Liberals in Moncton Centre need time to 'heal,' says would-be candidate

A candidate hoping to take over as the Liberal MLA for Moncton Centre says he knows party members in the riding need time to "heal" after harassment allegations against incumbent Chris Collins.

Lawyer and city councillor Robert McKee says some members of the riding executive are still upset with how the case was handled by Premier Brian Gallant.

"I hope there's going to be clarity to the situation moving forward," he said. "That might help alleviate some of the concerns that the association does have.

"I've started the dialogue with them. I've spoken with a couple of them that I have good relationships with. Hopefully, time will allow them to heal, I guess, from the situation and hopefully support the Liberal candidate down the road."

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He also said there's "a strong possibility" Collins himself will run as an independent candidate, a decision that could split the Liberal vote and deprive the party of the seat.

"I've committed to seeking the Liberal nomination and whatever happens down the road, if that's the situation, we'll face that, hoping to keep the riding Liberal," he said.

Wednesday was the deadline to declare for the nomination. No one from the provincial party office was available to say whether anyone other than McKee had qualified to run.

Riding association president Audrey Lampert could not be reached for comment. McKee said in conversations with Lampert, "she'd told me she's heard from many [party members] that had concerns" about how Collins was treated.

Gallant revealed April 5 that his office was aware of a harassment complaint by a former employee of the legislature, where Collins has occupied the position of Speaker since the 2014 election.

At Gallant's urging, an all-party committee of MLAs authorized the hiring of an independent investigator to look into the allegations. Collins also gave up his administrative functions as Speaker.

Nominating convention set for June 2

In his May 10 statement, Collins said Gallant's public discussion of the complaint violated his rights and he vowed to sue the premier for libel.

"A citizen's rights should be protected, not violated, on national television," he wrote. "Who has ever handled [a human resources] file in this manner?"

Collins also said he would not run as a Liberal under the premier's leadership but did not rule out being a candidate in some other way.

With Collins taking himself out of the race as a Liberal, the party scheduled the nominating convention for June 2. McKee, a 32-year-old lawyer and first-term city councillor, declared his candidacy May 17.

He said Wednesday that provincial politics had been a long-term goal, and he saw Moncton Centre "as a potential spot down the road" because he'd expected Collins to serve two more terms.

McKee is the son of former Liberal MLA and cabinet minister Michael McKee.

He said he didn't know if anyone else would file paperwork for the nomination ahead of the Wednesday deadline, but he had heard "rumblings" from others.

He also said he knows many Liberal party members in the riding are concerned about how Collins was treated, but he foundas he gathered signatures "there were only a few households that wanted to sit down first, ask some questions and get to the bottom of it."

He hadn't been able to give them many answers.

"I'm like everyone else," he said. "I don't have that information."