very important part of the process, I ask the minister: What consultation did your department take with Indigenous groups, municipalities, forest operators, cabin owners, outfitters, tourism operators and other regular users of forest land?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Again, those consultations did happen with the stakeholders and Indigenous groups. As I mentioned in my earlier comments there, those groups were engaged with commentary, especially the stakeholders in the forestry industry. They were in favour of it; municipalities were in favour of it. So all those groups and individuals were consulted with and in agreement with the bill.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Thank you.

Just for clarification, Minister, in terms of those consultations, were they written submissions, were there meetings? What feedback did you get from those stakeholder groups to help you move forward with the changes that are before us today?

P. FORSEY: Verbal consultations were with municipalities –

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister for Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

You just got to wait to be acknowledged there, Minister.

The Chair recognizes the Minister for Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: There were consultations, especially, with industry stakeholders, verbal consultations were done with those people and there was EngageNL and the other means of, basically, written submissions and that sort of stuff for the bill.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Yes, and the reason for clarification there because I think sometimes EngageNL doesn’t do justice to getting the feedback that you require. In terms of future consultations, that can be certainly noted.

Minister, how will the department define and identify flammable vegetation in terms of a practical perspective?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Flammable vegetation – not only on the treeline, that would include flammable vegetation within properties, that sort of stuff, in the treeline area of dry brush, trees, vegetation that’s dry. Not only just trees, but other means of drier vegetation.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Yes, in terms of even grass alone, raked up and burnt, because they want to get rid of it.

Minister, the comms piece in the consultation – I spoke about it in my remarks – I think it’s probably the best tool that we can use to help achieve what you’re trying to achieve. How will the department communicates forest travel orders and fire proclamations – we that newspapers is a day of past, I suppose, in terms of communication. It still exists, no doubt.

So what other means are being replaced, instead of the newspaper departmental publication?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Again, I did mention that in my ending there, sort of thing. There are various means of communication, like our website is there, of course. That will be on our website. That is probably the biggest one, the government’s website.

We can also communicate through the TV, radio and that sort of thing, but those are the sort of ways we’d be getting it our there. The website, of course, is always open there and it will be on the website.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Okay, that was kind of my next question in terms of other ways of alerting people, and certainly we all know emergency alerts. We all use a cellphone, but in rural parts of the province where it’s more challenging, it becomes challenging in communicating that to them.

What safeguards are in place to ensure rural residents, cabin owners, harvesters and people without reliable Internet access receive timely notice of restrictions?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Our fire index is up on the site. You can check the fire index and look at our fire index. That would come through those means like radio, TV and the website, of course. Those are some of the ways we’ll get those measures out there.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Thank you, Chair.

The bill, Minister, mentions restricting entry or travel on land where insecticides or herbicides have been used. How will the department coordinate those restrictions with public health and environmental protection officials?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: We’ll know where the herbicides and that are sprayed, and anything that needed to be communicated like that, it would be communicated from the department or in the areas through signage and that sort of stuff. We’ll have awareness out on that.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Minister, under the new section,

section 98, burn permits may be cancelled, and holders must extinguish fires. What process would be used to notify these permit holders that a permit has been cancelled?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Again, through the same medias, awareness and that sort of stuff. The communities will probably pick it up through their website. We’ll probably work with the towns and communities so they can pick it up through their websites and have it on. We’ll make that awareness out through the different media channels.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Minister, what circumstances do you intend to prescribe in regulation for suspending or reinstating operating permits?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: The operating permits are for the industries out there that are within the extreme conditions of a forest fire, so they’ll be reinstated when the index goes down and we’re out of the fire hazard.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: I guess it’s measuring the risk and determining when it – yes, okay.

The bill moves monetary penalties into regulation, so from act into regulation. What range of penalties are you considering and how will you ensure that they are proportionate?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: All the penalties are in the regulations. The reason for that was so that the departments and us can have easier access to those regulations that need to be changed, if you can, rather than waiting to have them come into the House.

I think your government probably saw some of that in the last fire season, that you needed to be able to get at some of those regulations.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Yes, and I guess it’s a fine line in terms of these penalties. I spoke of it before, in terms of, we can put a fine figure on anyone’s behaviour, but it doesn’t necessarily change the behaviour as such.

So, the communication piece, how do we do that? More communication and educational pieces are certainly required in order to change people’s behaviours and encourage others to take a responsibility, because we all have a responsibility as individuals.

Minister, how will you distinguish between accidental non-compliance, reckless behaviour and deliberate conduct when enforcing the offences as outlined in these changes?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: That will be done through the resource enforcement officer, whether it should be a ticket or a charge, depending on the seriousness, the way it was caused and that sort of stuff.

We do have some offences there for deliberate, and we have some offences there for negligent. That would be determined through the officers themselves. Like I said, they have training on how to deal with if it’s a ticket or a charge. A ticket would be upfront, of course, and a charge would go through the courts.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Thank you, Minister.

Also, we’ve heard the words “allow a Forestry official.” It’s definitely adding on, for good reasons, with the forestry officials, but do you think that this is adding, I guess in terms of overload of responsibility and workload for those officials?

You mentioned that they are trained. If it’s new territory or new requirements of those officials within departments, will additional training be required? Is that a direction that you’re moving in?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: We do continuous training with the officers. They will be trained. They have done training. They continue to do the training. They’re the first there on the scenes and make a prediction of how it was caused and that sort of stuff. So they’ll have their training to be able to adhere to that.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Just one more quick question. I do have others, but I’ll allow a time for others to ask questions of the minister.

In terms of those added responsibilities for these workers, are they asking or do you get feedback from them: You add additional responsibilities on us, then we’re going to need to be compensated for it. Is that something that is a concern from the field workers: You expect me to do more, then I need to be compensated for it more. Are you hearing that from officials on the ground?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: We have communications with our officers all the time, that sort of thing, what’s rolled out there for them. They know their jobs. They do it professionally, of course, and they do a great job. So we’re always talking to our officers on what they need and what they do. We always do that.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Yes, Chair.

I’ll end there for now, as others do have questions, but I will be coming back with a few more questions for the minister.

Thank you.

CHAIR: Okay.

The Chair recognizes the Member for St. John’s Centre and Leader of the Third Party.

J. DINN: Thank you, Chair.

Would it be possible to have a

summary of the responses that you received from the engagement, the input people gave, would it be possible to have a

summary of those responses?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: The best thing I can tell you is all positive. That’s the best thing I can tell you.

J. DINN: (Inaudible.)

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: The best answer I can give for you on that, Member, is they were all positive.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for St. John’s Centre.

J. DINN: Was there any concern or reservation raised from the forest industry about the proposed changes in the bill, and if so, what was the nature of those concerns?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: I didn’t get that question.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for St. John’s Centre.

J. DINN: My apologies.

I was just wondering if there were any reservations or concerns received from the forest industry about the proposed changes that are in the bill, and if so, what was the nature of their concerns?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: No. Again, all the consultations that were done through the construction people, forestry industry, they agreed with those amendments.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for St. John’s Centre.

J. DINN: I just want to go back to communication and notifying people. I know that this bill is 35 years waiting to be updated. We recognize that a lot of things have changed, certainly, in the environment and so on and so forth. Communication has also changed significantly, even from the point of view of websites and that.

I’m just wondering are there any other contracts or do you engage with the various providers to put messages out? What did you do in the last fire season, certainly with Conception Bay North, and communicating with people? I’m just trying to get, specifically, what other measures other than the website would be used?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Other than the website, yes, it would be TV and radio. That’s the best way we can get it out there.

With regard to being direct in the communities, we’ll be certainly into those communities. If something happened that was directly in a community, we’ll certainly be working with that community. We would be in that community and working with them.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for St. John’s Centre.

J. DINN: As a salmon angler, usually you have to check the website to make sure rivers are open, what are the protocols, but they also post on rivers if the river is closed or if the river is open.

I’m just wondering, certainly at key access points, is there any attempt to put up notices, especially to check the website or whatever else, remind people to do that?

I only ask that because we’re looking at the issues around here as pretty serious, like in a cabin area or in a community. I’m just wondering, is that approach being considered, similar to what DFO does with rivers and that?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: We’ll also put out emergency alerts on that as well, when the time comes, but keep checking the weather index of course. The same thing, when you mentioned salmon fishing, we all do that; we check to see if the advisories are there. It’s the same thing with the weather index and channels.

Radios, of course, are a great way of knowing if there are bans and that sort of stuff. So all types of media are important.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for St. John’s Centre.

J. DINN: Thank you.

How about through Municipalities NL? Would they be considered a conduit for information as well?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Well, I just mentioned, as far as communication with municipalities, we’ll certainly be in contact with municipalities. We are always engaging with municipalities.

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.

P. PARSONS: Thank you, Chair.

Minister, currently, how many Forestry officials do we have? How many are there currently?

CHAIR: The Chair recognizes the Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands.

P. FORSEY: Right now, we have 90 resource enforcement officers; 27 offices throughout the province enforce forestry, inland fish and wildlife laws and protect the province’s natural resources, including the Forestry Act , fire related regulations and off-road vehicles. Resource Enforcement Division vehicle inventory is 49 trucks, 48 ATVs and 54 boats.

CHAIR: The hon. the Government House Leader.

L. PARROTT: Chair, I move that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again.

CHAIR: The motion is that the Committee rise, report progress and ask leave to sit again.

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.

SPEAKER (Lane): Order, please!

The hon. the Member for the District of Placentia West - Bellevue and Chair of the Committee of the Whole.

J. DWYER: Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker, the Committee of the Whole have considered the matters to them referred and have directed me to report progress and ask leave to sit again.

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 progress and ask leave to sit again.

When shall the report be received?

L. PARROTT: Now.

SPEAKER: Now.

When shall the Committee have leave to sit again?

L. PARROTT: Presently.

SPEAKER: Presently.

On motion, report received and adopted. Committee ordered to sit again presently.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.

L. PARROTT: Thank you, Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Member for Labrador West, that this House do now recess.

SPEAKER: It has been moved and seconded that this House do now recess.

All those in favour, ‘aye.’

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.

SPEAKER: All those against, ‘nay.’

Carried.

This House stands in recess until 2 p.m.

Recess

The House resumed at 2 p.m.

SPEAKER (Lane): Order, please!

Admit strangers.

Today, in the Speaker’s gallery, I would like to recognize and welcome former MHA Betty Parsley and her daughter, Kimberley Parsley, who are visiting us today. Betty represented the electoral District of Harbour Main from 2015 to 2019. She was an awesome MHA, I must say.

Good to see you, Betty.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: I would also like to welcome to the Speaker’s gallery today, Mr. Ian Kelly of the Royal Newfoundland Regimental Advisory Council. Mr. Kelly is attending today as part of a Ministerial Statement recognizing the establishment of a new commemorative display entitled, Newfoundlanders in the Gardens, in the City of Canterbury in the United Kingdom, honouring Newfoundlanders who served and sacrificed in World War II.

Welcome, Mr. Kelly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: We have a full house in the public gallery today. I’d like to welcome, first of all, to the public gallery Rebecca Dutton, President and CEO of the Janeway Children’s Hospital Foundation. The Janeway Telethon is the subject of a Member’s statement today.

Welcome, Rebecca.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: I’d also like to welcome to our public gallery, Dave Innes, who was a crossing guard with the City of St. John’s for Rennie’s River Elementary and is also subject of a Member’s statement today. He’s accompanied by Mandy Edwards, City of St. John’s Crossing Guard Program coordinator and Jennifer Lee, the school Principal.

Welcome to our gallery.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: I’d also like to welcome, to our public gallery, a group of Nobles representing the St. John’s Shrine Club, the Compass Shrine Club, Mount Pearl and the Trinity Conception Shrine Club. Mazol Shriners are the subject of a Member’s statement today.

Welcome, gentlemen, and thank you for all you do in our communities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: Also today, we have in the gallery, Mr. Grant Boland and his wife Tracie. Mr. Boland is the subject of a Member’s statement today.

Welcome to you both.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: We also have Julia Bloomquist and Josh Smee from Food First NL, which is likewise the subject of a Member’s statement today.

Welcome, Julia and Josh.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: Last but certainly not least, I’d like to welcome to our public gallery, President Linda Olford of the Newfoundland and Labrador 50+ Federation, which is the subject of another Member’s statement today. She is joined by her volunteer board members, lovely people who I had the pleasure of meeting just a little earlier.

Welcome to our gallery.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

Statements by Members

SPEAKER: Today we’ll hear Members’ statements from the Members for the Districts of the St. John’s East - Quidi Vidi, St. John’s West, Virginia Waters - Pleasantville, Waterford Valley and Windsor Lake.

The hon. the Member for St. John’s East- Quidi Vidi.

S. O’LEARY: Thank you, Speaker.

It is my honour to rise today to acknowledge the City of St. John’s Crossing Guard Program which provides an essential service at primary and elementary schools throughout the city. Through their daily presence at school crossings, crossing guards build strong community connections, enhance safety and encourage active mobility.

Specifically, crossing guards like Dave Innes at Rennie’s River Elementary encourage families to walk or wheel to school safely, supporting physical activity. They are often the first friendly face that children and families encounter on their way to school.

Despite challenging weather, Dave shows up with a positive attitude, a fist-pump and a genuine commitment to the safety and well-being of the children and families whom he protects.

One Grade 6 student said, “he is a really nice guy and even if I had a bad day, I’d always be happy if I saw him. Even on hot days, he would give us treats like mini freezies. Every time a dog goes by, he has a treat ready – he takes care of people.”

A parent sums it up beautifully by saying, “it’s hard to find a kinder, more pleasant man than Dave to greet students, parents, family pets and pedestrians in general. We are so lucky to have Dave as our school crossing guard.”

Let’s us all, please, all the hon. Members, acknowledge the great work of Dave Innes and the Crossing Guard Program in the City of St. John's.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s West.

K. WHITE: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize June 6 as Shriners International Awareness Day and to celebrate the outstanding contributions of the Mazol Shriners in St. John’s, along with Shriners across Newfoundland and Labrador and around the world. This special day recognizes an organization built on fellowship, compassion, philanthropy and dedicated community service.

For many years, Shriners have proudly supported charitable initiatives throughout Newfoundland and Labrador while helping raise awareness and funds for the Shriners Children’s network. Through their tireless volunteerism and generosity, they have helped provide life-changing medical care, specialized treatment and hope to countless children and families facing difficult challenges.

Beyond their important charitable work, Shriners are widely recognized for their active involvement in community events, parades, fundraisers and outreach activities that bring people together and strengthen the spirit of giving back. Their dedication to helping others reflects the very best values of kindness, generosity, leadership and service.

Shriners International Awareness Day gives us an opportunity to thank all Shriners and volunteers for the positive difference they make every day in communities both locally and globally. Their efforts continue to inspire hope, improve lives and strengthen communities.

I ask all Members of this House to join me in congratulating all Shriners throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Virginia Waters - Pleasantville.

B. DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to recognize the outstanding work of Our Table in the District of Virginia Waters - Pleasantville and the positive impact this welcoming community space continues to have in our community.

Through the important partnership between Stella’s Circle and Food First NL, Our Table has become much more than a gathering place. Together, these organizations help address food security, create opportunities, foster inclusion and strengthen community connections throughout our province. The Hungry Heart Cafe, the award-winning social enterprise of Stella’s Circle, is also located on site and provides nutritious meals while serving as a valuable community asset in Pleasantville.

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending Stella’s Circle’s skills development graduation ceremony at Our Table, where participants were recognized for their hard work, perseverance and achievement though skills development and workplace experience programs. It was inspiring to witness the pride and confidence shared by graduates, family, staff and volunteers.

I thank Julia from Stella’s, Josh from Food First NL and all the staff and volunteers with Our Table, Stella’s Circle and Food First NL, along with all the community volunteers and supporters, for their compassion, dignity and hope they bring for each and every Newfoundlander and Labradorian each and every day.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Waterford Valley.

J. KORAB: Speaker, I rise in honour of one of the district’s most talented artists, Grant Boland, and I can’t think of a more fitting person to recognize here in this House of Assembly.

Grant was born in Riverhead, St. Mary’s Bay. He studied fine arts at Memorial University Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook. Grant is a multi-medium visual artist and has exhibits across Canada and parts of the United States.

He has collaborated with local artists and publishers to illustrate and paint a series of children’s books, and his one-of-a-kind paintings hang in many homes and restaurants across our province. You can also view his portraits and his work within the Ottawa Senate and our very own House of Assembly here, having captured images of five of our most recent Speakers. He’s also painted the Speaker of the Senate and two Lieutenant Governors.

Grant has received numerous awards for his paintings, including two Elizabeth Greenshields awards. Last year, he received the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Emerging Artist of the year and I was very happy to present him with the 75th anniversary of Confederation Medal.

Grant has participated in numerous group exhibitions and solo exhibitions across the province.

I ask all Members to join me in recognizing Grant Boland.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Windsor Lake.

J. HOGAN: Thank you, Speaker.

I rise in this hon. House to recognize the incredible impact of the Janeway Telethon, which is scheduled for June 6 and 7, with the annual Teddy Bear Convoy on June 7.

For generations, the Janeway Telethon has brought the people of Newfoundland and Labrador together in support of children and families facing some of life’s most difficult moments. Through the generosity of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, millions of dollars have been raised to provide life-changing medical equipment, specialized programs and enhanced care for young patients at the Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre.

What makes the Telethon so remarkable is not only the funds raised but the spirit of compassion it represents. Every donation, volunteer hour, phone call answered and story shared reflects the kindness and generosity that defines Newfoundland and Labrador.

I want to recognize the dedicated staff, health care professionals, volunteers, donors, sponsors and families who make this event possible each year, especially president and CEO, Rebecca Dutton, who is here with us today.

The Janeway Telethon is a powerful reminder that when Newfoundlanders and Labradorians come together, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.

I ask all hon. Members to join me in congratulating the Janeway Telethon and wishing them every success at this year’s event.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: Outside of our normal line up, I have a request here from the Member for the District of Gander to do a Member statement.

Does the Member have leave?

AN HON. MEMBER: Leave.

SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.

The hon. the Member for Gander.

B. FORD: Thank you, Speaker.

I rise to recognize the important work of the Newfoundland and Labrador 50+ Federation and the dedicated volunteer –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

B. FORD: – board of directors led by President Linda Oldford, joined by Amy Farrell, Noreen Careen, Rose Atkinson, Kevin Thorne, Ray Babstock, Leo Bonnell, Carl Parsons, Lorna Warford, Albert Legge, Albert Careen, Jessie Clueitt and Angela Decker.

The 50-plus Federation is an umbrella organization representing 134 clubs and approximately 7,000 seniors. Incorporated in 1978, it’s devoted to the welfare and best interests of seniors across Newfoundland and Labrador. Local clubs organize social and educational events and connect with individuals at risk. The federation distributes newsletters and holds an annual provincial convention to discuss issues important to seniors.

Approximately 25 per cent of our population is now 65 years of age or older. The federation, on behalf of all seniors, advocate to government on policies that impact this demographic. Resolutions from their recent convention related to standard home care supports, geriatric supports, senior friendly rental units, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, health care satellite clinics for specialists and costs related to eye care, hearing aids and diabetic supplies.

Seniors deserve our respect, our care and our unwavering attention and I thank the NL 50+ Federation and the 134 local club volunteers for their relentless dedication.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to recognize a deeply meaningful act of remembrance and to express the sincere appreciation of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to the City of Canterbury in the United Kingdom and to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Regimental Advisory Council.

On May 24, 2026, the City of Canterbury reopened historic Dane John Park following an extensive restoration project. With the support and encouragement of Ian Kelly and other members of the Regimental Advisory Council, a new commemorative display entitled “Newfoundlanders in the Gardens” was unveiled as part of the reopening to honour the service and sacrifice of the soldiers of the 59th Newfoundland Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery, during the Second World War.

This permanent tribute recognizes the important role Newfoundlanders played in the defence of Great Britain during one of history’s darkest chapters. In 1940 and 1941, as Britain stood under threat of invasion, Newfoundlanders crossed the Atlantic to defend freedom and democracy.

At Dane John Gardens, members of the regiment installed and manned massive coastal defence guns to protect Canterbury and the surrounding region. Their courage, commitment and readiness formed part of Britain’s defence in its hour of greatest need.

Speaker, Mr. Kelly has joined us today in the gallery, and we thank him and the Advisory Council for their work. We will always remember those who served and sacrificed so future generations can live in peace and freedom, and I might add that Mr. Kelly’s father actually served right there in Canterbury. This display ensures their legacy and the enduring bond between Newfoundland and Labrador and Canterbury will be remembered for generations to come.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Premier for an advance copy of his statement.

Speaker, I rise today to join in recognizing this meaningful act of remembrance in Canterbury and to acknowledge the efforts to memorialize Newfoundland and Labrador’s proud military history.

The unveiling of Newfoundlanders in the Garden is a meaningful tribute to the members of the 59th Newfoundland Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery, whose service during the Second World War helped protect Britain during a critical time.

I also want to recognize Ian Kelly and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Regimental Advisory Council for their dedication to preserving those stories of service and sacrifice. For Mr. Kelly, this tribute does carry a deeply personal connection as his father served as a warrant sergeant in the 59th Heavy Artillery Regiment. That connection makes this recognition especially meaningful and reminds us of the lasting impact these sacrifices continue to have on families and communities today.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

J. DINN: I thank the Premier for an advance copy of his statement.

We also thank Mr. Kelly for his contribution to preserving the legacy of those who served in those dark days for humanity and the United Kingdom.

We also hope that this commemoration will serve to strengthen the historic bonds that unite our province and country with the United Kingdom and Europe, especially as we seek to navigate our way in a world racked with increased global conflict and instability. May these bonds form the basis of a new area of co-operation and mutual benefit.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Women and Gender Equality.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Thank you.

Speaker, I rise to recognize June as Pride Month in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Pride is about acceptance and human dignity for our 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. It is also an opportunity for us all to stand together in support of diversity and to reaffirm that everybody deserves respect, belonging and equal opportunity regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Pride is about visibility. For many people, especially youth, seeing communities, workplaces, schools and governments openly support diversity can help to reduce isolation and encourage acceptance. It also sends a powerful message to all of us that people must be valued for who they are and that discrimination and hate have no place in our society. It’s 2026, there should be no tolerance or acceptance for hate and prejudice towards others who don’t fit into your idea of what is normal.

As we celebrate Pride, let us continue building communities rooted in respect, inclusion and acceptance, where everyone is empowered to live authentically and proudly.

As a proud out, queer Member of this Progressive Conservative government, I invite all Members of this House to join me at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 1, for the annual Pride flag-raising ceremony here at Confederation Building.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.

P. PARSONS: Thank you, Speaker.

I also stand to join in recognizing June as Pride Month here in Newfoundland and Labrador. In previous years, it was my privilege as minister to take

part in the raising of the Pride flag to mark the beginning of this very important month. I know how meaningful that moment is for many across our province and I’m glad to see that continue.

Pride Month is an opportunity to celebrate diversity, inclusion and the contributions of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community here in our province. It is also a reminder that everyone deserves to feel safe, respected and accepted for who they are.

I also want to recognize the advocates, organizations, volunteers and allies who continue working to create a more inclusive and welcoming Newfoundland and Labrador.

As Pride Month begins, I hope we continue working toward communities where everyone feels supported, respected and empowered to live openly and authentically.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s East - Quidi Vidi.

S. O’LEARY: Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the minister for an advance copy of the statement.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oh, I wasn’t notified of that one. Sorry.

The hon. the Minister of Social Supports and Well-Being for a Ministerial Statement.

J. WALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Leader of the Official Opposition for giving me the opportunity to stand to speak.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize National AccessAbility Week taking place from May 31 to June 6. This year’s theme, Building a Strong, Accessible Canada, highlights the importance of inclusion, respect and belonging.

National AccessAbility Week is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions and leadership of persons with disabilities, while recognizing ongoing work to remove barriers and create opportunities for people to fully contribute to their communities and to their workplaces.

Guided by the principle of “Nothing about us without us,” we will collaborate with community partners, organizations and advocates to build a more inclusive Newfoundland and Labrador for all of us.

Thank you.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Placentia - St. Mary’s.

S. GAMBIN-WALSH: Speaker, I rise today to join in recognizing National AccessAbility Week and to acknowledge the important contributions of persons with disabilities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

I also want to recognize the many advocates, organizations and community leaders who continue pushing for meaningful change in gender inclusion. Their work has made a real difference for many individuals and families throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

As we mark National AccessAbility Week, I hope all Members of this House remain committed to building a province that is more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

J. DINN: Thank you, Speaker, and I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of the statement.

We also take this time to celebrate the contributions to our communities by those living with disabilities; however, we must also take this opportunity to underscore the fact that 31 per cent of those living with disabilities also live in poverty, well below the provincial average.

If we want to take poverty eradication seriously, we can’t do that without finding more effective means to level the playing field for those living with disabilities.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

SPEAKER: The hon. the Government – the Official – the hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition – my goodness.

J. HOGAN: It’s been a long couple of weeks, Speaker.

SPEAKER: It has been. It has been.

J. HOGAN: No worries.

Speaker, as we all know seniors are so important to Newfoundland and Labrador and what they’ve done to develop and grow our province, and we owe to give back to them now that they’re in their senior age.

When we were in government, we did things like make sure shingles vaccines were available for free for everybody over 50.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

J. HOGAN: We created the ability to make sure seniors could age at home in this province. We had new, innovative solutions in the red book as well.

So I ask the Premier: What is his government doing that’s new and not piggybacking on Liberal ideas for the seniors of our province?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, no piggybacking. We didn’t piggyback on any initiatives they had.

I raised, and many people on this side of the House last year, about increasing the Seniors’ Benefit. I would think Hansard will show that, probably no less than six times, we’ve advocated to increase the Seniors’ Benefit for seniors.

We have increased, by 20 per cent in this budget, for seniors. We’ve also looked at seniors who wish to remain in their own homes, mostly served in rural Newfoundland. We’ve doubled the amount of grants that would be available for people to get work done on their houses for low income. Home Modification, we’ve doubled that.

We care deeply about seniors –

SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. minister’s time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: I agree with the Finance Minister, he’s not piggybacking on Liberal ideas because we promised to double the Aging Well at Home Grant.

So I ask the Minister of Finance: Why won’t he commit to using that Liberal idea to provide seniors the money they need to age well at home?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

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

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition stood up and referred to: there are other levers we can use.

The goal that we would use to put levers and put money into people’s pockets in rural Newfoundland can take many facets and we’ve had many uses of the word “levers.”

How we put money into the seniors’ pockets in Newfoundland and Labrador can come in a variety of ways. The one that I mentioned in response to my first question was one way of putting money into people’s pockets.

We’re on the first year of a four-year term. We’ve said, clearly, the Premier said, that we can’t do everything in the first year.

We care deeply about seniors, Speaker, and we’ll continue to look after the welfare of seniors.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: I think what people are hearing is that seniors weren’t prioritized in this budget, if you’re waiting for year three or year four.

Speaker, this government only budgeted $3.5 million for physician recruitment in this budget. By comparison, when we were in government, annual investments in recruitment and retention incentives exceeded over $10 million.

I ask: How does the Premier expect a significantly smaller investment to deliver better results for patients who are still waiting for access to primary care?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, we are investing in recruitment and retention, but, more importantly, we are looking at, now, the problems, the deep-rooted prob