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

After almost three hours of back-and-forth debatein the House of Assembly on Tuesday regarding comments made by Fisheries and Land Resources Minister Gerry Byrne, membersdidn'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 on 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."

ByrneaccusedProgressive ConservativeMHAJim Lester of condoning moose poaching, saying thatmaybe Lester "is not always on the side of the law."

The fisheries ministermade asecond accusation towardNDP MHAJim Dinn, referring to a 2018 meeting ofthe Salmonid Association of Eastern Newfoundlandin which, Byrne said,Dinn did not do enough to rebuke the comments made by a member of the association.

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

Matter pushed back

After almost two hours of deliberation, Speaker Scott Reid ruled the incident is a prima facie point of privilege, meaning there seemed 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 make a written and verbal apology to Dinn and Lester. He will also have to go through 20 hours of anti-harassment 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 meeting.

"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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