Parties, Speaker refuse to release ruling on workplace complaint

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This article was published 19/02/2021 (1442 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In an absurd twist involving a complaint filed by Premier Brian Pallister’s right-hand man against a New Democrat MLA, a decision has been made, but no one, including the Speaker of the legislature, will release the ruling to the media.

 “Where complaint is filed against an MLA under this policy, the assembly’s usual practice is to engage external counsel and they work with independent investigators with the appropriate expertise,” Speaker Myrna Driedger said Friday. “We do not comment specifically on the existence of, or any details related to, any complaints that are filed under the policy,” she said in an email.

A private public relations company acting on behalf of complainant Paul Beauregard, who recently stepped down as Treasury Board secretary and is now an assistant deputy minister, notified the media that NDP Hydro critic Adrien Sala was found to have breached the legislative assembly’s respectful workplace policy.

Beauregard joined the Pallister government in 2017 after working in senior positions with Manitoba Telecom Service and BCE/Bell Canada. The premier’s key adviser was given responsibility for negotiating contracts with outside suppliers, informing institutions and unions of government cuts, and created headlines last year when Sala revealed that Beauregard had warned senior officials at Manitoba Hydro not to bid on a lucrative provincial contract.

On Friday, the PR firm acting for Beauregard would not share the letter finding Sala in breach but provided a summary, saying an “expert, independent investigator”  found him in breach of the policy for “disseminating false or alternatively misleading information, engaging in a repeated pattern of harassment and bullying and a severe form of disrespectful behaviour, as well as engaging in repeated humiliation and intimidation causing lasting, harmful adverse effects on his physical and psychological well-being.”

Neither Sala nor the NDP apologized on Friday. The members of the Official Opposition signed a letter to Manitobans saying they reject the findings of the investigation “which amounts to nothing more than a partisan political process.”

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the complaint was a political manoeuvre directed by the premier to stop people from asking questions about his government’s plans for Manitoba Hydro. Manitobans need to know whether it will be privatized piece by piece or wound down as was the case this week with Manitoba Hydro International, which is in effect a gift to the private-sector interests that take its place.

“He doesn’t want to answer questions about what he is doing with Manitoba Hydro,” Kinew said Friday. “We ought to all be very, very concerned that this process at the legislative assembly has been weaponized by this government.”

Sala maintains that the statements concerning Beauregard are true. “I believe it’s my duty as member of the Official Opposition to hold this government to account for their actions on behalf of all Manitobans,” he said. 

“This political exercise which was masterminded by the premier and his cabinet is an attempt to silence me, silence my colleagues and all Manitobans who dare to question the premier’s actions,” Sala said. “It intends to cast a chill over elected officials, a free press and this legislature.” He said it undermines the respectful workplace policy that was put in place to protect people from sexual harassment and predators. 

“The use of this workplace policy to stop an MLA from doing their job is a gross abuse of the process it was intended for.”

The government issued a statement that doesn’t name Sala or Beauregard.

“Our government strengthened respectful workplace policies to ensure all employees of the government of Manitoba are entitled to a fair, confidential process to address and prevent sexual harassment, harassment and bullying — situations that were long ignored by the previous NDP government,” said the statement issued on behalf of  Public Affairs Minister Kelvin Goertzen and Central Services Minister Reg Helwer, who is responsible for the Civil Service Commission.

“By repeatedly attacking a public servant with false accusations, the NDP have again demonstrated a pattern of disrespect to score political points at the expense of the reputations and hard work of Manitoba’s civil servants. This behaviour shows that today’s NDP is the same as yesterday’s NDP when it comes to harassment, intimidation and bullying,” it said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca