Speaker digs in his heels

Plus: Cash for Kouvalis, PCs set sights on 2022, and Jays fans cheer looser caps

ABOVE THE FOLD

Lots of action when it comes to government spending (or lack thereof) and the latest loosening of pandemic rules — but first, the Speaker has responded to Opposition parties’ denouncement of his vaccine-or-test entry directive for the Legislative Precinct, which they said doesn’t go far enough.

But TED ARNOTT is sticking to his guns in the name of parliamentary privilege and access. “We endeavour to balance the safety of all building occupants with the parliamentary privilege enjoyed by those elected to serve here,” Arnott said of the new directive in a letter to the Oppo house leaders.

“I believe that managing and mitigating the risk of COVID-19 entering the legislature milieu can be achieved through a robust vaccination-or-test regime and that in doing so we also achieve a state of maximum openness of parliament to all of its necessary participants,” he said.

Arnott also pointed out that the Legislature is considered an essential service: “Everyone from Legislators t…