CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker is calling for an investigation by the province’s ethics and integrity commissioner into the role that a lawyer with ties to the Liberal party had in drafting the province’s Referendum Act.
Bevan-Baker said emails obtained by the Office of the Third Party show that former Liberal party spokesman Spencer Campbell helped draft the province’s Referendum Act. The emails were obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
The documents obtained show that Paul Ledwell, clerk of executive council, sent an email on June 4, 2018, to Justice and Public Safety Minister Jordan Brown.
“Spencer is re-drafting – will circulate a revisited draft as soon as possible,” Ledwell wrote, in reference to the Referendum Act.
Campbell is a former chief of staff to Liberal Premier Catherine Callbeck. He also served as a Liberal party “insider” on The Guardian’s political panel video series in 2011. He is a partner at Stewart McKelvey.
"The ties that he has historically to the Liberal party suggest that, at the very least, that was an awfully bad choice. This is something that should have been entirely free of political interference."
-Peter Bevan-Baker
In an interview, Bevan-Baker said Campbell’s involvement in drafting the referendum legislation was inappropriate.
He said Campbell’s involvement suggested the legislation could have been prepared to be “advantageous for the Liberal party”.
"The ties that he has historically to the Liberal party suggest that, at the very least, that was an awfully bad choice," Bevan-Baker said.
"This is something that should have been entirely free of political interference."
"I'm not sure that we would have had an easy time trying to find a law firm in Charlottetown that would not have had some past political connection to multiple political parties."
-Jordan Brown
Brown told The Guardian that Campbell played a “small role in the review” of the Referendum Act.
He dismissed Bevan-Baker’s claim that Campbell’s role was inappropriate.
"It's a very baseless allegation. It's done at a very questionable time. I really wonder whether this is not the Green party playing politics," Brown said.
"It's a very serious issue to be doing that with, particularly right in the middle of the referendum campaign."
Brown said Campbell’s firm, Stewart McKelvey, had the required experience to work on the legislation.
"There would not be a significant number of law firms on Prince Edward Island that actually would have the raw number of lawyers to do this work in the time frames we were setting out," Brown said.
"I'm not sure that we would have had an easy time trying to find a law firm in Charlottetown that would not have had some past political connection to multiple political parties."
Campbell declined to comment directly on his role in drafting the legislation.
The Referendum Act was passed in the legislature last June after several amendments. Both Green MLAs voted against the act.
During the coming election, Islanders will vote in a referendum on whether or not the Island will adopt a Mixed Member Proportional voting system.
