The fall session of the Alberta legislature resumed this week and with it came calls for more transparency into how complaints of harassment and bullying are investigated.
Alberta Party MLA Karen McPherson started the week with a letter to the Speaker asking for a review into how the NDP handled sexual misconduct complaints against two of their members.
The NDP continued to deflect the issue, saying the names of the MLAs must be kept secret in order to protect the identity of the complainants.
The NDP wasn’t the only party staying silent. Other parties were strangely quiet on the issue, saying little about the NDP MLAs on social media or in the halls of the legislature.
CBC legislature reporters Kim Trynacity and Michelle Bellefontaine discuss why that might be.
Michelle also talks about receiving an email she wasn’t supposed to get and Kim speaks with Calgary-East MLA Robyn Luff about her return to the legislature.
Luff, kicked out of the NDP caucus on Nov. 5 after making allegations of bullying and intimidation from the party leadership, reveals what it’s like to sit on the other side of aisle and how the high-pressure and hierarchical nature of politics can be a Petri dish for bullying.