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May 17, 2018

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS

Vol. XLVIII No. 21

The

House met at 1:30 p.m.

MR. SPEAKER (Trimper):

Order, please!

Admit

strangers.

In the

Speaker's gallery today, I am very honoured to welcome the Hon. Paul Quassa,

Premier of Nunavut, to our Chamber.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

It's a great honour, Sir, to

have you here with us today.

Also

accompanied with him is Teevi Mackay from the Government of Nunavut, and you'll

see – all Members – on your desk that Teevi has provided to us a pin of their

Coat of Arms for Nunavut. It's a very beautiful pin, please wear it with pride.

Also

accompanying them, and on the occasion of National Seal Products Day are: Ms.

Rowena House, Ms. Joan Kane, and Mr. Bruno Vinhas. They've been joining us here

today for a special ceremony we had in Confederation Building.

Welcome

to you all.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

In the public gallery today,

and I'm feeling rather secure, we have many representatives from the RCMP and

the RNC who are all here for a Ministerial Statement.

With the

RCMP we have: Assistant Commissioner Peter Clark, Commanding Officer of the RCMP

for Newfoundland and Labrador and a friend of mine, good to see you, Sir;

Sergeant Major Doug Pack; Tanya Gilbert, Supervisor in the Operational

Communications Centre; Sheryl Noel, Analyst and President of the Union of Safety

and Justice Employees; Corporal Trevor Baldwin, Peer to Peer Coordinator with

the Health Services Team; Ms. Glenda Power, Director of Strategic

Communications.

With the

RNC we have: Chief Joseph Boland; Constable Georgina Short, Special Programs

Coordinator; Constable Tammy Madden, Criminal Investigation Division; and

Constable Allan Rowe, Operational Patrol Services Division.

Welcome

to you all.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

I would like to take this

occasion, before we begin our formal proceedings, I'd like to rule on a point of

order raised on May 15, 2018, yesterday.

This

point of order was raised by the Opposition House Leader concerning comments by

the Premier in Question Period. The Opposition House Leader indicated that he

believed the Premier used offensive words against a Member of this House

contrary to Standing Order 49.

With

regard to the content of these comments, I would like to draw the attention of

the House to page 618 of the House of

Commons Procedure and Practice , Second Edition, where we are clearly

reminded that: “The proceedings of the House are based on a long-standing

tradition of respect for the integrity of all Members. Thus, the use of

offensive, provocative or threatening language in the House is strictly

forbidden. Personal attacks, insults and obscenities are not in order.”

When

speaking in this House, Members must remain ever cognizant of these fundamental

rules. They exist to safeguard the reputation and dignity not only of the House

itself but also that of its Members.

O'Brien

and Bosc, House of Commons Procedure and

Practice states on page 619: “In dealing with unparliamentary language, the

Speaker takes into account the tone, manner and intention of the Member

speaking; the person to whom the words at issue were directed; the degree of

provocation; and, most importantly, whether or not the remarks created disorder

in the Chamber.”

It is

not that a statement or behaviour is incredibly egregious, but that it causes

disruption or disorder. Although I find that there is no point of order, I do

remind every Member to be respectful in their remarks to each other.

Further,

if there is an issue and a Member believes that his or her privileges have been

affected or a contempt of this House has occurred, that Member should raise a

point of privilege at the earliest opportunity.

Finally,

I also remind all Members of the Code of Conduct and the processes available to

Members in relation to it.

I thank

you very much.

Statements by

Members

MR. SPEAKER:

For Members' statements

today, we will hear from the districts for: Ferryland, Bonavista, Mount Pearl -

Southlands, Topsail - Paradise, and Labrador West.

The hon.

the Member for Ferryland.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I rise in the hon. House today to recognize Rachael Tuff, an

11-year-old female athlete from my district who exhibits tremendous athletic

abilities.

During

the weekend of April 6 to April 8, she attended the 2018 Atlantic Canada Skating

Championships that was held in Nova Scotia where she took home a gold medal in

the Pre-Juvenile Women (Under 11) Division. The event hosted 200 skaters from

age's seven to 18 from all four Atlantic Provinces.

Rachael

is a member of the Mount Pearl - Paradise Skating Club and has had a very

successful 2017-2018 season. She won gold medals in her division in the

following competitions: 2018 Eastern Divisionals, 2018 Skate Canada Newfoundland

and Labrador Sectional Competition, and the 2017 Rebecca Park Memorial

Friendship Skate.

She also

won two silver medals this season, one during the Newfoundland and Labrador

Winter Games held in Deer Lake this past March and another in the 2018

Provincial Championships.

These

awards show that Rachael as a young athlete is committed, dedicated and has a

desire to be successful. This also shows true leadership to all of her peers.

Mr.

Speaker, I would like to ask all my colleagues in this House to join me in

recognizing Rachael Tuff for her accomplishments and wish her much success in

the future.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Bonavista.

MR. KING:

Mr. Speaker, it's not every

day that you see a new municipality formed in Newfoundland and Labrador. That's

why on January 23, I was honoured to deliver the good news to a packed house

that George's Brook - Milton would become the province's newest town.

George's

Brook - Milton is a fast growing community and is the gateway to the Bonavista

Peninsula. For many years this community was served by dedicated volunteers who

formed a Local Service District committee. This committee saw the growth and

determined that they needed to take the future in their own hands to build a

community that they wanted to see. Over the past couple of years they have

worked hard to build that case.

That

hard work paid off and a municipal election was held on May 8. Twelve capable

candidates put their names forward and over 65 per cent of the population came

out to exercise their democratic right including the town's oldest resident at

93, John Stanley. Once the votes were counted, Mayor Craig Pardy, Deputy Mayor

Morgan Ellis, Blanche Wiseman, Sarah Whalen, Brian Foley, Darren Ellis and David

Adams formed the new council.

Please

join me in congratulating the new council and thanking those who put their names

forward.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for Mount

Pearl - Southlands.

MR. LANE:

Mr. Speaker, it gives me

great pleasure to rise in this hon. House to recognize several outstanding young

people in my community. The 2018 Mount Pearl Focus on Youth Awards was a

tremendous success and highlighted the great talent, athleticism and

intellectual ability possessed by some very amazing youth, as well as some very

community-minded adults who have dedicated themselves to working with youth in

Mount Pearl.

These

individuals included: Mount Pearl Female Youth of the Year, Emily Garlie; Male

Youth of the Year, Nathan Pitts; Youth Volunteer of the Year, Brianna Hepditch;

Male Youth Athlete of the Year, Alexander French; Female Youth Athlete of the

Year, Camryn Bonia; Youth Team of the Year, Mount Pearl Paradise YBC Senior Boys

Team; RNC Youth in Service award winner, Kelsey Stanford; STEM award winner,

Abygail Pike; Youth Group of the Year O'Donel Outreach Team; Performing Arts

individual award winner, Andrew Hepditch; Visual Arts award winner, Rebecca

Purcell; Literary Arts award winner, Erin Burke;, Official of the Year, Renee

Quick; Adult Volunteer Working with Youth award winner, Paul Price; and Adult

Volunteer Working with Youth in Sport award, Claudette Whelan.

There

were also performing arts recognition awards presented to the O'Donel High Jazz

Band, the Mount Pearl Senior High Little Shop of Horrors cast, band and crew,

and the Mount Pearl Senior High Drama Festival.

I ask

all Members of this hon. House to join me in congratulating these amazing

individuals on their accomplishments and wish them all the very best in their

future endeavors.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Topsail - Paradise.

MR. P. DAVIS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There

are dedicated individuals from all communities across Newfoundland and Labrador

who often rise to the occasion whenever one is needed. One of those is Tara

Lynch from my District of

Topsail - Paradise. Tara was awarded the 2018 Town of

Paradise Citizen of the Year award at the 28th annual volunteer appreciation

event held last month.

Tara is a community leader and volunteer. She is the

chairperson of Holy Family school council and was involved in organizing the

Santa Claus breakfast, the Jingle Hop and Family Fun Night. She was instrumental

in bringing the Kids Eat Smart breakfast program to Holy Family school and

regularly volunteers with the program.

Not only that, but Tara has been involved in forming

the school basketball program for students of Holy Family and also serves as an

executive on the Paradise Minor Hockey Association, the Mount Pearl Paradise

Figure Skating Association and serves on the Paradise Youth and Community Centre

advisory committee and volunteers as well with the Holy Family church.

I once heard it said that sometimes if you want to get

something done, you should ask a busy person, and Tara is certainly that.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members of this House to join me

in congratulating Ms. Lynch for her dedication and her contribution to the

community.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Labrador West.

MR. LETTO:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

in this hon. House today to congratulate the 2018 graduating class of Menihek

High School in Labrador West. This past weekend, 75 young men and women, dressed

with the Labrador colours over top of their dresses and suits, marched with

their heads held high in pursuit of the next phase of their lives.

The

graduation theme this year was: What feels like the end is often the beginning.

Very fitting, Mr. Speaker, as high school graduation is the end of one

chapter

and sets the path for a new

chapter in life, whatever they choose that to be.

I would

also like to recognize the teachers and staff of Menihek High, in particular

Principal Drover and Vice-Principal Pitcher, who have shown tremendous

leadership to the students of Menihek. Both the school and the communities of

Labrador West are fortunate to have them guiding our students in the right

direction. And, of course, we can't forget the organizing committee and parents

who spent countless hours preparing for the big event.

I ask

all hon. Members to join me in congratulating the Class of 2018 at Menihek High

School and wish them every success in their future studies and endeavours.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Statements by Ministers.

Statements by

Ministers

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Justice and Public Safety.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, this week I have

had the honour to participate in a number of activities to celebrate our Royal

Newfoundland Constabulary and Royal Canadian Mounted Police as part of Police

Week 2018, which is recognized from May 13 to 19.

Monday, I joined my colleague the Minister of Health and Community Services, RNC

Chief Joe Boland and RCMP Assistant Commissioner Peter Clark at the Elaine

Dobbin Centre for Autism to launch Police Week 2018. The location of the event

was significant as this week is intended to highlight the importance of

partnerships in the community.

As a

government, we have put an emphasis on working with police and community

partners to ensure that we are living and raising our families in one of the

safest provinces in Canada. That security and peace of mind is a direct result

of the hard work, dedication, professionalism and commitment of the women and

men in our police agencies.

While

policing is a very rewarding job, Mr. Speaker, it comes with significant risks.

On Wednesday, I had the privilege of representing the province at a memorial

service honouring officers who have died on the job. We recognize the sacrifice

peace officers make to keep us safe and we are eternally grateful.

This

morning, I was present for the launch of the RNC corporate plan, which outlines

the agency's goals for partnerships and engagement, organization development and

crime reduction to build safe and healthy communities.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask all hon. Members to join me in thanking the members of the RNC

and RCMP for their service and for the important work that they do to protect

the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want

to thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement. We join the

government in recognizing Police Week. In doing so, we acknowledge the top-notch

policing service we have in this province. Both the RCMP and RNC provide

first-class service to the people of this province. These two organizations are

made up of talented and committed professional women and men who have accepted

the important duty to serve and protect.

I would

like to take this opportunity to acknowledge a recent announcement in my own

District of CBS. After several years of lobbying and meetings with RNC in the

department, the community will soon be home to a new detachment. I offer my

sincere thanks to RNC Chief Joe Boland and the Minister of Justice and Public

Safety for working with me and the Town of CBS in making this a reality.

Mr.

Speaker, most importantly, I wish to thank all police officers in our province

for providing an important service, one that comes with many challenges and

dangers. You are to be commended today and every day.

Thank

you very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

And I

thank the minister. It's been wonderful to watch our police services, the RNC

and RCMP, become increasingly diverse and more reflective of our community. I am

particularly happy with the great work they are doing around the issue of mental

health. It's been wonderful to watch real partnerships grow between the police

and community groups and I, too, am proud to enjoy a good working relationship

with them.

I thank

all the women and men of the RNC and RCMP for their dedication, their sacrifice,

their passion and compassion in serving out people.

Bravo!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

The hon.

the Minister Responsible for WorkplaceNL.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

Mr. Speaker, last week was

North American Occupational Health and Safety Week, highlighting the importance

of preventing injury and illness in the workplace.

trying to make safety a habit, there is no better place to start than with our

young workers. I am happy to say that the youth of this province are leading the

way when it comes to working safely. In 2017, young workers, aged 15-24 years

reported 1.3 lost-time incidents per 100 workers, a rate that is below the

provincial rate of 1.5.

To help

reduce this rate even more, WorkplaceNL has a number of youth-oriented programs

aimed at helping young workers develop positive safety habits early in their

careers. One of these programs is an annual radio and video contest, where grade

seven to 12 students can demonstrate their safety knowledge.

Workplace NL works with the winners to professionally produce the radio ad and

use the video to help educate others on workplace injury prevention.

This

year, the winning radio ad was produced by Kira Clarke and Rebecca Warren of

Crescent Collegiate, South Dildo. The winning video was produced by Villanova

Junior High Media Crew from Conception Bay South. The members are Michael Burke,

Philpott, Amythest Rodgers, Alex Samson and Sera Tulk.

Please

join me in congratulating the next generation of safety-minded workers.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the District of Cape. St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I want

to thank the minister for an advance copy of her statement. This side of the

House joins government in congratulating the students of Crescent Collegiate and

Villanova Junior High in participating in the winning radio and video ads to

educate the public on workplace injury prevention.

I'd like

to thank all the students who participated and put submissions into this

contest. I would also like to thank everyone who took the time to participate

last week in North American Occupational Safety and Health Week.

It's

important to take every opportunity we have to highlight and educate people

about workplace health and safety. It's a priority we all should have.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

I, too,

thank the minister for the advance copy of her statement. Promoting the rights

of workers to young people as they enter the workforce can help encourage a

lifetime of safe work practices. The right to refuse unsafe work, the right to

unionize and the many other workers' rights in our province help keep workers

safe and prevent injury and illness in the workplace.

I'm

pleased to join with the minister in celebrating the many students who took

part

in this year's contest, and offer special congratulations to the teams from

South Dildo and Conception Bay South on being chosen as contest winners.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by ministers?

The hon.

the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise

today to recognize the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and

Biphobia, held annually on May 17.

The

purpose of this day is to bring awareness to the violence, discrimination and

repression experienced by LGBTQ people worldwide. Its ultimate goal is to

achieve inclusion for all members of our society, regardless of their sexual

orientation or gender identity or expression.

May 17

commemorates the World Health Organization's decision in 1990 to declassify

homosexuality as a mental disorder. First recognized in 2004, International Day

against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is now marked in more than 130

countries as a means to share awareness about sexual and gender diversities.

This

year's theme – Alliances for Solidarity – reminds us of the potential to effect

change when we work together, and recognizes the efforts of all social justice

movements to bring about change.

Today is

a day of action to engage in a public conversation about sexual and gender

diversity and expression, uniting us in support of human rights for all.

Let us

each make a commitment to stand for equality, inclusion and respect for all.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister for an advance copy of her statement. On the International Day

against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, I stand in this House in strong

support of acceptance, inclusion and respect for everyone.

Twenty-eight years ago, the World Health Organization declassified homosexuality

as a mental disorder. Since that time, we have seen great progress towards the

inclusion of all; however, there is still a great deal of work to be done.

encourage all Members of this House, and all members of our communities, to

participate in the alliance for solidarity, to support the public conversation

about sexual and gender diversity, and encourage a culture of respect,

acceptance and inclusion for everybody.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Leader of the

Third Party.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the minister. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud as a lesbian to stand in this House today

to mark IDAHOTB. Our rights in the LGBTQ communities were never given to us,

they were hard won.

Today,

we celebrate, but we also shine a light on the persistent homophobia and

transphobia that still exists because of fear, misunderstanding and plain old

hatred and discrimination. Those attitudes belong in the dark ages, but we are

moving forward. In our province right now, it is our courageous LGBTQ youth and

their allies leading us.

It is

time now that government appoint a special LGBTQ advisor to ensure all

government policies and programs are inclusive and aligned with all our human

rights legislation.

Bravo to

our youth, Mr. Speaker.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further statements by

ministers?

Oral

Questions.

Oral Questions

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Premier,

two MHAs who are currently under investigation for harassment have been excused

from this House but are still preforming duties in their district. Do you feel

this is appropriate?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Mr. Speaker, I would

say it's probably best addressed to the Speaker. But it's very unusual that you

would actually see the Speaker stand and answer questions from the acting leader

of the Opposition.

Mr. Speaker, it's very clear that they've been removed from

our caucus, the Members that we're talking about, so I think every MHA would

have an opinion on what's appropriate and what's not appropriate. However, what

I know is not appropriate is that we should be spending public funds on putting

a party leader who does not have a seat in this House – which is about the

proposal that we saw last night when it comes to spending public funds in this

House.

Mr. Speaker, the current positions of the two Members that

you're addressing as best, they now sit as independents in this House of

Assembly, not within this caucus. I think the leader of the Opposition, or

whatever capacity he sits in today, should be fully aware of that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The

Premier is well aware that wasn't the proposal put forward. He's just trying to

put a spin on it again for political reasons.

Do you

support that the two MHAs have been granted leave from the House of Assembly and

are not sitting in the House of Assembly to represent their constituents?

MR. SPEAKER:

I will interrupt on this

point because, as indicated by the previous remarks from the Premier, this was

the responsibility of the Speaker, my office. Those two Members sought approval.

I granted it. That question is better directed to the Speaker's Office.

I would

ask you to redirect, please.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

No interruptions, please.

The

leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the

Acting Minister of Education advise the House why teacher allocations are being

reduced in schools across the province?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Education and

Early Childhood Development.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's

certainly a pleasure for me to stand and speak on a lot of the good things that

are happening. I just want to make mention of the Premier's Task Force where

we're actually making changes that previously were never even thought of making

changes.

We are

now in a position where we're looking at improving educational outcomes in this

province, improving the way in which instruction is being done, putting more

resources in place and deploying resources in a way that's conducive to good

education for our students in this province. We'll continue to do that, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BRAZIL:

Can the acting minister inform this House if there's actually new money being

invested for creation of reading specialists or just money that the department

is moving around?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

I will

not tolerate any interruptions.

Please,

the hon. the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I just

wish the Members opposite would have taken time to read the budget and look at

it line by line. They would have seen there are significant investments in

education, an increase.

I just

mentioned the Premier's Task Force. We're putting a considerable amount of money

into the Premier's Task Force in making sure that the recommendations that are

in place – that we are going to take action on those recommendations,

recommendations that are not going to be sitting on a shelf, like have happened

in the past.

We are

making a commitment to that; we have put money into the budget to make sure we

have those resources available. As I said earlier, we're making sure that

whatever we're doing on this side of the House, we're improving educational

outcomes for our students in this province.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the leader of the

Official Opposition.

MR. BRAZIL:

I think we need to also let

the acting minister know that you need to talk to the teachers who have been

made redundant and the impact that it's going to have on those schools,

particularly in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Can the

Acting Minister of Education provide this House with an update on class sizes

for the upcoming year and if the caps are in line with the recommendations of

the task force?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Education and Early Childhood Development.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, I

make reference to the fact that we, as a government on this side of the House,

have made a significant commitment to education within this province from K to

12. We will continue to do that.

The

Premier was very, very clear in making sure that there was a Premier's Task

Force put in place to address – and we put in place now 40 schools come

September, 40 pilot schools in September to start implementing the

recommendations that were made in the Premier's Task Force.

Mr.

Speaker, we have made a significant commitment and will continue to make

commitment to education and providing the best education possible for our

students in this province so that they can perform.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The leader of the Official

Opposition.

MR. BRAZIL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Unfortunately, the minister didn't answer the question about cap sizes, but I'll

get back to that another time.

Can the

Acting Minister of Education provide this House with an update on the combined

classes and if they are indeed in line with the recommendations of the task

force?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Education and

Early Childhood Development.

MR. HAWKINS:

Yes, Mr. Speaker, in response

to the acting leader of the Opposition, we have certainly looked at and have the

numbers that are in place. As you know, there are pupil-teacher ratios and there

are provisions made for smaller schools in rural areas of the province where

some of the student-teacher ratios are lower than they are in other areas of the

province.

Mr.

Speaker, we are cognizant of the fact the number of students that we have, the

number of teachers that we have and the deployment of teachers, based on

programming that's provided within the schools to provide a proper education to

some of the schools in rural areas of the province that may not necessarily have

all the resources that are available in urban areas.

We're

making sure we're doing that, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

MR. HAWKINS:

We'll continue to do that even while I'm in as the acting minister.

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Obviously, the acting minister doesn't know what combined classes and cap sizes

are all about. I guess we'll wait until next week.

I ask

the Minister of AES: Did you participate in the pre-budget consultations with

officials and students at Memorial and the College of the North Atlantic prior

to cutting their operating budgets by over $10 million?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Advanced

Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. HAWKINS:

Mr. Speaker, I don't know if

I should address the

preamble that he put in there because I tell you, I had 30

years in the classroom. I know exactly what happens in a classroom.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HAWKINS:

He doesn't need to tell me

(inaudible) Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. HAWKINS:

I can tell him, I am well

aware of the education in this province and what we have provided over the

years.

As for

the AESL and for the College of the North Atlantic and Memorial University of

Newfoundland, Mr. Speaker, again, I would like for him to go and look at the

numbers in the budget. He will know that we, as a province, as a government, is

contributing more to operating Memorial University and the College of the North

Atlantic than in New Brunswick with four universities and in Nova Scotia with

Mr.

Speaker, we are making significant contributions to the operating budgets of

both facilities.

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

Order,

please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for Conception Bay

South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you.

Mr.

Speaker, the president of Memorial University recently admitted the massive

infrastructure problem at the university is being pushed down the road as

government cuts its budget.

What is

the government's plan to address infrastructure challenges at MUN?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Advanced

Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. HAWKINS:

Mr. Speaker, thank you so

much for this opportunity today. Obviously, the hon. Member hasn't driven down

Prince Philip Drive for a while because he will notice there is significant

infrastructure investment.

We have

a new core science building; a significant investment by this province, by the

federal government and by the university. We are looking at a new Animal

Resource Centre that's happening. We have made investments in the Battery for

our graduate students. Mr. Speaker, we continue to make significant investments

to the infrastructure of all of our institutions and we will continue to do

that.

Mr.

Speaker, like anything, there may be some challenges when it comes to all

infrastructure spending. That's something we're working with the university to

deal with. We will continue to do that. I have every confidence that we will get

to the point.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for Conception Bay

South.

MR. PETTEN:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I remind

the minister, that science building was a PC initiative.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. PETTEN:

If you want to let the

university fall down around your ears that's their prerogative.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh, oh!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Please

proceed.

MR. PETTEN:

That was a PC initiative and

it's good to see, but they need to worry about the infrastructure of the

university.

MR. SPEAKER:

Please proceed.

MR. PETTEN:

Mr. Speaker, the president of

MUN recently stated: Newfoundland is going to have to decide what kind of

university it wants.

I ask

the minister: Will the decisions made by his government have a negative impact

on our post-secondary institutions?

MR. SPEAKER:

I do remind all Members, I

will not tolerate interruptions.

The hon.

the Premier.

PREMIER BALL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I just

want to get to the

preamble of the Member opposite because he made an error.

What we talked about, what was a PC initiative as if the party owned this. I

want to clarify one point on this, is they had allocated some $125 million. The

provincial government today is investing $25 million, but because of the

co-operation and collaboration we have with the federal government, they have

replaced the PC initiative, bailed out the initiative that you had put in place

with $99 million to go towards the core science building.

Let's be

very clear, there are a number of PC initiatives that they say are a burden

around Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. So when it comes to PC initiatives, we

don't need the Members opposite to remind us of what were PC initiatives. We're

continuing to deal with this on a daily basis, bailing out and changing many

initiatives to support Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

The hon.

the Member for Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

I hope the Premier takes

credit for the federal government and his friends in Ottawa for the carbon tax

and the destruction of Grand Bank with the Arctic surf clams, and we can go on,

Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. PETTEN:

Their friends in Ottawa

haven't been that great. Sure, they might have been there – and, by the way, the

science building is going to be a great addition for Memorial University, but he

needs to be careful of how much praise he takes from the federal government and

his friends in Ottawa because the carbon tax is coming.

I'm

going to ask this question again, and maybe the minister might get up and answer

it.

Mr.

Speaker, the president of MUN recently stated: Newfoundland is going to have to

decide what kind of university it wants.

I ask

the minister: Will the decisions made by his government have a negative impact

on our post-secondary institutions?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly, it's a pleasure always to answer questions in this House when they're

honourable questions that are asked.

Mr.

Speaker, I take this very seriously. I think we've looked at and we've talked to

the university. The hon. Member should know that we are putting in place a

comprehensive study of post-secondary education, both our post-secondary public

institutions, whether it's the college or university.

Within

that study, Mr. Speaker, we will be engaging a wholesome discussion on exactly

where the university will be, not tomorrow, not in 10 years, 20 years and 30

years. It will be an opportunity for all of us to be engaged, and I invite the

Member to be involved in that as well, Mr. Speaker, because he asked if I was

involved in the consultations. I'm not too sure if he was.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Conception Bay South.

MR. PETTEN:

Can the minister confirm if

any campus closures will occur as a result of cuts to the College of the North

Atlantic?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour

MR. HAWKINS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again,

we are in this province in challenging times when it comes to demographics

within our campuses. Mr. Speaker, I can say at this point in time, no, there are

not. We are working with the College of the North Atlantic, with the board of

directors who make decisions on organizational decisions, decisions on program

offerings, and unfortunately every year, every spring when we look at enrolments

within the classrooms within the College of the North Atlantic, unfortunately,

sometimes decisions have to be made when it comes to staffing. That has been

done this spring, as it is done every spring up to this point in time, Mr.

Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Opposition House

Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, can the Minister of Natural Resources give an update on the progress of

the construction of the concrete gravity structure for the West White Rose

Project?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

About a

year ago – I guess it was a year ago this May – we announced that Husky was

moving forward with the development of that platform. I'm very pleased to see

that happen. I'm very pleased for the projects that are going on in the province

around that platform, and very pleased to see continued development of our

offshore.

With

regard to the project itself, Husky has changed out some of its senior

management team, Mr. Speaker. They have some new project leads for that project.

They are moving forward on the development of the gravity-based structure. The

unions have been fully engaged, and we look forward to their continued success.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

The hon.

the Member for Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, I ask the minister: Are the agreed to general operations, targets and

timelines originally set, are they being met today?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

understand it today, we are – as I said, they had some change in their senior

management responsible for the project. I have heard no major concerns at this

point that their timelines have changed dramatically. I will be meeting with

Husky again in the near future, and I can certainly again question that, but,

Mr. Speaker, things are happening out in Argentia, and we're very pleased to see

that things are happening. They certainly weren't happening under the former

administration's watch.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Ferryland.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

I'll just remind the Member,

there were a couple of oil and gas projects ongoing when we were in power.

Mr.

Speaker, when this project was announced local residents were excited to get

work. We're being told there are issues with unionized workers in the area with

proper skillsets are not getting access to jobs.

I ask

the minister: Have you received any complaints, and, if so, what is being done?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Natural Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There is

a union process for those positions. Husky has made arrangements with the unions

around that project. That project is proceeding, the unions are proceeding. I

have not been engaged with anyone at this point in time that has expressed grave

concern around that project in this regard. I know that the building council

trades Newfoundland and Labrador have been involved in that in ensuring things

are happening right here in our province.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Opposition House Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When the

minister last spoke in the House about the Vale underground mine, she said:

Should Vale decide not to go underground we'll be exercising that Development

Agreement and the remedies they are under.

Minister, has Vale missed any milestones contained in the Development Agreement?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Minister of Natural

Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I

said repeatedly in this House, Vale is considering its options to go

underground. We continue to encourage them to do just that. I'm hopeful that my

hon. colleagues would be there right with us, encourage them to go underground.

We do

see that Vale is moving forward with the streaming of cobalt which is tied to

the underground development, Mr. Speaker. We're cautiously optimistic they will

be moving forward with their underground project. As I've said previously, if

they do not decide to move ahead with that project, we do have remedies under

the Development Agreement.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Opposition House Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, the open pit mining operations are proposed to end in four years in

2022. The underground mine ensures that jobs will extend into the future.

Can the

minister indicate again, as I asked, if any milestones have been missed? What

penalties for Vale will be implemented for those milestones being missed?

There

was a 60-day review done last fall and after that we were supposed to get some

clear direction of what was happening. It's now well into this year. What's the

status? Will they be held to those milestones?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Natural

Resources.

MS. COADY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I've

indicated, Vale is still considering what it will do with the underground mine.

We do see that they are moving forward with the streaming of cobalt. I take that

as a positive sign because it's directly linked to the underground deposit, Mr.

Speaker.

We are

working to ensure that Vale does move forward. If they do not move forward, we

do have remedies, Mr. Speaker. I'm sure that every Member of this House of

Assembly would like to see Vale move forward.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Opposition House Leader.

MR. HUTCHINGS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Indeed

we would like to see the project move forward for all Newfoundland and Labrador,

but the reality is there's a Development Agreement, there are milestones and

there are penalties with it.

I'll ask

the minister this: What's the time frame for Vale not adhering to those

Development Agreement milestones? When will you start implementing penalties?

What's the drop-dead date for this project?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Natural

Resources.

MS. COADY:

Mr. Speaker, we are working

to ensure that there is a seamless continuation of the project from above ground

to underground. We want to make sure that there is continuing opportunity for

the Voisey's Bay mine.

We have

been working, as I've said, encouraging Vale to go underground. We do see them

streaming cobalt that is directly linked to the underground development. We're

continuing to encourage and support Vale in making sure they go underground. I

suggest everybody in the House do the same.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the

minister once again try to explain to this House and to the taxpayers of this

province why has government felt it necessary to offer $40 million of tax

rebates and incentives to a massive, multi-million dollar, out-of-province

company in order to set them up in this province?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will

explain for the House again that Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province

in Canada without a licensed cannabis producer. Given that the federal

government is making recreational cannabis legal in July 2018 – that was the

date that was stated – the province had to act to ensure supply.

We took

action. We were able to enter into an agreement with Canopy Growth Corporation

who's going to invest more than $55 million into the province; a 20-year

agreement, guarantees supply. There's no obligation to buy. This is not an

exclusive agreement. There are no tax dollars going into this corporation. They

will get a reduced-sales remittance on product that is sold in Newfoundland and

Labrador. They plan to export.

We are

building an industry. It's creating 145 jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador.

MR. SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for

Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS. PERRY:

A loss of $40 million in tax

revenue is a loss of $40 million to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS. PERRY:

I ask the minister: What

other companies are being considered to receive the same tax breaks and

incentives as you gave to Canopy Growth?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Mr. Speaker, this is a

situation of which we're developing an industry. We're creating jobs and

opportunity here in Newfoundland and Labrador, setting up manufacturing that is

going to lead to yield and a return to the Treasury. This investment is a good

deal for the people of the province.

I can

name numerous bad deals of which taxpayer dollars went back in the pockets of

people. When you talk about an investment that was made in my district, a pellet

plant operation that never saw the light of day; all the drilling that happened,

the millions of dollars on Parson's Pond; if you look at the loans given back to

Humber Valley.

We are

looking at a number of great deals here in Newfoundland and Labrador. We're

looking at talking to a number of companies to invest, to create jobs and we're

open for business.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for

Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS.

PERRY:

They had an opportunity to generate $40 million additional for the Province of

Newfoundland and they lost it, Mr. Speaker.

Will any of the marijuana grown here and subsidized by

Newfoundland and Labrador taxpayers be shipped out of the province? If so, why

should taxpayers in this province be on the hook?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR.

MITCHELMORE:

Mr.

Speaker, there is equal opportunity for any producer to come in and create an

opportunity for cannabis production here in Newfoundland and Labrador. The

Member opposite obviously does not understand business and the opportunity.

She would prefer, based on the timelines, to not have a

production facility in Newfoundland and Labrador, have us import the product and

have all the cost but no jobs. Right now, we've created an opportunity where an

industry is being developed. Jobs are being created.

Today, an environmental assessment release happened for

Argentia Gold in the Argentia area. There are a number of other companies that

are looking at setting up shop in Clarenville, Corner Brook, the Stephenville

area, Paradise, St. John's and others. There's lots of opportunity.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Thank you.

The Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS.

PERRY:

Unlike Members opposite, I have full confidence the entrepreneurs exist right

here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MS.

PERRY:

How

will marijuana grown and sold in this province compete against cheaper and of

equal quality marijuana sold online?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR.

MITCHELMORE:

Mr.

Speaker, we have to look at this in terms of having a licensed producer. The

only way to have a licensed producer in Newfoundland and Labrador is that they

have to apply to Health Canada to become licensed. We're in negotiations with a

number of other companies, but until they become licensed with Health Canada

they are unable to establish a production facility in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Once these companies get their licensing through Health

Canada and their clearance, their investments and they meet the standards, we're

more than happy to enter into agreements with companies that are going to be to

the best benefit of the people of the province. Unlike bad business deals that

they've done, like giving away huge investments through Emera to the people of

Nova Scotia and giving electricity away for free.

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

MS.

PERRY:

completely avoided answering this question so I'll repeat it again.

How will marijuana grown and sold in this province

compete against cheaper and of equal quality marijuana sold online?

MR.

SPEAKER:

The

Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR.

MITCHELMORE:

Mr.

Speaker, we have already established that online sales on the outset will be

done through the NLC here in Newfoundland and Labrador. The price will be set

and the price will be regulated. That is something that is very clear and that's

been stated publicly. I ask the Member opposite –

I can't be any clearer than

that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for Fortune Bay -

Cape La Hune for a short question, please.

MS. PERRY:

Mr. Speaker, the online

community is global. They can buy from any online company anywhere in the world.

What

incentive will there be for people in this province to buy local, if the prices

here are higher?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Mr. Speaker, for once she's

talking about the local companies here in Newfoundland and Labrador. She doesn't

want a company to come in here, invest here, create jobs here for local people

and return dollars to our Treasury. She doesn't want production jobs and now

she's suggesting that everybody go and buy online, out of market for product

elsewhere.

She's

completely trying to, I guess, devoid government of investment, growth and

opportunity. That's the PC way; that's the PC approach to doing business. That's

why we're in such a situation here in Newfoundland and Labrador, because of

their bad business deals that they've done over the years.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Leader of the Third

Party.

MS. ROGERS:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

International Day Against Homophobia and transphobia is recognized worldwide. In

our province rates of suicide, school dropout and homelessness are highest among

LGBTQ, 2-spirited youth. These are our children. We have seen advancements in

rights, training in our schools and the increase in GSA groups which is a

wonderful thing; however, as we have seen lately, more needs to be done.

I ask

the Premier: What happened to the commitment to an LGBTQ age-appropriate,

inclusive curriculum where all our youth see themselves and their families

reflected in our education system?

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. Minister of

Children, Seniors and Social Development.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank

the Member for the question. Today is an important day, Mr. Speaker. We started

this afternoon with myself reading a statement to recognize the International

Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

Mr.

Speaker, we are part of a government where we recognize the value of inclusion

for all people in society, regardless of their sexuality or their gender

expression. That is why, in my department in particular, we have a number of

grants. There are a number of camps throughout the summer that we provide

support to for LGBTQ individuals. Planned Parenthood is one of the larger groups

that we provide support to, that do a lot of work with this group that the

Member opposite is talking about.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Leader of the Third

Party.

MS. ROGERS:

Mr. Speaker, I asked

specifically about an age-appropriate, inclusive curriculum in the Department of

Education. I did not get that answer.

Mr.

Speaker, the turmoil and homophobia we have seen lately around the province

regarding LGBTQ, 2-spirited youth and their efforts to be seen, heard and

included is based on fear and misunderstanding. This is devastating for

communities, for families and, particularly, for our courageous youth who are

reaching out.

I ask

the Premier: Will he create a position of an LGBTQ, 2-spirited advisor to help

government to more appropriately address issues in our education, health,

justice and social programs so they are inclusive and responsive to the needs of

all our people, especially our youth?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Children,

Seniors and Social Development.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will

remind the Member that through our Safe & Caring Schools Policy and the

guidelines for LGBTQ-inclusive practices, Mr. Speaker, our provincial government

has been supporting inclusive school practices and will continue to do so.

We've

been supportive of inclusion. There is open dialogue. There is resource

development. There are many student-led initiatives that we support, Mr.

Speaker. In addition to that there's the Violence Prevention Initiative, which

also reflects our government's commitment to addressing the various types of

violence in our province. We'll continue to have that open dialogue and to find

opportunities where we can to support.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Member for the

District of St. John's East - Quidi Vidi.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

The new

Residential Tenancies Act will help

landlords get rid of bad tenants, but it does nothing for the many thousands of

good tenants who are paying a third to half of their income on rent and might

face more rent hikes in the future. The budget only provides for a few hundred

additional affordable units for the province this year.

I ask

the Premier: Will he commit to doubling the total number of rent supplements

next year?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Children,

Seniors and Social Development.

MS. DEMPSTER:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing – that corporation that offers the suite of

social programs – we have a tremendous team over there that does very, very

valuable work, a lot of programs. We have just endorsed the principles of the

National Housing Strategy and we are currently working out the details, Mr.

Speaker, right now of the bilateral agreement between our province and the

federal government.

The rent

supplement, Mr. Speaker, is very, very important to many of the people in our

province that are vulnerable, marginalized people in society that couldn't

otherwise afford housing. We've just recently, in

Budget 2018 , made some of the rent supps portable. We will continue

to do what we can for those important people that depend on this valuable

service.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The Member for St. John's

East - Quidi Vidi for a quick question, please.

MS. MICHAEL:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

finally have boarding homes covered on paper with the new

Residential Tenancies Act , but we need action, not just words on

paper.

I ask

the Minister of Service NL: Will she work with municipalities to ensure they

have the resources to do a proactive inspection of rental units throughout the

province?

MR. SPEAKER:

The Minister of Service NL.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

Mr. Speaker, I hope to bring

the new act into the House of Assembly today. I thank the Member opposite for

the question.

We are

open always to work with municipalities and other partners to make housing and

homelessness a better place for all people in Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER:

The time for Oral Questions

has ended.

Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.

Tabling

of Documents.

Tabling of

Documents

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

MR. MITCHELMORE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, in Question Period, the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune had

raised a Conference Board of Canada report. At that time, I had highlighted the

methodologies that make up that report.

I want

to say that all the indicators in that report were done based on data from 2013,

2014 and 2015. When she talked about innovation going from a B to a D - ,

all of that data would have happened while their government would have been in

office.

I table

the Conference Board of Canada report, the methodology that was put forward.

Thank

you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Order, please!

MR. SPEAKER:

Further tabling of documents?

Pursuant

section 8 and

section 10 of the Public

Tender Act , I hereby table report of

Public Tender Act Exceptions for March 2018 as presented by the chief

operating officer of the Government Purchasing Agency.

Further tabling of documents?

Notices of Motion.

Notices of Motion

MR. SPEAKER: The

hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

MR. OSBORNE:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I give notice that I will ask leave to introduce a

resolution and bill respecting the raising of money by way of loan by the

province, Bill 17.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further notices of motion?

The hon. the Minister of Natural Resources.

MS. COADY: Mr.

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

Act To Amend The Energy Corporation Act, Bill 19.

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

Further notices of motion?

The hon. the Minister of Service NL.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will ask leave to introduce a bill

entitled,

An Act To Amend The Corporations Act, Bill 18.

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

The hon. the Government House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I give notice that this House not adjourn at 5:30 p.m. on

Tuesday, May 22, pursuant to Standing Order 11(1).

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

Further notices of motion?

Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.

Petitions.

Petitions

MR. SPEAKER: The

hon. the Member for Conception Bay East - Bell Island.

MR. BRAZIL:

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

opioid addiction is a very serious problem affecting many individuals and

families in our province and the Bell Island area is no exception; and

WHEREAS

the effects of these problems have implications that negatively impact many

people, old and young; and

WHEREAS

support and treatment programs have been proven to break the cycle of addictions

and have helped many into recovery;

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

of Assembly to urge government to establish a Suboxone-methadone treatment plan

for Bell Island, which would include a drug addictions counsellor at the

hospital and a drug awareness program in the local school.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I've spoken to this seven times now in the House, and the petitions

just continue to keep coming in because people are identifying that there's a

need there. They're also identifying frustration that we're not getting support.

While the local health professionals want to support it, we're not getting it

from Eastern Health and we're not getting it from the department. We need to be

able to move things forward.

We talk

very openly here about the issues around opioid addictions. We talk about a

collaborative approach to solving that, but somebody has to take the lead and

take the action. We've got organizations and not-for-profit organizations and

citizens who want to lead things, but there has to be a lead from an

organization point of view and from a resource point of view, from a line

department, who can in turn tell the regional health authority that you need to

take steps forward here and to moved things.

CBC this

morning had a great

article where they talked to a couple of those people who

are struggling with the opioid issues on Bell Island, but also talked about the

supports. The home-based supports they're getting, the community-based supports

they're getting. The gap here is about needing the in-house supports that are

locally available for them.

realize we can't supply everything for everybody, everywhere, but in certain

cases where there's a demand, and where you already have a multitude of partners

and a multitude of assets that can be leveraged and developed so that they can

improve exactly what's being done here. Why would we not move it to the next

level?

It's

unfortunate that we talk such a high number, and one of the number used is that

there are 70 people in a small community who have a full dependency on opioids

and need some kinds of interventions and some supports. So we need to take a

responsibility to do things in the proper manner.

So,

again, I'm encouraging government to step up, and when these organizations are

out lobbying, that Eastern Health also do it's part and move forward to

supplying some of the services that are needed.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Thank you.

Further

petitions?

The hon.

Member for Cape St. Francis.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

To the

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

Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland

and Labrador humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS

class sizes, adequate school space and healthy socialization is essential to our

students receiving the best quality education; and

WHEREAS

schools such as St. Francis of Assisi are without cafeteria space and students

do not have the opportunity to move about daily in a daily routine; and

WHEREAS

schools in Newfoundland and Labrador have some of the largest cap size and some

of the lowest rates of literacy; and

WHEREAS

the education system in our province must be designed to ensure that each child

has the ability to reach his or her full potential;

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

of Assembly to urge government to call on government to take action in the

education system to ensure smaller class sizes and provide sufficient personal

space per child to allow for a higher quality of education. Take action to

address and ensure that schools like St. Francis of Assisi, which are without

adequate space and are using combined classes, are ensured that students have a

higher standard of education in a quality learning environment.

And as

in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.

Mr.

Speaker, I attended a meeting last week in Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove and

there was a large number of parents, teachers and grandparents in attendance.

It's a huge concern in the area with the local school. I have to say, this

particular school that I'm talking about, the results that have come back over

the last number of years with their scores in educational criteria is high. This

whole community takes this school as a part of the community and they're all so

invested in making sure that the best quality of education is in their school.

They

have a problem because there is no cafeteria in that school and children are in

combined classes. One class this year had 10 students from one grade and six

from another. When you have six students, which were three girls and three boys,

the social aspect of that alone, not being able to play with their friends and

not being able to go to lunch with their friends, because that's where a lot of

socialization and stuff like that happens.

The cap

size in the school also, classrooms aren't the normal size classrooms. They're

smaller classrooms and you're talking about putting 29 children in a class.

That's a huge issue because there's very little space in those classes. Now, if

it goes to the hard cap in some classes, it can go up to 31.

These

are letters I received from the people that were at that meeting, from

grandparents and teachers and everyone else, and I'm going to present these to

the Minister of Education.

I will

be up again to talk about this petition.

Thank

you very much, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Further petitions?

The hon.

Government House Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Orders of the Day, Mr.

Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER:

Orders of the Day.

Orders of the Day

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I call from the

Order Paper, Order 3, third reading of Bill 13.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social

Development, that Bill 13,

An Act To Amend The Jury Act, 1991, 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?

All

those in favour?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against?

This

motion is carried.

CLERK (Barnes):

A bill,

An Act To Amend The Jury Act, 1991. (Bill 13)

MR.

SPEAKER: This

bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and

its title be as on the Order Paper.

motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Jury Act, 1991,” read a third time, ordered

passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 13)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I call Order 4, third reading of Bill 14.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Health and Community Services,

that Bill 14,

An Act Respecting Children, Youth And Families, be now read a

third time.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Thank you Mr. Speaker.

And I'm

so good that I do the bills twice.

I would

call from the Order Paper, Order 3, third reading of Bill 7.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Finance and President of

Treasury Board, that Bill 7,

An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act, 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?

All

those in favour?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against?

The

motion is carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act. (Bill 7)

MR.

SPEAKER: This

bill is now read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and its

title be as on the Order Paper.

motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act,” read a third

time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 7)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I call Order 4, third reading of Bill 8.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Minister of Finance and President of

Treasury Board, that Bill 8,

An Act To Amend The Income Tax Act, 2000, 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?

All

those in favour?

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

This

motion is carried.

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Income Tax Act, 2000. (Bill 8)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill is now read a third

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

Paper.

motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Income Tax Act, 2000,” read a third time,

ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 8)

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the hon. Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development for leave to

introduce a bill entitled,

An Act To Amend The Court Security Act, 2010, Bill

16, and I further move that the said bill be now read a first time.

MR. SPEAKER:

It is moved and seconded that

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

entitled,

An Act To Amend The Court Security Act, 2010, Bill 16, and that the

said bill be now read a first time.

Is it

the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

All

those in favour, 'aye.'

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Aye.

MR. SPEAKER:

All those against, 'nay.'

The

motion is carried.

Motion,

the hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety to introduce a bill, “An Act

To Amend The Court Security Act, 2010,” carried. (Bill 16)

CLERK:

A bill,

An Act To Amend The

Court Security Act, 2010. (Bill 16)

MR. SPEAKER:

This bill has now been read a

first time.

When

shall the said bill be read a second time? Tomorrow?

MR. A. PARSONS:

Tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

Tomorrow.

motion, Bill 16 read a first time, ordered read a second time on tomorrow.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Government House

Leader.

MR. A. PARSONS:

Mr. Speaker, I call from the

Order Paper, Order 5, second reading of Bill 15.

MR. SPEAKER:

The hon. the Minister of

Service NL.

MS. GAMBIN-WALSH:

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded

by the MHA for

Virginia Waters - Pleasantville, that Bill 15,

an act to amend the

Residential Tenancies Act, 2000 be now read a second time.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Oh,

oh!

MR.

SPEAKER:

Order, please!

Your colleague is trying to speak.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

Motion, second reading of a bill, “An Act Respecting

Tenancies Of Residential Premises.” (Bill 15)

MS.

GAMBIN-WALSH:

Mr.

Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to introduce a bill which repeals and

replaces the Residential Tenancies Act,

2000 . Throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and every region of our province

many individuals and families are considered tenants or landlords. In this way,

the Residential Tenancies Act is used

every day by average citizens of the province. We have a large rental market of

approximately 15,500 private apartment units as of 2017, according to the Canada

Mortgage and Housing estimates. So as you can see, the act affects many people

from a wide variety of backgrounds.

The relationship between landlords and tenants is often

a complex one, Mr. Speaker. As a tenant, a person needs to do everything they

can do to help ensure their landlord knows if they have any problems, need

something repaired or if they have a concern within their rental unit. As

landlords, it is important to keep checking your property, give appropriate

notice whenever you want to visit the unit

and try to talk with your

tenant to solve any problems before they develop into larger issues.

Many

landlords are people with mortgages who rent out their basement apartments to

help pay their bills. Time and time again, we have heard the public discussion

on the rights of both tenants and landlords. We have heard stories about

landlords who refuse to repair a property, often creating deplorable conditions

for a tenant. On the other side of this, we have seen examples of excessive

property damage by tenants, resulting in financially challenging situations for

landlords. Oftentimes, however, these matters escalate way beyond the ability of

tenants or landlords to find solutions and a hearing, through my department, may

be the course of action to resolve the dispute.

Mr.

Speaker, I want to emphasize, however, that most landlords and tenants

throughout Newfoundland and Labrador are law-abiding, well-meaning individuals.

We recognize that there is a need to ensure that rights of landlords and tenants

are protected, and this is why we have a Residential Tenancies Act in our province.

Mr.

Speaker, the current act was proclaimed in 2000 and has not been substantively

amended since that time. Landlords and tenants and other interested parties have

been asking for changes to the residential tenancies legislation for some time.

The act also has many unclear sections that are not easily understood and

require clarity and modernization.

I have

stood many times in this House of Assembly regarding legislative amendments.

Each time, I have said that it is incumbent upon us as a government to ensure

legislation is effective for the people it serves. The

Residential Tenancies Act is one more example, Mr. Speaker.

committed to review the legislation and bring forward amendments that protect

the best interests of tenants and landlords. Our objective is to update the

legislation in a way that is responsive to everyone's needs. In 2012, the

previous administration conducted consultation and a jurisdictional scan to

determine best practices in our province.

During

the 2012 consultation, a series of public, face-to-face sessions were held

across the province. A consultation discussion guide was issued and feedback was

gathered from the general public stakeholders, landlords, tenants, property

management companies and any other person or group who were interested in

providing comments. A

summary What We

Heard document was developed, and Service NL also conducted a comprehensive

review of the act, including an extensive jurisdictional component. While the

consultations were held in 2012, associated changes to the act were not pursued

by the then-government of the day. Since 2012 there have been continued demands

from stakeholders to amend the act; however, market conditions and financial

considerations today have changed drastically since 2012.

The

former minister of Service NL committed to a review of the

Residential Tenancies Act in 2016 and it was reflected in my 2017

mandate letter from the Premier. Through this review, as well as the feedback

received through various public consultation processes, we have identified

several areas that merit significant amendments. We have also identified the

need to clarify the act's language to ensure it is modern and clear.

While we

relied on the information gathered in 2012 consultations and the associated

analysis as the foundation to move forward on recommending changes to the act,

consideration was also given to the fact that additional issues have arisen in

the rental market since the consultations were conducted. We have also received

feedback on the act through other government consultation processes, such as the

Housing Corporation's review of its programs and services in 2017, the 'Housing

First' Forum in 2016, the Violence Prevention Initiative round-table meetings in

2016, the public engagement process on poverty reduction in 2015 and the

All-Party Committee on Mental Health and Addictions public consultations in

We also

received feedback from a number of individuals and groups such as Stella Burry's

not covered report, the St. John's Board of Trade landlord's committee, the

Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour and a Facebook group established

by Mr. Sherwin Flight with approximately 8,500 members. We want to thank all

those who provided input to help arrive at the amendments we are presenting here

today. It is our intention to build on the work that was done in the past in a

way that includes recent public comment on the issue.

Given

the different interests regarding the act, my department has made every effort

to balance competing needs of landlords and tenants in drafting the changes, and

to provide a modern and clear regulatory framework to govern the rights and

obligations of both parties. A modern and robust regulatory framework is

necessary to deliver consumer protection to tenants, while also ensuring the

needs of landlords are taken into account. That is what our government intends

to do.

Today,

Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight a number of the changes to the

Residential Tenancies Act that we are

bringing forward. It is an unfortunate reality of our society that many

individuals are victims of domestic violence. It is incumbent upon us as a

government to continue to explore means of helping these victims find ways of

leaving the abusive situation and re-establishing their lives. I am delighted

that one of the amendments we are introducing today will help address this

matter.

Currently, there are no provisions in the act that provide for early termination

of a rental agreement in situations of family violence. The changes we are

proposing today will provide for early termination of fixed-term rental

agreements without penalty by providing a 30-day notice in these situations.

Mr.

Speaker, the fact that boarding houses and common house-sharing arrangements are

not covered under the current legislation has also been consistently expressed

to our department. It has been a common theme heard in most of the public

consultation process. Furthermore, the report from the All-Party Committee on

Mental Health and Addictions in 2017, along with the June 2017 Mental Health and

Addictions Plan, reiterated this request.

Boarding

houses are excluded from the act as it stands now, along with living

accommodations provided by a religious, charitable, or not-for-profit

organization. Our amendments will expand the applicability of the act to

boarding houses and the living accommodations I referenced, with the exception

of transient accommodations provided by religious, charitable, and

not-for-profit groups.

Another

matter that has been brought to our attention is the length of time for notice

of rent increases. As it exists in legislation, the notice period currently

stands at three months. The new legislation will increase the notice period from

three months to six months. This increase would give tenants additional time to

seek out alternate accommodations if they cannot afford the increase, while

landlords can, with good forward planning, implement necessary increases to

cover their costs.

Mr.

Speaker, in situations of group eviction, it is now required that all tenants,

including those in residential complexes, in addition to tenants of mobile home

parks, be given a six-month notice. Furthermore, the act is now clear that group

termination notices are limited to the grounds that are outlined in the act.

These grounds include: demolition, changing the use of the property to that

other than rented residential premises and extensive repairs or renovations that

require the property to be vacant.

Mr.

Speaker, representation has also been made to us regarding the length of time a

landlord can keep a security deposit which currently stands at 15 days after a

tenant leaves. The amendments will decrease the time a landlord can keep a

security deposit from 15 days to 10 days.

If the

rent payable to a landlord is in arrears for 15 days, current legislation says

the landlord can give notice that the rental agreement is terminated and the

tenant is required to vacate the premises on a specified date not less than 10

days after then notice is served. Our proposed changes will reduce the time it

takes to evict a tenant in a month-to-month arrangement by decreasing the time

the tenant must be in arrears before the 10-day eviction notice is given to five

days from 15 days.

Mr.

Speaker, as it currently stands maximum fines for contravening the

Residential Tenancies Act are $400. We

have heard the fines are too low to encourage compliance with the act. In the

What We Heard document it states:

“Many of those we heard from voiced their concerns about particular violations

of the Act , including

violations by some landlords who change the locks on their tenant's doors and

would remove their possessions without properly terminating the lease. It was

suggested that some of these violations could be curtailed if the maximum fine

allowed in this

section was increased and we received suggestions that it be

increased up to $3,000.” The new legislation will see an increase in penalties

from a maximum of $400 to a maximum of $10,000 for corporations and $3,000 for

individuals.

Mr. Speaker, under the current legislation a landlord or

tenant can make application to the director of Residential Tenancies for

reconsideration of an order made by divisional staff under

section 41. The new

legislation will eliminate the reconsideration of the orders to the director and

allow parties to proceed to the court process thereby reducing the timeline by

17 days.

In terms of group evictions, the existing act allows the

landlord to apply to the director for further consideration in situations where

a six-month notice period for mobile homes would cause undue hardship; however,

there is no similar provision to allow a tenant to apply for further

consideration. As such, the amendment will allow the director to hear an

application and determine that a six-month notice period for a group eviction

will result in undue hardship for the landlord or the tenant and make an order

to either reduce or extend that time period.

Mr. Speaker, currently legislation is also not clear as to

whether a tenant who sublets a property is considered a landlord. We have

amended the definition of landlord to make it clear that subletters are

landlords. Representation has also been made regarding

timelines associated with

abandoned properties. The act currently states that a landlord must store

abandoned personal property for a period of 60 days. The time frame has now been

reduced from 60 to 30. The bill would also allow the landlord to store the

property in the rental unit avoiding the cost of temporary storage.

Mr.

Speaker, these are a few of the major highlights of the amendments we are

proposing today to the Residential

Tendencies Act . There are also a

number of amendments concerning such matters as: copies of orders, electronic

documentation, receipts, accounts for security deposits, fees for non-sufficient

funds and various housekeeping items. These changes are aimed at modernizing the

legislation, recognizing the digital world we live in today.

When you

look at all the proposed amendments brought to the floor of this House today, I

believe it represents a balanced approach to addressing what we have heard from

both landlords and tenants. Throughout the process we have kept the fact that

this act is utilized by a large number of our residents at the forefront.

Therefore, it was important that we not only strive to achieve a fair response

to landlords and tenants alike, but also make sure the act is clear and precise

for everyone.

Enhanced

consumer protection and a deterrent of bad business practices have been very

important topics for our government. Our objective is to give good landlords and

good tenants additional tools to protect their rights. Both

The Way Forward and my mandate letter

from the Premier have placed great emphasis on these matters. We have also

committed to better services and better outcomes for the people of Newfoundland

and Labrador.

The

amendments to the Residential Tenancies

Act we have introduced in this hon. House certainly reinforce these

commitments. It is important that we, as a government, continue to address

matters of concern for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thank

you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER (Reid):

The hon. the Member for

Cape St. Francis.

SOME HON. MEMBERS:

Hear, hear!

MR. K. PARSONS:

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker.

It is

indeed a privilege to get up here today and talk about Bill 15,

An Act

Respecting Tenancies of Residential Premises.

Mr.

Speaker, I'm going to start off first by – it's something that has been in the

news I'd say for years and years and years when you look at what is happening

with landlords and tenants. We hear of so much in the news when you look at – I

was reading some articles yesterday about the state some of the residents had

left for the landlords. Then there are some other cases where the landlord – the

state of their rental property and stuff like this. It's been an issue that has

been discussed in this province for years and years.

The

minister did mention a word there that it's a balanced approach. I've read a lot

of the act and there are a lot of questions that I will have minister when we do

get to committee about this act. That's what I think over the years all

representatives and all ministers of Service NL had to find.

It's a

job sometimes to find a balanced approach because you're dealing with two

different entities. One is the landlord and the rights of the landlord and the

other is the rights of the tenant. So it's a difficult procedure to go through

sometimes because, obviously, what is good for one may not be good for the

other. That's where this act today and some of the changes – I will go over now

shortly in a sec – in this act are trying to address.

It would

be interesting, this act came in – we had just a couple of days. We had some

over in the department, and I thank the department for their briefing on this

act. It was introduced here in the House yesterday. It will be interesting to

find and see how both groups, both landlords and tenants, respond to the changes

that have come as a result of the new changes in Bill 15.

This has

been revised. This landlords and tenants act was first introduced in 2000. So

this is a completely new act that we're here debating today. Currently, the

relationship between landlords and tenants in the province is governed by

Consumer Affairs Division of Service NL, and there's a director. There's a

separate division that people can go and have different disputes and different

things settled.

In this

bill today, I think there are 60 different sections all together within the

bill. In this bill, what it does it sets out the rights and responsibilities of

landlords and tenants and regulates matters for which rental agreements, rental

increases, security deposits, notice of termination of tenancy, sets disputes

and how disputes can be done. The legislation is also aimed to protect both

sides; it's aimed to protect both the landlords and tenants.

It's

interesting for the minister to get up, and she mentioned it two or three times

in her statement is, what we've heard. That was back in 2012. That was part of

the consultation our government took in – and it was a huge consultation that

was done province-wide and it was completed. It went to all different sections

of the province and different areas of the province to find out what people

heard. I heard the minister reference that a couple of times today. So it's nice

to know she's used some of that in our things.

In the

last number of years, since 2015 there have been three different ministers of

Service NL. I would imagine that each one had in their mandate letter that this

was a priority for their government to do. We've heard from different ministers.

We heard from one minister that said they were going to go completely, not even

look at the consultations – and the minister did mention this also, that they

were going to go and do a complete set of consultations and go back and review

everything, and she's right. The minister is right when she states that it's

difficult, because sometimes things change. We can only look at areas where you

can see – and I'll give a great example, too.

Labrador City, I know there was an increase in the mining and rental and stuff

like that. It went right on; it went way up. At that time, if you were a

landlord –

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MR. K. PARSONS:

That's right, and now it's

gone right down. Exactly what the Member says.

Sometimes with megaprojects, and I'm sure the Clarenville area when Bull Arm was

on the go, and Sunnyside and that area, they had areas that were very concerning

for the landlords. If you got a rental property and there's a project on the go,

well you hope you can make the most money that you can – and probably people

built homes for those.

Then you

have to look on the other side of it, who's a tenant, someone who's renting in

that area. All of a sudden there are no rules or regulations in place that can

help that tenant that all of a sudden my rent is going to be doubled. I heard

tell about it in the Clarenville area and Sunnyside and Bellevue and that area

where people were actually saying: okay, listen, I'll go into my cabin and I'll

rent my home because this is the time to make some money at this.

So it's

a difficult time. The minister is right when she said changes in market has a

huge effect on how landlords and tenants and the respect that we have. So it's

nice to see the minister used a lot of

What We Heard document that was done in 2012 by our government.

In the

briefing, we were on the understanding that there were some amendments coming to

this act. In that particular briefing then we found out that it was a completely

new act that was coming in. I'm going to ask the minister some questions on that

also.

The

consultation part of this is huge because housing affects so many different

groups in our society. When we went over to the briefing and they gave us the

different groups that were involved in the consultation – like I said, it

started basically in 2012 when everything was done with the residential tenancy

consultations, and they consulted with everyone.

I'm just

going to name some of the groups, and I know the minister mentioned some of them

already. We had Newfoundland and Labrador Housing, A Road Map for Ending

Homelessness in Newfoundland and Labrador. I was part, for a little while, and

then my colleague from CBS came on the Committee for Mental Health and

Addictions and their consultations that they had.

We had a

public engagement on poverty reduction, which, as part of our government over

the number of years, was probably one of the proudest moments as an MHA in our

government, in our time, was when I went to – and it was a Housing initiative

that was done in St. John's. We had a person from New Brunswick that was there

and they spoke about what great changes we've made in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Because

in 2003-2004, our province was considered the lowest – when it came to poverty

in the country, we were at the lowest scale for any poverty with all the

different categories and everything else. So our government, at the time, took

on a poverty reduction plan and for 10 to 12 years – it took a while, but we

gradually came up that list, and at the end, when you look at poverty reduction

in our province, we had made great strides. It was probably one of the most

successful things that we've done.

That was

done through everybody. That was done through all the different organizations in

our province that stepped up and made sure that we were doing the proper thing,

to make sure people weren't living under the poverty line and we were trying to

get as many people on that.

There

were also consultations that were done through Provincial Housing First Forum.

There was a Violence Prevention Initiative roundtable meetings, and like I said,

Newfoundland and Labrador Housing consultations and programs. There were a lot

of stakeholders involved in all the consultations that were done over the years,

and the last three years since this government came in.

The City

of St. John's, I spoke to a representative from the City of St. John's and I

asked them what they thought of the new regulations. They said: We haven't seen

them yet, so we really don't know what's in the regulations. We did do a lot of

consultations ourselves, and we were hoping that we would be involved in this,

but they were never told what the results were. I'm sure that a lot of stuff

that's here they're going to be very pleased with.

The St.

John's Board of Trade were also involved. They had a private sector landlord

subcommittee set up. There's a Facebook group that the minister mentioned today

in her news conference. I was down to her news conference this morning and she

mentioned about this Facebook page that was there, it was Newfoundland Tenant

and Landlord Support Group. I believe, Minister, you can correct me if I'm

wrong, there was about 8,000 people in that group.

That's

huge when we use groups like that because that's where you'll hear the stories.

I'm not sure if that was all tenants or landlords or both.

AN HON. MEMBER:

Both.

MR. K. PARSONS:

Both, okay. It was both

groups so that's very important because that's where you'll get a lot of

information and you'll understand.

Like I

said, myself, I rented for a few years and I was very fortunate because the

landlords that I had in both cases were great. I'm going to mention one now, I

won't mention the other one, but my good friend, Marjorie, that used to be on

Open Line all the time; Marjorie was

my landlord. She really liked to talk about politics, I can tell you that. At

the time, my father was involved in politics, so the conversations with me and

Marjorie were great. She was fantastic.

We had

an issue one time with a stove and within a couple of days we had a new stove in

our apartment. She had taken care of it, any concerns at all. It was a really

good relationship.

The

minister mentioned it too today, there are a lot of people – we hear the bad

stories all the time. No matter where you are, you'll always hear the bad

stories, but I know and I am sure that the majority of people who are renting in

this province, that are tenants in this province, are great tenants. I'm sure

that a lot of landlords in this province are good landlords.

This act

is a great act because when I read a lot of it – I didn't read it when I was a

tenant, but when I read it, I have to say one thing, it had language that was

understandable. Sometimes when you read acts there are a lot of language that

you just don't understand. What does that mean? I have to say, this act does

have the language that people should be able to understand and will understand

exactly what the procedures are.

Like I

said, there were a lot of people; stakeholders in this. I know the minister

mentioned this morning Stella Burry and she mentioned the Newfoundland and

Labrador Federation of Labour. I'm sure there are a lot of private landlords and

tenants that did some submissions to this.

Like I

said, this is a new act. It's going to come in force in January 1, 2019, I do

believe is when this is going to come in.

This act

today that we're going to be discussing is, like I said, I hope and I know

talking to people that were previously – and the briefing we had, it's intended

to protect the rights of both the landlords and the tenants. The proposed

changes are very close to the – the two acts are very similar but there are some

major changes in these acts.

I'm sure

that we will hear from landlords that will say: I don't like this part of it.

I'm sure we'll hear from tenants that will have some changes. There are changes

in this act also that will benefit both groups, so it's important that we look

at all the changes.

I'm

going to mention a few of the changes. The minister just went through most of

them but I'm just going to give a little mention to some of them and just to

talk a little bit about each. Then I'm going to just give a few that I think the

tenants will like and I think a few that the landlords will like.

When we

do go to Committee, Minister, I will have lots of questions that will be general

questions because there are some parts of society who are not included and other

parts that are included in this that I would like to ask about.

The

inclusion in the act also is about religious, charitable and non-profit

organizations. We know in different communities right across the province you'll

see people like the Lions Club and you'll see the Salvation Army. In my area, I

believe the Kinsmen in Torbay have an apartment building. Under the act now they

are going to be included as part of the landlords and tenants act. They're going

to have to agree to and sign agreements and follow this act also. That's a good

thing.

The

minister mentioned about family violence. Mr. Speaker, we hear too often in

society about what happens with family violence. It's such a stressful time on

families and everything else. I'm grateful to see that the provisions of early

termination with fixed rentals in this agreement without penalty providing a

30-day notice for situations of family violence.

That's

very positive because the stress and what happens when people are involved in

violence, whether there are children involved, if it's spouse and no matter

what, any time that we talk of family violence, we all know that happens too

much in our society. I can only imagine the stress that is on the people, so I

really like this part. I have some questions when we get to Committee that will

address this, but it's an important add-on to our act. I don't believe it was in

the act before.

Also, a

big part here is the increased notice of period of rent. So the increase

notification that your rent is going to go up. It's gone now from three months

to six months. That's so important because we all have to live. A sign of the

times are most people in this province, no matter where you are, live from

paycheque to paycheque. If you're faced with a rental increase that you can't

afford, then it's nice to be able to have the time to be able to look. Whether

you've got to go say I just can't afford that anymore, or maybe there's

something that's coming in six months, I have a bill paid off, then I'm okay to

be able to do that, or you just say I'm just going to move on and look for

another accommodation somewhere.

It gives

a person a lot more time. Again, three months, you're in a panic situation.

People just look at it and say I only have so much time because once one month

is up you're really into it. Six months is a good move. I'm sure there are some

landlords that probably won't be so happy with this, but it's a reasonable thing

I do believe.

Also,

next, I look at areas – decreasing the time the landlord can keep a security

deposit from 10 to 15 days. Fifteen days is what they can keep it now and now

it's reduced down to 10. That's important also. That's your money. If you're

moving on, you still have to make sure that apartment is in the condition you

left it in and there's no damage done and whatnot. But, obviously, you're either

moving on to a new area, or you're moving on to a new apartment. You could be

moving out. You may be getting married, you may be doing anything. To hold it

for the 15 days and 10 days, there's no need of it. The sooner you get your

money back the better it is for everyone.

The

minister mentioned that it's a small and minor part of the bill, when we talk

about delivery of documents and serving of documents through electronic means.

Mr. Speaker, that's just basically getting with the sign of the times. That's

what's happening in society today. I'm not with the sign of the times most

times. If I have anything to do that's with the computer or with my phone or

anything at all, I have to go to somebody and say: How do you do that? I prefer

to have paper all the time. I prefer not to send an email, I prefer to talk.

Most

people today – I look at people and they go online now and they're buying this

stuff. It's just a matter of sending a picture or doing a transfer from your

account. Or when you get a cheque you can take the cheque, take a picture of it

and put it right in. That is what people do in society today. It's probably

making it easier for both the landlord and the tenant to be able to do this.

That's

important because it eliminates a lot of time and it's easier. It's so much

easier being able to go and drive up to a person's house and collect the rent,

or to go and probably have to put a notice in for something. They can do that

through electronic means. It's just a matter of getting with what the times are

today.

I say to

the landlords about payment: How easy will it be for payment of bills? Like I

said, I don't know how to do it, I really don't, but I know it's done all the

time. Electronics these days, can you send me this, can you send me that. I have

to go to someone else and say send that for me.

The

people can do that today and it's important. I know the minister said it's minor

but I would imagine to landlords that's huge, and even to tenants also. They may

be working in Bull Arm or they may be working in some other place, to be able to

send it electronically would be a huge convenience for that person.

Another

part that the minister didn't mention – but when I went through it – is

expanding the statutory conditions on peaceful enjoyment, including reasonable

privacy for landlords and tenants. When I first read it I had to get someone to

explain a little bit more to me about it and we did ask some questions.

Everybody has a right in society today. In this House of Assembly here you're

not allowed to take a picture. You're not allowed to take any pictures in here

in the House of Assembly now. We just changed the rules lately for our media up

on top. They're allowed to take still pictures of –

AN HON. MEMBER:

(Inaudible.)

MR. K. PARSONS:

Right, during QP, as I'm just

told.

today's society there are some people that can have cameras. We've heard it;

we've seen it in the media. We've seen it recently at a fitness place here in

St. John's; a person went in and took some photos. I believe, Minister – and I

do have some questions on this also – that's basically what we're talking about

here, about the privacy of individuals.

Today,

we're all scared. Everyone is scared of the fraud that can happen with different

people and the fraud that can happen when people get information about you.

seen what can happen. I think we'll have to expand a little bit more on that,

but that's also an important part to this whole piece of legislation.

Mr.

Speaker, there are other parts of the legislation also that changes – and this

is something that, again, I went over to the briefing and learned a little bit

about it – the definition of a landlord. The definition of a landlord is made

clearer in this so that we know that subletters are also considered landlords.

If I have houses and somebody else is working for me and they sublet it – I give

it to them and they sub it out to someone else – now they're considered the

landlord. That's a change that's in this also.

When you

look at the director and we talk about the director – and I'll mention that a

little bit later now because it's right in the bill and I'll give you the

definition of the director. That director has the authority – and this is a very

important part – without attempting any mediation or holding hearings to include

situations where the landlord's property is significantly at risk. We were over

to the briefing, Mr. Speaker, and we asked for examples of this. I didn't know

first and then I realized, okay, I can see what is happening here.

If I'm a

landlord and I know that something is seriously happening in my rental unit,

I've got to go to the director and there has to be a hearing and everything

else. While all this process is in place the damage is happening. There was an

example given over there of someone who lit fireworks in a rental unit inside

and the damage that could do to that person.

The way

the previous bill was you'd have to get to the director, you'd have to get the

hearing; I guess you'd call the police or whatever. But this way the director,

once he realizes there's significant damage or could be significant damage to

the property, then right away they can get the enforcement in to make sure that

person or those people are out of there altogether.

Another

part of this now too – and the minister went through this part, but I will

mention this – is reducing the time it takes to evict a tenant in arrears,

decreasing the time the tenant must be in arrears from 10 days' notice to evict

and give them five days from 15 days. I asked some questions when we were in the

briefing because there are some circumstances that I thought about that could be

– and I understand why it's brought in. I understand that if you owe money and

the longer it takes to get money – you're talking 10 days, 15 days – that should

be paid. But there are some circumstances that I'm sure could come up that a

person may be hospitalized or something like that. Then, what happens in that

case. I'll probably also ask some questions on that, but I understand why it's

coming in.

The

other part – not being a landlord I didn't know this until we went over to the

briefing – say, for example, you abandoned your property. The landlord has to

store your personal property. That was for 60 days. Now that's reduced down to

30 days. When that was the way it was, the landlord had to go get a rental unit

and find a place to rent and store all the property that was in that apartment.

Now that's changed and you only have to store it for 30 days. But this

legislation now is allowing the landlord to store personal property on the

rental property without requiring any agreement in writing. So you still have to

store the property, but at least you don't have to go with the expense of going

out and having a rental unit. It's important that that's part of it too.

Only the

landlord to establish a separate account – this is important too. I go to the

prepaid funerals, when I first saw this, and understand what we went through a

couple of years ago when people had money and security, or they thought they

did, and a company went out of business – where's my money, and it was gone.

What

this part does, is holding security deposits if they have more than three rental

premises. That means you have to set up a separate account and have that account

in a trust so that your money that you pay for your security deposit is kept

there. So if, for some reason or another, you go bankrupt, at least that money

is there. You did your job on your security and you kept your apartment in great

shape or whatever, at least that gives the tenant to know that, listen, my money

is secure if someone goes bankrupt or something like that. Again, there are all

kinds of positive changes there.

There's

some interest in this. When we were over in the briefing, it was the increase in

penalties. The legislative part of us, we had before, was $400 and now it's gone

to $10,000 for corporations and $3,000 for individuals. Now, individuals can be

both landlords and tenants, so that's a huge increase.

It's

interesting because when I first looked at it, I said $400 doesn't seem like a

lot of money if some damage is done or you're doing something. I mean, to clean

an apartment today I'm sure it costs a lot more than $400. This is in

section 51

of the bill, but I would imagine that we were probably one of the lowest –

that's what they explained to us in the briefing, that we were one of the lowest

and that we're basically coming up to where other provinces and territories in

Canada are and that's where that's to.

The

other part of the bill and there's a lot here – and we'll get to one part of

this

section – where it shows that people are not included in this. I'll talk

about that a little later. We included boarding houses and living accommodations

– and like we said

earlier, we mentioned religious, charitable and non-profit organizations. So

that's a huge part of this also.

Because

we've seen over the years, a lot of times we've seen stories on the news in the

evenings about people living in boarding houses, and sometimes they're pretty

hard. It's pretty hard to look at. We do have some landlords out there – and

like I said earlier the majority of landlords, majority of tenants are great,

but we do have some landlords and we do have some tenants that sometimes are

living in pretty deplorable situations. So it's great that we're including

boarding houses, because a lot of times, like I said, on the news – and I know

most of them we all talk about and see on the news were boarding house. So I'm

glad to see that in this.

Again, I

mentioned about the director allowed to go straight to the court process to

reduce timelines, that there is no need for a hearing. So if the director sees

that one of the parties are not keeping to their standards, that they can go –

and that reduces the timelines, because I think the hearings and everything will

take about 17 days to do.

The

other one, too, when we were in – like I said, Mr. Speaker, this is a huge bill.

There's a lot to this bill. It was reducing the period of time that a landlord

or a tenant can make application to the director from two years to one year from

termination of a rental agreement. Before, if I was renting, or I was the

renting tenant or the landlord, after our rental agreement I could go to the

director and say listen, I never got this, or I forgot, I should have got this,

or I realize that this was done – you had up to two years to do that. So now

it's changed from two years to one year.

I think

that's a positive change also, because two years down the road you should know –

one year down the road after moving out of a premises or the landlord can come

back and say the tenant did something. One year, you should be after figuring

out what's happening.

Like I

said, there are provisions here for post-dated payments and allowed

electronically. So we talked a little bit about that.

Mr.

Speaker, I guess when this bill was first thought about, the changes to the

bill, it was very difficult because it's a job – like I said earlier when I

first started to speak that this bill – to do something for a tenant that does

not have an effect on the landlord.

I'm sure

when this gets out into the public, and when the public and landlords can see

it, there are going to be some issues that will happen that one party is not

going to be happy with. But just to talk about the tenants and benefits that I

see with the tenants would be the family violence, the 30-day notice – it's

great. I think the increase in going from three months to six months is very

positive. I think the holding of the security deposit, moving it down to 10 days

from 15 is a positive.

Mr.

Speaker, I think that we have a lot of tenants – this is another

part I haven't

touched on yet – that are in a complex or mobile homes and stuff like that, and

the minister did mention about it. For the purpose of demolition or changing the

rental premises, they could want to do a major overhaul and that probably could

take a year, it could take up to two years with repairs and stuff like that.

Right now, this act, the landlord has to give them six months' notice. Again, I

think that's a positive thing for tenants. You're not just shoved out on the

street if somebody wants to come in and do some renovation or to demolish some

area or something like that. Again, that's a positive thing.

Also,

it's important about the subletter, the person who is actually your landlord –

the landlord who you pay your money to, say, rather than the subletter who is

probably giving out a lot, has a whole bunch of subletters but at least the

landlord that you're paying to, the person who is subbing that is now considered

the landlord. That's spelled out in the act itself.

Again, a

positive thing for the tenants will be electronically how you can make your

payments. I said that earlier, that an important part of this will be a sign of

the times and getting with so that I can send – you could be anywhere, you could

be on vacation or you could be working abroad or anywhere at all. We have a lot

of people in this province who travel for three weeks at a time that are in

Alberta, they could be in BC, they could be anywhere in Canada, they could be

anywhere in the world, and an electronic means of making payments will be very,

very important to those people. That's an important change that's here.

I just

mentioned some benefits that I felt the tenant would be in favour of. I'm sure

the landlord may be not so happy with some of those changes, but there are

changes also that will benefit the landlord.

Again, I

mentioned a little while ago about what could happen to an apartment when a

person – I have some articles here and it's pretty interesting if you look at

some of the pictures that are on these articles and what was left behind and

stuff like that. If I was a landlord and saw some of this, it would be – the

landlord has something there now, if he said my property is being destroyed, my

property is being absolutely destroyed, he can go to the director now and the

director can make an order right away without having a hearing, without doing

any mediation or something like that.

I know

this is going to be defined in policy later on, Minister. We'll see this and how

this is going to unfold and what the director has to do in order for it to be

considered a significant risk. I know this must be a positive thing for the

landlord.

There's

also a part the landlord would also like, it's arears, when they're owed money.

Now if you look it, it's a 10 day notice but it's moved from five days now to 15

– or was 15 days and it's moved to five days. So that's positive.

Also, I

mentioned a little while ago about abandoned apartments. Before – I didn't

realize this until I was over and had the briefing with the department – the

landlord had to store everything that was left in the apartment. The person took

off, gone, and everything that was left there was the responsibility of the

landlord to take it, put it in a rental place and store it for 60 days.

I can

imagine that was – financially having to rent a place, to hold it for 60 days,

the work that's involved. I don't know if any of you have ever moved from

apartment to apartment, but the work it takes to move all the stuff that's in an

apartment or a house, it takes a good few truckloads to move most of the stuff

that's there, and there's a cost to that.

This

portion, I'm sure the landlords will like it, because now they only have to

store personal property for 60 days. Also, to be able to secure it on their

property, that's an important part. Then, like I said, the cost of moving or the

cost of having somebody come and move it to a unit would be really, really high.

The

minister mentioned about this also, about the clarification of receipts and

failure to provide copies of rental agreements. There are some sections in this

that will make it easier – and I suppose it's electronically or whatever – for

the rental agreements and receipts to be moved back and forth between the

landlords and tenants.

Notice

of termination; termination notice would be required if the landlord and tenant

agree in writing. If both agree in writing, the rental agreement on a specific

date, that they want to cancel, they can do it also; if both are in agreement of

the termination of that rental agreement on a specific date. This eliminates a

lot of red tape too, because if you have to go through the processes and

everything else, it will eliminate a bit of red tape.

The

landlord also has to set up a holding, like I mentioned earlier, for the

deposits of three or more units. So that's another positive thing. Again, any

time we can make it easier for people to pay their bill or to send things

through electronic means, it's a positive part of this.

When we

went over, there was some talk about the director and the director's job in what

the director does when it comes to this act. Before, the director was done

through Cabinet, and the Cabinet had to decide the person they wanted to

appoint. That's changed in this act. It will be going to the responsibility of

the minister. Again, I guess that's just to eliminate a bit of work for Cabinet,

and probably the minister is the best person to do that.

In the

bill there are a lot of definition materials and policies that I'm hoping we'll

see. There's some consideration of what an abandoned premises – what's

considered? It could be a person that, are they abandoned? Have they paid?

There's nobody seen going into the – but they could be still paying and stuff

like this. So there's some clarification that we need on that.

It was

interesting, when you read the act itself, there are many different kinds of

rental agreements and what the definition of a rental premises is. When I looked

at the act, there's some fairly interesting, because I know – I'm not allowed. I

know, Mr. Speaker, I'm not allowed to go to the specifics of the act and we'll

get to that when we do but there are some areas in here where it doesn't apply

to. It doesn't apply to different groups and it's important to understand.

Again,

at the briefing, it was a good briefing and they gave us some examples. Living

accommodations: a hotel, motel, inn, a tourist home, hostel or other similar

combinations like that, also vacation homes for seasonal or a temporary period.

For

people that want to go through – the minister mentioned this for different

rehabs, whether it's through church groups or through government agencies and

stuff like that. Accommodations for people in shelters – they're not included;

nursing homes. Also, there are accommodations for educational institutions, for

students. That's interesting that they're not included here, too.

There's

one part of the act, though, Mr. Speaker: “a government agency that pays rent on

behalf of a tenant.” That will be an interesting one to hear what the minister

has to say about that.

I want

to go back and just talk about the director who is the ultimate power for this

whole act. The director has the ability to hear all the grievances or whatever

is on the go and to “investigate and determine a matter arising under a rental

agreement or this Act.” And can also assign the duties, including mediation and

different duties to persons that the director's seem as appropriate. There are

different inspectors and different people that they will look into.

We'll

get into most of this, Mr. Speaker, when we get to Committee. Again, I just want

to talk a little bit about the importance of this act and the importance that

people have confidence that they're going to be taken care of. Again, like I

said, there are different groups out there, are landlords that are great people.

Make sure that – I gave an example of Marjorie earlier. There are a lot of

Marjories out there who make sure that their tenants are well taken care of.

We do

have some landlords that need this act and we need to make sure that they – one

of the obligations in the act itself on a landlord is to make sure that they

give a clean, safe premise to the tenant. There's also part of this act that is

obligations of a tenant and the obligations of the person who is renting or

whatever. Their obligation is to make sure that they keep that clean, make sure

that they don't do any damage to it and make sure that the rental unit that

they're doing is in the best possible shape that they can.

Mr.

Speaker, I think I touched a lot of the areas in the bill. I know that