Photo: Adrian Wyld The Canadian Press Speaker of the House of Commons Greg Fergus kicked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre out of the room on Tuesday over his repeated refusals to simply retract his comments calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a “crazy.”
Michel Saba – The Canadian Press in Ottawa
Posted at 2:54 p.m. Updated at 3:59 p.m.
- Canada
The Conservatives renewed calls on Wednesday for the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Commons, Greg Fergus, deeming him biased after he, the day before, expelled their leader, Pierre Poilievre, from the room, due to his repeated refusals to simply retract his comments calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “crazy.”
“He must resign. It’s a shame,” said Alberta MP Michael Cooper, rushing into the room where the Conservative caucus meeting was going to be held.
His colleague Michael Barrett criticized President Fergus for having a double standard, failing to sanction the prime minister for “personal insults” against his leader.
John Brassard, a former Conservative House leader, found it particularly “outrageous” that Mr. Trudeau “is implying and inferring that we are somehow white nationalists or racists” without there being any consequences.
“Can you imagine the leader or prime minister of a G7 country referring to the opposition party ?,” he asked reporters. According to him, this “unparliamentary language” from Mr. Trudeau makes him “more at fault” than the Conservative leader.
The Conservatives did not know whether their party would table a motion of no confidence in President Fergus in the hope that the House of Commons would show them the door.
When from a previous attempt last December, Mr. Fergus held on after obtaining a slim majority of support thanks to the Liberals and the New Democrats.
Good that the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, had fun by affirming that the expulsion of the conservative leader was a decision of “common sense”, the political party maintains having lost confidence in the president.
A pending support
Greg Fergus was criticized for not only participating in a partisan event after being elected president, but also for having taken part in his presidential outfit and in his office in a video to congratulate a colleague, a video which was presented at a convention of the Ontario Liberal Party.
“We have already made our bed for a long time,” summarized the Bloc leader in the House, Alain Therrien , questioned near a parliament building. He added that Tuesday's events “confirm” that Mr. Ferguson is struggling to keep the peace in the Commons.
In the New Democratic Party, where support is decisive, Deputy Leader Alexandre Boulerice said he personally trusted Mr. Fergus and that he simply “applied the rules,” but that his upcoming caucus meeting would clarify the group's position.< /p>
“Mr Poilievre knew exactly what he was doing. It’s a kind of set-up where he wanted to look like a victim, then a martyr. Besides, a fundraising email went out immediately afterwards,” he insisted.
Asked whether the Liberals recognize that they also put adding fuel to the fire, Justin Trudeau's lieutenant for Quebec, Pablo Rodriguez, instead defended his leader, believing that he is only stating facts.
“Mr. Poilievre went to meet with white supremacists, people from the far right. We just ask that he denounce them, he cannot do it. That’s a problem in itself,” he said.