Island women's groups criticized in the House say MLA didn't ask for support

Three P.E.I.women's groups which came under fire in the provincial legislature last week say none of them received a request for support from the MLA who delivered the criticism.

Beyond, that however, the groups are offering little comment.

On Friday, PC MLA Darlene Compton told the House she'd received threats of a lawsuit after accusing the PR Coalition for Proportional Representation of sharing voter information with the Green Party.

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Both the Greens and the PR Coalition have denied the information was shared, and members of the PR Coalition say comments they made on social media were not intended as threats of legal action.

Groups didn't reach out, MLA says

"Not once did one of the women's groups reach out to me," Compton told the House on Friday, after talking about another threat of legal action she said was contained in a video released the night before.

"Where was the support from the Women's Network of PEI, the Advisory Council for the Status of Women, the PEI Coalition for Women in Government? Do they believe now that I am not worth supporting, because I stood up for what is right? Do they really support all women?"

Compton was questioned by reporters afterwards as to whether she'd given the groups enough time to respond to the comments made on social media over a period of less than two days.

"There was definitely time for them to support the proportional representation group, and to support the Green Party, so I would hope as women, they would also support me."

Compton did not say what form she expected that support to take.

No request received, groups say

Both the P.E.I. Advisory Council on the Status of Women and the PEI Coalition for Women in Government are member organizations of the PR Coalition. Status of Women executive director Jane Ledwell said the group will continue to support proportional representation as part of its "evidence-based" approach to trying to get more seats for women in the P.E.I. Legislature.

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All three groups said they wanted to make it clear this wasn't a case of any of them turning down a request for support from an MLA.

The Coalition for Women in Government released a statement saying "no matter where people stand on a topic, personal attacks ... whether it's in political or community leadership are unacceptable regardless of gender."

Compton and her fellow PC MLA Steven Myers asked the Speaker for a ruling as to whether their privileges as MLAs were breached as a result of comments made on social media, suggesting the comments were made to try to intimidate them.

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