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October 20, 2020 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLIX No. 54

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR.

SPEAKER (Reid):

Are

the House Leaders ready?

Is the Government House Leader ready? Yes, okay.

Third Party and independents ready? Okay.

Admit strangers and begin the broadcast.

Order, please!

Statements by Members

MR.

SPEAKER:

Today we will hear statements by the hon. Members for the Districts of Torngat

Mountains, Exploits, Harbour Grace - Port de Grave, Burin - Grand Bank and

Humber - Bay of Islands. Virginia Waters - Pleasantville is going to ask for

leave to present a Member's statement as well.

The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

MS.

EVANS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today I pay tribute to the late Bart Jack Sr. for a

lifetime of dedicated service to the Innu of Labrador.

His advocacy for Innu rights began in the 1970s. He

witnessed the struggles that his people endured, transitioning from their

traditional way of life into the communities of Sheshatshiu and Davis Inlet.

In 1973, Bart Jack became the first president of the

first organization of Aboriginal people in this province, the Native Association

of Newfoundland and Labrador. He was a strong advocate for justice and

education, both essential to the wellness of his people.

He was appointed to the national Parole Board of

Canada, bringing changes to the justice system. He studied law to advocate

stronger.

Education also was very important to Bart. He wanted

Innu children to be able to access education. He also knew it was critical for

education to be determined by the Innu themselves. Bart played a large role in

transitioning Innu to their own Innu School Board, on which he served as

co-chair.

From low-level flying to protests at Muskrat Falls,

Bart Jack voiced his concerns to make sure Innu were treated fairly. Bart has

shaped a prosperous future for his people. His leadership will continue to be

felt long after his passing.

Please join me today in honouring the late Bart Jack,

Innu leader.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Exploits.

MR.

FORSEY:

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge a long-time volunteer of Norris Arm

North, Mr. Pleaman Menchenton.

Mr. Menchenton taught for 32 years in Burlington,

Englee, Norris Arm and Norris Arm North. His summer months he worked in sawmills

as a carpenter and a logger.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Menchenton was a faithful volunteer

for many years. He volunteered with many different committees and boards such as

Embalmers and Funeral Directors of Newfoundland, Norris Arm United Church,

recreation, War Memorial Committee, volleyball coach, Public Library board,

local service district, fire department, town council and Lions Clubs.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members in the House of Assembly

to join me in congratulating Mr. Pleaman Menchenton on being a long-time

volunteer of Norris Arm North and Norris Arm.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.

MS.

P. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to recognize a talented friend of mine

from Harbour Grace, Michael Power, who is no stranger to the arts community here

in our province.

From a young age he participated in music and theatre.

Following high school, he was hired by Acting Up Entertainment in Gander. It was

during this time when Michael decided he would pursue a professional career in

the arts. He enrolled in Sheridan's musical theatre performance program in

Ontario, where he trained with some of the country's best performers.

He was employed by Deerhurst Resort, before joining

celebrity cruise lines, performing for international audiences. After two years

in countries such as Italy, Turkey and Greece, Michael wanted to take his skills

and talent back home here to Newfoundland and Labrador. You may have seen him

perform on stage with Spirit of Newfoundland and the annual

Revue sketch comedy produced by Rising

Tide Theatre.

In 2012, he was cast as one of the province's favourite

musicians, Harry Hibbs. Michael is currently with Terra Bruce Productions which

will be touring and featuring the Newfoundland based musical,

No Change in the Weather .

Mr. Speaker, we're proud of Michael Power's

accomplishments and grateful to have him share his talent right here at home in

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burin - Grand Bank.

MS.

HALEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

During COVID-19, all of us developed a strengthened

appreciation for essential workers, especially those health care professionals

who demonstrate their commitment to their fellow citizens during a very, very

difficult time. But one young boy from Burin, in my District of Burin - Grand

Bank, came up with his own unique way of paying homage to the women and men who

daily risk their own safety to protect our health.

For 77 consecutive days, eight-year-old Andrew Billard

would set up his drums on his deck at the very time many essential workers were

headed home for the day. He beat those drums loudly, Mr. Speaker, reminding

those workers they were much appreciated. It also served as a reminder to other

residents of Burin that those special workers had just completed another day of

being there for the rest of us should the need arise.

I know his parents Shauna and Ryan Billard, as well as

his sister Emily, and his grandparents Ian and Jeanien Edwards and Mike and Judy

Billard are very, very proud of Andrew.

I ask all hon. Members to join me in thanking Andrew

for this thoughtful act in support of essential workers. They certainly deserve

our unanimous support.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.

MR.

JOYCE:

Mr.

Speaker, I recently attended the ordination service for The Reverend Deacon

Karen Loder of Summerside, who was ordained by Bishop John Organ, and will now

serve as deacon for the parish of Meadows which includes the Anglican churches

in Summerside, Meadows and Gillams.

Reverend Deacon Karen has been a long-time volunteer

with her church and her community. Her faith and dedication to her church spans

over many years including as a member of the Anglican Church Women and a lay

reader with St. Paul's Anglican Church.

She has a certificate in pastoral and palliative care,

and in May of this year, she obtained her associate in theology diploma and a

diploma in theology and ministry and is currently working towards her bachelor

of theology degree from Queen's College.

Whether it was during her career as a social assistant

worker or her involvement with community groups such as the Summerside 4-H

Rockets, the Northshore Qalipu Mi'kmaq and others, Reverend Karen's commitment

to her community and to her faith has never been unwavering.

I ask all Members to join me in recognizing Reverend

Deacon Karen for her contribution to her community and wish her well in all her

future endeavours helping people out.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Virginia Waters - Pleasantville.

MR.

DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With leave of my colleagues, I would like to deliver a

Member's statement today.

HON. MEMBER:

Leave.

MR.

DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to my colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge one of my

constituents, Mr. Bill Jeffery, for his perseverance and tenacity in promoting

mental health, particularly men's mental health.

Through his advocacy and anti-stigma efforts, Mr.

Jeffery turned personal adversity into public advocacy for men's mental health.

Amongst his goals to see was a men's resource centre

established in Newfoundland and Labrador to offer a safe place for men to seek

help and access mental health services.

A talented singer and songwriter, he wrote and recorded

the powerful “The Lonely Man” to promote his message.

Not only has the song struck a chord, it is an anthem

for families of men with mental illness. It remains in the top 10 of the East

Coast Top 30, spending six weeks at number one.

Mr. Jeffery left his 10-year career in the IT sector,

earning a master's degree in counselling psychology from Memorial University.

He's asking people to support his effort and The Lonely Man Project by sharing

his song and keeping the conversation going.

I ask all hon. Members in this House of Assembly to

join me in celebrating his efforts and recognize his dedication to enhancing the

help and access for mental health services in our province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by Ministers

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.

MR.

LOVELESS:

Mr.

Speaker, our province is enjoying a steady increase in fruit and vegetable

self-sufficiency from 10 per cent to nearly 15 per cent since 2017.

This is great progress – and with farmers growing more

food, we need to ensure they have somewhere to store it, and a chance to sell

it, not just at harvest time, but all year-round.

Mr. Speaker, my department recently announced $1.25

million for farmers to build vegetable cold storage facilities to help them

increase production, extend marketing periods, improve vegetable quality and –

as always – support food self-sufficiency.

Southwestern Newfoundland Farmers Group Limited is

receiving $750,000 in provincial funding to establish a new vegetable storage

and secondary processing facility in Robinsons. I had the pleasure of meeting

Louis MacDonald in the Speaker's own District of St. George's - Humber on the

day first concrete was poured at the new facility. Mr. MacDonald and his

partners are doing fantastic work building this sector and creating long-term,

year-round jobs in their region.

Also, Mr. Speaker, in Labrador, Spruce Meadow Farms

near Happy Valley-Goose Bay is receiving nearly $500,000 in provincial and

federal funding to build a cold storage and packaging facility. The Member for

Lake Melville and the MP for Labrador recently visited the site with farmer Tom

Angiers and clearly saw that a vegetable cold storage facility will be a game

changer for the region.

With this infrastructure in place, Mr. Angiers and

local farmers can plant more crops, overwinter more vegetables, use more land

and ensure a local, long-term, sustainable vegetable supply for Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank these farmers for their

vision, and I look forward to helping them find more innovative ways to focus on

what they do best – growing and producing nutritious, healthy food right here at

home.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Exploits.

MR.

FORSEY:

thank the hon. minister for an advance copy of his statement.

Mr. Speaker, food self-sufficiency is a very important

issue in our province. This has certainly been highlighted this year through

impacts of Snowmageddon and COVID-19. It is positive to see increasing the

number of cold storage facilities and expanded access for farmers to vegetables.

This will hopefully increase food self-sufficiency while having added benefit of

providing producers with an opportunity to sell their vegetables year-round.

Mr. Speaker, this important and valuable sustainable

vegetable supply throughout our entire province cannot be overstated. We wish

all those involved a bountiful harvest and great success.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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.

My grandfather was a farmer and I remember his root

cellar and how important that was to store vegetables for use throughout the

year, especially since refrigeration wasn't an option. Also, I came to realize I

was more in love with the idea of farming than farming itself.

Vegetable cold storage facilities are essential if our

local farmers are to increase production and capacity and if our province is to

achieve food self-sufficiency, so this is indeed a good announcement. However,

if there is one suggestion it's to make sure that small, independent farmers who

sometimes feel left out that they are eligible to avail of such initiatives and

to increase their production as well; more support for small famers.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and

Recreation.

MR.

DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Since COVID-19 has changed our lives, active living has

become even more important, and encouraging people to live healthier lifestyles

is a priority for our government. Active residents lead to stronger, healthier,

happier and safer communities and they create positive and everlasting

experiences.

This is why our government recently announced a

multi-million dollar investment to upgrade and connect the trail system to a

continuous 4.8-kilometre active transportation route in St. John's.

Once complete, residents will benefit from the

multi-purpose path that will connect different neighbourhoods and connect the

east and west ends of St. John's.

Mr. Speaker, we also recently announced over $2 million

for the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Sport. This funding will help

maintain jobs, support business continuity and provide short-term operational

viability for sport and recreation organizations across the entire province.

Sports facilities are important hubs for our

communities. They provide inclusive places to gather and connect, while

promoting active and healthy lifestyles. For that reason, last week our

government proudly contributed to a new sport multiplex facility in the Town of

Gander, which includes a FIFA regulation-sized outdoor soccer field and an

eight-lane 400-metre rubberized running track.

This is in addition to the necessary investments our

government provided to support community arenas and pools throughout the

province, including assisting with the financial shortfall facing The Works,

which houses the Aquarena. I had the fortune of being at the facility last week

with the Premier when the doors re-opened, to see the excitement and smiles on

the faces of so many athletes as they got back into the water.

And late last week, the Canadian Society for Exercise

Physiology released the country's first ever 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for

Adults. The new guidelines outline what adults should do daily to help achieve

health benefits and help show what a healthy 24 hours looks like when it comes

to physical activity, sedentary behaviours and sleep.

Mr. Speaker, as we manoeuver into the new normal of

living with COVID-19, let's keep in mind how being active and on the move is so

important to our overall health and well-being.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans.

MR.

TIBBS:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I'd like to thank the minister for an

advance copy of his statement.

Like the minister said, COVID-19 has changed our lives,

now more than ever. We must find alternative ways to stay active to ensure we

have a healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally.

It was great to see the government announce $2 million

for the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Sport. This will allow

community-based sport and recreation groups to continue their programming and

keep our young and old alike very active.

There must be more done to ensure our aging facilities

are maintained and modernized, so further investments in new infrastructure are

needed to properly train our province's athletes.

We need our youth to be more involved in recreation and

sport activities on a daily basis to ensure they are on a path of long life,

physical activity and wellness. It is important for the government to keep

investing in sport and recreation in our province to ensure all residents have

access to high-quality programs and facilities as we manoeuver into a new normal

with COVID-19.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Labrador West.

MR.

BROWN:

want to thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

Investment in community activities and recreation is

always a great benefit. The balance of work life and home life is very

important. Community recreation helps with the physical and mental health in

this balance.

As we navigate with COVID, it's even more important

now. I hope to see the government maintain this funding for municipalities into

the future so they can continue to enrich communities, and by providing a

balance of activities and recreation across this province.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Further statements by ministers?

The hon. the Minister of Environment, Climate Change

and Municipalities.

MR.

BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm pleased today to recognize October 19-25 as Waste

Reduction Week in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Multi-Materials Stewardship Board will be

celebrating Waste Reduction Week through a digital public awareness campaign

aligned with theme day, as well as online composting workshops for the public.

Government House will also be lit in blue and green tomorrow, October 21, in

recognition of Waste Reduction Week.

Mr. Speaker, we all play a part as environmental

stewards in protecting our environment and encourage each other to start new

habits as we consider potential alternatives to advance waste reduction. With

the retail plastic bag ban now in effect in Newfoundland and Labrador, we are

effectively decreasing the amount of plastic waste and litter created, thereby

protecting the environment and improving the waste management system.

My department and the MMSB are also actively working

through the recommendations made in the Provincial Solid Waste Management

Strategy report released earlier this year. The report recommends major changes

and we are analyzing the contents to make thoughtful and prudent decisions.

The provincial government and the MMSB encourage

individuals, businesses and schools throughout the province to celebrate Waste

Reduction Week in Canada. The MMSB Rethink Waste NL website contains valuable

tips and resources that highlight waste reduction initiatives and information

that the public can use to reduce waste in our province. I encourage all

residents to reflect on lifelong positive changes they can make during Waste

Reduction Week.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR.

LESTER:

thank the hon. minister for an advance copy of his statement.

We, the Official Opposition, are pleased to recognize

Waste Reduction Week and fully support efforts to increase awareness about

reducing waste in our province.

Implementing the single-use plastic bag ban was a

positive step, Mr. Speaker, but there is much more to be done. We should be

looking for innovative ways to reuse our recyclable materials and we have to

find additional uses for our waste here in our own province. We encourage

government to examine this further and to support new ideas and solutions.

Mr. Speaker, we hope the principles of Waste Reduction

Week are embraced all year-round. Please put waste in its proper place,

celebrate and protect our environment.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MR.

J. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of

his statement.

I also join him in celebrating Waste Reduction Week and

applaud initiatives such as the digital public awareness campaign, online

composting workshops and lighting Government House in blue and green to raise

awareness of this issue; however, we do have to go further. That's a good first

step, everything we've done.

We've made progress, but there are other ideas that we

can use to reduce waste that still ends up in the trash: glass bottles, in terms

of aggregate; better use of our discarded tires; initiatives that could also

create industry here within this province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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:

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the minister referred to my question, in which I

referred to the federal offshore support money as hush money, as ridiculous. I

stated to the House that hush money is money which is inadequate to the task and

intended to keep people quiet.

Does the minister really believe, contrary to what his

government has been saying since March, that $320 million is adequate to the

need to put jobless offshore workers back to work or is the hush money keeping

him quiet?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sorry, again, there's a term that comes to my head, but

I don't want to say it in fear of upsetting the Member again.

He said that hush money is money which is inadequate to

the need and intended mainly to keep people quiet. If you look at the Cambridge

definition, it's “money that is given to someone to … keep something secret.”

The fact is that there were all kinds of publicity, news releases. I think there

might have even been an announcement that went on about this.

Again, I say to the Member: If you want to get on with

semantics and stuff like that, that's fine. I would rather that you ask

questions that are actually constructive and can help us deal with this issue

that we all face.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR.

CROSBIE:

I'm

glad the government mentioned keep a secret because that's exactly what they're

trying to do, the secret being that these monies are wholly inadequate to the

task of returning workers to their jobs.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

CROSBIE:

little history lesson, Mr. Speaker: During the 2008 to 2010 financial crisis,

Canada provided bailouts of $13.7 billion to GM and Chrysler and, over time,

another $1.1 billion to Bombardier, $3.3 billion to Pratt & Whitney and we could

go on. That was to preserve the industrial-based jobs in Ontario and Quebec.

Will the government publicly demand that their fellow

Liberals in Ottawa give similar dramatic support to preserve industrial-based

jobs at Come By Chance?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A couple of points I'll make in reference to the

question that the Member made. Number one: We've gone on record on multiple

occasions telling Ottawa that we need them to be a part of this solution here.

My predecessor has written multiple letters on that.

Number two: If we want to make this a federal issue, I

could point out that a prominent Conservative Member and former Cabinet

minister, Pierre Poilievre, said giving money to industry is a loser bet. If we

want to make it federal, that's fine.

What I would again say to the Member is that we're

dealing with an issue which is global in nature and for which we are doing

absolutely everything we can. I am very thankful that we have a 21-member task

force made up of industry experts from all the different fields that are going

to come together and help us to deal with the issues that we face.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR.

CROSBIE:

Well, Mr. Speaker, by referring to positions taken in the past by this

government, the minister has in fact confirmed what I said, that their present

position is contrary to all their past positions.

When WestJet announced major service cuts following

other cuts by Air Canada, the four Atlantic premiers issued a news release

praising the Trudeau government for their leadership on air access and their

promise of subsidies.

Has this government talked with Ottawa to determine

whether it will subsidize WestJet and Air Canada to prevent service cuts and

restore services?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm happy to answer this, although there are a number

of us on this side that were ready to get up and answer. Literally, just before

the House started, we got off a call where we met with all the different airport

authorities in this province, whether it be Stephenville, Gander, Deer Lake, St.

John's and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. There was the Minister of Finance, the

Premier, the Minister for TCAR, myself and all the stuff that we talked about.

We realize that there are issues coming.

What I can say is that even though we have spoken to

the feds – they indicated that, too. They, too, had recently spoken to the feds

and they feel that there's a positive resolution coming to this huge issue,

which I would point out is, again, global in nature and one that could have a

dramatic effect on this province here.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR.

CROSBIE:

Mr.

Speaker, I believe I just heard the minister say that the government realized

this issue was coming and therefore got on the phone today? Our province has

been losing vital air routes to centres like Halifax for a long time now. In a

five-year period, the government eliminated the dedicated position, director of

air access, and failed to develop any air access strategy to grow opportunity

and jobs.

Is lack of an air access strategy costing us jobs and

economic development?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, today was the first call we've ever had with the

airline industry when it comes to this matter. What I would say to the Member

opposite is we have been dealing with this since March – March we've been

dealing with this. Today, what I mentioned is that we just had another call.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

A. PARSONS:

would say to the Members opposite, please let me finish my answer if you

actually want it.

What I would say is that we are facing an issue that we

realize is global in nature. Certainly, nationally here we realize the fact of

what COVID has done to this industry when it comes to the restrictions that are

placed on every province and every country.

What we are going to do is we've said to them they are

the subject matter experts. We will work with them the best way we can to deal

with this issue.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR.

CROSBIE:

Mr.

Speaker, I just heard the minister opposite say that he started dealing with the

air access issue in March. In the Mills's report, which was supposed to help the

government get the economy kick-started, which was handed in in July, Mills

said: “Air access is considered to be a long-standing issue” – not a recent one

– “that constrains economic development across sectors.… This will be a

particular challenge for rural Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Now, the budget did not contain an air access strategy

for economic development and jobs. Is the government waiting for another task

force report next year before it takes action?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, there is a competition to answer this. Everybody

here wants to stand up and point out some of the fallacies in the question that

you just asked. Now, I would say to the Member, you can continue to split hairs

when it comes to this issue.

One thing I will point out, you mentioned, because I

lived there, is that we realize the challenges that we face in rural

Newfoundland when it comes to air access. We realize it's a provincial issue,

but it's one that I live every week when I'm getting back and forth. It's one

that we faced in this province for decades now – decades. Again, this year has

been probably the most difficult, given the fact that we have a worldwide

pandemic that has slammed the airline industry. We have met with them and we've

done what we can.

As it relates to the budget, I would say to the Member,

if it's something that greatly offends you then I would look forward to your

vote on said budget.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR.

CROSBIE:

Well, Mr. Speaker, I think I'm called upon by my responsibilities to remark on

the absence of a government air access strategy. This is not a new thing. It's

in black and white in the Mills's report. Perhaps the minister has never read

it.

Right now, NAV CAN has slashed jobs across the country

and we're hearing that major layoffs are coming, or maybe have happened, at the

air traffic control centre in Gander, which stepped up in 9/11 and welcomed the

world to our province.

Has the government taken specific action to protect

jobs related to the province's airports? Or is it the government's policy that

if you're from away you should stay away?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Deputy Premier.

MS.

COADY:

Mr.

Speaker, that is atrocious to say that this government is not working towards

jobs, is not working towards air access and is not working towards anything. I

think it is atrocious.

I think the Member opposite, as well as every person in

this province, knows that we are in the middle of a global pandemic. There are

global issues at play. This government has worked very, very diligently over the

last number of months to assist where we can, where we possibly can with

tourism, where we possibly can with air access.

He refers to the Mills's report. It was this government

who brought Mr. Mills in to do work with this government on jobs and economic

development.

Mr. Speaker, I will say to the Member opposite, there's

an old Chinese proverb: The person who says it cannot be done should not

interrupt the person who's doing it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

MR.

PARROTT:

Mr.

Speaker, what's atrocious is the lack of a plan.

Mr. Speaker, work on the TCH at Thomas Pond was shut

down for months over the summer due to an apparent shortage of liquid asphalt.

This, despite the fact that other suppliers had the product on hand.

How can the minister defend an unnecessary lane closure

and massive inconvenience to motorists and commercial traffic for months?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

MR.

BRAGG:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Member opposite for the question. The

Member opposite who came from a world of asphalt industry, he told me in the

Estimates here three weeks ago, would know full well the dealings that happen on

this. I think he's referring to – I could be incorrect here – the bridge work

that is being carried out. There are several layers of that that needs to be

done. There's a sealer that needs to go over the actual concrete base. Tat has

to dry and then there has to be a Kevlar material that goes into it.

The supplier in which the contractor was dealing with

at the time had a shortage. I think that has since been rectified, and hopefully

very soon we'll get the traffic flowing. It was never completely closed, Mr.

Speaker, it was reduced speed. We did not actually have the road dug right up.

There was no diversion of traffic. You just reduced from 100 down to 50

kilometres, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

MR.

PARROTT:

Mr.

Speaker, the Member opposite does know what he's talking about. When he asked

the department if there was liquid asphalt, they didn't know; they hadn't

reached out to anyone.

Mr. Speaker, just last week there was significant lane

closures on the Outer Ring Road, Route 2, Pitts Memorial Drive, Conception Bay

Highway and the TCH, all at the same time.

Why does the minister's department lack any planning or

coordination on these major provincial highway projects?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

MR.

BRAGG:

Mr.

Speaker, is the hon. Member suggesting we do no maintenance to our highways and

let them deteriorate to a point that they're unsafe? Our priority is safe roads

for the people of this province to travel on, and we will stand by it, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

MR.

PARROTT:

safety was a priority, Mr. Speaker, they'd have the tools in place to complete

the work once they started.

Mr. Speaker, we learned in Estimates that

Transportation and Infrastructure have a critical shortage of heavy equipment

technicians, 25 in total.

As winter months quickly approach, what is the

minister's plan to ensure we have adequate staff to keep our fleet of snow

clearing equipment on the road?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

MR.

BRAGG:

Mr.

Speaker, a great question from the Member opposite. The Member opposite is

talking about work for this province. We're looking for workers in this province

to fill the jobs in this province. So if the Member opposite knows of any

technicians that are available to work in this province – he has a full list of

résumés, forward them to my office and I'll see that they'll find a job

somewhere in our department, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

MR.

PARROTT:

Obviously, once again, Mr. Speaker, this government has no plan. Can't even hire

technicians.

Mr. Speaker, due to continued staffing shortages, the

department has had to rely on private contractors to do this work at a

significantly increased cost.

Has the department engaged the College of North

Atlantic Centre of Excellence in Bay St. George to recruit new candidates for

these jobs?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

MR.

BRAGG:

Mr.

Speaker, I can't help but say it. The Member opposite stands up week after week

talking about 100 per cent employment for this province. We are attempting,

making all attempts to bring people in to work. If the Member opposite or any

Member in this House or anybody who's listening knows of a technician that is

looking for work in this province, they should send a résumé to our office,

because we would love to fill these positions.

While we have a shortage of technicians, if people do

not apply for the jobs we will farm out the work, because we need safe machinery

on our highways.

I make no apology for going to a garage to get a piece

of heavy equipment fixed so it can plow our roads and maintain our roads, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

MR.

PARROTT:

Mr.

Speaker, replacing machinery doesn't accommodate for fixing it and having it

prepared for the winter.

Mr. Speaker, the former minister of Transportation and

Infrastructure spent over $12.6 million on paving in his own district, a

staggering increase of 854 per cent. Now, the current minister has moved paving

pictures of the new blacktop being laid.

In my district there's a town called Terra Nova. The

minister's department has suggested to me that instead of replacing the

blacktop, they tear it up and maintain it as a gravel road.

Why does the minister's district get such preferential

treatment?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

MR.

BRAGG:

don't know if I should laugh or cry at the question, Mr. Speaker. I have to be

honest; I make no apology for the work that goes on throughout this province.

Every week I drive the Trans-Canada Highway from Gambo to St. John's. There's

work ongoing throughout this province.

This summer I drove to the Trans-Labrador Highway, in

which the next two construction seasons we will have completed with blacktop.

I make no apology for the work that's ongoing, Mr.

Speaker. To this day, we are paving in this province; where possible, we are

paving this province.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Terra Nova.

MR.

PARROTT:

do you have to be a minister to get paving done in your district?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

MR.

BRAGG:

ask honestly how many people in this House are having paving done in their

district right now? I'll assume you're all ministers because I know in all 40

districts there are about 35 that are being done, actively.

Some are centre city. They have none. Anybody else,

there are active applications going on within the last three or four years.

There has been, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR.

WAKEHAM:

Mr.

Speaker, I'm glad to hear all of the numbers –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR.

WAKEHAM:

being thrown out about paving, so I would think that the minister will have no

trouble coming up with $200,000 to pave Cold Brook Road.

I would like to go on to ask, though, over the summer

there were a bunch of cut-outs that appeared in our district on Route 460 and

the roads going from Kippens to Port au Port East into Port au Port West. That

was earlier this summer. It's now the middle of October and there's still

nothing done with them. Cutting up a road, throwing up a few signs and leaving

town for three months is just not acceptable.

I'd ask the minister what the plan is to get this fixed

immediately.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

MR.

BRAGG:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I'm not fortunate enough to be able to fly the roads

every single day to see the condition of the roads, but I will consult with the

departments in that district to see if there's been something that has been left

undone that should have been done. If there have been culverts installed and

pavement not put back, there must be a reason for it.

Maybe there's not an asphalt plant in the area. I

wouldn't know for sure, but I would like for the hon. Member, after Question

Period, to reach out to me to explain where the places are.

Lots of time, Mr. Speaker, I get a picture of a pothole

and that could be taken – we have 10,000 kilometres of road, I can't go looking

for that one pothole. I would like to know if there's somewhere that anybody has

in their district, reach out to me after Question Period and I'll work with the

depot to see if we can get some work done.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR.

WAKEHAM:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the minister for the invitation and I look

forward to talking to him about Cold Brook again.

Dame Moya Greene was originally appointed to develop an

economic recovery plan and to create jobs for our province. In the budget we

were told she's going to reimagine government.

Now, Mr. Speaker, the people in my region aren't

talking to me about reimagining government, they're talking to me about jobs.

They're talking about paying their bills. They're talking about paying their

mortgages.

I ask the minister: What exactly is Ms. Greene being

called to do and when will we see the terms of reference?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Deputy Premier.

MS.

COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think throughout the Budget Speech you'll see a

tremendous emphasis on creating economic development and job opportunities in

the province. We have investments in the technology sector, investments in the

fishing sector, investments in agriculture and aquaculture, in mining, in oil

and gas, all of them outlined in the Budget Speech, Mr. Speaker. If the Member

opposite is not quite sure where the emphasis of this government is, which is on

jobs, jobs, jobs, then I'll be happy to walk him through the budget.

Regarding Dame Moya Greene, we're very pleased to have

someone of her calibre working with government to look at the fiscal and

financial situation, the economics opportunities and the economic recovery of

this province. Her terms of reference will be imminently made available to the

public and I'll make sure it's tabled here in the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.

MR.

WAKEHAM:

Mr.

Speaker, I'm glad to see that her emphasis is on jobs, jobs, jobs, just like

ours, but her own budget documents referred to job losses of over 13,000. Since

that time, the Come By Chance sale has broken down; the Terra Nova is floating

without workers; West White Rose may be cancelled; there have been layoffs at

Husky, Terra Nova, Transocean, many engineering firms, airlines. Small business

is still closed. By my own count, that adds up to about 3,000 jobs, so jobs,

jobs, jobs may be their mandate, but this adds up to over 16,000 jobs being

lost.

Again, I ask: When will we see the plan?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Yes, I want to take the opportunity to speak to the Member because all the

points he brings up are serious in nature when we talk about workers facing loss

of employment at places like Come By Chance and Husky. We realize that's

serious.

A couple things I will say is that, again, we realize

that this is driven worldwide. In fact, we've seen huge cutbacks all over this

globe. When I talk about the fact that Calgary has a higher unemployment rate

than Newfoundland and Labrador, you can see that's not an issue here. It's

driven by a pandemic. That's one thing I will say.

There is a ray of hope. I just got off a panel today

run by techNL with different people, like Genoa Design and Other Ocean, Beep

Ayre. We talked about the thousands of jobs that can come from a tech sector. I

look forward to taking the innovation from these people and spreading it across

this province.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR.

PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Terra Nova is sitting idly in Bull Arm, while

Suncor decides what to do next. Workers are waiting to go to work on this

vessel.

Minister: Can you confirm or assure the public that

these workers will have work available, and is the refit going to take place in

this province?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

I've said in numerous calls with different officials that I've spoken to over

the last number of months, including a call, actually, that I had with a union

this morning. I certainly can't give any assurance that I don't know is

guaranteed. I don't think that's what workers want. I don't think that's what

anyone wants.

What I can tell them is that we're doing everything

within our power. In fact, we'll be meeting again with Suncor this afternoon. At

the end of the day, this is a commercial transaction that they're doing.

One thing we do have, though, is that we have a group

of very bright minds – I know there's some disparagement on the other side about

the task force made up of industry experts, but we're willing to work with them,

take $320 million and pull whatever levers we have at our disposal in order to

get these people back to work because I know that's what we all want.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR.

PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister, will you make that your number one priority

to get those workers back on that refit? I know it's fine and I know we agree on

this, but I think that needs to be your number one priority because that

industry is really hurting, as we all know, and I think we need to start taking

a stronger stand.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

While I appreciate, Mr. Speaker, the Member's concern here, and I share it, I

don't think it would be fair to anybody that we have seen devastated by this oil

industry upheaval that we have, whether it's the people that right now are

wondering about the refinery, whether it's the people at Husky, whether it's

those with Suncor. I think I'm treating them all equally, and that we want to

help in whatever way we can to get them all back to work. I won't put myself

into a situation where we prioritize one over the other.

What I say is that we have a department – the people

behind the scenes that we don't see here in the House, and myself – working

tirelessly around the clock to try to come up with solutions, working with the

different players and we'll continue to do so.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR.

PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Obviously, we still have no firm commitment from

government to employ the thousands of skilled workers that call Newfoundland and

Labrador their home. Minister, you and your government have an ability to fix

this problem by assuring the refit of Terra Nova starts immediately.

I ask: Why are you and government failing the residents

who are waiting to go back to work?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Mr.

Speaker, I would just remind anybody out there that's listening, that this is

not a government decision. We are dealing with private companies. That's the

reality here. If it was as easy as flicking a switch or signing a piece of

paper, government would have done that a long time ago but that's just not how

it works. We have benefits agreements in place. We have other things that we

must abide by.

What I can say, again, is that we are doing what we

can. I have to tell you, when I'm speaking to people in the union – in fact, the

one call I had this morning when I was dealing, actually, with Come By Chance,

is that they appreciate the hard work we're putting into it. They realize that

we didn't cause the price of oil to go to $40. They realize that we didn't cause

COVID, but they do realize that we are trying our best and we're going to do

everything in our power to make them get back to work.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

MS.

COFFIN:

Mr.

Speaker, yesterday in the House, the Minister of Finance said that our elected

officials could have input into their task forces. The minister said they are

always open to input from MHAs; however, the Liberal government has ceased

meetings on the all-party Committee on education and their joint COVID task

force has died on the vine.

I ask the minister to clarify, given the disappointing

track record this fall, will we, the elected officials of this province, truly

be given an opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the newly announced task

force, and how?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Deputy Premier.

MS.

COADY:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

It is, I think, outstanding that this government has

reached out across all parties and has created a mechanism for everyone to be

involved in the pandemic, to be involved in the decisions around the pandemic. I

can tell you I was involved in, I could say, almost – well, it was daily

meetings in the beginning of the pandemic, throughout the last number of months

– eight months, Mr. Speaker.

Then when it became time for school, we reached out

again. I had an all-party Committee to work with the Minister of Education on

making sure we had a safe return to school. I think the minister did an

outstanding job, and I commend the Committee for all their hard work because

going back to school safely was very, very important to everybody in this

province. I think we've been very successful.

Just as we've done those collective efforts, Mr.

Speaker, I will say to the Member opposite, any information that she would like

to bring forward on the development and efforts of economic and financial

development in this province, my eyes and ears are open to her.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

MS.

COFFIN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the opportunity.

I will provide the minister with a number of ways in

which my party, as well as I'm sure the other Members here, would like to

contribute to those task forces.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we asked the Minister of Finance

if the Liberal government would respect the motion passed in this House for

there to be no election called this year. Instead of an answer, the minister

deferred to the letter of the law. We are the elected representatives of the

people of this province.

Again, I ask the minister: Will the Liberal government

respect the legal motion of the elected representatives of the people of this

province and not call a general election in 2020?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Deputy Premier.

MS.

COADY:

will say again today, Mr. Speaker, that the only people speaking about an

election are the Opposition. Repeatedly speaking about an election, preparing

for an election.

I will say it's incumbent upon government to follow the

letter of the law in this province. There is a legal responsibility that we

have. There is legislation in the books that has been there since, I think, the

early 2000s and we will be, again, responsible and follow the letter of the law,

the legislation that was duly passed and implemented by this House.

Thank you.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Labrador West.

MR.

BROWN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the Minister of CSSD: How are we measuring the

effectiveness and impact of social programing meant to help Indigenous youth in

care?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MR.

WARR:

Mr.

Speaker, we have a bunch of things that we do as a department to measure what we

do with persons in care.

We'll come out and say right away that there is an

overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care, and we understand that.

That's not only an issue here in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador,

that's an issue throughout the country. We are committed to working with the

Indigenous communities here in Newfoundland and Labrador to come up with

solutions for this issue.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

Time for a quick question and a quick answer.

MR.

J. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we continue to hear from early childhood

educators across the province that they are an afterthought, that child care

operators say they cannot offer living wages to their staff, saying the money

isn't in their budget.

I ask the Minister of Education: How will the Liberal

government ensure that the early childhood education system is able to attract

and retain quality childhood educators that are paid a living wage for the

valuable skills they offer to the development of our children?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of Education.

MR.

OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Over the last three years our government has increased

the wage subsidy for early childhood educators significantly. We've also

increased the bursaries for training for early childhood educators. The wage

subsidy amounts to $6, maybe $8 an hour in some cases, additional pay.

I understand and I realize that there are still

challenges in some areas of the province, Mr. Speaker, and we are working with

early childhood education operators to try and address those issues.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

time for Question Period has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Lake Melville.

MR.

TRIMPER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to table the report of the Social Services

Committee.

Mr. Speaker, the Social Services Committee have

considered the matters to them referred and have directed me to report that they

have passed, without amendment, the Estimates of the following departments: the

Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development; Education; Environment,

Climate Change and Municipalities; Health and Community Services; Justice and

Public Safety; and the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation.

I'd like to thank the ministers and their staff for

their attendance. Some people describe Estimates as a challenging time. I'm sure

it is because you need to be ready; you need be ready with good answers, but

it's a great way to understand the workings of government, particularly in each

of those departments.

I'd also like to thank my fellow colleagues from this

House who share the Committee with me. I Chaired as the Member for Lake

Melville. I'd also like to thank the MHAs representing the Districts of

Bonavista, Burin - Grand Bank, Harbour Grace - Port de Grave, Harbour Main,

Placentia - St. Mary's, St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows and St. John's Centre, as

well as those who subbed in, sometimes on short notice, so that we could

accommodate these Estimates and keep our schedules.

Mr. Speaker, with that I will table this on this 20th

day of October 2020.

(Baby cooing.)

MR.

TRIMPER:

That's the first competition with Alexander. I'm pleased to hear that. Hopefully

Hansard captured that.

Thank you.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Further reports by Standing and Select Committees?

The hon. Member for St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows.

MR.

MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In my role as Chair of the Resource Committee, I am

pleased to advise the Resource Committee have considered the matters to them

referred and have directed me to report that they have passed, without

amendment, the Estimates of the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and

Agriculture; the Department of Immigration, Skills and Labour; the Department of

Industry, Energy and Technology; and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts

and Recreation.

I certainly would like to thank the ministers and all

their officials that attended. We know how important the province's resources

are, and there were certainly robust discussion and questioning in the

Estimates. Some went very late into the evening but I certainly enjoyed and

appreciated the co-operation from all Members for participating.

I'd like to thank the Committee Members, Mr. Speaker:

the Member for Burin - Grand Bank; Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans; Harbour Grace

- Port de Grave; Labrador West who served as Vice-Chair; Lake Melville;

Placentia - St. Mary's; myself, the Member for St. Barbe - L'Anse aux Meadows;

and the Member for Topsail - Paradise.

I'd also like to recognize the Table Officers and

certainly show appreciation to any Member here in the Assembly who assisted to

fill in when Members of the Committee were busy with other House of Assembly

duties.

Mr. Speaker, I respectfully submit the report of the

Resource Committee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Further reports by Standing and Select Committees?

Tabling of Documents.

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. Government House Leader.

MR.

CROCKER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give notice that I will on tomorrow move the

following motion: That, notwithstanding the time limit prescribed in Standing

Order 71, when this House reviews the 2020-2021 Estimates of the Legislature and

Executive Council in Committee of Supply, that the time allocated to that review

shall be no more than 2½ hours.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR.

PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of

Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the

undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS many students within our province depend on

school busing for transportation to and from school each day; and

WHEREAS there are many parents of school-aged children

throughout the province who live inside the eastern school district's 1.6-km

zone, therefore do not qualify for busing; and

WHEREAS policy cannot override the safety of our

children;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to eliminate the

1.6-kilometre policy for all elementary schools in the province and in junior

and senior high schools where safety is a primary concern.

And as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time I presented a

petition on 1.6-kilometre busing and it probably won't be the last, I guess.

I've obviously not presented one in recent months or recent sittings because of

the COVID situation and the Return to School Plan and the lack of buses and

everything else. As the minister stated yesterday, all eligible children now

have a ride to school and they're working on courtesy requests for other

children, which would be children that are within this 1.6-kilometre zone.

That's fine, and I was aware of that myself, dealing with schools in my

district.

The bigger thing is all children should be eligible,

not just the children that are outside the 1.6. All children should be eligible,

unless you're literally in the backyard of a school.

When I presented this petition – and I've presented it

in many ways, many forms. I've been colourful; I've been sombre. I've been every

temperament, but one thing I've always done and I've always committed to the

parents and the children, too, in my district is that I support them and I

always have supported them. People can criticize me, and other ministers of the

department I've spoke to on it as well. I've never wavered on this issue. I've

never wavered and I will not waver. That's who I am.

The safety of a child – we look at seniors and there's

a paramount importance to this Legislature, to the people of this province, is

to protect our seniors, is to protect the vulnerable. Children are the same. I'm

not asking across the board. When you listen to that petition, I said – and I've

pleaded with the former minister as well. I think we can be creative. You don't

have to have it in every school if it's not required. Throw it out there to try

and endeavour to do it in elementary schools, but they are your most vulnerable

children. The K to 6 are the most vulnerable population.

Actually, in junior and senior high, I know in my

district I have a heavily populated school. As the minister would be aware, all

schools are pretty well full. Junior and senior high is not an issue so much

because they get rides with their friends and they're walking, they have less

concerns. The most vulnerable, K to 6 children are – there's a valid concern. I

don't have sidewalks; I don't have public transit – as a lot of Members don't. I

know this doesn't affect every district in the province. That's probably why

I've had so much trouble making headway with this petition and this issue.

It's something I believe in; it's something I will not

give up on. It's something that I just renew my call, and it's not a new thing

to Members opposite. A lot of my colleagues, we present this petition in unison,

because our party and our Blue Book committed to changing this policy because

it's not fair. When I say not fair, it's not going to break the bank either,

because we're looking probably millions – there is no real proper cost estimate

actually done on this, but whatever it is, you can't put a price tag on the

safety of a child. Full stop there, that's where it needs to be. We really need

to look at this issue because, like I said, policy cannot override safety.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.

MR.

J. DINN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here with some 444

signatures regarding the permit to alter a body of water issued by the

Department of Environment, Climate Change and Municipalities to Ocean Choice

International to allow the infilling of up to 2.5 hectares of Long Pond Harbour

in the Town of Conception Bay South. They are calling upon the Government of

Newfoundland and Labrador to suspend the permit and require a comprehensive

environmental assessment to be completed.

Now, I've presented similar petitions on other issues

similar to this and the concern of these people has to do with the fact that an

environmental assessment was not required prior to issuing the permit, and they

believe it should've been part of that. Long Pond is an estuary environment. The

public – this is the big issue – the public has concerns about this and that

they were not adequately notified of the project, therefore unable to express

concern.

The public notification letters were not sent to

residents until September 18, which is the same date as the permit to alter the

body of water was issued by the department. So they do have a number of

concerns, and we can see here that in the news recently we know that that permit

has been suspended by the navigable waters. Also, again, that OCI is presenting

another plan, but it's still going to come down to an adequate process.

Red tape to one person basically means it's protections

for other groups of people and for the environment. What we're asking, what

these citizens are asking, Mr. Speaker, is that we do due diligence. That before

we start altering the environment permanently that we start looking at the

impact and listen to the concerns of citizens and those who have a vested

interest in that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Municipalities for a

response.

MR.

BENNETT:

would like to thank the Member for the petition.

Our department and I have taken the opportunity to meet

with the Advocates for the Responsible Development of Long Pond, along with the

company and town representatives. The project was first put through a request

for environmental assessment back in September 2018 and, at that time, as we

reviewed the application – or the previous minister at the time reviewed the

application – it was deemed that it didn't need an environmental assessment.

There were no triggers there that would have triggered an environmental

assessment.

As for the comments regarding the estuary, this area

has never been deemed as an estuary, Mr. Speaker. There have been a number of

permits that have been issued in the past. If, in the event, it was an estuary

then all permits would have required an environmental assessment.

We are reviewing some of the correspondence that we

have received recently from the concerned citizens and also other residents in

the area, but I just want to reiterate that all levels of government have a role

to play in this. We did determine, at that time, back in 2018, that an

environmental assessment was not necessary. Before the permit was issued, we did

go back to the company just to see if there were any changes with regard to

their proposed plan. There was a change. They did initially have a plan to

utilize or infill 2.5 hectares of land, which they then reduced back to 1.75.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to add that Fisheries

and Oceans Canada also has a role to play with regard to reviewing potential

effects on the aquatic habitat. Transport Canada, as mentioned, is also involved

in this as it relates to commercial and recreational boating. Again, the

municipality has an important role to play with this, as they will ultimately

issue the final permit of approval for this project.

I thank the Member opposite. We will reconsider and

look at all of the information that has been provided.

Thank you.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Bonavista.

MR.

PARDY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Many communities in Newfoundland and Labrador,

Bonavista as one, are exposed to noise from motorized vehicles that can be

harmful to one's hearing or at minimum, uncomfortable. Residents of our province

ought not to be exposed to excessive noise. Our government should prohibit the

operation of a motor vehicle or motor-assisted bicycle that is not equipped with

an operational muffler that is in good working order, which prevents excessive

or unusual noise and smoke. The installation and modification of mufflers to

increase sound output should also be prohibited, as should the operation of a

motor vehicle or a motor-assisted bicycle that produces noise above determined

levels.

We, the undersigned, call upon the House of Assembly to

urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to amend the

Highway Traffic Act so that the use of

modified mufflers on motorized vehicles in our province, that exceed a

determined noise level, be prohibited.

We've heard lots in the media recently, whether it be

in St. John's at the start of the Battery Hill climb or again from many places

in rural Newfoundland, where they've been deeply disturbed by the amount of

noise that these vehicles give off. Back in 1997, led by then the social

services minister or Service NL minister, I'm sorry, at that time, increase the

penalties and that was a noble effort, Mr. Speaker, in trying to control this

situation, which I think a lot of Newfoundlanders are deeply concerned with.

If we did a jurisdictional scan, we would find that

there are some other jurisdictions who state that they are not permitted – it is

not permitted, just plain out. I'm not sure what the legal repercussions or what

they do in order to control that, but the only thing I would ask is that for us,

in the House of Assembly, to have a look at this legislation just to see as to

whether we can go to the point where we can increase what we did in '97 and see

if we can curtail and, hopefully, eliminate those vehicles that do provide the

discomfort to many people in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

It is an issue, and it doesn't have to be a car or a

truck, it's a lot of these other motorized vehicles.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.

MS.

STOODLEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Member for raising this important

issue and for the petition.

This is an issue that impacts me. I get woken up every

night by loud vehicles in St. John's.

Currently, the police do have the authority to ticket

for excessive vehicle noise related to improper or modified aftermarket exhaust

systems on vehicles. That is currently in place based on the

Highway Traffic Act .

One of the things that we've done recently is we've

announced new official inspection regulations. If the RNC, for example, stops a

motorcycle that they think has been modified, they can order it for an

inspection. The motorcycle then has to go to an inspection through a regular

garage, and the garage has new regulations. The inspection manuals were sent

out, I think, two weeks ago. Then based on that, they have to be found within

the regulations, so without modification.

Part of the challenge that I know the RNC have is that

they don't necessarily have the expertise to understand the nuances of

motorcycle parts. So highway traffic enforcement officers, under Digital

Government and Service NL, do blitzes with the RNC and the RCMP, occasionally.

Recently, we did a blitz somewhere in St. John's, I think, to capture motorists

who had modified exhausts on their motorcycles and vehicles and we were able to

ticket vehicles.

This is something that I feel very passionately about

and certainly work towards reducing for the people of the province.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Orders of the Day

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Government House Leader.

MR.

CROCKER:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Order 4, second reading of

Bill 46.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.

MS.

STOODLEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries, Forestry

and Agriculture, that Bill 46,

An Act to Amend the Credit Union Act, 2009, be

now read a second time.

MR.

SPEAKER:

has been moved and seconded that the bill now be read a second time.

Motion, second reading of a bill, “An Act to Amend the

Credit Union Act, 2009.” (Bill 46)

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.

MS.

STOODLEY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm pleased today to speak to the amendments to Bill

46,

An Act to Amend the Credit Union Act, 2009.

Credit unions have been providing valuable financial

services to their members throughout Newfoundland and Labrador for years. They

are locally operated; keeping profits in our province and helping our

communities grow and thrive. The provincial government collaborates with the

Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation, we refer to them as CUDGC – not a

very good acronym – to regulate credit unions, ensuring government legislation

and sound business practices are followed.

Currently, there are nine credit unions with 36 service

locations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. There are over 62,000 full

credit union members in Newfoundland and Labrador. Certainly, a huge percentage

of residents in our province are credit union members, so this does impact a

huge number of residents of the province.

The credit union system employs over 300 people,

including nearly 200 living in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and provides

salaries and benefits of over $20 million, annually. The

Credit Union Act, 2009 , governs the credit union system in this

province, including the incorporation and operation of credit unions and the

operation of the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation and authorizes the

establishment of a deposit guarantee fund to be funded by the industry to

provide protection on insurable deposits up to $250,000 per type of deposit.

The Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation is a

provincial Crown corporation established to ensure deposits of members and

associate members in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is responsible for the

administration of the Credit Union Act,

2009 , and the Credit Union

Regulations, 2009 , ensuring compliance with the act and regulations by

credit unions, stabilization of the credit union system and administration of

the deposit guarantee fund.

In its three-year performance-based Business Plan, from

2017 to 2019, the corporation identified a goal to conduct a comprehensive

review of the legislation. The then minister of Service NL's mandate letter also

committed to reviewing the recommendations brought forth and making the

necessary changes to legislation. Recommendations were provided to the minister

in March 2019.

Mr. Speaker, there are a substantial number of

amendments introduced today to modernize and update the act to align with

industry standards and practice, and reflect the recommendations brought forward

by the Deposit Guarantee Corporation. There are changes related to board

governance, record keeping, information disclosure and privacy protection;

changes to service to members; changes to the

Definitions section; amendments

related to authorizing federal continuance and operation of a credit union under

federal regulations; changes related to offence provisions and penalties; as

well as a number of other individual changes.

While there are numerous amendments to the act, I would

now like to highlight some of the most significant changes.

Directors and officers of a credit union and the

Deposit Guarantee Corporation must now disclose any potential conflicts of

interest. There is now a separation of and updates to the roles of the

superintendent of credit unions and CEO of the Deposit Guarantee Corporation.

The purpose of the separation is to eliminate any conflict of interest that may

arise from the same person holding both positions. Newfoundland and Labrador is

currently the only province where the roles are combined.

Mr. Speaker, credit unions often rely on third-party

providers and subcontractors to conduct business activities, for example, for

information technology services or IT services. However, significant data

breaches involving third parties have occurred in the financial service industry

in recent years, resulting in losses and, I guess more importantly, loss of

trust in certain financial services systems.

A requirement for credit unions to increase oversight

of third-party providers may help identify the potential for data breaches.

Credit unions would now be required to establish bylaws for selecting third

parties, monitoring their performance and establishing reporting requirements

for these external entities performing services on behalf of a credit union.

Also, the amendments would allow for credit unions to establish bylaws regarding

the manner of meetings, including allowing for online meetings, state how voting

would be conducted and outline the approval process to issue a dividend or

refund.

The Deposit Guarantee Corporation would also be

required to notify the superintendent of any issues of significance that may

have potential impacts to credit unions, credit union members or the Guarantee

Corporation itself. Furthermore, the superintendent would be responsible for

filing corporate documents and would have oversight over the Deposit Guarantee

Corporation, including directing them to have an external review completed at

least every five years.

Mr. Speaker, the corporation's board is now amended to

eight members instead of seven. This is necessary to facilitate the separation

of the superintendent and CEO roles. The appointment process would be

established in regulations. These regulations are currently under development.

Aside from these substantial changes, there are a

number of other amendments that would help modernize the legislation. One such

change would allow federal credit unions or caisse populaire, their

French-language equivalent, to operate in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Additionally, provincial credit unions would be able to continue as federal

credit unions, meaning they would be able to operate under federal legislation,

subject to meeting the appropriate criteria.

In 2012, Mr. Speaker, the federal government put a

framework in place that permitted provincial credit unions to continue as

federal credit unions under the federal

Bank Act . British Columbia and New Brunswick are currently the only

provinces that have already dealt with a provincial credit union continuing as a

federal credit union. As such, the changes we have brought forward today to this

province's act are based on their legislation.

The requirements for issuing shares and the approval

process for amending bylaws would be moved to the regulations. Given these types

of details are operational in nature, they're going to be established in the

regulations. We would enhance privacy protection for members and board members

by no longer requiring occupations be listed for directors of credit unions.

Additionally, we would now require a credit union to obtain explicit consent

prior to the release of a member's name and address in the members' register.

We've also made changes to deal with notice periods and

timelines more effectively. Mr. Speaker, amendments to offence provisions and

penalties have not been made to the act since it was introduced in 2009. As

such, they are now expanded to include any information provided or required by

the superintendent or the Deposit Guarantee Corporation and the addition of an

offence for withholding, destroying, concealing or refusing to provide

information. The penalties are increased up to $25,000 for individuals and from

$10,000 to $50,000 for corporations.

Mr. Speaker, many times in this House we have heard the

importance of ensuring legislation is modern and adequately serves the needs of

the people of our province. We note that the financial services industry is

continuously changing thereby requiring the act to be updated and streamlined to

ensure a competitive arena for credit unions.

Our government has been working co-operatively with the

Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation to identify changes that best meet

the needs of the industry and consumers.

The updated legislation we are introducing today would

positively impact consumers and the credit union members with enhancements that

reflect today's environment. Amendments to the Credit Union Act

and regulations also align the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation

structure with similar organizations in other jurisdictions.

I'm happy to bring these amendments to the floor of the

House today and I look forward to debating them with my colleagues.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Labrador West.

MR.

BROWN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Minister, as well.

We look at this, it's a lot of amendments in a short

span of time to go through, but a lot of these changes are good. It's good to

see the separations of the roles of the superintendent and the CEO of the

deposit authority. Aligning ourselves with our federal counterparts is always a

good move, too, especially with the federal banking rules and that. Also,

addressing issues when it comes to conflicts of interest.

We're moving and changing some of the legislation to

make sure that we eliminate or find ways to keep conflict of interest issues

from happening within things, especially this day and age when it comes to

banking. Some of the changes, also, when it comes to more IT and stuff coming

into the banking industry through a third party.

It's always great to look at ourselves through the lens

of what other jurisdictions are doing in the industry. I know that so far

through this whole process we have seen that we've been moving more towards

being on par with our Canadian counterparts and seeing what they're doing in

their jurisdictions so that we align with them. If you receive a service,

especially when it comes to banking that you received in one jurisdiction in

this country, it's very similar to a service you receive in this jurisdiction.

We line up with our counterparts that way and make sure there's no issue when

going from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, especially when it comes to banking. As

a society as a whole, we've become more mobile and we've become more –

travelling a lot more throughout the country. So it's always interesting when it

comes to banking.

Just an anecdote with it; I know when my spouse moved

to Labrador West they had a credit union in Southern Labrador, but when she came

to Labrador West they didn't line up. She actually had to close her accounts and

stuff in one credit union to open up in another credit union in our district

because at the time when that happened they didn't mesh together in a sense.

Even though they were credit unions, they were banking institutions, it just

didn't work out.

It seems like at that time in a place – that was 12

years ago, we were in different places. Now it seems we're slowly moving towards

trying to keep things as similar as possible for the convenience, safety and

security of residents of this province.

This seems like a large quantity of housekeeping and

review of what we're doing. This act is 11 years old now and the world has

changed significantly in the last 11 years. It just seems the pace of

technology; the pace of things that we're reviewing is just speeding up and

speeding up. So it's great to stay on top of it and see what our counterparts in

other jurisdictions are doing.

We look at, like I said, the separation of the roles

for a conflict of interest. When this act was presented and done it was

interesting that we decided to go with a model where two roles were one person

and separating these roles because of the possibility of a conflict of interest

could arise that we now separate these roles. It's a good step in making sure

that you avoid any conflict and take the step ahead to make sure we don't go

down that road. It's good that we check other jurisdictions to see what they are

doing in this setting. So that's a good step. We feel it's good that we are

going that way.

Banking is such a complex industry. There are so much

ifs, ands or possibility. Like I said, now we're in a world of digital. My bank

is on my phone now and there are always worries. There are always things about

protecting that thing, especially a lot of those banking apps and a lot of those

things are actually run by a third party. So we have to make sure that we

protect all – if you're at a national bank, you're at a smaller bank or you're

with a nice, friendly community-owned credit union, that there are rules, there

are guidelines and there are regulations in place to protect the individual

using those systems.

I remember the first time someone told me: Jordan, you

can cash a cheque with your phone now, you don't have to go to a bank. I was

just like, what's protected? What technology is here to protect me as an

individual? What rules are there to protect me as an individual? The industry

seems to be moving faster than the pace of government regulation, so we have to

make sure that all those things are in place.

If you're a credit union, if you're a bank, you're a

federal institution, you're an international institution, we have to make sure

the rules and regulations are in place so that no matter what banking is done,

your personal information and your information as an individual is protected.

Still, sometimes in this new world that even – I'm only 31 years old, but even

now I'm getting like technology is moving way too fast for me. I think the world

around us is moving really fast, so we need to keep on top of things that are

protecting individuals, users and employees, especially in the world of banking

and technology. These are things that we need to make sure that we are, as

individuals, protected.

I look forward to when we go to Committee to ask a few

questions, so I relinquish my time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Further speakers?

The hon. the Member for Cape St. Francis.

MR.

K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

It's indeed a pleasure again today to speak to this

bill, Bill 46, and represent the beautiful District of Cape St. Francis and the

beautiful people in the District of Cape St. Francis. Mr. Speaker, this bill is

an important bill, as we look at the way things are done today when it comes to

banking.

I'm not a member of a credit union, but just looking at

some of the notes I have here today, it's pretty interesting that we have 62,000

members here in the province. It's an important piece of legislation for a lot

of people. I think the piece of legislation – a lot to do with bringing our

legislation in with other jurisdictions and with the times that we live in and

what's happening in the world, making sure we have proper protocols in place to

protect people and to ensure that we're doing the same as other jurisdictions

across the country.

Bill 46 includes 86 proposed amendments to the credit

union regarding disclosure of potential conflict of interest by directors and

officers, establish bylaws for engaging third parties in credit unions. It also

sees the role of the superintendent and the CEO, to separate those duties. It

also updates the responsibility of the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee

Corporation or CUDGC, as the minister referred to. It also facilitates and

establishes with the federal credit union, and I'll have some questions later on

that. There are a lot of record keepings that need to be changed, again, with

the times. There are some

definitions also that are going to be done.

Modernizing language; again, the bill was first

established in 2009. I know it's only 11 years but we've changed a lot in 11

years, so there has to be a lot of changes made to make sure we're into the same

time. In 2009, I had a flip phone; in 2020, today I got this. I'd rather have

the flip phone but that's just me. There's a lot of modernizing and, again, we

have to change with the times.

There are also some penalties and offences that have

been changed. It has to do with increases. Again, it's 11 years and I guess

there are some changes there.

Also in the bill, too, there's some enhancing for

membership and change in form of how they can acquire members and how people can

sign up for credit unions. Again, it has advanced in the times we live in.

There are also some timelines that have changed, and

I'll speak to that a little bit when I get into where the amendment is to. There

are also other minor amendments. Like I said, there are 86 amendments.

Obviously, not all of them are earth-shattering or anything like that but have

to be changed in order to make the bill in with the timelines.

Again, like I said, the act came into effect basically

in 2009. There are nine credit unions in the province right now serving 62,000

members. That's a good portion of our province that is involved with credit

unions. The minister did make the point that it represents a huge part of rural

Newfoundland.

I know over the years we've heard stories and seen news

clips where banking services in some parts of Newfoundland have decreased. I'm

sure this is great for rural Newfoundland that we do have banking services in

those areas to help people be able to do their banking. Like I said, there are

36 locations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

The minister mentioned also that there are over 300

people employed in the banking services here in the province. I just look at the

banks that I go to lately – and I'm sure most Members would say the same thing,

how they've changed. We used to go to tellers and there were so many people

behind the counter. I deal with a bank on Elizabeth Avenue. Now you walk in and

there are probably only two people there to serve you, because most people are

doing things online, most people are going to the instant teller. Also, I

haven't done it yet, I haven't cashed a cheque on my phone or anything, but a

lot of people are using the digital things that are available to them to do

their banking. That's what's happening today.

I would be interested in seeing what the minister has

to say about the number of employees because, again, it's important that we

maintain our jobs in the credit unions because 317 people are employed. I would

like to see that stay like that. The minister also mentioned that it's over

about $20 million in annual salaries that are involved here.

Mr. Speaker, when you look at a credit union, I guess

people looked at it for years and just say – I remember there used to be one on

Kenmount Road – but they supply services, same thing as a bank. They're there

for savings accounts. They're there for loans, mortgages, credit lines and

investment services. So it's important. Like I said, there are 36 locations and

it gives people in this province an opportunity to make sure that they can do

the proper banking because most people could be like me, I like to go to the

bank and do my banking. That's the service it provides.

Now, under the new legislation, too, Mr. Speaker, a lot

of the legislation is for the protection of people, it's for the protection of

privacy. That's the day that we live in when you look at what can happen, like

hacking and people online and how they can get in and get personal information.

It's a fear of everyone, I'm sure, in the province or anyone that has any

banking information or any personal information. It's very important that our

privacy be kept.

I know I'm very conscious of giving out any

information. I don't want to give it out. I really don't. I know there are a lot

of people in this province today that don't want to give out their information,

so it's important that we stay with the times because we're living in a

different time.

Back in the earlier days when banks were established,

bank robberies were a problem. Today, it's not bank robberies, it's cyber people

getting into our accounts, being able to access what we got, and people are very

fearful of that. Mr. Speaker, I would say our young people are probably not as

fearful as our older people are because they have the technology and they have

the know-how to do things.

I know myself, when I go and do anything online or give

a credit card number or anything at all, I'm very conscious of making sure that

I really have to do it well because I don't want anybody to get my credit card

number; I don't want anybody to know my personal information; I don't want

anybody to be able to get into my system to see what it is.

When we're talking banking, we're talking about a lot

of personal information that people do not want to share and don't want anybody

going in to see what they have or whatever. Privacy is very important. This

legislation today takes care of some of it, but it's just a part of it.

Credit unions are independently owned and they're owned

by their own members. They own the credit union. Each board has directors, which

are elected by the members. Credit unions are all governed by a Crown

corporation, and the Crown corporation is called the Credit Union Deposit

Guarantee Corporation. Their job, basically, is to ensure that the

administration and ensuring the compliance of credit unions and the Credit Union

Act and the regulations of the Credit Union Act are all followed. That's very

important.

The board of directors are nominated by industry and

appointed by the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL. There are two

government officials on the board and that's specified in the act. The current

act has it so that the superintendent and CEO are the one individual. The new

act will separate the roles of those two people and have two different people.

Also, I think – and I could be corrected, Minister – that they are not a

government official. They're outside government that can be the CEO of the

union. Before, it could the deputy minister or it could be somebody in the

department that could hold one of those positions.

Between 2017 and 2019, it was CUDGC who completed a

review of the legislation. They made the recommendations to the minister. I'll

have some questions later to the minister about those recommendations. The

amendments that followed were through public commitment by government to ensure

that these changes would be made to make sure that we brought credit unions into

what's happening in the rest of the country. I believe the Credit Union Managers

Association played a role; credit unions themselves played a role. Plus, there

were some jurisdictional scans to ensure that we're on the same page as other

areas of the province.

There are 198 sections in the current act and Bill 46

deals with, like I said, 86 of them. The minister did mention some of the major

ones that were spoken about, so I'm just going to mention a couple here now and

just go through them a little bit for my understanding and our party's

understanding of some of them.

Requiring directors and officers of credit unions and

CUDGC to disclose personal conflicts of interest. I've been around a little bit

and if you look at most of the legislation that's done today, that's an

important part. We do it here as Members of the House of Assembly. We make sure

that if a person is in a position they shouldn't have any conflict to deal with

that benefits them in any way at all. It's just a sign of the times. I think all

legislation, basically, that's coming in, basically, does that, to protect

people so they're not in a conflict. That's just for the officers and the

directors to make sure that everything is in line.

Requiring credit unions to establish bylaws to engaging

third parties to form services on behalf of the credit union. Again, this is the

part that I spoke about a little bit earlier, about privacy and the importance

that we give minimum risk that any of the important stuff to people, that it's

not put out there to the public; it's your private individual stuff.

When you talk about IT services, in most cases now any

organization – or most organizations I would say – have IT service providers

that are probably outside your organization. It's important that this act

requires the union to establish some bylaws to ensure the privacy that people

have is there and make sure that these, whatever it is – and officials noted

that it really does help (inaudible) the members so that there can be

third-party arrangements.

Like I mentioned earlier, another

part is separating

the roles and duties of the superintendent and the CEO. The CEO will now be

hired by and report to CUDGC. It will not be a government employee. That's the

part I just mentioned to the minister. Also, an interesting thing here is that

sometimes I know that when they did – I'm not sure how they did their annual

meetings or whatever, but they had an issue come up from CUDGC, they did not

have to report that to the CEO. That will change now because that member will be

part of that group. That's an important part of the structure of the board.

Mr. Speaker, updating the duties, the powers and the

responsibilities of CUDGC and the superintendent. They looked at what happened

in this bill – I guess the people in the department looked at other

jurisdictions across the country and looked at the best practice and aligned

them with what we should be doing here in the province to make sure our

legislation is up to date with everybody else's.

Other things we should note: 13 of the 18 amendments

are related to record keeping. A lot of that has to do with the protection of

privacy.

Ten of the amendments are related to new and revised

definitions. Again, there are several

definitions related to federal continuance

and material contracts. These are examples of

definitions that have been added,

and some have been changed. There are nine amendments related to modernizing and

updating language.

Section 36 on trust funds is updated.

Electronic transactions; again, I'll go back to the

previous Member who spoke. He said transactions are done so differently today. I

mean, someone can send you $20 on your phone rather than hand it to you in your

hand. Those things have to be modernized and those are things that need to be

done. In

section 180, that clarifies a lot of stuff when it comes to mail and

electronic means to be considered, to be received by a credit union.

Seven amendments are related to facilitating and

establishing a federal credit union. This is a new

section in the act and it's

interesting, because officials explained that this is a long ways away but it

would be good for our province to have this in our act. They can't see anything

in the future where the federal credit union will need approval from our

province, but they want to put it in the act now so that when it comes down the

road, and no one knows when down the road, that this will be part of the act.

There are also five amendments there to replace all

references relating to 19 years older, with the age of majority changed. I

guess, if you look at that, it could be related to – probably there could be a

change in age. It could be reduced to 18, from 19 to 18. This is something so

that if that does happen you won't have to go back and change the amendments.

Because in other jurisdictions there is a change, there is a different age for

what is required to be a member.

An interesting one, there are five amendments that talk

about the increases for offences and penalties. This is under sections 169

and170. There's an upper limit, amounts to individuals are increased to $25,000

for fines, and corporations are between $10,000 and $50,000.

There are also five amendments aimed at enhancing the

membership of credit unions, allowing members to be more involved in

decision-making, more involved in attracting members, I suppose. I think that's

the way it is.

There are also four amendments dealing with timelines.

Again, as we know, as we live in this pandemic things have gone a little

differently when it comes to meetings. This is to change the timelines that

meetings can occur. Also, for electronic meetings, officials can do different

ways to run the business to make sure that meetings occur at a separate time

now.

I would assume it will be a lot easier when you look at

36 branches out over the province for them to get together now rather than

having to come and do the one meeting. Because we're all getting used to Zoom

and different ways of doing meetings. So this will be important amendments to

the legislation. This will deal with different timelines and how people can do

meetings.

There are several other regulations and amendments that

are changing – anything to do with regulations. Mr. Speaker, any time we do a

bill here in the House of Assembly – I know it's one thing with me, and I know

it's been with a lot of Members over the years, we don't see the regulations. We

never see the regulations. We pass the bills and the regulations are: Oh, we'll

get them down the road or whatever.

In this case, there will be a lot of regulations that

the authority that CUDGC will have, they'll put into this act afterwards. I

guess that's part of what it is. I know myself, I always like to see the

regulations before we pass anything, but that's just the way the bill is.

Mr. Speaker, again, I go back to the act itself. It's

important that we do things right. I think it's important that the group took

the time to do what they had to do. It took over two years for them to make

recommendations. I'm not sure if there were other recommendations or were there

other groups involved in this legislation.

I'm sure there are banking associations and the

Commerce, Bank of Canada or whatever, we could have gone to make sure that we're

doing the proper things when it comes to that. Because if you look at a credit

union, a credit union to me is no different than a Royal Bank or a Scotiabank or

whatever bank (inaudible). If you look at what people in this province depend on

credit unions, it's important that we get this legislation right and it's

important that we make sure that people's – the biggest thing I can understand

from this whole thing is the privacy of individuals. I'll just go back to that

for a minute.

It's so important; because today we live in times that

I'm sure a lot of us never ever thought we would live in, where your privacy and

breach of your privacy could cause such an effect. We look at different times

that people, especially our seniors, are so worried about scamming. People

scamming them and getting their private or anyone's private information, whether

it's a credit card number or social security number or anything. It's a

worrisome effect on a lot of people in this province; it's a worrisome effect on

me.

I think the proper legislation has to be put in place

to ensure that people have the protection of their privacy and ensure that they

can do their banking and to do it in a modernized way that we're doing things

today with the protection that it needs. I'm hoping that everything in this act

will protect individuals and ensure that their banking future will remain –

privacy will remain.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Deputy Government House Leader.

MS.

DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I call from the Order Paper, Motion 1, the budget

debate.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Motion 1.

It is moved and seconded that we move to the budget

debate.

All those in favour, ‘aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR.

SPEAKER:

All

those against, ‘nay.'

Carried.

The hon. the Member for Placentia West - Bellevue.

MR.

DWYER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It gives me great pleasure to speak on the budget on

behalf of the constituents of Placentia West - Bellevue that have given me the

opportunity to represent them in this hon. House.

When it comes to the budget, Mr. Speaker, I have a very

robust, industrial, large district. It goes 5,503 square kilometres from Long

Harbour to Marystown. Within that, we have Vale in Long Harbour. We have Bull

Arm, which has DF Barnes working with Equinor and Suncor out there and we hope

that the refit can get done at the FPSO in Bull Arm.

I also have the North Atlantic refinery in my district,

and up until a couple of weeks ago there was a promise that it was being sold.

People held out hope that, I guess, the Irvings were going to do the right thing

and, unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

We work hard now to make sure that we can ensure

employment in this region. Just last week, I spoke on the national morning show

to talk about the impact that –

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR.

DWYER:

Mr.

Speaker, it's hard to hear myself speak.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR.

DWYER:

Sorry, I don't think I was speaking when everybody else was presenting today. I

find it rather rude because we talked about a respectful workplace and it

continuously happens. It's on both sides, I agree, but we have to have some

decorum and respect. If you're going to sit in the House, then sit in the House

and listen to the person who's talking. We're all in this together and if we

want to have to respect for each other, then show some integrity.

Thank you for letting me go there, Mr. Speaker.

Like I said, when it comes to the refinery, we

obviously have our hands full in making sure that we can get a sale done here.

From the people that I've talked with, I don't come off as an engineer; I have a

business degree. That's how I bring things forward, is from that perspective. If

I need to know about the engineering of it, I will certainly reach out to people

and colleagues of mine that I know will give me trusted information. The trusted

information I have right now is that we have to do better and we can do better.

This budget is pretty much for the status quo, which is

acceptable, I guess, in these unprecedented times, but we can't keep blaming

everything on COVID.

I also have a facility down in the Marystown area in

Spanish Room. It's called Cow Head, which is currently employing 110 workers

with Kiewit offshore initiatives. Again, we can do more. This is 110 workers,

but down in Corpus Christi, Texas, there are 750 workers working on the same

project, spending our money for us. We all know that if we employ our own

people, every dollar that's made in this province is spent four times. This is

not acceptable, to be having contracts outside this province. I think we need to

get our own people to work; we need to utilize our own facilities. If that costs

us a little bit more money, the payoff in the long run is a much better, bigger

reward.

We also have Whiffen Head, the on-loading and

off-loading facility just off Arnold's Cove – state of the art. People that come

and dock at the facility talk about how easy it is, in and out and all this kind

of stuff. I also have a fish plant in Southern Harbour, which processes many

species. We also have a state-of-the-art fish plant in Icewater Seafoods in

Arnold's Cove. They utilize 99.8 per cent usage of every cod that comes through

those doors and that's quite impressive. They sell the skins to leather

companies for binding the seams. They make pet food. There's so much and they

portion it out. They're doing it in different blocks now as opposed to being all

100 pound boxes; they cut it down to personal-size boxes with 10, 20 and 30

pounds.

They're just unbelievable, and the owner Alberto

Wareham, I'd really like to give him a shout out because, in my opinion, he's a

benchmark for businessmen in the whole province. He cares about his staff, he

cares about his employees and he cares about the product that's coming through

his door. Pretty much with the way that they do operations in Arnold's Cove,

Icewater Seafoods, Mr. Speaker, they've been such a benchmark that they've made

other graders of fish increase because they know that bringing it up to a grade

A product is what's needed to get the best price.

Like I said, I would really give a big shout out to

Alberto's family. It was his dad and them that carried it on from other

generations and Alberto's son Ryan is going to carry on with Icewater Seafoods.

They just invested $10 million into a fish plant in a town of 985 people. That's

a pretty significant investment around the bay. We have to invest in stuff in

here like marijuana and stuff and we can't even get a bit of secondary

processing. Maybe they should go out and talk to Alberto Wareham and figure out

how to do some secondary processing so that we can get our cannabis plants up to

99.8 per cent efficiency.

We can't be wasting money. We have to put money into

ourselves; we have to put money into our people. It's not about the 40 people in

here. It's about the 522,000 that we represent. I don't put on no blue shirt

every day, but I think the reason why I align more with the PC Party of

Newfoundland and Labrador is because they have the same colour as my collar. I'm

one of these people outside these walls. I struggled, I don't have it all, but I

guarantee you one thing, we can be better. We don't have to get on about the

giveaways and about spending $5 to save $1. It's enough of it. We can be better.

Like I said, Alberto Wareham in Arnold's Cove, he's

probably the benchmark to the province of how things can be done and why they

should be done.

I also support the unions, as do the owner of the fish

plant. I've gone out to all the unions and they know that they have access to

me. If they want to talk to me, I have their back as well. It's my constituents

that I'm here for.

We have many fishing enterprises in my district as

well, Your Honour. All these fishermen and people that they employ know that I'm

here to fight for them as well. It doesn't matter if it's about the price, if

it's about the quotas, whatever it is. I go and I talk to my colleague, the

critic for Fisheries, but that's how I educate myself, because I know that man

is going to give me trusted information that I can bring back to those

enterprises and those fisher people, and make sure that they're confident in the

information that I give them.

Moving on to outside of the industry of my district. In

the last 16 months that I've been in office here as the MHA for the beautiful

District of Placentia West - Bellevue, we have gotten some significant work, but

it's not because it was by anything that was already on the books. It might have

been already discussed but it certainly was being prepared to be taken off the

books, until I got involved and made sure that we could probably work out a more

equitable solution and make sure that roadwork was getting done.

Swift Current, for example, seemed to be more of a

Route 210 job as opposed to being a Seaview Drive in Swift Current job. So we

fought and we got the side roads completed and made them passable. These were

the detours for when they were putting in the culverts and stuff like that. We

made sure that the company went back and fixed it up to where it should be.

Chapel Arm was a big job but they forgot to do the –

well, it wasn't included, I guess. It's not that they forgot because it was an

excellent job done by municipal, but the off-ramp and a couple of other things

that needed to be done weren't done. Consequently, we went back and got the

off-ramp done this year and we got some more pavement in through a very

deteriorated road due to all the traffic in that area. As we know, it's just

across the highway from the Long Harbour entrance as well.

Norman's Cove-Long Cove is another one that was looking

to be deferred. I fought hard to get that back on because what comes with doing

a full new lay down is brush cutting and ditching. That was probably needed more

in our district than anything. Right now, we're doing a job for 18 kilometres

from Red Harbour to Marystown. It's a very significant job but it needed to be

done.

I consequently have gone to the department and had some

patching done. Morning Hill Cove was atrocious. I went with a solution and an

ask and it was pretty expeditiously done. Then, Drakes hill to Marystown was

pretty much tore apart. They just had done a great big project from the bottom

of Drakes Cove right up through Creston North, and failed to do the most serious

area of the whole thing. Again, that's what I fought for on behalf of my

constituents.

The biggest issue, I think, really with the department

more than anything – and it's an important department because, like you said,

nobody wants to go back to cow paths, as my colleague from Stephenville - Port

au Port had said and my colleague from Terra Nova. Let's tear it up and maintain

it as a gravel road. Really? That's where we're going? We can do better, and we

must do better.

The biggest thing right now in the whole province

really is brush cutting and ditching. I think that is just because it was not

even thought about in the last four or five years. I had to pick up a lot of

pieces from the former Member that sat in this seat on behalf of Placentia West

– Bellevue, because it seemed to be more important to get things done in the

Burin - Grand Bank District, Madam Speaker, than it was to take care of his own

district. For that, I got grandfathered into something that was probably

unnecessary.

Saying that it's a beautiful district, and I am very

honest in saying that. I don't take that lightly because I very much support the

promotion of healthy living in the communities. I've helped with getting some

allocation for some trail work. I'm sure there are lots of people on both sides

who have gone out and walked the trail in Chance Cove, for instance. A beautiful

trail, and it's probably second to none. It was a little bit of funding that

helped them get over the hump to make it something that can attract people to

their area.

The whole summer I saw people making posts the whole

time, especially on the Newfoundland hiking Facebook page, of how often and how

many people went to the trails in my district, and Chance Cove being one of

them. The Bordeaux Trail – we all call it in here, but if you're in Arnold's

Cove it's the birdie trail – we had some maintenance done on that and it's a

beautiful trail as well, world-class.

Right now, we have a new Trail Association formed in

Red Harbour. They're taking care of their trail. They're getting lots of work

done on it, and it's nice to be able to support them as well.

Marystown is just getting a bunch of work done on some

trails there. Promoting healthy living is not just for the like-minded any more.

If the facilities are there, it's like the old saying goes: Build it, they will

come.

I guess the thing is, we can no longer hide behind

COVID and be a reactive government. It's not good enough to just keep the lights

on anymore; we need to be proactive. We have all these natural resources. We

have the best workforce in the country; we're second to none. Anywhere we go we

get a good name of what we do.

There's a big difference between rotational workers

that are coming here and rotational workers that are going out of the province.

Rotational workers that go out of our province are needed because they're

filling jobs that can't be filled by people in the other provinces, but when we

fill jobs here with people that can fulfill the jobs and that are looking for

jobs and want jobs, then we are doing a total disservice as Members of this hon.

House in not protecting them and making them first. It's their money that we're

spending. Why would we give it to a company in Quebec? Or why would we give it

to a company in Ontario?

If we can't get it done here by somebody, I understand

it getting contracted out but I do not understand it being the first and

foremost option. We need to be more proactive, and that comes down to planning.

Have a plan, stick to it and give people an idea of where we're headed, what the

direction is and why we're going there.

Again, in this economy, we had many people with Crown

lands applications that were held up. I don't want to say anything about the

current minister because I really do think he's trying to clear up a big backlog

too, but I really hope that the backlog is not only in PC districts. I hope it's

all over the province, the reason why this backlog has occurred. I think we all

know why the backlog occurred.

Another big thing for me in my district and where I

hold a lot of respect is for my volunteers. I volunteered all my life, but I

don't talk about volunteering very much anymore because I've been in the

presence of some truly remarkable people that actually put their life of the

line when they volunteer, and that's our firefighters and having the support

groups. In Marystown it's the Fire Wrens and the Sparks and stuff like this. So

for me, they approach it like a family. They rely on each other, and I'm very

proud to be part of that family in many parts of our district.

We've regionalized most of our fire departments so that

they depend on each other. I promote the fact that communication is paramount.

These people are second to none and really do give us some selfless protection.

For that, I'm really, really grateful.

The biggest strategy, and I've said this from day one

since I came in here and it's something I'll never stop talking about, but maybe

it's time to sit down and have a Wi-Fi and cellphone strategy. We need to look

at this from many different angles. We need to look at it from business. We

don't need to be so archaic that we can only get email sent or phone calls made

in certain areas. That's just ludicrous. If it's good inside the overpass, it's

good outside the overpass.

Safety is a big concern. I have a lot of kilometres on

that Burin Peninsula Highway where you don't have any coverage. If you go off

the road, yeah, you're there until you see the kindness of somebody else, and

that's if they stop. In these times, how do you know if somebody will stop?

It's for personal use as well. Again, if we're going to

invest in infrastructure for inside the overpass, then let's make sure that

outside the overpass is getting the same advantage. We're too far behind the

times not to have cellphone coverage and Wi-Fi for personal use.

We also have students that are in some of the most

remote areas of the province. They can't do online courses, just for the simple

fact that they don't have Wi-Fi or cell service. That's just not acceptable. We

need to get it everywhere.

As we heard from MNL, they want to do online care. Not

everybody has access, so therefore we need to get that infrastructure in, up and

running because it's not acceptable anymore.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I would really like to say

thank you to my constituents for giving me the opportunity to represent them

with integrity and respect. Anybody that calls me, I call them back. I'll be

straight with people. They may not hear exactly what they called to hear, but

I'm going to be straight with them. I'm going to give them the straight goods.

If I don't have the answer, I'm going to get it, and I'll find it too. I'll

still be honest with them and straightforward.

I bring all concerns forward, I don't let it sit –

nothing rests on deaf ears. I keep confidentiality paramount and everybody knows

that anybody that calls me they know that their story is only between us.

Once the votes were all counted and the residents

living in my beautiful District of Placentia West - Bellevue, they were all my

constituents. I don't play favourites with nobody and I don't want favourites

played with me. I don't ask for favours and I'm not going to repay any favours

because I don't ask for them. I want to be treated fairly, equitably and I want

to represent the 520,000 people in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MADAM SPEAKER (P. Parsons):

Thank you.

The Chair recognizes the hon. Member for Baie Verte -

Springdale, right?

MR.

WARR:

Baie Verte - Green Bay.

MADAM SPEAKER:

Baie Verte - Green Bay.

MR.

WARR:

Green Bay, Madam Speaker, like the Green Bay Packers.

MADAM SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MR.

WARR:

My favourite football team.

Anyway, thank you, Madam Speaker.

It's a pleasure to be here this afternoon to speak to

the triple-T budget of 2020: Today. Tomorrow. Together.

I look across at the hon. Member for Cape St. Francis

and I think when he's done with his position here, he's going to be remembered

for the adjective of beautiful. I'll say as well that I'm privileged to

represent the beautiful District of Baie Verte - Green Bay, a district that I

spent most of my lifetime in, Madam Speaker. I appreciate the support and the

ongoing efforts of the people within my community to make us strong and vibrant.

Before I get involved in my notes today, Madam Speaker,

I certainly wanted to take the opportunity to congratulate the Minister of

Finance – and not President of Treasury Board anymore, but the Minister of

Finance – and certainly the former minister of Finance, who is presently today

the Minister of Education, for the great work that they did in preparing our

government to present the 2020 budget. In particular, I want to acknowledge as

well her support staff within the Department of Finance, again, for the great

work that they've done.

I also want to thank the Premier, the Premier of the

province, for giving me the opportunity to pick up on where my colleague, the

Member for Cartwright - L'Anse au Clair left the Department of CSSD in

absolutely fabulous shape. I, too, Madam Speaker, want to extend my thanks to

that department for the welcome that they've offered me when I took over the

role. A great bunch of people to work with and work for, and I'm looking forward

to continuing the good work as we move forward.

One more vote of thanks and that's to the Department of

Education and early childhood development, Madam Speaker. I had the opportunity

to spend 15, 16 months with the Department of Education and early childhood

devel