N.S. government backs down on move to oust independent MLA from Province House

The Tory government is backing down on a threat to expel Independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin from the legislature.

On Monday, Community Services Minister Karla MacFarlane brought forward a motion that could have removed Smith-McCrossin with a simple majority vote. She wanted Smith-McCrossin to apologize for saying that a woman who once worked in her constituency office was coerced into signing a non-disclosure agreement with the Progressive Conservative caucus when she worked there in 2018.

The comments came as MLAs debated legislation that would limit the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual assault and harassment. Smith-McCrossin also tabled an unsigned document she said was a copy of the agreement between the woman and the Tory caucus.

MacFarlane fired back that neither her party nor her caucus entered into any such agreement and that Smith-McCrossin was misleading the House. Refusing to apologize, Smith-McCrossin said she was relaying the information as she understood it to be true and said she was  pursuing legal action against the government to prevent her removal from the legislature.

Correcting the record

Premier Tim Houston told reporters on Wednesday that the Tories would take the matter no further, and are looking to move forward.

Houston said the motion was an attempt to "correct the record."

"We were concerned that something that was tabled in the legislature wasn't exactly what it was purported to be, it was in fact dramatically different," he said.

Houston said he's satisfied that subsequent comments from Smith-McCrossin amounted to a retraction.

For her part, Smith-McCrossin said she's yet to be informed that the issue is settled. She said her legal action would continue in the meantime.

"There is a pattern of intimidation and bullying tactics and it needs to stop," she said.

Smith-McCrossin has said she found the copy of the document among the effects of her former employee after the woman died last year of a brain hemorrhage. The woman's parents have issued a statement saying their daughter was "ghosted" and "treated like a pariah" after she signed a non-disclosure agreement and left her job with the Tories.

MacFarlane was interim Tory leader in 2018 after Jamie Baillie was forced out by the party for what was called inappropriate behaviour toward a female staff member.

Two days after saying she would "fight this to the end," MacFarlane told reporters that she stands by Houston's position. She refused to answer any other questions on the matter.

Both opposition party leaders had said they would oppose efforts by the government to remove Smith-McCrossin, who represents the district of Cumberland North.

NDP leader says motion should be withdrawn

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the government did the right thing by relenting on the motion.

The motion amounted to "an intimidation tactic," she told reporters.

"Bringing it [forward] would have set a very dangerous precedent for how and when members can be removed from the House."

Chender said the motion should be withdrawn if there is a process that allows for that.

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said this is the second time the government has tried to "bully" Smith-McCrossin into standing down on an issue.

"And both times she has stood her ground and the government has pulled their horns in and I think that's an indication that what they did was wrong," Churchill told reporters.

Smith-McCrossin received a legal threat from the Justice Department earlier this year when she made public the story of a constituent who died while awaiting medical care in the emergency department at the hospital in Amherst.

The government accused her of sharing private health information, but Smith-McCrossin noted that she was representing her constituents and had the permission of the family to share their story.

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