Independent panel should review election: PCS
All parties agree Elections Act needs to be modernized
“… this is not an attack on government, what we are trying to do is fix some of the democratic holes that were there in the legislation and have an all-party committee put in play over a period of time, to do it right.” Progressive Conservative Interim Leader David Brazil
The province’s opposition parties and independent Paul Lane are asking the provincial government to conduct an independent review of this past winter’s provincial election before the changes to the Elections Act are debated in the House of Assembly.
Progressive Conservative Interim Leader David Brazil said in the House of Assembly Monday the troubled election calls for an external, independent review, not a review controlled by the governing Liberals.
“Because of the shambles of this past election, what an opportunity to really review what happened and really put in place proper legislation that will address that,” Brazil said. “How and why the government wouldn’t support that … this is not an attack on government, what we are trying to do is fix some of the democratic holes that were there in the legislation and have an all-party committee put in play over a period of time, to do it right.”
The Opposition introduced a private member’s resolution calling for the reestablishment of the all-party committee on democratic reform, which the PCS suggest could oversee the election review.
“By bringing back the all-party committee on democratic reform and tasking it with an independent, external review of the election, we can make real progress and get real change to ensure the fiasco of the 2021 election never happens again,” Brazil said.
Independent MHA Paul Lane read a motion Monday also calling for an independent and external investigation into the election.
Lane’s motion calls for “development of terms of reference for an initiation of an independent investigation of the recent provincial general election carried out by an individual or entity as agreed to by all parties and independent members of the House. And upon completion of the investigation, tabling and debating of the report in the House of Assembly.”
While the governing Liberals did not express support Monday for the Opposition and independent member’s motions, Premier Andrew Furey said all things will be considered.
“Certainly we’ll be looking at all avenues available to us to make sure we have the most modern Elections Act in Canada,” he said. “I think there are lessons to be learned and we are looking forward to employing that through a consultative process to ensure the lessons learned are acted upon.”
John Hogan, minister of Justice and Public Safety and attorney general, said Monday the government’s review of the Elections Act will take some time.
“We want to make sure we do an in-depth analysis of how this can be a very modern Elections Act,” he said. “As the premier said, it needs to be a living document — times change, things change, people change. When this (act) was drafted 30 years ago there was no internet, people weren’t using cellphones. I highly doubt a global pandemic was in people’s minds when they drafted that, and here we are 30 years later with those sort of items and options on the table that we need to address for future elections. And that’s what we are going to do.”
Brazil said Chief Electoral Officer Bruce Chaulk should be removed from his position pending the outcome of the review.
“Mr. Chaulk should not have a say over what is or is not passed over to the committee during the review of the election,” Brazil said. “His conduct is a subject of the review, so we suggest he be suspended from his position until the review is complete.”