(Ottawa) The Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois believe that the Speaker of the House of Commons, Greg Fergus, must give up the role he has only assumed since October.
Mr. Fergus has been in embarrassment since the broadcast, at the Ontario Liberal Party convention, of a message captured on video in which he thanked the outgoing interim leader of this political party, John Fraser.
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer stood up in front of MPs on Monday afternoon to point out that the official opposition was adding its voice to “those who have called on the president to resign.”
Earlier, the Bloc had demanded this departure from the Liberal member for Hull—Aylmer. The latter succeeded his colleague Anthony Rota this fall, having left the same functions in the turmoil.
Mr. Scheer, who himself served as Speaker of the House in the past, argued that the fact that Mr. Fergus made an appearance at a partisan event over the weekend “greatly undermined” the position. .
“If we think about what would happen if an NHL (National Hockey League) referee was seen in the locker room of one of the teams, wearing his referee’s uniform and somehow delivering words of encouragement or positive messages to the team which is preparing to [aller] on the ice, how long do we think[il] would stay in this position? », Launched the official opposition official.
Mr. Scheer had already expressed criticism in the morning through the “question of privilege” procedure.
But first, the main person concerned, Mr. Fergus, made a statement at the opening of the parliamentary work week to review the events.
“I recognize how this could have been interpreted. I would like to apologize and reassure MPs that an event of this kind will not happen again,” he said.
The president said he was asked to record a video message for a private meeting in honor of John Fraser, whom he considers a longtime friend.
The Quebec elected official told MPs that he regretted that the video had been used for other purposes. He clarified that he was not a member of the Ontario Liberal Party and had not voted in the province for 30 years.
At Queen’s Park, Mr. Fraser told reporters that the blame lies with his team for what he describes as poor communication.
Mr Fergus also defended his decision to film the thank you note, saying he is friends with people from different political backgrounds.
The Speaker’s message did not prevent MPs from rising to question his impartiality, in response to Mr. Scheer’s “question of privilege”.
It was the vice-president of the House, Chris d’Entremont, who supervised decorum during these particular discussions, Mr. Fergus having recused himself from them. The Conservative MP then acted as Speaker afterwards, such as during question period.
“To do the job of the presidency, you need two essential qualities: impartiality and flawless judgment. Unfortunately […]the president showed us that he had neither quality following what he did at the end of the week,” declared the parliamentary leader of the Bloc, Alain Therrien.
The latter thus announced that Yves-François Blanchet’s troops were inviting Mr. Fergus to resign as President of the Chamber.
“Were there other events that we didn’t see? Is this the tip of the iceberg we saw? […] I think it is not appropriate to have this type of questioning when we think about the actions and the responsibility of the presidency,” continued Mr. Therrien.
Mr. Scheer got the ball rolling on Sunday, denouncing in a letter sent to Mr. Fergus and shared on social networks “a serious affront to the impartiality of (his) role and to the dignity of the function (which he) busy “.
He noted that the elected Liberal wore his official attire as Speaker of the Commons during his message of thanks to the outgoing leader of the Ontario Liberals, John Fraser. Mr. Scheer also noted that the president’s office was recognizable in the video recording.
“As bad as it would have been to make an appearance at a (political) convention, it might have been at least a little different if he had been introduced as a member (of the House of Commons) for Hull—Aylmer,” he said. he had worn a jacket or sweater in front of a picturesque backdrop of his constituency,” he said on Monday.
According to him, the incident should be the subject of a study by a parliamentary committee, an opinion shared by the parliamentary leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Peter Julian, who said he was “dismayed”.
“It’s a scandal, it’s a blatant lack of judgment on the part of Mr. Fergus to have made this video,” added the deputy leader of the NDP, Alexandre Boulerice.
According to him, Mr. Fergus indulged in “a mixture of genres between partisanship, friendship and then the parliamentary institution”.
The member for Hull—Aylmer, in Outaouais, was elected to the post of Speaker of the House in October, following the resignation of his predecessor, Anthony Rota. The latter left office in the wake of the controversy concerning the recognition of a veteran who served under the Nazis during a visit by the Ukrainian president.
With the collaboration of Stéphanie Taylor and Michel Saba, in Ottawa, and Allison Jones, in Toronto