While he says he’d actually like to see Eddie Joyce and the Liberal party make up, Stelman Flynn might be interested in taking his friend on in the next provincial election.
Flynn is the western regional director of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador and was the party’s legislature member for Humber East for nearly a year after winning a November 2014 byelection.
He lost the Liberal nomination to represent the new riding of St. George’s-Humber to current MHA Scott Reid, who was elected in the fall of 2015.
Joyce, once a stalwart for the Liberal party in the Bay of Islands, has fallen out of the provincial party’s graces in the past year. He was reprimanded for violating the MHA Code of Conduct and has not rejoined the provincial Liberal caucus since.
Joyce continues to represent the Humber-Bay of Islands district as an independent member and has said he will run as an independent in next fall’s general election.
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Flynn has confirmed he would be interested in running for the Liberal party in the district next fall, but has not committed to that fully just yet.
“I’m still hopeful that something can still be salvaged with (Joyce) and the party,” said Flynn.
He said Joyce is a good friend of his and Flynn has already talked to him about the possibility they might square off in an election.
Any decision on running won’t be made until at least the spring, said Flynn. He figures the situation with Joyce and the party should be clearer by then and this would also give Flynn time to talk to his family, friends and supporters.
He said the Humber-Bay of Islands district would make sense for him as it does include some parts of his old Humber East riding, namely the Humbermouth and Humber Heights areas.
“It would be fair to say I’d like to see them make amends, but if that doesn’t happen then the Liberals will have to have someone running in the district,” said Flynn. “Whether that is me or not, I haven’t fully decided. There is still a lot of work that would have to be done.”
(***This article was edited at 9:40 a.m. Dec. 31, 2018 to accurately reflect disciplinary action taken against Eddie Joyce.)
