Notley says she’s ‘proud’ of caucus, ‘fortunate’
Comment comes after MLA’s ouster
EDMONTON Premier Rachel Notley praised her caucus Tuesday for its “extraordinary ” work the day after the NDP kicked out MLA Robyn Luff who slammed the party for a “culture of bullying.”
“I’m obviously very disappointed with the decision that was taken by the member from Calgary-East, but let me also just say how proud I am of the team that sits with me here on this side of the house,” Notley said during question period. “As premier, I could not be more fortunate. They are doing extraordinary jobs.”
She was responding to a question from Alberta Party house leader Greg Clark, who asked about workplace harassment protections.
“With respect, we’ve now had two members of this assembly raise very serious allegations including the alleged coverup of inappropriate behaviour on the part of members on both sides of the house,” he said, referencing Alberta Party MLA Karen McPherson’s decision to leave the NDP last year.
“How can Albertans or those who work in the public service have faith in the anti-bullying policies that are in place when your own government doesn’t seem to play by the same rules?”
Luff told Postmedia Tuesday evening she doesn’t regret going public. Luff has put her departure down to unhappiness at directives to NDP MLAs to vote with the leader at all times, being restricted in what they are allowed to say in the house, and having questions written on her behalf, stifling her ability to voice her constituents’ concerns.
She also criticized tight control over social media, saying she was told via text not to be photographed with federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh when he was in Edmonton.
“It finally got to the point where it was very clear to me that (NDP leadership) weren’t going to address my concerns, and I knew if I didn’t say anything I would regret it probably for the rest of my life,” she said.
Luff said the fact she was removed from the caucus Monday night after speaking out backs up her assertion that a culture of bullying exists. She’s writing to the Speaker and house leaders to outline how her concerns could be addressed, and wants “substantive changes” to curtail the power of the premier’s office before the next election. “I think this was the right decision. It’s something that people are talking about right now. If it starts a conversation, then it was absolutely worth doing.”
McPherson, who left the NDP caucus last year to sit as an Independent before joining the Alberta Party, said she can corroborate some of Luff ’s concerns.
“I can certainly understand where Robyn is coming from,” she told reporters Monday. “There was definitely a lot of editing of communication from backbenchers.”
Deputy premier Sarah Hoffman said there was a thorough discussion about Luff’s allegations at the Monday night caucus meeting and denied that backbench MLAs aren’t able to ask critical questions during question period.
“We always work with them to find a way to make sure that they can succeed,” she said.