“He said that I lied and stole”: Steele
Posted Apr 1, 2010 02:40:59 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was a rocky Thursday at the Legislature as one member is accused of calling the finance minister a liar and could be penalized by the Speaker for his comments.
“Mr. Speaker … a member on the other side of the house used language that he knows is unparliamentary,” said Finance Minister Graham Steele. “He said that I lied and stole.”
Steele alleges Cumberland South MLA Murray Scott hurled the comments across the floor while Steele was delivering an answer about the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation.
“The opposition doesn’t seem to be able to draw the distinction between being tough, which is their job, and being insulting,” said Steele after question period.
The comments were not said into a mic and are inaudible in News 95.7’s recording of question period.
However, Scott did not deny the comments.
“Mr. Speaker, any comments I make in this house across the way were not directed to an individual but will be directed to that party and that government for what they’re doing to Nova Scotia,” says Scott.
“They took jobs from Cumberland County Mr. Speaker. Let Nova Scotians figure out what that means.”
Such language is frowned upon in the legislature, as Liberal leader Stephen McNeil knows.
“I used those words last session in the house,” says McNeil. “And I apologized for that.”
Speaker for the House, Charlie Parker, will review the tape to hear what was said and make a ruling, which could involve asking Scott to apologize.
