April 12, 2021
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. L No. 1
Members met in the Assembly Chamber on the afternoon of April 12, 2021, for the
Election of a Speaker.
CLERK (Barnes):
Members, I want to remind everyone that under the guidance from the chief
medical officer of Health, masks have to be worn at all times, except you can
remove them during debate and then put them back on.
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
All rise.
Madam Clerk, Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor has arrived.
CLERK:
Admit Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor.
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
It is the wish of Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor that all present be seated.
CLERK:
Members of the House of Assembly:
A proclamation has been issued by Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, under the
Great Seal of the Province, which reads as follows:
TO: Sandra Barnes, Clerk of the House of Assembly and Kim Hawley George, Clerk
Assistant of the House of Assembly (Acting)
GREETING;
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS on Monday, April 12, 2021, I will administer the Oaths or Affirmations
of Allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Oaths or Affirmations of
Office to the persons elected to be Members of the House of Assembly;
AND WHEREAS I think fit to summon the 50th General Assembly for the dispatch of
business and for the Members of the House of Assembly to proceed to elect their
choice of Speaker;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador, do authorize and direct you, the said Sandra Barnes and Kim Hawley
George, or either of you, to signify to the Members of the said House of
Assembly to assemble for the dispatch of business on Monday, April 12, 2021, at
3 in the afternoon, and that it is my pleasure that they should proceed to
choose some person to be their Speaker and to present such person on that day
for my approbation.
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
All rise.
(Sergeant-at-Arms escorts Her Honour from the Chamber.)
CLERK:
Please be seated.
At the close of nominations for the Office of the Speaker at 4:30 p.m., Friday,
April 9, 2021, five candidates put their names forward.
The candidates, in alphabetical order by surname, are: MHA Derek Bennett, Member
for the District of Lewisporte - Twillingate; MHA Paul Dinn, Member for the
District of Topsail - Paradise; MHA Sherry Gambin-Walsh, Member for the District
of Placentia - St. Mary’s; MHA Scott Reid, Member for the District of St.
George’s - Humber; and MHA Brian Warr, Member for the District Baie Verte -
Green Bay.
Members of the House of Assembly, pursuant to the Lieutenant-Governor’s
direction and the Standing Orders of
this Assembly, it is my duty to call upon you to elect a Member to preside over
your deliberations as Speaker. Before beginning the election, I will briefly
outline the process to be followed, as set out in the
Standing Orders of the House; the
voting process has been modified to respect Public Health guidelines.
For each round of balloting, Members will be guided by Table Officers. We will
start with the Members seated in the middle area of the Chamber and then proceed
through the first, second and third risers on either side, in that order. When
advised by the Table Officers, Members should proceed through the side doors
adjacent to the Speaker’s gallery, on the side on which you are seated, proceed
down the hallway and into the Chamber foyer or the scrum area. The floor in the
hallway and the scrum area is marked for appropriate physical distancing.
In the scrum area, you will be directed, one at a time, to the table where the
Law Clerk will issue you a ballot. You will be provided with a pen and asked to
initial a list to verify that you have received the ballot. Please hold on to
the pen you are given and take it with you to the ballot box, which will be
located here in the middle of the Chamber. Once you have your ballot, enter the
Chamber through the centre doors and proceed, one at a time, to the table
located in the centre. In the voting booth, please indicate your choice for
Speaker by marking an X next to the appropriate name and then deposit your
ballot in the box next to the voting booth.
Once you have voted, please leave the Chamber, only those Members who have been
identified by their caucus to witness the voting process should remain in the
Chamber. The bells will be rung to summon the Members back when the results are
ready.
When all Members wishing to vote have done so, the House will recess while the
Clerks withdraw to count the vote.
A majority of the votes cast is required to elect the Speaker. If no candidate
receives a majority, the candidate with the least number of votes will be
removed from the ballot and there will be another ballot. If candidates receive
the same number of votes, there will be another ballot. Immediately before the
start of the second, and any subsequent ballot, a Member who wishes to withdraw
will be given an opportunity to do so. When the count of each ballot is
complete, a 10-minute bell will ring to call Members back to the Chamber.
In preparation for the vote, we will now place the table in the Chamber and then
the Sergeant-at-Arms will inspect the ballot box.
We will now begin the voting process. Please remain in your seat until you are
guided by the Table Officers.
Seeing there are no Members left to vote, the Clerks will now withdraw and count
the ballots.
The House will recess until the bells are rung to summon the Members back.
Recess
CLERK:
Members of the House of Assembly, following the first ballot, pursuant to
Standing Order 4(14), the following are the remaining candidates for the
election of the Speaker of the 50th General Assembly: No one candidate received
a majority of the votes cast. They are, in alphabetical order by surname: MHA
Derek Bennett, MHA Paul Dinn, MHA Scott Reid and MHA Brian Warr.
Before we proceed to a second ballot, is there any candidate who wishes to
withdraw?
We will now proceed to the second ballot. First, I ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to
open and inspect the ballot box.
The voting process will now begin. We will follow exactly the same format as
before, starting with the Members who are sitting in the centre and moving
outwards to the third risers.
If you can, please exit the Chamber, especially anybody who’s sitting in the
centre. It’s important.
We will start now.
All Members who wish to vote have voted.
Seeing that there are no Members left to vote, the Clerks will withdraw to count
the ballots. The House will stay in recess and the bells will be rung to summon
the Members when the results are ready.
We are now in recess.
Recess
CLERK:
Members of the House of Assembly, further to suborder 4(11) of our
Standing Orders, I declare MHA Derek
Bennett, the Member for Lewisporte - Twillingate, elected as Speaker for the
50th General Assembly.
(Applause.)
(The Premier and the Leader of the Official Opposition escort the new Speaker to
the Speaker’s Chair.)
SPEAKER (Bennett):
I have to say this is quite a surprise, but more so, I’m very honoured to become
Speaker for the 50th General Assembly.
I’d just like to start by saying a few thank-yous. First of all, congratulations
and thank you to all my colleagues who also put their names forward: MHA Dinn,
MHA Gambin-Walsh, MHA Warr and also former Speaker Reid, which also today is
celebrating his birthday; I wish him a happy birthday.
I’d also like to say some personal thanks. First of all, to my family – I may
get a bit emotional here, I have to be honest with you, but it’s such an
honoured day. First of all, to my wife Tina who is watching from an apartment,
as everybody here today couldn’t bring their family with them but I’m sure
they’re all here, spiritually, with you and watching from back at home.
To my daughter Catherine, my son Jonathan, his wife Robyn and to my two
grandchildren that mean the world to me. I don’t get to see them often because
of COVID regulations, but I’m sure they’re watching today, too. I just want to
let you know, Sadie and Andy, Poppy loves you.
To the people that first elected me, the people in the beautiful and scenic
District of Lewisporte - Twillingate that had the faith in me back in 2015 to
elect me to the 48th General Assembly and then again in 2019 and in the most
recent election. First of all, I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to each
and every one of them, to my campaign team, to everyone that helped me to get
here.
Like everyone, nobody would be here today without the love and support and the
contributions to volunteer work that everybody came forward to make sure that
each and every one of us got elected here today.
As I said, it is a great honour to sit in this Chair. I did have the honour to
sit as Deputy Speaker, previously, and I found it to be a great learning
experience, sitting besides such other great Speakers prior.
One thing I did learn is that we’re here together to serve the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador. We have to, more than ever, unify and work closely
together. We all have our own political stripes and everything else, but the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador want a strong government. I have every bit
of confidence in every person here today that we will unite and work together in
order to make sure that it’s for the best interests of the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
To the new Members that I forgot to mention, welcome, everyone, to the House of
Assembly. It’s going to be a steep learning curve for everyone, but it is a very
enjoyable experience and it’s a very rewarding experience to serve the people of
each and every district throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
During debate and also during regular legislative work, there are times that
things get heated and there are times that people get a little bit excited and a
little bit hot, just because they’re so passionate about the happenings in their
districts and also throughout the province. We always have to keep it respectful
to all Members of the House. People across Newfoundland and Labrador look upon
us as leaders and we have to lead by example. As your new Speaker, I will be
strictly enforcing that people show respect to each other. Everybody has a right
to their opinions and to debate, but I’d like for it to be done, and I will make
sure it’s done, in a respectful way.
Again, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone for your support in
putting me in this seat today and the confidence that you have in me that I will
represent you to the best of my ability.
Before I close, I’d just like to say a thank you to our Clerk and all the team
at the House of Assembly, including those that are behind the scenes in the
Broadcast and those in Hansard, and obviously our security people. It’s
definitely a team effort and everybody working together to make sure that it’s
run as smoothly as possible.
Again, I thank you. I’m truly, truly honoured. As I mentioned earlier, I’m the
youngest of 15 and growing up we definitely worked for everything we had. I’m
sure my mom and dad are looking down proudly on where I’ve grown and how I’ve
developed over the years, and I’m sure everyone else here, too. Again, thank
you.
Without further ado, we’ll get down to work.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
SPEAKER:
Our next order of business, as everyone knows, the passing of Prince Philip, the
Duke of Edinburgh, so now we’re going to have a moment of silence for him.
On behalf of Members and staff of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and
Labrador, I would like to express our sincerest condolences to Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II and the Royal Family on the passing of His Royal Highness, the Duke
of Edinburgh.
While we mourn His Royal Highness Prince Philip, I would like to pay tribute to
his memory by reflecting on his importance to the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador and the time he spent here. His first visit to the province was from
November 11 to 12, 1951, as he accompanied Her Majesty – at the time, Princess
Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh – who was visiting on behalf of her ailing
father. During that visit, Prince Philip attended many memorial ceremonies
throughout St. John’s, including a visit to the St. John’s War Memorial and
Government House.
Prince Philip’s most recent visit was in 1997 during the momentous occasion of
the 500th anniversary of John Cabot’s arrival, during which time he toured both
Newfoundland and Labrador with Her Majesty, to great fanfare and excitement in
the cities and towns visited on this tour.
It should also be noted that our Legislature, contained within Confederation
Building, sits on a thoroughfare named in honour of His Royal Highness: Prince
Philip Drive.
May we remember him fondly as we proudly serve Her Majesty in doing the work of
the people of this great province.
As a Legislature and as a province, our prayers remain with Her Majesty and the
Royal Family in the difficult time ahead.
I now ask all Members to join me in observing a moment of silence in honour of
His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Please stand.
(Moment of silence.)
Thank you.
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
Mr. Speaker, Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor has arrived.
SPEAKER:
Please admit Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor.
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
All rise.
(The Speaker leaves the Chair.)
(Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor takes the Chair.)
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
It is the wish of Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor that all present be seated.
PREMIER A. FUREY:
May it please Your Honour, the House of Assembly, agreeable to Your Honour’s
command, have proceeded to the choice of Speaker and have elected Mr. Derek
Bennett, the Member for the District of Lewisporte - Twillingate, to that
office, and by their direction I present him for the approbation of Your Honour.
HER HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR (Judy May Foote, PC, ONL):
On behalf of Her Majesty, I assure you of my sense of your efficiency and I do
most fully approve and confirm you as Speaker.
SPEAKER:
Your Honour having approved the choice of this House in constituting me as their
Speaker, it now becomes my duty in the name of the representatives of Her
Majesty’s loyal subjects, the people of the province, respectfully to claim of
Your Honour their accustomed rights and privileges, especially that they shall
have freedom of speech in their debates, that they may be free from arrest
during their attendance in Parliament, and that I, as Speaker, may have full
access to Your Honour’s presence at all reasonable times and that they have
confirmed to them all their ancient rights and privileges which have been
confirmed to them by Your Honour’s predecessors.
HER HONOUR THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR:
Speaker, I do confirm this House, on behalf of Her Majesty, in the enjoyment of
all its ancient and undoubted rights and privileges.
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
All rise.
(Her Honour the Lieutenant-Governor leaves the Chamber, the Speaker returns to
the Chair.)
SPEAKER:
Please be seated.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
S. CROCKER:
Thank you and congratulations, Mr. Speaker.
I wish to advise the House that we will bring forward a motion to appoint a
Deputy Speaker at a later time.
SPEAKER:
The Government House Leader advised that they will be deferring the appointment
of a Deputy Speaker.
The hon. the Government House Leader.
S. CROCKER:
Thank you, again, Mr. Speaker.
I move, seconded by the Deputy Government House Leader, that this House do now
stand adjourned until Thursday, April 15, at 10 a.m.
SPEAKER:
All those in favour, ‘aye.’
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
SPEAKER:
All those against, ‘nay.’
Carried.
This House now stands adjourned until Thursday, April 15, at 10 a.m.
On motion, the House at its rising adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, at 10
a.m.