Tories tell MLA to apologize for comments about non-disclosure agreement or face removal

Members of the Tory government signaled Monday that they intend to use their majority to remove Independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin from the chamber at Province House until she apologizes for comments made last week during debate on a bill to ban the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual assault.

But the Independent member for Cumberland North said she will not apologize.

"I spoke the truth," Smith-McCrossin told reporters at Province House.

"Anything that I have shared was what was shared with me."

What Smith-McCrossin shared with the House last week was an unsigned document she said was a copy of a non-disclosure agreement a former Tory staffer was coerced into signing with the Progressive Conservative caucus in 2018.

The former Tory staffer, who died of a brain hemorrhage last June, eventually went to work for Smith-McCrossin. Smith-McCrossin said she found the 2018 document among her former employee's effects and that the employee had previously told her that she was asked by Community Services Minister Karla MacFarlane, the interim PC leader at the time, to sign.

That was the same year the party forced out its leader, Jamie Baillie, for what the caucus described as inappropriate behaviour toward a female staff member.

Treated like a pariah

A statement from the woman's parents said she endured "total abandonment" from her "friends" in the caucus office.

She "was ghosted and had no other choice but to come home and heal," they said. "Her career she dearly loved was over and she was treated like a pariah. She was just beginning to live again when she went to work for Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin. Her light was being re-kindled. She was doing what she loved."

'It does not exist'

MacFarlane has denied Smith-McCrossin's allegations and on Monday introduced a resolution saying Smith-McCrossin misled the House and called for her to be prevented from taking her seat until she retracts her comments and apologizes.

The NDA "is non-existent," MacFarlane told reporters.

"It does not exist in our files or anywhere because it didn't happen," she said.

MacFarlane repeated comments from last week that there is no evidence anyone within the party or its caucus signed non-disclosure agreements, although she said she could not speak for Baillie.

"And it is my name that she is slandering. I will not compromise my integrity. I will fight this to the end, because it's wrong. It's absolutely wrong."

Because MacFarlane could not get unanimous consent to pass her resolution without debate, the House must wait two days before it can be called. It would take a simple majority to pass.

Members of the Liberal caucus voted against waiving debate on Monday.

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said that in his time at Province House he's never seen a government use its majority to try to exclude someone. MLAs have privilege in the House to make their arguments on behalf of constituents, he told reporters.

Churchill compared what the Tories are doing to the way non-disclosure agreements are used to silence people.

"It's the same thing NDAs are used for, to keep somebody quiet and to stop them from talking and we certainly don't believe that it's right to do that to the member from Cumberland North, particularly on an issue of this importance."

Jurisdictional scan on bill continues

The NDP has a bill before the House that would ban the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual assault. The bill has hit a pause because Justice Minister Brad Johns and Premier Tim Houston have said government officials are reviewing similar laws in other jurisdictions. That research began more than a year ago.

Smith-McCrossin said she feels intimidated by the government's actions. She noted that the Justice Department threatened her with legal action in January for a social media post about a constituent who died in hospital while awaiting medical care.

Smith-McCrossin had the consent of her constituent's family to make their story public in her post.

"I think that every MLA, including myself, should be allowed to do our job and that is represent our people and be the voice for change that is needed here in Nova Scotia," she said on Monday.

"NDAs in sexual assault should no longer be legal here in Nova Scotia. And that is what I'm trying to help change and I think that's what everyone in opposition wants to see."

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