Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon has released a statement about the NWT integrity commissioner's finding that he violated the MLA code of conduct by harassing nursing staff.
"I did not, and do not, accept the findings of the investigation into health services in Fort Resolution, but I do accept the findings in the integrity commissionerSA国际影视传媒檚 report into my actions," Edjericon's Oct. 11 statement reads.
NWT integrity commissioner David Phillip Jones investigated a written complaint that Edjericon was harassing the nursing staff at the health centre in Fort Resolution. The MLA wanted the nurse in charge terminated from her position and removed from the community, according to Jones's interpretation of the evidence.
The report adds that Edjericon did not understand the operations of the health centre, never visited it and never met with the nurse in charge. That nurse had also never been the subject of any complaints during her four years at Fort Resolution.
"The matters complained of occurred while I was a rookie MLA, barely into my term," Edjericon explained in his defence.
He also noted that health services in his constituency were a top priority and source of complaints. Edjericon pledged that his future actions will be guided by the commissionerSA国际影视传媒檚 findings.
"As with any new MLA, I was learning on the job and anxious to do the best possible work for my constituents. I acknowledge that I could have done things better and commit to doing so into the future," he stated.
Edjericon said this has been a learning experience and has made him a better representative. He's willing to pay the integrity commissioner's recommended financial penalty of $2,500, he added.
"I acted and continue to act with only good intent, without malice and with the interests of those who elected me foremost in my mind," Edjericon's statement reads.
The MLA's response also indicates that he will not make any further public statement about this situation until after his legislative assembly colleagues rule later this month on the recommendation from the integrity commissioner.
Jones made his findings public on Oct. 10. His report will be tabled during the next sitting of the NWT legislative assembly, which begins with a meeting of committees and caucus on Oct. 16 followed by regular sessions the next day. The assembly has 15 sitting days to consider the report and act on the recommendation.
