Legislative Report

The Carriere Affair

In the weeks running up to the Legislative session, the NDP has been spending taxpayers’ money at a record rate. In fact, Lorne Calvert is spending money faster than any other recent Premier in memory. It’s obvious that Lorne Calvert and the NDP are worried about the next election and are trying to buy people’s votes.

How else can you explain some of their actions? For instance, just last week, Lorne Calvert and the NDP government gave money to a man fired for harassment and convicted of common assault. Murdoch Carriere received $275,000 of taxpayer money.

Again, this man was fired for harassment in the workplace and convicted of common assault, so why did this NDP government feel he should be rewarded. When the Premier was questioned by the media about his actions, he said it was the responsible thing to do. The women who came forward received a payment of $135,000 or roughly $15,000 each. How is this fair, and what kind of message does this send to women in the workplace?

But it doesn’t end there. The same day session began; the Official Opposition received a response to a series of questions that were asked about the amounts paid out by the NDP government. The following is a summary of the answers received:

• Out-of court settlement payment to Carriere: $275,000
• Amount paid to Carriere while suspended with pay: $31,826
• Severance paid to former Deputy Minister Terry Scott, who was asked to resign over his handling of the case: $184,290
• Mediation services: $ 1,950

Total $493,066

What’s more interesting is what the NDP left out of the response. The NDP government did not provide the cost of in-house legal fees, and also that the government indicated it will incur a cost related to the increased value of Carriere’s pension, but did not reveal how much.

It’s obvious the NDP government is completely out of step with the values of people living in Saskatchewan today. To spend close to $500,000 on a case where a convicted person is being rewarded is completely surreal.

The NDP government is acting like an ‘old-boys’ club. Protecting those they know and making sure everyone is looked after. This is not what Saskatchewan people want; they deserve better, more accountable government.

Past Legislative Reports