May 27, 2026 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS Vol. LI No. 32
Please be advised that this is a PARTIALLY EDITED portion of the House of Assembly sitting for Question Period on Wednesday, May 27, 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
SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition – my goodness.
J. HOGAN: It’s been a long couple of weeks.
SPEAKER: It has been. It has been.
J. HOGAN: No worries.
Speaker, as we all know, seniors are so important to Newfoundland and Labrador and what they’ve done to develop and grow our province. We owe to give back to them now that they’re in their senior age.
When we were in government, we did things like make sure shingles vaccines were available for free for everybody over 50.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
J. HOGAN: We created the ability to make sure seniors could age at home in this province. We had new, innovative solutions in the red book as well.
So I ask the Premier: What is his government doing that’s new and not piggybacking on Liberal ideas for the seniors of our province?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, no piggybacking. We didn’t piggyback on any initiatives they had.
I raised – and many people on this side of the House last year – about increasing the Seniors’ Benefit. I would think Hansard will show that probably no less than six times we’ve advocated to increase the Seniors’ Benefit for seniors.
We have increased, by 20 per cent in this budget, seniors. We’ve also looked at seniors who wish to remain in their own homes, mostly served in rural Newfoundland. We’ve doubled the amount of grants that would be available for people to get work done on their houses for low income. Home Modification: we’ve doubled that. We care deeply about seniors –
SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. minister’s time has expired.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
J. HOGAN: I agree with the Finance Minister. He’s not piggybacking on Liberal ideas because we promised to double the Aging Well at Home Grant.
I ask the Minister of Finance: Why won’t he commit to using that Liberal idea to provide seniors the money they need to age well at home?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
C. PARDY: Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition stood up and referred to there are other levers we can use.
The goal that we would use to put levers and put money into people’s pockets in rural Newfoundland can take many facets, and we’ve had many uses of the word “levers.” How we put money into the seniors’ pockets in Newfoundland and Labrador can come in a variety of ways. The ones that I mentioned in response to my first question was one way of putting money into people’s pockets.
We’re on the first year of a four-year term. We’ve said clearly – the Premier said – that we can't do everything in the first year. We care deeply about seniors, Speaker, and we’ll continue to look after the welfare of seniors.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
J. HOGAN: I think what people are hearing is that seniors weren’t prioritized in this budget, if you’re waiting for year three or year four.
Speaker, this government only budgeted $3.5 million for physician recruitment in this budget. By comparison, when we were in government, annual investments in recruitment and retention incentives exceeded over $10 million.
I ask: How does the Premier expect a significantly smaller investment to deliver better results for patients who are still waiting for access to primary care?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
L. EVANS: Speaker, we are investing in recruitment and retention, but more importantly, we are looking at, now, the problems – the deep-rooted problems – of recruitment and retention and how it’s done through the office of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services.
We are working with the CEO co-operatively. We’re engaging and what we have to do is make sure that regardless of how much money is spent that, in actual fact, when a doctor or a physician or nurse practitioner or a nurse or an LPN calls the recruiting office or emails the recruiting officer or reaches out and wants to have a job in Newfoundland and Labrador, that someone’s going to answer the phone and get back to them.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
J. HOGAN: Speaker, beyond the unionized nurse locum expansion with the RNU, which is primarily aimed at reducing dependence on travel nurses, we’ve yet to hear of any other specific recruitment and retention initiatives of the government. We know that there’s an issue. People want solutions.
I ask the Premier: What exactly is this government doing differently to recruit and retain health care professionals in our province?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
L. EVANS: Speaker, to be quite honest, I have been bombarded with people reaching out to me who want a job, want to work here in the province as a nurse, as an LPN, as a nurse practitioner, as a doctor and they’re not getting any replies back. There have been deep-rooted issues with retention and recruitment with the work that was done under the former Liberal government – 10 years.
The front-line workers and people who are out there doing the work, who want to work with us, they want to do a good job, but in actual fact, a lot of times I’ve heard from Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services people that their hands were tied. Their hands were tied when it would come to developing, delivering services.
SPEAKER: The hon. Minister’s time is expired.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
J. HOGAN: I appreciate the Minister of Health is talking about what’s happening in this time frame as we go forward, but if doctors and nurses are calling her and not getting responses back, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians need to know why aren’t they getting calls back.
If there are doctors and nurses willing to work in Newfoundland and Labrador and the minister is telling Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that those people aren’t getting a call back, I can tell you that’s not a good retention plan, that’s not a good recruitment plan. So why are these people not getting calls back?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
L. EVANS: Speaker, in October and November, lots of calls. In actual fact, we have now begun to task, in October and November – have taken action to make sure that the phone will be answered.
Speaker, really, honestly, you know what I inherited? I inherited a recruitment and retention office where there was actually a lot of barriers. Also, people actually called and complained about not getting an answer. If they called patient relations for the whole province, patient relations had three active people answering complaints for the whole province and for management. That’s the mess that I was left with, really, honestly.
Speaker, there have been huge issues – huge issues – where money was not properly invested, recruitment wasn’t actually properly done.
SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. minister’s time has expired.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
J. HOGAN: Speaker, we recognize that there was an issue with regard to recruitment and retention and making sure people got calls back. That’s why during the course of the campaign we made a promise to streamline the process and consolidated NLHS and the Department of Health recruitment and retention efforts.
So all I’ve heard is that in the last seven months –
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
SPEAKER: Order, please!
I only want to hear the Member.
J. HOGAN: – people continue to call; there continues to be a recognition of an issue. Actually, it sounds like there’s continuing to be a problem, that they’re not getting calls back.
What steps has the Minister of Health taken to fix this problem?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, let’s talk about some of the things we’ve actually done and are actually continuing to do. I recently went to a nursing graduation in Corner Brook; 50 out of 52 nurses have accepted full-time (inaudible).
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WAKEHAM: That’s leadership. We’re introducing paid work terms for nursing students all over Newfoundland and Labrador.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WAKEHAM: We’re actually putting money in the budget to make sure that the nursing classrooms that are set up in Grand Falls, Gander and Labrador are actually filled with nursing students, which they haven’t been in the past. We’ve also turned around and invested money into making sure that technology is there to make sure that the workers of Newfoundland and Labrador have the resources they need in our health care system.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Official Opposition.
J. HOGAN: Speaker, that’s not what we heard at the RNU breakfast. The Premier must have been listening to different people at that breakfast because students are still saying that they’re not hearing from recruiters and retainers.
Speaker, is the Premier committed to legislation which will mandate a safe nurse-to-patient ratio, which we heard about it from the RNU this week. If so, when can the province and when can nurses expect this legislation to be tabled in the House?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, Minister of Health and I have met with the Nurses’ Union on several occasions. We are working with them to develop solutions in Newfoundland and Labrador because that’s exactly what we’ve said since the beginning: if you want to fix something, go talk to the people that work in it. That’s what we’re actually doing. The minister is actually going out and talking to people that work in the system. Let’s talk about some of the things in the system they did: opening up buildings and not making announcements for teams and not funding them.
Speaking about not funding things, Speaker, let’s think about the report that was issued yesterday. A shameful report from the Auditor General’s department on a deal that they made, and they turned around and left 30 beds in the so-called facility that was really needed, vacant.
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
SPEAKER: Order, please!
L. DEMPSTER: Thank you.
Last week, the Premier sent a letter to other party leaders twisting serious concerns about decorum into complaining that he was asked questions about individuals like Dr. Whalen and Jerome Kennedy. The Premier is missing the point. The questions are about the Premier’s decision to pay political staff from MCP funds. Further, when he was an Opposition leader, the current Premier asked about political staff at least a dozen times in Question Period.
Why was it okay for him to ask about staff, but it isn’t okay now?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, let’s talk about staffing. Let’s talk about the staff in 106 Airport Road, the report that was released yesterday. Let’s talk about that for a second.
Talk about the fact that instead of turning around and accepting the recommendations of that report, the former minister of Housing and the current Member for Conception Bay East - Bell Island actually took exception to the report, actually challenging the accounting knowledge of the Auditor General.
That’s what’s going on. Acknowledge the fact that these recommendations were made and we need to move forward. They made a bad deal and it’s time for them to acknowledge it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.
L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, there’s many people the Premier could ask, but I would encourage him to start with the City of St. John’s. When you’re dealing with the vulnerable, it’s more than an exercise in accounting.
In Estimates, it was confirmed that Dr. Whalen spends very little time in the Department of Health with the minister and her officials, and that his involvement with the department hasn’t been much more than an occasional walkover some times or talks on the phone.
How can the Premier stand by his comments that Dr. Whalen is only hired to provide health care advice.
SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, let’s talk about homelessness. Let’s talk about the fact that 30 beds were left. Thirty beds were left. They paid for them, but they were never funded.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
SPEAKER: Order, please!
I want to hear the Premier, and that’s the only person I want to hear right now.
The hon. the Premier.
PREMIER WAKEHAM: Again, Speaker, 34 individuals who transitioned to independent and permanent housing between June ’24 and December ’25 resulting in an average total cost of approximately $706,000 per person. That’s what the Auditor General is talking about.
There was no plan. That’s the whole problem. There was no planning done and it cost the people of Newfoundland and Labrador significant amounts of money because they did not have a plan on how to deal with homelessness.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair.
L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, the people of the province want to hear from the Premier too. They want to hear answers to those important questions that they’re bringing to us. If that is the case, we have another document that we received through ATIPPA request that shows Dr. Des Whalen is working on non-health care files.
Will the Premier finally confirm Dr. Whalen is being paid with MCP funds to do work that has nothing to do with health care?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
PREMIER WAKEHAM: Speaker, again, while the Member opposite may not care about homelessness or don’t think it’s important, I certainly think it’s important. The report that was issued yesterday, Transitional Supportive Living Initiative from the Auditor General, and the fact that the Members opposite are trying to dispute the Auditor General, an Officer of this House of Assembly, and to say that her accounting and – let me quote: the accounting methodology that was used is not the way I would have done it. Now, that’s directly from the Member for Conception Bay East- Bell Island. I assume it’s the same accounting they used when they put all the money for the tobacco settlement in the budget in one year.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Cartwright- L’Anse au Clair.
L. DEMPSTER: Speaker, I have the minutes here from the last Education meeting – actually, early childhood that Dr. Whalen attended.
Speaker, unfortunately we keep learning more scandalous details about the Premier’s decision. We knew the Premier inappropriately paid staff from MCP funds to get around salary limits, but we just learned in budget Estimates that the Premier didn’t even bother to adjust the Premier’s office salary budget accordingly.
Why has he secretly padded his political staff by an extra $275,000 from MCP and tried to get away with it?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
B. PETTEN: Speaker, why don’t we talk about stuff that’s really important to this House of Assembly? Why don’t you talk about stuff that matters to the people of the province? Because it matters to me because it’s public money being spent here, a lot of public money. In my opinion –
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
SPEAKER: Order, please!
We are this close from speaking privileges being taken away. Final warning.
The hon. the Minister.
B. PETTEN: Thank you, Speaker.
A lot of public money being spent and I take that seriously. I’ve always said it’s not our money, it’s public money.
Speaker, another point. Despite pointing out the urgent need for transitional housing, the former government did not use emergency or urgency exemption to procure the facility, which would have allowed only a 12-month contract. Instead, they used the exemption for a particular space, which allowed them to sign a three-year contract without a competitive process.
Can they explain that to the people of the province?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Conception Bay East - Bell Island.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
F. HUTTON: Mr. Speaker, if the minister wants to talk about public money, we can talk about the $275,000 for a part-time political staffer in the Premier’s office, the only person I know of who is getting a bonus this year.
It gets worse, Mr. Speaker. We discovered in budget Estimates that the Premier’s former deputy chief of staff, Steven Outhouse – who is now the chief of staff for Pierre Poilievre in Ottawa; no connection of course to this party here, they try to deflect all the time, which is a partisan political position – was secretly being paid through, wait for it, Cabinet Secretariat as professional services to his consulting company.
Why does the Premier think it was appropriate to use this public funding when he has a budget in his own office for this type of job?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
B. PETTEN: Speaker, I ask the Member opposite for Conception Bay East - Bell Island: Has he seen this report? Because we have. A lot of people in the province have. A lot more will hear about it and see about it.
This man stood on media outlets and he’s criticizing the AG. I’ve been around this House a long time, it’s unheard of to be publicly criticizing a statutory Officer of this House of Assembly. They cannot defend themselves. It’s terrible. It’s a bad show for democracy.
If they want to talk about all the other stuff, maybe they have to look in the mirror, Speaker, because what I’m hearing on the radio and what I’m hearing in the news from this Member opposite is shameful. He owes an apology to the AG and he owes an apology to this House of Assembly.
Thank you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Conception Bay East - Bell Island.
F. HUTTON: Mr. Speaker, I heard the Premier quote me from the radio interview that I did this morning and he’s right. I did say that, and I said at the very end of it: In my opinion.
It is my opinion that the 150 people who went through Horizons at 106 should have been counted in that formulation – the numbers.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
F. HUTTON: Speaker, 40 people are now not chronically homeless because of it. They are trying to sensationalize it.
So back to the question that they’re not answering. Mr. Outhouse’s title was deputy chief of staff and continued after the Premier was sworn in. That’s a political role and it was inappropriately paid for out of funds budgeted for non-partisan bureaucrats.
Why is the Premier once again skirting the political staff pay scales, this time paying a political operative through a corporation?
SPEAKER: The hon. the –
F. HUTTON: And he’s already doing it from MCP as well.
SPEAKER: Order, please!
Your time has expired.
The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
B. PETTEN: I’ll say it again, Speaker: this is what people are talking about. There is no one in my district or any district talking about the nonsense that we’re hearing across the way. It’s pure deflection. We will not let them deflect. Maybe they can answer me something because I happen to attend Cabinet every now and then too.
On November 29 the owner of the Airport Inn sent a lease proposal to the corporation. Now that happens the day before. Less than 24 hours out – I would say in about 16 hours – it ends up in the Cabinet room and recommended leasing the Airport for three years, which is against (inaudible) and should have only been 12 months. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed that afternoon.
Can anybody in this Legislature or anybody who is ever sitting in a Cabinet room tell me this makes sense? It doesn’t make sense. It stinks. The Member opposite and the Opposition should apologize to the people of the province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Conception Bay East - Bell Island.
F. HUTTON: Mr. Speaker, I will now make an apology for not putting a price on a person’s mental health for addictions and the treatment they need.
I ask the Member opposite: What price do you put on a person’s life?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
B. PETTEN: Speaker, I refer to that as a bit of a cheap shot. There’s no price on a person’s life.
We have a responsibility in this Legislature – when you sit in this seat over in your government, you have a responsibility to manage an $11-billion budget. These people were homeless. They were in the tents. We didn’t appreciate – no one liked that. No one liked to see it – nobody did, especially the government opposite when they were government, the Opposition when they were in government. They took an action.
It wasn’t about saving a life because there were other programs without the city. We could help them out. This is about tradition. At $700,000-plus a year – and they went and capped the number to 75 at a loss of $1.5 million in keeping those rooms empty. Can anybody explain that to the people of the province?
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Mount Scio.
S. STOODLEY: Thank you, Speaker.
The Auditor General’s website says her office is independent of government and works in a non-partisan, fair and transparent manner. Yesterday, the Auditor General said to the media that she provided the report on 106 to the minister a month ago, so she could get on the same page with government.
Why was the Minister of Housing working with the Auditor General for the last month to get on the same page?
J. KORAB: (Inaudible.)
SPEAKER: The Member for Waterford Valley, you need not speak any further today. You will not be recognized.
I forget who was even going to answer. I’m sorry.
The hon. the Minister of Social Supports and Well-Being.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
J. WALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If the Member opposite has that question, she should direct it to the Auditor General. I met with the Auditor General at 8 a.m. in the morning before she released her report. That’s when I met with the Auditor General.
The staff from Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation were continually back and forth with the Auditor General and her team to ensure that this report was done correctly. Had the former Liberal government followed the public procurement process and all the rules and regulations, we wouldn’t be here today with an Auditor General’s report.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Burin - Grand Bank.
P. PIKE: Mr. Speaker, since the pandemic, chronic absenteeism among high school students has jumped from roughly one in four students to nearly one in three.
I ask the minister: What specific actions is this government taking to address this growing crisis?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
P. DINN: Thank you, Speaker.
Under this previous government, we saw chronic absenteeism in kindergarten to Grade 6 peak at 11 per cent; for Grade 7 to Grade 9, peak at 22 per cent; Grade 10 to Grade 12, peak at just below 34 per cent. In our seven months, those figures have dropped respectively to 10 per cent, 16 per cent and 28 per cent.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: Order, please!
The hon. the Member for Burin - Grand Bank.
P. PIKE: Speaker, does the minister acknowledge that chronic absenteeism is directly impacting student achievements, graduation rates and classroom outcomes across Newfoundland and Labrador?
With one-third of our high school students now considered chronically absent, which is what we’re going on, what benchmarks has the minister set to reduce absenteeism and when does he expect to see results?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
P. DINN: I totally agree with the Member. It is serious. In seven months, we have seen results and we are going to continue to see results.
We are not going to sit on this for 10 years. We’re not going to do that. We’ve seen it decreased; it’s going to continue to decrease.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Placentia - St. Mary’s.
S. GAMBIN-WALSH: Speaker, homeless encampments have appeared on Signal Hill.
What is the minister’s plan to help these people? Or did he agree with the Auditor General that it is too expensive?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Social Supports and Well-Being.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
J. WALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can certainly say had the former Liberal administration done the proper planning, we wouldn’t be here today. We would not be here in the situation we are today.
Mr. Speaker, the Members opposite certainly have their opinion on the Auditor General’s report, but I can certainly say that the Auditor General provided this report on facts. The facts stand in this report.
We will adhere to the report and we will do the proper planning going forward. We’ll also follow the Public Procurement Act to make sure that we follow the Minister of Finance’s words of spending smarter and spending wiser.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s East - Quidi Vidi.
S. O’LEARY: Speaker, after all the advocacy from community groups like Act Now, CUPE, Unifor, We’re Here For You and our caucus, finally seeing intimate partner violence declared an epidemic is great recognition for survivors and families. We all say thank you.
Now we get down to work. Speaker, a CBC report today said the Justice Department does not have data on how many cases have been tossed owing to trial delays.
Will government put supports in the Justice system so the trials dealing with allegations of sexual assault are not dropped?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Justice and Public Safety.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh, oh!
H. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER: Speaker, we recognize the impact of Jordan cases on our Justice system. Immediately upon becoming Minister of Justice I took action to ensure that our Public Prosecutions, for example, would be supported. That’s why we see, in Budget 2026, 14 new Public Prosecutions resources, which includes six new Crown attorneys and eight support staff.
This investment also includes digital modernization, which will also assist in relieving the pressures within the courts and within Prosecutions, so that cases can be heard on their merits. This is action we’ve taken and we’re very committed to it to ensure public safety.
SPEAKER: The hon. minister’s time has expired.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
J. DINN: Thank you, Speaker.
The Auditor General report on housing and Transitional Supportive Living Initiative indicates serious problems with the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation.
I ask the minister: What measures has he taken to address and rectify these problems since taking office?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Social Supports and Well-Being.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
J. WALL: Thank you, Speaker.
I thank the Member opposite for the question. This is the second report from the Auditor General that our government has accepted from the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation. There’s a pattern from this former Liberal administration.
Mr. Speaker, what we are doing, we doing all that’s recommended within the report. We have started that from the first report and we’ll continue with this one. I can assure, not only the people of this House but the people of the province, that we will, under the leadership of this Premier, do what is right. We’ll do it right as we go forward and not to be caught, because no one in the province wants to see another report like this one.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Leader of the Third Party.
J. DINN: Thank you, Speaker.
The Minister of Housing has promised that all residents of Horizons at 106 will be rehoused before it closes at the end of the year. Many residents have already given up hope and expect to be on the street.
So I ask the Minister of Housing: Is the plan to place residents in Newfoundland and Labrador Housing units?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Social Supports and Well-Being.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
J. WALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member opposite for the question.
We have a plan going forward. That’s why in Budget 2026, we included additional funds for Newfoundland and Labrador Housing to ensure that we hire staff to make sure to get our units under Housing Corporation repaired and back into the fold. We will use those units for the people of 106 Airport Road. We’ll also use the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Benefit to help support them as they transition into community.
Mr. Speaker, I have said many times – and as early just before I came to this House of Assembly to the media – that we will leave no one behind from 106 Airport Road. These are people. These are people who are important to us and we will support them as we move forward.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.
E. JOYCE: Mr. Speaker, health care is the number one issue in the Corner Brook area. Patients in Corner Brook have been advised that the rheumatologists who have been travelling to Corner Brook since 2020 for follow-up appointments will cease these services. Residents will now have to travel to St. John’s for these follow-ups.
I ask the Minister of Health: Will your department have this matter reviewed immediately and begin recruiting for rheumatologists for the West Coast to ensure that patients can receive the treatment on the West Coast and not travel to St. John’s?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
L. EVANS: Speaker, the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands is correct; we heard the same thing. We’ve become aware that a rheumatologist has decided to stop providing clinic services.
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services is recruiting right now for a rheumatologist for Western region. I will be following up with Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services to address the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands’ concerns about how new patient consultations are done. That’s one of the biggest problems I think his constituents are facing. We’ll be actually dealing with that, addressing that.
Thank you, Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands.
E. JOYCE: Thank you, Minister, for that positive response.
Mr. Speaker, housing is a major issue in Newfoundland and Labrador and Corner Brook. I’ve had many meetings and discussions with the Minister of Housing on the residents living in the former Corner Brook hotel.
Can the minister please give us an update on the progress and the work already done to help solve this housing crisis, and provide services and support for the residents who need them the most who are living in the Corner Brook hotel?
SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Social Supports and Well-Being.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
J. WALL: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member opposite for the question.
We are continuing to support the individuals in Corner Brook. I’ve had the discussion with the hon. Member several times, with the Member for Corner Brook several times, as early as this morning, with respect to what we need to do in Corner Brook.
The services that are provided to the individuals at that hotel – the members of the FACT team are there, the Housing Corporation, social workers there on a regular basis providing supports. But going forward, with Budget 2026 and what we have included in Budget 2026 for housing, we are looking at all options for Corner Brook.
I have said to both Members that they will be included in those conversations as we move forward to better serve the people of the West Coast area. That is certainly a priority for us, and they will both be included in those conversations.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!
SPEAKER: The time for Oral Questions has expired.
Please be advised that this is a PARTIALLY EDITED portion of the House of Assembly sitting for Question Period on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. The edited Hansard will be posted when it becomes available.