Government of Newfoundland News

The Honourable Krista Lynn Howell, Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs, and the Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, will make an announcement tomorrow (Tuesday, March 22) at 1:00 p.m. regarding the Regional Water and Wastewater Operators Program.

The announcement will take place at the annual Water Operators Provincial Conference, being held this year at the Quality Hotel and Suites in Gander.

Those in attendance are being asked to wear masks and follow other public health guidelines.

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Media contact
Lynn Robinson
Municipal and Provincial Affairs
Environment and Climate Change
709-729-5449; 691-9466
lynnrobinson@gov.nl.ca

The post Media Advisory: Ministers Howell and Davis to Make Announcement in Gander appeared first on News Releases.

The Honourable Steve Crocker, Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation, and the Honourable Pam Parsons, Minister Responsible for Women and Gender Equality, are congratulating Carmella Gray-Cosgrove on winning the 2021 BMO Winterset Award for her debut story collection, Nowadays and Lonelier. The award, which celebrates excellence in Newfoundland and Labrador writing, was presented yesterday afternoon at a ceremony at Government House in St. John’s.

Carmella received an award of $12,500 for her work, while the other two finalists each received an award of $3,000. The other two finalists were Aimee Wall for We, Jane and Claire Wilkshire for The Love Olympics. This is the second year in a row that all three finalists for the BMO Winterset Award have been female.

Nowadays and Lonelier is one of 35 works by Newfoundland and Labrador authors (either native-born or resident) that were submitted by publishers from across the country. Books in any genre, published in 2021, were eligible. The jury consisted of Petrina Bromley, Eva Crocker, and Nelson White.

Sponsored by BMO Financial Group and the Sandra Fraser Gwyn Foundation, the BMO Winterset Award honours the memory of Sandra Fraser Gwyn, a St. John’s-born award-winning journalist and author, as well as a passionate advocate of Newfoundland and Labrador’s arts community. Her husband, journalist and author Richard Gwyn, established the award in her memory in 2000.

Quotes
“Newfoundland and Labrador is home to an enormous wealth of artistic talent that has fundamentally shaped our collective cultural identity and expression. This prestigious award gives authors like Carmella, Aimee, and Claire the recognition they deserve. Congratulations to each of you on your fine work and thank you for your contribution to Newfoundland and Labrador’s literary scene.”
Honourable Steve Crocker
Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation

“I applaud the three finalists for the 2021 BMO Winterset Award, who – for the second year in a row – are all women. Newfoundland and Labrador is home to many gifted women writers, musicians and creators, and our Provincial Government celebrates the talent and hard work of these incredible women authors. Well done on this deserved recognition, and congratulations to Carmella Gray-Cosgrove for winning this year’s BMO Winterset Award.”
Honourable Pam Parsons
Minister Responsible for Women and Gender Equality

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Media contacts
Adrienne Luther
Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation
709-729-4819, 730-2953
adrienneluther@gov.nl.ca

Angela Picco
Office of Women and Gender Equality
709-729-4934, 687-4753
angelapicco@gov.nl.ca

The post Carmella Gray-Cosgrove Wins 2021 BMO Winterset Award for Nowadays and Lonelier appeared first on News Releases.

The Honourable John G. Abbott, Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development, will bring greetings at the Opening Ceremony of the annual Sharing Our Cultures event on Sunday, March 20. Minister Abbott will be joined by the Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Honourable Sarah Stoodley, Minister of Digital Government and Service NL.

The event takes place at 1:00 p.m. at The Rooms, 9 Bonaventure Avenue, St. John’s.

The annual Sharing our Cultures event is held in recognition of the International Francophonie day (March 20), International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21), and in celebration of the Province’s Multiculturalism Month during March.

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Media contact
Khadija Rehma
Children, Seniors and Social Development
709-729-3768, 730-2977
khadijarehma@gov.nl.ca

Lynn Robinson
Environment and Climate Change
709-729-5449, 691-9466
lynnrobinson@gov.nl.ca

Krista Dalton
Digital Government and Service NL
709-729-4748, 685-6492
kristadalton@gov.nl.ca

The post Media Advisory: Ministers Abbott, Davis and Stoodley to Attend Sharing Our Cultures Event appeared first on News Releases.

The Honourable John G. Abbott, Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development, and Jerry Earle, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE), are providing a status update on the Child Welfare Social Work Joint Committee and next steps to address workload challenges.

As March is National Social Work Month, Minister Abbott and Mr. Earle are recognizing and celebrating over 1,600 social workers and thank them for their commitment and dedication in the work they do on a daily basis.

The Joint Committee, with representatives from the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development and NAPE, continues to work on resolving issues identified by child welfare social workers in three key areas: worker safety, workload, and stress.

In spring 2021, work of the Joint Committee helped to enhance personal safety and support by providing GPS devices and/or cell phones for all social workers to use when conducting home visits. Work also began on developing a risk assessment form that is reflective of the specialized work child welfare social workers are legislatively mandated to deliver.

Most recently, due to the ongoing work of the Joint Committee, a Risk Assessment Pilot Project began in February 2022. The pilot project is assessing social worker’s safety assigning a risk level of high, medium, or low. Once the risk level is assigned, it is determined if the work required of social workers is safe to complete alone; or if mitigating factors need to be put in place to improve worker safety.

Through the pilot project, valuable feedback will be gathered, which will have a direct impact on policy and procedure to ensure the needs of front-line child welfare social work practice is met. Once the pilot project has concluded and staff feedback has been incorporated into the policy and procedures, the Risk Assessment Project will be rolled out throughout the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development.

We are also pleased to announce that in response to recommendations of the Joint Committee to address workload issues in the field of child welfare, the department will issue a Request for Proposals to develop a service model and workload review. Further details on the Request for Proposals will be available soon.

For social workers interested in providing input or obtaining more information on the Joint Committee, please contact:

• Kelly Codner, NAPE Servicing Representative – kcodner@nape.ca;
• Andy Parsons, NAPE Servicing Representative – aparsons@nape.ca; and/or
• Respective manager in r

Quotes

“The Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development is committed to supporting our most valuable resource, our staff. During Social Work Month, it is a perfect time to sincerely thank the members of the Joint Committee for their ongoing work and commitment to help address the needs of child welfare social workers throughout the province. I believe the Risk Assessment Pilot Project will help to improve the safety of child welfare social workers, and the upcoming service model review will provide the opportunity to further explore options to address workload challenges so that we can better meet the needs of children, youth and families.”
Honourable John G. Abbott
Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development

“Social workers give so much of themselves in the face of overwhelming workloads, threats of violence, expanded responsibilities, and the stress from the emotional and physical toll that their work has on them. Despite these obstacles, these workers continue to deliver the highest level of care, compassion, and support to their clients and their communities. This process is a welcome step towards addressing the concerns that social workers have consistently raised in recent years. We must ensure that this initiative leads to concrete action to improve the working conditions of Social Workers across our province.”
Jerry Earle
NAPE President

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Media contacts
Khadija Rehma
Children, Seniors and Social Development
709-729-3768, 730-2977
khadijarehma@gov.nl.ca

Keith Dunne
NAPE
709-631-9737
kdunne@nape.ca

The post Provincial Government and NAPE Provide Update on Joint Committee and Next Steps to Address Workload Challenges appeared first on News Releases.

Health and Community Services

The Honourable John Haggie, Minister of Health and Community Services, will participate in a flag-raising ceremony for Eating Disorders Awareness Week on Monday, February 3 at 9:00 a.m.

Fisheries and Land Resources

The Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources Minister, is extending congratulations to Fire Training Specialist and Provincial FireSmart Liaison, Joe Russell, who recently arrived back in the province after a 38 day deployment to Australia to provide support and expertise to firefighting colleagues in that country.

Municipal Affairs and Environment

The Provincial Government is monitoring forecast information on a weather system that is anticipated to affect some areas of the province this weekend. Heavy snowfall is forecast to begin Sunday morning and heavy rainfall is possible for parts of the island later that day.

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation

The Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, will participate in the Friends of India Association’s annual Republic Day Gala tomorrow (Saturday, February 1). The gala takes place at the Delta Hotel, 120 New Gower Street, St. John’s, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation

Sarah Stoodley, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, will bring greetings at Stella’s Circle’s Transitions to Work graduation on Monday, February 3. The event begins at 2:30 p.m. at Wesley United Church, 101 Patrick Street, St. John’s.

Finance

The Department of Finance has set new dates for the pre-budget consultation sessions in Gander and St. Anthony, which were rescheduled due to efforts by Provincial Government departments in St. John’s in assisting during the aftermath of the recent winter storm.

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation

The public are reminded that snowclearing and vehicular access within the T’Railway Provincial Park is illegal unless a permit has been issued to do so.

Finance

As a result of the disruption caused to government operations during the recent snowfall event, online pre-budget consultations for Budget 2020 have been extended until February 10, 2020.

Municipal Affairs and Environment

The Honourable Derrick Bragg, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment, has announced the following events relative to Part 10 Environmental Assessment of the Environmental Protection Act.

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation

Due to damage suffered during the winter storm on January 17, the T’Railway Provincial Park has been closed in Conception Bay South from Lance Cove Pond to Delaney’s Road until further notice. The public is asked to avoid the area.

Municipal Affairs and Environment

As work crews continue to remove and clear snow as a result of the recent blizzard, the Provincial Government has begun assessing damage costs from the event. Residents, not-for-profit organizations and communities are advised that applications and information sheets for the Newfoundland and Labrador Disaster Financial Assistance Program are available online at www.gov.nl.ca/fes/faq/emergencymanagement.html. This information can also be attained by calling 1-888-395-5611.

Health and Community Services

Starting January 31, 2020, amendments to regulations under the Pharmacy Act, 2012 will allow pharmacists to prescribe for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis A and B (including the TWINRIX vaccine), shingles (Herpes Zoster), Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and chickenpox (Varicella Zoster). Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will be able to visit their local pharmacy for any of these vaccines without requiring a prescription from a physician.

Municipal Affairs and Environment

The Provincial Government today released the final report on review of the Provincial Solid Waste Management Strategy, which can be found online here.

Executive Council

During a ceremony held today at Government House, the Honourable Judy M. Foote, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Honourable Dwight Ball, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador congratulated eight remarkable individuals who were invested into the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation

The Provincial Government congratulates the winners and nominees from the 28th annual MusicNL Awards held last night at the Resource Centre for the Arts in St. John’s.

Fisheries and Land Resources
Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation

The Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources, provided an update today at the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture’s annual general meeting on a collaborative research project to support Newfoundland and Labrador farmers in applying sustainable agriculture practices in cool-climate, boreal ecosystems.