Speaker Greg Fergus kicked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre out of question period Tuesday after a particularly nasty exchange with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Poilievre’s day-long removal from the House of Commons came after he called Trudeau a “wacko” for supporting B.C.’s past policy of decriminalizing some hard drugs in an attempt to reduce the number of overdose-related deaths.
Poilievre said it was a “wacko policy” backed by “this wacko prime minister.” Fergus asked him to withdraw the “unparliamentary language.”
Poilievre refused, saying only that he agreed to replace “wacko” with “extremist” or “radical.” Poilievre’s refusal prompted Fergus to remove him.
“There are a couple of things that are going on here today that are not acceptable,” Fergus said.
He later called it a “remarkable question period” after MPs from all sides yelled at one another and called each other names.
Following Poilievre’s removal, the Conservative caucus left the Commons chamber en masse, following their leader.
Trudeau fielded a few more questions Tuesday from Bloc and NDP MPs and then left the chamber after the fracas.
WATCH: Speaker tosses Poilievre from House of Commons
Speaker tosses Poilievre from House of Commons
6 hours ago
Duration 3:49
After asking Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre several times to withdraw comments made during question period Tuesday, Speaker of the House Greg Fergus orders Poilievre to withdraw from the House of Commons.
Poilievre turned to social media after getting the boot. “The Liberal speaker censored me for describing Trudeau’s hard drug policy as wacko,” he posted.
“Six people dying from overdoses every day in B.C. is wacko. Nurses worried about breastfeeding after breathing in toxic drug fumes is wacko. This is a wacko policy from a wacko PM that’s destroying lives.”
Trudeau calls Poilievre ‘spineless’
Trudeau also engaged in name-calling, saying at one point that Poilievre was a “spineless” leader.
He said Poilievre is trying to “earn votes through personal attacks” after the Conservative leader raised Trudeau’s past episodes of wearing blackface.
Trudeau accused Poilievre of courting “white nationalist groups” with his visit to an anti-carbon tax protest camp in the Maritimes earlier this month.
While at the camp, Poilievre stepped into a trailer that had a symbol associated with Diagolon drawn on the door.
That’s a group the RCMP has said supports an “accelerationist” ideology — the idea that civil war or the collapse of western governments is inevitable and ought to be sped up.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was kicked out of the House of Commons Tuesday for calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a ‘wacko.’ (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
“He will not denounce them and everything they stand for,” Trudeau said of Poilievre, while also citing American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ endorsement of Poilievre.
“This is a 19-year career politician who knows exactly what he’s doing and thinks he can get away with it,” Trudeau said.
“It is a choice to pander to white nationalists. It’s a choice to not condemn them and everything they stand for in his quest for votes.”
Poilievre at one point said he wouldn’t take lessons on racism from a prime minister whose government gave anti-racism training money to Laith Marouf, a Montreal man who had a history of making antisemitic remarks in social media posts.
The government cut off funding to Marouf’s company in 2022 after public scrutiny of his hateful tweets.
WATCH: Alberta Conservative MP kicked out of the House of Commons
Alberta Conservative MP kicked out of the House of Commons
5 hours ago
Duration 2:18
Speaker of the House Greg Fergus orders Conservative MP Rachael Thomas to withdraw from the House of Commons for ‘disregarding the authority of the chair.’ Thomas was heard saying ‘the chair is acting in a disgraceful manner.’
Before Poilievre’s removal, Fergus had Conservative MP Rachael Thomas removed from the chamber after she shouted at him and called him “a disgrace” for not immediately demanding that Trudeau withdraw his comment about Poilievre being “spineless.”
Trudeau’s “spineless” remark did result in a rebuke from Fergus. The Speaker told Trudeau not to make comments that “call into question the character of an individual member of Parliament.”
It’s highly unusual for a Speaker to remove the Official Opposition leader from the Commons during question period.
A spokesperson for Poilievre framed his leader’s removal as an attempt by Fergus to “protect the prime minister” from tough questions and silence the Conservative leader.
“By any reasonable measure, these policies are wacko. The prime minister knows that and that’s why he refuses to answer why he is keeping dangerous drugs legal in British Columbia,” the spokesperson said.
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.
