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May 12, 2022

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. L No. 53

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

SPEAKER (Bennett):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

Before

we begin our session, I'd like to take a moment again to thank all Members for

joining us this morning to participate in the Moose Hide Campaign.

special thank you again to Inuit Elder and respected healer, artist and

educator, Dr. Jean Crane, who led us in reflection this morning. We are one of

two legislatures across the country that are participating, and this year marks

our fifth consecutive year involved in the Moose Hide Campaign.

Moose

Hide Campaign is an Indigenous-led initiative that stands up against violence

towards women and children. It is a valuable opportunity for learning and

reconciliation. While it is an Indigenous-led initiative, it shows all Canadians

how to add their voice to the call to put an end to domestic and gender-based

violence.

Today,

the Members are wearing their moose hide pins to signify our commitment to

honour, respect and protect women and children in our lives and to work together

on this important initiative.

So thank

you again, Members, for participating.

Statements by

Members

SPEAKER:

Today we will hear statements

by the hon. Members for the Districts of Placentia West - Bellevue, Topsail -

Paradise, Labrador West and Humber - Bay of Islands.

The hon.

the Member for Placentia West - Bellevue.

J. DWYER:

Thank you, Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. Chamber today to recognize and congratulate Mr. Ross Murley and Mr.

George Shave from Marystown in our beautiful District of Placentia West -

Bellevue, on receiving the Emergency Medical Services Exemplary Service Medal.

Ross

Murley has dedicated 30 years of his life to emergency medical services. Ross

has given so much of his time to his neighbours, community and province

throughout the years. His pride for his community and his willingness to help

his neighbour is always on full display.

George

Shave has dedicated 35 years to emergency medical services. In addition to

working on the ambulance, George also dedicated many years of service to the

Marystown Volunteer Fire Department and the Burin Peninsula Ground Search and

Rescue.

The

vital service that our paramedics, like Ross and George, provide cannot go

unnoticed. They are always ready and willing to take on any call that comes

their way, as it may mean saving somebody's life.

I ask

all hon. Members and colleagues to join me in thanking Ross Murley and George

Shave for all their years of service to their neighbours and community and

congratulate them on their well-deserved Exemplary Service Medals.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Topsail - Paradise.

P. DINN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I would

like to congratulate the Kin Club of Paradise for all the good they do within

the District of Topsail - Paradise. Last week, during a ceremony at the Paradise

Double Ice Complex they were named Volunteer Group of the Year. Kin member Mary

Anne Dillon was also named Volunteer of the Year.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

P. DINN:

With a current membership of

seven dedicated volunteers, they have made a huge impact and are well known and

respected within the community. They raise funds through various ticket draws,

online auctions, bingo and other various activities. All monies raised go back

into the community in the form of food hampers, school supplies, clothing, gift

cards and anywhere that there is a need .

In the past few months, the Kin Club of Paradise has

provided over 50 food hampers, and the need continues to grow. They are also the

proud major sponsor of the 905 Viking Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

Besides being known for their service work, the club is

big on fellowship. Having fun through service is what keeps them motivated year

after year and they form lifelong friendships.

Speaker, I wish to thank the Kin Club of Paradise for

all the good they do and continue to do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Labrador West.

BROWN:

rise today to give recognition to Colette Pickett-Beals of Mission Kitty Inc.

Mission Kitty was started in 2016 in memory of her cat

Jingles. Mission Kitty is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping the

control of overpopulation of cats in Newfoundland and Labrador. Over the last

six years, Colette has helped a number of rescue groups and shelters across this

province with vet bills, purchasing medical supplies and food.

Thanks to Colette, she has raised over $200,000 through

online auctions and different events. She's helped over 300 families in Labrador

adopt a rescue cat and helped countless animals who need medical attention.

Mission Kitty started as a small Facebook group and continues to grow every day.

Colette is an inspiration and a kind member of our

community, and we are excited for Colette and watch her with admiration as her

passion for helping rescues shines through with each mission she accomplishes.

I ask all hon. Members to join me in congratulating

Colette Pickett-Beals on her accomplishment and thank her for helping countless

rescue animals and rescue groups across this province.

Thank you, Collette.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.

E. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, volunteers are the heart of every community and

their continued dedication and commitment is immeasurable. Today, I would like

to recognize one of these great volunteers.

Audrey Park of Gillams has been a long-time volunteer

with the town. Over the years, she has been involved with the Girl Guides and

Brownies, a member of the Gillams Winter Carnival Committee and participates in

the annual Canadian Cancer Society's Daffodil Campaign.

Audrey is an active member of the St. James Church and

has served in many roles, including churchwarden and a member of the ACW. She

has been involved with the Sunday school program and confirmation classes. She

helps with fundraising for the church and, heading into the Christmas season,

she collects knitted goods for the Jesse Tree, which is then delivered to the

Women's Centre before Christmas.

One of Audrey's treasured causes is doing her part for

Operation Christmas Child. Every year, she collects shoeboxes filled with little

gifts for the children in developing countries. In Audrey's words: “This is a

big part of what Christmas means to me.”

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all Members to join me in recognizing Audrey and thanking her for

her contribution to her town.

Well

done, Audrey.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Speaker, I rise in this hon.

House today to highlight significant investments this year of approximately $140

million to improve housing affordability and prevent homelessness throughout

Newfoundland and Labrador.

These

investments will support the operation, repair and renovation of our public

rental housing and provide affordable homes as well as heat subsidies for almost

12,000 low-income individuals and families.

Rental

assistance programs will also support over 2,000 individuals and families find

safe, affordable homes in the private rental market. Over 50 per cent of these

clients are seniors. Launched this past November, the new $74 million

Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Benefit will expand portable rental

assistance in the private market for an additional 800 households over the next

six years.

Our home

repair program will support low-income homeowners throughout the province, most

of whom are seniors, by assisting them to complete needed repairs and

Investments will also provide emergency accommodations and supports for those

experiencing homelessness or fleeing intimate partner violence.

In this

regard, recently, we announced a significant cost-shared investment of $20.2

million to support the construction of 132 affordable housing units here in the

St. John's area.

Speaker,

we remain committed to working in partnership with federal, municipal and

Indigenous governments, as well as our many community partners throughout the

province to ensure all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have a place to call

home.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

J. DWYER:

I would like to thank the

minister for the advance copy of his statement.

Minister, I join you in recognizing the need for affordable housing investments;

however, it's only a band-aid on a large cut.

welcome the monies for repairs and renovations of public rental housing and heat

subsidies for 12,000 low-income individuals and families; however, is it enough

to allow people to remain in their house during the winter?

It's

great monies that are available to assist with needed repairs and modifications

to remain in their own homes; however, remaining in their own homes will require

a home heat rebate program.

commend you for providing emergency accommodations for those experiencing

homelessness or fleeing intimate partner violence, and I also commend you for

constructing affordable housing options.

closing, Minister, I agree, all residents of Newfoundland and Labrador should

have a place to call home and government needs to ensure necessary measures are

taken to allow our seniors, our homeless, our single moms, our low-income

families and our hard-working citizens to afford the place they call home.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

J. DINN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I, too,

thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. We welcome these

investments into affordable housing, but we also call on government to go much

further to meet the staggering demand.

Please

renovate the many vacant publicly owned units and expand the existing NLHC

housing stock across the province instead of expanding the portable housing

benefit. Also, please bring in legislation that enforces standards on landlords

to whom we pay money for on behalf of our constituents.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Are there any further

statements by ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

Yesterday, the Premier said, and I quote: “… I believe we are doing a good job

….” These are the Premier's words.

Does the

Premier believe that the senior who is thinking about giving up her car and her

independence because she cannot afford gasoline thinks he's doing a good job?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

course, we empathize and sympathize with the individuals and the anxiety that

the cost of living has provoked for them around our province, Mr. Speaker, but

specifically to seniors. We've provided a 10 per cent increase. We've offered

$142 million to address the cost of living. Unfortunately, the cost of living is

beyond our control, whether it's the push and pull of the externalities of

inflation or the war in Europe. Every jurisdiction across the country and indeed

around the world is facing the price of gas and the inflationary pressures

coming out of the pandemic.

We are

always looking at other creative levers and we'll continue to do so, but we

empathize and appreciate the anxieties that this is causing in the people and

across the province, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

And I

appreciate the Premier's view, but empathy won't help this lady, action will

help this lady.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

D. BRAZIL:

Speaker, yesterday we heard

the shocking news from NAPE president Jerry Earle that there are only 87 open

hospital beds left in the province. Between the health care crisis and the cost

of living crisis, the people of our province are at their breaking point.

Does the

Premier believe that people who are waiting in a hospital hallway because there

aren't enough staff to put patients in acute care beds feel the Premier is doing

a good job?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

We have

seen significant challenges in health care delivery in the acute care sector,

among others, exacerbated by COVID. We have worked with NAPE, with CUPE, the RNU

and the NLMA about solutions to address this. We have a recruitment and

retention ADM starting in the short and immediate term. We have worked with the

RNU to stabilize nursing supply on the floors with the aim of giving nurses

who've worked very hard for two years a break this summer.

recognize there are people on hallways. We recognize there are extras on units.

We're working to bring those numbers down.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

For

seven years the people of this province have asked the Liberal administration to

be proactive, not reactive and that's where we are again. That's why we're in a

crisis.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

D. BRAZIL:

Speaker, the House sat late

into the night debating another Liberal tax on fuel.

Do the

people of the province who have to pay this additional tax believe you are doing

a good job?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

understand there was a robust debate last night, and one that's appreciated by

everybody in the province. As the Member opposite knows, this was an instrument

that was created three or four years ago. It was a made-in-Newfoundland solution

that prevented the carbon tax from going on things like agriculture products,

fishing vessels and home heat. So if we don't do this, Mr. Speaker, it triggers

a backstop. It kicks in; the feds are going to do it anyway, Mr. Speaker. This

is, again, beyond our control, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

Yesterday, the Finance Minister said, and I quote: Is it enough? Of course, it's

not enough, when speaking about her cost of living plan.

Does the

Premier agree the budget does not do enough to help people cope with the rising

cost of living?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I think,

Speaker, all of us recognize in this House how difficult it has been on the

people of this province. How difficult it has been on the people of Canada. How

difficult it has been on the people of the world. The cost of living is a

concern and so there is not enough that we can do to alleviate all the concerns

around the cost of living, but we have made a significant attempt at helping

people – $142 million.

Speaker,

we have lowered fees. We have lowered taxes. We have provided increases in the

Income Supplement and provided increases in the Seniors' Benefit. We have

provided, in the St. John's area, free bus passes. Speaker, we have done a

tremendous amount and we would always wish we could do more.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

Many

people are living paycheque to paycheque. Many are one-step away from not being

able to pay their bills. So many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are struggling

with the soaring cost of groceries, home heating fuel and gasoline. The people

of the province want action.

Why does

this Liberal administration only offer excuses?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER A. FUREY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the

minister said before, we are coming up with creative ways. We believe that we

have addressed this in a holistic way with $142 million. The Member opposite

talks about bills. We did look specifically at bills: electric bills, Mr.

Speaker.

We did a

$5.2-billion deal to ensure that those electricity rates, those bills to the

people of the province, to the businesses of the province, didn't double, Mr.

Speaker. So talk about mitigating the cost of living, that is a mitigation of

the cost of living.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

D. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Speaker.

Well,

what was negotiated was our own money, parts of it coming back to us – not

everything that we should be entitled to – from his friends in Ottawa.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

D. BRAZIL:

Yesterday I asked the Premier

if there would be a freeze on freight transportation rates for coastal Labrador

this summer, but he refused to answer. The province is facing a cost-of-living

crisis and coastal Labrador is particularly vulnerable.

I ask

the Premier yet again: Will residents on the North Coast be forced to pay more

for essentials because of this cost of living and their inaction?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister

Responsible for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation, and Labrador Affairs.

L. DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Speaker.

I am

pleased to see the Member raise Labrador and the issues in Labrador; it is

something that is near and dear to my heart and I always look forward to working

closely with the leadership in those communities for the betterment of

Labradorians.

What I

can tell the hon. Member is the rates this summer will be the same as they were

last summer and that was the same as they were the summer before and the summer

before.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Speaker, it would take

changing four words in the legislation to prevent sexual assault victims from

having to reveal their identities in a civil case. The minister says he will

consider it; we, in the Opposition, want to see it happen now.

I ask

the minister: Will you commit to getting this legislative change done before the

end of the House sitting?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker, and thank

you for the question.

Yes, we

have committed to looking at that issue; it is a very important issue. We don't

want to see victims have to be retraumatized as they go through the court

process. Court processes are difficult on any day; trust me, I have been through

a lot and it is hard on people, and I can only imagine how hard it is on

individuals who have been victimized through sexual assault or other domestic

violence situations.

We have

also said that we need to talk to stakeholders, members of the bar in this

province, the judges' association and other groups to talk about how best to do

this. I can assure you that it is not as simple as words in the legislation

because there is rules of court that need to be changed as well. There is a

committee of the Law Society that deals with the rules of court. So we do need

to be a bit more expansive rather than just rushing it tomorrow just to change

four words; it is much more complicated than that.

But I

don't care that it is complicated, we're still going to look at it and we're

going to do it right when it is time to do it.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Speaker, consultations

have already happened with the Intimate

Images Protection Act . This is all about gender-based violence. Surely, this

issue, we know it has been raised for years. Any more time left waiting for

change means keeping barriers in place for victims. We have the political will;

I am more than willing to work with the minister on consultations. There is no

reason this can't be done quickly.

Why is

the minister allowing barriers for sexual assault

survivors to remain in place?

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I guess I'll just repeat what I said to the question.

It is the same question. It does take some time to make sure we do it right. It

is not as simple as just snapping your fingers and adding a couple of words to a

piece of legislation. We have seen that happen in the House before when

legislation is rushed through and it can end up in a disaster. I don't want any

disaster to face any women who deal with this court process and it is very

difficult for them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

HOGAN:

has been hard enough – it is unacceptable that it happened in the first place

and it is unacceptable if they have to go through extra traumatization in the

court system if we can do something about it and we have committed to looking at

it to ensure that they don't have to. And it is their option of how they want to

deal with the situation and I think the women's groups as well, who have been

victimized, should have a say in this matter as well and not just me and one

Member in this House of Assembly.

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

WAKEHAM:

Thank you, Speaker.

Yesterday the Minister of Finance said she was

considering a home heat rebate for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I say to the minister: No more excuses; when will you

implement the home heat rebate?

SPEAKER:

The

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

COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

As the Member opposite knows and as the people of the

province know we do have a program called Income Supplement, as well as the

Seniors' Benefit, that the home heat rebate was rolled into back in 2016. That

program was, in 2014-15, worth $60 million. It is now worth $137 million,

Speaker. So we are returning double the amount of money back to people.

What I did refer yesterday is yes, we will always

consider programs to support the people of the province. We recognize that the

cost of living is continuing to be a challenge. As I have said publicly for the

last week, as the Premier said publicly we will certainly look at everything

that we can do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

WAKEHAM:

Speaker, as we have said in the past, the time for looking is passed. It is time

for actually taking some action and doing some stuff. So, again, people need the

price of gasoline to go down.

I ask the minister: She has many tax experts in the

department; has she consulted with her tax experts to find ways to reduce the

tax on gasoline?

SPEAKER:

The

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

COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

As the Member opposite knows and the people of the

province know, we have put in $142 million of measures to help address the cost

of living. We are still seeing this as a concern and, as we move towards fall,

we will see what our fiscal situation is as to whether or not we can do a little

bit more, Speaker.

We are borrowing the $142 million that our children and

our grandchildren will have to repay, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

COADY:

we have to be very responsible. I will say yes, I consult every day with my

officials in my department. We discuss the tax system and how we can work it. I

have said in this House before that the lever of the provincial gas tax, we have

already provided back to the people of the province. We collect $141 million; we

have pr ovided back

$142 million.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Speaker, the minister has

admitted that what she has in her budget right now is just not enough. The

people of Newfoundland and Labrador say it's just not enough, and I'd be more

than willing to come over and sit with the minister and her officials and go

through the $9-billion budget and find ways to address the issue without

increasing the deficit.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

T. WAKEHAM:

So I ask the minister: No

more excuses, listen to your own advice when you said it's not enough, and talk

about when will we have home heat rebate program for the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I'll not

be schooled by the Member opposite, who said in this House that he would take

the $70 million that we have in employment in this province, the $70 million

that we're waiting for positions to be filled, and he would take that money. So

imagine, Speaker, $70 million in employment. How many jobs that would be? And

he's already said he would take that money and use it elsewhere.

I would

say to the Member opposite, we're doing everything that we can do, $142 million

we've already returned, and no, I'm not in favour of losing jobs in this

province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Speaker, I feel obligated to

correct the minister.

I'm not

talking about eliminating jobs. The $70 million she has is a surplus for the

last three years because the people find the public service no longer to be an

employer of choice.

Why has

she failed to fill the jobs in the public service for the last three years?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Speaker, in core government,

we have 7,500 skilled professionals. This is a very honourable profession, and

I'm very proud of the 7,500 individuals who are in the public service. I'll say

that again, very proud.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

S. COADY:

I will say that what I will

not do is remove from the boards the advertising positions that may go unfilled

because we're advertising for them – someone retires, we have to put them up on

the boards, we have to put them out there for the people of the province to look

at and see whether or not they would like to apply for those positions. Yes,

it's a timing issue. If I take them off the board, if I do not fill those

positions, that is a job loss.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker,

our office is hearing from post-secondary students who are finding it

increasingly difficult to travel to school due to high gas prices. Specifically,

students who cannot afford to pay rent in St. John's are travelling back and

forth to MUN and CNA from elsewhere on the Avalon, and have seen their fuel

bills double.

Speaker,

why is the minister supporting another tax increase that would place more

hardships on these students?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education.

T. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Any

student in this province from Newfoundland and Labrador can apply for student

grants –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

T. OSBORNE:

– or student loans. Mr.

Speaker, we have one of, I would say, the most attractive grant and loan program

in the entire country. We've enhanced it in this year's budget starting for

students this September. In fact, the loans that students get in this province,

once they graduate, they qualify for full forgiveness on those loans.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

So I guess students have to

get student loans now to get to school – pretty good. I think they should invest

in peddle bikes for everybody.

Speaker,

tuition is up, food costs are up, rents are up and gas prices have exploded,

with the minister ready to impose more Liberal taxes on fuel.

Why is

the minister not offering students in this province anything other than further

tax increases?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education.

T. OSBORNE:

Mr. Speaker, we've enhanced,

again, the grants and loan programs this year. It is, as I said, the most

attractive in the country, with student loans being fully forgivable. So yes, a

student would get a loan, but if they complete their course load and they

graduate, they are entitled for full student loan forgiveness in this province.

That is an incentive to ensure that they complete their course load and

graduate.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

If for some reason they don't

complete it, they're still on the hook for all that money, so it's still

conditions.

Speaker,

yesterday the minister blamed towns and Metrobus for lack of a bus pass program

outside St. John's. Many small businesses provide communities with daily bus

service to St. John's, which has increased substantially in cost due to higher

fuel expenses.

Why is

the minister making excuses for not supporting rural transportation services?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Thank you, Speaker, for the

opportunity to respond to the Member.

Following from yesterday, a couple of things: Obviously, we expanded the bus

program here in the St. John's-Metro area, including Paradise and Mount Pearl.

We also have a community bus transportation program, and we are supporting

communities in Bay St. George, Benoit's Cove, also in terms of Twillingate,

Happy Valley-Goose Bay and other communities throughout the province. We are

open to more applications from more communities to make sure we can support them

in their transportation needs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

B. PETTEN:

Nearly 200 communities in

this province; that's not a very long list, Mr. Speaker.

Speaker,

it's disgraceful the minister is picking and choosing which seniors can avail of

this program, yet here they are voting to place additional Liberal taxes on a

fuel, which will then be passed on to consumers.

Speaker,

does the minister realize there's life beyond the overpass?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Well, Speaker, a very simple

answer to that would be –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

J. ABBOTT:

– yes, I do, and yes, we do,

and I can continue on with the list of communities that we are supporting with

our Community Transportation Program.

The

point I want to make here is that as communities are addressing their

transportation needs for the seniors and others, we're there to support them and

we have an open application process. We will be out very soon to make sure we

get those applications and we'll support them. That's the direction we're

heading.

As I

said yesterday, I'd like to see Conception Bay South address their

transportation needs and we'll support them in that as well.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

J. DWYER:

Speaker, many seniors in our

province are at the breaking point: Having to decide between turning up the heat

and putting food on the table. As these seniors struggle with the soaring cost

of living, they only get excuses from this Liberal government.

I ask

the minister: Has he asked the Seniors' Advocate to look at options to offer

more help to our seniors?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Again, Speaker, thank you,

and I thank the Member for the question.

A couple

of things here: One, is we have our seniors' policy office. Obviously, it's

working closely with the community in identifying and addressing the needs for

our seniors' community. We have our Provincial Advisory Council on Aging and

Seniors who I meet with regularly to make sure we get a good sense of what is

happening for seniors and getting the advice and recommendations from them. And

obviously, we have the Seniors' Advocate office and we'll be in a position, I

think, shortly to make sure the Advocate is in place. Meanwhile, we're working

with that office while we can address the issues coming forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

J. DWYER:

Speaker, I just got the

answer I guess I was looking for, because without a Seniors' Advocate appointed

this Liberal government is ignoring the impact of high prices on seniors. It's

been almost a year that this office has sat vacant. This government clearly does

not want to hear the concerns of seniors if they keep the office they created

vacant.

When

will a Seniors' Advocate be appointed?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development.

J. ABBOTT:

Speaker, thank you again for

the opportunity to respond.

Again,

in the five-point plan we are addressing the current needs of seniors when it

comes to cost of living, and the Minister of Finance is committed to looking at

other options as we go forward during the course of the year.

When it

comes to the appointment of the Seniors' Advocate, which is a valued Officer of

this House, that will be addressed in very short order.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape

St. Francis.

J. WALL:

Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker,

municipalities across the province are struggling with higher fuel costs –

everything from furnace oil to diesel. But municipalities currently have their

budgets in place, and they're not allowed to run additional taxes during the

year. They're also not allowed to run deficits.

Speaker,

what are the struggling municipalities supposed to do?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal and Provincial Affairs.

K. HOWELL:

Thank you, Speaker, and I

appreciate the opportunity to answer the question.

We fully

recognize the impacts that the current economic situation is having on

municipalities, and with that in mind, we were pleased to be able to secure $22

million – actually, not less than $22 million for the next three years to

support municipalities. And in such a volatile environment that predictability

and stability is going to give municipalities the ability to move forward with

projects that matter to them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

K. HOWELL:

In the big picture, Speaker,

we are working on initiatives that can create sustainable communities and keep

communities viable. And that's part of our plan for regionalization. We're

working on that as we speak; the analysis is still being conducted because I'm

not prepared to come forward with a plan that's half-baked, I do want to have

something that's reasonable and appropriate and it's going to take some time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape

St. Francis.

J. WALL:

Speaker, I wouldn't expect a

plan that's half-baked, and I know the minister wouldn't put one forward. But I

do know that MOGs have not increased for the past number of years. So there's

many communities facing staff layoffs; they are currently having service

reductions, and are cancelling programs at a municipal level.

Again,

when is the minister going to offer additional assistance to struggling

municipalities?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal and Provincial Affairs.

K. HOWELL:

Thank you, Speaker.

Again, I

reiterate, we understand the struggles that communities are managing at this

time, and we've done work to make sure that we have this stable funding in place

for communities. In addition to that, we're also working with $2 million in

special assistance grants; we have $4.9 million for community enhancement

programs; we have $112 million in a Canada Community-Building Fund; $73 million

for infrastructure projects; $32 million for provincial municipal infrastructure

projects; and along with that, we have a number of measures that have been

identified in the Budget 2022 that

ensures money stays in the pockets of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

And any

money in the pockets of community members is money in the pockets of the

municipality.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Topsail - Paradise.

P. DINN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker,

a paramedic on the Connaigre Peninsula is speaking out about hospital diversions

in the region, which is adding hours to emergency trips. She said – and I quote

– “… if you could get them to Harbour Breton, they had a chance.” She further

says, “… your patient's chances of survival is diminishing ….”

I ask

the minister: Does he agree with this paramedic that a patient's chance of

survival is now diminished in the Harbour Breton area?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

We have

certainly seen significant challenges in recruitment and retention of health

care personnel; paramedics and family physicians have been chief amongst our

concerns, as well as nurses. We have taken steps to address them.

I am

pleased to inform the House that the emergency room in Harbour Breton is no

longer on diversion. In terms of paramedics in communities, they have the

ability to contact Online Medical Control Services for advice and can arrange

intercepts from higher skill levels from regional centres.

I take

the Member's point, the diversion is over and the service has been restored.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Topsail - Paradise.

P. DINN:

Thank you, Speaker.

NAPE

president has stated – and I quote – “Despite what the Minister of Health says,

our healthcare system and the workers that make it happen are at a breaking

point.”

I ask

the minister: Does he agree with NAPE that our front-line health care workers

are at a breaking point?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

J. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

Certainly, over the course of the last few months I have had several meetings,

personally, with Mr. Earle and some of his members, some of whom were

paramedics, as well as the Registered Nurses' Union and other Allied Health

Professionals. It is very clear that COVID has taken a toll on them,

particularly this last wave.

We have

taken significant steps to try and mitigate that. We have increased the number

of graduates in our paramedic program. We have increased – actually repatriated

the ACP program. We increased the number of LPN seats by 90 per cent two years

ago, so those classes have graduated and are now all employed. We increased the

number of PCA enrolment by 70 per cent; they have had two classes graduated and

they are all employed.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker,

many people in Newfoundland and Labrador are crying out for help, real help,

including those who do not fit the narrow criteria for the supports that this

Liberal government have put in place.

I ask

the minister: Will she commit to putting in place more measures that help a

larger range of people who are hurting in this province right now?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I will

say that we tried to create a broad brush of the supports that we provided. We

provided 10 per cent increases to the Income Supplement, 10 per cent increase to

the Seniors' Benefit and we've provided additional monies for income support. We

sent them a cheque for either $200 or $400. That roughly impacted about 160,000

individuals in the province, 160,000 people.

Then we

went further and we added anybody who has a vehicle in this province has a 50

per cent reduction in the fees. Anybody who has, for example, either home

insurance, they get a 15 per cent reduction or the elimination of the tax on

insurance. So we created a program that was a wide swath.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Speaker, I ask the minister:

Will she commit to rising the home heating rebate, offering it to more people

and then removing the HST on electricity for those who do not heat their homes

with oil? Will she actually commit to actually helping more people?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I think

I've been very clear that we're trying to help as many people in the province as

possible. That's why the measures that we've brought in, first of all, help the

most vulnerable. Then, we wanted to help more people in the province. Certainly,

we'll take it and see what we can do as we progress through this year, but we've

already provided $142 million in assistance to the people of the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Speaker, the minister spoke

yesterday about securing the future for our children and our grandchildren.

I ask

the minister: Since our province has the lowest effective corporate tax rate in

all of Canada, will she commit today to raising and increasing the taxes to help

future generations and help more people?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I'm not

sure where he's getting his information from, but we don't have the lowest tax

in the country. I wish in a lot of ways we were able to lower our taxes and

create and stimulate more job opportunities. But I will say that we are

balancing within our fiscal framework the provision of taxes to provide for the

provision of goods and services and support to the people of the province. We'll

continue with those measures, Speaker. We'll continue to work very, very hard to

generate growth in our economy.

We've

certainly seen that growth with increased employment in more retail sales, I

mentioned to you most recently, and, of course, the work that my hon. colleague

has been doing in the Industry, Energy and Technology has been outstanding.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Speaker, I ask the minister:

Will she commit to bold solutions such as regional transportation programs, even

a subsidy for taxis for people coming in from outside of the city or any other

needs for transportation? Will she help more people?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

I thank the Member opposite

for his passionate question. We're trying to help as many people in this

province as possible.

I listen

to my hon. colleague Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development talk

about expanding transit programs and he will be happy to speak about expanding

transit programs around the province. It is something that I think he would be

very interested in discussing with other jurisdictions.

I would

say here in the City of St. John's, Mount Pearl and Paradise we were able to

give bus passes to those who are most vulnerable. That has been, I think, a big

help to those families but we will continue to do what we can to help as many

people in this province as possible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I ask

the minister: Will she commit to using the revenue the government receives from

the sugar tax to put directly towards subsidizing healthy food for the people of

this province? Will she help more people?

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

certainly have committed to using any money that is raised through the sugar tax

to support healthy living in this province. It is the goal of this government.

That is one of the big levers that we want to move in the next five to 10 years.

We have very poor outcomes for our health in this province, we realize that and

we are trying to make it better.

I hear

the Members opposite talk about diabetes in this province. One of the big

drivers of diabetes, of course, in Type 2 is sugar consumption. That's why we

have introduced this tax and we certainly have committed to putting it back into

improving health.

Like,

for example, in this budget we have doubled the budget for, I think it is, the

School Lunch program.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The time for Question Period

has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling

of Documents.

Notices

of Motion.

Notices of Motion

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

I give

notice that I will on tomorrow move in accordance with Standing Order 11(1) that

this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 16, 2022.

SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

J. DWYER:

Thank you, Speaker.

The

reason for this petition is as follows:

Roads in

our province are in various states of disrepair and it is throughout the

province. Many rural communities are concerned that the deplorable conditions

will keep visitors away from this year's celebrations for Come Home Year.

We are

inviting the world to come to our province this summer, yet many rural roads are

unfit to travel and many vehicles are damaged by huge potholes, unrepaired

washouts, uneven shoulders, and the signage is deplorable. This is a real

deterrent to the tourists and the family members from our province who wish to

join in our celebrations this summer.

Therefore, we petition the House of Assembly as follows: To urge the Government

of Newfoundland and Labrador to increase the Provincial Roads Program budget to

address the need for repairs of many rural roads in our province.

Speaker,

this is coming to me daily. I mean, I've got 36 towns in my district, 16 fire

departments that all have to travel over these roads. A lot of them got pavement

many years ago and haven't got so much as a culvert replaced since. Places like

Jean de Baie, places like Rock Harbour, Spanish Room, Terrenceville, Grand Le

Like I

said, I'm just going off the top of my head of ones that are almost impassable.

Like I said, it's nice to see that we're inviting the world, but I've got a

world-renowned trail down in Chance Cove and the most challenging part of the

trail is getting your car to the base of the trail in order to enjoy the trail.

The

roads are deplorable, they need fixing and they need some work. Like I said, I

went through the engageNL process on behalf of the residents of my district and

the towns of my district, and I had 186 submissions, Mr. Speaker – I had 186

submissions.

So to

say that our roads are in good shape is far from the truth. While I do commend

the workmanship that is done by our depots, I appreciate the fact of the work

that they are doing, but they are overburdened and we need to get some of these

contracts out, get the roads repaired before we start inviting people to our

province.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Infrastructure for a response.

E. LOVELESS:

Just a quick response. The

crowd across the way always talk about doing it different. I say to the Member,

you got up; you listed everything that was wrong. You should have had on your

list what we've gotten right. Because we've invested a lot of money into your

district, so I just want to point that out. If you want to do it right, say it

right.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Exploits.

P. FORSEY:

Thank you, Speaker.

Residents of the Exploits District have great concerns from the result of the

24-hour emergency service cut to the Dr. Hugh Twomey Health Care Centre in

Botwood. All residents feel that the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

P. FORSEY:

– service does not adequately

and efficiently address the emergency requirements of this district affecting

both patients and residents to receive adequate care when needed.

We, the

undersigned, call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador to restore the 24-hour emergency service at the Dr.

Hugh Twomey Health Care Centre immediately.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

It's

hard to hear the petition.

The hon.

the Member for Exploits.

P. FORSEY:

Thank you, Speaker. Again,

thank you for your protection.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

P. FORSEY:

In 2016, the Liberal

government, of course, stripped the 24-hour emergency service at the Dr. Hugh

Twomey Health Care Centre. Two more elections after that, two more promises to

reinstate the 24-hour emergency service at the Dr. Hugh Twomey Health Care

Centre. They can come out and make promises during the elections; they can't

keep their promises.

Now they

have the Health Accord and the health authority and they can divert back to

those people and use those for fillers, but they did not promise the 24-hour

emergency service, the Liberal government did. The minister knows himself that

the emergency service at the regional hospital at Grand Falls-Windsor right now

is busting at the seams. They have people out in the hallways.

Please

open the 24-hour emergency service at the Botwood Hugh Twomey centre and take

the stress off the Grand Falls-Windsor health care centre so that people can be

looked at in adequate times and efficiently at the Dr. Hugh Twomey Health Care

Centre.

We'd

like to get a response from that minister and I'd like to see you come out –

I'll go down with you – to cut the ribbon at the long-term care unit at the Hugh

Twomey centre and we can officially open the 24-hour service.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

Once

again, I present a petition on behalf of the seniors and the residents of

Labrador West to support them.

The

reason for the petition:

The need

for senior accessible housing and home care services in Labrador West is

steadily increasing. Lifelong residents of the region are facing the possibility

of needing to leave their homes in order to afford to live, or receive adequate

care. Additional housing options, including assisted living care facilities,

like those found throughout the rest of the province for seniors have become a

requirement for Labrador West. The requirement is currently not being met.

WHEREAS

the seniors of our province are entitled to peace and comfort in their homes

where they spent a lifetime contributing to its prosperity and growth; and –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

It's

almost impossible to hear the Member speak.

The hon.

the Member for Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

WHEREAS

the means for the increasing number of senior residents in Labrador West to

happily age in place are currently not available in the region;

WHEREUPON we, the undersigned, your petitioners, call upon the House of Assembly

to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to allow seniors in Labrador

West to age in place and provide affordable housing options for seniors and

assisted care living facilities like those elsewhere.

Mr.

Speaker, once again I have to say the people of Labrador West are looking for

this. They want this; they've been asking for years. There have been reports

done. This is something that needs to be done, and it's something that's

extremely serious. It needs to be taken seriously by the government.

Once

again, we're just asking that we be treated equally like the rest of this

province, and have seniors not have to move 600 to 1,000 kilometres away, away

from their families, their children, their grandchildren, their friends and

family. You don't expect it anywhere else in this province, but it happens to

us, and we just do not feel that we're being treated equally when it comes to

seniors' care.

So I ask

that we take this seriously, take a serious look at it because, you know, we're

all going to age at some point in time. I don't plan on leaving Labrador West

and, at some point; I am going to need care, my family and my parents

eventually. As I said, family moved away, unfortunately, when they reached their

senior years and other families too. We hear the stories, it is in the media and

they talk about it. So just start treating our region equally like the rest of

this province gets treated when looking for care.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I ask

Members again, it is next to impossible to hear the Member speaking so if you

want to have conversations, take them outside, please.

Thank

you.

The hon.

the Member for Bonavista.

C. PARDY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I think

the hon. Member for Labrador West has a little bit of time yet before he is

worried about the environment but good that he advocates for the seniors in his

area.

I have a

petition that I have presented before and it reads as follows:

With a

population in excess of 6,000 in the Bonavista area, there is a severe shortage

of child care options for young working families, which is leading to absences

from employment and a deep frustration that is being expressed far and wide.

We, the

undersigned, call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador to immediately address the lack of regulated child

care facilities in the Bonavista area by being more respondent to the proposals

already submitted and creative with underutilized spaces that already exist

within the current K-to-12 system.

I don't

think, and I stand to be corrected, but to my knowledge and what's stated, there

are no regulated child care services on the Bonavista Peninsula. I know there

are other areas and I know that the government is intent on achieving, growing

and creating as many of these spaces as we possibly could. One indirect fallout

from it is that we have health care institutions in Bonavista with some young

staff and these young staff have children that they can't find child care

services for.

The

petition was presented to me and I would think there were probably as many as 60

to 80 signatures, many from the long-term care home, at the Golden Heights

Manor, and there were many from the Bonavista hospital. These people with young

children cannot find child care in the area. I know it is not as easy as that,

but we have two proposals submitted from the Bonavista area that maybe we can

give attention and work with those two proposals and bring it to fruition that

at least there are no work interruptions and there are no undue absences from

these working environments.

Both of

these environments I mentioned are not, I don't think, fully staffed or don't

have the support staff, the substitutes, to avail of. So if we want to keep

younger families in areas, which is a big centre in the Bonavista area, again

serving over 6,000 people, we need to make a good, strong, concerted effort in

the area. I do note in that, too, that we do have space at the local K-to-12

schools which may be able to be utilized in some capacity.

So I

present that again for the second time by just the fact of just bringing it to

the attention of government. Hopefully, it's something that we can do in

relatively short course.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Ferryland.

L. O'DRISCOLL:

Thank you, Speaker.

The

background to this position is as follows:

Route 10

on the Southern Avalon forms a large

section of the Irish Loop. This is a

significant piece of infrastructure and is the main highway along the Irish

Loop. This highway plays a major role in the residential and commercial growth

of the region.

Therefore, we petition the House of Assembly as follows: We, the undersigned,

call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and

Labrador that immediate brush cutting is required on Route 10 on the Southern

Shore Highway as large sections of brush along this highway are a significant

safety hazard for the high volume of travelling motorists who travel this

highway daily. This work is essential in the prevention of moose-vehicle

accidents along Route 10.

Last

week, I think, I was up in the Trepassey area to a meeting and when I was

driving through the district – and Trepassey was one area that I drove along –

the alders were growing out over the guardrail right now. And those alders

growing out over the guardrail, they don't even have any leaves on them yet. So

when they get the leaves on them the signs will be in the trees as well for

turns or sharp turns, they're not going to be visible in another two or three

weeks. Hopefully, we can get the minister to get up and to have a look at it.

The minister's not going to look at it, but somebody in the department to get up

and look at it.

Brush

cutting makes it easier for motorists also to spot moose along the highway. You

have to invest and do stuff in the area to keep this safe, not just when you're

paving roads. There are more areas that you could just cut some brush to make

the areas more visible and safer to drive. When you're cutting the brush you're

cleaning the ditches, you're clearing the drains and you're causing fewer

washouts. So we need to see some more maintenance in the area. Hopefully, it's

something that the minister can look at and try to solve.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

Speaker,

I call from the Order Paper, Motion 5.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Speaker, I move, seconded by

the Deputy Government House Leader, that under Standing Order 11(1) this House

not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. today, Thursday, May 12, 2022.

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

carried.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Speaker, I call from the

Order Paper, Motion 4.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Speaker, I move, seconded by

the Deputy Government House Leader, that notwithstanding Standing Order 9 on

Tuesday, May 17, 2022, this House shall meet at 3 p.m. for Routine Proceedings

and to conduct Government Business and, if not earlier adjourned, the Speaker

shall then 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

carried.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I call

from the Order Paper, Motion 3 that this House concur in the report of the

Standing Orders Committee dated May 9, 2022.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I'll

just speak to this very quickly. We previously concurred with a report of the

Standing Orders Committee in relation to Standing Order 63.

I move,

seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader, that the House concur in the

report of the Standing Orders Committee dated May 9, 2022.

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

carried.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

J. HOGAN:

Thank you, Speaker.

The

House has previously concurred on a report of the Standing Orders Committee in

relation to Standing Order 63, Private Member's Day. What we did was change

section 63(5) of the Standing Orders

and changed how long Members can speak to a private Member's resolution. We

reduced it from 15 minutes to 10 minutes for each Member, with the thinking

behind that, obviously, the fewer minutes each Member can speak, would allow

more Members to speak to each Member's private Member's resolution on

Wednesdays.

But we

made a mistake when we did that. We should have also amended

section 63(6) of

the Standing Orders as well, which allows for debate to close right now at 4:45.

The person who introduces the private Member's motion is allowed to speak at

4:45, but, obviously, then if we have it at 4:45 and now only allowed to speak

for 10 minutes, we'll lose five minutes of debate.

So this

updated report, which we're asking the House to concur with today, the Standing

Orders Committee report dated May 9, 2022, will just simply change Standing

Order 63(6) from 4:45 o'clock to 4:50 o'clock on the day of the debate.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Harbour Main.

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:

Yes, Speaker, that really

is just an administrative error, I believe, that had occurred and by redressing

the error that will provide the proper efficiency in the House.

So we

certainly have no issue with that. We think that's a necessary issue that has to

be addressed. So we agree and concur.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Lake

Melville.

P. TRIMPER:

Thank you, Speaker.

I was

just going to make sure that we had enough elaboration on it, because I think

it's a very good move. It's a good catch. As someone who watches closely the

PMRs on a Wednesday, I would like to say I think that the moves have been very

good, the 10-minute allocations, because we're often very limited, especially

the Independents in having an opportunity to speak. So by taking that five

minutes off each of those sessions and then catching it up with the wrap-up on

whoever's leading the PMR, I think is a very good move. I just want to thank all

those involved on the Standing Orders Committee.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

Seeing no other speakers, is

the House ready for the question?

All

those in favour of the motion, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Motion

carried.

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you, Speaker.

I call

from the Order Paper second reading of Bill 54.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker.

I move,

seconded by the Government House Leader, that Bill 54,

An Act To Amend The

Income Tax Act, 2000, be now read a second time.

SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

Bill 54,

An Act To Amend The Income Tax Act, 2000, be now read a second time.

motion, second reading of a bill, “An Act To Amend The Income Tax Act, 2000.”

(Bill 54)

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you, Speaker, for the

opportunity to speak today on this important bill.

We're

trying to achieve three things in these amendments to the Income Tax Act. The

first I'll just say generally is to introduce two new tax credits that were

outlined – and I'll get into details of them – in the budgetary process. The

second is really technical amendments to make sure that we have gender-neutral

language in this act. The third is, of course, technical amendments that have

been identified through the Canada Revenue Agency, which administers this act

for us, that we're both aligned federally and provincially in our acts.

that's really what we're trying to achieve in this bill today. Let me get into

the tax credits that were involved, that were available in

Budget 2022 to assist the business community. Of course, all of us

in this House of Assembly would like to ensure a robust economy and job creation

and that's why we've brought in these two new tax credits that

the

bill speaks to and then I will also speak about a third tax credit that was also

announced in budget.

The first of which I will talk about is the new 20 per

cent Green Technology Tax Credit for Canadian Controlled Private Corporations

that invest in equipment for energy conservation and clean energy generation,

use fuels for waste or make efficient use of fossil fuels. The maximum annual

credit is a million dollars per company, of which up to 40 per cent is a

refundable tax credit.

This is to purchase equipment that improves energy

consumption for example. And, as I said, it is an annual credit of up to a

million dollars and this is available to Canadian-controlled corporations that

are housed in Newfoundland and Labrador. We want to make sure that we are

enticing and encouraging people to move towards more green technology. For

example, if they are using wind or solar as part of their energy generation now

or if they are putting in place any kind of technology that will assist them to

ensuring that a clean energy generation or energy conservation within their

company.

So it is a good Green Technology Tax Credit. We have

been talking about in the last 24 hours, quite substantively, the need to

address climate change and the need to continuously ensure that we are greening

our companies and our technologies to ensure that they have an impact on climate

change and making sure that we are doing everything to address that very serious

issue.

The second is a new 10 per cent Manufacturing and

Processing Investment Tax Credit. That is for manufacturing, fishery, farming,

forestry sectors. Actually, it is to improve productivity and competitiveness,

employment – there is about 1,700 manufacturers and processors in the province,

Speaker, and they have been asking for this tax credit to help stimulate capital

investment. It also supports local competitiveness, productivity, exports,

employment and the transition to net zero.

This credit will be up to 40 per cent refundable for

Canadian-controlled corporations. So another really good tax measure that will

help ensure the competitiveness of our manufacturing and processing sector. I

know the Canadian Manufacturers' Association was very pleased and spoke quite

highly of the introduction of this tax credit when the budget was first

released. I appreciate their words and I appreciate the fact that they came to

see me and we worked together to be able to introduce this tax credit. It will

certainly be of help.

Now,

Speaker, in the budget I did speak to an All Spend Film and Video Production Tax

Credit. There are no changes required to the Income Tax Act. The changes are

already enacted under the Income Tax Act because we already have a tax incentive

program – besides this one, we have an equity program and another tax credit

program, and now an all spend program.

This is

to attract the larger foreign location and services productions to the province

and support local industry growth. That's why we've now introduced an All Spend

Film and Video Production Tax Credit. I will say it's kind of bittersweet for

me, because Paul Pope, who recently passed unexpectedly, was the one who was

instrumental in bringing this forward and saying, look, if we want to have more

Disney-like productions or any kind of a big productions that we've seen now,

this is how to attract them.

This is

common across jurisdictions. This 30 per cent tax credit will apply to total

qualified production costs incurred in the province. It is refundable for a

maximum annual amount of $10 million per project. Again, I will say this is not

in the legislation, but I wanted to bring it forward because these new tax

measures that we're talking about do help to improve our economy and to ensure

job creation and economic activity.

If you

combine the first two credits, the 20 per cent Green Technology Tax Credit, as

well as for companies operating in Newfoundland and Labrador, they could see as

much as a 30 per cent of their investment returned in tax credits. So quite

significant in terms of the Green Technology Tax Credit as well as the

manufacturing and processing investment.

Those

are the new tax credits that we brought forward in budget, very widely

appreciated and well received, I will say, and important, I think, for our

continued growth and diversity of our economy.

Also, in

this bill, we're going to see a number of technical amendments to align the

provincial act with the federal act. We have an agreement with the federal

government for the administration of the province's personal and corporate

income taxes, and the corporation's capital tax.

This tax

collection agreement requires the province will ensure, where appropriate, that

the provisions of the provincial Income Tax Act and regulations that relate to

the administration, enforcement and collection of these taxes are similar to the

provisions of the federal act, and its regulations.

These

are generally routine amendments to the provincial tax act, as requested by

Canada Revenue Agency. They are technical amendments to the tax legislation that

are routinely made by all provinces subsequent to amendments to the federal act

to maintain alignment. They really have no financial impacts and no impacts on

taxpayers; so I will make that clear and make sure that no one is concerned

about that.

Several

clauses in the bill are being introduced retroactively to ensure consistency

with the administration by the Canada Revenue Agency as they have been

administrating as though the changes were already in place so that there was no

impact on taxpayers. Also, because the tax system has been operating as though

these amendments have been made, there are no financial impacts for the

province.

As I

mentioned earlier, we are also taking this opportunity to incorporate

gender-neutral language into the provincial Income Tax Act and we have to

modernize and improve our legislation on an ongoing basis to ensure that we are

following best practice, as well as ensure fairness and equity. The use of

gender-neutral language reflects the diversity of our province and will stand

the test of time.

Speaker,

that is what the changes are in this act – the amendments that I am making to

Bill 54, to amend the Income Tax Act. Our provincial income tax is quite

substantive, as you can see. We're making some technical amendments and we're

also introducing two new tax credits and expanding another tax credit at this

time as well in the budget 2022-23.

The

amendments to the Income Tax Act are being introduced today to allow us to align

the provincial act with the federal act, incorporate gender-neutral language and

implement two new tax credits announced in

Budget 2022 .

Thank

you, Speaker.

I look

forward to the debate.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Thank you, Speaker.

I want

to thank the minister for the overview. I think she has done a good job of

explaining exactly what's happening here in this particular piece of

legislation: a combination of technical language changes and Manufacturing and

Processing Investment Tax Credits.

Certainly, the technical language changes are necessary in order to align with

the federal Income Tax Act and most of

that particular piece is simply, as the minister has suggested, housekeeping.

The language piece, again, is another housekeeping piece that needs to happen.

On the

tax credits, of course, those of us on this side of the House are always glad to

see tax credits being provided, and certainly to the manufacturing and

processing industries, to the green technology and to the film industry these

tax credits are very, very welcome. If we're going to be competitive in this

world, we have to have a tax system that is competitive with other provinces and

with other countries. So these credits, I feel, are a move in the right

direction and something that we can support, and the changes in the bill.

However,

I would like to add that I think it's also very important for us to recognize

some of the challenges we have as a province in retention and recruitment. One

of those issues is in order for us to remain competitive when it comes to health

care professionals or IT professionals or other industry professionals is to

ensure that we have a competitive tax system.

Recently, the Fraser Institute talked about the fact that a couple making over

$100,000 in this province would face some of the highest personal income tax

rates in the country. So that is a deterrent and I would suggest that, as the

minister goes forward and looking at further changes to the Income Tax Act, I

think they really need to start looking at what can be done to ensure – it just

simply can't be about being competitive. In some cases, we need to be creative

and we need to find additional measures that will allow people to want to stay

in their home province, because we are competitive with others. It's not simply

about being competitive on the salary; it's about being competitive on the tax

structure as well, because that's critically important.

So as

they go forward into next year looking at things, I think tax credits are an

opportunity for government to find ways of encouraging people to move to this

province, but also to stay in the province. We've heard lots of talk and

discussion about the shortage of health care workers. We've heard lots of talk

about the shortage of IT workers. Some of that, of course, goes back to ensuring

that we have the right programs here offered in our schools, in our education

system to make available that workforce that is needed by our health care system

and that is needed by our IT system. That's part and parcel of that.

Again, I

think, COVID, if it taught us anything is that there are lots of opportunities

for people to work from home, but when I say home it means that they can work

from literally anywhere in the world. The idea of people, professionals having

to be in an eight-storey tower in downtown Toronto, for example, doesn't apply

anymore. They can actually work from an office in St. John's, Newfoundland, or

Stephenville, Newfoundland, or Bonavista, Newfoundland.

Technology has given us that opportunity to create those advantages. And I

believe that the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador has a distinct advantage

over many other provinces when it comes to quality of life, in terms of where

you choose to live, in terms of safety, in terms of fresh air, in terms of land.

There are so many advantages that this province has over others. I won't say

weather because that's not what attracts people to Newfoundland and Labrador.

In some

cases it does, because you come and you avoid the – you know, we don't

necessarily have the extremes that we see in other places. But I think part of

that challenge is to remain competitive, as I said, not just on the salaries

that we offer, but on our tax structure and finding ways – and I know they've

done some good things, but I think there are other things that can be done,

because we need to retain our young professionals here and we need to attract

others to come here.

Using

your tax system and your tax credits is one way to do that. So I believe there

are, from the personal side of things, additional measures going forward that we

would look to see next year, as we move into next year what additional changes

we might make to make it even more attractive for people to want to stay and

want to live. As I said, it's not always about the salary; it's about your whole

tax structure, that's part of that process.

Again,

today's bill will do a lot for those industries that the minister has

identified, because it will make them competitive and if they're competitive in

Newfoundland and Labrador, then that means they will be able to hire more

people. So there's a trickle-down effect.

Some

people think: do not give industry any credit. Well, hold on a second, we've all

talked about that. Government's role is to provide the environment so that

businesses want to invest in Newfoundland and Labrador and these tax credits go

as part of that; that's part of the whole process of how we become and how we

make it attractive for businesses to invest in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As I

said, on the other side, on the personal side, again, finding ways to make sure

that not only are we competitive on the salary side, but we stay competitive

and, in some cases, find creative ways of making our tax system more attractive

to people who want to move here and to people who want to stay here.

That's

what it's about. We'll support these changes and look forward to further debate.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Topsail - Paradise.

P. DINN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I never

thought I'd be standing in the House and speaking to income tax. It's a word

that makes you shiver. But I commend the minister on her overview of this act,

of these changes. Condensing it down for us so that we knew exactly what's new

and what I would call housekeeping or routine changes or amendments to this act.

I just

want to look at them individually, what the minister spoke to. The first one she

spoke to the introduction of the Green Technology Tax Credit, 20 per cent tax

credit. We've had some wonderful debate in the last number of hours, last night

and yesterday, and I suspect more today, on the carbon tax and climate change.

Of course, we've all agreed climate change is real and we need to so something

about it.

Now,

there'll be some argument over whether a tax such as a carbon tax is an

incentive or if it's a negative reinforcement. I tend to think that kind of tax

is a negative reinforcement because you're forcing people to do something that

they may not want to do, and that's pay more taxes.

But when

we flip it over, this introduction of a green technology tax, that's a positive

tax. When you think about it, it's actually not a tax; it's a tax credit. But

it's positive reinforcement. It's an incentive. It's an incentive that

encourages Canadian-controlled corporations that are operating here in

Newfoundland and Labrador to invest in green changeovers however they operate

their business. That's very positive and I think that will result in more and

more businesses in the province considering going green.

There

will come a time that it won't be a consideration. It will be time that you have

to do it. You're just going to have to do it. Now, we'll argue that was

yesterday. Some will argue that it's in the future, but it doesn't matter.

are here now so, I think, moving forward, this is an incentive and it is a good

incentive, and I hope many businesses and corporations take it over. I think the

minister mentioned up to a million dollars. I mean, that's not chicken feed.

That is a substantial incentive to get companies and corporations to go green.

So I applaud that for sure.

The second new tax or incentive was the manufacturing

tax credit, 10 per cent. As the minister alluded to, if you have a company that

goes green in manufacturing, they could have upwards of a 30 per cent tax

credit. That's huge for companies and corporations to try and encourage them to

set up here and to stay here and, like I said, help the environment.

The minister also spoke to the All Spend Film and Video

Tax Credit. And, look, we have a beautiful province here and just to go home and

turn on some of the shows that are done locally, I know people who probably

don't follow the plot of the show but they look for – oh, look, I know where

that is and I know where that is. But regardless, I think word of mouth is what

promotes our industry here and I think the tax credit here is going to increase

more and more productions here and more and more word of mouth and you are going

to see more and more bigger film industry here in the province.

A lot of these are routine changes to the act. But I

looked at the one here: to ensure continued availability of education credits.

That is a huge tax credit and to continue to do that. That's very foundational

to where we are in terms of dealing with many of the issues here in the

province. If you dig deeper into that – our population decline, we are losing

individuals. We have an aging population. When we are dealing with health care,

we are talking about increasing seats in our education institutions. So if you

can continue to do that educational credits, that's a plus, especially when we

see tuition fees going up.

So you are building on your foundation. That is a

foundational tax credit without a doubt because if I am looking at our human

resources here, that's our biggest resource and our most valuable resource is

our people here in the

province.

As we

know, the cost of not just tuition, but the cost of everything is going up.

Getting back and forth to school, extracurricular activities, all that for our

youth and young individuals who are going to school, and want to train and be

professional, be an apprentice, be whatever they want to be. To ensure that

there's a tax credit there for them is a big help. So that's a plus.

Like I

said when I started, I said I never thought I'd be up talking positively about

income tax, but I relate to my three wonderful daughters who have gone to

school. They've all got either dual diplomas, or degrees, and hopefully my

middle daughter will be working very soon; she graduates next week.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

P. DINN:

She'll be the third of them

all.

But

here's what you've got to applaud; I'm hoping then that the money will come

back. That's my dream. Everyone has a dream and my dream – my dream – Speaker,

you're out of order, shaking your head. I'm hoping, b'y, every week I get a few

dollars back. Well, first I got to get them out of the house, but anyway that's

another story.

But it's

interesting. We live in a world, and especially where we've got – everything's

happening in the world; you've got it here. But when my kids – I call them kids;

they're young women – when they went to work, and they're doing the math, okay

20 bucks an hour, 40 hours a week, oh, that's how much I'm going to get. And

it's interesting, they come home, and they come home with their pay stub, and

they say: Dad, what happened to my money here? And what's this – INC? What am I

paying there, CPP? I'm supposed to get 800 bucks.

So I

hope they're watching – I know they're not, but I hope they're watching and

we'll talk about income tax – but anyway, it's very interesting how we look at

taxation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

level of conversation is getting loud again.

The hon.

the Member for Topsail - Paradise.

P. DINN:

Thank you, Speaker.

But it's

just very interesting how we look at income tax and any kind of taxation. But

this piece here that we look at, even though it's titled the Income Tax Act,

it's tax credits. It's a very positive piece of legislation. The changes were

happening that need to be happening.

Before I

sit down, the one piece that I have to talk about, which is extremely important

in what this brings forward in terms of amendments. I take it back to maybe last

year or maybe a year and a half ago when a piece of legislation was presented in

the House and I proposed some amendments. We were updating and doing some

housekeeping and administration on some of our acts. That was around

gender-neutral language.

I know

it was an oversight at the time, but I've been glad to see that every piece of

legislation that now comes in is looking at gender-neutral language. That's

timely. In fact, it should have probably been in years before, but that's an

important piece of this act as well: making sure that everybody in this province

feel represented when they read our legislation and read our acts.

applaud the minister on this. I think any tax credits that help our economy,

promote people coming here and staying here, helps our young people through

education and becoming professionals, stay here and work here, is a good act.

We'll be supporting this.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista.

C. PARDY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just a

few minutes, and maybe there might be a couple of questions that the minister

might be able to address later. I don't ask them for any other reason than I

just don't know, and I'm sure she will enlighten me in due course.

The

minister had stated in her

preamble that there was no impact on taxpayers. I

noticed in her answer to her question she had stated that she wishes that she

could lower taxes and stimulate the economy, which is all our desire. That

always has to be our goal going forward. But I notice in the budget, in personal

income taxes, there's an $82-million increase projected this year over last

year. I just throw that out to see what would account for that increase of $82

million this year compared to last year. Was it something that we had passed in

the past of doing some adjustment? I can't recall in the past. If it is, that's

wonderful and that's good.

So I do

share that these things are good. I weighed in to give comment, because in my

capacity in the Environment and Climate Change, which I am a climate change

advocate –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

C. PARDY:

I've come to realize that

it's very dangerous at times in this House, because something that may come

across the floor, some labelling, can be pretty precarious and troublesome in my

district.

But it

does call for a 20 per cent green tax credit, which is wonderful. I would think

that in the Canadian energy efficiency policy scorecard it states that our total

energy for industry was 39 per cent, the greatest component of the six divisions

that they had. It surpassed transportation, it surpassed buildings, and industry

was the big one. This will address that. It should help; it should assist. And

when I say address, yes, move it along.

In that

ranking, which I'm sure the minister is aware of and my hon. Member for Lake

Melville would know that in industry we rank last in Canada in that component.

So this will move us along that continuum, which I fully support. For the other

ones and all of the thousands of viewers watching: 39 per cent industry;

transportation is 29 per cent of our total energy; and buildings is 28 per cent.

I know that doesn't add up to 100.

Moving

along and trying to keep to my time frame, which I set was the all-spend video

and film industry. I am a big fan of the film industry. Anybody watching now,

Son of a Critch , which is a big hit

nationally, maybe internationally. But I know it sure is provincially.

I've

always wondered in the Premier's Greene report when she filed her report she

said that $46,000 for every actor and actress that is hired in Newfoundland and

Labrador for these film ventures is what it cost taxpayers in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Now, the

people in Bonavista would be unsettled by that. We've now moved to a $10-million

tax incentive, which is we are adding more. So maybe a comment in your address

about your viewpoints in relation to the Premier's Greene report just to see as

to where that is.

So on

those questions; the technical side is straightforward. My Member for Topsail -

Paradise mentioned the gender-neutral language, right on. And I think to make

sure that it is in every legislation that we have – and we have a lot of work to

do with that, too, but we will get there. So if those questions could come up at

some point in time, just for clarity at sometime during the debate, it would be

wonderful.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker, as always.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Speaker.

I'll

speak briefly to this here now. One thing we have to do, and I think we all need

to do, is give credit where credit is due and to the Member for Topsail -

Paradise who put in that amendment that time to start adding gender-neutral

language in bills. I don't know if it was the beginning of this current sitting

or the last sitting of the House, but he did put in that amendment. I see that

now it's added into every other bill we've seen now, about adding gender-neutral

language to bills. So that is an important thing and it means a lot to a lot of

people as we move forward as a society. So I do thank the government for that,

to start realizing those things and making those changes so we progress as a

society.

I do

want to mention, too, the tax credit on green technology and innovation. That's

a good move. You know, there are a lot of businesses out there that can really

avail of that help. There are businesses out there who would love to do their

part but sometimes they need that extra help to do it and we move things along

to help move towards a society where we encourage environmentalism and to

protect the planet. We only get one planet, so we've got to do what we can to

protect it while we're on this side of the sod.

Also,

the adjustments to the tax credit for education and things like that. We want to

encourage more people to go to school, we want to encourage more people to seek

higher education and better themselves and their lives. Because an education is

lifetime, it follows you everywhere and it's important that those who want to go

to school and those who want to better themselves, we encourage everything that

they want to do.

Another

thing I do want to say is also the film credit, which is great, too. I know we

have a very massive quickly growing film industry in this province; we're the

envy of it seems to be a lot of parts of Canada right now with filming. We've

got beautiful scenery around us and wonderful talent – obviously, maximize that

to the best.

I do

like the changes. I do think there's some stuff there that is wonderful. I'm

sure we'll have more to say about it when we finally go to Committee of the

Whole.

So with

that, I'll take my seat.

Thank

you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

SPEAKER:

Is the House ready for the

question?

I see no

other speakers so I call upon the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury

Board to close debate.

S. COADY:

Thank you very much, Speaker.

I really

appreciate the interjections and the comments that have been made by my

colleagues opposite, the Member for Bonavista, the Member for Stephenville -

Port au Port, the Member for Topsail - Paradise and the Member for Labrador West

and their encouragement toward, especially, I think, the tax credits for

business to encourage business development and, of course, the move towards

green technology.

Allow me to just have a couple of words because there

was some questions that I will just say before we conclude and go to the line by

line and the clause by clause.

First of all, the $82 million in the personal income

tax that was mentioned by the Member for Bonavista that is not rate related. It

is more related to a stronger household income and the strengthening of the

economy, the strengthening of the employment numbers and that is we are

expecting to collect –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

It is hard to hear the Member speak.

The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of

Treasury Board.

COADY:

more in the personal income tax. That is a very positive, a good indicator of

our economic resurgence.

The second question you asked about: Will it help

address industries impact on climate change? Yes is my short answer. I will say

that the idea here, from the 20 per cent Green Technology Tax Credit, is to

ensure that Canadian-controlled and Newfoundland-based corporations will invest

in equipment for energy conservation or clean energy generation.

So if you have a company, for example, and you are

utilizing any type of what I am going to call the new technologies for energy

conservation or, for example, you put in technology that reduces your

consumption of electricity – very positive for environment, helps eliminate that

big impact.

Of course, the federal government is doing an awful lot

around this as well for industry to help them lower their greenhouse gas

emissions and their impact on climate change. It is positive.

HON. MEMBER:

takes more money.

COADY:

This isn't federal money. This is provincial money. Yeah. This is provincial

money for our tax credit, but there is further money from the federal government

to assist businesses to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. So it is very

positive.

I am particularly glad to see so much support for the

tax credits. I did hear from my colleague from Stephenville - Port au Port

saying this would be something to consider in future years how we can utilize

tax credits to entice and ensure that we attract either newcomers or young

graduates to the workforce here in Newfoundland and Labrador. Certainly

something to consider. We are always looking for ways to ensure that the youth

of our communities remain vibrant and strong

economic contributors.

I will

also say that, as I said earlier, I think one of the best things we can do –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

It's

very difficult to hear the minister speak. I ask Members if they want to have

meetings, take them outside, please.

The hon.

the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you very much.

– is to

help ensure we lowered our tax rates when possible, because that does help

overall. So we'll keep an eye to that and see how we can do that as we move

through, as our economy strengthens and rebounds, as we diversify our economy.

As I've said in this House, there's a lot of strength in our economy that we're

seeing coming out of COVID and the work that the Minister of Industry, Energy

and Technology is doing as well. That's very, very positive.

I thank

Members opposite for their support of this bill and I look forward to the clause

by clause.

Thank

you.

SPEAKER:

Is the House ready for the

question?

The

motion is Bill 54 now be read a second time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Motion

carried.

CLERK (Barnes):

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Income Tax Act, 2000. (Bill 54)

SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

second time.

When

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

S. CROCKER:

Now.

SPEAKER:

Now.

motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Income Tax Act, 2000,” read a second time,

ordered referred to a Committee of the Whole House presently, by leave. (Bill

54)

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Speaker, I move, seconded by

the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board, that this House resolve

itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider Bill 54.

SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

I do now leave the Chair for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the

Whole.

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

carried.

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

left the Chair.

Committee of the

Whole

CHAIR (Trimper):

Order, please!

We are

now considering Bill 54,

An Act To Amend The Income Tax Act, 2000.

A bill,

“An Act To Amend The Income Tax Act, 2000.” (Bill 54)

CLERK:

Clause 1.

CHAIR:

Shall clause 1 carry?

The hon.

the Member for Bonavista.

C. PARDY:

I just wanted to pose a

question to the minister in relation to the all-spend video and film industry. I

notice we are donating $10 million per project, I think allocation that we have

in the budget.

referenced earlier, it had talked in the Greene report that it was clearly

stated that the cost for the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Chair,

was $46,000 per actor/actress. I want to go on record to make sure that I am a

supporter of the film industry, but I know that what helps in the support is

knowing that we have a cost analysis done, which informs our decisions.

So I

just want to throw that out to the minister to get a response to see where we

are with that comment in the Greene report.

Thank

you.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.

S. CROCKER:

I appreciate the question

from the Member opposite.

With

regards to the comments in the Greene report, I respectfully disagree with them.

When you really drill down in this and you think about if you really drill down

into this industry and take a long, hard look at it, the benefits go way beyond

those who are actually on set: it is the servicing of the sets, it is the

catering, there is so much involved in this.

The

industry is growing in this province now to a $100-million industry. Our goal,

right now, is to stabilize that industry. So if you think about the refundable

tax credit, the maximum on that is $10 million per project. We would only be

fortunate enough to be able to get to a point someday to actually have to use

that $10-million ceiling. That would mean that we're doing a $30-million or

$40-million or $50-million project.

Your

other reference, there is a $10-million equity investment in the Estimates from

this year; that is a separate program. That program tailors more into some of

the local productions. Really, the benefit of the all-spend tax credit is what

we would have seen last year and you would have seen it, first-hand, in your

district in Bonavista with Disney. Disney was here, I don't know I think they

were in Bonavista for seven or eight days. If you want to talk about intensity

of spend, in the amount of time that Disney was here, they left over $10 million

in the local economy.

And

there's also a value in the film and television industry that we really have no

way to capture and that's the value of tourism. We still have people visiting

the Duke of Duckworth because of Republic

of Doyle .

The

Member for Harbour Main referenced, I think in a Member's statement last week,

the value of Rock Solid Builds and how

much traffic that's bringing in to Brigus in her district. It's an ad. Do you

know what I mean? When we go out and buy these ads, they cost us a lot of money

and the value of what a lot of the exposure has done, there's no way to truly

measure the effect it has on the tourism industry as well.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista.

C. PARDY:

Minister, thank you very much

for that answer.

I know

that when the department embark on these investments, I know we had talked about

NASCAR, we had talked about the film industry within your department that we

would look at and I know that in the PUB last night we talked about

transparency. But would the department be able to readily provide a cost-benefit

analysis that would be out there? And I know –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

CHAIR:

Can I get a little order,

please. Sorry, over in the corner.

Hello!

Hello! Can I have a little order, please, over in the corner.

Thank

you.

The hon.

the Member for Bonavista.

C. PARDY:

I don't know if I need to go

back, minister?

S. CROCKER:

Yeah, I think I got the crux

of it.

C. PARDY:

Oh yeah, the gist of it. So

the only thing on the cost-benefit analysis, I know sometimes you might talk

commercially sensitive that you put out there, but I know a lot of people may

not truly value the investment unless they know what they can see.

I'm sure

your department must be doing post-Disney, because I don't disagree with

anything on Disney. It was great for the Bonavista Peninsula, it was a beehive

of activity and I can name the accommodations of which that were there and it

pulled a lot of people in the District of Bonavista. So we were huge

beneficiaries. But the only thing I ask is that do you have a cost-benefit

analysis that could be tabled or presented?

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.

S. CROCKER:

Yeah, every project goes

through its own analysis through the stats division.

You

referenced NASCAR. With something like NASCAR, we work with Destination St.

John's, the DMO here in the city, because they have a tool and the expertise

around that analysis. So the analysis you would've seen on NASCAR of about $6

million, a return, that analysis would've been done by Destination St. John's.

As a

department, as we expand – because one of our goals right now is to do even more

and more in event attraction – is to actually acquire our own tool. But, right

now, we typically use Destination St. John's as our partner in estimating what

the spend will be. Anytime, if you think about Disney, that would have been an

analysis done by the Department of Finance.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista.

C. PARDY:

Would those analyses be

public? Like you're talking about Destination St. John's, would they be

attainable to have a –?

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.

S. CROCKER:

Yeah, I think quite frankly

they were laid out in the news release. The estimated return on NASCAR I think

is around $6 million over three years. Yeah, so we typically lay those out.

Obviously, I think the Disney spend was around $10 million. So it's easy to

derive from that what the benefit is.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista.

C. PARDY:

And my last question. The

number wouldn't show up in the news release unless your department would have

had a cost-benefit analysis, even though how rough it would be, for that figure

to end up in a news release?

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.

S. CROCKER:

That would be the information

that we would use. Again, in the NASCAR, we would have used Destination St.

John's. We have a great relationship with them and they have a tool for that.

They're the ones that are constantly monitoring hotel nights, as an example. I

can tell you NASCAR alone filled one hotel, now they're gone to second hotel.

We work

closely with Destination St. John's, in this case, and we'll work with – I don't

mean to just say we work with Destination St. John's, we'll work with all of

destination management organizations around the province, but a lot of the key

attractions and that economic value, because even though the NASCAR event is in

Avondale, metro will be maybe the greatest beneficiary of that, simply because

of accommodations.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Thank you, Chair.

I just

want to follow up now on a comment from the minister – from my hon. colleague to

the Minister of Finance, because he brought up an interesting point. We talk

about the benefits like, in this particular case, the $10 million of Disney, the

$10 million of benefit to the province.

Do we

actually have that post-analysis somewhere that could show us how this $10

million – because that's a real benefit to have, that you could actually show

that, yeah, we' re not just saying it, here's the actual analysis that was done

to show. Here's the value of what we're doing. I was just wondering, because it

was a good point that he made, and I just wanted to follow up with you on it.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you very much.

It's a

very interesting discussion that we're having here this afternoon. Of course,

we're looking at the overall economic benefit, and I think that was what the

Minister of TCAR was actually speaking of. It may not necessarily be a benefit

to the Treasury, but it's a benefit to the economic generation, right? And that

economic analysis, of course, the division of the economics and stats would do

that kind of analysis with the Department of TCAR to ensure that there is value

there as well.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

So there would be some kind

of analysis that would have been done by – and that's something maybe we could

follow up and try to get a copy of her analysis that was done.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you very much.

course, every year – every six months – we publish the economic forecast and it

would be contained in there as well. So all the information would be contained

in there. Also, as the Minister of TCAR said, it would be in the press releases

as well as the economic generation that is forecast, or anticipated, and then

reviewed to see if it actually progressed from there.

But that

would be in those reports that would be contained on the economy that is

published twice a year, once with budget and once in the fall fiscal forecast.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

T. WAKEHAM:

Thank you, Minister.

We'll

follow up and have a close look at those.

CHAIR:

No further questions?

T. WAKEHAM:

No further questions.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl - Southlands.

P. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I wasn't

going to really ask questions, now we're sort of veered off into this whole idea

of the benefit of these – quote unquote – investments. I'm just wondering, along

that same line of questioning, I guess, when it comes to, for example, NASCAR,

which we were talking about, and the minister will say, NASCAR is going to

generate X amount of money in economic activity, therefore we're going to more

than get our money back and our investment back and so on.

In terms

of the analysis that is done, is that based on locals, or is that everything –

how much of it is locals? How much of it is new people in terms of these

investments? Because if I have X number of dollars in expendable income to

spend, if there was no NASCAR, I'd probably go and spend it on George Street or

I'd go to Eastport, or I'd go to Gros Morne or wherever I would go and spend my

money there.

whether I spend it at NASCAR, or I spend it somewhere else, it's still the same

money. So that's not really generating anything in additional new money. So the

only way that this really gets the big payoff, to my mind, is a combination of

the people that are working for NASCAR, so to speak, that are coming, that are

going to be spending money, bringing their money, and if – and that's a big if –

there are people that are going to leave wherever they are living outside

of Newfoundland and say I am coming to Newfoundland for NASCAR.

Now, again, even when we say someone who wasn't from

here and they went to NASCAR that could be someone – that could be my daughter,

theoretically, who is living on the Mainland, who is coming home to see her

mother and father and while she is here, oh, I think I will drop into NASCAR.

But she never came here for NASCAR. She just happened to go to NACSAR.

So in doing this analysis, what I'm trying to get at

here is unless it's actually new money coming into the economy, then I question

where the value comes from.

CHAIR:

The

hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.

CROCKER:

Well, yeah, when we release our number at the end of the year, for example,

prepandemic, we are at $1.12 billion in tourism. There is a Statistics Canada

formula that we use that mixes non-resident versus resident.

I am disappointed that you are concerned about NASCAR

because the reality is we are working with an industry that has been most

devastated by COVID. This is a small investment for the return; hundreds of

hotel rooms being rented and it also brings, as I said about the film and

television industry, really what we are doing with the NASCAR event is our money

is going into marketing. We are buying ads during that event that will air on

TSN. It's a new market for us.

We have approximately a $12-million marketing budget

each year. This is where that will come from. This is money that we would have

used for marketing. This is an approach to marketing.

We need to remember, generating and getting people out

to events. If you think about it – I actually drove through downtown the night

before last and there was a Growlers' game and you just see the beehive of

activity that creates.

You know, there are 20,000 people in this province

employed in the tourism and hospitality industry and we are going to do what we

can. Over the last two years, we have stood with that industry. We have made the

investments to improve it. We will continue to do so.

If you think back to an event like the Brier and what

that actually generated for this city. There are still people coming to St.

John's because of the time they had at the Brier.

So we are going to continue to do this. We feel it is a

good way for us to help, not only offer these events to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador, it offers the opportunity for people to visit

Newfoundland and Labrador but it also offers an opportunity for us to support

those that have been most affected by COVID.

CHAIR:

The

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

COADY:

Thank you very much.

There

are economic forecasting models that are used by the department that really do

look at investments that are made, organizations that may – and you mentioned

NASCAR – come to deliver a tourism-type product. The economic forecasting model

will talk to what kind of economic generation would be developed because of that

particular project. Those are published twice a year, once at budget time and

then once in the fall for the fall fiscal update.

You can

see where we are in terms of the economic generation, the impact on tourism and

those types of things. So there is a modelling for this type of activity that

indicates what the value is to the economy.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl - Southlands.

P. LANE:

Thank you, Minister of

Finance. I do appreciate that.

This is

not about being against tourism and against the tourism industry. I just want to

make that very clear. The only point I'm trying to make is that when we talk

about the economic benefits, all I'm suggesting is that if – and I just look at

it from the point of view of just one person. You can multiply that times

everybody, I suppose, or most people.

People

have X number of dollars in expendable income to spend. All I'm saying is that

if all you're doing is spreading around the same money, i.e., locals, if there

was no NASCAR – and, again, it's not about picking on NASCAR now – maybe the

money would have been spent at the movie cinemas. Maybe it would have been spent

on George Street. Maybe it would have been spent up in Gros Morne or whatever

the case might be. That's all I'm saying.

The real

benefit, as I would see it, would be if this is actually bringing new dollars

that wouldn't be here, bringing it in, or, conversely, if it's keeping money

here. In other words, there is so much wonderful stuff to do here I'm not going

to go on a vacation out of province because I have lots of stuff that I could

spend my money on here.

either A: locals are keeping their money here, when they would have taken it

somewhere else, or people not from here are bringing their money here. That's

all I'm saying.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.

S. CROCKER:

No, that is a good point. The

new money is obviously always the best money.

I'll

just deviate a little. If you look at our tourist, the true non-resident tourist

in this province leaves about $2,800. A VFR, which is your relative that you

mentioned that's home and goes to the ZZ Top concert this weekend or NASCAR,

they'll leave $1,300.

without a doubt, we know that the greatest beneficiary is that. But I can tell

you one of the things that's certainly – and I don't mean to harp back on

NASCAR, but their contingent alone I think is between 200 and 250 people. They

are bringing a very large contingent with them. All these things are factored

in.

These

events have a legacy. We feel that it's somewhere that we need to get back,

because it's a very competitive market and it wouldn't be – if this didn't have

economic benefit, there wouldn't be this level of competition to attract these

events. If you think about the Brier, that's a tremendously competitive event to

get the event.

So I

think your point is well taken, new money is always the best money, but it's

important, I feel, that we build this sector of our tourism and hospitality

sector.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you.

I thank

the Member opposite. This is a very good point. With regard to this bill, the

Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, 2000, these are tax credits that we're bringing

forward. So they have to spend money to get a credit back. So from this

perspective, just from this act – and I know we kind of went off and talked

about NASCAR – they would have to spend the money to get money back. So I just

want to make that clear with regard to this act.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl - Southlands.

P. LANE:

(Inaudible) I was aware of

that. The only reason why – it never even would've occurred me to even bring up

NASCAR except you were talking about NASCAR. So I said, well, everyone else is

talking about, I'll ask about it as well. That's all.

Anyway,

that's all I have.

Thank

you.

CHAIR:

No further questions, anyone

else?

The hon.

the Member for Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Chair.

Just a

quick question to the minister on that reinstating limitations respecting an

individual's ability to claim the equivalent of spouse amount, the caregiver

credit and the infirm dependent credit. I know we're reinstating limitations. I

want to make sure that there's no person that would probably be negatively

impacted by that that we might not have foreseen, because we're tightening it up

a bit. I just want to make sure that we're not going to leave somebody out that

actually does deserve it.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you very much for the question.

What

clause is that, just so I can –?

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

(Inaudible) it's tax stuff,

it gets a little – the caregiver amendment.

S. COADY:

Okay, I got it.

J. BROWN:

You got it there, perfect,

thank you.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Thank you.

This is

clause 3. So it's the amendment to reinstate the limitations for an individual

to claim the equivalent of spouse amount, the caregiver credit or the infirm

dependent credit. This clause is retroactive, basically, to January 1, 2017, and

it's to align with changes in the federal act that were introduced when they

introduced the Canada caregiver act. So, basically, it's reflecting the federal

amendment and ensures you can only claim one of.

So this

is the way it's already administered, so it shouldn't have impact.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

J. BROWN:

Thank you, Chair.

I just

wanted to make sure of the clarity of that, because it is kind of an important

thing for some individuals, especially low-income individuals.

Another

thing I do want to ask about, Minister, is with the Green Technology Tax Credit.

I know we have a definition of what that means there. Will this expand over time

to include newer technologies or phase out other things that are kind of on the

border of green and not? Just curious on that.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

S. COADY:

Well, certainly this is a

newly introduced Green Technology Tax Credit and right now this is for any kind

of energy conservation, or any kind of clean energy generation, so it's pretty

broad from that perspective. We'll continue to monitor and look to how companies

are bringing forward their tax credits and if there's change needed we'll

certainly look to make the change.

But,

right now, it's pretty open. It includes use of fuels from waste, to make

efficient use of fossil fuels, so there are a number of avenues and a number of

things that a corporation could do to ensure that they are focused on energy

conservation or clean energy generation.

CHAIR:

Seeing no further speakers,

shall the motion carry?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

The

motion is carried.

On motion, clause 1 carried.

CLERK:

Clauses 2 through 32

inclusive.

CHAIR:

Shall clauses 2 through 32

carry?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, clauses 2 through 32 carried.

CLERK:

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

Session convened, as follows.

CHAIR:

Shall the enacting clause carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, enacting clause carried.

CLERK:

An Act To Amend The Income Tax Act,

CHAIR:

Shall the title carry?

All those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

On motion, title carried.

CHAIR:

Shall I report the bill

carried without amendment?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion, that the Committee report having passed the bill without amendment,

carried.

CHAIR:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I move

that the Committee rise and report Bill 54.

CHAIR:

The motion is that the

Committee rise and report Bill 54.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

CHAIR:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

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

Speaker returned to the Chair.

SPEAKER (Bennett):

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for Lake Melville and Deputy Chair of Committee of the Whole.

P. TRIMPER:

Speaker, I am pleased to

report that the Committee of the Whole have considered the matters to them

referred and directed me to report Bill 54 carried without amendment.

SPEAKER:

The Deputy Chair of the

Committee of the Whole reports that the Committee have considered the matters to

them referred and have directed him to report Bill 54 carried without amendment.

When

shall the report be received?

S. CROCKER:

Now.

SPEAKER:

Now.

When

shall the bill be read a third time?

S. CROCKER:

Tomorrow.

SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, report received and adopted. Bill ordered read a third time on tomorrow.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

S. CROCKER:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the Minister of Justice and Public Safety, second reading of Bill 51.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Pu