Ken McDonald

[Smiling Land Farm, October 28th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, this week I had the pleasure of visiting Smiling Land Farm, which is located on the southern shore here in Avalon. This facility is the brainchild of Larry Puddister's family and will be the first large-scale organic farm in the province.

Four years ago, Larry lost his son to suicide. Since then he has been working to provide mental health resources and to eliminate stigma. He started the Jacob Puddister Memorial Foundation and continues to honour his son's memory through Smiling Land Farm. This facility is truly impressive. It will be home to organic duck egg production, year-round organic greenhouses, billions of organic bees, and so much more. It will be home to a certified horse therapy program for at-risk youth.

The Puddister family, committed to giving others a leg up, has not given up on the people of this province or on our economy.

I would like to congratulate Smiling Land Farm on pushing forward with a vision of food sustainability, healthy living and mental health awareness. I wish Larry and his family success now and well into the future.

[Criminal Code, October 27th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned palliative care in his speech and how the majority of his constituents are not in favour of MAID per se. Does the member believe that palliative care in itself is a form of MAID?

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, March 10th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the member of the NDP mentioned a couple of things of interest. One was he mentioned the original status of the trade agreement and that leaving it as it is probably would not have been a bad thing. Has he forgotten about the tariffs that were imposed under that trade agreement, with its lack of defining things? There were the tariffs that were put on aluminum, that were put on steel, that were put on wood products, paper and whatnot. He has forgotten that.

The member mentioned the corporate free trade deal. A lot of the corporations that are in favour of this trade deal employ hundreds of thousands of people across this country, many of them unionized employees, to their benefit. In my riding, Ocean Choice International applauds the trade agreement because it enables the company to open markets free of tariffs and to provide well-paying jobs to the people who work for that company. Can the member say whether he still supports that, or whether he would just as soon those corporations did not have that ability in those free trade agreements?

[2020 Tim Hortons Brier, March 9th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, it is a tale as old as time: Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador. It is usually a story of two friends. However, last night it was a battle of the rocks of the rings for the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier. Team Gushue, Olympic gold medallists, two-time world champions, three-time Brier winners and the pride of the Rock, took home the 2020 Brier in a nearly perfect seven to three win over Team Alberta. Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant, Geoff Walker and our boy Brad Gushue brought home the Brier cup to where it rightfully belongs, settling yet another rivalry once and for all.

As we watched from home, the crowd cheering and celebrating along with the team in Kingston, Ontario, last night, we could have sworn they were back home at Mile One stadium in St. John's with their hometown crowd. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are proud to be a part of Team Gushue and we are certainly proud to call them our own.

“Congratulations, hurry home and, as always, hurry, hurry hard.”

[Business of Supply, February 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I have heard different speeches discussing 15 weeks to 26 weeks to 50 weeks. Does the member agree that perhaps there is no one answer to fit everybody? I had a family member who had cancer and lost her battle with it. She could not work for two and a half years. I know we have done things with maternity leave like spread out the unemployment to a year and a half versus a year.

Would it not be the best path for something like this to go to committee? Members could examine it and come back with some good, firm recommendations. It is not just about looking after people for one year because, as I said, it was two and a half years that somebody could not work. She did qualify for other benefits, but still, there was no EI or anything like that.

Could the member comment on that?

[Business of Supply, February 4th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her intervention on this horrific event that is up for debate here today in the motion.

I am wondering about one thing. There is a lot of finger-pointing going on as to who is responsible for this person making this decision or that person making another decision. If a nurse is being integrated into a new role in a hospital, maybe an ICU unit or something, there is certain training provided beforehand and ongoing at all times.

I believe we as government members have said loudly and clearly that we support the intent of this motion. The member keeps saying that the government has to do this and do that. Is the member suggesting that the government itself be involved with the Parole Board decision when people who commit these horrific crimes are up for parole, when the government put them in that position to start with? Should the government have a say in what the Parole Board does or does not do?

[Business of Supply, February 4th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, yes, committees are their own masters. They can steer whichever way they want to go. However, I wonder if at the end of the day there should be something that comes back, not just on what went wrong in this particular situation, but on what is going wrong with people involved in the sex work business. Should there be some protections given to people involved in that particular job or environment, not just to the person providing the service? Should we be trying to criminalize more the people seeking those services?

[Business of Supply, February 4th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, there has been a lot of bantering back and forth about who should have done what or what should have happened to prevent this, tying it to the fault of the government or someone else. I agree that a mistake was made somewhere and there should be an investigation into what exactly happened.

However, does the member opposite believe the government should be involved directly with the decisions of the Parole Board in all cases going forward, especially those involving serious crimes?

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, January 30th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I noticed in the member's speech that she mentioned the importance of the fishery to her riding. I would like to expand on that, as it is so important to the entire province of Newfoundland and Labrador. She said that this deal had great benefits for the fishery, which is the economic driver in just about all of our communities in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I wonder if the member could comment further on that aspect of the agreement.

[Public Safety, January 28th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador recently experienced a record-setting and unprecedented blizzard that left parts of the province covered in up to 94 centimetres of snow, thousands without power and stuck inside their homes.

Can the Minister of Public Safety please update the House on the steps taken by our government to assist and support Newfoundlanders during their time of need?