Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday put a strain on 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 ! To order ! launched the president, who was trying to restore calm in the House. 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.
“Expel him! we hear shouting in the Chamber.
Meanwhile, Mr. Poilievre continues to speak despite his microphone cut off and the president refusing to give him the floor. “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 Anthony 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 then read out 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, referring to an article in the Globe and Mail which revealed the day before that the Chinese intelligence services were seeking to target MP Michael Chong and his family.
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.
“It’s over! »
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 for debate is indeed “urgent” and the request has been considered “seriously”, he said, but one of the criteria for deciding an emergency debate is 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 this, because it is very important to them,” he added.
The Conservative House Leader, Andrew Scheer, then rose, but Mr. Rota warned him by giving him the floor: “I don’t want to start an argument here. 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 New Democratic Party (NDP), Peter Julian, then made a point of order. “It’s a serious lack of respect for your role as Speaker of the House,” 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 wanted the Conservatives to start debating their motion which is on the agenda.
The Conservative leader decided at this time to resume, not without having launched a final tip. “I will remind the president that we will decide what is relevant for our speeches. You will not silence us! »
Challenge institutions
Called to react before question period, the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, had a message for his Conservative counterpart.
“When we begin to challenge democratic institutions, we have nothing left to debate,” declared Mr. Blanchet. So I invite all of us to be careful, even if we can have a hot temper. »
According to him, President Rota is “probably the most suave president I have known”, so it is difficult to accuse him of being partisan, inopportune or of interrupting the floor unnecessarily.
Mr. Blanchet, however, granted the Conservative leader that his concerns about foreign interference are, on the merits, legitimate and that a forum that complies with the regulations is needed to debate them.
“For the moment, we are playing cat and mouse with the Prime Minister in terms of interference,” said the Bloc leader. Then, the problem is that the mouse wins. The mouse manages to save itself and the cat runs after. It takes us a way to put our stamp on it. »
For New Democrat Peter Julian, who reacted after the incident, the Conservative leader’s attitude was “juvenile and inappropriate”.
“I’ve never seen in all my years here on Parliament Hill a member, especially a party leader, attack in such a juvenile way to try to provoke the Speaker of the House,” he said. It was extremely inappropriate. »
Mr Julian, who has himself been repeatedly denied emergency debates, insisted that if the 338 MPs acted like the Tory leader, it would be “complete, total, constant mess” at the House of Commons.