Nearly two weeks after allegations were brought forward against Saskatchewan MLA Jeremy Harrison regarding his behaviour in the legislature and his urge to carry a gun, Harrison is telling his side of the story.
The allegations came to light May 16 when Speaker Randy Weekes accused Harrison of intimidating behaviour and said the minister once brought a weapon into the building.
Premier Scott Moe said the allegations were “unequivocally false,” however, Harrison later admitted to bringing a properly-cased long gun into the building. Harrison said he talked to the premier after he remembered.
“Approximately a decade ago, I was going hunting on a weekend,” Harrison said last week. “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.”
Harrison later resigned as government house leader but remains minister of trade and export.
Opposition leader Carla Beck said Moe has shown weak leadership not removing Harrison entirely from caucus.
“People should know that it’s not the right thing to bring a gun into their workplace,” Beck said. “I’m sure that a teacher who maybe had a firearm wouldn’t think it was okay to bring it into school or someone who works in health care who’s going hunting after work knows that that’s not a proper place to bring it, to bring a firearm.”
On Monday, Global News sat down with Harrison so discuss the allegations:
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Q: Allegations were made against you from Randy weeks on the last day of the legislative sitting. What was going through your mind?
A: “Firstly, what I want to do is apologize to the people of the province, and I want to apologize to folks who worked in the building ten years ago when this occurred. This was a very bad error in judgment, and it was a very bad mistake.”
“I’m accountable for it. The premier and I had a discussion when (these allegations) occurred and I let him know that I would be standing down and we had the discussion about House leader. I’m accountable for this. I’m sorry for this, and, it shouldn’t have happened, and it never happened after that. And it will obviously never happen again.”
Q: If this happened a decade ago (bringing a gun in) and for it to be brought up in the last day of the legislative sitting, what were your thoughts on that?
A: “I didn’t actually catch this particular allegation when it was all occurring. There were some very, very serious and significant accusations that were being made. Frankly, I’m surprised. I don’t know where the vast majority of those came from.”
“I grew up as a lawful firearms owner. I grew up as a hunter. You know, it’s really a major part of our heritage and way of life in rural Saskatchewan. One of the real tenants of firearm safety is you do not leave a firearm unattended in the back of your truck. Even if you’re stopping at a residence for any length of time, you bring your firearm, into the residence because they get stolen out of vehicles.”
“What I shouldn’t have done, though, is come by the legislature and brought (the gun) in. Even though there were no rules against it or no provisions that were being violated. It was an error in judgment.”
Q: Is it true you requested to be able to bring a gun into the building?
A: “It is entirely untrue.”
Q: The speaker read some of the text messages sent from yourself and other ministers. Do you think he was wrong in feeling like he was harassed or bullied?
A: “I shouldn’t have sent the text that was that was read into the record. It is important to remember there are difficult conversations that happen in the legislature. There really are. And those conversations usually happen between Speaker and the House leader. That’s where they generally stay. But you do have these conversations. They happen and have happened historically. I can absolutely attest to that firsthand.”
For Beck, the apology is simply not enough.
“Harrison lied about bringing a gun into the legislature,” Beck explained. The NDP began calling for an investigation to be conducted into the allegations last week.
“Today we saw that there will be no further consequences for that minister, which I think shows weak leadership on the part of the premier. The people of Saskatchewan deserve better answers than what we’re provided today.”
No discussions have come from Weekes about pursuing further investigations into Harrison’s actions in the legislature.
And while it remains to be seen if any further actions or discipline could come of the actions, with an election expected to be called for this October, voters will have the chance to make their voice heard on the matter.
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