Byrne not making house his home

A former cabinet minister who has been implicated in Newfoundland and Labrador's legislative spending scandal has made only one brief appearance in the house of assembly.

Ed Byrne, who was forced out of his natural resources portfolio in June because of an audit of constituency allowances, attended the opening day of the fall sitting at the house on Nov. 20.

However, Byrne— who did a round of media interviews the week before insisting he is continuing to represent his constituents — left the legislature after that afternoon's question period, and has not been in the house since.

In a brief conversation with CBC News, Byrne said his wife is out of town and he has to take care of his children.

Earlier this month, Byrne said he was still very much on the job representing the interests of his constituents in his St. John's-area district of Kilbride.

"I intend to take my seat [and] I intend to represent my constituents in the legislature as I've done for the last 13½years," said Byrne, who insisted he knows little about the details of an audit that forced him to resign his ministerial post.

Auditor General John Noseworthy disclosed this summer that Byrne received about $326,000 from his constituency allowance, or about 10 times what he was eligible to claim.

Noseworthy's reports, which have rocked political circles, also identified three other politicians as having received similar overpayments: Liberal Wally Andersen, New Democrat Randy Collins and former Liberal MHA Jim Walsh. The audits triggered a police investigation.

Speaker Harvey Hodder said he had little comment on Byrne's absence.

"I've had no dialogue whatsoever with Mr. Byrne on this particular issue, so therefore any statement I would make would be purely hypothetical," Hodder said.

Although there is an expectation that elected politicians will attend sessions at the house of assembly, Hodder said, there are no official rules governing MHA attendance.

"It's very difficult to define whether a member is a full-time MHA purely by their attendance in the house," Hodder said.

Derek Green, the chief justice of the Newfoundland Supreme Court's trial division, is considering protocols for the attendance of politicians in the house, as part of a thorough review of political remuneration.

Green is also reviewing the constituency allowance system, which gives politicians tax-free payments for running an office and related expenses.

Green is expected to complete his report in January.