NL NDP Leader Jim Dinn (St. John’s Centre) and MHA Sheilagh O’Leary (St. John’s East–Quidi Vidi) raised concerns about government transparency during Question Period today in the House of Assembly. The NDP caucus pressed government on its commitment to openness and proposed concrete measures that would bring Newfoundland and Labrador in line with national transparency standards.
Dinn started his questions by highlighting, “transparency cannot be just rhetoric – it needs action,” pointing to Wakeham’s Conservatives already showing a lack of transparency in decision making and the refusal to debate the Bay du Nord project in the House of Assembly.
“Speaker, in light of the former Premier being appointed as the Vice Chair of the National Bank of Canada, his second board position since leaving politics, will the Premier commit to extending the cooling off period and include board appointments to align the province with the Federal standards?” Dinn continued.
O’Leary followed by discussing the national standard for MHA conflict-of-interest documents, and how Newfoundland and Labrador stands alone as the only province continuing to keep these documents not available online, forcing people to come into St. John’s to view these documents – after booking an appointment and without making copies.
“Speaker, right now, Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in Canada who does not make their MHA conflict-of-interest disclosures publicly available online.
I ask the Premier, when will he make these public and bring us up to national standard?”
The NDP Caucus will continue to push for transparency measures, as it has been shown that no matter who is in government, transparency will always be in question. It is about putting public trust back in the decisions being made.