Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly, Wednesday 27 May 2026
Question Period was dominated by the fallout from the Auditor General's report on the Transitional Supportive Living Initiative at 106 Airport Road, with government repeatedly deflecting Opposition questions on other subjects to attack the former Liberal administration's homelessness spending and procurement. The Official Opposition pressed on seniors' benefits and physician/nurse recruitment, while questions about the Premier paying political staff from MCP and Cabinet Secretariat funds went largely unanswered. Additional exchanges touched on student absenteeism, intimate partner violence and court delays, and housing supports in Corner Brook. The sitting focused primarily on debate of Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Forestry Act, which modernizes wildfire prevention, enforcement and emergency response provisions after 35 years without significant change; it passed second reading and was considered in Committee of the Whole. The Speaker ruled on a point of order requiring the Minister of Energy and Mines to withdraw an unparliamentary 'misleading' remark, and the Government House Leader moved several procedural motions altering the sitting schedule. Members' statements recognized community figures and organizations, ministers delivered statements on Newfoundlanders in Canterbury WWII commemoration, Pride Month and National AccessAbility Week, and a petition was presented on the Green Brook bridge. A first reading was given to Bill 19, An Act to Amend the Pharmaceutical Services Act.
Members' Statements
City of St. John's Crossing Guard Program / Dave Innes
S. O'Leary
Recognized the City of St. John's Crossing Guard Program and specifically crossing guard Dave Innes at Rennie's River Elementary for his safety work and community kindness.
Shriners International Awareness Day / Mazol Shriners
K. White
Recognized June 6 as Shriners International Awareness Day and celebrated the Mazol Shriners and Shriners across the province for their charitable and community work.
Our Table, Stella's Circle and Food First NL
B. Davis
Recognized the work of Our Table in Virginia Waters - Pleasantville, a partnership of Stella's Circle and Food First NL addressing food security, and a recent skills development graduation ceremony.
Artist Grant Boland
J. Korab
Honoured Waterford Valley artist Grant Boland, noting his career, awards and portraits of Speakers and dignitaries.
Janeway Telethon
J. Hogan
Recognized the Janeway Telethon and Teddy Bear Convoy scheduled for June 6-7 and the staff, volunteers and donors, including President and CEO Rebecca Dutton.
Newfoundland and Labrador 50+ Federation
B. Ford
By leave, recognized the NL 50+ Federation, its volunteer board led by president Linda Oldford, and its advocacy on behalf of approximately 7,000 seniors across 134 clubs.
Routine Proceedings
Ministerial statement - Newfoundlanders in the Gardens (Canterbury WWII commemoration)
Premier Wakeham
The Premier recognized the City of Canterbury and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Regimental Advisory Council for a new commemorative display honouring the 59th Newfoundland Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery; opposition members Hogan and Dinn responded in support, noting Ian Kelly's personal connection.
Ministerial statement - Pride Month
L. Evans
The Minister of Women and Gender Equality recognized June as Pride Month and invited members to a flag-raising on June 1; members Parsons and O'Leary responded, with O'Leary calling for a government policy to remove hateful comments from government social media.
Ministerial statement - National AccessAbility Week
J. Wall
The Minister of Social Supports and Well-Being recognized National AccessAbility Week and noted work including the Disability Advocate Act; members Gambin-Walsh and Dinn responded, with Dinn highlighting that 31 per cent of persons with disabilities live in poverty.
Petition - Green Brook bridge, Route 220
P. Pike
The Member for Burin - Grand Bank presented a petition urging government to immediately inspect the deteriorating Green Brook bridge near Lawn for safety, make the report available and move repairs from 2027 to this year.
Question Period
New initiatives for seniors and the Aging Well at Home Grant
Asked by J. Hogan · Answered by C. Pardy
The Finance Minister denied piggybacking on Liberal ideas, pointing to a 20 per cent increase in the Seniors' Benefit and doubled home modification grants, but declined to commit to doubling the Aging Well at Home Grant, saying the government is in year one of four and cannot do everything at once.
Physician and health-care recruitment and retention funding
Asked by J. Hogan · Answered by L. Evans
The Health Minister and Premier defended their approach, blaming deep-rooted problems inherited from the previous Liberal government and citing paid nursing work terms, filled nursing classrooms in Grand Falls, Gander and Labrador, and technology investments, while acknowledging applicants had not been getting calls back and saying action was taken in October and November to fix the recruiting office.
Legislation mandating a safe nurse-to-patient ratio
Asked by J. Hogan · Answered by Premier Wakeham
The Premier said he and the Health Minister have met the Nurses' Union several times and are working with them on solutions, but gave no commitment or timeline for tabling ratio legislation, pivoting to criticize the former government over the Auditor General's report on vacant beds.
Payment of political staff (Dr. Whalen) from MCP funds
Asked by L. Dempster · Answered by Premier Wakeham
The Premier did not answer the questions about Dr. Whalen's role or MCP funding, instead repeatedly redirecting to the Auditor General's report on 106 Airport Road, homelessness costs of roughly $706,000 per person and criticism of the former government's lack of a plan.
Extra $275,000 in Premier's office staffing and payment of Steven Outhouse through Cabinet Secretariat
Asked by F. Hutton · Answered by B. Petten
The Minister of Transportation did not answer the staffing questions, dismissing them as deflection and instead demanding an apology for the Member criticizing the Auditor General and challenging the former government's procurement of the transitional housing facility using a three-year contract exemption.
Auditor General providing the 106 report to government a month in advance
Asked by S. Stoodley · Answered by J. Wall
The Minister said the question should be directed to the Auditor General, stating he met her at 8 a.m. before the report's release and that Housing Corporation staff worked with her team to ensure accuracy, blaming the situation on the former government's failure to follow procurement rules.
Chronic absenteeism among high school students
Asked by P. Pike · Answered by P. Dinn
The Education Minister agreed the issue is serious and claimed absenteeism has already dropped in seven months (to 10, 16 and 28 per cent respectively) from peaks under the previous government, pledging continued improvement but citing no specific benchmarks.
Plan for homeless encampments on Signal Hill
Asked by S. Gambin-Walsh · Answered by J. Wall
The Minister did not detail a specific plan for the encampments, instead blaming the former Liberal administration's lack of planning and pledging to follow the Auditor General's report and the Public Procurement Act going forward.
Justice system supports to prevent sexual assault trials being dropped over delays
Asked by S. O'Leary · Answered by H. Conway Ottenheimer
The Justice Minister said Budget 2026 provides 14 new Public Prosecutions resources, including six Crown attorneys and eight support staff, plus digital modernization to relieve court pressures and allow cases to be heard on their merits.
Fixing problems at Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation and rehousing Horizons at 106 residents
Asked by J. Dinn · Answered by J. Wall
The Minister said government accepts and is implementing the Auditor General's recommendations, and confirmed Budget 2026 includes funds to hire staff and repair Housing units for 106 residents, along with the Canada-NL Housing Benefit, pledging to leave no one behind.
Rheumatology services on the West Coast and housing at the former Corner Brook hotel
Asked by E. Joyce · Answered by L. Evans
The Health Minister confirmed a rheumatologist is ceasing clinic services and said NL Health Services is recruiting a replacement for the Western region, committing to follow up on new patient consultations; the Housing Minister said supports (FACT team, social workers) continue at the Corner Brook hotel and that Budget 2026 options for the West Coast will include the local Members in conversations.
Orders of the Day
Bill 13 - An Act to Amend the Forestry Act (second reading)
Multiple
The Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands introduced Bill 13 to modernize wildfire-related provisions of the Forestry Act, moving penalties to regulations, expanding fire offences to include reckless/negligent fire-starting, allowing province-wide fire bans, expanding restricted travel and permit areas, and strengthening forestry officials' authority. Members Loveless, Cormier, Dinn, Parsons and O'Leary spoke in support, raising themes of climate change, education, water bomber fleet, communication with rural residents, enforcement training, and urban fire risks; the minister closed debate and the bill was read a second time.
Bill 13 - Committee of the Whole (morning)
Multiple
In Committee of the Whole, Members Loveless, Dinn and Parsons questioned the minister on consultations, definition of flammable vegetation, communication methods, penalty ranges, forestry officials' workload and training, and the number of resource enforcement officers (90 officers, 27 offices); the Committee rose and reported progress before recess.
Motion to extend spring sitting
L. Parrott
The Government House Leader moved that the winter-spring 2026 sitting be extended beyond May 28, sitting until returned to the call of the Chair, and that the week of June 8 not be a constituency week; the motion carried.
Bill 19 - An Act to Amend the Pharmaceutical Services Act (first reading)
L. Parrott
The bill was introduced and read a first time, ordered to be read a second time tomorrow.
Bill 13 - Committee of the Whole (afternoon)
Multiple
Committee resumed with Member Parsons questioning the minister on wildfire suppression personnel, communication infrastructure, officials' peace-officer powers, firebreaks and wildland coveralls, and Leader of the Official Opposition Hogan questioning provisions on mill licence suspensions, the 300-metre land definition, penalty ranges ($1,000 to $5,000), regulation timelines, and whether a Charter analysis was done in light of a Nova Scotia court ruling on mobility rights; the minister said Justice was consulted.
Other business
Speaker's ruling on point of order (unparliamentary language)
The Speaker (Lane)
The Speaker ruled on a point of order raised by the Member for Mount Scio, finding that the Minister of Energy and Mines' statement accusing the Opposition House Leader of 'misleading' was unparliamentary in context, and asked for a withdrawal; the Government House Leader withdrew the remark.
Procedural motions on sitting schedule
L. Parrott
The Government House Leader moved motions that the House not proceed with private Member's day on Wednesday, May 27 but meet at 2 p.m. for routine and government business, and that the House not adjourn at 5 p.m. but sit until midnight; both motions carried.
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.