Sask. government continues with plan to scrap sergeant-at-arms' security team at Legislative building
The Government of Saskatchewan is pushing ahead with a plan to replace the independent sergeant-at-arms’ security team at the Legislative Building with a police precinct that reports to the government.
The government introduced Bill 70 – An Act to amend the Legislative Assembly Act, 2007 – on Tuesday.
The bill was introduced, the government said, in response to increasing demonstrations at the Legislative Building over the last few years.
Minister of Corrections and Policing Christine Tell declined to speak to any specific security issues that may have prompted the proposed bill, but said it’s a “combination of many, many things over the past number of years.”
She said anything is on the table including vehicles, uniforms and arms for the proposed officers.
The Board of Internal Economy (BOIE) is a non-partisan committee consisting of the chair, the speaker, two members from cabinet, two government caucus members and two members from the opposition. The committee works to approve budgets for branches like the Legislative Advisory Committee and the sergeant-at-arms. It also manages the hiring of independent positions like the Ombudsman and the Advocate for Children and Youth.
The Saskatchewan NDP said they feel the change to security is not needed, and any proposed changes to security should go through the BOIE.
“In the past, every time there’s been conversations about security in this building it’s always happened at the BOIE table,” NDP MLA Nicole Sarauer said.
Sarauer said it’s important that the legislature retains an independent security team that does not answer to the government.
Tell said the province does not dictate the actions, operational or otherwise, of any policing or security agency in the province.
“There’s no question about any independence to whatever we do with safety and security in this building and beyond the walls,” Tell said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.