January 21, 2015
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Vol. XLVII No. 60
The
House met at 2:00 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
Order, please!
Admit
strangers.
Today I
would like to recognize several members of the Community Coalition 4 Mental
Health along with co-chair Megan Barnhill.
We also
have with us a group of students from Holy Heart High School today.
Welcome
to the House of Assembly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
Statements by
Members
MR. SPEAKER:
Today we have statements from
the Member for the District of Bellevue, the Member for the District of Fortune
Bay Cape La Hune, the Member for the District of Baie Verte Springdale, the
Member for the District of St. George's Stephenville East, the Member for the
District of St. John's East, and the Member for the District of Carbonear
Harbour Grace.
The hon.
the Member for the District of Bellevue.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. PEACH:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise
in this hon. House today to recognize the good work of Annette and Chris Higdon
from New Harbour. On September 20,
2014, about 100 residents of New Harbour and surrounding areas participated in
the Red Shoe Crew-Walk for families.
The
Ronald McDonald House was started thirty-five years ago and is now worldwide.
It is a place for the families of sick children to stay.
The Red Shoe Crew-Walk is a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House
where all donations and items raised go to support the annual operation of
Ronald McDonald House in accommodating sick children and their families from
across the Province.
The walk
in New Harbour started and ended at the Lions Club and they raised $25,000 for
the house. In total, more than 3,200
people participated from thirty-six communities throughout the Province on the
weekend of September 20-21, 2014.
The total amount raised in this Province was $242,000, along with about $45,000
worth of donated items.
I ask
all members to join me in congratulating Annette and Chris on their appreciated
efforts and great work in organizing this event.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for the
District of Fortune Bay Cape La Hune.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS PERRY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise
in this hon. House to extend congratulations to three very bright and dedicated
young ladies who received $1,000 Electoral District Scholarships from the
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
From Bay d'Espoir Academy, sisters Whitney and Kendra Willcott-Benoit,
and from King Academy, Kelly Stone, excelled in their academic studies and
received the highest marks based upon public examination results.
We are very proud of their achievement and wish them the very best of
luck as they pursue their post-secondary education.
Attaining academic excellence is a great and rewarding challenge, and I know
these fine young women are well positioned to succeed as they continue their
journeys on different career paths.
As they entire life with almost endless choices and countless possibilities the
proven qualities of perseverance, dedication, and resilience coupled with great
initiative will serve them very well indeed.
The tools they have acquired through their strong work ethic will
certainly allow them to accomplish their dreams in the years ahead.
I ask
all members to join me in congratulating Whitney, Kendra, and Kelly.
With what they have achieved already, there is no doubt that they have
very bright futures ahead of them.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Baie
Verte Springdale.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. POLLARD:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise
in this hon. House today to congratulate the friendly, picturesque community of
Beachside for its first ever Come Home Year celebrations.
From July 25 to August 2, the cozy community hall was packed as people
from all walks of life and from near and far converged upon the quiet town,
which I might add is the current Speaker's hometown.
Co-chairs of the organizing committee, Tonya Pelley and Betty Lou Young, are to
be applauded, not only for their strong leadership but also for their
extraordinary dedication and hard work.
The committee worked tirelessly to ensure that everyone would enjoy
themselves and go away happy that they attended.
Without their vision, the opportunity for people to meet, rekindle faint
memories, and forge new relationships simply would not have happened.
Also,
the whole town and the surrounding people are to be commended for supporting the
celebrations. It is events like
these that not only drop extra funds in the community's coffers but also promote
community spirit, community pride, and community sustainability.
I am
delighted to ask all colleagues in this hon. House to join me in sending
accolades to the community of Beachside for its first ever successful Come Home
Year celebrations.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Without bias, I agree with
the member; Beachside is a great, little town.
The hon.
the Member for St. George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise
today to congratulate a group of curlers from Stephenville who became the
provincial champions at the under-21 men's curling championship recently.
The team includes: Skip, Greg Smith; Third, Ryan McNeil Lamswood; Second,
Kyle Barron; Lead, Craig Laing; and Coach, Scott Lamswood.
The team
will now represent Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2015 national junior men's
curling championship, which will take place at the Corner Brook Curling Club
from January 24 to February 1. The
team has played at the Atlantic level in the past and are now looking forward to
having an opportunity to play against the best in the country.
Mr.
Speaker, the Newfoundland team will be playing at the Corner Brook Curling Club
from January 24 to February 1. It is
a tremendous opportunity for the hometown fans to get out and support the team.
I encourage everyone to do so, and I also call on members of this House
to show our support for the team from Stephenville.
Thank
you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St.
John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On
September 6 last year, I had the absolute delight of attending a party
celebrating a rare and wonderful event, the sixtieth wedding anniversary of
Eugene and Jessie Ryder of St. John's East.
Jessie,
nιe Whiffen, and Eugene are both originally from Bonavista, where they were
married in 1954. When you think of
how our Province and city has changed in the length of time that they have been
married, Mr. Speaker, you only need to know that before leaving the paid
workforce to raise her family, Jessie worked at the old Ayre's supermarket on
Parade Street and at the Candlelight restaurant here in the city.
Eugene
in his lifetime worked for Canadian Marconi, ITT, the Canadian Coast Guard, and
then spent more than twenty years as a taxi driver so you can see why I like
him very much, Mr. Speaker, we have a connection.
They
have three children, two daughters and a son, and just one grandchild, whom they
are very proud of, a young man who has just started law school at the University
of New Brunswick.
It has
been a full marriage, Mr. Speaker, and I can assure you that after sixty years
they can still throw a great party.
I ask
all hon. members to join me in congratulating Eugene and Jessie Ryder of St.
John's.
Thank
you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Carbonear Harbour Grace.
MR. SLADE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I rise in this hon. House today to congratulate the St. Francis Robotic
Team, also known as the RoboDogs, from Harbour Grace on winning the Provincial
Lego Robotics title on Saturday, December 4.
The
RoboDogs won first place in the Robotic Performance category, second place in
the Project Presentation category with the design of an interactive classroom,
the Skills Canada Gold Medal in Robotics, and first place overall.
Members
of the RoboDogs team include Mitchell Peach, Madison Squires, Emma Mercer,
Abigail Chafe, Hope Finlayson, Kiera Legge, Kyla Mercer, Katie Shute, Emily
Galway, and coaches Norm Littlejohn and Randy Dobbin, who have been with the
team for years. The team was a crowd
favourite at the competition because of their sportsmanship and interaction.
As
provincial winners, the RoboDogs have received an invitation to attend the World
Festival International Robotics Competition being held in St. Louis, Missouri,
in April. This is a worldwide
competition that will include eighty-five Lego teams from over thirty countries,
including six teams from Canada.
Mr.
Speaker, I ask all hon. members to join me in congratulating the RoboDogs on
winning the Provincial Lego Robotics title and wish them every success at the
World Festival in St. Louis.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Statements by Ministers.
Statements by
Ministers
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Seniors, Wellness and Social Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. JACKMAN:
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to
note that today is Weedless Wednesday, an annual event held during National
Non-Smoking Week in Canada. The
purpose of Weedless Wednesday is to encourage smokers to stop smoking today, and
to let it be the start of a process of quitting for good.
Sooner or Later, Everybody
Quits is the theme
of National Non-Smoking Week, with the point being that smokers may want to
choose their own quit date, before it's chosen for them.
Quitting
smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health.
It can also be a very difficult process, and it does not always happen
with the first attempt. We recognize
that, Mr. Speaker. That is why, as a
government, we continue to support programs and services designed to help people
quit smoking, and to prevent them from ever starting.
Mr.
Speaker, this past October, we launched a $700,000 Provincial Smoking Cessation
Program for individuals with low income, which allows adults who meet
eligibility requirements under the Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug
Program to have access to two smoking cessation medications (Champix and Zyban)
to help them in their efforts to quit.
The Province also supports the Alliance for the Control of Tobacco and
the Newfoundland and Labrador Lung Association's Provincial Smokers' Helpline,
which hears from about 1,400 individual callers each year.
Tobacco
control in Newfoundland and Labrador takes a comprehensive approach that
includes public education, legislation, school and community policies and
programs, and the taxation of tobacco products.
And we are seeing positive results, Mr. Speaker.
The rate
of smoking in this Province has decreased from 29 per cent in 1999 to 20 per
cent for those aged fifteen and older.
While this is still high, the good news is that the rate among young
people aged fifteen to nineteen has gone from almost 30 per cent to just over 12
per cent, while the rate for those aged twenty to twenty-four has gone from
about 38 per cent down to 24 per cent.
This is
encouraging, Mr. Speaker, because we know that a healthier population today
means a reduced burden on the health care system of tomorrow; but more
importantly, it means an increased opportunity for individuals to live longer,
happier, healthier lives.
I invite
my colleagues in this House to join me in recognizing Weedless Wednesday and to
provide whatever support they can to family members and friends who are trying
to quit.
Mr.
Speaker, I did have the opportunity to attend an event this morning sponsored by
the Smokers' Helpline, the Lung Association, and Eastern Health.
Heart and Stroke were there.
There is one message they wanted me to get out: For those who smoke, on the
cigarette pack there is a toll-free number.
If they call that, they get the Smokers' Helpline and there are people
there to assist.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Mr. Speaker, I thank the
minister for the advance copy of his statement.
The Official Opposition would also like to recognize Weedless Wednesday
as awareness to encourage people to stop smoking.
It is still a problem, especially among our younger generation.
It is certainly not only among our younger generation, as I know we have
colleagues here in the House who are in the process of trying to quit smoking as
we speak. I encourage them in that
effort.
While we
have taken stands on smoking, we know that smoking remains the largest
preventable cause of death. I am
very lucky in my lifetime that I never had the opportunity to smoke.
My parents did not smoke, which was very unusual in that era.
My dad was at sea all his life.
I know
as a teacher, as a principal, I had students say to me at one point in time: Mr.
Hillier, how come you did not smoke?
My answer was I guess it was just luck of the draw because at that point in time
any of us could have
AN HON. MEMBER:
Pardon the pun.
MR. HILLIER:
Pardon the pun.
I apologize; I am not an English teacher.
While
the number of smokers in the Province is in decline, we have a long way to go
before we can claim to fully kick this habit.
Thank
you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
I, too,
thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.
It is really good to see that we do have an improvement in smoking
cessation, but we still have a far way to go.
After
years of calling for help for people to access smoking cessation drugs, I am
glad government finally introduced assistance for low-income people where rates
can be high. I am glad there is a
pay-as-you-go option for payment of full prescriptions because many people find
it difficult to pay upfront for costly medications.
I do ask
the minister to consider the need to extend the program to low-income persons
and seniors who are not eligible for the Access program when it comes to paying
for medications, and to make the treatment available more than once a year.
We know it is a hard addiction to get rid of.
I am
lucky enough that the two times I tried as a teenager to smoke, I inhaled and
choked and said it was not worth it.
Once you are addicted, I know that it is very difficult.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, I am delighted to rise today as the Minister Responsible for the Office
of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency to announce the release of a new action
plan to create a culture of environmental sustainability within government's own
operations.
In 2011,
our government released strategic frameworks for taking action on climate change
and energy efficiency in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Progress on these important issues requires action by all, and it is
critical that government continues to demonstrate strong leadership.
Mr.
Speaker, the Greening Government Action
Plan outlines forty-six commitments across five strategic objectives.
These objectives are: increasing waste diversion; improving the
sustainability of government buildings; integrating green considerations into
transportation decisions; increasing the procurement of environmentally
preferable products and services; and effectively engaging employees on each of
these issues.
There
are many benefits to improving the environmental sustainability of our
operations, Mr. Speaker. Saving
energy has the potential to lower operating costs and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, which is an important step in addressing climate change.
Additionally, increasing the demand for environmentally preferable
products and services can generate new business opportunities in the Province.
Mr.
Speaker, the Greening Government Action
Plan builds upon the significant steps we have already taken towards
improving the environmental sustainability of our operations.
Actions to date include ensuring new government buildings are constructed
to meet environmental standards, transforming our fleet to include 34 per cent
fuel-efficient vehicles, and developing guidance to integrate green
considerations into procurement.
I look
forward to the implementation of this action plan across government, Mr.
Speaker, as we continue to take practical steps to improve the environmental
sustainability of our operations.
Mr.
Speaker, I will table this report for my hon. colleagues.
The report is also available online.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for The
Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Mr. Speaker, I thank the
minister for an advance copy of his statement.
Investment in environmental sustainability is important and this
government has been a poor leader in ensuring that their operations are run in
the most efficient manner. They have
abandoned much of the 2007 Energy Plan and of creating a culture of
conservation.
In
December of 2013, I requested the details of all the energy audits conducted on
government buildings since 2011. The
response was only twenty-six sites of which energy audits were conducted.
That is right, only twenty-six sites in a three-year period, yet this
government continues to spend millions heating vacant schools and other
buildings.
I asked
for an inventory of all energy-efficient and hybrid vehicles in government's
inventory since 2011, listing only six new vehicles that fit that criterion in a
two-year period. So either
government has a very small fleet or many more vehicles have gone missing from
their inventory. When asked about
government's pilot project on new energy efficiency advice servicing the House
and the plan, it was noted fiscal restraints made it impossible.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St.
John's East.
MR. MURPHY:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank
the minister for the advance copy of his statement here today.
This
government has to lead by example, Mr. Speaker.
In putting together the action plan they should also allow municipal
governments to have enough funding so that they can carry out the necessary
changes to their own infrastructure to put such climate change and energy
efficiencies in place, energy efficiency programing.
Energy
efficiency and climate change is everybody's business, Mr. Speaker, and the
fiscal means should be put in place to allow everybody in the Province to
participate.
Thank
you very much.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Oral Questions.
Oral Questions
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The
Premier says he is concerned about the deficit and will make the tough
decisions, but he has yet to show leadership and cut the size of his Cabinet or
cut the Parliamentary Secretaries.
In fact, the only move that this Premier has done with his Cabinet is to
increase one since becoming Premier, and that increase was an unelected
minister.
I ask
the Premier: Will you finally show courage and cut your Cabinet today?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, we as a government in the Province in our Province we face a very
significant challenge, fiscal challenge, as a result of the world oil prices
that are having an impact on Newfoundland and Labrador and other provinces in
Canada, and other countries in the world.
I have said that here repeatedly in the House of Assembly, Mr. Speaker.
I have
also said repeatedly, and I will say it once again, is that we are considering
all avenues that are available to us to deal with those very difficult fiscal
challenges, Mr. Speaker, and that includes all of our operations of government.
It includes Cabinet, as I said; yes, it is on the table.
Parliamentary Assistants are on the table, Government House Leaders are
on the table, Whips are on the table.
Everything is on the table, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There
are a lot of tables in the government, I would say, Mr. Speaker.
I cannot imagine what it is like in some of those offices within
government these days with lots of new tables coming in; but, I remind the
Premier, it is not what you say, it is what you do.
Show the courage to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, do the right
thing, cut the size of your Cabinet.
In 1993,
the Mahoney Commission on electoral boundaries in our Province was very clear.
All representations to the commission had to be matters of public record
and open for public scrutiny, but now the Department of Justice is delaying us
access to records while they review them and see if there is any redactions that
are required.
I ask
the Premier: All these presentations were supposed to be public, so why are you
delaying the release and considering redactions?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
I will speak as long as he
does not cut my position, Mr. Speaker.
I am prepared to stand.
I thank
the member opposite. I am not
totally familiar with the details of the question, but I will say to the
Opposition Leader that there are a number of nuances in both reforms.
As I understand it, there was a public commitment made at one level that
those who submitted presentations
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I would
ask members to listen to the answer that is being provided.
The hon.
the Government House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My
understanding is that in one particular reform there was confidentiality assured
to those who submitted presentations.
In the second reform mentioned, that was not the case, but I am prepared
to follow-up on that and table the information tomorrow to clarify that for you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
While the minister is seeking
clarification I understand today that he is doing two jobs but one thing we
will not need clarification on is this.
There was no Bill 29 when these presentations were given to the boundary
commission in 1993, but this government is now trying to hide these
presentations under the privacy legislation.
Even with the draconian Bill 29, that will allow Cabinet documents to be
released after twenty years. Well,
guess what, Mr. Speaker? It is over
twenty-one years since these presentations were given.
I ask
the Premier: The commission was very clear that these records were to be made
public; will you release them today?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I say to
the Leader of the Opposition, I do not mind multi-tasking.
I will take on lots of challenges over here and do my best with each one.
I
certainly make the commitment to you, absolutely, that any documents that are
available to the public will be made available.
As I said a few moments ago, my understanding is that we have a legal
obligation to ensure we do not violate anyone's rights.
I am
also advised that all of the documents for one particular review have been
forwarded and made available to the public through the Legislative Library.
I will entertain today to make sure that the others are provided right
away.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Official Opposition.
MR. BALL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It seems
a lot of scrutiny for a presentation that was supposed to be made public and it
is twenty-one years old. One more
question on that for the minister before I finish in this line of questioning.
We asked
the Justice Library for a copy of the presentations and first they said they had
to be redacted. Then they said we
would have all presentations within one hour un-redacted.
Then suddenly they said there could be redactions and the process could
take days.
I ask
the Premier: These presentations are twenty-one years old and they were supposed
to be public; why do you need to review them?
Why would you need to review a public presentation before you release
them?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I
said a few moments ago to the hon. the Leader of the Opposition, my
understanding is that we have made available to the public all of the documents
from the first House of Assembly reform.
I cannot answer as to why officials would feel the need to do as he
suggested they have done. I really
cannot respond to it.
What I
will do is I will commit in the next Question Period, I will certainly be
prepared to provide you with further information to clarify any misunderstanding
that might have occurred and ensure that the documents are made available in as
quick an order as possible.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, the unelected
Minister of Justice is denying the Opposition access to papers that are over
twenty-one years old, that were made public in the first place.
I ask
the Premier: Will you overrule Minister Manning and do what is proper, release
the documents now?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To be
clear, it was my understanding in the last question that the Leader of the
Opposition asked, that it was not the minister but it was actually officials
that they have been dealing with on this.
So to be clear, my understanding is it was not the Minister of Justice,
it was officials who have suggested that they need to review the documents.
As I
said a few moments ago, Mr. Speaker
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I
realize the Member for Bay of Islands gets excited when I answer questions, but
I just ask that he let me have time to answer the question that I have been
asked by the member opposite.
As I
said a couple of moments ago, one set of documentation documents have been
provided at the Legislative Library, I am told, and I will entertain moving
forward right away today to find out what the holdup is on the others.
I will provide further information tomorrow to clarify any
misunderstanding or misinterpretation, but it would be the objective of
government to make sure all of those documents are available to members of the
public.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, we are hearing
now from the Government House Leader that officials in the Department of Justice
are redacting documents apparently on their own accord.
I ask
the minister: Would you please ask the Minister of Justice why her officials are
redacting documents that were made public twenty-one years ago?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The hon.
member asking the question probably did not hear what I was saying because of
the heckling that was going on at the time, but I think Hansard will reflect
tomorrow morning, I believe, that it was the Leader of the Opposition who
suggested that officials were redacting.
I did not say any such thing.
What I
said was I would investigate the allegations made by the Leader of the
Opposition to try and determine why in fact that is happening, and at the same
time
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
He is
excited again. I get that, but I
will get my answer out in my thirty seconds.
I will
entertain to provide all documentation that ought to be made public in a short
fashion, and I will seek clarification on both lines of questioning that I can
present to the House tomorrow.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate
that the Minister of Tourism is going to ensure that the Minister of Justice is
doing her job, but I think this falls on the Premier, who appointed the minister
in the first place. They are saying
that they are going to release information that ought to be released.
Well, I would say when the report was done, Justice Mahoney said it
should all be published.
So I say
to the Premier: You do not need to wait until tomorrow; you can do this right
now. Will you stand here in this
House and ensure that we get all the information that your Department of Justice
and your unelected minister are not making available?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To be
clear, I am actually the Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural
Development, Responsible for the Research and Development Corporation, and
Government House Leader. I say to
the member, check Hansard. It was
not me who suggested officials were redacting information; it was the Leader of
the Opposition who said, unequivocally, that you were unable to get access
because officials were withholding information.
My
response is the same as I have given in the last five questions.
I will seek to find out clarification on that.
I am prepared to table that information tomorrow.
One set of information you asked for has been made public, and I will
move right away to make sure that the remaining information you seek will be
made available publicly.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, the Premier
called this special session of the House of Assembly.
The documents that we are being denied, apparently under Bill 29, pertain
directly to Bill 42 and the debate we are having right now.
The Department of Justice, and I would assume the unelected Minister of
Justice, are denying the Official Opposition from having access to documents we
need to have a proper debate. The
Premier wanted a special session; we would like an informed debate.
So
again, I ask the Premier, who is responsible for appointing this minister: Will
you overrule this clear misjudgement, this abuse of the act, and release the
documents that are supposed to be released and available to the public?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Maybe
the member opposite is not understanding what the Government House Leader has
maybe the member opposite, I will try again, is not understanding what the
Government House Leader has been saying here in the House this afternoon.
He has made a commitment that he would look into the concerns raised by
the members opposite. He will seek
to have a resolution to this, a speedy resolution to this.
I do not
think there is much more that he can say, or we can do, other than make the
commitment that he will get to it at the very first opportunity, Mr. Speaker.
He has committed to do that, and we fully support that process.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
I am glad to hear that the
Premier fully supports the delaying of information to this House of Assembly.
That is absolutely ridiculous.
I would say to the Premier, what I do not understand is why documents
that were supposed to be made public were suddenly redacted this morning when we
requested them.
I say to
the Premier: If you want to make tough decisions, if you want to take
responsibility, will you stand here and promise us
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. A. PARSONS:
that we get this
information right now and overrule your minister who is abusing her judgment?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I remind
the member it is very strong language to be directing towards the minister.
First of all, the member likes to use the term Bill 29.
I remind the member that if he wants to talk about Bill 29, ministers of
the Crown have actually no role in redacting information or approving or
disapproving.
There is
an ATIPP co-ordinator who is a bureaucrat, an official of the department who
controls that, which takes me back to the very first question asked by the
Leader of the Opposition where he suggested they are having trouble with
officials releasing information. It
is nothing to do with making this an issue about the Minister of Justice, as my
colleague opposite is trying to do here.
I am
told, as I repeatedly say, that one set of information has been provided to the
Legislative Library. I am also told
that the second set of boxes of information just arrived at the department from
storage today and it will be provided within the very near future.
I will provide further information to clarify this tomorrow in Question
Period, if the member will permit me.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of
Business, Tourism, Justice, and the AG and whatever it is seems to know an awful
lot about this process that he is not supposed to know anything about.
I ask
the Premier again will you stand here in the House we are here to debate Bill
42. We would like to have all the
information we need to have, including the Mahoney Commission.
Will you stand here and simply promise us that we can have it now and
stop relying on your Bill 29 and your unelected minister to block the documents?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Government House
Leader.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will
correct the member on one thing; I am not the Attorney General.
I do not have a law degree and I do not have the right to act as Attorney
General in the Province. I never
did, even when I was in the position of Minister of Justice before, for the
record.
The
other thing I would remind the member, if he wants to play politics with this,
the question is why his government in 1993 did not release the information when
they were in power, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MR. KING:
Having said that, Mr.
Speaker, my commitment remains firm as reiterated by the Premier.
One set of information was made public today already through the
Legislative Library. The second set,
the boxes arrived today, the information will be made public.
I will
seek clarification from my hon. colleague, the Leader of the Opposition, as to
why there has been some confusion and misunderstanding between his office and
officials. I am prepared to talk
about that and table that information tomorrow, if they would like.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, I can guarantee
the minister there is no confusion in the e-mail trail that we have from the
Department of Justice and other officials in different government departments
that are blocking these documents.
Almost
four years have passed since government announced $4.5 million to begin
replacement of the Waterford Hospital.
Another $700,000 was committed in 2013 for planning.
I ask
the Minister of Health: How much money has been spent to date on replacing the
Waterford Hospital?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Considerable funds have been invested to date and progress has been made.
In fact, we suspect that site preparation for the new hospital to replace
the Waterford Hospital will be completed in this current calendar year and
construction of the brand new facility will commence in 2016.
I will
get the exact figures on what has been spent to date, and I would be happy to
table them in this House and provide them to the hon. member.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Burgeo La Poile.
MR. A. PARSONS:
Mr. Speaker, I understand
that the government has spent a considerable sum to develop this plan that meets
the mental health needs of today.
I ask
the minister: You are in the middle of this process; you are saying that the new
mental health hospital is not on the chopping block?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
I do not think, Mr. Speaker,
that there is anybody in this House who would suggest that the current Waterford
Hospital is not in need of replacement.
It is one of the oldest large health care facilities in our Province and
while it has served us well, it is in need of replacement.
We have
a master plan and functional program underway, and we have spent over $500,000
to date on that process which demonstrates our commitment.
We have also begun site preparations, as I have said, which will be
completed later this year. It is a
project that we are committed to. It
will take time to build the state-of-the-art facility that we intend to build,
but we are very committed to the project, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St.
George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Mr. Speaker, Bay St. George
is facing a health care crisis. The
clinic in Jeffrey's has been without a doctor for over a year now and the doctor
in the Town of St. George's has left late last year.
Residents are often left to travel long distances and wait long hours in
the ER in Stephenville just to be seen by a doctor.
I ask
the Minister of Health and Community Services: Can he provide an update on your
efforts to resolve this health care crisis in Bay St. George?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would
be happy to provide this hon. House with an update.
I have had at least three different conversations with the member since
he was elected on this very issue because it is an important one to our
department, it is important to Western Health, and it is definitely important to
the constituents that he represents.
In fact, just yesterday in this House we agreed to have a conversation later
today about this very issue, so I assume that he is still interested in doing
that.
We have
provided some capital funding in recent years to construct a new clinic in
Jeffrey's. The vacancies in some of
these communities are very concerning to us, and we are currently exploring new
models that will make the delivery of primary health care sustainable in that
region of the Province. It is time
to try some new approaches. We have
tried for years to recruit family doctors in certain areas.
We will continue to try, but maybe it is time to be a little innovative,
and I know the member shares my view on that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St.
George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Mr. Speaker, this situation
has been going on for over a year.
People have not been able to get the type of health care services they need.
I want
to ask the minister: What new actions will he be taking to resolve this
situation at Jeffrey's and St. George's?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, as I have said,
I have had numerous discussions with the member on this issue, and I am happy to
talk to anyone on the West Coast and in the communities affected about this very
issue. Efforts have been ongoing to
recruit physicians, and we have had doctors travel from Stephenville and Corner
Brook to provide service to these communities, but it is clear that that is not
a sustainable approach and we need to do more.
One of
the ideas that came up at our health summit focused on primary health care last
week was the use of other health care professions to deliver services in primary
health care. Nurse practitioners,
for example, have worked in various communities, including in the member's
district.
So it is
time to look at some new approaches, and I am prepared to work with Western
Health and work with the communities affected to explore some of those options.
I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that is well underway.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber East.
MR. FLYNN:
Mr. Speaker, this government
has for the past eight years made promises to the people of Western Newfoundland
on the new hospital, and there has been delay after delay.
In light of the Premier's comment a few days ago saying that everything
is on the table, I have got calls from the West Coast and people are worried.
So, I am
asking the Premier: Will the Western Regional Memorial Hospital be on the option
table, or will you fulfill your commitment to the people of the West Coast of
Newfoundland?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
I appreciate the preview of
the questions today, Mr. Speaker, because I had a conversation with the hon.
member just this morning about the new West Coast hospital and the plans that
are underway.
We have
invested millions of dollars already in the planning process and in the
preparation process, and the Western Memorial Hospital is another health care
facility in this Province that is in need of replacement.
We want to build a state-of-the-art facility that will meet the needs of
the citizens of the West Coast not just now but well into the future.
There
will be more services. There will be
more beds. It will be a
state-of-the-art facility that I think will serve us well for many years to
come. We are very committed to it.
I look forward to releasing the functional program and plans in the next
number of weeks.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Humber East.
MR. FLYNN:
Mr. Speaker, I am new to the
House and I thought this was Question Period.
I did ask the question is it on the chopping block, but let me continue.
There has been a commitment from this government to begin the long-term
care facility also in 2015. We have
already seen many years of delay.
I ask
the minister: Will the construction of the long-term care facility begin in 2015
also, or is that on the chopping block?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, over the last
number of years we have expanded long-term care beds in numerous regions of the
Province, but we still recognize that in each and every one of our health care
regions there is still an incredible demand.
The Western Region is no exception.
We have
big demands for long-term care in Western, in Central, in Eastern, and in
Labrador-Grenfell. The new long-term
care facility will be a very important component of the new West Coast hospital
campus. I look forward to getting
that project underway in 2015.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for The
Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Mr. Speaker, government
reported only $28 million in environmental liabilities by 2013 year-end.
Your government left taxpayers on the hook for avoidable environmental
liabilities including accepting environmental costs for the Come By Chance
refinery, hundreds of millions for the botched Abitibi mill expropriation, and
other industrial sites.
Does the
minister even know how much this government's environmental blunders will cost
the taxpayers? Will he make this
figure public?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, our officials
are certainly aware and our government is aware of where the impacted sites are
throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
We are monitoring all the sites.
We are doing assessments all the time.
We are doing remediation work in certain sites as well.
Hopedale, for instance, is one of those sites.
On the
outside end of things, there have been numbers thrown around about Come By
Chance oil refinery, but they are the outside numbers, Mr. Speaker.
Full remediation of some of these sites is not going to happen.
Some remediation for some of these sites will be happening.
It is very difficult to get to a finite number based on individual
impacted sites throughout the Province.
It is
not an easy question to answer, Mr. Speaker, but we are on top of this.
We have a full inventory of impacted sites in this Province, and we are
monitoring the situation very closely.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for The
Straits White Bay North.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
He should make those figures
public, Mr. Speaker.
The
Auditor General outlines the Public Sector Accounting Board's new standards.
They demand that government's financial statement recognize the full cost
of remediation of contaminated sites as a financial liability by 2015.
I ask
the minister: Have you even undertaken an assessment of the full costing to
clean up these contaminated sites, and will its value be recognized in the 2015
financial statements?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. CRUMMELL:
Mr. Speaker, we value the
Auditor General's input into this issue.
We certainly have been taking his considerations very, very seriously.
Again, what I stated earlier, we have everything under control.
We know exactly what is going on in the Province in terms of impacted
sites in Newfoundland and Labrador, on the Island portion and Labrador as well.
We are
working towards identifying exactly what that number is, but, Mr. Speaker, it is
a very difficult number to get to.
On a case-by-case basis, there is a lot of work that needs to be done.
Again, Mr. Speaker, that work is ongoing.
We are protecting the environment for the people of this Province for
future generations. We take that
responsibility very, very seriously.
I know I do, and I will continue to do that work, and my department will as
well.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
MR. MITCHELMORE:
Accounting standards state
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It is
very hard to hear sometimes, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon.
the Leader of the Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much.
Mr.
Speaker, Bill 42 mandates the electoral boundaries commission to do the review
demanded by the bill within 120 days of the appointment of a chairperson.
I ask
the Premier: Will he follow the commission's recommendation if it says it just
cannot do the work in that short time frame?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
There appears to be a lot of
questioning of the capabilities, the competencies of a commission yet to be
appointed. There seems to be a lot
of doubt about whether these people can do a piece of work within 120 days.
I read
yesterday in the House, into the record, a piece of a report that came out in
2006 where the commission of that day said a future report could be done within
six months. Now, Mr. Speaker, we
have members standing periodically and asking questions about the ability to do
this piece of work in 120 days. I
would say let's get on with the debate, pass the resolution, appoint the
commission and get at the work at hand.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I invite
the minister to do his mathematics.
Six months is two months more than 120 days.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS MICHAEL:
I ask the Premier now: That
if the general election cannot be called by the legislated deadline, what will
he do?
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Oh, oh!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon.
the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
Maybe math was not my strong
suit.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. WISEMAN:
However, I was not too bad
with English. Remember I said, Mr.
Speaker, within six months. I was
not equating 120 days to six months, I said within.
Mr.
Speaker, let me repeat, the commission is not yet appointed.
The plan is and I am very certain and confident that Chief Justice
Green will appoint someone who is very capable, very competent, and would fully
understand before accepting the appointment what the task at hand would be.
If Justice Green appoints a chair of that commission, and you, as the
Speaker, appoint four other individuals, they will know what the task will be
before they accept that appointment.
I am certain, capable competent people can do this piece of work.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am
once again going to ask the Premier, because he has not answered the question
this week. Why has he put this
commission in place now instead of waiting for 2016?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
PREMIER DAVIS:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The hon.
member opposite is well aware that the commission was scheduled to take place
next year in 2016. The results of
the work done by the commission would not take place until 2019.
The hon. member opposite asking the question is in agreement that we
should reduce the size of the House of Assembly.
The Leader of the Opposition is in agreement that we should reduce the
size of the House of Assembly. I am
in agreement that we should reduce the House of Assembly as well.
The
commission was going to do the work next year, Mr. Speaker, and we have asked to
do it a year earlier. That is what
this bill is about. It is a year
earlier. If you think about the
fiscal crisis that this Province is facing, we need to find every opportunity to
rightsize government and use every opportunity to take advantage, as we are
doing right now, Mr. Speaker, to fix this fiscal problem that we have
approaching all of us. This is going
to have impact on every one of us in Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St.
John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Thank you.
Mr.
Speaker, today we will debate a private member's motion calling for a select
committee on mental health. In light
of both the Premier's and the Leader of the Opposition's public acknowledgement
of the need for committees and modernization of our Legislature and the critical
need for an overhaul of our mental health services in the Province.
I ask
the Premier: Will he support the motion to immediately strike on all-party
select committee on mental health?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to the debate today.
I want to thank the Member for St. John's Centre, once again, for
bringing what is a really important issue to the floor of the House of Assembly.
I am sure we will have an informed debate today.
I
honestly believe that a lot of the things that today's motion is calling for can
be achieved another way. So, what I
suspect we are going to argue about today is approach.
We all agree there is more work to be done to address mental health
services and to improve mental health services in Newfoundland and Labrador.
We can
look at the current state of mental health services.
We can receive expert testimony.
We can report on the findings; and, ultimately, we can put a new strategy
in place to drive forward mental health and addictions services in Newfoundland
and Labrador, and that is certainly our intention, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The time
for Question Period has expired.
Presenting Reports by Standing and Select Committees.
Tabling
of Documents.
Notices
of Motion.
Answers
to Questions for which Notice has been Given.
Petitions.
Petitions
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
Before I
recognize the Member for Virginia Waters to present her petition, I just want to
take a moment to bring everybody's attention to Standing Order 92, Every Member
offering a petition to the House shall confine himself or herself to the
statement of the parties from whom it comes, the number of signatures attached
to it and the material allegations it contains.
In other words, to the subject of the petition.
In no case shall the Member occupy more than 3 minutes in
presenting a
petition.
I just
wanted to remind all members of that.
That any comment on the petition you are presenting shall be in relation
to the subject matter of the petition and, indeed, your time limit is three
minutes.
The hon.
the Member for Virginia Waters.
MS C. BENNETT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the
hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland
and Labrador humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS
the electoral boundaries commission was legislated to be appointed in 2016 to
determine any changes to electoral districts in the Province; and
WHEREAS
the undersigned agree with a reduction in the number of electoral seats; and
WHEREAS
the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would have
allowed the time necessary to properly carry out the necessary public
consultations; and
WHEREAS
the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would have
allowed sufficient time necessary to properly evaluate the population and
demographics of each district and properly calculate the necessary adjustments
for a change in the number of electoral districts; and
WHEREAS
the appointment of the electoral boundaries commission in 2016 would have
allowed sufficient time necessary to properly evaluate the geographical
implications of a change in the number of electoral districts; and
WHEREAS
the government is attempting to change legislation to appoint the electoral
boundaries commission early;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House
of Assembly to urge government to ensure that, with or without the completion of
the work of the electoral boundaries commission as a result of appointing a
commission early, it will not interfere with the legislated and mandated
requirement to hold a provincial election in 2015.
As in
duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, I present this on behalf of members of the public from the District of
Placentia St. Mary's. The reason I
present this petition, quite frankly, is there are many people in this Province
who have grave concerns. Contrary to
the Minister of Finance's comments earlier, many people have concerns about this
commission's ability to do responsible work
AN HON. MEMBER:
(Inaudible).
MS C. BENNETT:
I think it is Placentia St.
Mary's responsible work in the amount of time.
Mr.
Speaker, I have spoken to representatives of the last commission that was done
here. I have spoken personally to
representatives of the commission that was done in New Brunswick.
I have also looked at as is my responsibility I believe as a Member of
this House of Assembly every single jurisdiction across Canada.
There is not one jurisdiction in Canada that has completed this work in
less than 180 days. That does not
include the amount of time required to allow Elections NL to do its operational
work.
This
government has repeatedly failed to recognize the operations that are underneath
the legislation that they bring in and the impacts and ramifications that takes
place. By rushing this particular
piece of legislation and making sure that they put a time frame in that many
people in the Province, people who are representative in all our districts
believe is a time frame that is unreasonable, they believe that they are setting
the commission up for failure, Mr. Speaker.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for St.
George's Stephenville East.
MR. REID:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I have a
petition related to health care services in the Heatherton to Highlands area.
To the
hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petitioners undersigned humbly sheweth:
WHEREAS
there has not been a permanent doctor in the clinic at Jeffrey's for almost a
year; and
WHEREAS
the absence of a permanent doctor is seriously compromising the health care of
people who live in Heatherton to Highlands area and causing them undue hardship;
and
WHEREAS
the absence of a doctor or nurse practitioner in the area leaves seniors without
a consistency and quality of care which is necessary for their continued good
health;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House
of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to take actions
necessary to result in a permanent doctor or other arrangements to improve the
health care services in the Heatherton to Highlands area.
Mr.
Speaker, this situation has been going on for a while in Jeffrey's.
It is over a year now that there has not been a permanent doctor in
Jeffrey's. People are not able to
get the health care services they need.
In St. George's just before Christmas, the middle of December, the doctor
there left. So, the people in St.
George's find themselves in a similar situation.
They are having to travel long distances to obtain health care.
They often have to wait in emergency rooms all day just to get simple
things like a prescription refilled.
People
are not getting the type of service they need, Mr. Speaker.
Many seniors have called me and told me that they are not getting the
care they need. They are not getting
their test reports in a timely manner.
This is how serious the situation is, and it has gone on for too long.
People are frustrated and people are upset.
It is fine to have hearings about health care, but if you cannot provide
this type of basic service, it is not worth anything.
This has
gone on too long too long. We have
to find a solution and it has to be found soon.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon.
the Member for Cartwright L'Anse au Clair has less than a minute to present
her petition.
MS DEMPSTER:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the
hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in
Parliament assembled, the petition of the undersigned humbly sheweth::
WHEREAS
the community of Cartwright will be a gateway to the upcoming Mealy Mountains
National Park Reserve; and
WHEREAS
the establishment of a national park reserve, a tourism demand generator, will
significantly increase the potential for tourism development in all communities
of Southeastern Labrador; and
WHEREAS
developing tourism in Southeastern Labrador will contribute to the economic,
social, and cultural well-being of the communities and the people throughout the
region;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House
of Assembly to urge the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to finalize the
land transfer agreement with Parks Canada so as to allow for the establishment
of the national park in the Mealy Mountains of Labrador to occur before the 2015
tourism season.
As in
duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Mr.
Speaker, since I do not have much time I just want to say this file has been
ongoing since 2007 and I would urge the government to (inaudible)
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I remind
the member her time has expired.
Orders of the Day
Private Members'
Day
MR. SPEAKER:
In accordance with our
Standing Orders, it now being 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, Private Members' Day, we
must now go to the Member for St. John's Centre to begin debate on the private
member's resolution that stands on the Order Paper in her name.
The hon.
the Member for St. John's Centre.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS ROGERS:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Assembly urge government to
immediately strike an all-party committee on mental health to conduct
Province-wide public consultations, review the current state of provincial
mental health services, receive expert testimony on best practices in mental
health care delivery, and report its findings with the goal of improving mental
health programs and services to better serve the needs of the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
It is
seconded by the Member for Signal Hill Quidi Vidi.
Mr.
Speaker, I am very happy and honoured today to stand in this House to speak to
this motion. Although this is a
private member's motion it is not my sole motion, it is not the sole motion of
my caucus, it is the motion of thousands of people across the Province who have
come to town hall meetings, who have come to symposiums, who have written
letters, who have signed petitions, who have made phone calls, who have
contacted their individual MHAs, who are asking for this.
They are
asking for it in desperation. They
are asking for it in strength. They
are asking for it in hope. They are
asking for it from a place of expertise, a place of resilience.
They are asking for it because they know it is needed.
They are asking for it because they know it is the right thing to do.
They are asking for it because they have
trust in this House of Assembly to honour the work that needs to be done in the
area of mental health services across the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr.
Speaker, just shortly, a little time ago, I read a tweet that was sent out by
Amelia Curran who is one of our multi-Juno, award-winning singer-songwriters,
who is an advocate in the area of mental health, and who is doing a lot of work
right now, public work, talking about her own experiences of mental health,
doing all kinds of work around mental health.
She did a fantastic video called
This Video. It is available
through YouTube and it is about breaking down the stigma of mental health.
She tweeted today, Waiting on pins and needles to hear about today's
petition being put forward in HofA.
Mr.
Speaker, I would also like to say that I know there are thousands of people in
Newfoundland and Labrador waiting on pins and needles today to see how this
debate will go in the House, to see whether or not their particular member, and
whether or not each and every member in this House of Assembly will agree to
work together, will agree to employ every single legislative tool we have as
leaders to ensure that we can come up with the best possible mental health
services in the Province. Because we
know that not only the one in five people in Newfoundland and Labrador who
suffer from mental health challenges are affected by mental health, but we also
know that their families, their friends, their communities are also affected.
Sometimes this is a matter of life and death, and sometimes it is a matter of
resilience and hope, and that is what we are talking about today.
I particularly am encouraged by the people who come to the gallery who
are concerned. There are people
watching all over the Province online in our debate, and our debate is about
hope today.
Our
debate is about modernizing our Legislature.
Our debate is about the possibility of all of us working together on an
issue that the Minister of Health himself, on December 8 in this House of
Assembly, said: I would like this is after I had presented a petition on
behalf of the thousands of people who are concerned about the issue of mental
health. Everybody in the House, it
was a very unusual day in the House that day.
I
presented a petition on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and
the Official Opposition decided they wanted to get up and speak to that petition
because they knew how important it was.
Then the Minister of Health decided he, too, wanted to get up and speak
on the petition. As a matter of
fact, Mr. Speaker, people in this House were scrambling to get up to speak to
the issue that was addressed in the petition.
The
Minister of Health, on December 8 said and I am taking an unusual step here
today, Mr. Speaker, as well. I want
to honour the words of the Minister of Health because I believe he is truly
concerned about the issues of mental health services in the Province, mental
health and addiction services. I
also truly believe he wants us to be able to provide the best services we
possibly can.
Our task
today is to convince him, his party, and his caucus that the best way to address
this is to do a thorough investigation, a comprehensive investigation, a
thorough consultation process that has been done by other parties and by other
governments across the country and across the Commonwealth.
This is our task today, to convince him that it is absolutely crucial we
all work together.
He said,
I would like to talk about mental health.
I would like to talk about one of the highest priority issues facing our
Province and also facing the Department of Health and Community Services.
I want
to assure everybody in Newfoundland and Labrador that we are well aware of the
challenges people are facing with mental health and addictions issues in this
Province. It is a real concern and
it is a growing concern. Access to
timely and appropriate care and supports is absolutely essential.
Mental
health and addictions issues will inevitably touch most of our lives.
In fact, one in five people in Newfoundland and Labrador will experience
mental illness of some form in their lifetime.
More than any other illnesses, these are illnesses that are pervasive and
they affect everyone, either directly or indirectly, through a family member,
through a friend, through a colleague.
He also
went on to say, We do provide about $100 million annually for mental health and
addictions programs and services.
Mr.
Speaker, in this time of economic uncertainty, we have heard this bandied about
in this House for the past two days.
The price of oil has plummeted. We
know that there are grave, grave economic challenges facing this Province.
What we have to do as legislators is ensure that every dollar that is
spent is spent efficiently and effectively.
That is our task as well.
Again, I
am very happy to stand here today to speak on behalf of the many people who I am
sure all of us, every single MHA in this House, have received calls from people
who are suffering from mental illness crises, or their families, begging for
help. Particularly in rural areas
where we know there are huge gaps in services.
I want
to thank all of those who work in the area of mental health and addictions.
Our health care providers, our frontline
workers, community groups who have been taking on more and more and more of the
work, often with very limited resources.
I want to thank the advocates who continue to raise the issue and push
for change, and policy-makers, both elected and unelected, who know that mental
health and addictions not only directly affect the one in five people in
Newfoundland and Labrador but everyone, because, again, we are all connected in
our wonderful home of Newfoundland and Labrador.
I want
to thank those who work with passion and compassion, with absolute commitment.
I also want to particularly thank folks with lived experience, who have
so courageously stepped forward to tell their stories in hopes of helping to
create awareness, challenge stigma, and to push for better and more response
services for all people who are dealing with mental health and addictions
issues.
I cannot
think of anything that takes more courage in this day and age than to step
forward and to talk about your own experience as someone who is dealing with
mental health issues, to publicly share that story, to publicly share your story
about mental illness because of the devastating effects of stigma associated
with mental illness. I want to thank
those brave determined people again who work with passion and compassion.
In the
past little while we have heard from the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.
During his leadership campaign he said he would initiate House of
Assembly reform within his first 120 days as Premier.
He said, as well as identifying measures to increase parts, he wants to
identify measures to increase participation by all members and improve
efficiency and effectiveness in the House of Assembly.
I would interpret that as using every possible tool available in this
Legislature for us to be able to work together.
The
Leader of the Official Opposition said if he was elected Premier he would make
committees part of the Legislature.
He said, There will be an active committee structure in place in the House of
Assembly. Absolutely.
The
leader of our caucus here repeated our party's consistent call for active House
of Assembly standing committees, which could deal with issues such as Muskrat
Falls in more detail. She said, I
wish that that was the route that we had been following here.
You can
have a discussion in an all-party setting that's more intimate and you can get
more details than the structure of the debate in the House.
The
Minister of Health, himself, in his leadership platform said, I will form an
all-party committee to guide the Open Government Initiative from action plan to
fruition. Each year, in cooperation
with this all-party committee, the Minister Responsible for the Office of Public
Engagement will table an annual report in the House of Assembly.
This annual report will provide an update on the progress of the Open
Government Initiative and will set out the priorities and goals for the upcoming
year.
I would
like to say, Mr. Speaker, that sounds like support for using a select committee
in dealing with urgent and particular issues in this House.
Again, the Minister of Health, in his leadership platform said, it will
set out the priorities and goals for the upcoming year.
We know
that we have to look at what is happening in our mental health services here in
the Province. Last June, I had a
mental health town hall. I expected
about sixty people; there were over 300.
People actually had to be turned away.
At that town hall we heard the pain of people's stories.
We also heard potential solutions.
We heard from experts. We
heard from people with lived experience who are experts in their own experience.
We heard from family members.
We heard from general population. We
heard from health care providers.
As a
result of that, we heard that people wanted to get together again and really
address issues like stigma. So then
we had another event called The Launch, which was attended by over 1,000 people
at Holy Heart of Mary Auditorium. It
was a thing of beauty, Mr. Speaker, but it was the result of over thirty
community groups and individuals coming together and meeting every Friday
morning for months.
It was the coming together and working together with a
common goal that resulted in such a successful event.
The goal was not the event itself and out of that event
came the demand for an all-party committee, a challenge by all of these people
who were working together, a challenge to this House to do the similar thing, to
work together, to work together to take on this huge task of mental health
services
MR. SPEAKER (Littlejohn):
I remind the hon.
member her speaking time has expired.
MS ROGERS:
of coming up with this
strategy for mental health services in the Province.
Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I look
forward to hearing from the people in the House.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can
sincerely say that I am honoured to have a chance to participate in this
important debate this afternoon. It
is a critical topic. Again, as I did
in Question Period, I will do it again.
I want to thank the Member for St. John's Centre for raising this issue.
I appreciate her kind words as well.
I am sincere in my desire to make the system better.
Members on all sides of the House, I believe, want to make the system
better because this is a very personal issue.
I would venture to guess that there is nobody in this House of Assembly
or nobody watching the debate today who has not been touched by mental health
and addictions in one way, shape, or form.
I think
of my own family members and close friends who have had experience dealing with
very difficult mental health issues.
As the member rightly points out, one in five people in our Province, one in
five people in our country will experience some form of mental illness during
their lifetime.
I know
that the member is very sincere in her desire to bring about change in our
system and to make improvements. I
can tell her, as I have personally, and I can share with members of this hon.
House that I, too, am very committed to bringing about the kind of change and
improvements that are needed. While
we have come a long way, no doubt we still have a way to go.
I did
have a prepared speech to give today, but I would rather try to respond to some
of the comments that the member has made and try to provide some more personal
perspective on this issue that we are debating today.
The
all-party committee issue is what we are really debating today, because I think
we are in agreement on just about everything else, I would say, Mr. Speaker.
When I look at the resolution that we are debating today, we are talking
about reviewing the current state of provincial mental health services.
I can assure you that the Department of Health and Community Services,
under my leadership, is very much committed to doing that, not next year, not in
six months, but right now.
We are
ready to begin a consultation process that will result, over the next few
months, in a brand new mental health and addictions strategy that will guide us
forward for the next decade, to build on the work that has been done since the
2005 strategy was adopted.
The
motion also references receiving expert testimony on best practices in mental
health care delivery. As part of the
process that we are about to embark upon, that is a critical component as well
and it needs to happen. The motion
talks about reporting findings with the goal of improving mental health programs
and services to better serve the needs of the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador. Through the process that
we are about to embark upon, I sincerely believe that we can achieve all of
that. If I did not believe that,
then I may very well be able to support the motion today.
What we
are arguing about is not the need to do more around addressing mental health
needs and improving services in this Province; the debate today is specifically
about whether we should put an all-party committee in place.
I do believe that the member opposite sincerely wants to see improved
services; that is the ultimate goal.
We need to find lasting solutions. I
honestly do not believe that the all-party committee approach is the best way to
achieve that.
The
resolution that we are debating today is much about process and a lot of the
debate even so far has focused on that.
I think we need to focus on effecting change in the system.
We have a process that can achieve that more efficiently and effectively
that our department is about to roll out.
I
sincerely think that we can achieve everything that an all-party committee could
potentially achieve through the process we are going to roll out in the weeks
ahead. It will be a full,
Province-wide consultation process and everybody in the Province is welcome to
get involved. We want to consult
with over 500,000 people in the Province, not just politicians.
We want to engage the public, not just all the parties that are
represented in this House.
When we
look at what is happening in other provinces, there are a few that have had a
select committee or an all-party committee, but the vast majority have followed
a similar process to what we followed, with considerable success.
One
province just released in December a brand-new mental health and addictions
strategy, which I have reviewed; I have it here with me today.
The Province of Saskatchewan has done some good work.
Many other jurisdictions in the country have as well.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, a lot of the issues that we are facing
when it comes to mental health and addictions services in the country are very
much the same from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
I think
we definitely need to learn from the experiences of others.
The core issues are very similar.
There is more demand for services today than ever before, and we need the
health care system to be positioned to respond to that.
The cost of services has increased, which is a challenge for every
government in the country, and we somehow have to figure out how to deal with
that.
People
have told us, through town halls like the member hosted, through our primary
health care summit, through regional forums that we have had in recent weeks and
months, that access to these services is a critical issue that needs to be
addressed.
Awareness is also a challenge as well.
What we have also learned is that sometimes people just do not know where
to go, they do not know who to call, and they do not know where to turn.
As the Minister Responsible for Health and Community Services, that
concerns me greatly.
We have
a HealthLine; we have a Mental Health Crisis Line.
We have hundreds of mental health service providers in our Province.
That is not to say we do not need to do more.
I am not suggesting for a second that the current service level is
adequate, but there are a lot of resources that perhaps are not being utilized
enough. Maybe people are not even
aware that some of those resources exist.
We have some work to do around that as well.
There
needs to be a greater focus on recovery.
We have seen that in some of the recent mental health strategies that
have been rolled out in other jurisdictions.
There needs to be a greater focus on prevention and early intervention.
Those are the kinds of things that I would envision a new mental health
strategy focusing on. In the next
few months we want to embark on a consultation process that will allow everybody
in the Province to have a say, because we want to make sure we get it right.
I am
committed to driving the kind of change that is required.
I am committed to addressing many of the points that are raised in the
motion today. I do not believe we
need to strike an all-party committee in order to do that.
I believe the approach we are going to take will achieve better results
faster, and perhaps more cost effectively as well, although getting the best
results is certainly my primary concern, and I will be accountable for that.
The
process we are about to embark upon is one that I would welcome all Members of
the House of Assembly to get involved with, and all of your constituents as
well. It is one that I am sure I
will be reporting on regularly to this House.
We have
a responsibility as a government to govern.
We have a responsibility to show leadership on the issues that matter
most to people in the Province. I
know that mental health is top of mind for many people living in Newfoundland
and Labrador.
As the
Health Minister, on my very first day on the job, I gathered some of the senior
folks in the department into our little board room and I outlined several
priorities. At the top of the list
was mental health. I really believe
we can do better and I really believe we must do better.
I believe society expects us to do better.
I think
some of the solutions that we can arrive at we actually need to work with the
community to put those solutions in place.
We have many organizations and potential partners in the community that
perhaps can deliver some of the services that are needed even better than we
can. We are very open to that.
That will all be part of the conversation that we want to have over the
next few months.
If there
is one issue as Health Minister I want to have an impact on and make a different
with in the months ahead, it is this one, I assure you.
I am prepared to be held accountable for that.
All we
are arguing about today is approach.
We are not arguing about the need to do better.
We are not arguing about the need for more support.
We are not arguing about the need for a new strategy.
We are arguing about what is the best way to achieve that.
I sincerely believe the best way to achieve that is the approach we have
been working on for several months.
The
Member for St. John's Centre referenced this debate being about hope.
I want to assure members of this House and, more importantly, the people
of Newfoundland and Labrador, the general public, that there are lots of reasons
to be hopeful. While we have come a
long way over the last decade, we still have a long way to go, but we now are
about to embark upon a process that will get us there.
I hope that our new mental health and addictions strategy will be the
best in the country and that others will look to us to show leadership.
I want
to join the Member for St. John's Centre in applauding the work of the Community
Coalition 4 Mental Health. I thought
the launch event, that I know the member was personally involved in, was
inspiring. I do want to also applaud
those who had the courage and the strength to share their stories, because that
is incredibly powerful.
The
member also references the work of Amelia Curran.
I, too, want to applaud that work.
I saw this video. I have
watched it many times. I have
tweeted about it. I have posted on
Facebook. I have encouraged others
to watch it, both inside and outside this House.
I have
also taken the opportunity on two occasions, maybe three, to meet with Ms Curran
and Mr. Maunder, the producer of that video, to explore how we can get that
message to more people, to explore how we can work together and perhaps
collaborate to raise awareness about the need for more people to get involved in
this process we are about to begin.
Also, we want to let people know there is hope, they can effect change, and
there is help available if they need it.
That is something I will continue to work on, and I certainly appreciate
the support we have received to date.
The
community coalition can play a very important role in this process as we move
forward. I have invited the
community coalition to meet with me.
I am looking forward to hearing first-hand their views and concerns.
I hope they can be part of some of the solutions that we will work
together on in the months ahead.
I have
also appointed two of the leading members of the Community Coalition 4 Mental
Health to our Ministerial Advisory Council on Mental Health and Addictions, and
I will be meeting with that group over the next couple of weeks.
I say that because I think that demonstrates how committed we are to
working with those in the community who have raised these very serious issues
and are committed to driving change, and are passionate about it.
I think there is a vital role for those folks to play, and I really do
welcome their input.
The
advisory council we have in place contains a number of people who are also
involved in the Community Coalition 4 Mental Health.
These are people the Department of Health and Community Services, and
other departments in government, are working with on an ongoing basis.
I see a greater role for that advisory council.
They are going to play a lead role in the consultations that are about to
being.
Mr.
Sheldon Pollett has been appointed as the interim Chair of the advisory council.
He works with Choices for Youth, which is an outstanding organization
helping some of our most vulnerable young people in this region.
He is well aware of some of the challenges facing our population when it
comes to mental health, particularly those facing our young people.
We have
great people at the table we are willing to work with to drive change and to
build a strategy that is going to improve mental health services in the
Province. I would argue perhaps even
transform mental health services in this Province.
There is
a role for other parties to play as well.
Debates like today are important.
I know we have differing views on how to approach this challenge, and I
respect that, but in terms of the process that we will roll forward with, I want
the continued input of the Opposition parties.
We had
the Premier's Summit on Health Care just last week.
I was pleased that both Opposition parties actively participated.
As they will recall, one of the major themes for the day was mental
health and addictions. There were
even some potential solutions that came about as a result of the discussions
that occurred through that one-day process.
Even in each of the regional forums that we held, and there were thirteen
of them over the last couple of months, mental health was an issue that was
discussed in each and every one of them.
Some of
the solutions are obvious. We are
challenged to redeploy resources and shift resources, and find new resources to
make things happen. We have to be
creative and we have to be innovative in doing so, but I believe we already know
a lot of what we need to do.
So, for
that reason, I am anxious to lead a public engagement process that makes sure we
arrive at the right solutions, and then let's get the strategy in place.
Let's debate it. Let's talk
about it. Let's find out who in the
Province and who in our communities can get involved in working with us to
deliver on that and make it happen, because the kind of change that is needed is
not change we can wait for years to attain.
Some of
the systemic change that is needed will take time, but there are things we can
do today and tomorrow. There are
things we can do in the months ahead.
I can assure you, the government that is led by our Premier is very much
committed to taking action and showing leadership because we all recognize the
importance of this issue.
I also
want to assure you that our team at Health and Community Services is willing to
meet with anybody who has a view to share, or a story to tell, or an idea, or a
concern, or a suggestion on how we can improve mental health services in the
Province.
I see
the member opposite shaking her head.
I can only stand before you, Mr. Speaker, and tell you that that
commitment is a sincere one, and we really believe that we can bring the right
people together to arrive at the solutions that are needed.
We have to come up with a strategy in the next few months that is the
right one. I do not think we need to
study it for months. I do not
believe we need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop it, because
I do think that in some cases the solutions are obvious.
So, let's make this work.
A select
committee would turn this into an event, and an advisory council and the
consultation process and the strategy ensures that this is a journey that is
ongoing, that everybody in the Province can be involved in.
We want to hear from people working in the system, from experts, from
consumers, from families with lived experience, and I am confident we can build
a strategy for the next ten years that will get us to where we need to be.
This
cannot be about petitions and speeches
MR. SPEAKER:
I remind the hon. member his
speaking time has expired.
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will
just conclude by saying this has to be about people and solutions, and I am very
much committed to that.
Thank
you.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the
Third Party.
MS MICHAEL:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
I am
very happy as the seconder of this motion to be able to stand and speak to it.
I have been here with all kinds of ways in which to proceed and I am
trying to decide which is the best one, but I think I am going to hit it head-on
and that is respond to the minister's position with regard to the all-party
committee.
My
colleague has eloquently expressed the needs in the Province.
I know in her summation today she will do that again, the needs with
regard to mental health care in the Province.
She has been eloquent in this House over the past months when we were
sitting in the fall and in the spring with regard to mental health.
What the
minister seems to be caught up on is the whole issue of an all-party committee.
I want to speak to this issue to try to get him to understand why we
think the all-party committee is necessary.
Just a couple of days ago, January 15, I think I am put off by the fact
that we are in the House in January, so I am getting my dates mixed up.
I am forgetting what month I am in because I think this is history making
that we are sitting here in January.
On
January 15, the Premier sent a letter to the Speaker of the House and has asked
the Speaker of the House to look at a number of things to help us work better in
this House of Assembly. That
specifically is one of the things that the Premier has asked the Speaker to do:
to put in place our Standing Orders Committee, which we do have, which never
meets, but we have it. I think I am
on it. To put that committee in
place and to ask it to look at how we operate in the House of Assembly.
The
issue of all-party committees or standing committees has been spoken about
publicly by the Premier and I think even by the Minister of Health and Community
Services. I remember some years ago
when I first brought up the issue here in the House of Assembly, the whole issue
of standing committees which are all-party committees and the fact that they
exist elsewhere in the country, and that we really need to use that structure
more here in our Legislature to have a more democratic process, the minister was
not a minister then and he actually one day said to me: Lorraine, I would like
to talk to you a bit about what it is you are talking about when you bring up
standing committees in the House. He
and I had a chat about it. We are
going to have another chat about it today, Minister, and why I think we need it.
We have
a Standing Orders book. For those
who are not part of this House this is the second time today by the way I
think somebody stood with the Standing Orders book.
I think the Government House Leader used it either today or yesterday.
Everything that is the rules to run how we operate here is in this book.
We refer to it, the Speaker refers to it, and House Leaders refer to it.
Under Order 65 or from Orders 65-70 we have Standing Orders that deal
with committees.
The
first committees that it deals with, you have Standing Order 65.
It has five sections to it and one section has seven parts to it.
It describes what standing committees are, who the standing committees
are in terms of what the titles of the standing committees are, and what the
function of a standing committee is.
The Standing Orders also talk about how many people, what would be the maximum
number for a standing committee, what they deal with, et cetera.
Under
section 65(5) it says that the standing committees are directed by the
Legislature. The Legislature gives
the work to the standing committees.
What they are then supposed to do is to examine and inquire into all such
matters as may be referred to them, and to report from time to time, and except
when the House otherwise orders, they can send for people to come in, witnesses
to come in. They can have access to
papers and records that are needed.
They can take that evidence and make recommendations back to the House.
They have the power to get the information that as individuals we do not
have the power to do here in the House and as MHAs.
The
all-party standing committees could be doing so much work.
Legislation, for example and my colleague referred to when I stood in
the House and talked about Muskrat Falls.
If our Resource Committee there is a Resource Committee on paper.
At the time of Estimates, we discuss the budgets.
That Committee can sit down and quiz the Department of Natural Resources,
for example, on how the money is being spent in that department and what is
going on inside of that department; but that is the only time that Committee
gets directed by this House to do anything.
If that
Resource Committee had been operative all year-round, as our Standing Orders say
they are they say they are operative all year-round.
If they operated all year-round, that Resource Committee could have taken
the legislation around Muskrat Falls, could have had a full and open debate in
the Province, could have gone around the Province and held public consultations,
and all the people who were trying to get their opinions out through talk shows
and through letters to the editor and in whatever way possible around Muskrat
Falls, they could have come to open meetings held by an all-party committee in
an open and transparent and accountable process and have been listened to and
perhaps when we had gotten to the legislation here in the House itself, we may
not have had to have filibustered for the numbers of days that we did because we
might have been able to do something working together in an all-party committee.
That is the purpose of an all-party committee.
They have them in Ottawa in the House of Commons, they have
them in other provinces, and they work.
It is surprising that even in Ottawa right now where we have, as we all
know, a pretty intransigent Prime Minister, one of their all-party committees
last year the makeup reflects the Legislature, so the majority are the
government people on it, but you have all the parties that are in Opposition are
represented. One of the committees
that they have actually made a recommendation to the government that the
government did not particularly like, but the standing committee, which was
dominated by the government people, made the decision to make the recommendation
to bring a motion through. So, an
all-party committee can be pretty powerful.
Now, you have the standing committees, but you also have
select committees. I think that my
colleague is aware of the fact that her motion, which I have seconded, is
referring to a select committee. A
select committee does exactly what it sounds like.
It is given a particular task to do, but
the rules that guide it are the same rules that guide an all-party standing
committee. A select committee is
also an all-party committee and the rules that guide the standing committee
guide them.
Now, I
went through all of that because I am using this as an opportunity to help maybe
start the discussion in the Province with regard to how we could be working
better, and this motion is giving us the opportunity to do that, to look at why
all-party committees are the way to go. One of the big reasons is because the
all-party committee is accountable to the Legislature, not just to the
government but to the Legislature. I
have no problem with advisory committees to ministers.
In my
past as a social justice activist in the Province, I actually sat at least twice
on advisory committees to ministers and it was a good process.
I have no problem with them.
Advisory committees are important; however, if you have an all-party committee
tasked to do something, that all-party committee is accountable to us here.
Everybody in the Legislature has to receive the report from the all-party
committee. The work they do has to
be public. It has to be seen.
People
who come and who present have to be it has to be an open process.
Obviously, there could be topics, and I think mental health care could be
one of those topics where maybe there are times there have to be in camera
meetings. Maybe if somebody wanted
to come and meet, they do not want to be identified publicly.
That could happen, obviously; however, the overall intent of an all-party
committee is to be public, is to have the resources to make sure that everybody
comes in and gets to say what they want to say.
With all
due respect to the minister, and I appreciate the process they went through with
the summit and with the regional meetings that led up to the summit that
happened last week, one of the things I heard at the summit in my own experience
was it was not open enough for just free discussion.
We did not have enough time for free discussion.
I was
glad I was invited by the Premier to be there, and I am glad that I went, but I
heard people say we did not have enough time.
It was a very planned session.
You had to do your comments within the plan that was set, whereas if you
have an all-party committee that is out in the community holding a hearing,
people come and they say freely what they want to say.
They do not have to do it within two minutes or three minutes.
They can sit there and they can speak, and they can make sure that the
all-party committee hears what is being said.
We have,
as has been referred to, in the legislation, a rule that says there has to be a
legislative review of our mental health care in this Province and how the
legislation around mental health is being followed.
There was a report in well, they did their review in 2011.
That was the first review, actually, under the new legislation.
The committee that did the review well, it was the Newfoundland and
Labrador Centre for Health Information, certainly an organization that has
people with expertise to do the work but not an organization that is accountable
to the House of Assembly. It is not
an organization that is ruled by the governing rules of all-party committees
that would allow for the kind of process that all-party committees would follow
if we followed our Standing Orders here.
Anyway,
the centre did do its work. They did
a report that was completed in April 2012, and released publicly in November
2013. Now, let's look at that.
They did their work in 2011.
They completed their work in 2012, and the government did not publicly put that
report out until November 2013.
I would
suggest to all of us to reflect on that, because if we had an all-party
committee that had to be making regular reports to the House of Assembly
because that is one of the rules for the all-party committees we would know in
an ongoing way what the work of the committee was coming up with.
They would have to make regular reports here to the House.
We would know what they were finding.
We would not have to be waiting two years.
I would
like to recommend to the minister that 2016 is the next year for the review to
be done of what is happening, according to our legislation.
It is every five years. The
last study that was done was started in 2012.
I would like to recommend to the minister that this would be such an
opportune time to put a select committee in place because that select committee
could do the work this year, in 2015 of gathering the information of what is
happening in the Province, of doing that under the rubrics of our all-party
committees, under our Standing Orders, which gives our committee so much power.
They
could start the identification of issues in a much broader way than what the
minister is suggesting. They could
start that identification of issues.
Then that committee would bring its recommendations here to this House and we,
as the Legislature, could identify, for whoever is going to do the review in
2016, what it seems like the review should be focused on.
The all-party committee has done its work coming up with the voice of
people in the Province, the experience of people in the Province, telling us
here in the House of Assembly what the issues are out there.
Then those recommendations go to the group who is going to do the review
in 2016 to see how to deal with those issues not just identifying what issues
are, but actually coming up with how to deal with them.
That is
my recommendation to the minister. I
am trying to explain to you why this process could actually do everything that
you are talking about but do it in a way that is open, transparent, accountable,
and accountable in a much broader way than an advisory committee to the
minister.
That is
not to insult you, Mr. Minister.
That is not to insult anybody on the committee.
I know the names of the people on the committee.
They are wonderful people who I think would be delighted if there were an
all-party committee put in place to do the work that is being referred to in the
motion that is here on the floor today.
I am
delighted the Official Opposition sees the wisdom of the all-party committee
being in place. I would like to
think the minister can change his mind between now and 5:00 o'clock and vote for
this motion.
Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
I remind
members of the gallery that you are very welcome to be here, but it is not
appropriate to participate in the debate on the floor.
I thank you for being here today, but it is not appropriate to
participate in the debate on the floor.
Thank
you so much.
The hon.
the Member for Baie Verte Springdale.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. POLLARD:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am
certainly delighted to stand in this hon. House today to speak to this very
serious, complex issue, illness that demands our fullest attention and that
pervades every crevice in our society.
My comments will be strictly geared to our social marketing campaign.
When you
get an opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to highlight mental illness and addictions, it
is a good thing. More talk and more
dialogue means that incrementally we are making a positive step, one more
positive step in the right direction.
One more conversation, one more dialogue, and one more motion is chipping
away at the stigma of mental illness and addictions.
We all want to slay this giant.
What is
a stigma? The Mental Health
Commission of Canada defines stigma as negative and unfavourable attitudes and
the behaviour they produce. It is a
form of prejudice that spreads fear and misinformation, labels individuals, and
perpetuates stereotypes.
This
cold, icy grip of mental illness tentacles reaches far and wide, Mr. Speaker.
It has no respect of persons, cultures, ages, or families.
It leads to exclusion, which leads individuals to internalize their
negative feelings, which leads again to lower self-esteem, lower self-concept.
This in turn, then, will lead to probably more isolation and more
secrecy, and that person or that individual suffering from mental illness will
be very reticent in talking about their illness.
They will keep it to themselves as a secret.
So this stigma attached to this mental illness is very serious indeed.
It is a real problem that needs our attention and needs everybody's
attention.
Stigma
against people with mental illness is oppressive.
It alienates. It prevents
many from seeking help, denies them access to the support networks and treatment
they need in order to recover from the illness.
Stigma
is pervasive. It often results in
inequality in employment, housing, education, loss of family, and, yes, friends
as well. This is a very eye-opening
statement: Many people living with mental illness or addictions say it is more
difficult to live with the stigma than it is with the disease or illness itself.
Wow, that should grab our attention, Mr. Speaker.
We know
that stigma excludes. It isolates.
It breathes secrecy. It is a
real enemy. If we slay this giant of
stigma attached to mental illness, it would certainly be a huge step forward,
Mr. Speaker.
I
believe we are making progress by talking about it today and I would like to
thank everybody, all stakeholders who brought this forward today.
By talking about it today in this House of Assembly, I think we make
incremental steps in slaying this giant.
One of
the greatest challenges in advancing mental illness and addictions awareness is
accepting the fact to eliminate the stigma, finding ways to eliminate the
stigma.
The
Provincial Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Council to the Minister of
Health and Community Services identified addressing this challenge as its top
priority and led the charge to develop a Province-wide, multi-year, anti-stigma
social marketing campaign.
In order
to gage the general public's attitudes and beliefs and to confirm existing
evidence of stigma toward those with mental illness and addition, the Department
of Health and Community Services commissioned the service of a local research
company prior to the start of the development of the campaign.
The
research methodology included Province-wide focus groups with individuals and
families with lived experience of mental illness and addictions, as well as a
Province-wide telephone survey of 600 people over the age of eighteen years.
Based on the research findings, Mr. Speaker, it was determined that the
most effective approach to changing attitudes regarding mental illness and
addiction is to normalize, so to speak, it by bringing awareness to the fact
that one in five of us will experience a mental illness or addiction in any
given year; that is 20 per cent of the population of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In May
of this year we launched Understanding Changes Everything, which aims to
challenge and ultimately change the way many people think about mental illness
and addiction. I believe we are all
learning incrementally about this serious illness.
There is a strong effort on everybody's part to understand, to listen,
and to demystify this illness. The
more we talk about it, we can demystify this illness.
The
campaign inspires hope and helps those of us who live with mental illness and
addiction toward recovery. Recovery
does not mean a cure; however, recovery happens inside of us when we have hope
that we can still have a meaningful and a full life, even with the symptoms of
an illness.
Recovery
begins when the stigma is sort of diminished and when we get all kinds of
supports that are available from our friends, families, clergy, counsellors,
what have you, Mr. Speaker. Recovery
begins when people feel that they are able to make decisions regarding their
lives. They take personal
responsibility for those decisions and have hope for themselves for the future.
I have
to reiterate, Mr. Speaker, we never underestimate the power of hope.
Hope is very powerful. It
empowers the individual to persevere, to carry on, and to believe that there is
light at the end of a dark tunnel. I
believe as a society we are providing hope to that individual who feels that
they just cannot carry on any more.
The
individuals featured in the Understanding Changes Everything campaign inspire
hope by portraying everyday people who, despite living with mental illness and
addiction, are leading fulfilling and successful lives.
Just like with cancer or diabetes, having a mental illness and/or
addiction, it is just one part of a person's life.
It does not define who that person really is.
The
first phase of this campaign is almost complete and consists of three television
commercials, online and cinema advertising, as well as promotion through social
media, including Facebook and Twitter.
The campaign has been well received by individuals and families with
lived experience of mental illness and addiction, community and advocacy groups,
and residents throughout the entire Province, Mr. Speaker.
In fact,
people have told us how moved they are when they see insightful and powerful ads
on television. For some, the ads
also elicit a very emotional and a very heartfelt response.
The next
phase of the campaign will focus on creating awareness and reducing stigma and
discrimination in the workplace.
Phase II of this campaign will be launched early in the new year.
This campaign is challenging each and every one of us to reflect on how
we think and act towards individuals with mental illness and addictions.
It all begins with just a little bit more of understanding.
One of
the most effective ways to decrease stigma is to take time to listen to someone
who has experienced a mental illness or addiction and really hear their story,
Mr. Speaker.
Stigma
reduction begins when we begin to understand and change how we think, how I
think, about the illness. The tag
line of our campaign, Understanding Changes Everything, reinforces this
sentiment. Residents are encouraged
to visit
www.understandnow.ca to view these campaign materials, learn about the mental illness and
addiction, and find ways to reach out to a family member, a friend, or a
co-worker with a mental illness or addiction, reach out for supports.
Whether it is by reaching out to a family member, a friend, or a
co-worker with a mental illness or addiction, each of us has an important role
to play in creating stigma-free communities, stigma-free towns.
Remember that understanding changes everything.
I
believe everybody in this House, everybody in this Province, without exception,
each person can make a difference how?
By simply listening, by supporting, by understanding this complex illness
with a very caring heart and an open mind.
I believe that this is occurring now and we all try to make improvements
to slay this giant that pervades everybody in this society and impacts every
single person.
I just
want to say thank you to the Minister of Health, thank you to the Premier for
their sincere leadership in this issue.
There is no question they are out in front of this.
I would like to thank the Opposition over here and the Third Party as
well, and all the stakeholders right across this Province for their initiative
and for their boldness in bringing this issue forward.
I really, really thank them because every dialogue, every conversation is
one step closer to everybody trying to understand the problems.
I just
want to thank the minister for his sincere approach to this.
I believe that the best approach is the path we are now on.
We just stay the course and I believe we will get the results we all
want, and that is to try to deal with the person with mental illness the best
that we can, and try to understand one another.
It
impacts every single family in some way, shape, or form.
As the minister said earlier, everybody in this House is impacted in some
way, just like cancer, just like diabetes, just like heart disease, and it poses
a severe problem. It will create a
lot of stress to families. It even
creates a lot of stress for the person going through the illness and disease.
It also creates a lot of stress to people who are supporting that person
with the disease.
It
really has a pervasive impact upon all of us.
I just want to encourage everybody on our side of the House this side
of the House, and all the stakeholders involved when we get together, when you
have the chance, make proposals or make suggestions.
I want
to thank you so much for bringing this forward.
I want to thank the opportunity, Mr. Speaker, for me to be able to speak
to this issue today.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for
Conception Bay South.
MR. HILLIER:
Mr. Speaker, it is my honour
to stand today and speak on this important issue.
I congratulate the Member for St. John's North in bringing this
AN HON. MEMBER:
Centre.
MR. HILLIER:
St. John's Centre.
The
Member for St. John's North suggested that I recognize him and I guess I got
caught up in it, but it is the Member for St. John's Centre.
I want
to welcome the people from Holy Heart.
I know that students at Holy Heart in the past months have put together a
strong, active group supporting mental illness within the school.
I congratulate them on that.
I want to talk a little bit about students in my talk and let you know where I
was coming from. I was a principal
of one of the high schools in St. John's at one point in time.
Mr.
Speaker, while mental illness transcends income levels and geographic
boundaries, these two factors play a huge role in how accessible treatment comes
about. For instance, if one of us or if a
public servant is having mental issues, we can avail of our Employee Assistance
Program. Early intervention, having
someone outside your social circle to talk to; we can do wonders for many
people.
If you
do not have private health insurance or an EAP, access is limited.
Wait times are too high. For
many clinicians in the private sector, accessing them is an issue.
Mental health care often comes too late, the issues develop into a more
severe situation, and by the time help is received it may be too late.
Private clinicians can take clients within a week or two, but many people
do not have the luxury of easy access to mental health services.
If you
do not have access, Mr. Speaker, the question comes: What happens then?
When people lack access, they self-medicate.
It is no wonder addictions issues are so prevalent when mental health
services are lacking. The OxyContin
crisis was just one example of the substance abuse crisis happening here in our
Province.
Mr.
Speaker, these are my briefing notes, as my colleagues across the way have
briefing notes. There are all sorts
of statistics involved and examples involved where multi-party committees have
been successful. I am sure if we can
move in that direction in this House it would be successful here as well.
I wanted
to move a little bit away from that today and just talk about and try to put a
personal face on some of these people we talk about who, as a result of not
having access, begin to self-medicate.
Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, I spent thirty years in a high school in
St. John's. I have colleagues with
me here in the House today or former teachers who will certainly be able to
follow what I am saying with some degree of agreement.
In the
last five years of my career in school I was involved in administration.
That was about the time of the OxyContin
crisis. My background is physical
education with a degree in leadership that brought me into administration.
I had absolutely no background in counselling.
I think I did one course in drugs and behaviour at university as many of
us did.
I found
myself towards the later stages of my career counselling five or six students
who were very much involved in this OxyContin crisis.
They were friends, they knew each other, and they knocked around
together. Teachers in the classroom
at times would have called them lazy, or they would refer to bad behaviour,
unmotivated, what are the parents doing, and so on.
For
whatever reason, they attached themselves to me.
I know my mother would say all you need to do is give somebody a hug.
Perhaps that is why they attached themselves to me.
We would sit down and talk very frankly about where they were with their
addictions, why they had gotten to where they were, and was there anything we
could do for them?
I have a
couple that I remember. That is
seven or eight years ago now, but I remember Bobby.
Bobby would come in and sit down with me at recess time.
How are you doing today, Bobby?
I am having a good day today, Sir.
What do you mean a good day today?
No pills yet, Sir. I said,
good Bobby. He said, I had a few
draws before I came in, but I have not had any pills yet.
That is the reality in Bobby's life, trying to sit Bobby down in a
classroom and teach him Canadian democracy while he is trying to figure where he
is getting his next pill.
Chris
would sit down and say, Mr. Hillier, you do not know what this is like.
This is Thursday. The seniors
got their cheques today. Tonight I
am going to get a call from a senior wondering if I want to buy their
prescription. He said, you do not
know what it is like, quote, to send a girl into a doctor to get a pill for you.
Mr.
Speaker, it becomes even worse when one or more of these students you lose.
I do not mean they quit school.
I mean they overdose. They
commit suicide. They die of an
eating disorder.
We think
in terms of parents having to bury their children, but I know the students at
Holy Heart understand what it is like when you lose and have to go through that
grieving process for a student. That
is the reality for these kids. We
try to make this non-political, but if there is money available and the money is
not being spent and these kids do not have access, it has to be political.
Mr.
Speaker, my son is thirty-one years old; I have a godchild who is also
thirty-one. She was born on June 28,
1983; John was born on December 28, 1983.
I have pictures of them as infants sitting in the bathtub, sharing a
bath. I was best man at their
parent's wedding, and we vacationed together.
I took my son to our church and they took theirs to their church.
She was a great pianist; my son was not.
Both of them were involved in sports.
In Grade
7 she started to self-medicate. She
has not been in school since Grade 7.
She had no access to treatment here in Newfoundland.
She went from thirteen to fourteen to fifteen as bad behaviour, lazy,
non-motivated. What kind of parents
does she have at all? They realized,
no, it is bigger than that.
She was
sent off to treatment centres on the mainland.
You can only understand it I guess from a parent's view, when you get a
call from Edmonton saying that your eighteen-year-old daughter is missing on the
streets of Edmonton. So you jump on
a plane and you go to Edmonton to try and find your daughter.
In the
meantime, and I guess I will let you know who that young lady is now, in the
mid-1990s there was a parent with her daughter who became the face of OxyContin
addiction here in Newfoundland. We
saw her in the court system; she is still in the court system.
I have talked to her dad, and her dad talks about driving her downtown
and waiting so that she goes to buy a pill and gets back in the truck to come
home. That is reality for some of
these.
Since
then, and I will not talk about her medical issues and so on, but since then she
has been diagnosed with mental illness that we did not recognize when she was
twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, because she did not have the access.
The schools she was at were like the school that I was at.
I was the principal trying to do this.
I had a guidance counsellor who really did not have the time to be doing
this; hence, she was undiagnosed.
She has since gone she has had a child.
It is questionable who the father is.
The grandparents are raising the child.
Today,
my son is a professional with Eastern Health and my godchild is in jail in
Clarenville. We will try to put a
cost figure on this, I suppose, at some point in time.
What would it have cost to provide the access to treatment to this young
lady who really should be at this point in time, a young lady raising a family
somewhere in Conception Bay South as a young professional working in some
department of government, but she is in jail in Clarenville.
Where does this end?
We go
back to the suicides and so on. I know my
friends have said how much longer can this go on?
One of these days she may be the next victim, but it all goes back to
access. I say again, I wanted to put
a personal face on this and you do not want to make it political, but it is
political. If there is not access to
facilities, if there is not access to professionals, it is an issue of choosing
where the money is spent and it is politics that determines where the money is
spent, then this is a political issue.
Chris
and Bobby are a good news story. I
ran into Chris just before Christmas.
He is driving a truck for a local building supply store.
He says he is doing well and said thank you, Mr. Hillier, for all the
time you spent with me. That is a
good news case.
Again, I
congratulate our colleagues on bringing this motion forward today.
The Official Opposition certainly supports it.
It is a chance for all parties, it is a chance for members of government,
it is a chance for the Official Opposition, and it is a chance for the Third
Party to sit down. My colleague
across the way talked about slaying the dragon, and it is a dragon.
It is a dragon of mental illness.
With all parties sitting down, it is an opportunity for everybody to have
a closer look at this.
Where do
we need to go? Where do facilities
need to go? Where does the training
for professionals need to go to make sure that people as I said, like Bobby,
Chris, and my godchild do not have to go through this again?
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER (Cross):
The hon. the Minister of
Education and Early Childhood Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MS SULLIVAN:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, today is one of those private member's bills that I am sure, in terms
of the general breadth of what is being discussed here, we all have some
commentary that we can make and we all have some experience that we can bring to
the table.
We know,
as has been said here many times in the House of Assembly, that one in five of
us faces a mental health issue over the course of our lives.
So look around, one in five of us here in this House of Assembly, one in
five in our families, one in five of our friends, one in five of every situation
in which we find ourselves will experience some form of a mental health issue.
It is serious. It is
something that we certainly need to be tackling.
It is something that we certainly need to grapple with.
Mr.
Speaker, in my previous, previous portfolio when I was the Minister of Health
and Community Services, I attended many federal, provincial, and territorial
meetings across this country with some of the brightest minds coming to speak to
us at many times. Mental health and
addictions would always be one of those areas.
It was
always for us one of the most difficult and one of the most emotional
discussions that we would have as ministers responsible for this particular area
of care of the citizens of our provinces.
If we could have found a simple and an easy solution, I think we all
would have come right on back to our provinces and we would have implemented
those solutions right away.
Mental
health and addictions is perhaps the most complex of issues that our
professionals deal with. We speak of
course of our professionals within the health care system.
We speak of our professionals within the education system because all of
us who have taught and spent any time in a classroom know as well that dealing
with children who present to us every day with mental health issues is very much
part of what needs to be happening in a classroom these days.
So many of us have had those conversations, have been part of reaching
out and trying to offer some help, trying to find the right access, trying to
find the right supports.
There is
no cookie-cutter answer to any of that, Mr. Speaker.
It has to do, though, with being open, it has to do with being aware, and
it has to do with the care and compassion that is needed to try to solve this
issue. That, I think, we have all
seen in many regards in many places, as we have looked at this growing demand
that exists for that kind of help and that kind of support.
Mr.
Speaker, in this Province today I know that there are thousands of people who
are employed specifically to help with mental health and addictions issues, for
every aspect of our society. Whether
it be the very young and we are kidding ourselves if we think that this is not
an issue for the very young whether it be for teenagers, middle-age people,
seniors, they are issues that every aspect of our society is facing; and so, the
thousands of good people who are out there within our systems who are offering
help are every day confronted with another person and another issue.
These
are caring, they are compassionate, they are knowledgeable people, and they are
working very, very hard to address the issues.
I am told that the most common of those disorders and issues that they
deal with have to do with anxiety and have to do with depression.
Those are the most common, I am told.
Compounding all of those issues, of course, would be the issue of stigma.
My colleague spoke of the issue of stigma, of discrimination, and of the
kinds of supports that have been put in place to try to deal with it.
We can only hope that those supports are going to make a difference
because every time we affect one, then we have affected more than that.
We have affected a full family of people who have been trying to deal,
and so on.
So, I
truly believe, and I have had opportunity to see first-hand some of the supports
that the Department of Health and Community Services has been working on around
eradicating stigma and discrimination for those people who have mental health
issues. Maybe we should not say
those people because it is us. It
is all of us. We have just said
that; it is one in five. For all of
us who are dealing with those particular issues.
I am
encouraged when I hear the Minister of Health talk about the consultative
process that he is about to embark on for the Province.
I think we are going to see good result from that particular process.
He is committed to doing what needs to be done, which is making sure that
we hear; but we also need to make sure that in hearing, we can listen and then
in hearing that we redeploy those thousands of people who I just made reference
to in our system so that we are certain that they are able to provide the
support where and when it is needed.
I think that is a major part of what we are going to learn that we are going to
need to do here.
The
questions are: Do we need more money?
Do we throw more than the $100 million at this and think that is going to
be the answer? Well, I am sure that
more money can always be a help, but is it the answer?
I suspect it is not; it can be part of the answer.
Does it mean that we have more and more people that we need to employ to
reach out? I suspect that can help,
but is that the total answer? I am
not sure of that either, Mr. Speaker.
So I am
looking forward to this consultative process that will help us and looking
across the country and, as the minister said, learning from other areas of the
country and beyond as to what makes the difference.
That, Mr. Speaker, I believe is very, very important to us.
Sometimes people are not aware of the help that is there, because there truly is
a fair bit of help that is available in the Province.
For anyone who is home and who is watching this right now, perhaps what I
should do is just give some examples of the kinds of help that they can avail of
at this moment in time and the things that are making a difference.
In
Harbour Grace, for example, there will be, very soon, a centre for complex
mental health needs for adults in this Province, where people can get
individualized help. In Paradise, I
know that for young people we now have a centre that is open.
It is a state-of-the-art facility that has employed some of the best
minds around mental health issues to try to deal one on one with our young
people who have mental health problems.
I have had the opportunity to tour that facility, to talk with people who
are working in that facility, and to see first-hand what a difference that
makes.
In my
own community, in Grand Falls-Windsor, there is a facility that is a mirror
image of the one that is in Paradise, but for people with addictions, where one
on one they can be given the help that they need and not have to go out of the
Province any more for that help.
Those areas, Mr. Speaker, will make great differences I believe in trying to
understand and change and meet the need that is out there.
We have
various organizations like Choices for Youth that are funded, and we all know of
the fabulous help that they provide for many, many people.
The Mental Health Crisis Line, which is operational twenty-four seven
and if you are out there now and you are listening and you need help, call that
Mental Health Crisis Line. It is
open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
We have
a psychiatric assessment unit as well at Eastern Health that is available to
people twenty-four seven. There is a
Mobile Crisis Response Team for the St. John's region as well.
We also have fifty-nine outpatient counselling offices located throughout
the Province. There are three ACT
we call them the ACT Teams the Assertive Community Treatment Teams in the
Province. Again, for those with
severe and persistent mental illnesses who require long-term support, these
teams are providing sensational help.
I have had, again, occasion through my work in the other portfolio to see
this work as well.
We have
twenty case managers who are working in rural areas.
So if you are in a rural area, do not despair and think there is no one
for you; there absolutely is. Call
your health authority, call the Mental Health Crisis Line, and ask where in your
area you can get this help.
There
are twenty outreach workers throughout the Province who are engaging with youth
at risk as well, Mr. Speaker, to provide support, to provide education.
There are approximately seventy psychiatrists, who are working in the
Province, and this number has grown over the past ten years and it now meets the
benchmark for psychiatrists that have been established nationally.
Every regional health authority is offering emergency mental health
services and the provincial health line also provides twenty-four seven support
and information.
Mr.
Speaker, I felt it important to put that out there because, again, as I said, if
we can provide hope for just one person this afternoon who sees that, who did
not know that this help was available because the stigma prevents them from
asking; the stigma often prevents them from looking for the help that they need.
In putting that information out there, I think it is very helpful.
Mr.
Speaker, in my role now as Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development
I understand very, very clearly that we have a role to play as well, the
Department of Education has a role to play, and I am especially encouraged by
what I am seeing happening from young people themselves, from our school
principals, our teachers, and other faculty members, our guidance counsellors,
our educational psychologists, and so on.
At Holy
Heart, just this past November, they had a mental wellness day, a very important
day. Workshops were provided for
students on mental wellness from yoga instruction to dealing with anxiety and so
on, information booths for students.
The Premier addressed that particular meeting and from that have grown the idea
of looking at a provincial mental health conference that I am very encouraged
by, Mr. Speaker very much encouraged.
Just
this last couple of days I learned from the principal at Beachy Cove Elementary
school of a forum that the principal and the teachers organized in that
particular school to meet the needs of younger students.
The principal was able to identify that over a period of time he had
dealt with somebody from every single grade level, in one particular day, who
presented with a mental health issue; an anxiety issue, a depressive issue, a
panic attack. He thought, I need to
do something about that.
I really
applaud the fact that our principals and our guidance counsellors are showing
the leadership that we want to see out there.
They are taking it to the next step.
They did what we always talk about in education, about saying that it
takes a whole village to educate the child.
They reached into the community.
They asked the community to come together.
The community did, of course.
Parents
though some were reluctant at the outset, I was told came and they were part
of that. Other community leaders
came and they too were part of that particular forum.
He said he sensed the community was now ready to begin the conversation
about child and youth mental health issues.
He said we frequently get calls about physical illness, but we rarely get
calls about mental illness. It is
telling. It tells us something again
about the stigma, and about that discrimination.
Mr.
Speaker, over 150 people came to the forum that was organized by the principal
and by the staff of that school.
What a benefit that is to all of the children who go to that school.
What an example it is to all others to consider getting involved, because
it truly is about the involvement of everybody.
Though I
laid out for you here this afternoon a number of different organizations and
professionals who are there to help, sometimes it is the touch of a parent that
can make the difference. Sometimes
it is the touch of a friend that can make the difference.
We have to be knowledgeable about all of that, ensuring that all partners
come together to make these differences, and see to it that we can be the
catalysts in all areas of our communities to eradicate this problem and to deal
with this problem, Mr. Speaker. I
have seen some great results, yet I know we have so much more to do.
I want
to thank the Member for St. John's Centre for bringing this to the floor of the
House of Assembly so that we can debate it, and so that we can be a part of
sharing and leading the awareness that needs to happen in all of our
communities. By communities, I mean
in all of our schools, in all of our health settings, and in all of our
fraternal organizations, or wherever five people are gathered to make a
difference. This truly is the way
that we are going to make some progress.
The
consultative process that we will engage in will also be very helpful to it, but
make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, this is something for every person in Newfoundland
and Labrador to get involved in.
When those consultations happen, I encourage everyone to come out, to respond,
to share, to offer your insight, to offer your story, and to be part of making
the difference that we all want to make here in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for Bay
of Islands.
MR. JOYCE:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will
just stand for a few minutes. I just
heard the minister speaking very passionately about mental health.
I am sure all members in this hon. House are concerned about everybody
and people with mental health issues.
I agree with the minister.
With all the services that are available out there we need to reach out.
We, as parliamentarians, need to put in place more structures for people
who need these services.
Mr.
Speaker, I just want to say upfront that I support this motion.
I will vote for this motion.
Anything we can do to support mental health, make it aware, bring it around the
Province, and set up a group of parliamentarians to hold public consultations,
hear the issues, and see what we could bring forward to this Legislature, that
is what we should be doing.
Mr.
Speaker, I heard a lot of comments here today.
I know my colleague spoke very passionately about this issue.
I know the Member for St. John's Centre spoke very passionately, the
Minister of Health, the member for Grand Falls spoke very passionately and also
the Minister of Education.
I am
just going to have a few words on it, Mr. Speaker.
Back in my prior day I worked with the Department of Social Services for
a while. I am going back to 1985,
Xavier House. I know the Member for
AN HON. MEMBER:
Humber West.
MR. JOYCE:
The Member for Humber West.
It is in his district. Back
in 1985, Mr. Speaker, there was a need in Corner Brook.
I was lucky enough to be working with the Department of Social Services.
I was one of the people who helped set up Xavier House in Corner Brook
and get it moving, realizing that there was a need for housing for people.
That was a long time ago.
There are still needs coming forth now.
Mr.
Speaker, one thing we do need are and I know the minister just mentioned it
also a lot more professionals, psychiatrists and counsellors available.
I am definitely not here today to stand up and try to throw any bricks at
anybody. Everybody in this
Legislature, I am very confident, will do the best that they can do to help out
this issue. I am confident.
Maybe we may have a different approach.
I just happen to think that this motion here on the table today is a
different approach so that we can all, as parliamentarians, come up with some
suggestions to bring forth to the House.
I just
want to give an example, Mr. Speaker, and this has nothing to do with mental
health. I was on a few committees
before. The FPI Act we travelled
around the Province. We came back
and made recommendations to the House.
That is what this is all about today, what we as a group can do to bring
here so that we can help strengthen the Legislature and strengthen the
Department of Health so that we can help the people who are most vulnerable out
in our society.
Mr.
Speaker, I know everybody heard this before, what if you broke your leg?
It is not a big deal. Let's
go get it fixed. Everybody has a
laugh and signs the cast. The minute
you have a mental issue, the minute depression sinks in, what do we do?
All of a sudden there is the stigma, we have to step back.
It is sad. This is part of
the education. We have come a long
way. When we were all young we would
see someone with a broken arm, we would sign their cast.
If someone has a bit of depression what do we do?
They are over in the corner.
Thank
God, Mr. Speaker, that everybody in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador is
becoming more educated. They have
become more educated. We are
becoming more educated, but we cannot give up the fight.
We definitely cannot give up the fight because this issue is ongoing.
I heard
the Minister of Education and the points she brought up, Mr. Speaker.
I know personally it affects families as a whole.
When you look at someone with a mental health issue through depression,
through anxiety, it is just not that person.
If it is a mother, it is the whole family.
If it is the father, it is the whole family.
If it is a brother, it is the whole family.
If it is someone who is working, it is someone in the whole workplace.
As the Minister of Education rightly pointed out, this has more
implications than just one person.
It is a whole family issue. It
becomes a society issue.
Mr.
Speaker, I am not here to criticize, I am just here to bring these issues forth.
One of the issues out on the West Coast services are one big thing is
housing. That is one big thing.
If you speak to the mental health advocates out on the West Coast, one of
the things that are lacking for people with these types of unfortunate
circumstances is housing, a place to go.
Sometimes they will need supervision, just like Xavier House.
I know the Member for Humber West was there many times.
We do not have enough housing for people with mental disabilities out on
the West Coast, and I am sure all around the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Mr.
Speaker, we also need a lot more services.
Now how those services are going to be provided is up for debate, but we
definitely need the services. I
refer back again to the Minister of Education.
Is it money? There has been a
lot of money spent on mental health.
It definitely has. Is it spent the
right way? That is the debate we
should have.
That is
why we need again, this motion, as a committee we can hear from professionals.
I am sure the Minister of Health, and I am sure the former Minister of
Health has heard from professionals, but it is for parliamentarians to hear from
professionals instead of having me standing up here as a Member for Bay of
Islands. You have to have a
professional out in front of me saying: here is what you need; here is the
approach we should take. I think
that is what we can do with this committee, Mr. Speaker.
I always
said it, Mr. Speaker, with depression and anxiety, it creeps up on you.
It just creeps up. A lot of
times we may know someone becoming withdrawn.
Mr. Speaker, I was a counsellor in my former days also, so I seen that on
a first-hand basis. I saw depression
on a first-hand basis. I saw the
anxiety.
Mr.
Speaker, I can tell you when someone gets into a mental illness of anxiety or
depression, you need professional help.
What we need to do is provide that professional help all across the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
That is why we need professionals to tell us where it should be, what
type of services.
Again, I
am sure we see a lot of places around where there are a lack of professionals,
and I do not think for one minute and I am not saying this and I want to make
it clear that anybody on the opposite side are trying to recruit professionals
for mental health issues in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
I feel everybody here would do whatever they can, but we need to see if
there is any way we can improve on that and bring in new ideas.
See if there is some way that we, as a group, can say: okay, here are
some recommendations we got from frontline professionals that we could bring
into the Legislature that we can incorporate into the Department of Health.
I heard
the minister speaking. Again, I know
first-hand in schools there are a lot of mental health issues with younger
people these days, a lot of mental health issues.
Mr. Speaker, if you speak to any professional in the schools, which I
have, if you do not find the problem and try to help solve the problem when they
are young, it is just going to grow and grow and grow into teenagers and into
adults. It is a serious problem in our
schools.
We have
a lot of professional, caring people who are working in the system, Mr. Speaker.
We have a lot. I know a lot
of them personally out on the West Coast.
I know the Member for Humber West also, Mr. Speaker.
MR. GRANTER:
(Inaudible).
MR. JOYCE:
No, I will tell you what I
was thinking. I was thinking about
you as the principal of the school.
I know because I dealt with the minister personally on some issues at the school
when he was principal. I am very
confident that he is well aware of some of the issues.
He is aware, if not well aware. I
know he is aware of the issues in the school.
Mr.
Speaker, we have to find some way to provide services in the schools, to the
elementary schools, to the junior high, to the senior high schools.
I am very confident that if we work at this together we are not going
to solve all of these problems. We
are not going to solve all of the mental health issues in the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador overnight, but if we can make a difference, I can
assure you, Mr. Speaker, that it is well worth it.
I will
take my seat now, Mr. Speaker. I
want to say I support this private member's motion that was put in.
I will gladly stand and vote for this private member's motion, because I
have been around this Legislature for many years.
I did
participate in sessions where parliamentary committees went out and brought back
valuable information to the House of Assembly.
I think this is what this whole process is going to do.
This is what this process is meant to do, Mr. Speaker, is get
professionals, not people in this Legislature who are saying, what do you think?
We are asking for professionals, to go out and meet with professionals,
get some recommendations, get some input.
That is what our role is.
That is what we should be doing because I can assure you, together we can make a
difference.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER (Verge):
The hon. the Government
House Leader.
MR. KING:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would
like to give notice of motion under Standing Order 11.
The House of Assembly will not adjourn tomorrow, Thursday, at 5:30 p.m.,
and further will not adjourn tomorrow, Thursday, at 10:00 p.m.
MR. SPEAKER:
Further speakers?
If the
hon. the Member for St. John's Centre speaks now she will close debate.
The hon.
the Member for St. John's Centre.
MS ROGERS:
Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr.
Speaker, sometimes the answer should simply be yes.
Imagine if today every member in this House stood up and said yes to this
motion before the floor. This would
no longer be a private member's motion, this would no longer be a motion just
for my caucus; this would be a motion from the whole House of Assembly.
Every
speaker today stood up and talked about the complex issues of mental health and
addictions. Every speaker stood up
and talked about how complex the solutions are, and everybody in this House
stood up and spoke about how much they care and how passionate they are about
it.
I
believe every speaker who stood up in this House and spoke in that manner, but
imagine if we all stood up today and said yes, we will work together, because
that is what this motion is calling for.
This motion is not calling for to take power from anyone.
This motion is not calling to trick anyone.
This motion is not calling to put anyone down.
This motion is saying: Can we all, as people elected on behalf of the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador, work together?
This
motion is about hope. This motion is
about respect. This motion is about
the future. This motion is about
battling the cynical notion out there about what politics is, about what our
Legislature is about. This motion is
about daring to dream that we can do the work of the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador. That is what it is about.
It is not to take power away from government.
It is not to take power away from anybody else.
Imagine
if we all said yes and worked together, because that is what the motion is
calling for. Again, I remind the
members of the tweet that Amelia Curran posted before we started our debate: I
am waiting on pins and needles to hear about today's petition that is put before
the House of Assembly.
There
are a number of people waiting on pins and needles, because this motion is on
behalf of the thousands of people who suffer from mental health issues and
addictions issues; their families, their friends, their communities, people who
work in this area, people who work for Eastern Health, who work for the regional
health authorities, people who work in community groups, who work for suicide
prevention, people who organized days in their schools, students who have
organized days in their schools. Do
you know how they did that? They did
that by working together. That is
what this motion is calling for.
This
motion is calling for the best. It
is calling for the best out of this House.
It is calling for us to dare to work together, to bring together the
energy and the resources from every caucus in this House.
If I am appointed by my caucus on such a committee, I will be bringing
the energy, the expertise in the community, and the commitment of every member
of my caucus. Therefore, I will also
be bringing the voices that are represented by every member of my caucus.
That is what we are asking for.
What in
God's name could be the reason to not?
What in God's name would be the reason to not say yes to this motion?
Would it be pride? Would it
be paranoia? I do not know.
There is no good reason not to say yes.
Sometimes the answer simply should be yes so that we can proceed and we
can work together.
Everybody who spoke today talked about the growing problem.
We all talked about the financial situation that we find ourselves in.
That proves a certain difficulty with a lot of challenges, a growing
problem with diminishing resources.
How do we ensure that we do it the best way we possibly can?
I was
told the other day that we have the highest number of public sector workers
using the EAP right now. We have the
highest number of public sector workers who are going for help because of
anxiety and depression. Some of them
are still feeling the effects of cutbacks in the past few Budgets.
We have a growing problem.
We also
know that there is a growing problem of anxiety among young people.
The students who organized their mental health day at Holy Heart, they
realized that, and what did they do?
They worked together. Students,
counsellors, teachers, community activists, and community support groups, they
all worked together. They will
continue to work together to come up with solutions.
This
motion comes from and reflects the desires and the asks from experts around the
Province. It is not simply my
motion. It comes from people who
have worked in the area for years.
It comes from some of our public sector workers, from some of our health care
workers, from teachers and counsellors, from students, from seniors, from
voluntary groups, from individuals.
It comes from people who have lived experience.
There are a number of people behind this motion.
They have the expertise. Why
in God's name would we say no to their expertise?
There is no good reason to say no.
There is absolutely no good reason to say no.
Why would the Minister of Health say he can do it better on his own
without us all collaborating and working together?
Can you
imagine if we all stood up and said yes to this motion today?
What we would be doing is we would be rolling up our sleeves as we walked
outside this door, as we walked outside this House, we would be patting each
other on the back and saying well, that was great; we can do this together.
We would be rolling up our sleeves saying let's get at it.
Because that is what we have to do; we have to get at it.
This involves people's lives.
Every
one of us in this House has a story to tell similar to our colleague from the
Official Opposition. I have a family
member who is twenty-one years old who started self-medicating with OxyContin in
the school yard, thirteen years old.
Put in jail at nineteen, rotting in a prison without programs.
We all have those stories. We
all have the stories to tell.
I did
not tell many stories today because what I want to do is I want to focus on the
possibility of us working together to make it better, because we all do know the
stories. We have lived them.
We have witnessed them. We
know, because we have to have hope and we have to have to resilience, we know
that we can all work together to make this better.
I do not
know how anybody who does not support this, who does not support this motion,
how you will speak to the people that you represent and say why you did not
support this motion, why you would not support all of us working together with a
common goal to make it better.
The
thing about a select committee is that it allows us to look at all aspects of
our government and our services through the lens of mental health.
We can look at our Department of Health and Community Services.
We can look at our Department of Justice.
A psychiatrist, Howard Sapers, said that our prisons have become our new
asylums. That is what we are dealing
with. So, with an all-party select
committee, we can ask for expert testimony from our Justice department and from
people who work in that area.
We have
to look at housing. A psychiatrist I
consulted with said: I cannot help my people get well if they do not have a safe
place to live. He said: There is no
way they can get well if they do not have a good place to live, a safe place to
live. We know that poverty and housing
are among some of the chief social determinants of health, the chief social
determinants of mental health. We
have to look at poverty.
We have
to look at seniors. We have a
growing population of seniors. Our
seniors are the most overmedicated and are falling into depression.
We have to look at youth at risk.
We have to look at our children.
Our children, particularly in rural Newfoundland, who have to wait up to
a year to two years to see a child pediatric psychiatrist, unless they end up in
the emergency at the Janeway.
We have
to look at our whole health care system.
We know in rural Newfoundland that family physicians are dealing with
mental health problems because the supports and the resources are not out there.
They are carrying the load.
We have to look at our education system: Holy Heart of Mary, over 1,000
students, and two counsellors and the counsellors are talking about the growing
incidents of anxiety and depression among students.
The
Minister of Education spoke this evening that mental health issues and
addictions issues are the most complex problems we face and have the most
complex solutions. She is right, and
so we have to bring everything to bear in order to be able to come up with
solutions that are effective.
I want
to thank my colleagues; I want to thank everybody who spoke today.
Not only do I want to thank all those who spoke, I also want to thank
those who have listened because, particularly in this area, we have to listen
with the real intent to hear, and that was our challenge today.
It is my hope that everyone in this House has really heard what has been
put forward today because, again, what has been put forward is not only my voice
or only the voice of those who have stood in the House, but the voice of many
people across the Province.
Again,
why would we not use every tool available to us?
In 2010, Ontario had a Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions.
I have their final report here.
Mr. Speaker, with leave, I would just like to read three lines from their
final report from the committee. It
is a very extensive and comprehensive procedure that they went through.
One
paragraph that the committee wrote in their final report and it was a letter
from the members of the Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions.
It was a select committee with members from each party, Each of the
province's three political parties was represented on the Committee by Members
who volunteered to serve because of our personal commitment to people living
with a mental illness or addiction.
Regardless of our political convictions, we recognized that we must do better.
All Ontarians must get the mental health and addictions care they
deserve. We worked cooperatively
throughout our entire mandate, and we hope that this spirit of collegiality will
influence those who must now implement our recommendations.
Mr.
Speaker, that is what we are calling for here today: the possibility of us all
working together with respect, with the spirit of collegiality so that we can
influence altogether that we can influence how we will go forward in
addressing the very, very complex issues of mental health and addictions
services in our Province.
I would
like to point out that the Premier in his leadership bid for his party talked
about modernizing our Legislature and using the MHAs more effectively.
Also the Minister of Health said in his platform for his leadership race,
I will form an all-party committee to guide the Open Government Initiative from
action plan to fruition. That is
what we are calling for. We are
asking him to do the same thing on the issues of mental health.
Mr.
Speaker, I want to again thank this House for the opportunity for presenting
this motion. I would like to thank
my colleagues who all spoke and who all listened with the intent to truly hear.
I would like to finish one more time with my colleague from the very end
of the line there, from St. Barbe, who said to me: Sometimes the answer simply
should be yes.
Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. KENT:
A point of order, Mr.
Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
The hon.
the Minister of Health and Community Services, standing on a point of order.
MR. KENT:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise
on a point of order. I realize I
have had an opportunity to participate in the debate today, and I assure members
opposite and all members of the House that I have listened carefully and I am
sincere in saying that this issue, mental health is my number one priority as
the Health Minister.
The
Premier has followed the debate carefully today.
I know colleagues on all sides of the House have followed it closely and
we need to make the system better. I
think we can do it by working together.
I have
followed the debate closely today, I have listened to what people have had to
say, and I am prepared to modify the process that I was proposing to accommodate
some of the wishes and desires that have been expressed here today.
For that reason, Mr. Speaker, I intend to support the motion.
Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Hear, hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
Order, please!
There is
no point of order.
Is the
House ready for the question?
Shall
the resolution carry?
All
those in favour, 'aye'.
SOME HON. MEMBERS:
Aye.
MR. SPEAKER:
All those against, 'nay'.
Carried.
This House now stands adjourned until tomorrow, 1:30 p.m.