No. 11/2021
House
of Assembly
Province of Newfoundland & Labrador
_______________________________________
1st Session – 50th
General Assembly
________________________________________
Wednesday, June 9th,
2021
ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS
(a) Statements
by Members
(b) Statements
by Ministers
(c) Oral
Questions
(d) Presenting
Reports by Standing and Select Committees
(e) Tabling
of Documents
(f) Notices
of Motion
(g) Answers
to questions for which notice has been given
(h) Petitions
ORDERS OF THE DAY
1. – Address in Reply
2. – Committee of Supply
Second Reading Bills
3.
– Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act To Amend The Elections Act, 1991”. (Bill
No. 1)
(Government House Leader)
4. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An
Act Respecting The Protection Of The Health Of Persons Exposed To Radiation And
Respecting The Safety Of Persons In Connection With The Operation And Use Of
The Electrical And Mechanical Components Of Radiation Producing Equipment And
Associated Apparatus”. (Bill No. 6)
(Digital Government and Service NL)
5. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An
Act To Amend The Vital Statistics Act, 2009”. (Bill No. 7)
(Digital Government and Service NL)
6.
– Second Reading of a Bill - “An Act To Amend The Children, Youth And Families
Act”. (Bill No. 11)
(Minister
Responsible for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation)
7. – Second Reading of a Bill – “An
Act To Amend The Income Tax Act, 2000 No. 2.” (Bill No. 15)
(Finance and President of Treasury Board)
8. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An
Act To Amend The Securities Act.” (Bill No. 16)
(Digital Government and Service NL)
9. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An
Act To Amend The Lotteries Act.” (Bill No. 18)
(Finance and President of Treasury Board)
10. – Second Reading of a Bill - “An
Act To Amend The Vital Statistics Act, 2009 No. 2.” (Bill No. 19)
(Digital
Government and Service NL)
MOTIONS
1. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER
OF FINANCE AND PRESIDENT OF TREASURY BOARD – To Move “That This House Approves
in General the Budgetary Policy of the Government”. (Budget Speech) (Adjourned)
2. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER
OF FINANCE AND PRESIDENT OF TREASURY BOARD – To Move that the House Resolve
itself into a Committee of the Whole on Supply to Consider a Resolution for the
Granting Of Supply to Her Majesty”. (Bill No. 8)
3. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER
OF FINANCE AND PRESIDENT OF TREASURY BOARD – To Move that the House Resolve
itself into a Committee of the Whole to Consider a Resolution Respecting the
Imposition of Taxes on Tobacco”. (Bill No. 13)
4. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER
OF FINANCE AND PRESIDENT OF TREASURY BOARD – To Move that the House Resolve
itself into a Committee of the Whole to Consider a Resolution Respecting the
Imposition of Taxes on Personal Income”. (Bill No. 14)
5. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER
OF FINANCE AND PRESIDENT OF TREASURY BOARD – To Move that the House Resolve itself
into a Committee of the Whole to Consider a Resolution Relating to the Raising
of Loans by the Province”. (Bill No. 17)
6. − THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER
OF FINANCE AND PRESIDENT OF TREASURY BOARD – To Move that the House Resolve
itself into a Committee of the Whole to Consider a Resolution Respecting The
Imposition of Taxes on Carbon”. (Bill No. 21)
7.
− THE HONOURABLE THE MINISTER
RESPONSIBLE FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS AND RECONCILIATION AND MINISTER RESPONSIBLE
FOR LABRADOR AFFAIRS – To ask leave to introduce a Bill entitled, “An Act
Respecting The Renaming Of Red Indian Lake”. (Bill No. 12)
8.
− THE HONOURABLE THE
MINISTER OF MUNICIPAL AND PROVINCIAL AFFAIRS – To ask leave to introduce a Bill
entitled, “An Act To Amend The Coat Of Arms Act”. (Bill No. 20)
9. –
MR. PAUL DINN (Paradise – Topsail) – To Move:
“BE IT RESOLVED that the House urge the Government
to implement an approach to collaborate with stakeholders so as to directly
deal with improving access and removing barriers to mental health and addictions
services in response to the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
10. – MR. PAUL LANE
(Mount Pearl – Southlands) – To Move:
“WHEREAS the cornerstone of any democratic
society is the right for citizens to choose their representatives to serve in
the legislature;
WHEREAS the process for electing their representatives
must not only be carried out in a fair and impartial manner with all of the
appropriate checks and balances to ensure this principle is upheld, it must be
perceived as being conducted that way;
WHEREAS the recent NL Provincial General
Election has brought serious allegations, numerous concerns and inconsistencies
to light including but not necessarily limited to the following:
-
Certain
individuals knowingly being permitted to vote by telephone in contravention to
the Elections Act.
-
Ballots
being hand delivered by the Chief Electoral Officer to acquaintances and
neighbors.
-
A
number of computer and phone line crashes at Elections NL, including on the
final evening to apply for ballots, leading to numerous citizens who applied
within the established time line, not receiving a ballot.
-
An
under-resourcing of Election NL’s Call Center which lead to citizens having to
call numerous times to get through to apply for a ballot and some simply giving
up out of frustration and not getting a ballot at all.
-
Individuals
being provided ballots in person and over the phone without any verification of
identity and/or address.
-
Individuals receiving incomplete ballot kits.
-
Individuals
receiving multiple ballots.
-
Ballots
being sent to the wrong civic address.
-
Individuals
applying for ballots on-line or by telephone not receiving their ballots and
upon inquiring with Elections NL being told they had no record of their
application and were subsequently denied their right to vote.
-
Indigenous
citizens being denied their right to vote due to language barriers not
addressed by Elections NL
-
Numerous
concerns with the process implemented by Elections NL relating to the
scrutinizing and witnessing of the opening, counting and recording of the
ballots.
-
Allegations
of Elections NL staff taking ballot kits and other related materials to their
homes, as well as further allegations of individuals being permitted to print
their own ballots which were subsequently accepted by Elections NL.
WHEREAS in a VOCM news story of April 9,
2021 an anonymous whistleblower inside Elections NL was reported as making the
following observation:
“The
former employee claims that an apparent lack of direction exacerbated an already
difficult situation, comparing it to a “three-ring circus.” That included the
sudden change in Election NL’s in-house voting software and a registration
process that they say left the door open to potential voter fraud.
The
worker tells VOCM News duplicate and even triplicate ballots were sent out
after some voters reported they hadn’t received their ballots and because of
the volume of requests, verification of a voter’s name, age and address became
difficult, if not impossible, especially in households with more than one
voter.
Their
conclusion? “This election should have been delayed,” says the worker, because
decisions were made “hastily, with no forethought” and that the election was
not “well planned” or “well-executed.”
WHEREAS the Chief Electoral Officer stated
publicly prior to the election that Elections NL was prepared and able to
successfully conduct a pandemic election and this was obviously not the case.
WHEREAS the Chief Electoral Officer has
the ultimate responsibility for the carrying out of fair, democratic elections
in the province of NL in accordance with the provisions of the Elections Act, 1991 but preliminary
evidence suggests that he has fallen short in this regard;
WHEREAS the Chief Electoral Officer
reports directly to and is responsible to this
Honorable
House;
WHEREAS we as Members of this Honorable
House have a responsibility to the people of NL to ensure that all of our
Officers of the House of Assembly, including the Chief Electoral Officer, are
carrying out their duties in an ethical and competent manner;
AND WHEREAS Section 5.3 of the Elections Act, 1991 which states:
The Lieutenant-Governor in Council,
on resolution of the House of Assembly passed by a majority vote of the members
of the House of Assembly actually voting, may suspend or remove the Chief
Electoral Officer from office because of incapacity to act or for misconduct,
cause or neglect of duty.
THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED that the
House of Assembly approve the following actions:
-
Development
of a terms of reference for and Initiation of an independent investigation of
the recent provincial general election to be carried out by an individual or
entity as agreed to by all parties and Independent Members of the House.
-
Upon
completion of the investigation, tabling and debating of the report in the
House of Assembly including whether or not section 5.3 of the Elections Act, 1991 should be applied
based on the findings of said report”.
11.
– THE HONOURABLE THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE LEADER – To Move pursuant to Standing
Order 11(1) that the House not adjourn at 5:30 o’clock p.m. on Thursday, June
10th, 2021.
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Published under the authority of the Speaker of the
House of Assembly by the Queen’s Printer