Canada: bitter clash in parliament over Trudeau âwackoâ jibe | Canada![]() Canadaâs Liberal and Conservative parties have redoubled their parliamentary clash a day after the Tory leader was ejected from the House of Commons for calling Justin Trudeau a âwackoâ. Under the guise of a debate over British Columbiaâs decision to decriminalize some hard drugs, the parliamentary question period on Wednesday was dominated by deeply partisan attacks. Conservative lawmakers also used the word âwackoâ in their remarks, in a test of the speaker and the rules governing the House of Commons. Longstanding tensions between the two parties, who are gearing up for a looming federal election, erupted on Tuesday following a bitter exchange between the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, and Trudeau. The prime minister accused Poilievre of âshameful, spineless leadershipâ and suggested he was sympathetic to white nationalist groups. The Conservative leader countered by calling Trudeau a âwackoâ, and when asked to withdraw the comment, offered the words âradicalâ and âextremistâ â both of which the speaker rejected. The House speaker, Greg Fergus, accused Poilievre of disregarding the speakerâs authority and said: âI order to you to withdraw from the House ⦠for the remainder of this dayâs sitting.â The ejection was a rare show of force from the speaker and a move with little precedent in recent decades. Conservatives, who left the chamber in protest, say Fergus acted in a partisan manner, siding with Trudeau, and called for him to step down. âSpeaker Fergus has no intention of resigning,â his spokesperson said on Wednesday. Poilievre doubled down on Wednesday morning, saying he had no regrets over his choice of words. âI canât think of any other word to describe what he [Trudeau] is 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 Iâm just calling it as it is,â he told CP24. At issue is the use of âunparliamentary languageâ which can take the form of âpersonal attacks, insults and obscenitiesâ. Under parliamentary rules, the speaker can ask the offending lawmaker to withdraw the comment. If they refuse, they can ask to leave for the remainder of the sitting day. Conservatives argue the term âwackoâ has been used before in the House of Commons with no consequence. But the rules also say the speaker âtakes into account the tone, manner and intention of the member speakingâ and âwhether or not the remarks created disorderâ in parliament. Opinions over Fergusâs decision fell along partisan lines. âThe fact that the leader of the Conservative party of Canada was thrown out of there for doing his exact job is shameful,â said Michelle Rempel Garner, a Conservative MP. Her colleague, Michael Cooper, called Fergus âa disgraceâ. The immigration minister, Marc Miller, said Poilievre âhas never shut his mouth in his lifeâ. âThe stuff that he does in the House of Commons is disgraceful. And he plays on that. Heâs a guy that likes to play outside the lines. When someone steps out the lines to confront him, he freezes,â Miller said. Both the Conservative and the Liberal parties have seized on the ejection, sending emails to members and supporters in a bid to solicit donations. Source link Posted: 2024-05-01 21:31:55 |
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