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November 24, 2014

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVII No. 44

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Verge):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

Before

we begin Routine Proceedings, I would like to observe an old parliamentary

tradition. I have the pleasant task

of formally welcoming a new member who was duly elected in the by-election of

November 5, 2014. The new member is

Mr. Rex Hillier representing the District of Conception Bay South.

I have been advised by the Clerk of the House that the member has taken

the Oath of Office and the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown as required by the

Constitution and has signed the Members' Roll.

I would

invite the Leader of the Official Opposition to come forward with the new

member.

The hon.

the Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you.

Mr. Rex

Hillier, duly elected in the District of Conception Bay South.

I ask you (inaudible) pleasure to take his seat.

MR. SPEAKER:

Let the member take his seat.

Welcome

to the House of Assembly.

MR. HILLIER:

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

I am also pleased today to

welcome to the Speaker's gallery His Excellency Werner Wnendt, Ambassador of

Germany.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Along with Honorary Consul

Waldemar Scharway.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

If my pronunciation of these

German names is in error, I apologize.

I am

also pleased to welcome to the public gallery today Ms Bryant, who will be the

subject of a member's statement a little later on.

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

Today we have members'

statements from the Member for the District of St. John's East; the Member for

the District of Burgeo La Poile; the Member for the District of Port de Grave;

the Member for the District of Bellevue; and the Member for the District of

Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

The hon.

the Member for the District of St. John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Mr. Speaker, it is always a

pleasure to honour somebody in this House of Assembly.

It is particularly good when you have known the person you are honouring

for decades.

Patricia

Bryant, better known to everybody as Patti, is an amazing woman.

She is raising three children and is an active volunteer with both

Epilepsy NL and the local soccer association.

Patti

has also created a Canadian network, dravet.ca, for families, friends, and

caregivers of people with the little-known Dravet syndrome, a genetic disorder

that causes epilepsy and other neurological and developmental problems,

accounting for about 1 per cent of the epilepsy population.

Patti

spearheaded the drive to get charitable status for dravet.ca, connects with

other Dravet support groups around the world, organizes fundraising activities,

and continues to play an integral role in the organization, which will award two

research grants next year, thanks in large part to the tireless and

inspirational Patti Bryant.

Last

December, the President of Memorial University awarded Patti the President's

award for exceptional community service.

That is besides also working at the Health Sciences Centre Library.

I ask

all hon. members to join me in thanking Patti Bryant for her tireless dedication

to her community.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Burgeo La Poile.

MR. OSBORNE:

By leave, Mr. Speaker?

MR. SPEAKER:

By leave.

MR. OSBORNE:

I would like to make a

member's statement, Mr. Speaker, regarding the Community Food Sharing

Association, by leave.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The

Member for the District of Burgeo La Poile.

I say to

the Member for St. John's South, I have reviewed your member's statement and

communicated to you that it was not appropriate.

The hon.

the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

today to recognize and congratulate fourteen-year-old Julie Pink of Burgeo upon

placing second in the regional cross-country running competition and earning the

right to compete in the provincials.

Julie is a Grade 9 student at Burgeo Academy.

The

provincial competition was held in Springdale and Julie placed seventh out of

sixty-nine competitors. She said she

was nervous and tired going into the provincials, but her love for the sport

kept her going.

Julie

also plays on both the softball and volleyball teams for her school and is a

member of the Newfoundland and Labrador female under-fifteen team which recently

travelled to Moncton to compete in the Atlantic Challenge Cup hockey tournament

where they won the bronze medal.

Julie is

also involved in the Community Youth Network, the Girl Guides, and is a member

of the Respect Team at her school.

She is a well-rounded student and a credit to her parents, Stacy and Dawn Pink.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join with me in extending

congratulations to this multi-talented young lady and wish Ms Julie Pink well

with all her future endeavours.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

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 in this hon. House to congratulate five high school graduates from my

district who recently received provincial scholarships.

Rebecca Shephard, a graduate of Ascension Collegiate, received the Constable

W.C. Moss Scholarship, valued at $1,000.

This scholarship is awarded to the son or daughter of an RNC or an RCMP

officer who is retired, active, or deceased.

Joshua

Thomas, Emily Mercer, and Emily Peddle, graduates also of Ascension Collegiate,

were recipients of the Electoral District Scholarships given to three high

school graduates who received the highest marks in the district.

Each student received $1,000 towards their post-secondary education.

Matthew French, also a graduate of Ascension Collegiate, was awarded one

of the fifty-five Centenary for Responsible Government scholarships.

These

students are to be congratulated for their hard work and academic achievements.

This financial assistance will help all these student pursue their chosen

career paths. I ask all hon. members

to congratulate these students on receiving these awards.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Bellevue.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. PEACH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today to recognize April Drake from the District of Bellevue.

April Drake was recently named to the Canadian Ball Hockey Association.

She will be one of twenty players who will represent Team Canada at the

2015 World Ball Hockey Championships in Switzerland on June 19-28 to defend the

championship on the world stage.

April

will be playing as a forward on the team.

There will be eight female teams participating in total: Switzerland,

Greece, the United States, Czech Republic, Italy, Canada, Slovakia, and the

United Kingdom.

April is

twenty-four years old and she is from Long Cove.

April has been active in her community throughout the years, volunteering

her time to others and different events.

She is a very dedicated and motivated person.

This dedication has led her to where she is today.

April

graduated from Crescent Collegiate in Blaketown and recently convocated from

Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, where she completed a Physiotherapy Degree.

I would

ask all hon. members of this House of Assembly to join me in congratulating

April on her wonderful accomplishment and wish her all the best in Switzerland

in June.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS PERRY:

I rise in this hon. House

today to extend congratulations to Fire Chief Anthony Casey for being elected as

Director of Region Four on the Executive Board of the Newfoundland and Labrador

Association of Fire Services.

Mr.

Casey is an extremely dedicated and experienced firefighter, with over twenty

years of service with the Harbour Breton Fire Department.

His commitment and passion will serve the forty fire departments in

Central, the Baie Verte Peninsula, and on the South Coast with characteristic

integrity and unwavering reliability.

Anthony

has a long record of giving selflessly and generously to his fellow residents,

and he will be an excellent voice for the firefighters he represents.

I have no doubt that his steadfast nature and commitment will ensure that

our firefighters have access to the best training, equipment, and support for

the services they provide. The

countless hours Anthony dedicates to his community, the region and the Province

are greatly appreciated, and we look forward to working with Mr. Casey on the

concerns of firefighters.

I ask

all members of this hon. House to join me in congratulating Mr. Casey in his new

role with the provincial association as he represents the dedicated firefighters

in Region Four.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. GRANTER:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in this

hon. House to recognize provincial seafood companies that are pursuing export

opportunities and building strong reputations in international markets.

Mr.

Speaker, in 2013 the total value of Newfoundland and Labrador's seafood exports

was more than $823 million a testament to the economic importance of the

fishing and aquaculture sectors. At

present, the United States is the largest market for provincial seafood,

representing almost 40 per cent of the export value generated in 2013.

However, provincial processors have been focused on building clientele in

markets other than the United States, and have been especially successful in

Asia.

China is

currently the second largest export destination for provincial seafood,

accounting for just over 20 per cent of the export value.

In addition, we have seen tremendous growth in sales to Southeast Asian

countries in recent years. From 2006

to 2013, provincial seafood sales to countries in this area of the world, which

include Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam,

have increased almost 250 per cent from $19.2 million to $66.9 million.

The

provincial government has supported this success by investing millions to

support various marketing initiatives by the provincial seafood industry, and by

providing direct support to producers attending seafood tradeshows around the

world.

recent years, the provincial government has focused on organizing annual trade

delegations to Seafood Expo North America in Boston, Seafood Expo Global in

Brussels, and the China Fisheries and Seafood Expo, which I recently attending

in Qingdao. Assistance provided to

producers at shows has included organizing booth space within the expos to help

delegates showcase their products and hold meetings, as well as assisting with

costs. Small-scale companies taking

their first steps into international exporting and large-scale provincial

processors that are well-established throughout the world have all benefited

from their involvement in the trade delegations we organize.

Mr.

Speaker, this government's efforts to foster international trade opportunities

for provincial seafood products help drive new economic activity, support

employment, and increase prosperity in rural communities.

We remain committed to helping the provincial fishing and aquaculture

sectors diversify and succeed globally, and to growing the value of the

Province's billion dollar seafood industry.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Carbonear Harbour Grace.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SLADE:

Mr. Speaker, I would like to

thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

The fishery is indeed important to our Province, and our export markets

are crucial to the success of this industry.

I join the minister in commending our seafood companies that are pursuing

export opportunities. The provincial

government, however, cannot be congratulated; instead, must be held accountable.

I would

like to remind the current minister that his government announced in July 2011,

it would accept all marketing recommendations of the 2010 MOU report; but, other

than piecemeal assistance, we have no comprehensive seafood marketing council,

three years after the commitment was made.

Fishing nations like Iceland, Norway, and Alaska have well-managed

fisheries and marketing organization.

This government also has a pitiful record of setting a budget for seafood

marketing and then leaves most of it on the table.

This is called missed opportunity, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Minister, I recommend that your best accomplishment might be to get the seafood

marketing council off the ground so that we can double our billion dollar

industry. Rejuvenating a sustainable

cod market would be a critical component of this effort.

Since 1992, Mr. Speaker, this government has not grown the industry.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I, too,

thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

I am also pleased to congratulate the provincial seafood companies for

their positive work in bringing our seafood, the best in the world, to export

markets; however, it is sad to note, that five ministers ago we were promised a

provincial seafood marketing strategy.

So many other places, Iceland and Alaska come to mind, are marketing

their seafood, making their brands instantly recognizable around the world.

While

this government has boasted of its tourism marketing program, it has failed to

make the connection to the benefits a similar program would bring to our large

and sustainable resource, even though ministers have acknowledged it.

If this government is actually committed to helping the industry, Mr.

Speaker, I ask then why doesn't it follow through on that promise?

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. JACKMAN:

(Inaudible) Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise today to share with my colleagues some information on November's

Good Food Challenge, organized by the Food Security Network of Newfoundland and

Labrador.

The Good

Food Challenge was developed to encourage better food choices and to help

overcome some of the obstacles to healthy eating.

This is also a focus of the Department of Seniors, Wellness and Social

Development, Mr. Speaker to encourage and support all of our residents in the

pursuit of healthy eating and an active lifestyle.

It is through initiatives like the Good Food Challenge that we can do

just that.

I signed

up for the challenge myself and I have found it quite interesting.

Throughout the month I have been receiving information and tips on how to

make better food choices. There are

some terrific recipes on the Web site.

The point that the Good Food Challenge makes is that we can all make

changes maybe small changes at first, maybe major changes but we can all

make a conscious decision to start eating healthier, today, and to carry that

commitment forward.

Founded

in 1998, the Food Security Network is a provincial, non-profit organization, Mr.

Speaker. Their main objective is to

help ensure all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have access to adequate and

healthy food. The provincial

government provides $105,000 to the Food Security Network annually in support of

their work.

Mr.

Speaker, our government recognizes the importance of healthy eating and that

well-nourished individuals of all ages are better able to actively participate

in the life of their communities.

Strategies and supports for healthy eating initiatives include, but are not

limited to: Eating Healthier in

Newfoundland and Labrador , a provincial framework and action plan; support

for the Kids Eat Smart Foundation, which provides breakfast programs to children

in K-12 schools throughout the Province; Eat Great and Participate , a program designed to increase access to

healthy food and beverage choices in recreation, sport and community facilities

and at events; and Easy, Tasty

Nutritious Healthy Eating for Healthy Aging , a recently-released

publication which focuses on the nutritional needs of older adults.

Mr.

Speaker, I encourage everyone to check out the Good Food Challenge Web site at

www.goodfoodchallenge.ca because it is never too late to start eating healthier.

Mr.

Speaker, I have to say the first fellow, I think, is going to join up has to be

the Member for St. Barbe. He has

been chatting about it ever since I got up to speak, so I expect he is going to

be the first one to get up and sign up.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks

to the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

It is certainly worthy to note that the Member for St. John's South has

issued a challenge to all Members of the House of Assembly to help out with the

food drive next Wednesday, December 3, after Private Members' Day from 5:00 p.m.

to 6:00 p.m.

The Food

Security Network's Good Food Challenge helps raise awareness about what good

food is; and, sadly, in our supposed have Province food security is a real

issue. Whether due to income or

geography, many people are unable to eat healthy foods for lack of access, and

it is certainly worthy to note that many people who are at or below the poverty

line or on Income Support are unable to afford to eat a diet that follows the

Canada Food Guide.

Earlier

this month Food Banks Canada released Hunger Count 2014, and, yet again, the

report revealed that amongst the provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador has the

highest percentage of its population using food banks.

We have twice the national average of food bank usage.

In March of this year over 26,000, almost 27,000 people, relied on a food

bank for survival in this Province and over 10,000 it is shameful of those

people were children.

So, I

encourage the Minister Responsible for Wellness to use this challenge as an

opportunity to reflect on how inaccessible good food is to many people in

Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for St. John's Centre.

MS ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, I thank the

minister for an advance copy of his statement.

I congratulate the Food Security Network for their great work across the

Province, particularly their campaign to encourage local food production and

buying locally-produced food. This

is a win-win campaign for everyone, and the Good Food Challenge is an excellent

concept. Bravo!

I would

like to remind the minister of the increasing number of seniors on limited

incomes who, because of the high cost of housing, must decide between paying

their heat and light or buying good food.

Unless government does something concrete to help these seniors, they can

hardly afford to eat, let alone eat healthy.

More and more seniors are having to use food banks.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

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.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are no strangers to winter weather.

In many

ways, it has helped shape our Province's culture and defines us as we take pride

in our ability to brave heavy snow, ice, freezing rain, and high winds.

However, such a familiarity with weathering harsh conditions can create a

sense of overconfidence among motorists.

For more

than five years, the Department of Transportation and Works has used a public

awareness campaign to remind motorists that snow means slow.

This year's Snow Means Slow campaign is scheduled to begin next week and will

include a combination of television, radio, and print advertising that will run

throughout the Province.

addition to the awareness campaign, there is also a series of resources

available for motorists on the department's Web site and through regional

dispatch centres. Through these

resources, motorists are able to access updated road condition reports, view

road conditions through highway camera images, obtain safe driving tips and call

regional telephone lines for assistance.

Mr.

Speaker, all motorists contribute to safe roadways and highways by driving

conscientiously. The

Snow Means Slow campaign reminds

motorists of that shared responsibility and encourages them to monitor road

conditions and adjust their driving behaviours to suit the weather.

Cautious

driving practices also improve the ability of the more than 800 members of the

department's winter maintenance team to maintain their focus on clearing roads.

Aggressive and distracted drivers can hinder the success of road

maintenance operations and can create dangerous working conditions for our

crews.

Winter

maintenance is extremely complex and requires significant planning and

co-ordination to ensure that all provincial roads and highways are maintained

efficiently.

I would

like to use this opportunity to acknowledge the members of our winter

maintenance team. Often unheralded,

they deliver a tremendous service each year and are to be commended for their

dedication and commitment.

Mr.

Speaker, as I conclude, I would like all members of this hon. House to encourage

motorists throughout Newfoundland and Labrador to practice driving practices and

remember snow means slow.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Bay

of Islands.

MR. JOYCE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of his statement.

We, too, would like to recognize the workers who go out and keep our

roads clear and safe during the winter hours, sometimes in unsafe conditions.

We would also like to encourage people to drive slow during the winter

months because it is a more dangerous time in our Province.

Mr.

Speaker, with all that said, I would like to bring something to the government's

attention. It was brought to my

attention Saturday night. People in

Bay of Islands, Mr. Speaker, from 9:30 at night to 6:30 in the morning, if it

snows, cannot even get through the snow to drive slow because the plows are off

the roads.

If we

have a marine ferry that comes into Port aux Basques, Mr. Speaker our link to

Canada if that ferry is delayed in the nighttime, from 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

or 6:30 a.m., the road is not even plowed, Mr. Speaker.

Government must look at that policy.

They must have that policy where the foremen has the ability to call people in

if they knew snow was coming, Mr. Speaker.

I ask the government to revisit that.

Everybody, drive slow.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker

I thank

the minister for the advance copy of his statement here today.

Hats off

to our highway workers; they are a hardworking bunch.

Mr.

Speaker, we all know that snowfall is coming.

It has already happened in a lot of areas of the Province now, but what

drivers also need is the security in the knowledge that full crews are going to

be out there when the time comes.

All areas of the Province need twenty-four-hour snow clearing.

The weather does not wait just for daylight hours.

We do not know when an emergency will happen, but the people of this

Province need to know that their roads will be clear should that need arise.

Mr.

Speaker, the final word goes out to the motorists out there, in doubtful

conditions where the weather may be extreme or the weather forecast could be

nasty, calling for nasty weather: do not even attempt it.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Oral Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Before I

begin today, I would like to recognize Lorna Proudfoot, of course.

Lorna received her QC this morning and I think all MHAs in this House

will recognize the great work that she does.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BALL:

Mr. Speaker, Eastern Health

has begun sending tissue samples out of the Province because of breast cancer

testing issues.

I ask

the Premier: What is the issue with breast cancer testing in our Province today?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, as members

opposite may recall, ER-PR testing stopped in December of last year because

there was an issue with a proficiency test result.

Proficiency tests were instituted following the Cameron report to ensure

that our testing is at the highest possible standard.

The

ER-PR testing did not stop because of issues with the testing.

At the time, there were not a suitable number of pathologists to actually

interpret the tests. While the

assessment was ongoing, Eastern Health and pathologists determined that it made

most sense to have both tests conducted in the same lab at the same time.

That is the procedure that is currently in place with the lab that is out

of Province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

understand by media reports that this test is for the HER2 positive breast

cancer which is what is causing problems at Eastern Health today.

I ask

the Premier: When and how was this issue with breast cancer testing discovered?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I can assume

members opposite and people throughout the Province, that safety is paramount

when it comes to any kind of test or procedure in any of our facilities.

What we are dealing with here is an issue around turnaround time and

quality. We are actually investing in new

technology within Eastern Health that will replace one HER2 test with a new

version of that test.

Until

that new technology is in place, until the new test can be performed within

Eastern Health, it makes sense to have both the ER-PR testing and the HER2

testing conducted in the same laboratory.

It was agreed by Eastern Health officials and pathologists that would be

the most responsible and most effective approach, and that is certainly an

approach that I support.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

course, we accept the approach, but my question was: When was it, and how was

this issue discovered?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

We have a very stringent quality assurance program in place in our laboratories,

Mr. Speaker, and as I said in response to the first question, the testing

stopped in December 2003. During

proficiency testing which was in place, a problem was discovered with how the

test was read through this proficiency testing process.

So, a problem was identified early because of the checks and balances

that are now in place. That, Mr.

Speaker, is a good thing.

The

testing was stopped in December of 2003.

There were some issues also at the time with the number of pathologists

that were available to perform the test, and as a result, this measure was

taken.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want

to give the minister just one chance to clarify: I heard 2003, but was that

2013?

MR. KENT:

In 2013.

MR. BALL:

Okay, thank you.

Mr.

Speaker, in January 2013, government celebrated the accreditation of all its

medical laboratories, which was of course recommended in the Cameron Inquiry.

However, the clinical chief of laboratory medicine has now indicated that

Eastern Health is overhauling its lab testing.

I ask

the Premier: Why is lab testing being overhauled just one year after receiving

this accreditation?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, I can assure

people in the Province that we have excellent laboratory procedures in place

throughout our regional health authorities not only in Eastern Health, but in

all four regional health authorities.

We are constantly improving practices, and as new technology becomes

available, as new procedures become available, as new training becomes

available, we institute those improvements into our health system, and that is

exactly what is going on within our laboratory program in our health

authorities.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last

week the Minister of Finance and government boasted about having six budget

surpluses out of the last ten budgets.

They said it was evidence of their successful track record in fiscal

management. What they did not say

was that without the Atlantic Accord there would only have been three surpluses.

That is what the AG said.

I ask

the Premier: Why are you leading people to believe that the surpluses were by

your fiscal management when the AG has said that government has little to do

with it?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Obviously, Mr. Speaker, the

success of this Province can be attributed to many sources of revenue.

We have had mining revenue, we have had personal income tax revenue, and

we have had Atlantic Accord revenue.

It is not about who generates the money or where the money is coming from; it is

how you manage what you have to work with.

When I

made a comment in the House last week about our fiscal management, it was not

just my comment. The bond rating

agency of Moody's and the bond rating agency of Dominion have made similar

comments about our experience in the last ten years, Mr. Speaker.

The ratings that we have are a reflection of good fiscal management.

My comment reflected their observation about how well we have done since

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

disagree with the Minister of Finance.

The source of the revenue is very important because we already know the

Atlantic Accord revenue is no longer.

The

Auditor General went on to say that without the Atlantic Accord arrangements

over the last ten years, this government would have run a cumulative deficit of

$41 million. It is clear this

government has not used the oil resources to diversify our economy.

I ask

the Premier: Why do you claim to be good fiscal managers when it is clear that

without deals signed by previous governments, you would have had a cumulative

deficit of $41 million? The source

does matter.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, we continuously

hear, in this House and outside the House, the Leader of the Official Opposition

talking about the revenue that we have had for the last ten years and how

generous it has been, and how we wasted that money.

He has never ever said and let me ask him the question today.

He has never ever said what he would not spend the money on.

Would he

have not reduced personal income tax to the lowest in Atlantic Canada to make us

competitive with being able to attract the kind of workers we need to sustain

our economy? Would he have not built

health care facilities? Would he

have not put health care technology into our hospitals?

Would he have not built the $6 billion or $7 billion worth of

infrastructure that we have spent in the last ten years?

Which one of those items would he not have done when he suggests we did

not spend the money appropriately?

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I tell the

Minister of Finance what we would have done.

We would have done this. When

the AG went looking for that infrastructure strategy, it would have been

available. Your government did not

do that, I say, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BALL:

Last year, government started

including its equity investment in the Atlantic Lottery Corporation as a

financial asset to be claimed against total debt.

I ask

the Premier: Why did this change occur?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

For a

long, long time now, ever since the member has been the Leader of the Official

Opposition, that is the first time I have heard him say what he would really do.

Mr.

Speaker, now we are on a roll.

Maybe, as months progress, we will hear many more things that the Liberal Party

will do and the leader will do. We

are finally now starting to hear their platform.

The first plank of that platform is they would make available to the AG a

strategy on infrastructure spending.

As he does that, he can only build on the $7 billion that we have already spent.

Sources

of revenue and how we account for various pieces of money, I would say, Mr.

Speaker, in our financial statements, are reflections of advice we get from the

AG and the Comptroller General.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BALL:

I ask the Minister of Finance

before we got this answer, which had nothing to do with what the question was

I am not surprised, but I will ask it again, to give the minister the second

opportunity.

Last

year, your government started including equity investment of the Atlantic

Lottery Corporation as its financial asset to go against debt.

Why did this change occur?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Mr. Speaker, as I have said a

moment ago, any changes in accounting practices and recording of assets, or the

treatment of income or treatment of debt, sometimes it comes about as a result

of standards changing, accounting practices changing.

Sometimes the AG will make a recommendation or a suggestion as to how we account

for and track our expenses and our revenues.

Sometimes the Comptroller General responsible for internal fiscal

control, sometimes that individual may make a recommendation to government as to

how we track our expenses, how we track our revenue, and how we treat equity

investment, whether it is from the Atlantic Lottery Corporation or whether it is

from the liquor commission. Any of

those accounting treatments of accounting practices come from those two sources,

I say, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister, who is the seventh minister since the St. John's

long-term care facility was announced to replace then existing crumbling

infrastructure: Your own data stated that the per cent of the population in 2006

over sixty-five was about 12 per cent of the population, growing to 20 per cent

in 2016, an 8 per cent increase.

What

have you done to increase the spaces in St. John's for people who are waiting

for long-term care today?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, this government

has continued to increase long-term care spaces in Newfoundland and Labrador

because we recognize we have an aging population and there is a need for even

greater long-term care supports and services going into the future.

We just

opened a 460-bed facility at a cost of $150 million to replace the

Hoyles-Escasoni Complex. That led to

the addition of sixty new beds for long-term care in this region.

It is a positive step forward, but we acknowledge, Mr. Speaker, that

there is still more work to be done.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, sixty beds with a population increase in that demographic of 8 per

cent certainly is not a substantial increase.

The minister likes to provide lots of reassurance, reassurance about all

the things he and his government are doing.

I ask

him again: What has his government done to increase the number of spaces for

long-term care for people in St. John's who need that care?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, we have added

sixty new beds for long-term care in this region.

I think that represents significant progress.

There is more work to be done, of course.

We have

also made major investments in home support.

We have introduced a paid family caregiving option.

In this past fiscal year, we spent $169 million to assist over 8,600 home

support clients. We have made major

investments in home support. We have

made major investments in long-term care.

We have introduced the paid family caregiving option, and we recognize

again that there is more work to be done.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Mr. Speaker, sixty beds with 50 per cent of those beds replacing infrastructure

from the Waterford Hospital is not a substantial increase.

Last

week the minister stated in this House that work was underway to address the

current LPN shortage, which is affecting operations of the new long-term care

facility in St. John's. In Outlook

2020, the demand for health care occupations was forecasted to grow the fastest.

Given

that your own data identified the problem in 2011, I ask the minister: Isn't the

lack of Newfoundland and Labrador trained LPNs to get every bed open in that

facility, in that St. John's facility, a result of your government's poor

planning?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. KENT:

Mr. Speaker, as I outlined on

a number of occasions last week, we have known there were some challenges with

the number of LPNs to meet our needs in our facilities.

As a result, we have taken a number of steps.

We have been working closely with the Centre for Nursing Studies.

We have been working closely with the College of the North Atlantic.

We have introduced bursary programs.

We have offered other incentives.

We have availed of international recruitment.

We have more beds that will be open in the next couple of months, and

that means good things for long-term care in this region, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS DEMPSTER:

Thank you.

Mr.

Speaker, government promised an adult literacy plan almost eight years ago.

Meanwhile, over half of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are at the

lowest levels of literacy. The

Minister of Advanced Education and Skills said in March that a new plan would

probably be ready in early September.

So I ask

the minister: When will you release the adult literacy plan you promised almost

eight years ago?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN:

Soon, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Cartwright L'Anse au Clair.

MS DEMPSTER:

Mr. Speaker, we rank last

among all provinces in literacy and numeracy; people are waiting almost a

decade later. In the year 2000, a $2

million Literacy Endowment Fund was established.

Interest on that fund has grown to almost $4,000.

The interest accrued is meant to fund literacy initiatives.

It has been five years since the literacy project was funded by the

interest on the fund; meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador scored the lowest

among provinces in literacy in a 2012 report on adult competency.

So I ask

the minister: How can you drag your heals on an adult literacy plan that would

identify the best use of that fund, when over half of our population is

functionally illiterate?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education and Skills.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. O'BRIEN:

Mr. Speaker, I disagree in

regard to the number that the hon. member mentioned of illiterate people in this

Province. I am very proud to be a

Newfoundlander and Labradorian. I am

very proud of the Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who live here, and I am proud

of the Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who went elsewhere in regard to their

lives' travels.

That

fund was initiated in 2002, I believe, and it was slow in accumulating any kind

of interest that would provide any grants to any of the organizations that might

want to apply over the number of years.

It is only recently that we actually accumulated around $300,000, which

we will be using in supporting our literacy plan going forward, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, the minister

should not be proud of those statistics which are a sad reflection of this

government's record.

Government's plan for full-day Kindergarten involves renovating seventy-five

schools. In some schools, the

minister plans to put Kindergarten in gyms and cafeterias, libraries and labs,

and classroom facilities that are designated for other use.

So I ask

the minister: How many schools need temporary portable classrooms, and how many

tenders have been called for those portable classrooms to date?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, six schools will require modular classrooms in order to be able to

facilitate full-day Kindergarten.

Some of them are actually in the process of being done right now.

We are not waiting until September 2016 to do that.

We have started that as early as now.

We have been very proactive.

Mr.

Speaker, we have hired two engineers as well within the department to take a

look at the facilities within the Province and to ensure the renovated spaces

that are required will actually get started as quickly as we possibly can as

well.

Mr.

Speaker, the work is underway. We

still plan on having full-day Kindergarten fully implemented in September of

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

Mr. Speaker, this government

has been notorious for its failure to plan ahead when it comes to classroom

space. When they have had to resort

to using temporary, portable classrooms they have rarely I do not know if ever

been able to deliver them on time.

If the

minister is planning to use portable, temporary classrooms for all-day

Kindergarten, for full-day Kindergarten in 2016, can she guarantee parents today

that those portable classrooms will be in place by the start of classes in 2016?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I say to the people opposite and I say to those who are viewing this,

that herein lies the difference between that side of the House and this side of

the House. They will find obstacle

after obstacle after obstacle and we are focused on finding solutions and a way

forward, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN:

Mr. Speaker, as I have said,

we have two engineers in place to ensure we are able to have the space ready in

time for September of 2016. That is

where our focus is; that is where our focus has been since the start of this,

Mr. Speaker. In spite of what they

want, Mr. Speaker, full-day Kindergarten is coming in September of 2016.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, in its K-12

capital plan for the fiscal year, the Department of Education announced a new

K-7 school for Conception Bay South to be built in Kelligrews.

So far we have a sign and a site, but little else.

I ask

the minister: When can we expect a tender call for this new school so we can

start moving this much-needed project forward?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Our

officials are assessing exactly where the school should be built.

We work very closely with the school district and the Department of

Education. We are assessing what

properties we have available. That

process is in the final stages. We

will be announcing in the near future exactly where that school will go.

The construction of that school will be second to none, as our

investments in all the schools we do here are for the betterment of the students

in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. HILLIER:

Mr. Speaker, I will let the

member opposite know that the site has been selected just behind RONA in

Kelligrews. The sign is up.

I just want to know when it will be started.

Mr.

Speaker, St. Edward's elementary school and Upper Gullies Elementary School are

bursting at the seams. Conception

Bay South is growing in leaps and bounds, adding to the space pressures these

schools are experiencing. A delay in

this project would have a huge impact.

I ask

the minister: Once the site is identified, can you give the people of Conception

Bay South some indication of when this project will be completed?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Transportation and Works.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Like all

of our projects here, they are moving forward.

There is no delay on our school processes here, Mr. Speaker.

We are investing in the people of this Province.

We have our contracts ready to go.

There are contracts that have been out to tender in the last week or so.

This

school is not delayed. Great work

was done by the previous member there and it will continue.

We will move things forward in the near future, Mr. Speaker.

Stay tuned, the contracts for that school will be on time and out in the

near future.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Mr. Speaker, the Coast

Guard's approach to the Manolis L

disaster is a band-aid solution. A

recent leak from the sunken vessel continues to trap our marine ecology.

I ask

the Minister of Environment and Conservation: Besides a letter, what specific

actions has this government taken to get the federal government to act on this

issue?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, we certainly share the concerns of the people of the region.

I think everybody in Newfoundland and Labrador has been following this

story very closely since March 2013.

We know

the federal government has responsibilities off our waters, Mr. Speaker, but we

have been taking a proactive approach.

We have been very close with the federal government in making sure we are

monitoring the situation and that the plans and the containment are coming

through in a timely manner.

long-term solution is exactly where we need to be.

We are aligned with that. I

wrote a letter not long after I became appointed minister responsible.

I have called the minister's office responsible and requested a meeting.

Mr. Speaker, a long-term solution is what we all want, and we are

aligned.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

George's Stephenville East.

MR. REID:

Mr. Speaker, from that answer

I can assume he has done very little specific actions on this file.

We have over 500,000 litres of oil sunken off our coast and the potential

of a major oil disaster on our hands.

The minute this oil hits land it becomes a provincial responsibility.

I ask

the Minister of Environment and Conservation: What has he done to ensure our

ability to clean up such a spill if it washes up on our shore, and does he have

any estimates of the potential cost of such a cleanup?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Mr. Speaker, there are 500

tons of oil, is our understanding, in the

Manolis L . We recognize that is

a fairly substantial amount of oil.

Certainly, the first response would be the federal government to contain that if

the worst incident does occur, but we are confident that the measures taken

right now are doing the right things at the right time.

Again, a long-term solution is what we are looking for.

With

regard to if it does hit the land, Mr. Speaker, we do have protocols and

policies in place to respond when necessary.

We work very closely with Service NL and their officials as well.

We are well aware of the situation.

We are monitoring it and we are on top of it, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

George's Stephenville East, for a very quick question.

MR. REID:

Mr. Speaker, I ask the

minister: Does he have any estimates of the potential cost of such a cleanup?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Environment and Conservation for a quick reply.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. CRUMMELL:

Mr. Speaker, we do not have

any cost estimates around that.

Again, we are hoping it is not going to get to that point in time.

It is not appropriate to discuss those types of numbers at this point,

and it is a federal responsibility.

We have to make sure the federal government steps up to the plate and ensure

there is a long-term solution to this problem.

Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to keep their feet to the fire on

this.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

Last

week, Ontario's NDP was successful in convincing their provincial government of

the wisdom of a $15 a day federal-provincial child care program.

I ask

the Premier: Will his government commit to partnering with the federal

government to ensure that every parent in this Province has access to $15-a-day

child care?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS SULLIVAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, certainly child care is a very, very important focus for our new

department. I would like to say I am

really happy about the fact that this Premier had the vision to bring both

departments together to move early childhood learning and development into the

Department of Education because that continuum is very important.

Mr.

Speaker, the work that had been done in the past through the Department of

Child, Youth and Family Services through the new child care strategy has, I

think, been very, very helpful in terms of moving the agenda forward.

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to see the implementation of that

particular strategy around ensuring quality, sufficiency, and affordability.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

federal NDP child care plan would save families in this Province $500 a month.

I ask

the Premier: Why won't he commit to helping parents save money?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

PREMIER DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the hon. members from the Liberal Party for the great applause this afternoon.

I appreciate it.

Mr.

Speaker, child care is very important to this government.

It is very important to me, as Premier, as well.

That is why I took the move

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

PREMIER DAVIS:

I made the move, Mr. Speaker,

to include Early Childhood Education as part of our pre-existing Department of

Education because it is very important to start opportunities for the education

of our children at a very young age.

It made a lot of sense to move both of these together, Early Childhood Education

and the former Department of Education, move them under one umbrella.

Mr.

Speaker, having said that, the goal of moving this department together was to

create opportunities to benefit early childhood education in the Province.

We have just begun, Mr. Speaker.

We have just begun.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last

week in the House, when I asked the minister about putting a public health

professional on the fracking review panel, the minister stated, I certainly

appreciate the support from the Liberal Opposition in the make-up of the panel.

I ask

the minister: Can he please explain his comment?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, that is three

questions now, and I think pretty much all the same answer.

Mr.

Speaker, the issue of fracking is very important to the people of the Province.

Our government is committed to the health and safety of our people and

the protection of the environment.

Mr. Speaker, I would suspect all members of this House would feel the same.

To do so, Mr. Speaker, we made a responsible decision to put an

independent panel in to take a look at this issue.

It is in the best interest of the people of the Province.

They will come back to government, and we will make that decision.

As for

what the Liberals say about that, Mr. Speaker, I think they were clear in their

press release. They understand that

this is a responsible choice to make, to put a panel in to take a fair,

responsible look at this issue. I do

not understand why the NDP do not get that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East.

MR. MURPHY:

Mr. Speaker, if both parties

think it is responsible, the question then will go towards both parties.

Will the government reconsider the panel members and appoint a public

health professional to the panel?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, I have been very

clear on numerous occasions about the panel, the make-up of the panel, how we

looked at other jurisdictions, what we felt was in the best interest in terms of

having a very productive panel, and all interests cannot be represented on the

panel.

I have

said clearly, and it is a commitment of our government that we have shown time

and time again, not only do we have experts on the panel, Mr. Speaker, but what

is most important here is that we have laid down a process that gets everybody,

including the NDP, to stand forward and bring their facts forward, to present it

to the independent panel experts.

Also, it will allow the experts to bring in other experts if they wish.

The process is what is important, and every medical doctor on the West

Coast who wants to speak to it can clearly stand before the panel and present

their information, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's East for a very quick question.

MR. MURPHY:

Mr. Speaker, one panel member

holds a patent to a drilling process.

Would

the minister agree that it is a responsible decision to have this member on the

panel who is already in a conflict of interest position?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources for a quick reply.

MR. DALLEY:

Mr. Speaker, what I say to

the member opposite is what is important here is that we have experts.

Not Google experts, Mr. Speaker, experts to serve on the panel.

Also, it

is very important to keep in mind the panel will not make the decision whether

we frack in this Province. That will

be left to the government, Mr. Speaker, to make that decision on behalf of the

people and what is in the best interests of the people of the Province.

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 Baie

Verte Springdale.

MR. POLLARD:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give

notice that I will move the following private member's resolution, seconded by

the Member for Port de Grave:

BE IT

RESOLVED that this hon. House encourages the provincial government, through its

new Department of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development, to identify and

advance opportunities, build knowledge and capacity, and promote access and

awareness so that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians embrace active, healthy

lifestyles and habits within supportive environments that will serve them

throughout their lives.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give

notice that the private member's motion just presented by the Member for Baie

Verte Springdale, seconded by the Member for Port de Grave, will in

fact be the private member's motion we will be debating this coming Wednesday,

November 26, 2014.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion.

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl South.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

petition to the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents

humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

the Edinburgh Group Limited has been granted permission to proceed to develop

110 recreational cottage lots at Ocean Pond near Whitbourne; and

WHEREAS

the roadway, three kilometres, accessing the new development was built by and

maintained by cottage owners for the past thirty-five years; and

WHEREAS

the existing Ocean Pond road cannot possibly withstand the heavy construction

equipment and traffic of a 110 lot development; and

WHEREAS

Edinburgh Group started extensive work on the development in May 2014 before any

approval from Lands and Environment; and

WHEREAS

the land in question, with the exception of the portion of Crown land that was

subsequently added, was first licensed as a land and community development

licence to the Bethunes in 1887, and in 2003, the government approved the

issuance of a grant to the Garland estate for certain portions of the land

included in the licence. An area of

land was eventually granted to the Garland estate on December 13, 2013; and

WHEREAS

there was access given to this property through Crown land as well as a change

in the boundary of the original land licence shortly before the purchase by the

Edinburgh Group but after the grant was finalized; and

WHEREAS

cottage owners in attempting to obtain information from government departments

to provide public comments as per the minister's request on July 11, 2014, have

not been able to obtain the requested information and as such are in a position

whereby they do not know the government's intention on existing road maintenance

and future development in the area; and

WHEREAS

the mission statement of Environment and Conservation is to ensure that a clean

and sustainable environment and resilient ecosystem is adhered to; and

WHEREAS

we are not aware of any survey to ascertain the existence of rare plants or

endangered species such as boreal felt lichen which have been found

approximately two miles from the project; and

WHEREAS

the project was released on September 29, 2014 with no apparent justification or

a concern for the substantial public response to the original requested

undertaking, and based on Environment and Conservation's guidelines;

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

of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to stop the

current development by Edinburgh Group, investigate the fact that they have

extensively developed this property without permission, and hold a meeting with

the Ocean Pond group to outline government's plans for the area and allow the

existing residents to have input into the decisions made in their cottage area.

Mr.

Speaker, this is an issue that I have raised in the House last week through

Address in Reply. This has been

ongoing for quite some time, as is indicated here.

There was a development, there was an exchange of lands, and there was an

out-of-court settlement, allegedly.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I remind

the member his time for speaking has expired.

MR. LANE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

John's North.

MR. KIRBY:

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 the lack of services and supports in the school

system is a serious obstacle to learning for children and youth with autism

spectrum disorder; and

WHEREAS long wait-lists for pediatric assessment and

diagnostic services are preventing many children with autism spectrum disorder

from receiving needed early diagnosis; and

WHEREAS the Intensive Applied Behavioural Analysis

Program is currently not available for children after Grade 3; and

WHEREAS applied behavioural analysis has been shown to

be effective for many individuals beyond Grade 3; and

WHEREAS there is a lack of supports and services for

children and youth with autism spectrum disorder after they age out of the

Intensive Applied Behavioural Analysis Program; and

WHEREAS it is unacceptable to expect parents in

Newfoundland and Labrador to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets

to cover the cost of privately-delivered applied behaviour analysis after Grade

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

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

eligibility for the Intensive Applied Behavioural Analysis Program beyond Grade

3 in consultation with parents, advocates, educators, health care providers, and

experts in the autism community

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned a while back I think a

number of months ago I have a constituent who lives in the west end of the

District of St. John's North who has been spending a significant amount of her

time going around and getting people to sign this petition on the comprehensive

strategy for autism spectrum disorder.

As I mentioned one day before, she recently notified me that she is

having to cover the cost herself of applied behavioural analysis for her child

who has aged out of the program.

I think we really need to have a good look at how the

program can be changed, improved, if it can be changed, to look at the

statistics that we have and to see if we can ensure that services are provided

to that group that is falling through the cracks, whether that is through a

universal program or ones that are means tested and based on income.

I think something needs to be really looked at.

This particular constituent of mine is on Income

Support and is living in Newfoundland and Labrador Housing and having a great

deal of difficulty managing just to get by with day-to-day household costs, let

alone providing for her Grade 4 child to get applied behavioural analysis.

I think it is really worthy of looking at and perhaps

something the government might want to study for the upcoming Budget.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

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

ROGERS:

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 the Family Violence Intervention Court provided

a comprehensive approach to domestic violence in a court setting that fully

understood and dealt with the complex issues of domestic violence; and

WHEREAS domestic violence continues to be one of the

most serious issues facing our Province today, and the cost of the impact of

domestic violence is great both economically and in human suffering; and

WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court was

welcomed and endorsed by all aspects of the justice system, including the

police, the courts, prosecutors, defence counsel, Child, Youth and Family

Services, as well as victims, offenders, community agencies, and women's groups;

and

WHEREAS the recidivism rate for offenders going through

the court was 10 per cent, compared to 40 per cent for those who did not; and

WHEREAS the budget for the court was only 0.2 per cent

of the entire budget of the Department of Justice;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly

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

Family Violence Intervention Court.

As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, again I have petition after petition after

petition, signature after signature after signature of people who truly believe

and passionately want to see the Family Violence Intervention Court

re-established and they are doing so because they know that it works.

They know that it fulfilled its mandate, and they know that it is

necessary.

These are people who in all their communities know the

stories of what is happening in their communities.

As we saw on Thursday, the members across the House also know how

important this is, and how important this is for their constituents, how

important it is for their communities, how important it is to deal with the root

cause of domestic violence.

Now, Mr. Speaker, last week the Premier said, oh,

perhaps we will look at it again because we are going to look at

teleconferencing or other ways of being able to hold the court.

Well, the court, in and of itself, is a small part of the whole process.

The reason this court was so effective is because of the activities that

happen outside the courtroom itself and that is the support mechanisms for

women and children, the treatment programs for men.

That cannot be done via teleconferencing or video.

Those are the important aspects that make this court a

comprehensive court, that reduces recidivism, and keeps women and children safe.

That is what is really important, and it is possible Mr. Speaker, there

is no reason on this earth why those support systems cannot be set up in other

parts of the Province.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

hon. the Member for Burgeo La Poile.

MR.

A. PARSONS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have a petition.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and

Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly

sheweth:

WHEREAS residents

of the Southwest Coast must travel the Trans-Canada Highway between Channel-Port

aux Basques and Corner Brook for work, medical, educational, and social reasons;

and

WHEREAS Marine

Atlantic ferries dock at Channel-Port aux Basques at various hours on a daily

basis resulting in extremely high volume of commercial and residential

travellers using this

section of the TCH; and

WHEREAS the

world-renowned Wreckhouse area is situate along this

section of the TCH; and

WHEREAS the

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador initiated a twenty-four hour snow

clearing pilot project in 2008 that excluded the

section of the TCH from

Channel-Port aux Basques to Stephenville;

WHEREUPON the

undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly

to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to include the

section of

the Trans-Canada Highway from Channel-Port aux Basques to Stephenville in the

twenty-four hour snow clearing project.

As in duty bound,

your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr. Speaker, as you know full well this is not the

first time I had to present this petition.

In fact, I seem to do it on an annual basis when we sit in this House,

especially in the fall. Again, we

are seeing the same thing here.

To those members on the other side who were not on the

West Coast over the weekend, I can tell them how treacherous it was.

As a member of the West Coast driving home across this Province on

Friday, it was absolutely treacherous from Corner Brook all the way to Port aux

Basques.

Now, thank God I was driving during daylight hours

because there was a plow there. That

is the good news. Unfortunately,

after hours, I am on my own forget it.

The fact is this service is on so many other routes in this Province, yet

the main route in terms of the gateway to this Province, we do not have this.

We forget about those who have to travel to Deer Lake

in all hours to catch a flight. We

forget about those who have to travel to the current Corner Brook hospital to

get services, including those who want to give birth.

If you want to have a baby on the Southwest Coast, you have to have it in

Corner Brook. Let's hope you are

going to get induced during the daylight hours because if it is during

nighttime, you are on your own and that is all there is to it.

Let's not forget about all of those from every other

part of Canada, the US, and the world who come across here and get off the boat

and travel because they are not going to have a plow taking them on the first

part because, again, let's not worry about that.

I am going to put notice out to the current minister,

because I met with the past two or three ministers and I get the same answer

back: We are not going to do it. We

have a new minister. I am confident

he is going to make the right decision, which is we are going to have

twenty-four hour again, it is not even necessarily twenty-four hour; it is the

ability to call in as needed. That

is what is needed: the call-in.

Again, I put it out.

The members wonder why I worry about this, but those

are members who get twenty-four-hour snow clearing.

When you come out my way and you do not get it, it is an issue.

It is life and death ,

and I appreciate the opportunity to do this today.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Carbonear Harbour Grace.

MR. SLADE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

the local service district of Freshwater-Carbonear has experienced ongoing

regard for the need of repairs to the beach breakwater which has been severely

damaged by storm waves and this has caused major concerns to the local service

district of Freshwater as it pertains to fire protection and safety; and

WHEREAS

this lack of repair by government constitutes a fire and safety issue to the

community since the residents will be trapped in if a fire ever took place; and

WHEREAS

this damaged breakwater roadway is also creating an environmental concern as the

Atlantic Ocean has washed over the roadway and out into a fresh water pond where

the fish are in the pond; and

WHEREAS

this area serves as a capelin run each year which attracts a great many locals,

residents and tourists to the site; and

WHEREAS

the federal government refuses to assist this repair as they deem it as no

associated fishing activity to justify investment;

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

of Assembly to urge government to respond to the pleas from the community

residents and their legislative representatives to have this breakwater

structure repaired so that once again it can properly protect the road

infrastructure from being more severely damaged and once done, call upon

government to repair this road.

As in

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, up until three years ago, the provincial government, the Department of

Transportation, was taking care of this road, as well as the one in Bristol's

Hope, because the two of them are in the same situation.

Mr.

Speaker, I do not know what is after taking place or why the Department of

Transportation stopped doing it. I

can say this much: if it continues to go on down there and one of those

residents happens to get trapped in there if a fire did take place, somebody on

the government side of the House is going to have to answer for that because

this is the second time I have presented this petition.

Mr.

Speaker, I think it is very, very important.

There is an environmental issue here, too.

That pond on the other side of the road there holds trout and other

species. Like I said on the

Bristol's Hope one, if somebody in Freshwater decided to take a backhoe and fill

that pond in, I am sure the Department of Environment would have something to

say about that.

I am

standing here in this House and presenting this petition on behalf of the

residents in there. The Department

of Transportation has dropped the ball here on both of those roads.

At what point in time did they do that?

Why did they do it? What was

the reasoning behind it?

Also,

Mr. Speaker, even though I have a petition here today, it is something that I

will also pursue with the Minister of Transportation.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I stand

in the House today to present this petition.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

we call upon the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to make literacy a

priority, by supporting the development of a robust provincial Strategic

Literacy Plan that addresses the learning and literacy of individuals from the

early learning years through the senior years; and

WHEREAS

recognize that literacy is intimately connected to the other social issues; and

WHEREAS

the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is to invest in more funding in

literacy programs so that all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians can enjoy the

benefits of participation in our society and that no one is left behind;

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

of Assembly to urge government to make funding literacy programs a priority in

order to develop a provincial Strategic Literacy Plan.

As in

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, this is the second time I presented this petition.

As this House fully knows, and as my fellow member of the House of

Assembly spoke earlier today around the literacy levels in Newfoundland and

Labrador, we have significant issues in our Province.

There is

no evidence that suggests anything this government has done has done anything

but fail to improve that statistic.

It is a shameful record. The fact

that the government has failed to produce a Strategic Adult Literacy Plan, which

has been promised since 2007, underscores their lack of commitment to and

competency on this critical issue.

The lack of policy means that everything else is put on hold and leaves the

field without the knowledge and a foundation of how to move forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MS C. BENNETT:

Studies show that we are

falling behind countries like Ireland, Croatia, and Russia.

Mr. Speaker, a simple solution, as the minister referred to earlier

today, was that the excess funding in the amount of $364,054, which has accrued

in the endowment fund created to support literacy in our Province, that money

get into the community, into organizations like Literacy NL so they can do the

work that needs to get done.

Government needs to do and this minister needs to do the work of making sure

that board meets, and they make a decision to get that money out the door to

help people who need it.

Thank

you.

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 434, Conche Road, is 17.6 kilometres of unpaved road; and

WHEREAS

the current road conditions are deplorable; and

WHEREAS

the Canadian Automobile Association ranked Route 434 the seventh worse

road in Atlantic Canada; and

WHEREAS

it is government's obligation to provide basis infrastructure to all

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians; and

WHEREAS

an improved paved road would enhance local business, fish processing operations

and tourism, which is vital to the health of the communities affected;

We the

undersigned, petition to the House of Assembly to urge the government to

allocate funds in the provincial roads program to pave Route 434.

As in

duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, this petition is signed by residents of Roddickton, Bide Arm, St.

Anthony, and Conche. The community

of Conche is a very active, economic, and vibrant town.

The fish plant started in April and just recently closed.

It provided meaningful work for dozens of people who were working

directly at the plant, as well as the transportation of raw material over that

road. Hundreds of transport trucks

travel over that highway in poor condition, and it has been an employer for

people outside of the community in places like Englee, Roddickton, Croque, and

also other parts of the West Coast and the Province.

If we

want to look at building strong economies, we need to have that plan in place.

We are limiting other economic potential that Conche could bring.

It has an

interpretation centre that sees 2,000-plus visitors each year,

and if we had a multi-year plan government has already invested and spent $6

million rebuilding, realigning that road.

The longer it goes without putting any type of asphalt on to this highway

then they are just losing their investment into the sides of the road, because

there is no calcium chloride program being applied to that highway. The studies

would show that they would save money if they did apply.

For

health concerns in place, the minimum government should be doing at the moment

is installing dust monitors because the people who are commuting from Conche,

high professionals who are working at the hospital in Roddickton and other areas

to commute for government services, this makes economic sense.

It is the right thing to do, to put in a multi-year plan to pave Route

434. It is an economy that is

thriving, not dying, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move,

seconded by the Minister of Finance, President of Treasury Board, that we move

to Orders of the Day.

MR. SPEAKER:

The motion is that we move to

Orders of the Day.

All

those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, nay'.

Carried.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At this

time I call from the Order Paper, Order 2, third reading of a bill,

An Act

Respecting Chartered Professional Accountants And Public Accountants, Bill 27,

and I move

I move,

seconded by the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board, that the

said bill be now read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It 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 27 be now read a third

time?

All

those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, nay'.

Carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act Respecting

Chartered Professional Accountants And Public Accountants.

(Bill 27)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

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

the Order Paper.

motion, a bill,

An Act Respecting Chartered Professional Accountants And Public

Accountants, read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order

Paper. (Bill 27)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I now

call from the Order Paper, Order 3, third reading of a bill,

An Act To Amend The

Highway Traffic Act, Bill 29.

I move,

seconded by the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador, that the said

bill be now a read a third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It 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 29 be read a third time?

All

those in favour, aye'.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, nay'.

Carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Highway Traffic Act. (Bill 29)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

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

Order Paper.

motion, a bill,

An Act To Amend The Highway Traffic Act, read a third time,

ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper.

(Bill 29)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. KING:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would

like to now call from the Order Paper, Order 4, second reading of a bill,

An Act

To Amend The Revenue Administration Act No. 3, Bill 26.

I so

move, seconded by the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board, that

the bill be now read a second time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

the bill be now read a second time.

Motion,

second reading of a bill,

An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act No.

3. (Bill 26)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Finance.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. WISEMAN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is my

pleasure today to stand and start the debate on this bill.

I just want to read into the record this is a very simple bill, yet, at

the same time, has significant impact but also reflects significant progress we

are making in as to how we do business in government.

I just

want to read the Explanatory note, This Bill would amend the Revenue

Administration Act to establish a procedure for the issuance of electronic

clearance certificates.

Mr.

Speaker, this amendment would allow government to move forward to establish and

develop what is referred to as a tax clearance certificate portal; which, simply

put, what we are really talking about is developing a mechanism to allow people

doing searches to be able to go in electronically and provide clearance

certificates, tax clearance certificates, should they want to deal with it as a

result of some kind of transaction.

These

tax clearance certificates are frequently required by lawyers as they are doing

transactions for real estate, for example, where they may want to get some

understanding of whether or not there are any taxes outstanding that might be

levied against that property or charged against the property.

There

are a couple of sections of the Revenue Administration Act,

section 18 in

particular, which provides an ability for government to establish a lien against

an asset like a house or some other property the individual may own, so it is a

lien by the Crown against that property. It

is not registered like you would find in a Registry of Deeds.

It is not registered under a personal property register, but it is in

fact a lien against a property.

When

lawyers are frequently transacting real estate transactions, for example, they

may want to do a search and determine whether or not there are any liens

registered against that property.

They are able to go to other registries and determine whether or not there are

any chattels registered against them.

There might be mechanics' liens that might be registered against them,

but they would have no knowledge through those searches of whether or not there

are any tax liens against the properties.

Right

now and this is not a new procedure, Mr. Speaker what is really happening

today, as we speak, those searches are occurring.

What happens now is a lawyer will, in fact, make a request to the

Department of Finance and we get about twenty-odd thousand of those every

year. A request comes in, primarily

from lawyers but not always, who want us to certify that there are no tax liens

against the properties that might be the subject to a transaction that they are

involved with.

We are

doing these things now. It is a

manual process. Lawyers will make

the request and we will have officials who will do a search to determine whether

or not there are any liens, outstanding taxes, that the individual has not yet

paid; there would be a lien against their property.

What we

are doing here now, Mr. Speaker, is establishing a mechanism to provide for an

easier access, an electronic mechanism to allow what is now a manual process to

occur with a higher degree of efficiency.

What mechanism this will provide for us is individuals who want to take

advantage of this service will register to become an individual who has access

to that.

For

example, if there is an individual lawyer who wants to use this service they

will register themselves, they will be provided an ID, a mechanism to be able to

sign on electronically, and get access to the information they seek.

There is still a mechanism whereby they will still be charged a fee for

that.

As they,

register they will be charged a fee and these are not new things.

The government has made tremendous strides in recent years towards making

business easier. There has been

major initiatives with the reduction of the amount of red tape it takes to be

involved with government and processes, whether it is a process such as this or

other transactions that consumers of government services would have on a regular

basis. There has been a tremendous

amount of effort for government to help facilitate a process through electronic

means.

Just

recently, for example, the Department of Finance as a part of this initiative

made some changes in the teacher certification fees that are collected by the

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, allowing teachers to

pay in advance for assessments to obtain certification.

That mechanism now is electronic.

It would

the Department of Service NL. Again,

now clients are able to pay in advance and do this electronically.

Fire and life safety registration is the same kind of process.

These

are just three recent examples of where government, as a part of its initiative

to become more accessible for clients to access services, registration

processes, payment of fees this is just one other example of where we are

trying to provide more online services.

Given today's access to computer technology and the connectivity of

society today, this makes it a lot easier in day-to-day transactions, not just

for government in terms of its own internal process but also for consumers of

government services and individuals who need to do business with government

departments and transact, whether in this case its getting tax certificates or

other types of considerations.

The

other thing, obviously, that comes into play here and as a result of this

amendment to this legislation now, there will also be a subsequent amendment to

the privacy legislation to allow us to be able to release this information as a

response to that portal. That is the

reason for the registration, Mr. Speaker.

Not anyone can go in online and access the information unless they have

been approved access to that particular portal, and that is what a registration

process will provide for.

Mr.

Speaker, many of these inquiries are transacted as a part of normal business

arrangements, generally around title searches for properties and the transaction

around real estate. So this as I

have said, Mr. Speaker, is a minor amendment to a bill that has significant

implications.

There

will also be the issues around access to information because this is a person's

private information. Individuals

today, if you are involved in a transaction such as this, you will give your

lawyer consent to in fact access the information in question.

That government has the ability then to release it.

This mechanism will provide an electronic mechanism to ensure there is

recognition that we are releasing private information.

That is why we need some degree of control over who might be able to

access that and provide that registration process.

Simply

put, Mr. Speaker, this is a mechanism here to take what is now a manual process

and make it electronic. To allow us

to do that, we need to amend the Revenue Administration Act to facilitate a

streamlining of a system that is already in place manually.

It is not adding anything new.

It is not a further restriction.

It is not a further layering of additional bureaucracy or regulation

around a process, but purely taking what is now a manual system and making it

available electronically.

As I

said, a very simple and straightforward amendment with some significant

implications, particularly for those people who are involved in making what is

now some 20,000-odd annual requests.

The intent is to streamline a process, make it more efficient and more

accessible to a greater number of people.

Mr.

Speaker, I will adjourn my comments now.

I look forward to hearing comments from members of the Opposition and my

colleagues who may have some additional comments to make.

When we get into Committee, I will be only too glad to answer some very

specific questions around the implications of this amendment and how this will

actually work in practice.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Cross):

The hon. the Member for

Virginia Waters.

MS C. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

happy to stand in the House today to speak to Bill 26,

An Act To Amend The

Revenue Administration Act No. 3.

The act,

as the minister has indicated, is an amendment to the Revenue and Administration

Act. It is meant to immediately

amend

section 17.

I first

want to say thank you to the staff who spent the time last week to brief us on

the changes. They were certainly

very helpful in answering our questions and explaining what the intention of the

change in the legislation is meant to accomplish.

I do have some questions as part of our debate here this afternoon that I

will be asking the minister if he will comment on.

The

minister mentioned there has been significant progress in how government does

business. I am assuming what he is

referring to may incorporate the idea of business process management and how

things are actually done throughout government to improve the efficiency so that

we allow our hardworking civil servants and front-line staff to spend their time

delivering the services and answering the questions from taxpayers and people

they service more so than they spend their time creating paper.

What was

interesting is when we were at the briefing I was surprised at the number, which

the minister referred to, of 20,000 requests.

For those listening at home and for those here in the House today, just

to explain the process of what has been happening, my understanding is a letter

would come into staff requesting information.

The information would be gathered and assessed.

A letter would be written and then mailed.

Oftentimes that process would take many days, but more importantly, would

take much time and valuable resources from our very important civil service who

want to make sure they are providing the best service they can.

I asked

the question about how long this new electronic process which certainly as the

minister indicated, will allow for much more efficient use of staff time and

being able to focus on what is important versus focused on paper movement.

I asked the staff how long that implementation process would take.

I think the answer, if I am correct, was between three to six months to

implement what is a very simple change, which, again, begs the question, if we

can get some clarity on exactly what the business process management program is

with a lot of these systems and processes that people are providing answers to.

As the

minister, I am sure, and members of this House are aware, business process

reviews often require re-engineering of how work is done.

When you take one piece and just isolate that and make that change,

oftentimes you create dominos of inefficiency.

I would be interested to know what other things were looked at, as part

of this legislative change, that would allow the staff to be even more efficient

and effective. Are we taking one

needle out of a haystack, or are we making a substantial change to allow more

efficiency?

When I

look at the Auditor General's report and look at where this government chooses

to prioritize and spend its money, the Auditor General clearly sent a red flag

out about expenses, which according to his report have grown 58 per cent from

the period of 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 58 per cent.

While a growing economy requires reinvestment in all kinds of places, one

of the places where we cannot afford to waste money is in inefficient systems

and processes that do not allow our staff to do the work they need to do but

create needless activity, such as replying to paper mail.

The Auditor General actually noted that efficiency systems are something

that government needed to look at.

When we

talk about a business process management system, one of the things that become

important is how shared services are managed and the importance of an

organization like the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador having a shared

service program that is focused on processes that are constantly re-engineered.

That re-engineering allows for better, cheaper, faster business

processes, but in order to accomplish that there has to be a structure and a

technique to evaluate what gets done, how it gets done, why we are doing it, and

how we can do it better.

I am

sure we have some exceptional staff in the civil service who can provide

information around how shared services can be reviewed in the entire processes

that we operate in government, to take a look at things like obvious questions,

everything kind of takes too long, but it is difficult to understand why.

That is a perfect question for shared services and management to take a

look at to see if there are other systems and processes that can be brought in

to make it more efficient.

Are

consumers of the process all in favour of the desired outcome?

From the staff that we met with, staff indicated they were very

supportive of this change. From our

discussions we would certainly support what government is doing, but we would

challenge government to see how much more can be done in the way of using

technology to allow our civil servants and our bureaucracy to be even more

effective in delivering what they need to deliver.

Are

people executing the processes unhappy or cynical?

I can say that when the process was described to me of these multiple

letters that are 20,000 responses that have to be drafted, I can say the staff

were very professional in their commitment to get the work done, but when I

questioned whether or not it was productive work, they were certainly excited

about the new efficiency that was going to be a result of this particular change

in legislation.

The

other thing when we talk about re-engineering business processes, or what costs

can you eliminate from the process that allow individuals who are very valuable

and very important to the running of government, allow them to spend their time

on things that are meaningful versus things that do not necessarily carry the

same meaning for the taxpayers.

Business

process reviews often operate at various levels and have very different building

blocks. They include things like a

review of core processes. I am not

familiar enough, but I am assuming there is some information that the minister

or other members of government can share on how core processes are reviewed and

how those processes are reviewed with the view to continue to create value for

those who are on the receiving end of those services.

Typically, there are cross-functional teams that are tied closely to the

organization's goals to make sure that things happen efficiently and

effectively.

Business

process management also includes strategic and business planning.

I would assume that I would ask the minister in the Department of

Finance: are there ongoing processes to review how efficiently and how learnings

from this piece of legislation might be incorporated into other business

processes in that department that would allow for further efficiencies to be

identified, and then further optimizing the time of the staff that work there?

The

other thing I would ask I would be curious to get an understanding of how

staff are going to be trained and what the implementation program is.

One of the biggest challenges in any organization that implements IT

change is if you do it in a micro way or you do it in a macro way.

Micro changes often will create confusion with employees because one

process is different from another process, and then the ability for employees to

travel back and forth from different positions sometimes makes it challenging

because there is ongoing and increasing costs of training.

I would be curious to get a deeper understanding about that as well.

Certainly, as the minister said, this is a good thing, to make the ability for

our civil servants to do their job in a more efficient way so they can focus

their time and talents on the end-user or the consumer or the person they are

servicing is a great thing; but how many lessons can we learn from a small

change that we can use to adapt into other areas, I think, is important.

Twenty

thousand requests a year is an amazing number of requests when we think about

it. If you think about the amount of

time that would take 20,000 requests, an hour a request, 20,000 hours a

significant amount of time from staff has been absorbed in completing this work

for many years.

question would be, and in light of some of the questions we had in Question

Period today about where spending needs to be focused, spending should be

focused on making sure the services are provided in the most efficient and

effective way, and giving our staff the best access to equipment and technology

that allows them to do that.

Certainly, from our side of the House, we will be supporting the change.

This is a great opportunity for us to have a discussion and get some

deeper clarity and certainty, and certainly get some questions answered around

the business processes that government uses, particularly in the Department of

Finance.

With

that, I will take my leave.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Labrador West.

MR. MCGRATH:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

pleased to be able to stand and have a few moments to speak on Bill 26,

An Act

to Amend the Revenue Administration Act No. 3.

It was interesting to listen to the Member for Virginia Waters across the

way. Two words I noticed she used

quite a bit were efficiency and effectiveness.

That is what this change is all about.

It is about being more effective and more efficient.

What we

are doing here now is by putting an electronic clearance certificate in place,

the opportunity to do this electronically, cuts out a lot of red tape.

That is a word, over the last decade, this government has certainly

worked very effectively, and what I would consider very efficiently, on doing.

Especially since I think it was 2007 that they really focused in on

cutting out a lot of the red tape. I

remember there was a time when, in every department, they wanted a reduction of

25 per cent of the red tape issues cut back on.

That is what this is all about.

It is

very important to see this change made electronically.

As a former business person, I remember when I was dissolving a couple of

the businesses that I was the owner of, as you were dissolving one business,

quite often small business people I know I certainly was as you are

dissolving or getting rid of one business, you are thinking about the revenue

you are hopefully going to generate from that sale.

You are looking at how you are going to invest that into another business

that you are involved in.

Quite

often, when you are thinking of these changes you are going to make, this

particular act, as it exists today, could slow down that process.

I remember in one of the businesses that I was selling, I was looking at

a major expansion in another business.

It ended up I was waiting about two weeks and it cost me several thousand

dollars extra because of that two-week period because of the difference in the

cost, from two weeks what I had to purchase and two weeks later, the cost

actually made a difference of several thousand dollars.

This

processing and going electronically with this, I think, is going to actually

save several business people money.

It is going to show that it is a much more efficient way of doing business, and

it will be very effective.

Some of

the other comments that the Member for Virginia Waters talked about was the

civil servants and the bureaucrats.

It is very important we allow them as experts to be able to do what they are

there to do and not lose their time in red tape or in paper pushing, as a lot of

people will refer to it as.

I find

in the last three years that I have been here as a member in the House of

Assembly I certainly have a very high regard for all of the bureaucrats and the

civil servants because I have seen how hard they work.

Unfortunately, quite often the expertise they have to offer to a

government is not able to be utilized because they are spending so much time

dealing with red tape and the paper pushing.

Unfortunately, that is the way things had to be done.

today's world, with the information technology that we deal with, it does not

have to be that way any more. I am

very glad to see that this is a proactive move on behalf of our government to

improve the efficiencies when it comes to getting the job done.

I just

want to touch a tiny little bit I do not want to take away any of the

minister's thunder when he stands up to speak on this again.

I heard the Member for Virginia Waters talk about the Auditor General's

report. She alluded to the fact that

there has been a 58 per cent increase in spending since 2004.

When you

look at the infrastructure that we had in 2004 and you look at the

infrastructure that we have today throughout the Province and I talk about

medical centres, I talk about schools, I talk about provincial buildings, I talk

about the infrastructure in roadways and in highways that we have in 2014 versus

what we had in 2004 it shows that 58 per cent certainly is accountable.

I just wanted to make that comment.

When you

hear of the Auditor General putting out a report of a 58 per cent increase, I

think it is being justified, the 58 per cent increase in spending that we have.

Again, going directly to this bill, I think it shows that we are trying

to be more efficient and we are trying to be more effective in the way we do

business. I think that is very

important, and I feel we are doing a good job.

Bill 26 is a prime example of that.

Talking

a little bit directly about this amendment to the Revenue Administration Act,

what it is going to do, we talked about the lawyers having access.

covered very well that not just anybody can step in and get any information.

Mostly

what it is going to be, the people who are going to be looking to use this

system will be lawyers and government officials who will be going in to use the

system itself. They will have to

have an ID number. They will have to

be signed in to the system in order to get it.

They cannot go in and just get any information for the sake of getting

information. There will be specific

information that they will have access to, and I think that is very important.

I also

looked at the fact of the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the

information and privacy act. This

will work with that act. Again, it

is not going to be a system where you can go in and avail of information that is

not necessary for you to be in to.

You will

see that there is going to be some rare cases where the search identified an

audit currently in progress. This

will speed that up, the clearance. I

know there are times and as the Member for Virginia Waters, as well as the

minister, spoke about the length of time that it can take to get the

information; this will really speed it up.

I think that is important.

closing comments I am not going to belabour this; I am certainly going to be

supporting it. I think it is a good

move. I would like to commend and

thank the staff in the Department of Finance for the briefing they gave us and

as you heard other speakers comment on.

You heard the minister and the Member for Virginia Waters.

They were very explicit in the information they gave us.

They answered all of the questions.

I find when you get a briefing like that you come out from the briefing

feeling much more comfortable. You

understand what the amendment is going to be, what the bill is all about.

support this. I think this is a

proactive move. It is a move that we

are moving forward. It is going to

improve services. It is also going

to clear up a lot of time, as we heard, for the experts in the civil service to

do what they are supposed to be doing there.

With

that, I will conclude my remarks and I look forward to hearing the rest of the

debate.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.

MS MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I am

glad to have time to say a couple of things about this bill.

Obviously, it is something that is very straightforward, as has been

indicated by the minister and by the other speakers.

I do not

have a lot to add to what is being said, but I just want to make sure that my

understanding is clear. It seems

very logical to me that we would put this piece of work into an electronic

registry. As has just been indicated

by the Member for Labrador, the people who would be seeking this information and

needing to get this information are professionals.

They are lawyers, as was said, or government staff, for different

reasons.

wondered first about whether or not the electronic registry, if registering

electronically was an option or could people choose whether or not they seek the

information electronically or otherwise.

I suspect what it is, is that the electronic registry is going to be the

registry; but knowing that it is going to be professionals and not just people

who might not use electronic communications, knowing that they are not the ones

who are going to be using the registry, that it is going to be professionals who

are using it, then having it as an electronic registry only does make sense.

The

minister can clarify that for me, whether or not that is optional or that the

registry will be totally electronic and you have to make a request

electronically. Because that is how

the bill reads, that one would make the request electronically and then

everything happens electronically.

I guess

I would like clarification, just for knowledge sake, not because I would vote

against it, but whether or not it is optional or now the request has to be made

electronically. I would like to know

that just for clarification from the minister when he stands again.

Obviously, having this kind of clear information about whether or not money is

owed to government before a piece of real estate changes hands is important.

It seems to me I was not able, personally, to attend the briefing; one

of our researchers was there. I am

asking a question that may have been clear in the briefing and not clear for me.

So again I will ask the minister to clarify this for me as well.

It seems

to me in the reading of the information I have received that the responsibility

is on the shoulders of the seller and the lawyer of the seller to find out if

the property is clear. Again, I ask

the minister to clarify that for me

MR. WISEMAN:

(Inaudible).

MS MICHAEL:

The buyer; that is what I

thought when I read my notes. I

thought it cannot be the seller; it must be the buyer.

It has been indicated to me by the minister across the floor that I am

correct in that, that it is the buyer.

So I thank you for that clarification.

The seller did not make sense to me.

The lawyer for the buyer is the one who makes the request, which makes

sense, because the buyer wants to know if the land or the piece of property that

they are buying whether it is land, or a business, or whatever that there

are no taxes owed on that. So, I

have that clarification; the minister does not need to speak to that again.

This is

something that makes great sense to me; it seems logical.

It will save money for people, as indicated by the Member for Labrador,

himself, will save money for people who are involved in transactions of buying

and selling property. It does make

sense that it probably also would be cheaper for government to have this done

this way; it would take less time to have an electronic registry, which I think

is actually an efficient way to go.

One of

the things I would like to pick up on, just for the sake of those who are

listening to our discussion, is one of the things that the bill indicates at the

very end,

Section 5 of the Access to Information Regulations published under

the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act is amended by adding

immediately after paragraph (q.1) the following: (q.2) sections 17.1 and 17.2 of

the Revenue Administration Act.

What all

that is about is that in the regulations for the act, for the Access to

Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the regulations actually have a list

of sections of legislation that are exempted under the Access to Information and

Protection of Privacy Act.

Section 5

of the regulations says, For the purpose of subsection 6(2) of the Act, the

following provisions shall prevail notwithstanding another provision of the Act

or a regulation made under the Act.

Basically, it is a list of pieces of legislation that are exempted under the

Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

When you

go back and study the Revenue Administration Act, one finds that there is a

section in the Revenue Administration Act,

section 10, which talks about

confidentiality of records. This

whole

section in the act, which talks about confidentiality of records, is

extremely important. It talks about

confidentiality; it does not talk about an electronic registry.

In the

regulations of the ATIPPA, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy

Act, we now will be putting into those regulations the electronic registries,

basically is what it comes down to.

Putting that under the protection of

section 5 of the regulations is not

something extraordinary. It is

something that fits within the fact that the Revenue Administration Act itself

calls for confidentiality. It is

important that then the regulations for this other act reflect the

confidentiality that is demanded by the Revenue Administration Act.

That happens quite frequently where changes in one act have to be

reflected in another act.

Having a

question that I had answered by the minister, I think there is another one he

will answer for me, and that has to do with options.

I think the answer is going to be the electronic registry will be the

only way to go. He can tell us that

when he stands. My other question

has been totally cleared up.

With all

of that, I think that is really all I have to say, Mr. Speaker.

I am glad to have the opportunity to have raised my questions and made my

points.

Thank

you.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Port

de Grave.

MR. LITTLEJOHN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am not

going to belabour many of the points.

I think based on the conversations I have heard from the members

opposite, I believe they are in support of these changes to the Revenue

Administration Act.

I do

want to thank the staff for the briefing it was a very professional briefing

and the opportunity. I want to thank

the minister as well for the opportunity to speak to the bill.

I guess

in my terms, just for those looking in today, this is an amendment that

basically is catching up with the times.

We are going from paper to an electronic copy.

It is something we see more frequently happening now, where we go to an

electronic system. We are basically

just modernizing how we do business and using the technologies that are

available to us to do business in a more efficient way.

The tax

clearance portal will be an online service for everybody out there.

It is just an online service that users will be able to go into.

The hon. Member for Labrador West talked about you would need a password

and a user name and all the rest to go on to the online service.

This tax clearance online service will assist mostly lawyers, because tax

clearance certificates are required mostly for the sale of property, for the

sale of real estate.

It was

to do this to make sure that there are no liens or no outstanding fees or taxes

to the property that is being sold.

Once again, I was also amazed, as has been said by many of our members, that

there is probably 20,000 requests each year for this type of service, and it is

not only lawyers. It is sometimes

used by government, as pointed out earlier as well.

It is sometimes used by government employees, particularly when

government departments require certificates for the issuing of loans and

providing funding. I remember my

time as a public servant, getting requests for funding and those being denied

because there were outstanding taxes owed by the individual party.

So it is not uncommon.

We are

just taking this from paper and putting it online.

As the minister outlined earlier, there are similar processes throughout

government doing this. I do not

think anybody mentioned it, but when you use this service there is a

fee-for-service. The fee is $50.

Anyone who goes in to use it pays an online fee of $50, and they can use

the service.

When we

were looking at this as a government, every day we were increasing the number of

services available online. This is

another example of government trying to be more efficient, trying to provide a

higher quality of service and using the technology that is available to us to do

that.

One of

the things that will happen, Mr. Speaker, when this becomes an online service is

the tax credit certificate will be generated automatically.

For the most part, the majority of tax credit certificates will be

generated automatically. The lawyer

will go in, the person, or the government employee would go in, if there is

nothing outstanding it will be generated automatically.

As the members opposite have stated, sometimes it took previously,

through the traditional paper route, you had to write a letter, you had to do

the research, and it took two to three weeks.

In our

briefing it said this should only take a matter of a couple of days and we will

have this done. In the case of the

Member for Labrador West, when he was trying to dissolve one business to put

money into another business, instead of waiting two or three weeks and costing

him thousands of dollars, it would have only been a couple of days and basically

at no cost to the person waiting.

Mr.

Speaker, this service should be up and running in the near future, in the next

three to six months. I think it is a

good piece of legislation. I think

it enhances the way we do business.

It improves the service. It gives a

higher, more efficient way of doing the service.

I will

be supporting this bill, Mr. Speaker, and I look for further comments from our

Opposition or the minister.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St.

Barbe.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. J. BENNETT:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am

going to try not to say Mr. Speaker too many times because Hansard is having

trouble keeping track of how many times members say Hansard.

In any

event, I am happy to speak in support of this bill; however, before I finish,

members might think I am not supporting it but in fact I am supporting it.

To have

a bill in the House of Assembly for the simple purpose of getting a tax

certificate from the provincial government is like driving to the supermarket

for a can of milk and then you drive back home.

Then, you drive to the supermarket for a can of peas and then you drive

home. Then, you drive to the

supermarket for a couple litres of milk and then you drive home.

We keep

seeming to do minor piecemeal legislation.

Maybe it is for the purpose of being able to bring bills into the House.

I do not understand why this was not introduced into the House as part of

an omnibus bill which would actually resolve so many of the issues that people

who are buying and selling real estate run into, and lawyers run into in doing

legal transactions.

Mr.

Speaker, the types of items I would like to see in an omnibus bill such as this

would be all of this could be combined so that when the search is requested the

search could be from multiple areas, multiple departments, and multiple

agencies. The reason for that is it

would be cost saving, and these are standard, normal, ordinary searches that

lawyers do in transacting real estate.

Mr.

Speaker, the vendor does not really care, but the purchaser does.

The vendor does not care because when the property is sold and he or she

or the company has their money and they are gone, they are out of town and they

have left. They have spent their

money or whatever, but