The House Of Assembly

PUBLISHED IN THE CHARTER NEWSPAPER 19 MAY 2010 AS: INAPPROPRIATE REMARKS

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To The Speaker of the House of Assembly:

Mr. Speaker:

I was appauled at the behavior of Premier Danny Williams last week when he stood in YOUR House of Assembly and berated the Leader of the NDP by making references to the Bible with comments of "Sermon on the Mount" and "Holyer than Thou". The Leader of the NDP is a Former Nun of the Roman Catholic Church and to make statements such as those is not only condescending to a Member of the House of Assemby but a blatant disregard for a persons religious devotions, which I consider an act that goes against the Canadian Human Rights to publicly make reference to one's religious devotions in a negative way. If the Premier had said similar things to a person of Jewish faith or of an Islamic religion, there would have been a media uproar.

I had asked you to ask the Premier to apologize to the Leader of the NDP in the House of Assembly when he returned. If he does not apologize, I asked that you order him out of the House for the remainder of the day, just as you had done with Marshall Dean, MHA, when he called the Minister of Health and Community Services "deceitful" and the protestors who were fighting for the Air Ambulance in St. Anthony when they refused to remain quiet.

In watching the broadcast on 29 April 2010, the Premier's first day back, no apology was noted or even asked of the Premier. I did notice that Mr. Kennedy was more than adamant not to answer a question on healthcare in YOUR House of Assembly when asked by Lorraine Michael, instead choosing to concentrate his efforts on asking the Leader of the NDP what she would do to the author of a comment on Facebook that made comment of the Premier and giving reference to a Black Heart and Bullet Hole.

The Leader of the NDP stated that she has no control over those who are not in the House, a truth spoken by a remarkable woman. I was a candidate in a recent By-Election and had the pleasure of working with this fascinating lady. It was prior to my involvement with Ms. Michael that I noted the Premier himself making a statement to the entire province during a media scrum making reference to the Lab Doctors that "they should be shot". This was within his control, unlike Ms. Michael.

It would appear the Newfoundland dielect does support such quotes and that is probably the reason for the Facebook comment. We have all heard the saying "he got a Black Heart" meaning he/she is not very compassionate and other comments that refer to "Bullet Hole to the Head" as meaning he/she should get some common sense.

Therefore, on the next open day in the House of Assembly, I ask that you once again order the Premier to apologize to Ms. Michael for his religious comments and I also now ask that the Minister of Health and Community Services apologize for bringing up something in the House of Assembly that she has no control over, just as you and any other MHA cannot control. This is within your control, unlike Ms. Michael.

I await you answer and commitment to carry out the protocol of the House of Assembly, afterall, it is YOUR responsibility and within YOUR control to protect it's long standing respect for all Members.


//signed//
Robin Brentnall
Gambo, NL
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