Wynne hoping to head off contempt motion

Premier Kathleen Wynne is responding to a threatened contempt motion by the opposition.

The possible contempt motion stems from the gas plant hearings. The chair of the hearings blocked questions about emails that supposedly bully speaker David Levac into changing a different contempt ruling.

Wynne says the decision to disallow questions came as a surprise to her. She says she doesn’t want an election this fall and plans to negotiate with both the Conservatives and NDP.

“The house leaders need to have this discussion. I was surprised the chair was advised that the questions couldn’t be asked. We said we would open the process, tens of thousands of documents have been released. House leaders need to talk about this next piece.”

The Conservatives have threatened to file a motion of contempt on September 9th when the fall session begins. They say the move by the Liberal chair of the hearings, Shafiq Qaadri (above, right) is out of order. Qaadri refused to allow any questions about what Conservatives call a “Liberal plot” to intimate speaker David Levac. Two Liberal staffers are accused of trying to strong-arm Levac to reverse a contempt ruling against former energy minister Chris Bentley last year.

Wynne says her office wasn’t consulted about blocking questions about the so-called “plot”. Her response appears to be an indication she’ll attempt to reverse the decision and allow the questions – hoping to avoid another contempt debate.