Opposing aisles in the House of Commons are said to be placed two sword lengths apart, a reminder that disputes in the chamber should be resolved peacefully.
For Greg Fergus, two hockey stick lengths would probably be better. He prefers a more familiar analogy for his role in Canada’s democracy as the new Speaker of the House of Commons.
“It’s like being a ref in a game,” he told CBC’s The House in an episode that aired Saturday. As part of the show, CBC shadowed the newly elected Speaker for a day on the Hill.
“Politics is not a game, but to make the analogy: For any sport to go well, it has to be done within the framework of the rules that are set out. And people within that explore excellence. So my job is just to make sure people are conducting themselves in a way that respects the rules of the game, and then let them do what they need to do to win the game,” he told host Catherine Cullen.
Fergus, who was elected to the Speaker position on Oct. 3, is making an explicit push to make the House of Commons a more cordial, productive and effective part of Canadian democracy. In a speech ahead of Question Period on Oct. 18, he argued that the House of Commons was witnessing a “deterioration in the collective decorum of this place” and pushed MPs to do better, saying “We can choose to conduct ourselves differently.”
The House12:29Tackling disorder in the House of Commons
Featured VideoNew House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus explains to Catherine Cullen how he hopes to bring more civility and decorum to Parliament, in a week that saw insults, rule-flouting, a disruptive Question Period — and a national poll showing Canadians are fed up with MPs’ antics in the House.
The new Speaker’s argument that House dysfunction was undermining itself got some additional backing this week. A new Angus Reid Institute poll showed many Canadians have a dim view of the institution’s activities, with respondents most likely to describe debates in the House as “posturing,” “useless” and “dishonest.”
Fergus said decorum has been the most common issue raised during his one-on-one conversations with MPs.
The new Speaker added he had seen “a real noticeable improvement in the decorum” in the past several weeks.
The House spoke with Fergus on Nov. 1, what he described as one of the “tougher” days of his short tenure so far. Question Period almost derailed completely as MPs heckled one another while Fergus appealed for calm.
The Speaker’s campaign for civility got off to a rocky start as Conservatives complained that his extensive speech on decorum was delaying QP.
Fergus’ efforts over the last two weeks have certainly not eliminated completely the sorts of interruptions or distractions that can often characterize debate in the House. Conservative MP Ben Lobb described the situation as “so-so” while Liberal MP Chris Bittle said the state of things could at times be “disgraceful.”
What does Canada’s House Speaker do?
Featured VideoLiberal MP Greg Fergus has been voted in as the new Speaker of the House of Commons. But what does the Speaker do and why is the role important to Canada’s democracy? Here’s everything you need to know.
NDP MP Charlie Angus said parliamentarians should not be aiming for some sort of idealized civility, with a House that is free of conflict.
“The idea that we’re all supposed to be well-behaved and super polite, sometimes there’s a falsity to that. These are serious issues, people should be passionate, people should be willing to challenge. The problem is when we get into mob behaviour, intimidation, shouting people down — that’s really gone well over the line,” he said.
Members must step up, Speaker says
Fergus told The House he hoped to set a good example and provide an environment where individuals MPs could choose to behave more productively.
An MP for the Quebec riding of Hull-Aylmer since 2015, Fergus served as parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and has a long history within Liberal partisan politics.
He said that, on balance, his record is positive — but not perfect.
“If you’re looking for a perfect person who had planned to be Speaker, I’m not that guy. I’ve made mistakes as every single one of us have made,” he said.
Fergus acknowledged that there’s something of a time crunch on his battle for decorum, as division and partisanship could ramp up ahead of an election that is at most two years away.
New Speaker’s speech on decorum faces delays, heckles
Featured VideoHouse of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus’s attempts to deliver a speech on decorum faced opposition as Conservatives said he shouldn’t have delayed question period to deliver his remarks.
“I think this is the reason why I need to start off very quickly on this issue, in terms of setting out what the expectations are,” he told Cullen. “If we take on that habit now well before the election, I think Canadians will be the real winners.”
Fergus said the aim is to empower MPs themselves to step up and choose to act in a different way.
“I think it’s always best to try to convince people to voluntarily conduct themselves in a way that is befitting of their role. When you do that, you have greater buy-in. It shouldn’t be up to me to be the arbiter of all things and force them into a role. They have to be a part of it,” he said.
“Frankly, if it’s up to me alone, it won’t succeed. It’s up to members.”
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
