(Ottawa) Government House Leader Mark Holland calls on elected officials to tone down the debate in the Commons, after tempers flared the day before and the Conservatives accused the Prime Minister of having sworn in English .
Posted at 5:04 p.m.
Official Opposition House Leader John Brassard said Wednesday that Justin Trudeau dropped an “F-bomb” when he responded to a Conservative intervention during Question Period.
The alleged “unparliamentary” remarks were not picked up by the microphones. Mr. Brassard maintained that the word which would have been spoken was not “fuddle duddle”, thus referring to what the father of Justin Trudeau, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, once said when he was accused of having uttered a four-letter obscenity beginning with “f”.
Asked about Wednesday’s incident, Holland suggested Thursday morning that he hadn’t heard what the prime minister said. “There was a lot of noise,” replied the Liberal House leader before heading to the cabinet meeting.
He pointed the finger at the Conservatives who he says are responsible for 95% of the heckling in the House and the verbal attacks. ” It’s not acceptable. It’s a place of business so it’s important to stay calm, speak in a respectful tone and not create noise like this every day,” he said.
Acting Speaker of the House Chris d’Entremont said Thursday he was unable to determine exactly what was said the night before as there was a lot of cacophony. However, he invited all elected officials to show more respect and decorum.
Asked to clarify whether the Liberals were taking some of the blame for the fact that tempers flared, Mr Holland said “absolutely”. He said he intended to speak with the Conservative whip, saying he hoped the intensity of the exchanges would decrease.
In his opinion, the debates were particularly emotional on Wednesday since it was a question of issues that particularly affect elected officials.
A planted question from the liberal Sophie Chatel surrounding the right to abortion has also aroused the ire of the conservatives.
She accused the Quebec conservatives of having remained silent in the face of the possible decline in the right to abortion in the United States.
His intervention immediately sparked cries of protest from members of the official opposition. “That’s completely wrong! “, “It will make the lies! » and other messages of denunciation rocketed.
“Shame on Quebecers! “, launched Mr. Trudeau, pointing in the direction of the Conservative benches.
MP Gérard Deltell noted that he – along with other Quebec Conservatives – has publicly indicated that they are in favor of women’s freedom of choice.
Another conservative elected official, Don Albas, also criticized Mme Chatel for making an intervention that has nothing to do with government administration, as required by the rules of the House.
Mr. d’Entremont agreed with him on Thursday by ruling that no question similar to that formulated by Mr.me Chatel would not be considered admissible in the future.