McNeil On Dexter's Bar Fees: How Long and How Much?
(Halifax, NS) Liberal leader Stephen McNeil says Nova Scotia taxpayers deserve to know how long they’ve paid Darrell Dexter’s barristers’ fees, how much those fees totaled and whether the premier has turned a profit practising law since he's had his fees paid for by the public.“We’ve twice asked Premier Dexter to clear up the questions around his taxpayer-funded barristers’ fees,” states McNeil. “On both occasions, the premier has been intentionally vague while brushing off the legitimate concerns of Nova Scotians.”
“Mr. Dexter said recently that the issue around his bar fees is now closed - unfortunately, this issue won’t be closed until Mr. Dexter answers the questions of Nova Scotians.”
McNeil says the onus is on the premier and his office to determine how long this practice has been going on and how much money taxpayers have spent over the years keeping Mr. Dexter in good-standing professionally.
“This is a premier who has talked a lot about transparency and accountability - now is the time to back up those words by taking action,” says McNeil. “If the premier wants to put this issue behind him, he can start by giving us the facts around his bar fees.”
Former premier Russell MacLellan recently confirmed that he, not the taxpayer, paid his barristers’ fees when he was in the Premier’s Office. Finance Minister Graham Steele, Dexter’s own NDP cabinet colleague, also pays his own legal dues.
“Nova Scotians are paying the premier’s barristers’ fees so he can remain an ‘active and practising’ lawyer,” says McNeil. “I think Nova Scotians need to know whether Mr. Dexter has earned any money as an active and practising lawyer - we are paying his bills, after all.”
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