UPDATED: Liberal cabinet ministers, PC MHA have not filed public disclosures: Commissioner

Newfoundland and Labrador Commissioner for Legislative Standards Ann Chafe told The Independent earlier this week she still had not received public disclosure statements or supporting documents from three MHAs, including two cabinet ministers, running for re-election in next week’s provincial election.

Liberal candidates Elvis Loveless and Lisa Dempster, both cabinet ministers heading into the election campaign, have not filed their 2025 disclosures which were due April 1, Chafe said Wednesday. Dempster denies the allegation.

Provincial legislation requires elected members of the House of Assembly to disclose to the commissioner their and their spouse’s assets like property, investments, business and corporate ownership, employment income, shares in companies, as well as liabilities, and other significant assets or interests “to guard against any real [or] perceived conflicts of interest,” the commissioner’s website says. They are required to file their disclosure statements within 60 days of being elected and then annually by April 1.

The commissioner then reviews the statements, follows up with members if she has questions or concerns about the contents of their disclosures, then submits them to the speaker of the House of Assembly. The disclosures are then posted online as a measure of government transparency and public accountability.

“There’s no excuse, to my mind,” Chafe said of Dempster’s failure to submit her disclosure. “The forms are pretty straightforward and she’s done it before.” Chafe said Dempster told her there’s no change in what she would disclose but added “she has not complied” in filing her documents.

Dempster has served four terms in office as MHA for Cartwright–L’Anse au Clair and was the Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture heading into the election. She did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment before publication, but on Sunday, after this story was published, contacted The Independent to say her secretary hand-delivered the disclosure documents to Chafe’s office sometime during the summer.

Loveless, MHA for Fortune Bay–Cape La Hune and the province’s Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and Minister Responsible for the Public Procurement Agency, did not respond to two requests from The Independent for comment.

Chafe, who was appointed acting commissioner in December 2022, said she is also missing a disclosure statement from Lloyd Parrot, the Progressive Conservative member for Terra Nova. The Independent spoke with Parrott Friday and the twice-elected MHA said his delay was partly due to a “fairly significant health situation” in March that put him “out of the picture for 17 weeks.”

Parrott returned to the legislature May 12 for the remainder of the spring sitting but still did not file his disclosure. He says he takes full responsibility for not getting the completed documents to Chafe. “It was an  honest oversight,” he said. “I got nothing to hide.” Parrott said his disclosure hasn’t changed since 2024. “It’s the same,” he said. “No new investments, no different banking, no anything.”

According to Chafe, in 2024 Parrott did not disclose any investments or other assets or holdings which might be of concern.

Chafe contradicts statements on Dempster, Loveless 

On Saturday Chafe indicated she had heard of The Independent’s request to Dempster seeking comment on the minister’s 2025 public disclosure statement. Chafe then said she is unsure if Dempster filed the statement or not, and that she could not verify one way or another since she was out of town and unable to access the records in St. John’s.

Dempster is currently in Labrador and told The Independent the letter confirming she submitted her disclosure would be in her office in St. John’s. “It was ‘hand delivered’ right to her hands,” she said. “I’m at a loss.” Dempster said her secretary, Carla Joy, has confirmed that “when she dropped it off [Chafe] was present.”

Chafe also backtracked on a statement she made in an email to The Independent Wednesday when she said Loveless “has not filed for 2025.” She now says the minister did submit his disclosure statement, but that he has not provided supporting documentation she requested related to something Loveless disclosed.

The Independent asked Loveless why he has not filed the documentation the commissioner says she requested, and if there’s anything in his disclosure which could pose a real or perceived conflict of interest with respect to his positions as an MHA and cabinet minister. He did not respond to our request by the time of publication.

Chafe said if Dempster and Loveless retain their seats in the House of Assembly after next week’s election, “they will have to go through a whole rigorous process that they failed to do in April and May — I’ll have them do that.”

When Independent MHA for Humber–Bay of Island Eddie Joyce refused to submit financial documentation requested by Chafe’s predecessor Bruce Chaulk, the commissioner issued two reports—in 2020 and 2022—recommending Joyce be suspended from the House of Assembly “until he has fulfilled his statutory obligations.”

While Joyce’s non-compliance was for a prolonged period of time and of a controversial nature, Chaulk noted in his reports that financial disclosure requirements “are the foundations of the conflict of interest provisions and help form the pillars of our political system. Failure to comply with these provisions strikes at the integrity of our political system and the public confidence in our elected officials.”

Only province in the dark

The Independent recently reported that Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in Canada which does not publish elected members’ disclosure statements online. 

British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia all make elected members’ disclosure statements or summaries of their disclosures available to the public.

The provincial New Democratic Party says Newfoundland and Labrador should, too. The NDP is the only party in the 2025 election that has committed to reforming the province’s public disclosure system. As one of the party’s first platform announcements, leader Jim Dinn said in early September the NDP promises to be “the most transparent government in the history of this province,” beginning with “publishing all MHA conflict-of-interest disclosure reports [online] so that they’re fully accessible to the public.”

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include Lisa Dempster’s response to the claims made by Chafe. The Independent has not been able to verify the status of Dempster’s filing and is awaiting clarification from the commissioner.