Government could bring in temporary harassment protocol, but it won't be this week

After two MHAs were booted from caucus in the past three weeks, the Newfoundland and Labrador government is considering new measures to protect elected officials.

The House Management Commission — a small group of members that oversees financial and administrative issues in the House of Assembly — met Wednesday night to discuss options.

On the agenda was the possibility to adopt the new harassment policy that's about to take effect for employees of the civil service, but the commission decided to take time to gather more information.

"I think the management commission will look at whether or not there is confidence in the current process," said MHA Siobhan Coady after the meeting.

As it stands, complaints of harassment by MHAs falls under their code of conduct. Investigations are done by the Commissioner of Legislative Standards, and the final reports can either land on the premier's desk, in the hands of the complainants, or tabled in the House of Assembly.

Perry still considering complaint

Since both current complaints were filed by the premier on behalf of the complainants, the reports in theory would end up on the desk of Dwight Ball — something that's drawn criticism from members of all three political parties in the province.

Tracey Perry, a Progressive Conservative MHA, has indicated she will file a complaint but has hemmed and hawed about the process currently in place.

Earlier this month, Perry tabled a private members resolution asking the Privileges and Elections Committee to create a new harassment policy specific to MHAs. It was approved unanimously.

"From my point of view, it's about ensuring we having the best process in place that is standard with harassment in the workplace everywhere," Perry told reporters on Wednesday.

"The motion we brought forward … will enable us at the end of the day to create a much better legislature."

Perry, who sat in the gallery throughout the meeting, said she was satisfied by what she heard Wednesday, but still wants to take time before lodging a formal complaint.

Back to the table soon

During Wednesday's meeting, Coady had questions about how long that could take, and how the process could influence the need to adopt a temporary harassment policy in the short term.

"Can we wait until the privileges and elections committee reports? How long will that take is the question I wanted to ask," she said.

"We do have a process currently. I just don't want people to not understand. There is a process, it's just whether or not we want to expand that process and have an interim before the report."

Paul Davis, who was the leader of the opposition when the harassment allegations came to light, questioned how the reporting and investigating process would work if they adopted an interim policy on top of their code of conduct.

That question led to a motion to defer the entire subject to the next House Management Commission meeting, which could be as early as next week.