Newly re-elected Premier Brain Pallister says that a decision on the fate of Swan River MLA Rick Wowchuk will be made soon.
When asked about Wowchuk’s future in caucus, Pallister said that will be decided when caucus meets in a couple of weeks.
He wouldn’t elaborate if he wanted Wowchuk to remain in caucus or not.
“That’ll be a caucus decision. I’m not trying to prejudice the decision,” said Pallister. “A caucus membership is a decision caucus should make, not the leader.”
The membership decision follows the findings of an internal investigation found that Wowchuk violated the legislative assembly’s respectful workplace policy multiple times with his former constituency assistant, including an incident where Wowchuk showed her a picture of naked women.
Wowchuk has since apologized and said he deeply regretted his actions.
Despite the results of the investigation coming out five days before election day, Wowchuk was re-elected with more than double the vote total of his opponents combined.
If Wowchuk is removed from caucus, he would be the second PC Party member expelled in less than a year.
Former Emerson MLA Cliff Graydon was removed from caucus in October 2018 after it was alleged he made an inappropriate comment to a legislative staffer.
