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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 319

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 28, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 319 - May/28/24
Mr. Jeremy Patzer (Cypress Hills—Grasslands, CPC)
  • May/28/24 1:54:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to stand and speak on behalf of the great people of southwest Saskatchewan. Over the weekend, I had a great opportunity to spend some time at the ball diamonds. Baseball season is in full swing in Saskatchewan. A lot of people at the ball diamonds who came up to me have been paying attention to what is happening in the news, what is happening here in Ottawa. They will ask, “What is going on with the Speaker in the House of Commons?” They are seeing what is happening now. The reason why they are paying so much attention to this is that it is not the first time and not the second time but the third time the Speaker has engaged in partisan behaviour. Using a baseball analogy, when a player get three strikes, they are out. Even the House leader for the NDP, after a previous violation by the Speaker, said that if this were to happen again, that would be it. If he were to renege on that now, it would basically be like the umpire's saying that a player had three strikes but that they would give the player another pitch and just see what happens. What is going to happen if there is another strike? Is it going to be the same thing, or will the NDP let the Speaker try again? At what point will the NDP grow a spine and stick true to its words? It is absolutely shameful for the NDP to renege on what happened. The NDP House leader stood in front of the media and said that if it were to happen again, something would have to be done, yet here we are. The NDP is already saying it is going to vote with the government on closure on the bill. We are going to have a vote on this later tonight. It is absolutely shameful. I was first elected in 2019. One of the first speeches I gave in the chamber was actually on the “Peschisolido Report 2020”. A former Liberal member of Parliament from Steveston—Richmond East was found guilty of breaking ethics rules. Actually, the then ethics commissioner, Mr. Dion, said at the time, “Given Mr. Peschisolido's chronic failure to comply with the code's disclosure requirements, there is no doubt in my mind I would have recommended that Parliament impose appropriate sanctions”. In 2023, the current Speaker of the House's title was the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister. If colleagues will allow me to go back to my baseball analogy, the Prime Minister of Canada himself has three reports in his own name. On the Commissioner of Ethics' website, there are three reports that bear the name of the Prime Minister of this country. Strike one, strike two, strike three, and yet here we are. The Prime Minister actually has been given another strike. We have had a few other issues with the Prime Minister since the last report was written, so he has been given lots of pitches, lots of chances, here, and somehow he is still standing at the plate. Right now the NDP is propping up the Prime Minister and the Liberals, enabling them and allowing this to happen. When I talk to people at the ball diamonds, they ask, “How on earth do these guys get three strikes and they are not out? How does that happen?” Where is the respect for the institutions of this place? As members of Parliament, when a member is part of the government, they are a part of the Crown. There is an “honourable” designation beside the member's name. This place is based and founded on the honour system. When a member has multiple infractions, such as the Prime Minister and the current Speaker of the House have, one would think they would have done the honourable thing by now: accepted responsibility and resigned. That would be the honourable thing to do.
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Context: House Hansard - 319 - May/28/24
Mr. Jeremy Patzer
  • May/28/24 5:29:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, absolutely, strike three and someone is out. That is what needs to happen. I hope that all parties will vote to remove the Speaker. It needs to happen. As I said before question period, it seems like “Oh, we'll give him another pitch, let him have strike four. Oh, maybe we'll let him have strike five.” No, strike three, he is out. It is time for him to resign, or let us vote him out.
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