Newfoundland and Labrador.

• Author: Murphy, Elizabeth
• Position: Legislative Reports

Code of Conduct--complaint investigations

The House re-convened on October 23, two weeks earlier than the date prescribed by the parliamentary calendar in order to deal with five reports of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards on his investigations into complaints of harassment by Members of the House of Assembly.

The Commissioner, whose reports were tabled by the Speaker on October 23, found that a breach of the Code of Conduct had occurred in two of the five instances examined and recommended that the Members found to have violated the Code be reprimanded.

On November 5 the House questioned the Commissioner about the process followed in carrying out his investigation into the allegations of violations of the Code of Conduct. The discussion took place in a Committee of the Whole. The last time the House had questioned non-Members in the House was in 1970 during the administration of Premier J.R. Smallwood.

The House debated and concurred in the Reports on November 6. The House resolved that the two Members found in violation of the Code of Conduct be required to undergo individualized respectful workplace training and that they apologize to the House. The Members apologized and will undergo the training in due course.

On October 23, the Leader of the Opposition, Ches Crosbie, who was elected and sworn-in during the summer adjournment, took his seat in the House.

Points of privilege

On October 23, the Leader of the Opposition raised a point of privilege regarding the public disclosure by the complainant of matters dealt with in one of the reports of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards before the report had been tabled in the House. The Speaker ruled that there was a prima fade question of privilege. The matter was referred to the Privileges and Elections Committee.

On October 25, the Member for Mount Scio raised a point of privilege again regarding the public disclosure of the contents of a report of the Commissioner of Legislative Standards before the tabling of the report in the House. The Speaker...