Dumville did not break legislature's rules, Speaker says
Dumville may have breached caucus confidentiality but not parliamentary privilege, Watts says
Newly-independent MLA Bush Dumville did not break the rules of the P.E.I. Legislature in raising questions about "secret committee meetings," Speaker Buck Watts ruled Tuesday.
Justice Minister Jordan Brown asked for a ruling on the matter last week. Brown said Dumville breached caucus confidentiality in his questions during Question Period on April 11, by referring to confidential in-camera meetings Dumville had been part of when he was a Liberal MLA.
"The meetings that the member for West Royalty-Springvale has referred to in his questions were not committee meetings, nor were they meetings of the Assembly," Speaker Buck Watts said Tuesday in the legislature.
"From what I understand, they were meetings between members of the government caucus who were then members of the standing committee on public accounts and perhaps other persons, that took place prior to meetings of the standing committee."
Therefore, the rules prohibiting reference to in-camera meetings of the assembly don't apply, Watts said, and Dumville did not break any rules.
Dumville resigned from the Liberal caucus at the end of January after 11 years and now sits as an independent MLA. Since the spring legislative sitting began, Dumville has made headlines by accusing the premier's chief of staff of trying to influence the public accounts committee, and alleging the government arranged extra money for road paving for Liberal-held districts.
'Expectations of confidentiality and secrecy'
Watts believes caucus meetings are not parliamentary proceedings and aren't protected by privilege, he explained.
"There may well be expectations of confidentiality and secrecy, but breaches of these expectations would be matters for the caucus to deal with, not the Speaker nor the assembly," Watts said.
In another ruling, Watts said opposition members should not be asking questions of current ministers about meetings or decisions that happened when those ministers were backbenchers. Watts said that is out of order, the same as asking ministers about previous portfolios.
"I trust members will refrain from posing such questions in the future," Watts said.