Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly, Tuesday 13 May 2025
Question Period was dominated by an extended Opposition attack on the government's decision to book the entire $520-million tobacco settlement as revenue in a single fiscal year, which the Opposition argued understates the deficit ahead of an election, while Finance Minister Coady defended it as compliant with public sector accounting standards. Health care was the other major theme, with questions on a promised CBS urgent care centre, the delayed Corner Brook PET scanner, radiologist shortages in Grand Falls-Windsor, and ballooning travel-nurse costs. Additional questions touched on food bank usage and a promised Labrador addiction treatment centre. The afternoon's non-QP business featured five Members' statements all recognizing youth achievements, two Ministerial Statements (National Police Week and growth in the lobster fishery), and several points of order about alleged unparliamentary language used in Question Period. Members presented petitions on cellphone coverage, health care access in Northern Labrador, road repairs on the Southern Avalon, and anti-scab legislation. The bulk of the day was spent in Committee of the Whole reviewing the Estimates of the Legislature and Executive Council (which carried without amendment), followed by evening budget debate in which the Member for Terra Nova moved a rural-focused non-confidence subamendment that was ruled in order.
Members' Statements
Springdale Air Cadet Squadron 50th Anniversary
L. Paddock
The Member for Baie Verte - Green Bay saluted the 837 Northeast Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron on its golden anniversary, praising cadets, instructors and supporters for shaping generations of community leaders.
Clarenville High Robotics/ROV Team achievements
L. Parrott
The Member for Terra Nova recognized a Clarenville student robotics team for winning multiple provincial competitions, defending their Eastern Canadian MATE ROV title, and qualifying for the 2025 MATE ROV World Championships.
Avalon Spelling Bee winner Mason Gill
P. Dinn
The Member for Topsail - Paradise congratulated Grade 3 student Mason Gill of Octagon Pond Elementary, the youngest competitor, for winning the Elks Club Avalon Spelling Bee and earning a spot at the Canada Super Spelling Bee in Ottawa.
Young volunteer Makenna Kearley
J. Dwyer
The Member for Placentia West - Bellevue recognized 11-year-old Makenna Kearley of Grand Le Pierre for her extensive volunteerism and fundraising for food banks, the Janeway and Ronald McDonald House.
Gallant Conduct Medal recipient Brody Freeman
C. Pardy
The Member for Bonavista celebrated young Church Lads Brigade member Private Brody Freeman, who received the Gallant Conduct Medal for aiding a man who collapsed at a Bonavista gas station.
Routine Proceedings
Ministerial Statement: National Police Week
J. Haggie
The Minister of Justice and Public Safety recognized National Police Week and the RNC and RCMP, noting over $180 million in annual provincial funding; Opposition (H. Conway Ottenheimer) and Third Party (J. Brown) responded, with J. Brown calling for more training and mental health/housing supports.
Ministerial Statement: Lobster fishery growth
L. Dempster
The Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture highlighted a 263 per cent increase in lobster landings since 2015 and new investments including a Gander live-holding facility and $5.75 million in Budget 2025; C. Pardy and J. Brown responded, raising questions about market readiness, Chinese tariffs and worker protection.
Points of order on unparliamentary language
The Speaker
The Minister of Health raised a Standing Order 49 point of order alleging the Member for Baie Verte - Green Bay accused the Finance Minister of 'cooking the books'; after arguments from B. Petten, G. Byrne and E. Joyce, the Speaker took the matter under advisement to review Hansard and the recording.
Tabling of automobile insurance report
S. Stoodley
The Minister of Government Modernization and Service Delivery tabled the PUB Annual Report on Automobile Insurance for April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025 under the Automobile Insurance Act.
Petition: Cellphone coverage in Exploits
P. Forsey
The Member for Exploits petitioned government to secure a cellphone provider to improve coverage in Central Newfoundland, citing safety concerns for emergency calls on the Trans-Canada Highway.
Petition: Health care access in Northern Labrador
L. Evans
The Member for Torngat Mountains petitioned for timely and adequate health care for Northern Labrador residents, describing patients bumped off medical flights and delays in care, including a personal example of a stroke that went untreated.
Petition: St. Shotts Road repairs
L. O'Driscoll
The Member for Ferryland petitioned government to upgrade the deteriorated St. Shotts Road on the Southern Avalon, describing it as 40-year-old deplorable infrastructure important to residents and Irish Loop tourism.
Petition: Anti-temporary replacement worker legislation
J. Brown
The Member for Labrador West petitioned the House to enact legislation banning temporary replacement workers during strikes or lockouts, urging the new Labour Minister to act to protect the right to strike.
Question Period
Booking of the $520M tobacco settlement revenue and its effect on the deficit
Asked by T. Wakeham · Answered by S. Coady
Coady maintained the revenue was booked in accordance with public sector accounting standards because conditions were met and tobacco companies are legally obligated to pay, comparing it to the 2019 Atlantic Accord booking, and said the Auditor General would review the timing in Public Accounts. She refused to concede the deficit was understated, noting the $200M tariff contingency is never booked.
Failure to consult the Auditor General before booking tobacco revenue and demand to fire the Finance Minister
Asked by L. Paddock · Answered by S. Coady
Coady said it is not usual to consult the Auditor General on Estimates, as she reviews audited Public Accounts rather than the budget process, and rejected as insulting the accusation that the books were 'cooked,' defending the department's accountants. The Premier later intervened to strongly defend the Minister and refused any suggestion she be removed.
Consultation with the Auditor General on booking tobacco revenue
Asked by J. Brown · Answered by S. Coady
Coady reiterated the Auditor General audits Public Accounts rather than the Estimates and will weigh in later, and said conditions were met to book the legally obligated revenue as a receivable under public accounting standards.
Conception Bay South urgent care centre
Asked by B. Petten · Answered by K. Howell
Howell said announced urgent care centres are being worked on but recruitment and retention challenges remain a major obstacle to making them operational, and noted she had retracted an earlier statement that a matter 'wasn't important.'
Delayed Corner Brook PET scanner and rural health care equity
Asked by B. Petten · Answered by K. Howell
Howell said the second St. John's PET scanner enables the province to produce its own radioisotopes to supply Corner Brook and was needed for accreditation, and attributed the Corner Brook delay to difficulty recruiting highly trained specialized staff, committing to prioritize rural health care.
Absence of an on-site radiologist and end of interventional radiology at Grand Falls-Windsor hospital
Asked by C. Tibbs · Answered by K. Howell
Howell acknowledged HR challenges in Central Newfoundland, said she is working with NLHS on alternatives and incentives, and committed to bringing updates back to the House as information becomes available, while noting doctors' mobility limits her control.
Food bank usage numbers in the province
Asked by C. Pardy · Answered by S. Coady
Coady cited Statistics Canada market-basket data showing low-income persons declined from 13% in 2015 to 9.8%, acknowledged post-COVID affordability difficulties, and pointed to $750 million returned to people's pockets.
Rising travel-nurse costs and plan to shore up the public nursing system
Asked by J. Brown · Answered by K. Howell
Howell said reliance on travel nurses has decreased and the vacancy rate is down, but that travel nurses remain necessary in hard-to-fill areas to avoid closing hospitals, and said a health human resource plan is coming soon.
Timeline for the promised Labrador addiction treatment centre
Asked by J. Brown · Answered by E. Loveless
Loveless said he did not have the timelines but would obtain the information and report back to the Member.
Orders of the Day
Motion 6 on Estimates procedure
L. Dempster
The Government House Leader moved that Estimates of the Executive Council be reviewed in Committee of the Whole in 10-minute question-and-answer periods; the motion carried.
Committee of the Whole: Estimates of the Legislature
The Chair
The Committee reviewed and carried the head of expenditure for the Legislature (subheads 1.1.01 to 8.1.01) without questions.
Estimates: Office of the Executive Council
S. Coady
Members questioned the Finance Minister and other ministers on Executive Council spending including health transformation salaries, rural economic development, communications (including $99,581 on the Churchill Falls MOU), the new Boston office ($1.2 million), interprovincial trade barriers, Marine Atlantic, Indigenous Affairs, and Women and Gender Equality; the subheads carried.
Estimates: Treasury Board Secretariat
S. Coady
The Finance Minister answered questions on Treasury Board financial assistance (including $130 million for tobacco settlement legal fees, forest fire and wildfire response funding, and $158 million for children in care), payroll reviews and banking service transitions; subheads 3.1.01 to 3.1.06 carried.
Estimates: Office of the Chief Information Officer
S. Stoodley
The Minister of Government Modernization and Service Delivery answered questions on IT modernization ($50 million over five years), mainframe replacement of student loan/MRD/MCP systems, cybersecurity, cloud data storage in Canada, AI use, and the PowerSchool cyber breach; subheads 4.1.01 to 4.4.01 carried, and the total Executive Council carried without amendment.
Budget debate and rural non-confidence subamendment
L. Parrott
The Member for Terra Nova spoke at length on Muskrat Falls, the Churchill Falls MOU, rural health care recruitment failures, ambulance and waste management issues, and rural funding inequities, then moved a subamendment faulting the Liberal government for failing to support rural residents, communities and businesses; the Speaker ruled it in order.
This is Tabled's summary of the sitting, written from the official record; Hansard is only ever quoted at the link above. Search Newfoundland and Labrador Hansard for the words themselves, or read this sitting in the archive.