First

Session, 49th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2020

BILL 33

AN ACT RESPECTING

CERTAIN MEASURES IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Received and Read the First Time ..................................................................................................

Second Reading .................................................................................................................................

Committee ...........................................................................................................................................

Third Reading .....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent ......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE SIOBHAN

COADY

Government House

Leader

Ordered to be printed by

the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the Hydro

Corporation Act, 2007 to

increase Newfoundland and

Labrador Hydro's $2.1 billion debt limit by $500 million; and

increase the amount of debt

that can be guaranteed by or on behalf of the Crown to $2.6 billion.

This Bill would amend the Labour Standards Act to entitle an

employee to a leave of absence from employment without pay where the employee

will not be performing the duties of his or her position because of one or more

of the reasons prescribed in that Act related to a designated communicable

disease.

This Bill would amend the Residential

Tenancies Act, 2018 to

extend the time period in which

a tenant is required to vacate a residential premises under subsection 19(1) of

that Act for a period of not less than 30 days after notice is served on a

tenant where the tenant suffers a loss of employment or a reduction in work

hours as a result of the Public Health Emergency declared on March 18, 2020;

prescribe the documentation a

tenant is required to provide to a landlord in relation to the loss of

employment or reduction in work hours; and

authorize the

Lieutenant-Governor in Council to further extend the 30 day period.

This Bill would also enact the Temporary Variation of Statutory Deadlines

Act which Bill would temporarily allow the variation of a deadline or time

period prescribed in legislation.

A BILL

AN ACT RESPECTING CERTAIN MEASURES IN

RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Analysis

Short title

PART

HYDRO CORPORATION ACT, 2007

S.30 R&S

Total

amount of loan

PART

LABOUR STANDARDS ACT

Part VII.8 Added

PART

VII.8

COMMUNICABLE DISEASE EMERGENCY LEAVE

43.38

Definitions

43.39 Communicable disease emergency leave

43.40

Employee protection

43.41

Regulations

PART

III

RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT, 2018

S.19 Amdt.

Notice when failure to pay

PART

TEMPORARY VARIATION OF STATUTORY DEADLINES ACT

Act in

Schedule

PART

COMMENCEMENT

Commencement

Schedule

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

Short title

1. This

Act may be cited as the COVID-19 Pandemic

Response Act.

PART I

HYDRO CORPORATION ACT, 2007

SNL2007 cH-17

as amended

Section 30 of the Hydro Corporation Act, 2007 is repealed and the following

substituted:

Total amount of

loan

(1) The

total amount of the corporation's outstanding debt at any time shall not exceed

$2,600,000,000 in Canadian currency or its equivalent in the currency of

another country.

(2) The total debt referred to in subsection

(1) that is guaranteed by or on behalf of the Crown shall not exceed $2,600,000,000

in Canadian currency or its equivalent in the currency of another country.

PART II

LABOUR STANDARDS ACT

RSNL1990 cL-2

as amended

3. The Labour

Standards Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 43.37 the

following:

PART VII.8

COMMUNICABLE DISEASE EMERGENCY LEAVE

Definitions

43.38 In

this Part,

(a) "Chief Medical Officer of Health"

means Chief Medical Officer of Health as defined in the Public Health Protection and Promotion Act ;

(b) "cohabiting partner" means either of

2 persons who are cohabiting and have cohabited continuously in a conjugal

relationship outside marriage for not less than one year;

(c) "designated communicable disease"

means a communicable disease designated in the regulations; and

(d) "spouse" includes a cohabiting

partner.

Communicable

disease emergency leave

43.39

(1) An

employee is entitled to a leave of absence from employment without pay where

the employee will not be performing the duties of his or her position because

of one or more of the following reasons related to a designated communicable

disease:

(

a) the employee is under individual medical

investigation, supervision or treatment related to a designated communicable

disease;

(

b) the employee is acting in accordance with an order

under the Public Health Protection and

Promotion Act related to a designated communicable disease;

(

c) the employee is in isolation or quarantine or

is subject to a control measure, including self-isolation, and the quarantine,

isolation or control measure was implemented as a result of information or

directions related to a designated communicable disease issued to the public,

in whole or in part, or to one or more individuals, by the Chief Medical

Officer of Health or the Government of the province whether through print,

electronic, broadcast or other means;

(

d) the employee is under a direction given by his

or her employer in response to a concern of the employer that the employee may

expose other individuals in the workplace to a designated communicable disease;

(

e) the employee is providing care or support to an

individual referred to in subsection (4) for a reason related to a designated

communicable disease that concerns that individual including a school or child

care service closure;

(

f) the employee is directly affected by travel

restrictions related to a designated communicable disease and, under the

circumstances cannot reasonably be expected to travel back to the province; and

(

g) other reasons prescribed in the regulations.

(2) An employer may require an employee who takes

leave under subsection (1) to provide evidence reasonable in the circumstances,

at a time that is reasonable in the circumstances, that the employee is

entitled to the leave, but shall not require an employee to provide a

certificate from a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner as evidence.

(3) An employee is entitled to take leave under

subsection (1) starting on the date prescribed in the regulations and for as

long as

(

a) he or she is not performing the duties of his

or her position because of a reason referred to in paragraphs (1)(

a) to (g);

and

(

b) the communicable disease is designated by the

regulations for the purpose of this Part.

(4) Paragraph (1)(

e) applies with respect to the

following individuals:

(

a) the employee's spouse;

(

b) a parent, step-parent or foster parent of the

employee or the employee's spouse;

(

c) a child, step-child or foster child of the

employee or the employee's spouse;

(

d) a child who is under legal guardianship of the

employee or the employee's spouse;

(

e) a brother, step-brother, sister or step-sister

of the employee;

(

f) a grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild or

step-grandchild of the employee or the employee's spouse;

(

g) a brother-in-law, step-brother-in-law,

sister-in-law or step-sister-in-law of the employee;

(

h) a son-in-law or daughter-in-law of the

employee or the employee's spouse; and

(

i) any individual prescribed in the regulations

as a family member for the purposes of this section.

(5) T his

section or a provision of it does not apply to a class of employees exempted

from the application of this

section by the regulations.

Employee

protection

43.40

(1) An

employer shall not dismiss an employee or give notice of dismissal to an

employee because an employee intends to take, applies for or takes leave under

this Part.

(2) Where an employee is dismissed by his or her

employer contrary to subsection (1), the onus of proving that the reason for

dismissal is unrelated to the leave rests with the employer.

(3) An employer shall reinstate an employee at the

less beneficial than those that existed before the leave began.

(4) Unless the employer and the employee otherwise

agree, a period of leave under this Part does not count towards the application

of the rights, benefits and privileges conferred by this Act upon an employee,

but the period worked upon resumption of employment after leave shall be

considered, for the purpose of this Act, to be continuous with the period

worked before the leave.

Regulations

43.41

(1) The

Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations

(

a) designating a communicable disease for the

purposes of paragraph 43.38(c);

(

b) prescribing reasons related to a designated

communicable disease for the purposes of paragraph 43.39(1)(g);

(

c) prescribing the date on which the entitlement

to leave under subsection 43.39(1) starts or is considered to have started for

the purposes of subsection 43.39(3);

(

d) prescribing family members for the purposes of

paragraph 43.39(4)(i);

(

e) exempting a class of employees from the

application of

section 43.39 or any provision of it, and prescribing one or

more terms or conditions of employment or one or more requirements or

prohibitions respecting leave for communicable disease emergencies that shall

apply to employees in the class and their employers;

(

f) providing that a term, condition, requirement

or prohibition prescribed under paragraph (

e) applies in place of, or in

addition to, a provision of

section 43.39; and

(

g) providing for any transitional matter that the

Lieutenant-Governor in Council considers necessary or advisable in connection

with the implementation of this Part.

(2) A regulation made under this

section may

provide that

(

a) it has effect as of the date specified in the

regulation; or

(

b) that an employee who does not perform the

duties of his or her position because of a prescribed reason related to a

designated communicable disease is considered to have taken leave beginning on

the first day the employee does not perform the duties of his or her position

on or after the date specified in the regulation.

(3) Regulations made under this

section may be

made with retroactive effect.

PART III

RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT, 2018

SNL2018 cR-14.2

Section 19 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2018 is amended by adding immediately

after subsection (4) the following:

(5) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where a tenant

suffers a loss of income due to loss of employment or a reduction in work hours

as a result of the Public Health Emergency declared in the province on March

18, 2020, the period in which the tenant is required to vacate a residential

premises under subsection (1) is extended for a period of not less than 30 days

after the notice is served on the tenant.

(6) A tenant referred to in subsection (5) shall

provide to the landlord proof of loss of income in the form of

(

a) written or electronic documentation from the

tenant's employer confirming the loss of employment or reduction in work hours;

(

b) a signed affidavit of the tenant.

(7) Notwithstanding subsection (5), the

Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, by order, extend the period referred to in

subsection (5).

(8) An order made under subsection (7) is

subordinate legislation for the purposes of the Statutes and Subordinate Legislation Act .

(9) The Crown is not liable for damages caused to

a person as a result of a time period extended under the authority of

subsection (5) or (7).

PART IV

TEMPORARY VARIATION OF STATUTORY DEADLINES ACT

Act in

Schedule

5. The

Schedule to this Act shall, on the coming into force of this Act and,

notwithstanding that it has been passed as part of this Act, be considered to

constitute

an Act of the province and shall be cited and dealt with and shall

have the same force as if it had been enacted separately by the House of

Assembly in legislative session convened.

PART V

COMMENCEMENT

Commencement

Section 3 is considered to have come into force

on March 14, 2020.

SCHEDULE

AN ACT RESPECTING THE TEMPORARY VARIATION

OF DEADLINES AND TIME PERIODS PRESCRIBED IN ACTS OF THE PROVINCE

Analysis

Short title

Definitions

Acts administered by ministers

Acts administered by Executive Council

Other Acts

Variation by Lieutenant-Governor in

Council

Publication of variation

Compliance with variation

Expiry

Schedule

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

Short title

1. This

Act may be cited as the Temporary

Variation of Statutory Deadlines Act.

Definitions

2. In

this Act, "Act" includes subordinate legislation as defined in the Statutes and Subordinate Legislation Act .

Acts administered

by ministers

3. A

minister may, on the advice of the Attorney General, temporarily vary a

deadline or time period prescribed in

an Act administered by that minister for

a period not exceeding 6 months.

Acts administered

by Executive Council

4. The

Premier may, on the advice of the Attorney General, temporarily vary a deadline

or time period prescribed in

an Act listed in

Schedule A of the Executive Council Notice, 2019 for a

period not exceeding 6 months.

Other Acts

(1) The Speaker of the House of Assembly may temporarily vary a deadline or time

period prescribed in

an Act listed in the

Schedule for a period not exceeding 6

months.

(2) A deadline or time period varied under

subsection (1) may be varied with retroactive effect but the variation shall

not have an effective date earlier than March 14, 2020.

Variation by

Lieutenant-Governor in Council

(1) Notwithstanding sections 3 and 4, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may by

order and on the advice of the Attorney General, vary a deadline or time period

prescribed in any Act of the province administered by a minister or the

Executive Council for a period not exceeding 6 months.

(2) A deadline or time period varied under

subsection (1) may be varied with retroactive effect but the variation shall

not have an effective date earlier than March 14, 2020.

(3) An order made under subsection (1) is subordinate

legislation for the purposes of the Statutes

and Subordinate Legislation Act .

Publication of

variation

(1) Where

a deadline or time period is varied under

section 3, 4 or 6, notice of the

variation shall be published

(

a) on a government website; and

(

b) in the Gazette .

(2) Where a deadline or time period is varied

under

section 5, notice of the variation shall be published

(

a) on the House of Assembly website; and

(

b) in the Gazette.

Compliance with

variation

8. Where a deadline or time period is varied

under the authority of this Act, a person who complies with the varied deadline

or time period is considered to have complied with the Act in which the

deadline or time period is prescribed.

Expiry

9. This

Act shall cease to have effect after the end of the next sitting of the House

of Assembly.

SCHEDULE

Auditor General Act

Child and Youth Advocate Act

Citizens' Representative Act

Elections Act, 1991

House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity

and Administration Act

House of Assembly Act

Seniors' Advocate Act

Statutes Act

Queen's Printer