No

No. 21/2021

House of Assembly

Province of Newfoundland & Labrador

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1^st Session – 50^th General Assembly

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Wednesday, October 20^th, 2021

ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

(a) Statements by Members

(b) Statements by Ministers

(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

Third Reading Bills

2. – Third Reading of a Bill - “An Act To Amend The Securities Act.” (Bill No. 16)

(Digital Government and Service NL)

3. – Third 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. 6) (Digital Government and Service NL)

Second Reading Bills

4. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act To Amend The Elections Act, 1991”. (Bill No. 1)

(Government House Leader)

5. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act To Amend The Lotteries Act.” (Bill No. 18)

(Debate adj’d) (Finance and President of Treasury Board)

6. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act To Amend The Coat Of Arms Act”. (Bill No. 20)

(Municipal and Provincial Affairs)

7. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act Respecting Off-Road Vehicles”. (Bill No. 22)

(Digital Government and Service NL)

8. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Automobile Insurance Act”. (Bill No. 23)

(Digital Government and Service NL)

9. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Corporations Act”. (Bill No. 24)

(Digital Government and Service NL)

10. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Management Of Information Act”. (Bill No. 25)

(Digital Government and Service NL)

11. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Licensed Practical Nurses Act, 2005”. (Bill No. 26)

(Health and Community Services)

12. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Pharmacy Act, 2012”. (Bill No. 27)

(Health and Community Services)

13. – Second Reading of a Bill – “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. 28)

(Health and Community Services)

14. – Second Reading of a Bill – To introduce a Bill entitled, “An Act Respecting The Requirement For A Balanced Budget”. (Bill No. 30)

(Finance and President of Treasury Board)

15. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act Respecting A Future Fund For The Province”. (Bill No. 31)

(Finance and President of Treasury Board)

16. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Liquor Corporation Act”. (Bill No. 32)

(Finance and President of Treasury Board)

17. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Services Charges Act”. (Bill No. 33)

(Finance and President of Treasury Board)

18. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Schools Act, 1997”. (Bill No. 34)

(Education)

19. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Memorial University Act”. (Bill No. 35)

(Education)

20. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act Respecting The Office Of The Auditor General And The Auditing Of The Public Accounts Of The Province”. (Bill No. 36)

(Government House Leader)

21. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act Respecting The Conduct Of Municipal Officials”. (Bill No. 37)

(Municipal and Provincial Affairs)

22. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act Respecting Accessibility In The Province”. (Bill No. 38)

(Children, Seniors and Social Development)

23. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An Act To Amend The Adoption Act, 2013”. (Bill No. 39)

(Children, Seniors and Social Development)

24. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act Respecting The Protection Of Adults”. (Bill No. 40)

(Children, Seniors and Social Development)

25. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act Respecting A Province-Wide 911 Service For The Reporting Of Emergencies”. (Bill No. 41)

(Justice and Public Safety)

26. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act To Amend The Law Society Act”. (Bill No. 42)

(Justice and Public Safety)

MOTIONS

1. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS AND RECONCILIATION AND MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR LABRADOR AFFAIRS – To ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled, “An Act Respecting The Renaming Of Red Indian Lake”. (Bill No. 12)

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

“WHEREAS section 7 of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act prescribes that, upon nomination by the House of Assembly, the Sergeant-at-Arms shall be appointed by Lieutenant-Governor in Council by Commission under the Great Seal;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Mr. Robert Escott be appointed as Sergeant-at-Arms.”

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

WHEREAS Covid-19 has been identified as a communicable disease which presents a significant risk to public health;

WHEREAS the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, the Centre for Disease Control and the World Health Organization have strongly recommended that all eligible persons be fully vaccinated against COVID-19;

WHEREAS the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will require mandatory vaccinations for public service employees in core provincial government departments, as well as agencies, boards and commissions in an effort to ensure continued safety in the workplace, as well as to ensure additional health protection for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this House requires all Members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of December 17, 2021 unless the Member obtains an exemption;

AND THAT a Member is fully vaccinated where

a) that person has received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine as approved by Health Canada, or one dose where the vaccine is a one-dose vaccine approved by Health Canada; and

b) two weeks have passed since the person’s second dose of COVID-19 vaccine or, where the person has received a one-dose vaccine, two weeks have passed since that dose;

AND THAT where a Member requests an exemption to this requirement, the exemption must be for medically supported reasons, and that Member shall provide medical documentation to the Speaker outlining the medical reasons for not being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 provided by an appropriate health care provider, in line with guidance from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador.

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the details of operationalizing this order shall rest with the Speaker of the House.”

4. – MR. PAUL DINN (Topsail – Paradise) – To Move:

“WHEREAS the Parfrey/Davis Health Accord has described the healthcare situation in Newfoundland and Labrador today as a "health crisis," and their assessment is justified

· when some 99,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians do not have a family doctor,

· when emergency response personnel cannot respond to people in urgent need because of inadequate resources,

· when frontline healthcare professionals are overworked to the point of burnout,

· when healthcare professionals are leaving this province because the government does not address their concerns, and

· when the government has refused to enter into meaningful negotiations with the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, whose contract expired more than four years ago, but is threatening to split the Association instead of addressing the doctors' core concerns, which are fundamental to physician recruitment and retention;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable House urge the Government to recognize that there is a healthcare crisis in Newfoundland and Labrador, and to immediately address this crisis with the urgency the circumstances warrant.”

5. – MR. PAUL LANE (Mount Pearl – Southlands) – To Move:

“WHEREAS the cornerstone of any democratic society is the right for citizens to choose their representatives to serve in the legislature;

WHEREAS the process for electing their representatives must not only be carried out in a fair and impartial manner with all of the appropriate checks and balances to ensure this principle is upheld, it must be perceived as being conducted that way;

WHEREAS the recent NL Provincial General Election has brought serious allegations, numerous concerns and inconsistencies to light including but not necessarily limited to the following:

- Certain individuals knowingly being permitted to vote by telephone in contravention to the Elections Act.

- Ballots being hand delivered by the Chief Electoral Officer to acquaintances and neighbors.

- A number of computer and phone line crashes at Elections NL, including on the final evening to apply for ballots, leading to numerous citizens who applied within the established time line, not receiving a ballot.

- An under-resourcing of Election NL’s Call Center which lead to citizens having to call numerous times to get through to apply for a ballot and some simply giving up out of frustration and not getting a ballot at all.

- Individuals being provided ballots in person and over the phone without any verification of identity and/or address.

- Individuals receiving incomplete ballot kits.

- Individuals receiving multiple ballots.

- Ballots being sent to the wrong civic address.

- Individuals applying for ballots on-line or by telephone not receiving their ballots and upon inquiring with Elections NL being told they had no record of their application and were subsequently denied their right to vote.

- Indigenous citizens being denied their right to vote due to language barriers not addressed by Elections NL

- Numerous concerns with the process implemented by Elections NL relating to the scrutinizing and witnessing of the opening, counting and recording of the ballots.

- Allegations of Elections NL staff taking ballot kits and other related materials to their homes, as well as further allegations of individuals being permitted to print their own ballots which were subsequently accepted by Elections NL.

WHEREAS in a VOCM news story of April 9, 2021 an anonymous whistleblower inside Elections NL was reported as making the following observation:

“The former employee claims that an apparent lack of direction exacerbated an already difficult situation, comparing it to a “three-ring circus.” That included the sudden change in Election NL’s in-house voting software and a registration process that they say left the door open to potential voter fraud.

The worker tells VOCM News duplicate and even triplicate ballots were sent out after some voters reported they hadn’t received their ballots and because of the volume of requests, verification of a voter’s name, age and address became difficult, if not impossible, especially in households with more than one voter.

Their conclusion? “This election should have been delayed,” says the worker, because decisions were made “hastily, with no forethought” and that the election was not “well planned” or “well-executed.”

WHEREAS the Chief Electoral Officer stated publicly prior to the election that Elections NL was prepared and able to successfully conduct a pandemic election and this was obviously not the case.

WHEREAS the Chief Electoral Officer has the ultimate responsibility for the carrying out of fair, democratic elections in the province of NL in accordance with the provisions of the Elections Act, 1991 but preliminary evidence suggests that he has fallen short in this regard;

WHEREAS the Chief Electoral Officer reports directly to and is responsible to this

Honorable House;

WHEREAS we as Members of this Honorable House have a responsibility to the people of NL to ensure that all of our Officers of the House of Assembly, including the Chief Electoral Officer, are carrying out their duties in an ethical and competent manner;

AND WHEREAS Section 5.3 of the Elections Act, 1991 which states:

The Lieutenant-Governor in Council, on resolution of the House of Assembly passed by a majority vote of the members of the House of Assembly actually voting, may suspend or remove the Chief Electoral Officer from office because of incapacity to act or for misconduct, cause or neglect of duty.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Assembly approve the following actions:

- Development of a terms of reference for and Initiation of an independent investigation of the recent provincial general election to be carried out by an individual or entity as agreed to by all parties and Independent Members of the House.

- Upon completion of the investigation, tabling and debating of the report in the House of Assembly including whether or not section 5.3 of the Elections Act, 1991 should be applied based on the findings of said report”.

6. – MR. EDDIE JOYCE (Humber – Bay of Islands) – To Move:

“WHEREAS the Commissioner for Legislative Standards presented a report, the Joyce Report of October 18^th, 2018;

WHEREAS the Report was presented in the House of Assembly and concurred by a majority in the House of Assembly;

WHEREAS the findings were that I violated Principle #10 of the Code of Conduct;

WHEREAS the Complainant was the MHA for Placentia-St. Mary’s, an elected official;

WHEREAS Principle #10 states, “ Relationships between Members and government employees should be professional and based upon mutual respect and should have regard to duty of these employees to remain politically impartial when carrying out their duties;

WHEREAS the Commissioner for Legislative Standards stated in the Report, “In the manner in which he dealt with the Complainant, and particularly during the call on April 8^th”.

“Relationships between Members and government employees should be professional and based upon mutual respect and should have regard to the duty of those employees”.

“I find that the conduct of MHA Joyce is a violation of Principle #10 of the Code of Conduct”.

“I find that the manner in which he addressed this issue was unprofessional and showed a lack of mutual respect towards members of the public service”.

WHEREAS it is very obvious that the Commissioner for Legislative Standards defined the Complainant, a MHA, as a public sector government employee, contrary to Principle #10. This was a deliberate and malicious attempt to mislead the House of Assembly by the Commissioner for Legislative Standards, Bruce Chaulk;

WHEREAS former MHA, Dale Kirby appealed to the Information and Privacy Commissioner in December, 2018, for a copy of the Rubin Thomlinson report;

WHEREAS testimony in the Report by the Information and Privacy Commissioner is as follows:

- The Commissioner for Legislative Standards reversed his position and gave testimony that Members are not government employees, less than two months after he presented the Joyce Report to the House of Assembly;

- The Clerk of the House of Assembly gave testimony that Members are not government employees;

- The Information and Privacy Commissioner’s ruling states Members are not government employees, Report A- 2019-004

WHEREAS other evidence to support the position that MHAs are not government employees are:

- the letter from the Law Clerk who stated Members are not government employees;

- On November 2nd, 2018, former Speaker and Member for Lake Melville, in his letter stated, “Members of the House of Assembly are elected officials. They are not employees”.

The former Speaker’s statement was before the debate occurred in the House of Assembly on November 6th, 2018 and he was Chair of the Management Commission.

The Commissioner for Legislative Standards reversed his position again, contrary to what he presented in the House of Assembly, in a letter dated November 27th, 2020 to the Honorable David B. Orsborne and I quote, “Members of the House of Assembly are not employees”.

Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Justice Frances J. Knickle, stated in a ruling on June 10th, 2021, “The appellant, Mr. Dale Kirby, MHA, is neither an employee in the traditional sense”.

WHEREAS the Executive Council of the Liberal government mandated public sector employees to be fully vaccinated;

WHEREAS Members of the House of Assembly are not government employees, the government introduced a resolution on October 18^th, 2021, in the House of Assembly that all MHAs must be fully vaccinated;

WHEREAS the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador distinguished by mandating public sector employees to be vaccinated, and the motion of October 18th, 2021 that Members of the House of Assembly are not government employees of the public sector and must be vaccinated by bringing forth the Motion. This is an admission by Premier Furey and the government that MHAs are not government employees, contrary to the findings of the Joyce Report of 2018;

WHEREAS the House of Assembly, by concurring with the Joyce Report of 2018 has established that Members of the House of Assembly are government employees which now the Government is admitting was a wrong conclusion;

WHEREAS former Premier Dwight Ball, stated on August 23, 2018 to the media in a public statement, “There’s no room form political interference in the reports, said Ball, I’ve not received any information from the Commissioner neither have I went looking for any”;

WHEREAS the Commissioner for Legislative Standards stated on many occasions, “I am an independent Officer of the House of Assembly and these reports are independent”.

WHEREAS in a letter on May 31st, 2019, Dwight Ball stated, “I can confirm there were limited occasions whereby my office contacted the Office of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards”.

WHEREAS the Commissioner for Legislative Standards made false and misleading findings in the Joyce Report; and

WHEREAS the Commissioner for Legislative Standards was not independent and had political influence, which he did not declare in the House of Assembly,

I call upon the House of Assembly to rescind the Kirby Report of October 3rd, 2018, and the Joyce Report of October 18^th, 2018. Furthermore, I call upon the House of Assembly to ask for an

independent review of the process and make recommendations on how to strengthen the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act to ensure that all Members will have confidence in the process.”

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Published under the authority of the Speaker of the

House of Assembly by the Queen’s Printer