House of Assembly put on hold as Byrne's behaviour takes centre stage

After almost three hours of back-and-forth debate in the House of Assembly Tuesday regarding comments made by Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources Gerry Byrne, members didn't even have time for question period.

The session began with opposition house leader David Brazil raising a point of privilege against Byrne over his comments toward two other MHAs in the legislature on Thursday, sparking the debate.

"The clear implication of this statement about the member for Mount Pearl North is that he may be a criminal," Brazil told the House of Assembly Tuesday. "The clear implication of the statement made about the Member for St. John's Centre is that he is a racist."

"This conclusion is not mine alone; it is the conclusion shared by a great many members of the House."

Byrne accused Progressive Conservative MHA Jim Lester of condoning moose poaching, saying that maybe Lester "is not always on the side of the law."

The fisheries minister made a second accusation toward NDP MHA Jim Dinn, referring to a 2018 meeting of SAEN, the Salmonid Association of Eastern Newfoundland, in which Byrne said Dinn did not do enough to rebuke the comments made by a member of SAEN

Byrne did choose to withdraw one of his comments aimed at Lester on Tuesday.

Matter pushed back

After almost two hours of deliberation, House Speaker Scott Reid moved that the incident is a prima facie point of privilege, meaning there seems to be a breach of privilege when seeing everything at face value.

Reid said the two criteria to call the point of privilege a prima facie point were met. The matter was raised at the earliest opportunity, and the speaker is convinced there is an issue when looked at at face value.

MHAs now have to vote on a motion that details the punishment Byrne faces. If that motion is passed, Byrne will have to send a written and verbal apology to Dinn and Lester. He will also have to go through 20 hours of anti-harrassment sensitivity training, which he will have to pay for.

Due to the long recess in Tuesday's meeting, the matter and remaining agenda items have been pushed to Wednesday morning.

As for Dinn, he stood firm on his handling of the SAEN situation.

"I can't apologize for a comment I did not make," Dinn said.

Byrne continued though to push the issue of racism throughout the session.

"Racism is all around us," Byrne added. "Racism is serious, and while we think that we are really, really breaking the back on racism in Newfoundland and Labrador, evidence suggests the contrary."

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