Meadow Lake MLA Jeremy Harrison believes in being honest and upfront with the people of Saskatchewan and, more importantly, with the people of his constituency. In the wake of recent allegations made by Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Randy Weekes, Harrison has resigned from his role as government house leader. It’s a position he held for more than a decade.
“On May 16, the Speaker made a number of allegations about my use of firearms,” reads an official statement issued by Harrison. “I have never had a firearm in the Legislative Chamber or anywhere in the Legislative Building during the period MLA Weekes has been Speaker. Approximately a decade ago, I was going hunting on a weekend. I stopped at the Legislative Building for a short period of time and brought a properly cased long gun into the building with the knowledge of security officials so as to not leave it unattended in my vehicle in the parking lot. In retrospect, I should not have done this. I apologize for this lapse in judgment and for not advising the premier of this one occasion immediately following the Speaker‘s statement. I have offered and the premier has accepted my resignation as government house leader.”
The accusations made by Weekes came on the Speaker’s final day on the job. The legislative assembly will not resume until after the next provincial election this October, and Weekes has already failed to gain the nomination in his riding of Kindersley-Biggar. Ahead of May 16, Weekes posted a photo on social media showing his Saskatchewan Party membership card cut in half. An accompanying line of text read “Enough is enough.” Meanwhile, in his closing remarks that day, Weekes thanked the pages and staff of the assembly before reading the oath he swore when he accepted the role as Speaker, which was to maintain objectivity, impartiality and to “leave behind all political, partisan biases.” Hands shaking as he read off several sheets of paper, he then went on to allege, as soon as he became Speaker, Harrison began to text him “intimidating and harassing” messages “ in an effort to “influence” his rulings. He also alleged Harrison had a “disturbing obsession with guns” and sought permission “to carry a handgun in the legislative assembly.” He also claimed Harrison brought a “hunting rifle into the legislative building.”
Other accusations made by Weekes included two occasions when government staffers allegedly lunged at him while one MLA is said to have nearly “head-butted” him at a function. Afterward, Premier Scott Moe told reporters he felt this was “sour grapes” from Weekes, adding he was “shocked” to hear the Speaker’s allegations. He also described alleged attempts to influence the Speaker and his rulings as “nothing more than third-party hearsay.” Moe also said at no time did Weekes approach him about any concerns he may have had. At the time, Moe also commented on the firearm accusation stating, “I don’t know why someone would bring a gun into the legislature” unless it was “part of a presentation,” adding he’s never heard of Harrison bringing a gun into the building. Moe called Harrison a strong leader who knows the rules of the assembly as well as anyone in Canada.
When speaking with reporters from his constituency office in Meadow Lake following his resignation as government house leader, Harrison himself said, at first, he didn’t even recall the incident. “I categorically and unequivocally deny the accusations made by the Speaker in the House on the final day of session, except for one,” Harrison said. He then went on to reiterate the account shared in his official statement. “About a decade ago, I did bring a long gun into the Legislature for a very short period of time – about 10 minutes,” he said. “I went in, grabbed some work and left while on my way to a hunting trip. I shouldn’t have done that. It was a mistake. It was a lapse in judgement. And, because of that, I offered my resignation as government house leader to the premier and he accepted it. I didn’t, at first, actually catch the accusation (made by Weekes). There were a lot of accusations made that final day in the assembly. I didn’t catch it until some period of time after, and, at first, I didn’t recall this happened. It was about 10 years ago. I don’t know the exact year, but 10 years ago approximately.”
It wasn’t until giving Weekes’ comments further thought Harrison remembered the day in question. “I didn’t recall it, but, later, I had some conversations with family and – based on those conversations – did recall this happening,” he said. “I let the premier know after he already made public comments on the entire matter. I offered my resignation to him as house leader based on that recollection. As I said, it was a mistake and a lapse in judgement. I shouldn’t have done it, but I didn’t even think about it when it happened. I was driving to a hunting trip, and stopped (at the Legislature) for a very short period of time. Security was aware I brought my long gun into the assembly, and I did it because I didn’t want to leave it in a parked vehicle in the parking lot. That is not something you should do, but, in this case, I shouldn’t have stopped at the building. But, I did, and made the decision at that point to bring it in because security was aware and it was only for a short period of time. I left shortly thereafter for my hunting trip, and this is the only time something like this has happened. As I said, I unequivocally deny all the other allegations made by the Speaker. They are entirely untrue.”
When asked if he ever asked permission to bring a handgun into the Legislature, Harrison said no. “I never have – I categorically deny,” he said, adding he was both surprised and disappointed by the accusation. “I did not expect this to be the case,” he added. “As house leader, I’ve worked with this Speaker, I’ve worked with previous Speakers, there’s always a tension and a friction, but that’s how the House works. Obviously, what happened was unfortunate, and I was a bit mystified quite frankly, particularly by the allegations made from the chair. I categorically deny all of them except this one, which – after working through and thinking about – I acknowledge happened. It was a mistake and, because if that, I’ve offered my resignation as house leader.” Harrison has served as government house leader or deputy-government house leader for about 15 years. He was appointed deputy-house leader in 2009 and house leader in 2011.
Late last week, in an exclusive one-on-one interview with Northern Pride, Harrison stressed his desire to be honest with the people of Saskatchewan and the people of Meadow Lake, noting the people of his riding and his community are aware of the dedication and hard work he has done as an elected official for the better part of two decades. “I believe the people of Meadow Lake are understanding, but I really wanted to be honest about this,” he said. “I didn’t recall this (when the allegation was first made), but, through conversations, I did have a recollection of this occurring. I really wanted to be honest, put this on the record and take accountability and responsibility for it. As far as being house leader, this is something I take seriously, I’ve done it for a long time, I have a huge amount of respect for the institution and I felt this was the appropriate way of demonstrating the accountability and showing respect for the institution in that regard.”
The respect Harrison has earned from constituents was evident Friday morning (May 24) when both the MLA and Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) Cree vice-chief Richard Derocher were in attendance for a groundbreaking ceremony for a new second-stage fourplex to house women and children affected by interpersonal violence. “Thank you for always making time for us, Jeremy, you’ve always been here for MLTC and you are a good friend of ours,” Derocher remarked. “It’s always a pleasure when you help us out on our projects. Jeremy and I talk a lot, and we always try to get stuff done for the community of Meadow Lake as a whole, not just MLTC.”
Harrison described the vice-chief’s words as “very kind.” “He’s a dear friend of mine and we’ve worked together for a very long time,” Harrison noted. “Having spent 20 years – since I was first elected to public office – I think the people in Meadow Lake know me. I’ve lived here my whole life, I grew up here, I’m forthright and straightforward, and I work hard to make sure we are advancing our community’s interests. That’s going to continue. I will continue in my roles as trade and export minister, as well as immigration and career training minister. That will still be a focus, but number one for me has always been the constituency. The constituency always comes first – always… The priority is always the Meadow Lake constituency, and that’s not going to change. The house leader job really is one where it’s very much focused on procedures and the actual Legislature in Regina, and I am sure there will be someone taking the job who is very capable and competent at doing this. But, I just felt I had to take accountability and responsibility, and this was the appropriate way of doing that.”
Earlier this spring, Harrison and Weekes also failed to see eye-to-eye when, on April 8, the Speaker asked the MLA to apologize for comments he made during Question Period that included the word “lie” when speaking out against what he felt was an untrue statement being made by an opposing NDP member. He then berated Harrison for appearing to slouch when issuing his apology and asked the MLA to apologize a second time. One week later (April 15), Harrison was ejected from the day’s proceedings when he refused to apologize for comments he made following Weekes’ attempt to admonish deputy-premier and provincial finance minister Donna Harper for sending him a private text message. When asked why Harrison doesn’t take legal action against Weekes for the recent accusations he said are untrue, Harrison said it’s not as easy as it sounds. “It’s called parliamentary privilege,” he said. “The laws of defamation, libel and slander don’t apply to comments made in the chamber. Obviously, if accusations were to be made outside of the chamber, I would for sure be looking at my legal options on all of those. That has not happened. I would be absolutely looking at my options if it did.”
For the record, Harrison is a lawful firearms owner. “I love hunting, I love the outdoors,” he said. “I’ve been hunting since I was a kid and I will continue to do it. It’s one of my passions and something I believe is shared in common by hundreds of thousands of people across the country and tens of thousands of people in Saskatchewan.” He also does not deny owning a handgun. “I have a couple, but they’re kept here in Meadow Lake, and they’re always lawfully stored and lawfully fired,” he said. “Again, all of the accusations made with regard to a handgun are absolutely untrue.”