Elections NL CEO Bruce Chaulk suspended
Opposition parties say review of allegations should have happened sooner
Elections NL chief electoral officer and commissioner for legislative standards, Bruce Chaulk, was suspended Tuesday with pay, pending further review of a citizens’ representative report which allegedly deals with allegations of harassment, bullying and nepotism at Elections NL.
Travis Wooley is now the acting chief electoral officer. Wooley was previously assistant chief electoral officer.
Ann Chafe, who recently retired as commissioner of the Public Service Commission, will serve as the acting commissioner for legislative standards.
Chaulk’s suspension follows more than a month of public discourse about the allegations, as well as controversy about how long House Speaker Derek Bennett allegedly had the report before it was referred to the all-party House of Assembly Management Commission, which he chairs, for review.
Opposition parties allege Bennett sat on the report for about three months before sending it to cabinet, which then sent it to the Management Commission within 24 hours of receiving it earlier this month, according to Premier Andrew Furey.
Justice Minister and Attorney General John Hogan told reporters Tuesday afternoon the Management Commission made the recommendation to cabinet to suspend Chaulk pending its review of the citizens’ representative report, and cabinet accepted that recommendation.
Hogan said he’s read the report, but he can’t speak to the details.
“It’s very clear, very obvious that this is a human resources issue related to an individual’s employment, and allegations made against that individual, so to respect his privacy and to respect the privacy of others who are involved and might be named in that report, we can’t publicly talk about that,” he said.
Hogan said a redacted version of the report will be made public at some point, but he couldn’t provide a timeline.
Meanwhile, opposition parties welcomed Chaulk’s suspension pending the review.
In a written statement, independent Mount Pearlsouthlands MHA Paul Lane said he’s pleased to see the Management Commission act upon the recommendations of the citizens’ representative.
“Unfortunately, this should have been done three months ago and arguably if not for employees coming forward to myself and other members regarding this report, it would still be buried within the confines of the Confederation Building,” Lane said in his statement.
“The reason why this was allowed to happen needs to be justified to the HOA and I for one will be holding the Speaker’s office accountable for this mishandling of such a serious situation.”
NDP interim leader Jim Dinn said that timeline also baffles him. He said the Management Commission’s review can’t be another three or four months; he said it must be done quickly. Tory opposition leader David Brazil also said he hopes the review is done in a timely manner. He said it’s disappointing it wasn’t handled in a more timely and transparent manner by the Speaker’s office, but he gave kudos to the Management Commission for dealing with it quickly. Brazil said he hopes Elections NL employees feel reassured.
In a news release issued Tuesday afternoon, Bennett said the Management Commission is in the process of finalizing the details of the independent review, including who will conduct it, the terms of reference and related timelines.
“Unfortunately, this should have been done three months ago and arguably if not for employees coming forward to myself and other members regarding this report, it would still be buried within the confines of the Confederation Building.”
Independent MHA Paul Lane
From a written statement