Rookie MLAs ask their first questions in legislature

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This article was published 18/05/2016 (3433 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was the second day of Question Period, but a day of firsts for many newly elected MLAs.

Several MLAs including the NDP’s Nahanni Fontaine (St. Johns) and Tom Lindsey (Flin Flon), along with the PCs Kelly Bindle (Thompson), stood up for the first time at the legislative assembly.

It was also the first time the minister responsible for Francophone affairs, Rochelle Squires, was asked a question in French. Squires, who has admitted she can’t speak French, was put in the hot seat by the NDP’s Wab Kinew as he asked her (in French) why the Progressive Conservatives didn’t give the file to a French speaker.

However, without missing a beat and with confidence, Squires said (in French) that she was happy for the role. After further questioning from Kinew, Squires said (in English) she is committed to learning the language.

Bindle is the Tories first MLA in the north in decades and when he stood to talk about northern economic development, his comments were met with boisterous applause from the Tories. Fontaine pressed Indigenous Minister Eileen Clarke about whether the Pallister government would hire a special advisor to missing and murdered indigenous women — a position Fontaine held until she was elected on April 19.

Clarke didn’t confirm they would hire her replacement, but said they are looking into it.

Lindsey asked Pallister why he did not appoint a labour minister to his cabinet.

“Why do you want to poke the labour bear?” Lindsey asked.

Pallister affirmed his support for organized labour and said he isn’t concerned with labels.

The majority of day two of question period consisted of a retread of Tuesday’s questions to Premier Brian Pallister by interim NDP leader Flor Marcelino. She asked him again about the lack of diversity in the throne speech and whether he would privatize Crown corporations. Pallister continued to fight back, stating emphatically he has no plans to privatize Crown corporations.

Pallister said questions about privatization distract from the real problems concerning the province.

“There is a real risk of further erosion of our credit rating,” said Pallister during Question Period. “This is something to be concerned about.”

Meanwhile, NDP finance critic James Allum pressed Finance Minister Cameron Friesen to reveal the documentation the Tories used to come up with the $1 billion core deficit figure he presented Wednesday morning.