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May 26,

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVIII No. 34

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Osborne):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

I would

like to welcome to the Speaker's gallery Vic Powers and Bruce Chaulk. I'm sure

every Member of the House knows Mr. Powers and Mr. Chaulk. I'd like to

acknowledge Mr. Vic Powers, Chief Electoral Officer and the Commissioner for

Legislative Standards who, today, is retiring.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Mr. Powers was first

appointed by a resolution of the House of Assembly on May 26, 2011, as the Chief

Electoral Officer and the Commissioner for Legislative Standards. Prior to

assuming this role, he held a position of Assistant Chief Electoral Officer and

Director of Election Finance. Mr. Powers has over 38 years working with both the

provincial and federal governments.

Congratulations and happy retirement!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

As well, we'd like to welcome

to the Speaker's gallery Zachary Yetman. Zachary is a grade nine student from

St. John Bosco. He was job shadowing me today.

As well,

in the public galleries we have Zachary's classmates from St. John Bosco School

and their teacher Adonna Williams.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

As well, I've just been

passed a note and I'm hoping Mayor Stone from Red Bay is also in the gallery.

Welcome, Mayor Stone.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we have Members'

statements for the Members for the Districts of St. John's Centre, Baie Verte

Green Bay, Lewisporte Twillingate, Fogo Island Cape Freels, Conception Bay

East Bell Island and Placentia West Bellevue.

The hon.

the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I am

delighted to announce that tonight at Wesley United Church in St. John's Centre,

150 people will sit down to a dinner of flipper pie, prepared entirely by

volunteers. If you are lucky and have a ticket, you will have the pleasure of

watching the wonderful Reverend Bill Mercer eat a flipper now an important

part of this annual church fundraiser.

It's

always a bit of fun because poor Reverend Bill, in his own words, can't stand

the taste of flipper. Imagine. Thankfully, Wesley Church always gets the last

laugh. Their flipper dinner raises thousands of dollars each year.

This

church, like so many in my district, is bursting with outstanding volunteers.

Best known for founding one of the oldest public radio stations in Canada, VOWR

Radio station continues, to this day, run entirely by volunteers determined to

build a more supportive community.

Hard-working volunteers open their church doors every Tuesday to people living

in poverty. They serve lunch, provide support and run a thrift shop selling

clothing and small household items nearly everything is 50 cents.

Last

year these volunteers were inducted all together into the Newfoundland and

Labrador Volunteer Hall of Fame.

Bravo to

them, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Baie

Verte Green Bay.

MR. WARR:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today to recognize the important youth empowerment work done

by 837 Northeast Air Cadet Squadron, operating out of Springdale.

I had

the honour of participating in the Air Cadets annual inspection earlier this

month. The cadets delivered a fine display of skill and discipline, and it was a

privilege to offer remarks to a group of bright and talented youth.

This

year marks the 75th anniversary of Air Cadets in Canada. This is a remarkable

milestone, signifying 75 years of teaching young people practical skills like

first aid and marksmanship, and valuable life skills like leadership and

teamwork. Participating in cadets offers our youth an opportunity to develop all

the tools and experience necessary for a lifetime of good citizenship and

community membership.

I would

like to thank the Lions Club and the sponsoring committee members: Jerry Brett,

Leonard Harvey, and Sadie Huxter for providing invaluable support for this very

worthwhile initiative.

I would

ask all hon. Members to join me in recognizing the work of 837 Northeast Air

Cadet Squadron, and in congratulating the Air Cadet movement in Canada on its 75

years of youth empowerment.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Lewisporte Twillingate.

MR. D. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House to recognize Dr. Mohamed Ravalia of Twillingate. Dr. Rav, as

he is affectionately known, was recently awarded the Order of Canada.

His

membership was awarded on May 17, 2015, and he was invested on May 13, 2016, in

recognition of his contributions to rural medicine in Newfoundland and Labrador

as a family physician, mentor and community leader.

graduate of Godfrey Higgins School of Medicine in Zimbabwe, Dr. Ravalia came to

Twillingate in the mid-1980s and soon realized he found in Twillingate a place

he could call home, and the community welcomed him into their lives.

In 1992,

Dr. Ravalia married Dianne Collins and together they have two sons, Adam and

Mikhail.

Dr.

Ravalia is a Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient, a C.F.P.C. Donald I. Rice award

winner, and the 2004 Doctor of the Year. He continues to advocate rural medicine

to medical students and new doctors in his position with the Faculty of Medicine

at Memorial University.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all Members to join me in congratulating and thanking Dr. Ravalia

for his hard work and dedication to the people of Twillingate area and our great

province.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Fogo

Island Cape Freels.

MR. BRAGG:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a

privilege to rise in this hon. House to acknowledge the achievements of a young

constituent of mine.

Brent

Broaders from Tilting, Fogo Island, took up ball hockey two years ago. Now, at

the age of 16, his calibre of play has secured him a spot on Team Canada Under

16 and will compete in the World Junior Ball Hockey Championships in England

this July.

He is

also a great ice hockey player, having had a busy season with the Icepak, with

practices on Tuesday and Thursday evenings involving overnight stays in

Lewisporte, and games on most weekends.

Brent

took

part in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Under 16 Gold Cup in April,

and he was invited to the Montreal Meltdown in May.

When

school wraps up this year, he'll be gearing up for a trip across the pond. The

ball hockey championship will see him travel to England on July 2, with the

competition getting underway on July 6.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in wishing Brent and his team much success at the

upcoming competition.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand

today to recognize a very active organization in my district. I speak of the

Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Lions Club, who for the past 20 years has supported

the residents of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's through a multitude of special

events and unique events.

I've had

the privilege of working with the members of the Lions Club and have seen

first-hand the impressive work they do to engage and improve the lives of the

citizens in our community. From partnering with the town to offer seniors

programs, to donating playground equipment to ensure disabled young people can

be active, to donating special health equipment for citizens to improve their

quality of life, and the list of supports they offer goes on and on.

But this

past fall, the club took on a special project and sent their president, Mr.

Bradly Moss, to Haiti in a partnership with Project Broken Earth to help provide

free eye screening to over 650 patients and issued eyeglasses from the Lions

Club to 423 men, women and children.

I ask

all Members to join me in congratulating and thanking president Moss and all the

members of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Lions Club.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for the District

of Placentia West Bellevue.

MR. BROWNE:

Mr. Speaker, it is truly a

pleasure to rise today to recognize two significant milestones for the residents

and community of Monkstown.

Over the

weekend, I attended the local Salvation Army's 116th anniversary celebrations.

Hundreds came from far and near to partake in the celebrations, including the

night of fellowship and song at the Citadel, in which I even joined in in the

performances. Congratulations to ministry leader Marilyn Frampton and all the

organizers.

addition, a special occasion was marked. On May 17, Mr. George Monk celebrated

105 years.

Born in

1911, Uncle George, as he is locally known, operated his sawmill and a small

business for many years in the community. He and his wife raised five children,

three of whom were present on Saturday night in Monkstown. A life-long resident

of Monkstown, Uncle George now resides in Clarenville.

I ask

all Members of this House to join with e in congratulating the Salvation Army on

its 116th anniversary and, indeed, in wishing Uncle George Monk a happy, happy

105th birthday! We wish you many more to come.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

The Commemoration of the

First World War and the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel

MR.

SPEAKER: Today for

Honour 100, we have the Member for the District of St. George's Humber.

MR.

REID: I will now read

into the record the following 40 names of those who lost their lives in the

First World War in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Royal Newfoundland Naval

Reserve or the Newfoundland Mercantile Marine. This will be followed by a moment

of silence.

Lest we

forget:

Joseph Russell, Melville R. Russell, William Russell, Robert S. Ryall, William

Thomas Ryall, Albert Ryan, Bernard Ryan, Chesley Ryan, Patrick Ryan, William

Joseph Ryan, George R. Samms, Neville Samson, John Sargent, Charles Saunders,

Eli Saunders, Fred J. Saunders, John Saunders, Walter Scammell, David Scanlon,

Allan Daniel Sceviour, Martin Sceviour, Maxwell Scott, Frederick Christopher

Seabright, Frederick Sealey, Edward H. Seaward, Allan Augustus Sellars, Henry

Sellars, Richard Alexander Sellars, Ralph Senior, Frederick T. Seward, Horatius

Seward, George Seymour, Thomas Seymour, Charles Sharp, Edwin L. Shave, George R.

Shave, Edward Sheehan, John Sheehan, John A. Sheehan, Joseph Shelley.

(Moment of silence.)

MR. SPEAKER:

Please be seated.

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

today to acknowledge the more than 100 recipients of the 2016 Premier's Athletic

Awards.

I had

the honour of presenting this year's awards in St. John's on Tuesday and was

joined by the Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development for the

event.

These

awards were developed to honour our province's top athletes for their

extraordinary accomplishments and to provide them with the financial support to

offset the costs associated with training and the competition at the elite

level. The Premier's Athletic Awards Program provides awards ranging from $500

to $1,500 per athlete. The amount that each athlete receives is dependent on the

level of competition of which they are engaged, and their respective

accomplishments.

Tuesday's event also included the presentation of the Team Gushue Awards, and

they were awarded for academic and athletic excellence and valued at $5,000

each. The recipients were Jillian Forsey of Kippens in the sport of athletics

and to rugby player Patrick Parfrey of St. John's. I want to thank the Olympic

gold medalists Jamie Korab and Mike Adam for joining me to present these awards.

Mr.

Speaker, our government is committed to supporting sport, recreation and healthy

living at all levels, and I ask all Members to join me in congratulating all the

recipients at this year's Premier's Athletic Awards.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the Premier for the advance copy of his statement today. As the Official

Opposition, we join with government in congratulating this year's recipients. We

know this is a very prestigious award and looked forward to by many. I want to

acknowledge the Team Gushue Award winners in particular who strive in working

very, very hard for success.

Mr.

Speaker, we all recognize the importance and benefit of organized sports on a

person's health and their physical and mental health and their well-being, but

also I'd be remiss if I didn't reflect on the great concern by many of the

slashing and reduction in recreation and grants programs in Newfoundland and

Labrador.

Jumpstart program, widely recognized and supported it used to be anyway

Sport Newfoundland, SportFest, Stars and Legends, coaching, Recreation

Newfoundland leadership development, all with reductions, Mr. Speaker. Various

recreations and sports grants that impact youth from the island and as well in

Labrador

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. P. DAVIS:

and we hope that the

negative impacts won't be too long lasting for our youth, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I, too,

thank the Premier for the advance copy of his statement. It is important to

recognize excellence in sport and I congratulate the award recipients.

Unfortunately, with $700,000 in cuts to sport and recreation in

Budget 2016 , it will be much harder

for organizations to deliver programs. Likewise, families will have less means

to make programs available to their children.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, yesterday the Premier said he was hands off the severance settlement

for the former CEO of Nalcor. He stated to the media yesterday outside the House

that there was a lot going on. We've not been able to get a straight answer on

this matter.

I ask

the Premier again today: Did you discuss a contract or a settlement with Mr.

Martin in your April 19 meeting that you and the Minister of Natural Resources

had with him?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

agree with the former premier, after April 20 or April 19 there was a lot going

on. What we had was of course we had the former CEO who had resigned or stepped

aside and we had a board that a few days later had resigned. So there was a lot

of work going on around this time frame I would say, Mr. Speaker.

When you

look at the contracts that were in place with the former CEO, this is a contract

that was in place by the board of directors. The negotiations around the

severance and the activities related to those contracts, these negotiations were

had with the board of directors.

It is

not a negotiation that was with me. This information, as I said yesterday,

nothing new to report. It's now back with the officials at the Department of

Justice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'll ask

the Premier once again: Did you discuss the contract settlement with him on

April 19?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

No, I did not, Mr. Speaker.

I've not had that discussion. It was not a discussion for me to have. It was

with the board. Any discussion on those circumstances or conditions would have

been with the people that actually had the contract in place. That would have

been with the board of directors of Nalcor.

That is

where the contract lies. That's where any negotiations would have been. I did

not have any access at all to the specifics around any of this information until

May 5.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Finally,

we get a straight answer after asking numerous times if it was part of the

discussion. The Premier just went on the record as saying it was not discussed.

Severance, settlement was not discussed with Mr. Martin.

Yesterday, outside the House of Assembly the Premier stated that he knew on

April 20 that Mr. Martin was being terminated without cause. Mr. Speaker, on

April 20 the Premier stood before the people of the province and said that Mr.

Martin had resigned.

Premier,

why two different stories?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

really not two different stories. What you saw on April 20 were two stories of

the same thing because they were based on the facts. When I stood in front of

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and gave the advisory Mr. Martin was

stepping down at around 11 o'clock on April 20, and just a few minutes after

that actually Mr. Martin did the same thing at the offices of Nalcor. It was his

decision to step aside, and he made that very clear within his public

announcement that he made to the people of the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

yesterday the Premier said outside the House that on April 20 he was aware that

Mr. Martin was being terminated. Now that's a different statement, Mr. Speaker,

than saying when he stood in front of the cameras and said he resigned.

So why

the two different stories, Premier?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's not

two different stories. The statement yesterday about the termination was a

decision that was made by the board of Nalcor. That was a decision that was made

by them. It was very clear when I spoke to the people of the province on April

20, it was Mr. Martin was stepping aside. Mr. Martin actually spoke to the

people of the province at around 11:45; the same thing, he was stepping aside.

Any

decision around the relationship between the former CEO of Nalcor is with the

former board of directors of Nalcor. All the information related to those events

is now with the Department of Justice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

I'll make it easier for the Premier then. On April 20, you stood before the

people of the province, you said Mr. Martin resigned. You've also said that on

April 20 you knew he was terminated without cause. Now that's your words,

Premier, you've said it, that he was terminated without cause. I'm not sure how

that can be the same thing. You can stand in front of the people and say he

resigned, yet you knew he was terminated without cause.

How do

you square that?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

I'll try and clarify this for the former premier. The contract with the former

CEO was clearly with the board of directors of Nalcor. So any termination of the

CEO would have been the responsibility of the people that held the contract.

When I

appeared before the people of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador it was

based on the discussion we had with Mr. Martin. He was stepping aside from his

role at Nalcor which he concurred with, by the way, just 45 minutes later when

he spoke to the people of the province that he was stepping aside from his

position as CEO of Nalcor.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's not

the question.

The

question is, when you spoke to the people of the province on April 20, you stood

out here with the Minister of Natural Resources: Did you know at that time the

board was terminating Mr. Martin?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

No, I did not.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Premier said outside here that on April 20 he was

aware that he was being terminated without cause.

How do

you explain that?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

question that the former premier asked me is when I stood out, did I know. No, I

did not.

Mr.

Speaker, the conditions of the termination of Mr. Martin were clearly with the

board of directors of Nalcor. That information is now with the Department of

Justice. They are going to review it, they are going to look at the information

provided by them, and we will get direction on what we should do next, Mr.

Speaker.

So it's

with the Department of Justice right now. When the work is done there'll be more

information, of course, that we'll be able to determine what the direction will

be for us as a government.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, the Premier

stood outside of the House of Assembly yesterday, in front of the media, and he

said that on April 20 he knew that Mr. Martin was being terminated by the board

without cause. Now, he said that yesterday.

So are

you changing now your version of events? Why a different version now then?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When we

stood outside the House of Assembly on April 20 and spoke to the people of the

province announcing that the former CEO of Nalcor was stepping aside, it was his

decision to step aside. It was the same if the former premier would like to

listen to the 11:45 o'clock address that the former CEO, what he did when he

spoke to the media from the office of Nalcor, he, himself, said he was stepping

aside from his current position at Nalcor.

That was

the decision that was made by the former CEO, Mr. Speaker. In his address, he

clearly outlines and gives his reasons why he was stepping down. It was clearly

his decision.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again,

that's not the question. The question is: Yesterday, the Premier stood before

the media speaking to the people of the province and he said that on April 20 he

was aware that Mr. Martin was being terminated without cause. Now he's giving

different information to the House of Assembly here today.

So my

question to you is: Premier, why did you tell the media yesterday you knew on

April 20 he was being terminated without cause?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

what I said yesterday is that when I stood in front of the House of Assembly and

gave the address to the people of the province, it was based on the fact that

Mr. Martin was stepping aside. Mr. Martin himself reiterated that and said the

same thing at 11:45 o'clock when he addressed the people of the province.

The

board of Nalcor made a decision. It was their decision because it was their

contract. From the

interpretation and from what I gather, some advice that they

were given, they made their decision. That decision clearly was with the board

of directors of Nalcor, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm

going to suggest to the Premier that he was quite aware that there was a

settlement offer and there was going to be an agreement. I'm going to suggest

that to the Premier. He also said that he was too busy and there was too much

going on to follow up.

I say to

the Premier, if you knew Mr. Martin was entitled to a settlement, there was too

much going on and you were too busy to follow up, why was that not important

enough? Why was that not an important enough matter to keep your eye on?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

I'm glad the former premier asked that question, because we have a megaproject.

We've done extensive reviews with EY. We had schedules. We had costs. We

obviously had the government's issues that were outlined in the EY report. So I

found myself in the position where the CEO had just left. We had a megaproject

that was ongoing at Muskrat Falls.

So I

will tell you, my focus was really making sure that we put measures in place to

secure the work that was being done. We have many Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians who are currently working on that project. It's a megaproject, I

say, Mr. Speaker.

My job,

as Premier of this province the board now was going to resign. We now had to

get in place a board. We needed to find a CEO. We needed to find some people who

could actually keep Nalcor operating. We had a great group of people over there

working on a day-to-day basis, but my focus clearly shifted to the operations of

Nalcor.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the

Premier: How did you find out and when did you find I know you said May 5. How

did you find out that Mr. Martin was receiving severance?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

said, all this information is now with the Department of Justice. There is

information I became aware of on May 5 in terms of the details around the

severance package of Mr. Martin. All this information is now with the Department

of Justice. When they've completed their review, then that information,

hopefully, will be available to the public. There is a process that we must

adhere to. It's now with the Department of Justice.

As you

know, the former board no longer exists so people who made those decisions are

not board members anymore. Clearly, Mr. Speaker, there's some work to be done

with the Department of Justice. They will review all the activities that

happened around April 20, then again on May 5 and the time frame in between.

Once the Department of Justice has completed their work, then we'll have more

information that will be available.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

How did you become aware

there was a severance package?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think

what the former premier is trying to get at right now will best be determined by

the Department of Justice. All this information has been turned over to the

Department of Justice in terms of timelines and so on, all the activity.

Mr.

Speaker, when the Department of Justice is finished their work, we will then be

in the better position to determine what direction needs to be taken. We're

doing that on behalf of the people of our province right now.

Let's

let the Department of Justice do their work on this particular issue. When that

is done, in due course, then we will have more information we will be able to

provide.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, I'm going to try

this again because you know it's difficult getting information. When a person

avoids a question like this, it leads someone to believe is there something that

he's trying to hide.

I'll ask

the Premier one more time: How did you become aware that Mr. Martin was

receiving a severance package?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

former board of directors had made the decision. They made their

interpretation,

their decision based on the information that they had available to them. This

information is now with the board of directors. There is nothing to hide. What

we're doing is we're working within an established process now with the

Department of Justice, keeping in mind that we have protection of privacy, we

have access to information.

There is

a process that we need to allow to happen here, Mr. Speaker. This process is not

a long this will not take too long, I hope. So we'll get this information out

there as soon as we possibly can.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Mr. Speaker, the Premier

won't tell us. Maybe, Premier, I'll try to prompt your memory a little bit.

Maybe you can tell us if this is true.

Did you

receive correspondence from anybody on the board, maybe an email, a letter, a

phone call, or have a discussion to discuss this very matter?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There's

a lot of information, I guess, that would have been back and forth. That

information is now with the Department of Justice. From the timeline and the

logistics, as soon as the information and the schedule, the time tables are

completed, that information what we are able to put out there, protecting

people's privacy, protecting the process that we must adhere to, Mr. Speaker, I

can't wait to get that information out there as soon as Justice is finished

their work.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

apparent the Premier doesn't want to share the information.

I'll ask

him a very simple question: Yes or no, did you receive any correspondence from

the board or a representative of the board regarding compensation for Mr.

Martin? Yes or no.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Justice

officials right now are preparing all the schedules, the timelines around the

logistics, the information. It's all with them right now, Mr. Speaker. That

information will be shared once they have completed their work which should not

take too long.

We're

hoping to have this done in a very timely fashion, Mr. Speaker. I want to get

this information out there too. Once the Department of Justice is finished their

work, then we'll be sharing it with the people of the province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier referenced what Mr. Martin had said, and I'll remind him. On April 20,

Mr. Martin, when he spoke to the media and announced he was leaving Nalcor, said

that he met with the Premier and I quote: talked things through and found a

way forward that was acceptable to us both. He also said: I waited until we had

alignment.

I ask

the Premier again: Did you have a conversation with Mr. Martin about a

settlement or a financial package? What kind of alignment did you reach?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

No, Mr. Speaker, that

conversation did not happen with me. The details are in the severance package. I

became aware of it on May 5. These decisions were made by the former board at

Nalcor, Mr. Speaker. They held the contract. It was them who put the contract

and they were responsible for the developments that occurred. That information,

I became aware of on May 5.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

the Premier said, when referencing the same meeting, they talked about a number

of different scenarios between the meeting on April 17 and April 19 a number

of scenarios.

I ask

the Premier: What were the scenarios you discussed?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have

had many discussions, of course, with the former CEO of Nalcor over the last few

months in terms of the Muskrat Falls Project, Nalcor in general. What was

discussed at that meeting, those two meetings on the 17th and the 19th of April,

Mr. Speaker, these were private meetings we had with Mr. Martin. It was really

about the way forward. Obviously, during the discussion he came out of that

suggesting then that he was going to be stepping aside at Nalcor. It was a

decision that he made.

Mr.

Speaker, as I said on April 20, we respect the decision that Mr. Martin made to

step aside at Nalcor. He reiterated and said many, many times that was a

decision he made for his own best interest.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier said they discussed a variety of scenarios, different scenarios.

Will you

or will you not tell us what those scenarios are? Yes or no.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

said, the information that occurred in all those meetings now will be shared

with the Department of Justice. They will review all of this, Mr. Speaker, and

once they do their work, which I'm looking forward to them having completed,

then obviously there's a process in what can be shared through the access to

information and through protection of privacy and so on.

Once the

process is finalized, then we'll be able to share all the information that's

available once the process has done its due course. Mr. Speaker, I really look

forward to getting that information out there.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you.

Premier,

on April 17 and April 19 you say you've shared the discussions with the

Department of Justice. Was there notes taken at these meetings? Was there an

agenda that was followed? Were there minutes kept, and who did that, Premier?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Whatever

information came out of that meeting will be the Department of Justice will

have access to all of that. Mr. Speaker, we're letting them do their job, which

is the prudent, responsible thing to do.

Once

that information is all compiled, then that information will be taken and what

can be released of course when we think of the interests of Mr. Martin in this

particular case as the former CEO. Mr. Speaker, I really want to get this

information out there on behalf of the people of our province, but first and

foremost we will let the Department of Justice do their work and do their

analysis and do their review of the work and the proceedings and the information

that they have available to them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We want

the Department of Justice to do their work too. They've had it for three weeks,

they're making a decision if Mr. Martin was entitled to severance or not, was it

properly paid. It's taken three weeks to get a legal opinion on that, Mr.

Speaker.

The

question is for the Premier, very simply, he's saying that the contents and

discussions were shared with Justice from the meeting on April 17 and the

meeting of April 19. Now, there were either minutes kept or there was an

agreement or an alignment, as Mr. Martin says, reached around severance or his

departure from Nalcor.

So,

Premier: What records were kept on those two meetings, April 17, April 19?

You've shared the records with Justice. What records were kept?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

one more time. Whatever information that's available from those meetings, the

April 20 and so on, will be reviewed by Justice, is currently being reviewed by

Justice. They are doing their work. We're going to allow them to do their work.

We don't anticipate this to be a long, drawn-out process. I do not want that

either. I don't think anyone really wants it to be a long, drawn-out process.

When

Justice has completed their work, we will have the information and be able to

determine then what can best be shared with the people of our province right

now. Mr. Speaker, clearly, I hope all of it can be.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So let's

just recap what we have. We have the Premier saying there were a number of

scenarios discussed. We have Mr. Martin saying that between the 17th of April

and the 19th of April they wanted to reach what he referred to as an alignment.

The

Premier now says the results of those meetings and documents and information

kept of those meetings has been shared with the Department of Justice.

Premier:

Will you share that here in the House, or are you going to wait for the House to

close for the summer break before you wrap this up?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

there are two things and I will say for that to come from the former premier,

of all the information that he himself has withheld from the people of our

province, Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely shameful. We will not put our province

in a position when the information is readily available, when it's ready to be

released, when Justice has done the review, it will be released, I will say, Mr.

Speaker.

If this

House is open and I hope it is; I hope this House is open so we can put it out

there, whenever it is, but we will do it at the earliest possible date. I

question the former premier why it is he would not do the same.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

I'll tell you what's

shameful, Mr. Speaker, is that the Premier won't give answers to the people of

the province. That's what's shameful.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

The people in the province

want to know what actually happened here, and we can't get answers from the

Premier. Now, Premier, you say there are records kept in those meetings.

Simple

question: Were there minutes kept in the April 17 and April 19 meetings? Were

there records kept or minutes kept of those meetings? Simple question, yes or

no.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

All the

information that we have available to us is given to the Department of Justice

for them to review. There was nothing here, Mr. Speaker, but we must go through

the process with the Department of Justice right now to allow them to do their

work and to get their work completed.

This

will not be a long, drawn-out affair, as I said, Mr. Speaker. I'm anticipating

this to be just in days the Department of Justice will have their work reviewed.

I look forward to getting that information out there as quickly as possible.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We know

the Minister of Natural Resources participated in these meetings, so I'll ask

the minister: Did you keep notes of those meetings?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

As the

Premier has recounted many, many times, the information is with the Department

of Justice. All the information, the review of the decision of the board of

directors regarding Mr. Martin's contract is with the Department of Justice.

We're

hoping to have something clarified from the Department of Justice in due course.

With the parameters around what can be released, we will absolutely make that

available.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'll ask

the Minister of Natural Resources again, a very simple question, yes or no. We

fully understand and get what the Department of Justice is doing we fully get

it.

The

question is very simple: Do you have records from those two meetings, April 17

and April 19?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Again,

this is a simple process of reviewing the decision of a board of directors

around a contract with the CEO. As a government, as the shareholder, we are

reviewing that decision.

The

decision rests with the board of directors. We are taking a point of looking at

the decision of the board of directors on behalf of the shareholders of this

province, the people of this province. We've referred the information that we

have to the Department of Justice for their review.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'll ask

the Minister of Natural Resources this: Did you turn over records from the April

17 and April 19 meeting with you and the Premier and Mr. Martin? Did you turn

over records to the Department of Justice?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think

the Premier was quite clear that everything pertaining to the decision made by

the board of directors for Mr. Martin has been referred to the Department of

Justice.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There's

a trend over across the way that Members don't want to answer questions on this

very important matter.

I'll ask

the Minister of Natural Resources: Did you turn over records to the Department

of Justice? It's a very simple question, Minister. Did you yes or no turn

over records?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think

the Premier has been quite clear that we've provided the Department of Justice

everything that we have regarding the decision that was made by the board of

directors of Nalcor concerning the contract of Mr. Martin.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Opposition, for a very quick question.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Oh, I'll be quick, Mr.

Speaker.

When did

you find out Mr. Martin received severance?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

As I said yesterday, I

received the details around the severance information on May 9 when I returned

from Houston. It was available to me at that point.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

The

Premier has said it is responsible and prudent to let the Department of Justice,

a government department now represented on the board of Nalcor, do an inquiry

into the matter of the severance pay to the outgoing Nalcor CEO.

I ask

the Premier: Has he read

section 16 and 17 of the

Auditor General Act giving the Auditor General, an impartial body,

unfettered powers in conducting inquiries into the financial affairs of public

properties?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We value

a lot of the public sector people and officers that we have within government

and within this House of Assembly. Once the Department of Justice has completed

their review, they have done their work, they have done the analysis, then we'll

see what options or what direction we need to go from there.

As the

Member talks about the AG, it could be one of the options that as a government

we will be able to use. We'll just see where this goes once the Department of

Justice has completed their work. We have some great people in the Department of

Justice as well that is doing their work right now and, for sure, the AG is

certainly someone who is well equipped to actually take a look at this, if

that's required.

This is

a decision that will be made once the Department of Justice has completed their

review.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

We've

been waiting weeks; we'll be waiting weeks more.

I ask

the Premier: Why is he wasting time asking a government department without the

same legislative powers of investigation into Crown corporations as the Auditor

General to carry on an inquiry for which it has no defined process?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

quite frankly, I don't consider it a waste of time. What the officials at the

Department of Justice are doing right now, I think, is a very good process that

they have been engaged in. Once their work is done, we'll see what options we

have available to us.

As the

Member opposite speaks about the AG, that is possibly one option that is

available to us. But first of all, let's be very clear, we'll let the Department

of Justice do their work. I look forward to them getting their work completed so

we can move on with this.

The

Department of Justice, they will get their work completed. As I said, I don't

consider this to be a long drawn-out affair; this should happen very quickly.

Then, Mr. Speaker, we'll decide in the interest of Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians what the best next option is.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Could

the Premier tell us under which branch of the Department of Justice and Public

Safety such an inquiry would fit?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

it's with the Department of Justice is where it is. It is not an inquiry. As I

said, they're doing a review and analysis of the information that's been given

to them, that they have available to them. The information, as I said, much of

which I gathered through our office on May 5, the Department of Justice is

reviewing all of this, Mr. Speaker.

So this

is really just a review and an analysis of the information that's available. The

decision that's been made, that information, once the Department of Justice has

completed their work, we'll then see what options we have available to us.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the

Premier did he or anyone from his office have a conversation with anyone from

the former board of Nalcor regarding Mr. Martin's resignation, the termination

of his contract, or the possible severance payout?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

the former board of directors of Nalcor, as I said yesterday, I've never met

with the board of directors at Nalcor. I've had many discussions over the course

of the last three or four months with the outgoing chair.

Mr.

Speaker, the decision that was made was made on April 20, from what I gather.

They made the decision to terminate without cause. It was the board's decision.

Mr. Speaker, all of the information around the termination without cause, as I

said, is now with the Department of Justice. Let them get their work completed.

It should not take long and then we'll know what the next steps will be on this

particular issue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, with the sudden

departure of such an important position, why would the Premier's office not be

involved?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well,

the contract with the CEO was with the board of directors at Nalcor, the

outgoing board of directors. They made their decision. They made their decision

to terminate without cause, which was a contract that they held and they were

responsible for, Mr. Speaker. It was their decision. They did the work on this.

All of

the information that we now have available to us is with the Department of

Justice and they will do their work. Mr. Speaker, it was with the board of

directors; they're ultimately responsible for the CEO of Nalcor.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Question Period

has expired.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling

of Documents.

Notices

of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Municipal Affairs.

MR. JOYCE:

Mr. Speaker, I give notice

that I will ask leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The Highway

Traffic Act No. 2, Bill 3 3 .

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

The hon.

the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MS. C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give

notice that I will move that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the

Whole to consider a resolution relating to the raising of loans by the province,

Bill 32.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

I give

notice pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this House do not adjourn at 5:30

p.m. on Monday, May 30.

Further,

I give notice pursuant to Standing Order 11, that this House do not adjourn at

10 p.m. on Monday, May 30.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

Answers

to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's Centre.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

To the

hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

the Deficit Reduction Levy is an extremely regressive surtax placing a higher

tax burden on low- and middle-income taxpayers; and

WHEREAS

surtaxes are typically levied on the highest income earners only, as currently

demonstrated in other provinces, as well as Australia, Norway and other

countries; and

WHEREAS

government states in the 2016 provincial budget that the personal income tax

schedule needs to be revised and promises to do so;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House

of Assembly to urge government to ensure that the Deficit Reduction Levy be

eliminated and any replacement measure be based on progressive taxation

principles, and that an independent review of the Newfoundland and Labrador

provincial income tax system begin immediately to make it fairer to

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, the people of the province feel there is a somewhat partial victory in

terms of the measures that government announced yesterday on the levy. It's a

direct result of the work we have done on this side of the House, but also a

direct result of the activism and the activities that have been undertaken by

the people of the province.

Tens of

thousands not thousands, but tens of thousands of people have signed

petitions. They have written their MHAs. They have written every MHA here in

this House. They have made phone calls. They have made visits, because they know

many measures in this budget are unfair, that they are regressive. So they

signed this petition not only asking for the complete elimination of the levy,

which they've not achieved, which we have not yet achieved in this House, but

also for review of our taxation principles to look at fair taxation. We know

that is so necessary in this province right now.

Mr.

Speaker, I believe the people of the province will continue to push and that

this government was a desperate move, what they did yesterday was a desperate

move. They are not listening to the people of the province. All that they're

doing is they made a desperate move to hope that people will just simply be

satisfied the levy has been altered and that people will go off camping now for

the rest of the summer.

Well,

Mr. Speaker, I believe the people of the province are going to keep up their

pressure, because they know there are so many measures in this budget that are a

result of the Government Renewal Initiative measures, the 'GRIM' operation that

this government did, and that the people of the province know what is fair and

what is just. Obviously, there are other measures in this budget that need to be

taken care of. The issue of the closure of libraries.

MR. SPEAKER (Warr):

Order, please!

MS. ROGERS:

The issue of closure of

schools.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Cape

St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, 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

policy regulations link snow carb harvesting quotas to vessel length; and

WHEREAS

many harvesters own fishing vessels of various sizes but because of the policy

regulations are restricted to using a smaller vessel, often putting their crews

in danger;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House

of Assembly to urge government to make representation to the federal government

to encourage them to change the policy, thus ensuring the safety of those

harvesting snow crab.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

brought this petition again a couple of times now to the House of Assembly. It's

very important to people who are out on the water. Especially, our fishermen are

out in adverse conditions all the time. We know weather changes and some days

you can go out in smaller boats and it's okay, but there are a lot of times and

more often that they have to go out in conditions where safety is not there and

they can't go out. Yet, in a lot of enterprises you'll see that people have

different-sized vessels depending on what crab quota they have, whether it's an

inshore quota or it's an offshore quota or the mid-quota, and it depends on the

size of vessel that you can catch these quotas in.

So what

I'm saying here is that when a harvester has a large-size boat and it's safer

for them to go out and catch that quota, that's the boat they should be allowed

to use. That's very important because too often we see our harvesters out on the

water taking their lives really and you know their lives are at risk. We've seen

it in this province where people have had larger boats tied up at the wharf and

went out in a smaller vessel to harvest crab and ended up losing their lives.

That only happened last year in Arnold's Cove.

should be lobbying the federal government every chance we get to change some of

these policies because they're policies that are really putting our people in

danger. Any time that we can safety should be foremost in every job, no matter

if it's onshore or offshore, or on the water or on the land. Safety should

always be the foremost thing that we be concerned with. I ask government to

lobby their cousins in Ottawa to change this policy.

Thank

you very much.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

To the

hon. House of Assembly of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

government has once again cut the libraries budget, forcing the closure of 54

libraries; and

WHEREAS

libraries are often the backbone of their communities, especially for those with

little access to government services where they offer learning opportunities and

computer access; and

WHEREAS

libraries and librarians are critical in efforts to improve the province's

literacy levels which are among the lowest in Canada; and

WHEREAS

already strapped municipalities are not in a position to take over the operation

and cost of libraries;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House

of Assembly to urge government to keep these libraries open and work on a

long-term plan to strengthen the library system.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Once

again, Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to stand and present petitions of people who are

quite concerned throughout the province. Today, we have signatures from CBS,

from the Southern Shore of the Avalon Peninsula. We have them from Torbay. We

have from further up the shore as well. I think I saw some from the West Coast

of the Island also.

People

all over Trinity Bay, I knew I saw another bay involved. People everywhere,

whether they're losing their own library or not, are signing this petition

imploring the government to look at what this budget is doing to people.

As of

yesterday, I continue to get messages from people who are concerned. One

yesterday from a teacher who calls herself an educated individual who can see

how the loss of libraries will affect our communities. For many in the province

it is their only access to books and the Internet. Libraries are essential

services and we cannot afford to reduce their numbers. These are the messages

that continue to come in, Mr. Speaker, and the government continues to be

focused on the decisions they've made.

This

letter I received has pointed out that the changes were made in the levy tax

yesterday mean nothing to this person. She's pointing out that government did

that because of the loud voice and the province demanding it, but there's so

much else in the budget such as the closure of libraries, which will continue to

do harm to our people. As she puts it this budget is going to be doing total

damage to the people in the province, to the economy of the province itself,

that it's going to beggar the people of the province. That's the verb she used,

which struck me.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

You're

looking mighty fine in that Chair today, I might add as well. A nice new outfit.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to

present a petition on behalf of residents of St. John's and Mount Pearl.

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

an extension is urgently needed at St. Peter's Primary school in Mount Pearl in

order to accommodate full-day kindergarten and the growing school population;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House

of Assembly to urge government to clarify its position and plan so that St.

Peter's Primary and other schools in Newfoundland and Labrador can properly

accommodate students when full-day kindergarten commences in September 2016.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, the folks that have signed this petition, and many others that I've

spoken too, and hundreds that I spoke to on the steps of Confederation Building

last evening do not believe that full-day kindergarten should proceed in

Newfoundland and Labrador in September 2016. There will come a time where it

should proceed. Most people I talked to, most reasonable people agree that

full-day kindergarten is the right thing to do, but it's not the right thing to

do right now. It's not the right thing to do at the expense of the K-12 system

in our province.

Cuts are

being made throughout the K-12 system while more resources are going to be

needed to establish full-day kindergarten. It just doesn't make sense. It's

impacting schools not only in Mount Pearl, but schools throughout Newfoundland

and Labrador, and there is a better way.

Making

cuts to French Immersion programs and Intensive Core French and reducing special

services that are desperately needed for our students and are under resourced in

our schools as it is, taking teachers out of our schools, these are not the

right moves. Increasing class sizes, these are not the right moves.

Some of

these moves are being made because government is blindly pursuing its commitment

to full-day kindergarten. We all believe that full-day kindergarten is the right

thing to do. The previous government committed to bringing it in, but in light

of our fiscal situation it can't proceed right now when you're going to make all

these devastating cuts to schools right across Newfoundland and Labrador. It

just doesn't make sense.

What

makes matters even worse in this situation we have with St. Peter's Primary, we

have a school that's grossly overcrowded and has an inadequate amount of

resources provided to it as it is. I've made constructive suggestions on behalf

of residents about how we can improve the situation, yet down the road we're

going to have another school in my district with six empty classrooms in

September with multi-grade classrooms at the same time. It just does not make

sense. There is a better way.

I would

urge government to reconsider its position on full-day kindergarten and the

drastic, devastating cuts they're making to our K to 12 school system.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay East Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

indeed an honour to stand and present this petition.

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

the current 2016 provincial budget impacts adversely and directly the education

programs at Beachy Cove Elementary in Portugal Cove-St. Philip's; and

WHEREAS

parents request a delay in the implementation of full-day kindergarten at our

school until September 2018 when at such time the new five to nine school in

Portugal Cove-St. Philip's will be open; and

WHEREAS

the student population in Beachy Cove Elementary is growing exponentially and

this growth is sustainable into the future; and

WHEREAS

parents request the reinstatement of previous teacher allocation formula for

Beachy Cove for this year and subsequent years to service the growth in

enrolment to be able to provide all students with equal opportunities to enrol

in French immersion programming;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House

of Assembly to urge government to reinstate the previous teacher allocations and

delay the implementation of full-day kindergarten in order to provide the

children of Beachy Cove Elementary the right to a quality education.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

As my

colleague from Mount Pearl has stated, delaying all-day kindergarten is a move

forward in enhancing and preserving the quality of education we have in our

system right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. It's not to say we don't support

all-day kindergarten, because it was this administration who put it forward.

What we're saying is we need to be better prepared for it and at the time we

can't put it in place at the expense of the existing school system.

I've

been fortunate enough to have been at a number of meetings with parents, with

students themselves, on the steps of Confederation Building yesterday and have

seen the impact the changes to the education system and the cuts to the

education system, particularly in this budget, are going to have on

administrators, on teachers, on parents, but particularly the students

themselves.

The lack

of access to certain programs and services within the school system, the lack of

access to an educational program they took for granted would be available for

them when they were ready to jump into that program. The fact that there are

going to be larger classrooms, teachers won't have the same ability to work with

the students on a one-on-one basis. The resources are going to be minimal when

it comes to some of our school systems. The overcrowding is going to be a

detriment to our school system.

I had

the privilege last night to talk to one young student, probably a grade three or

four student, who came up and shook my hand and said: Mr. Brazil, can you save

our school? I'm glad we're not at that level about saving schools, but I know to

that student, the loss of the education process that he's been engaged in is

like losing his school. He's going to lose his friends in his classroom. There

are certain programs he won't have access to.

He's in

a classroom that is conducive for 15 students and he's in with 30. He's going to

have blended classroom settings. It's going to be confusing for students. It's

going to cause challenges for the administration. It's going to take away from

the time they're going to be able to have for social recreation and interim

engagement and better opportunities for them to be able to actually be more

engaged within their school system.

These

cuts are obviously detrimental. One way we can address some of these, the

immediate ones it won't solve all the education issues around this budget but

it definitely would address some of the particular needs right now. The cap

sizes, the blending of classrooms and the intensive core French being able to do

that, by delaying the implementation of the all-day kindergarten process.

I know

there are petitions with hundreds, if not thousands, of names out there from

schools all over this province asking and begging the Members on that side to

revisit that, and the Minister of Education, to do the right thing and put a

delay on the implementation of all-day kindergarten.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further petitions?

The hon.

the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

present this petition as I said previously, I have a lot of these so I try to

get as many of them presented as I can. It's dealing with my District of

Conception Bay South on policing.

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

policing is vital to the protection and service of our province's communities;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House

of Assembly to urge government to increase the presence of law enforcement in

the Conception Bay South area.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

As I

stated, Mr. Speaker, I have presented this similar petition by a lot of our

residents numerous times. I'll continue to do it, as I committed to the

residents.

CBS is

the largest town in the province. We're nearing probably 26,000, 27,000 people.

As I stated a while back, there has been some increase in police services, extra

patrol cars, which has made somewhat of a difference.

obviously have stated previously too, I mean we don't have any dedicated office.

I'm not looking for a full detachment, but it would be nice to have somewhere

people could come, any issues they have, to speak to someone in person, which a

lot of our residents are calling out for. There used to be an office there; it's

no longer.

As I

say, I've stated this numerous times. I guess the most recent thing now that's

going on in the district is there's a concerned group on traffic speeds, byroad

speeds and whatnot, and policing in general. They're very active. A conversation

last week over a lot of policing issues, I said I would present the petition

once more.

They've

reached out to the town. The town has a committee formed. It's a really simple

question a simple request actually. We have a municipality the size of CBS

which is, I would say based on numbers near and outside of St. John's, probably

the largest area. Most times you're lucky to have two police cars, maybe a third

one. There are lots of times the second or third one is called in from

neighbouring Mount Pearl or Paradise.

It's a

town that deserves more attention. It's a growing town. There are various

issues. The crime levels have increased; we have a lot of traffic accidents a

serious situation that happened out in CBS. It's no longer the little bedroom

community that it used to be 25, 30 years ago. It's a very active, growing

community and policing is very important. As we all know, it's vital to all our

communities.

I call

upon the government to give some strong consideration to increasing policing in

CBS.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER (Osborne):

Further petitions?

Orders

of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

call from the Order Paper, third reading of Bill 29.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I move,

seconded by the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills, that Bill 29,

An Act

To Amend The College Act, 1996, be now read the third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

Bill 29,

An Act To Amend The College Act, 1996, be now read a third time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion that Bill 29 be read a third time?

All

those in favour?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

Those against?

Carried.

CLERK (Barnes):

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

College Act, 1996. (Bill 29)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has been now read a

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

Order Paper.

motion, a bill,

An Act To Amend The College Act, 1996, read a third time,

ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 29)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move,

seconded by the Minister of Municipal Affairs, for leave to introduce a bill

entitled,

An Act To Amend The Pensions Funding Act And The Teachers' Pensions

Act, Bill 28, and I further move that the said bill be now read the first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded by

the hon. Government House Leader that he shall have leave to introduce Bill 28

and that the said bill shall be now read a first time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to introduce Bill

28?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion,

the hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board to introduce a

bill,

An Act To Amend The Pensions Funding Act And The Teachers' Pensions Act,

carried. (Bill 28)

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Pensions Funding Act And The Teachers' Pensions Act. (Bill 28)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

first time.

When

shall the bill be read a second time?

MR. A. PARSONS:

Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, Bill 28 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the Minister of Service NL, for leave to introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To

Amend The Co-operatives Act, Bill 30, and I further move that the said bill be

now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded by

the hon. Government House Leader that he shall have leave to introduce a bill

entitled,

An Act To Amend The Co-operatives Act, Bill 30, and that the said bill

shall now be read a first time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to introduce Bill

30 and that it shall be read a first time?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

Carried.

Motion,

the hon. the Minister of Service NL to introduce a bill,

An Act To Amend The

Co-operatives Act, carried. (Bill 30)

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Co-operatives Act. (Bill 30)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

first time.

When

shall the bill be read a second time?

MR. A. PARSONS:

Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, Bill 30 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the Minister of Environment and Conservation, for leave to introduce a bill

entitled,

An Act To Amend The Labour Standards Act, Bill 31, and I further move

that the said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded by

the hon. Government House Leader that he shall have leave to introduce a bill

entitled,

An Act To Amend The Labour Standards Act, Bill 31, and that the said

bill shall now be read a first time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House that the minister shall have leave to introduce Bill

31 and that that bill shall now be read a first time?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

Those against?

Carried.

Motion,

the hon. Minister of Environment and Conservation and Minister Responsible for

the Labour Relations Agency to introduce a bill,

An Act To Amend The Labour

Standards Act, carried. (Bill 31)

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Labour Standards Act. (Bill 31)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

first time.

When

shall the bill be read a second time?

MR. A. PARSONS:

Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, Bill 31 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I would call

from the Order Paper, Motion 11.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the Minister of Justice and Public Safety:

WHEREAS

the Lieutenant Governor in Council appointed a tribunal under

section 28 of the

Provincial Court Act, 1991 to make

recommendations on the salaries and benefits of judges and the chief judge; and

WHEREAS

the tribunal submitted its recommendations to the Minister of Justice and Public

Safety on December 21, 2015; and

WHEREAS

the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial

Court Judges Salary and Benefits Tribunal Report was tabled in this hon.

House on March 17, 2016 as required by

section 28.2 of the act; and

WHEREAS

the House of Assembly is required to approve, vary or reject the report within

the period of time referred to in that section; and

WHEREAS

government has decided to ask the hon. House to accept all but one of the

recommendations of the tribunal as contained in its report of December 21, 2015;

and

WHEREAS

Government has decided to ask this hon. House to reject one of the

recommendations;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House accept the recommendations of the

2015 Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court Judges Salary and Benefits

Tribunal set out in

Schedule A; and

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that this hon. House reject the recommendation set out

in

Schedule B for the reasons given; and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the recommendations of the tribunal that

this hon. House accepts and rejects, as set out in Schedules A and B, be

implemented effective April 1, 2013.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Is the House ready for the

question?

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

The hon.

the Leader of the Opposition.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

apologize; I thought the Premier was going to take some time to discuss the

motion. I apologize, Mr. Speaker, on procedure.

Does the

Premier rise at some point?

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible).

MR. P. DAVIS:

Okay.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As we do

often in this House, you push pause, play and record and so on. But the House

Leader there just handed me, of course, and when I was reading this, I wanted to

put it through to allow its due course. Of course, it's not like the House

Leader at all to actually do this. He's usually much better than this, yet

today, Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure, I will say, the hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety, to move:

WHEREAS

I am very proud today subsection 6(3) of the

Independent Appointments Commission Act provides that five members

are to be appointed to an Independent Appointments Commission by the Lieutenant

Governor in Council on a resolution of the House of Assembly; and

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

WHEREAS subsection 6(4) of

the act provides that the Lieutenant Governor in Council designate one of the

members of the commission to be chairperson;

NOW

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED that the following persons be appointed members of the

Independent Appointments Commission: Clyde K. Wells, Chairperson; M. Zita Cobb;

Shannie Duff; Philip R. Earle; and Derek Young.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

As well,

before we call for debate on the motion, I would like to welcome to the

Speaker's gallery and to the House of Assembly the hon. Clyde K. Wells, former

chief justice and former premier; Ms. Zita Cobb; Shannie Duff; Philip R. Earle;

and Derek Young.

Welcome

to our Legislature.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

We're now debating the

Independent Appointments Commission, and I will ask if the House is ready for

the question?

Any

debate on the question?

The hon.

the Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Is the

Premier speaking to this motion?

PREMIER BALL:

Yes.

MR. SPEAKER:

Okay.

MR. KENT:

Okay, I'll sit down and let

the Premier speak first.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you to the Member opposite for the privilege of speaking to this bill first,

Bill 1. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure today to rise in this hon. House to speak

to our government's inaugural piece of legislation. This is an important piece

of legislation for our province. One that ensures an appointment process that is

focused on merit, appointing what will be the most qualified people and creating

one of the most open, non-partisan processes in Canada.

Mr.

Speaker, this is something that I have discussed and talked and debated and had

much discussion on now for many, many years. It was something that I've always

felt, whether I was Leader of the Opposition or in this current chair, it was

always something that I always said I would advocate and promote for our

province.

Mr.

Speaker, the important work that we have in our province around agencies, boards

and commissions, these boards and commissions deliver some of the important

services to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. What's critically important for us

is that when we have those boards, commissions and agencies in place, that we

put in place the most experienced members and Newfoundlanders and Labradorians

that we have available to us to serve on those boards. We think about the big

decisions that are made around health care, around education, our K to 12,

post-secondary education.

Natural

resources; the big decisions that are made around the development of natural

resources. We think about the impact that Nalcor is having on our province in

terms of the Muskrat Falls Project and how important it is to have individuals

who sit on those boards and those agencies that are able and equipped to make

the best decisions for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Mr.

Speaker, on top of that, something I want to add is that the budgets of these

agencies, these boards and these commissions make up 43 per cent of the total

government expenditures and 75 per cent of the total public sector employment in

our province. A substantial part of our budget, a substantial part of the

decisions that are made in our province lies squarely with those boards, those

agencies and commissions. They play a valuable role in the activities in our

province.

Mr.

Speaker, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, as residents, as people who actually

use they are the constituents who actually use the services that are often

governed and impacted by decisions around those appointments. Those residents,

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, they must have confidence in the people seated

to lead those agencies, those boards and those commissions because they are

making decisions that have a big impact, that have a definite impact on

delivering the important services to the public.

We, as a

government, and I, as a Premier, have committed to improving the appointments

process so that we are doing just that. So that we are achieving the best

outcomes. We are putting in place the best people in our communities, in our

province that are put in place to lead those decisions-making processes.

Mr.

Speaker, for the first time in Newfoundland and Labrador, a merit-based

appointment process will be in place to put people who are interested in serving

Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time in our history, we will now have

a merit-based process in place.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, the legislation

creates the opportunity for people to apply for a position to an agency, on one

of those boards or commissions. This merit-based process we are implementing, as

a result of this legislation, allows people who would not normally be given the

opportunity to sit in those important roles, to actually play a role for

Newfoundland and Labrador. We now give them the opportunity because they can

apply for themselves.

These

are normally people who would not have undertaken such activities. They would be

interested, and in many cases they watched it from afar, but now as a result of

this decision and this legislation, people can apply. If they come forward with

their interest, put their resumes out there, then, Mr. Speaker, we have an

Independent Appointments Commission that is designed to take the politics out of

all this.

Mr.

Speaker, this is a very fair process. It is based on merit versus who you know.

It gives greater accountability, greater transparency and it improves

organizational governance. We know some of the big decisions we make as a

province squarely lies with those agencies, it is with those boards, it is with

those commissions. Now finally, we have an opportunity put in place people who

could help us make those decisions that are in the best interest of our

province.

Mr.

Speaker, you'll take the recommended names, these recommended names will go to

Cabinet and the ministers responsible for the various departments. It will be

generated through the professional merit-based appointment process. This

assessment will be done. It's not a political identification process. It's a

decision that will be made when people show their interest to apply for those

positions.

Mr.

Speaker, I also want to talk about the valuable role of the Public Service

Commission in all of this. This is a longstanding institution that we have

within government. Over the course of the debate we see Members opposite ask

questions related to why the Public Service Commission is recommending names for

the bulk of the agencies, boards and commissions.

Mr.

Speaker, I want to expand on that. I want to expand on the role of the Public

Service Commission. To support the Independent Appointments Commission, the

Public Service Commission will serve as the secretariat. They will be the

resources that will be required to help the Independent Appointments Commission

to do their work. As a secretariat, they will work with government departments

to develop the skill and the qualifications, a profile for each of the agencies,

for those boards and those commissions. So once that profile is developed, it is

then as we put this information out there people can apply for those

positions.

Mr.

Speaker, this is the first time this has ever been done in our province. Mr.

Speaker, I would argue that when you look at all the provinces that we have

across the country, this is something that is truly unprecedented. This is

indeed groundbreaking and this is something that I think and I will predict

and forecast that in the future you will see other provinces put something like

this in place.

The

Public Service Commission is, as I said earlier, a longstanding, independent and

impartial government agency. Its primary focus is ensuring that a professional

and non-partisan public service has the authority to require the appointments to

the public sector jobs, which is based on merit. We are using the experience

that we have in the Public Service Commission right now as a secretariat to

support the Independent Appointments Commission.

Mr.

Speaker, the new merit-based process and the Independent Appointments Commission

we will all benefit from the experience that we see within the Public Service

Commission. The Independent Appointments Commission will get the benefit from

that experience; therefore, Mr. Speaker, better decisions can be made. With

better decisions, we will have better decision making at our boards, agencies

and commissions.

people are interested in applying this is people in our communities all

throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. If they are interested in applying for any

of those positions, the profile that we have for those positions if you apply

there, that application, that resume will be kept in place for two years. This

allows the Public Service Commission to match the qualified individuals with the

vacant positions. This is an important piece. Because we have people all across

our province that are keenly interested in sitting in those positions, once you

apply your profile, your resume, will be kept intact, will be kept in place for

two years.

Mr.

Speaker, the independence of the Independent Appointments Commission is

extremely important and so is the role of the Public Service Commission.

Establishing the appointment process in legislation signals our commitment to a

process that is open and is based on selecting qualified, highly skilled

individuals for a specific position for a position, for the seats on those

boards.

As I

said, they actually manage many of the large budgets. We see our health care

boards, our education boards, the Nalcor board. We see the many, many other

boards in our province right now that manage some of the biggest budgets we have

in our province. This gives the everyday Newfoundlander and Labradorian who is

equipped and has the expertise and the interest in doing this this now gives

them, finally, the opportunity to be able to do that.

Mr.

Speaker, it is clear from the recommended members of our commission, that we

have in place some of the most highly respected and capable individuals that we

have in our province. As the names were read out, I will say that I've received

a number of messages over the last few days about the qualifications of the

Independent Appointments Commission. The individuals that are in place, they

truly have the experience. They have the wherewithal, as we'd say in our

province, to make the decisions, put people in place that are truly qualified

with the recommendations that they would make to their departments and to our

Cabinet.

Mr.

Speaker, I want to reiterate and repeat one more time how important this is

because those five members are offering up their time. They, themselves, are

volunteers, and that speaks loudly.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

We have people all across our

province who spend a lot of time volunteering in their community but when you

get the opportunity in this particular case to bring people in with the ability,

with the experience that we have in those five individuals truly skilled,

highly respected across our province, names that people will recognize

volunteering their time to make decisions that will impact all Newfoundlanders

and Labradorians.

Mr.

Speaker, as Premier of this province, I can tell you right now I am truly

honoured that they have all accepted. They have accepted on behalf of our

province to lead the first Independent Appointments Commission in our province.

Mr.

Speaker, the commission itself will recommend three individuals for

approximately we have 30 tier-one organizations in our province. Many of you

would know who those tier-one agencies and boards would be. These are things

like the Board of Regents at Memorial University, at Nalcor. It's the Housing

Corporation and so on. We have 30 of those very important tier-ones.

Why are

they tier one? Often because of the responsibility that exists within those

tier-one boards and agencies but also because of the budget process and the

amount of dollars and the economic impact it is having on our province.

The

Independent Appointments Commission, as I said, will recommend three individuals

for the approximately 30 of those tier-one organizations that we have. These are

the organizations with the greater decision-making responsibilities and the

larger budgets that we see in the province.

Mr.

Speaker, at all times the Independent Appointments Commission will be expected

to act in an independent, non-partisan manner. I'm going to repeat that. At all

times the Independent Appointments Commission will be expected to act in an

independent, non-partisan manner. That's critically important. It's critically

important and I have no doubt in my mind when I look at those five individuals

that they will do this and they will do it because it's actually what they've

done all their lives. Mr. Speaker, they will make good decisions, good sound

decisions on behalf of our province.

Bill 1

expanded the scope of the Public Service Commission to include the development

of a merit-based recommendation for appointments to those boards, agencies and

commissions.

For the

tier-two organizations; we have 128 tier-two organizations. These are some of

the smaller boards we have. They are sprinkled throughout our province. They

support many of the departments and many of the communities that we would see

around Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr.

Speaker, the role of the Public Service Commission in those tier-two

organizations, again, is critical because what they will do, they will review

the applications and assess the skills and provide a list of individuals

qualified for the appointment by ministers.

And we

have many, many examples of these boards. So we will have the Independent

Appointments Commission leading the appointments and making the recommendations

to the tier-one boards, and we had the Public Service Commission now leading the

appointment process for our tier-two boards.

Mr.

Speaker, there are other agencies and there are other boards and commissions

that are not included, and in those situations because we have many, many

organizations that support the role of government throughout our province.

Indeed, many of those are internal. We want to say thank you for the work that

is normally done in these particular cases by our public service employees.

So, Mr.

Speaker, we have volunteers from every single community, all the areas, all the

organizations in our province, and I think all of us Members in this House of

Assembly really appreciate the work that volunteers do on all those boards.

So we

have our tier-one boards. The responsibility for those recommendations to

Cabinet will be through the Independent Appointments Commission. We will see the

role of the Public Service Commission then supporting the tier-two boards.

Mr.

Speaker, as part of the mandate of the Independent Appointments Commission and

the Public Service Commission, they will work very diligently to develop the

initiatives and to address any of the identified representation that is needed.

It is very important that these agencies, the boards and the commissions,

reflect on the communities they serve.

This is

important, because when you look at our boards and our agencies it's important

that we have the gender balance, it's important that we include youth, it's

important that we include people that live in all the areas in our province. If

it's in Western, if it's in Labrador, Central, in Eastern all the areas.

People living in those communities, there are areas of interest that need to be

reflected, because what we see within those boards is a reflection of who we are

as a province. So it's important that when we go looking for positions to be

filled on those boards that it reflects what Newfoundland and Labrador truly is.

I can

assure you that within that lens, as the names of the merit-based people that

are experienced and can do this job, these are the decisions that we anticipate

under this lens that we will see boards and agencies reflect really who we truly

are, and the services that we require as a province.

Mr.

Speaker, this is the strongest commitment to removing politics from appointments

in our province in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is one of the

best processes that we see not really in the country right now. As I said

earlier, I would anticipate that you will see other provinces follow the lead of

this Legislature, follow the lead of what we are doing in our province and put

in similar processes in the future.

Mr.

Speaker, during debate on Bill 1 some Members questioned the role of government

and the Cabinet in making the final decision on appointments. So I think it's

important for me now, as Premier, to address this today and to be very clear

that the job as a government is to make decisions that are in the best interests

of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. As a government and as elected officials,

you cannot delegate that responsibility.

We're

elected with the responsibility to make the decisions for Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians. We will use processes like the Independent Appointments Commission

to make sure that we can access and have available to us the best people that we

have in Newfoundland and Labrador to serve on those boards and those

commissions. The delegation of the responsibility to make the final decision

squarely rests and clearly rests with the government of the day, Mr. Speaker.

Legislation governing these boards is enabled by legislation that requires that

Cabinet make their appointment. What we are doing today is ensuring that we have

a very reputable process in place, taking the politics out of these

appointments, making sure that we put in place an independent thinking process

that enables us to challenge the best and brightest minds that we have in our

province right now to sit on those boards and help us as a province make the

best decisions that we can for our future.

Mr.

Speaker, regardless of what the debate has been, when you compare what we're

establishing here today to what we've had in the past, I would say this is a far

cry from what we've seen on previous processes. I know from my own role in our

communities that I volunteered for many, many hours and I've volunteered with

some very capable people. I can assure you that the people out there are willing

to get involved. This is a process that will help them put in place the best

people to make this decision.

When you

look at this and you say, okay then, if Cabinet is going to have the final say,

well, then what prohibits a Cabinet or what prohibits government to actually

just ignoring the work that this Appointments Commission is going to do. I would

challenge you to look at those five names that you see on this paper look at

those five names that you see there. Are these people that would actually

tolerate that they would put themselves out there in a volunteer capacity, they

would volunteer their time to allow them to go through a process and recommend

names to a Cabinet or to a minister only to see those names dismissed? I can

assure you that from what I know of those five people, that's not the five

people that we're recommending today.

They

would tell this Premier, they would tell any premier, they would tell any

minister where to go if they were constantly if their decisions were ignored,

and I would encourage them to do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, the Member for

Bay of Islands just reminds me of some of his past and maybe he has been but,

Mr. Speaker, I won't go there; I think enough said about that.

I can

assure you that we have some highly skilled, respected individuals that have

volunteered their time and their decisions will be respected by this government.

Mr.

Speaker, the recruitment process and the desired skills and the appointment will

be public. It is a public process, as it should be, because this is about being

open, accountable and being transparent to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

As I

said, ultimately it's a government that will be judged by their actions. When

you see those names that will be made public, well then it will be determined

that if you reject a recommendation that of course, to reject those

recommendations is not something that I foresee this government doing.

Mr.

Speaker, we value the input that those commissioners are doing. We value the

work. We value their time. I can tell you what the recommendations that will

come to Cabinet, will come to the ministers, I'm anticipating that those names

would be accepted.

Mr.

Speaker, if we find ourselves in an exceptional circumstance that this could not

be done, well then the public will know and the commissioners would have to know

as well.

In some

cases, finding the individuals that are required to actually do the job, we may

have to broaden the search, and this is not unusual when you look at the

recruitment that we see today in key positions in our province. But at all times

a position that can be proven to be challenging to fill, we will broaden the

search because what's important is to get the right people in place in those key

positions.

Mr.

Speaker, all the appointments will be done openly and we will be, as a

government, accountable for them. We'll be acting in the best interest of the

province and placing the focus on merit, not who you know. This is about a

merit-based process; it is an independent appointments process.

The

report mechanisms in Bill l will ensure that it is open and it is accountable.

The reporting process will allow for this to be the most open, most transparent

and most accountable process when it comes to appointments that we've ever seen

in the history of our province.

Mr.

Speaker, to support the increased openness and transparency, a website is in the

process of being created. This will be live in the next few days. The website

will include so the information that you will see there is really the

background information. This is important because when people consider applying

for those positions, we need to give them the information, all the background

information that will help them make the informed decision that they need to

make.

The

terms and the vacancies for the available positions so people will need to

know what the commitment is. Is this a two-year commitment, a three-year

commitment? What is the commitment that we're being asked to do? The vacancies

when these vacancies become available are important, so people can actually make

plans if indeed they are interested in all of this. People need to know where

they are in their lives so they can actually plan for those things.

Mr.

Speaker, the opportunity for people to apply online once the website is live.

Appointments for specific agencies, boards and commissions, those opportunities

where you put your information in, we will use the website to enable us to do

that.

Additionally, a report will be submitted annually to this House, to the House of

Assembly, and an order-in-council will be available online for appointments made

through the process of Cabinet. Once the processes and the appointments are

finalized, of course you will see that information made available as well.

Mr.

Speaker, I spoke a few minutes about gender and diversity and making sure that

we have both men, women, youth and people from all areas of our province

making sure that we have as much gender and diversity that we would have. This

is all part of this process that we're establishing here today. This is

important for us so that we actually truly reflect the communities in our

province.

We have

made it quite clear that we will take gender equity and diversity very seriously

through this process. We encourage women, we encourage all Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians to actively participate and seek out leadership roles.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER BALL:

That's what we have to do

because the leaders in our province, Mr. Speaker, this gives them an opportunity

to use the experience that they have to take that, in some cases, to the next

level on some of those most important.

We want

to see our young men and women get involved and making themselves available for

those positions, Mr. Speaker. This open process allows this to occur. It gives

them the opportunity where, in the past they would, in many cases, have been

overlooked.

We would

like to see the agencies, board and commissions to be as diverse and reflective,

as I said, as the communities we all live in. Women and all Newfoundlanders and

Labradorians are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities we are now

putting before them. We are challenging people. We are challenging all

individuals in our province to look at the opportunities that will now be

available to them as a result of this process.

assist many of the women we have available because it's important to us that

we get the gender equity we have in our province we will engage the Women's

Policy Office as well as many of our community and advocacy groups that we have

available to us. This is important. It is a position that we will be taking and

we will me making sure that we will be encouraging young women and women all

across our province and our young people in all communities to get involved in

this.

The

Women's Policy Office will also be working with the Public Service Commission to

help us develop a process to ensure that equity and diversity is considered

throughout this. This process, ultimately, is about merit and the importance of

diversity is a key part of this process. Mr. Speaker, I would say not only is it

a key part of the process, but it is also a key part of its success.

For the

first time, in an Independent Appointments Commission we are following the same

set of rules that the Public Service Commission will follow also. We have sought

some highly qualified individuals whose experience reflects the broad

representation of our society as well as the knowledge of industry. We see it

with our social and economic development in our province. This process is a

critical process as we see the successes of our boards and our agencies in the

future.

The

people of the province will trust the actions of government. They want to trust

the actions of government and what we see here, through this process, is one

other way in enabling them to do this. This is why we have brought forward the

names of the individuals for the commission to a vote. This is something, again,

in this House to create the independence, all Members in this House of

Assembly will be given the opportunity to vote and debate amongst our Members.

What

happens after the initial three-year term expires? What happens with this

commission? When the initial three-year term for the Independent Appointments

Commission ends, we will look for replacements and have the existing commission

members make the recommendations for government.

I say,

Mr. Speaker, that is kind of the unique set when you look at the first

commission that gets in place. From here on, the next commission then will also

be part of the process of enabling who the Independent Appointments Commission

is into the future.

The

first three-year term, and they are then asked to be engaged in the selection of

who the next Independent Appointments Commission is. Mr. Speaker, I think that

is pretty unique when you think about all of this. These appointments then will

also be subject to a resolution right here on the floor of the House of

Assembly.

The

terms will be for three years, plus the option of a one renewal per individual.

This will ensure that the members of the commission are given a fair and

adequate time to thoroughly adjust to the role and the responsibilities. We

often see, Mr. Speaker, no matter what you're doing, that three years can go by

pretty quickly. So this gives them an opportunity to actually expand with a

second term.

Mr.

Speaker, I mentioned before that these are volunteer positions. These are unpaid

positions and we need to be respectful of the time consideration. So three years

in some cases when you look at the conditions we're putting in place here,

that too, but we'll leave that to the best judgement of the people who are in

place.

Mr.

Speaker, I would now like to introduce the proposed individuals and give a brief

overview of the skills of the individuals that we now know, those five names

that have been introduced.

The

first one is the hon. Clyde K. Wells. As a matter of fact, even in this chair I

would suggest there's no introduction required for this individual. Mr. Wells

has had an extensive legal and a long political career. He's made a big

difference, I can assure you, in Newfoundland and Labrador.

He's a

name that's known just not to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, but he's a name

that comes up no matter where you go in our country. He is known nationally for

the work he's done. We really appreciate the fact that he's able to accept his

role in this.

He was

A graduate of Dalhousie Law School. Mr. Wells built a thriving legal practice

before serving as the fifth Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador from 1989 to

Even in

the times we face today, many people often refer to the tenure of Mr. Wells when

he served as premier. I can assure you there were some difficult times then, but

as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians we made it through, just like we are today.

I know we will get through this tough spot we are in today. People like Mr.

Wells have laid the foundation for us as a province that will help us get

through the difficult times. He has shown us the way, I would suggest, in the

past.

Not only

did he not stop there, he continued his career as he served as a justice of

the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Court of Appeal) and was

appointed Chief Justice of the province in 1999, a position he held until 2009.

Mr. Wells remained as a supernumerary justice in the appellate court until his

full retirement from the bench in November 2012. It doesn't really seem that

long ago because I don't think his work ever stopped actually. He has continued

to work.

He now

practices, of course, with a law firm here in St. John's. He also serves as a

chairman of the board of directors at that law firm. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to

say that he will chair the Independent Appointments Commission.

Zita

Cobb is Chief Executive Officer and founder of the Shorefast Foundation, which

uses a social entrepreneurship model to contribute to cultural and economic

resiliency for Fogo Island. All of us, I think, are familiar with the impact

that Shorefast Foundation has had on Fogo Island.

She is

known I think I guess if you look at the icon you would associate her with, it

would be the Fogo Island Inn, Fogo Island Arts, Fogo Island Shop and Fogo

Island fish. Certainly someone that Newfoundland and Labrador has come to know.

She's had a considerable impact on Fogo Island but really a considerable impact

in the province in general. She has considerable experience in the

telecommunications industry and has received Honourary Doctorates from Memorial

University, Carleton University and McGill University, as well as a Honourary

Fellowship from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Dr. Gill

Chin Lim Global Award.

Her

resume speaks for itself. I think those qualifications that I just outlined

there, I think she is truly equipped to serve as a member of the Independent

Appointments Commission.

Third,

is Shannie Duff. Again, a name that is synonymous throughout Newfoundland and

Labrador. She served on St. John's City Council from 1997 to 2013 where she

served as Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Councillor-at-Large. She also briefly served as a

member of the House of Assembly. Throughout her municipal career, she has been a

strong advocate of developing strong and sustainable communities. Ms. Duff has

been a champion for affordable housing, inner city revitalization, heritage

conservation and environmental sustainability. within the City of St. John's

and throughout the province. Ms. Duff has been inducted into the Order of

Canada and Order of Newfoundland and Labrador and received a honourary doctor of

laws degree from Memorial University. She has also received the Anne MacLean

Award of Excellence by the Canadian Federation of Municipalities. So the third

individual, I can assure you I think is fully equipped to serve in this capacity

on the Independent Appointments Commission.

Philip

Earle is a business partner and Chief Executive Officer of Air Labrador Limited,

an Inuit-owned company and one of the world's oldest successful operating

airlines. While growing the company, Mr. Earle has placed considerable focus on

building human resource capacity by promoting Labrador Inuit to key positions

within the airline. It's a true partnership that Mr. Earle's been part of. His

background is steeped in rural and indigenous communities where he has built

strong knowledge and experience through working with aboriginal leaders and

understanding their culture and values. Mr. Earle also serves on the Board of

Directors of the Air Transport Association of Canada and Destination Labrador.

Again, someone who's fully equipped to sit as a commissioner and a member on

this commission.

Derek

Young was the Ford franchise leader for 31 years operating four locations on the

province's west coast and in southern Labrador. Mr. Young was the first chairman

of the Ford Motor Company National Roundtable Board consisting of Ford Motor

Company and Ford dealer representatives and also served two years as a Director

on the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association of Canada and two years as

President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Dealers Association. Mr. Young

received MacLean's magazine's Newfoundland and Labrador Dealer of Excellence

Award in 1996.

When you

talk about volunteers, I can assure you that if you're on the West Coast, Mr.

Young is widely known for the work he's done at Western Memorial Regional

Hospital and that foundation which led to many fundraising initiatives. He

served in that capacity for six years.

Mr.

Speaker, in conclusion today, I would like to thank these five individuals for

agreeing to be nominated. They are an impressive group of individuals, I would

say. They have a long history of serving the interests of Newfoundland and

Labrador. Government, and the people of the province, will undoubtedly benefit

from their leadership, their role of ensuring the most qualified individuals

fill the available positions within agencies, boards and commissions.

As I've

stated, Mr. Speaker, the new merit-based appointment process that we are

creating will be a fair, measured process. It is a process that will provide

greater consistency and transparency. It will improve organizational performance

and enhance the quality of public services and public confidence. Mr. Speaker, I

believe it will also provide a more meaningful experience for the appointees.

Mr.

Speaker, I believe with this piece of legislation, the boards, the agencies, the

commissions within our province I believe in our province in a general sense,

and I believe that the role of government is enhanced and will be better and

these decisions will be in capable hands as a result of the work and the efforts

of the Independent Appointments Commission.

So, Mr.

Speaker, I want to thank those individuals and I look forward to the continued

debate on this resolution.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Any further debate on Motion

12?

The hon.

the Member for Mount Pearl North.

MR. KENT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

pleased to rise today and speak to Motion 12, to appoint the Appointments

Commission, the initial five members. Mr. Speaker, let me say up front that I

intend vote in support of this motion, and I suspect that there will be other

Members of the Opposition that will do the same. The comments that I'm about to

make will do nothing to take away from the qualifications and the experience and

the credibility of the five individuals that are being appointed today.

Let me

begin by extending my congratulations to the five appointees: Clyde Wells, as

chairperson; Zita Cobb; Shannie Duff; Philip R. Earle; and Derek Young. These

are well-known, capable, credible community leaders and business leaders. So I

congratulate these individuals on their appointments and commend government for

selecting qualified, capable people to serve in this role.

However,

Mr. Speaker, I need to reflect on some of the Premier's comments, and I also

need to highlight some of the concerns we have here today about process. Our

issue is not with the appointees. These are great citizens of our province. Our

issue is with the process.

During

debate on Bill 1 the New Democratic Party brought forward an amendment regarding

the appointment of the first Liberal Appointments Commission. Bill 1 said that

the Cabinet would choose five names to bring to the House in a resolution. The

Opposition Parties wanted to take this out of the hands of Cabinet so that it

would be independent, as the name of the act implies.

The NDP

amendment came before ours and it stated: The commission shall consist of five

members selected by an all-party committee of the House of Assembly and

appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council on resolution of the House of

Assembly. The House debated the amendment and voted it down, unfortunately.

So after

this, we attempted to bring forward four different amendments, but all of these

amendments were ruled out of order because the NDP resolution had been voted

down, and because of the connection to the NDP amendment. Our first amendment

was to have the Public Service Commission undertake a merit-based process to

choose eligible candidates, to send those candidates' names to a select

committee, and to have the select committee draft a resolution to the House.

Our

second amendment was to an all-party select committee of the House choose the

chair of the Liberal Appointments Commission. This is important because it's the

chair who determines which Appointments Commission members review which

appointments and make recommendations.

Our

third amendment was to have an all-party select committee of the House review

the appointments committee rules so there would be a multi-party lens on those

rules. Mr. Speaker, we still believe that all of these things are the right

things to do.

Our

fourth amendment was to have an all-party select committee of the House, not

Cabinet, choose any replacement commission members when the House is closed. We

believe that all four of these amendments would have strengthened the

legislation and made the Appointments Commission actually a little bit

independent, but the government voted down the NDP amendment and never had the

opportunity, as a result, to vote on our four subsequent amendments.

So we're

left with the process before us now with five candidates selected by Cabinet.

Again, I don't want to say anything at all negatively about the character or the

abilities of these five individuals. These are strong, confident, capable

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. I more than hope, I believe that they will

take seriously the oath of impartiality that another of our amendments

established. We expect they will do a thorough job. I don't doubt that at all,

but I respectfully say to them, Mr. Speaker, that the truly sad thing is that

the government you are now agreeing to work for can and will at times completely

ignore your recommendations and no one will be the wiser, contrary to what the

Premier would have you believe today.

brought forward amendments to expose instances where Cabinet ignores the

recommendations of the Appointments Commission. One amendment would have

required a public report whenever Cabinet appoints someone other than a person

that the commission recommends, and that has to be exposed, Mr. Speaker. It's a

critical point because if it is not exposed, the entire process is a sham,

particularly if Cabinet pretends an appointee was recommended by the commission

when that wasn't the case.

The

Liberal government, once again, voted down our amendment. The Premier's only

suggestion, which he sort of joked about today, is that the commission members

can resign if their recommendations are ignored, but the government makes it

appear that they recommended the appointees when they did not.

Well, I

say to the Premier and I say to the Members of the government that's not good

enough. Perhaps, as a result of members resigning or speaking out or not

tolerating that kind of behaviour of Cabinet, perhaps we will find another way

to learn when the commission's recommendations are ignored.

We also

called for an annual independent review of the merit process to ensure it's

being respected. Government voted down that amendment as well. I found it ironic

to hear the Premier talking about diversity and gender today, when that was

another amendment that was voted down. An amendment that was put forward by the

NDP I can't recall if it was voted down or ruled out of order.

MS. MICHAEL:

Ruled out of order.

MR. KENT:

I was ruled out of order; I

apologize. It was ruled out of order because it would not be in line with the

merit process. That's really unfortunate.

called for an annual independent review of the merit process and government

voted that down. It's really unfortunate that I have to stand in this House and

say this today. We have a process that doesn't live us to the promise that the

Liberals made when they said they were going to take the politics out of

appointments.

This is

no reflection on the appointees that are here in this Chamber today, Mr.

Speaker. It's a reflection on the process. It's the process that is flawed. I

wish these individuals well with their work. I have no doubt they'll do their