Despite claims to the contrary, MHAs Dale Kirby and Eddie Joyce have not yet been cleared of wrongdoing after allegations of harassment were made in April.
Mount Scio MHA Dale Kirby and Humber-Bay of Islands MHA Eddie Joyce released a statement early Thursday morning, stating a report by Rubin Thomlinson – the firm hired by Commissioners for Legislative Standards Bruce Chaulk to assist with the investigation – had cleared them off all harassment and intimidation allegations.
Chaulk told media and MHAs on Wednesday the firm had be hired to investigate the allegations with Chaulk and it later filed a report to Chaulk, which informed the final reports he tabled in the House of Assembly on Tuesday.
The raw report has not been released and has not been read by anyone, aside from Chaulk’s office. Kirby and Joyce say the report “completely exonerates” both MHAs from allegations of bullying, harassment, and intimidation.
The claims are consistent with the findings in the reports submitted by Chaulk, but it doesn’t mean there was no wrongdoing by Kirby and Joyce.
While Rubin Thomlinson investigated both MHAs on the allegations of bullying, intimidation, and harassment, Chaulk’s office still found violations of the MHAs’ Code of Conduct.
Therefore, even if Kirby and Joyce are indeed cleared by Rubin Thomlinson, there’s still grounds for reprimand based on breaches of the Code of Conduct, which is consistent with Chaulk’s five reports.
In Kirby’s matter, while Chaulk indeed finds he is not guilty of intimidation or harassment, he still finds Kirby in violation of Principle 5 of the Code of Conduct.
When Kirby spoke with Harbour Grace-Port de Grave MHA Pam Parsons at the 2016 Liberal convention, he tried to stop Parsons’ advocacy on behalf of her constituents because they were “harmful politically to the premier.”
“(Kirby’s) conduct in using the language he did at the Liberal convention in an effort to garner the support of (Parsons) was inappropriate, poor judgment, and in my opinion a violation of Principle 5 of the Code of Conduct,” Chaulk wrote in the Kirby report, dated Oct. 3.
In the case of Joyce, again Chaulk does not find him guilty of bullying, intimidation, or harassment. Instead, he finds Joyce in violation of the Code of Conduct for trying to pressure Service NL Minister Sherry Gambin-Walsh and her staff into placing a friend of his into an Occupational Health and Safety job on the province’s west coast.
“I believe his attempts to influence (Gambin-Walsh’s) actions, as well as his response when she failed to affect his desired outcome, were outside the ‘norm’ of political interactions and were below the standards expected of persons in their role within government,” wrote Chaulk in the Joyce report, dated Oct. 18.
On top of that, Chaulk writes earlier in that report that while members may not have been found guilty of bullying, harassment, or intimidation, there can still be a violation found.
“It is important to note that although particular behaviour may not meet the specific definition of harassment or bullying, a code of conduct violation can still be made against a member if his or her conduct as an MHA warrants such a finding based on a review of the evidence,” wrote Chaulk.
While Kirby and Joyce may be clear of the original charges, it does not mean they’re out of trouble altogether.
That said, Premier Dwight Ball, Tory Leader Ches Crosbie and NDP Leader Gerry Rogers agreed it would be best to have the original Rubin Thomlinson reports publicly released, to help inform debate.
Debate in the House of Assembly has yet to begin on the reports. Each report will get its own separate debate, with hours of debate expected.
It could be over a week until the House votes for either reprimand or exoneration.
Twitter: DavidMaherNL
