Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of privilege. Mr. Speaker, yesterday afternoon before the commencement of the House, I returned to my private office in the Legislative Assembly to find a handwritten note from Jean-Marc Miltenberger on my desk. Mr. Miltenberger was in the Legislative Assembly yesterday as a guest of his brother, Minister Michael Miltenberger. As you know, Mr. Speaker, Members' offices are located in a restricted area of this Legislative Assembly, an area accessible only by Members and staff of the Legislative Assembly. As you also know, Mr. Speaker, it is the policy of this Legislature that guests who are signed into the restricted area of the Legislative Assembly must be accompanied at all times by the Member who signed them in.
When I discovered the note from Mr. Jean-Marc Miltenberger, I was immediately concerned, because the paper used on which to write the note came from behind my desk beside my telephone. I was immediately concerned as there were sensitive and confidential documents in plain view on my desk. Included among these documents was a draft of the motion I provided in this House yesterday. Mr. Speaker, before I was able to give notice of that motion, Mayor Miltenberger gave an interview to the Hay River Hub criticizing the proposed motion. The only reasonable conclusion I can come to is that Jean-Marc Miltenberger saw the draft notice of motion on my desk when he entered my office without permission and released its contents to the media before I was able to formally introduce it in the House.
When I discussed this matter with Minister Miltenberger today, he confirmed that he did not accompany his brother to the Regular Members' office area or into my office. Unauthorized access to the private office space of any Member is a breach of that Member's parliamentary privilege. Mr. Speaker, this is particularly so when confidential and sensitive information acquired as a result of such unauthorized access is released to the public. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I view the release of this type of sensitive information to be contempt of this House.
Mr. Speaker, this is a serious matter, and it should be of concern to all Members of this Legislature. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. To the point of privilege, are there any other further comments? The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will confirm that Mayor Miltenberger from Hay River was with me and that he did want to go down and pay a quick courtesy call to the Member, who wasn’t there and he left her a message. I think the rest is assumption on the Member’s part. The news of that motion was all over the place. The word was out that there was something afoot. There were calls received from High Arctic up in the North. People had heard already, so she has made some fairly damning accusations against the mayor; making some very strong allegations about the contempt.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Are there any further comments on the point of privilege? Thank you, Members. I will take the point of privilege under advisement and come back at a later date with my findings.
