Premier Brian Gallant says the Speaker of the New Brunswick legislative assembly has been suspended from the Liberal caucus following allegations of harassment.
The allegations against Chris Collins, who is also the MLA for Moncton Centre, were made by a former employee of the legislative assembly, according to Gallant.
“Any workplace harassment is unacceptable and government will take prompt and appropriate action in this situation and whenever such allegations are brought forward,” the statement from Gallant reads.
Gallant says government is asking the Legislative Administration Committee to suspend Collins from his administrative position pending an investigation and asking the committee to partner with the executive branch of government to launch that independent third-party investigation into the allegations.
PC MLA Brian Macdonald says the only way to deal with this properly is to reconvene the Legislature.
Why was this not dealt with in February? It should have been investigated while the Legislature was sitting. The only way to deal with this properly is to reconvene the Legislature immediately. https://t.co/VuY18ZkJpi
— Brian Macdonald (@BrianTMacdonald) April 5, 2018
We have reached out to Collins for comment but have not received a response as of yet.
