Liberal cabinet ministers, PC MHA have not filed public disclosures: Commissioner
N.L. Commissioner for Legislative Commissioner Ann Chafe says Liberal MHAs Elvis Loveless and Lisa Dempster and PC MHA Lloyd Parrott are non-compliant with their public disclosure statements, which we
My colleague, and the editor and chief of The Independent, a Newfoundland Labrador based media published an article today that I felt it was necessary to share. This is more or less the third article in a series that we’ve been doing, which I think are of the utmost importance for the democracy in the province. I recommend you read ALL of the pieces. These might be my best work (hard to say, that being said) and I’m so proud of them.
Last week I released “Only Province in the Dark: Inside N.L.’s broken ethics system”
This week I released “Seismic shift needed to address N.L. housing crisis, experts say”
And with Justin releasing this piece, the story continues. I have another piece coming out with them, but the disrespect for transparency and lack of interest in serving the province is appalling. The challenge is that the eastern provinces are a news desert, that is to say, Justin is one of the few out there. So I hope you’ll go to his website and read the piece. Here is an excerpt of this foundational work. I will not be putting “subscribe buttons” in the piece today, because for me this isn’t about money- it’s about transparency in the government during a time of democratic backsliding.
Read the whole piece here
By Justin Brake
Newfoundland and Labrador Commissioner for Legislative Standards Ann Chafe says she still has not received public disclosure statements or supporting documents from three MHAs, including two cabinet ministers, running for re-election in next week’s provincial election.
Liberal candidates Elvis Loveless and Lisa Dempster, both cabinet ministers heading into the election campaign, have not filed their 2025 disclosures which were due April 1, Chafe said Wednesday.
Provincial legislation requires elected members of the House of Assembly to disclose to the commissioner their and their spouse’s assets like property, investments, business and corporate ownership, employment income, shares in companies, as well as liabilities, and other significant assets or interests “to guard against any real [or] perceived conflicts of interest,” the commissioner’s website says. They are required to file their disclosure statements within 60 days of being elected and then annually by April 1.
The commissioner then reviews the statements, follows up with members if she has questions or concerns about the contents of their disclosures, then submits them to the speaker of the House of Assembly. The disclosures are then posted online as a measure of government transparency and public accountability.
Loveless, MHA for Fortune Bay–Cape La Hune and the province’s Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and Minister Responsible for the Public Procurement Agency, did not respond to two requests from The Independent for comment. Nor did Dempster, MHA for Cartwright–L’Anse au Clair and Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.
Dempster, who has served four terms in office, has also served as Deputy Government House Leader, Deputy Speaker, and has held seven other cabinet portfolios.
“There’s no excuse, to my mind,” Chafe said of Dempster’s failure to submit her disclosure. “The forms are pretty straightforward and she’s done it before.” Chafe said Dempster told her there’s no change in what she would disclose but added “she has not complied” in filing her documents.
Chafe, who was appointed acting commissioner in December 2022, said she is also missing a disclosure statement from Lloyd Parrot, the Progressive Conservative member for Terra Nova. The Independent spoke with Parrott Friday and the twice-elected MHA said his delay was partly due to a “fairly significant health situation” in March that put him “out of the picture for 17 weeks.”
Parrott returned to the legislature May 12 for the remainder of the spring sitting but still did not file his disclosure. He says he takes full responsibility for not getting the completed documents to Chafe. “It was an honest oversight,” he said. “I got nothing to hide.” Parrott said his disclosure hasn’t changed since 2024. “It’s the same,” he said. “No new investments, no different banking, no anything.”
According to Chafe, in 2024 Parrott did not disclose any investments or other assets or holdings which might be of concern.
Read the whole piece here
I hope you’ll read the full piece. I’d just like to close this with a statement of how bad the whole of Canadian governments is at being transparent. It’s a dark time, and the only way we will make it through this is by fixing the corruption at the heart of our governments. Elected officials are basically allowed to do legal insider trading, and get rich off of being elected. Poilievre was middle class when he started in politics. Now he’s a multi millionaire. We should ask how that’s possible, and why we don’t call people out. I’m working on many initiatives that I hope to launch after the Municipal election in Montreal. Keep tuned. Part two of the media ownership is coming soon, and Aedan is working on some good stuff as well.
Thank you for posting about this. I live in NL and I feel that the the province is able to get away with a lot of shit because they aren't in the eye of the rest of a country. They need to be held accountable for not being transparent and not putting forward lesgislation/policies that are seen in literally any other province.