Yesterday in the House of Assembly the issue arose of a complaint being made to the Commissioner for Legislative Standards by the Town of Port Blandford against MHA Colin Holloway. This issue has also been subject to media attention since its disclosure.

On April 12, 2018, the Commissioner for Legislative Standards received a complaint dated April 5, 2018, from the Town of Port Blandford. According to that letter from the Town of Port Blandford, the letter of complaint was shared with the leaders of the Liberal Party, Progressive Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party, and the non-affiliated member for Mount Pearl – Southlands.

The Office of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards has jurisdiction over the conduct of members of the House of Assembly. By operation of s.36 (1) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act a member who has reasonable grounds to believe that another member is in contravention of the code of conduct adopted under subsection 35 (1) may, by application in writing setting out the grounds for the belief and the nature of the alleged contravention, request that the commissioner give an opinion respecting the compliance of the other member with the provisions of the code of conduct. To date, no member of the House of Assembly has made a complaint regarding the conduct of MHA Colin Holloway and his interactions with the Town of Port Blandford.

According to s.36(2) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act, the Commissioner for Legislative Standards may conduct an inquiry to determine whether a member has failed to fulfil an obligation under the code of conduct where in the opinion of the commissioner it is in the public interest to do so. Not every complaint made to the Commissioner by a member of the public or a group of the public will automatically result in an inquiry into the conduct of the member. The Commissioner will only conduct an inquiry after reviewing the matter and considering whether or not in all of the circumstances it is in the public interest to conduct an inquiry. As no complaint has been received by a Member of the House of Assembly in relation to MHA Colin Holloway, the commissioner is currently reviewing the matter to determine whether or not to conduct an inquiry.

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Media contact
Adrienne Luther
Communications & Training Manager
Office of the Commissioner for Legislative Standards
709-729-1474
adrienneluther@gov.nl.ca