Point of Privilege

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : I endorse my colleague's point of privilege. The core point that it would impact our members' individual privileges to entertain and engage in debate in this House is serious, and I believe I would support it.

I want to say something else, which is a corollary point, and I think something that the members might want to consider in thinking about this. My colleague said that the House - that we're tired, and that the House staff is tired. That's true. We're also sick, and we're also short-staffed.

There is an old political adage that one learns when one becomes a House Leader in particular, which is that there are no votes at Province House. Because of that, often the workings of this Chamber and the operations are neglected or not given due consideration. I think that's a shame.

We find ourselves in a position right now where we have one out of three Clerks at the table. We have a House operations manager who has a second full-time job. We have a third of our normal complement of Pages, and that number has been reduced due to illness and other issues throughout the session. Legislative Television has been struggling with their own absences. They're in the middle of a renovation. We've had staff changes in the Commissionaires.

Point to any aspect of the way this House conducts its business and you will find a deeply, deeply stressed system. Yet from the second day of debate, this government called hours until 11:00 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. every single day of this session. They'll say that's because they're hard workers. I wonder, when you look at other professions that work long hours, if people will tell you - we heard from the paramedics just recently who said, you don't want me to tend to your emergency when I'm on hour 12 of my shift, because I'm not the person you're going to want to save your life.

I would submit that we're doing difficult work in this Chamber. I think our constituents want us to be able to attend to that work appropriately. Without getting into the issue directly of hours, because that doesn't impact . . .

THE SPEAKER « » : Order, please. There's quite a bit of chatter.

The honourable member for Dartmouth South.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because that doesn't impact on the point of privilege on the floor. I will say that at the very least, this government could afford us the privilege to actually engage in debate on bills, because that's why we're here. That's why our constituents sent us here. When people present at the Law Amendments Committee, they expect elected members to listen to and consider what they're putting forward. We're not able to do either of those things appropriately if those committees are running concurrently - the committee in the House.