Chronicle Herald:Committee co-operation now on the agenda
Thursday, June 24th, 2010Tories end meeting boycott after deal reached to make sessions more effective
Progressive Conservative MLAs will be back at today’s public accounts committee meeting, two weeks after a dispute over the Nova Scotia Gaming Corp. prompted a boycott of all committees.
Interim Tory leader Karen Casey said that she and her caucus are satisfied the committee will function better after she met with Premier Darrell Dexter and Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil on Tuesday.
“Some changes will take place which will improve the operation of the committee, and we’ll continue to participate,” Casey said.
Dexter said the main change will be better planning of agenda items.
The majority New Democrats and the opposition MLAs have wrangled for months over who should appear before the committee. The opposition has complained about New Democrats voting against topics that come before the full committee after approving them at the agenda-setting subcommittee.
The friction came to a head on June 9 when Cape Breton North Tory Cecil Clarke walked out of the public accounts committee meeting, angry that the New Democrats cancelled the appearance of Nova Scotia Gaming Corp. officials scheduled for the next week.
That was after all parties had previously agreed to have gaming corporation president Marie Mullally appear on the Support 4 Sport program that day. She had declined the committee’s invitation to April 14 because she had committed to an Atlantic Lottery Corp. board meeting.
When she pulled out, committee chairwoman Diana Whalen wrote her a letter saying the committee was disappointed and noted the importance of the committee in keeping publicly funded departments accountable.
Whalen said June 9 that cancelling Mullally’s appearance after sending the letter was embarrassing and made the committee look silly.
New Democrat committee member Leonard Preyra said the committee should follow up topics in auditor general Jacques Lapointe’s June report and suggested environmental monitoring should be on the June 16 agenda.
Preyra said Mullally could perhaps appear in the fall, when the province’s new gaming strategy is due. Last week’s meeting didn’t come together.
Dexter said Tuesday that the leaders agreed their caucuses would give earlier notice to the public accounts committee’s subcommittee on the setting of topics they want on the agenda. He said the subcommittee will work on a clear, longer list of future agenda items to fill in any gaps at scheduled meetings.
Dexter said it’s in everyone’s best interest that committees operate as smoothly as they can.
“You’re never going to take politics out of these committees, as you won’t take them out of the House of Assembly,” he said.
“Sometimes, you search hard to distinguish between legitimate complaints and grandstanding.”
McNeil, who requested the meeting of leaders, said there has to be more respect for the agenda-setting process.
“This committee is an important part of keeping Nova Scotians informed and holding government to account, and it needs to operate properly,” McNeil said.
“Ultimately, they have the majority. They can make those decisions, but they need to do it in a way that makes everyone feel like they’re engaged. If they want to set the agenda, that’s fine — set it and then we will work inside that. But you can’t set it and then change it, and all of those things.”