No.13/2012

 

House of Assembly

Province of Newfoundland & Labrador

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1st Session – 47th General Assembly

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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

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 Address in Reply

Third Reading Bill

 

2. C Third Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Pharmaceutical Services Act".

(Bill No. 12)                                                                 (Health & Community Services)

 

Bill Referred to Committee of the Whole

 

3. C Committee of the Whole on a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Enduring Powers Of Attorney Act".

(Bill No. 3)                                               (Justice and Attorney General)

 

Second Reading Bills

 

4. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act Respecting Procurement By Public Bodies”.

(Bill No. 1)                                                                                          (Service NL)

 

5. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Income Tax Act, 2000".  (Bill No. 4)

                           (Debate adjourned)                                                 (Finance and President of Treasury Board)

 

6. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act".

(Bill No. 5)                                                                                               (Finance and President of Treasury Board)

 

7. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Consumer Protection And Business Practices Act".

(Bill No. 6)                                                                                               (Service NL)

 

8. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Municipalities Act, 1999 and The Urban And Rural Planning Act, 2000". (Bill No. 9)                (Municipal Affairs)

 

9. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Liquor Control Act ". (Bill No. 11)

                                                                                                          (Finance and President of Treasury Board)

 

10. C Second Reading of a Bill C “An Act To Amend The Schools Act, 1997".  (Bill No. 13)

                                                                                (Education)

 

MOTIONS

 

1. C MR. ANDREW PARSONS (Burgeo - LaPoile) C To Move:

 

“WHEREAS the House of Assembly is the cornerstone of responsible government in Newfoundland and Labrador;

 

AND WHEREAS the effective and proper functioning of the House of Assembly is essential to good government, effective legislative process and an open and democratic society;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this House of Assembly calls upon Government to provide for a fixed House of Assembly sitting schedule by introducing amendments to the House of Assembly Act as follows:

 

“Section 3 of the House of Assembly Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following:

 

(3)  In 2012 and every following year, except years in which there is a general election under subsection (2), there shall be a sitting of the House of Assembly

 

(a)     commencing on the second Monday in March and adjourning on the Wednesday before Easter Sunday;

 

(b)     commencing on the third Monday after Easter Sunday and adjourning on the Thursday before the Victoria Day holiday, and

 

(c)     commencing on the third Monday in October and adjourning not later than one week before Christmas Day.

 

(4)  In years in which there is a general election under subsection (2), there shall be a sitting of the House of Assembly

 

(a)     commencing on the second Monday in March and adjourning on the Wednesday before Easter Sunday;

 

(b)     commencing on the third Monday after Easter Sunday and adjourning on the Thursday before the Victoria Day holiday, and

 

(c)     commencing no later than 30 days after the general election day and adjourning not later than one week before Christmas Day.

 

(5)  Nothing in subsection (3) prohibits the House of Assembly from sitting.

 

(6)  Where the Lieutenant-Governor in Council intends to adjourn the House of Assembly earlier than the sitting dates referred to in subsection (3) or to cancel a sitting referred to in subsection (3), the Government House Leader shall

 

(a)     table a report in the House of Assembly stating the reasons for the early adjournment or cancellation, and

 

(b)     on the first day of the next sitting of the House of Assembly, give notice of a motion to debate the report referred to in paragraph (a) and this motion shall have precedence over all other substantive motions on the Order Paper”.”

 

2. C MR. SANDY COLLINS (Terra Nova) C To Move:

 

         “WHEREAS the current Government, in its 2011 policy blue book, promised to deliver wait times strategies for emergency departments and hip and knee joint replacement surgeries;

 

         AND WHEREAS the Minister of Health and Community Services fulfilled these election commitments by announcing strategies to reduce wait times in both of these vital areas of our health care system;

 

         AND WHEREAS we have made significant progress in improving wait times for the benchmark areas outlined in the 2004 Accord;

 

         AND WHEREAS eighty-three percent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians received access to care in the five priority areas within their respective benchmarks according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information annual report on wait times, the second highest of all the provinces;

 

         AND WHEREAS the Provincial Government has directed resources to other areas outside the 2004 Accord where access has been a challenge, such as emergency departments and diagnostic imaging;

 

         AND WHEREAS the current Government has invested over $140 million over the past eight years to improve wait times throughout the Province;

 

         BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that this Honourable House supports the significant actions this Government has taken and is continuing to take to enhance access and reduce wait times throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.”

 

QUESTIONS

 

         9. C MS YVONNE JONES (Cartwright – L'Anse Au Clair) – To ask the Honourable the Minister of Natural Resources to lay on the Table of the House a separate and formal review of the projected cash flow of the Muskrat Falls projects to confirm whether that component would in fact provide significant long-term financial returns to Government for the benefit of the people of the Province.

 

         10. C MS YVONNE JONES (Cartwright – L'Anse Au Clair) – To ask the Honourable the Minister of Natural Resources to lay on the Table of the House any correspondence, analyses or reports that Government has in relation to an independent analysis of alternatives to meet domestic demand for electricity.

 

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Published under the authority of the Speaker of the

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