Sask. NDP asks Speaker to take the first step for investigation into his allegations

The Saskatchewan NDP is still searching for the truth on allegations made recently by the Speaker, and it has a new plan to get it.

On Tuesday, the NDP’s Meara Conway said she sent a letter to Speaker Randy Weekes, asking him to convene the House Services Committee so it can appoint an independent investigator to probe the allegations Weekes made more than a decade ago.

“While I recognize the sensitivity of the request of you and your office, the integrity of democratic institutions in our province comes first. The rule of law must be upheld and the basic principles of workplace safety and accountability must be respected,” read the letter.

Conway said the committee has a majority of government members on it so if it were reconvened the government members could vote down the idea or narrow the parameters of the investigation. She said she hopes Premier Scott Moe will instruct those members to vote for an investigator and wide parameters.

“We hope that he takes this as an opportunity to show some leadership on this issue, particularly the about-face that we’ve seen in the last few days,” she said.

Read more: ‘It’s candid discussion’: Harrison denies allegations of lying, harassment

Conway said Moe and his ministers can’t be trusted to hold themselves accountable, which is why the independent investigator is necessary.

“This is a clear route, it’s a clean route, and that’s why we’ve suggested that it’s the route to go,” she explained.

Conway said any government that takes the rule of law, good governance and accountability seriously would jump at the chance to do something like this.

With the recent anti-harassment legislation passed and put into force by this provincial government, Conway said that same government choosing not to investigate allegations of harassment within its own workplace would send a very dangerous message.

“It would indicate that (government) thinks that the rules don’t apply to them … and I think it would only contribute to this sense that this is entitled government that doesn’t think the rules apply to them,” she said.

Conway said this investigation would be an opportunity to meet these allegations head-on and then move to on other things, like the other issues that the people of this province are dealing with and want fixed.

The letters

Last week, Conway and the NDP sent three other letters to try to get some answers on the Harrison allegations. They were sent to head of legislative security Dani Herman, sergeant-at-arms Lyall Frederiksen, and Saskatchewan Chief Firearms Office Robert Freberg.

On Tuesday, Conway said she’d gotten response on two of those letters.

The first was from the Chief Firearms Officer, who said he couldn’t give any of the information the NDP had asked for about Harrison’s applications or licenses.

The second was from Dani Herman, who simply said that any allegations of an offence would need to be investigated by the local police service.

Conway said the answers were disappointing but that they reinforce the need for an independent investigation to get answers.