No. 32/2019-20

 

House of Assembly

Province of Newfoundland & Labrador

_______________________________________

 

1st Session – 49th General Assembly

________________________________________

 

Thursday, March 12th, 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 Supply

 

(a) Resolution and Bill No. 26 Respecting the Granting of Interim Supply to Her Majesty.

                                                   (Progress)

Third Reading Bills

 

      3. – Third Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Medical Care And Hospital Insurance Act”. (Bill No. 20)

                                                                                 (Health and Community Services)                                                                                

Second Reading Bills

 

4. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Highway Traffic Act”. (Bill No. 21)

                                                                 (Service NL)

 

5. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend the Social Workers Act”. (Bill No. 25)

                                                                 (Health and Community Services)

 

6. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Personal Property Security Act”. (Bill No. 27)

                                         (Service NL)

 

7. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Forestry Act”. (Bill No. 28)

                                                     (Fisheries and Land Resources)

MOTIONS

 

1. − 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)

2. − 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)

3. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER OF SERVICE NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR – To ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled, “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)

4. − 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.

 

        5. − 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 Monday, March 23rd, 2020.

       

        ________________________

 

Published under the authority of the Speaker of the

House of Assembly by the Queen's Printer