N.L. Tory crosses the floor, says government has 'lost its way'

Mount Pearl South MLA Paul Lane (assembly.nl.ca)

MOUNT PEARL, N.L. -- A departing government backbencher rebuked Premier Kathy Dunderdale as he crossed the floor to the Opposition Liberals on Monday, saying his decision stemmed from her lack of empathy and leadership.

Paul Lane said there were several factors that prompted him to leave the Progressive Conservatives, but pointed to Dunderdale's handling of recent power outages as "the final straw that broke the camel's back."

Lane said Dunderdale was largely absent as residents and businesses were coping with blackouts in sub-zero temperatures earlier this month.

"The premier was once again nowhere to be found," Lane told a news conference in Mount Pearl.

"To make matters worse, two or three days later, when the premier finally decided to speak to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, instead of demonstrating empathy for all the people negatively impacted by the blackouts, the focus of the news conference centred around whether or not the situation by definition was a crisis.

"For many people, this was indeed a crisis."

Lane also cited Bill 29, a law that tightened access to government information, as a reason for his decision to join the Liberals. He said while he voted in favour of the bill, he now has concerns it was too regressive.

"I say to the premier that while her intentions may be honourable, I believe that our government has lost its way and has indeed forgotten to listen to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador," he said.

The premier was out of the province Monday. A brief statement released by her office said there was no advance warning of Lane's defection.

"Mr. Lane didn't express any discontent with leadership or the direction of the party before his announcement today, including when he accepted a promotion on Oct. 9," it says of Lane's appointment as parliamentary secretary to the minister for innovation, business and rural development.

"Mr. Lane had ample opportunity to voice his concerns surrounding leadership and direction of the party to me. He did not."

The statement says the premier will have more to say when she returns to the province "in coming days."

Lane was first elected to represent the district of Mount Pearl South in the October 2011 election. His departure is the latest blow for Dunderdale.

It follows a move by Tom Osborne who left the Tories to sit as an Independent a year ago before joining the Liberals.

The Tories also recently lost a key byelection in the former riding of senior cabinet minister Jerome Kennedy to the Liberals.

After that, former prominent Tory members spoke openly about the need for Dunderdale to review her performance and consider her political future.

She has denied any plans to step down ahead of the next election, scheduled for October 2015.

Liberal Leader Dwight Ball said discussions with Lane began last Monday, and over time, it became clear to him he shared the party's values.

"It was obvious that Paul's concerns actually mirrored many of the concerns that we have around Bill 29, around affordable housing and so on," Ball said.

Lane's departure will leave the Tories with 34 members in the legislature and give the Liberals nine seats, while the NDP have three and there are two Independent members.