Security staff alarmed when Harrison came to Sask. legislature with gun, wearing camouflage, email says
CBC
An email obtained by Speaker Randy Weekes and sent to CBC is shedding more light on an incident involving cabinet minister Jeremy Harrison bringing a gun into the legislature eight years ago.
Last week, Harrison resigned as government House leader for failing to tell Premier Scott Moe he brought a firearm into the legislature.
Harrison told media he did not initially recall the incident when it was raised in the house by Weekes on May 16. He said after discussing it with family his memory was jogged but by that time he had already told Moe the allegations made by Weekes were "unequivocally false."
On Wednesday, Weekes shared an email from April 28, 2016, with the sender and recipient and some names blacked out. The bottom of the email appears to show it was sent by the acting sergeant-at-arms.
The email describes how Harrison walked into the building and past security while holding what appeared to be a gun case and dressed in hunting camouflage.
"Today just before noon (name redacted) noticed a man in camouflage clothing carrying a gun case walking towards the building. (Name redacted) did not recognize the person," the email said.
The email said the security officer was close to alerting staff on his radio that there was a gun. The officer said "sir" and the person with the gun looked up, and the security officer saw that it was Harrison.
"Harrison walked past the kiosk carrying his gun case and disappeared around the corner. The gun itself was not visible, however, it was obvious it was a gun case," the email said.
The acting sergeant-at-arms listed four concerns to the email recipient:
The acting sergeant-at-arms said that Harrison likely felt he could not leave the gun in his vehicle but that he handled the situation "poorly."
"I am also aware that he is going coyote hunting with the Speaker today. I have no problem approaching Mr. Harrison myself about this behaviour, however, I think that this may be better handled at your level."
In April 2016, Dan D'Autremont was the Speaker. The House was not sitting at the time of the incident because the Saskatchewan Party had just won the election on April 4.
In an interview with CBC on Monday, Harrison was asked when the incident occurred and said "about a decade ago."
He was also asked what gun he was carrying and what he was hunting that day.
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