PrivilegesElections Committee — reportprivilegeselectionscommittee

business_electronicdocuments_reportprivilegeselectionscommittee

Newfoundland and Labrador — Committees

REPORT JJ0LJ PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE c° I- ‘I i6 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR OF NOVEMBER 16TH 2017 PrivilegesandElectionsCommittee Report PointofPrivilegeofGovernmentHouseLeaderrespectingpublication viasocialmediaofexcerptsfromtheHouseofAssemblywebcast Background OnMay16duringdebateoncertainestimatesoftheExecutiveCounciltheMemberforMount PearlNorthusedunparliamentarylanguageinreferencetotheMinisterofFinance:“thatkind ofbehaviorfromaministerisunethical.It’sdishonestandit’sdeceptive”.Hansard,May16th,p. 1029.TheGovernmentHouseLeaderraisedapointoforder.TheChairhavingtakenthe matterunderadvisementruled,onMay18ththattherewasavalidpointoforderanddirected theMemberforMountPearlNorthtowithdrawthecomments,whichherefusedtodo.The MemberwassuspendedfromtheserviceoftheHousefortheremainderofthesittingday.

TheMemberthentweetedexcerptsfromthewebcastoftheproceedingsincludingthe segmentcontainingthelanguagewhichhehadbeenaskedtowithdraw. OnMay2gththeGovernmentHouseLeaderroseonapointofprivilegestatingthatthe MemberforMountPearlNorthinposting,viasocialmedia,excerptsoftheproceedingsofMay 16th,afterhehadbeenejectedfromtheHouse,wasincontemptoftheHouse.TheSpeaker tookthematterunderadvisement. Laterthesameday,May29th,theGovernmentHouseLeaderagainroseonapointofprivilege whenitwasbroughttohisattentionthattheMemberforMountPearlNorthhadre-tweeted theclipswhichhadledtohisraisingtheearlierpointofprivilege.

TheSpeakersuspendedtheproceedingstoconsiderthepointofprivilege.Uponresumingthe ChairtheSpeakerruledthattheactionsoftheMemberforMountPearlNorth,inrepeatingvia socialmediathelanguagewhichhadbeenfoundtobeabreachoforderintheHouse,for whichhehadbeenaskedtoapologize,primafadeamountedtoacontempt.TheSpeakercited Maingot:“Languagespokenduringparliamentaryproceedingsthatimpugnstheintegrityof Memberswouldbeunparliamentaryandabreachoforder...SpokenoutsidetheHousebya Member,thesamelanguagereflectingontheMember’sparliamentarycapacitywouldbe consideredcontemptoftheHouse.”Maingot,J.R.Joseph,Q.C.,ParliamentaryPrivilegein Canada,SecondEdition,p.255.

BeforetheCommitteehadfinishedtheirdeliberationsonthequestionofprivilegetheMember forMountPearlNorthhadresignedhisseattotakeupapositionintheprivatesector Decision HavingreviewedanddiscussedthepointsofprivilegeraisedbytheGovernmentHouseLeader, thecommentaryofotherMembersandtheparliamentaryauthoritiestheCommitteeconcurs withtheSpeaker’sprimafacieopinionthattheactionsoftheMemberforMountPearlNorth amountedtoacontemptoftheHouse. TherepetitionoutsidetheHouseofcommentswhichhavebeenruledunparliamentaryinthe Houseis,inandofitselfacontempt.Maingot,ibid.,p.225.

ThesecondrepetitionofthecommentsagainviasocialmediaaftertheSpeakerhadruledthat theactionsoftheMemberforMountPearlNorthamountedprimafacietoacontempt appearedtobeanactofdefianceanddisrespectfuloftheSpeakerwhichcompoundedthe originalcontempt. ThebehaviourdescribedabovewhilenotdirectlyinaphysicalwayobstructingtheHouseor Membersintheperformanceoftheirdutiesdoessoindirectlybyloweringtheinstitutioninthe eyesofthepublicanddiminishingtherespectwhichisitsdue.AbrahamandHawtrey,A ParliamentaryDictionary,ThirdEdition,p.84;Maingot,ibid.,p.255.

WhiletheCommitteedoesnotrecommendthatanyactionbetakenbytheHouseinthis instancewecautionMembersthatifasimilarfactsituationweretorecurinrespectofasitting MemberanotherCommitteemightwellexerciseitsoptiontoimposeapenalty. Membersshouldbeawarealsothatusingsocialmediatopublishmaterialthatwould otherwisebeunparliamentaryorcontemptuouswouldnotshieldapersonfromanallegation ofbreachofprivilegeorcontemptasoneisnotpermittedtodobythebackdoorwhatone maynotdobythefrontdoor.InadditionlanguagespokenoutsidetheHouse,including languagedisseminatedviasocialmediafromtheHouse,wouldnotbeprotectedbyprivilege.

Thepenaltieswhichcanbeimposedifacontemptisfoundrangefromareprimandtoa suspensionfromtheserviceoftheHouseforaperiodoftimewithasalarydeductionforthe durationofthesuspension,inaccordancewithsubsection13(2)oftheHouseofAssembly Accountability,lntegrityAndAdministrationAct,subsection,inthelattercase. ParliamentaryprivilegeattachestoMembersoftheHouseofAssemblytoenablethemto enablethemtocarryouttheirparliamentarydutieswithoutobstructionorfearofreprisal.Itis incumbentonmembersinlightofthespecialprivilegestheyenjoytoconductthemselvesin accordancewiththerules,conventionsandtraditionsoftheHouse.

MembersoftheHouseofAssemblyacknowledgetheseresponsibilitieswhentheyascribeto theirCodeofConductwhichincludesthisintroductorystatement:“MembersofthisHouseof AssemblyrespectthelawandtheinstitutionoftheLegislatureandacknowledgeourneedto maintainthepublictrustplacedinusbyperformingourdutieswithaccessibility,accountability, courtesy,honestyandintegrity.” ScoftReid,MHA,St.George’s—Humber Chair CommitteeMembers LorraineMichael,MHA,St.John’sEast—QuidiVidi Vice-Chair JohnFinn,PortauPort,MHA,Stephenville-PortauPort KeithHutchings,MHA,Ferryland PamParsons,MHA,HarbourGrace,PortdeGrave November16th2018

Document details

Collection	Newfoundland and Labrador — Committees
Citation	business_electronicdocuments_reportprivilegeselectionscommittee
Type	committee
Volume / chapter	business_electronicdocuments_reportprivilegeselectionscommittee.pdf
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	4b0ed5a30aaa5cac134cc86515827cdef23addbf

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