(Ottawa) Interruptions, interjections and other excesses will no longer be tolerated by the new Speaker of the House of Commons, Greg Fergus. Ironically, Conservative MPs attempted to interrupt him several times when he made his statement on Wednesday.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre got the ball rolling by standing up to ask his question, ignoring the fact that the president had just started speaking. His statement took place just before the start of question period.
Other MPs yelled at him as he began to speak and mocked his remarks. Conservative MP Andrew Scheer, who previously chaired the House of Commons, rose a few times to raise points of order because the statement pushed back the start of question period, effectively interrupting the speaker’s statement.
“I noticed a deterioration in decorum,” Mr. Fergus said after three attempts. “This deterioration is not inevitable. It is not the natural extension of the advent of social networks. »
He called on all deputies to behave differently otherwise he would take action. “First, excessive, disruptive and noisy din must be mitigated,” he said. This kind of noise “is intended to intimidate, insult or bury” those who speak.
MPs will also have to watch their words. “We have already seen MPs comparing their colleagues to Mussolini, calling another person a racist or shouting obscenities,” he recalled.
“I will give MPs the latitude to express their opinions, but questionable language and unnecessarily provocative statements will no longer be tolerated,” he continued.
Personal attacks or pointing out the absence of a member in the chamber will also be prohibited. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has already highlighted the absence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during question period while he attended international meetings outside the country.
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the arbiter of political debates. He has the power to refuse to give the floor to an MP until he apologizes, as Mr. Fergus’s predecessor, Anthony Rota, did in June. He can also, as a last resort, name the offending MP.