When Will the Premier Act to End the Misuse of NDAs? - QP
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Mr. Speaker, Nova Scotians remain concerned about this government's unwillingness to restrict the misuse of non-disclosure agreements to stop them from being used to silence the survivors of abuse. Documents obtained through Freedom of Information show that the development of NDA legislation was labelled a priority for the Justice Department as recently as last Summer. I'll table that. But by the Fall, the Minister of Justice was quoted as telling the media that it was not a priority for government, and I'll table that.
Nova Scotians are wondering why the government has changed their tune and whether that shifting of priorities came from the Premier's Office.
THE PREMIER « » : Mr. Speaker, a couple of things. We of course agree that non-disclosure agreements should not be used as a means to silence victims of sexual assault. Of course, we agree with that. I think the minister at the time was referring to the slate of legislation that was before the House. I myself know that sometimes you say something a little wrong, but I would assure the member that it is a priority. There is a jurisdictional scan happening. There's research happening. We want to get this right. We know that these should not be used as a means to silence victims of sexual assault.
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice did, in fact, say that legislating the misuse of non-disclosure agreements was not a priority for his government - you can go ahead and look at the document I tabled - and also cited the same need for a jurisdictional scan.
The same Freedom of Information request showed that the Department of Justice has been engaging in this scan since February of last year and has been conducting ongoing updates and work throughout the year. I'll table that.
The Law Society of Manitoba, the Government of British Columbia, and the Irish Parliament have all done scans. They are publicly available and free. In the meantime, more provinces are coming forward with their own legislation. Every day that this government fails to act is a day that it fails to protect women and survivors.
My question is simple: When will the Premier act?
THE PREMIER « » : We will act when we complete our research. There is a jurisdictional scan happening. That's happening at the departmental level. I trust the departmental folks to get that right, and when we get the information, we'll move forward accordingly at that time.
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : What makes this government's inaction truly surprising is the broad range of those supporting swift action. It was the Premier's own minister responsible for the Status of Women who brought this forward to the Justice Department. Last month, 94 per cent of Canadian Bar Association members voted in favour of a resolution to prevent non-disclosure misuse. Ireland, the United States, P.E.I., and many other jurisdictions nationally and internationally have acted.
If it's not professional or public support and if it's not jurisdictional scans which are widely available that are preventing this government from taking action, what is it? Why is this government refusing to protect the survivors of abuse?
THE PREMIER « » : Mr. Speaker, I'll look at member's tablings once we have them. We also support stopping the misuse. I think I said that right off the top, that we agree they should not be used as a means to silence victims of sexual assault. We agree with that.
We are doing the research at the departmental level. We will continue to do that research until we have the fulsome resource, and then when we have all the information that's deemed necessary by the department, we'll act accordingly at that time.