Pair of NDP MLAs accused since 2015

EDMONTON • Two Alberta NDP MLAs have been accused of sexual misconduct since 2015, says the premier’s office. The complaints did not come from people in caucus, said Cheryl Oates, the premier’s spokeswoman.

“In both circumstances, the alleged behaviour took place outside the workplace,” Oates said in a statement Thursday. “In order to respect the privacy of the complainants, further details will remain confidential.”

Oates told reporters about the complaints following a news conference where Premier Rachel Notley addressed bullying allegations within the NDP.

The premier was asked whether there were allegations of inappropriate behaviour toward women among MLAs and initially said there were none that she knew of, before Oates issued the statement.

Calgary-East MLA Robyn Luff, who decided to boycott the legislature after accusing NDP leadership of supporting a culture of bullying, was kicked out of the caucus Monday.

Hours earlier, she had publicly slammed her party for issues such as being told to vote with the leader at all times and being restricted in what she could say in the house.

In her letter, Luff also wrote that the caucus was told to stay quiet if they had information on opposition members who had behaved inappropriately toward women “because our party wasn’t completely without fault on the matter.”

Notley vehemently denied that Thursday.

“Under no circumstances would that rule be in place by anybody who answers to, or is accountable to me, and in fact none of the leadership in our caucus would ever have said such a thing,” she said.

“It was unfortunate that she put that in her letter because I can tell you … definitively that there’s absolutely no foundation to that particular statement.”

Luff told Postmedia Monday she wasn’t aware of any situations in either the NDP or opposition parties where someone was sexually harassed at the legislature.

“I’ve had no negative experiences with any of the men in the legislature,” she said.

Notley said the NDP has internal processes and policies to address harassment and bullying.

“We think it’s quite well developed,” she said.

She reiterated that she was disappointed with the position Luff took.

“We understand that that member is not a fan of the parliamentary system and would like to have complete independence in all that she does, but that’s not the way the system works,” Notley said. “As far as the other allegations that she made, we’ve since determined through her conversations in public that there really is no foundation to them.”

Luff won’t run again in 2019, nor will she sit in the house under another party’s banner, she said.