CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - Opposition MLAs accused the Liberals Wednesday of political interference in the public accounts committee and its review of the province’s failed e-gaming scheme.
During question period, opposition MLAs continued a line of questioning disgruntled former Liberal Bush Dumville started the day before when he asked about lawyer Spencer Campbell’s attendance at a strategy meeting for Liberal public accounts committee members.
Borden-Kinkora MLA Jamie Fox said over the last week the house learned about “very disturbing developments around direct political interference” by the premier’s office in the work of the public accounts committee.
Premier Wade MacLauchlan denied any interference.
“I did not participate in or make it my business to direct the affairs of the public accounts committee,” he said.
The e-gaming file has been a contentious issue at public accounts meetings with opposition MLAs trying to call several witnesses and succeeding in a motion to do so in 2016 with support from then-Liberal Dumville.
A week later the majority Liberals reversed the motion during a meeting Dumville didn’t attend.
With his few questions so far in the spring sitting, Dumville has raised the issue of political interference in the public accounts committee, including saying Campbell provided legal advice to the committee.
Campbell is a former Liberal party president and is one of the lawyers representing the government in its ongoing e-gaming lawsuit.
“What makes these developments so disturbing is that they’re coming from an elected member of this house that served as a member of the public accounts committee and saw it happen first hand."
-Jamie Fox
As he continued his questions, Fox pressed the issue of interference.
“What makes these developments so disturbing is that they’re coming from an elected member of this house that served as a member of the public accounts committee and saw it happen first hand,” Fox said.
After question period ended three MLAs rose on points of order or privilege related to issues that came up earlier in the proceedings.
Steven Myers rose on a point of order and referred to comments Justice Minister Jordan Brown made about the e-gaming lawsuit, which is before the courts.
“He is the minister of justice. He is not to pre-judge any trials that are happening in front of the courts here in Prince Edward Island,” Myers said.
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Jordan Brown rose on points of order and of privilege regarding Dumville’s questions about strategy meetings with public accounts committee members. Brown said the questions referred to a time when he was the Liberal whip and pertained to caucus meetings held in camera.
Dumville's questions referred to things discussed during the meetings and were a breach of privilege, said Brown. He also said opposition MLAs were asking questions of cabinet ministers that were outside of their departments and weren’t proper questions to be put to ministers in the house.
Dumville then rose on his own point of privilege, saying the “secret committee meetings” weren’t caucus meetings.
Speaker Buck Watts said he would take the matters under advisement.
MacLauchlan did not speak to the media after question period, with a spokeswoman saying he addressed the matters in the house and they were before the speaker as a point of order.
Attempts were made to reach Campbell for comment, but were unsuccessful.
