Debates of October 26, 2006 (day 16)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about something which is, I believe, a long held perception in the public about the way in which things work in this Assembly. Each Member elected to the Assembly has the right, privilege, and even the obligation, to stand up for their constituents. They also have the right to speak their conscience on matters of conduct and integrity. They should be able to do that without any fear of reprisal.

This is a unique institution in that we ourselves are the gatekeepers on the standard of accountability and integrity to which we wish to aspire and hold ourselves. From time to time it is part of our job to speak to matters of conduct and integrity. We should never feel that doing so will compromise the interest of our constituencies. There are people in our constituencies who feel that if a Member speaks to difficult issues that cause anything but happiness for the Members of our Cabinet, we do so at the peril of the aspirations of our ridings. I’d like to believe that this is not the case.

I’m not a big fan of bullying or intimidation tactics and there is no limit to the depth in which the principles of democracy could sink if this happens. We should be vigilant to defend the rights of freedom to express both support, when it’s merited, and disapproval of what we see coming from our leaders. I, for one, will fight long and hard and even loudly to discourage the reality or perception of the theory that those who don’t conform will be punished or intimidated in some way.

Mr. Speaker, there are people out there who don’t know how things work in this government, who think that there’s a list of initiatives or capital projects sitting on the Cabinet table and when the Member for that riding does something they shouldn’t do, there’s a little pen that comes out and arbitrarily things start getting stroked off. People still think that in this day and age, and I am standing up today because I want to dispel that theory because I don’t believe that’s the case, nor should it be the case. I’ll have questions later today for the Premier on his thoughts on this matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause