加拿大國會亂了!反對黨領袖博勵治大罵杜魯多,稱不後悔!
加拿大保守黨領袖博勵治周二因拒絕撤回對總理杜魯多的不當言論而被趕出國會眾議院。一天後餘波仍在繼續。
博勵治的言論是在杜魯多關於烈性毒品合法化的政策背景下發表的,兩位領導人之間進行了激烈的交鋒,杜魯多指責對手“沒有脊骨”。在被議長指責措辭不當後,博勵治提出用“極端分子”或“激進分子”取代“瘋子”(wacho)這個詞,但被拒絕,導致他被點名並被要求離開。
隨後,所有保守黨議員也都離開以示抗議。
博勵治周三的CP24早間節目的采訪中被問及他是否後悔說了他所說的,他說:“不。”
博勵治說:“因為我想不出其他詞語來形容他在我們社區的所作所為……他的政策太瘋狂了。把碳稅提高到每升61分,瘋子。房價翻倍,瘋子。國家債務翻倍,造成40年來最嚴重的通貨膨脹,瘋狂。我是實話實說。”
周三上午,保守黨把矛頭對準了議長費格斯(Greg Fergus)。
保守黨議員Rick Perkins等認為他應該辭職:“幾個月前,他失去了反對黨的信任。昨天完全失去了。”國會議員Michael Cooper補充道:“他應該辭職——他是一個恥辱。”
保守黨議員Scott Aitchison說:“我從來沒有對議長有過信心……他太偏向自由黨了。”
議長費格斯周三在前往國會山的途中被CTV News記者問及,這些議員稱對他作為議長失去了信心,因為這件事中,杜魯多的言論沒有受到影響。
議長說:“我不能回答。議長對眾議院發生的事情發表評論是不公平的,”當被問及他是否對事情的結果感到遺憾,或者他是否擔心眾議院的動態時,他走開了。
周三,總理杜魯多沒有就此發表評論,不過幾名自由黨成員發表了評論。
自由黨指責博勵治將“極右翼”的語言和策略帶入下議院,然後聲稱自己是受害者。
外交部長喬利(Melaine Joly)說,她認為博勵治應該長大。“加拿大人希望我們為他們工作,為他們服務,而不是像孩子一樣行事。反對黨領袖需要停止像個孩子一樣行事。”
政府眾議院領袖Steve MacKinnon說反對黨領袖違反規則,並將他與美國前總統特朗普普相提並論。他說:“昨天在紐約,另一名男子走出法庭,稱自己被堵住了嘴。這些都是非常黑暗、極端右翼的策略。”
周二,特朗普因多次違反禁言令而被判藐視法庭罪,並被罰款9000美元。禁言令禁止他對證人、陪審員和其他與他的紐約封口費案有關的人發表公開聲明。法官警告說,如果他再犯,他可能會被判坐牢。
值得一提的是,加拿大國會周二發生的激烈爭吵,最開始是保守黨議員托馬斯(Rachael Thomas)稱議長“不光彩”(disgraceful)後,被指無視議長的指示而被趕出議院。
博勵治在指責杜魯多之前,杜魯多稱博勵治與極右翼極端分子有聯係,並表示這樣做的人不適合擔任總理。
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/05/01/conservatives-liberals-heated-house-of-commons/
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau "wacko" over his approach to the issue.
"The decision is on his desk to reverse the legalization of hard drugs in British Columbia. The B.C. government has admitted that it was wrong... Will he do as the B.C. government has done, admit he was wrong today so we can start saving lives?" asked Poilievre, back in his place for question period.
Poilievre made no reference to Tuesday's display, leaving that for the prime minister to do.
"Now that they are asking to adjust this pilot program, we will work with them to adjust it in ways that makes sense for them. But given the new, more reasonable tone of the leader of the Opposition, I wonder if he might take this opportunity to reassure Canadians that he does not support extremist, white nationalist organizations?" Trudeau said in response.
On Tuesday, Speaker Greg Fergus kicked Poilievre out of the House after the Conservative leader repeatedly refused to withdraw his remark, amid a series of heated exchanges between him and the prime minister that saw Trudeau accuse his opponent of being "spineless."
After being called out by the Speaker for his language, Poilievre offered to replace the word "wacko" with "extremist" or "radical," and that didn't fly, resulting in him being named and told to leave.
In an interview on CP24's morning program on Wednesday, Poilievre was asked if he regrets saying what he did, and he said: "no."
"Because I can't think of any other word to describe what he's doing in our communities… His policies are wacko. Hiking the carbon tax to 61 cents a litre, wacko. Doubling housing costs, wacko. Doubling the national debt and causing the worst inflation in 40 years, is wacko. And I'm just calling it as it is," Poilievre said.
Chiming in on the ordeal, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh – who in 2020 was kicked out(opens in a new tab) for calling a Bloc Quebecois MP a racist – focused on the difference in how the two federal party leaders handled being ejected.
"I accepted responsibility for my actions. I didn't sulk… It shows the character of the Conservative leader," Singh said.
While cooler heads prevailed in question period, Conservative MPs outside of the chamber renewed calls for the House of Commons Speaker to resign, over ordering the Official Opposition leader to leave the chamber.
Speaking to reporters on their way in to Wednesday's caucus meeting, some Conservative MPs said Fergus should step down – a call they also made in December, unsuccessfully(opens in a new tab) – this time, for what they considered an unfair ruling.
"He should resign, he's a disgrace," Conservative MP Michael Cooper said.
Arguing the contrary, NDP and Liberal MPs balked at what they said was a disrespectful display done deliberately for fundraising fodder, and defended Fergus for doing his job.
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon accused Poilievre's party of bringing "extreme right-wing" language and tactics into the House of Commons, and then when called on it claiming victimhood.
"Mr. Fergus is the Speaker and we respect all of his rulings," he said.
"They come into our democratic institutions, they break all the rules, and when they are called on breaking all of the rules, they leave and say they've been gagged. Well, Mr. Poilievre has that in common with another person yesterday who walked out of a courtroom in New York," MacKinnon said, referencing former U.S. president Donald Trump.
Both the Conservatives and the Liberals blasted emails to their supporters about the ordeal in the hours afterwards.
NDP MP Don Davies said Wednesday that the lives taken by Canada's overdose crisis and British Columbia's request to amend Health Canada's provision decriminalizing public possession of hard drugs should be taken seriously by federal politicians.
"Reducing it to schoolyard language is not helpful," Davies said.
He said it's the Speaker's job to uphold decorum by enforcing standards of conduct in the House of Commons. "It's one of the most basic rules of Parliament, that you can attack the idea and the concept, but you don't attack each other."
Stopped by CTV News on his way up to Parliament Hill, Fergus was asked for his response to some MPs saying they've lost confidence in him as Speaker because, in their view, Trudeau did not face repercussions for his remarks.
"I can't respond. It would be unfair for the Speaker to comment on things that happened in the House," he said, walking away while being asked if he regrets how things played out, or whether he's concerned about the dynamic in the House.
In a follow-up statement, the Speaker's spokesperson Mathieu Gravel said, "Speaker Fergus has no intention of resigning."
As the Conservatives have been quick to point out, the word "wacko" has been used in Parliament previously, without consequence. Though, a search of references to the word(opens in a new tab) in the House of Commons over the last decade indicates that other times the word has been said in the chamber were in other contexts.
For example, in June 2023 when discussing Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, NDP House Leader Peter Julian said "we have had absolutely wacko claims by Conservatives," and that it was "a wacko comment to say that somehow Bill C-11 is connected to governments following people on cellphones. It is just an unbelievable piece of disinformation."
Commenting on the different context, Julian said that he had "never called a person wacko."
"That would be unparliamentary. That is what Poilievre did," Julian said in a social media post on Tuesday.
Back in 2012, then-Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro said: "Last week, the Liberal leader indicated that suggestions being brought forward by myself and this party were, indeed, wacko. Unfortunately, they have proven to be absolutely true," when talking about robocall allegations.
According to the House of Commons rules around unparliamentary language, "the use of offensive, provocative or threatening language in the House is strictly forbidden," and "personal attacks, insults and obscenities are not in order."
The rules note that the Speaker can first ask the MP who used improper language to withdraw it, and if they refuse, they can be named directly – something that seldom happens in the House – and asked to leave for the remainder of the sitting day.
Further, when dealing with this language, "the Speaker takes into account the tone, manner and intention of the member speaking, the person to whom the words at issue were directed, the degree of provocation, and most important, whether or not the remarks created disorder in the Chamber."
The rules also note(opens in a new tab) that with this in mind, language deemed unparliamentary one day may not necessarily be deemed unparliamentary another day.
"Expressions which are considered unparliamentary when applied to an individual Member have not always been considered so when applied 'in a generic sense' or to a party."
To get a slice of the ranging reactions in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's high-drama breakdown of decorum, here's what some MPs had to say.
Minister Marc Miller, while noting he in the past has been guilty of and has apologized for using unparliamentary language, said that Poilievre "has never shut his mouth in his life."
"Who silences him? … The stuff that he does in the House of Commons is disgraceful. And he plays on that. He's a guy that likes to play outside the lines. When someone steps out the lines to confront him, he freezes," Miller said.
Liberal MP Judy Sgro said that after the Conservatives left, "we had a great question period."
"Everybody was respectful of each other, as it should be… I think Mr. Poilievre should come into question period tomorrow and sit down and behave himself... He's touting himself as the next leader. Well, he needs to show it. And he certainly wasn't showing it today," she said.
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner called the situation "unbelievable."
"The fact that the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada was thrown out of there for doing his exact job is shameful," she said.
Making the case that Poilievre did withdraw his comment by offering to replace it with others, Conservative MP Michael Barrett said the Speaker ejected his leader for calling Trudeau's drug policy "exactly what it is."
"The problem is that there's two sets of rules. There was a set of rules that was being applied to the leader of the Official Opposition and there was a different set of rules being applied to the prime minister."
NDP MP Alexander Boulerice said he was "a bit afraid" of what Wednesday's question period would look like, while others questioned how the remainder of the spring sitting would play out with this level of rancour.