Alberta UCP says it won't respond to Opposition MLA in question period

Alberta’s United Conservative Party (UCP)-led government says its MLAs will not answer questions from Opposition member Marlin Schmidt until he apologizes for remarks that it says crossed an ethical line in question period last week, something Schmidt says he does not intend to do.

On Monday afternoon, Schmidt rose during question period and asked the four ministers responsible for health why Albertans should trust them to fix a health care system he characterized as broken.

Government house leader Joseph Schow rose in response and referenced an exchange between Schmidt and Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides from last week where the Opposition MLA asked if the minister intended to “let more sexual predators off the hook” and if he “truly believe that pronouns pose a greater threat to children than sexual predators?”

Schmidt made those comment last Tuesday in reference to reports that a daycare operator in his riding waited months to inform parents that a young girl had been sexually assaulted there, and called on Nicolaides to require the government, not operators, to report such incidents.

On Monday, Schow said Schmidt’s comments went too far.

“Last week, (Schmidt) accused (Nicolaides) of allowing a sex predator back onto the streets. Insinuating that he had any direct involvement in that is despicable and disgusting, and until an apology is rendered, the government will no longer be taking questions from (Schmidt).”

Speaker Ric McIver turned to Schmidt in reply who said he stood by his prior statements and that “no apology is forthcoming ever” before posing another question about government procurement practices, prompting Schow to rise again.

“(Schmidt) has a history of making despicable, defamatory comments in this chamber that he has not apologized for. I believe that last week he crossed a line and for that exact reason until there’s an apology there will be no answers coming from the government to (Schmidt).”

Last Tuesday, Speaker Ric McIver ruled Schmidt’s comments to be “two very serious” points of order and asked Schmidt to withdraw the remarks and apologize.

Schmidt withdrew his remarks but declined to apologize despite being asked three times to do so by McIver.

“It’s not the speaker’s place to judge whether or not the apology and the withdrawal meet the speaker’s standards. I’ve complied with your request, I’ve withdrawn the statement,” he said then.

“Well, that was most short of what we would hope to expect here,” McIver responded.

“The matter is closed.”

Later on Tuesday, Schmidt told reporters inside the legislature that the government’s ban came as a surprise.

“In the UCP’s mind, they still have some ill will towards me,” he said, noting McIver’s ruling last week.

“But that doesn’t mean that my constituents don’t deserve an answer to questions that they want me to ask of the government.”

Schmidt was called for more points of order than any other MLA during last spring’s legislative sitting, according to a Postmedia analysis.

He acknowledged he is known to be a confrontational MLA but told reporters he was representing his constituents the way he knew best.

“It’s been proven time and again that being friends with this government doesn’t yield anything for people who want changes, and I’m going to continue standing up for the constituents of Gold Bar.”

Schow declined to speak with reporters when approached on Monday.

His office later issued a statement noting prior incidents involving Schmidt’s conduct in the assembly.

“(Schmidt) has shown time and time again his willingness to cross lines with unparliamentary, defamatory language.”

The exchange happened minutes before Schow introduced a series of time allocation motions that limit debate on three controversial government bills, and also ended Monday afternoon’s sitting early and depriving opposition members of time typically designated to them.

The fall sitting was scheduled to end Nov. 28 but is not slated to finish on Thursday though members of both parties have suggested MLAs could conclude their business before then.

mblack@postmedia.com

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