Verbal exchanges were fired across the bow of the Yarmouth-to-Maine ferry this week.
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston said Education Minister Zach Churchill grabbed him by the shoulders during an exchange about the ferry service on Tuesday. While Churchill confirmed the ferry dialogue, he said the only potential physical contact happened when he twice extended a conciliatory hand to the PC leader.
“He followed me and kind of grabbed the door and yanked it open,” Houston said of entering one of the small telephone areas at the back of the members’ area of the House. “We had an exchange. I told him to get out. He slammed the door. Then he immediately reopened the door and kind of charged into the booth. He grabbed me by the shoulders. It was kind of heated.”
Churchill, who represents the Yarmouth riding, said there was no physical altercation.
“He initiated the conversation, said he had me on the ropes with the ferry and the government is going to go down as a result of the ferry,” Churchill said. “I took some exception to that. From my perspective it was reciprocal in tone. This is an issue of great passion for me. I come from a community that suffered grievous economic loss when that ferry was cut.”
Churchill said the lives and livelihoods of many of the people he knows were thrown into disarray when the ferry was discontinued a decade ago.
“I take exception when I have such flippant comments made about the service.”
Houston, the MLA for Pictou East, raised the ferry flap as a point of privilege Wednesday morning and when the House reconvened in the early afternoon, he asked Speaker Kevin Murphy to call for a vote to take the issue to the Committee on Assembly Matters. After a couple of recesses, the Speaker did call for such a vote but the majority Liberals defeated it.
The PC caucus then walked out of the chamber.
“To take the action that we took, to leave for the day, to send a message that what was happening in that chamber was a farce, Nova Scotians should read into the seriousness of this matter,” said Houston, adding that sitting in the House is both an honour and a privilege for his party colleagues.
“I was really surprised that the Liberals voted it down, particularly since the minister had just stood up and said he welcomed the investigation,” Houston said.
“It’s a shame when you see any type of workplace aggression and you see the people with the power using their power, abusing their power to silence things. That’s what we’ve seen here today with their vote. It’s consistent with the way they govern. They are constantly hiding things from Nova Scotians.”
Churchill said there is nothing to hide and a committee exploration of the incident would be a waste of resources.
“Why?” Churchill asked. “I don’t think it’s an issue for parliamentary business to take people’s time up and use taxpayers’ resources. It’s an issue between him and I. It’s a personal issue, not a parliamentary issue.”
Churchill said there was no physical contact between the MLAs.
“The accusation I found unnerving, unfair and inaccurate, to be honest,” Churchill said.
Houston said his party took the rest of the day to regroup and consider any further parliamentary action they can initiate to deal with the issue.
“The thing that will offend a lot of Nova Scotians is that this involves the minister of education, the minister responsible for administering anti-bullying programs across our schools and trying to instill anti-bullying principles in our youth.”
It’s been almost six years since an exchange of any magnitude happened at the House. Percy Paris, then tourism minister, had a heated exchange with Liberal Keith Colwell near the doorway of the members’ washroom. Colwell accused the NDP cabinet minister of assault.
Paris said he momentarily lost his temper but didn’t accede to an assault. He eventually resigned from cabinet after being charged with assault.
