MLA’s filibuster gets filibustered

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This article was published 23/05/2017 (3028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PROGRESSIVE Conservative MLA Steven Fletcher continued to stall passage of a government bill Tuesday evening that would create a new Crown corporation responsible for energy efficiency programs in Manitoba.

Using points of order and tabling numerous reports, from Manitoba Hydro and other sources, Fletcher held up clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 19 for the second time this month at an evening committee meeting of the legislature.

At press time, the filibuster continued, and MLAs from all three parties were preparing for the meeting to last till midnight, when, by earlier agreement, it would come to a close. According to legislative assembly rules, the bill could not be held up in committee beyond Tuesday evening.

“We’ve done this rodeo before,” Fletcher said early on, referring to his four-hour filibuster on May 11 after the conclusion of public presentations on the bill.

Three more potential presenters, including a union official who had spoken previously, showed up Tuesday evening, hoping to address the all-party committee. But they were denied the opportunity to speak when Crown Services Minister Ron Schuler, the bill’s sponsor, uttered a firm ‘no’ when the chair of the meeting asked if there was leave to alter the agenda.

Fletcher questions the need to spend scarce dollars to establish a new corporation to improve energy conservation at a time when the province and Manitoba Hydro are deeply in debt and there is a glut of hydroelectric power.

The new legislation would create a new entity called Efficiency Manitoba, which would also be tasked with achieving certain energy savings targets over a 15-year timeframe. Creating a stand-alone energy-savings agency, independent of Manitoba Hydro, has been recommended by the Public Utilities Board. The PCs campaigned on the idea in the last election.

Rather than cede the spotlight entirely to Fletcher, Schuler spoke at length about the reasons the government introduced the bill and his concern at Manitoba Hydro’s growing debt. He said the need for increased energy conservation is critical, considering the fact that recent Manitoba Hydro dam and transmission line construction projects have exceeded projected costs by hundreds of millions — and even billions — of dollars.

Schuler’s frequent speeches prompted NDP MLA Rob Altemeyer to remark: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a minister filibuster his own bill before.”

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca