Former Nova Scotia cabinet minister Ernie Fage was temporarily suspended from the government caucus Tuesday, shortly after he was charged in connection with a November car accident.

Fage, 53, resigned as minister of human resources in January amid allegations he left the scene of a Nov. 24 fender-bender smelling of alcohol.

Ernie Fage resigned from cabinet only hours after CBC News showed images from the night of the accident.
(Courtesy David Gamble)

Three months after the accident, Halifax police on Tuesday charged the MLA for Cumberland North with failing to remain at the scene of an accident.

Const. Jeff Carr said police decided on the charge after a thorough investigation.

"With that charge, it is alleged that the individual fled the scene with the intent to escape civil or criminal liability," Carr said Tuesday.

The car accident happened at the intersection of Sackville Street and Bell Road in Halifax around 12:30 a.m., after Fage and others marked the end of the legislative session at a downtown bar.

The incident became public on Jan. 4, when witnesses told CBC News what they saw that night. One of them had taken images with a cellphone camera.

Fage resigned after those images were shown, and four days later was granted a leave of absence from the legislature.

Premier Rodney MacDonald turned that into a suspension Tuesday afternoon.

"Ernie Fage has been suspended from our caucus until such time as this issue goes through the court proceedings," MacDonald told reporters.

Interim Liberal Leader Michel Samson said he finds the premier's latest sanction laughable.

"I think, unfortunately, the lack of leadership just continues," Samson said. "I fail to see why the premier would not just take the next logical step in this case and ask Mr. Fage to leave caucus."

Samson said it's time Fage explained himself to Nova Scotians.

Fage hasn't returned calls, lawyer won't comment

Fage has not returned calls from CBC News. His lawyer, David Bright, refuses to comment on the case.

The Crown will decide whether to proceed with the case as a summary offence, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail or a $2,000 fine, or as an indictable offence, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Carr said three investigators were assigned full-time to the case, and the investigation took time because so many people came forward with information about the alleged hit and run.

"Anyone who had contact with this individual in the hours leading up to the incident became someone who we had to interview, and as a result of the high-profile nature of the incident, there were a lot of those people," Carr said.

Once the story broke on Jan. 4, it dominated business at the house of assembly for weeks.

The opposition parties questioned the premier's leadership abilities after his senior staff recanted their stories about when they first heard about the accident.

Fage is expected to appear in Halifax provincial court on April 5.