Legislature security bill passes after contentious slog

Bill 70, which has taken up a lot of room in debates and a lot of air in the Legislative Building over the past session, has finally passed and is expected to be given royal assent on Thursday.

The bill will create a new security force at the Legislative Building and surrounding grounds which will be underneath and answerable to the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety instead of the building’s security being under the Sergeant-at-Arms, who is currently independent from government and answerable to the Speaker.

The changes were introduced in the fall and immediately, the NDP was not on board, pointing out concerns about government interference in security and asking for explanations for why it’s needed. The NDP’s policing and corrections critic, Nicole Sarauer, said her party hasn’t got those answers, even away from public ears.

“It really comes down to ensuring the integrity of this building. This is the heartbeat of democracy in Saskatchewan,” Sarauer said Wednesday after the bill passed its final vote.

Sarauer said she was ultimately disappointed.

“It’s really disappointing to see government members vote in favour of this legislation when they don’t have a concrete reason as to why this was needed and it’s a real slap in the face to the Sergeant-at-Arms and his team who’ve worked so effectively to keep all of us safe who work in this building for so long,” said Sarauer.

Before the final vote, Sarauer tried to seek leave to go to committee so she could move an amendment to the bill, but that was denied. Sarauer said it’s clear the government doesn’t want to discuss this.

“It’s clear that it’s just a power grab for government at this point,” said Sarauer.

Sarauer said security is independent at the Legislature for a reason and that history has shown that concerns about government interference in security is legitimate.

After the vote on Wednesday, Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Christine Tell said it had been a long process and she feels good about it.

Tell said this new security team will allow for a unified response to things happening in and outside the building with people who are trained and fully resourced to deal with a number of things. She said there was a need to bring everything under the government because that’s where the expertise lies.

“All the policing experience (and) all the security experience all lies there, and so we believe that in order to facilitate that co-ordinated response from people who understand the nature of the work and the nature of the job that needs to be done will serve the people that come to this building and the people that work here in a more co-ordinated way,” said Tell.

However, the minister couldn’t say whether that kind of expertise lies with the current security at the Legislative Building, because — the security being independent — she’s not privy to that information.

“What their level of expertise is, I cannot speak to that. I do know what our level, as government, the people within the ministry, I can speak to that,” said Tell.

Tell has spoken before about wanting to bring together command structures and eliminate silos. She pointed to problems with the response to the protests in Ottawa earlier this year, and said this would eliminate those problems if something happened at the Saskatchewan Legislature.

“We want to be proactive here, we want to have a unit that is unified, collaborated, and fully human resources to perform that particular function,” said Tell.

As for the NDP’s concerns about government interference in security matters when this team is answerable to her ministry, Tell called them “bologna.”

“I don’t know what else I can do except to say that I have no interest, ability in any way shape or form to interfere with anything, and even if I did, I wouldn’t,” said Tell.

They had to wait until after the bill was passed to start work on it so Tell guessed that it won’t be until the end of this year or early next year until the new security unit is operational.

It’s unclear what will happen to the current Sergeant-at-Arms and his team once the new team is in place.