Poilievre Stands Firm After Referring to Trudeau as ‘Unorthodox’
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stands by his characterization of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as unconventional, expressing no remorse for labeling him as such. Following Poilievre’s expulsion from the House by Speaker Greg Fergus on Tuesday, Conservative MPs are now urging the Speaker’s resignation. The incident unfolded amidst a contentious debate over Trudeau’s stance on hard drug decriminalization, with Poilievre’s refusal to retract his statement leading to his ejection from the chamber. Poilievre proposed substituting ‘wacko’ with ‘extremist’ or ‘radical’ but was rebuffed by the Speaker, prompting his removal.
“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.
Meanwhile, as his MPs filed into the Conservative caucus meeting room Wednesday morning, some told reporters they think the Speaker should resign, a call they also made in December, unsuccessfully.
Arguing the contrary, the federal Liberals are accusing Poilievre of bringing “extreme right-wing” language and tactics into the House of Commons and then when they’re called on it, claiming “they are victims.”
Before the Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday morning, MacKinnon reiterated his support for Fergus.
“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.
Fergus was questioned about MPs expressing a lack of confidence in him as Speaker, citing their belief that Trudeau faced no consequences for his statements.
“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.
On Wednesday, NDP MP Don Davies emphasized the gravity of Canada’s overdose crisis and British Columbia’s plea to revise Health Canada’s policy on decriminalizing public possession of hard drugs, urging federal politicians to address these issues seriously.
“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.”
