Can Premier come up with a different system that works more appropriately, outlined by a number of people and Members of the House of Assembly
Can Premier confirm that another member of the Liberal caucus is currently under investigation by the Commissioner for Legislative Standards
Can Premier confirm that he has not forwarded additional complaints to the Commissioner for review, other than those which have now been completed
Can Premier confirm whether any harassment or bullying-related complaints have been filed or made to his office by a Member
Can Premier explain how it is conducive to an environment where people can safely disclose issues and concerns in the workplace, when a minister has told the media the name of the person who raised concerns about him
Can Premier explain to people what is happening in his government
Can Premier identify to House who has been removed from Cabinet, and the nature of the allegations against the minister
Can Premier outline exactly what the Member for Bay of Islands is stepping aside from, and what that means
Can Premier remove the Cabinet minister while the investigation takes place or will he leave minister in place with full authority during the investigation
Can Premier state unequivocally that the former minister never raised a single issue or concern with him
Democracy Watch's comments on Minister's email
Did former minister make Premier aware of why she was leaving, and what did he do about that
Did minister respond to email in October of last year
Davis, P.,
663
Parsons, A.,
663
Did Premier agree to be a witness on behalf of the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands
Did Premier agree to go over the Member's written response to allegations against him, and coach the Member on what he should include in his response
Did Premier discuss removing the Minister of Service NL from Cabinet with the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands
Did Premier have numerous phone conversations during a four-to-five month period during which the investigation of the Code of Conduct violations were being conducted by an independent officer of the legislature
Did Premier himself submit complaint to the Commissioner or have individuals submit the complaints
Did Premier reach out to the Member by telephone on one or more occasions to assist him in the way he describes
Did Premier speak to his senior advisor, and did the senior advisor confirm he's received information and concerns in the past
Did Premier tell Member for Humber - Bay of Islands, at any stage of the process, that the allegations made by the Minister of Service NL were ill-founded
Did the Premier advise the Member for Mount Scio against releasing the report publicly, and if not, why not
Does minister believe that culture within the House of Assembly will prevent talented and ethical people from offering themselves up for election
Does minister support that the two Members who have been granted leave from the House of Assembly and are not sitting in the House still represent their constituents
Does Premier agree with assessment discussed on CBC this morning
Does Premier believe it is due process and fair to those against whom findings have been made to apply that process to decide their fate
Does Premier believe it would be appropriate to ask caucus members to produce their cellphones for review, as part of the investigation
Does Premier believe that some or all of the complaints could have been avoided if the Premier had made known his zero tolerance policy at an earlier stage
Does Premier believe that the leak of information jeopardizes due process
Does Premier condone email by his minister
Does Premier condone the actions of his Minister of Education
Does Premier expect to have conversations with the Commissioner during the investigation
Does Premier feel it appropriate that two Members currently under investigation for harassment are still performing duties in their districts
Does Premier stand by his comments that no one in his office, or himself, were made aware of any complaints of harassment regarding any minister in his government
Does Premier stand by his words regarding the need to ensure that participants are comfortable, given the dissatisfaction expressed by two complainants
Does Premier stick with story that he had no idea before last Wednesday that these issues were happening in his own government
Does Premier still stand by his comments about having not received complaints from members of his caucus or Cabinet
Does Premier think former minister's experience is relevant in looking forward to making the most complete and thorough investigation we can have
Does Premier think it acceptable that a minister tried to circumvent the proper procedures for hiring within the public service and put pressure on colleagues to get his friends a job
Does Premier think it appropriate to adopt the recommendation from the Kirby report for sensitivity training in the legislative context
Does Premier think it appropriate to leave the person about whom the complaints are made in the same environment with people who have been expressing concern for months
Has anyone in Premier's office received any complaints from any Member of the House of Assembly regarding any minister in his government
Has Premier learned more information from his staff since discussion began on Tuesday
Has Premier provided any specific written direction to his staff to preserve BlackBerry messages
Have any additional accusations of harassment or bullying been made to Premier's office or to his staff, outside of the reports that will be tabled today
Have any allegations been made to Premier's staff
Have any members of Premier's caucus or Cabinet made any form of harassment or bullying complaints to him as Premier or to any member of his staff
Have Premier or staff received any complaints by any Members prior to this morning
House of Assembly
House to support new workplace harassment policy introduced by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and urges government to show continued leadership by making legislative changes to these or other pieces of legislation to ensure women and others are protected in all workplaces in Newfoundland and Labrador from harassment and sexual harassment
Notice of motion
Debate
Ball,
289–290
Bennett, C.,
269–272,
291–292
Coady,
281–282
Davis, P.,
277–281
Gambin-Walsh,
285–286
Michael,
282–285
Parsley,
286–287
Parsons, A.,
275–277
Perry,
272–275
Rogers,
287–289
Motion—Carried,
292
House to support the introduction of a Legislature-specific harassment policy, similar in principle to the policy in effect in the Nova Scotia provincial legislature, where elected representatives and their staff are held responsible for inappropriate conduct
Notice of motion
Debate
Ball,
828–831
Coady,
822–825
Dempster,
834–837
Lane,
841
Parsons, K.,
837–841
Perry,
819–822,
841–843
Petten,
825–828
Rogers,
831–834
Motion—Carried,
843
How can members of the House of Assembly and the public have confidence that the systemic issues of harassment will be dealt with when the report goes back to the Premier
How could minister have watched bad behaviour unfold over the last two-and-a-half years and not have taken any action before now
How far-reaching are the concerns and fears of speaking out, and does it go beyond the walls of Premier's caucus
How has the presence of dysfunction in the Liberal caucus and Cabinet affected Premier's ability to conduct the business of government
How is it that minister didn't tell Premier about the matter, after two or three days of questions in the House
Davis, P.,
662
Parsons, A.,
662
How quickly is Premier going to move to make sure that the persons who continue to deal with the complainant are people who are outside the process
If allegations made by the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands were true, would that be consistent with Premier's remarks of May 2nd, when he referred to the process as "independent"
If allegations made by the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands were true, would they constitute conduct bringing the integrity of the Office of the Premier into disrepute
If allegations of harassment or bullying were to be made outside the four corners of the reports that will be tabled, would Premier expect to be made aware of them
If another Member of the House has a complaint to bring to Premier's attention, what process should they use, and what assurance can Premier give them that there will not be repercussions for speaking out
If Minister Responsible for the Status of Women doesn't see a problem, doesn't that clearly illustrate how systemic the problem is within government
If Premier put himself in the middle of the complaints process, how is that going to address the systemic issue he has identified
If Premier was unaware of the bullying inside his own caucus, who was running the show
If the allegations made by that member were to be found untrue, would that represent a violation of the Code of Conduct
Is it a violation of trust for a Member of the House to try to put a stop to harassment and bullying
Is it a violation of trust for a Member of the House to try to put a stop to harassment and intimidation
Is it correct that the Minister of Municipal Affairs is stepping aside strictly as minister
Is it okay that minister is more interested in identifying the complainants or is it more important to be protecting those who need assistance and support
Is it Premier's intention to leave the minister in place, or is it his intention to remove the minister during the investigation
Is Minister Responsible for the Status of Women aware of any written or verbal complaints with respect to harassment or bullying that has been experienced within her own caucus by any minister in the Cabinet
Is part of reason that minister was removed due to the email he sent internally to his own caucus when he referred to no greater violation
Is Premier allowing the person whom complaints concern to remain in caucus
Is Premier aware of complaint that a Member allegedly provided false, inaccurate and misleading information in an attempt to discredit a municipal council
Is Premier committed to move forward to adopt a Legislature-specific harassment policy, similar in principle to the policy in effect in Nova Scotia
Is Premier concerned that people may not be coming forward with complaints
Is Premier concerned that the only complaint made to the Commissioner to date was the one made by him
Is Premier informing House that he did not offer assistance of the nature he described to the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands in how to conduct himself in making a response
Is Premier informing House that he did offer assistance to the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands in how to conduct himself in making his response
Is Premier okay with his Minister of Justice failing to respond to email from another Member in October 2017
Is Premier okay with the Member about whom allegations were made having just a few minutes ago identified people who are making complaints publicly
Is Premier planning to leave the minister in place during the investigation or will he remove him
Is Premier saying that because things are difficult it was okay for these things to happen
Is Premier saying that the CBC reporting on whether he had received complaints is inaccurate
Is Premier willing to require a review process with a public report and public recommendations for change
Is the House hearing that the Premier did assist the Member with what should go in his written response
Now that there are three separate investigations, does Premier think he can do this in a large way and find out what is actually happening within government
Premier denounces harassment in the workplace
On a scale of one to 10, where 10 represents full compliance with the ideals of the Code of Conduct, how does the Premier rank the conduct outlined in the reports
Should colleagues' interpretation of behaviour as bullying and intimidation be enough to warrant Minister Responsible for the Status of Women's full support
Thanking female colleagues for coming forward regarding experiences of harassment
With two fewer Cabinet ministers in the Liberal caucus, is the doubling of cabinet portfolios undermining the effectiveness of government
Was Premier aware of any issues pertaining to the conduct or behaviour of his ministers
Was Premier okay with minister's email to caucus
Were Members of caucus asked to produce their cellphones, before complaint was made today
Were other avenues considered for reviewing the harassment complaints
What action has Premier taken to ensure broader specialized expertise and independence that will allow for a complete investigation of any allegations
What are the nature of the allegations against the minister
What assurance do we have that the appropriate expertise will be guaranteed as a part of the investigation
What did minister do about email sent to him in October 2017
Davis, P.,
662
Parsons, A.,
662
What does former finance minister's comments about bullying and intimidation and yesterday's reports noting the culture of harassment and intimidation say about the Premier's leadership, given that issues have been ongoing for three years
What exactly is the nature of the investigation that the former minister of Education and Early Childhood Development is undergoing
What guarantee do we have that the reports and recommendations for penalties will be tabled in the House
What has Premier done to change the culture in the past three years
What is Minister Responsible for the Status of Women doing to ensure that the culture within her caucus does not lead to more resignations from victims of bullying and harassment
What is Minister Responsible for the Status of Women's position on bullying and harassment in the workplace, and what will she do to ensure there is never a repeat of the flawed process recently endured
What is Premier doing to reform Cabinet, caucus operations and the House of Assembly to make them a safe workplace
What is Premier going to do about the discrepancy between his having talked about confidentiality and the minister having just publicly named a person with concerns about him
What is Premier going to do about the Minister of Municipal Affairs having named a person who has expressed concerns about him
What is Premier going to do to ensure there is a comfortable process
What is Premier going to do to help women in the House feel safe in their workplace right now at this moment
What is Premier's plan to address rampant rumours of harassment in the House
What is Premier's plan to deal with systemic issue within the walls of government
What is Speaker recommending to individuals who want to come forward, but are uncertain about what procedure to follow
What is the normal protocol for a harassment complaint if it is made against a Member of Premier's caucus or a Member of his office staff, or in the Government Members' Office
What specifically does Premier feel is flawed about the process for complaints
What support has Minister Responsible for the Status of Women provided to complainants
What will Premier do immediately about the behaviour of the Member for Humber - Bay of Islands
What would the process be if someone was to make a complaint about bullying or harassment regarding any Member of Cabinet or caucus, either to Premier or to his office
When did Premier first become aware that there were issues of conduct and behaviour by ministers in his own Cabinet
When did Premier's staff first become aware of growing issues with behaviour and conduct of his own ministers
When does Premier think he will reach a decision point with regard to the possible removal of the minister
Where is Premier's leadership, and why didn't or couldn't he make his Cabinet a fair and collaborative workplace, rather than preside over a toxic, abusive situation
While investigations into particular issues are necessary, what is Premier doing to fix the system rather than simply address the symptoms
Who will conduct the investigation
Why did it take so long for Premier to respond to the terrible e-mail that was sent to his caucus
Why did Premier choose to immerse himself in a process when his advice could have been for individuals to go to the Commissioner and file complaints, so there would have been a higher level of independence
Why did Premier let this terrible behaviour continue and not take any action until the harassment concerns were made public last week
Why did Premier not deal with the actions of the Minister of Education in September 2017
Why did Premier not respond to letter from the Leader of the Official Opposition, dated January 30, regarding the need to modernize the Code of Conduct
Davis, P.,
676
Parsons, A.,
676
Why did Premier not take allegations against the former Minister of Education by the province's Teachers' Association seriously
Why did Premier not take any action before last Wednesday when he knew there was a problem
Why did Premier submit a report to the Commissioner and why did he not leave himself out of it
Why did Premier take the one route that may not lead to penalties
Why did Premier turn a blind eye to the allegations against the Minister of Education by the chair of the Federation of School Councils
Why didn't minister tell Premier he was aware of concerns from some months ago
Why didn't Premier keep his own house in order so we could keep doing the work of the people in this House
Why didn't Premier show leadership before now, and why didn't he show leadership when things were happening, and deal with the intimidation which was ongoing for former minister's two years as a Cabinet minister
Why does Premier keep insisting that he knew nothing before last Wednesday in the face of growing evidence to the contrary
Why doesn't Premier focus on ensuring that complainants can come forward without reprisal, instead of focusing on trying to find out who's responsible for the leak
Why has Premier allowed intimidation and harassment to continue within government and not taken action before now
Will investigations be done strictly independently of each other
Will Premier allow for a larger umbrella investigation into how these things are taking place and how government is operating
Will Premier ask House to direct the House of Assembly Management Commission to develop a comprehensive, anti-harassment policy for elected officials and their staff
Will Premier be a leader, do the right thing, and remove person from his position in caucus
Will Premier commit to change process and request the Management Commission to engage an independent body with the specialized expertise to investigate these complaints, to ensure the process is completely independent
Will Premier commit to ensuring a fully independent process
Will Premier commit to providing any additional necessary resources to both the Commissioner's office and the House of Assembly Management Commission that they might need in order to do the work of the investigation
Will Premier do the right thing and commit to change the process and support the engagement of an independent body to investigate complaints
Will Premier engage in the particular process passed in legislation in the last session to deal with harassment in the public service
Will Premier ensure that the review into harassment complaints is independent, as well as seen to be independent
Will Premier ensure that we change the process and ensure that the report is submitted to the Speaker of this honourable House
Will Premier now do the right thing and remove himself, giving the complaints review the independence it deserves
Will Premier remove himself from the process and ensure that the report is submitted
Will Premier remove the minister until he can at least determine the seriousness of this recent allegation
Will reports on the complaints the Premier filed on behalf of caucus colleagues be coming back to the House for disclosure
Without reference to specific allegations, how does the Premier rate the conduct described in the reports in relation to the Code of Conduct
Would Premier agree with former minister's assessment regarding the culture of widespread harassment and intimidation that occurs within the Liberal caucus and Cabinet
Would Premier inform the House whether any employees of the public service have made complaints to the Premier, or his staff