December 2, 2014
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLVII No. 49
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
Admit strangers.
Before we start today's proceedings, I want to
especially welcome Mr. Stelman Flynn to the Speaker's gallery today.
Mr. Flynn was recently elected in an election in Humber East and will
be sworn, I think, sometime next week.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
Statements by Members
MR. SPEAKER:
Today we have members' statement from the Member for St. John's East; the
Member for St. John's South; the Member for Burgeo – La Poile; the Member
for Cape St. Francis; the Member for Bellevue; and the Member for Baie Verte
– Springdale.
The hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate an organization that has been making an
important difference in the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of children
and parents in and around St. John's for twenty years.
The Brighter Futures Coalition of St. John's and
district brings together parents, community members, and professionals from
the St. John's area. Through a
variety of programs, Brighter Futures promotes a healthy birth, growth, and
development of children age six and under and their families.
Their home base is in my District of St. John's East,
but Brighter Futures offers programs like their Healthy Baby Club and Family
Resource Centres in locations including Bell Island, Torbay, Mount Pearl,
and Paradise, as well as several locations in St. John's.
The Healthy Baby Club, run in partnership with Eastern
Health, gets children off to the best possible start, providing support,
nurturing, and guidance to pregnant women in a relaxed and friendly
environment. Numerous other
programs give children and caregivers the chance to socialize, learn, and
become part of their communities.
I ask all hon. members to join me in thanking Brighter
Futures for the work they have done and continue to do for our Newfoundland
and Labrador families.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. John's South.
MR. OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Today, I recognize a new inductee into Canada's
prestigious Governor General Curling Club.
The club, which was started in 1874, has a maximum of 100 members and
twenty-five emeritus members from across Canada at any given time.
The main focus of the club is to recognize those who
have made a significant contribution to curling.
Some of its members are legends of the game and all have helped build
the sport. It is considered a
huge honour to be invited to join this prestigious group of men and women
who have contributed so much to curling.
The club's crested red blazers are a familiar sight at
national and international championships.
This Province's newest inductee is a resident of my colleague's
district of St. John's North.
I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating my
brother, Bob Osborne, who is truly now one in a hundred.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Burgeo – La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to recognize and commend MacKenzie
Ambulance Service of Channel-Port aux Basques, on their first annual Pack
the Back fundraiser. Their goal
was to Pack the Back of one of their ambulances with items in the support of
the local food bank and churches.
During the month of November, one of the MacKenzie's
ambulances, along with staff and members of the Port aux Basques Cadet
Corps, were stationed in the back of the ambulance outside the Grand Bay
Mall, to collect food items and other donations in support of local
charities that help families during the holidays.
Due to inclement weather and increased call volume,
they were only able to participate in a portion of the planned twenty-two
days. However, in that brief
time, they received $268.00 in money and gift cards; 392 food items; fifteen
miscellaneous household items; books; movies; stuffed animals; clothing; and
a crib set. These items will be
used in Christmas hampers that will then go out to families around our
communities.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members of this House to join
with me in commending the staff of MacKenzie Ambulance Service and the Port
aux Basques Cadet Corps on giving so generously and selflessly of their time
for this very worthwhile cause.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Cape St. Francis.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. K. PARSONS:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I rise in this hon. House today to recognize Holy
Trinity Elementary School in my district.
On September 26, the students at Holy Trinity took part in the annual
Terry Fox Walk. This school
community has the incredible distinction of being the first school in the
Province to raise over $13,000.
They raised $13,352 in one single run, beating last year's total of
$12,614.50.
They were recognized by the Terry Fox Foundation in a
video that was sent to the school by Terry's brother thanking them for their
efforts. The school community is
truly making a difference in cancer research.
Congratulations to the children, teachers and staff,
and all the stakeholders at the school community, and the Towns of Torbay,
Pouch Cove, Flat Rock, and Bauline for supporting them and keeping Terry's
dream alive.
I ask all hon. members to join with me in thanking the
students, teachers, and the whole Holy Trinity Community for their
continuous efforts in cancer research.
Cancer affects us all.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Bellevue.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. PEACH:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On November 22, I had the great privilege of attending
the 100th birthday celebrations for Martha Smith of Dildo.
Martha was born in Dildo to Leah and Arthur Reid.
She was the second oldest in a family of seven.
Martha left home at the age of fourteen to work for a family in St.
John's, and she stayed eight months before she could come home.
Martha married Albert Smith and they had two children,
Lillian and Charlie. Her husband
Albert drowned at Gander Lake in 1953 while working at a lumber camp.
Martha became a widow at thirty-eight.
She was left to raise two children and she never remarried.
In 1956, Martha took a job working at the quick freeze
plant at South Dildo, starting at fifty cents an hour.
She worked until 1973, when she had to stop work to look after her
mother who became ill.
Martha still lives in Dildo with her daughter Lillian.
She has seven grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren.
All of them live in the Dildo and New Harbour area.
She is quite active and attends church regularly with her sisters,
Florence Williams, Julie Higdon, and other family members.
I ask all the hon. members of this House of Assembly to
join me in congratulating Martha Smith on reaching a milestone of 100 years.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for the District of Baie Verte – Springdale.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. POLLARD:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It was the first time in their history.
The friendly, picturesque community of Shoe Cove on the Baie Verte
Peninsula celebrated their first ever Come Home Year.
From July 21 to 27, Shoe Cove was indeed the place to be.
Family, food, fellowship and music was the order of the day as eager,
enthusiastic friends converged upon the community, swelling the population
fivefold.
Committee members Edna Welshman, Lori Payne, Thelma
Fahey, Marion Starkes, Tracey Newbury, Bessie Welshman, Barbara Foster,
Cynthia Skinner, and Chairperson, Elizabeth Welshman are to be commended for
such an outstanding effort to ensure the celebrations were a raving success.
My wife and I had the privilege to experience the sense of community,
as we witnessed old friendships rekindled and new friendships forged.
Gospel singer Glen Tetford and entertainers Bugs and Debbie added
flavour to the celebrations.
The slogan said it all: so much to do, so much to be
seen, come back to the shoe in 2014.
I invite all hon. members in this House with a unified
voice, to help me offer accolades to the local service district of Shoe Cove
for the tremendous success of its first ever Come Home Year celebrations.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Order, please!
MR. SPEAKER:
Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would be remiss if I did not extend my best wishes to
the good people of Shoe Cove. He
is a hard act to follow. I am
glad he is my Parliamentary Secretary.
I rise in this hon. House to provide an update on the
work we are undertaking as part of the Premier's Summit on Health Care.
Primary health care is the day-to-day care needed to
protect, maintain, and restore our health, and we are looking at how we
deliver primary health care services in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Premier made a commitment to hold a health care summit to gain
insight and perspectives from patients as well as all residents of the
Province.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that this process
is now up and running, and off to a great start.
We have planned regional forums across the four health care regions,
and completed our first session last week in Grand Falls-Windsor, with a
second one scheduled for this evening in the beautiful City of Mount Pearl.
Our first session saw over sixty participants coming
together to discuss a wide range of primary health care issues in areas
including mental health and addictions, dementia care, healthy living,
aging, and chronic disease management.
Mr. Speaker, we are also adding additional sessions as
previously announced. These
include sessions in Kippens, Gander, Burin, St. Anthony, and Clarenville.
More information on the times and dates for these sessions is
available on our health summit Web page.
We have also been talking about other ways in which
feedback can be provided into this consultation process.
To assist with this, last week we launched a new interactive online
engagement tool known as the Dialogue App.
Mr. Speaker, the Dialogue App was purchased from a UK
software company, and adapted for the primary health care consultations by
the Office of Public Engagement.
The app is trusted by governments around the world and is used by more than
forty organizations on three continents.
Residents can join the dialogue today by visiting
dialogueapp.gov.nl.ca.
We value the feedback we continue to receive as part of
this process, and we encourage all residents to register for a forum, to
express interest in participating in the summit, or to provide feedback by
visiting the Department of Health and Community Services Web site or by
calling 1-844-729-6310.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Burgeo – La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for an advance copy of his
statement. It is unfortunate
that we do have some of the poorest outcomes here in Canada.
We have some of the highest rates of stroke, cancer, high blood
pressure, diabetes, just to name a few.
A significant amount of our Budget goes to health care; just about
forty cents out of every dollar.
It is interesting to hear the Premier announced a
summit on health care. He was
the Minister of Health for quite some time.
He was in the position to call the summit long before now if he was
truly interested in understanding the issues.
We, as the Official Opposition, held our own health
care roundtable last year.
People from all different aspects of the health care system attended and
gave us valuable information to help create a better health care system.
The overwhelming message that came from our session was that the
health care system did not need more money, but there needed to be smarter
spending.
Just this year, we have held other sessions all over
the Province on seniors' issues and health care, with excellent turnouts and
very informative results.
It is time government finally started listening to the
people of the Province, eleven years after taking power.
The problem is they should have been listening all along.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his
statement. I am glad to see the
Premier and the minister giving attention to our health care system.
For the eight years that I have been in this House of Assembly, I
have been listening to people in my district and the Province and bringing
their health care issues into this House.
I hope that at the end of this consultation process, we
are going to see action by this government to have a health care system that
works for the people. I hope
that any software tools employed in the consultation will emphasize, not
trivialize, the issues that I know the Premier is going to hear raised by
the people coming to these sessions.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to note that tomorrow, December 3, is the United
Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Mr. Speaker, an inclusive society that welcomes
diversity is essential to building a strong and dynamic Province – and we
all have a role to play to ensure equal opportunities and choices for all of
our citizens. This morning, I
met with the Provincial Advisory Council for the Inclusion of Persons with
Disabilities, where we discussed issues of common interest and how we can
move forward.
Tomorrow I will attend a business leadership breakfast,
sponsored by the Network of Disability Organizations, where the discussion
will focus on the fact that people with disabilities make up a largely
untapped labour pool in our Province.
I know there are several members will be attending – and I am glad to
see that, because I believe this is an issue that transcends politics.
The keynote speaker will be Randy Lewis, Vice-President
of Walgreens in the United States.
He will be talking about how that company found that a diverse
workforce is not only profitable and efficient, but it is an environment
preferred by all employees. His
company has made it work – and we believe that as a society, we must also
make it work.
Mr. Speaker, in 2012 the provincial government released
Access. Inclusion. Equality. A
Strategy for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.
The strategy is designed to bring about changes in policies,
services, programs, and attitudes.
Since that time, we have taken action on several initiatives
contained within the strategy, including providing grants to community-based
organizations for projects such as the installation of ramps, supporting
initiatives that promote inclusive work environments, and providing
financial assistance to retrofit private vehicles with modifications such as
the installation of lifts and hand controls.
Mr. Speaker, as the Minister Responsible for the Status
of Persons with Disabilities, I look forward to working with the members of
the community of persons with disabilities and the Provincial Advisory
Council, to achieve the shared goal of a truly inclusive society.
I invite all members of this House to support us in that goal, and to
join with me in recognizing the United Nations International Day of Persons
with Disabilities.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair.
MS DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for an advance copy of his
statement. The UN proclaimed the
International Day for Persons with Disabilities to promote a greater
understanding of the shared and varied experiences of persons with
disabilities or the overall benefit of a more inclusive society.
Tomorrow I will attend the breakfast the minister referenced, along
with my colleagues, the Member for St. Barbe and St. John's North.
In 2012, Mr. Speaker, government released their
strategy for the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
This strategy relies on the development of an action plan for
specific initiatives. The
minister just indicated the first plan will be released in the new year –
three years after the strategy.
When we have to wait three years to see a strategy
identify concrete initiatives like promoting inclusive work environments, I
am sorry, Mr. Speaker, I feel that is shameful.
I am sure I am not alone in the calls I receive from constituents
with disabilities calling me because they cannot find work, because
government programs are inadequate.
Today and every day, we should reflect on what inclusion really means
and how it actually benefits us all.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement here
today. We also recognize the
United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities; however,
recognition of the day should also be geared to a focus on the realization
that we have not done enough as a society to progress the ideals and changes
to perception of what it is to live and work with a disability.
More work is needed, and groups such as COD-NL are the great
advocates to lead it, Mr. Speaker.
We appreciate hearing more from government on these
initiatives that they will be progressing on in the future.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Service NL.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CORNECT:
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in this hon. House to recognize this
week as National Safe Driving Week, which officially began yesterday,
Monday, December 1. There has
been significant attention over the years to the issue of driving under the
influence of alcohol; however, many people may not be aware that It's Not
Just Alcohol That Impairs, which is this year's theme of Safe Driving Week.
This week is an important time to remind all
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that it is not only illegal to operate a
motorized vehicle if your ability to drive is impaired by alcohol, but it is
also illegal to drive under the influence of drugs.
This can include illegal drugs, prescription drugs, or over the
counter medication. This
activity could lead in charges under the Criminal Code even if the vehicle
is not moving.
Mr. Speaker, many people are also not aware of the
effects of fatigue on one's ability to safely operate a vehicle.
Research shows the chances of making mistakes increase when you have
slept less than five hours, or if you have been awake for more than sixteen
hours. In fact, Mr. Speaker, if
you have been awake for seventeen hours or longer, it can be equivalent to
illegal blood alcohol levels.
This year, motor vehicle collisions due to impaired
driving will claim approximately 2,000 lives in Canada, between five and six
people a day. In addition,
10,000 more individuals will be seriously injured, and most of these
collisions are preventable.
This week provides a valuable and timely opportunity to
raise awareness of potential road hazards and to cultivate safer, more
defensive driving habits. It is
a reminder to ensure our vehicles are properly equipped for the season,
eliminate distractions behind the wheel, socialize responsibly and never
drive impaired, whether that is under the influence of alcohol, drugs or
fatigue.
As we move forward into the New Year, I urge all hon.
members to join me in promoting road safety awareness in our Province, and
to remind their constituents that it is not just alcohol that impairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Mount Pearl South.
MR. LANE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for an advance copy of his
statement. We, too, would like
to recognize National Safe Driving Week, Mr. Speaker.
Obviously, it is a very important week to raise a message with the
general public to ensure they are driving safely on our highways.
The minister indicated the problem we are having with
impaired driving in the Province.
That is certainly something we want to curb.
I encourage people now as we get into the Christmas season, if you
are going to partake during the season, do not get behind the wheel.
I want to thank MADD for all the work they are doing.
I have had meetings with them.
They have some great ideas to help improve safety as it relates to
drinking and driving.
Mr. Speaker, I never heard the minister mention the
issue of texting and cellphone operation.
That is something else, a message you want to get out there, the
hazard associated to people on cellphones and people texting while they are
driving. We encourage people to
refrain from that activity.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not
mention the problem we are having and the carnage which is taking place in
our Province all throughout the year as it relates to moose-vehicle
accidents. While drivers have to
be attentive, government has a role to play there.
I encourage them to do so.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the minister for the advance copy of his
statement today. Back in, I
think it was 1996-1997, I was hit by an impaired driver and still live with
the consequences sometimes.
Teens and young adults account for one-third of all
alcohol-related deaths due to impaired driving, Mr. Speaker.
It is completely preventable.
Groups out there are combating the problem such as MADD's School
Assembly Program. People in
groups are doing their part.
Mr. Speaker, it remains a question among the motoring
public out there and the public in general: Why aren't drivers getting the
message? Why do we as a society
still see impaired driving, in spite of all the education programs out
there, and in spite of the knowledge and the particular act and the offences
in question?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This morning the Premier said that good governance
demands accountability and that accountability demands openness.
I ask the Premier: With this in mind, will you now be
open and accountable to the people of the Province and call a public inquiry
into the cancelled Humber Valley Paving contract?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this year when the matters
involving the contract between Humber Valley Paving and the Department of
Transportation and Works became known to my predecessor, Premier Marshall,
he very quickly called the Auditor General.
He asked the Auditor General, who is an independent Officer of this
House, to conduct a full and frank investigation and review of the
circumstances regarding the cancelling of the Humber Valley contract,
particularly in Labrador.
He has done extensive work.
He has had unfettered access to documentations and officials in
government. He has carried out a
number of interviews with officials and people inside and outside of
government. He has completed a
comprehensive report and has filed that report with five recommendations,
which we fully intend to implement.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Premier mentioned that they asked the AG to do a
full and a frank report, but the AG has not been satisfied.
The Premier obviously seems that he is satisfied.
I ask the Premier: If the AG is not satisfied, after
you requesting him, or your government requesting him, to do the report, how
can you been satisfied?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think it is very important to point out that the
comprehensive review that was carried out by the Auditor General, I think
there was 185 officials and former officials that he had access to all of
their records, all of their documentation, as well as he had the option to
call and have interviews with essentially whoever he wished to have to do
that. There were sixteen
different people that he interviewed.
Not only did he interview them and conduct interviews
with them, but they were done under oath, the same as they would be done in
a public inquiry. They were
under oath, and not only did he interview them but the independent counsel
that the Auditor General had retained to assist him in the work that he was
doing also interviewed them.
There was an examination and, as some looked it, a
cross-examination by the independent legal advice that he had retained as
well. Mr. Speaker, I believe the
Auditor General has done a comprehensive review of all of these
circumstances.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Premier talked about review of documentation; that
was one of the problems that the AG actually had with his review, that there
was hardly any documentation. I
will remind the Premier, too, that some people who were asked to appear
before the AG did not; they actually refused.
Mr. Speaker, the AG said that the process to consider,
to evaluate, to decide, to draft, to execute a termination of the contract
occurred within seven-and-a-half hours.
He said that the benefit of more time would have helped government
fully consider all other options.
I ask the Premier: From start to finish, why was the
process expedited in this manner?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The hon. member points out there was a broad range of
officials and former officials who were interviewed – sixteen in total.
There were former staff in the Premier's Office.
There were executive members of the Department of Transportation and
Works. There were
representatives from Humber Valley Paving who were interviewed, again under
oath, Mr. Speaker.
Just to clarify, in a public inquiry, it is a course of
action whereby people can be interviewed under oath, examined, and in some
cases cross-examined. Mr.
Speaker, that is what happened.
That is what the Auditor General did.
He is an independent Officer of the House and I can tell you, for me
and the people on this side of the House, we fully respect his role and the
work that he has done on this file.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, the AG clearly said that he was not satisfied.
The Premier seems to be satisfied, even though the AG is not.
When government started this process, they claimed that their key
objectives for cancelling the project were, number one, to ensure that the
paving work would be completed on time and on budget; number two, the
objective was not to hurt Humber Valley Paving or its employees.
I ask the Premier: Have you met these objectives?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Those who have not taken the time to read the report, I
invite anyone to do that. It is
a public report. It is a very
comprehensive review. He has
laid out a number of findings and a number of recommendations, Mr. Speaker.
He has also concluded that while there are some suggestions made
about the reasons why the contract was concluded and so on, he has laid out
that there is no documentary evidence of undue influence in decisions to
mutually terminate the contract.
I think that is very important, Mr. Speaker, to point
that out. He said that there was
no documentary evidence. Not
only did he have the documentary evidence, but he had the access to full
interviews under oath, sworn interviews with a number of officials, former
officials, politicians, and so on – sixteen in total, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, when you establish the process to get the AG
involved there were two objectives, I say to the Premier.
I ask you one more time: Did you meet the two
objectives that the minister clearly established as the objectives when this
project was cancelled?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, what happened here is Premier Marshall did the responsible
thing. That is what he did here.
He knew there was a set of circumstances, he knew that the public
wanted to know what the circumstances were, and we engaged with the Auditor
General – and I would say, Mr. Speaker, the Premier engaged very early with
the Auditor General.
I would like to point out and remind members of the
House, which I know they are all aware and also to the people of the
Province, the Auditor General is an independent Officer of this House.
He has broad-reaching powers.
He has, I believe, great capacity to do his job, as he has done in
the past. I believe he has done
his job well here that has resulted in five recommendations, as a result of
his report – five recommendations which we are implementing all five, Mr.
Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Number one, Premier Marshall did not find out until
five weeks later. He found out
at an airport in Halifax, we were told.
So I call on you, Premier: Will you now do the responsible thing, as
the previous Premier has done, and answer this question for the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador? The
two objectives that were outlined when the AG was called in based on the
cancelation of this project, did you meet the objectives of that
cancellation?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, when former Premier Marshall became aware of these
circumstances he was part of the steps taken in the outcome that we have
reached today in having a report from the Auditor General.
That forms part of the report; that forms part of the circumstances
that existed.
Mr. Speaker, I supported the actions of former Premier
Marshall, in his decision to bring in the Auditor General.
As I started to say in my last answer, he is a competent person.
He has broad-sweeping powers.
We know in the past, when the Auditor General has conducted
investigations and reviews of circumstances, there are times when he has
taken other actions and made other recommendations, such as the
investigation the Auditor General did on this very House just a few years
ago, which resulted in him filing referrals to the police saying there
should be more investigation.
That did not happen here, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, we gave the Premier a couple of opportunities
here to be truly open and responsible.
He refused to answer the questions: Were the two objectives met?
Mr. Speaker, the government actions to cancel this
contract and release $19 million in bonds meant that the several
subcontractors in Newfoundland and Labrador were left without payment.
We understand that there is a $1.18 million holdback on this
contract.
I ask the Premier: Has any of the holdback money been
paid out?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We have a responsibility to ensure that the holdbacks
were put in place. In this case,
the mechanics' lien holdback was indeed put in place.
It is still held in trust; $1.18 million by my department.
Mr. Speaker, Humber Valley Paving did put a statutory
declaration to my department outlining they wanted the money released.
I was not convinced that the subcontractors were satisfied that their
payments were not outstanding, so I declined to release that.
We are now going through an exercise of determining
what avenues we have to be able to satisfy those outstanding debts by those
subcontractors. We encourage
people to file their declarations with the courts and then in due time, Mr.
Speaker, we will assess exactly how we rectify those situations.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
I say to the minister and I also say to the Premier, if you had to have
taken that time, this project and this contract would not have been
cancelled in the first place.
I ask the minister: The two objectives that were
outlined a few minutes ago not to hurt Humber Valley Paving, not to hurt the
employees, on time and on budget, Minister, are those two objectives met?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately we were eleven kilometres short in Labrador in
completing it this year. I will
tell you, here are some of the key notes about what has gone on the
Trans-Labrador Highway around contract 1-12.
Here are the things: eleven kilometres short, that is all we have not
completed; 500 kilometres have been completed and paved for the people of
Labrador on the Trans-Labrador Highway.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Mr. Speaker, $683 million has been put into the Trans-Labrador Highway by
this Administration. Zero is the
number of kilometres that were paved by that Administration when we were
there looking at the Trans-Labrador Highway.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister goes on with the rhetoric again.
Here we go again. If you
look back over the history of the Trans-Labrador Highway, maybe the minister
should answer the question, who started it?
Now, Minister, was the project on budget?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, we do not mind rising in this House and answering questions put
to us by members of the Opposition.
We do it every day, and I do it every day.
I will continue to do that.
I will continue to do my role and answer questions from the
Opposition members, the same as all of us here on this side of the House.
When they put three or four topics and comments on top
of their question, then sometimes we have a desire to answer some of their
remarks as well, Mr. Speaker.
When the member opposite gets up and says, well, you have not answered the
question, you have not answered the question, sometimes we are addressing
some of the other matters that they put forward as well.
Mr. Speaker, what we did here was we did the right
thing. Premier Marshall,
supported by this government – and I know members opposite support it as
well – was to call in the Auditor General and have the Auditor General do a
full review. He has done that
full review.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What we have not seen is the statutory declaration that
the minister just mentioned.
That has not been tabled.
I ask the minister: Would you table that to this House
of Assembly?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I noted earlier, Humber Valley Paving did indeed put
a statutory declaration to my department.
We reviewed it. We looked
at it. We were not convinced the
subcontractors were going to be satisfied to receive their payment, Mr.
Speaker, so we turned it down.
Again, I encourage anybody who feels they have a claim against Humber Valley
Paving for contract 1-12 to table that with the courts and we will deal with
it accordingly.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Mr. Speaker, the minister is suggesting we have a company in this Province
that they were in business with, that they actually cancelled a contract
within seven-and-a-half hours.
Some weeks later this same company files a statutory declaration claiming, I
would imagine, the subcontractors were paid.
Why isn't the minister satisfied with that?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Mr. Speaker, we had inquiries by a number of companies saying they have not
been rectified with the outstanding debt.
Mr. Speaker, they could not satisfy us through their legal process
that everything was satisfied.
So as a result, until we are completely satisfied – this is about protecting
the investment of the people of this Province and those subcontractors.
We continue to do that, because we are holding that investment right
now.
The mechanic's lien is held by my department and will
not be released until we feel all the subcontractors have been taken care
of. They have a legal process
here to go through that we may be able to indeed support them by releasing
the monies to the courts to rectify that situation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I just want to be clear for the people who are
following this situation. Did
Humber Valley Paving actually sign that statutory declaration that you are
saying?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Mr. Speaker, legal counsel for Humber Valley Paving came to our legal
counsel and had discussions and put in what they felt was their open process
around whether or not their subcontractors were satisfied.
We reviewed that. Because
we knew there are people out there who have already made inquiries that they
have not been taken care of and there are still outstanding debts, we felt
until we are completely satisfied, until we know the taxpayers' money is
protected here and those subcontractors are indeed fulfilled in their
contract obligations, we would not release it.
Mr. Speaker, we are still holding that because we want
to protect those subcontractors.
Until that point is made, we will then release it to the courts to deal with
it accordingly.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Mr. Speaker, in this new, open, and transparent government that you are
talking about today, I ask the minister, will you just please – or the
Premier, will you answer the question: Did Humber Valley Paving sign the
statutory declaration that you are talking about?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I had mentioned, their legal counsel approached our
legal counsel. They submitted a
form outlining exactly why they felt the money should be released.
We again went back and said we understand there are subcontractors
there who have not been fully paid.
As a result, we felt it was not in the best interest of the Province
and the taxpayers for us to release that.
We have as our foremost objective here to protect the
taxpayers, and those taxpayers include those subcontractors, Mr. Speaker.
That money will not be released until we are satisfied their money
has been rectified and all outstanding debts have been paid.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Mr. Speaker, this process has taken a long time.
I ask the minister: Would he now table the documents
that he is referring to in this House of Assembly?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As this was a legal document, I will check with my
officials and our legal counsel to determine whether or not it can be
tabled.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. BRAZIL:
Mr. Speaker, if it can be tabled, I will come back to this House and table
it to the people of this Province and to the Opposition.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Mr. Speaker, this process has been ongoing for quite some time now.
We have many small businesses in the Province that are left with
bills that are not paid for work they have done with this contract.
I ask the Premier: What assurances will you put in
place to make sure those small businesses are paid for the work they have
done on that contract?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. BRAZIL:
As I have outlined, we are holding the mechanic's lien, Mr. Speaker, because
we want to ensure that those subcontractors who feel they have a lien
against Project 1-12 are going to be satisfied.
That is part of it.
We look at it case by case, Mr. Speaker.
We are encouraging people.
There is a legal process for them to go through and we are
encouraging them on a daily basis to do that.
The moment we are comfortable that we can move forward on this, we
have many options open to us, we will make sure that people who have a
legitimate claim to that will be rectified.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is unfortunate that the Premier of the day and the
minister who is now on his feet defending the cancellation of this contract
did not take the time to do due diligence back when this project was
cancelled. The AG said,
actually, he could find no operational reason why government had to cancel
the Humber Valley Paving contract and release $19 million in bonds the day
before the PC leadership deadline.
He also said there was no evidence that it was even discussed in
Cabinet.
I ask the Premier: You must agree that this is a very
unusual set of circumstances that we are in today.
Will you now call a public inquiry into this cancellation?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, as I stated here today, the Premier of the day, Premier
Marshall, took steps to ensure there was an independent review of the
circumstances involving the contract with Humber Valley Paving.
That was conducted by the Auditor General for the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador, a qualified, competent, respected independent
Officer of this House of Assembly.
It was ordered by this government.
It was supported by members opposite.
He carried out a full review, Mr. Speaker, and has resulted in his
recommendations.
He had unfettered access to documentation from 185
different people. He had a right
to interview who he felt was important to interview; he has interviewed
sixteen people. He has completed
his report and made his recommendations.
As I have said, we support and accept the recommendations and we will
be implementing them.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What was unusual about this set of circumstances – the
Premier obviously did not acknowledge that it was extremely unusual.
I want to remind the Premier, the AG was not satisfied.
There was no documentation.
As a matter of fact, he clearly outlined about the lack of
documentation. He also said that
there was no evidence that it was discussed in Cabinet – when they were
meeting outside the Cabinet door just fifteen minutes prior to a Cabinet
meeting. Also, the Premier of
the day was not notified.
I ask the Premier: Would you consider these
circumstances to be unusual – unusual enough to call a public inquiry into
this cancellation?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Much of what the member opposite has outlined are
findings that are contained in the report.
They are findings that have been determined and reached by the
Auditor General in the review that he has done, that he has carried out –
the review that he carried out, at the request of the government, which was
supported by members opposite.
Mr. Speaker, he has done a very competent job here.
I believe he has done a very competent job.
I am not sure if the members opposite are calling into question the
competency and the work of the Auditor General.
I hope that is not what they are doing –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Because I believe what the Auditor General has done here has been a good job
in doing an investigation. He
has made a number of things and he has said there is no documentary evidence
of undue influence in the decisions to mutually terminate the contract.
I think that is probably a very important point.
The Auditor General took the time to highlight that in his release.
It is a very important point and it is noteworthy, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will say to the Premier, we actually did support the
AG's review of this cancellation.
The AG, when he came back, made reference that he was not satisfied,
could not be satisfied with what he had seen, lack of documentation, all the
other reasons that I have just outlined.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier of the day, even though he
mentioned about the Auditor General, who is not satisfied, I ask the Premier
one more time: Why will you not call a public inquiry so small businesses in
this Province know that they can be treated fairly in this process?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that we have a very good relationship with the
business community in Newfoundland and Labrador and we always treat them
fairly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
We work very hard to support business opportunities in our Province and
young entrepreneurs.
When inquiries are called – just to review some of the
inquiries over recent years that have taken place, the Wells inquiry, the
Cameron inquiry, the Lamer Inquiry, Hughes Inquiry; all inquiries that were
done in this Province that quite often dealt with loss of life, very serious
and critical incidents of a very personal level for people and breach of
people's liberties and discussions about have their liberties been breached,
those types of very serious matters.
What we have done here is we have called in the Auditor
General; he has done a comprehensive review, Mr. Speaker.
I respect the Auditor General.
I respect the work that he has done.
He has used his very broad powers to carry out an investigation and
he has completed that.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I agree with the Premier that many of the situations
that he just talked about were very serious, but so is this, because it
speaks to businesses and small companies in this Province being fairly with
taxpayers' money. The Premier
said this morning that being open is quickly becoming the new norm for
government.
Mr. Premier, actions speak louder than words.
Will you call a public inquiry into the cancellation of the Humber
Valley Paving contract, yes or no?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, we did take action.
We took swift action over here on this side of the House as a government.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
We took action on the events that transpired.
That is why we called in the Auditor General, Mr. Speaker.
We have seen in the past, Mr. Speaker, at times when
the Auditor General has found that there were further concerns that required
further investigation and further review.
That has happened in the past.
In the very time that the Auditor General did a review of operations
of the House of Assembly and certain members within the House, and sent
referrals to the police, to the RNC saying there needs to be further
investigation in that matter.
That is an example, Mr. Speaker.
When the Auditor General feels that there is further work that needs
to be done, where he is unsatisfied to the point that further review and
investigation needs to be done, he has done that in the past.
That has not happened here.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
I say to the Premier, why don't you just be open and transparent with the
people of this Province? Give a
simple answer: yes or no. Will
you call a public inquiry into the Humber Valley Paving cancellation, a
contract that was cancelled in seven-and-a-half hours?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am not sure if the member opposite is trying to
suggest in any way, shape, or form that the work of the Auditor General has
not been open and transparent.
The Auditor General carried out a process.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
PREMIER DAVIS:
He has broad powers, Mr. Speaker.
The Office of the Auditor General has very broad powers to do full,
in-depth investigations. One
hundred and eighty-five officials from fourteen government departments
provided documentation to the Auditor General where documentation existed,
and in places where documentation did not exist, provided a statutory
declaration, a sworn declaration, saying that they did not have further
documents. He had the right to
interview who he saw fit. He
interviewed sixteen people under oath, Mr. Speaker, the same as what would
happen in a public inquiry.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Premier is already talking fiscal restraint months
ahead of his Budget, the federal government is cutting millions of federal
dollars for health care, and yesterday we learned Nalcor will be looking for
another half billion dollars.
I ask the Premier: Does he have a vision for our health
care system, other than cutting services?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite is quite aware of the fiscal
circumstances that face not only this Province, but many provinces in
Canada, and many countries by the spiraling oil prices and the volatility of
world oil prices that we all face today.
Us and other provinces rely on those oil prices very importantly for
the operations of government and the work that we do in our respective
provinces.
I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that we have to make some
very difficult decisions. I can
tell you of utmost importance and first and foremost is the best interests
of the people of the Province.
Having regard to all of the circumstances, we are prepared to govern, we are
prepared to make those difficult decisions, and as time moves forward we
will be going through a process to make those decisions as we have to.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Then I ask the Premier: What is his plan to end
wait-lists for Janeway occupational therapists who are so swamped that they
can no longer conduct school visits for children with autism?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, all aspects of health care are very important to us as a
government. They are very
important to us, as they are important to the people of the Province.
As I said just a moment ago, as we face these very
difficult and challenging fiscal times, having in mind as well that we know
that it is anticipated that in the big picture and the big scope as time
goes on that these are going to be short-lived, they are going to be months
or a short number of years. What
we are doing is we are continuing to make investments, carry out projects,
and put the Province in a place that is going to benefit all Newfoundlanders
and Labradorians for decades to come.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the Premier: Well, what does he think about a
parent being told that their child must wait up to two years to see an
occupational therapist?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, as a government we are very concerned about wait times for
health care services, and we have reduced wait times in a number of key
areas. Earlier, the member asked
about services for children with autism.
In this fiscal year alone, we will invest $12.5 million in the
provision of programs and services for children with autism and
developmental disabilities.
In terms of wait times, Eastern Health is implementing
some new wait time management processes for autism-related services.
We have seen already a decrease in the average wait times for speech
language pathology services and for occupational therapy services, as well.
We have seen a decrease in wait times for both of these services and
we continue to see improvements.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The consultations for the review of the Residential
Tenancies Act were completed in 2012, two years ago.
People presented very serious problems in those consultations.
I ask the minister again: Why is he not releasing the
report and its recommendations?
People are waiting. Is he trying
to hide some of the recommendations?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Service NL.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CORNECT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the hon. member for her question.
As I said last week in my answer, Mr. Speaker, we held ten public
consultations across the Province between September and November 2012; 142
individuals presented in-person presentations and we also had twenty-eight
written submissions, Mr. Speaker.
We are not hiding anything, Mr. Speaker.
We all know the Residential Tenancies Act governs the relationship
between landlords and tenants is a very important piece of work.
We will do our due diligence and we will release it when we are
ready, Mr. Speaker. When we are
done with the work to its completion.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre for a quick question.
MS ROGERS:
Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister once again: Why won't he release the
Newfoundland and Labrador housing and homelessness report completed last
year? Is he trying to hide how
desperate the housing crisis has become?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Service Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CORNECT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, Mr. Speaker, I tell the hon. member across the
way, we are not hiding anything.
We are an open, transparent government.
That is why when we do our work we consult with the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador. We
are highly committed to updating this legislation, and when we have done our
work we will bring it to the House of Assembly so all the people of the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador can have a look at it, evaluate it,
review it, and say what a good job we have done.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The time for Question Period has expired.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling of Documents.
Notices of Motion.
Answer to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Carbonear – Harbour Grace.
MR. SLADE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned residents humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the Town Council of Bryant's Cove has applied
for funding of $958,403 from the provincial government over the past three
years, 2011, 2012 and 2013, for upgrades and paving to Point Road but has
not been successful; and
WHEREAS Point Road has deteriorated to the point that
council can no longer maintain this road, and residents and businesses are
complaining about the cost incurred to upkeep their vehicles due to the
condition of the road and the risk to their personal safety; and
WHEREAS school bus operators are expressing concern
about the condition of Point Road and are indicating that there is a
possibility that buses will not operate on this road in the upcoming school
year; and
WHEREAS Point Road has the highest population and
traffic than any other municipal road in the town with seven side roads
branching off; and
WHEREAS the residents are stating they will not be
paying any property tax until upgrades are carried out on the road;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to funding
application to the town council to have Point Road upgraded and paved this
year.
As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I spoke a little bit on this last night,
or yesterday evening. Of course,
there is a bigger issue here.
School buses are going out over that road and kids are popping all over the
place in the bus. There is some
concern about the children's safety here also.
Mr. Speaker, we do not understand why the Town of
Bryant's Cove have been denied year after year after year the funding.
The town is prepared to put their share into it.
So one would only think it is a matter of process.
Remember yesterday when I spoke I talked about
forty-eight districts. Mr.
Speaker, forty-eight districts and every district should be at least treated
equal. This is not the case
here. This is not what is taking
place here. This is a town that
has been neglected by this government, and neglected in a big way, I say,
Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the council in this community have reached
out to this government and I expect for the government to turn around and
reach out to them. This is
something that needs to be done; it has to be done.
Other than that, I do not know what else to say here because I am
baffled for words for the simple fact this government is just ignoring the
people of Bryant's Cove. These
people deserve that opportunity.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.
MR. J. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
A petition: To the hon. House of Assembly of the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition
of the undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the communities of Castor River South, Castor
River North, Shoal Cove West, Bird Cove, New Ferrole and Bartletts Harbour
were contracted under Phase 2 of the Rural Broadband Initiative to receive
Internet service in May 2013; and
WHEREAS the above communities were scheduled to have
that service installed in the fall of 2013; and
WHEREAS the company contracted to provide that service,
EION Inc. experienced delays and the new schedule for Internet service for
the above communities was for March 2014; and
WHEREAS the equipment has now been installed to provide
this service, but due to technical difficulties the company EION Inc. has
not yet completed the installation of this service; and
WHEREAS even though contracted, residents have been
advised that not all areas or all residences included in the contract will
get Internet service;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of
Newfoundland and Labrador to immediately resolve the issues and delays
associated with providing Internet service as contracted through EION Inc.
to all of the above named communities.
As in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, this is a situation where government
appears to have gone out and hired a contractor to provide a service.
It seems government may have paid the contractor, but the people know
one thing for certain, they are not receiving the service.
Yet government is bragging about having Phase 2 of the Broadband
Initiative completed, when in fact maybe they have spent all the money.
It would be typical of this government not to have done any due
diligence, not to have checked up on it further, and to have left
communities along the way without Internet service.
Mr. Speaker, in one case the broadband service, the
tower that is supposed to serve the communities of Shoal Cove West, Reid's
Harbour, and New Ferrole is put on one side of a hill which actually blocks
any signal from New Ferrole. The
representatives of the company who have attended say, well, you need another
tower. It seems as if somebody
at the governmental level did not bother to check and put the tower in the
right place. Now they cannot
receive the signal.
Mr. Speaker, in the case of Bartletts Harbour, the
tower has been installed at some distance from Bartletts Harbour but the
company has not gotten around to finishing the job, so you have everybody in
that town without service. These
residents are very concerned that the company is now going to leave town.
Government is literally washing its hands of the whole thing saying
we bought and paid for it. In
fact, like so many other contracts with this government, and with the severe
financial incompetence of this government, it looks like they have either
paid for something and have not supervised it, or they probably bought
something that was not up to scratch and is not providing the service that
government claims it is.
People are absolutely irate.
They are disturbed. They
are concerned about government saying you are receiving Internet service,
when in fact they know darn well they are not.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court provided
a comprehensive approach to domestic violence in a court setting that fully
understood and dealt with the complex issues of domestic violence; and
WHEREAS domestic violence continues to be one of the
most serious issues facing our Province today and the cost of the impact of
domestic violence is great, both economically and in human suffering; and
WHEREAS the Family Violence Intervention Court was
welcomed and endorsed by all aspects of the justice system including the
police, the courts, prosecutors, defence counsel, Child, Youth and Family
Services, as well as victims, offenders, community agencies, and women's
groups; and
WHEREAS the recidivism rate for offenders going through
the court was 10 per cent compared to 40 per cent for those who did not; and
WHEREAS the budget for the court was only 0.2 per cent
of the entire budget of the Department of Justice;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to reinstate the
Family Violence Intervention Court.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I am happy once again to get up and speak
to this petition.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS ROGERS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would think that the members on the other side of the
House would want to hear what I have to say about this.
The Premier has said he is ready to reinstate the court once he can
find a way of making sure it can serve a larger part of the Province.
Mr. Speaker, I presented the Minister of Justice with a
plan on how this could be done quite easily.
I also presented the same plan to the Premier.
I have not heard back from the Premier yet.
This plan was done in consultation with people who have expertise in
Family Violence Intervention Courts.
As a matter of fact, not only theoretical expertise, but people who
have worked in Family Violence Intervention Courts.
How this can be done, you need a courtroom, Mr.
Speaker. Courtrooms are already
in place across the Province. In
fact, you do not need a special courtroom.
You simply allocate half a day a week for the Family Violence
Intervention Court into an already existing courtroom.
There is no extra cost for that.
You need a judge.
We already have the judges all across the Province.
What we do need is a judge with a little bit of extra training so
that judge, he or she, will be well versed in the issues of domestic
violence, and how to best serve them through a specialized court like the
Family Violence Intervention Court.
Then you need a Crown prosecutor.
We already have Crown prosecutors.
This would just be a little bit of their time.
They need a little bit of training; that is all.
Mr. Speaker, I will finish this another day.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair.
MS DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS Labrador's coastal communities already pay
extremely high hydro rates; and
WHEREAS small businesses are struggling to stay in
operation against rising costs of operation; and
WHEREAS Nalcor, a Crown corporation, is proposing an
11.4 per cent increase to residential hydro rates and a 20 per cent increase
to business rates;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of
Newfoundland and Labrador to work with Nalcor to establish rates that are
fair and consistent to the whole Province.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, I was very saddened when I went home just
this past weekend. The largest
community in my district, a viable – what I thought was a viable business
there, with a for sale sign. He
said with the cost of transportation and everything else and now being hit
with this proposed 20 per cent – and to see the minister stand repeatedly
and say, yes, we support this; we support hydro wanting to double their rate
of return on equity.
That is one thing, Mr. Speaker, but the issue I want to
talk about is the application that they first filed in 2013, the proposed
increase for Labrador isolated rates was 0.9 per cent.
Lake Melville at that time was going to be hit with a 26 per cent
increase. Mr. Speaker, they
pulled it off the table and they have turned around and they are going to
double their increase on the backs of the most vulnerable in society.
Small coastal communities, older people who live on fixed income, are
now going to be hit with an 11.4 per cent increase, and business is going to
be hit with 20 per cent.
Mr. Speaker, I tabled it here in the House last week; I
held it up. Small businesses
paying $6,000 a month hydro for heat and light – $5,000, $6,000 a month.
I met a lady in Walmart Sunday night from my district who is $350,
$400 on her house.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS DEMPSTER:
Mr. Speaker, I will be making a submission to the PUB because what is
happening here is a very unfair distribution.
I cannot believe that the minister can say he supports this.
I cannot believe it. We
are talking about the mom and pop businesses, the aunt Nellies and uncle
Johns. What happened to the
larger communities that were going to be hit with an increase where they are
making very big income – but no, the people who have nothing coming in, only
their old age pension, these are the people who are now going to pay for
this, Mr. Speaker.
I feel it is absolutely wrong.
I cannot support it. I
will continue to stand on my feet, and I will continue to petition for the
people of coastal Labrador, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. George's – Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I have a petition today on health care in the
Heatherton to Highlands area.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS there has not been a permanent doctor in the
clinic in Jeffrey's for almost a year; and
WHEREAS the absence of a permanent doctor is seriously
compromising the health care of people who live in the Heatherton to
Highlands area and causing them undue hardship; and
WHEREAS the absence of a doctor or a nurse practitioner
in the area leaves seniors without a consistency and quality of care which
is necessary for their continued good health;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge the Government of
Newfoundland and Labrador to take action which will result in a permanent
doctor or other arrangements to improve the health care services in the
Heatherton to Highlands area.
Mr. Speaker, this is a crisis situation in health care
in the area. Many people are not
getting the health care services they need –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I would ask members for the co-operation.
The hon. the Member for St. George's – Stephenville
East, to continue.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The people of St. George's – Stephenville East are
concerned about the health care crisis that is developing in their area.
Many people are not getting the services they require.
This situation is about to get worse, as the doctor in St. George's
has told the health care board that he is about to leave as well and this,
of course, will lead to more demands upon the emergency centre at the
hospital in Stephenville.
I think it is fair to call this situation a crisis.
The clinic in Jeffrey's has been without a doctor for close to a year
now and people are not getting the services they require.
I have talked to the Minister of Health and I have talked to the
health board about the situation there, and I am hopeful that something will
happen soon to resolve this situation.
In the meantime, I will keep presenting petitions from
people of the area on this issue.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MR. EDMUNDS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled, the petition of the
undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS Labrador's coastal communities already pay
extremely high hydro rates; and
WHEREAS small businesses are struggling to stay in
operation against rising costs of operation; and
WHEREAS Nalcor, a Crown corporation, is proposing an
11.4 per cent increase to residential hydro rates and a 20 per cent increase
to business rates;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly
pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to work with
Nalcor to establish rates that are fair and consistent to the whole
Province.
As in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, as with my colleague, the Member for
Cartwright – L'Anse au Clair, we have some serious issues with this.
I would just like to take a different approach here when you are
looking at the margin of increase when compared to other areas in the
Province.
I realize that Lake Melville and Lab West had a 25 per
cent increase proposal that was put on the table a couple of years ago but
was taken off. I wonder what
would be the reaction in those districts if that 25 per cent was
implemented. They are not going
to see it, thankfully. I am
hoping it is because of the government's intervention, whether at the PUB
level or before the Crown corporation, owned by the Crown, got to the stage
of presenting to the PUB. At the
end of the day, Mr. Speaker, that 25 per cent increase was pulled off the
table.
What does this government do?
They go back to the hardest hit people in the Province.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard stories about seniors in metro St. John's
going to businesses, going to the mall, turning their heat down, and
spending the day there so they can cover the cost of living.
I have been here all months of the year; I think I may have seen it
go to minus fifteen degrees.
That is a good reason for a senior who cannot pay their bills to go
somewhere to save on their heating costs.
In Nain, Mr. Speaker, I have seen it go to minus
fifty-seven degrees and they have to grow up their families – a lot of
people stay with them. If you
add to that a 20 per cent increase in residential, how much more are the
commodities going to be charged for that cost that is going to be passed on
to the consumer?
We all know where the Minister of Natural Resources
stands, Mr. Speaker. I would
like to know where the Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs stands on
this issue.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Minister of Education and Early
Childhood Development, that we move to Orders of the Day.
MR. SPEAKER:
The motion is that we move to Orders of the Day.
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
Orders of the Day
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you again, Mr. Speaker.
At this time I would like to call from the Order Paper,
Order 2, second reading of a bill, An Act To Amend The Registered Nurses
Act, 2008, Bill 32.
I move, seconded by the Minister of Health and
Community Services, that the said bill be now read the second time.
MR. SPEAKER:
It is moved and seconded that Bill 32 be now read a second time.
Motion, second reading of a bill, “An Act To Amend The
Registered Nurses Act, 2008”.
(Bill 32)
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is a pleasure to rise before this hon. House today
to introduce Bill 32, which is entitled An Act to Amend the Registered
Nurses Act, 2008. The Registered
Nurses Act, 2008 regulates the nursing profession in this Province.
The Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador is
the regulatory body created under the act that is responsible for advancing
and promoting the ethical and professional standards of the nursing
profession, promoting proficiency and competency in the nursing profession
as well.
The mandate of the association is to ensure that nurses
who provide care and services to the people of this Province are qualified,
and that they provide care and services in accordance with the standards and
code of ethics applicable to the practice of nursing.
One of the ways in which the association fulfills its
mandate is to address issues where a registered nurse is alleged to have
engaged in conduct that is contrary to acceptable practice and ethical
standards. Currently, the
Registered Nurses Act, 2008 contains provisions which establish a
disciplinary process to be followed when dealing with allegations that a
nurse has engaged in conduct deserving of sanction.
Mr. Speaker, conduct deserving of sanction is defined
in the act as including the following: professional misconduct; professional
incompetence; conduct unbecoming a registered nurse; incapacity or unfitness
to engage in the practice of nursing; and acting in breach of the act,
regulations, or the code of ethics.
The process by which an allegation that a registered
nurse has engaged in conduct deserving of sanction is dealt with, as set out
in the act, and may involve a settlement of the allegation by the Director
of Professional Conduct Review with the agreement of the registered nurse
and the person who made the complaint; a referral to the complaints
authorization committee to conduct an investigation; and following which, a
referral to a disciplinary tribunal for a hearing, where there are
reasonable grounds to believe that the registered nurse engaged in conduct
deserving of sanction.
The act sets out sanctions that may be imposed on a
registered nurse who is found to have engaged in conduct deserving of
sanction. The types of orders
which may be made include the following: suspending the registered nurse;
striking the registered nurse's name from the register of registered nurses;
making restitution to the complainant or another person affected by the
registered nurse's conduct; obtaining medical treatment or counselling;
engaging in continuing education programs; and restricting his or her
professional practice.
Mr. Speaker, Bill 32 amends the Registered Nurses Act,
2008 to add provisions which will authorize the association to engage in a
process of quality assurance with a registered nurse.
The amendment requires the establishment of a quality assurance
committee whose responsibility is to carry out quality assurance reviews
related to a registered nurse's practice.
Quality assurance reviews accomplish a number of things.
They are a means of assessing the quality of care provided by
registered nurses; of identifying any areas of concern; of establishing
remedial action to address the concern; and monitoring the registered
nurse's practice to ensure the remedy is effective in addressing the
concerns.
A quality assurance review may be commenced in the
following circumstances: at the request of the Director of Professional
Conduct Review; at the request of the complaints authorization committee; or
upon initiation by the quality assurance committee itself.
While the association can now work with a registered
nurse to address concerns with respect to his or her practice, the addition
of the quality assurance provisions to the act authorizes the quality
assurance committee or person assisting the committee to exercise a number
of powers: the power to compel a person to provide information; the power to
require a person to produce information, including documents and records;
and the power to inspect the premises where the registered nurse practices.
In connection with the quality assurance review, the
committee may issue directives and orders regarding the registered nurse and
his or her practice. These
orders include requiring the registered nurse to undergo an examination,
evaluation, assessment or a review of his or her practice or capacity or
fitness to practice; obtain counselling; complete a course of studies or an
educational or a training program; restrict his or her nursing practice; and
obtain supervised clinical experience.
Adding quality assurance provisions to the act is a way
for the association to engage with a registered nurse to address concerns
with that nurse's practice before it gets to the point of being conduct
deserving of sanction, such as professional misconduct.
However, if it becomes apparent during a quality
assurance review that a registered nurse may have engaged in conduct
deserving of sanction, then the review is terminated and the matter is
referred to the complaints authorization committee to be dealt with as a
part of a disciplinary process.
Once a concern or issues is raised with the association
regarding a registered nurse's practice, if it appears to meet the threshold
of conduct deserving of sanction, then it will be dealt with in accordance
with the disciplinary process that is set out in the act.
However, if it does not appear to meet that threshold, it may be
dealt with as part of the quality assurance process.
These amendments require a registered nurse to
co-operate and authorize the imposition of certain remedial actions, which I
highlighted earlier. If a
registered nurse fails to comply with an agreement or a directive or order
of the quality assurance committee, then this failure to comply is to be
dealt with as an allegation in accordance with the disciplinary provisions
in this act.
Mr. Speaker, protection of patient records and personal
health information during any review process will remain paramount.
The amendments require that the records and specific information are
kept confidential. Through the
disciplinary process, the association would already have access to patients'
records and the personal health information of registered nurses in the
context of the disciplinary process.
The Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador has
a number of requirements and policies in place to ensure the protection and
security of the information it requires to fulfill its mandate under the
act.
The primary goal of the quality assurance provisions,
including the establishment of a quality assurance committee, is to
strengthen and improve the practices of registered nurses, and ultimately
provide better protection for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador who
receive care and services from registered nurses.
Officials in my department have worked very closely with the
association regarding these proposed quality assurance provisions and the
amendments, to ensure they meet the needs of the association.
Mr. Speaker, at the request of the association, these
amendments are subject to proclamation and will come into force at a later
date. This will provide the
association with the necessary time to fully develop its policies regarding
quality assurance and with sufficient time to appoint the quality assurance
committee.
There are currently over 6,800 nurses registered with
the association, and we hear many, many instances where nurses are providing
the highest level of care every day to the people of this Province.
However, in those cases where there are concerns with a registered
nurse's practice, it is important for the association to have the tools it
needs to address these concerns, rather than wait until they become more
serious and thereby require engagement in the disciplinary process.
Mr. Speaker, this bill enables the Association of
Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador to fulfill its statutory
mandate by ensuring registered nurses in this Province continue to provide
the highest level of care to the patients they serve by allowing the
association to deal with concerns at an earlier stage before they become
conduct deserving of sanction under the disciplinary process.
I hope all members of this House will join me in
supporting these amendments to the Registered Nurses Act, 2008.
I will leave it there for now, Mr. Speaker.
I look forward to bringing closing comments later in the debate.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Burgeo – La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am happy to stand today and speak to Bill 32, which
will amend the Registered Nurses Act, 2008.
Before I begin, I should put out a thank you to the
staff at the Department of Health and Community Services for sitting down
with us this morning to provide us with a briefing on this piece of
legislation. It is obviously
very important.
In terms of the size of it, it is not a huge piece of
legislation. It is just an
amendment as opposed to a new bill, but it seems to be following along the
lines of some statutes that have already been changed to address this
particular issue. My
understanding is that the Medical Act, 2011, the Optometry Act, the Pharmacy
Act, the Psychiatrist Act, and there is one more piece of legislation all on
the same vein where it has been amended to allow quality assurance.
That is the template that has been set.
Specifically, there are two templates.
The Association of Registered Nurses have decided to follow along the
blueprint set by the Medical Act, or doctors.
In this case it is very simple, or seems to be very simple or
straightforward in that we have already had – we talk about self-regulating
bodies, which there are a number of professions in this Province that fall
under this, whether it be physicians, whether it be nurses, whether it be
lawyers.
You are self-regulating.
You are held to a higher standard to police yourself, to monitor
yourself, to ensure qualities are of the highest and your members are all
following a certain code, a certain ethics.
If you refuse to do that then you will have that ability taken away,
that privilege taken away. I
think the groups that have this ability do a great job of that.
In this case, it is my understanding the nurses and
government have been in conversation for some time on how to move forward.
The disciplinary aspect is already there, but this will allow for
quality assurance. That is one
of the big things we want to make sure is there.
Quality assurance is something you hear more and more of, whether it
is in the service industry, whether it is in the retail industry.
It is great to hear of quality assurance when we talk
about health care because that is what we want.
We want quality health care and you want the people who are
performing the health care, the practitioners of health care, making sure
they self-police to ensure that it is there as well.
We are certainly in favour of this.
I think it is a great move.
This particular amendment will allow the registered
nurses to conduct quality assurance investigations.
I think the minister has done a good job of explaining why and the
different components, whether it be – what are the different parts that
would form quality assurance and that will be looked at?
It is not just criminals, say, or disciplinary, but it could be
issues outside of that realm that will affect the quality of the performance
of their duties but should be dealt with in a different way.
It may not be a disciplinary matter per se.
I had some specific questions in the briefing this
morning. I understand this will
not be proclaimed right away.
That is important to note because we are doing the work now in this part.
We will go through our notice and first reading, second reading,
Committee, and right into the third reading; however, this will not be put
in right away. My understanding
is we are doing this in conjunction or co-operation with the nurses because
they have a bit of work to do on their end.
They have an education part they have to do with their
own membership. That is fine; we
understand that. My question
was: What is the timeline that will take place?
I think we need to know this.
I have been told six to nine months would probably be the time
period. I think that is fine.
We need to do this right, and we need to make sure the membership are
fully aware of how this is going to happen.
One of the big parts there is a quality assurance
committee that will be struck and I think populated by the profession
themselves. That is their
mandate. They are privy to do
that and put this in place. That
will take some time. We
understand that. I hope they
will stick to that timeline because we do want to see this come into place.
We do not want to see something like quality assurance
put on the back burner. I do not
think that is going to happen. I am
just glad to hear – when you hear a timeline put in place, that gives you an
expectation. I think anybody in
this Province, no matter what it is, what it is for, people like an
expectation. That allows them to
formulate their expectations.
They have done that in this case and we are satisfied with that.
Policy work has to be done by the association.
They will go out and retain quality assurance experts.
We have a number of them in this Province, a number of them in the
field. They will make sure this
is done right and properly. The
good news, as stated before, is there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
This has been done by other health care professions.
So they have some guidance they can look to there, as well as going
outside the Province. As I am
undoubtedly sure that this is already being done elsewhere.
I do not see the need right now to belabour this.
Pending any questions we may have in the Committee stage or we may
get later on, I do not know.
Sometimes the only drawback is that by the time we talk about this and have
questions, there is not enough time for the public to maybe give us input.
From what I understand, the people who are subject to this are part
of the process. I am satisfied
with that, if that is indeed the case, and I think people should be as well.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak to this bill.
I look forward to the Committee stage as well.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Baie Verte – Springdale.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. POLLARD:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am very pleased and delighted to stand in this House
of Assembly this afternoon to speak to Bill 32, An Act to Amend the
Registered Nurses Act, 2008.
First of all, as usual, Mr. Speaker, I would just like
to say a great big thank you to the people of the District of Baie Verte –
Springdale for their ongoing and continued support.
It is an honour and a privilege to stand in this House any time.
Furthermore, I would also like to thank the minister
and his officials for their briefing this morning.
Albeit, I was not there because I was attending another function at
city hall on behalf of the minister.
Actually, it was the Food Security Network AGM.
I found that very informative, Mr. Speaker, this morning.
First of all, I will read the explanatory note.
This is what it says, Mr. Speaker.
“This Bill would amend the Registered Nurses Act, 2008 to add
regulation making authority respecting quality assurance; add quality
assurance provisions to enhance public protection and accountability; and
allow the complaints authorization committee to refer an allegation to the
quality assurance committee.”
Mr. Speaker, before I begin my comments again, I simply
want to acknowledge and recognize and applaud the efforts of physicians,
nurse practitioners, RNs, LPNs, personal care workers, all health providers
right across this great Province of ours for their genuine, competent, safe,
quality of care, tender and compassionate care that they give to the
residents of this Province of ours.
They go above and beyond the call of duty every single day.
I am sure everybody in this hon. House here recognizes that fact and
do appreciate all the work they do in providing tender, loving,
compassionate care to the people of this Province.
Mr. Speaker, health profession governing bodies are
responsible for the regulation of health professions in this Province.
They are responsible for establishing standards of conduct and
practice for their members. They
are also responsible for registering individuals who meet the health
profession's educational, training, and certification requirements.
Only those individuals who meet these requirements are permitted to
practice a regulated health profession.
These regulatory bodies fulfill an important role for the people of
this Province who avail of the services of health care professionals every
single day.
One key area for the regulators of a health profession
is to protect the public, Mr. Speaker, through the administration of the
disciplinary process set out in its governing statute.
Each health profession governing statute contains a detailed,
disciplinary process that is generally consistent right across all health
professions. The process to be
followed in each of these is set out in a very clear, concise fashion.
The process begins with an allegation that a health
professional has engaged in conduct deserving of sanction.
The registrar, with the consent of the complainant and the health
professional, may resolve the complaint; however, if it is not resolved, the
complaint is referred to the complaints authorization committee to conduct
an investigation. Where there
are reasonable grounds, following the investigation, to believe that the
health professional has engaged in conduct deserving of sanction, the
complaint may be referred to an adjudication tribunal for a hearing.
There is a requirement in all of the health profession governing
statutes that hearings be held in public unless the adjudication tribunal
decides to exclude the public.
In circumstances where the consequence of possible
disclosure of personal matters of a party to the complaint or to a witness
outweigh the preference to hold the hearing in public, the adjudication
tribunal may decide to exclude the public from the hearing or part of the
hearing, Mr. Speaker.
Where a health professional has been found guilty of
conduct deserving of sanction, the adjudication tribunal has the ability to
make the following types of orders: it may order that the health
professional be suspended for a fixed period of time that he or she may meet
certain conditions imposed by the adjudication tribunal; it may order that
the health professional surrender his or her certificate and that his or her
name be taken from the registrar; and may order that the health professional
may pay a fine.
An adjudication tribunal may also require a health
professional to obtain medical treatment; obtain counselling, including
substance abuse counselling or treatment; engage in continuing education;
and permit periodic inspection of records relating to his or her practice.
These orders play an important role in the protection of the public,
Mr. Speaker.
The amendments set out in Bill 32 will authorize the
Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador to also engage
in a process of quality assurance with a registered nurse.
A quality assurance committee will be established that will be
responsible for carrying out quality assurance reviews related to a
registered nurse's practice.
Quality assurance provisions are currently in five of the health profession
statutes. These are the
Psychologists Act, 2005; the Health Professions Act; the Medical Act, 2011;
the Pharmacy Act, 2012; and the Optometry Act, 2012.
With the adoption of the amendments to the Registered
Nurses Act, 2008, there will be more than 10,000 health professionals from
twelve health professions who could be required to participate in quality
assurance reviews, Mr. Speaker.
In cases where areas of concern are identified with respect to a registered
nurse's practice which do not meet the threshold of conduct deserving of
sanction, a quality assurance review will now be conducted.
The primary goal of the quality assurance provisions,
including the establishment of the committee, Mr. Speaker, is to strengthen
and improve the practices of registered nurses and, ultimately, provide
better protection for the people who receive care from registered nurses in
this Province of ours.
Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, Bill 32 enables the
Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador to fulfill its
statutory mandate by ensuring registered nurses in this Province continue to
provide the highest level of care to the patients they serve by allowing the
association to deal with concerns at an earlier stage before they become
conduct deserving of sanction under the disciplinary process.
I support Bill 32.
I ask all members in this hon. House to join me in supporting Bill
32.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased to stand and speak to Bill 32, An Act to
Amend the Registered Nurses Act, 2008.
I first of all want to thank the staff from the Department of Health
and Community Services for meeting with us this morning and giving us a
briefing on this act to be sure that we were ready to speak to it this
afternoon, and to cover any questions that we might have had.
I have to say that I did not have a lot of questions
with regard to the bill that is before us this afternoon because it is
something that makes such common sense.
Obviously, I am going to be supporting it.
I remember back in 2011 we passed a similar thing in
the medical services act and had a debate there about the whole issue of
having quality assurance committees.
We discussed other things in that act at that time if I remember
correctly.
The important thing is that what we are seeing here is
something which is at the heart of professionalism, and that makes me feel
good. Any professional group,
and certainly the registered nurses are a very important professional group
in our society, would want to make sure that everything they do and
everything their members do is of the highest quality.
As any professional group does, they would have a sense of pride in
their work, and would want to make sure that anybody who is part of their
group, who is part of their association, is also always showing the best
that one can do or can give to the people they are serving.
I think the fact that government worked very closely
with the registered nurses association of the Province is important because
it should give the people of the Province a sense of comfort that both the
government and the registered nurses association are concerned that people
of the Province are getting the best possible care from people in the health
care system.
I am not going to go through the kind of detail my
colleagues have done because I do not think that needs to be repeated, but I
do think I would like to once again say that what is important about the
quality assurance committee is that it is at a different level than the
disciplinary committee. That
would already have been covered in the act that was already there.
I see it almost like a preventive measure because by the time
somebody has to be disciplined by their professional association, it seems
to me the behaviour has come to an extreme that has led to an act that has
really hurt others.
What I see with having the quality assurance committee
is people are able to bring forward an issue, a concern that is not yet at
the point maybe where somebody has done real harm but red alerts are being
raised. The quality assurance
committee is the body that can take those red alerts, look at what is going
on, and make a decision as to whether or not there is some kind of
remediation that needs to happen in the life of the professional.
I would like to read, because people watching us right
now probably do not have this act in front of them.
They could go online, of course.
As we are doing our discussion, they could go online to the House of
Assembly and find the bill and follow it with us, but not everybody has that
capacity. I know a lot of people
who do watch us during debate probably would be interested in knowing what
it is that will get covered if somebody is investigated by the quality
assurance committee and that individual is found to be lacking in some area
with regard to the quality of the work they are doing.
I am going to read out one section from the act because
I think it is important. I said
this act should give a sense of comfort to people that those in the health
care system, the medical professions, both doctors, physicians, registered
nurses, and other medical professions really want to give quality care.
I am going to read section 35.3 from the bill we are discussing
today. “The quality assurance
committee may itself initiate a quality assurance review of a registered
nurse or his or her practice or at the request of the Director of
Professional Conduct Review or the complaints authorization committee.”
There are three bodies in this act that would have the authority to
initiate a quality assurance review.
“In connection with a quality assurance review, the
quality assurance committee may”, and this is important.
This is what they may demand of the person who is being evaluated.
I will use that word.
They may “require a registered nurse,” – require, not just recommend but
require – “or another person who has information pertaining to or possession
of records that relate to the registered nurse's practice, to provide
information, including patient records, for inspection or review and to
permit them to be copied by the committee or a person appointed by the
committee for the purpose”. That
is an extremely important piece of power that the committee has.
Also, the committee may order a registered nurse – not
recommend but, “order a registered nurse to undergo an examination,
evaluation, assessment or review of his or her professional practices or
capacity or fitness to practice, to the extent and under the circumstances
required by the committee”.
It may also “engage in periodic or random reviews or
audits of a registered nurse's performance including the consequential
review of patient records”. It
may also order, again not recommend, but “order a registered nurse to (i)
obtain counselling, including substance abuse counselling, until the
registered nurse can demonstrate to the committee, or another body or a
person designated by the committee, that a condition related to the
counselling has been overcome”.
Also, order the registered nurse to “(ii) obtain
medical treatment and authorize a person participating in the provision of
that treatment to report on it to the committee, (iii) complete a course of
studies or an educational or training program, (iv) restrict his or her
registered nursing practice, (v) obtain supervised clinical experience as
directed by the committee and to the satisfaction of the committee, (vi) to
continue his or her registered nursing practice under conditions the
committee may specify, or (vii) report his or her compliance with an order
of the committee and authorize a person to report to the committee on
whether he or she is complying with an order.”
This is all very important because it shows the
committee has powers to make sure that actions are taken.
That is extremely important.
My colleague from Burgeo – La Poile talked about the
template that was used. The
staff from the department gave us that information this morning in the
briefing. The template for
quality assurance in this act is a template that was used in the Medical
Act, an act that I referred to a minute ago, an act that we discussed in
2011 in this House, the medical services act.
The template in the medical services act, which is now being used
here in the Registered Nurses Act, is one that we were told the registered
nurses association themselves wanted.
There is another template that covers four other
bodies: the health professionals, optometrists, pharmacists, and
psychologists. The provisions in
the template for those four acts are much more general.
The template used in the medical services act, and which is now being
adapted in the Registered Nurses Act, is very prescriptive and gives powers
of order to the committee.
The committee is actually – and this is an important
point. The committee and a
person appointed by the committee – because the committee does have the
powers to appoint registered nurses to work with them.
The committee and a person appointed by the committee “shall have the
powers, privileges and immunities that are conferred on a commissioner under
the Public Inquiries Act, 2006.”
This is a very serious body that is being set up here in this act.
I think that is what should give a sense of comfort to people.
I think people should also get a sense of comfort from
the fact that the registered nurses association of this Province wanted this
legislation. They wanted this
level of prescription that is in this act with regard to the quality
assurance committee.
For that reason, knowing how much the association wants
this, and knowing this has been carefully looked at – and not looked at
once, but is a piece of work that was looked at when the medical services
act was brought in. Adaptations
obviously are made in this act to reflect that we are talking about a
separate group. Knowing all of
that, we should have real comfort that the concern for quality is high in
the medical profession.
We may want to remember something else, I think, which
should also be something that we are happy about, to remember that this
concern for quality assurance was first something that came out from the
Cameron inquiry. The Cameron
inquiry addressed the whole issue of quality assurance.
The addition of a quality assurance committee and procedure to the
Registered Nurses Act is just another case of addressing the recommendations
from the Cameron inquiry.
I think we will always have to be on our toes about
that. We will always have to
make sure we are providing the highest standards in any profession, but
especially in the medical profession, and to protect patient safety.
At the same time, we have to protect the professional as well.
I think that is exactly what a quality assurance committee will do
because of what I said earlier about the preventive nature of having the
quality assurance committee.
If somebody is running into trouble in his or her life
that is affecting their work and somebody is observing that, that can now be
picked up and it can be dealt with by the quality assurance, and in a
helping way the person can be worked with, the person can be given options
to make sure that he or she stops something right at the source instead of
having a problem that escalates to the point where disciplinary action is
needed.
I think it is extremely important to note that
something to be brought to the quality assurance committee and they could
look at what is being brought to them with regard to a particular
individual, and they could actually decide things have gotten to a point
where discipline is needed. If
that happens, the quality assurance committee will pass the case over to the
disciplinary committee which, of course, still exists in the act.
I think that is important for people to know as well
because that also is something that would bring comfort to the general
public, that they know everything has been thought about so the quality
assurance committee is not there to stop discipline from happening when
discipline might be necessary, it is there – this is my language; it is not
the language in the act. As I
see it, it is there in a preventative measure to make sure we can actually
stop the actions that could lead to discipline, that we would want to have
the professional person working at the top of his or her ability and be
helped to do that.
I think those are the main points I would like to make,
Mr. Speaker. I could repeat
points that have been made by my colleagues, but I do not think that is
necessary. They did a great job.
I thank the minister for giving a good explanation in
the beginning and for his staff today because they were very helpful.
As I said, I am supporting this bill.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
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 pleasure to get up, my first time
getting up in this session, representing the beautiful District of Cape St.
Francis, like I always say.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I do not think anyone in
this House today will go against this bill.
I think it is a great bill.
It is a positive bill. It
is a positive step that we are taking here today.
I want to thank the people in the Department of Health; this morning,
they gave us a great review of this new act that we are bringing in here.
Anything we do to make the lives or anything in the
health care system – because the health care system is probably the most
complex thing we have in our lives.
Our health care is so important to all of us.
It is important to our loved ones when we go to the hospitals and see
them, that we are assured they are getting the best possible care they can.
I know, through personal experiences I had, you go to
the hospital and when you see a nurse going and giving that extra thing that
they do and their professionalism they show and the care they show to a
patient, it gives great comfort to the family.
It gives great comfort to the people there in hospital knowing they
are well taken care of.
I speak from personal experience, Mr. Speaker.
My mother was a nurse for thirty-two years.
She was a Public Health Nurse in the Torbay, Flatrock, Pouch Cove,
and Bauline area. Back then, in
her time, we had no doctors down there then, there were no doctors' offices,
and I think she did a little bit more than even the nursing part of it.
I can remember nights she left our home – I drove her a scattered
time; my brothers drove her – and she just went to comfort people who were
sick in their homes.
The majority of our nurses are the same way.
When you become a nurse, it seems like it is a calling for a lot of
people and they really take that calling seriously.
Right now, in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador, we have more
nurses than ever before. I
believe the minister said there were 6,800 nurses in the system right now.
That is just registered nurses.
We have LPNs; I think there are 2,300.
It is important that we put in place standards for
nurses to make sure all nurses – I am sure everyone in this House can attest
they have been dealing with the health care system, because we all do, and
they can really say I have went to so and so and that nurse was unbelievable
or this nurse was so and so.
I was just recently in hospital myself and there was
four of us in the one room.
There were three different nurses taking care of us.
They all have their own little ways and, sometimes, nurses do things
a little bit different. When you
deal with the number of nurses that you are dealing with – 6,800 – sometimes
not all people, no matter what profession you are in, not teachers, lawyers,
politicians, everything, not everyone is at the same standard.
Some people have people skills and some people do not
have people skills. If a person
who does not have the people skills to communicate with a patient it is
very, very important – so perhaps if there is a problem there with that,
there can be some counselling and some mentoring or whatever.
This can be done through this committee.
This is what this is set up for: quality control, to make sure that
there is a standard there and this standard is followed.
It could be something as simple as how they treat the
patient – they could be a great nurse; you could be a great doctor.
Some doctors have the skills to get there, they are great doctors;
but next to that bedside they are different all together, but their
knowledge and what they do is great, and the same thing with nurses.
Sometimes if there is a problem there, this committee
can do it. This committee can
set up and say, listen here, we have some complaints about your manner
around the bedside. This can be
done through this quality control and it could be just a matter of going
back and doing a little bit of counselling, a little bit of training or
something like this. It is a
great thing to do.
The other thing that I just want to emphasize because I
know most of the colleagues here in the House already spoke about it, but it
is also an opportunity for a peer, another nurse, to look at another person
there and say we have records to keep.
You have to keep a record.
The records are so important so that when it goes into the system
everything is filed properly and when you go back to your family doctor or
you go back to your clinic to get everything checked out, everything is
there, put in. It is important,
too, with medications and stuff like this.
Again, I am sure the majority of nurses in this
Province do a fantastic job, but if there is a case that somebody is not
doing the proper work and a peer sees it, this is an opportunity for them to
notify and say the records are not being kept properly.
Because it is all about the patients.
It is all about providing the best possible care that we can, and
that is what this is doing; this is supplying the best possible care that
can be provided.
Again, like I said, I always go back to my mother and I
always remember the things she did, the little things she did as a nurse.
I was always amazed with the hours and the things done to make sure
someone was comforted. No matter
if it was going just to have a coffee with them, it was something that
comforted people. Nurses are
like that in our system today. I
was in the hospital a little while ago, and a nurse came in and just had a
general conversation with me at the bedside for a little bit.
It felt good, and that is the way they are.
That is what we need to make sure our patients are feeling good, are
positive about our system, and they are not there and they are not angry
with somebody or they are not getting the proper care.
So, I just wanted to get up today.
The Member for Burgeo – La Poile brought up an
important point, too. He said
this is not going to be proclaimed right away.
I asked the same question this morning.
It will probably take about nine months to do it.
That is a good thing because that is going to give time for the
committee to put in place the proper people, and to be able to look and say,
okay, these are the standards this committee is going to look at.
It will be so important to make sure the committee does its proper
work.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to go back and talk about
nurses in general. When we have
6,800 nurses in this Province – and I have to applaud our government because
I know that over the years in the nursing profession there was a shortage.
I look at the new long-term care home facility where they are looking
for nurses. It is a great job,
it is a great job for individuals, it is a profession that you are very
proud of, and nearly all of them are proud of what they do.
This legislation will be able to give them the tools to
do their job better. On behalf
of anyone in my family who has dealt with the nursing profession, I want to
say thank you to all the nurses out there because I think they do a
fantastic job. They work hard at
what they do and we rely on them.
The health care system in this Province is important to everyone, and
anyone who is sick. It is
important that our loved ones get taken care of.
I would like to just be able to thank the nurses in
this Province and, hopefully, this is a tool that will help them in their
future make sure that the quality is there.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St. Barbe.
MR. J. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Like the Member for Cape St. Francis, I was also
blessed to have a mother who was a nurse.
I think that when your family members are nurses, it gives you a very
close insight into what they do.
My mother was a nurse, grandmother a nurse, two aunts nurses, and a nephew
who just graduated in nursing.
Also, in my legal career in another province I also had
the opportunity to represent nurses at disciplinary hearings on two
occasions, which I think looking at this type of legislation with this type
of a committee could well have been headed off by a quality assurance
review. Because the quality
assurance review which is contemplated is something which, as the Leader of
the Third Party said, falls short of something that would constitute a
violation under the act, something that would engage discipline – well, it
could, but it is something which is more remedial before there is a more
serious issue that arises in the nurses' practice of nursing.
Yes, I say practice of nursing because we think of
doctors as practicing or lawyers as practicing, but nurses also practice,
but they practice nursing. They
do not diagnose, although nurse practitioners are certainly moving in that
area; and they do not generally treat, although, as I say, nurse
practitioners are moving into that area.
Nurses generally nurse and provide the type of care
that is required for patients who may have other issues.
They may have post-surgical home care requirements, they may be
residents in extended care homes, they may be in hospitals, and they may be
served by the medical profession including nurses in a variety of areas.
As the practice of nursing is becoming more complex and
is evolving more, it is more important that they have more autonomy and that
is exactly as the Member for Burgeo – La Poile pointed out, to be a
professional self-governing body, which they are with this.
That also means they assume the responsibility for oversight, peer
oversight, and review.
In the clauses that are referred to here it is easy to
see where if somebody filed a report because they thought that such and such
a nurse really needs to have, in this case, what we will call a quality
assurance review because that may head off a future problem.
By way of example, Mr. Speaker, when we look at
disciplinary issues – if we look at disciplinary issues involving the
police, I have been advised by a police chief that the most frequent issue
is incivility. The most frequent
complaint is incivility because the person who is being apprehended by the
police officer was not happy about the officer's manner.
It is not that easy to be nice to somebody that you are arresting so
they like the outcome.
While nurses are not doing this, nurses are put into
situations where, in cases that I am aware of, a nurse may have worked for
the last twelve hours, all through the night, 8 at night until 8 a.m., maybe
in a nursing home, many elderly people, some suffering from a variety of
dementias and complications and whatever befalls many of us if we live to
that age. On meeting the family
at 8:00 a.m. the family is all chipper and eager to see – the family may be
dissatisfied because they feel that my mother, father, or whatever has not
had enough bedside attention.
It may well be that nurse has had to deal with scores
of residents. Not just a few,
not just a few dozen, but maybe fifty, or sixty, or seventy, or more.
That nurse may well have overseen, licensed practical nurses may have
seen other individuals on that nightshift and might not be as pleasant as
the family would like the nurse to be.
Immediately if the family is upset because they are
dealing with a loved one who may well be in end-stage renal failure and if
the nurse does not present as the public would expect that nurse to present
to them, then disciplinary issues may arise.
It may be a simple quality control issue.
I know that sounds sort of clinical to talk about a quality control
issue when you are talking about somebody with a loved one who may well be
dying, but these are the situations that nurses are in.
The nurse may be seen to have commented
inappropriately. By that, nurses
generally will have a full knowledge and understanding of what the patient
is dealing with without necessarily disclosing this to the family members.
It may be inappropriate for them to comment on the medical aspects.
Only the doctor can do that.
It may be easy to comment in a way, to say something to the effect
that your mom or your dad just had brain cancer or whatever.
This may be crushing news to somebody who should have
been delivered by a doctor and not necessarily by a nurse.
It may be something that a quality control review, which is
contemplated by this legislation, would make available.
In the act as it stands, before this act introduces quality control,
as the Member for Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi pointed out, it may be something
which should not necessarily engage a disciplinary proceeding, but it really
needs to be dealt with before the situation may escalate and result in a
disciplinary proceeding.
It also may be something, by reading this legislation
if it says that this quality assurance committee can “order a registered
nurse to (i) obtain counselling, including substance abuse counselling,
until the registered nurse can demonstrate to the committee, or another body
or a person designated by the committee, that a condition related to the
counselling has been overcome”.
It may well turn out that it is a co-worker.
It is somebody who – and nurses are people.
Nurses can just as easily become substance dependent.
Particularly the long hours, heavy stresses, and potential injuries
that many nurses have in the course of their work.
It may well be the upper body, back injuries from handling patients
who may well be 200 or 300 pounds.
Looking after them, a nurse may become injured and may become
dependent on painkillers, for example.
That may not yet be a disciplinary issue, but it might well be
important that the nurse be required to address this issue at a level which
is lower than a straight-up disciplinary issue.
Mr. Speaker, this is for sure not only to preserve
quality assurance. It is also to
provide another avenue so societally we can move forward with our thousands
of nurses who are absolutely crucial to the health care system.
As we expect nurses to shoulder a more complex and potentially higher
burden, then – the cost of our health care budget today is approximately 40
per cent of our budget.
If we need to maintain cost controls while providing
the same level of quality health care, then nurses and nurse practitioners
will be expected to assume more responsibilities, more areas of
responsibility, and with the increased requirement for professionalism and
the level of services they provide, this type of a quality assurance review
I think would be very helpful and probably should exist in many professions.
Although with nurses being so close to the person receiving the care,
often on a one-on-one, hour-by-hour, day-after-day basis, this is a very
useful piece of legislation.
So, Mr. Speaker, I have no reservations whatsoever to
support this piece of legislation.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CROSS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is great to stand today to offer a few comments, a
few personal viewpoints to this legislation.
It is an amendment to Bill 32, the Registered Nurses Act, 2008.
It is going to add in some provisions that would really guarantee or
put in a provider that our patients who have the one-on-one contact with our
nurses in our health care facilities, Mr. Speaker, would receive the best
possible care that they can receive.
That is what this amendment is for.
It is establishing a quality assurance committee, and the committee
would have a responsibility to carry out certain reviews and to ask for
certain pieces of information if a nurse in her day-to-day practice is
witnessed by a fellow nurse, a physician, or a patient who would offer some
observation that would mean we need to intervene.
It is like an intervention, Mr. Speaker, to allow for growth and for
remediation. These ideas are
necessary.
Quality assurance comes about, from the manufacturing
world, when a product is created and people want an assurance they are
getting the best possible product for their money.
Now you take that analogy and apply it to the health care profession,
then people need to know that when they enter a hospital or a clinic or
elsewhere, that when they get there the person who is going to meet them,
the person who is going to be in most direct contact with them – they are
not going to have as much time with the doctor, Mr. Speaker, as they are
with the nurse, and if they are admitted to the hospital they will spend
most of the one-on-one contact they will have will be with the nurse,
whether it be an RN or an LPN.
That direct contact requires, as the Member for St.
Barbe said, the last speaker before me, that the nurse has to act in a very
difficult situation sometimes.
The amount of knowledge she is supposed to have and the observations she is
supposed to have, is supposed to have consequences for the patient.
It is a very subjective call sometimes, based on evidence she
ascertains from her observations and reports of others, but sometimes these
calls have to be made very quickly.
In the carrying out of her duties, the nurse needs to
know she has support, as well as some rules and obligations she needs to
follow. This person who is the
primary contact, Mr. Speaker, with our patients has to have the best
up-to-date training and the best mannerisms to deal with the patients under
their care.
This quality assurance committee, Mr. Speaker, does not
just offer suggestions to the nurse that she may take under their
advisement. The power of this
committee means the nurse shall comply with some of the recommendations they
may have.
In subsection 35.3, Mr. Speaker, it sets out some of
the powers this committee may have.
I just want to lay that out, put it there for the people of the
Province, the patients in our Province to understand that this is what this
really looks like and what can happen if they have a complaint.
This committee will have the power to access patient
records in the investigation of their complaint or their observation;
require records to be provided, Mr. Speaker, in order for a registered nurse
to do an examination, or undergo practice evaluation or an assessment of his
or her fitness to practice; they may engage in performance audits and other
counselling as may be needed; they may order someone to obtain medical
treatment or to complete a course; they may even restrict practice of a
nurse.
I just felt that these few comments need to get out
there so our patients, Mr. Speaker, who go into our hospitals and our
clinics know that this amendment to this legislation is providing a
mechanism that is going to give them greater safety and greater care.
It is for that reason that I very proudly stand here today to support
our minister.
I would like to thank the officials who gave us the
briefing this morning to all of us, Mr. Speaker, because everybody refers to
them for the thoughts that we might have to put into this.
We rely on the comments from these officials.
We also rely, and what is more important every day, is our direct
contact with these nurses. We
know that we are getting the best possible care that we can.
I will support this amendment to this bill today.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
If the hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services speaks now he will
close the debate.
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank members for participating in the debate
today. Thanks to members on both
sides of the House from all parties.
I would like to respond to a couple of the points that
were raised, and I will just make some general closing comments as well.
The question was raised by the Member for Burgeo – La Poile around
timeline. He is correct.
Based on experiences with other pieces of legislation and other
professionals who have gone through this process, we estimate it will take
six to nine months to be fully ready to get the committee in place to do the
necessary training, to do the necessary education.
I feel confident in saying it will all be in place in
2015, and that we can enact this legislation in 2015.
It is important to ensure we have all the provisions in place to
conduct quality assurance reviews.
They require the co-operation of the health professionals as well.
They require other people to provide information and documentation as
well.
A couple of issues came up in the briefings this
morning that I wanted to quickly mention as well.
There was question around the structure of the quality assurance
committee that will be put in place.
It has not been confirmed yet, but it will include public
representation, I can assure hon. members of that.
There was also some discussion during the debate today
and also in the briefings this morning around whether we are following the
same template regarding quality assurance provisions.
I thank the Member for Signal Hill – Quidi Vidi for her positive
comments. Nurses did choose the
model of quality assurance that we proposed in this bill.
I certainly do agree that is a positive thing.
Quality assurance provisions are currently in place in five of the
health profession statutes: the Psychologists Act, 2005; the Health
Professions Act; the Medical Act, 2011, which the member referenced; the
Optometry Act, 2012; and, the Pharmacy Act, 2012 as well.
I again do want to thank members for participating in
the debate. This bill and
actually the act itself contain provisions which establish a disciplinary
process to be followed when dealing with allegations that a nurse has
engaged in conduct deserving of sanction.
What we are doing here through Bill 32 is amending the Registered
Nurses Act, 2008 to add provisions which will authorize the association to
engage in a process of quality assurance with a registered nurse.
I know that this will be well received by the association, which has
been actively involved in this process as well.
I can assure members of the House and I can assure the
public that patient safety and the quality of patient care are two top
priorities for our department.
These amendments will further enhance both safety and care for the residents
of our Province.
I hope that all members of the House will join me in
supporting this legislation, which will amend the Registered Nurses Act,
2008. I look forward to further
debate as we move into the next phase.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt a motion that the said bill be now
read a second time?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
CLERK:
A bill, An Act To Amend The Registered Nurses Act, 2008.
(Bill 32)
MR. SPEAKER:
This bill has now been read a second time.
When shall the bill be referred to a Committee of the
Whole House?
MR. KING:
Now.
MR. SPEAKER:
Now.
On motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Registered
Nurses Act, 2008”, read a second time, ordered referred to a Committee of
the Whole House presently, by leave.
(Bill 32)
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Minister of Health and
Community Services, that the House now resolve itself into a Committee of
the Whole to consider Bill 32, An Act To Amend The Registered Nurses Act,
2008.
MR. SPEAKER:
The motion is this House does now resolve itself into a Committee of the
Whole to consider Bill 32.
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'.
Carried.
On motion, that the House resolve itself into a
Committee of the Whole, Mr. Speaker left the Chair.
Committee of the Whole
CHAIR (Cross):
Order, please!
We are now considering Bill 32, An Act To Amend The
Registered Nurses Act, 2008.
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Registered Nurses Act,
2008”. (Bill 32)
CLERK:
Clause 1.
CHAIR:
Shall clause 1 carry?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, clause 1 carried.
CLERK:
Clauses 2 through 4 inclusive?
CHAIR:
Shall clauses 2 through 4 inclusive carry?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, clauses 2 through 4 carried.
CLERK:
Be it enacted by the Lieutenant Governor and House of Assembly in
Legislative Session convened, as follows.
CHAIR:
Shall the enacting clause carry?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, enacting clause carried.
CLERK:
An Act To Amend The Registered Nurses Act, 2008.
CHAIR:
Shall the title carry?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, title carried.
CHAIR:
Shall I report the bill without amendment?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
Motion, that the Committee report having passed the
bill without amendment, carried.
CHAIR:
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I move, seconded by the Minister of Health and
Community Services, that the Committee rise and report Bill 32, An Act To
Amend The Registered Nurses Act, 2008.
CHAIR:
The motion is that the Committee rise and report Bill 32 and ask leave to
sit again.
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, that the Committee rise, report progress and
ask leave to sit again, Mr. Speaker returned to the Chair.
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.
MR. CROSS:
Mr. Speaker, the Committee of the Whole have considered the matter to them
referred and have directed me to report Bill 32 without amendment.
MR. SPEAKER:
The Chair of the Committee of the Whole reports that the Committee have
considered the matters to them referred and have directed him to report Bill
32 without amendment.
When shall the report be received?
MR. KING:
Now, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
Now.
When shall the said bill be read a third time?
MR. KING:
Tomorrow.
MR. SPEAKER:
Tomorrow.
On motion, report received and adopted.
Bill ordered read a third time on tomorrow.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
At this time I would like to go to the Order Paper and
call Order 3, second reading of a bill, An Act Respecting The Atlantic
Provinces Harness Racing Commission, Bill 33.
I so move, seconded by the Minister of Finance and
President of Treasury Board, that the said bill be now read the second time.
MR. SPEAKER:
It is moved and seconded that the said bill be now read a second time.
Motion, second reading of a bill, “An Act Respecting
The Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission”.
(Bill 33)
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
MR. WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I just want to read the introduction to Bill 33.
In the explanatory notes of the bill, “This Bill would enact the
Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission Act.
The commission would have unified jurisdiction with other Atlantic
provinces for the regulation of harness racing in the province.”
Mr. Speaker, in Newfoundland and Labrador we have only
had, and still only have, one harness racing track in the entire Province,
and that is in the Goulds. It
has been there for some over fifty years.
A couple of things take place at that: there is obviously racing
taking place there, and there is a whole process of regulation around
harness racing and the betting process around those races.
A part of the regulations within the Criminal Code
controls parimutuel betting. The
reference particularly is Parimutuel Betting Supervision Regulations under
the Criminal Code of Canada. Up
until now, the regulations that have been governing, and the process to
regulate and manage those activities in the Goulds, has been done by
Standardbred Canada.
Under the Criminal Code, jurisdictions have a couple of
options. They can bring in their
own legislation, bring in their own regulatory structure to control and
regulate this industry; or, in the absence of a province having its own
regulations, by default, it defaults to Standardbred Canada, which is an
umbrella organization responsible – or not responsible.
They have a self-proclaimed mandate, not legislatively given to them,
to be responsible for harness racing in the country.
They were doing this regulation for this Province up
until now. They have indicated
to the Province that in 2015 they intend to withdraw their services in
providing this regulatory process and oversight for this industry.
The Province had a couple of choices.
It could decide that it wanted to bring in a whole new regulatory
regime itself, put in place a structure and a mechanism to manage this
industry, or it also had the option to work with other Atlantic Provinces in
becoming a part of what already is an initiative.
Under the Council of Atlantic Premiers there is a
structure in place to manage harness racing within the other Atlantic
Provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI.
We, with them, have agreed that rather than us as a Province going on
our own, building up the expertise, building up the regime that would be
necessary to regulate this industry, we felt it was better to become a part
of an umbrella organization recognizing, as I said a moment ago, we only
have one racetrack in the Province.
It has been there for fifty years.
No one else has entered the industry.
The notion that we will have large numbers of people
requiring a large regulatory oversight body was not really practical.
Being very practical of what was necessary here, we are bringing in
this particular piece of legislation to be a part of the Atlantic Provinces.
I might add, Mr. Speaker, while we are introducing this
bill in our House, and this is a new piece of legislation for us, there is a
piece of legislation that looks just like this in the other provinces.
They will proceed to make an amendment to theirs to stop referring to
it as the Maritime provinces, but the Atlantic Provinces.
The legislation will mirror what we are doing here.
Basically, what this proposed legislation will do is
help us establish an authority to govern, to regulate, and ensure the
integrity of harness racing.
While the Province is joining with other Atlantic Provinces in doing this,
it is important to point out that the sport of harness and the wagering that
accompanies it is a highly regulated – as I said a moment ago, it is covered
under the Criminal Code of Canada.
Gambling is unlawful, unless it is conducted and managed by the
Province or a body that is authorized by the Province to manage it on its
behalf. That is what we are
doing here as a part of this Atlantic Provinces organization.
As I said a moment ago, the Maritime Provinces Harness
Racing Commission is the authority that will be regulating harness racing in
all of Atlantic Canada when this particular piece of legislation hopefully
gets passed by this House. Its
mandate is to regulate horse racing, to protect the health and safety and
welfare of the horses, the racing participants, and the racing officials,
and to safeguard the interests of the sporting public.
The Maritime provinces formed this commission to oversee the sport of
horse racing in their region, and now it is extended into Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Standardbred Canada, as I said, has been doing this
since about 2005 on behalf of the Province, and they have indicated to us
after 2015, they do not have an interest and do not want to be a part of
that process and that oversight process and providing the regulatory
structure that is necessary to make this particular venture legal under the
Criminal Code.
Mr. Speaker, this commission would be an agency of the
Council of Atlantic Premiers.
That council was put in place to promote Atlantic Canada issues at a
national level, so it has multiple functions and roles within this.
Initially, to get this thing off the ground, it was recognized that
the current Maritime commission has been in place for a while.
They have put together their structures, their administrative
structures, their letterhead, their Web site.
All of their mechanisms are in place focusing and referencing only the
Maritime provinces.
In the first
year that we engage with them to do this, we have some transition cost
associated with this move, and on an ongoing basis it will cost the Province
roughly about $25,000 a year for our participation.
Obviously there is a fee structure that is in place, and that fee
structure is driven by the dollar value of the wagers made at this location.
So, we estimate based on past activity at this track that our annual
cost for this, our participation in this Atlantic regulatory commission, would be roughly $25,000.
In the first year there will be some one-time transitional costs and
for those of you who might recall the discussion during the Estimates
Committees in this year's Budget, there was a discussion in the House about
a $50,000 allocation that was set aside to deal with this transition and the
normal operating costs that will be incurred for our participation in this
process.
The money was voted for in this past year's allocation.
As I said, on an ongoing basis, beyond this year, we estimate that
cost to be around $25,000. The
Department of Finance, as we are in carriage of this particular bill and we
are bringing it forward to the House, we have been very pleased that we have
had the help and support and the co-operation of the Newfoundland Harness
Horse Owners Association, together with the St. John's Racing and
Entertainment Centre. We have
also had some discussions with the Department of Municipal and
Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Department of Business, Tourism, Culture
and Rural Development have also been actively involved in some discussions
with us because this is a business venture.
As I said a moment ago, it has a long history of some
fifty years of providing an entertainment, a sporting venue, but also a
business venture in the Goulds.
It employs about eight people year-round and in the summertime it could peak
to about twenty-five people, many of them working part-time; but it is a
business enterprise with a tremendous history and a long track record of
success – pardon the pun, but it has had a successful fifty-year history.
Mr. Speaker, the piece of legislation akin to this is
new to the Province and it is several pages of clauses and provisions that I
would only been too glad when we get into Committee to respond to questions
that may exist. As I said a
moment ago, this particular bill that we are introducing here is a piece of
legislation that exists in Nova Scotia, a piece of legislation in New
Brunswick, and a piece of legislation in PEI that mirrors this.
They have now moved forward to amend their acts to reflect the new
name so it will be encompassing all of the Atlantic Provinces.
Mr. Speaker, I guess, in summary, what we are trying to
do here now is to create, through legislation, a regulatory regime that will
allow an already existing business to continue, to allow an industry to
continue to operate legally in the Province, because there is an obligation
under the Criminal Code of Canada to ensure that if such operations exist in
your jurisdiction there must be a regulatory regime around it to ensure
compliance with the Criminal Code.
What we are doing here, Mr. Speaker, is introducing a
bill that will do just that for us, to ensure that this operation remains
compliant and able to operate within the Criminal Code, and continue to
provide the entertainment and the sporting opportunities for those people
who participate in this venue.
Mr. Speaker, I will conclude my comments.
I look forward to members of the House contributing to the debate,
and if there are some questions that arise in Committee, I will only be too
glad to answer them.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for The Straits – White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak to Bill 33, An Act
Respecting The Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
I thank the Minister of Finance and President of
Treasury Board for giving the overview of this new piece of legislation that
harmonizes with the other Atlantic Provinces, which would allow the
continuation of harness racing in the Province, because this is a highly
regulated industry and certainly would need to have some overseeing of
regulatory bodies and to comply with the Criminal Code of Canada.
With the one racetrack that we have in the Province,
which the minister had highlighted, is in the Goulds for approximately fifty
years or longer. There was in
the Estimates debate listed a line item of $50,000.
I would like – and maybe I will get into this in Committee, or maybe
the Finance Minister in his closing remarks will be able to elaborate on the
$50,000, the one-time cost, saying that on a go-forward basis it will be
$25,000.
Would the member be contributing money towards this
particular membership fee when it comes to the Atlantic Provinces Harness
Racing Commissioner? Is the
Province paying 100 per cent of the membership cost and is the total cost
$25,000, or will it actually be less than that?
There is administrative, or travel, or remuneration for members on
the commission as such.
Reading through this particular piece of legislation,
it does have a number of definitions and it does outline the process of
which this new structure would fall under for our own entity.
Previously we were regulated under Standardbred Canada since 2005,
but Standardbred was not happy and certainly felt a bit conflicted, which
the minister did not mention, in terms of continuation of such a service and
continue that level of regulation in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Speaker, I have lived in other provinces, such as
Alberta, where they have had regulation of the industry.
Seeing this is not about – as the minister talked about, when it
comes to a form of gambling, it does have to be highly regulated and
controlled. That is why we need
to have the highest level of standards possible.
I am pleased to see there was some means to find an
entity that would be willing to work with the Province to ensure there would
be continuation of a business that has been around for a half century.
Given that the infrastructure is already in place, and Newfoundland
and Labrador is joining them to ensure there is adequate oversight, the
legislation in the other Atlantic Provinces, as the minister stated, would
be changing to reflect this so that we would allow having the continuation
of horse racing in the Province.
We were told there are, right now, seventy, eighty horses that are being
raced in the Province. The
Province is paying the annual membership fee through the Council of Atlantic
Premiers.
This may be an opportunity when we look at other pieces
of legislation as well. I had an
issue and a situation in my own district when we talked about midwifery.
HIROC was the insurer that would not provide liability insurance to
midwives operating in a publicly funded setting.
They were pulling back in a similar situation that Standardbred
Canada is.
There may be an ability to work with another
jurisdiction around the regulation.
We have seen announcements come forward where the focus for midwifery
would be around privatization.
To look at the small number of midwives that we would have in the Province,
if we were able to look at a similar legislation that is
inter-jurisdictional, we may end up finding a solution to allow midwives to
operate in a publicly funded session, as well as we are looking at
regulations in harness racing here in the Province.
Based on the information the Finance Minister has put
forward, I do not see how we could not support this particular piece of
legislation. With that, I will
take my seat. If I have
questions I will ask them in the Committee.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLEJOHN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I just have a few words myself.
I think the minister has outlined this very well today.
We are dealing with Bill 33, An Act Respecting The Atlantic Provinces
Harness Racing Commission.
As the minister has outlined in his remarks earlier,
basically what we are doing today, Mr. Speaker, is harmonizing the
regulatory body coming from the Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission
to the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
It is harmonization. It
is a regulatory agency, Mr. Speaker.
All we are doing, basically, is making sure we have a regulator for
it.
As the hon. member from the Opposition pointed out,
from 2005 up to most recently, the Canadian Standardbred association was the
regulator and they felt like they were in a bit of a conflict of interest
position. They felt like they
needed to move away. This was a
logical place to go to have regulation throughout Atlantic Canada.
Harness racing, Mr. Speaker, is something, as the
minister has stated, has gone on in this Province for over fifty years.
Being a boy from Bay Roberts, I remember very well Mr. Harry Bishop.
Mr. Bishop was a prominent harness racing driver and a person who
kept horses. He even made his
own track in the backyard, out in his field, so he could train his horses in
the springtime to get them ready to go to the track.
On mid-Wednesday afternoon he would get out of his business – he was
a wholesaler – hook up the trailer, put the horses in, and off he would go
to the track. I have many fond
memories of this. Harness racing
has gone on for a long, long time in our Province and the racetrack in the
Goulds has been something.
One of the things the hon. minister did not mention is
the fact that the amendment has already gone through the Nova Scotia
Legislature. Nova Scotia has
already amended their legislation to allow for the Atlantic Provinces
Harness Racing Commission. Its
mandate is to regulate horse racing in Atlantic Canada.
It is something very simple.
It is to protect the health of the horses.
It is to protect the health of the drivers.
It is also to protect the well-being of racing officials.
I know there has been some training taking place.
We had a judge leave here and go to PEI recently to get new training,
train to be a better judge to make sure that the racing was done fairly, and
the drivers and the horses were better protected.
These are to safeguard the interests of the sporting public.
Again, over the last fifty years, Mr. Speaker, I do not
know, I would assume there are members on both sides of the House have taken
the opportunity to go to the raceway and see it in action.
There have been thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people
maybe, who over the last fifty years have taken the opportunity to go to the
raceway and watch the horses race.
It has been something that has gone on for a long time.
Mr. Speaker, I think this legislation just speaks to the fact that we
do now have a regulatory agency which is standard throughout the Atlantic
Provinces. I think, based on the
comments from the member from the opposite side, they are supporting this
legislation. It brings us into
harmony.
There are no changes at the track.
There are absolutely no changes at the track.
It will carry on as it carried on for years, Mr. Speaker.
In terms of going to the track, an average person walking in, they
would see no particular change.
It is just a regulatory agency that would oversee harness racing within
Atlantic Canada.
Mr. Speaker, the minister did speak about the $50,000
fee, and it may be $25,000. Just
to clarify for the member of the Opposition, that would vary depending on
the amount of betting that would go on.
I think that fee could vary.
Fifty thousand dollars right now was the estimate, but it could even
be less this year, for the Opposition member.
I would suggest that the minister may speak to that as we go along.
It was a cost of doing business, a cost of getting ourselves within
the Atlantic harness racing association.
A number of departments were consulted.
The Harness Horse Owners Association was consulted, St. John's Racing
and Entertainment was consulted, as well as a various number of government
departments. Mr. Speaker, this
is a good thing. It regulates
the industry, and it allows for those enthusiasts who wish to speak and race
to continue.
Mr. Speaker, with that I will sit down and take my
seat.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I am happy to stand and speak to Bill 33, the Atlantic
Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
I will not have a lot to say.
I do support it, obviously.
The Minister of Finance did a great explanation of the bill itself,
and the MHA for The Straits – White Bay North as well.
I will not repeat things that have been said, but just
to say I think it is extremely important that if we have anything to do with
people laying their money down and making bets et cetera, it has to be
regulated, obviously. It has
always been regulated.
With the changes that came about since 2005, we had
Standardbred Canada that was in charge of the regulation here in
Newfoundland and Labrador. When
they decided they wanted to get out I think the government here in this
Province made a very wise decision to look to what existed in the Maritimes
and to join with them. It made
all the sense in the world.
The Maritime commission, as has been said, was already
in existence. There was
legislation in place. Joining
with them to have all the same regulations for Atlantic Canada was the way
to go. We probably need to look
at that for a lot of things, Mr. Speaker, in terms of working with the
Atlantic Provinces in putting things in place that are beneficial to all of
the provinces.
As I said, I do not think I will take up time repeating
what has been said. It is a
detailed piece of legislation.
It is technical and I think that people – I use this language in speaking to
the former bill – should have some sense of comfort knowing that we are well
regulated. Even though we only
have the one racetrack here in Newfoundland and Labrador, it is still
important that people know when they go there that there is a commission
which is regulating it.
It is a place where somebody is looking after them
because of the commission. I
think that is what is important.
They know they are going someplace where they are not going to be cheated,
where they feel safe, and where they can enjoy this social event knowing
that they are not going to be victimized.
I think that is what the regulation is all about.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I assure the Minister of Finance that we are supporting the bill.
MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):
The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CROSS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yesterday, we visited the office and spoke to the
officials to get some information on this piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker.
It was something that was totally new to me.
I am obviously not built like a jockey, I am built more like a horse;
therefore, I would not have been experiencing much success at the racetrack.
What I would like to say, Mr. Speaker, is that this is
not something that is new to the Province.
This has been on the go for fifty-plus years racing at Goulds.
It is like a tradition now.
Even in some of the names of restaurants and places around town in
the city here, the connection with racing and harness racing, and the way
that the sport has evolved – and it is a sport.
A lot of people, as the Member for Port au Port mentioned, spend
quite a bit of time and personal time training their horses, preparing for
races, and making sure that the people who visit Goulds and visit the
racetrack, do experience a high-quality performance when they get there.
The minister spoke to this, Mr. Speaker, and there are
two or three comments I just want to sort of reiterate very quickly on what
he spoke about. He addressed the
information very quickly. In
looking at the documents that we received since yesterday and the notes that
we scribbled down when we were at the department, there are a few things
that just an extra set of eyes might look at and be able to offer.
Since 2005, there has been no commission.
Or this commission that was in place – by default Standardbred Canada
regulated the horse racing.
Standardbred Canada is more into promotions than they are regulations.
For eight years they carried through with this activity here in our
Province, Mr. Speaker. They
decided they needed to move away from regulating the harness racing that was
taking place in Newfoundland and Labrador, so we had to look for an
alternate arrangement.
As our speaker said, we did not need to reinvent the
wheel. We did not need to go and
create a whole new system or a whole new commission.
There was a commission that was taking place in the Maritime
provinces, the Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
With the paired legislation that you alluded to, Mr. Speaker – or the
Member for Port de Grave alluded to – some of this may have already been
successfully passed in legislation in some of our sister Legislatures.
In parallel, all four Atlantic Provinces now will have
a piece of legislation that means we have a new commission.
It is the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
Once these amendments proceed through the Legislatures, this
authority will be in place to govern and regulate the harness racing
industry here in our Province, Mr. Speaker.
It is not different than it would be taken care of in any of the
other provinces in Atlantic Canada.
Just because there is a commission, in the legislation
there is a couple of comments that we may look at – what would this
commission look like, Mr. Speaker?
Well, it is a body of eight individuals appointed, and they will have
a unified jurisdiction throughout all four Atlantic Provinces.
They would appoint a Chairperson from among their commissioners, and
they would determine the locations of offices and administrative functions
like that.
In a couple of other sections here throughout that part
of the act, it also talks about if someone resigns from the commission, they
will still stay a member until they are replaced.
Therefore, the continuity of this committee will be intact, and it
will not have to shut down because one or two members have decided they need
to move on.
This is a seamless piece of legislation that needs to
be passed through our Legislature.
It will allow for business as usual, and nothing will change at the
Goulds. For next summer, it will
be track activity as usual, nothing really new, nothing enhanced, just
governed and regulated by a commission.
I support this bill, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much.
MR. SPEAKER:
If the hon. the Minister of Finance speaks now, he will close debate.
The hon. the Minister of Finance.
MR. WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank my colleagues for their comments with
respect to the bill. During the
discussion there were a couple of issues that arose, and I just want to
provide some additional commentary and some response.
With respect to the fee structure and how we pay for
this, as I said in the beginning, in the initial year there is a transition
and there is an administrative transition cost that this Atlantic commission
will have to incur to facilitate our becoming a part of the umbrella group.
In that first year, we are going to cover those direct costs; simple
things like changing the name on a letterhead, changing the design of the
Web site so it reflects our participation, just to illustrate a point.
The other components of that, what the annual cost will
be for this year and future years is based on – and I used the figure of
$25,000, because there is a fee structure that is influenced by the amount
of activity, betting activity that is occurring.
So depending on how much activity there exists, our fees will vary
based on that. What we are using
as a proxy is the past couple of years experiences of the current track, we
have used that number and said if that continues then we can anticipate that
our costs will be around $25,000, based on today's current fee structure.
Obviously, if the commission overall makes some
adjustments in fee structures on an annual basis because of budgetary
consideration, then the unit price will go up, but the principle at play
here is a principle whereby our annual fees are influenced by the amount of
the wagers that are occurring.
If that shrinks, our fee will shrink.
If it expands, our fee will expand.
Then, of course, we, as a Province, because of our
participation in this regulatory regime, we are obligated to pay for those
fees. The bill will come to our
provincial government and we will make the contribution to the commission.
As a Province, though, what we are doing with this
regulatory regime is keeping in place a business enterprise.
Business enterprises, as we talked about in this House many time,
creates employment activity.
There is direct spending they will have.
They induce certain other amounts of spending that will occur in the
community and in the region.
There are a group of horse owners, for example, who have those horses in
this Province because we have this activity.
So, they are part of our community.
They raise these horses.
They are spending money to do that, and the patrons of this facility come
out.
It is a part of an entertainment, a sporting event, and
there is revenue that that activity induces and that is where we benefit as
a Province. No different than
conversations we have about any other small business in the Province.
So, I say, Mr. Speaker, that is how we will then recover some of
those costs. What we are really
paying for is a regulatory regime here.
I think those were the only points that were raised
that I thought would be important to clarify as I conclude debate on second
reading. I do want to thank
members of the House for their contribution and participation in the debate.
I wait, as we move into Committee, if there are some very specific
questions about a clause, I will only be too glad to address them for them.
MR. SPEAKER:
Is it the pleasure of the House that the said bill be now read the second
time?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
CLERK:
A bill, An Act Respecting The Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
(Bill 33)
MR. SPEAKER:
The bill has now been read a second time.
When shall the bill be referred to the Committee of the
Whole?
MR. KING:
Now.
MR. SPEAKER:
Now.
On motion, a bill, “An Act Respecting The Atlantic
Provinces Harness Racing Commission”, read a second time, ordered referred
to a Committee of the Whole House presently, by leave.
(Bill 33)
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
At this time, I move, seconded by the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board, that the House resolve itself into
a Committee of the Whole to consider Bill 33, An Act Respecting The Atlantic
Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
MR. SPEAKER:
It is moved and seconded that I do now leave the Chair for the House to
resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider the said bill.
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'.
Carried.
On motion, that the House resolve itself into a
Committee of the Whole, Mr. Speaker left the Chair.
Committee of the Whole
CHAIR (Cross):
Order, please!
We are now considering Bill 33, An Act Respecting The
Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
A bill, “An Act Respecting The Atlantic Provinces
Harness Racing Commission”.
(Bill 33)
CLERK:
Clause 1.
CHAIR:
Shall clause 1 carry?
The hon. the Member for The Straits – White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank the Minister of Finance for answering the
questions I had posed previously.
I would like to further know if there was any type of cost analysis
done in terms of setting up our own entity versus joining this entity.
Was there any review from the department on that matter; and, if so,
would any documentation be made available?
As well, the bill here also talks about two members who
would be appointed through the Cabinet, basically, to this commission and
that it would take five members for quorum.
My question is around the meetings that these individuals would have
in quorum. Are there costs
associated with travel, or would these meetings take place through an online
component? Or, out of this
$25,000, does that include the fee for travel of board members or commission
members; or is that an outside cost, and will that fall under the Department
of Finance and Treasury Board?
Those would be a couple of particular questions that I
have on that matter and then if I could receive a response, it would be
appreciated.
Thank you.
CHAIR:
The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
MR. WISEMAN:
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
With respect to the second question first, around the
meetings, the commission operates with its own autonomy, its own budget,
approved by the four Atlantic Provinces.
So the costs of operating administratively, which includes the
commission meetings, they are all absorbed by the commission and the
contributions are a pooled contribution from each of the four Atlantic
Provinces.
With respect to the other question around the
cost-benefit analysis – unfortunately the piece of work around this, the
analysis was done before I became minister, so I cannot answer the question
specifically if there was a detailed analysis done.
Just intuitively, if you think about it for a moment, you have a
structure that has an administrative structure and a whole regulatory piece
to manage, and a certain body of knowledge and expertise in this field is
required to operate such an enterprise.
Intuitively speaking, I would have to suggest that if
we were as a Province going to put in place a regulatory regime with having
the individuals with the expertise and the skill to be able to manage this
and maintain a structure, individuals, an office, and the wraparound
supports for that for one track in the Province – and I suspect there is
obviously opportunities of others to consider investing in an enterprise
such as this, but you would have to think that if it is the only one for
fifty years, there is probably not going to be many more expanding into this
field.
If you think about it for a moment, would you set up an
office and recruit people with a talent and the skill and maintain those
talents and skills and maintain an understanding of the legislative regime –
because keep in mind as I said a moment ago, the Criminal Code of Canada
governs many of these activities so you have to be very familiar with the
Criminal Code and the regulations around this.
We talk also about the welfare of the animals, the
welfare of the participants, the races, and the individuals involved, so it
is a fair body of knowledge and expertise that would need to be imbedded in
such an office to do this.
Instinctively, you would have to think if there was not a lot of work done
in trying to spend a lot of time doing a detailed analysis, I would
understand it because on the surface if you think about it, intuitively, you
would have to say this is a much better way to do it when you have the
collective views of all Atlantic Provinces and you are able to build that
expertise. Because no one
province by itself would have enough activity to justify establishing a
standalone office and this just works out – the economy is a scale.
On that principle alone, I suspect that in and of itself would give
you the answer.
CHAIR:
Shall clause 1 carry?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, clause 1 carried.
CLERK:
Clauses 2 through 18 inclusive.
CHAIR:
Shall clauses 2 through 18 inclusive carry?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, clauses 2 through 18 carried.
CLERK:
Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in
Legislative Session convened, as follows.
CHAIR:
Shall the enacting clause carry?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, enacting clause carried.
CLERK:
An Act Respecting The Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission.
CHAIR:
Shall the title carry?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, title carried.
CHAIR:
Shall I report the bill without amendment?
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
Motion, that the Committee report having passed the
bill without amendment, carried.
CHAIR:
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I move, seconded by the Minister of Fisheries and
Aquaculture, that the Committee rise and report Bill 33, An Act Respecting
The Atlantic Provinces Harness Commission.
CHAIR:
The motion is that the Committee rise and report Bill 33 and ask leave to
sit again.
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
On motion, that the Committee rise, report progress and
ask leave to sit again, Mr. Speaker returned to the Chair.
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
The hon. the Member for Bonavista North.
MR. CROSS:
Mr. Speaker, the Committee of the Whole have considered the matters to them
referred and have directed me to report Bill 33 without amendment.
MR. SPEAKER:
The Chair of the Committee of the Whole reports the Committee have
considered the matters to them referred and have directed him to report Bill
33 without amendment.
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
When shall the report be received?
MR. KING:
Now.
MR. SPEAKER:
Now.
On motion, report received and adopted.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
At this time I would like to call from the Order Paper,
Order 1, Address in Reply.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Port de Grave.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. LITTLEJOHN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It has been a little bit of a busy day up and down
here, Mr. Speaker. I am very
pleased to speak to the Speech from the Throne today.
As always, it is a privilege to stand here and represent the fine
people in the District of Port de Grave.
Mr. Speaker, today I want to speak about some of the
events I had the opportunity to attend in the last week or so covering for
the hon. Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.
I had the opportunity to attend a couple of events, and one of them
had a significant impact on me.
I attended the opening of the forty-first Craft Council
of Newfoundland and Labrador at the Arts and Culture Centre.
Mr. Speaker, it was a pretty amazing event.
The work that you saw while you were there was pretty amazing.
I spoke to a local jeweler who did some amazing work with brass and
silver and all the rest. She did
– I will call it engraving, but it was a design into the brass and silver
and everything else.
Her mom comes from Nova Scotia every year, Mr. Speaker,
so she has the opportunity to come down, spend a weekend.
She said to me at that time, this local jeweler, this is the best
event that I attend all year long.
I sell more product at this event than I sell anywhere else at any
other time of the year.
Then, Mr. Speaker, as I was going around I went and I
saw a visual artist. This visual
artist had all kinds of paintings, different types of paintings, black and
white paintings, colour paintings, and t-shirts.
He was telling me how last year he did very well here, but after this
was over – the Craft Council ended on Sunday afternoon – he was on a flight
Monday morning to attend a major craft event in Toronto.
He had to be ready and had to have everything packed up and ready to
go to Toronto the very next day.
He was going to a craft fair there.
He expected to do just as well here at the local Newfoundland and
Labrador craft fair as he would do in Toronto.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I went and I saw another group of
ladies, and they sold jewelry, different types of jewelry.
They were from Nova Scotia.
They have been coming to the craft fair now for, I think they said
six years. One of the local
people there from Nova Scotia said they come to Newfoundland and they come
to our Craft Council fair because it is the highest sales event that they
have each and every year in the last six years, and they do about thirty
events a year throughout Atlantic Canada.
So, Mr. Speaker, that drove me to wonder what kind of
value does local craft producers and all the rest have and the impact that
it has on the Province. So I did
a little bit of digging and a little bit of background research.
I found out that the local crafts in this Province generate about $30
million a year. It is an amazing
total when you think about it; $30 million a year that local craft suppliers
in this Province do.
Mr. Speaker, when you are going to these types of
events it is funny how you meet old colleagues and old friends.
At one point I was an historic sites officer with the provincial
government. I used to do a fair
amount of work in Trinity.
Trinity now is a destination in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Most people and most tourists want to come.
They come to Trinity and there are a lot of different things to see
and do. The Rising Tide Theatre
has many festivals there in the summertime.
There are a lot of local craft producers.
When I went there I saw an old friend.
She was sitting around the corner knitting away, selling her produce
at the forty-first craft council fair. I
said to the lady, are you still with the department?
Oh yes, she said. I am
still working eight months a year with the department, seasonally, enjoying
it immensely. She said I love to
see the tourists come from all over the world.
I love to see the local people come.
Mr. Speaker, you never know who you are going to bump into when you
go to these events.
The other thing I noticed, and one of the things that I
dug into as I was talking to these people, is that these are micro
businesses that are employing one or two people.
These one or two people are for the most part living in rural parts
of our Province and contributing to the economy of our Province.
They are not only contributing to the economy of our
Province, Mr. Speaker, but some of these people also go out and employ
others to knit socks, or knit caps, or whatever.
That supplements the family income.
Yes, and not only supplementing the family income, but also
supplementing the local economy.
There are a variety of things that go on here and these micro businesses are
doing very well.
The other part of this, Mr. Speaker, when I was looking
at this, one of the initiatives at the Department of Business, Tourism,
Culture and Rural Development was linking crafts with tourism.
This was a pilot project that got started in 2012 on the Bonavista
Peninsula, and it went very well, trying to link craft producers and craft
suppliers with tourism opportunities.
In 2012, it started on the Bonavista Peninsula.
It was a successful program.
Last summer, as I understand, it was starting to expand onto the West
Coast of our Province and the Northern Peninsula.
There are many opportunities, many linkages between our
craft suppliers and some of our tourist operators.
By providing that linkage, Mr. Speaker, we are providing
opportunities for our tourists to buy local crafts and support the local
economy, and local craft producers, as I said being, self-employed or
employing one or two other people.
The next event, Mr. Speaker, that I attended was what
they call a futurpreneur event.
This was amazing in a different way.
When I went to this event it was at the Common Ground.
I was wondering where I was going, but there was an announcement
being made there for entrepreneur week.
The Common Ground is a locally-run organization.
They have a lovely executive director, her name is Jennifer.
She was there and welcomed me at the door.
She told me to come in, excited to have someone there representing
government. She was very, very
friendly and obliging.
Mr. Speaker, Common Ground, this building, this
organization is there to promote and foster entrepreneurial success and
entrepreneurial stories. I was
in a room full of young entrepreneurs between the ages of eighteen and
thirty-nine. To see their
enthusiasm, to see their spirit, and to see their dedication to make sure
their entrepreneurial efforts and the things they were going to try to start
in the business that they were in, was absolutely inspiring.
There was so much energy in the room that day.
Mr. Speaker, once again you go to these places and you
do not know who you are going to run into.
A colleague of mine – for fifteen years we worked basically cubicle
to cubicle in the old Department of Tourism.
He broke out on his own.
He is now a personal ADHD coach and he is coaching adults.
He was diagnosed at thirty-nine with ADHD and he left
government. He is trained as an
ADHD coach and now he is assisting our youth and adults in how to handle
their ADHD. It is an amazing
story. He is the only one in the
Province, but he broke out on his own.
He was diagnosed at thirty-nine, as I said earlier, and he is out
there now helping other people.
He said, Glenn, I have so much work I do not know what
to do. He said it is so
rewarding to be able to help others and to be able to understand.
He said I never understood myself for years.
When he was finally diagnosed, he understood some of the things and
some of the anxieties that he had.
Mr. Speaker, it was great to hear of the success that he was having.
Mr. Speaker, we talk in this House many times about how
we can diversify our economy. We
are going to be able to diversify our economy through the efforts of these
entrepreneurs and the various activities they are getting involved in.
These people are dedicated to their projects.
Mr. Speaker, I was encouraged to watch them.
I was encouraged to watch them, not only in terms of their
determination to make their individual businesses work, but the opportunity
they took when they were in the room to talk to each other.
To talk to each other about their successes, to talk to each other
about some of their challenges, and to talk to each other about just trying
to encourage each on to continue to believe.
At this particular event, Mr. Speaker, all these young
entrepreneurs, there were about thirty in the room, and none of them were
giving up on their ideas and their dreams.
Some were in different phases and some were in different stages, but
they were there. They were there
and they were determined to make their business idea work for them.
We were there encouraging them to take advantage of some of the
programs and the suite of programs that are available through our Department
of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.
That is a mouthful for me.
Trying to get all of that out is a mouthful.
These people were there and we encouraged them to come
to government and talk about the suite of programs.
One of the things that has come out of that, Mr. Speaker, is that I
have already arranged a meeting with the executive director for Common
Ground and the Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development.
We are going to meet next week.
We are going to have a little conversation about how the government
can become more involved in assisting with Common Ground and the activities
and the initiatives that are going there in that building.
Mr. Speaker, there are great opportunities for rural
diversification. I have talked
about the Craft Council and local producers, and what they are doing for the
rural economy. I have talked
about another event, the futurpreneur event with young entrepreneurs between
eighteen and thirty-nine and the business ideas and the business
opportunities they have. Common
Ground provides them a place to come and work.
They have the computer space.
They have the work space.
People come and they work on their business ideas.
Mr. Speaker, those are two very interesting pieces that
normally backbenchers like myself would not get the opportunity to go see.
Because the minister asked me, I got an opportunity to learn about
some of the things that are going on in our Province in the craft industry
and in our entrepreneurial spirit.
Mr. Speaker, the other one I want to talk a little bit
about is near and dear to my heart.
I went to Conception Bay South about a week and a half ago to the
Softball Newfoundland and Labrador Hall of Fame induction.
When I went to the Softball Newfoundland and Labrador Hall of Fame
induction, there were eight inductees.
I was very proud to be there because they were all former teammates
of mine, or former competitors of mine; a great field of inductees, Mr.
Speaker.
One of the other things we do not do enough of is to
recognize those people who have given to their sport.
Whether it is as an athlete, whether it is as a builder, whether it
is as a fighter – as my loyal Member for Cape St. Francis, he has been known
to duke it out with a few people over the years.
Softball Newfoundland and Labrador were leaders in this
area. They were the first
provincial Sports Hall of Fame.
They were the first provincial sport organization to establish a Hall of
Fame. I would suggest now that
over thirty sports, thirty provincial sport organizations recognize many of
their athletes. I am sitting in
a room, I am looking around, and I know when I look around the room there
are many Hall of Famers in this room from various areas.
That was great and, Mr. Speaker, something we do not always
recognize.
We are three-time national championships at the senior
fast pitch level, and sometimes we do not take the time to recognize our
peers. When you are playing
nationally and you win three times in a row that is significant.
That means you are producing quality athletes.
That means you are doing something right in your program.
My hat goes off to 3 Cheers Pub Bud Light, because it takes a lot of
effort to organize and make sure you are ready to go to these national
championships.
Mr. Speaker, as my time is winding down this afternoon,
I want to talk a little bit about my district.
I would be remiss if I did not.
One of the things I am proud to say as I go through my district and
go to various events throughout my district, my district continues to grow.
Every community I go into, housing starts are up.
New schools are coming along, but housing starts are up.
Younger people are coming to our area.
We are attracting younger people to our area.
Housing starts all throughout the Port de Grave district are
improving.
Mr. Speaker, that leads to good things.
That leads to young people coming in, and our schools are full.
I am very proud that we have a commitment to replace Coley's Point
Primary. We are in the early
stages of replacing Coley's Point Primary.
In last year's Budget, $1.8 million was provided to start that, do
the site planning, the site selection, and do some of the design work.
That work is moving forward, Mr. Speaker.
As well, this last summer, Mr. Speaker, in speaking to
the local harbour authority – because the fishing industry plays a vital
role in my district. It is a
driver in our economy, but it is particularly a driver in the economy of
Port de Grave. As the fishery
goes in Port de Grave, Mr. Speaker, local business goes in my district as
well. In speaking to the local
harbour authority back a couple of months ago, it was a record year in
landings.
We had a great season in the fishery.
The crab fishery was good.
The shrimp fishery was good.
There were great landings in capelin.
There were great landings coming in later on in mackerel and herring.
I hear there is much to be proud of.
As the Minister of Fisheries turns around here, he likes to hear
about the fishery. We have had a
very good year in the fishery.
The fishery is very important to our local economy
because it drives local business.
Our fish harvesters and our plant workers, when we have a good
fishing season, you can see increased car sales.
You can see increased sales in our local stores.
AN HON. MEMBER:
Restaurants.
MR. LITTLEJOHN:
In our restaurants and our local businesses, sales are up.
Mr. Speaker, when you go through our district people are saying our
sales are up because we have had a good year.
One of the contributing factors and one of the major factors is our
fishery.
Mr. Speaker, we have been working away and we have had
a dedicated number of years trying to improve our roads.
One of my objectives when I came into government was to improve the
Conception Bay Highway throughout our district.
We have worked very hard to improve the Conception Bay Highway
through the district.
Mr. Speaker, the Conception Bay Highway through our
district has some five kilometres of upgrading.
It has been well received.
Once again, that makes for better roads and we do not have as many
people calling me and saying, Glenn, there is a pothole.
Do not get me wrong, Mr. Speaker, we have lots of potholes and there
is a lot of work to be done, but we have made some progress along the
Conception Bay Highway.
The Conception Bay Highway, particularly through the
Town of Bay Roberts, has very heavy traffic volumes.
Some 18,000 to 20,000 cars a day go through that one stretch that we
call the golden mile. We have
significant traffic, and by having improved roads we are having less damage
to our cars, but also it is great for our local economy.
Mr. Speaker, we have done a lot of good work.
There is a lot of good work we have done, but there is work that we
need to do. There are still some
sections of road that I would really like to get done.
Happy Jacks Hill comes to mind in Port de Grave.
We have more work to do on Crane's Road in Upper Island Cove.
We have more work to do in the upper end of the district in Clarke's
Beach on the Conception Bay Highway.
Mr. Speaker, my focus has been on doing the roads that
have the highest density volumes of traffic.
Getting the Conception Bay Highway significantly upgraded has helped
because that is the highest volume of traffic.
Once we have that to a sufficient level, I hope to start to do the
major secondary roads. That
would take in Bareneed Road, which we have done a little bit of work on,
down to Port de Grave and Happy Jacks Hill, and more work on Crane's Road
needs to be done. We need to do
some work also in the Makinsons area, because going in through Makinsons –
that access to Veterans Memorial Highway.
So there is work that needs to be done, and we continue to make
progress there.
We have had some great progress in terms of our water
and sewer projects. I was very
pleased this year through municipal capital works to get some work done in
the Town of Spaniard's Bay.
There was a sewage problem at the bottom of Brazil's Hill, and we have that
corrected. We are getting the
outfall there fixed. Also, Mr.
Speaker, there was some roadwork they wanted to do on New Harbour Road.
We have that commitment done.
We had some work done in Makinsons, and we also had some work along
the Conception Bay Highway.
Mr. Speaker, as my time is winding down here this
afternoon, I want to thank the people of Port de Grave for their confidence
in me once again. We have work
to do, and I look forward to working with our municipalities and all the
people in the District of Port de Grave to improve life and the quality of
life in our district.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER (Cross):
The hon. the Member for St. John's South.
MR. OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, before I start my comments today I am
going to pass on some congratulations to our new members, the Member for
Conception Bay South; the recently elected Member for Humber East, yet to
take his seat in the House; as well, the Member for Trinity – Bay de Verde.
Very good candidates, I think they will make fine members of the
House. The folks who ran against
–
MR. LANE:
What about St. George's?
MR. OSBORNE:
Well, I already congratulated the Member for St. George's.
I know some of the candidates who ran against those
individuals. Larry Wells and
Barry Petten, for example, were good candidates as well.
There is absolutely no doubt about that.
They obviously worked hard and campaigned hard.
Sometimes these campaigns, Mr. Speaker, take on a life of their own
and certainly the momentum is with our party, but congratulations to the
other candidates who fought in those campaigns as well.
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to just promote, tomorrow evening
– as all members of the House are aware, and some of the viewers who are
watching us – we are going to have a food drive from the rear parking lot of
Confederation Building. That is
going to start at 5:30. We are only
asking people to donate an hour of their time.
On that note, I will send out a bouquet to the Minister
of Transportation. He agreed to
put the bins in the lobbies of both buildings.
I notice that the public service have been bringing in bags of
groceries and leaving them to be part of that food drive tomorrow evening.
I will thank the minister as well.
I might beat up on him tomorrow in Question Period, but today I am
thanking for the food drive.
Mr. Speaker, some of the comments that I wanted to
make, the Residential Tenancies Act, I know that I have asked questions on
that a couple of times in the House.
The consultations and the work around that were done a couple of
years ago. There were
recommendations and so on around that piece of work, and landlords and
tenants in this Province are looking for more modernized legislation.
That legislation now is several years old and it does not fit with
the needs of tenants and landlords in today's marketplace.
We do need more modern legislation regarding the
Residential Tenancies Act. I am
hoping that in this session of the House, before we break for Christmas in a
couple of weeks' time, we will see that legislation tabled in the House.
It is timely legislation, Mr. Speaker.
We have seen several instances where we have had people complaining
about challenges and issues relating to standards.
We see standards in other provinces.
We look at other provinces and they have minimal standards in place
to protect tenants.
We do not have those in this Province, Mr. Speaker.
So I urge government to move forward and to bring that legislation to
the House. On several occasions
over the past couple of years we have asked for that legislation to be
tabled. I know that it is
important legislation. I know
there is work to be done on the legislation.
The new minister of that department now, Mr. Speaker,
has to become familiar with that, but we have had several ministers in that
department that we have asked for that legislation to be tabled.
We are certainly hoping to see that legislation very soon.
Mr. Speaker, we look at the minimal standards that are
in place in other provinces.
Just going to an issue that was very public and in the media, a number of
cases – it sort of died down as far as media attention, but there are still
people battling with the issue of bed bugs.
Minimal standards may help in those situations.
We look at issues where tenants are into an apartment,
because they simply cannot afford anything else, but the electrical systems
or the plumbing systems do not meet today's standards and are inadequate, or
the installation, windows, doors are very drafty.
In the winter months it creates very, very difficult situations for
those tenants because the heat and light bills go up astronomically because
of the fact that they are older units and not properly insulated.
Minimal standards would perhaps solve some of those issues.
I know that the City of St. John's is there and if
people have complaints they can call the inspections division of the City of
St. John's. That does not solve
all of the problems in the City of St. John's, but there are many, many
municipalities where the municipality does not have inspectors able to go
out and inspect these units, or they do not have the ability to look at some
of the concerns. So, it is a
provincial issue that needs a provincial solution, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister responsible to look at that
legislation and to bring it forward and, hopefully, we will see that before
we break for the Christmas recess.
We look at rental subsidies, through Newfoundland and
Labrador Housing. I know I
brought that issue up on a number of occasions as well, the fact that the
subsidy should be attached to the individual as opposed to being attached to
the rental unit itself. There
are some tenants who have qualified for and have gotten rental subsidies.
Those rental subsidies, because they are attached to the unit, if the
tenant runs into a problem with their rental unit or in the event that the
owner wants to sell the property and gives notice to vacate to the tenant,
the tenant does not have the ability – that subsidy is not mobile at the
moment. It does not go with the
tenant, so they cannot go find another suitable rental unit and carry that
subsidy with them.
They have to go back to Housing and they have to go
back on the list and be considered for other units that have a rental
subsidy. That is creating an
undue hardship. Changing that
policy to give tenants the subsidy as opposed to applying the subsidy to the
rental unit would not cost government any additional money, because they are
paying the subsidy anyway. It
would just make it easier for the tenant if they had the ability to, for
whatever reason, say that either because of medical reasons and they want to
move closer to a hospital, or like I said a landlord wants to sell the unit
and gives notice to vacate, or there could be a whole host of reasons that a
tenant would need to leave the rental until that they are in, they should
have the ability to take the subsidy.
If they have qualified for and have received the subsidy through
Newfoundland and Labrador Housing, that subsidy should belong to the tenant.
They should be able to take that subsidy with them, find another unit
that is acceptable to Newfoundland and Labrador Housing and is acceptable to
the tenant, and carry that subsidy with them.
If you look at the income supplement or the Income
Support system in the Province, Mr. Speaker – and again I have raised this
issue on several occasions in the House.
The rent supplement through Income Support is about $520, if memory
serves me correctly, for a family.
That is the maximum rental supplement.
You look at some areas of the Province where the supply of rental
units – there is a great demand for rental units; therefore, it is a supply
and demand issue.
Rental units for a family cost more than $520.
There are several areas in the Province – I know in my own district
in St. John's, Mr. Speaker, you cannot find a two- or three-bedroom unit for
$520. They are simply not
available. They do not exist.
If that is the maximum rental rate, then people have to take money
out of their food allowance.
They have to take money away from their food allowance to be able to rent
that unit.
If you look at a single parent or even a couple with
children and they are receiving a maximum rental allowance of $520 and they
need to find a place to rent and that rental unit is costing them $1,000
because there are parents and a couple of children, they are paying for
their rental unit by taking money from their food allowance, or from their
family allowance, or what have you.
That means, Mr. Speaker, that if there is a shortage of
money for rent and they are borrowing the money from their food allowance to
pay their rent, they are obviously not eating healthy.
That creates a host of issues from children potentially going to
school hungry. If they go to
school hungry, they are obviously not learning.
If you are going to school hungry, you are not able to learn.
You have families who are not eating healthy.
It creates health issues.
In this Province we have the highest rates of obesity,
the highest rates of diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Part of that is eating habits.
If you are not able to afford healthy foods, you still need to eat.
You are buying the cheaper foods, the processed foods.
A consistent diet of unhealthy food is going to create health issues.
It is not just exercise that keeps us healthy, but it is healthy food
that keeps us healthy, Mr. Speaker.
As the Auditor General, or the former Auditor General,
pointed out when he was hired by government to do a review, the rental rates
in Piccadilly are not the same as the rental rates in St. John's.
In some areas of the Province the maximum rental allowance that is
provided is suitable. You can
rent a unit for the maximum rental allowance provided, or for the rental
allowance that one would qualify for under Income Support, but in some areas
of the Province it is simply not enough.
You see usage at food banks increased.
You see usage at soup kitchens increased.
There is a greater demand on Kids Eat Smart, the breakfasts or the
lunches provided through the school programs.
There is a reason for that.
That is because many people simply cannot afford to provide proper
nutrition for their children.
Mr. Speaker, again, I urge government to look at – we
passed a private member's resolution in this House that I brought forward.
It was voted on unanimously by the House, to look at the rental
structure or the allowances provided through Income Support.
That was last year, Mr. Speaker.
Last year we voted on that in the House.
I was hoping that under last year's Budget we would see
changes to make accommodations or allowances to change the rental structure
in the Province. We have another
Budget coming up, and I certainly urge the minister responsible, and the
Minister of Finance, to look at that issue because it is an important issue
for many people around the Province.
Mr. Speaker, I have talked a little bit about ferries
in Question Period this week. I
just threw a bouquet to the way of the Minister of Transportation, but now I
am going to get around to the other side of the Minister of Transportation.
We are looking at ferries, and the vessels that were
purchased in this Province cost tens of millions of dollars more than some
of the other proposals that came forward to government.
Some of the companies that have offered proposals to the Province,
Mr. Speaker, are very qualified shipbuilders, very qualified shipyards,
amongst the best shipyards in the world.
In fact, we look at one of the other provinces in
Canada right now, British Columbia are getting three ferries built for that
province. Their ferries can
accommodate 600 passengers; versus the ferries we are getting built for our
Province accommodate 200 passengers.
Their ferries can accommodate 145 vehicles.
The ferries we are having built for this Province accommodates sixty
vehicles. The ferries in British
Columbia can accommodate 145 vehicles, whereas the ferries in this Province
can accommodate sixty vehicles.
The ferries in British Columbia are considerably larger
than the ferries we are having built here.
You cannot just go by the length of the vessel, the metres.
The vessels in British Columbia, Mr. Speaker, I think are 105 metres
in length. The vessels here are
eighty metres, but you are looking at the height and width of the vessel as
well. The vessels in British
Columbia are considerably larger than the vessels we are having built here,
but they are almost the same price.
In British Columbia you have $55 million per vessel,
and I am sure they are purchasing quality vessels.
I am sure they went through their quality assurance and they are
getting vessels that meet their needs and their standards.
Here, it is $51 million.
Only $4 million cheaper and you are getting a vessel perhaps only half the
size of the vessels that are being built in British Columbia.
So there is something wrong with that math.
We are being told it is because we are getting a quality vessel.
We wanted to put quality first.
We wanted to ensure these were second to none.
Mr. Speaker, the shipyards that have bid, many of those
shipyards are amongst the best shipyards in the world.
We look at some of the shipyards that made offers have built the
Maersk vessels that are operating on our offshore.
We all know that those vessels, Mr. Speaker, are very good, quality
vessels. I understand they are
not ferries, but that same shipyard builds ferries and they made an offer on
the vessels here.
Mr. Speaker, one has to wonder what the difference is
in a Province now where we are looking at greater demands on our Budget.
We are looking at greater demands to tighten the belt, the Premier
talking about the need to cut back, curb spending.
We are probably going to see some of that in the upcoming Budget,
some measures taken to try and curb the spending, because we know there is
going to be a deficit this year.
We know that deficit is growing, and in part, Mr. Speaker, because of a
cheaper barrel of oil, which means cheaper oil royalties to the Province.
We know there is going to be a deficit this year.
How we can afford to pay tens of millions of dollars per vessel more
than some of the bids that came in – what are we getting for that tens of
millions of dollars, Mr. Speaker?
That is the question, and that is what the people, the taxpayers of
the Province, would like to know, and I think they deserve to know that, Mr.
Speaker. The people of the
Province would like to know because it is their tax money.
As legislators, we do not own the money we are
spending. That money belongs to
the people of the Province. If
we are supposed to be making the best decisions we can on behalf of the
people we represent, they have a right to know what the difference is and
why we are spending the extra money on these vessels.
Mr. Speaker, an issue I brought up last year was
regarding the taxation of Metrobus in the city, and the fact that the public
transit system is being taxed by the Province.
The snowplows are not being taxed, dump trucks are not being taxed,
but the public transit is being taxed by the Province.
I think that is inherently wrong, considering the users of the public
transit are the people who can less afford or least afford to pay an
additional fee or a higher fee because that transit system is being taxed.
Again, under this year's Budget – and I know there has
been a lot of talk about fiscal arrangements and new fiscal arrangements
with municipalities. I think
that is one item, when we are looking at a new fiscal arrangement with
municipalities, we really need to focus on that, Mr. Speaker.
We need to focus on why we are charging a tax on public transit.
I think we need to do away with that tax.
I know it is a tough topic to bring up when we are
looking at a shrinking Budget and spending demands and how we are going to
pay for all of the services we have; but, again, we are taxing a service
that provides transportation to the people who can least afford, in many
cases – not everybody. In some
cases it is a choice to use Metrobus but in many cases it is not a choice.
They have no other choice. It is
the only transportation they can afford.
Again, I ask government in the upcoming Budget negotiations to have a
look at that particular issue.
Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a little bit about tourism.
I know my colleague from Burgeo – La Poile is one of the members.
We have the Member for Placentia, another area where we have Marine
Atlantic vessels, but our rubber-tire tourists, if you want to call it that,
is down. The number of people
who are travelling by Marine Atlantic, for example, are down.
I know it is a federal responsibility.
Marine Atlantic is a federal responsibility, but it affects this
Province. It is our connection
to the Trans-Canada Highway.
In other parts of the country, Mr. Speaker, you do not
have to pay such an egregious rate to travel the same number of kilometres
from North Sydney to Port aux Basques on any other stretch of the
Trans-Canada Highway. That is
our Trans-Canada Highway. It is
our connection.
You look at the rates being charged by Marine Atlantic,
make no wonder rubber-tire traffic to this Province is down, Mr. Speaker.
I see you giving me the signal and I have about two seconds left in
my speaking time.
I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak.
I will have another opportunity to make comments.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):
The hon. the Minister of Child, Youth and Family
Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is a pleasure to rise today.
Every time we get an opportunity to rise to our feet in this House,
it is a great honour. It is
something that I take very serious, not only in my responsibility as an MHA
but, as well, the Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services.
It makes me proud to able to stand in the House when
you hear a number of individuals speak.
Their passion and the fire they have inside certainly show through.
We had that yesterday.
The Member for Exploits did a fantastic job on his feet yesterday.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
It is great to see because we all have passion.
We show it in different ways.
Of course you have the Member for Baie Verte – Springdale who has no
lack of passion. When he gets up
and speaks, if you cannot hear him, you can certainly feel it.
You can feel the room shaking when he is speaking.
It is nice to be able to stand in the House and obviously contribute
with individuals like that. We
have a number of them, as do the members on the other side as well.
Also, I would like to take this opportunity – just in
case, for the folks back home, in Address in Reply we can talk about a
number of things. I just want to
touch on a few things before I get into some of the investments in my
district over the last number of years.
I want to recognize and thank the great residents of
the District of Terra Nova for the support over the past six years,
tremendous support, not only the residents, my constituents, but also my
family. I would be remiss if I
did not specifically mention my wife who is probably home watching.
My wife Samantha is home with our two young daughters, Sophie and
Anna.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
It is a privilege to be here, Mr. Speaker, but it is also a privilege as a
person with a young family to be able to have that person back home, the
support network back home to allow you to do it.
I know there are other members in this House with young children as
well. It is trying at times, but
it is always nice when you have that rock support back home.
I would like to throw a bouquet out to my wife.
I will not buy her one, but I will throw one out from the House of
Assembly.
I want to talk about a few things.
As all members, we attend various functions in our district.
Just this past weekend I was fortunate enough to have the MHA for
Conception Bay East – Bell Island and the Minister of Transportation and
Works – actually, first we went out to St. Brendan's for a trip.
It was the minister's first time out to St. Brendan's; it was nice.
I have been very successful in getting ministers out, particularly
Transportation and Works ministers out to meet with the transportation
committee and the council out in St. Brendan's.
It is a very small, quaint community, but just as important as any
other community in my district.
We had a great meeting out there, and great hospitality was shown as always.
Something that was very striking – and of course, I
have always complimented our ministers throughout the years, but there was
something very striking about this minister.
He understands ferries and the way they work and the way they have to
work for its residents. Of
course, it is very obvious from his upbringing on Bell Island.
He recognizes the needs because he has lived it.
That was something I understood – when watching the interaction
between the town council and the minister, it is something that he gets.
It does not have to be explained to him about the necessity of a
ferry and how it is their highway; he understands that.
Certainly, they appreciated that, and I appreciated their
hospitality, as always.
That was Saturday morning, Mr. Speaker.
Then on Saturday evening he attended the Glovertown and area
volunteer firefighters' banquet with me.
It is an event I go to every year.
I never miss a firefighters' ball in the district.
I think it is incumbent on us, as MHAs, to make sure we get out and
take the time to recognize our volunteers, particularly those in the
firefighting service.
I was glad not only just to have him there, just out to
a firefighters' ball, but he came out with a great announcement – something
we have been working on for a number of years now.
Back in I think it was the summer of 2012, there was a young man in
Glovertown, twenty-two-year-old Andrew Sheppard.
Andrew was a third generation volunteer firefighter and actually he
served on the fire department with his father John Sheppard who is a
lifetime member of the Glovertown firefighting team there in Glovertown.
It was back in 2012 in the summer of that while kayaking on Terra
Nova River, he had a tragic accident and Andrew lost his life.
It was obviously a huge tragedy to the Town of
Glovertown and surrounding communities, particularly the fact that he was a
young man who was a volunteer.
He was with the air cadets. He
actually had an opportunity to travel to Beaumont Hamel when the government
did that trip as well, so he was able to experience that, but he was also
able to experience giving back to his community as a volunteer.
It was so nice that I had the Minister of
Transportation and Works to come out and announce that the bridge that
crosses Terra Nova River – not Spencer's Bridge upon the TCH, but the one
that crosses over within the Town of Glovertown.
It is a significant bridge.
It is going to be named in honour – it is going to be the Andrew
Sheppard Memorial Bridge. There
was between about 250 and 300 people at that firefighters' banquet on
Saturday night and I can tell you they certainly appreciated it.
It is not about me, it is not about the minister, but
it was about remembering that young man who gave to his town.
It is always great when you have, especially the younger generations,
because we know the older generations seem to carry us on their shoulders
but when you see young people like Andrew Sheppard getting involved in the
firefighting services in the town, voluntary at that, it is important we
recognize that.
It was great, and I want to thank the minister again
for coming out and making that possible.
I know the town council, the firefighters out in Glovertown, as well
as his parents who were in attendance, were so very proud.
I also want to say congratulations to his sister Stephanie who had a
baby, I think, on November 14.
She named her son Andrew after her late brother, Andrew Blake Sheppard.
It was nice timing.
It took a long time to do, but I am glad it actually came to
fruition. Hopefully, now this
spring we will be out there to cut a ribbon and do some sort of plaque
unveiling on the bridge.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
Mr. Speaker, I want to continue to talk about firefighters, just for a
little bit, because this seems to be the season.
Every weekend now I, as many members here, are off to different
firefighters' banquets throughout their district.
I have a number of fire departments in my area, as many do.
You have Hare Bay and Dover areas, Gambo, Glovertown, Eastport
Peninsula, Terra Nova, Charlottetown, Bunyan's Cove, Musgravetown, Port
Blandford, all volunteer fire departments and all of those with a number of
volunteers, men and women.
It is important, and as I said, I always try to make an
effort. I do not think I have
ever missed a firefighters' banquet in my district.
I always make an effort to get out to it and make sure we recognize
it.
It is one thing, Mr. Speaker, to attend these
firefighters' banquets and thank the members, that is very important, and to
recognize them and the work they do, but it is also incumbent on us, as
members of government, and Opposition members as well, to make sure we fight
to get those folks the equipment they deserve, to be able to provide them
the equipment to be able to do their jobs in a safe fashion.
There have been some great investments over the last
number of years, since 2003, in the District of Terra Nova.
I just want to talk about a few of these.
It is pretty impressive.
It is something I am very proud of, as I am sure the former MHA, Mr. Oram,
was proud of as well.
You do not have to look any further than some of the
major investments, four new fire trucks, with the fifth one announced just
recently, actually. I had the
former Minister of Municipal Affairs and the Minister Responsible for Fire
and Emergency Services, the Member for St. John's West, was out on the
Eastport Peninsula with me and we announced a new pumper truck; $250,000,
basically. That is something
that will be delivered in a number of months.
It is something they are very thankful for, and something they have
been asking for, for quite some time.
It was something that I worked with the former fire
chief, Clarke Matchim. Clarke
has since stepped down and Dan Powell is the new fire chief out on the
Eastport Peninsula. I can tell
you that the firefighters and the community, as a whole, all of the
communities on the Eastport Peninsula, certainly appreciate that and look
forward to the delivery of the truck.
Then, of course, you have Musgravetown, Port Blandford,
Gambo, Glovertown, all brand-new trucks.
Most of these trucks, as I had said, are in the vicinity of $250,000
each – a huge investment.
The interesting piece, Mr. Speaker, is the vast
majority of these – all but one – were purchased under the 90-10 cost-shared
agreement. A lot of these
communities would never be able to afford such a purchase under a 50-50
cost-shared, as was the case prior to 2008 that was announced.
So it provides them the opportunity to purchase these types of items,
and provides them with the equipment to be able to do their job in a safe
fashion.
Aside from the major investments in the fire trucks and
pumper trucks, you also have things like breathing apparatus and
fire-retardant equipment, beepers, smaller things of that nature.
Actually, just this past weekend when I was at the Glovertown
firefighter's banquet, we also celebrated the recent approval of a Jaws of
Life, which is in the ballpark of about $26,000.
It is a major investment and something they needed.
Regionally, they serve pretty well almost my entire district with
that vehicle extraction tool.
The one they had before, it was a number of years old and they were having
issues with it and breakdowns.
It is incumbent, not only as a politician, but as a
resident of Terra Nova District, I would want to make sure they have the
equipment to do their jobs. If
it was me or my family or one of my friends or whatever the case, who needed
to be removed from a vehicle after a car vehicle accident, that they had the
right equipment to do so. Now
this is going to allow them to do it.
Again, it is very much appreciated.
Mr. Speaker, I do not have a lot of time, but I just
want to touch on some of the work that has been done in my district.
We talk about – it seems to be, the topic quite often is where we
have wasted our money. Of
course, we are always very quick to defend our expenditures and what we have
done, what we have purchased, and what we have funded over the last number
of years. It is important –
AN HON. MEMBER:
Major investments, major investments.
MR. S. COLLINS:
Right, we talk about major investments.
Saying major investments is fine, but you want to talk about the
tangible things that you can see and feel, and certainly I see and feel
things all over the district that have been done, as in infrastructure.
It is important to point out a few of those.
I just want to talk about some of the things – roadwork is very
important, and we have gotten a great deal with regard to roadwork, both
municipally and provincially. I
could talk about all the paving that has been done over the last decade, but
I want to focus on one area in particular, and that is in the Bunyan's Cove,
Musgravetown, Canning's Cove, Bloomfield area.
I have often heard it, and I can remember when I was
knocking on doors back in 2009 seeking election during a by-election.
They said, you know, we have not seen a whole lot of pavement here.
The last time an extensive amount of paving has been done was when
Glenn Greening was the MHA. We
were completely ignored, forgotten, while the Liberal Administration was
there. They only came to see us
when they needed a vote. They
said the last time we had paving was under a PC government.
We hope we can get some paving and get some of the road
maintenance done, because it was in quite a state, Mr. Speaker.
I am glad to say we have done extensive roadwork, particularly in the
Bunyan's Cove and Bloomfield area, again, places that have been ignored.
It is ironic, this past week I am hearing that the
former Liberal MHA is making calls around now trying to rustle up support
for the upcoming election.
People have said to me, he has some nerve calling when we did not hear from
him while he was our MHA. Now
that he is looking for votes for a member of his family to run in the
upcoming general election he finds our phone number.
I think the message has been sent back strong and clear to him where
the people's loyalties lie.
I feel blessed to have the support that I have had over
the last number of years.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
It is not only about investments.
Mr. Speaker, we know from past experiences laying pavement cannot win
you elections, but it is with the connection to the district.
You cannot forget who put you there.
When I knocked on doors back in 2009, a lot of people
said, well the next time we will see you will be during the election.
I said do you know what?
The next time you will see me will probably be only a couple of weeks down
the road. I hope at the next
election you will say I am sick of seeing you because I see you at every
function.
That is something that I have worked very hard on, Mr.
Speaker. I think that is what
truly makes a successful MHA. It
is nice to be able to get things for your district, but it is also nice to
have a presence in your district and to be respectful to those who elected
you. That is something I have
tried very hard in the last number of years.
That is what I will go and I will campaign on in the next general
election, and hopefully we will see where it goes.
Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about a couple of other
things as well, particularly about smaller communities.
I have a number of middle-sized communities in my district, the
Gambos and Glovertowns, even the Eastport Peninsula.
I would call those larger communities as they relate to my district.
Some of the smaller ones felt ignored as well.
A lot of times people think politicians, you only do
work where you are going to get the votes out.
Those are the big spots, the Glovertowns and Gambos, if you will.
There has been extensive work done in a number of places, water and
sewer, in particular, and quite expensive projects; Happy Adventure,
Bunyan's Cove, Sandringham, and we talked about St. Brendan's.
St. Brendan's is about 110-120 people I guess
thereabouts. They are given as
much attention as any other community in the district, Sandringham the same
thing, Bunyan's Cove, whatever the case is.
That is something again, people want to be heard.
I have twenty communities in my district and it is important to have
the connection with each and every one of them.
Their issues are as important to them as the larger community's
issues are to those.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. S. COLLINS:
It is important to keep that front and center.
We only have to go back and talk about the 90-10 cost-shared ratio.
It is something I have spoken about a number of times in this House.
It is so important. We
tend to take it for granted now, but that program in itself has opened the
doors to so many projects in so many communities, particularly in rural
Newfoundland, particularly small communities that could never, ever do a
water and sewer project.
I look at a town like Bunyan's Cove – well actually the
work is ongoing now – half a million dollars was approved for water and
sewer. They could never, ever do
that. Even at 90-10 it was not
easy, but at a 50-50 cost shared it would never be done.
No work would ever be done in that town.
That is what we had seen in previous Administrations, work just
simply was not getting done.
Mr. Speaker, I will not take up too much time but I
just want to say that I am proud of our expenditures.
I am proud of the investments we have made.
It is interesting that on one side some of the Opposition will talk
about we need to cut spending, others will ask for new spending, and, of
course, the messaging gets mixed.
I can tell you on this side we are very proud of the investments we
have made.
If you ask me, have we wasted money?
Absolutely not! If you
ask me, have we wasted money? I
would ask you a question back, please show me where it was wasted.
Come with me to Bunyan's Cove, come with me to St. Brendan's and see
about the investments there, Glovertown and Gambo, and all communities
throughout the Province.
Mr. Speaker, I do have a few moments left but I will
take my seat as the end of the day is coming to a close.
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to speak a little bit
on this.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Minister of Municipal and
Intergovernmental Affairs, that the House do now adjourn.
MR. SPEAKER:
It is moved and seconded that this House do now adjourn.
All those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
This House stands adjourned until 2:00 p.m. tomorrow,
Private Members' Day.
On motion, the House at its rising adjourned until
tomorrow, Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m.