Pallister dodges questions on discipline for Fletcher’s filibustering

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/05/2017 (3407 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Brian Pallister won’t say whether he’s read the riot act to a backbench MLA who has opposed a government bill, but he says he expects all Progressive Conservative caucus members to be team players.

In two committee meetings this month, Assiniboia MLA Steven Fletcher has raised questions about Bill 19, which would create a new Crown corporation to take on responsibility for energy-savings programs now carried out by Manitoba Hydro. Fletcher has argued against spending millions of dollars to create the new entity.

At both meetings, the latest on Tuesday, he engaged in a filibuster that delayed committee approval — an action Pallister on Wednesday allowed was “unusual” in Canadian politics.

In answer to questions from reporters Wednesday, Pallister would not say whether he has disciplined or will discipline the former federal MP and cabinet minister, who won a provincial seat in April 2016 after losing his federal riding the previous fall. Pallister also would not say whether he has spoken to Fletcher about his actions.

Asked at one point whether Fletcher would be removed from caucus, the premier said, “I don’t have any plans of that nature, but we’ll see where the conduct goes from here. That’s true of all caucus members, though, not just Steven.

“You’re accountable to your teammates. That’s the key thing. You didn’t get elected here as an individual; you got elected to be part of a team.”

While Fletcher has raised concerns about Bill 19, he has yet to vote against his party on it. He was absent from the legislature when it was approved in principle, and he hinted Wednesday he might avoid the vote again when it comes up for final approval.

“I might have to go to the bathroom,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

Fletcher appeared unconcerned about the potential consequences of his actions, saying the “carrots and sticks” that might influence other politicians “are just irrelevant to me.”

In questioning Bill 19, he was fulfilling his role as an MLA and exercising an ancient parliamentary right to speak his mind, he said.

Fletcher, like Pallister, would not reveal whether the two have spoken about his stance on Bill 19 or whether he has been warned to toe the party line.

Asked whether he was worried his stance may affect his career advancement, Fletcher said he had already reached his “apex as a politician” when he served as a cabinet minister in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.

He said he will continue to do what he thinks is right.

“If you’re asking me whether I will stop thinking for myself, I will have to say, ‘no,'” he told journalists.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca