Halifax – Members of the Progressive Conservative Public Accounts Committee are again disappointed at what appears to be a blatant attempt by the NDP to gerrymander the public accounts process.
Progressive Conservative leader Karen Casey met with Premier Darrell Dexter and Liberal leader Stephen McNeil yesterday to discuss the public accounts process, only to learn this morning that the agreement between the leaders had been ignored.
“It would appear that the Members of the NDP Public Accounts Committee had not received any formal communication from their leader,” said Casey. “We agreed that in the best interest of the committee, we would move forward and work together. We also agreed to take our discussion back to our respective caucuses and/or committee members in order to facilitate an understanding on future procedural matters.”
Believing that consensus among the three party leaders had been achieved, Cape Breton North MLA Cecil Clarke introduced a motion for the committee to accept the results of the leaders’ discussion.
“I went into today’s public accounts meeting with the understanding that the Premier had discussed the results of the leaders’ meeting with his committee members,” said Clarke. “It was obvious that they had not spoken with the Premier or his Chief of Staff, which leaves only one conclusion – the Premier does not respect the public accounts process or the leaders of either opposition party.”
Casey held a conference call with her caucus yesterday afternoon to discuss the results of her meeting with the Premier and Mr. McNeil. At 4:30 p.m., Ms. Casey confirmed that her caucus would end a two-week hiatus from the Public Accounts Committee.
“I took my meeting with the two other leaders seriously,” said Casey. “We simply brought forward a motion on what the leaders had discussed, and I must admit that I am disappointed that it was voted down by the NDP members.”
In a recorded vote, the five NDP Public Accounts members voted to defer Clarke’s motion, citing their lack of knowledge on what had been discussed among the three leaders. The NDP have a majority on the committee.
“The fact they voted to defer the motion is perplexing,” added Clarke. “They don’t have their act together, especially on a matter as serious as public accounts and democracy.”
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Michael Kydd
Public Relations Advisor
Office of the Leader - PC Caucus
902.424.4996 (o)
902.237.1965 (bb)
kyddma@gov.ns.ca
