Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Members' Statements — 4 June 2007 (45th General Assembly, 4th Session, Vol. XLV No. 23)
2007-06-04
Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
June 4, 2007 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
PROCEEDINGS Vol. XLV No. 23
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Hodder): Order, please!
Admit strangers.
This afternoon, we are very pleased to welcome a very special return visitor
who is participating in the Speaker's Parade this afternoon as a temporary
Page. Mr. Fred Kavanagh first participated in the Speaker's Parade as a Page
during the fall sitting in 1949, immediately after Confederation. He served the
House of Assembly in that role until 1953 during the speakership of Speaker
Reginald Sparkes. The House of Assembly met, of course, at the Colonial Building
in those days.
Mr. Kavanagh has presented the Speaker, myself, with a series of photographs
from that era, including one that was taken on the very first day our current
Mace, which is a gift from the Province of British Columbia, was presented to
our House of Assembly. This is the photo here. We had it restored and this
particular photograph will be on display in our corridors in the very near
future. We also have a photograph of a very much younger Mr. Kavanagh sitting in
the House of Assembly and we have the opening photograph of one of the first
sessions after Confederation.
I want to thank Mr. Kavanagh for coming in this afternoon, he certainly is a
welcome guest. We are pleased to have him fifty-seven years after he was first
as a Page in the House of Assembly. We are so pleased to have him and I want all
hon. members to extend a very warm welcome to him.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: I also want to recognize this afternoon in the Speaker's
gallery his son, Paul Kavanagh, and his grandson, Matthew Kavanagh.
This afternoon, Mr. Kavanagh will be seated adjacent to the Sergeant-at-Arms
down here.
Again, I want to welcome him back to our House and thank him for the
historical photographs that he presented to our House.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my colleagues on this side of the
House we would like to join with Your Honour in welcoming Mr. Kavanagh back to
the Legislature. I have been here a long time but I was not here when he was the
first Page at the first House after Confederation, but it is a tremendous honour
and a privilege for all of us.
I want to thank you, Your Honour, for arranging this piece of history, this
historic moment for us all to have this opportunity to share this memory with
this gentleman who made such a contribution to our Province both in here and
also in his public life and in his family life. It is a tremendous honour for us
to have him here with us today. It is a piece of our history, a piece of our
memory that we all cherish.
Welcome, Sir. We are glad to have you, and we are delighted that the House
can pay this tribute to you in person. It is a tremendous honour to be able to
do so on behalf of my colleagues in government.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition .
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On behalf of the Official Opposition, I, too, would like to welcome Mr.
Kavanagh into our House today.
In talking briefly with Mr. Kavanagh before the House opened, he told me he
was a page from 1949 to 1953 in the old Colonial Building on Military Road. In
our brief conversation, I realized that things are somewhat different today than
they were then; because, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kavanagh told me that at that time you
could wear a hat into the House of Assembly and the Speaker did not have the
authority to ask you to remove that hat.
He also told me, Mr. Speaker, an interesting thing about the late J. R.
Smallwood, the first Premier of the Province, and that is, at 4:00 o'clock
every afternoon he wanted, and he got, a chocolate milkshake. Mr. Kavanagh
walked across Military Road, picked him up the milkshake, brought it back,
poured it into a glass, and that which remained in the glass that he brought
across the street he kept for himself and he drank that.
Mr. Speaker, things have, indeed, changed. I would like nothing more, Mr.
Kavanagh, than to have a chocolate milkshake at 4:00 o'clock this afternoon,
or at least a cup of coffee.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kavanagh told me that he went on, after finishing up as page
in 1953, to work with Canada Post. He filled that position for some thirty-seven
years and then retired from Canada Post in 1991. He still watches the House of
Assembly on television.
I wish you all the best, and hope that you have many, many, many more years
of watching us on television.
Before I sit down, the Government House Leader said that he has been around
quite a long time. One thing I can say, Mr. Kavanagh, is that the Government
House Leader looks a lot older than you do today.
Good luck.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is a real pleasure to welcome Mr. Kavanagh to the House. I am not one of
the oldest members of the House right now, I am one of the youngest in terms of
length of time in the House - there have been a few come in after me - but it is
a wonderful thing to have you here with us today.
While I may not have a connection with Mr. Kavanagh in the House, he has
informed me that in actual fact we have a connection with the Lebanese
community. His grandmother was a Touma, she was Lebanese, so he wants some clues
on where I can help him buy some Lebanese food.
It is wonderful having you here, and if you are going to be giving out food
around 4:00 o'clock, a little bit of maybe hummus with bread, with kibbeh,
would be great.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: I thank all hon. members for their kind comments.
This afternoon, as well, we would like to welcome in the public gallery, Ms
Danielle Seaward. She is Miss Teen Newfoundland and Labrador and she is from
Heart's Delight- Islington.
Welcome to our House.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
Statements by Members
MR. SPEAKER: We have members' statements as follows today: the hon. the
Member for the District of Port de Grave; the hon. the Member for the District
of Exploits; the hon. the Member for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans; the
hon. the Member for the District of Bonavista North; and the hon. the Member for
the District of Bonavista South.
The Chair recognizes the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to extend
congratulations to Sheila McGrath, a Shearstown resident who competed at the
2007 Canadian Tae Kwon Do Nationals where she won a Bronze Medal.
The 2007 Canadian Tae Kwon Do Nationals were held in Montreal during the
first weekend in March. Sheila McGrath, age twenty-four, is a second degree
black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She, along with two other Newfoundlanders, picked up
medals at the Nationals.
Mr. Speaker, the group of four who represented Newfoundland and Labrador at
the Nationals were: Sheila McGrath, Reg Lawrence, Jasmine Vokey and David
Mercer. They saw a 75 per cent success rate in medals, the first time this
Province brought home medals since 1996 in sparring at this level.
Big competitions are not new to Sheila. She competed in the Nationals in
Kingston, Ontario, in 2004, Halifax in 2006, and later that year she tried out
for the World Cup Team. Also, at the Nationals in Montreal, she was asked to try
out for Team Canada for the 2007 Beijing, China Eighteenth World Tae Kwon Do
Championships.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in extending
congratulations to Sheila McGrath on the Bronze Medal performance at the 2007
Canadian Tae Kwon Do Nationals and wish her every success in her future
endeavours.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Exploits.
MR. FORSEY: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Mr. Oliver Rose of
Bishop's Falls on being judged as Citizen of the Year for 2006.
Mr. Speaker, Oliver came to Bishop's Falls in 1964 as a teacher, and since
then he has been heavily involved in the community as a volunteer with many
organizations, such as thirty-two years as a councillor and then mayor,
thirty-five years with the Lions Club, and also volunteered with the Air Cadets
and the Bishop's Falls Minor Hockey.
Mr. Speaker, in 2006 Oliver represented the Bishop's Falls Lions Club as
Chair of a Telethon that raised $28,000 for the Lion Max Simms Camp. Also in
2006 he chaired a Lion Max Simms Camp Family Day which attracted over 1,000
people to the camp and raised $2,500 for the facility.
Mr. Speaker, Oliver has been recognized in the past for his dedication and
passion for volunteerism by being awarded The Queens Silver Medal and The Queens
Golden Medal. On May 31 of this year he was awarded Citizen of the Year for
Bishop's Falls for 2006.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in
congratulating Mr. Oliver Rose on receiving the Citizen of the Year Award for
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Buchans.
MS THISTLE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to extend congratulations to the
Canadian Cancer Society's fifth and most successful Relay for Life held in
Grand Falls-Windsor, May 26.
Mr. Speaker, it was indeed a pleasure to participate in this record
fundraising even. As the Cancer survivors, clad in their bright yellow T-shirts,
took their victory lap kicking off this year's Relay for Life, the bells on
all the churches around town rang out in recognition of their struggle and
ultimate triumph over the disease. This even hosted the most teams so far in the
five years it has been held in Grand Falls-Windsor, and raised the most money
ever.
The local branch of the Canadian Cancer Society's goal was to have thirty
teams involved with $40,000 raised. In fact, thirty-nine teams registered for
the fundraiser, with participants collecting over $62,000.
Mr. Speaker, this year's patrons were cancer survivor Mike Race and
volunteer Rita Southcott, mother of Rhonda Southcott who lost her battle with
cancer at the age of twenty-nine. Our own Valerie Elson, who is President of the
Newfoundland and Labrador Division of the Canadian Cancer Society, acknowledged
that the money raised this year will go towards helping people in our Province
dealing with cancer and also go towards the building and operation of Daffodil
Place in St. John's - a state of the art facility that is designed to meet the
growing need for accommodations for people who must travel to the capital city
for cancer treatment.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this hon. House to join with me in
extending congratulations to the Canadian Cancer Society's Grand Falls-Windsor's
fifth Relay for Life, the participants and volunteers for the most successful
event to date.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.
MR. HARDING: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to acknowledge the continuing efforts of the Carmanville Habitat
Committee, and the people of Carmanville, as they work to expand opportunities
for their community, advance economic growth, and play a leading role in the
protection of our environment.
In 1995, a municipal stewardship agreement was signed by the town which
resulted in Carmanville becoming an important link in North American Wetland
conservation. Over a decade later, the Carmanville Wetlands continues to develop
and play a major role in the protection of our environment and the advancement
of the regional economy.
On May 26, a new exhibit and trail signage was unveiled at the Carmanville
Wetlands
Interpretation Centre. These additions will help educate visitors about
the importance of caring for local wetland and marine areas. The people of
Carmanville have found a way to bridge the often wide expanse between ecology
and economy in a way that will benefit our people for years to come. The
creativity and dedication to our environment shown on the part of the people of
Carmanville provides a perfect example of the great things that are happening in
rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join with me in congratulating the
Carmanville Habitat Committee on the expansion of their facility and their
continued efforts to preserve and protect our environment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Bonavista South.
MR. FITZGERALD: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend congratulations to
Cynthia Maloney, a resident of Sweet Bay, Bonavista Bay, who was recently named
recipient of the Silver Puffin Award by Destination St. John's.
The Silver Puffin Awards were developed in 2003 by Destination St. John's
to recognize the efforts of front-line workers who act as ambassadors of our
Province and to reward these front-line employees for excellence in service
delivery.
Mr. Speaker, Cynthia Maloney, who works as a Visitor Information Officer at
the Southern Bay Tourist Chalet in Bonavista South, was nominated in the Tour
Guide category. Mrs. Maloney says she was only doing what all Newfoundlanders do
- doing what we do best, Mr. Speaker, helping people and being friendly to
visitors.
Nominations for these awards, Mr. Speaker, are accepted from tourists, local
residents and co-workers, and winners are selected by an independent committee.
Cynthia Maloney embodies the hospitality and friendliness that
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are known for worldwide and is a shining
example of what an ambassador means.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members of this House to join with me in
congratulating Cynthia Maloney of Bonavista South, recipient of the Silver
Puffin Award.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN: Mr. Speaker, as Minister of Environment and Conservation, I
am especially pleased today to announce that this is Environment Week - a time
to reflect on the importance of our Province's environment and to demonstrate
that we care about protecting our natural heritage.
Taking Action for our Environment is the theme for this Environment Week. It
is a reminder to everyone that we must work together and take an active role to
ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador's environment is clean and healthy for
all of us to enjoy, especially our children and grandchildren.
Mr. Speaker, as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, we are extremely fortunate
to have clean air and easy access to nature with our abundance of forests,
wildlife, rivers and ponds.
Mr. Speaker, the eighteenth annual Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental
Awards will be held in Corner Brook. On Wednesday, I will announce winners in
six categories: individual, community, school, municipality, business and most
importantly, the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The lifetime achievement award will be presented to an individual who
dedicated himself or herself to environmental stewardship and has made a
significant contribution over his or her lifetime in the name of environmental
protection and sustainability.
This year's winners are setting a great example for others and it is my
hope that their award winning work will inspire others to follow in their
footsteps as we are all responsible for the environment. All winners are truly
future ambassadors for our Province.
Mr. Speaker, the Green Committee of my department has also planned events
around environment week for government employees. I encourage as many employees
to take
part in some of the presentations taking place, such as composting,
landscaping and energy efficiency in your home. The
schedule of events has been
posted on the Public Service Network news link.
The environment belongs to all of us, and it is therefore up to all of us as
individuals and groups to lead by example and do our utmost to protect and
enhance it.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members here today to take time to do their part
this week and every week. Reduce energy use at home, at work and at play,
carpool or walk, and please consider the environment when making purchases.
Working together and taking action will go a long way in making Newfoundland
and Labrador a better place to live.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for an advanced copy of his statement.
We would certainly be in a position where we would like to congratulate all
those involved in protecting our environment, of course, and our natural
heritage. It is fairly obvious when you read these types of statements today, we
have come a long ways in the last twenty, twenty-five years. Even my
granddaughter today, for example, in her education in her school, they are so
involved in the environment which was so different then when we were in school.
We just take a different focus on protecting what we have, and we certainly need
to. It is nice to see, even at that early age.
The minster also points out, quite commonsensibly I think, that it belongs to
all of us and we have to look after it. Anything that we can do by way of
competitions or award ceremonies that would encourage people to learn more about
the environment and to protect our environment, everybody in this House, I would
think, is certainly in favour of such a thing.
The only comment I would make, and not intending to be negative at all here,
is another part of our environment we have to make use of the best we can, and
that is our provincial parks, which also comes under this minister's
department. There is a lot of feedback in the public. Just home on the weekend,
for example, the J.T. Cheeseman Park, a provincial park, a very well-utilized
portion of our provincial park system, and the controversy about having to pay
this extra $10.63 for the reservations system. People feel that it is
unnecessary -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. member's allotted time has expired.
MR. PARSONS: Just to clue up, Mr. Speaker?
MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.
MR. PARSONS: People feel it is unnecessary and that the minister should
have a second look and revisit this because it is a very used portion of our
environment as well. People would like to continue to use it but, quite frankly,
if you check the numbers, even in that locality right now, the numbers
apparently are down quite drastically since that fee was imposed. I would just
encourage the minister to have a look at that and see if he could revisit that.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for his advanced copy.
I, too, am very happy to celebrate Environment Week. I think we have a
community in this Province, our whole community, where there is a lot of concern
for the environment and a lot of activities are going on. I agree with
everything that the minister has in his statement, but I would have liked for
him to go a little bit further because people also need good governance by
government when it comes to some of these efforts. So, when we talk about
reducing energy at home, it would be really good if the government had been able
to put in this statement something about a new program with regard to
retrofitting and being there to help people as they reduce. It is not just
reducing of energy, the turning on a light bulb, it is also the retrofitting of
their houses.
I would encourage government to think about its role as a manager and as the
body that has to give good governance in assisting individuals as they do what
the minister is encouraging.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER: Further statements by ministers?
The hon. the Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SKINNER: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform this hon. House of the
significant progress being made to prevent, reduce and alleviate poverty in our
Province.
Last June, government and the community embarked on a journey to transform
Newfoundland and Labrador from the Province with the most poverty to one with
the least poverty. Guided by a long-term and integrated approach, Newfoundland
and Labrador is leading the way as only the second Province to move forward with
a comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan. The National Council
of Welfare and leading anti-poverty groups in Canada applaud our efforts and
call it a national model for the country.
There are many elements contained in our $91 million Budget 2007 Poverty
Reduction Strategy. Commitments including initiatives for low-income families,
women, seniors and youth, and persons with disabilities as well as measures to
address affordable housing, access to education and training, dental care, child
care, employment and income. Today, I will highlight progress in several areas.
Drug costs are a significant barrier for low-income individuals and families
and add to the depth of poverty. The expansion of Newfoundland and Labrador's
Prescription Drug Program and recent enhancements to it has significantly
reduced drug costs for thousands of people in our Province.
It is recognized that increasing self-reliance through employment is
critically important in fighting poverty. This means investing in programs to
enable low-income persons to access and make better connections to the labour
market. For example, over 1,000 people have access to Job Start Benefit to form
a much stronger linkage to work.
Going to work is difficult for families without access to affordable child
care. The strategy addresses this by increasing the number of affordable child
care spaces for low-income families to help 25 per cent more children access it.
The Poverty Reduction Strategy recognizes the need to see incomes rise for
low-income earners. Keeping with this, the minimum wage has risen by $1.00 per
hour, and in Budget 2007, a further increase means it will reach $8.00 by April
2008. As well, changes in the provincial tax system mean the elimination or
reduction of provincial income taxes for more than 30,000 individuals.
We are making progress and there are many other areas in which we are moving
the strategy forward. This government will continue to invest in a mix of policy
and program areas to achieve the vision for our Province where poverty has been
eliminated.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the minister for an advanced copy of the statement and to
say, I can assure you that members on this side of the House would rather see
nothing more than our Province with the least number of poverty in this country.
Mr. Speaker, we have to realize that when we try to judge poverty it is not
an easy issue to resolve. There is an imaginary line - and if someone is living
with a salary of approximately $20,000 or $21,000 a year, and all the good
things that government are doing, whether it is a reduction in taxes, or school
books or fees, yes, it is all a help because it releases some of the money they
are making, that they can do other things for themselves within the pocket that
they are making, but in the long term, in order to reach above that line we have
to make sure that there are good paying jobs for those people to go into.
I agree with the minister, all the things that are being done is a help along
the line, but what we have to do is create better paying jobs for those people
once they receive the training. We know today, like on the Northeast Coast and
Labrador, many people are suffering, and it just adds to the burden.
Again, Mr. Speaker, we want to thank the government for what they are doing,
but I want to say to them and stress to them that job creation is the key to
getting people out of the poverty line.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.
Naturally, everything that the government had in its Budget that is being
reiterated here today by the minister is important, and every single bit of it,
obviously, I would want to see happening, but we do have very serious issues
here in our Province with regard to poverty.
Today, on the morning news on CBC, I heard a Salvation Army Officer from
Corner Brook talking, and he was talking about how they have had to increase the
times of opening of a soup kitchen that they started. They wondered, first, was
a soup kitchen needed in Corner Brook? They decided a soup kitchen was needed,
and they started once a month. Now it is once every two weeks, and they think -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. member's allotted time has expired.
MS MICHAEL: By leave, Mr. Speaker?
AN HON. MEMBER: By leave.
MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you.
Now they are looking at, they might have to have the soup kitchen once a
week.
So, it is not just here in St. John's that we have homeless, that we have
elderly people and people who are going to soup kitchens. It is happening
elsewhere in the Province as well.
I am glad to see what the government is doing, but real progress will be seen
when we see our numbers of people below the low-income cut-off line decreasing.
That is when we will know that we have progress, and when we see people really
showing that they have higher amounts of money in their hands, that they are
earning more at the jobs that they are doing, and that they are able to make a
living for themselves and their families.
We have to keep up the work. We have to increase the work, and maybe in five
years time we will be able to have indicators that show us the actual progress
that these policies have made. I hope we will see that.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER: Furthers statements by ministers?
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Later today, Chief Justice Green will be delivering his report on
constituency allowances and spending to government at 4:30 p.m., I understand,
according to the Premier's press release.
In February, after briefing the Premier on the status of his report, Chief
Justice Green immediately briefed me and, later, the Leader of the NDP. He also
stated to our caucus that his preference would be to have the report delivered
to all parties in the House of Assembly at the same time.
I ask the Premier: In the spirit of openness and accountability, would you be
willing to provide a copy of Chief Justice Green's report to all Members of
the House of Assembly and to the public once you receive it this afternoon?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of truth, integrity,
fairness, and everything that is right in the political system, I do not know
why we even bother to answer questions that are asked by the Leader of the
Opposition.
On Thursday past in this House, when I was asked a question with regard to an
amount that was spent on presumed chauffeur services in Ireland, I told the hon.
Leader of the Opposition that his numbers, his facts and his information were
absolutely incorrect. Those were my exact words which are taken from Hansard.
That same afternoon, he and his party issue a news release. "Reid
questions $24,000 chauffeur service charged by Premier in Ireland while so many
people struggling financially." In that release he is quoted as saying,
"Meanwhile, the Premier has no problem spending almost $24,000 on chauffeur
services...".
Now, he issued that after he had asked me that question in the House - and he
knew the difference - and he was told that the amount for transportation
services for myself, six other officials and five companies, was less than
$10,000 and was more in the line of $9,000.
MR. SPEAKER: I ask the Premier now to complete his answer quickly.
PREMIER WILLIAMS: He issued an incorrect release, deliberately providing
incorrect, inaccurate, misleading, untrue information to the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
The people of this Province should take anything he says with a grain of
salt.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the Premier, we will get to that later on in Question Period, but I
do not see how that has anything to do with Chief Justice Green's report that
is going to be delivered at 4:30 this afternoon.
Mr. Speaker, the conclusions of this report will impact all forty-eight
Members in the House of Assembly and not just those in Cabinet, I say to the
Premier. The people of the Province were the ones who demanded that such a
review would be done, and they have a right to that information as well, I say
to the Premier.
I ask the Premier: Why are you unwilling to immediately release the
recommendations of Chief Justice Green's report to everybody this afternoon
when you receive it at 4:30 p.m.?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, the people of this
Province are very, very grateful that this government decided to allow the
Auditor General in and decided to open up all the problems that were occurring
within the system, that decided to have a proper investigation, decided to ask
the police to look at this and investigate it, decided to ask the Chief Justice
to come in and look at this so that, on a go-forward basis, we can have the best
possible system in Canada, so that we can clean this up, that there will be new
accountability.
That report will be presented to me this afternoon. That report will not be
changed in any way. We would have no authority to tamper with it or change it.
We understand it is a very voluminous report, significant size. We, as a
government, have a responsibility to take it, assess it, and be able to explain
to the general public exactly how we are going to proceed, how we are going to
approach this, how quickly we can do it.
If we could implement it tomorrow we would do it, but we have to actually
look at what the implications are, what legislative changes are required, but it
would certainly be our intention to try and do everything we can during this
session of the House, if that means staying for another month.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do not still understand why the Premier thinks there are ten or twelve or
fourteen of those people across the floor in his Cabinet who are the only ones
who might understand what is in that report.
Mr. Speaker, again I say to the Premier: It was commissioned using taxpayers'
dollars, paid for by taxpayers' dollars. It was the public who demanded that
this report be done, and I still do not understand why you cannot release it to
everybody this afternoon.
Mr. Speaker, on a different question, for two or three or four weeks we have
been talking about the issue of ice on the Northeast coast. I asked the Minister
of Fisheries, a few weeks ago, whether he mentioned it when he was in Ottawa
meeting with the federal minister and he said no.
I asked the Premier, who was in Ottawa most, if not all, of last week
attending various functions with students, whether or not he mentioned this very
serious issue with the Prime Minister or any of his ministers. He said the Prime
Minster was not in town at the time.
Well, Mr. Speaker, we know that the Premier was in Ottawa again this weekend,
because most of us saw him on Hockey Night in Canada. I also happen to know that
Stephen Harper was in Ottawa for the weekend.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the hon. member now to put his question quickly.
MR. REID: I ask the Premier: Did you use that opportunity to speak with
the Prime Minister or any of his ministers concerning this very serious issue
about doing something to help the individuals who are affected by ice conditions
on the Northeast Coast? Did you mention it to anyone in Ottawa about trying to
do something to help these people?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the government, through various ministers, have
taken every opportunity over the last several weeks to make sure that the
apprised of conditions facing people along the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland
and Labrador and the North Coast of Labrador.
Anybody, Mr. Speaker, anybody who has, you know, an eye to see, knows since
some time in March that we are facing extraordinary circumstances in terms of
ice along the Northeast Coast. The minister, my colleague, the Minister of Human
Resources, Labour and Employment, has made repeated representations to his
counterpart in Ottawa, which is where it will have to be dealt with if it is
going to be dealt with. My Parliamentary Secretary has made numerous and
repeated representations to people in Ottawa.
The people in Ottawa, through the regional minister - I heard him myself. He
has been saying now for two weeks that they are ready to move. They have a plan
developed. They have a plan ready to announce. Well, for the honour of God, for
the honour of everybody -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the minister to complete his answer.
MR. RIDEOUT: - who is depending on some assistance, for the honour of
God, please announce it. What are you holding it for, I say, Mr. Speaker?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, we know that the federal minister is aware of it.
I have spoken to him, I have written him, I have written his colleague, the
minister responsible for EI. Most of the members on this side of the House have
also contacted the federal government on behalf of those people.
Mr. Speaker, this, today, is two months for many people on the Northeast
Coast and Labrador since they received a cent. Obviously, they cannot apply for
social services because - I went through that last week - you have to be off for
sixty days with no source of income.
I ask the minister - it is obvious that the federal government does not
understand the severity of this. I heard the federal minister talk about, if
there is a need. Well, I think it is time for the federal government to wake up
and realize there is a need. In the meantime, what is your government going to
do to help these individuals out on the Northeast Coast and Labrador while they
are going through this very difficult, trying time where they are having to go
without and, in some cases, having to do without food?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, there is one area where we do not have a
disagreement, and that is that people, through no fault of their own, because of
environmental conditions, are going through a very, very difficult time. They
are not able to get their crab pots in the water. They are not able to fish and
therefore their income, in many cases, has run out. I have been talking to
people individually along the Northeast Coast whose incomes have been run out
now for a couple of weeks or more, and they are very, very difficult situations.
announcing a plan? They say they have one. I heard the minister, myself, saying
he is ready to announce it. Well, as I said before, Mr. Speaker, the people out
there who need this assistance need to be banging on the doors of their Member
of Parliament, banging on the doors of the regional minister, banging on the
doors of Ottawa, because it is their responsibility to come with an assistance
program. Every time we have had this problem in the past it has been the federal
government, either through EI extension -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the minister now to complete his answer.
MR. RIDEOUT: - or some other forum have come to the rescue, because it is
their responsibility, their constitutional responsibility.
We are doing everything we can to make sure that they do it. The ball is in
their court to proceed and do something. The people demand it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the minister and to the Premier: You are sitting on a $267 million
surplus this year. When are you going to do something? Because it is obvious
that your federal cousins are just waiting until the time that these people
either leave the Province or they go somewhere else. It is time that you stepped
in and helped these people on the Northeast Coast.
Mr. Speaker, last week, a spokesperson for FPI stated that there is no
agreement on the sale of that company and there is a possibility that no
agreement will be reached. Shareholder meetings have also been postponed until
the middle of August to discuss that proposal.
I ask the Premier, or the minister: Have any additional concerns been brought
to your attention that may impact the deal on the sale of FPI?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, on the
preamble to the question, people on this
side of the House do not have any apprehension whatsoever about making
representation to whoever the government is in Ottawa. They are not my political
cousins. I had nothing to do with creating them, Mr. Speaker, but they are
elected to govern. Canadians who live in Newfoundland and Labrador need
assistance. They demand it and they should have it, and I would expect them to
deliver it, Mr. Speaker.
In terms of FPI, there is nothing unusual here, Mr. Speaker. They were
non-biding agreements that were signed. My understanding is that everything is
on track to have those non-binding agreements converted into binding agreements,
some of which will likely happen over the next few days, some more of which will
happen perhaps over the next week or two, depending on the involvement here,
because High Liner and FPI are both publicly traded companies, so it is all on
track.
The universe is unfolding as it should, Mr. Speaker. I am not aware that
there is anything off track.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the minister now to complete his answer.
MR. RIDEOUT: I am not aware that there is anything off track or off side
in terms of the process towards final binding agreements between all the
parties, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Government House Leader said that they were not his federal cousins in
Ottawa, and that he had nothing to do with them being elected. Well, I say to
the Government House Leader, if you did not, you were probably the only one over
there on that side that did not, because most members on that side, if not all,
including the Premier, campaigned for your Tory cousins in Ottawa. In fact, most
of them had their pictures on brochures that were being distributed around the
Province supporting the federal Tory Party.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier is on record as stating that the final deal on major
resource files should be debated in the House of Assembly before being passed.
Unfortunately, members of this House of Assembly are now being asked to scrap
the FPI deal before the deal is finalized.
I ask the Premier: Will you be willing to postpone the decision to scrap the
FPI Act until a final deal on the sale of FPI has been finalized so that
everyone in the Province can see the details of exactly what is happening to
that company?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, what I can assure the hon. gentleman and,
through this House, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, is this: We will
not be proclaiming any act to repeal the FPI Act unless and until there is a
final and binding deal entered into by all the parties here: FPI, OCI, High
If there is any deviation whatsoever from what we will disclose to this House
from the time the debate starts until the bill is passed and proclaimed, then
this House and the people of the Province will be so notified. This government
has no intention whatsoever of trying to hide anything in terms of the repeal of
the FPI Act. We will provide all and sundry with every piece of information that
they need to make a decision, and we will not proclaim the act until and unless
we reach final and binding agreements. That is our commitment, that is openness,
that is accountability and that is what we intend to live up to, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition Leader.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What a joke, when they talk about openness and accountability. Every time we
ask a question over here, the only way we can get the information is file under
the Freedom of Information Act and pay money to do it, I say to the minister
opposite.
Mr. Speaker, government has appointed Mr. Paul Reynolds as the Acting Chief
Electoral Officer, even though his appointment has not yet been approved in the
House of Assembly. The House of Assembly Act does not have a provision which
allows Mr. Reynolds to fill the position of Commissioner of Members' Interests
in an acting capacity; does not have provision under the act. In other words,
Mr. Reynolds is breaking the law by filling the position of Commissioner of
Members' Interests.
I ask the Premier: Why is he contravening the House of Assembly Act by
allowing Mr. Reynolds to fill the position of Commissioner for Members'
Interests?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the only joke here is the Leader of the Opposition. I remember
as Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture volunteering, without the benefit of
them applying under the Freedom of Information Act, to give them information on
my travel, for example. They refused it. They refused to accept it. I suppose
they figured we would doctor the answers or something or other, so they did not
trust us. I said: Well, if that is the way you feel about it, apply under the
act, and be darned, and go through the process and get it. That is what they
always had to do, but I had offered to give them what I had when they asked for
it, but it was not good enough for them.
Mr. Speaker, on Mr. Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds is not fulfilling the position of
Acting Commissioner of Members' Interests. Mr. Reynolds is Acting Chief
Electoral Officer for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. When the
resolution passes this House, as it will one of those odd days, Mr. Reynolds
will be confirmed as Chief Electoral Officer for the Province, as well as
Commissioner for Members' Interests. But, in the Interim, there is no
legislative provision for enacting Commissioner of Members' Interests. So, Mr.
Reynolds is not filling that position, therefore no law has been broken, Mr.
Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Mr. Speaker, therein lies the problem. We asked for information
and the information we are given is faulty. The Premier talked a little while
ago about the chauffeur driven limousine in Ireland.
Mr. Speaker, I received a letter from Mr. Paul Reynolds late last week with
his signature above the title: Commissioner of Members' Interests. If he is
not acting, or if he is not the Commissioner of Members' Interests, why am I
receiving letters for him? When are you going to get on top of what is happening
in your government and give the people the information, the right information,
so that we do not have to go through Freedom of Information requests, or come in
here everyday and listen to you people say that the information that we are
putting forward is not true?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, everyday that the Leader of the Opposition
comes in here and says something that is not a fact, I am going to tell him it
is not a fact, whether he likes it, lumps it or doesn't like it.
The fact of the matter is, is that there is no provision in the statute, in
the law, to appoint an Acting Commissioner for Members' Interests. So,
therefore, there is no person acting in that position. That is the truthful
answer. That is the way it is and that is the way it is going to be, unless and
until Mr. Reynolds is confirmed by this House, Mr. Speaker. I rest my case.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I wish that the Government House Leader, or the Premier, or someone would
call Paul Reynolds and tell him that he is not supposed to be signing his name
as the Commissioner of Members' Interests. I will have my staff in the office
bring down the letter which I received from him last week, I say to the
minister. So don't tell me that the information I have is faulty. If it is, it
is only because you did not tell Paul Reynolds that he was not the Commissioner
of Members' Interests, because he certainly believes he is, just like he
believes he is the Chief Electoral Officer.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. REID: Now, Mr. Speaker, we will get back to the Premier's limo
services in Ireland. Two weeks ago this report was tabled by the government in
the House of Assembly. On page 4, it states that the chauffeur service provided
to the Premier and his ministers, on that trade mission, cost $23,152.92. Now,
Mr. Speaker, that came to the floor of the House of Assembly by this government
two weeks ago.
Last Thursday, the day that I raised this question in the House of Assembly,
there was an amendment sent to me -
MR. SPEAKER: I ask the member now to complete his question, quickly.
MR. REID: - by this group of individuals, the Government Purchasing
Agency, and the only thing that changed was who it was billed to. Instead of
billing it to the Department of Works, Services and Transportation, it was
billed to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Rural Renewal.
Now, Mr. Speaker, if the Premier says that he did not spend $24,000 in
Ireland, why is there a group of people in government, under his watch, sending
out information like that to us?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, the facts are the facts. I was asked a
question here in this House and I gave the correct answer and I gave a truthful
answer. That was an answer that was based on invoices and actual cost. That
actual cost was less than $9,000. That is exactly what I said in this House, and
you know the difference.
That same afternoon, then, you proceeded to go out with a public press
release, a statement, and you continue to do it today, and you talk about
chauffeur services and everything else, and $24,000. You know the difference.
As a member of this House, an officer of this House, you should know that you
should not mislead the general public when you know that something is absolutely
and completely incorrect.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: For him to do that is absolutely shameful under the
circumstances, Mr. Speaker. He knows the exact amount. The invoices will be
provided to the Opposition, and can be provided to the Opposition.
This is a document that talks about exceptions and exemptions under the
Public Tender Act. You can apply for an exemption, but you do not necessarily
spend it -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the Premier to complete his answer quickly now.
PREMIER WILLIAMS: - and he knows the difference.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The information that we released to the public last Thursday was correct, as
we know it, as was tabled by your government. The only information that we saw
is in that report.
Now, the Premier talks about he stood in the House on Thursday and gave us
the information. Well, Mr. Speaker, pardon me if I do not take that information
to the bank.
The Minister of Fisheries just stood in the House and said that Paul Reynolds
was not the Commissioner of Oaths.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. REID: The same Premier who says, trust me - because he has not given
us the documentation - is the same individuals who said that the mill in
Stephenville would never close under his watch.
I ask the Premier: When will you submit to this House of Assembly all of the
bills and all of the documentation associated with that trip to Ireland?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: As soon as possible, Mr. Speaker. I have already said
we will give them the documentation. We will provide it.
What I submit to this House and what I said to this House was the truth. It
was accurate, and for him to imply that under any circumstances he cannot take
what I say to the bank here in this House - I gave him a direct answer, that is
was absolutely incorrect, and then you proceeded to mislead the general public.
That is absolutely shameful.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think the Leader of the Opposition's question to the Premier was, would
be agree to table the documentation related to the Ireland visit. That was a
simple question.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier committed to a judicial inquiry into the faulty
hormone receptor testing for breast cancer patients. It has been two weeks and
we have not heard any information regarding the Terms of Reference or the name
of the commissioner for this inquiry.
I ask the Premier: Have the Terms of Reference for this inquiry been drafted?
Has government identified a commissioner to lead the inquiry? When will the
public be provided with the details of this inquiry?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, there have not been any Terms of Reference
drafted to this point, but we are in the process of identifying a commissioner.
We are still waiting to have that finalized, so we expect that to happen very
quickly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, on Friday we learned that another radiologist
has been suspended in the Province and approximately fifty of his tests are
being re-examined to determine if there is a problem with his work. It has been
reported that the individual has conducted over 47,000 reports over the past few
years.
I ask the minister: If problems are detected with the testing sample
currently being reviewed, could you explain what impact this may have on the
other 47,000 tests that this individual has completed?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, it would be a little bit premature to comment
on the remaining tests that will not be part of this sampling that is being done
now. That is the whole reason for this review that is currently taking place.
Central Health have indicated that there will be a minimum of fifty of those
exams reviewed. In fact, today, as we speak, the radiologist who has been
engaged to do this is now reviewing how he would propose to start that review
process and the selection of those images to be done. After that process is
concluded, the review will give some indication of the nature - if there are any
problems with a particular type of exam, that will be revealed through that
process. If these issues are isolated to one particular type of image testing,
then that will define how it might be approached.
Until such time as this initial review is completed, it would be premature to
talk about what might happen or what might be the implications for those who
will not be included in this first sampling that is being done. It is just
purely that, a sampling.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as reported in this weekend's media, doctors are questioning
why government's priorities are misplaced when it comes to health care
spending. In particular, questions were raised as to why money from the capital
equipment expenditures budget was taken to fix a broken sprinkler system at the
Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre.
I ask the minister: Why is government using money earmarked for the purchase
of new technologically advanced equipment to fund projects that should be
included under the general infrastructure budget?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: In the Budget that the Minister of Finance read in this
House very recently we laid out in this particular year, for example, we are
going to be spending some $22 million on capital equipment this year throughout
all of our health facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador. Since we have been in
government, after this year, we will have spent some $60-odd million in medical
equipment.
In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, an announcement this year, we are spending
new money to build a new hospital in the Labrador City, Wabush area. We are into
Happy Valley-Goose Bay building a new long-term care facility, building a new
long-term care facility in Lewisporte, one in Corner Brook and one in
Clarenville.
Mr. Speaker, we are investing. We have invested hundreds of millions of
dollars and committed to investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new
physical infrastructure, new physical plants, the buildings themselves. At the
end of this fiscal year we will have spent, as I said, a little over $60 million
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the minister now to complete his answer.
MR. WISEMAN: - in equipment, Mr. Speaker. Money well spent, I say, Mr.
Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader, time for a very brief
supplementary.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I just say to the minister, I assume Dr. Parsons of Central - no relation -
knows what he is talking about. His issue was that you are spending money that
he had thought was earmarked for technology and equipment, on infrastructure.
Maybe you can answer the question. If he is correct, why are you doing it as a
government? It is pretty simple.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services, time
for a very brief response.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, the issue that the member is referencing is a
question that a physician asked of me this past Saturday at the Medical
Association's annual meeting. I think, if he were present, and those who were
present would have recognized, that is not how the question was phrased. It was
clearly not that he was suggesting that money that was originally earmarked for
medical equipment was actually physically taken and spent somewhere else. What
he was talking about was how government prioritizes capital expenditures,
whether it is in the medical equipment or in the physical infrastructure, I say,
Mr. Speaker, so there is a very clear distinction in the way in which the
question was worded.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
My question is for the Minister of Health and Community Services.
In Budget 2007, the government announced a $6.5 million investment in child,
youth and family services. NAPE, the union representing social workers,
indicates in a May 24 news release that hiring is very slow, and I quote their
concern: Social workers throughout the Province are at the end of their ropes
physically and mentally. Their current unacceptably high work loads pose a risk
to the safety of some of society's most vulnerable individuals.
Can the Minister of Health and Community Services tell us how many of the new
social work positions will be available for child protection services, and when
will these positions begin?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, I can get, for the member opposite, the exact
number for each individual authority. What I can tell her today is that each of
the authorities have, in fact, initiated recruitment efforts. Every single one
of the authorities have. In fact, many of the authorities have already recruited
some social workers who are actually working today. In fact, I met one on Friday
night at the Foster Families Association annual meeting, who said she had just
started, a brand new graduate from this year, in the St. John's region.
So, I can tell her that the recruitment process has, in fact, started. I will
have for her tomorrow the exact numbers that have been recruited by each
authority, but the process has, in fact, started.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will wait until tomorrow then. Thank you.
The issue around social workers and my understanding is, speaking to people
involved in the area, there are a lot of issues. It began in 1999 with the
reorganization of services provided by the Department of Health into regional
hospital and community health boards and was exacerbated in 2004 when government
combined all the regional health boards and other community health organizations
into the four Regional Health Authorities. Services for children are competing
with home care, community corrections, and surgical and medical services.
Will the minister commit to an external and complete review of the four
health authorities with a view to providing the best possible medical and social
services to the Province? Is this system working?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community.
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, just so that the member opposite understands
fully, she talks about the changes that have occurred in child, youth and
families services, but I want to remind the member opposite, that since we
formed government there has been a 9 per cent increase, just slightly over a 9
per cent increase in the total number of social workers who are working in the
system.
She laid out for us a chronology of events that have occurred within health
and community services and some changes that have occurred, consolidation of
health authorities. As I said in this House, as a result of the consolidation of
what was happening in the institutional sector and what was happening in the
community sector, what we now have is a totally integrated health system, where
we have taken what has taken place in the community and what has taken place in
our institutions - as a result of that integration, we now have a completely
seamless health system where people can come in and out at various points in
that system with ease and transparency, I say, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In the Deloitte Organizational and Operational Review of Child, Youth and
Family Services report released on April 30, part of their regional analysis
states that there was no provincial strategy to correct the lack of Province
wide policies for Child, Youth and Family Services resulting in inconsistent
application across regions.
Mr. Speaker, I am asking the minister: When will he and the government
realize that a review of the whole health care community services system is
necessary and commence this review as soon as possible to meet with some of the
recommendations of the study that was released by Deloitte?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, the member opposite takes the Deloitte report,
which is a very focused report. The Deloitte looks at the organizational issues
within Child, Youth and Family Services. She is taking that report and now
extrapolating across an entire health system, and you cannot do that, I say, Mr.
Speaker.
One of the primary - one of the most significant recommendations in the
Deloitte report was that government would undertake a plan to develop a strategy
around Child, Youth and Family Services. I say, Mr. Speaker, we have begun to do
just that. In fact, the commitment in this year's Budget of over $6 million to
invest massive amounts of money to bring in additional resources to our Child,
Youth and Family Services programs in this Province is a reflection of this
government's commitment to continue to enhance, to build on and to enrich that
particular program. In addition to that, I say, Mr. Speaker -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
I ask the minister now to complete his answer, quickly.
MR. WISEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In fact, we have committed to following one of the primary recommendations
which was to develop a strategic plan for Child, Youth and Family Services in
this Province, and that is exactly what we are doing. We are in the process of
doing it as we speak, I say, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The time for Question Period has ended.
During Question Period this afternoon, the word misleading and the word
deliberately were used in some occasions. The Speaker wishes to review the
Hansard to see in what connection and to review the whole text. There is a
potential for a breach of parliamentary language and the Speaker will take that
matter under review.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MR. REID: On two occasions this afternoon in the House of Assembly I rose
and said that the House of Assembly Act does not have a provision which allows
Mr. Paul Reynolds to act or even be in the position of Commissioner of Members'
Interests or in an acting capacity. The Government House Leader stood on two
occasions and said that I was correct in that regard and that Paul Reynolds was
not the Commissioner of Members' Interests.
Mr. Speaker, I reference the letter that I received from Mr. Paul Reynolds,
Commissioner of Members' Interests, on May 15, 2007. I will table that and I
would also like to ask the Premier, maybe he can table the Minute in Council
whereby Mr. Paul Reynolds was appointed either as the Commissioner of Members'
Interests or the Chief Electoral Officer or both, because there is a great deal
of confusion concerning that issue (inaudible). Mr. Speaker, this is the
individual who looks at every file in the House of Assembly, including the
Premier's own blind trust. Now, Mr. Speaker, if that individual is not
entitled or not legally permitted to be acting in that position under the House
rules, under the rules of the House of Assembly, under the law, I should say,
then I suggest that individual be removed from that position this afternoon
instead of sending letters out to all of us in the House of Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Speaking to the Point of Order, the hon. the Government
House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have made it abundantly - there is no point of order, first of
all. I have made it abundantly clear that Mr. Reynolds is Acting Chief Electoral
Officer under the laws of the Province. He is not acting as Commissioner of
Members' Interests, but it is a good point here, Mr. Speaker. It is all the
more reason that this matter be dealt with, and dealt with efficiently and
quickly by the House, and the government has a responsibility to do that Mr.
Speaker, and we shall be doing that forthwith.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
Speaking to the point of order, the Chair recognizes the Member for Signal
Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I have to speak to the point of order because I, too, have received a letter
from Mr. Reynolds in his capacity as Commissioner of Members' Interests. I
want to ask that the House Leader make a commitment to this House that he
recognizes this person has been acting in the capacity, which is not a legal
capacity, and that action get taken, because I was extremely surprised when I
received a letter from him. I had no idea he was now acting in this capacity,
and he is putting out letters in that capacity, not just because the title is
under his name but because of the content of the letter.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
There is no point of order.
The Chair wishes to make two points. We should be very careful that after
Question Period we do not use points of order for anything other than genuine
points of order.
Secondly, the House will know that members who sit in Opposition have no
obligation to table documents. They are quite willing to share documents if they
wish, but there is no obligation under our rules for a member, nor is it
possible to table matters in the manner in which it just occurred a few seconds
ago. If the member wishes to share information, that is fine with the Chair.
The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.
I am not sure if you were alluding to the same member of the House, as I
intended to raise on a point of order because you did not say who you were
thinking of, but I would like to raise a point of order that during Question
Period the Premier used the word misleading and used the word deliberate in
response to one of the questions from the Leader of the Opposition. Now maybe
that is the same one you are alluding to. If that is the case, fine, I will just
sit and we will await your ruling. Is that the same incident?
MR. SPEAKER: Yes, the Chair confirms that the word misleading and the
word deliberately was also used, and in this case it was used by the hon. the
Premier.
MR. PARSONS: A point of order, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Yes, a second point of order, Mr. Speaker.
I do believe last week, when this issue first came up about the tabling of
this document, about untendered items under the public tender exceptions - I do
believe I made a point of order at that time pointing out that you had tabled
this document here in the House, and I do believe - it is, obviously, certain
excerpts of it had become a source of controversy since that happened and there
was a subsequent (inaudible) from yourself.
Am I correct in understanding that you undertook to make a ruling on that
issue and you reserved judgement on that issue based on a point of order that I
made earlier? Are we still expecting to hear from you in regard to the point of
order which I made last week about this document?
MR. SPEAKER: The Chair has already made it clear that under the law the
Chair's role is merely to table the documents as they are presented and
prepared by the Government Purchasing Agency. The Chair has no role in
modifications or acknowledging even the source of the documents. Under our
procedures, as the Chair receives exceptions to the Public Tender Act, then the
Chair tables them. That would be the only role the Chair would have in this
particular matter.
When a clarification or a matter was raised and a further document arrived it
was tabled immediately on the same day.
The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Mr. Speaker, again, not debating in any way what you have
said - I agree with what you said, actually, that you are just a conduit through
which the document found itself. The thrust of the point of order which I raised
next week is: Are members of the House acting properly in accepting documents
tabled in the House in good faith? If there is something improper about these
documents, we as members would not know that any more than yourself, who tabled
it in the House.
Is it fair, then, as members of the House, to assume that if these documents
get tabled here they are reliable and we can reliable upon them until we know
otherwise?
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, maybe I could just give an observation here.
Those matters are tabled and the information provided under the auspices of the
Government Purchasing Agency, as I understand it, and that agency answers to the
House through my colleague, the Minister of Government Services. If there are
questions regarding the accuracy or anything else related to the document
itself, I would think that rather than trying to deal with the Chair who just
has a responsibility to pass it on to the House, that if there is any concern
regarding the documents and the accuracy, then any question in that regard
should be appropriately put to the minister either in the House or in some other
forum.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader
MR. PARSONS: To the point of order, Mr. Speaker.
I agree wholeheartedly with what the Government House Leader said about what
he understands the process to be for tabling documents. In fact, I thought and
assumed that the document would have been tabled in the House by the minister,
but that is not what happened here. This document was tabled in this House by
the Speaker. I don't know, first of all, why it happened that way and not
through the minister.
Secondly, I am asking: Unless people in this House, members in this House,
know otherwise, how can we act on other than what is presented here? We must
assume it to be truthful until we are proven otherwise.
The question raised today by the Leader of the Opposition to the Premier was
simply saying, if you have evidence to the contrary of what has been tabled here
as a public document, table it and we will move on.
Rather than having this bickering and accusing people of misleading one
another, we are going to assume that whatever is tabled in this House is
truthful.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Again, Mr. Speaker, not to belabour the point, as I
understand it, the Chief Operating Officer for the Government Purchasing Agency
is an officer of the House and therefore has a statutory obligation to provide
his or her reports to the Speaker, who provides them to the House.
In terms of answering, in terms of ministerial responsibility for the agency,
it is the Minister of Government Services. I mean, the Speaker just cannot
answer in the House. We all understand that. Therefore, if there is a question
as to the accuracy of the information provided, it should be put through the
appropriate minister and the appropriate department. If that happens, I am sure
the answers will be forthcoming.
MR. SPEAKER: The Chair will merely say that when the Chair became aware
that there was a need for a correction, the document was tabled immediately on
the same day.
The Chair acknowledges that, under the law, the Speaker is obligated to table
exceptions to the Public Tender Act because the agency is, under the law,
supposed to provide the Speaker with that document. That is the process that we
have. I think that the hon. Government House Leader outlined the procedures.
I will only say that as soon as I became aware that there was a need for
change, all we did was change the department that prepared the document, not any
of the information contained therein.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Special Committees
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Government Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS WHALEN: Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to table for the hon. members
the Annual Report On Operations Carried Out Under The Automobile Insurance Act
for the period April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Further reports by standing and select committees?
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR. WISEMAN: Mr. Speaker, in fulfilling government's commitment of
being accountable to the citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador, it is my
pleasure to table the 2005-2006 Annual Report for the Central Regional Health
Authority.
The current annual report provides an overview of key activities that
occurred during the fiscal year 2005-2006. Central Regional Health Authority
will table its first annual report upon the completion of the first year of its
2006-2007 business plan.
MR. SPEAKER: Further reports by standing and select committees?
I wish to table the Report of the Commission of Internal Economy for the
fiscal year April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007.
In tabling this report, I wish to note that the document is transitional in
that, while it differs from previous reports in style and presentation, future
reports will be further modified as changes are made pursuant to changes
recommended by the Green Commission.
I also wish to note that the format of the financial presentation has been
completed in consultation with the Office of the Auditor General.
Notices of Motion.
Notices of Motion
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, pursuant to Standing Order 11, I will move
that the House not adjourn on tomorrow, Tuesday, June 5, at 5:30 p.m. and,
further, that the House, pursuant to the same motion, not adjourn at 10:00 o'clock.
MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Under Standing Order 47, I give notice that I will move the following motion
with respect to the resolution respecting the appointment of Mr. Paul Reynolds
as Chief Electoral Officer and Commissioner of Members' Interests, namely,
"That the debate shall not be further adjourned, or that further
consideration of the resolution or amendments to the resolution shall not
further be postponed."
MR. SPEAKER: Further notices of motion?
The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Under Standing Order 63, it is private members' day this week for the
Opposition. We give notice of a private member's motion moved by the Member
for Torngat Mountains, seconded by the Member for Twillingate & Fogo.
WHEREAS thick, heavy ice conditions on the Northeast and Labrador Coasts are
now recognized as the worst ice conditions in twenty years and this has delayed
the seasonal inshore fishery from starting by over a month or more; and
WHEREAS EI benefits have already run out for many of the fish harvesters and
fish plant workers affected; and
WHEREAS those affected are facing dire circumstances, including the sale of
their personal belongings just to survive; and
WHEREAS there is a record surplus in the EI fund of over $51 billion and
these workers have paid into this fund for protection of unforseen job losses;
and
WHEREAS emergency funding for similar programs have been approved in the
past; and
WHEREAS many people and organizations have been speaking out publicly and
writing the federal government about this hardship; and
WHEREAS this government has not shown that it has exhausted all of its
options for these fish harvesters and plant workers, including failing to speak
to the Prime Minister directly on this critical matter;
THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Assembly encourage government to
recognize this crisis as a key priority for the people of the areas affected and
call upon the Premier to immediately enter into a top-level discussion with the
Prime Minister to extend EI benefits to assist those residents of Newfoundland
and Labrador currently facing this hardship.
MR. SPEAKER: Further Notices of Motion.
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to present a petition. There is no need to read the prayer of
the petition because I have presented several over the last couple of weeks with
regard to road maintenance not only in my area, but I guess throughout the
Province. We feel a lot of this has happened due to the closure of the depots
during the summertime.
Mr. Speaker, in my particular area - I raised the issue before - a lot of
people last year did a lot of damage to their vehicles travelling through Bay
Roberts and they received correspondence back from the claims administrator with
the Department of Finance saying that this wouldn't be covered off on. They
felt, due to thawing and freezing of the roads and so on, that this pothole came
there overnight and nobody knew about it. Mr. Speaker, the issue I am referring
to happened in middle or late August. I know we have hard winters here in the
Province, but I don't think there was very much thawing and freezing at that
particular time, even though there is pretty rough weather here.
Mr. Speaker, there are eight or nine of those people who have a tremendous
amount of damage done to their vehicles. Some of them live in my district, some
of them live in the district of the Member for Harbour Main-Whitbourne. I think
government should have another look at this and see what can be done for them.
Mr. Speaker, another issue that I want to touch on during this petition is
some of the class 4 roads. I know several roads were classified as class 4, but
even at that time, after that was done, once or twice a year they would go in
with the graders and do those roads for the people. One of the roads I am
referring to is First Pond Road in Shearstown. I think there are either eight or
nine farmers in there, crop farmers, berry farmers and so on, and they are
finding it very difficult, with damage being done to their vehicles as they
travel over those roads.
Why government is saying they won't do them now is because a lot of cabin
owners live on those roads. Mr. Speaker, the way I look at it, regardless of who
lives on them, the people who have to go in there to do their business, and even
for the cabin owners - those people purchased their property over the years and
I think those roads should be graded. They are only asking for them to be done
once in the spring and once again in the fall, to try to keep the roads up to a
half decent level.
Another road is the Lighthouse Road in Port de Grave. This is another class 4
road that is in the inventory of the department, and I am calling upon
government to see that that road is graded, Mr. Speaker, and probably upgraded.
The grader work would be sufficient for the time being. The problem is, I have
been told by the depot in Bay Roberts, that last year they had one grader and
that had to be used in the Placentia area, all over Trinity Bay, and, I believe,
even in the Bonavista Bay area, we only had the one grader.
Mr. Speaker, I know this year the government announced the other day, I think
it was $700,000 for my district and for the Member for Carbonear-Harbour Grace.
So we got $700,000, and hopefully, some work will get done, compared to what a
lot of other members received. I can understand there are major problems in
other areas and people get $2 million and $3 million. Hopefully, some of the
work will be done, and I guess, along with the maintenance work, I am hoping
some of those issues will be resolved.
The other one I was looking forward to -
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. member's allotted time has expired.
MR. BUTLER: Just for a second to clue up?
AN HON. MEMBER: Leave.
MR. SPEAKER: Leave has been granted.
MR. BUTLER: Thank you.
The other one I want to refer to is New Harbour Road. Government started
working on that road over the past two years and this year, apparently, there is
no work going ahead on that road. It is a shame, because the road is
deteriorating fast. They started the work on it, but in their wisdom, this year,
for why I don't know, they did not continue on with it. I know it is getting
closer to the District of Port de Grave, but there is still a lot of this road
in the hon. Member for Trinity-Bay de Verde's district. So, I call upon
government to look at that end of it and hopefully something can be done.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?
The hon. the Member for Burgeo & LaPoile.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise to enter a petition on groundfish processing licence with respect to
the Ramea fish plant. I will just read the petition into the record. The
petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the undersigned support Labrador Gem Seafoods Inc. in their efforts
to acquire a groundfish processing licence for the fish plant located in the
community of Ramea; and
WHEREAS employment in Ramea is very much needed and such potential business
opportunities in this area are as important as anywhere in this Province; and
WHEREAS by refusing to issue a processing licence government must recognize
the negative socio-economic impacts on Ramea;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the
House of Assembly to urge government to revisit their current position and
subsequently approve a groundfish processing licence for Ramea. And, as in duty
bound your petitions will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I guess they have sent this petition to both the Member for Cape
la Hune, Fortune Bay, who currently represents that area, and also to myself,
since with the new electoral boundaries drawing, which will be in effect as of
October, this member will have responsibility for that area of Burgeo &
LaPoile and has been extended to include Ramea. So I appreciate the fact that
they were thoughtful and sent this to me, as well, so that I could rise and
enter this petition on their behalf, and I am certainly pleased to do so.
I was in Ramea a few weeks ago, actually, for another function and added the
benefit of meeting with the co-operative, as well as the organizers, the
fishermen, the harvesters, and the plant workers there. They were very upbeat
with the possibility that they might get a groundfish processing licence at that
time, because it had gone before the board. Of course, the board had some
concerns with it initially and went to the minister. Certain meetings transpired
between the minister and the board, and lo and behold, at the end of the day,
shoots out that they were not going to get one. So, we submit that Ramea is a
very different circumstance. It is an island economy. Its lifeblood rests upon
the fishery and still can exist based upon the fishery. There were always
exceptions made by prior Administrations when it came to island economies. Fogo
Island, for example, had exceptions made.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
MR. PARSONS: And we submit that the same exception should be made. It was
made in the case of Southern Labrador and made in the case of Fogo-Twillingate
areas and it should be done in this particular case. The residents of there,
there are approximately 600 or 700 people there. They have no other source of
income at this time. This is crucial to them and we submit that there is no
reason or rhyme as to why the community of Ramea should not be permitted to have
a groundfish processing licence. Right now, the fish that is caught in that
particular area - we talk about quality on one hand, the fish that is caught
there gets trucked out miles and miles away, even days later, and gets processed
in another facility. I think this is a case where an exception should have
applied. We have to make exceptions for certain circumstances. It is easy to
say: Well, I have accepted every recommendation that ever came from the board,
but the minister, I would suggest, has the discretion, and ought to have
exercised this discretion in this case, given the particular circumstances of
Ramea, which is isolated, in order to allow that groundfish processing to
proceed.
It is very unfortunate and these people here - I certainly support them in
that - call upon the minister to reconsider that decision.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Further petitions?
Orders of the Day.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to move Motion 3, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that the House
not adjourn today at 5:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER: The motion is, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this
House not adjourn today, Monday, June 4, at 5:30 o'clock.
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
Motion carried.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Motion 4, Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that
this House not adjourn today, Monday, June 4, at 10:00 o'clock.
MR. SPEAKER: The motion is, pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this
House not adjourn today, Monday, June 4, at 10:00 p.m.
All those in favour, aye.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
Motion carried.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, Motion 1, that the Minister of Fisheries and
Aquaculture asks leave to introduce a bill entitled,
An Act To Hold The
Government Harmless In The Disposition Of FPI Limited. (Bill 31)
MR. SPEAKER: Is it moved and seconded that the hon. the Minister of
Fisheries and Aquaculture shall have leave to introduce a bill entitled,
An Act
To Hold The Government Harmless In The Disposition Of FPI Limited. (Bill 31)
Is it the pleasure of the House that the hon. the Minister of Fisheries and
Aquaculture shall have leave to introduce said bill?
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
Motion, the hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture to introduce a
bill, "An Act To Hold The Government Harmless In The Disposition Of FPI
Limited," carried. (Bill 31)
MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that the said bill, Bill 31, be now
read a first time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 31 be now read
a first time?
All those in favour, aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Aye.
MR. SPEAKER: All those against, nay'.
The motion is carried.
CLERK: A bill,
An Act To Hold The Government Harmless In The Disposition
Of FPI Limited. (Bill 31)
MR. SPEAKER: Bill 31,
An Act To Hold The Government Harmless In The
Disposition Of FPI Limited, has now been read a first time.
When shall this bill be read a second time?
MR. RIDEOUT: Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: On tomorrow.
On motion, Bill 31 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would now like to proceed to Orders.
Orders of the Day
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, second readings.
I would like to begin with Order 9, second reading of a bill,
An Act
Respecting The Newfoundland And Labrador Hydro-Electric Corporation. (Bill 27)
MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 27,
An Act Respecting The
Newfoundland And Labrador Hydro-Electric Corporation, be now read a second time.
Motion, second reading of a bill, "An Act Respecting The Newfoundland
And Labrador Hydro-Electric Corporation." (Bill 27)
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased to rise in the House of Assembly today to speak to the new Hydro
Corporation Act. By bringing this proposed act to the floor of the House of
Assembly we are moving to repeal the existing Hydro Corporation Act, 1994, and
replacing it with this new bill.
We have been advised by Legislative Counsel that this is the most effective
way to address the required amendments to the existing act while also clearing
up the legislation by removing many sections that have been repealed by this
House over the three decades since it was passed.
This time last year, Mr. Speaker, we amended the Hydro Corporation Act to
give Hydro more flexibility to pursue new business development opportunities
while the formal corporate structure could be determined. This was in keeping
with our 2003 election commitment to expand the mandate of Newfoundland and
Labrador Hydro to enable the Crown corporation to play a greater role in the
development of our energy resources on behalf of the people of the Province.
We committed to giving Hydro the expertise, capacity and authority to explore
opportunities and participate in resource developments in the energy sector at
the direction of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The new Hydro
Corporation Act will see Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro return to its roots as
a fully regulated electrical utility responsible for the efficient and reliable
generation and transmission of electricity in the Province.
With the introduction into the House of Assembly of the proposed Energy
Corporation Act we are establishing a new energy corporation to separate the
regulated operations of Hydro from the unregulated operations of the energy
corporation. By completing this restructuring, our government is ensuring that
energy investments in non-regulated activities will not affect electricity
rates. The new corporation will own 100 per cent of Hydro and its subsidiaries.
This structure follows standard practices in other jurisdictions where a utility
is engaged in regulated and unregulated energy markets.
The accompanying new Hydro Corporation Act makes a small number of important
changes. We are cleaning up the legislation by removing many sections which have
been repealed by this House over the three decades since it was first passed.
First, let me reassure Members of this House of Assembly on some things that
the Hydro Corporation Act will not do. It will not, in any way, move in the
direction of privatizing of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. While Hydro will be
100 per cent owned by the new energy corporation, the legislation prohibits the
disposal of those shares in any way.
Secondly, the new act does not diminish the provincial government's degree
of control of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. Government has full control of
the energy corporation and it will retain full control of Hydro. Government will
still directly appoint the Board of Directors, its Chair and the Chief Executive
Officer. Government will also retain the ability to direct the operations of
Hydro.
Now to turn, Mr. Speaker, to some things the Hydro Corporation Act will do.
This new legislation incorporates some sections of the Corporations Act. We
believe these standard sections pertaining to corporate governance belong in the
legislation governing Hydro. This provides greater clarity and transparency in
relation to standard governance approaches, and we believe this is the right
thing to do.
Finally, and most importantly, we believe that creating this separation
between the supply of electrical power to customers in a rate regulated setting
and the investments in other energy ventures that will be undertaken by the new
energy corporation is an extremely positive step. It insulates our provincial
electricity system from business risks that are naturally associated with the
new ventures. It provides focus for the Hydro board and employee, and it will
also provide automatic separation of accounts and activities which will help the
Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities in their valuable task of regulating
the industry.
It is the firm belief of this government that any decisions we make must be
based on a position of knowledge and strength. That is what we have been working
to do since 2003. We have provided the expertise, the structure and the
resources within the Department of Natural Resources and Hydro to ensure we have
the best information possible to make informed resource decisions.
The new energy corporation and a refocused Hydro is part of that approach,
and that is what we are trying to achieve with the introduction of these two new
pieces of legislation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I assume the minister gave the second reading there - it is almost identical
- I guess, on Bill 27 and Bill 28. There seemed to be a lot of references to
both pieces of legislation. I can understand that, I guess, because there are a
lot of similarities and intentions between these two particular bills. In fact,
I would agree with the minister, I know very little, from reading Bill 27 and
Bill 28, exactly what the intentions are. There is no doubt that it is needed if
we are going to.... We have heard a lot of talk in the last two or three years
about us being, as a Province, a great warehouse and storehouse of different
energies, whether it is from electrical, the Upper Churchill, the Lower
Churchill when it comes on stream, or whether it be wind power, our offshore
resources, and putting them all in one basket and finding some way to properly
advance it and develop it to the best interests and the best benefits of the
Province.
I would like to have some explanation, and I am sure people here in the House
would. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, I am sure, when it comes to
energy issues, and I, quite frankly, Minister, cannot, from reading Bill 27 and
Bill 28, get the big picture of exactly what this legislation will or will not
allow.
I had a look at it over the weekend. The Government House Leader and myself
had some chats prior to the weekend. I had some indication that this was coming
and I understood that the minister, of course, might not be here later on in the
week and would do second reading today, and that was certainly agreed to, but
the more I read of this, and the more I hear of this, the more I know that I do
not know what this is all about. No disrespect to the minister, but your
explanations that you just gave to me does not give me any level of comfort as
to what this is. I, for one, now that I have heard your explanation, I listened
attentively because I thought I would learn more than the very limited amount
that I do know, but I have no level of comfort at all. In fact, I am wondering
if this is so important, and we have heard a lot of talk - I mean, people have
been screaming for years and years and years about a new Energy Plan, going back
to former Administrations, and even this Administration, going to be out two
years ago, and then it was one year ago, it was six months, and four months, and
two months, and we still have not seen the energy plan.
The Premier, I think, alluded to in one of his comments that the Energy Plan
will be one of the centerpieces, if not the centerpiece, of the upcoming
election piece. If that is the case, I think it is incumbent upon all of us here
to have the best understanding that we can all have as to what this is about,
especially when the minister says today that certain parts will be regulated,
certain parts will be unregulated and so on. I think this is an opportunity, and
I would ask the minister to consider - and that can be arranged fairly quickly,
I am sure, between ourselves and the Leader of the NDP, if some sort of briefing
could be prepared by officials in the department. I learn a lot better if I have
someone to basically point it out. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand
words. So if there was some kind of presentation whereby you could say this is
what twenty-seven is doing, the Hydro corp, this is what the Energy corp is
doing, this is the similarities between both and so on. It would give, I
suspect, everybody here a greater level of comfort to know, because as well as
voting for something, I do not like to vote against anything if I do not know
what it is about. I say in all sincerity here, that it is not a case of being
for or against, it is just that I am not educated enough about this topic.
Our natural resources critic, who would normally be dealing with this today,
unfortunately could not be in the House. I did speak with her and she has the
same concerns and was going to raise those questions, actually, as to whether it
might be possible for the minister to arrange such a briefing, and anyone who
was interested, in the Opposition or government, could attend and get a better
understanding of where we are going with this. Everybody in this Province knows
that our energy resources, particularly when we talk about the basketful and the
warehouse full, whether it is wind power or offshore resources, or whatever,
Upper Churchill, Lower Churchill, we need to know where we are going to go and
have some idea of how these two important pieces of legislation are going to
impact all of us. So, we would certainly request that. Until that time, quite
frankly, I am certainly not in a position to make any comments pro or contrary
to what the minister has submitted here today.
I will await, of course, the comments of the Leader of the NDP, but given the
complexities that I sense here, maybe an adjournment of the debate on this issue
might even be in order to do that.
MR. SPEAKER (Fitzgerald): Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Yes, I agree with the adjournment of the debate until we get
a briefing. We have limited resources, as people in the House know, and our
researcher has been working on this - we have one - and she does have questions.
These questions probably could get answered in a briefing, and that would be
helpful for us in taking further
part in a debate.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, the minister is not proposing that we close
debate today. The agreement was that we would introduce twenty-seven and
twenty-eight for second reading and the minister will indicate, I think to the
House when she speaks to introduce twenty-eight, that she will arrange the
briefings that the Opposition has referred to over the next day or so.
In the meantime, there is an agreement - and I want the record to clearly
show this because I cannot allow the minister to speak on twenty-seven,
technically, because if she were to speak she would close the debate. But I want
the record to show that there is agreement that we are going to adjourn debate
on second reading now of Bill 27. We will return to second reading debate on
another parliamentary day, probably tomorrow, but we are going to adjourn debate
on Bill 27 now, if that is satisfactory, Mr. Speaker?
AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible).
MR. RIDEOUT: Agreed.
Okay, Mr. Speaker, that being the case, we will now park Bill 27 and I will
move to Order 8 and call second reading of a bill,
An Act To Establish An Energy
Corporation For The Province. (Bill 28)
MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 28,
An Act To Establish
An Energy Corporation For The Province, be now read a second time.
Motion, second reading of a bill, "An Act To Establish An Energy
Corporation For The Province." (Bill 28)
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The legislative changes that these two pieces of legislation speak to will
provide for the creation of an energy corporation. The Energy Corporation Act,
in fact, will allow for the creation of an umbrella company to separate the
regulated operations of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro from the unregulated
activities associated with the expanded mandate of the energy corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I will arrange, at the convenience of all parties, to provide a
technical briefing to Members of the House of Assembly so they fully understand
our intention with regard to these two matters.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for her comments.
We certainly would make the request that both these be dealt with in the same
fashion by way of a briefing and I would concur and agree with the Government
House Leader, that we are certainly agreeable to parking this piece of
legislation, as we did number 27, until we have done that. If we can get it done
by tomorrow, no problem.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, again, I just want to make sure that the record clearly shows
that we are not going to proceed any further with debate on second reading of
Bill 28, the energy corporation. It will be parked for another parliamentary
day, likely tomorrow. In the interim, the minister will undertake to provide a
briefing on both pieces of legislation, Bill 27 and Bill 28, for our colleagues
in the Opposition.
MR. SPEAKER: The Chair understands that is agreed to by the three parties
represented here in the House.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I would now like to call Order 6, Bill 21, An
Act To Amend The Elections Act, 1991.
MR. SPEAKER: It is moved and seconded that Bill 21,
An Act To Amend The
Elections Act, 1991, be now read a second time.
Motion, second reading of a bill, "An Act To Amend The Elections Act,
1991." (Bill 21)
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. RIDEOUT: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity today to
introduce Bill 21, on behalf of the government,
An Act To Amend The Elections
Act, 1991.
My understanding, Mr. Speaker, is that before I became Government House
Leader back, I guess, two Government House Leaders ago, right now - certainly
back to our former colleague, the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury
Board when he was Government House Leader, and I believe it even goes back to
the former Member for Kilbride when he was Government House Leader - that there
was work carried out between the various parties. Most of it - I think probably
in the case of the NDP, it would have happened while the former Leader and the
former Member for Labrador West were members of the House, but there was work
carried out between the various parties on amendments to the Elections Act.
Mr. Speaker, some of it is pretty technical, there is no question about that.
On the other hand, it is necessary legislation. Let me give one example. We now
have fixed elections. Everybody knows that unless there is a variation, say, for
example, on the change of leaders, or leader of the government, then everybody
knows that the second Tuesday in October, every four years, is now election day.
October 9 this year there will be a general election, the first set election
date in the history of the Province.
Therefore, certain things that were more difficult to do when the election
date was variable are now not so difficult to do; for example, special ballots
and voting when candidates haven't been nominated. I mean, once electoral
district returning officers are put in place, and that process is well underway
now, then there is no reason that people who know in, I don't know, August or
September, for example, who know that they are going to be out of the Province
because of work commitments, there is no reason that those people, if they have
made up their mind the party they are going to support, cannot go into the
office of the district returning officer - I don't mean the Chief Electoral
Officer. Under the old special ballot arrangement all of this had to be funneled
through the Chief Electoral Office here in St. John's, and that led to a lot
of difficulties. There is no question about it.
I think representatives of parties on both sides of the House would
acknowledge that there were difficulties that arose from that kind of an
arrangement; not necessarily intentional difficulties in people trying to find a
way to abuse the system or to do something that the system didn't allow, but
representatives of parties had the onus put on them to go out to seniors'
homes or places of work or colleges, in terms of students, Memorial University
either in Corner Brook or St. John's or some of the other campus sites, and
identify people, for example, from Lewisporte District who were not going to be
able to be in Lewisporte District during the advanced poll, and knew they weren't
going to be in Lewisporte District during regular polling day, had to identify
them, have the appropriate identification done, take it to the Electoral Office
here in St. John's, have a special ballot kit issued, have that dropped off to
the individual, and then there were so many more days after in which it had to
be picked up and brought back to the Chief Electoral Office. It could only be
done at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer.
It seems to me that, with fixed elections, that can all be done well in
advance of the election day because people know when the election day is. It can
all be done in the office of the district returning officer. There is no reason
that somebody who is going to be away working and not available for advanced
polls or election day cannot, when they are home for their two or three week
return home, whenever that is, a month or two before the election date, because
we know when it is going to be, cannot go into the office of the district
returning officer in Lewisporte, or any other district of the forty-eight
districts in Newfoundland and Labrador, and ask to vote. There is no reason they
should not be able to do that.
It is my understanding that is the intention of this legislation, to allow
that kind of thing to happen, that the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
here in St. John's will not be the only place where you can, in fact, exercise
your right to vote, and you do not necessarily have to have candidates that are
officially nominated. If you know the party, if you have made up your mind, the
party of your choice, then you can go in and you can indicate on a ballot what
that party affiliation is that you wish to vote for and that ballot, of course,
when it is opened, under the legal requirements of the law, can be transferred
and counted in favour of the candidate that represents that particular party.
That is, I think, a good reform, a good piece of legislation that strengthens
our democracy ahead of what it was under the old system.
I would like to briefly run through some of the other amendments. As I have
said, some of them are technical, there is no question about that, and I
apologize for the dryness of some of this, but it is the law and the law is as
it is, and that is all we can do about it.
Clause 1 of the bill, Mr. Speaker, would repeal and replace
section 13 of the
current act to allow the names and addresses of returning officers to be
published in various media, not only just in the Gazette . The Newfoundland
and Labrador Gazette , the official publication of the Government of
Newfoundland and Labrador, was the requirement, under the act, but now it would
be possible to publish the names of the district returning officers in some
other media. It could be a radio advertisement, it could be in the local
newspaper. Most of the electoral districts in Newfoundland and Labrador now are
served at least by one, in some cases more than one, local district newspaper.
Again, I just use Lewisporte because that is the example I know best. The Lewisporte
Pilot serves the District of Lewisporte, the District of Twillingate &
Fogo, and I guess pretty well - we used to call them the old Robinson RV papers;
I guess they are Transcontinental now - most districts are served by a newspaper
and, if they are not, they are certainly within listening distance of a radio so
that the names of the district returning officer and where they are located and
their phone numbers can be accessed publicly. Of course, you can do it through
the Internet as well. That is the provision contained in clause 1.
Clause 2, Mr. Speaker, would amend subsection 28(2) of the act to increase
the size of a polling station. I want to inform the House that I believe clause
2 would allow the act to increase the size from 275 electors to 350 electors.
Two hundred and seventy-five is the present law, Mr. Speaker, and the agreed-on
draft was that we could increase that to 350.
I have had some difficulty with that as it relates to smaller rural polling
stations. It seems to me that the gist here might be to try to eliminate some of
those and combine them into a larger polling division. So, what we are going to
propose, Mr. Speaker, when we get to Committee, is that we delete that clause
all together. I know that has been raised with me by people on the other side,
that we delete that clause. We will not amend the present 28(2). We will be
proposing that, when we get to Committee, we leave it as it is.
Clause 3 of the bill, Mr. Speaker, would add a proposed
section 56(2) to the
act which would allow the Chief Electoral Officer to enter into agreements with
municipalities and school boards in order to obtain information respecting
electors for the purposes of updating the elector lists.
Now, you know, that will be fine on a go-forward basis. This year, though,
Mr. Speaker, we have provided the financial resources for an enumeration in
every district, live human beings visiting every door and knocking on every door
and going back x-number of times until the information is gathered so that we
have an up-to-date voters list and then, on a go-forward basis, from an
up-to-date perspective on a go-forward basis, we can keep it current. We can
keep it current by accessing municipal legers. We can keep it current by
obtaining information from the school boards. We have a reciprocal agreement
with Revenue Canada whereby anybody who files an income tax return, you can
agree to have your information passed on to Elections Canada and we can get it
that way. Our own Chief Electoral Office will, from here on in, be on-line and
able to be accessed. Once we have now an up-to-date voters list in place, the
advice that I received when I asked those questions from the former Chief
Electoral Officer was that there should never be a need again to have to do a
person-to-person, door-to-door visit to keep the list accurate and up to date.
It should be possible to do it by other means, electronic and otherwise, but you
have to have a solid base, a solid foundation, from which to do it, and Mr.
Furey advised me that this would do that.
Clause 4 would amend paragraph 71(
c) to increase the deposit for filing a
candidate's nomination from $100 to $200. Well, Mr. Speaker, I do not think
that is much of an onerous burden on anybody. It is just a sign of the times.
I remember when I ran first, thirty-two years ago in September coming, the
deposit was $50. I remember going to the bank and getting a $50 bill. You would
not be allowed to that now, I suppose, you would have to have a cheque, but you
would get an official receipt at your nomination. Then it went up to $100. Two
hundred dollars for a person to seek the privilege of putting their name before
their fellow citizens for election, to me, speaks for itself and is not
something to be concerned about.
Clause 5 would repeal and replace 73(2) of the act to correct an incorrect
citation. That is one of the technical matters that I referred to.
Clause 6 of the bill would repeal and replace 74(4) of the act to allow the
Chief Electoral Officer to release lists of electors to political parties every
April 1 rather than only after the issue of a writ of election. That seems, to
me, to be in the spirit of democracy. What is the reason why political parties,
or representatives of political parties, could not go to the Chief Electoral
Officer and have a release of the electoral list so that they can update their
records and have it for their planning purposes? But it is open to everybody,
the representatives of all political parties. Is it not just government, nor
should it be.
Clause 7 of the bill would amend subsection 86(4) of the Act to permit
persons to apply for a vote by special ballot 4 weeks - that is the one that I
talked about right off the top when I introduced the legislation, Mr. Speaker -
and would allow the Chief Electoral Officer to determine the latest date by
which such an application could be made.
Clause 8 of the bill would add proposed subsections 86.4(4), (5) and
(6) which would ensure that the distribution of special ballot kits and assistance
to special ballot voters is provided by election officials only and the return
of the kits is provided by the election official or the elector only. In other
words, political parties. There was some concern about that previous. Political
parties would be out of the equation. You could identify who they are. If
political parties identify people who they think would qualify under the law to
vote in a special ballot situation, they would pass the names on. Once the names
are passed on, then it is the Electoral Office, through the appropriate process,
that does the followup and provides the kits and collects them back and all that
kind of thing. It takes it out of the political realm, except for the
identification of the possibility of a person not being available to vote either
in advanced polls or on election day.
Clause 9 of the Bill, Mr. Speaker, would repeal and replace subsection
86.6(2) and 86.6(6) to allow the Chief Electoral Officer to set the day when
declaration envelopes are to be removed from special ballot boxes and the day
for the opening of the special balloting boxes. The time of day for these
openings has been delayed until 6:00 p.m. of the chosen day, whatever that day
might be.
Clause 10 of the bill would amend subsection 92(3) by removing the
requirement to have only 50 ballots in each book printed and bound for an
election. I can't see that there would be any difficulty with that. I mean,
you would just have less books with more ballots in them.
Clause 11 of the bill would repeal
section 129 of the Act which provides for
a different oath for electors voting by special ballot and in conjunction with
the repeal and replacement of
section 130 at clause 12 would require that
special ballot voters take the same oath as an elector at an ordinary poll on a
scheduled election polling day.
Clause 13, Mr. Speaker, would repeal and replace subsection 145(3), and in
conjunction with the amendment in paragraph 159(1)(
b) at clause 14 would remove
the requirement for the deputy returning officer to deliver a copy of the
statement of poll to the candidates. The statement is still provided to the
scrutineers.
I remember the first time that I ran, back in 1975, for days after the
election you were getting those pieces of paper come in the mail. I didn't
have a clue what they were first of all. You find out one was in Smith's
Harbour and one was in Wild Cove and one was somewhere else. Finally, it clicked
in, and I found out that they were the actual result of what took place in that
particular poll. I mean, as long as the matter, the official list is provided to
the candidates representatives, then I do not think it is necessary to have to
mail those out under a separate head as have been the case in the past.
Clause 16, Mr. Speaker, would amend the definition of campaign period in
paragraph 269(1)(
c) by changing the end of a campaign period to four months
after polling day rather than six months. Again, that is because that will allow
- this is the provision for candidates to get in their expenses so that the
expenses can be audited and the rebates paid. Now that you have fixed election
dates, then you know what the date is. It is October 9. So within four months of
that date, you have to have your official returns completed and in. And, what we
have done in addition to that, Mr. Speaker, it allows the government now to be
able to budget in one fiscal year whatever the cost of that is. We have included
in our budget this year the cost of rebates to candidates for the election in
October, and they will all be done and paid out before the end of the fiscal
year on March 31. So, there is no reason why you would have to do what has been
done in other years because the date of the election was unknown. You might have
to stretch this over certainly one fiscal year but in many cases going into the
second fiscal year.
Clause 17, Mr. Speaker, would amend subsection 304(1) to require the filing
of election financial statements, again, within four months of polling day
rather than six months of the polling day as currently provided.
So, Mr. Speaker, these are significant amendments in some regard. They are
technical and necessary in other regards but they do, I believe, advance and
improve the democratic process. In that regard, they have been under scrutiny by
all sides of the House and all parties represented in the House now for some
time. In that regard, in advance of the election in October and as Government
House Leader, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce those amendments to the
Election Act, 1991 for consideration by my colleagues.
MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate an opportunity to have a few words on Bill 21. It is pretty dry
stuff to a lot of people trying to figure out what the Elections Act is all
about, but of course anyone who wants to partake in an election in this
Province, it is crucial. You have to understand what the rules are and what you
can and cannot do. What we are dealing with here is a bill to amend the
Elections Act. Of course, the main act was brought in, in 1991, and there has
been a number of changes over the years. We are at a point in time now where we
need to make some more changes. This is what has been brought forward in order
to facilitate some of those.
We are all, of course, in favour of anything that is going to improve the
system, but certainly not in favour of anything that is going to make the system
be taking a backward step. I am just going to be one of the members over here
who speaks to this. There are several members who have had personal experiences
with the election process and have seen, over time, that things do work and some
who see that things have not worked, and they would like to make some
suggestions. We are in second reading now, but when we get to the Committee
stage there is no reason why we cannot propose, and ought to propose, amendments
to what has been put forward here. We appreciate and thank