Prime Minister Tim Houston and the members of his New Scotland government cabinet have not been made available to the press gallery of the Legislature for more than five weeks, and it will still be another week before they return to the governments of a convention for decades before the following.
Historically, cabinets have gathered weekly on Thursdays and every two weeks during the summer months. At the end of these meetings, the prime minister and the ministers appear before the reporters of the press gallery take questions about any subject. Outside that environment, the prime minister and the ministers are available only to their discretion.
The availability began to be less consistent during the mandate of former Liberal Prime Minister Stephen McNeil, and Covid-19 pandemic further complicated things for a time when access moved to moderate sessions through a videoconference platform.
But the Houston government has shown less interest in returning to traditional availability and there have been several long periods during its mandate without access to the meeting after the cowboy.
According to Prime Minister’s press secretary, regular availability will resume on September 18, the week before MLAs are scheduled to return to the legislature. That means that they will have spent seven weeks before Houston and his cabinet face the scrutiny of the press gallery, the group of reporters whose work is to cover the government’s businesses.
“The prime minister has participated in the media media sessions for forest fires and is available for local media while traveling through the province,” said Catherine Klimek in a statement.
“The summer months see Cabinet members who spend more time in their constituencies and speak directly with New Scotland, and as a result, less formal cabinet meetings.”
Klimek said that cabinet members have had “ad hoc meetings, where schedules allow” in the last six weeks “to ensure that government programs, services and investments continue uninterrupted.”
But the leader of the NDP, Claudia Chender, said that it seems that the prime minister and his ministers are more interested in communicating with people in their own terms, instead of facing people who cover their treatment on a regular basis.
“This government is very good to publish brilliant videos and press releases,” he said in an interview.
“It happens all the time. But we need to ask questions.”
Chender said that access to the information system is sometimes required if people want a complete image of what is happening with government programs. He pointed out the information that his party recently received showing the waiting list for public homes in the province grew by 1,200 people from last October to last June.
“These are not things that had a brilliant press or videos. They are things that we had to dig and ask. That is what the media do, that is what we do.”
He pointed out that during the last session in Provice House, Houston tried to undo years of the Convention by having the access of the reporters of his office to the cabinet ministers and the prime minister. The Government finally yielded.
The interim liberal leader Derek Mombourchette, a member of the old cabinets of the liberal government, said he has never seen such a long section without an availability of meetings after the centered.
Mombourchette said the situation recalls a fundraising letter that progressive conservatives issued supporters earlier this year in which the cabinet minister and the port of Cole Mla Leah Martin said the party needed donations to help on several fronts, including the media.
“I hope this is not a continuation of that philosophy that the government would like to boost,” Mombourchette said in an interview.
“It is unacceptable that it has been so long.”
