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The Saskatchewan NDP is reiterating its call for Speaker Randy Weekes to help launch an investigation into his allegations he made of bullying, guns, and harassment in the legislature.
On Thursday, Vicki Mowat, the Saskatchewan NDP’s deputy leader, called on Premier Scott Moe, Trade Minister Jeremy Harrison, Highways Minister Lori Carr and Reg Downs, a personal advisor to Moe, to answer questions related to the allegations made by Weekes on May 16.
On the final day of the spring session, Weekes claimed he’d faced harassment and intimidation from his fellow Saskatchewan Party MLAs since he first took on the role four years ago.
He also raised an incident from 2016 when Harrison brought a cased gun into the Legislative Building ahead of a hunting trip to avoid leaving it unattended in his vehicle. Harrison issued an apology and stepped down as government house leader as a result.
The other allegations have been denied by Moe, who attributed Weekes comments to “sour grapes” following his loss in the Kindersley-Biggar Saskatchewan Party nomination race in December. Moe also noted that Weekes never previously raised any of the allegations before reading them into the record in the assembly last month.
Mowat said the NDP wants an independent party to carry out an investigation into all the allegations made by Weekes. She said the government has an obligation to the people to be honest and forthright about what happened.
“The allegations themselves are concerning, but how they were dealt with by the government is also incredibly concerning,” Mowat said.
“We’ve only had a few short weeks since these allegations came out, and in that period of time it has already become quite apparent that the government has misled us, omitted information, and outright lied about what happened in these cases.”
According to Mowat, the NDP caucus members are waiting for Weekes to call a meeting of the House Services Committee to get an investigation launched, and has prepared two motions.
“We’re available at any time to go to the house services meeting, and we would like to see support for those motions that would appoint the independent investigator and require witnesses to come to the committee,” she added.
Mowat said the NDP has called on investigations in the past, but not usually through the House Services Committee.
“Usually these aren’t internal matters, and the House Services Committee deals with internal matters of the Legislative Assembly,” she said. “It doesn’t happen very often, and in this case I’ve never seen it happen in the House Services Committee.”
