No.14/2011

 

House of Assembly

Province of Newfoundland & Labrador

 

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4th Session – 46th General Assembly

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

 

ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

(a)    Statements by Members

(b)    Statements by Ministers

(c)    Oral Questions

(d)    Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees

(e)    Tabling of Documents

(f)    Notices of Motion

(g)    Answers to questions for which notice has been given

(h)    Petitions

 

ORDERS OF THE DAY

 

1. C Committee of Supply

 

Bills Referred to Committee of the Whole

 

2. C Committee of the Whole on a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Support Orders Enforcement Act, 2006”. (Bill No. 16)                                 (Justice and Attorney General)

 

Second Reading Bills

 

3. C Second Reading of a Bill C  “An Act Respecting The Mandatory Reporting Of Gunshot and Stab Wounds”. (Bill No. 17)                             (Justice and Attorney General)

 

4. C Second Reading of a Bill C       “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act”.

(Bill No. 21)                                     (Finance and President of Treasury Board)

 

5. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act Respecting The Practice Of Medicine In The Province”. (Bill No. 22)             (Adjourned)                       (Health and Community Services)

 

6. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Crop Insurance Act And The Livestock Insurance Act”. (Bill No. 23)                    (Natural Resources)

 

7. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Judicature Act”. (Bill No. 24)

                                                                           (Justice and Attorney General)

 

8. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Public Trustee Act, 2009”.

(Bill No. 25)                                             (Justice and Attorney General)

 

        9. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act Respecting Forestry Professions”. (Bill No. 27)

                                                        (Natural Resources)

 

10. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Health Research Ethics Authority Act”. (Bill No. 28)                                             (Health and Community Services)

 

                                                        MOTIONS

 

1. C THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND PRESIDENT OF TREASURY BOARD C To Move that the House Resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider a Resolution Relating to the Advancing or Guaranteeing of Certain Loans made under the Loan and Guarantee Act, 1957. (Bill No. 26)

 

2. C THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL C To Move:

 

        “WHEREAS the Lieutenant-Governor in Council appointed a tribunal under section 28 of the Provincial Court Act, 1991 to make recommendations on the salaries and benefits of judges and the chief judge;

 

        AND WHEREAS the Tribunal submitted its recommendations to the Minister of Justice on September 30, 2010;

 

        AND WHEREAS the report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court Judges Salaries and Benefits Tribunal was tabled in this Honourable House today;

 

        AND WHEREAS the House of Assembly is required under section 28.2 of the Act to approve, vary or reject the report within 30 days of it being tabled;

 

        AND WHEREAS Government has decided to ask the House to accept the recommendations of the tribunal as contained in its report of September 30, 2010;

 

        THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT this Honourable House accept the recommendations of the report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court Judges Salaries and Benefits Tribunal.”

 

3. C MR. KELVIN PARSONS (Burgeo – La Poile) C To Move:

 

        “WHEREAS the Speaker of the House of Assembly has appeared, and has admitted appearing, at a public event of a partisan nature intended to support and promote the candidacy of a particular party and/or candidate;

 

        BE IT RESOLVED that this matter be referred to the House Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections.”

 

 

4. C HONOURABLE JOHN HICKEY (Lake Melville) C To Move:

 

        “WHEREAS on November 18, 2010, Nalcor Energy entered into a Term Sheet with Emera Inc. setting out a plan for the Muskrat Falls phase of the development of the Lower Churchill's hydro-electrical potential and associated transmission infrastructure;

 

        AND WHEREAS Newfoundland and Labrador has asked the Federal Government for a loan guarantee to support this project, stating that it is financially, economically and environmentally sound and nationally significant, and the benefits of a federal loan guarantee will accrue to electricity rate-payers;

 

        AND WHEREAS the Members of the National Assembly in Quebec on April 6, 2011 voted unanimously for a resolution that, when translated, states: “that the National Assembly reiterates its opposition to federal financial participation in the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project, considering Quebec has assumed on its own, and through the assertion of its own powers, the total cost of its hydroelectric facilities”;

 

        AND WHEREAS the Conservative Party of Canada led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper has stated on page 42 of its 2011 election platform, Here For Canada, released April 8, 2011:

 

“Stephen Harper's Government will continue supporting clean energy initiatives, to protect our environment and improve the quality of the air we breathe.

 

We will support economically viable clean energy projects that will assist regions and provinces in the replacement of fossil fuel with renewable fuel sources.  The criteria for our support of a project will be whether it:

-         has national or regional significance;

-         has economic and financial merit; and

-         will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

For example, we will support the Lower Churchill hydro-electric project, through a loan guarantee or equivalent financial support.  The project would strengthen the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador's connection to the continental grid – and it would be a major regional environmental initiative.

 

It is estimated the project would reduce carbon emissions by 4.5 million tonnes annually – the equivalent of removing 3.2 million cars from the road every year.

 

 

In addition to the criteria noted above, our support for any clean energy project will be based on the principles of respect and equitable treatment for all regions of the country.”

 

         AND WHEREAS Liberal Party of Canada Leader Michael Ignatieff stated in a radio interview in St. John's on April 4, 2011:

 

“I think it's an important national project for all of Canada.  One of the great developments in the national eyes of the whole country is that Newfoundland and Labrador is set to become a green energy superpower, and I think it's appropriate for a federal government to work with Newfoundland and Labrador and put that loan guarantee in place so the cost of borrowing the money is lower and so that the ratepayers' energy costs are lower.”

 

         BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that, in disagreement with the National Assembly of Quebec, this Honourable House affirms its support for federal financial participation in the Lower Churchill hydro-electric project defined in the Term Sheet between Nalcor and Emera, and commends the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada for pledging federal support for this project through the provision of a loan guarantee or equivalent financial support.”

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Published under the authority of the Speaker of the

House of Assembly by William E. Parsons, Queen's Printer