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June 11, 2020

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLIX No. 38

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Reid):

Are the House Leaders

ready?

MS. COADY:

Yes.

MR. SPEAKER:

Yes.

Is the

Third Party House Leader ready? Yes.

Opposition?

The

independents? Yes.

Admit

strangers.

Order,

please!

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we will hear Members'

statements from the hon. Members for the Districts of Exploits, Mount Scio,

Humber - Bay of Islands, Mount Pearl - Southlands and Ferryland.

The hon.

Member for Exploits.

MR. FORSEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, this year the Exploits Search and Rescue are enjoying 38 years of

service in Central Newfoundland. The Exploits Search and Rescue services a vast

area, including Harbour Breton to the south, Glenwood to the east, west of

Badger Lake and all points in between. This is a volunteer organization that is

ready to serve distress calls at any time in any conditions.

Since

1982, they have responded to well over 250 missing person situations. On an

average, they respond to 15 to 20 calls per year. This group consists of members

from all across the Exploits District and beyond.

Mr.

Speaker, I would like for all Members to join me and congratulate the Exploits

Search and Rescue on their 38 years and thank them for their service.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Scio.

MS. STOODLEY:

Mr. Speaker, today I would

like to recognize the new Kenmount Terrace Community Garden and congratulate the

volunteer organizers on their collaborative neighbourhood initiative.

This is

the inaugural growing season for the community garden. Located at the new

Kenmount Terrace Community Centre, applications are currently being accepted for

one of 10 gardening plots, including one raised bed for those with limited

mobility. Organizers implemented thoughtful and helpful amenities such as a

composting area, barrels to collect rainwater and a COVID-19 safe gardening plan

– very important.

Community gardens provide many benefits outside improving access to local

produce. They promote sustainable agriculture, create new habitats and

strengthen community ties. The volunteer committee has big plans for next

summer, including adding more plots and building a communal tool shed.

I wish

residents of Kenmount Terrace a productive gardening season and I ask all

Members to join me in thanking and congratulating the organizing committee,

including Chelsey Pike, Chris Follett, Germaine Manners, Mercy Winsor, Nadaira

Walsh and Wanda Waterfield.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber - Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, on May 22, 2020,

Corner Brook lost another proud Second World War Veteran. A family lost a

father, grandfather and a great uncle. Mr. Robert Gordon Grant passed away after

a brief illness just one month shy of his 101st birthday.

Mr.

Grant was born in St. John's on June 22, 1919. He was a proud member of 166th

Newfoundland Regiment, Royal Artillery, serving in England, North Africa and

Italy during World War II. He was a long-time member of the Royal Canadian

Legion Branch 13, a member of the Masonic Order, a member of the Lodge Lomond in

Corner Brook and Lodge Humber in Deer Lake.

Mr.

Grant will be remembered as a gentle soul who always took the time to speak with

you. I met Mr. Grant as a young fellow from Curling and he was always very witty

and when he met you, you could always feel the warmth, kindness and

friendliness. Last time I had the pleasure of speaking at Mr. Grant's 100th

birthday celebrations.

I ask

all Members to join me in extending our condolences to Mr. Grant's son, Ian, his

family, his Legion family and many relatives and friends.

Stand

down, Solider; mission completed. You made this world a better place. Rest in

peace.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure

to recognize an amazing gentleman from my district.

After a

tremendous career serving the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in senior

roles within the public service, Gordon Slade was appointed to the executive

roles at Memorial University where his leadership was pivotal in helping to

secure over $60 million in philanthropic and sponsorship funding for the

university.

His

passion for this place, our people and unique culture has been of great benefit

to our province. He is the founder of the Battle Harbour Historic Trust, has

been instrumental in the preservation and restoration of Port Union and has

chaired the advisory committees for the Ryan Premises National Historic Site at

Bonavista and the Red Bay UNESCO World Heritage Site.

He's

also been actively involved with the Shorefast Foundation on Fogo Island and

helped develop key partnerships with governments, academia and local residents

to preserve local traditions and knowledge while developing an innovative model

of sustainable development and growth of coastal communities.

Gordon

has received numerous awards for his labour of love over the years, which most

recently included being named a recipient of the Order of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Please

join me in both thanking and congratulating this amazing individual for his

tremendous contributions to our province.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Ferryland.

MR. O'DRISCOLL:

I rise today in this hon.

House to recognize and congratulate the Anglican Church Women's guild of Bay

Bulls on 62 years as a successful organization.

This

group organizes an annual fall fair. This past November, they held their 60th

annual fall fair. The fall fair is a sale of homemade crafts and baked goods.

This

group organizes card games and is involved in the Bay Bulls Bauline Athletic

Association's Winter Carnival each year as they host the annual card game there

as well, with lots of homemade desserts, cookies, sandwiches, coffee and tea.

They are always a great success.

There

are seven members to date with the Anglican Church Women including one founding

member. The members of this group are: Norma Mulcahy, Lynn Morry, Michele Power,

Donna Lynch, Darlene Williams, Thora Williams and the last remaining founding

member, Janie Weir of 62 years.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all Members of this House to join me in congratulating the

Anglican Church Women on yet another wonderful and successful year.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Land Resources.

MR. BYRNE:

Mr. Speaker, community

gardens are a wonderful source of fresh, local food – they are also a peaceful,

shared space where residents relax, make new acquaintances, get their hands

pliantly dirty and enjoy some time outdoors.

Our

government's Community Garden Support Program is in its second year and is

increasing food self-sufficiency in our province, improving access to fresh

foods and proving how rewarding it is to produce healthy foods in and around our

communities.

Mr.

Speaker, more than 3,500 people of all ages worked together in 101 community

gardens last season thanks to funding from the Community Garden Support Program.

So far this year, we have approved almost 50 applications from municipalities

and community groups, and we are welcoming more every day.

As we

deal with COVID-19, community gardening will look a little different this year,

but we're finding innovative ways to work together safely – like limiting the

number of people working in the garden at any one time and not sharing tools or

gloves.

Mr.

Speaker, as we safely keep our distance, now more than ever, community gardens

offer that sense of togetherness we've all been missing. I encourage more groups

to avail of this program and get growing this summer.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

appreciate that the Community Garden Support Program can increase awareness of

the value of local food production and the agricultural sector. Gardening in

general is an all-around positive. It provides food, exercise and is a great

activity to share with family and friends.

Mr.

Speaker, no one can dispute the value of being able to access fresh food, and

that is why government, if it is serious about delivering on its commitment to

increase food self-sufficiency in the province, should be increasing support and

funding for the Provincial Agrifoods Assistance Program, rather than decreasing

it. Not only does this government need to increase funding, it needs to ensure,

most importantly, that the existing programs are rolled out when farmers need

them, not when the minister wants a photo op.

Mr.

Speaker, I know the Community Garden Support Program had a lot of participants

last year in this province, including many youth and seniors. It is a good

program. I encourage everyone involved this year to enjoy themselves, stay safe

and get growing.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MR. J. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement and join him in supporting and

promoting community gardens. They are vital to increasing food security and

provide a healthier alternative to industrialised farming reliant on synthetic

fertilizers.

With

summer approaching and COVID-19 restrictions loosening, community gardens also

offer an invaluable safeguard for our mental health. And considering our short

summers, we need to expand the idea. Earth-sheltered greenhouses, such as the

one being planned for the O'Brien farm, will allow for year-round community

gardens.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

pleased to announce an enhancement to the existing 811 HealthLine that will

improve access to primary care. People can now

schedule a virtual appointment

with a nurse practitioner for urgent non-emergency health issues via telephone,

text or video.

Nurse

practitioners are valued members of the health care system and these virtual

walk-in clinics are available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

To make

an appointment, people can call 811 or now use the 811 HealthLine app. The app

can be downloaded free through the Apple and Google Play app stores.

This

government is committed to improving primary health care, of which virtual care

has become so important.

saying this, I want to thank the physicians in our province also, who so quickly

adapted their practices to provide virtual care because of COVID-19.

I'm

delighted that Newfoundland and Labrador is the first jurisdiction in Canada to

introduce widely accessible, province-wide virtual primary care from a nurse

practitioner.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HAGGIE:

The 811 HealthLine service

and app were developed and are administered by Fonemed, a Newfoundland and

Labrador company.

Fonemed

is also recognized on the global stage, serving clients nationally and

internationally. Something else we can all be proud of, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East - Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement. Mr. Speaker, first and

foremost, I would like to thank the staff of the 811 HealthLine, who adapted

quickly to provide residents of this province with accurate and timely services

throughout the ongoing public health pandemic. The professional and

knowledgeable staff helped to screen individuals for COVID-19, while continuing

to provide first-line services regarding a whole host of health-related

questions.

As we all know, many people in this province do not have regular access

to a family doctor. Enabling residents to see a nurse practitioner through a

virtual appointment will help more people access timely and reliable health

care. This will be of a specific benefit to those who have to travel long

distances, who have to wait for long periods of time to see a doctor.

While this is a positive step, and I thank the nurse practitioners in

advance for the service they will provide, I challenge the minister to ensure

that more family doctors are recruited into the province's health care system

because everyone deserves their own family doctor.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I, too,

thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. This is a welcome

expansion of the use of nurse practitioners in our system and an excellent

addition to our already valuable 811 service. I've used the service before and I

commend all health care professionals who deliver it.

I do

look forward to seeing how our health care budget will reflect the restructuring

of service delivery that has come with the use of virtual care models.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The hon.

the Minister of Transportation and Works.

MR. CROCKER:

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to

provide an update in this hon. House today on some of our government's large

infrastructure projects.

While

the pandemic has impacted our province, progress has continued to be made on

these projects, which provide vital employment to those involved in our

construction industry.

Work

continues on our long-term care homes in Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor and the

construction of the new

West

Coast hospital in Corner Brook reached a significant milestone when first steel

was erected in April. Construction also continues on new schools in Gander,

Paradise, Bay Roberts and St. Alban's.

Evaluations have begun on the submissions for the new adult mental health and

addictions hospital and we look forward to announcing the successful proponent

this summer.

Officials in the department are also finalizing documents to issue a request for

qualifications for a new correctional facility to replace Her Majesty's

Penitentiary.

Finally,

Mr. Speaker, we marked the completion of construction of the new 145-bed Corner

Brook Long-Term Care Home in February. Western Health has begun moving residents

into this modern home and precautions are underway to prevent the potential

transmission of COVID-19 in the residence.

I'm also

pleased to inform my hon. colleagues that 95 per cent of the people working on

these construction sites are Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and we are always

looking for ways to ensure that our tradespeople are the ones benefiting from

the province's projects.

Mr.

Speaker, we are excited about the jobs these projects are creating for

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We look forward to the construction of all

these facilities which are replacing antiquated pieces of infrastructure.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement. Mr. Speaker, myself and

Members of the Official Opposition thank the minister for an update on some of

the critical projects being built in our province under the purview of his

department. Projects like the various long-term care facilities mentioned and

the replacement of Her Majesty's Penitentiary are much-needed infrastructure

projects in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The

minister has informed the House 95 per cent of the people working on those

construction sites are from Newfoundland and Labrador, which is welcome news.

The minister also stated that the province is always looking for other ways to

ensure tradespeople from this province benefit from these projects.

The

Official Opposition has long advocated for a community benefits agreement to be

included with proposals to ensure that as close to 100 per cent of the people

working on government-funded projects are Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We

are fully prepared to provide the minister a briefing on the importance of

instituting community benefits agreements if he would like more information on

this initiative.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

MR. BROWN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement. I, too, am excited for the

new jobs created, but more local jobs the better. I caution everyone to take the

rules of the workplace during this pandemic seriously. Like all workplace safety

regulations, it's always important to remain safety conscious.

In the

past, in times of economic uncertainty government has stepped up infrastructure

spending to shore up the province's economy. With the province's infrastructure

and economy both in rough shape, the more of these types of projects we see, the

better.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the

House Tuesday, May 5, I asked the Minister of Health when officials in his

department were advised of the health incident involving 85 hospital workers the

previous Sunday. He indicated that he could not give a precise time but would

find out.

Can he

now update us on when officials in his department became aware of it?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Again,

I'll have to rely on memory. I did find that out and I have not actually brought

it with me.

understanding is that there were initial communications about a resolved issue

to my department on Sunday. This was not elevated to the minister, myself, until

significantly later and that has been a source of some concern. I will, however,

undertake to go back and get a proper timeline because I'm working from memory

and that is flawed, so I'll do better.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

It may be the first time I've

heard the minister admit any flaws, Mr. Speaker.

Public

confidence in leadership during the public health crisis requires good faith

disclosure of incidents. On the same Tuesday, the minister told both the

all-party Committee and the daily public briefing that he was not aware of the

health incident at the time of the Committee meeting or of the time of the

public briefing the previous day.

When was

the minister made aware?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

I'll have to give a version

of the same answer, Mr. Speaker. I have the information but not to hand and I

would be happy to supply it.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

Well, as it happens, we have

documents from the minister's own department which show that the minister, the

chief medical officer of health and officials in his department received an

email about the incident on Sunday, May 3 at 11:20 a.m.

How does

the minister's failure to disclose such an incident – and the information was 50

people having to self-isolate – promote the confidence of the public that their

crisis leadership can be relied upon to make good faith disclosure?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

say, I'm working from memory and the Member opposite has me at a disadvantage. I

will happily find out the details of the timeline there. My recollection as it

is at the moment is that this was presented in a very routine, mundane way to

the medical officer of health at that time and it was not apparent until after

the briefing that there was an issue, which was significantly more severe.

That is

my best recollection at that moment. I will endeavour to fill in the gaps when I

have a chance to go back and consult our records, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR. WAKEHAM:

Minister, the Stephenville Airport authority and the Stephenville town council

have been working on a business development plan for the Stephenville Airport.

I ask

the minister: Will he confirm government's financial support and commitment to

the Stephenville Airport?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'd like

to thank the hon. Member for the question and his continued engagement with me

on this important file.

There's

been ongoing dialogue with both the Stephenville Airport Corporation and the

town for the past six to eight months. The government understands fully the

issues facing Stephenville Airport, as well as many other airports across the

province and the impacts that are associated with COVID.

We've

recently renewed the loan guarantee with respect to Stephenville Airport

Corporation to the tune of about $900,000, which is a benefit for the Airport

Corporation. We did receive a proposal from the town and the Stephenville

Airport Corporation about a new business development plan for the airport.

As I've

some opportunities with respect to the airports, and as I said to the town we've

also –

MR. SPEAKER:

The minister's time has

expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Grand

Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

MR. TIBBS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, officials in the minister's own department have told me positions in

the lab at Grand Falls-Windsor hospital will be lost over time, in contrast to

the minister saying no positions will be impacted in the lab at Grand

Falls-Windsor.

I ask

the minister: Which is correct? Are you hiding what will happen or do you not

know?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

This was

addressed in a petition reply yesterday. There are no job losses in Grand

Falls-Windsor as a result of this. There will be no change in the level of

service to physicians or their patients in Grand Falls-Windsor as a result of

this.

As a

result of this, Grand Falls-Windsor will get state-of-the-art new equipment, as

will pretty well every other lab in the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Grand

Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

MR. TIBBS:

Okay, so we know now that the

people on the ground are misleading.

Mr.

Speaker, geographically the hospital in Grand Falls-Windsor is the more

centralized hub for testing and already services seven satellite locations, as

compared to the hospital in Gander, which now services only three satellite

locations.

What is

the rationale for the hospital in Gander to be selected as the main testing hub

for Central Health instead of the Grand Falls-Windsor hospital, where it's been

built off the backs of the people in Grand Falls-Windsor?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

As I

say, the lab reform was determined by a group of clinical lab scientists and

pathologists who made the recommendations to government. It is time to replace a

significant amount of infrastructure in laboratories across the province. It was

felt appropriate to do this by going out with a single RFP for lab equipment and

reagents, and a second one for transportation of specimens as we have

experienced significant difficulties in the past with specimen loss owing to

inadequate transportation.

The

level of service to those people in clinics and hospitals in Central, West and

in the periphery will not change, Mr. Speaker. In actual fact, it will be

enhanced in the small hospitals.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Exploits.

MR. FORSEY:

Minister, the CEO of Central

Health has already admitted publicly that the testing that will no longer be

done at the hospital at Grand Falls-Windsor will be done at the Gander hospital.

I ask

the minister: What specifically are those tests?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Lab

reform will be predicated on a tiered response to lab testing. Emergency tests

and out-of-hours tests will be done on site through either standard equipment or

through point-of-care testing. Routine work will be collated in centres.

Non-routine speciality tests will end up in St. John's or, indeed, exported to

Mount Sinai. The rationale behind this is clinical.

If the

Member expects me to apologize as Member for District of Gander for bringing

services to Gander, he isn't going to get it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Exploits.

MR. FORSEY:

Minister, the tests are

obviously being done at the Grand Falls-Windsor hospital at the moment.

What

would be the significance of now rerouting those tests to Gander?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

To the

patients in Grand Falls-Windsor and the physicians in Grand Falls-Windsor,

absolutely none.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We need

all businesses and employees back to work as soon as possible and as soon as

it's safe to do so. However, businesses are concerned about the current

legislation in the Labour Standards Act

requiring people of a certain timeline and temporary layoff to be

terminated. Other provinces have made changes to their legislation to

accommodate this.

I ask

the minister responsible: What is he doing to address this issue?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the Member opposite for the question. I couldn't agree more, we certainly want

everybody to get back to work as quickly as possible, as it is safe to do so.

It's important for the economy.

We've

had numerous discussions with the business community, with the Employers'

Council and other groups, as well as with the Federation of Labour. This is

certainly something that is important to a number of businesses and the

employee/employer relationship be maintained. Our department has been working on

this, and there will be an update on this in the coming days.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for his response.

Just to

clarify, the department is or is not currently working on changes to the

legislation to accommodate this?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When it

comes to any matter of labour legislation, we consult, we review. We've had

these discussions, and then we get to a point where we're able to make a

decision. We'll be able to make a decision and have an update on this particular

matter in the coming days.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. CROSBIE:

Mr. Speaker, there has been

some public discussion about the formation of an Atlantic bubble and some

mention of it being as early even as July.

I would

ask the Premier: Could he provide details regarding how it will work and what

his best guess is at when it might come into existence?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There

was a meeting yesterday, last evening, with the Atlantic premiers. This came up

from the premier of PEI, who subsequently has made some public remarks about

this. From Newfoundland and Labrador's perspective, I made it quite clear last

night that this is not something we could actually put a date on. As I've always

said, it's important for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, first and foremost,

to be able to travel safely around our own province.

Other

provinces have shown some interest, but I will tell the Member opposite, that

even from New Brunswick's point of view and Nova Scotia's point of view, and

even PEI's point of view, there is no date. Any decision will be made in

conjunction with work that will be done by science and evidence from the public

health officials, Mr. Speaker. So it's premature to even guess at what a date

would be.

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for answering has

expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tuesday

afternoon, Prime Minister Trudeau responded to NOIA's letter of June 3

requesting urgent support for the Newfoundland and Labrador oil and gas

industry. Sadly, NOIA's very detailed letter was met with a form letter response

from Prime Minister Trudeau which only contained vague niceties.

Mr.

Speaker, I join with NOIA, CAPP and every company and employee who is hoping our

industry will survive.

Will the

Premier demand substantive action tonight on his weekly call with the prime

minister?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

say to the Member opposite, he's a little late in joining the discussion,

because this discussion started a long time ago by this government in trying to

get and asking for support for the oil and gas industry in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, we take every single opportunity we can, not just with the prime

minister, with the deputy prime minister and other officials as well. I will let

the Member opposite know that our own minister in the federal cabinet has been

working extremely hard with NOIA – as NOIA is very much aware of this, so would

CAPP be. The industry in general would be very aware of this.

Right

now, we'll continue to push and see what options are available to support the

oil and gas industry. Upwards of nearly 30 per cent of the GDP, and we have a

good resource out there that fits the environmental concerns of all of Canada.

We believe the federal government should step up to support our oil and gas

industry, and I expect every Member in this House to support this government in

its endeavours to get that.

MR. SPEAKER:

Your time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I need

to clarify it for the Premier, this is out third sitting in the House of

Assembly. Each sitting we've asked questions about who was going to step up for

the oil and gas industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. We had put it publicly

out there, we've spoken publicly. We've had conference calls with NOIA and CAPP

to ensure that we were advocates. We would ask that the government be just as

advocating as we have been for the rest of the people in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

We have had that.

Mr.

Speaker, to say we have not done our

part is an insult to the Opposition, and I

say the same for the Third Party and even the independents.

Mr.

Speaker, the time for action is long since gone. The federal minister has done

nothing for Newfoundland and Labrador. The

Terra Nova FPSO remains offline, drilling programs have been cancelled, rigs

have been cold-stacked, and even Hibernia has began to lay off employees.

Mr.

Speaker, what is the Premier's plan to save the Newfoundland and Labrador oil

and gas industry, when all we seem to be able to get from the Government of

Canada is an acknowledgement letter with some niceties? Time for action is now.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I was just

actually repeating the Member's words when he said, we now join NOIA – when we

now join NOIA. It seems you're a bit late coming to the discussion.

This has

been ongoing for quite some time, Mr. Speaker. We all share the view that we

have a significant resource that employs thousands of Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians; it's a significant part of the economy here, Mr. Speaker. There's

nothing new about this government fighting on behalf of the oil and gas

industry.

I would

ask the Member opposite, just speak with NOIA, speak with CAPP and see where we

have been. We've been very loud and clear on this issue, Mr. Speaker.

The

decision – yeah, we've been leading the charge, I say to the Member opposite.

We've had Advance 2030 , which is a

great document that has been put together with the support of the department and

the Minister of Natural Resources.

Mr.

Speaker, we take this industry very seriously. We understand the role it plays

in the future of our province, and I would expect every single Member –

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member's time is expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again,

I'll clarify for the Premier, that we join NOIA in being insulted by the

response from the prime minister and from the federal minister of Natural

Resources by the inaction that's been done towards the oil industry in

Newfoundland and Labrador and to its people.

Did the

minister consult with the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association on

today's announcement on nurse practitioner's virtual appointments being

available through the 811 HealthLine?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

No, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

While any announcement that improves primary health care is positive, ensuring

that all health care providers are integrated and not working in silos is

important.

I ask

the minister: How will this change involving the 811 HealthLine be integrated

with existing health care providers such as physicians?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm just

wondering if the Member opposite is suggesting that in order for a nurse

practitioner to do work in this province that it would need to be confirmed and

authorized by another association.

Mr.

Speaker, if I were a nurse practitioner in this province right now, given the

skill set, given the ability to work in those clinics, I think I would be

insulted, the fact that I would almost need to get an approval from another

discipline.

Mr.

Speaker, I have a great appreciation for physicians, and as a pharmacist who has

practised in this province for many years, I take exception to the fact that I

would almost need approval from another association to practise what I'm skilled

to do in this province.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Mr. Speaker, I would think that we have a consistent health care system here

that doesn't work in silos, and what's being created when we don't have

consultation with all entities involved are silos.

Our wait

times haven't improved. Our system hasn't gotten better, even though we have the

most professional people in Newfoundland and Labrador providing those services.

The more you put silos and do not work collaboratively, the more you're going to

have a health care system that's not functional, Mr. Speaker, and that's what we

are asking here.

Why

would you not work with all the entities? That would include all of those that

have a stake in providing that service. Nurse practitioners are a very important

part of health care system

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the Premier or the Health Minister: Why would you not engage all

those who are going to be involved in the health care system to be able to

provide the best system possible to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

for the minister, I will tell you he's been the minister of this department for

five years now. Ever since I've been Premier of this province, this minister has

done a remarkable job.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

I can go on with a litany of

things, Mr. Speaker.

This

minister, along with this government, is leading the way in mental health, not

only in Newfoundland and Labrador but across the country. To the Member opposite

who sat on his chair and gave numerous announcements on, yes, we will replace

the Waterford Hospital, Mr. Speaker, this minister is bringing results to health

care in Newfoundland and Labrador and mental health is one way that he's been

doing this.

From my

own experience, in 1998 I sat on the first transition that brought nurse

practitioners into primary care medicine in this province, Mr. Speaker, so I

take exception to the fact that this government – this government works with all

health care professionals, including nurse practitioners and including

physicians. This minister –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for answers has

expired.

The hon.

the Opposition House Leader.

MR. BRAZIL:

Well, Mr. Speaker, I take

exception to the fact that 100,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians do not have

a family physician.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

I take exception that we have

some of the longest wait times in this country when it comes to different

procedures, Mr. Speaker. I take exception to the fact that we have a number of

other issues in our health care system that are not a collaborative approach

because we don't have the system in play that would adequately provide those

services.

I say we

have a fair bit of work to do here to give proper health care to the people of

Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

MR. HAGGIE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to reply.

The

short answer is that the nurse practitioners at Fonemed will enter this consult

data into the same provincial universal electronic health record that every

other practitioner in this province uses. It will be more integrated than two

separate family practitioners, perhaps, in the same community.

Anybody

will have access to that. They have access to the Pharmacy Network. They have

access to HEALTHe NL. They have access to diagnostic tests through MEDITECH.

They are totally integrated and anyone with the appropriate authorizations and

access will be able to access their records. It will be complete and is totally

integrated from the start.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, back on May 5 when I asked about the large number of outside workers

who were working on government-led infrastructure projects, the minister said, I

quote: “… if there are loopholes here, we are certainly more than willing to

close those up….”

I ask

the minister: Can he update the House on the number of outside workers currently

working on the Corner Brook hospital, long-term care facilities in Gander and

Grand Falls and the Core Science building at MUN?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

thank the hon. Member for the question.

I can

certainly get those numbers. I don't have the project-by-project numbers right

in front of me at the moment but I can tell him it is 95 per cent-plus.

When it

comes to the Core Science building, Mr. Speaker, that is not a project that's

managed by Transportation and Works. That is a project that is managed by

Memorial University infrastructure so we would not have those numbers. I can

certainly speak to my colleague, the Minister of AESL, to see if they could come

up with those numbers from Memorial.

Mr.

Speaker, we endeavour all the time, like I said earlier today in my Member's

statement, to ensure that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are working on these

projects. We're the first government in the history of this province to actually

monitor projects on a monthly basis to ensure that Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians are working. We look forward to finding every opportunity –

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for answers has

expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I remind

the minister he committed to fixing those loopholes. It's his words; I am only

repeating what he said May 5.

What he

just told us then was basically what he said May 5, but he left out the fact

that he was going to fix the loopholes. People in this province were concerned

then and they're concerned now and it's time for him to follow his words. This

is in Hansard . It is not out on the

street, he said this in this House and he should uphold to that.

The

minister continued on May 5 – so he said more. In reference to ensuring

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians get first preference to work while outside

employees are brought in that, quote: “… we will take further measures to ensure

that.” He doubled down, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, outside employees are arriving from Ontario and Quebec that are still

hotspots with COVID-19. They're not like here; fortunately, we're doing well.

I ask

the minister – if I can find the next part of my question. I had the papers

mixed up. I apologize.

MR. SPEAKER:

Quickly.

MR. PETTEN:

Can these people immediately

walk on a job site and work alongside Newfoundlanders and Labradorians? Why

isn't the minister not doing more to protect the economic interests and health

and safety of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

hope you afford me the same time as the hon. Member had.

Following May 4 – or the date the Member opposite is quoting – we actually did

have conversations with the Department of Health. Any employer in this province

has to follow the public health guidelines set out by the chief medical officer

of health. Mr. Speaker, we'll continue to do that.

As I

said earlier today, 95 per cent of the people working on these projects are

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. I'll give you a case in point of how our

procurement is working in this province. Right now, we have a subcontractor on

the new St. Alban's school – subcontractor, Mr. Speaker. One hundred per cent of

the people putting steel in St. Alban's are Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Our

priority is Newfoundland and Labrador workers, Mr. Speaker, and we will

certainly commit to continuing to do that. That's who's working on our

infrastructure projects.

We have

some great infrastructure projects, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to only weeks

from now the Premier of this province announcing the successful proponent for a

new mental health and addictions facility right here in St. John's.

MR. SPEAKER:

The minister's time has

expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Placentia West - Bellevue.

MR. DWYER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recently, the Come By Chance refinery has been sold to Irving Oil, pending

regulatory approval.

I ask

the minister: Is the province still responsible for the environmental

liabilities on the site? If so, what is the value of these liabilities?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we have been made aware of a sale pending between two

entities. I have had the opportunity to speak with Irving and have gotten their

assurances that they are very committed to full operations of the North Atlantic

Refinery.

Security

of supply is something very, very important. It does have to go through a

regulatory process. They have not approached the government as yet on the

environmental liabilities. That will be considered as they move forward through

their process.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, this government is attempting to engineer a financial bailout with the

federal government.

I ask

the Premier: Has there been any discussions on the nationalization of provincial

assets or any discussions on selling provincial assets to the federal

government, federal entities, or other private or public entities in return for

much-needed cash?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

First of all, I want to

clarify the statement from the question. We're not discussing any bailout. I

don't know if I should even answer the rest of the question because we're not

even discussing any bailout.

Out of

respect for the Members of the House of Assembly I will say that there are no

discussions based on nationalization of assets of any of the assets of

Newfoundland and Labrador. There are no bailout discussions, Mr. Speaker, no

nationalization discussions.

What

we're looking for is fairness. We are one of four provinces that by definition

are considered to be a have province, Newfoundland and Labrador. We find that

very difficult, given the situation that we're into in our province. We'll

always look for the federal government to make sure that we get our fair share,

no matter what the discussion is.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, while trying to negotiate a confidence and supply agreement in support

of this minority government, I was told most of our expenditures are relatively

fixed for things like salaries, programs and contractual obligations.

addition to that spending, we have also been doling out millions of dollars in

response to COVID-19. The Minister of Finance said it would be difficult to

prepare a full budget; however, most of our uncertainty comes from the revenue

side so a spending plan would be very reasonable.

I ask

the Minister of Finance: Would he at least table an account of anticipated

expenditures for 2020-21 before we rise next week?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Mr. Speaker, I think across

the country every province, federally, the prime minister has said even with

expenses there is uncertainly. Things changed with the global pandemic, Mr.

Speaker. While absolutely revenues have changed more significantly than

expenses, expenses have changes. There's been a reprioritization of some

expenses in order to deal with the pandemic.

Officials in the department are working very, very hard to put together a

forecast of revenues and expenses for this province and, as soon as that's

available, we'll present it to the people of the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Minister of Finance has promised to table a budget before Interim Supply runs

out in September. Given the uncertainly in which we live, we insist upon greater

transparency and accountability and will not support another Interim Supply

bill.

I say

this now to give ample opportunity to ensure public servants will continue to

get paid and programs will continue to be delivered.

I ask

the Minister of Finance: Will he acknowledge his responsibility and set a date

for the budget, instead of running out the clock and trying to force another

Interim Supply?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

answered yesterday to my colleague across the House from the Official

Opposition, as soon as the material is ready to present to the people of the

province, it is absolutely our intention to do this before the end of September.

Mr.

Speaker, barring a second wave or barring something unforeseen, I can absolutely

tell you that the people of the province will see the budget in this province

before the end of September.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

MR. BROWN:

Mr. Speaker, the rationale for moving a water bomber out of Labrador West was to

make repairs to the airport. This work has largely been completed.

With the

fire season upon up, will the water bomber be restationed back in Labrador West

where it's been since the 1980s?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the hon. Member for the question.

Mr.

Speaker, I think it was in September, almost two years ago, we had an incident

with one of our water bombers with $10 million US worth of damage, and we're

still going through that process, as everybody knows the situation the province

finds ourselves in.

We rely

on the FLR, Fisheries and Land Resources, for operation and direction when it

comes to water bomber; they're the experts. Mr. Speaker, we will do this season

what we've done the last season and a half; we'll rely on the operational people

at FLR to tell us where the water bombers should be stationed and this will be

based on the evidence and based on the fire indexes of the different regions of

the province.

Mr.

Speaker, it's important to have these assets where they need to be for the

safety of people, not necessarily just putting an asset somewhere where the fire

index is not where FLR would require it.

Thank

you

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party, for a quick question.

MS. COFFIN:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the Minister of Justice and Public Safety what discussions has he

had with the federal government about individuals from other provinces serving

their federal sentences in our new, three-sizes-too-big penitentiary.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's an

absolute honour to be back in the House.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. A. PARSONS:

I appreciate the question

from the Member.

What I

can tell the Member is that when we made a decision to build a new penitentiary

in this province, it was based on the absolute need that we have here in this

province for this institution. It was not based on conversations with the

federal minister, but what I can say is that this is the first complaint I've

heard about having a new prison. Usually the complaints were about not having it

and now when we actually get it, they are complaining about the size of it.

Again, I

find that a bit baffling but, either way, I look forward to continuing on with

the Minister of Transportation and Works in making sure that this much-needed

facility continues towards completion.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Question Period

has expired

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling

of Documents.

Notices

of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Land Resources.

MR. BYRNE:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I give

notice that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The

Animal Health And Protection Act, Bill 39.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant

to Standing Order 11(1), I hereby give notice that this House not adjourn at

5:30 p.m. on June 15.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Pursuant

to Standing Order 11(1), I hereby give notice that this House not adjourn at

5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Answers to

Questions for which Notice has been Given

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal Affairs and Environment.

MR. BRAGG:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, in the House, the Member for Lab West rose to talk about firefighting

at Wabush Airport. The Wabush Airport is owned and operated by Transport Canada.

Back in

2012, Canadian Aviation Regulations

set requirements for levels of firefighting within the province. While the issue

is between the federal government and local governments, the fire commissioner

is involved in the ongoing negotiations to hopefully find a suitable resolution

to the issue.

Hopefully that's a suitable answer.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further answers to questions

for which notice has been given?

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. LESTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

majority of Newfoundland and Labrador Housing units permits smoking. Currently,

there are only two seniors' buildings that are designated as non-smoking. As we

all know, second-hand smoke can seep into multi-unit dwellings from many places,

including vents, cracks in the walls or floors.

Mr.

Speaker, it is widely documented that exposure to second-hand smoke can lead to

serious health problems, including lung cancer, heart disease and stroke and can

make asthma worse in adults and children. It is especially dangerous for

children as it can result in permanent damage to their growing lungs and cause

respiratory and other illnesses like bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections and

even sudden infant death syndrome.

Based on

several studies, an estimated 44 to 53 per cent of multi-unit housing residents

that do not allow smoking in their home have experienced second-hand smoke

infiltration in their home from elsewhere in or around the building. Not only is

this tobacco smoke, Mr. Speaker, this could also be the smoke from cannabis.

We have

non-smoking and non-consuming cannabis individuals that are being subject to

other people's habits. This is not fair, nor is it acceptable.

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

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

Newfoundland and Labrador to designate 75 per cent of Newfoundland and Labrador

Housing family units as non-smoking.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

With a reply, the hon. the

Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I

thank the hon. Member for the petition.

I guess

as the minister for Housing, I can say we often refer to ourselves as the

largest landlord in the province with just under 6,000 units; 139 of those units

are all that we have as non-smoking units.

I agree

with the hon. Member that there's much more work that needs to be done that can

be done to move to more non-smoking, but it's not as simple as that to get

there, Mr. Speaker. What I've asked my officials to do is to look across Canada

at other jurisdictions. What we're finding is it's very much a mixed bag; some

have a number of units that are non-smoking, some are smoking.

Across

this province right now we have seven buildings that are non-smoking. We have

some buildings where we're taking a grandfathered-in approach, Mr. Speaker.

There are a few people that have been lifelong smokers that are there and as you

know it comes down to harm reduction. Smoking is a terrible addiction, but the

new people that move in are required to be non-smokers.

I can

tell this hon. House we're certainly reviewing options related to a smoke-free

environment. There is a draft paper coming to me very soon for ministerial

consideration. I thank the Member for the petition.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Torngat Mountains.

MS. EVANS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We, the

undersigned, are concerned citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador who urge our

leaders to ensure that before the fall school semester starts for high school

and post-secondary students, the Internet infrastructure be upgraded in the

Northern Labrador Indigenous communities of Nain, Natuashish, Hopedale,

Makkovik, Postville and Rigolet.

Our

Northern Labrador communities have broadband, but the required high speeds

essential for online courses is not available on a consistent basis, causing

systems to lock up or boot students off the system. The aging and inadequate

infrastructure does not support bandwidth required for online meetings, video

conferencing, nor the ability to support video platforms such as Zoom, Skype,

Google suite apps.

Bandwidth is not available on a consistent basis necessary for students taking

online courses. Students will be handicapped at a critical time in their

education path, impacting their ability to succeed if Internet systems in each

communities are not upgraded to provide adequate speed and reliability.

We can't

stand idly by and watch our students be burdened by this unfair reality of

current circumstance. Therefore, we provide you with this petition asking for

help to ensure the upgrades will be done so our students will have the same

access to Internet services as the rest of the province.

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

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

Newfoundland and Labrador to ensure that Internet services be upgraded in

Northern Labrador Indigenous communities of Nain, Natuashish, Hopedale,

Makkovik, Postville and Rigolet.

I think

I have a couple minutes left?

MR. SPEAKER:

About a minute and a half.

MS. EVANS:

Thank you.

Just

looking at this, this is really, really important because of the discrepancy

between what students have – college, university and high school students have

access to on the North Coast. I was talking to a teacher yesterday evening and

she gave me an example. She was trying to do an in-service and it kept locking

up. So she had to give up. Picture that as a student.

I talked

to an AngajukKâk from one of the communities. He told me some days the Internet

is good, other days he can't open a PDF. A PDF, now how small is that? Another

AngajukKâk – that's like the mayor of a community – said he had to go down to

the clinic to do a video conference with his doctor; he said we had to give up.

This is happening.

What

happens to a student now when they have to give up? It's intimidating enough as

it is to try to do online courses without doing them for the first time as a

first-year student. That's sets a path of failure or the anticipation of failure

or the internalization of failure.

So what

I'm saying is the North Coast, every day for me it's a struggle – every day. I

know you're getting towards the end of your seat, but if it's not medical

services, if it's not air transportation, marine transportation, if it's not

food security, if it's not Internet that's affecting our students. This is why

inter-generational trauma occurs, because we don't have access to services as

the rest of the province, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

couldn't agree more with my hon. colleague. It's something that I'm glad all of

us agree on, our vast geographic nature in this province. It's a problem faced

all across our country. I've met with Minister Monsef, which is the minister

federally responsible for broadband. It's a concern that we have right across

this country. It's something that we're struggling with right across the

country.

One

thing I'm committing to and our government is committing to is advance that as

far as we possibly can. Not just for education, which is a priority, I agree,

but for economic development and for safety reasons. It's almost a right to have

solid Internet access.

I know

the federal government has put a 50-10 protocol in place that they want to have

at least that as the base minimum, and that's not occurring in most of

Newfoundland and Labrador, or at least a lot of it, and most of our rural

communities really need an investment in that. I know the federal government is

committed to that; we're committed to that as a government. We're going to work

as hard as we possibly can to find willing dance partners with respect to

service providers, but communities as well.

I look

forward to the day that everyone in the province has a minimum of 50-10. We're

not there by no stretch, but I know the feds are committed to it and so are we.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further petitions?

The hon.

the Member for Placentia West - Bellevue.

MR. DWYER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

petition I present today is about the Bull Arm Fabrication site. It's been on

the radar in the isthmus area of my district for quite some time. I've read this

into the record several times. The site is currently a great opportunity to

rejuvenate not only the local economy but the provincial economy. There are a

lot of tradespeople in my district and adjacent districts that would certainly

be able to utilize the work that would be going on there.

encourage the employment side, but when there's a megaproject like that being

utilized, the economic spinoffs for the local businesses are tremendous as well.

It's an asset of the province, and it was built to benefit the province. I think

we need to start looking more long-term tenant to attract more gainful business.

The

reason why I would bring this forward is to call upon the House of Assembly to

urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to expedite the process to get

Bull Arm Fabrication site back in operation.

The

reason why I'm bringing this forward at this time, Mr. Speaker, is because I

think we have a very unique opportunity coming out of this COVID-19 with an

economic recovery plan and this might be a way to jump-start it.

With the

sale of the refinery to Irving Oil, and they being ready to invest, then maybe

it's an opportunity to bring them onside to have a look and see if they would

like to take over the Bull Arm Fabrication site and get into the exploration and

get into the building of rigs and stuff like that. Maybe they're the proponent

we need to look for as opposed to Europe and things like that.

It's

just another opportunity there. The reason why I wanted to bring it up today, I

guess, is because we've missed several opportunities, and I would prefer if my

beautiful District of Placentia West - Bellevue and its constituents never miss

out on another opportunity.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

couldn't agree more with the Member who put forward the petition. We are

looking, around the world, for work for the Bull Arm site. We continue to work

on that, Mr. Speaker. I will say to the Member opposite, he said we've missed

opportunities. I'm not aware of any opportunities we've missed; we've created

opportunities. One of the opportunities we've created is around warm and cold

stacking of rigs in this province and that's very important for the exploration

industry. We do have a lease agreement with DF Barnes, who has further work

being done with their client Transocean.

As a

matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, they've actually invested in the construction of

additional mooring points that have increased the site's berthage. So there's

been investment in Bull Arm, there has been work in Bull Arm and absolutely

supportive of continuing to look worldwide for more opportunities for the Bull

Arm site.

I think

it's very important that we continue to invest in our offshore oil industry.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further petitions?

Orders

of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Orders of the Day, Mr.

Speaker, thank you very much.

I call

from the Order Paper, Order 2, third reading of Bill 28.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I moved,

seconded by the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, that Bill

28,

An Act To Amend The Forestry Act, be now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

the said bill now be read a third time.

The hon.

the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I'll only be a

minute. I do support this here for scalers. It's very important to the Province

of Newfoundland and Labrador, but I just needed to put it on the record that

this week when myself and the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands was accused of

hijacking this House of Assembly, this bill, (inaudible) took 50 minutes then we

closed down the House of Assembly early but we didn't have time to ask two

questions on health care during this pandemic.

I just

needed to make that record straight that this House took 50 minutes to pass this

bill, that whole day, and there was time still left on the clock that we

adjourned early. I'll just let people know that when myself and the Member for

Mount Pearl - Southlands were questioning, we were accused by the Leader of the

Opposition, the Member for St. John's Centre and the Government House Leader

that we were trying to co-opt this House. There's plenty of time to debate

important health care issues in this province.

I will

support this bill because it is a great thing. Going on one year to five years,

it's great. But I honestly feel, Mr. Speaker, that someone who can't get in for

heart surgery, who can't get in for eye surgery is a bit more important than

having a scaler for one year to five years that we could have brought in next

week or the week after, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MR. J. DINN:

Thank you.

I will

correct the record, and you can check

Hansard . I in no way accused either one of the hon. Members for Mount Pearl

- Southlands or Humber of co-opting any agenda. I think that can be verified in

Hansard and I do take exception to

that comment. I stuck to the issues without making any personal references to

the individuals at all. I take exception to that, Sir.

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member has taken the

opportunity to make a point on this. I don't think we will entertain anymore.

MR. JOYCE:

(Inaudible.)

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

I'll allow him.

The hon.

the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

The Member for St. John's

Centre thought that I said that he said – it was the Government House Leader

that I meant who said that.

MR. SPEAKER:

Okay.

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, (inaudible)

point of order.

MR. SPEAKER:

You're making a new point or

order?

The hon.

the Member for Mount Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE:

I'm speaking to the point of

order or point of privilege, whatever it was, seeing as how I was sort of

implicated in it, Mr. Speaker.

I just

want to reiterate the points that the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands said.

We wanted to raise important issues on behalf of the people we represent.

Obviously, there was time. The House did close early. I would say that all three

House leaders, as opposed to simply defeating the motion or the amendment,

everyone could have voted against it. Instead, all three of them decided to take

a swipe at us for standing up for the people –

MR. SPEAKER:

There's no point of order

here.

Also, I

think I should remind Members that it's not in order to talk of a matter that's

already been decided by the House, other than to move that it be rescinded. So

we've already had the vote on that motion and there's no point of privilege.

Members have taken the opportunity to clarify the point.

The hon.

the Government House Leader.

MS. COADY:

Let's get back to business at

hand, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, Order 3, second reading of Bill 21.

MR. SPEAKER:

We haven't voted on the third

reading that you moved earlier.

seeing no further speakers to that motion, I'll ask is the House ready for the

vote.

Is the

pleasure of the House to adopt the motion on third reading of Bill 28?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

CLERK (Barnes):

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Forestry Act. (Bill 28)

MR. SPEAKER:

The bill has now been read a

third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and that its title be as on

the Order Paper.

motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Forestry Act,” read a third time, ordered

passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 28)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Order 3,

second reading of Bill 21.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Speaking

in my role today as the Minister of Service NL, I move, seconded by the hon. the

Government House Leader, that Bill 21,

An Act To Amend The Highway Traffic Act,

be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

Bill 21 now be read a second time.

Motion,

second reading of a bill, “An Act To Amend The Highway Traffic Act.” (Bill 21)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I've

spoken in the Legislature many times regarding legislative amendments, and each

time I've said that it is incumbent upon us as a government to ensure

legislation is effective for people that it serves. I'm delighted to speak once

again to address matters of concern for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, when our government developed The

Way Forward , our plan for sustainability and growth of our province, we made

better services and increased consumer protection core elements of that plan.

The mandate letter for Service NL also focuses on enhancing consumer protection,

along with continuing efforts to strengthen the

Highway Traffic Act to make our

highways safer.

Mr.

Speaker, our government introduced legislation on a number of consumer

protection topics that are very important to the residents of our province,

dealing with everything from real estate transactions to automobile insurance

amendments. We have also made numerous amendments to the

Highway Traffic Act in an effort to increase public safety. Recent

improvements to the act include increased fines; tougher penalties for a number

of offences, such as impaired driving; amendments regarding excessive speeding;

street racing; stunting; and move-over provisions. We introduced a new offence

for driving without due care and attention, a one-meter rule for cyclists and

pedestrians and made changes to enable the use of image capture systems to help

increase road safety on our provincial roads and highways, including in school

zones.

Mr.

Speaker, a modern and robust regulatory framework is necessary to deliver

consumer protection and enhance the safety for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

I want to thank the Member for Placentia, Mr. Speaker, for the work that she has

done on those amendments and on the amendment that we're introducing today.

The

section of the Highway Traffic Act

concerning automobile dealers has not been significantly updated since 1988, and

our government recognized that a more modern approach was needed. The purchase

of an automobile is a significant financial transaction for individuals and

their families. For many people, a large part of their day is spent in their

vehicle. We drive to and from work, bringing our children to and from school,

travel to medical appointments and many other activities, Mr. Speaker. As a

government, we want to ensure that the proper legislation is in place to help

safeguard these purchases. We also want to ensure, to the greatest extent

possible, that the vehicle is roadworthy.

Mr.

Speaker, before I deal with the specific amendments, I believe it's important to

clarify how the current legislation stands. In Newfoundland and Labrador,

automobile dealers collect $13.5 million in annual revenue through licensing and

registration fees when vehicles are sold. There are 468 registered automobile

dealers in our province.

Under

the current legislation, these automobile dealers are authorized to perform

vehicle registration, vehicle transfer transactions on behalf of Motor Vehicle

Registration and to get automobiles to their new owners. To facilitate this

work, dealers are licenced by the registrar of motor vehicles and are provided

an inventory of licence plates. They are also assigned dealer licence plates

which allow them to drive vehicles for the purposes of demonstrations, test

drives and maintenance.

Within

our current legislation, our only authority under the act is to audit government

inventory and money collected by dealers on behalf of the provincial government.

This means that many activities performed by dealers as part of their

transactions are currently not regulated. Today, Mr. Speaker, we are in the

process of putting forward a number of changes to our legislation which would

address the issues that have been brought to our attention and to improve the

inspection regime so we can monitor compliance under the act.

The

first area of that is legislating licencing requirements. The proposed

amendments would clarify these requirements and processes and consolidate the

notion of registration and licencing to licencing only. As it currently stands,

these terms are used interchangeably, thereby creating some confusion.

Other

requirements currently used in other provincial acts would also be included in

the Highway Traffic Act to create

clarity for the industry, including the requirement that any outstanding fees or

fines under the act must be paid before acquiring a dealer licence.

Mr.

Speaker, we are also adding a

section on the duties of a dealer which would

ensure that vehicles are inspected and that vehicle inspection certificates are

obtained from an official inspection station before selling a used vehicle.

Inspections would not be required in dealer-to-dealer transactions.

Mr.

Speaker, many dealers already ensure that vehicles are roadworthy before they

sell the vehicle to the general public. This is demonstrated through

dealer-driven certificate programs, such as pre-owned- or used-car safety and

reliability checks, warranty programs and inspections. Legislating these

requirements would increase the safety and reliability of used or aging

vehicles, increasing consumer confidence and providing an added protection for

the driver and all others who use our roads. Furthermore, setting minimum

standards for all dealers would protect consumer purchases, as well as reducing

potential harm.

We are

also amending the legislation to require a certificate of conduct for sole

proprietors or for each director or officer of a dealership, if so requested by

the registrar. Adding this requirement helps ensure that individuals conducting

business on behalf of government, or collecting citizens' money on behalf of

government, can be trusted to do so to an appropriate degree. Additionally,

incorporated dealerships would also be required to provide a current certificate

of good standing from the Registry of Companies.

The

proposed amendments would also add a provision prohibiting the use of a dealer

plate for a service vehicle or for personal use or hire. This would stop the

misuse of dealer plates for purposes other than for those in which they were

intended; for example, to allow drivers to test drive vehicles prior to purchase

or the service centre within a dealer for servicing a vehicle prior to

registration.

On a

regular basis my department receives complaints regarding the sale of vehicles,

including issues of mechanical fitness, as well as the fees that are charged by

a dealer. There have also been incidents in which fraudulent activity at auto

dealerships has been reported to policing agencies. Despite these issues, there

is currently no legislative authority for the registrar of motor vehicles to

properly investigate those infractions.

Mr.

Speaker, updates to the act would also allow the Minister of Service NL to

appoint inspectors to ensure dealerships are compliant with the act. Inspectors

could examine the premises, the processes, books and records of a dealer or

individual who falls under the legislation. These provisions are necessary to

allow for full administration and enforcement of the automobile dealers sections

of the act. The changes in these areas will bring the legislation in line with

similar provisions in other legislation.

The

proposed changes we are bringing to the floor of the House today would also

expand regulation-making authority related to automobile dealers to improve

consumer protection and public safety – both significant priorities for our

government. Today, regulation-making authority only exists under the

Highway Traffic Act regarding the

audit of dealers in order to regulate, account for and ascertain inventories of

licence plates and markers or stickers issued to those dealers and to audit

temporary registrations and the accounts respecting money collected for those

registrations.

Also,

related to the automobile dealers, the current licensing and equipment

regulations deal with temporary licence or permits for vehicle owners and

certain licence plate requirement. With our amendments today, these provisions

would be moved to the new automobile dealers regulations and expand requirements

related to the audits would be developed and become part of those regulations as

well.

So I say

to the Members of the legislature and to you, Mr. Speaker, that setting minimum

standards for all dealers will reduce the potential for harm when it comes to

vehicle safety. Whenever we set out to modernize legislation and work toward

ensuring it is meeting the needs of those we serve, it is essential to consult

with stakeholders impacted by our decisions.

officials met with representatives from the Automobile Dealers Association of

Newfoundland and Labrador to discuss the proposed changes and capture any

feedback they had to offer. Additionally, we reached out to automobile dealers

who are not members of the association to solicit their input as well. On both

counts we received supportive feedback from the industry.

Mr.

Speaker, I want to thank everyone for providing that feedback. You've been

instrumental in helping us modernize a piece of legislation that goes far in

enhancing consumer protection to the citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, increased consumer protection and the deterrence of bad business

practices have been very important topics for our government. These changes we

are introducing today will help increase the standard of responsibility and

accountability present in the automobile dealer sector. This, in turn, will

allow for enhanced vehicle safety and consumer protection.

It is

important that we, as a government, continue to address the matters of concern

for the people of this province. I look forward to debating the proposed

amendments regarding automobile dealerships in Newfoundland and Labrador with my

colleagues here today.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Ferryland.

MR. O'DRISCOLL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First of

all, it's an honour here to speak in the House and represent the District of

Ferryland. I'm certainly pleased to do that. Also, before I get started, I'd

like to thank the public health committee for their great work, Dr. Fitzgerald

and her staff and all the essential workers during this time. I think they've

done a great job and I do thank you for that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. O'DRISCOLL:

It's a pleasure again to be

able to look at the Highway Traffic Act

in the province. I worked in a car dealership for 22 years. I'm pretty familiar

with working with service and sales and dealing with customers, so it's nice to

be able to speak on a topic, I'm going to say, you're a little bit familiar

with. It's a little less stressful, but it is what it is.

Mr.

Speaker, I've been in the House now not for a very long time, and again this is

a large piece of legislation, the Highway

Traffic Act . It's a broad range and covers many, many different areas. In

fact, if you recall, last fall we did the cameras on the roads within the

province. We debated that for a fair amount of time and hopefully we'll see

those come into effect at some point soon.

As the

minister outlined, the changes proposed in the bill we're debating relate to

automobile dealers, plates and inspections and stuff like that. So, I'll be able

to touch on that as I go through. Having said that, I attended a briefing – I'm

going to say it was in March – and met with the officials and I learned a lot

from them and they sort of listened and learned a lot from all of us while we

were there so I thank the officials in the department and also the Member for

Placentia - St. Mary's as well. I do thank her for her help.

As of,

I'm going to say, 1988 is when these regulations came into place, so it's been a

long while for some updates on some of these. The officials looked at the act

and obviously made some reasonable changes to it. It took over 30 years to do,

so it's certainly something that needed to be looked at.

According to the officials there's 468 automobile dealers licensed in the Motor

Registration Division, so a lot of those would be single-proprietor people that,

no different than anybody else, could go get a car dealership licence or a car

salesman's licence to be able to sell vehicles. The Automobile Dealers

Association of Newfoundland and Labrador represents the franchise car and truck

dealers in the province. Officials said of the 468, they received 12 responses

in the province, but the dealers were mostly supportive of the proposed changes.

So of 468, 12 people wrote back.

Just

going through and listening to when you were speaking on it; you were talking

about inspections. I think it's something to look at in regard to vehicles.

Sometimes you see vehicles on the road and you say, well, how are they on the

road? Being in the dealership, I think looking at a 10-year window that a

vehicle should be reinspected. It's not something that I'm bringing forward from

anyone, just working in a dealership that you see cars on the road and we're

always worried about their health and safety. I think it's something that helps

the economy a little bit besides and it's a safety issue.

We have

some vehicles on the road that if you don't have to inspect them within 10

years, then sometimes people don't have the money to do it and it's a detriment

to us as well, so it's something to look it. Again, you always said if you had

ideas to bring them forward, so it's just my take. That doesn't mean it's right,

but you do often see vehicles on the road that are not really fit to be on it

sometimes after 10 years.

Mr.

Speaker, as for the amendments, officials explained the rules relating to the

dealers in the act and the various regulations. They wanted to put forward

provisions relating to the dealers in one place to make it easier for dealers

and regulators to follow. There are a number of proposed amendments aimed at the

consolidation. The terms licensing and registration will be consolidated to

licence. That makes a bit of sense. The requirements that dealers be bonded

would be moved from licensing and equipment regulations to the act. Existing

offences will be unpaid in the

Schedule to reflect new numbering and language.

This new

set of regulations will provide some provisions that are currently in the act,

such as the ability to audit plates. Just the ability to audit plates is fine.

I'll tell you from a sales perspective, you could be in trying to sell a vehicle

and you have three people at you the one time. You have two D-plates and you put

it on the car. One person goes for a D-plate; you get the next person in your

office; you're trying to give them the information on the vehicle as best you

can and treat them with respect. While that person is gone on a road test,

you're getting this other person payments and lining them up for a road test.

Then, you're trying to get them out on the road. The next person comes back and

you're going all around your lot trying to find D-plates.

So when

you're talking about D-plates in the dealership, it's a bit of an issue for

people in the dealerships, the salespeople and all the staff. Even as you had

said earlier, when you're working in service, they go inspect these vehicles

when they come up from Oceanex or come across the province. They have to be

PDI'd; they need D-plates to check them. There can't be a worse feeling than

sending someone in a vehicle for a road test and you forgot to put a D-plate on

it. Now you're going to go out, drive the Outer Ring; police are going to haul

them in. Chance of selling a vehicle if they ever get hauled in are very little

if they're going to come back with a ticket. Now, we would probably be

responsible, but they wouldn't be very happy with you. It has happened.

regard to that, D-plates can be – you go in the morning, you have one D-plate

missing. You walk around and look at 400 vehicles at the back to try and find

it. A person can take it and park it to help you and then you have to go find

the plate, so it can be a bit of an issue.

Explaining the D-plates – as a dealership, when they take a vehicle and they go

downtown to get a meal or they go for a road test or go where they have to go

and they get a parking ticket on it. They take the parking ticket, tear it up,

throw it in the garbage and I'm not going to know about it for a month later

when we get a fine to say that it was illegally parked. You can't follow it. I

just explained to you where the plates are, all over the lot. Who had it? Do you

record the time that they had it? It's a bit of an issue to do.

I can

see the dealerships – they're going to get fines, I'm going to say in the area

of $15,000 to $20,000. It's not really their fault and they come back to a

salesman and try to track to see who had it one month ago. That's pretty

difficult to do but I'm sure that they could work on it. They're responsible for

it and you're looking to get your money back from the government. It's just an

issue on D-plates and I just thought I'd throw that out there.

Also,

Mr. Speaker, there are new provisions that are also added in relation to

automobile dealers with the aim of increasing consumer protection and road

safety. For example, a dealer will now have to disclose information to the buyer

before selling a vehicle. Information will be disclosed which is specified in

the regulations. In terms of applications for the dealer licensing, there will

be a new requirement for a donor or for a sole proprietor or each director of an

officer of a corporation to provide a certificate of conduct.

It's

keeping some of the people that – should they have licence, should they not,

because they're doing stuff that's fraudulent. You now have a little bit more

control over that. Before, there probably wasn't as good control but I think

it's a good way forward.

dealing with inspections, again working in the dealership, when you get a

vehicle, we trade in a vehicle or you come in for an appraisal, we have to try

and put a number on it that's fair for everybody. That never works out that way

but we always try to do the best we can, or we did. I keep saying we. I'm not in

there anymore, obviously, but when you do an appraisal you try to give them the

best information.

When we

trade in that car, as an example, you put that car in your inventory and you

have to inspect it. Some of the dealers when you go in, you see a car traded in

two days ago. It may not be inspected because for a dealer – and I don't know if

it's good, bad or indifferent – if they inspect a car and it sits on their lot

for 60 days and they spent $1,500 or $2,000 to do brakes, ball joints, whatever

the case may be, and it's not sold within 60 days, it has to be reinspected

again. Then you have rotors that could have pulsations, you have engine lights

that could be on.

All that

stuff is pretty important to a dealership in regard to making money. If they

have to work on it a second time, then it's costing them money and it's cutting

into their profits. A lot of people don't understand that and when they go in

for a road test that's the kind of thing that you have to look at. Again, having

to reinspect it – which is, again, we're looking after safety and most of these

dealers are all about safety.

When I

worked at a dealership when I was selling a used vehicle I would be pretty frank

and straightforward. If anyone came in or anyone bought – there are a couple of

people in this House that have bought vehicles or their spouses have, and you're

pretty straightforward with what you're trying to tell them. If you bought a

used vehicle you would try to give them the information as best you could.

Privacy is an issue. You can't give out what was done, but you can go back

through the warranty work.

A new

thing that we brought in – I keep saying we. A new thing that came into the

dealerships – and most of them use it now – is CARPROOF. If you brought your

vehicle to an insurance company, CARPROOF would check the vehicle over to make

sure it wasn't in any accidents. If it was in an accident, of the amount it was

we'd be able to tell you and show you the CARPROOF on what the accident damage

was. It's giving the customer the information that they use.

If you

were looking for a used car most, times you'll first ask: was it in an accident?

If you can answer yes to that, then you have the proof to show what it was, what

the damage was and if it's fixed. Then it gives you a little bit more trust in

your client to be able to sell that vehicle, so just to give you a little

insight on how used cars are done and how it works.

To go

back where I was, Mr. Speaker, officials know the dealers collect a significant

amount of money on behalf of the government, about $13 million annually for

vehicle registration and transfer fees. These measures are aimed at reducing the

potential risk of fraud. A provision being added under the dealers' duties

states a licensed dealer must ensure that a second-hand vehicle is inspected by

an official station and that the vehicle inspection certificate is obtained from

the inspection station before selling it to a second-hand dealer.

Now,

sometimes these vehicles traded in go for scrap or they go to a used car lot so

we don't have to sell them as where is, as is. They have to get it inspected to

put on their lot. This regulation is probably cleaning up a little bit. There

were times that we've traded in vehicles, a person will come in and pay you

maybe $500 or $1,000 more than what we traded it in for and they go get it

inspected. They come back with a slip. Then we would issue a sticker to the

vehicle. Until then, they had a vehicle with no sticker. It's a process that

probably needs a little tweaking. It is pretty good, but there are those little

grey areas there as well that should be looked at.

There

was also a new provision regarding the licence plate could be suspended or

cancelled; a dealer's licence could now be suspended or cancelled for failing to

pay fees and fines, which would be dealing with dealer plates. Officials note

that there's currently about $21,000 in outstanding fines assigned to dealer

plates that have been difficult to collect. I explained that earlier. So that's

another one that they're trying to close the gap on.

New

inspection powers will be added in relation to dealers. These inspections

related to consumer protection, and the minister will be authorized to appoint

inspectors to examine the dealers' premises, property, books and records.

While I

was in a dealership, I'm going to say that the Motor Vehicle inspectors would

come and check the building and they would check the books that the inspections

were done. One time was a long while ago now and it doesn't happen, I'm going to

say, as such, but you would never get a technician now to write an inspection

slip for you anymore without checking the vehicle. Their licence is on the line;

their job is on the line, and they are going to inspect that vehicle to the best

of their ability, no matter where that is.

Now,

will they miss something? Yes, absolutely, but it won't be done intentionally.

They will check it over; the books are checked and something could happen after

a road test that caused that vehicle to have a different issue after it's

inspected. So that could happen a week later with somebody else road testing.

So could

it happen? Yes, it could, but most of these dealerships, most of these

technicians, will issue inspection slips and, like I said, their jobs are on the

line; their income is on the line, so they're not going to give out any

inspection slips today as we see it 20 years ago. So it's something that is

certainly real good the way we got it done now and people are not going to take

a chance on doing that. If you hear tell of that, then it's something to be

jumped on right away. I have seen it over the years and seen some accidents that

have happened and vehicles never had the inspection done, but did have an

inspection slip. It goes to court and it can be pretty tricky. So you will not

see that in any of these dealerships, I can guarantee it.

As well,

procedures for warrants: until the warrants are (inaudible) for the situations

in which dealers refuse to co-operate. Mr. Speaker, in a short time, I notice

here there are a lot of details in legislation often left to the regulations and

the bill is no exception, right? So it's stuff that we just have to pay

attention to. We don't get to see regulations, but this bill authorizes Cabinet

to make a lot of new regulations regarding information and documentation to be

provided with an application for a dealer's licence, which is good; security

licence; records to be kept by dealers, which is very important.

You will

see that pretty well all over the place these days, especially the major

dealerships. They're selling a vehicle – I've often sold a vehicle – and if they

had an issue, if they wanted to bring it back, within 30 days you can bring it

back. I was often told by a boss that we don't need the bad publicity to be out

there because we did something wrong in a car, so fix it, get it done or get

them in a new vehicle. They don't want the bad publicity.

There

are a lot of times that, yeah, you'll hear stories, but there's more to the

story sometimes than you see and we would not want to have bad publicity out

there. These dealerships, they don't want the word spread around that this

inspection was done and wasn't done properly. It's not the way they operate.

That is done properly and hopefully it will be from here on in.

Also,

information that a dealer to provide a person purchasing a vehicle, insurance,

storage and use of identification plates, markers and dealer plates as well.

Collection of remission of fees for identification plates, markers, dealer

plates and temporary registrations and audit of dealer.

Mr.

Speaker, this is quite an expanded regulation-making authority. In the briefing

we were told that further consultations will be held with stakeholders regarding

the regulations, and I imagine stakeholders will be looking forward to

participating in that process. As the act will come in force on January 1, 2021,

I would hope that all the consultations will be carried out soon.

Mr.

Speaker, this is also all I have to say for now and hopefully I'll be able to

ask some questions when we get into the Committee stage.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

MR. CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

It's

great to have the opportunity, this afternoon, to speak on what it would be, I

think, briefly to this bill. I confess not to have the knowledge that the

previous speaker has on this subject, and he did a great job actually summing up

some of the benefits of this bill and the purposes of it.

Mr.

Speaker, I will take, I guess, a view of this bill being the minister

responsible for Transportation in the province, and talk about how important is

it not only for us to have safe highways in our province, but to ensure that the

vehicles on our highways are safe.

We see a

lot of conditions, I guess, as a department, Mr. Speaker, when we unfortunately

go and investigate accident scenes – or, I guess, attend to accident scenes more

than investigate – but sometimes we see in cases that it's mechanical

malfunction of a vehicle that causes some of the accidents.

Mr.

Speaker, this is an important amendment and it goes along with what we've been

trying to do as a government for a number of years now, with regard to highway

safety. Last year, we introduced a policy along with Service NL, amendments to

the Highway Traffic Act regarding

cameras, to use cameras to make the highways safer for drivers and for people

working on the highways. So when we send construction crews out or TW crews out

on a daily basis to work on the highways, it's really important that the

vehicles that are interacting with people working on the highways are safe.

Service

NL, working with the Automobile Dealers Association, has come up with these

changes. It's very important because I think we have a really good automobile

industry in this province, and it's important that we update our legislation and

our rules, certainly, to reflect that.

Mr.

Speaker, the speaker before me mentioned reference to vehicles and safety and

inspection of vehicles. I think vehicles have come along in safety changes over

the years, but it's important, again, that at every opportunity we take every

step to make sure that safety is always, always job one when it comes to

vehicles and that vehicles are registered and that our automobile dealers are

also there to protect the people in our province who are purchasing vehicles,

test driving vehicles and other things.

Well,

Mr. Speaker, as I said, I was going to be brief. For Transportation and Works,

from our perspective on this update to the

Highway Traffic Act , it's always important that we ensure safety on our

highways. This is just one more step to making sure that when we all go on our

highways, in our daily commutes or for whatever purpose, the highways are safe

for oncoming motorists and motorists in their own vehicles, and also a

reflection on the people that are working on our highways, the people working on

our construction sites. So it's important that we take these measures and I'm

certain that as we move forward in coming sessions, we will see other

improvements to the Highway Traffic Act

to make sure that our highways are safe.

So I thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Speaker, and thank

Service NL for this bill this afternoon.

MR. SPEAKER

(Bennett): The hon. the Member for Labrador West.

MR. BROWN: Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm glad to speak in the House on this and on behalf of the

residents of Labrador West. I won't take much of the House's time on this, and

after listening to discussion from other Members, it seems that these updates

are long warranted and it's good coming.

Actually, my step-uncle is a car dealer himself, so these

things that I've noticed, too, that they've not – the automotive industry or

dealers industry here has been looking for similar things in here and it's nice

that we are moving

forward with these things and also giving customers in this province some more

reassurance that we're watching out for the best interest of them as well. Also,

we're putting safety paramount for our residents on our highways.

Like the

Minister of Transportation and Works said, this is a bit more peace of mind that

automobiles that are actually on our highways have been inspected, they've

rigorously followed all procedures and that they have peace of mind when

purchasing a new or used vehicle in this province. The automobile industry and

the sale of automobiles in this province is a very large industry and has

significant revenues it brings into the province for retail, on top of the sale

of other heavy equipment and stuff as well. So we're moving forward with a lot

of these (inaudible) –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

It is

hard to hear the speaker. Thank you.

MR. BROWN:

And it's good to see, we have

a lot more people.

It's

amazing to see that we have so many dealers in this province. That's a huge

chunk of people that are in this industry that have come along. So we're looking

at the association itself has 80 members alone in a province of 500,000 people.

So it's a big industry that we have to look after.

I do

have a few questions for when we do get into Committee as well about some of the

things, especially with bonding. We're bonding the owner of the industry, but I

do have questions about bonding salespeople themselves when it comes to checking

also for fraud as well with the RNC. So it's one thing I do have a question

about that I'll ask the minister when we get to that point.

It's

good that we're also checking for fraud and things like that when people are

selling automobiles, because we have to give the customer peace of mind and we

also have to check to make sure that when this transaction happens, it happens

correctly and above board.

So I

don't want to take much more of the House's time so we can get to Committee and

be able to answer these questions.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, it's a pleasure to speak on any piece of legislation in this House;

it's always good. This act to amend the

Highway Traffic Act is obviously not contentious, but it just highlights the

many, many pieces of legislation that flow through government that needs

updating. We could be in this House for a long time – I know Service NL is the

regulatory department. A lot of legislation comes from that department and a lot

of it is due to the fact it's outdated – this being no different.

course, with outdated legislation, you're bringing it up to today's standards.

When you do it, you wonder why it's been delayed so long. But I think it's

coming to the point where there's so much regulations within government itself

and all regulations have to come to the House and it does take time; it's a lot

of work for our officials. They work behind the scenes to make this possible.

When the

minister delivers it in the House and we debate it, this is the easy part. I

used to be on the other side of that sometimes too and I know what goes on

behind the scenes. We refer to it in the House sometimes as housekeeping. When I

was on the other side, I know that really wasn't the word that a lot of

officials really appreciated because that housekeeping took them an awful lot of

time and painstaking hours reading a lot of this material.

A lot of

this stuff is pretty dry but it's very important, so I commend them for the work

they do. Not only this, Mr. Speaker, the work they do right throughout

government. We kind of debate legislation a lot in this House and I think it

bears that we should give credit to the officials that work in all departments

because they're the ones that really do the heavy lifting. When it comes here,

the heavy lifting is done and we get the pleasure of kind of debating it and

poking holes in the hard work they've done. So I want to compliment them.

On this

legislation, when it comes to dealers – and I know my colleague from Ferryland

has a very deep background in automobile dealerships and how it works. I was

speaking to him earlier on this too. It appears this legislation is more

designed for the smaller dealers as opposed to we look at the bigger ones we see

around, Hickman, Terra Nova Motors, Ford, Avalon Ford and all those, the bigger

operations, when you go deal with them, they check the boxes and they have a

pretty solid operation.

When I

started reading this, I was thinking a lot of this legislation, these places do

it. They got some enhanced capabilities now. Upon some conversation with my

colleague, I was thinking it's more to do with a lot of these smaller dealers

that operate. It's not all of them. There are a lot of great operations but

obviously, like everything, they don't all follow the rules.

By not

following the rules, it puts us all at risk. When I say putting us at risk,

obviously it's the road safety. The Minister of Transportation and Works

properly commented on the fact it makes our roads safer. Anything that makes our

road safer is not just the vehicles we drive and the pavement they ride on, it's

the regulations that these vehicles – some of these vehicles should not be on

the roads.

You go

into some of these dealers and they have the inspection slip – and we heard the

saying, there was a time back where the stories were you get the inspection slip

and the car had never entered the garage. They wouldn't even know what they were

writing – they would ask for the details, you bring in your registration and the

shop would write out your inspection slip and you'd go on about your business,

you'd pay your money. It was sometime ago when government actually stopped this

practice and changed the rules because it was actually a very flawed system,

after so many years of those mandatory inspections and what-not.

Tightening up any regulation to make our road safer, it's a very good thing.

When you look at some of the changes – I read one piece there. This piece, as I

said, this legislation was all over the department. Sometimes that doesn't seem

like much, but when you're not in the department and you're not in government,

you don't know how things are laid out through departments. When you're out, Joe

Q. Public, and you're coming in to try to research something or find something –

and I myself, even as an MHA, have been around government for a long time. If I

have to find something on my own or I'm home sat down in the nighttime and I'm

trying to find something on the government site it's a challenge. It's a

challenge at the best of times. So any time you can bring any of this stuff

together it's never a bad thing. Again, it's sometimes that we lose – we don't

really pay attention to that until you actually go to find something yourself.

It is

not housekeeping; it's doing the legislation properly and making it more

accessible for people, which is what government should be doing anyway.

One

thing jumped out that I noticed is this Automobile Dealers Association of

Newfoundland and Labrador where we have a majority of dealers are not members of

this association. Now, what jumped at me with that one were the realtors. We did

the realtors legislation this past spring. It went through Committee, actually,

tested through Committee. First bill we brought through the House of that

nature. But it was mandatory to be a part of the realtors association.

It was

making those people be a part of a body so then you can deal with the body. It

all makes sense, you deal with a group and then it spreads from there. So maybe

this is more designed for Committee, but my question would be, wouldn't that

have been something that would've been worthy of consideration – or maybe it was

considered and we'll find out later in Committee. Was that not considered to

make that mandatory for all car dealerships to become part of this association?

Because then you have one body speaking for all of them and it's a much easier

way to control; it's a much easier way to get your message out. It filters down

the pyramid way for the regulatory body. Maybe the minister can explain it

better than I can articulate here, but that was something that did jump at me,

and I realize that we dealt with the same thing under the realtors association.

Another

thing, too, we've seen in the legislation there was only like 12 responses of

the 468 dealers. So that obviously speaks volumes: it's either the dealers don't

feel there's any need of any regulatory changes and feel everything is fine; or,

I mean, I'm sure they were consulted or they were contacted, but if you were

part of an association, I think they would have probably a better response than

12 responses out of 468 dealers. That's a really, really low number.

I'm not

saying any of these changes are not necessary – I think they all are – but

there's a disconnect. Again, the minister can elaborate on that if he wants, but

there's a disconnect there, it seems like, if you only got 12 dealers responding

out of 468. I could even live with 100 dealers out of 468, and that would still

be low; you're still only 20 per cent or less. But 12 dealers? I mean, what's

the percentage? It's a very low, low percentage. That to me is like –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The (inaudible) is getting too loud.

MR. PETTEN: That

to me speaks volumes as well.

As I say, regulations are good. Automobile Dealers

Association, I believe, should be the parent group. There's one thing, I guess,

when we look at this and go back to highway safety, and anywhere we've got to

increase oversight, all these things – there are lots of things jumping out of

this, in this legislation.

When we're dealing with any of this and we're talking about

our highway safety, I got to go back to it again because a lot of unnecessary

deaths, accidents, serious injuries occur, they're not always because of

accidents. We say they're accidents, but a lot of it is from negligence: it's

either you're driving too fast, you're on a road driving a vehicle you should

not be driving. Now, don't get me wrong, there are a portion of them that are

accidents and very sad stories, but if you do the math, you go in and do the

follow-up, you do the accident reports, a lot of them comes down to they're

preventable.

These regulations here, even though they may not appear

that way, but a vehicle inspection, the value of a vehicle inspection can never

be understated. You can never understate the value of a vehicle inspection.

When I read this, it jumped out at me: the Parkway. We have

the pedway there now. My father, actually, was a mechanic. He's passed away now,

but he was a mechanic all his life. That incident, when that happened, that

accident, that was really tragic, obviously, and it was recently the anniversary

– it was last year, I believe – he had to testify; he had to do the inspections

on the vehicles. It was all about the inspection that was on that vehicle of the

day.

It was questioned, that vehicle was only after being

inspected previously, a while. One of the situations was – it wasn't long before

it was inspected. So this became an issue in the courts. This became part of the

trial for that, when that accident happened. And that's something that

always stuck with me. Not only the fact that I was around it all my life – my

father, that was his career and I seen a lot of this stuff because he used to do

a lot of police investigations and what have you – but it just reaffirms. When I

see stuff like this, any amendments to the

Highway Traffic Act , especially when you get into inspections or anything

else when it comes to making dealers more responsible, stuff like that jumps out

to me. It was only a year ago.

I would

just like to be on record to say that we never take any of this legislation

lightly, it's important. Ultimately, even though it's important for government

to be able to collect outstanding fees and fines, whatever is collected by these

dealers and what have you, all that is fine, but underneath all that there's a

safety piece that probably nobody reads when they read,

an Act to Amend the

Highway Traffic Act, when you read some of the changes but, ultimately, changes

like these can save lives.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

If the Minister of Service NL

speaks now he will close the debate.

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Humber - Bay of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm just

going to spend a few minutes, and I'm going to be supporting this piece of

legislation but I do have some concerns.

Road

safety is a major concern for all of us across the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador, there's absolutely no doubt. There are a lot of issues with it and

there's a lot of responsibility on the dealerships.

The

Member for Ferryland gave a very good brief of it all; much better than any of

us could do in this House. He brought forward some great points, and some points

that even the people who were reading the legislation through the briefings

wouldn't know and wouldn't be able to bring up. There were a lot of great issues

brought there.

Auditing

the plates is a very major point in this. The biggest issue I hear, and it was

brought up – and the Member for Ferryland explained it very well. The biggest

issue that was brought up was if cars with conditions, when they hand them over,

when they're sold; what someone is buying, what the condition of the car is, was

it in an accident? There are always issues. I dealt with a few of them from

constituents about non-disclosure of information about the cars.

The

other concern is, is the car roadworthy? These are all the issues that must be

addressed in some way through the regulations, I say to the minister. The

regulations are always a bit touchy. As we know, the regulations come in, and we

don't see the regulations until they're made up. We're just getting approval for

the legislation, but the big thing for all of us is to ensure that there's

continuity across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador on it.

Mr.

Speaker, a certificate of conduct for the dealerships and for the dealers is

great also. That's great to make sure that everybody is being audited. We get a

certificate of conduct for anything that we do. You coach basketball, you get a

certificate of conduct to give to the school or the school board. So a

certificate of conduct when you're dealing with so much money for people is very

important.

Mr.

Speaker, I'm going to go back to something I was dealing with last year. This is

a point that I want to bring up. I was dealing with 11, 12 other people, I

think, across the province on their behalf. I want to make it quite clear,

thanks to the City of Corner Brook, the vehicle that my wife purchased, we can

use. So this is not an issue about me.

In the

statement that was made is there is $13 million transferred that the dealers

take in for the province because they have a relationship with Motor

Registration that they can collect the fees, register the car – $13 million.

I'll just give an example, I say to the minister, and I will say upfront that

this is not the minister's issue because you were not in the position when this

happened, but I just want to give the minister a heads up on this. He was

talking about regulations. It's very important, I say, about when you bring in

the regulations.

When you

talk about the Kubotas last year in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador,

they were being registered by the dealers through Motor Registration for 11

years. Collecting the money, paying it off, no problem. They had permission from

Service NL, through Motor Registration, through the registrar, to collect the

fees to give them an X plate, doing if for 11 years. Someone made a complaint

from Forestry, I think it was – made a complaint from Forestry. They said we

made a mistake 11 years ago. So now what we're going to do with the mistake of

11 years, everybody with an X plate, you're off the road.

So the

people who went up and paid $25,000 for a vehicle, getting an X plate, approved

by the dealership, approved by the Motor Registration Division, given a

certificate, all of a sudden said: oh, you can't use it now, and there's no

liability back to the province or back to the dealership. And when you go to the

dealership, the dealership says, well, we had permission from the government,

the government let us do it for 11 years. The government says, oh, we made a

mistake 11 years ago, hard luck. A lot of people couldn't even use their

vehicles anymore, sold their vehicles. Those are the kind of loopholes, Mr.

Minister. I know you can't answer it because you weren't involved but that's the

kind of things you have to watch out for.

I just

want to bring this to the minister's attention again; I want to make it quite

clear: this minister was not in that position. I say to Minister Osborne this is

something that's probably new to you. You might have heard me speak of it in the

House of Assembly. This is where the regulations comes in. I say to the

minister, you have to keep a close oversight on the regulations.

Of all

the vehicles in that type of Kubota that was given an X plate, there was one who

was allowed to keep the X plate. The letters that were received and the letters

that you got from access to information, it was given because unique commercial

purposes. No one can show me in the legislation what unique commercial purposes

are. None – absolutely none, yet someone here in St. John's at that time got

approval for unique commercial purposes with an X plate. The same vehicle for

the other 11 people across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador were

saying, no, you can't use it, yet you could use it in the streets of St. John's.

I know a

couple of people here – I was speaking to the MHAs about it – that were in their

district and a couple of them are not allowed on the road, just on a byroad in

their town bringing their fishing equipment back and forth to their stages, back

and forth to the wharf. Not allowed but you could use it in downtown St. John's

because someone, the Registrar in this province, said it's unique commercial

purposes. Now, I know it's laughable. It's true. It's laughable and I can show

it to you.

Mr.

Speaker, the reason why I bring this up, this is nothing to me, I just feel

sorry to the people outside Corner Brook who can't use their vehicles. That's

who I feel sorry for. I honestly feel sorry for them for investing $25,000 and

then told you're allowed t