Please be advised that this is a PARTIALLY EDITED portion of the House of Assembly sitting for Question Period on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The edited Hansard will be posted when it becomes available.

The entire audio/visual record of the House proceedings is available online within one hour of the House rising for the day. This can be accessed at: https://www.assembly.nl.ca/HouseBusiness/Webcast/archive.aspx

Oral Questions

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Thank you, Speaker.

Gas prices continue to rise in our province daily, and it’s now at least $2 a litre in every part of our province. The last time this happened, the then Leader of the Opposition was enraged, and now he’s Premier and he’s patting himself on the back for not cutting taxes.

Can the Premier tell everybody what his plan is to provide relief to the people of this province at the pumps when it is clear this problem is not going away?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, as I have said before, it’s a terrible situation that’s happening right now in the world with this war in the Middle East and the impact that it is having on the people that live in that particular part of the world, but it’s also having an economic impact, as the Leader of the Opposition refers to, not only in our Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, but also in our entire country.

Gas prices are skyrocketing, but they would have gone up by another eight cents a litre if we had not stepped in and made sure that that reduction was permanent, which we did, because right now, as of today, if we did not do that, gas would be up an additional eight cents, and there was nothing in the Liberal forecast to make sure that that wasn’t going to happen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Speaker, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are not asking for taxes to stay the same. They’re asking the gas tax to be lowered.

I’d like to remind the Premier of a comment he made when he was in Opposition in 2022: We all know this is an international issue. At the same time, the provincial government does have levers that it can pull to help the people of our province.

Premier, listen to yourself, pull the levers and lower the price of gas.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, I say again, that’s why we took the action we did to make sure that this decrease is permanent, because we will ensure that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have the lowest gas tax of any province in the country.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, we are listening to the people in Newfoundland and Labrador. That’s why we’re bringing in measures, not just about gas tax, but affordability and other measures in the cost of living, which will see more money in people’s pockets after our budget is announced.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: Speaker, it’s not just about the price of gas because high gas prices mean higher shipping costs, which businesses often have no choice but to pass onto the consumer. For those living on fixed incomes, especially our seniors, that means choosing between heat or food. Speaker, that quote is from February of 2022, and it’s from the now Premier.

Again, why won’t he listen to himself, take his own advice? I’ll put it in words that I know he understands: Why won't he axe the tax?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Thank you, Speaker.

The Leader of the Opposition, now, has used levers a couple of times citing the Premier in past statements in the House. Notice that levers are plural. He seems to focus on one lever, but he ought to know that there are many levers that can be used to put people’s money back in people’s pockets.

The Premier said, numerous times, that we’re going to lower taxes.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

C. PARDY: We’re gong to improve affordability and all we would need for the Leader of the Opposition to do is sit and listen to the budget that will come up very shortly and look at those levers that we are using.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: I’d like to know where the levers are because it’s been six months and not one lever has been pulled. Not one lever has been pulled. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians do not want to wait and should not have to wait. They are feeling the pain now.

So I say to the Finance Minister, if you know where the levers are – and you know where they are and how you can pull them – why won't you pull them today?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Speaker, we said that we were going to make sure that we were going to plan efficiently. We know where the levers are. We know where the levers are. They don’t know where the levers are and in 10 years of government, I can tell from the budget and the deficit that they, certainly, didn’t know where the levers were.

Now, all I would say is that the Leader of the Opposition would know that this budget is coming very soon.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

C. PARDY: This budget is coming very soon. I would ask him just to be a little more patient and I would think that the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador are going to be pleased, as will the Leader of the Opposition.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: The Minister of Finance is missing the point. It’s not about me. It’s not an answer that I want for the sake of the House of Assembly. I’m asking on behalf of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are sick of being patient. They cannot afford to continue to pay for the high cost of gas and other issues in this province. Affordability is getting worse under this administration because they are not pulling the levers that only the Finance Minister seems to know where they are and he refuses to pull.

I ask the Finance Minister: How much extra revenue is in the coffers of the Newfoundland and Labrador government since oil skyrocketed by over $50 since he took over?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, not nearly enough to cover the deficit that they left with us.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, a very, very miniscule fraction of the debt that they left us. The only thing being is that the platform that this previous government, the Opposition has read numerous times, would know that we talked about affordability. We talked about lowering taxes and –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

C. PARDY: The Leader of the Opposition would know that I stand today knowing that I think and would hope that affordability issues will be address through the upcoming budget.

SPEAKER: The minister’s time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: That’s fine, I mean they can continue to say patience, but I can say that people are running out of patience. They’ve waited for their income tax cut; they didn’t get it. They waited for a tax cut on the gas; they didn’t get it. They waited for medical travel to be free that was promised; they didn’t get it. They waited for free hospital parking; they didn’t get it.

So, Minister, I’ll ask you: When will you table the budget and deliver on what you promised for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, we’d be very pleased to announce in very due course and short course when the budget will be delivered, but you can rest assured that he will have a front-row seat to listen about all the affordability issues that we’re going to pass on to Newfoundland and Labrador.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Again, the Leader of the Opposition got focused on one cent extra for gas tax without looking at other levers that are going to put money into people’s pocket. Any cent and any dollar that’s put back into residents’ pocket, it’s a good measure. The only thing being, we wanted to make sure that we have targeted measures for those most vulnerable.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.

J. HOGAN: The Minister of Finance should speak to the Government House Leader who’s in charge of the Order Paper. The only reason I focused on that one lever, it’s because it’s the only relevant piece of legislation that’s come to the House of Assembly to deal with affordability in the last six months. So if you want us to continue to talk about other levers, I would suggest bringing forward the other promises you made.

Where is the legislation on the income tax cut? Where are the other promises that you said you were going to deliver on because they haven’t come to this House of Assembly?

So we focused on what was brought, but unfortunately what was brought was not enough for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: The Leader of the Opposition, he missed a question, but the only thing I would say is that in response to it, he focused on one lever. We know the budget is coming. I’m not sure whether they had pre-budget announcements or not. The only thing is that we are going to deliver what was in our platform in very short course. The only thing being is that what may different from us and the previous government, which we will debate in the PMR this afternoon, is planning efficiently.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: We have planned it out and we’re not going to have kneejerk reactions in order to send something out for the sake of sending something out – planning efficiently.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Mount Scio.

S. STOODLEY: Thank you, Speaker.

I’m certainly glad to hear that the Conservative government will be putting forward the Blue Book in the upcoming budget which is what they promised Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

So if they won’t assure the public, if they won’t confirm the date for the budget, can they assure the public that the House will not close early this spring?

Thank you, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Order, please!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, in the answer to that I’m going to put out a prediction. A prediction will be that we will sit longer for every sitting than what the previous government has sat in the past six years. Will we sit for our full term –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

C. PARDY: – this siting, absolutely.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Will we possibly need more time, absolutely.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The minister’s time has expired.

C. PARDY: Thank you very much.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.

L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, on Monday the Leader of the Third Party rightfully pointed out the Minister of Health’s about face on medical transportation from when she was on this side of the House. She has gone from promising free medical transportation for everyone, everywhere, all the time to defending hefty bills incurred by patients.

So on behalf of the people I’m hearing from: Why hasn’t the minister done anything to improve medical travel in the past six months?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Thank you, Speaker.

I want to point out, just because people on that side tries to mislead and take things out of context of what I’ve said and what I’ve done, Speaker, it doesn’t make it true. The truth is we are working now for this budget to deliver on the medical transportation program, delivering it to 100 per cent, Speaker. We are working on that and we’re going to do that.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Ten years of Liberal government, Speaker, they didn’t do that. In our first term of sitting, in actual fact, Speaker, we’re working on that and we’re going to deliver, Speaker.

That’s the difference between a Liberal government and a PC government, we take action.

SPEAKER: The minister’s time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.

L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, because the minister does get upset when she says we don’t quote her properly, on December 15, 2020, she asked then Minister Haggie: Will this government commit to changing the Medical Transportation Assistance Program to allow for 100 per cent reimbursement of travel costs for people who have to travel for medical reasons? Yet, now, patients are being forced to pay out of pocket.

Why does the minister say one thing on this side of the House and a different position on the other side of the House?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, the good thing about actually being in government is you have the opportunity and the privilege to take action to help people. We are going to deliver on our Blue Book promise about expanding MTAP coverage to 100 per cent, which is what the Liberal government, when they were in power, refused to do.

We are going to enact change and, in actual fact, we’re going to look at affordable travel, not just for patients, but for every passenger that wants to travel in Labrador. That’s something that is significantly different than what those Liberal MHAs who are in Opposition did when they had the chance. They failed to deliver. We are going to deliver.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.

L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, can the minister please tell residents why they haven’t done anything to deliver on their promises in six months? Still no free medical travel for everyone everywhere all the time, still no free hospital parking –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

L. DEMPSTER: – still no medical shuttle flights from Gander.

Why is the only thing this minister has done is cancel a hospital and let her boss pay for political advice out of the MCP fund?

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, the MHA who asked that question, who was actually a Cabinet minister, either when she was in government didn’t understand how government works, which will explain a lot of the failures, especially for Labradorians –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: – or, while they’re in Opposition, they’re trying to actually mislead.

We are going to deliver on our commitments. The thing about it is we have to work on MTAP. We have to make sure that the system is properly put in place. We are going to deliver with that; 10 years of Liberal government, they didn’t.

We are into six months, we are actually taking action. The other thing is, we are going to actually take action and not just talk about it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: I say to the Member, I wonder where that freight boat is. Is that being sailed yet?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of TI said there were flawed tenders for roadwork that had to be cancelled, which is concerning.

Can the minister tell us what those flaws were?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

B. PETTEN: Thank you, Speaker.

Officials found there are flaws in their tender specs that come in. At first glance, they didn’t think it was an issue. We were discussing whether you award these tenders. They came back and decided that this was flawed. There was no decision – no decision needed to be made. It was done at a different level. They were just cancelled and, I guess, there is a lot of it being re-tendered or whatever. It’s just an operational thing. It wasn’t my decision, I say to the hon. Member.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: I’m not sure I got an answer from that. I’m just wondering, in terms of – because there are two sides to – the tender is released. Contractors bid on it. So was it flaws on behalf of the contractors or I’m not sure. I’d like for some clarity on that from the minister.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

B. PETTEN: Thank you, Speaker.

The flaws, I think, were on behalf of the contractor. They never met specifications so when it was reviewed, there was an oversight at first review and then when they looked at further it was deemed to be non-compliant. So, basically, it was like any non-compliance. When it was discovered, they had to cancel the tender. So, again, it never made it to me.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Can the minister tell us how many contracts were cancelled because of those flaws?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

B. PETTEN: I’m not sure how many were cancelled because of flaws, but I will tell you there were some cancelled because of price. It’s an issue that I’ve been very adamant about with the industry and the public and I’m continuing on.

The prices are out of control and in your 10 years in government, your time as minister, I don’t understand. I know where I’m looking when they say the Leader of the Opposition. I don’t understand why you could, collectively, sit there and –

SPEAKER: Address the Chair, Minister.

B. PETTEN: – and let prices get out of control in this province like you did. Now we’re left, again, with another mess to try to fix the prices to get roads paved in this province and we will do it.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune.

E. LOVELESS: Mr. Speaker, I seek more clarity, but I don’t have the time for it. But I’ll ask the minister: What was the cost associated with cancelling those contracts?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

B. PETTEN: Yes, I say to the Member opposite, it was a lot less than what we should have been paying. We saved a lot more than what we should have been paying.

When anything is over-budget, our responsibility is the public purse. As Members of this government, we have the responsibility to the public. It’s not our money. They thought it was their money in their 10 years. We know it’s not our money. It’s the public purse. We will do what we can to protect the public purse.

I really don’t care what the amount was. If it’s over-budget and I feel it’s not properly priced, we will not commit to tendering any work if it’s overpriced. It needs to be re-tendered and get a better price because the public deserves better.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Corner Brook.

J. PARSONS: Speaker, as a new MHA trying to deal with health care issues for my constituents, NLHS patient relations isn’t being responsive and senior staff and telling me to contact the minister’s office. After reaching out to the minister’s office, we’re being told to deal with NLHS.

What am I supposed to do? Who’s in charge of making decisions related to patients? Should I be calling Des Whalen instead?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

L. EVANS: Speaker, really, honestly. As Minister of Health, I just want to acknowledge that there are a lot of issues in patient relations and it wasn’t addressed, Speaker. But now in government we are actually taking action. We are actually working with Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services. They’ve actually increased the staff at patient relations. That’s just starting to take effect now, Speaker, something that was failed to be done by the Liberal government. We deal with so many patient relations because there was a failure to address the need to actually have it properly staffed.

We are taking action and that action is going to benefit patients who are looking for answers for their complaints and their concerns and their appointments, Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s West.

K. WHITE: Speaker, residents in my district now routinely see heavily armed police responding to criminal activity. In a recent CBC investigation shows that the number of guns being seized by police in this province is now at a record high. The RNC said – quote – sooner or later somebody is going to get hurt.

What is this minister’s plan to get guns off our streets?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER: Speaker, I can say that our government is committed to ensuring that there’s public safety in our towns and communities throughout the province. We are looking at properly resourcing policing. We are investing in our police and law enforcement in the province. We will be tackling crime and reducing the amount of crime in our province. We will be looking at taking criminals off the street. We will be hiring more police officers, more RNC officers, more RCMP officers. We’re going to be looking at investing not only in policing but in the courts and in the corrections, the entire criminal justice e system.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s West.

K. WHITE: Speaker, the cost of living continues to climb and residents in my district are feeling the pinch. The Conservative platform claimed that there were over 300 unnecessary taxes and fees that would be eliminated. They’ve since adjusted the sugar tax from zero to zero and gas from 7.5 to 7.5.

Can the minister please tell this House what fees and taxes he’s eliminated in the past six months?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Under the theme, Speaker, of planning efficiently, these were all the fees and fines that this government brought in in 2016 – 2016, 300 of them.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, if there were 30 of them, we would have it done by now, but there were 300.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

C. PARDY: So I would say, we –

SPEAKER: Order, please!

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the minister.

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, thank you very much, but listen, it takes time to go through all the fees and fines that they put out there, but I can tell you, we’ve started the review –

SPEAKER: The minister’s time has expired.

C. PARDY: – and it’s extensive.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Placentia - St. Mary’s.

S. GAMBIN-WALSH: Minister, as the cost of living continues to rise, provinces like Alberta, New Brunswick and Quebec have indexed their income support.

Will this government include indexing of income support in the upcoming budget?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, we know what we’ve been left with as far as the deficit and the debt. We also realize about people need affordability issues and we need to put money into people’s pockets and into their households. We hope to achieve to the best of what we’re able to do in this upcoming budget, to make sure that we put more financial resources, money, into people’s pockets, including some of the most vulnerable that we have in our province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Placentia - St. Mary’s.

S. GAMBIN-WALSH: Speaker, no answer for income support, and I was here in December of 2015, and I do remember what we inherited at that point.

So I’ll ask this: Minister despite your commitment yesterday to fix housing, rent supplements have been unavailable for months.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

S. GAMBIN-WALSH: What is your plan to meet the demand you already know exists?

SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. the Minister of Social Supports and Well-Being.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

J. WALL: Thank you, Speaker.

I’m so happy she asked that question because when I came into this office on October 29, I wasn’t able to give out one Canada Housing Benefit because it was all gone from the previous administration.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

J. WALL: Not one. Not one. I said yesterday –

SPEAKER: Order, please!

J. WALL: If they want to hear the answer, I expect them to listen.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

J. WALL: I listen, and I show respect –

SPEAKER: Order, please!

J. WALL: – every time I stand in this House.

Thank you.

Speaker, we have a plan to address that as we go forward. As my colleague, the Minister of Finance said, we are looking at all options to avail of when we help out our most vulnerable population.

As in the words from the opposite: stay tuned.

SPEAKER: Order, please!

The hon. ministers time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

J. DINN: Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker, a litre of gasoline is above $2 for the first time since 2022. The Opposition Leader is calling on the Premier to cut the gas tax, the Premier is asking the prime minister to help with gas prices and there are rumours from the Minister of Finance of a budget with affordability measures.

So I ask the minister to confirm the rumours and tell the people today when exactly he will deliver the provincial budget so they can see for themselves the promised affordability measures? Will it be this week?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, it will be forthcoming in short course, as to the date of when the budget will be delivered.

I would say to the hon. Member that we do have affordability issues that will be coming in the budget. You’ve really read a platform, and the platform is what we’re going to deliver on.

We do feel that with the amendment, of which the Third Party and the Leader of the Opposition and his team had presented, was to reduce gas by one more so that the hon. Member for Ferryland, when he filled his gas tank, would save 50 cents. We think we need targeted approaches out there for the most –

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

C. PARDY: – the most needy in our province.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s East - Quidi Vidi.

S. O’LEARY: Speaker, on the topic of rental relief, the minister responded to my question on rent control saying he is passionate about people and that he will continue to meet with stakeholders, as he has been doing.

So I ask the minister: What stakeholders has he engaged since being elected directly related to rent control?

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Government Services.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

M. GOOSNEY: Thank you, Speaker, a very important question

As before, when I was a mayor, I used to consult with lots of other communities. I’ve done that since being in this role.

I’ve also met with – I’ll answer the question straight up – tenants, landlords, Association for New Canadians, real estate brokers. I will be meeting with NLAR, which I was a part of and know them as professionals, SeniorsNL, counterparts across the country and I spend evening and evening after evening after evening looking for solutions to improve our legislation for all of us.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party – quick question.

J. DINN: Speaker, of course affordability could be significantly helped by the Guaranteed Basic Income.

So I ask the Premier: While we’re waiting for the Minister of Finance to choose a date, will he commit to releasing the report of the All-Party Committee on Basic Income this week?

Now, I have a copy here. We can release it together following Question Period, it he likes.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board for a quick response.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

C. PARDY: I’d like to borrow a term from the Leader of the Official Opposition: we stand for collaboration over confrontation. Anything that we can stand with you to share, to make better and to improve we will certainly stand with anyone.

The Guaranteed Basic Income, we can speak highly of putting money in people’s pockets who need it most. It’s great. The only thing being that we would look at, we would like to instill it and put it out there, guaranteed. We need the federal government’s help. We need to make sure that we don’t have a debt around $20 billion. We need to make sure that we don’t have $1.1 billion in interest charges on the debt.

SPEAKER: The minister’s time has expired.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.

E. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, the roads on Route 450 and 440, in the Bay of Islands are in need of repairs. These routes are heavily travelled by residents and tourists. The traffic with heavy trucks, due to the Baltic III shipwreck, has caused major damage to Route 450.

I ask the Minister of Transportation to have these routes reviewed and repaired where necessary.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

B. PETTEN: Thank you, Speaker.

I thank the Member for the question. I’ll say what I say to a lot of Members in this House on all sides. When we get contracts and we see where we are to with prices, because I stated just now in Question Period, we have to get the prices under control.

So I’ve made a commitment, if we get prices that are in line and we can find savings, we can find extra monies, I’ll definitely review his roads and I’ll review other roads, not just on any side of the House that need repair, but, right now, I make no commitments until we get pricing back and we see where we are to with our budgets.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.

E. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, safety is a top priority for all residents and town councils in Humber - Bay of Islands. I will be travelling with the staff to prioritize safety concerns for Route 450 and Route 440, to ensure the safety areas are prioritized.

I ask the minister to have these priorities reviewed to keep Route 450 and Route 440 safe for the residents and the tourists.

SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

B. PETTEN: Thank you, Speaker.

I have no issue with having any route reviewed. If the Member opposite wants to have those routes reviewed and he brings people out, like anywhere in the province, because we have to review most of the roads in the province.

Actually, there is a review, there is an idea of what kind of condition they’re in, staff are doing it on a regular basis and I have no problem with those roads as well. We make decisions at a later time, depending on the budgets, of course, and getting the work done, but we will definitely be able to look at that and other roads.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

SPEAKER: The time for Question Period is now expired.

Please be advised that this is a PARTIALLY EDITED portion of the House of Assembly sitting for Question Period on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The edited Hansard will be posted when it becomes available.