HOWE ROOM: MLA, BlackBerry not easily parted
April 7, 2013 - 6:46am By DAVID JACKSON Provincial Reporter | The Howe Room Halifax Herald.
Yarmouth MLA Zach Churchill thinks the rules on electronic devices should be changed "so that we all can just continue to do our jobs with our constituents while we’re sitting in the legislature.” (ERIC WYNNE / Staff/ File)
.
Zach Churchill, BlackBerry outlaw.
The Yarmouth MLA got caught using his smartphone during question period Thursday, a no-no that House Speaker Gordie Gosse has warned members about.
“Sergeant-at-arms, would you remove the BlackBerry from the member for Yarmouth, please?” said Gosse.
Churchill tried to step outside the chamber to finish his email to his constituency assistant, but the long arm of legislature law wouldn’t allow it.
“No, you’ll hand it over to the sergeant-at-arms and you’ll pick it up after question period. I’ve warned the members of this Assembly for over a year now,” ordered Gosse.
The Liberal complied, but said later that rules in the House need to move into the 21st century.
“I’m from a generation that is always connected to the public, to the Internet, to everyone,” said the 28-year-old. “The rules that are in place are silly and need to be updated so that we all can just continue to do our jobs with our constituents while we’re sitting in the legislature.”
It’s believed that former Tory cabinet minister Mark Parent was the last MLA to have action taken against him for an electronic device violation. That happened in April 2007.
After multiple warnings against the use of a personal digital assistant, then-Speaker Cecil Clarke banned Parent from using the device in the chamber for the rest of the sitting.