HALIFAX: Although not required to do so, the Speaker of the House says the province’s only Independent MLA has not provided him a reason why she missed almost half of the fall sitting of the legislature.
Cape Breton-Richmond MLA, Alana Paon, was present for the first 11-days but absent the last 10; she did notify Speaker Kevin Murphy on a daily basis requesting permission to be absent in advance of each sitting, as required, but didn’t provide a reason for her absences.
“At the bare minimum, Ms. Paon has followed the rules that we currently have in place,” Murphy told The Reporter. “Members are required to obtain permission to be absent from the assembly on a sitting day from the speaker, but there is no provision in the rules – it doesn’t give the speaker any discretion to say yes or no, that’s an acceptable reason to be absent or not.”
Murphy said this is uncharted territory, so he’s been granting permission because there isn’t any precedent to deny Paon’s requests.
“But in other jurisdictions, there are further provisions in their rules that would say something to the effect of acceptable to the speaker,” Murphy said. “She’s not the first member to be absent for a day or two, or even for a quasi-extended period, but it has been the practice of members in the past, to indicate to the speaker some reason why they’re going to be absent.”
He said in order to ensure greater accountability for all MLAs, he will seek the approval under the jurisdiction of the Assembly Matters Committee to change that rule; a committee that has only met twice in Murphy’s six-years as speaker.
“Until there is a scenario, where the rules have kind of been tested, we find the rules can be changed and altered, and this would be a scenario where this has never come up before,” he said. “So, I’ll be making the suggestion to the Assembly Matters Committee that we amend those rules to require members to provide a reason for their absence that’s acceptable to the speaker of the house.”
Murphy suggested an elected representative could lose their seat if a member is absent without permission for two consecutive sessions, but indicated a session of the House of Assembly can go on for years.
“So that’s a very outdated, flawed rule.”
In recent months, Paon has been entangled in a series of disputes, starting in June, when Progressive Conservative leader, Tim Houston, kicked her out of the caucus for what he called “mean-spirited” comments regarding the legislature’s management commission and an unspecified pattern of behaviour relating to expenses.
The dispute with the commission resulted in them withholding rent payments for her constituency office in St. Peter’s because she refused to pave a section of the parking lot – resulting in her being locked out by her landlord for nearly three-weeks.
The Reporter requested an explanation from Paon, and although were told the request was being forwarded to Paon nearly a week ago – no response had been received at press time.
“The main purpose of any MLA is to represent their constituency; the house only sits twice a year,” Murphy said. “It’s incumbent on the members to make every effort to be present when the house sits during that concentrated period of time.”