Speaker emphasizes decorum as noise over earplugs dies down

Speaker Nathan Cooper ruled against a complaint from New Democrat house leader Deron Bilous after he accused United Conservative house leader Jason Nixon of misleading the house about earplugs.

“I understand that members of the opposition have rightly taken offence to certain activities that occurred during the evening on June 19, 2019,” said Cooper Tuesday, ruling on a rare point of privilege. “Perhaps, unsurprisingly, it has not been my experience that there is a positive correlation between sitting late into the night and decorum in this assembly.”

But he said the complaint didn’t meet the test for deliberately misleading the house.

“This test is very difficult to meet,” he added.

The earplug kerfuffle began last week, when Premier Jason Kenney walked among members of the UCP caucus in the middle of a debate, grabbing packets of fluorescent earplugs from a box and handing them out.

Members were debating Bill 9, which will allow the government to halt union wage negotiations.

The premier’s office said Thursday morning Kenney’s stunt was a “harmless and lighthearted attempt to boost government caucus morale,” but the NDP called it “arrogant” and ironic given the premier’s oft-repeated election promise to raise decorum in the house.

A few hours later, during question period on Thursday afternoon, Nixon denied anyone in government had plugged their ears at all.

Then on Friday, Kenney had a completely new explanation when asked about the earplugs on television program Power and Politics.

“We had a member with tinnitus who was sitting next to an opposition member who was shouting repeatedly … so yeah I gave him a pair of earplugs to reduce the volume,” Kenney said.

Cooper said the assertion that a member misled the assembly is “a very serious matter.”

“I would also like to remind members that we all must work together ... to ensure that order and decorum are maintained in this assembly,” he said.

Notice of intervention in federal carbon tax case

Alberta has filed a notice of intervention in Saskatchewan’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada in its case against the federal carbon tax.

It follows a promise from Premier Jason Kenney in May after a split decision from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal that found a federal carbon tax is constitutional.

The Saskatchewan Party government had asked the court for its opinion on the levy that came into effect April 1 in provinces without a carbon price of their own.

“We disagree with the narrow ruling by the majority that the federal government has the power to ensure a provincial minimum price on carbon,” Kenney said in a statement at the time.

Alberta is “committed to using every tool at its disposal” to fight the federal carbon tax, said a Tuesday news release.