November 5, 2020
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLIX No. 64
The House met at 1:30 p.m.
MR.
SPEAKER (Reid):
Order, please!
Admit strangers.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order, Standing Order
49, offensive language.
Yesterday, during Question Period, Mr. Speaker, the
Member for Placentia West - Burin, in one of his questions actually said deaths
of children at the hands of this government. That statement is very offensive if
you think about –
AN
HON. MEMBER:
False.
MR.
CROCKER:
And
false. At the hands of government, Mr. Speaker, if you think about it for a
minute, most of us over here have children, and to make that type of statement
is very disrespectful.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Placentia West - Bellevue.
MR.
DWYER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My district is Placentia West - Bellevue and I retract
my statement.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Thank you.
We'll proceed with Members' statements.
Statements by Members
MR.
SPEAKER:
Today, we'll hear Members' statements from the hon. Members for the District of
Torngat Mountains, Exploits, Harbour Grace - Port de Grave, Burin - Grand Bank,
Humber - Bay of Islands, and also, by leave – I understand the Members will ask
for leave – Burgeo - La Poile and the District of Lewisporte - Twillingate as
well.
The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MS.
EVANS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I speak today in this hon. House to pay tribute to each
community volunteer ground search and rescue team in my District of Torngat
Mountains.
Each community has a team of volunteers ready to go out
into the wilderness on land or on sea to help. What does help mean, Mr. Speaker?
It means searching, hoping to rescue. They volunteer so, if called upon, they
will be able to rescue. Each volunteer knows they can make a difference. They
train, they practice, they prepare. It does not matter what time of the day or
night the call comes in. It does not matter what the weather conditions are. It
does not matter where the search area. What matters is they have received a call
to help.
Many searches have resulted in rescue. The value of our
ground search and rescue volunteers can be measured in the lives saved.
Unfortunately, there are calls where there is no
rescue, no happy ending. It is those calls that have been the hardest. Yet, it
may be those calls where the greatest contribution is made, as loved ones sit
home waiting, they are reassured that the greatest effort is being made by our
men and women who know our land and know our seas; comfort in a world where
little comfort can be found.
You are the heroes and we thank you for your service.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Exploits.
MR.
FORSEY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to
honour all veterans in my district, although most of them are passed now, but
their memory and dedication will live forever.
As a boy growing up in Leading Tickles, I remember a
veteran, Mr. Herbert Rowsell, selling poppies in our community. I have also had
the fortunate opportunity to sit and chat with veterans like Mr. Lloyd Seaward,
who sadly passed this spring. Those brave individuals gave us so much for our
freedom and better opportunities in life.
Mr. Speaker, I would like for all Members of this House
of Assembly to join me in thanking and remembering all veterans, past and
present.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.
MS.
P. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As Remembrance Day approaches, I would also like to
take this time to say thank you to all veterans and Legion members throughout my
District of Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.
On November 11, as well as July l, veterans and Legion
members gather at war memorials in Harbour Grace, Upper Island Cove, Spaniard's
Bay-Tilton and Bay Roberts to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Those who left the safety of their homes and families to serve so we can enjoy
the rights and freedoms we live today.
A special thank you to all volunteers who keep our
local Legions running, to the members and veterans who teach and share their
touring experiences with young students who write Remembrance Day essays and
poems each year to honour our beloved veterans throughout Conception Bay North.
A heartfelt thank you to World War I veteran Matthew
Brazil; World War II merchant navy veteran John Pauls; retired Royal Canadian
Navy veteran and Royal Canadian Legion president, Branch 15, Harbour Grace,
Paulette Morrissey; and Sgt. Paul Wood of Bay Roberts currently serving with the
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry posted to Halifax. Thank you to all
who continue to honour, serve and protect.
Lest we forget.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Burin - Grand Bank.
MS.
HALEY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
COVID-19 might have given us the blues, but as every
Newfoundlander and Labradorian knows, there's no cure for the blues like a good
old kitchen party. If current rules prevent us from going to such a party, why
not have the kitchen party come to us?
That's just what four former residents of my District
of Burin - Grand Bank have been doing for the past 34 weeks. Every Saturday
night Jim and Rowena Tarrant and Paul and Myra Bennett, known collectively as
the Mainland Kitchen Band, come together to livestream from Ontario, providing
an evening of lively tunes, sure to brighten the most melancholy of souls.
With sisters Rowena and Myra who hail from Little St.
Lawrence, proving their proficiency on the accordion, and Jim from Lawn and Paul
from Grand Bank, on stringed instruments, the group proves they are able to
handle a variety of music types.
Thousands tune in worldwide, Mr. Speaker, including
myself, to listen to great music and amusing dialogue. The four have a great
rapport.
I ask all hon. Members to join me in thanking Jim,
Rowena, Paul and Myra for helping distract us from COVID-19 for at least three
hours every Saturday night.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.
MR.
JOYCE:
Mr.
Speaker, today, I'm pleased to recognize a long-time volunteer from my district.
Doris Butt of Curling is one of the recent recipients of the 2020 Seniors of
Distinction Awards.
Doris's involvement in the community spans many years,
both here in this province and other parts of Atlantic Canada. She has been
involved in many fundraising efforts, including with the Kidney Foundation and
the Heart and Stroke Foundation for over 35 years, has been a volunteer with her
church almost all her life and has been a foster parent.
She has volunteered with the Girl Guides, the Scottish
Heritage Society and was on the organizing committee of the Western Newfoundland
Heritage Fair. Doris's contribution also includes volunteering with sports
teams, including her involvement with the Humber Valley Speed Skating Club,
serving in various roles on the executive, as a coach and has led the club in
participating in three Canada Games.
I ask all Members to join me in congratulating Doris on
receiving the award and thank her for many years of service to her community.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Burgeo - La Poile with leave.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank my colleagues for providing leave.
I invite all hon. Members to join me today in paying
tribute to Hedley Clarke of Port aux Basques who we lost on September 13. Born
in Corner Brook, he was son of the late Philip and Selena Clarke. He leaves to
mourn with many wonderful memories his wife of 39 years, Joanne; his daughter,
Terri; son, Mitchell; and so many family and friends.
Hedley was a man of many talents and passions. Over the
years, he worked in many fields but the job he was most remembered for, and
certainly was his most enjoyable, was as a broadcaster with CFGN radio and the
voice behind the Port aux Basques Mariners.
Many evenings were spent listening to Hedley call the
play when our beloved senior hockey team was on the road. He was well known as
an athlete in our area, playing floor hockey, ice hockey, basketball, softball
and broomball. Since retiring five years ago, he took up biking in the summer
and snowshoeing in the winter. He loved time spent riding on his side by side
with Joanne and his close circle of friends.
He was a tremendous volunteer, activist, music lover,
coach, referee, conversationalist, friend, family man and citizen. The greatest
compliment I can pay Hedley is that no one could stay a stranger in his
presence. His genuine friendliness and pleasant demeanour is something we could
all aspire to. He made an impression on every person that he met.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. Members to join me in
honouring Hedley Clarke.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Lewisporte - Twillingate with leave.
MR.
BENNETT:
I'd
like to thank everyone for granting me leave.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and remember the
passing of a former resident of Twillingate and Gander, Mr. Elmo Baird. Mr.
Baird passed away yesterday at the age of 100 years.
As a young man, he enlisted with the Newfoundland
Overseas Forestry Unit and sailed to Great Britain to aid the war effort during
the Second World War. He soon felt the need for a greater commitment, joining
the Royal Air Force, who trained him as an aircraft mechanic. Duty brought him
to several theatres of war where he served diligently between 1939 and 1945. In
1947, Elmo returned home and married his sweetheart, Eleanor, recently
celebrating their 73rd anniversary.
Mr. Speaker, when asked how he would like to be
remembered, Elmo said, as “A decent person. That's all … And that I did my duty.
I've got nothing to regret.” Mr. Baird, you have done your duty and you have
done it well. Like so many, you have earned your rest.
We thank Mr. Baird for his service and wish his wife,
Eleanor; children, Margaret, Diana, Roger, Austin; and their families and
friends our condolences and prayers.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. Members to rise for a
moment of silence for Mr. Baird and all those who made the ultimate sacrifice
for our freedom.
Lest we forget.
(Moment of silence.)
MR.
SPEAKER:
Please be seated.
We're going to move to Statements by Ministers.
Statements by Ministers
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.
MS.
DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased to recognize the important work of the
Newfoundland and Labrador chapter of Equal Voice.
Equal Voice is a multi-partisan organization dedicated
to achieving gender parity in politics. On the local front, Equal Voice NL has
been a leader in encouraging more women to run for office at all levels of
government by providing advocacy and training.
Recently, Equal Voice NL appointed two new co-chairs:
Karla Hayward and Gillian Pearson.
During my tenure as the provincial rep on the national
steering committee with the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, I worked
closely with Equal Voice, both provincially and national. I have seen the
positive impact of their efforts first-hand and I look forward to working with
Ms. Hayward and Ms. Pearson on our common goals.
Mr. Speaker, as I look around this hon. House, I am
proud to be one of nine women sitting here today. However, nine of 40 are simply
not enough.
We know that when we have more diverse backgrounds and
experiences at our decision-making tables, we make better decisions for the
people we serve.
I ask all hon. Members to join me in committing to
support, sponsor and inspire more women to take on leadership roles,
particularly those who wish to run for elected office in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Harbour Main.
MS.
CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:
I thank the minister for an advance copy of her
statement.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Official Opposition I
join with the minister in recognizing Equal Voice NL's two new co-chairs, Karla
Hayward and Gillian Pearson. As co-chairs of Equal Voice Newfoundland and
Labrador, Karla and Gillian will continue to advocate for gender parity, provide
programming and support women who wish to run for political office. I am
confident they will be strong advocates for Equal Voice Newfoundland and
Labrador.
I, too, am proud to be one of nine women sitting in
this hon. House of Assembly and I agree that nine out of 40 MHAs is just not
good enough. To improve this I implore all Members of this House to support
women who wish to run for elected office and to help achieve gender parity on
all of our municipal councils and provincial and federal legislatures.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS.
COFFIN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would also like to thank the hon. minister for
receiving an advance copy of her statement. I congratulate Ms. Hayward and Ms.
Pearson on their appointments and applaud the work of Equal Voice Newfoundland
and Labrador.
The hon. Minister is right, there needs to be more
women in this House. That is a role for all of us to encourage but, also, there
is especially a need to have more women in municipal politics where their voices
are sorely lacking. The NDP caucus looks forward to collaborating with the
government to design and roll out initiatives to help correct the gender
imbalance in provincial and municipal politics.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Further statements by ministers?
The hon. the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and
Recreation.
MR.
DAVIS:
Mr. Speaker, thank you very much.
Today in this hon. House I celebrate the impact and
successes of our province's cultural sector.
It was playwright and actor Robert Chafe who noted,
“Our culture is our voice, our way of announcing ourselves in the world. It is
the beating heart of this place, ever evolving, diversifying, and
strengthening.”
The latest available data by Statistics Canada revealed
that our cultural sector generates approximately $451 million towards our GDP,
and that our province exported over $56 million worth of cultural products in
2018.
A key part of our cultural industries is the film and
television industry. It generates skilled jobs and creates economic spinoffs in
our province. I also note that for the first time ever, this province has two
television productions occurring at the same time:
Surrealtor and Hudson and Rex.
Both productions highlight the calibre and capabilities of the industry right
here at home.
Mr. Speaker, now more than ever, tech innovation is a
driving force behind the cultural industries. Most recently the St. John's
International Women's Film Festival celebrated its 31st season, held virtually
for the first time, and the response was fantastic. The festival screened 51
short films and presented 11 features, earning over 7,000 views on its streaming
platform.
Also this year for the fist time, MusicNL participated
in Innovation Week by offering sessions with active industry professionals to
examine what tech-based strategies would work in light of the uncertainties
surrounding COVID-19.
Mr. Speaker, our arts and heritage sector has adapted
and modified operations to safely open to the public. Our Arts and Culture
Centres recently reopened and have sold out shows using a mix of live
performance and streaming to reach audiences.
Our multi-faceted culture is expressed and celebrated
each and every day by artists and heritage practitioners in visual arts,
literature, film, music, traditions and practices, built heritage, languages,
food, oral histories and storytelling.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in
saluting all of them.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans.
MR.
TIBBS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I'd like to thank the hon. minister for the advance
copy of his statement, as well.
Newfoundland and Labrador is home to a unique culture
that many admire and enjoy. Our culture alone is a tourist attraction in itself.
Our people are what makes our tourist industry thrive.
We are excited to see TV productions such as
Surrealtor and
Hudson and Rex take place in our province. As a government we must
do more to further expand the calibre and capabilities of the film industry here
in the province.
Along with this, the tech industry is equally as
important. Due to the ongoing pandemic, we are seeing online concerts and
platforms such as Facebook Live and drive-in shows like the recent show by Chris
Andrews and Shanneyganock and friends.
Mr. Speaker, the number of talented artist and
musicians in our province is unparalleled in the country. It is great to see our
Arts and Culture Centres up and running again, offering shows to the people of
the province. Adding the virtual component was a great idea that allows people
who may not feel comfortable to attend a live show to watch from the comfort of
their own homes.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all Members in the House to join me
in celebrating all of those who represent our culture and heritage each and
every day with the pride that we have.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Labrador West.
MR.
BROWN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the minister for an advance copy
of his statement.
It is a wonderful thing that we can draw on such
financial benefit while we celebrate and share our culture with the world. I
want to congratulate all the artists who made all of the aforementioned
productions possible. Their hard work is what puts Newfoundland and Labrador on
the map for people from outside of this province to come visit, to relocate to
and invest in this province. I urge the government to continue to focus on
developing and nurturing this industry as it has a viable future for many years
to come.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Further statements by ministers?
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
CROSBIE:
Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, C-NLOPB released their call for bids. The results are
very disappointing, given that the parcels included in this round were of high
geologic potential and only one in 17 received.
Will the Premier admit that this is a reflection on his
government's failure to attract exploration investment to the offshore?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
PREMIER FUREY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for that question.
I think, like every Member of this House of Assembly,
we would've like to have seen more bids yesterday. The harsh reality is this is
a global economic crisis. The energy sector globally is facing downward
pressures. This is not unique to St. John's; it's not unique to Newfoundland and
Labrador. This is a global economic crisis and downward pressure on a commodity.
We are doing our best to ensure that we're best positioned to capitalize on this
commodity when it returns.
So instead of focusing on the negatives, let's focus on
the positives, like the two robust discoveries by Equinor, the commitment by
CNOOC to drill in 2021 and BP and BHP to drill in 2022.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
CROSBIE:
Mr.
Speaker, no doubt the Premier wants us also not to focus on the negatives
presented by the two drill rigs which are now holed up in Bull Arm rusting away,
and distract us from the fact that Norway is prospering.
The Premier and the minister's much-touted exploration
program promised to bring exploration dollars and jobs to the province. This
program saw only one bid received.
Will the Premier admit the program clearly is a
failure?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can't say that we were surprised by the results
yesterday, given the situation that we find ourselves right now in the oil
world, we'll say. While we are happy with the fact that we have billions of
dollars invested right now that we know will be explored, that these companies
have committed to, the reality is that we as a province, just like the rest of
the oil-producing world, are going through a difficult time.
I do want to point out, again, just to clarify for the
Member opposite and for everybody, this is not just felt by us. He mentioned
Norway. I have something here from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate that
talks about how “The decline in demand for oil and lower prices have led oil
companies to reduce their exploration budgets for the year ….” In fact, this
year they only drilled half the number of wells in Norway as they did the year
before. It's not just us feeling it; it's everybody feeling it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
CROSBIE:
This is while we're going to be drilling no exploration wells for the
foreseeable year.
Industry groups called for exploration incentives from
government for months, saying that putting the right policies in place would
attract new investment which will protect and create jobs and produce many local
benefits.
With the program the Premier personally announced a
total failure, and Trudeau and O'Regan having turned their backs on our
province, what is the premier going to do now?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I would like to hear the answer.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I would like to hear the answer from the Minister of
Industry, Energy and Technology.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Yes, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to give it.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
K. PARSONS:
(Inaudible.)
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Again, I say to the Member for Cape St. Francis, if you ask me a question I
would love to answer it, but I'm trying to give an answer now.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What I would say to the Member opposite is that the
preamble to his question was actually false and inaccurate. He said there will
be no drilling for the year. The reality is that CNOOC has committed; they have
got a rig retained from Stena. They will be drilling in the first or second
quarter of 2021. We have BP and BHP that have committed.
Again, I realize that this sector is going through a
tough time, but the reality is – here's a headline from
OilPrice: “Exploration Activity Offshore Norway Plunges After Oil
Price Crash.” The reality is that anybody that is in this field is going through
a tough time, but I would like to think that the creative measures we are taking
will lead to a brighter future.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
CROSBIE:
Let's hope that rig that the minister refers to doesn't join the other two rigs
that are holed up in Bull Arm or go to Norway like the third one.
The minister should remember a statement from the
Minister of Health: “Hope is a girl's name, not a strategy.”
Now, yesterday this minister –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
CROSBIE:
–
Minister of Industry, could not say when the weather will require warm idle at
the Come By Chance oil refinery, could say not how many jobs are involved, could
not say whether the buyer will want the province to assume the environmental
liability. Issues like these can make a deal fall apart.
I ask the Premier: Will he take the file over from the
minister and give it proper attention?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
PREMIER FUREY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Unlike the Member opposite, I'm quite comfortable with
my colleagues and have great faith in my minister to manage the file.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER FUREY:
I know the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology has been working
tirelessly with his officials and talking to the unions at Come By Chance to
facilitate the best deal possible so that we can recognize the full value of
this for the women and men who work at that important asset for Newfoundland and
Labrador, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR.
BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Two years ago the health clinic in Portugal Cove-St.
Philip's was closed by Eastern Health, leaving seniors, children and all
residents without essential community-based health care, including mental health
services.
With the minister's commitment to promoting
community-based health care, will the minister direct Eastern Health to reopen
the health care clinic in Portugal Cove-St. Philip's?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR.
HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Community-based health care is a priority for our
department and has been. I would refer to the fact that the significant
proportion of health care is now being provided virtually and that this has
become a huge asset to people in widespread areas of the province.
We have seen a 700 per cent increase in virtual care.
Wound care can continue on almost an individual basis in people's homes, Mr.
Speaker. We are moving from old ways of doing things to new and more effective,
efficient and patient-centred ways of doing things.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Conception Bay South.
MR.
PETTEN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I have a senior couple in my district who've been
married for 59 years. That's right, 59 years, a long time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
PETTEN:
The wife is in long-term care for the last four years, and now with failing
health, her husband is being denied his wishes to be united with his wife. All
the while, there's an empty bed in her room. I've worked on this and we can't
find any answer.
Mr. Speaker: When are we, as a government and as a
people, going to start showing some compassion to the seniors of this province
and give them the dignity they deserve?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR.
HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Whilst I can't speak to specific cases, what I can say
is that we are building new capacity in long-term care to deal with those
challenges.
The Corner Brook facility, for example, Mr. Speaker,
has adjoining rooms that will allow for couples to be reunited. We have old
infrastructure and as we replace that and make it COVID friendly, with single
occupancy rooms but adjoining, we will get to the stage where we will be able to
accommodate seniors couples; but, at the moment, different levels of care
required to be looked after in those facilities that can best care for them,
that is our priority. Reuniting them will come as we build our infrastructure,
Mr. Speaker, through my colleague in TI.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Cape St. Francis.
MR.
K. PARSONS:
Mr.
Speaker, all he's asking for is these people to have the dignity that they
deserve.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
K. PARSONS:
Almost two dozen elementary school children are forced to walk a long distance
on Torbay Road to attend school. Torbay Road has no sidewalks and very little
shoulders, carrying upwards of 17,000 vehicles a day. Yesterday, we learned that
nine buses are sitting idle.
Minister: Can one of these buses be assigned to Holy
Trinity Elementary so these young children can get to school safely?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Education.
MR.
OSBORNE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm not aware of nine buses sitting idle. That's
something I can certainly check with the English School District about. I will
say, Mr. Speaker, that all eligible students that are beyond 1.6 kilometres have
been looked after. It did require an additional 145 buses put in the system, 145
drivers.
I will also say, Mr. Speaker, that there are some areas
where we have more courtesy students accommodated this year than previous years
and some areas where there are less.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Ferryland.
MR.
O'DRISCOLL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister, it's all about the safety of the children and
that's what we have to look at.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
O'DRISCOLL:
Mr.
Speaker, many parts of the Ferryland District are without cellphone coverage. In
today's society we use our cellphones as a lifeline. Government is constantly
touting the benefits of digital service.
Will the minister act immediately to upgrade cellphone
coverage in the Ferryland District?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm certainly happy to speak about cellphone coverage
in this House. It's a topic that I brought up many times both on the other side
and here. The reality is, it is something that needs to be improved in this
province and we have to work with the federal government in which to do so.
I am happy to say that we are just in the process of
concluding multiple cellphone projects in other areas of the district including
the Humber - Bay of Islands, Cartwright - L'Anse au Clair and we're working on
the 2020 bid round now. I'm not sure if there was any applications put in from
Ferryland, but if there were I would be happy to discuss them with the Member in
the hopes of being able to provide cell coverage to Ferryland.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.
MR.
WAKEHAM:
Mr.
Speaker, the local service district of Mainland and the Town of Kippens have
requested funding from government for an engineering assessment study on serious
coastal erosion issues in both Mainland and Kippens.
Will the minister commit to providing funding to have
this assessment study completed before we have a repeat of the destruction in
Daniel's Harbour?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Municipalities.
MR.
BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Our department is quite aware of the situation out
there. I've had several conversations with the Member opposite.
The situation we're dealing with is a residential area.
It doesn't impact municipal infrastructure, so current infrastructure programs
don't fit within the guidelines. I'm more than willing to continue to explore
options and discuss it with our federal colleagues, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Terra Nova.
MR.
PARROTT:
Mr.
Speaker, it's sad to see that the minister is more concerned about
infrastructure than he is people's lives.
Mr. Speaker, I have a constituent who's in a
wheelchair. She started kindergarten; she lives in a local service district. Her
approved bus stop is on a gravel road; however, the department refuses to plow
the road. Yesterday, four community volunteers had to pick this little girl up
and walk her to the end of the road, putting her at risk.
I ask the minister: Will he table the policy that his
department keeps referring to that is preventing this little girl from going to
school and having the dignity she deserves?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
MR.
BRAGG:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for the opportunity to speak on this
question.
Where people choose to live and their ability to get to
school is important –
MR.
PARROTT:
(Inaudible.)
MR.
BRAGG:
It
is where people choose to live. I choose to live in my hometown of Greenspond;
you choose to live in your district, so we choose where we live. We may not be
able to choose other things in our life but we can choose where we life.
Mr. Speaker, I guess I shouldn't have been so
distracted on the word “choose,” but if you look at it, people are starting to
live further and further off the grid, outside of municipalities, outside of the
normal areas. They're starting to develop cabin lot areas. The province has a
road inventory that they've had maintained for the last number of years. We have
not moved into any extra roads at this time and we are ensuring to maintain the
roads we have at the best ability we can.
We have over 10,000 kilometres of roads – paved roads
and unpaved roads – in this province, Mr. Speaker. If those people work and live
outside that area, they should get together, band together, get a local
contractor and clear their road.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Harbour Main.
MS.
CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:
Mr. Speaker –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS.
CONWAY OTTENHEIMER: – this is not about choice. Government's priority
should be ensuring that all children have access to school.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS.
CONWAY OTTENHEIMER:
Mr. Speaker, last night and this morning I've spoken
with unemployed oil and gas workers from many communities in my District of
Harbour Main. Their stress levels are high. People are tormented. Their worries
are real. They fear for their future.
I, once again, ask the Premier: What are the immediate
and concrete solutions he can offer for the thousands of men and women in our
province who have lost their jobs and have nowhere to turn?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
PREMIER FUREY:
Thank you for that question.
We're all incredibly empathetic and compassionate to
people who face uncertainty and find themselves unemployed in this time of
uncertainty with respect to a global economic crisis.
We're working – as I'm sure you are and we all are
working – tirelessly to afford them opportunities to emerge from this pandemic.
They will come. We have secured the $320 million and working with the expertise
there to ensure that our offshore is well-positioned as this commodity rebounds
so that we can capitalize on the hard-working men and women in this workforce.
We have one of the best workforces in the world. It's
developed over time and we can't lose it. That's why it's so important to
reflect wholesomely on that $320 million so that we can invest that to protect
the future of Newfoundland and Labrador and the industry.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Topsail - Paradise.
MR.
P. DINN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Those are lovely words. They are words but I think the
people want action. They want jobs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
P. DINN:
Mr.
Speaker, there are serious health concerns across the province. I have a
resident who has deteriorating eyesight due to macular degeneration and
cataracts. His annual eye appointments confirm his eyesight is worsening.
Minister, what do you tell this person who has at least
two years left on a wait-list for sight-saving surgery?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR.
HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
It gives me a chance to update the House on the fact
that there is an open call for proposals from interested ophthalmologists to be
able to do cataract surgery in their own private clinics, Mr. Speaker. That will
add capacity for 3,500 new procedures in this fiscal year alone.
In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, we are working with
ophthalmologists across the province to come up with a provincial referral
system with a central intake. I wait with eager anticipation to see what the
ophthalmology community come up with in terms of proposals to utilize the money
that's sitting there waiting for them.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Placentia West - Bellevue.
MR.
DWYER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The guide rails and road shoulders in my District of
Placentia West - Bellevue are becoming a safety hazard on both the Trans-Canada
Highway and Route 210, and off many branches of my district.
I ask the minister: Will he address the serious safety
concerns from my constituents and visitors?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
MR.
BRAGG:
Mr.
Speaker, thank you very much and I thank the Member opposite for the question.
The Member opposite should be happy to know that in
every region of this province this year, we let out contracts for guide rails.
If there's a case where there's a section or two sections down from a recent
accident or a recent rainfall, I would advise that the Member would reach out to
the depot responsible in that district and ask them to make a request to get
that done and repaired as soon as they possibly can.
Mr. Speaker, we take very seriously the safety of our
roads, of our shoulders and of our guide rails. I thank the many people in this
province that work daily to keep our roads safe during this next coming six
months anyway, when we look at the winter season and over the course of the
summer. I thank them for the time they served there.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.
MS.
EVANS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I hope the minister doesn't start justifying the
failure of his government to address concerns of the Innu Nation, our Indigenous
people, on where they choose to live, Mr. Speaker.
With many people travelling further and further for
medical attention and medical services, the time they wait for their
reimbursement on medical refunds can be up to six months. The refunded
percentage is not covering all their expenses.
I ask the Minister of Health: What's your department
doing to help these patients, Mr. Speaker?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR.
HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
For those people who receive income support, there is
money upfront. For Labrador residents, that's up to $1,000 in advance for their
air ticket. For people who use the Medical Transportation reimbursement program,
if the appropriate documentation is submitted with the original application, the
turnaround times are averaging 30 days – Mr. Speaker, one month.
I'm pleased to tell the House that system has improved
dramatically. If there are specific problem areas, that is nearly always due to
some documentation problems. If the Member opposite has a specific case, if she
brings that to my attention, I'd be happy to work through that with her.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Exploits.
MR.
FORSEY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In our PC Blue Book we will cover a hundred per cent of
medical transportation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I'd like the Member to ask his question.
MR.
FORSEY:
Two
hundred and eighty thousand cubic metres –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR.
FORSEY:
Two
hundred and eighty thousand cubic metres of forest fibre were unlocked from
Abitibi cutting permits.
Minister, why are local domestic cutters from Exploits
District being denied permits?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.
MR.
LOVELESS:
I
thank the hon. Member for the question.
The resource that's referenced here is an important
one. We've had conversations about the resource in Central Newfoundland and
Labrador. If there's a particular one that you're referencing, I've said to you
before we can certainly have a conversation around that and I've said it to the
other Member in Central as well. If there's something specific, bring it to me
and we'll certainly discuss it.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Mount Pearl North.
MR.
LESTER:
I'd
like to remind the minister that conversations are not going to keep people's
homes warm this winter.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
LESTER:
Mr.
Speaker, last spring during the spring sitting of the House of Assembly we
raised concern about the food security of our province. Two weeks later, the
then premier was out saying that we were running out of food.
Now with the second wave gripping our continent and
country, I ask the Premier: What has been done to make sure food will be
available and affordable to all people of our province?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR.
HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Issues around food security came to my department with
the repatriation of wellness after the great divorce of 2014. We have a whole
variety of programs and I wouldn't dare to speak to those under Fisheries,
Forestry and Agriculture.
We have provided significant support to Food First NL.
We met with Mr. Smee on more than one occasion. We gave them nearly $600,000 for
community food program support during COVID. One hundred and thirty groups
benefited from that. We had a Community Food Helpline. We've had the Red Cross
involved and we have about $146 million from the Safe Restart Agreement which
can be redeployed. Longer term, we have over 63,000 hectares of prime land
available to start new agriculture, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Bonavista.
MR.
PARDY:
Mr.
Speaker, 90 per cent of the District of Bonavista still have their local dump
sites, all of which are overcapacity and environmentally challenged.
I would ask the minister why it has taken so long to
bring the District of Bonavista into one of the boards and have it more
regionalized.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Municipalities.
MR.
BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I've only been in the role now approximately nine
weeks, Mr. Speaker, and waste management has been a big priority within my
department now. We're working closely with all of the waste management boards
throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. I do have a meeting coming this Monday
with the Eastern Regional waste management board and we will be dealing with
some of the issues in regard to that particular area and along with some other
discussions.
Waste management is a concern right throughout
Newfoundland and Labrador, but it's an issue that we want to make sure we do it
right when we make these changes and implement the strategy that was put forward
by Ms. Hann.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Grand Falls-Windsor - Buchans.
MR.
TIBBS:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
My question is for the Premier himself. Premier, when
you lobbied support from the people of my province, you assured them
transparency, so let's see what it looks like.
I take my place here today on behalf of every
blue-collar worker of Newfoundland and Labrador and ask our Premier: Does he
agree with having workers from Quebec come into our province for work while so
many of our own sit home with no paycheque? Or will he join me now in a
commitment to finally start putting Newfoundlanders and Labradorians first?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Immigration, Skills and Labour.
MR.
BYRNE:
Thank you –
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Immigration, Skills and Labour.
Order, please!
MR.
BYRNE:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh,
oh!
MR.
BYRNE:
I
believe there's a conversation or individuals are engaged in a spirited
exchange.
With that said, I would like to engage in a spirited
exchange on behalf of the workforce of Newfoundland and Labrador, because that's
why I've already sat down with Mr. Darin King of Trades NL, while my senior
officials have had regular conversations with him and we have received his input
about a potential, proposed template for a benefits agreement.
Mr. King has acknowledged that in instances such as a
new contractor coming into Newfoundland and Labrador or one that has been here
for several attempts, they would agree and support workers coming in from other
provinces. That's a conversation that comes not from government but from Trades
NL, and I welcome further refinement. That's why I'm directly engaged with
Trades NL to look at their details and to use that as a template document for
consultations.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
minister's time has expired.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS.
COFFIN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister of Finance outlined that there would be
multiple opportunities for MHAs to have input into the Premier's task force on
economic recovery. We've asked about these opportunities, but neither the
Premier nor the task force have reached out.
I ask the Premier: Will he commit to having a MHA from
each party and an independent representative on this task force?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
PREMIER FUREY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Dame Moya Greene is working hard, seeking consultation
with multiple Members. I'm sure she will reach out as the opportunity affords
for input from different parties and different Members of this House of
Assembly, and will put forward recommendations where this House can have a
fulsome debate about the recommendations in the future.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS.
COFFIN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm sure that everyone here looks forward to being
fully engaged in developing a recovery for our economy.
Mr. Speaker, the value of an hour of work is the same
no matter who completes that work, for the same work. Again, I remind the
minister that 93 per cent of respondents to a provincial survey published by $15
& Fairness have said that they support a $15 minimum wage.
Will the minister accept this call from the public of
our province and commit to taking this first step towards a living wage for the
workers in our province?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Immigration, Skills and Labour.
MR.
BYRNE:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I'm so delighted that all parties have decided to
engage in a discussion about a potential for a universal guaranteed annual
income. We're making strides and working collaborative with each other. One of
the things that I also would note is that there is a lot of input being received
by important people who have really strong opinions and important opinions about
this. One of the suggestions that have been offered is that, really, a living
wage should be offered, which is really $18.85 an hour.
The concept of a $15 living wage, often it changes
sometimes according to the conversation that you have as to what exactly is the
target because, Mr. Speaker, one of the things that I think is worthwhile of a
discussion is what would be the merits or the intention for a wage for a student
versus a single person, versus someone with families? I am really anxious to
have this discussion because it's so important for each and every one of us in
our province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MR.
J. DINN:
Mr.
Speaker, the coldest part of the year is fast approaching, and as in previous
years we are already receiving a large volume of constituent cases of people,
especially seniors, who are without adequate food, heat and shelter. For
example, we have already gotten calls from seniors who are couch surfing or
spending their entire day at the mall because they can't afford to heat their
homes. This year people are still on fixed incomes, but the cost of food, heat
and shelter have increased significantly.
I ask the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social
Development: What specific programs have been put in place to ensure that our
seniors and our most vulnerable neighbours are not left cold and hungry again
this winter?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development.
MR.
WARR:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The hon. Member actually brings up a very good point,
when you look at the aging demographic here in the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador. We talk about our valuable resources; our seniors are people that we
certainly need to pay attention to. COVID-19 has certainly highlighted more
specifically the concerns around seniors: poverty reduction, homelessness,
mental health and so on. I've had the opportunity to meet with Dan Meades of the
Coalition for a Just Recovery.
As well, Mr. Speaker, I took the opportunity a couple
of weeks ago to speak with the Seniors' Advocate, Dr. Suzanne Brake, who I had
the opportunity to quiz and question. We had a wonderful session.
I look forward to bringing, as part of my mandate
letter, the strategy on homelessness, Mr. Speaker. I'll certainly report back as
soon as I can.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre.
MR.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I encourage the minister to do that as quickly as
possible. Our seniors really cannot wait.
Mr. Speaker, we, as most people, were alarmed to hear
that people caring for our most vulnerable seniors can be hired sometimes with
fake documents and without comprehensive screening and background checks.
I ask the Minister of Health and Community Services:
What oversight is or will be put in place to ensure that this does not happen
again?
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR.
HAGGIE:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
It was also a concern to the department. I would point
out for the benefit of the House, that this is an employee of a private company.
The health authority is responsible for standards, maintenance and inspections.
I'm pleased to report to the House that these facilities get inspected on a
regular basis, monthly; and, in addition, there are unannounced inspections too,
Mr. Speaker.
Criminal activity cannot be condoned in any form. I
have asked the health authority to go back and make sure that its monitoring was
appropriate and, if it was, we'll look at ways that it may need to be improved
in the future. This is an issue between a private individual who may or may not
have committed a crime and a private employer. So we look forward to the results
of the investigation with interest, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you.
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.
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Answers to Questions for which Notice has been Given
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I just wanted to follow up and provide some more
clarification around a question from the Member for Ferryland during Question
Period where he asked about cell service.
What I can provide the House is that service providers,
such as Bell, can apply to the program that we have put out, but it requires
them to partner with interested communities in a partnership agreement and
everybody is a part of the funding.
From what I can gather, I'm not aware of any
communities within Ferryland that applied, but what I would say to the Member is
that if he has evidence to the contrary, that's where we can have a conversation
about what we do going forward.
Thank you.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Further answers to questions for which notice has been given?
Petitions.
Petitions
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
CROSBIE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Federal participation is necessary to support the White
Rose project and Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil and gas industry.
Thousands of jobs are at risk and 30 per cent of our
economy is based on oil and gas and any economic recovery is dependent on a
vibrant oil and gas industry.
The economic activity this will create over the next 30
to 40 years will enable the province to transition from fossil fuels to greener
alternatives with positive impact on our environment.
This industry employs thousands of workers, both
directly and indirectly, which will provide financial stability and helps to
ensure the province's long-term sustainability into the future.
This industry has provided and will provide into the
future billions of dollars to assist in providing the goods and services for the
people of our province.
Therefore, we petition the hon. House of Assembly as
follows: to urge the government to nationally champion the benefits of oil and
gas to the federal government for their support to restart West White Rose and
our offshore exploration and development industry.
Mr. Speaker, this check today shows that this petition
has close to 1,200 signatures. I'm pleased to present it to this House. I heard
the Premier say minutes ago, we have one of the best skilled offshore workforces
in the world and we don't want to lose them.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
CROSBIE:
Unfortunately, I say to the government, that's exactly what is happening as we
sit here. People are out of work and fear being out of work and are thinking of
their options. I speak to them daily.
The Premier also referred to the federal $320 million
as if this was a full answer to support for our offshore. I would remind the
Members, Mr. Speaker, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was overly polite
when he called this a smaller amount, and indeed it is. This is intended to
support an entire industry, but is one-tenth of the value of the support package
provided to support one producing well, called Hibernia, when Mr. Mulroney was
prime minister and my father, John Crosbie, was a champion and an advocate for
the interests of workers in this province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
CROSBIE:
I
would quote Mr. Mulroney from his speech a month ago: The Government of Canada
would prioritize an advanced energy project that strikes a balance between
enormous national and economic opportunity and managing our global climate
change commitments.
That's the leadership we need from Ottawa, not what
we're getting from Trudeau.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon. the Minister of Industry, Energy and
Technology.
MR.
A. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the enthusiasm from all Members of the
House, and I congratulate the Member for his Facebook election head that he just
taped right there. It's certainly full of passion.
What I would say is that we all know the industry is in
a tough time, but the fact is we are doing what we can. That's why we are
actively going through proposals to look at what we can do in scope of jobs. The
question I have is so we have proposals from Husky and from multiple other
companies as it relates to getting people back to work. Is the Member saying
that we should pick one over the other? Because that's what it sounds like he's
saying.
Now, this is the same person that said put all the
money and put an equity stake in Husky; said put all the money into Husky. I ask
the Member, if we put all the money into Husky, what are we going to do for
everybody else?
If the Member is so fond of quoting former politicians,
I would compare him to former premier Peckford who said they sold the shop,
because that's what that Member would do.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Member for Conception Bay East - Bell Island.
MR.
BRAZIL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Every day emergency medical professionals, emergency
medical responders, primary care paramedics and emergency medical dispatchers
provide vital medical emergency and transmission services to residents of
Newfoundland and Labrador. These duties are essential for delivery of medical
services in all regions of our province, especially at times of serious health
crises when residents need access to immediate medical attention and/or
transportation by ambulance to acute care facilities for lifesaving medical
treatments.
Service agreements between government and its private
ambulance owners have lapsed with no resolution in sight. As we have the
collective agreement between the unions and said operators, with the collective
bargaining process coming to an end with no resolution at hand, these
hard-working essential employees will have no alternative but to take strike
action. Such actions land squarely on government's lap.
Therefore, we petition the hon. House of Assembly as
follows: We, the undersigned, called upon the House of Assembly to urge the
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to work with these groups involved to
put in place new agreements immediately, ensuring no interruption in ambulance
and medical services across our province to ensure there is no interruption in
vital services.
Mr. Speaker, as we know, we've had an open debate
around this particular issue and it's been lapsed for years. There have been
discussions around new agreements coming in place; new processes have been
kicked down the road for a period of time. The problem we have here – and it's
by the providers and it's by the general public – is the fear that any
disruption will cause extreme harm to the people in Newfoundland and Labrador,
particularly, if you look at some of the rural communities here who rely on
their first responders for their immediate interventions around health care.
Mr. Speaker, what the industry is asking – this is
coming directly from the industry from all corners of this great province of
ours – is to get an agreement in play right away, not we're getting close, not a
year down the road, not when we do another study on it. Look at it immediately,
sit down, have the negotiated agreements put in play so that there's some
stability in our medical providers when first responders are dealing with our
ambulance service, Mr. Speaker.
We're not asking for something that's not obtainable;
we're not asking for a big costing to government. We're asking to put in play
what's necessary for proper health care and first responders' necessities here,
Mr. Speaker.
We ask that this be moved immediately so that we can
have, early in the new year, some stability in our road ambulances and the
process and access that people would have to vital interventions immediately.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I call Orders of the Day.
Orders of the Day
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I call from the – third reading, sorry, Mr. Speaker, of
Order 3, Bill 46.
I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader,
that Bill 46, An Act To Amend The Credit Union Act, 2009, be now read a third
time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a third time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
CLERK (Barnes):
A
bill, An Act To Amend The Credit Union Act, 2009. (Bill 46)
MR.
SPEAKER:
This bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass
and that its title be as on the Order Paper.
On motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Credit Union
Act, 2009,” read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order
Paper. (Bill 46)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I call from the Order Paper, Order 4, Bill 49.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Deputy Government
House Leader, that Bill 49, An Act To Amend The Other Post-Employment Benefits
Eligibility Modification Act, be now read a third time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a third time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
CLERK:
A
bill, An Act To Amend The Other Post-Employment Benefits Eligibility
Modification Act. (Bill 49)
MR.
SPEAKER:
This bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass
and that its title be as on the Order Paper.
On motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Other
Post-Employment Benefits Eligibility Modification Act,” read a third time,
ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 49)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I call Order 5, third reading of Bill 50.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader,
that Bill 50, An Act To Amend The Auditor General Act, be now read a third time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a third time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
CLERK:
A
bill, An Act To Amend The Auditor General Act. (Bill 50)
MR.
SPEAKER:
This bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass
and that its title be as on the Order Paper.
On motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Auditor General
Act,” read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper.
(Bill 50)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I call Order 6, third reading of Bill 51.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader,
that Bill 51, An Act To Amend The Condominium Act, 2009, The Co-Operatives Act
And The Corporations Act, be now read a third time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a third time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
CLERK:
A
bill, An Act To Amend The Condominium Act, 2009, The Co-Operatives Act And The
Corporations Act. (Bill 51)
MR.
SPEAKER:
This bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass
and that its title be as on the Order Paper.
On motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Condominium
Act, 2009, The Co-Operatives Act And The Corporations Act,” read a third time,
ordered passed and its title be as on the Order Paper. (Bill 51)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Finally, for third readings, I call Order 7, Bill 52.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Deputy Government
House Leader, that Bill 52, An Act Respecting Tourist Accommodations, be now
read a third time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a third time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
CLERK:
A
bill, An Act Respecting Tourist Accommodations. (Bill 52)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and
its title be as on the Order Paper.
On motion, a bill, “An Act Respecting Tourist
Accommodations,” read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on the
Order Paper. (Bill 52)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I call from the Order Paper, Order 2, Committee on Ways
and Means.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the House does now resolve itself into a Committee of
the Whole on Way and Means.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this 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, the Speaker left the Chair.
Committee of the Whole
CHAIR (P. Parsons):
Order, please!
We are now continuing; we are debating the related
resolution on Bill 43.
Resolution
“That it is expedient to bring in a measure respecting
the imposition of taxes on carbon products.”
CLERK:
Clause 1.
CHAIR:
Shall clause 1 carry?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
The Chair recognizes the Member for Cape St. Francis.
MR.
K. PARSONS:
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Again, it's an absolute privilege to be here and
represent the beautiful District of Cape St. Francis and the beautiful people in
the District of Cape St. Francis.
Madam Chair, I know today we're speaking about a money
bill and it has to do with our environment. I've listened to speakers that spoke
on this bill already. I think a lot of it has been discussed and it's important
of our environment and how we protect our environment is very important, but
this bill also gives me the opportunity to speak on anything really that is
involved in our province.
Last night, the Newfoundland and Labrador Soccer
Association did a lifetime membership for Mr. Gord Dunphy.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
K. PARSONS:
I
just want him to be recognized here today because I know he's a very important
part and a good friend with a lot of people on both sides of this House. They
had a great ceremony last night and I'm sure that if it had to be other times,
it would have been a full house and thousands of people there because everybody
really appreciates what Gord has done for soccer in our province, particularly
on the Burin Peninsula. I listened to some kind words that were brought forward
from the Member for Burin - Grand Bank; they were very kind words. I'm sure that
Gord really appreciated it.
Madam Chair, Gord Dunphy is what soccer is all about in
Newfoundland and Labrador. His career was 50 years long and he did everything.
He started playing soccer as a young man and played in different leagues of
junior and moved on, but his contribution to the St. Lawrence Laurentians is
where his heart and soul is. He wears everything on his sleeve.
He was president of the St. Lawrence Laurentians. He
was coach. They won three provincial Challenge Cups back in '92, '98 and '99. He
won a national bronze medal in 1999. In 1999, he was also selected as Coach of
the Year. Gord has put more into soccer than anyone I know. I don't know a lot
about soccer but I know what Gord Dunphy has done. Gord Dunphy is a friend to a
lot of people in this province and soccer is part of it.
The thing that I liked about Gord the last number of
years is what we call the Gord Cast. He's doing the announcements of soccer on
the Burin Peninsula. It's gone to places all over the world. It's gone to places
like Argentina; it's gone to the Middle East. People really enjoy Gord's
contribution to the sport.
Madam Chair, Gord Dunphy is a good friend and a good
man. He only has one problem that I can really see: He's a Leafs fan. I look
forward to collecting a few more dollars off Gord. Myself and Gord had a bet
last year on the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gord, thank you for
the $20 I received from you.
Anyway, my friend, I really want to wish you the best.
I know you're going through a hard time in your life right now. There are a lot
of supporters that think the world of Gord Dunphy and there are a lot in this
House that think the world of Gord Dunphy.
Keep your head up. Good luck, my friend, in your future
endeavours.
Thank you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
Order, please!
The Chair recognizes the hon. the Member for Mount
Pearl - Southlands.
MR.
LANE:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
It's great to have an opportunity to speak once again.
Yesterday, I spoke to this bill; I actually spoke to the bill. Today, I have
another opportunity, and where it's a money bill, you can talk about whatever
you want. I have a couple of others matters I want to raise.
The first matter I want to raise – and this would be
for the Minister of – what's his title now – Immigration, Skills and Labour,
there you go; for the Minister of Immigration, Skills and Labour, just to put a
little bug in his ear. I have had a couple people reach out to me. I don't know
if other Members have, but people who have been impacted by the shutdown of Come
By Chance. There are a couple impacted by that and then there was another
person, I believe, that was impacted by the Husky shutdown and so on.
The question they were asking and, I guess, the points
they were making were that in their particular cases, they didn't qualify for
EI. They were working, but they never had enough hours to qualify for EI. The
point they were making was that in the past when you had situations, for
example, where the mill shut down in Grand Falls-Windsor or where there have
been fish plants that have shut down and so on, the government would meet with
the workers and so on and people impacted and make sure that there was a
transition in place and that everybody qualified for EI. If not, there were
programs put in place by the government.
I put that out there to the government, to the Minister
of Immigration, Skills and Labour, in particular. The people who have been
impacted by the Come By Chance shutdown, by the Husky and so on – White Rose
Project – you really need to make sure to reach out to those employees and make
sure that they're all looked after in the short term, at least, and to ensure
that they all do qualify for EI and so on. No different than what you would have
done for other major employers in this province, such as fish plants and mills
and so on. I ask that you take that under advisement.
The other thing I just want to talk about, again, is
the Dominion workers, of course. A number of us have talked about the impasse
and the Dominion workers; we certainly hope they can reach an agreement and so
on. Coming from that, I guess, was a motion that was brought – a private
Member's motion – forward by the Member for Labrador West and unanimously
supported in the House about a basic living wage, working wage and so on. That's
certainly part of it, no doubt, but there are other issues that are happening,
not just at Loblaws but with the other large retail sector employers as well,
like Loblaws.
I think we need to have a look at – again, I guess this
would apply to the Minister of Immigration, Skills and Labour, as well – perhaps
it's also time that we have a look at our labour legislation that we have here
in the province to see if there are things that we could be doing to improve it
because some of the stories I've heard from workers, whether they be at Dominion
or at the competing retailers and so on, are stories about – I'll just give an
example – where somebody gets called into work for a five-hour shift. Of course,
we can't give them a full-day shift because we want to make sure we keep
everybody temporary, not permanent. We don't want full-time hours because we
don't want to pay benefits so they'll manipulate the staffing in such a way that
we don't have to pay benefits to anybody, but then you call someone in for a
shift and you say, I want you to come in from say 12 to 4 or 12 to 5, whatever
the case might be, and then 3 o'clock comes around and says we're slow now, go
home.
Somebody had to pay for child care perhaps, arrangement
transportation, whatever, with the intent to come in to work for five hours or
six hours and then the employer, on the fly, says we're slow now go home. Now,
all of a sudden, you're losing an hour or two hours pay. It's not like they're
sending you home with pay. They're just sending you home without pay.
Then you have situations that work the reverse of that
where someone is scheduled to come in for a shift from say 12 to 5 and 5 o'clock
comes along and they say we're busy now, now you have to stay for an extra
couple of hours. They're saying, well, my babysitter is only arranged until 5
o'clock. Well, that's not our problem, that's your problem. You have to stay for
an extra hour or two hours or whatever, it got busy, so to speak.
These are things that are, to my mind, abuse. I
understand that there has to be flexibility for employers. Split shifts are
another thing. People could argue split shifts, depending on the kind of
business you're in, it may be necessary; but I would suggest, if you're a large
business, a large retailer like that and you're open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. or
whatever the hours are, you don't need to be doing split shifts. It's crazy to
say to somebody: Come in now for four hours in the morning, so your morning is
gone at work, then stay home for the rest of the day. You can't do anything else
because I need you back here again at 6 o'clock to work another two or three
hours and so on. It's just messing with people's lives. It's totally unfair. I
really believe that it's taking advantage of the situation.
I understand, again, there may be employers, depending
on the type of business you're in, if someone has a business where – I don't
know, I just throw it out there. Let's say if you had some kind of a business
that you were supplying sound equipment or something and someone says you need
to come in the morning to set everything up and then you need to come back in
the night to take it all down, or whatever. I can understand where scheduling
you have to have someone there for certain periods of time.
But if you're a large retailer and you're open all day
from, again, 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. at night, there's none of this downtime, so to
speak. You can arrange schedules to have people work eight-hour shifts or
whatever and work normal hours. You don't have to be messing with their lives
the way that they're doing. Again, it's simply taking advantage of people. It's
manipulating the rules that exist under the current legislation to your ends.
Here's another one: I had someone reach out to me. They
worked at a chain restaurant that we would all be familiar – we won't name it;
that's not necessary. They had a policy, for example, on tips. You had to give 5
per cent of the bill. The waitress or the waiter, server, whatever you want to
call it, 5 per cent of the bill goes to the kitchen in tips. You might argue,
okay, well if you're getting on the bill 10 or 15 per cent, you're giving 5 per
cent to the kitchen, fair enough. You could argue that maybe that's okay.
There were cases, for example, if you had a bunch of
young people come in and they didn't tip. So somebody runs up a bill for 50
bucks or 100 bucks, whatever – say it's $100 on a bill – and they didn't give
you a tip; the waiter or the waitress would have to take $5 out of their own
pocket and pay to the kitchen. That's their policy, because 5 per cent of the
bill, not 5 per cent of the tip, goes to the kitchen as a tip. I brought that to
the labour board and I said: This is absolutely ridiculous. They agreed with me.
They said: It is absolutely ridiculous.
Apparently they went to the employer. I called them
back, I said: What's going on. They wouldn't return my calls. I knew something
was up. Finally, when I got that person back again from the department they
said: Mr. Lane, I agree with you. It's wrong, but unfortunately, the way the
legislation is written around tips, we don't have the teeth to be able to
address this situation. We think it's wrong but we can't technically stop it. I
said: B'ys oh b'ys, there's something wrong with this.
There are all kinds of things that are happening to the
lowest paid workers in this province that have families to support. If we're
going to look at a basic income, that's part of it, but we also need to be
looking at the labour laws and how these laws are being manipulated and abused,
as far as I'm concerned.
Thank you for the time, Madam Chair. I appreciate it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
The
hon. the Member for Stephenville - Port au Port.
MR.
WAKEHAM:
Madam Chair, I'll just take a few minutes here today to talk about the budget
and what we've been doing. We've had about six weeks of sitting here in the
House in this particular session and we certainly have raised real issues for
real people, including the questions, of course, that my colleagues asked today.
All of our caucus talked about real issues impacting real people in their
districts.
These are the types of issues that people are facing
every single day in this province. Outside of these walls there are real issues,
real concerns, and it's our job to bring them forward and to let people know
that we care about what is happening to them and we will work to try and find
solutions to these issues that they continue to ask about.
Every day, I think, in this House we've asked questions
on our offshore oil and the threat that we are facing. I think we have talked a
lot about the tremendous loss of jobs that are real, that have already impacted
people and the fear of the unknown, the fear of how many more jobs are
potentially lost. The budget document itself alluded to a potential loss of over
13,000 jobs this year. These are serious, serious challenges.
We sit here today and we've passed the budget. It
passed unanimously. It didn't pass unanimously because it was a great budget; it
passed unanimously because everybody in this House, and on this side, recognizes
the challenges that COVID has brought to our province, our country and, indeed,
the world. We sit here today with final approval after seven months of
expenditure on a budget has happened. Really, it's not a normal situation by any
means.
The real challenge is going to be dealing with the
serious issues that face this province and that we all face. In the coming
months a new budget is expected, of course, to be delivered in April. It's
normally delivered in the spring of the year. That new budget will have to
contain significant measures to move this province back on track. We cannot keep
ignoring the challenges that we have. It is imperative that we face them head on
and deal with them. All of us will be looking forward to a budget next year that
moves forward and takes action that is desperately needed to happen.
We've talked about the lack of support from Ottawa. I
have to say that I don't know how people are not disappointed. I can't believe
that people would not be disappointed with $320 million. I know it sounds like a
lot of money and, yes, it's good that we have it; it's great that we're going to
be able to provide relief, but $320 million. As I said the other day, they
managed to find $200 million to invest in a casino in Ontario. That pales in
comparison.
When you look at the amount of monies, the billions of
dollars that have been provided to other provinces throughout this country,
we're just simply asking to be treated fairly. I don't believe that $320 million
is a fair treatment. I will continue to argue for that. The Premier has alluded
to it's a first step, but at the end of the day, we don't seem to see any notice
that, in fact, there is any more coming. We have not heard anything that gives
us any confidence that there's more money coming.
As a matter of fact, the Minister of Natural Resources,
federally, stood up and proudly pumped his chest about how his government had
given more money than any other government since the Mulroney days. He talked
about the $2 billion, our Hibernia dividend, but he forgot to mention that it is
being paid out over something like 38 years. So, again, there's a real problem
here with the lack of support from Ottawa.
We've spent a lot of time talking about workers, those
without jobs, those on strike, including the Dominion workers in my own District
of Stephenville - Port au Port. We now know a mediator has been appointed. We
anxiously look forward to that work being done and this strike being settled.
It's gone on way too long. The same people who a few short months ago were being
hailed as heroes and essential workers, going to work when other people were
closing their doors and told to stay home. There are other essential workers
that we've talked about waiting to get the pay they deserve, rotational workers
and the challenges they face in trying to make a living – those are all issues
that are faced right now.
We've heard lots of discussions about health care,
including in my own district again where the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical
Association has said in a release that we have a catastrophic shortage of
doctors. We've heard lots in the budget about the new team that is being
established to give us the advice we need to transform our economy. We've heard
that before. We heard that when you took a million dollars from the Treasury and
hired McKinsey. We had clear messages from McKinsey and even from Mills about
the kind of things we needed to do. Now it seems we're going to have a new team,
basically raking up the same ground and hoping to get more fruit out of it.
There's a phrase called implementation failure. It is
used to describe what happens when you've been given the right advice but you
fail to put it into action. When a government is unprepared to act on the advice
it receives, what is the point of seeking the advice in the first place? All of
the spin and feel-good rhetoric, they're not going to change the reality that
people face around their dinner tables. It's not going to lead to jobs and if it
doesn't lead to jobs, what's it really worth at the end of the day?
Spinning a good story is not going to lift the province
up. You just don't tell people that everything is going to be okay; you have to
show them. People in this province are discounting the words and they're
starting to measure the results. Frankly, Madam Chair, it's not about party; it
never was. It's about the people. It's about putting Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians first. It's a responsibility of elected leaders to show leadership
in the face of crisis, not to blame the crisis for failing to act.
I'll finish with a quote, Madam Chair, which simply
says, “It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and
taking action.”
Thank you, Madam Chair.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
The
Chair recognizes the hon. the Minister of Finance.
MS.
COADY:
There are two more speakers.
CHAIR:
I
ask that people stand. It is hard to see. I know you're raising your hands, but
please stand when you'd like to speak.
The Chair recognizes the Member for St. John's Centre.
MR.
J. DINN:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I guess I want to talk a little bit about what I
haven't always talked about in these sessions. It certainly is about my own
district and some of the reasons why I've gotten into this. I guess there are
certain lessons I've taken away. I want to go back to looking at some of the
lessons of the pandemic and lessons here for this House as well.
It's interesting, some of the challenges that face my
district, you've heard them: the homelessness, the poverty, the addictions and
the issues of mental health. We also have a number of small businesses. I don't
venture too far from my own district. It's where I went to school.
Holy Cross is where I went. I think it was Mammy's
Bakery at the time. You'd sit in school and you knew lunch was coming because
you could get the smell of the bakery wafting through the windows. You could
also get a bag of ends for 25 cents, which are the scraps from the various baked
goods. A pretty good deal, actually, when I look at it.
My dad worked on the railway, so it was nothing for me
after school, and my siblings, to go down to the rail yard and Dad would be
there. We might get a chance to get on the train if we were lucky. Of course, we
figured we were driving the train. Little did we know, the train basically was
taking care of itself.
If you drive by there now, that rail yard, the
turntable, everything is gone. I often think in many ways when we did the Roads
for Rails agreement if indeed we made the right choice, as opposed to upgrading
the main trunk to a standard-gauge railway. We could have had something that
could have shipped goods a lot more quickly, but the fix was in on that in many
ways. I look at it, I think we made the best deal possible, but we were
shortchanged because keeping up the roads in this place is a difficult enough
challenge.
AN
HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible.)
MR.
J. DINN:
That would be it. I would think in many ways it would've solved an awful lot of
our problems as well. Nevertheless, it's about sometimes looking at, down the
road, the long-term vision and the investment that comes with it.
Certainly, if you go down at the end, just on Water
Street there and you dig through the pavement, you will find the rails,
actually, to the old streetcars that were there at one time. I look back at
these times and look at the changes that have transformed my district and
transformed the province. I don't always know if they're in the best long-term
interest or not.
I do know that in my district where I go to get my hair
cut they're local businesses. You go up on Ropewalk Lane and you can see it's
sort of the centre part of the district and yet it, too, has Browning Harvey
that manufactures Pepsi. I think they've been there for over 75 years. A long
mainstay, one of the last when you look at the major bottlers that still have a
business interest here. I have the green spaces: Mundy Pond, Martin's Meadow,
Tessier Park and Victoria Park. They're significant; in many ways jewels within
my district.
Then there are the schools. I do have a special
interest in the four schools because of my own background. There's École
Ste-Thérèse or St. Teresa's, Bishop Abraham, École Rocher-du-Nord under the
francophone school board and one independent school, Lakecrest. To me, they're
basically producing our greatest resource: our people, the next generation.
I used to say to teachers when I would speak to them as
president – and I do believe this – maybe not in my lifetime, maybe not in your
lifetime but in the lifetime of your grandchildren, maybe in the lifetime of my
grandchildren or great-grandchildren, I do believe at some point we're going to
be moving beyond this planet. We'll have a colony set up somewhere. We'll be
beyond that. That's going to be the new world. How do we plan for that? How do
we capture here in Newfoundland the technology?
We have a very brilliant people within our school
system, children and students who stand to make this province great. A lot of
what I look for in the resources here of how do we start doing things, investing
in the province locally, in the small businesses. We've seen them here that the
minister of – the investment in seal oil capsules, for example. I think it's in
those elements where we can start capitalizing on our own ingenuity, our own
industriousness here, focusing on the fishery, which is a renewable resource.
For me, in many ways that's the future.
The one thing I've enjoyed the most here, I guess, in
this last year, if there's any enjoyment to be taken out of this pandemic, is
when the chips are down we work together. We could have done better as well, and
I'm thinking in terms of the joint public health and safety committee. We had
the opportunity – I sat with the COVID food group, and there is a real effort to
try and deal with the situation facing us in a collaborative way.
We have the Committee on Democratic Reform, which the
Member for Mount Pearl - Southland chairs, and we're looking at a Select
Committee to deal with guaranteed basic income. I do believe this: We have major
problems in this province, no doubt about it, with the food insecurity, poverty,
health issues and so on and so forth. I think it's best that we find ways, Madam
Chair, to work together, to get beyond, and I guess in a perfect world get to
the next fixed election date and see what we can do to get this province
together, to right it to where it needs to be so that we can move forward.
I do not believe that any one person or any one party
has the answers, but I do believe the answers lie here within this Chamber and
within the people of this province. I think that's something we can achieve. We
all have a role here to play; the Opposition to point out where government is
deficient, government to make the legislation that will help this province.
I do believe that despite that, while we're playing
those parts we can also find ways to reach across and to work together. I've had
that opportunity with a number of ministers as well to resolve issues in my
district. I think if anything brings me joy or fulfillment, is certainly that
sense of being able to resolve issues for individuals. That's the thing I enjoy
the most. I think that's something we all enjoy here; otherwise, I don't think
we would have gotten into this job for any other reason.
I do believe there's an opportunity here to work
together collaboratively, and I'm talking about all parties and the independents
so that we can find some way out of this mess and get the province on the path
to the prosperity it deserves.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
CHAIR:
Thank you to the hon. Member.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
The
Chair recognizes the Minister of Finance.
MS.
COADY:
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
It's wonderful to have such co-operation in the House
this afternoon. This would be the last debate of the budget for 2020 and I
wanted to make sure that we all thanked the Department of Finance and the
officials in the Department of Finance for their outstanding work in making sure
that we had not only Interim Supply – because it's not a usual year but they had
done Interim Supply on a number of occasions – but also the budget. They worked
very diligently to ensure that we had a budget by the end of September, Madam
Chair.
I want to also thank and recognize all officials
throughout government for the time and attention they took for Estimates. I know
that is a very important part of the review of the budget, and I want to thank
officials for ensuring they were fulsome in their disclosures and discussion for
Estimates.
I also want to recognize and thank Members of this
House of Assembly who undertook great scrutiny, great diligence and in the
ultimate end, great support for this year's budget. I think we all can agree,
partisan issues aside, that it was a very stable budget for very unstable times.
We're in the middle of a pandemic, and this budget really focused on health care
and providing over $100 million, Madam Chair, for COVID response, which is
essential. We're hopeful for ensuring that we are prepared with protective
equipment, we want to make sure we're prepared for testing and we want to make
sure we're prepared in the hope of a vaccine.
This budget also focused on the economy. We all know
this has been challenging times for the economy. Many Members have spoken about
the challenges in the oil and gas industry and challenges in the tourism
industry and challenges because of the global pandemic. So what we saw in this
budget were supports for the oil industry, supports for small business, supports
for technology, supports for the mining industry, supports for tourism,
forestry, agriculture and the arts. All of this was found within this budget,
and I am grateful for the support of all colleagues in this House for ensuring
we had those supports.
The budget also focused on families. We know how
important it is to support families, and the $25-a-day child care was an
important investment that the people of the province are making. I know that was
unanimously supported in this House. There were supports for education and
ensuring that we had both a solid educational system but also a solid
post-secondary educational system, and we did maintain, of course, the controls
on tuition.
There's $123 million for income support and the
Seniors' Benefit, and I know there are oftentimes in this House that we've
debated and recognized the needs of seniors. We've debated and recognized the
needs of those that are struggling and need supports from government. There's
close to $50 million for housing and housing supports, Madam Chair.
I did note a couple of colleagues talking about how
difficult a time we are having right now globally because of the pandemic and
how that's impacting things like oil and gas. I'll remind the people of the
province and Members in this House of Assembly, that prior to COVID and prior to
the challenges because of the pandemic, we had welcomed eight new entrants in
our offshore. We had, I know in natural resources alone, over $18 billion
confirmed for invest in this province. Madam Chair, I think it's important to
recognize that the global pandemic has impacted that, but don't ever think that
we have not recognized or understood this government's impact in terms of growth
in our economy.
I want people to understand the reason why I have hope.
The reason why I think that we are going to emerge from this particular pandemic
strongly is because I've seen the level of investment that has been brought to
this province by this government. I have seen the commitment to the economy by
this government. I have seen the commitment to families by this government. When
you ask for action, I think I can point out quite strongly the actions in this
particular budget.
I close today, Madam Chair, saying that it is not just
hope that we have for this province, it is a deep understanding of the strength
of this province. It is a deep understanding of the economic opportunity of this
province. It is a deep understanding of how resilient the people of this
province are. Yes, this budget takes action, but I base that action on the hope,
the resilience and the strength of not only the people of this province, but
also the economic opportunities presented in this province.
I thank Members of this House for their support of the
budget. I appreciate the strength and support of Newfoundlanders and
Labradorians. I encourage them to continue to keep each other safe as we move
through this pandemic.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
CHAIR:
Order, please!
Shall the resolution carry?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
On motion, resolution carried.
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration
Act.” (Bill 43)
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:
Be
it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative
Session convened, as follow.
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 Revenue Administration Act.
CLERK:
Shall the long title carry?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
CHAIR:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
On motion, long title carried.
CHAIR:
Shall I report the resolution and bill carried 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
resolution and a bill consequent thereto, carried.
CHAIR:
The
Chair recognizes the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I move that the Committee rise and report the
resolution and Bill 43.
CHAIR:
The
motion is that the Committee rise and report the bill carried without amendment.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
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, the Speaker returned to the Chair.
MR.
SPEAKER (Reid):
The
hon. the Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave.
MS.
P. PARSONS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Committee of Ways and Means have considered the
matters to them referred and have directed me to report that they have adopted a
certain resolution and recommend that a bill be introduced to give effect to the
same.
MR. SPEAKER:
The Chair of the Committee of the Whole reports that
the Committee have considered the matters to them referred and have directed her
to report that the Committee have adopted a certain resolution and recommend
that a bill be introduced to give effect to the same.
When shall this report be received?
MR.
CROCKER:
Now.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Now.
On motion, report received and adopted.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
I'm
sorry, Mr. Speaker, I lost my way.
AN
HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible.)
MR.
CROCKER:
I
thank the Members opposite for their gracious invitation, but for right now I'll
decline.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Deputy Government
House Leader, that the resolution be now read a first time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the resolution now be read a first time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
CLERK:
“Be
it resolved by the House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as
follows:
“That it is expedient to bring in a measure respecting
the imposition of taxes on carbon products.”
On motion, resolution read a first time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Deputy Premier, that the
resolution be now read a second time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the resolution be now read a second time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
CLERK:
“Be it resolved by the House of Assembly
in Legislative Session convened, as follows:
“That it is expedient to bring in a measure respecting
the imposition of taxes on carbon products.”
On motion, resolution read a second time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded the Minister of Digital Government and
Service NL, for leave to introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Amend The Revenue
Administration Act, Bill 43, and I further move that the said bill be now read a
first time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the hon. Government House Leader shall have leave to
introduce a bill entitled, An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act, Bill
43, and that the said bill now be read a first time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
Motion, that the hon. Minister of Finance to introduce
a bill, “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act,” carried. (Bill 43)
CLERK:
A
bill, An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act. (Bill 43)
On motion, Bill 43 read a first time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Minister of Transportation and
Infrastructure, that Bill 43 be now read a second time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that the said bill now be read a second time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
CLERK:
A
bill, An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act. (Bill 43)
On motion, Bill 43 read a second time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Minister of Immigration, Skills
and Labour, that Bill 43 be now read a third time.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that Bill 43 be now read a third time.
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt this motion?
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
CLERK:
A
bill, An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act. (Bill 43)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
bill has now been read a third time and it is ordered that the bill do pass and
that the title be as on the Order Paper.
On motion, a bill, “An Act To Amend The Revenue
Administration Act,” read a third time, ordered passed and its title be as on
the Order Paper. (Bill 43)
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader,
that we take a short recess for the arrival of the Lieutenant-Governor.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
has been moved and seconded that we take a short recess.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
Recess
MR.
SPEAKER:
Are
the House Leaders ready?
The Opposition House Leader, the Third Party House
Leader ready? Okay.
Order, please!
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
Mr. Speaker, Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor has arrived.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Admit Her Honour.
All rise.
(Mr. Speaker leaves the Chair. Her Honour the
Lieutenant-Governor takes the Chair.)
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
It is the wish of Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor that all present be seated.
MR.
SPEAKER:
Your Honour, it is my agreeable duty on behalf of Her Majesty's dutiful and
loyal subjects, Her Faithful Commons in Newfoundland and Labrador, to present
Your Honour a bill for the appropriation of Supply granted in the present
session.
CLERK:
A
bill, “An Act For Granting To Her Majesty Certain Sums of Money For Defraying
Certain Expenses Of The Public Service For The Financial Year Ending March 31,
2021 And For Other Purposes Relating To The Public Service.” (Bill 42)
HER
HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR (Judy May Foote, PC, ONL): In Her Majesty's name, I thank Her Loyal
Subjects, I accept their benevolence, and I assent to this bill.
MR.
SPEAKER:
May
it please Your Honour, the General Assembly of the province has at its present
session passed certain bills, to which, in the name and on behalf of the General
Assembly, I respectfully request Your Honour's assent.
CLERK:
A
bill, “An Act To Amend The Insurance Contracts Act.” (Bill 41)
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration
Act.” (Bill 43)
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act
No. 2.” (Bill 44)
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act
No. 3.” (Bill 45)
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Credit Union Act, 2009.”
(Bill 46)
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Loan Act, 2020.” (Bill 47)
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act
No. 4.” (Bill 48)
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Other Post-Employment
Benefits Eligibility Modification Act.” (Bill 49)
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Auditor General Act.”
(Bill 50)
A bill, “An Act To Amend The Condominium Act, 2009, The
Co-operatives Act And The Corporations Act.” (Bill 51)
A bill, “An Act Respecting Tourist Accommodations.”
(Bill 52)
HER
HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR:
In Her Majesty's name, I assent to all 11 bills.
This is an opportunity I welcome, every time I come
here, to thank you for all of your hard work, especially during the pandemic; I
know how difficult it has been. I also want to thank all of those who support
you, those throughout the public service.
I really want to thank all of our essential workers
because I know how hard they work, putting their own lives at risk many times
just to keep the rest of us safe. This is an opportunity to thank them, to thank
you and to wish you all the best as you return to your constituencies. I know
some of you, of course, your constituencies are closer than others.
Thank you for the way that you have approached the
business of the House, particularly during the pandemic. I know that it's been
tough on a lot of people; a lot of people have been hurting as a result of
COVID-19. But what's been reassuring, I think, for the people of Newfoundland
and Labrador is to watch their leaders in action and the tone that you've set,
because the tone gives people reassurance that our province is in good hands.
Not just from the leaders here in the House of Assembly, but throughout our
province, the leaders in business and the leaders in our social sectors. It's
all very important for all of us to realize that mental health is something that
impacts all of us.
I want to thank Dr. Janice Fitzgerald and her team,
from whom we've all been taking advice. I think that is why we've done so well
here in Newfoundland and Labrador, when others throughout our country are not
doing as well. I encourage everyone to continue to follow her advice so that we
can all stay safe and not have to worry like our neighbours are having to do in
other parts of the country. The Atlantic bubble has worked well. I'm hoping that
it will continue to work well. It's working well because of all of you as well
and the way that you have approached the pandemic here in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Thank you for your hard work. It's always good to be
here to have the chance to commend you on what you do and to commend you on your
dedication. I especially appreciate the way that you have all been working
together. It's been obvious for anyone who has been watching the debates and
listening to what you all had to say about being able to work together that you
have taken that leadership role of getting our province through a very trying
time.
We all know that this is the best province in the world
in which to live, certainly the best province in the country. Because of the way
you have handled all of the issues that you have had to deal with, we are doing
well in Newfoundland and Labrador, so thank you, on behalf of the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador, for your leadership that I know will continue past
this session.
I'm also excited and I want to compliment you on the
changes to the Standing Orders. If I
smile when I say that, it's because I'm so excited to see baby Alexander here.
What a wonderful addition to the House of Assembly. What a great decision that
you all made. So congratulations for doing that. I look at the future when I
look at Alexander and we know that with that particular change, our House is in
good hands.
Thank you so much for all that you do. I appreciate it
and on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, thank you. If I could
just make one request: Keep that positive tone going. It's really important as
we all deal with this terrible situation with the pandemic. We know that we want
the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to come out of this better and feeling
positive and having a good way of handling issues that arise in their own
circumstances because of your leadership and the positive tone that you have
set.
Thank you so much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
HER HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR: I can't stop smiling. I think she welcomed me
actually – he, I'm sorry. See, I've got this she thing.
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
All rise.
(Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor leaves the Chamber.
The Speaker returns to the Chair.)
MR.
SPEAKER:
Please be seated.
It's tradition that we usually ask the party leaders to
have some comments at the closing of a session, so I'm going to call on the hon.
the Leader of the Official Opposition.
MR.
CROSBIE:
Mr.
Speaker, thank you kindly.
Her Honour mentioned tone in the House, and owing to
the slight degree of excitability I detected earlier today, I will strive to
give my remarks, as we approach the end of the fall 2020 sitting of the House, a
calming tone.
I'd like to, on behalf of my caucus, welcome the new
Premier and look forward to further debate led by his able leadership of the
government as time passes. On behalf of my caucus, I'd like to look back briefly
on what's transpired and also forward to what's to come.
First of all, I'd like to extend the gratitude of our
caucus to all those who worked hard to make this sitting possible. It's been an
unprecedented year with the COVID-19 pandemic raging all about us. It's not an
accident that this province has been spared the worst of the pandemic's ravages.
Although many have been affected, some tragically lost their lives; other
jurisdictions have fared far worse than ours. Through the all-party Committee,
that I had a hand in initiating, we provided our advice to the government on
ways to reduce our exposure and protect our people. Those measures have largely
worked.
People continue to protect themselves and their
families by self-isolating, wearing masks and physically distancing from one
another, despite the hardship this causes many families, especially our seniors
in long-term care homes and our rotational workers. Exposing our vulnerable
loved one unnecessarily to a potentially deadly virus would be reckless and
irresponsible and so we each do our part.
In this House we physically distance from one another
and we do it for reasons different than in older days when social distance was
measured in sword lengths. The public galleries are closed, although from force
of tradition the Speaker continues to recite: “Admit strangers.” We have managed
to function effectively and get the people's business done.
Let me thank the Table Officers, the House staff, staff
at Hansard, the Legislative Library and many others who have facilitated the
people's work in the House. Let me thank those who ensured the budget Estimates
Committees functioned effectively in this time of crisis. The procedures were
unprecedented but the work got done. We were able to hold the government to
account, which is our role as the Opposition.
Let me thank the staff in our own offices, just as the
other Members, I'm sure, will thank theirs. Much of the work MHAs do happens
behind the scenes. It simply would not be possible to juggle all those
responsibilities without the assistance of the professionals whose job it is to
ensure our work as Members is done as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Let me also thank the public for tuning in to watch the
proceedings. I'm constantly amazed when I run into people who say: I was
watching the House today. It's important to have the public spotlight on the
work we do because this is not just any workplace, this is the people's House.
The business we do here shapes the lives and the future of more than half a
million Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
I would thank the journalists who also hold our feet to
the fire. That's their job, their role, their obligation. They call it as they
see it. They put the facts before the people, and that kind of scrutiny is
absolutely vital in any healthy democracy.
I would thank, as well, all Members, all staff and all
hard-working public servants who are ready to go to work on a sitting day in
December in the interest of those hard-pressed financially with locked-in
pensions.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
MS.
COFFIN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think we are at the close of what is an absolutely
historic session of our House of Assembly. We have had a great many new and
interesting challenges and I think we have met those challenges head on and done
a fine job with that.
I'd like to say a formal congratulations to our new
Premier, and welcome to our House. As raucous as it can be, it is still quite
interesting and I feel as if we have gotten to know one another on new levels.
In fact, a little while ago I was reflecting on our sitting, and if I can be a
little bit metaphorical for a moment, it reminded me of nan's quilt. Nan's quilt
reaches from St. John's East - Quidi Vidi all the way up to Labrador West and
tucks us in and holds us snuggly. Nan's quilt is made up of 40 squares; each
square reflects our respective districts.
As I have listened and watched and saw all of the MHAs
perform here, I have a much better sense of what was in each of those squares
and how each of those squares represent our districts and the diverse work that
happens in our districts and the diverse individuals in our districts, but it's
all part of one large piece that keeps us warm and safe and comforted. We are in
a time when Newfoundlanders and Labradorians need that comfort and that
assurance, and the safety and security that when Nan tucked you in at night, you
knew you were in a very safe place and you were going to be okay, no matter what
was outside.
Mr. Speaker, we have been in the longest minority
government ever this province has seen. I think that speaks volumes to how well
we have co-operated and how well we respect one another and how dedicated we are
to making the right decisions to ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador is on the
right path. We are, however, also in one of the most critical social and
economic circumstances that this – perhaps the most critical economic and social
circumstances that this province has ever been.
Throughout the last year, we have addressed many of
those. There are still a great many things to address, if I could take a moment.
We have created virtual proceedings. Huge amounts of work have been done and now
we are prepared in the event that COVID again becomes prevalent in our society
that we can operate our House virtually. That is a really important move.
We had a historic opening. Immediately after COVID shut
down our House, we had 10 Members come in and do the business of the House with
the blessing of the other 30. I have, and eventually I will put this in a lovely
frame, signed Orders of the Day from then and I will cherish that for a very
long time. That was quite a special thing.
We have also done a number of other historic things. We
have amended an Interim Supply bill. Not everyone was happy about that, but I
think that was notable in that it was done and it was done for good reason. I
think we all realize the benefits associated with it.
We established a Select Committee on Democratic Reform.
This is a historic undertaking, as well, and a great deal of work has come about
as a result of that. I think that we can modernize our democracy here in
Newfoundland and Labrador by the contributions of everyone to that Committee.
Most recently we've seen a guaranteed basic income
Committee struck. I think this is innovative, it is progressive and I believe
that it will be a significant undertaking and will be to the great benefit of
everyone in our province. I look forward to that work beginning.
I want to thank the Member for St. John's Centre and
the Member for Labrador West for bringing forward many of these bills and
collaborating with that. I also want to point out that we have fought for labour
rights. We have fought for living wages. We have seen these debates come to the
House of Assembly and I think that they are in the forefront and they are very
important. I believe that we are going to see more work done on that and that,
too, will be a benefit to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. We've
addressed individual housing concerns but we still have a ways to go.
If I can take a moment, I want to acknowledge the
workers of this province and the outstanding service that they provided keeping
our shelves stocked, our roads safe and our families healthy and educated. Time
doesn't allow me to mention every worker, but they can be assured that their
commitment and dedication has not gone unnoticed.
I also want to thank, and I cannot thank enough, the
hard work of the staff of the House of Assembly. I do believe every day
something new happens, and it's very interesting to hear how they've raised
their work and they have addressed all of the challenges that they have faced
with impeccable professionalism and dedication to their jobs.
I also want to thank the staff from across the public
service and all of our political staff as well. All have gone above and beyond
to ensure that everything has worked efficiently and effectively in the past
year, and especially since COVID has become a new reality. Well done to everyone
indeed. I commend you and my caucus commends you for the outstanding work that
you do on our behalf and for the people of this province.
I would like to end with a quote from Nelson Mandela.
We have done a great deal, but I think he sums things up rather nicely. There's
still a lot to be done. He says: “… after climbing a great hill, one only finds
that there are many more hills to climb.” I look forward to us helping one
another climb those hills together.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Premier.
PREMIER FUREY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Forgive me; I've never seen this place so quiet.
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I would like to thank
the people of Humber - Gros Morne for electing me as their representative in
this Legislature.
It's been a busy session of robust discussion and
debate for Members of the House. The COVID-19 global pandemic has touched every
family, community and business in our province and, indeed, around the world. As
hon. Members of this House of Assembly, during the fall sitting we came together
to discuss legislation that supports the socio-economic well-being of all
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians as we collectively, as a group, face the global
pandemic and economic crisis.
In this climate, our government is investing hundreds
of millions of dollars to make our province the best possible place to live and
create new sustainable jobs for the futures of our families. Investments in such
things as child care, infrastructure and businesses all contribute to a better
quality of life and a stronger economy. In this session we've successfully
passed Budget 2020 and, Mr. Speaker,
may I add, the first budget for Newfoundland and Labrador during a global
pandemic. At its core it maintains the principles of ensuring every taxpayer's
dollar is closely scrutinized, accounted for and used prudently to its full
potential.
Some key actions in
Budget 2020 included $25-a-day child care in 2021 that will allow
more parents to participate in the workplace and lead to more positive learning
experiences for our most available asset, our children; $30 million for small
businesses and community organizations to offset expenses incurred by the
pandemic; more than $600 million for infrastructure projects that will improve
access to services and create new jobs for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians;
increased investments for the arts community; $2.1 million to advance our goal
to welcome more than 25,000 new permanent residents to this province by 2022;
and close to $100 million being available to respond to demands for such things
as PPE, testing and mobilizing efforts to support immunization in the event –
and there will be an event – of a COVID-19 vaccine.
We brought forward legislation that will make it easier
and safer for business to conduct amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic, and new
legislation that creates equity in the province's accommodation industry.
For the Leader of the Opposition, I applaud you, Sir,
your caucus for taking time to analyze our budget, critique it and the
legislation for this province. Well done.
The Leader of the Third Party, likewise, I truly
appreciate your perspective and the full knowledge that you bring to the table
in the wholesome debate.
Also, even though they're not here, I'll recognize the
independent Members. I thank them for sharing their opinions. They're always
welcome when representing their constituents.
So I take this time to thank everyone for their
steadfast commitment during this difficult session. We all recognize as elected
officials in this hon. House we are here to serve the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador. We never should lose sight of that.
Thank you all to the staff of the Clerk's office and
all the House of Assembly staff. So many hard-working people keeping everything
going behind the scenes and wearing many different hats during this particular
difficult time of COVID-19. To the Legislative Library, Hansard, the Broadcast
team, the Table Officers and the Sergeant-at-Arms, thank you.
To the security guards who are here day-in, day-out,
serving the building, we greet you every day. To public servants and political
staff everywhere, in our constituencies and here in the buildings, thank you
very much. You have all gone well beyond this session as we safely navigate the
new normal life of COVID-19.
Mr. Speaker, to your own staff working countless hours
behind the scenes to ensure we're prepared for the House during these sessions,
I want to thank them all for the work they do.
I'll finish up by thanking Mr. Speaker and the people
of the province for affording us this hon. privilege to sit here, what is indeed
during not generational times, but historic times.
Over the years I have had the pleasure of visiting a
number of beautiful communities in our spectacular province, from Nain right
down to the boot of the Burin Peninsula and every place in between. I think
about the people I've connected with: hard-working, resilient, proud
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. You're why I'm so honoured to be here
representing you all as the 14th Premier in this Legislature.
We are all here, each and every one of us sit here
every day reflecting on the importance of this province, the undefeatable people
and its undeniable future. In my short time in office, our government has
secured $320 million from Ottawa to help support the hard-working families in
the oil and gas industry. We are enlisting experienced teams, the best and the
brightest, to look at reimagining the economy, health care and how to best
navigate the oil and gas industry in what's arguably its most tumultuous time.
Rest assured, our government is committed to building a
bright, prosperous future for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. I believe
together, each and every one of us and the constituents that we represent, will
emerge from this pandemic, in this global economic crisis a stronger, more
caring, more compassionate and more diverse society and economy that will
represent the future generations of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Thank you very much. I hope everyone takes a moment to
safely honour our veterans and their loved ones on this Remembrance Day.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
Thank you.
It's also a tradition that the Speaker say a few words
at the conclusion of a session as well. I'll keep my comments brief; I just want
to do some thank yous before we leave.
First of all, I want to thank the staff of the House,
the Broadcast Centre, who keeps us on the air and makes us accessible to the
people at home. I think that's especially important, given the fact that we've
had to close our galleries. It maintains that scrutiny of what's happening here
in the House. I want to especially thank them on the work they've done in
keeping our broadcast going and keeping us going during these unusual times.
I want to thank the people at Hansard who record what
is said in this House for history, for people who are doing research and people
who are looking at things that were said here years into the future. I want to
thank them for the work they do every day providing us with a record of what was
said in the House, and doing that in a very timely manner. The next day,
sometimes the same day, Hansards, a
transcript of what was said in the House is available.
The Legislative Library, many people here I know visit
the Legislative Library to retrieve documents and to look at some of the books
and other documents they have over there. So I want to thank them for the
services they provide as well.
Corporate Members Services as well, we all have contact
with them. They make sure that things run smoothly, that all the bills get paid
and everything is in order. I want to thank them as well.
The Table Officers, this has been an unusual time and
the Table Officers – it's been a demanding time for them to keep the House
running, in fact. Many other legislatures across Canada, some of them haven't
been open, others have operated at reduced capacity and other legislatures
around the world have gone virtual.
I want to compliment the staff on being able to move
very quickly to adapt to these difficult circumstances that we faced and to keep
our House open and functional and being productive. I want to thank them for
that.
The Sergeant-at-Arms is here; the role of
Sergeant-at-Arms is to keep us safe. He has extended that duty into many other
things as the circumstances have changed as well. I'd like to thank him for the
work he does everyday for us as Members of this House.
The staff of the Clerk's office who keep things running
behind the scenes, I want to thank them as well. I want to thank everyone in the
public service who's helped us keep this House operating and to keep us going.
It was evident, I guess, a few days ago we lost our power here in the House, the
electrical power, and within a matter of 10 minutes, I think, the generator was
going and the Broadcast Centre was up and running again. It just shows how
quickly people will adapt and how skilled the people are in terms of keeping
this House running in a challenging time.
We've had a very productive session, I think. We've
gone through a lot of legislation, and I think the session has been a little
different from the ones that I've been here in the past. Other people have
talked about that it's a little more cordial. I've wondered why has that been
the case. I don't know if it's because of the health orders we're sitting down
and we can't get as animated, or if it's just the mood of the time; I'm not
sure. We've had a very collegial sort of session, I think. We've had some issues
and sometimes it gets heated, but that's the nature of legislatures. We've been
able to work our way through it.
Yesterday, we had a very interesting private Member's
motion. As we approach Remembrance Day, it was very touching, very emotional to
hear stories and comments from other Members of the House about their memories
and their experiences of Remembrance Day. I think that's very important to have
had that happen, because this Remembrance Day that we're coming up to is very
different from what we've had in the past. So I want to thank the Member for
bringing that motion forward.
Also, I want to thank all the Members for their
co-operation. It's been about a year now since I've been in the Speaker's Chair.
When I first sat here about a year ago, I talked about Parliament being a place
where people come to talk. That's where the word Parliament comes from; parlay,
Parliament. It's the place we come to talk to each other and to talk on behalf
of the people we represent. I want to thank you all for making this the place
where we come to talk, where we come to represent the people that elected us.
Thank you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
SPEAKER:
The
hon. the Government House Leader.
MR.
CROCKER:
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I have a short speech. It was written by the Minister
of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR.
CROCKER:
No,
thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Before we adjourn, I want to thank my colleagues across
the way, the Opposition House Leader and the Third Party House Leader for their
co-operation over the last few weeks. We spent a lot of time huddled trying to
get through this and both were a pleasure to deal with.
With that being said, Mr. Speaker, I move that this
House now adjourn, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader.
MR.
SPEAKER:
It
is moved and seconded that this House does now adjourn.
All those in favour, 'aye.'
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR.
SPEAKER:
All
those against, 'nay.'
Carried.
This House now stands adjourned.
On motion, the House adjourned to the call of the
Chair.