Lela Evans says when she got up to speak during debate in the House of Assembly last week she was frustrated — and disappointed in the government.

"I'm trying not to be disillusioned, but I think it emphasizes why we have to stand and hold them accountable," the rookie Torngat Mountains MHA told CBC on Monday.

In the House, Evans expressed her frustration that Christopher Mitchelmore was still a cabinet minister, despite having been found in two reports to have committed gross misconduct in the hiring of Carla Foote — a longtime Liberal staffer and daughter of Lt.-Gov. Judy Foote — for a position at The Rooms. Her speech was praised and widely shared on social media.

The hiring of Carla Foote for a top job at The Rooms is the focus of the Mitchelmore Report. The House of Assembly voted to suspend Mitchelmore from the House of Assembly for two weeks. (Left: Lt.-Gov. Judy M. Foote/Facebook; Right: CBC)

The NDP and PCs have said Mitchelmore should be out of cabinet, but the Speaker wouldn't allow an amendment that would have asked Premier Dwight Ball to remove him from cabinet, ruling it out of order.

"It's not what I expected, and I think government needs to be accountable to the people," she told CBC. "We keep talking about transparency and, you know, collaboration and just working on behalf of the people, and I wasn't seeing that."

Before becoming an MHA six months ago, Evans worked as an environmental consultant on the Voisey's Bay underground nickel mine project.

The lack of decorum and civility in the House of Assembly has surprised her but it's not up to just politicians to change that, she said.

"Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, you can't [wait for] election time and say, 'We want better government.' I think they have to hold us accountable," said Evans. "I think they have to hold the premier accountable."

No new vote

All the Liberals except Mitchelmore voted in favour of punishing him by suspending him from the House for two weeks, without pay, and requiring him to apologize.

Independent MHA Paul Lane says Mitchelmore shouldn't have been allowed to vote because he had a direct interest in the outcome.

He asked the Speaker to redo the vote when the House reopens in March, but on Monday the Speaker made it clear that won't happen because concerns about Mitchelmore's voting weren't raised at the time.

Independent MHA Paul Lane asked for the vote in the legislature to be redone, something that's not allowed, says the Speaker.

"No points of order were raised at the time of the vote," Speaker Scott Reid said in a statement.

There's also a rule that the House can't revisit a vote, but it could put forward another motion to rescind the vote, and bring in a new resolution.

A standing order does say that a member can't vote a matter of "pecuniary interest" — a financial stake.

But "this is a disciplinary matter, not a matter of pecuniary interest," wrote Reid.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador