Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard — Members' Statements; Statements by Ministers — 15 June 2015 (47th General Assembly, 4th Session, Vol. XLVII No. 31)
2015-06-15
Newfoundland and Labrador — Debates (Hansard)
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June 15, 2015
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLVII No. 31
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR.
SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
Admit strangers.
Statements by Members
MR.
SPEAKER:
Today we will be hearing members' statements from members representing the
Districts of Port de Grave, Trinity Bay de Verde, Bonavista South, Cartwright
L'Anse au Clair, Kilbride, and Torngat Mountains.
The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
LITTLEJOHN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to congratulate the organizers and
volunteers of this year's Songs, Stages and Seafood Festival held in Bay Roberts
this past weekend. This was the
third year for the event and it continues to grow and exceed the participants'
expectations.
The festival is a weekend celebration of all things
seafood and song. Events this year
included a salmon dinner, a fish cake breakfast, a small plate reception, and a
chef's seafood barbeque along with entertainment from Connemara, Irish
Descendants, Jackeasy, and others.
The highlights of the weekend are the small plate
reception on Friday evening, an eight-course seafood experience, prepared by
some of the Province's top chefs like Rory Macpherson; Mark McCrowe (2015 Gold
Medal Plate Champion); Shaun Hussey who played a huge role with the chefs; and
our own Gary Gosse. On Saturday
evening, the Chefs Seafood Barbeque took center stage with a five-course feast
which included a variety of locally sustainable, authentic seafood all
prepared to perfection.
Other events included a culinary workshop, the toutons,
tomcods and tunes with the Newfoundland and Labrador fishcake championship and
geocaching for those so inclined.
I invite all hon. members to mark your calendars and
join us again next year for a seafood experience you will not forget.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of Trinity Bay de Verde.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to
congratulate the 2015 Graduating Classes from the District of Trinity Bay de
Verde. Students in the District of
Trinity Bay de Verde attend high school in one of three schools, Crescent
Collegiate, Baccalieu Collegiate, or Carbonear Collegiate.
I recently had the opportunity to attend the graduation
ceremonies for Baccalieu Collegiate, as well as Crescent Collegiate, and look
forward to attending the graduation ceremony at Carbonear Collegiate on June 25.
There are over 100 graduating students from the district this year.
The education these students have received is a remarkable tool which
will enable them to pursue their individual goals.
Graduation is an outstanding achievement for these
students, but it is not the end, rather the beginning of a future filled with
opportunities. I encourage all
graduates to strive for excellence in whatever they may choose to do and remind
them that the learning does not end here, but will continue throughout their
lives.
I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the
Trinity Bay de Verde Graduating Classes of 2015 and all graduates throughout
our Province and wish them all the best for their future endeavours.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for the District of Bonavista South.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
LITTLE:
Mr.
Speaker, I rise today in this hon. House to recognize and congratulate all of
the Level III students in the District of Bonavista South.
Mr. Speaker, during the past few weeks, the graduating
students of Discovery Collegiate, Bonavista, St. Mark's School, King's Cove, and
Heritage Collegiate, Lethbridge have had the opportunity to celebrate the many
years of memories and experiences that have shaped their lives.
This important milestone will lead them to new and exciting endeavours as
they prepare to either enter the workforce or continue on to post-secondary
studies.
Mr. Speaker, these schools have prepared the students
well for a world of opportunities and many of those opportunities are right
here in Newfoundland and Labrador.
We all recognize the value of post-secondary education for students, their
communities, and the economy of the Province.
We have world-class institutions which are leading the way in any number
of program areas, including oil and gas, medicine, maritime studies, and
engineering.
I would like to commend the parents, staff,
administration, and graduates on all their hard work.
Members of the House, please join me in congratulating
the leaders of tomorrow and wish them good fortune with their future endeavours.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
DEMPSTER:
Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to commend
Christa Glover for being the first-ever female pilot to be recognized as one of
the Top 20 Under 40 in the aerospace industry by
Wings Magazine and Helicopters
M agazine .
Christa grew up in Pinsent's Arm, a community of
seventy-five people in Southeast Labrador, and knew at a very early age she
wanted to be a helicopter pilot.
Following her dream, she graduated from Gander Flight Training school with both
her helicopter and fixed-wing licence at the age of twenty-one.
Christa is Chief Pilot with Universal Helicopters,
where she has worked for the past ten years the first female pilot to be hired
by the company, and has logged 3,500 flying hours to date.
According to the editor of the magazine, Christa had
many attributes that led her to being named the Top 20 Under 40 list, including
her career development, leadership ability, job performance, interaction with
colleagues, and going the extra mile.
According to Christa, soaring through the friendly
skies is the best feeling in the world it's where every pilot longs to be.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in
congratulating Christa on this prestigious recognition.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Kilbride.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
DINN:
May 21, Governor General David Johnston was in Newfoundland and Labrador to
present Caring Canadian Awards to eleven individuals from this Province.
One of the recipients was a person all of us in this House of Assembly
know very well. That person is one
of our Pages, Raylene Mackey.
Raylene was honoured for many volunteer hours devoted
to many groups and activities at her school, parish, community, and Province.
As a high school student from 2011-2014, Raylene was involved with nearly
a dozen groups and organizations at St. Kevin's High School, while also being
Student of the Year for her three high school years.
In 2014, she was a provincial government URock award winner.
Raylene has won provincial golf awards, school speak offs, and many
scholarships.
She has helped special athletes, seniors, and been
involved with Ovarian Cancer Canada, the Parkinson Society; as well as
volunteering with the Children's Wish Foundation, Newfoundland and Labrador Folk
Festival, and the St. John's Downtown Parade.
Raylene is a member of a local parish youth group in Goulds.
In 2013-2014, she was Miss Teen Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in
congratulating Raylene for winning a Caring Canadian Award.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MR.
EDMUNDS:
Mr.
Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate the Angajukkak of
Makkovik, Herb Jacques on receiving the Wayne Earle Community Service Award at
the Combined Councils of Labrador this past weekend in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
The award is given to Angajukkaks, mayors, and
councillors who have demonstrated a long-term commitment to municipal councils
and have helped implement social and economic development opportunities in their
community.
Herb was born in North West River but is from Makkovik.
He was elected to council in 1996, spending five years as mayor and the
last nine years as the Angajukkak of Makkovik.
Herb has been very dedicated and active in his
community, having served on the Board of Directors for Labrador Legal Services
and the Torngat Regional Housing Association.
He became a member of the recreation commission at the tender age of
fifteen.
Herb is no stranger to Combined Councils, having spent
close to two decades representing the interests of Makkovik and the North Coast.
He is a truly dedicated Aboriginal leader and a very worthy recipient of
this prestigious award.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in
congratulating Angajukkak Herb Jacques on being awarded the Wayne Earle Award.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
BRAZIL:
Mr.
Speaker, I stand today to inform this hon. House that yesterday sixty-two
employees of the Department of Transportation and Works undertook a cleanup of
the Outer Ring Road from Logy Bay Road to Portugal Cove Road.
Crews worked hard and the results were the removal of approximately 3,000
bags of garbage or twenty-five to thirty tons from the sides of the road.
Mr. Speaker, keeping our provincial highways clean and
litter-free is important to the employees of the Department of Transportation
and Works and to the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.
It is also important to the many visitors who travel our roads during the
summer tourist season.
Every year, Transportation and Works crews undertake a
cleanup of key areas of the Province's highway system.
Areas of greatest concern, and therefore our areas of focus, are Pitts
Memorial, the Outer Ringer Road, the Lewin Parkway in Corner Brook, and Route
450 (South Shore Highway) to the waste disposal site.
In addition to these targeted cleanups, crews pick up bigger items on the
provincial highways, such as large household items, on a regular basis.
Mr. Speaker, items that are tossed or fall from
vehicles onto the road can be a safety hazard for motorists and also for the
highway crews who must collect them.
We remind everyone to dispose of their garbage and old household items in a
responsible and appropriate manner.
We all share a responsibility to protect our environment, and to also be mindful
of the safety of crews and fellow motorists.
I would like to thank the motorists for their patience
during the closure of the Outer Ring Road yesterday, and we appreciate their
co-operation for the second phase of the cleanup, which will begin in the next
couple of weeks between Allandale Road and Topsail Road.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's South.
MR.
OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for an advance copy of his
statement. I also want to thank the
employees of Transportation and Works who went out and cleaned the Outer Ring
Road this following weekend.
Mr. Speaker, 3,000 bags of garbage or twenty-five to
thirty tons does not end up on this portion of the Outer Ring Road just by
accident. Obviously disregard for
the regulations and a failure to properly enforce the regulations are major
contributing factors.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that the Outer Ring Road is a
major route to the Robin Hood Bay landfill facility.
If we fail to enforce the regulations that are in place to ensure that
this garbage does not end up on the Outer Ring Road, it is not only a hazard to
motorists especially if an item were to come out of a vehicle while in
transport.
I do ask the minister I realize you are nodding at me
to properly enforce the regulations for the safety of the motoring public as
well as the workers at Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR.
MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, thank the minister for the advance copy of his
statement here today. Thanks as
well, Mr. Speaker, to the workers of Trans and Works who did the cleanup
yesterday.
Mr. Speaker, thirty tons a ton or two you can see
with the odd mishap, but thirty tons sounds like we need a far more rigid
enforcement policy on the Outer Ring Road especially.
This is an infamous stretch of highway at the best of times.
Hardly a day goes by without an accident of some kind up there.
We still see car parts up there.
I am surprised that somebody has not opened up a shop up there.
Speeding is definitely an issue up there on the road.
Now we learn there is a ridiculous amount of material
falling off vehicles, Mr. Speaker.
It is enforcement that we need here, and we need government to deal with it.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
DALLEY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to
highlight an exciting new scholarship program being offered by Newfoundland and
Labrador Hydro and the Women in Resource Development Corporation which will
provide financial assistance to women in our Province pursuing trades and
technology education.
The program will award eight students with a
scholarship of $2,000 each. These
funds can be applied toward the cost of pursuing post-secondary education at any
public or private institution that offers select programming, including power
line technician, construction or industrial electrician, industrial mechanic,
heavy duty repair mechanic, welder, carpenter, automotive service technician,
and heavy equipment operator.
Women are currently under-represented in trades and
technology occupations in this Province and this funding will help remove
educational and employment barriers, and financial challenges women may
encounter in pursuing their career.
For those interested in learning more about this
scholarship, full program details can be found on the Women in Resource
Development Corporation's web site at
www.wrdc.nf.ca .
Mr. Speaker, the Women in Resource Development
Corporation and Newfoundland Labrador Hydro are committed to increasing women's
participation in trades and technology.
Certainly, we are all committed to ensuring that women throughout the
Province share in our economic prosperity, and that they do so directly through
the development of our natural resources.
Since 2007, through the Skilled Task Force Report, our
government has committed more than $100 million to support initiatives to help
apprentices. The Office to Advance
Women Apprentices was created in 2009 and has helped women make significant
gains in the skilled trades. The
office works collaboratively with the provincial government, industry, labour
and other key groups to achieve its goals.
We are continuing our efforts to help ensure under-represented groups
such as women, persons with disabilities, and Aboriginal persons have the
opportunity and necessary skills to secure employment.
The provincial government is fully committed to
supporting women pursing educational, employment and business opportunities
within industry and we are pleased to see that same commitment coming through
joint initiatives such as the scholarship program highlighted here today.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the minister for the advance copy of
his statement. I too am pleased to
support the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and the Women in Resource
Development Corporation in this new initiative.
Adequate women's representation in all industries and trades is an
important goal, one that we should all strive towards, even more representation
in this House of Assembly.
It is my hope that this scholarship program will bring
us closer to achieving equal opportunity for women in Newfoundland and Labrador,
and address barriers to entering post-secondary programs and employment in their
chosen trades.
Unfortunately, government has not adequately addressed
one of these barriers. The
consistent lack of up-to-date labour market information available to these women
and other potential apprentices makes finding meaningful employment much more
difficult. However, I commend
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and the Women in Resource Development
Corporation for their efforts to support women in their trades, and the
commitment to eliminating some of the financial barriers to their success.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I too thank the minister for the advance copy of his
statement. I have to say it is very
satisfying, as the first Executive Director of Women in Resource Development, to
see this joint initiative between NLH and WRDC.
It is true that advances are being made in creating
diverse workplaces, something that has proven to benefit financially both the
workers and companies. It has proven
you have greater workplaces; however, retention of women in trades and
technology continues to be a major issue.
It is not enough that we get women in and we have to do
the upfront work, but I encourage the minister to look at the fact that
retention is really poor, not just globally but in this Province as well.
The Province should support the women by finding out what those barriers
are.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Auditor General released his report last week
outlining the many areas this government has failed to provide proper oversight.
It was shocking to learn government is not following their own guidelines
when hiring external consultants. In
fact, the AG says consultants for the Department of Transportation and Works
were not hired competitively through an open, fair, and transparent procurement
process.
I ask the Premier: Why are you not being open, fair,
and transparent in the hiring of external consultants in the spending of
taxpayers' money?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, last week, the Auditor General did issue his
annual report, Mr. Speaker. It is a
very comprehensive piece of work, as the Auditor General always does.
I would, first of all, like to acknowledge receiving the report and the
work that the Auditor General does.
He is of great value to us in government in providing a
fresh set of eyes, quite often, a deep dive into operations of government and
different government departments. We
take his recommendations very, very seriously, as we have demonstrated year over
year that we respond to the Auditor General's recommendations.
We do take them seriously. We
work very hard to make corrections where corrections are required, often
highlighted and pointed out by the Auditor General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to the Premier, there are your guidelines that
are already established so a deep dive into this all you needed to do was
follow the guidelines that already existed.
The AG points to major issues with oversight with the
Office of the Chief Information Officer and the Department of Transportation and
Works. The Premier was the minister
responsible for these departments for much of the period covered in these
reviews. The Minister of Finance
says there is no excuse for not following internal policies.
He actually went on to say it is not acceptable.
I ask the Premier: If this is not acceptable, why did
you fail to provide the proper oversight in these departments?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I said in my last answer, it is important that
government policies and protocols and procedures are followed.
It is also important to make sure that we have very strong operating
procedures that exist in government departments that are followed by the
minister and senior executives in all decisions-making processes.
We acknowledge that. We
acknowledge it is the right thing to do and it is important for us to do that.
In the case of OCIO, I call tell you, I am not an IT
expert. I know the Minister of
Finance is not an IT expert. The
Minister of Business is not an IT expert.
We have to rely on the expertise of what is in the department.
I can tell you based on the report and what we saw occur in 2009-2010,
even though there has been significant changes made in OCIO in the last number
of years, I want to make sure that OCIO is operating properly, it is set up
properly, and it is established property.
As a result of that, we are going to be calling an RFP.
We are going to go to the market in the
coming days looking for advice and direction so we can ensure we
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, you are going to get an RFP so you can follow a
guideline.
Mr. Speaker, government failed to be open and
transparent and failed to
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
BALL:
get Treasury Board approval before paying out $3.2 million in contract overruns.
Now, I am not so sure an RFP is going to explain to Treasury Board how
they should do this; but one contract, as an example, with an original value of
$6,300 ended up costing taxpayers over $240,000.
That is an increase of almost 4,000 per cent from the
original contact go get an RFP for that, I say.
This was the responsibility, as you know, of Treasury Board which is
comprised of Cabinet ministers.
I ask the Premier: Why didn't you get Cabinet to
provide the proper oversight before paying out $3.2 million for these extra
contracts?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to clarify here that what we have in the
Department of Transportation and Works, when it comes to consultants' contracts,
is we have a Consultant Registry. It
is a Consultant Registry that is noted by my officials, that they certify that
the consultants we have in place are qualified to do specific types of jobs that
we need.
Mr. Speaker, in this particular case, this was an
environmental assessment in a small community on the West Coast to ensure that
safety was there. As we got into it
and moved along, we did change orders.
As we did change orders, we realized for the economy of scale and to make
sure we assess this situation and addressed it so that there would be no danger
to people, we moved the project along.
While the money that was spent, Mr. Speaker, was spent to assist and deal
with this issue, there was no additional money spent in that.
That was budgeted, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Maybe the Minister of Finance needs to apologize to the
Minister of Transportation and Works.
Maybe he spoke out of turn, I am not sure, but the AG has reviewed the
Office of the Chief Information Officer and their use of the external
consultant. So the AG actually did
this work. He found that cost and
timelines were not being monitored and there were no documented reasons to
account for the overruns.
I ask the Premier: Why didn't you provide the oversight
to ensure that these projects were being effectively monitored?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Over the course of the last couple of years the Office
of the Chief Information Officer has made some significant changes in their
processes for managing large-scale and small-scale projects, Mr. Speaker, of how
we look at issuing RPs, how we actually define the scope of work to be done, and
how we monitor contracts that we do put in place.
I want to make sure as the Premier just pointed out,
we want to make sure that those processes reflect current day best practices and
we want to make sure that
HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
WISEMAN:
I have the floor, Mr. Speaker, or the member opposite?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
MR.
WISEMAN:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
As I was saying, we want to make sure that the current
process does reflect current day reality, I say.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
WISEMAN:
The
members opposite obviously do not want an answer to the question, but if they
do, Mr. Speaker, I am only too glad to provide it.
As I was saying, we want to make sure the processes
that were implemented do reflect current day reality.
As the Premier has pointed out, within the next couple of days in fact,
the RFP is being reviewed by Justice as we speak.
We want to make sure we bring in some IT experts to have a look at the
processes that we have implemented, to make sure they do reflect current day
best practices, and within a couple of days we will have that process concluded.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The AG reviewed $1.6 million in travel costs for these
consultants and found that there were 81 per cent not supported by receipts.
You do not need an RFP to tell you that this is really a basic function.
One consultant was paid over $21,000 for miscellaneous expenses with no
supporting documentation. We need an
answer for this. The people are
looking for an answer.
So I ask the Premier: Why did you allow these payments
to be made without any supporting documentation?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Auditor General has a significant role to play in
pointing out areas and opportunities for making improvements in our systems, and
that is what this report has done.
What we want to do, Mr. Speaker, is we want to augment the work of the Auditor
General. We want to make sure we
have appropriate processes that will not only reflect some of the things that
the AG reviewed of two or three years ago, but a number of things have lapsed
since that period of time.
So we want to make sure that what we have done in the
last two or three years reflect best practices and we are well-positioned to
take on major projects, because there are going to be advances in IT systems in
the next couple of years and well into the future, I suspect.
We want to make sure we have the kind of robust oversight in place that
is required to make sure that we have good fiscal management systems in place.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, I guess I will ask the Minister of Finance this,
because we are talking about some very these are normal practices, best
practices in just about every community that we live in.
I want to ask the Minister of Finance: Is it now the
best practice of your department to actually at least go get receipts and
documentation before paying a bill?
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of
Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
WISEMAN:
Mr.
Speaker, as I said a moment go; we want to make sure that what we do reflects
current best practices, not only in internal controls, but how we manage major
IT projects. So we want to make sure
we have a robust system in place.
That is what we are going to achieve by bringing in some outside IT experts to
be able to provide some structural advice, how we manage projects, how we
structure ourselves to provide IT supports throughout government and all its
departments throughout the entire Province.
That is what this initiative is intending to do.
We want to make sure, Mr. Speaker, the things that the
Auditor General has identified that are not acceptable, not a reflection of best
practices, do not reflect what we believe to be good fiscal management.
We want to make sure those systems and those oversight processes are
strengthened and serve us well into the future.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's South.
MR.
OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Auditor General has found that even though a
competitive open, fair, and transparent process for engaging consultants can
contribute greatly to the success of a project, none of this happened in the
Department of Transportation and Works.
I ask the minister: Why the AG could not identify
instances where guidelines were followed to appoint consultants, and more
importantly, could not find sufficient documentation to support the rationale
for the minister directly appointing consultants.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As the Premier has outlined, we respect the work of the
Auditor General and the recommendations.
As part of that process, I am sitting down with my officials and we are
re-examining the process we use.
As I outlined earlier, there is a Consultant Registry
which is part and parcel made up of recommendations and assessments, through my
staff, around who are qualified to do specific projects, Mr. Speaker.
We have a process in place.
We want to ensure that the people of this Province get
the return on their investment. We
want to ensure that we do not bring government to a halt and we move our
projects forward. We want to make
sure that the people in our industries have the ability to move the projects to
the next level, Mr. Speaker.
That is what we have done here.
In some cases, we have change orders which change the scope of the
costing on these projects.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's South.
MR.
OSBORNE:
The
rules are in place; they just did not follow them.
Mr. Speaker,
section 2.4 of the Consultants Guidelines
clearly states that in cases of contracts awarded at set amounts, departments
must receive Treasury Board approval to authorize payments which are in excess
of 110 percent of the original contract.
Of the sixteen projects that were reviewed by the AG,
ten of these projects received excess payments that the minister failed to
receive Treasury Board approval.
Some of the projects received payments many times higher than the original
contract.
MR.
SPEAKER:
ask the member to quickly ask his question.
MR.
OSBORNE:
ask the minister why payments that did not receive proper Treasury Board
approval were made on contracts where the consultant was hand chosen by the
minister.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to note a couple of other things also.
These are consultants. These
are brought in when there are particular projects or there are particular issues
that we need to address. These are
all professional companies or individuals who are certified in their respective
fields, Mr. Speaker.
It has been a practice that has been going on for
decades in Administrations. It is
this Administration that has taken it to the next level of putting in policies
to ensure that we use the process better, Mr. Speaker, and we have done it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
BRAZIL:
the case of where the Auditor General has identified some issues, it has been
based on change orders, where we brought in a particular consultant to give us
some advice and to take it to one stage, move to the next stage with change
orders. That is why the changing in
the costing here, Mr. Speaker. The
same amount of money was spent. We
got the job done by professional people.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's South.
MR.
OSBORNE:
Not
only do they not follow the rules, they deny not following the rules.
As a result of determining the department was not
obtaining Treasury Board approval, the Auditor General further investigated and
found an additional seventy-one companies.
Of those, fifty of those companies did not receive Treasury Board
approval. There were millions of
dollars paid out without Treasury Board approval.
I ask the minister: How can a project that had an
original value of less than $180,000 get funding for over $1.2 million without
Treasury Board approval? The only
thing transparent here, Mr. Speaker, is that they do not believe they need to
follow the rules?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We deal with thousands of companies a year, Mr.
Speaker, because we want to ensure that services are provided for the people of
this Province and we want to ensure we get a good value for the money we spend,
and we have done that. The Auditor
General has not noted that the money did not go where it was supposed to, that
the right amount of money was paid.
There is a process here around the procedure we use,
Mr. Speaker. As the Premier has
outlined, we have gone back to look at that and look at what our policies are,
or how we better use those policies and implement those policies, but I want to
reassure everybody here, projects were completed.
They were completed in a timely fashion and they benefit the people of
this Province, Mr. Speaker. That is
what we do as a government here; we benefit the people of this Province.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South.
MR.
LANE:
Mr.
Speaker, according to the Auditor General's report, it appears as if the Office
of the Chief Information Officer was skirting the rules when it came to work
orders. There are examples of
statements of work that were changed so dramatically that cost doubled, and in
one case they quadrupled, going from $280,000 to over $1.1 million.
I ask the minister: Why was this office allowed to
engage in such lax financial practices?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister Responsible for the Office of the Chief Information Officer.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I just want to make sure the member's opposite and the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador appreciate my comments I have already made
with respect to, not just this issue, but with respect to the Auditor General's
report. We take those
recommendations very seriously.
Any area where there is opportunity for improvement, we
will take those recommendations and we will implement.
We are going to implement all the recommendations in this report, like we
are committed to working on the recommendations in all the previous reports.
That is how we do business, Mr. Speaker.
We take those Auditor General reports very seriously.
Any time that there is a non-compliance with a practice
or procedure, that is unacceptable.
We do not accept that. We want to
change that, and that is what we are doing here, but because this is such a
technical area and requires such technical expertise to make sure we have
appropriate oversight, that is why we are bringing in some IT experts to give us
a hand on helping to put in place a very robust, oversight process.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South.
MR.
LANE:
Mr.
Speaker, one of the recommendations in the Auditor General's report is beyond
disturbing. I quote, The OCIO
should ensure that there is an adequate system in place to monitor project
costs. This is the most basic of
operational requirements for any department of the government.
I ask the minister: Based on these disturbing reports,
will you call for a full operational review of this office?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister Responsible for OCIO.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
WISEMAN:
Mr.
Speaker, unfortunately Hansard is not available until tomorrow, so the member
opposite will not get a chance to review my last four or five comments.
I have been on my feet about four times on this same issue.
Let me repeat for clarity.
I said we have an RFP that is being reviewed by legal counsel.
Within probably twenty-four hours, an RFP will be on the street to do
just that, Mr. Speaker. That is the
IT expertise that I talked about bringing in to provide the kind of information
that we need, and some advice we need to make sure that there is a very robust
oversight process in place.
I am not sure how much clearer I can make that.
It will happen within twenty-four hours.
You will see it on the street tomorrow.
As I say, Mr. Speaker, if that does not provide additional clarity,
Hansard tomorrow will record everything that I said, and members opposite can
probably read it at that time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
DEMPSTER:
Mr.
Labour Market Development Agreement, the minister said it is working extensively
well. The next day the Auditor
General reported numerous deficiencies related to financial monitoring,
evaluation, and project management of the agreement.
I ask the Premier: Do you agree with your minister that
it is working extensively well?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the member's question.
First of all, let me say very clearly that we accept the recommendations
of the Auditor General's report as it pertains to that topic.
I will certainly use the recommendations to build upon changes we have
already made.
I can say to the member and to members of this House
that a number of changes have been made in the Department of Advanced Education
and Skills to deal with some of these particular deficiencies.
Service standards have been implemented, Mr. Speaker.
Very strong and very clear performance standards and indicators, and
quality measurements have been established.
We have had further employees who are targeted with the
job specifically of assessing applications and making sure that there are
specific criteria that are met before they are deemed to be qualified and
eligible for funding. We will take
the recommendations of the AG, Mr. Speaker, and we will incorporate that to
further build upon the changes we have made.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
DEMPSTER:
looks like we have some changes being implemented since Thursday.
After blowing over $9 million on a completely mismanaged project for case
management software, government had to spend another $5 million to implement
Nova Scotia's system. Government
paid $1 for Nova Scotia's system and almost $5 million to implement it.
I ask the minister: Why didn't you bother to consult
Nova Scotia in the first place rather than wasting over $9 million in taxpayers'
dollars?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Once again, as I already indicated in this House, that
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
ministers, myself as Premier, the Minister of Finance has said earlier, the
Minister of Business has said earlier, we are not IT experts, Mr. Speaker.
We do not in any way, shape, or form have any background I do not have
a background in IT to that depth and knowledge, but we want to make sure we get
it right. We do want to make sure we
get it right.
Since 2009-2010 when the LMDA project first got
underway, I can tell you first-hand there has been many changes made to OCIO,
but we cannot rest there. We cannot
stop there. We need to make sure
that we are getting best value for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
We need to make sure we are getting state-of-the-art operating systems
that can provide best services and best operational assistance and supports to a
broad range of programs.
To do that, Mr. Speaker, we are going to go to the
street. We are going to seek the
advice of experts. Even though the
members opposite mocked us for it when I said it earlier, now they are even
asking for it and we have already said we are going to do it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.
C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There was $935,000 paid in error to nearly 430 seniors
over ten years and now legal action has been taken against government for their
attempt to take back pension overpayments from seniors.
I ask the Premier: Since this is now public knowledge,
what is the government's response to this legal action and what will
government's response cost?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the member for her question.
I heard maybe as she has through the media, that such an action has
been initiated. I have not seen the
documents that have been filed with the courts yet, but when we do, we will have
an opportunity to review them and provide a response at that time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.
C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This court action further puts government's actions in
question. Seniors are getting mixed
messages on the criteria established for collection and the amounts sought
after, and if they will be forced to pay it all back.
Apparently, Mr. Bonnell is asking seniors to make him an offer.
I ask the Premier again: What are the specific criteria
established by government on if seniors will have to pay this money back or not?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This is a very serious matter for many, many reasons.
We wanted to ensure that we were not providing any undue hardship,
unbearable hardship to seniors. Mr.
Bonnell who has an extensive background in financial dealings for people on a
very personal level, who has a lifetime in banking, actually he is seniors'
advocate and representative in his own right, provincially recognized as a
leader in seniors programs and supporting seniors.
We know, and I know, and members over here can tell you
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
experiences that constituents have had, their own constituents have had in
dealing with Mr. Bonnell, they have found him to be professional, to be caring,
and to be considerate in working out arrangements for them that were more than
acceptable and beyond what any of them had expected.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Virginia Waters.
C. BENNETT:
Mr.
Speaker, I will remind the Premier that the question was very specific about
what exactly are the criteria that Mr. Bonnell is using to ask for this money
back.
Will the Premier clarify for these seniors who are
worried about when they are going to be met by Mr. Bonnell's request to make a
deal?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Certainly, Mr. Speaker, thank you very much.
As I said, it is a very important matter, especially to
seniors who are impacted by these circumstances.
Some of them have been impacted and it has been ongoing for many, many
years. What the minister has done is
he put a process in place to make sure that they are fairly represented, that
seniors' best interests are at hand, first and foremost, and that there is not
undue hardship placed against any of those seniors.
What Mr. Bonnell is doing is he is applying all of the
circumstances, because we know that seniors all have different circumstances and
can vary very, very broadly, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
What he is doing is he taking all of their circumstances into consideration
probably much as he did as a personal banker for many, many years.
Then he is helping them and suggesting to them how we can move forward
without any undue hardship on those seniors.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile has time for a very quick question.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Mr.
Speaker, for the paramedics protesting outside Confederation Building today for
unsafe working conditions and how it affects patients, I ask the Minister of
Health: What are you doing to make sure that these conditions that have existed
for well over a decade are being taken care of?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services has time for a quick reply.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
KENT:
Mr.
Speaker, we are dealing with the issues that have come out of the provincial
road ambulance review through ongoing negotiations with the various groups of
ambulance operators in the Province.
I am pleased to report that we have signed agreements with twenty-two community
ambulance operators. We are very,
very close to finalizing an agreement with the Newfoundland and Labrador
Association of Ambulance Services.
In fact, we expect an agreement very soon we are finalizing contract language.
Once that is done, I suspect we will be able to get the
other agreements finalized in short order to address wages, to address
scheduling, to address staffing issues, which are legitimate concerns.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
The Auditor General's negative report on food quality
and safety in long-term care facilities gives credence to complaints I have
received, both in writing and orally, regarding the food at the St. John's
long-term care facility. The
minister's response was: Residents get nutritious snacks and cannot be forced to
eat healthy food.
I ask the minister: When will he quit the
defensiveness, identify deficiencies, and get them fixed now?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
KENT:
Mr.
Speaker, I can assure the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi and I can assure
all members that the menus in our long-term care facilities are approved by a
registered dietician and they adhere to Canada's Food Guide.
When the Auditor General did his review he only looked at the master menu
in our homes, he did not factor in other food that is provided to residents
throughout the day.
It is also important, Mr. Speaker, that we balance
meeting Canada's Food Guide with the preferences of residents as well, the
people who live in these homes. They
have a right to make decisions about their own diet and their own nutritional
needs as well.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Auditor General also said that residents are not
always getting assistance with their meals and I have reports on that and
that food trays are being left to grow cold because no one comes to feed them.
I have had complaints of residents regularly waiting up to two hours for
help.
I ask the minister: What is he going to do about this
clear issue of understaffing?
Because that is the issue.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
KENT:
Mr.
Speaker, I can assure members of the House that in our long-term care facilities
staff does provide supervision.
These staff, who are professionally trained, use their own clinical judgment to
decide what level of supervision is required depending on the patient, depending
on the resident. Those are the
facts.
We take the issues raised by the Auditor General
extremely seriously. We are
committed to reviewing standards. We
are committed to working with the regional health authorities to ensure that
standards are indeed met.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR.
MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the retention of personnel to work in
ambulance services in rural regions of the Province is a very serious issue.
We are losing our trained people.
How is government going to guarantee that ambulance
service is going to exist for everyone if contract talks keep falling off the
rails like they do?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
KENT:
Mr.
Speaker, there is a little bit of irony in the member's question.
We are talking about a hon. member who stood on the steps of
Confederation Building an hour ago and said that the NDP would do away with all
the private ambulance operators in communities serving this Province.
That is what we are dealing with.
In the meantime, the issues that are being raised by
paramedics are very, very concerning.
That is why we conducted a provincial ambulance review.
It is why we are engaged in negotiations right now to address some of the
issues related to staffing and scheduling, and other concerns that are
legitimate concerns.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
KENT:
have reached an agreement with community ambulance operators.
We are about to reach an agreement with the large private ambulance
operators, and I hope that the remaining group, which is a much smaller group,
we will be able to reach an agreement with in short order.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR.
MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Private ambulance operators have been without a
contract for close to two-and-a-half years.
So I would like to ask government: It has been
two-and-a-half years since we saw the last agreement
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
MURPHY:
why has it taken two-and-a-half years too long in meeting the needs of both the
paramedics and the private ambulance operators?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
KENT:
Mr.
Speaker, on one hand, the hon. member is now asking questions about ongoing
negotiations with private operators in our Province, and on the other hand, he
has the nerve to stand on the steps of Confederation Building an hour ago and
suggest they should not exist. There
is something incredibly disingenuous about that.
What I can report, once again, is we have reached an
agreement with the community ambulance operators.
It addresses many of the issues related to staffing, wages, and
scheduling that are legitimate concerns that our paramedics in this Province
have. In addition to that, we are
days away from finalizing an agreement with the large Ambulance Operators
Association which represents most of our ambulances and paramedics in the
Province. I suspect a deal with the
smaller operators will follow in short order.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
KENT:
am certainly hopeful of that, Mr. Speaker, and I can assure you this is a top
priority.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
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 Member for Conception Bay South.
MR.
HILLIER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
You are on a roll today.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring forward the
following private member's resolution to be debated on Wednesday:
WHEREAS seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador have the
lowest median income amongst all provinces; and
WHEREAS seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador have
remained at the very bottom in median after tax income amongst provinces since
2003 despite billions in oil revenue and a poverty reduction strategy;
THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED this hon. House urge
government to commit to a poverty reduction strategy designed specifically to
target seniors' poverty.
Mr. Speaker, that is seconded by my colleague from the
Straits White Bay North.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Mr.
Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 63(3), the private member's resolution
entered by the Member for CBS is the one to be debated this Wednesday.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Further notices of motion?
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
To the House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned residents humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS privatized nursing homes lower operating costs
by paying lower wages, de-unionizing, laying people off, and cutting staff in
these facilities; and
WHEREAS studies have established that for-profit
nursing homes are associated with lower quality of services and poorer resident
health outcomes, including an increased risk of hospitalization; and
WHEREAS Auditors General of the Provinces of Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario have reported the P3's cost taxpayers more;
WHEREPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray
and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to immediately stop the
privatization of long-term care.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Once again, Mr. Speaker, I am happy to stand and speak
to this concern, which is being expressed by people from all over the Province.
I notice that the petition I hold in my hand today has been signed by
people from the St. John's area, people from Corner Brook, people from the
Dunville-Placentia area, from Paradise, and Port Saunders.
It is quite a variety of people who have signed his petition.
I am happy to speak to it because I have so much
information that what they are saying is correct.
This government keeps ignoring the proof that privatization with
long-term care is something that is just not acceptable.
An institute in Alberta, the Parkland Institute,
studied what is happening in Alberta because of for-profit companies taking over
long-term care. It is a tremendous
study that they have done and it shows, number one, how the numbers of people in
long-term care being taking care of by for-profit companies has grown.
The other thing it has shown this is the thing I wanted to say today.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MICHAEL:
They have proven in their report that as more services has been provided by
for-profit enterprises and as the available supports have decreased, elder care
in Alberta has gone from bad to worse.
Now, this is what this government is going to be laying
on the people of this Province. We
already have it identified that even in the government's own facilities things
are not going well. Just think what
is going to happen when you have for-profit enterprises running our long-term
care having to make money, as these enterprises are doing in Alberta, and having
to give services to people and have a labour force that is being treated fairly
and paid fairly with benefits. What
has happened in Alberta is that the services have gone down, but the companies
themselves, Mr. Speaker, are making gross profits.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I remind the member her time has expired.
MICHAEL:
Thank you very much.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.
DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS Route 510 from L'Anse au Clair to Red Bay is in
deplorable condition and requires immediate upgrading; and
WHEREAS the condition of the highway is causing undue
damage to vehicles using the highway and is a safety hazard for the travelling
public; and
WHEREAS both residential and commercial traffic has
increased dramatically with the opening of the Trans-Labrador Highway and
increased development in Labrador; and
WHEREAS cold patching is no longer adequate as a means
of repair;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland
and Labrador to immediately allocate resources to Route 510 from L'Anse au Clair
to Red Bay that allows for permanent resurfacing of the highway.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, this past weekend in Goose Bay the
forty-third annual Combined Councils of Labrador was held.
I thank the Minister of Transportation and Works for attending a portion
of that. It was no surprise to me
that transportation was one of the main topics of discussion at the Combined
Councils of Labrador.
One of the first questions that were asked to the
minister when he spoke there was: Where is Route 510, L'Anse au Clair to Red
Bay, on your list of priorities? It
is a huge safety concern. It is a
piece of road, Mr. Speaker, where the pavement is long past its expiration date,
thirty-six, close to forty years old.
It is a huge, huge safety hazard for the travelling public, the tourist
season that is coming on now, and people travelling not familiar with the road.
Mr. Speaker, there was discussion there again at the
Combined Councils on all of the vehicles that have to swerve out into private
businesses and parking lots to get around the humongous craters that are in the
road. The cold patch is continuing,
but it is inadequate. The time has
come for the minister to announce what is the plan to resurface Route 510.
I will continue to stand on my feet and offer petitions on behalf of the
people who have to drive that road every single day.
Thank you.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Trinity Bay de Verde.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS EMS workers throughout rural Newfoundland and
Labrador should receive equal wages, benefits, health and safety protection, and
most importantly, respect and fairness in the workplace; and
WHEREAS ambulance services throughout the Province are
crucial and vital services for all residents of Newfoundland and Labrador; and
WHEREAS negotiations should focus on providing quality,
twenty-four hour services as opposed to focusing on call volume;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland
and Labrador to recognize and act on the principle of equal pay for equal work.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to stand
this afternoon and enter this petition.
This petition came from the protest at lunch hour on the steps of
Confederation Building. It was very
interesting to hear the workers and the paramedics and the emergency service
workers over lunch hour talk about the issues that they face day in and day out.
These ambulance workers, EMS workers, and paramedics are on call
twenty-four seven and, in lots of cases, they have varying wages, varying levels
of service and pay.
It was interesting one story over lunch hour was that
one worker had to pay for alterations to a uniform, and the alterations to the
uniform were about the cost of a new uniform.
So, Mr. Speaker, it is time the government brought in some steady
standards, contracts that are longer in term to ensure that these services have
the adequate funding that is required.
Just quickly for a second, Mr. Speaker, the District of
Trinity Bay de Verde has four community-based ambulance services.
We have a community-based ambulance service in Heart's Delight-Islington,
one in Winterton, one in Old Perlican, and one on the North shore.
I am quite familiar with these services and I am quite familiar with the
people who provide these services.
They spend twenty-four hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year being tied to a
pager, and providing services that are essential in rural Newfoundland and
Labrador as essential as they are in any other part of the Province.
Sometimes it feels like they are not getting the respect they deserve.
I thank the workers from these ambulance services for
what they do for our communities, for all of our people.
Again, Mr. Speaker, we call upon the government to take the necessary
action to ensure that these workers are treated with the utmost respect.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Carbonear Harbour Grace.
MR.
SLADE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS there is no traffic signage or traffic control
devices present for eastbound traffic from Whitbourne, or the oncoming westbound
traffic from the east end of Tilton, or exiting from either Route 73 off the
Veteran's Memorial Highway from Harbour Grace; and
WHEREAS due to the increased residential dwellings,
residents with small children, and a resident living with a hearing impairment,
inadequate signage and no visible sidewalks increase the risk of residents being
hit by oncoming traffic; and
WHEREAS the speed limit is fifty kilometres an hour;
and
WHEREAS dangerous driving motorists drive excessive
speeds beyond the speed limit; and
WHEREAS there is no traffic signage to advise motorists
they are entering a residential zone, non-confirmative drivers do not have
enough time to slow down;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland
and Labrador to erect adequate traffic signage and traffic control devices and
revisit and reduce the speed limit from the current fifty kilometres an hour.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, this is coming from the New Harbour
barrens over towards the Tilton area.
The problem with it, of course, is all along that route when you get on
it over in New Harbour, you come on through there 80 kilometres an hour.
So what is taking place is there is no signage saying a reduced speed
should be taken around where those residents are.
There is absolutely no signage there whatsoever.
The residents in that area are quite concerned about
the situation. There are young
children there. Of course they are
coming through there eighty kilometres an hour so if some small child happens to
get hit there they are showing concerns.
There is also a lady there who has a hearing impairment.
Again, for the drivers not to be warned that they are
actually supposed to slow down to fifty kilometres an hour, that gives those
residents in the Tilton area a great concern.
Mr. Speaker, I do know the Minister of Transportation
had an email sent to him today speaking about this.
I certainly hope they take a very favourable look at least putting the
signage on it that needs to be on it so no accident or anything takes place in
that area.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for the time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for The Straits White Bay North.
MR.
MITCHELMORE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon, House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS Route 438 (Croque-St. Julien's/Grandois Road),
a former woods road, is nearly thirty kilometres of gravel road; and
WHEREAS the students, workers, and residents much
travel this road for all education, health, business, and other services; and
WHEREAS the Department of Transportation and Works has
no immediate plans to do major upgrading on Route 438, despite the current road
conditions being disgraceful, and
WHEREAS it is the government's obligation to provide
basic infrastructure to all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians;
We, the undersigned, petition the House of Assembly to
urge the government to allocate funds in the provincial roads program to improve
Route 438.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, this petition is signed by residents of
Main Brook and Croque. This is a
road that was put in place by the Pilgrim brothers because of the lumber
industry and forestry being very vibrant going out to this particular peninsula.
There have been finds around minerals, marble, copper,
gold, and other samples listed there, but when it comes to the overall economic
activity right now, it is stagnant.
These residents who live in Croque and Grandois, St. Julien's deserve to have a
good quality road infrastructure.
Even though the Department of Transportation and Works
is adding some stone and doing grading, as soon as it is being added and because
there is no roller, because there is inadequate equipment, it is being pushed
off the road. It is a very
treacherous road that needs focus.
It does need upgrade. I would ask
the minister to put some focus on looking at the gravel roads that are in our
inventory. I have highlighted that
around Route 434, Conche Road.
I think it is highly important that when we look at
maintaining and the infrastructure piece, that the Ministerial Statement that
was talking about making sure the roadways are clean and things like that but
we also need to make sure those students, those workers, and everybody who are
travelling from Croque, St. Julien's and Grandois, they have to leave their
community basically for all services so they should have a good, safe road to
travel under. So I put forward this
petition on behalf of my constituents, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR.
MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
MURPHY:
the petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS in 2011 the provincial government announced it
would lift the 8 per cent provincial portion of the HST off residential heat and
light by introducing the Residential Energy Rebate; and
WHEREAS heat is a necessity of life and a health
concern, particularly for seniors; and
WHEREAS the provincial government has projected oil
prices to increase in the next five years;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to stop taxing home
energy and to reverse its decision to abolish the Residential Energy Rebate.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the residents of
Conception Harbour, St. Anthony, and Rocky Harbour for sending these petitions
in today as I enter them into the House record.
If you are a heating oil user, today you may have gotten notice from your
particular supplier that the Residential Energy Rebate will be over in July and
you will start to see the 8 per cent tax back on your bill.
Mr. Speaker, I am one of those people who have received
notice of that already. That is a
substantial hit to take again after government took the tax off in I think it
was 2011, in the 2012 Budget, I should say.
It was a substantial move on government's part at that particular time,
and it came from this side of the House.
It was a record of accomplishment that we finally got this done.
We had 55,000 people sign a petition back in 2001 asking government to do
this move, because they thought it was abhorrent in itself to be taxing home
energy to the point that it was no longer recognized as a necessity here in
Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, this is a very cold climate here in the
Province. As you know, it can get
very costly for things like heating oil, as well as for electricity.
We know that electricity costs are going to be going up.
Some of the projections, even from Muskrat Falls, would have you guessing
as regards to how much we are going to be paying in the future.
Mr. Speaker, nonetheless, we still have 8 per cent that
is taken out of people's pockets in the form of disposable income that could
have gone back into the economy. We
know food costs in this Province are extremely high as well.
This is money that is taken out of the economy and it is going to have to
go towards a necessity of life again because government decided to take the tax
and put it back on.
Mr. Speaker, again, we hope that government would
listen when it comes to taking this tax off, when it comes to the Residential
Energy Rebate. We know government
has speculated already about the whole idea of the removal of the 2 per cent
HST. They still do not know whether
they are going to be putting it on or taking it off again.
There is still time, obviously, for government to reconsider its position
when it comes to the whole idea of adding the tax on heat again.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people from Rocky
Harbour, St. Anthony, and Conception Harbour (inaudible).
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I remind the member his time has expired.
Orders of the Day.
Orders of the Day
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to call from the Order Paper, Motion 5, to
move pursuant to Standing Order 11 that the House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m.
today, Monday, June 15, 2015.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
motion is that this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. today.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
The motion is carried.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to now call Motion 6, to move pursuant to
Standing Order 11 that the House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. today, Monday, June
15, 2015.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
motion is this House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. today.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
The motion is carried.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to call Motion 7, to move pursuant to
Standing Order 11 that the House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16,
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
motion is that the House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
The motion is carried.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to move Motion 8, pursuant to Standing
Order 11, that the House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, June 16.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
motion is that this House do not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
The motion is carried.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to move Motion 9, pursuant to Standing
Order 11, that the House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, 2015.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The motion is that for Thursday of this week, June 18,
the House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
The motion is carried.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to call Motion 10, pursuant to Standing
Order 11, the House not adjourn at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, 2015.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
motion is that for Thursday, June 18, of this week at 10:00 p.m. the House not
adjourn.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
The motion is carried.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Mr.
Speaker, I would like to call from the Order Paper, Order 2, third reading of a
bill,
An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act, Bill 7.
So moved by me, seconded by the Minister of Finance and President of
Treasury Board, that the said bill be now read a third time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
is moved and seconded that the said bill be now read a third time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion
that Bill 7,
An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act be now read a third
time.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
The motion is carried.
CLERK:
bill,
An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act.
(Bill 7)
MR.
SPEAKER:
This bill has been read a third time.
It is ordered that the bill do pass and that its title be as on the Order
Paper.
On motion, a bill
An Act To Amend The Revenue
Administration Act, read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on
the Order Paper. (Bill 7)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
At this time I would like to call second reading, Order
7,
An Act To Amend The House Of Assembly Act, Bill 13, from the Order Paper.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Resuming debate on Bill 13.
Are there any further speakers to Bill 13?
The hon. the Member for Cape St. Francis.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
K. PARSONS:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
It is indeed a privilege to get up here today to speak
on this bill, Bill 13.
Mr. Speaker, I am not going to take my full time today
because we already debated the bill here in January.
I think the consensus we had back then was that it was a good move, that
the House should reduce the seats from forty-eight down to forty.
We all voted on that on the understanding there were going to have to be
big changes. Obviously, if you take
eight seats away from forty-eight there are going to be big changes to the whole
boundaries, and obviously there is going to be a big effect on a lot of members
who are here in the House of Assembly.
I voted at that time not knowing what was going to
happen to my district, and not knowing whether I was going to lose a certain
portion or I was going to gain another portion, or perhaps even in some cases
that happened here in the House where some districts were dissolved altogether
because of the way the boundaries came down and stuff like that, but I voted.
When I voted to reduce it from forty-eight to forty, I voted because it
was the right thing to do.
No matter what the impact is on myself, and the impact
on others here now, I do not think I should change my vote because it affects me
as a person, or it affects me as an individual because I think we all agree in
this House that we should reduce it to make sure where we are with the rest of
Canada, we were on a very low scale and moving up to about 13.5 representatives.
We are at the lower end still with the number of constituents we have to
represent here in the House of Assembly.
In just saying that, and I respect and I understand
people getting a little bit antsy about losing their seats and whatnot but on
the real thing here, this was the right thing to do.
We all voted for it and understood there were going to be consequences
afterwards, that some people were going to lose their seats and some people were
going to have districts that were dissolved completely.
We will see as the vote comes.
I hope people vote because it was the right thing to do not because it
affects them in a certain way. I
think that is what we have to look at on this vote.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to talk a little bit about my
own district, the District of Cape St. Francis.
In times gone by it was called St. John's East Extern, when a former good
friend of mine, Mr. Tom Hickey, was here.
I was speaking with Mr. Hickey the other day, to let the people of the
Province know. I know he was very
well respected in this Province. He
is doing well. If you ever want to
talk politics, give him a call because he will keep you on the phone for about
an hour. He is still in tune with
the political life, and he has not changed.
A lot of times I get up and I speak about former
members, and I do not mention Mr. Hickey, but he made a great contribution to
this Province. He served in
portfolios as ministers of the Crown and different things.
He did a fantastic job, and it is nice to see that he is still doing so
well. It was nice to be able to talk
to him.
Mr. Speaker, like I said, in my District of Cape St.
Francis in the earlier years and it has changed a lot because of the growth in
the area and the communities down, we call it down on the East.
Cape St. Francis in the earlier days was called St. John's East Extern.
When my father was there, it covered right into Virginia Park, Wedgewood
Park, and took in Airport Heights and the whole area.
Then it changed.
When Mr. Jack Byrne became the member, it changed a
little bit. They took out Virginia
Park and Wedgewood Park, but he still had Airport Heights.
Then it changed again because they do change as populations grow.
It changed where the Stavanger Drive area grew up so fast, that the
Airport Heights area was taken away from it.
So in Cape St. Francis right now as it exists today, it
has a good portion of St. John's in there.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to thank those people in the area.
I want to thank the people in the Stavanger Drive area, Ann-Jeannett
trailer park, and people up along Majors Path going right up to the airport, for
their support. They supported me and
I really have to thank them. As I
knocked on the door I was treated with courtesy, and very nice people.
I really want to thank them.
If the changes come in and this bill goes ahead, it
looks like I am going to lose that portion of my district, which is basically
the St. John's portion of the district, which is the Stavanger Drive area and
that area. Now I am going to have
which are the communities in my area.
The communities in my area really, I have to say, work
closely together. I have to give the
mayors in the area a lot of credit.
The Mayor of Torbay, Mr. Ralph Tapper, the Mayor of Bauline, Chris Dredge, the
Mayor of Flatrock, Darrin Thorne, the Mayor of Pouch Cove, Joedy Wall, the Mayor
of Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove, John Kennedy, along with the Mayor of
Portugal Cove-St. Phillips, they have regular meetings.
They get together and talk about things in the district, whether it is
transportation, whether it is recreation, whether it is anything to do with any
municipal function at all, whether it is fire protection.
They do clean ups. They
correspond their festivals so one does not overlap with the other.
They work very closely together.
I have to say that with the new district, if this bill
gets passed, it is a very nice district.
What is happening right now is that these communities really work closely
together. I attend the meetings with
them, also along with the Minister of Transportation whose area is Portugal
Cove-St. Phillips. We attend the
meetings and we have a great discussion.
They do a lot of stuff together, so it is important.
That is an important part for all of Newfoundland and
Labrador. While we all want
top-notch services and stuff like that, it is so important that our
municipalities work together and share services, and do things together so that
it does not have an overlap. Maybe
the cost of a recreation program for a couple of communities, or the fire
protection, bringing in three communities rather than have fire trucks in each
community and stuff like this. Then
it is the cost to the taxpayers in those areas that they can get their services,
whether it is snow clearing, whether it is garbage collection or anything at
all, can be done top notch because there is a few dollars there to pay for that.
It is important when we look at the boundaries we are doing here today,
that we reflect on what the services are that we offer the people in those
areas.
Like I said, in Cape St. Francis right now I am very
pleased as a member. I have to say I
had a lady call me from the Torbay Road area.
I have been dealing with her.
Not really helping she is a good supporter of mine.
She calls on a regular basis.
Anything I can do for any of my constituents, I try to do it.
She said: Kevin, whatever happens it looks like you are not going to be
our MHA anymore, but you will always be my MHA.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
K. PARSONS:
Mr.
Speaker, that is a good thing with this job because a lot of times as you go
around there are things that are hard and decisions have to be made, but you
have to be honest with people. You
have to let them know whether you can help them or just say listen, this is the
way it is, I am sorry. At least if
you talk to them and be upfront and honest with people, people really appreciate
it.
This lady, I have to say like I told a few other
people in the area that I know I am not going to be their representative
anymore. Any time at all, pick up
the phone and give me a call, if there is anything I can do for them in that
area. I really mean that because
they showed me the support.
I always get up and say how Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians are. We go around and
knock on doors. I am sure we will
all be at it again this fall, most of us out around this summer doing our thing,
our politicking thing and whatever, but people are generally really, really nice
to you. We are very fortunate to be
living where we are because I would not like to have too many people slamming
the door in your face or anything like that, but that is not happening.
Mr. Speaker, all I am doing here today is I would like
to thank the people that I represent.
My district has changed a little bit.
I am going to put out something and let everybody in my district know how
the district has changed. I would
like to thank the people who have supported me over the last number of years and
thank them for the different things they have done.
Again, we are all here to support the constituents of
our districts. There are going to be
a lot of changes, but the changes that are made, we all voted here in January
for those changes. Now, whether they
affect a different person or stuff like that, I think the right thing is getting
done. I hope people vote because it
is the right thing to do.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Bay of Islands.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
JOYCE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am just going to stand and have a few minutes on Bill
13. I guess Hansard is a wonderful
thing. I heard the member just
speaking. He spoke very good about
his district and very well, talking about the reason why we voted, but the
Minister of Transportation and Works on Thursday talked about how he followed
the master plan, that is why this was done.
So there is a bit of conflict there.
The Minister of Transportation and Works had a chance
to get up and explain what he meant about the master plan and how they foiled
it. I am just assuming that this
Bill 13 was to foil some plan, not to save the millions of dollars that the
Premier himself went out and said the reason why it was done.
The minister will have an opportunity later to say that either the
Premier is incorrect or what he said was incorrect.
He can decide which one it is.
I know he was brought to the wood shed by the Minister of Finance
already, maybe today the Premier also.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to speak on the electoral
boundary changes. I am just going to
give a brief history when this was brought back in the original bill that came
in was for thirty-eight seats. It
was not for forty. It was for
thirty-eight seats. What happened
I just have to give a history of this.
Mr. Speaker, this is the most damming part of this bill.
When it came in for thirty-eight seats, there was no protection for
Labrador. With the uniqueness and
the vastness, there was no protection whatsoever for Labrador.
I know the members opposite are looking and I will just
go through a history of it. When
this bill came in, it had three parts to it.
By the time we realized from government that this was going to happen, we
said okay, sure, let's go through the process and do it.
Mr. Speaker, there were three amendments made to this bill by this
Opposition three of them. The
proudest one that I have, and this was compounded, is to protect Labrador and
its uniqueness. Because we protected
Labrador, because we protected this uniqueness, there were two extra seats added
for rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
We all voted for it. I voted for it,
I stand by it, and I have absolutely no problem in defending it.
I just want to give a brief history of it and how this came about.
The Minister of Transportation and Works can give his
own reasons why it was done, but that is what the Premier said.
I can only assume whatever the Premier of the Province says in this House
of Assembly that it is factual. I
have no doubt that it is not, but I guess the Minister of Transportation and
Works has a different story on it.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to also thank Judge Stack and
the Commissioners for this because I am sure around the Province and in some of
their submissions they got a lot of gut-wrenching stories about the towns being
together and why they should be together, about communities being separated.
For those individuals and the staff to go around to hear those arguments
face to face, and get them sent in, it is gut wrenching for them.
I just wanted to thank the Commission for the work they did, and the
staff who carried out this work for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, I go back to a speech I gave in the
closing of Bill 13. I have been
through this before. I am one of the
lucky ones or unlucky ones who has been through it before, on two occasions
actually. One there were no changes,
and one there were changes. I said
at the time that this is going to be gut wrenching for a lot of members in this
House. I said it.
I said there are going to be a lot of communities that are going to be
divided. There are going to be a lot
of people who are going to be against each other because of these boundary
changes.
I said it then, Mr. Speaker, and I will say again it.
Somewhere along the line we have to try to resolve and heal a lot of
these issues in the towns and communities.
We are the leaders. I said it
then, I will say it again now. I
know there are people in this House who are directly affected.
I know that. Somewhere along
the line we have to try to bring the Province back together in some of the
communities that are affected. I
just implore on people, all of us, once this calms down, once the water gets
back to normal, that we try to calm people down and calm communities and towns,
and realize that yes, we will do the best we can in our abilities to represent
the people.
Mr. Speaker, in the Bay of Islands itself and I am
going back. I will use the Bay of
Islands. In the Bay of Islands there
were recommendations to change. I
said at the beginning of my presentation I made a presentation.
I said at the beginning, my presentation has nothing to do with Bay St.
George or other parts of Corner Brook, other parts of Pasadena, other parts of
Humber West. It has nothing to do
with it. It was concerning the
viewpoints that I received from the District of Bay of Islands.
Mr. Speaker, everybody knew I was going to make a
presentation. Everybody in the
Province who wanted to know, I made no secrets about it.
The second day, I put in I was going to make a presentation.
Also, well before the presentation, I served around copies of my
presentation into any municipality in Corner Brook on the West Coast that
wanted. It was available.
I gave it to many people.
Many people were informed that I was going to make a presentation on this on
behalf of the people of the Bay of Islands.
In this House, when we got back a few people criticized
me. Not many.
Most understood what I was going to do.
I have to point out two people who were very critical of me making a
presentation. One was Tony Adey, the
NDP candidate in the Bay of Islands who ran the last time.
He was very critical of me making a presentation.
I just asked Tony Adey: Would you stand up for the
people of the Bay of Islands, or would you stand and go on your Twitter box and
criticize people like me who stand up for people in the Bay of Islands?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
JOYCE:
You
had your opportunity to stand with me for the District of Bay of Islands, Mr.
Speaker, and what did he do? He
criticized me for standing up and representing the people.
It is terrible.
The other person, Mr. Speaker, is the vice-president of
the PC association in the Bay of Islands.
He criticized me and told me he would like to see it separated.
The Member for Humber West, we sat down and discussed this and we said,
well if it gets divided, one part of Corner Brook goes with the Bay of Islands,
if it is Humber Heights, we are all fine with it, as long as we are all together
somehow.
Mr. Speaker, politicians in this room, there are one or
two who gave a few snipes, but the majority of people out around Corner Brook
and I give the Member for Humber West credit.
The Member for Humber West said, no, let's do what is best for the
people, however it turns out.
MR.
KING:
did not snipe you.
MR.
JOYCE:
No,
you never. No, the Member for Grand
Bank never sniped me either. I have
to say, he never.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the people out there, when you have
concerns brought forth by the people you represent, should you not put them
forth in the proper manner? Should
you not? Of course you should.
Mr. Speaker, the good thing about it is that the
presentation that I made with the support of many councils in the Bay of
Islands, if not all, because some put in written submissions of the fire
departments in the Bay of Islands.
If you had not known how many people who call my office supported me and asked
me to make the presentation, I can go through the presentation about how the Bay
of Islands itself has always been together, three fish plants together, and a
number of other reasons why I thought they should have stayed together.
Mr. Speaker, do I apologize for that?
Absolutely not. I, as a
Member for the District of Bay of Islands, made the best presentation that I
could on their behalf, expressing their views.
The Commission agreed and said, yes, you made a reasonable argument for
that. That is no slight on other
people in Corner Brook. That is no
slight on Pasadena or Humber Village, absolutely not.
It is the people I represented in the Bay of Islands.
Mr. Speaker, Tony Adey again I do not mean to bring
him up, but he was the most vocal one.
I saw something on Twitter, Tony Adey did the NDP candidate in Bay of
Islands. I saw something on Twitter.
Do you know what he was upset about?
Do you know what he thinks may have influenced the Commission?
I was doing up a brochure, and we all do.
All members in this House send out brochures to their municipalities.
We all do.
I sent out a brochure explaining and giving information
to people, the numbers. If you want
to make a presentation, if you want to make a call, I gave the numbers.
He actually criticized me for that.
He said that may have influenced the Commission.
Instead of standing up and saying, well, at least Eddie Joyce went out
and informed the people of the District of Bay of Islands.
At least he informed the people of the District of Islands.
He criticized me for sending all the information out.
At no time did I say you must make a presentation, you should.
I said, here is the information.
I got criticized for telling people about these boundary changes which
I voted for.
Mr. Speaker, the Member for Humber West I hope you do
not mind me pointing out your name we sat down and discussed this.
Guess what? We both agreed
that, yes, we should. If I want to
make a presentation taking a part of Humber West, or a part of the Humber
Heights, it is whatever the Commission decides.
Both are going to be represented well.
If the Member for Humber West keeps the Upper Country
Road, it is going to be represented well.
If Humber Heights had to stay with the Member for Humber East, it is
going to be represented well. There
was never any dispute about that.
There was never any argument whatsoever among us.
Who are doing the sniping?
It is the NDP who did not have the intestinal fortitude Tony Adey and
the vice-president of the PC association who went out and wanted it changed.
It is going to be interesting in the next election just to see how much
they are going to stand up see if they are going to put in the brochure that I
objected to having to keep the Bay of Islands together.
Mr. Speaker, a couple of fire chiefs, I have to and I
know all of them on the North Shore signed the letter sent in.
I just want to thank Colin Tucker, Wayne Payne, Cecil, Rick, and a few
more, because they know how much the Bay of Islands, how much training they do
together. They know how much service
agreement they have amongst themselves.
On the South Shore they work together so much, and having one MHA to
speak for the whole group, it does make a difference.
When you have three fish plants, it is much easier to have one voice for
all of the fish plants in the Bay of Islands than having one voice for two,
another voice for another, and being separated.
Those were the arguments that I was making.
Mr. Speaker, it was not as I presented to the
Commission; the changes were different.
The changes that the member up Country Road area, the Member for Humber
West, in his area, that is what I recommended.
I recommended that because the elementary school those parents go to are
J.J. Curling. That is what I
recommended.
The Mayor of Corner Brook made a presentation and
both of us agreed on this, Mr. Speaker, myself and the Mayor of Corner Brook
agreed. He made a presentation that
there should be one area of Corner Brook, just one area of Corner Brook, and
that one area of Corner Brook should encompass the mill, the water supply, and
any major infrastructure in the City of Corner Brook, for example, the
industrial park, that area. That
should be in one boundary of the City of Corner Brook and have one member.
That is why the Commission at the time said okay, we understand the
concerns the Member of Bay of Islands put forward, we understand the concerns of
the Mayor of the City of Corner Brook, so how can we incorporate all of those
concerns, and they did.
What they did, they made one seat which took in the
mill, which took in the water supply, which took in the industrial park and that
area. Now the North and South Shore
of the Bay of Islands are still together, and I am very proud of that.
They took in the Humber Heights area.
So now to the people of Humber Heights, which I have a lot of friends and
family in that area, coming November I will be knocking on your doors well
before then, of course explaining that the boundaries, if there are any
questions about it, and I will be representing the Humber and I am very proud
to. I am very proud.
I have played many sports up there.
I have a lot of good friends, a lot of family up in that area, and I look
forward to representing the people of Humber Heights with the Bay of Islands
with the same vigor as I always did for the people in the Bay of Islands.
I even made a joke, Mr. Speaker.
In the Humber Heights area, there is a team called the Humber Hawks and
we were rivals in soccer. A lot of
those guys are my friends. I had to
go up and I bumped into a few of them and I told them that I will be
representing the people in Humber Heights now.
I said I will be such a nice guy to the soccer players of Humber Heights,
the Hawks that we played against and fought against for so many years I am
such a nice guy I am going to show them all the trophies that we beat them for,
so they could see the trophies.
They all had a good chuckle at that because a lot have
moved on to be teachers, a lot of them moved on to be working in Corner Brook.
I had a lot of dealings with a lot of those foes over a number of years,
Mr. Speaker; foes on the field, but good friends off the field.
That is the way that we all should work in the political game also.
I must say we all do.
Myself and the Member for Humber West had a great night
out in Cox's Cove delivering the fire truck on behalf of the government.
Once we get outside this theatre we debate once we are outside, we
all work for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Also, the only thing that was missing Friday night from the fire truck in
Cox's Cove was the Member for Gander who was instrumental in helping us get the
truck. The Member for Gander was
praised by the fire chief and the council and by the Member for Humber West and
myself. We had a great night.
It was great.
That is how we work, Mr. Speaker.
We all work together. We all
have a difference of opinion, but when it comes down to it we work well
together. That is the way we did it
on this realignment also. I even
spoke to the Member for Humber West about what I was proposing.
Mr. Speaker, this is very sensitive to a lot of people
on our side. Our caucus and our
leader decided that we are going to have a free vote.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a free vote because this is
not a money bill. This is not going
to drag down the government with people offering a difference of opinion.
I am proud of our leader going to our caucus saying:
What should we do? Our caucus said:
You have to speak on how the towns in your district feel.
That is what you have to do.
I applaud that because I know when I made the presentation back three months
ago, I spoke on behalf of the people who I represented at the time, the people
of the Bay of Islands. I am so proud
that we are going to have a free vote in this House of Assembly, so anybody who
wants to express their views on behalf of the people who elected them, can stand
in this House of Assembly, express their views openly and express their views
with the full confidence of their caucus.
MR.
MITCHELMORE:
The
Liberal caucus.
MR.
JOYCE:
The
Liberal caucus. The Member for The
Straits White Bay North said yes, the Liberal caucus.
That is right. That is good
leadership, but that just shows how we, as a Liberal caucus, understand the
sensitivity of this issue. We
understand how towns are pulled apart.
We understand how people are pulled apart.
We understand how districts are pulled apart.
We understand that.
This will heal, Mr. Speaker.
I can assure you this will heal.
I know any member who is elected to this House of Assembly, either from
the government side or from this side, will do the best job they possibly can to
represent their new districts. I
have absolutely no doubt. We may
differ on how to do it. We may
differ on policies, but I feel confident that every member is here for the right
reason.
Mr. Speaker, I see my time is getting short.
I have less than a minute to go.
Before I close I just want to say a big thank you to the people of the
Bay of Islands for supporting me in this cause.
I first got elected in 1989.
I always lived in the district, except for university.
I always lived in the district.
I was born and raised in the district.
When there are times when an issue like this comes up, they surround you.
I just want to thank all the communities on the North
and South Shore. I had calls from
Lark Harbour, York Harbour, Humber Arm South, Mount Moriah, Curling, all
throughout the North Shore from all the fire departments saying we should keep
the Bay of Islands together, what can you do?
We together, collectively and I have to thank Judy Bolt.
Judy works in my office in Corner Brook.
She is the CA. I thank Judy
for all the hard work that she did also.
In closing, thank you to the people of Bay of Islands
for supporting me on this.
MR.
SPEAKER (Cross):
Order, please!
MR.
JOYCE:
The
people from Humber Heights, I look forward to representing you.
Mr. Speaker, to everybody, this will pass, let's try to unite.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The member's time has expired.
MR.
JOYCE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Baie Verte Springdale.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is certainly always a privilege, a delight, and an
honour to get up in this House of Assembly to represent the people of Baie Verte
Springdale district, and, in fact, the entire Province.
A lot of important people graced the halls of this place over the years.
I feel humbled every time I come in here and a privilege to come in this
House of Assembly and stand and speak on behalf of the people.
It has a lot of historical significance over the years.
It is always a surreal experience.
Even seven years now I feel always humbled every time I come in here.
It is a privilege to do so.
Like every other member in this House of Assembly, Mr. Speaker, we always like
to take every opportunity, every chance we get to stand up on our feet and
debate the issues of the day.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak on Bill 13,
An Act
to Amend the House of Assembly Act.
The Explanatory Notes here have five highlights.
It is sixty-one pages long so I am not going to read sixty-one pages
today, just briefly the five bullets in bullet form.
Number one, this bill would reduce the number of
Members of the House of Assembly to forty; number two, it would effect a
reorganization of the boundaries of electoral districts in the Province; number
three, it would set a date when a general election shall be held in 2015 as a
result of an overlap with the federal election; number four, it would establish
a mechanism to resolve future overlaps between federal and provincial elections;
and number five, it would provide for an exception to the requirement to hold a
by-election where a seat in the House of Assembly becomes vacant six months or
less before the day a general election is required to be held.
Mr. Speaker, before I start, I would certainly like to
applaud and commend the Commission members for their outstanding, stellar work
that they have done: the Chairperson, the hon. Robert Stack; Deputy Chair, Shawn
Skinner; we have Bernard Coffey, Bill Matthews, and Allan Goulding.
I think, in my opinion, in 120 days that was their time frame.
I think they did stellar work.
They used all the modern technology and thanks to the modern technology
for getting it on time. I think the
Commission and all of their staff, the technical people involved, did an
outstanding job to get this on time so we can debate this in the House of
Assembly today. So a shout out to
the Commission members, Mr. Speaker.
Again, like I said, this act will reduce the seats from
forty-eight to forty-one member districts, it will establish new boundaries, and
also give new names where applicable.
Some names remain the same, Mr. Speaker, as you know.
One interesting overarching or overriding premise, I suppose, upon which
this act or the Commission stands on is that the vote of every elector in
the Province shall have a weight equal to that of every other elector.
I suppose my
interpretation of that is if I was living
in Tilt Cove, for example, and somebody else living in Mount Pearl or St.
John's, my vote in Tilt Cove would have equal value, equal power.
It would not be diluted. So
the Commission would take steps where my vote in Tilt Cove would not be diluted,
that every vote would have equal value in this Province based on fair
representation. I think that was the
overriding arch, overriding premise upon which the Commission members made their
recommendations so that every vote is very, very important and of equal value,
Mr. Speaker.
That is nothing new.
The electoral boundaries review, as we all know, is nothing new.
It would happen every ten years.
The last time there was a boundary commission review I believe it was in
2006, at that particular time. We
went one year earlier. That is okay,
Mr. Speaker. It gives us a chance to
do it one year earlier. I would like
to applaud all the former members of the district who served the district over
the years, in the new one that I will have which I will mention shortly.
I checked in the hallway out here, I looked at all the
pictures and the names of all the districts and my district, in particular, over
the years, Mr. Speaker. I discovered
that there are all kinds of names out there.
In my district we had: Fred Rowe, Bill Smallwood, Ed Roberts, Bill Rowe,
Brian Peckford, Tom Rideout, Harold Small, Alvin Hewlett, Paul Shelley, Graham
Flight, and the present one in Green Bay South is the member here today.
All I am saying, Mr. Speaker, is that they laid the
foundation, I am building upon the foundation that these hon. gentlemen did over
the years. They did some outstanding
work. If you go back 1950s, 1960s,
1970s, and 1980s, you will find that these MHAs, it does not matter if they were
Liberal, NDP, or PC, it looks like it was I do not think we ever had an NDP,
but we had Liberal and PC. Over the
years, they did stupendous jobs in representing the people in this district or
this area of the Province.
I just want to say a big shout out to all these
gentleman who have served the people over the years.
It is a privilege just to build on what they have learned.
We were taught over the years, Mr. Speaker, you just build upon someone
else's work. You do not reinvent the
wheel; you do not take all the credit for what you have done.
Somebody else before you laid a solid foundation and you build upon that
and you keep it going. Hopefully,
you will make a difference in the days ahead.
Mr. Speaker, just to zero in on my district for
example, my present name of my district is Baie Verte Springdale.
The new name is going to be Baie Verte Green Bay.
The Commission based that name upon there is some significance or
historical significance. For
example, the name Baie Verte was used since 1975 in naming parts of my district
up to the present day.
Mr. Speaker, Green Bay has been used since 1928 up to
1996. As you can understand, when
the Commission members looked at this particular portion of the Province, this
particular region, they wondered what kind of name would be best suited to
represent the people of this area.
Needless to say I guess it was right in front of their face they used the
name Baie Verte Green Bay because of their historical significance.
Over the years, we know that the district was called
Baie Verte, then it was Green Bay over the years, then it was White Bay North,
White Bay South, it was Grand Falls-Windsor Springdale district one time, then
it was Baie Verte Springdale district.
So over the years this particular portion of the Province had a lot of
different names, varied names over the years, Mr. Speaker.
If this goes through, if this passes, and most likely it will, the new
name of the district, upon which I am hoping to represent, would be Baie Verte
Green Bay. There is nothing wrong
with that name. That is a nice name.
You might ask: What would be the impact on my district?
Well, we have a new name of course.
Then prior to this boundary commission I had around thirty-four
communities that I would manage and look after.
Now with the change, I would have approximately forty communities.
I would go from approximately 11,000 people to approximately 13,773.
So what I am trying to say is we will have the
communities from Green Bay South. I
did not lose any. I picked up and I
am very, very pleased, very, very happy to say that I have kept the Baie Verte
Peninsula. I have kept the
Springdale area, Green Bay North, and now they have added on Green Bay South.
I am very pleased that the boundary Commissioners saw fit to say that
because that is a natural fit.
On behalf of the people of Baie Verte, the Baie Verte
Peninsula, on behalf of the people in Springdale, I welcome the Green Bay
communities on board in this new district, should we get a majority vote in this
House of Assembly. It is just a
natural fit because I have gone around the region over the last little while and
I have had people say it is just a natural fit.
Not only geographically speaking, but it is also based upon culture,
based upon history, based upon people's shopping patterns or travel patterns.
People shop in Springdale. We
go down to Robert's Arm, Triton, or Brighton for a drive.
We do some shopping down there.
So it is just a natural flow of traffic, Mr. Speaker.
Doctors' appointments people from Green Bay South will either go to
Grand Falls for doctors' appointments or they would come in Springdale for
doctors' appointments, or for social events.
Of course, sports and athletic events over the year,
our schools and schools in Green Bay South, we have competed over the years back
and forth, teachers engaged in social activities, teachers and students engaged
in athletic events. I have been
there over thirty years in that area, and I applaud the commissioners for their
insight in recognizing the significance of historical patterns, travelling
patterns, business patterns, social patterns, educational patterns.
It just flows together, Mr. Speaker.
Even before the changes, I have had people over the
years say we should be involved in this because they have more commonalities.
They have a lot in common. I
am truly, truly humbled, and would truly be very pleased and grateful should I
win the PC nomination and go on to win in a general election.
I certainly would be pleased to represent that particular area.
I would be honoured and thrilled.
Again, I would like to reiterate the fact that or
honour all our former members, but the present member here today, he said
publicly he is about to retire, so I am not giving away any secrets, Mr.
Speaker. I just want to say in this
hon. House publicly that I would like to thank him for all of his help over the
years. Yes, give him a hand.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
POLLARD:
was Mayor of Springdale for four or five years and served on council for seven
years. The present member was very
accessible. He helped us out
whenever he could. I just want to
applaud him and commend him for his work in our district, and district issues.
I hate to see him go, but on behalf of all the people I would like to say
a great big thank you. Now, if he
did not go, Mr. Speaker, him and I will be vying for the we will be fighting
for the position, I would think.
I would like to address one issue that I heard all
along, right across the Province, is representation.
This change will not dilute representation a great deal, Mr. Speaker.
With this change, Newfoundland and Labrador still will be ranked very,
very high nationally. If I am not
mistaken, the average representation number is about 17,000 per district.
What we try to do is 13,500, to get that quotient,
which is the average residents per district; but, of course, it is practically
impossible to get every district at 13,500.
That is the quotient the Commission was mandated to do.
So there is some deviation, 10 per cent plus, or negative 10 per cent,
whatever. It is practically impossible to
divide the Province up to 13,550 every single one.
It is impossible to do, and they recognize that, Mr. Speaker.
These changes, I do not think I have any problem.
In fact, I know I do not have any problem when it comes to fair
representation because the district that I will then have, my new district, Baie
Verte Green Bay will only have close to about 14,000, about forty communities
to look after. I admit, Mr. Speaker
and you have heard the resident from Brighton, Mr. Bartlett, talk about this,
how we manage that.
Well, I go back and say that everybody in this House,
our values, our culture and our heritage, we were taught hard work.
We were raised that if I look around this House here, I see all hard
work among every MHA here. So it is
not like representation is going to be diluted.
The representation will be fair, and each MHA will have to manage their
time.
With hard work, we will get around and deal with the
issues at hand. Yes, we will have
more communities. I will have more
councils to deal with, but that is life, Mr. Speaker.
We are not afraid of hard work.
It is just a matter of managing your time.
Every single day you will hear: here, here.
At the end of the day, you will get to everybody in your district.
So we still have good, fair representation, nationally
speaking. I believe, if I am not
mistaken, I think we are probably ranked third or fourth in the country.
We are still ranked high when it comes to representation.
It is a valid argument, Mr. Speaker.
I am not up here saying that the people should not be represented.
That is the number one priority for everybody here in this House of
Assembly, to make sure the people we serve are well represented.
I have had relationships in this House with MHAs here
and I can see their hard work. I
have no qualms in saying that the MHAs who represent those districts, the
changes, they will have no qualms in representing the people they serve.
I know how hard they work. It
is based upon the value of hard work.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, we were all raised, if you did not work, you should
not eat. I mean that is a little bit
harsh, but the bottom line is a strong work ethic will yield good results along
the way.
I just want to reiterate that point and welcome my
communities, Green Bay South communities into the new District of Baie Verte
Green Bay. Mr. Speaker, what a
thrill it is to see us all combined, because geographically speaking, culturally
speaking, and based upon all the commonalities we do have, I think it is a
natural fit. I commend the
commissioners for their outstanding work.
I have to say again, when I look on that wall and see the outstanding
people who served this House and these people district wise and Province, Mr.
Speaker, it is so humbling and it is a thrill to be here.
Just for the record, before I sit down, Mr. Speaker, I
would like to name the communities that will be involved in the new District of
Baie Verte Green Bay. Here they
are, and I hope I have time to do this.
This district includes the communities of: Baie Verte, Beachside, Brent's
Cove, Brighton, Burlington, Coachman's Cove, Fleur de Lys, King's Point, La
Scie, Little Bay, Little Bay Islands, Lushes Bight Beaumont-Beaumont North,
Middle Arm, Miles Cove, Ming's Bight, Nippers Harbour, Pacquet, Pilley's Island,
Port Anson, Robert's Arm, Seal Cove, South Brook, Springdale, Tilt Cove, Triton,
Westport, Woodstock, Harbour Round, Purbeck's Cove, Wild Cove, Sheppardville,
St. Patrick's, Round Harbour, Shoe Cove, Smith's Harbour, Snooks Arm, Harry's
Harbour, Jackson's Cove Langdon's Cove-Silverdale, and Rattling Brook.
I hope I said Lushes Bight Beaumont-Beaumont North.
Mr. Speaker, I apologize if I left any communities out,
but I do not think I did. The
population is 13,773, and the land mass would be approximately 5,600 square
kilometres, and the quotient deviation is 1.6 per cent.
Mr. Speaker, what a thrill it is to represent the
people of the district, and like most MHAs, I should say all MHAs here, this is
a tremendous job. I love it.
I have the energy, the fire, and the passion to serve this district.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I am glad to have the opportunity to stand today and
speak to Bill 13.
It certainly does have a dj vu feeling to it, of
course, because of the fact that in January we discussed Bill 42, which was the
bill that is making this bill exist.
The bill we are discussing, Bill 13, has the changes in it that relate to the
study that was done by the Boundaries Commission that Bill 42 set up.
I have to say that it is very disturbing to stand here
again today and have to speak to that whole process, what was wrong with that
process, and the undemocratic nature of the process of Bill 42, which was put
together by the government, manipulating the system for their own ends, and that
becomes very disturbing. There was
absolutely no need to put the Boundaries Commission that should have been put in
place in 2016 according to our legislation there was absolutely no need to
put the boundaries commission that should have been put in place in 2016
according to our legislation there was absolutely no need for that to be put
in place in 2015. No need
whatsoever. The government had its
own agenda. The government put the
Commission in place to meet its own agenda.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I have to commend the Commission
itself because the Commission worked under tremendous pressure.
The Commission was told they had to cut seats.
They were told the number of seats they had to cut.
They were told when and where they were allowed to well, the where of
when they were allowed to hold public hearings.
They were given so many directions by the government under Bill 42, and
agreed to by the Official Opposition, that they were constrained.
Yet, they took it upon themselves, they were appointed and they did the
work, but they obviously understood, in doing the work they did not criticize
the legislation they were working under, and rightly so, that shows the
integrity of the people who were on the Commission, but their recommendations
are telling, Mr. Speaker.
They have four recommendations at the end of their
rep