MLA Andrew Younger booted from Liberal cabinet, caucus
Posted Nov 6, 2015 06:23:37 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – Dartmouth-East MLA Andrew Younger has been removed from both Liberal cabinet and caucus after he failed to show up to testify against a woman charged with assaulting him Wednesday.
Premier Stephen McNeil made the announcement at a hastily called news conference late Thursday evening, where he said Younger wasn’t honest with his staff about why he didn’t show up.
In a 50-minute news conference earlier in the day, Younger said he was never asked to waive a ministerial privilege to testify against Tara Gault, 28, who is accused of assaulting the now-former Environment Minister the day the Liberals took power in 2013.
He said the law states sitting members of the legislature cannot be called to testify in civil and criminal matters without being asked to waive this exemption.
His failure to show up to court led to the charges against Gault being dropped by an unimpressed judge, who said a minister of the crown was standing in the way of prosecuting a domestic violence case, despite a government and police directive to do so.
McNeil said Thursday night information given to his office by Younger didn’t match court documents obtained by his staff.
“I take great pride in the fact that when I stand before you, I answer questions truthfully and honestly with all the information provided to me,” McNeil said.
“When someone close to me provides information that’s not accurate, it’s not a great feeling.”
In a lengthy Facebook post Thursday night, Younger said he was notified of the decision around 8 p.m. Thursday, and made an honest mistake in providing the Premier’s office with incorrect information .
He said knew of his ministerial privilege on Friday Oct. 30, rather than Monday Nov. 2, which is what he had told the media and the Premier’s staff.
“When I was made aware of the possible error, I checked my records and confirmed the date with the Premier’s Office,” Younger wrote.
“This misstatement of the date was unintentional and had no impact on court proceedings. I was fully prepared to correct this with media.”
Younger said that he and his wife will have more to say on the matter in the near future.
Gault and Younger had a romantic relationship, which Younger refused to address on Thursday, saying it was a personal issue between he and his wife.
Both opposition parties said McNeil should have acted sooner in dropping Younger, with NDP Leader Maureen MacDonald accusing the Premier of waiting to be forced to do something.
“This case … has been going on for a very long time, without the Premier having investigated, without him seeming to have an interest in knowing,” MacDonald said.
-With files from the Canadian Press
