(OTTAWA) Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday strained the nerves of House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota, who outright threatened him with expulsion.
The acrimonious exchanges began after Mr. Rota rejected a request by the Conservatives to hold an emergency debate on Chinese interference, ruling that it did not meet the criteria provided for in the regulations.
” To order ! Order!, then launches the president who tries to restore calm in the Chamber. Does the leader of the opposition have anything to say to the president? »
That’s when Mr. Poilievre takes the floor. “Actually, he has something to say. You asked me if I had something to say: I have something to say. I think that’s outrageous! »
President Rota interrupts him immediately. “If he continues, he will be expelled from the Chamber,” he warned.
PHOTO JUSTIN TANG, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Anthony Rota
“Expel him! we hear shouting in the Chamber.
Meanwhile Mr. Poilievre continues to speak despite his microphone being muted and the President refusing to let him speak. “You asked me if I had something to say,” he sends among others.
“I cut you off. It’s like that. Please sit down,” replies Mr. Rota, whose mandate is to ensure the smooth running of proceedings, to interpret these rules impartially, to maintain order and to defend the rights and privileges of deputies.
Hoping to get to the agenda, the president reads a Conservative motion on home ownership and affordable rent. Mr. Poilievre, who had not said his last word, rose to deal with it, but decided to return first to the rejected request for an emergency debate.
“Let me say at the outset, Mr. President, that I find your decision disconcerting. We have a deputy who has been threatened, ”he begins.
That was all it took for Kevin Lamoureux, Parliamentary Secretary to the Government House Leader, to rise on a point of order.
“Mr. Speaker, there is a tradition in the House, whether here in Canada or in the UK, and that is that you respect the chair. […] When you made your decision, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada shouted through… ”, he said in pain and misery under the reproaches of the Conservative MPs.
Before everything turned to the fair, President Rota, in a gesture he described as “rare”, decided to explain the reasons behind his decision.
The question to be debated is indeed “urgent” and the request has been considered “seriously”, he said, but one of the criteria for deciding on an emergency debate is to determine whether there is an opportunity to debate ” in the near future, immediately”.
But, according to him, this is the case. “If the honorable deputies […] members of the opposition find this so important, they will use their opposition day on Thursday to debate it, because it is very important to them,” he adds.
The Conservative parliamentary leader, Andrew Scheer, then rose, but Mr. Rota warned him by giving him the floor: “I don’t want to start an argument here,” he said. I explained the reasons for my decision. It’s final! »
“It’s just that this problem is so pressing”, Mr. Scheer sends him before being interrupted by the president who considers that “this is not acceptable”.
The House leader of the NDP, Peter Julian, in turn made a point of order. “It’s a serious lack of respect for your role as President of the Chamber,” he said with pain and misery.
“I can’t hear the honorable parliamentarian who has the floor,” the president then rises before resuming the NDP MP who wants the Conservatives to start debating their motion which is on the agenda.
The conservative leader then decides to resume after throwing a final point at the president.
“I will remind the president that we will decide what is relevant for our speeches,” he said. You will not silence us! »