Newfoundland and Labrador.

• Author: Murphy, Elizabeth
• Position: Legislative Reports

The House of Assembly convened on March 3, 2020, for the continuation of the First Session of the 49th General Assembly, a day later than scheduled owing to inclement weather.

Further to the resolution adopted by the House on December 5, 2019, the Member for St. Barbe--L'Anse aux Meadows began serving the two-week suspension ordered by that resolution.

The Member for Humber-Bay of Islands raised a point of privilege regarding a matter which was first raised as a point of privilege on March 3, 2019, and ruled not to be prima facie privilege.

The Member stated in raising the matter again that he had become aware of new evidence bearing on the case which had to do with an investigation carried out by the Commissioner for Legislative Standards. The Speaker took the matter under advisement.

On March 5 the House passed unanimously a resolution standing in the name of the Government House Leader striking a Select Committee on Democratic Reform. This followed from a Private Member's resolution moved by the Leader of the Third Party and adopted by the House on December 5, 2019, urging Government to disband an All-Party Committee on Democratic Reform established in February of 2019 and support instead a Select Committee of the House of Assembly comprising two members from each of the three caucuses and one independent Member.

On the same day, the House passed amendments to the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity And Administration Act to give legal effect to the Legislature-Specific Harassment-Free Workplace Policy Applicable To Complaints Against Members recommended in the Report of the Privileges and Elections Committee adopted by the House in December 2019. The new policy comes into effect on April 1, 2020.

On March 11, the Minister of Natural Resources gave notice of a resolution that the House support the referral of the Report of Commissioner Justice Richard D. Leblanc regarding the Muskrat Falls hydro development project, Muskrat Falls: A Misguided Project, to the RCMP and RNC for potential criminality and the further referral of the report to the Department of Justice and Public Safety for potential civil litigation.

On March 11, the House passed Bill 26 the Interim Supply Act, 2020, which as introduced would have provided sufficient funding for Government needs for six months rather than the traditional three. The Bill was amended and sub-amended to provide for an amount sufficient for three months.

Before the House adjourned for...