Tuesday’s question period in Canada’s House of Commons was briefly thrown into chaos after the Speaker excluded Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre from the debates.
The Conservative leader had refused four times to withdraw comments calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “crazy” (“ wacko “, in English). “ [Le premier ministre] continues to allow these drugs to kill people in our hospitals and on our public transportation. When will we end this crazy policy and this crazy Prime Minister? » chanted Mr. Poilievre.
After being reprimanded by House Speaker Greg Fergus, Mr. Poilievre proposed replacing the word with “radical,” while keeping intact his criticism of the federal approach to access to drugs.
“I ask again to remove this comment,” Mr. Fergus said as a fourth and final warning. Judging his authority to be flouted, he then cited the regulations to expel Pierre Poilievre from the Commons.
Conservatives outraged
The Conservative MPs then all stood up to leave the Chamber in solidarity, which also put an end to several minutes of hubbub which disrupted parliamentary discussions. Just before, Conservative MP Rachael Thomas was also expelled from the Commons after refusing to retract unparliamentary comments.
Taking to the keyboard on social media, the Leader of the Opposition quickly accused the Liberal Party of Canada of having “censored” him. On , he repeated the words that led to his expulsion from the House. “This is crazy policy from a crazy prime minister that is destroying lives,” he wrote in English.
The regulations on procedure and practices in the Commons provide that the use of insulting, provocative or threatening comments is strictly prohibited. However, it comes down to the judgment of its president whether to take action or not. If a Member refuses to obey the latter and withdraw his remarks, the Speaker may refuse to grant him the floor until he has withdrawn his remarks and even order him to withdraw from the House for the remainder of the the session.
In the current case, Pierre Poilievre was excluded for the day on Tuesday. He will be able to rejoin the assembly on Wednesday.
Tense debates
Tuesday’s question period therefore ended with the House of Commons emptied of a third of its deputies, leaving the field open to the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party to ask their questions to the Prime Minister and his cabinet. Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet and Quebec NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice both mockingly highlighted the departure of the Conservatives.
The exchanges took a very acrimonious turn from the start. Prime Minister Trudeau had accused his rival Poilievre of complacency in the face of white supremacists, following a recent publicized meeting with demonstrators inspired by the Freedom Convoy in the Atlantic provinces.
The Conservative leader responded by recalling the costumed episodes of the Prime Minister, treated as a “practicing racist” for his use of blackface in 2001, provoking general indignation in the ranks of the government. Reprimanded for this insult, he changed gears to criticize the decriminalization of the consumption of certain drugs in British Columbia.