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| Last updated at 8:38 AM on 26/01/08 |
Closure of legislature delays MHA ethics code 
Politics
ROB ANTLE
The Telegram
The continued closure of the House of Assembly is delaying a new code of conduct for the province's MHAs.
The implementation of a new ethics code was part of legislation passed last summer, following the recommendations of Chief Justice Derek Green.
The responsibility for developing the new code falls to the House of Assembly's standing committee on privileges and elections.
But according to a spokeswoman for the legislature, that committee will not be appointed until the House resumes sitting.
The legislature hasn't been open for House business in more than seven months.
No House means no committee has been struck; no committee means no code of conduct - at least for now.
As the legislative spending scandal unfolded over the past year and a half, politicians repeatedly defended questionable actions by MHAs by saying there were few rules in place to guide them.
The code of conduct, when implemented, will act "as a standard against which the actions of a member may be judged for the purpose of censure by the House of Assembly and by the public," according to legislation passed in June.
A spokeswoman for the premier's office said officials were researching the issue, but could not answer questions before deadline Friday.
The province's commissioner of legislative standards will have broad powers to conduct investigations after the new code of conduct is put into effect.
The commissioner can recommend sanctions ranging from a simple reprimand up to removing the MHA from office. Any recommendations must be enacted by resolution of the House of Assembly.
Newfoundland and Labrador had the second-least-active provincial legislature in Canada last year, with just 34 sitting days.
Last fall, Premier Danny Williams defended his government's decision to keep the legislature shuttered following the October general election.
"We feel this is the right way to do it," the premier told reporters in late October, when he unveiled cabinet changes. "To have my ministers right now in the House for three or four or five or six weeks, I think the departments would suffer as a result of that. I think it would not be giving them enough time to basically get a handle on the departments. And those departments are the day-to-day government departments that serve the people, and that's really what this is all about."
The last sitting day for House business was June 14, 2007.
rantle@thetelegram.com
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26/01/08
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Bob from NL writes: Seven months without a meeting of the legislature. This is democracy according to the Williams Government .
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| Posted 26/01/2008 at 12:06 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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Mark Watton from NS writes: Quote: And those departments are the day-to-day government departments that serve the people, and that's really what this is all about.
In our Parliamentary democracy, each and every one of those departments derives its legitimacy to act, to regulate, and to spend public money from the legislature. That is the basic premise of responsible government.
To suggest that the legislative branch of government is nothing more than a mere hindrance to the real job of government is abusive of the principles of the division of powers, an affront to voters, and an insult to Mr. Williams' own backbench MHAs.
When Mr. Williams promised to run the province more like a business five years ago, he didn't say he'd run it less like a democracy.
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| Posted 26/01/2008 at 12:26 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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Peter Whittle from st johns, nl writes: It has been nearly eight months since the legislature in Newfoundland and Labrador has sat. The last day that our MHA's were seated in their seats was on June 14th. Over a dozen of the men and women who occupied the green seal skin chairs, including the Speakers Chair, have retired or were defeated in the last election.
The 44 Progressive Conservatives, 3 Liberals and the lone New Democrat elected last October have not sat in the House of Assembly. I stand to be corrected but this must be the single longest closures of the legislature since Confederation, rivaled only by reign of the Commission of Government back in the 30's and 40's.
I did not agree with the Government's decision not to open the peoples house last fall. The excuse at the time was that there was no new legislation, members were new and a time of orientation was needed for new cabinet minsters. Even businesses hold shareholder meetings more regularly than our legislature has been open over the past twelve months.
The spring session is coming but it is a black mark on the Williams administration that our democratic representatives, elected by the people to serve in the people's house have not sat in session for three quarters of a year.
This government has prided itself on legislative reform and transparency. We have seen electoral reform, financial reforms and the implementation of much of the Green Report. It is time to legislate fixed dates for the opening of fall and spring sessions in the House of Assembly.
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| Posted 26/01/2008 at 1:59 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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Mark from NS writes: legislative reform and transparency??? Where? What? When?
Aside from an Elections Act allowing incumbent MHAs to stuff the ballot box ahead of their competition, the naming of two partisan chief electoral officers, and the recent muzzling of the Auditor General, there's been little here in terms of legislative reform.
Further, how can a man who campaigned on change have so little legislation to offer? It's been nearly five years now.
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| Posted 26/01/2008 at 2:37 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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W McLean from ON writes: ''This government has prided itself on legislative reform and transparency''
In what parallel universe?
''This government'' has now been sitting on the Colonial Building report for three months, even though the Telegram has it, after an Access request. They did the same with the fixed link study. They refused to release the report into the use of chipseal on the TLH, as ''proprietary information''. All this, despite the 2003 PC platform promise to release all government-commisioned reports within 30 days.
They stonewalled on the fibre optic documentation, claiming it was ''cabinet documents'' — presumably the same kind of ''cabinet documents'' that were, under the 2003 PC platform, to be public domain.
The legislature has been quite overtly made irrelevant by Danny Williams, who has called it ''wasted time''.
Does the government even bother answering written questions on the Order Paper anymore? Failure to do so in any other Westminster parliament is a serious breach of privelege and the rules of order.
''This government'' may ''pride itself on legislative reform and transparency'', but it might as well pride itself on a successful unicorn hunt or the discovery of the Fountain of Youth. If you're going to pride yourself on myth, go whole-hog.
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| Posted 26/01/2008 at 4:24 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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