No. 59/2019-20

 

 

House of Assembly

Province of Newfoundland & Labrador

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1st Session – 49th General Assembly

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Wednesday, October 28th, 2020

 

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.   – Address in Reply

 

2. – Committee of Ways and Means

 

(a) Resolution Relating to the Raising of Loans by the Province (Bill No. 47)

                                                                (Progress)

Third Reading Bills

3. – Third Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Insurance Contracts Act”. (Bill No. 41)

(Digital Government and Service NL)

 

4. – Third Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Revenue Administration Act, No. 2”.  (Bill No. 44)

                                                     (Finance)

 

Second Reading

 

5. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Credit Union Act, 2009”.  (Bill No. 46)     

                 (Debate adj'd)                (Digital Government and Service NL)

 

6. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Other Post-Employment Benefits Eligibility Modification Act”. (Bill No. 49)       

                                                     (President of Treasury Board)

 

7. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Auditor General Act”. (Bill No. 50)

(Government House Leader)

 

        8.  – Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act Respecting The Protection Of The Health Of Persons Exposed To Radiation And Respecting The Safety Of Persons In Connection With The Operation And Use Of The Electrical And Mechanical Components Of Radiation Producing Equipment And Associated Apparatus”. (Bill No. 23)               (Digital Government and Service NL)

MOTIONS

 

1. – THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF FINANCE – To Move that the House Resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to Consider a Resolution Respecting the Imposition of Taxes on Carbon Products.  (Bill No. 43)

 

2. – THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF FINANCE – To Move that the House Resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to Consider a Resolution Respecting the Imposition of Taxes on Tobacco. (Bill No. 45)

 

3. – THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF FINANCE – To Move that the House Resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to Consider a Resolution Respecting the Imposition of Taxes on Vapour Products.  (Bill No. 48)

 

         4. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY – To ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled, “An Act Respecting The Supreme Court In The Province”.  (Bill No. 7)

 

5. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES – To ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled, “An Act To Amend Various Acts Of The Province Respecting The Publication Of A Summary Of A Decision Or Order Of An Adjudication Tribunal”. (Bill No. 22)

         6. – THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF DIGITAL GOVERNMENT AND SERVICE NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR – To ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled, “An Act To Amend The Condominium Act, 2009, The Co-Operatives Act And The Corporations Act”. (Bill No. 51)

        7. –  THE CHAIR OF THE PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE (Honourable D. Bragg) – To Move:

 

              “THAT the House of Assembly concur in the Report of the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections on the premature distribution of a report of an officer of the House of Assembly.”

 

        8. − THE HONOURABLE THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE LEADER – To Move:

“WHEREAS Justice LeBlanc has delivered his report Muskrat Falls:  A Misguided Project which presents the key findings of the public inquiry;

 

AND WHEREAS in that report it finds that the former Progressive Conservative Government “was determined to proceed with the development of the hydroelectric potential of the Lower Churchill River and it initiated several activities to advance this development”;

 

AND WHEREAS the report further indicates that the former Progressive Conservative Government “failed in its duty to ensure that the best interests of the Province's residents were safeguarded”;

 

AND WHEREAS the Progressive Conservative Government “failed in its responsibility to objectively assess and oversee the decisions and actions of Nalcor”;

 

AND WHEREAS the original budget for the Muskrat Falls project was $7.4 billion and has risen to $12.7 billion yet findings are that “the assumptions on which the Project's economics were based and promoted were not sufficiently tested, and a comprehensive examination of the range of possible outcomes was not undertaken”;

 

AND WHEREAS the report indicates that “this resulted in a combination of unrealistic optimism, a willingness to misrepresent cost, schedule and risk, and an inability to change course when things were going wrong”;

 

AND WHEREAS “the project had clearly reached the point of no return when the Ball Government was elected (late 2015).  The real point of no return was at Financial Close of the FLG in November 2013”;

 

AND WHEREAS the consequence of this $12.7 billion project has had a profound financial impact on the people of the Province, without mitigation a doubling of electricity rates, and represents greater than 30% of the Province's direct and indirect debt;

 

THEREFORE BE RESOLVED that this House supports the referral of this report to the RCMP and RNC for potential criminality and further refers it to the Department of Justice and Public Safety for potential civil litigation.”

 

 9. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY – 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 and Public Safety on June 6, 2019;

 

        AND WHEREAS the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court Judges Salary and Benefits Tribunal Report was tabled in this Honourable House on June 25, 2019 as required by section 28.2 of the Act;

 

AND WHEREAS the House of Assembly is required to approve, vary or reject the report;

 

        AND WHEREAS Government has decided to ask this Honourable House to accept all of the recommendations of the tribunal as contained in its report of June 4, 2019:

 

        THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable House accept the recommendations of the 2018 Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court Judges Salary and Benefits Tribunal;

 

        AND THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the recommendations of the Tribunal be implemented effective April 1, 2017”.      (Debate adj'd)

             

         10. – MR. JORDAN BROWN (Labrador West) – To Move:

 

            “WHEREAS income inequality in Canada – and in this Province in particular – has been on the rise in recent decades;

 

AND WHEREAS Canadians from all parties and all walks of life, including CEOs, Senators, doctors, community support workers, and economists, are now championing some form of basic income program;

 

AND WHEREAS the federal government is already pioneering in the provision of income support to those who most need it through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit;

 

AND WHEREAS the current income support system amounts to a poverty trap and still leaves many to fall through the cracks;

 

AND WHEREAS Canadian data from basic income pilot projects has shown that such programs increase public health, foster improvements in nutrition, improve mental health and well-being, lower the immense public costs associated with poverty, encourage entrepreneurship, and allow people to pursue education and training;  

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT this House consider truly ending poverty in this Province by establishing an All-Party Select Committee on Basic Income, with a mandate to review and make recommendations on: eligibility and minimum income amounts, interaction with existing income supports, cost-benefit analysis, potential models for such a program, and a timeline for implementation;

 

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the House ensure this Select Committee has the resources it needs to conduct its work.”

 

              11. – THE HONOURABLE THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE LEADER – To Move pursuant to Standing Order 11(1) that the House not adjourn at 5:30 o'clock p.m. on Thursday, October 29th, 2020.

 

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Published under the authority of the Speaker of the

House of Assembly by the Queen's Printer