44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 28, 2024 10:00AM
- May/28/24 10:02:51 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to two petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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- May/28/24 10:08:49 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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- May/28/24 10:41:42 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we request a recorded vote, please.
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- May/28/24 11:32:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, let there be no doubt that the Conservative Party is just playing a game here. This is the Conservative-right MAGA-attacks on the institution itself.
Let us be very clear that the Conservatives do have a double standard. When the Conservative House leader was the Speaker and had a fundraiser, there was no problem. Not one Conservative stood up. However, the issue that we have had before us in the last 24 hours has nothing to do with the Speaker. It was the Liberal Party of Canada that formally apologized for doing and publishing what it did. Therefore, the Conservatives are attempting to punish the wrong entity.
The question for the member and the Conservative caucus today is this. How can they continue to make a mockery of what the reality is, which is that the Speaker, in this situation, did absolutely nothing wrong?
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- May/28/24 12:04:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, for those who listened in yesterday or are tuning in today, let there be no doubt that this is nothing more than a Conservative Reform Party tactic. That is all it is.
The issue that is before us is being used to try to say something that is not true. Instead of having a debate on issues that Canadians are having to face day in and day out, the Conservatives choose to play a destructive force here on the floor of the House of Commons. We will continue to be focused on the needs of Canadians, as the Conservatives continue to play this destructive force.
When will the Conservatives get away from playing their destructive games and start focusing on what is in the best interest of Canadians and supporting the initiatives that are coming through in legislation and in budgetary measures?
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- May/28/24 12:38:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in essence, we are debating this issue today and did so yesterday because of an incident. That is what caused it. Here is what the Liberal Party—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/28/24 12:39:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Conservative members rose on a matter of privilege based on one incident. Let me quote from a letter from the Liberal Party of Canada to the Speaker and Canadians: “The Liberal Party of Canada unequivocally apologizes to you for this mistake, and we take full responsibility.”
This is virtually laughable; it is a joke. The Conservative Party is using character assassination of the Speaker to justify the far-right reform attitudes that the Conservatives hold, while trying to demonstrate that Parliament is dysfunctional. I say shame on them. Let us get down to business, deal with the benefits that Canadians need today and start debating legislation, like the budget.
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- May/28/24 12:49:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that the members of the Bloc have fallen into the Conservative trap and have taken this approach to filibuster, which is what we are really witnessing, on a privilege issue. I can tell members that when we look at things within the budget, such as pharmacare, the disability program and the dental program, those are things that affect the lives of Canadians on a daily basis. We now have the Bloc playing games, in an unholy alliance with Conservatives, and continuing to push the issue to prevent things from passing into legislation.
My question is this: Why has the Bloc party gone so far to the right, in circumstances such as this, to defend Conservatives?
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- May/28/24 1:31:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the manner in which the member indicated that, with respect to the incident that ultimately led to the debate we are having today, it very clearly had nothing to do with the Speaker. It was the Liberal Party, which has given a formal apology to the Speaker's office and, through that, to Canadians. This is widely known; it has been publicized.
The issue, then, is this: Why would the Conservative Party want to continue trying to punish the current Speaker when, in fact, it was the Liberal Party that made the posting? I have drawn the conclusion that it is because the Conservative Party wants to continue to play a destructive force inside the chamber, preventing the debates on important issues. The member referred to the pharmacare—
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- May/28/24 1:50:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there is something that is very clear. At the beginning of the member's statement, he called this a Speaker's scandal. That it is just it with the Conservatives; they love using the word “scandal”.
Character assassination is something they have made into a fine art. This is not something the Speaker has done wrong. For the incident in question, the Liberal Party gave a formal apology. It has accepted full responsibility, yet the Conservatives continue with the character assassination.
We have so many important things Canadians are dealing with today. We have substantial legislation and budgetary measures here to support Canadians, and they need to be debated. This includes pharmacare, dental care, the disability program, housing-related issues and the economy.
There are so many things there, yet the Conservative Party continues to be focused, not on Canadians, but on make-believe scandals that—
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- May/28/24 1:53:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, yesterday the opposition whip indicated that they, as in the entire Conservative caucus, did not support the current Speaker's being elected in the first place. The Conservative Party has a personal, vindictive attitude toward this particular Speaker. Based on that and the fact that this is something the Speaker did not have anything to do with, the question remains: Why is the Conservative Party continuing with character assassination instead of dealing with the important issues that Canadians are facing day in and day out?
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- May/28/24 3:31:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote.
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- May/28/24 3:44:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote, please.
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- May/28/24 5:26:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is really quite unfortunate that the Conservatives have chosen this particular issue to incorporate as part of their theme, whether through character assassination or filibustering, trying to portray the false image that Parliament in Ottawa is dysfunctional.
My question to the member is this: Why does he believe that he should be attempting to censure the Speaker when it was the Liberal Party of Canada that has taken full responsibility for the issue in question? That means the Liberal Party should be punished, as opposed to the Speaker.
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- May/28/24 5:42:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that members of the Bloc have bought in, hook, line and sinker, to the Conservatives' con job in regard to what they are doing today. Here we have a Liberal Party post that appears in a social network, and we have the Conservatives and the Bloc teaming up in an unholy alliance to assassinate the character of the Speaker of the House of Commons. I find that quite shameful.
Why does the member believe that the Speaker should be censured for something he was not part of? The arguments that have been presented for the last two days seem unfair and fundamentally flawed.
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- May/28/24 5:58:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, just to quote the member across the way, she gets upset and says that the latest offence that brought us here today is the posting of a “blatantly” partisan fundraising message on a website. What the member is talking about is what the Liberal Party of Canada actually posted, not, and I underline the word “not”, the Speaker. However, the Conservative Party members do not want to have justice; what they want is character assassination. The Conservatives know full well that it was the Liberal Party that did it, but they want to censure the Speaker. The member even said in her opening remarks that the reason we are here today is because of that posting. Does the member not see a problem with her assertion? She is trying to punish the Speaker for something he did not do. How does the member justify that?
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- May/28/24 6:13:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the deputy leader just spoke and said this. It is not a direct quote, but it is pretty darn close, because I had to make notes as she was saying it. It will show tomorrow in Hansard. She said, in regard to this partisan posting, that her conclusions were, with respect to the Speaker, that he “probably, might have, most likely approved” of it. We have a third party that has said it was fully responsible and has actually apologized for it; then we have the deputy leader of the Conservative Party saying the Speaker most likely approved of it. That is what the Conservative Party is basing its evidence on when saying the Speaker has got to go.
I think there is a lot more truth to what the member just finished saying. This is a personal thing. He said that the Speaker should have resigned long ago. Could he provide more clarification on his statement that he does not believe the Speaker should have been given one chance?
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- May/28/24 6:29:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, sadly, the character assassination continues. I have been a parliamentarian for well over 30 years. I have seen New Democrat Speakers, Progressive Conservative Speakers, Conservative Speakers and Liberal Speakers.
I really do not appreciate when individuals across the way try to imply that they know it all when it comes to what qualifies an individual to be a Speaker. The Conservatives then twist and distort what has previously taken place. PROC came forward with a recommendation for one purpose, and that was to fit the Conservative agenda of trying to demonstrate that Parliament is dysfunctional.
When will the Conservatives give up and start looking at issues that Canadians are concerned about? Whether it is affordability, pharmacare or the dental plan, there are all sorts of issues that Canadians want us to be dealing with. Why the farce?
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- May/28/24 7:00:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we know why we are here today. It is because of the Conservatives' persistence in playing a shameful game of character assassination.
The issue arose because something was posted on social media, a website, and we have a third party saying they are the ones who did it, apologizing to the Speaker's office for doing it and taking full responsibility. However, when I posed a question to the member's deputy leader asking why the Speaker was being blamed, her response was, in essence, that he “probably, might have, most likely approved” of it.
Does the member have anything of substance to say showing that the Speaker was aware of it?
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- May/28/24 7:15:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have said this a couple of times now. I will go back to the fact that, having been a parliamentarian and witnessed Speakers of all political stripes, what I have found in this particular incident is that the grounds to justify the motion that we have before us are greatly exaggerated. I am being very kind in my words there. I would suggest that the Conservatives would have been far better off, for the sake of all Canadians, had they actually chose an issue that Canadians are concerned about today. There are many issues that are out there.
My question for the member is this: Why does he believe so passionately, virtually from the day this Speaker was elected, that he has to go? That is what we are hearing from many Conservatives on the other side of the bench.
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