LEADER of Government Business Clarence Rambharat has said Opposition Senator Anil Roberts' attacks went beyond the boundaries of contempt of Parliament and must be condemned by all right-thinking people in Trinidad and Tobago.
Rambharat was opening debate on a motion in the Senate to approve a report of its Privileges Committee on Roberts' actions.
In its report, the committee called upon Roberts to make "an unequivocal and unreserved apology" to Senate President Christine Kangaloo and the entire Senate, at his next appearance there. The committee said Roberts' apology must be done by way of personal explanation to the Senate, and all senators should be reminded on procedures governing the use of electronic devices and social media and their conduct while in the Parliament Chamber.
In reflecting on the contents of two videos of Roberts' Douglar Politics social media show on February 23 and 26, where he referred to himself as "Booming Voice" and the Senate as a "kangaroo court," Rambharat said,"What I'm about to go into is not perception. This is reality.
"I will not allow anybody, during the course of the debate, to water down what is before us."
Rambharat said the attacks Roberts made against the Senate were in the same vein as the Brittany Higgins scandal in Australia (Higgins alleged that she was raped by a staff member of an Australian MP) and the Julie Payette scandal in Canada (Payette had to resign as Canadian governor-general after being accused of creating a toxic work environment for her staff).
"I make no apologies for saying this. It's not just an issue of contempt. What I see here is the prospect of a toxic culture being created in this Parliament, in and outside of this Parliament," Rambharat said. "This is a workplace, you know. Sometimes we forget that. A full-time workplace for all who are in the chamber right now."
Referring to a past experience that his wife Camille had, and his own training in occupational health and safety, Rambharat said, "No one should leave home to go to work and end up dead." Reiterating that Roberts' actions went beyond mere breach of parliamentary privilege, Rambharat said, "The dignity of this Senate must be preserved."
Based on the contents of the report, Rambharat said he is convinced that "this is about intimidation and this is about shutting people up and this is about keeping people out of public life."
He likened Roberts' appproach to that of boys' clubs in established institutions who engage in "workplace bullying and harassment" against their female colleagues.
He said most senators would not know that some "people who are intimidated, harassed and bullied, have committed suicide."
After detailing the committee's meetings from March 12-May 4 on the matter against Roberts, Rambharat said Roberts refused to appear before the committee, claiming it was breaching covid19 protocols by meeting.
Rambharat also said the committee unanimously agreed that Roberts could not have an attorney (identified in the report as Kiel Taklalsingh) argue his c
