House Speaker Greg Fergus is calling on MPs to improve their behaviour after last Thursday’s question period went off the rails.
Tensions flared between NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre last week. At one point, Singh walked into the aisle in the House of Commons chamber to yell at the Conservative leader.
On Monday, Fergus reminded MPs that they’re in the House to represent their constituents.
“The last time I was in this chair, there were a number of questions which were not relevant to the administration of government. There were words which fall outside of what is acceptable in the parliamentary system and there was behaviour which was also outside the parliamentary tradition,” Fergus told MPs before Monday’s question period.
“I hope that members will conduct themselves in a manner that is befitting of our constituents who have sent us here to represent them.”
House Speaker Greg Fergus tells MPs the language and behaviour the House of Commons saw during question period Thursday was ‘outside of the parliamentary tradition.’ Fergus says he hopes to have more to say ‘in the coming days.’
Poilievre kicked off last Thursday’s question period by criticizing the NDP and Bloc Québécois and asking why the two parties wouldn’t support a Conservative motion to bring down the Liberal government.
Questions in question period are meant to be directed toward the government, according to House procedures. After Poilievre’s first two questions were directed at the Bloc, ministers stopped rising to respond.
Fergus pointed out a number of times that questions are meant to be directed toward the government, but was forced to return to Poilievre for more questions. He called the situation “uncomfortable.”
During his fifth question, Poilievre accused Singh of backing out of his party’s governing agreement with the Liberals in an effort to hold a seat in a Winnipeg byelection earlier that week.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them,” Poilievre said, accusing the NDP leader of propping up the Liberals in order to secure his MP pension.
“He is a fake, a phony and a fraud. How can anyone ever believe what this sell-out NDP leader says in the future?”
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