PROVINCE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY First Session Forty-Ninth General Assembly Proceedings of the Standing Committee on Social Services September 30, 2020 - Issue 6 Department of Justice and Public Safety Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Assembly Honourable Scott Reid, MHA SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE Department of Justice and Public Safety Chair: Perry Trimper, MHA Vice-Chair: Helen Conway Ottenheimer, MHA Members: James Dinn, MHA Carol Anne Haley, MHA Christopher Mitchelmore, MHA Craig Pardy, MHA Pam Parsons, MHA Sherry Gambin-Walsh, MHA Clerk of the Committee: Kim Hawley George Appearing: Department of Justice and Public Safety Hon. Steve Crocker, MHA, Minister Danielle Barron, Director of Communications Chief Joe Boland, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Kerry Chaytor, Executive Assistant Lesley Clarke, Media Relations Manager Andrew Green, Departmental Controller Thomas Hayward, Manager of Budgeting Tara Kelly, Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Safety and Emergency Services Chantelle MacDonald Newhook, Assistant Deputy Minister, Legal Services Jennifer Mercer, Deputy Minister and Deputy Attorney General Megan Nesbitt, Assistant Deputy Minister, Corrections and Community Services Shelley Organ, Chief Executive Officer, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court Lloyd Strickland, Director of Public Prosecutions Joanne Turner, Director of Court Services, Provincial Court Kendra Wright, Assistant Deputy Minister, Courts and Corporate Services Also Present Derrick Bragg, MHA Alison Coffin, MHA, Leader of the Third Party Bernard Davis, MHA Megan Drodge, Researcher, Official Opposition Caucus Scott Fleming, Researcher, Third Party Paul Lane, MHA Brian Warr, MHA September 30, 2020 SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE The Committee met at 5:31 p.m. in the CHAIR (Trimper): My first order of business Assembly Chamber. is to identify a Vice-Chair, so I will seek nominations from the room. Pursuant to Standing Order 68, Bernard Davis, MHA for Virginia Waters - Pleasantville, Do I have any nominations for a Vice-Chair? substitutes for Pam Parsons, MHA for Harbour Grace - Port de Grave. Ideally, somebody from another political stripe. Pursuant to Standing Order 68, Derrick Bragg, AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.) MHA for Fogo Island - Cape Freels, substitutes for Christopher Mitchelmore, MHA for St. CHAIR: It should be somebody from another Barbe - L’Anse aux Meadows. political party. Pursuant to Standing Order 68, Brian Warr, AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.) MHA for Baie Verte - Green Bay, substitutes for Sherry Gambin-Walsh, MHA for Placentia - St. CHAIR: I think somebody has identified … Mary’s. AN HON. MEMBER: (Inaudible.) Pursuant to Standing Order 68, Alison Coffin, MHA for St. John’s - Quidi Vidi, substitutes for CHAIR: Okay. Jim Dinn, MHA for St. John’s Centre. Any further nominations? CLERK (Hawley George): Order, please! Any further nominations? Good evening, everybody. My name is Kim Hawley George; I’ll be clerking the Committee Seeing none, I would like to identify my Co- tonight. Chair, Ms. Conway Ottenheimer. This is the Social Services Committee and the Thank you. first matter of business for the Committee is the election of a Chair for the Committee. So now we will just get started. Are there any nominations from the floor? We will start with some introductions. AN HON. MEMBER: I nominate Perry CLERK: Yes, (inaudible). Trimper. CHAIR: Okay. All right. CLERK: You can use a personal name, yes. It’s different in a Committee. Thank you, everyone. As this Estimates deals with Justice and Public Safety, I will turn it over Are there any further nominations from the to the minister responsible for 15 minutes of floor? opening remarks, and perhaps introduce your team, Sir. Are there any further nominations from the floor? Over to you. Mr. Perry Trimper has been elected or acclaimed MR. CROCKER: Thank you, Mr. Chair. as Chair of the Committee. I certainly won’t take the 15 minutes. Mr. Trimper, could you come and take your place, please? Thank you for the opportunity this evening; it’s always a pleasure. I think this is my sixth Estimates or seventh Estimates. My first time in Justice and Public Safety, so it’s been a learning 245 September 30, 2020 SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE experience for me as well, going through the MR. HAYWARD: Good evening, Thomas Estimates of Justice after being just about five or Hayward, Manager of Budgeting. six weeks in. MS. CHAYTOR: Hi, good evening, Kerry I will now actually turn it over and ask the group Chaytor, Executive Assistant to the minister. this evening, the great group from JPS that are here with me, if they could introduce CHAIR: Okay. Thank you very much. themselves. If we can, we’ll start way down to the end with a man that doesn’t really need a Perhaps, Minister, did you want to have some whole lot of introduction, I don’t think. opening remarks? MR. BOLAND: Thank you, Minister. MR. CROCKER: Yes, sure. Joseph Boland, Chief of Police for the Royal CHAIR: Do that first, and then I’ll go to my Newfoundland Constabulary. right and we’ll have introductions and some opening remarks from the Opposition. MS. KELLY: Hi, Tara Kelly, ADM of Public Safety and Emergency Services. MR. CROCKER: Okay. Thank you, Chair, and I thank the team here. MS. NESBITT: Megan Nesbitt, ADM, Corrections and Community Services. I won’t take a whole pile of time, but throughout the evening I will certainly take the liberty to MR. CROCKER: Again, Steve Crocker, pass some questions on to the fine folks that are Minister. next to me here this evening. MS. MERCER: Good evening, Jennifer Just as some quick overview: The Department of Mercer, Deputy Minister and Deputy Attorney Justice has, approximately, a $260 million General. budget. Some things this year that we will find throughout the Estimates: a $1.5 million impact MS. BARRON: Danielle Barron, Director of from the ground search and rescue inquiry; there Communications. has also been $1 million set aside for the treatment, experiences and outcomes of Innu in MR. GREEN: Andrew Green, Departmental the child protection system. We’ve also Comptroller. allocated $200,000 this year for a review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy MS. MACDONALD NEWHOOK: Good Act. As well, you will see some capital evening, Chantelle MacDonald Newhook, ADM expenditure on the RNC fleet. for Legal Services. As of September 20 of this year, across the MS. WRIGHT: Good evening, Kendra Wright, department we have 1,623 PCNs. Of that, 1,339 ADM for Courts and Corporate Services. are full-time staff, 251 are temporary, 33 currently are 13-week hires and another 33 MR. STRICKLAND: Evening, Lloyd people are on contracts. These numbers do not Strickland, Director of Public Prosecutions. include the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. MS. CLARKE: Lesley Clarke, Media Relations One of the common themes, I think you will Manager. notice this evening as we go through the process, is variation in salaries this year and that MS. ORGAN: Good evening, Shelley Organ, variation in salaries is due to the 27th pay period Chief Executive Officer for the Court of Appeal in this fiscal year. That will have a department- and the Supreme Court. wide impact of some $4.77 million. MS. TURNER: Joanne Turner, Director of I would also like to note that there are very little Court Services with Provincial Court. actual COVID impacts tonight when you look at 246 September 30, 2020 SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE dollar figures throughout this budget. It’s about MS. HALEY: Carol Anne Haley, MHA Burin - a two-week impact of COVID, but I think what Grand Bank. you will find, if you deviate into some more discussions around policy, which I’m more than CHAIR: Okay, thank you very much. willing to do, there will be some impacts to implementation of programs and other things I still assume I can invite my Co-Chair to have due to COVID and impacts, obviously, on the some opening rights as representing the Official court system and other parts of the department Opposition then turn to the Third Party. that are not reflected here in actual dollar figures but are reflected in other ways. MS. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER: Thank you. With that, I will certainly turn it back to you, Mr. Chair. I’m just going to make a brief comment and say, first of all, I’m very happy to be here. I see that CHAIR: Thank you, Minister. we have a great contingent on government side and I feel that it would be a great evening in I’ll now turn to the Opposition folks on my terms of the support and the information that right. If they could, first of all, introduce we’ve received, so I’m looking forward to that. themselves, then I’ll look to representatives of Other than that, I’m ready to go. the Opposition parties to have some remarks. CHAIR: Okay, thank you. I’ll start right here with my Vice-Chair. Ms. Coffin, do you have some opening remarks MS. CONWAY OTTENHEIMER: Helen before we get into – I’m going to go by subject Conway Ottenheimer, MHA for Harbour Main. headings all the way through. MS. DRODGE: Megan Drodge, Researcher for MS. COFFIN: Very brief, because I know that the Official Opposition. we may be here for a few hours this evening, so I appreciate everyone coming. CHAIR: And over to the Leader of the Third Party. Thank you so much for all the hard work that you do, I really appreciate that. MS. COFFIN: Alison Coffin, MHA for St. John’s East - Quidi Vidi and Leader of the New Please bear with us a little bit, I understand that Democratic Party. some things have been moved around, so you might have to explain some of those things for MR.