Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly, Monday 27 April 2026
Question Period was dominated by energy policy, with the Official Opposition and Third Party pressing the Premier and Minister of Energy and Mines on the expiring Churchill Falls MOU and the terms and secrecy surrounding the Bay du Nord benefits agreement. Government repeatedly deferred substantive answers to an upcoming independent review and to Wednesday's budget, citing the need to avoid another bad long-term deal and blaming the previous Liberal government for fiscal and justice-system problems. Additional questions touched on a sovereign wealth fund, homelessness and housing, court closures and the speed camera program, rural health services, wildfire preparedness, translation delays in the justice system, and the departure of a Hydro negotiator. The House heard Members' statements recognizing constituents and local achievements, along with Ministerial Statements on National Immunization Awareness Week (including expanded RSV vaccine funding) and early road tendering. Routine proceedings included budget-related notices of motion and roads petitions, with the Transportation Minister defending the 'right-sized' roads budget. The bulk of the day was spent in Committee of the Whole on Bill 9, An Act to Amend the Future Fund Act, featuring extensive debate over restricting the fund to debt servicing; an Opposition amendment requiring disclosure of withdrawals within 30 days was accepted by government.
Members' Statements
95th birthday of Agnes Penney
E. Joyce
The Member for Humber - Bay of Islands recognized Mrs. Agnes Penney of Irishtown on her 95th birthday, highlighting over 40 years of volunteer service including as mayor, recreation committee work and caring for children with special needs.
Goose Bay Judo Club
K. Russell
The Member for Lake Melville congratulated the Goose Bay Judo Club, the province's largest, on its approaching 50th anniversary and strong medal results at the provincial tournament in Paradise.
Comfort Cove-Newstead Shellfish Festival
M. Butt
The Member for Lewisporte - Twillingate recognized the revived Comfort Cove-Newstead Shellfish Festival, noting strong ticket sales and its role in promoting tourism and the seafood sector.
Achievements of Sophia Zhang
L. Stoyles
The Member for Mount Pearl North congratulated student Sophia Zhang on her academic, STEM, science fair and robotics achievements as well as her volunteer work.
Snowboarder Meredith Hayden
H. Cormier
The Member for St. George's - Humber recognized 16-year-old snowboarder Meredith Hayden of Steady Brook for her strong national and international results, including medals at Junior Nationals.
Routine Proceedings
National Immunization Awareness Week
L. Evans
The Minister of Health and Community Services marked National Immunization Awareness Week and announced new budget funding to expand the publicly funded RSV vaccine to all infants under six months and adults 75 and older. Opposition members Dempster and Dinn responded, urging strong promotion, outreach and a free HPV vaccine program.
Road infrastructure tendering
B. Petten
The Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure announced 27 road tenders worth an estimated $143 million had been issued, the earliest volume of tenders ever. Opposition members Korab and O'Leary responded, raising concerns about skilled labour shortages and calling for road asset appraisal data to be shared publicly.
Notices of Motion — budget and Supply
C. Pardy
The Minister of Finance gave notice of motions to approve the government's budgetary policy and to resolve the House into Committee of the Whole on Supply for Bill 14.
Petition on Route 91 and Route 102-1 maintenance
S. Gambin-Walsh
The Member for Placentia - St. Mary's presented a petition urging more frequent grading and proper stone classification for roads in the Placentia area, noting the Placentia lift bridge frequently goes out of service.
Petition on roadwork in Harbour Grace - Port de Grave
P. Parsons
The Member for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave presented a petition on road deficiencies, criticizing a $66 million decrease in the roads plan and calling for engineers' assessments to be tabled. The Transportation Minister responded that the budget was 'right-sized' due to industry capacity limits.
Question Period
Churchill Falls MOU expiry and extension
Asked by J. Hogan · Answered by Premier Wakeham
The Premier refused to commit to extending the MOU, stressing it is non-binding and that he is not interested in deadlines, and said an independent review would be completed this week to ensure the best deal for the province.
Risk of losing the ~$1.4-1.5 billion backdated payment under the MOU
Asked by J. Hogan · Answered by Premier Wakeham
The Premier said nothing was being put at risk but would not guarantee the payment, insisting government would take its time and complete an independent review rather than commit the province for another 50 years.
Sovereign wealth fund cancellation
Asked by J. Hogan · Answered by C. Pardy
The Finance Minister said government values saving but must first address the province's debt (blaming a $12.9 billion increase under the previous government) and its poor credit rating before it can invest like the federal sovereign wealth fund.
Bay du Nord benefits agreement - job guarantees and release of the agreement
Asked by J. Hogan · Answered by Premier Wakeham
The Premier touted federal support for Bay du Nord and Minister Parrott declined to table the agreement, saying it would be released "when the time is right" and noting the previous government never released benefits agreements or other documents.
Release of Cabinet documents/Cabinet confidence
Asked by J. Hogan · Answered by L. Parrott
Minister Parrott did not commit to releasing Cabinet documents, instead deflecting by criticizing the former premier for not previously releasing bonus and Rothschild report information.
Bay du Nord return to the province (only ~15% of project value)
Asked by F. Hutton · Answered by L. Parrott
Minister Parrott defended the deal as a great one, superior to past "giveaways," and accused the Opposition of inconsistency, but did not directly address the 15 per cent figure or comparisons to Norway and the UK.
Bay du Nord local content guarantees and backup plan if Equinor does not sanction
Asked by F. Hutton · Answered by L. Parrott
Minister Parrott did not provide a backup plan, instead emphasizing promised employment and industry support and asserting broad stakeholder satisfaction with the deal.
Inclusion of Bay du Nord revenue and jobs in the fiscal forecast
Asked by S. Stoodley · Answered by C. Pardy
The Finance Minister confirmed Bay du Nord revenue is included only in the out-years (beyond 2030), defended this as good accounting the Auditor General would accept, and said government is prepared for consequences if the project is not sanctioned, telling members to tune in Wednesday.
Homelessness and housing targets
Asked by S. Gambin-Walsh · Answered by J. Wall
Minister Wall did not directly guarantee an end to homelessness but said government has a plan for housing and homelessness to be announced Wednesday, affirming everyone deserves a place to live.
Court closures and speed camera ticket processing
Asked by P. Parsons · Answered by H. Conway Ottenheimer
The Justice Minister would not provide a date for courts to be fully operational, blamed the previous government for the state of the justice system, and said investments would be announced in the coming days with the budget.
NLHS Chief Operating Officer position for Labrador
Asked by L. Dempster · Answered by L. Evans
The Health Minister said a new person is in the COO position and is making significant progress on medevacs, scheduled evacuations and Indigenous engagement.
Connaigre Peninsula Health Centre expansion in Harbour Breton
Asked by E. Loveless · Answered by L. Evans
The Health Minister did not confirm the expansion, stating a general commitment to increasing long-term and personal care beds provincewide and telling the member to wait for the budget.
CT service in Port aux Basques
Asked by M. King · Answered by L. Evans
The Health Minister gave no specific update, describing a four-year plan to expand rural access to MRIs, CT scans and other services and telling the member to stay tuned.
Wildfire preparedness and Atlantic Wildfire Centre investment
Asked by B. Ford · Answered by P. Forsey
Minister Forsey pointed to a pre-budget announcement of $4.16 million for fire protection vehicles and equipment as government prepares for the fire season, rather than specifics on the Gander centre.
Translation services and timely access to justice in an intimate partner violence case
Asked by S. O'Leary · Answered by H. Conway Ottenheimer
The Justice Minister declined to comment on both the translation delays and ankle monitoring, citing that the matter is before the courts and the need to protect judicial independence.
Comparative revenue of Bay du Nord vs Churchill Falls and Hydro negotiator departure
Asked by J. Dinn · Answered by Premier Wakeham
The Premier and Minister Parrott would not concede Churchill Falls brings more revenue, arguing there is no deal yet and that any agreement will be the best possible; the Premier confirmed negotiator Mr. Parsons had left for a Calgary job and wished him well.
Orders of the Day
Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Forestry Act — first reading
P. Forsey
The Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands moved first reading of Bill 13, which was carried and ordered read a second time tomorrow.
Report of the Striking Committee
L. Parrott
The Government House Leader moved concurrence in the Striking Committee report, reading into the record the membership of the standing Committees for the 51st General Assembly; the motion carried.
Bill 9, An Act to Amend the Future Fund Act — Committee of the Whole
C. Pardy
The House considered Bill 9 in Committee, with the Finance Minister answering extensive questions from members Davis, Dinn, J. Parsons, Stoodley, O'Leary, Hutton and Dempster on the fund's restriction to debt servicing, disclosure of withdrawals, removal of resource-revenue contributions and extraordinary-circumstance provisions, and the added 1% sinking fund contribution. Member Joyce was denied leave to tie the MOU/Churchill Falls to the debate and used his time to criticize changes to an MOU oversight committee's terms of reference.
Bill 9 — amendment on resource royalty contribution (ruled out of order)
S. Stoodley
The Member for Mount Scio moved an amendment to require 2% of non-renewable resource royalties be deposited into the fund; after a recess the Chair ruled it not in order.
Bill 9 — amendment requiring disclosure of withdrawals (carried)
S. Stoodley
The Member for Mount Scio moved an amendment, seconded in spirit by the Leader of the Third Party, requiring the minister to table a detailed report within 30 days of any withdrawal from the fund. The Finance Minister agreed to support it citing transparency, and the amendment carried; clause 4 as amended carried.
Bill 9 — Committee rises
L. Parrott
With clauses 1-5 carried and debate on clause 6 underway, the Committee rose at the 5:30 p.m. hard stop and reported progress; the House adjourned until Tuesday, April 28.
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.