Roundup: Back to challenging the Speaker once again

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Not unexpectedly, a number of MPs have renewed the call to oust Greg Fergus from the Speaker’s chair after Tuesday’s dramatics during Question Period. For the Bloc, who soured on Fergus shortly after his election and his recording a video in his robes, they’re complaining that he can’t control the room, which is a bit unfair because MPs themselves have hobbled the Speaker’s ability to enforce decorum by giving him narrow powers in the Standing Orders. This logic also ignores the culpability of those who are making the noise—the Speaker isn’t making them behave like that. And for the record, Fergus says he’s not stepping down.

For the Conservatives, however, they are playing the victim, as is a common far-right tactic these days, and claiming that he had a double standard on Tuesday. Their proof—that prime minister Justin Trudeau wasn’t forced to retract or get named when he referred to Poilievre’s “spineless leadership” in not denouncing far-right extremists and Alex Jones. Note that the language Trudeau used was that the leadership was spineless, he did not call Poilievre that. And he was warned about inflammatory language, and he rephrased. Poilievre called Trudeau “whacko,” which was is a direct attack, and then refused to withdraw the word when instructed to—and again, the prevarication and wheedling of trying to replace the word is not respecting the Speaker’s authority, especially when invited to simply withdraw four times. There is a difference between what each leader said and how each responded, and if Conservatives can’t tell that difference, then they have a real problem with their critical thinking skills, which isn’t a good thing for an MP.

There was added drama when Conservative MP Rachael Thomas, who now claims that she withdrew her remarks yesterday but was ejected anyway, and more to the point, says that Hansard was edited to justify Fergus’ decision. Recall that Fergus was cautioning her for yelling at him during an outburst, to which she shot back “I have big problems with the Chair.” Fergus told her to withdraw that, to which Thomas’s response was “Mr. Speaker, I stated that the Chair is acting in a disgraceful manner,” and then says that she added “I withdraw,” which is also in the Blues (meaning the unedited transcripts before they go for final polish). But I was sitting right above her, and didn’t hear her say “I withdraw,” but even if she did, you can’t challenge the Speaker again and then just say “I withdraw” and expect no consequences. That’s not even like a qualified apology, it’s openly challenging a second time, and then trying to give yourself a fig-leaf of cover. That’s bullshit, and she knows it.

To put a cherry on top of this, CBC dug up video of then-Speaker Andrew Scheer saying you can’t challenge the integrity of the Speaker, which includes allegations of partisanship, and lo, what are they doing now? Rules for thee but not for me is very much their modus operandi, and it’s not great for democracy.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian ballistic missile struck a postal depot in Odesa, injuring fourteen and starting a huge fire, and Russians claim to have struck Ukraine’s southern command post in the same attack. There was also a guided bomb attack in the Kharkiv region, killing two in an attack on the village of Zolochiv, while there was also an attack on the town of Hirnyk near the front lines, which killed at least two more people. Drone footage shows the way that Chasiv Yar has been devastated by Russian bombardment as the move toward it, while Ukrainian forces in that area say they badly need more ammunition. The US is accusing Russia of breaking international chemical weapons ban by deploying choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.

Good reads:

  • Ya’ara Saks says that she needs more information from BC on their request to make public drug use illegal again, but BC insists she has all she needs.
  • Bill Blair claims that trying to sell Cabinet and Canadians on meeting the NATO defence spending goal is hard because “nobody know what that means.”
  • Patty Hajdu has signed a memorandum of understanding with First Nations land advisory and management groups to help further management of resources.
  • Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem told a Senate committee that he doesn’t expect the budget to move the needle on inflation (in spite of Poilievre’s rhetoric).
  • The new dental care system is now up and running for seniors to use (and will expand gradually).
  • The initial report from the foreign interference public inquiry is to be made public this Friday, dealing with the alleged meddling in the last two elections.
  • Public sector unions are planning to fight the requirement that civil servants be in the office three days per week, which they say is “unfair.”
  • Unsurprisingly, human rights advocates are calling on the government to walk back plans to allow CBSA to use federal prisons for immigration detention.
  • Ground was broken on the LGBTQ+ National Monument in Ottawa yesterday.
  • The Commons foreign affairs committee will hold meetings about the waiver granted to aerospace companies for parts that may contain Russian titanium.
  • Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won’t run again because of fears for her safety in the increasingly toxic political environment.
  • Surprising exactly nobody, Jagmeet Singh says the NDP will support the budget (because playing coy and swallowing himself whole is how he rolls).
  • Kevin Carmichael calls for renewed pressure on dismantling internal trade barriers to help boost productivity (but good luck with that one).
  • Professor Jared Wesley details the authoritarian behaviour of the UCP in Alberta, and what need to be done to push back against it.
  • David Moscrop pans Doug Ford’s plans to open a “regional office” in Ottawa, staffed by a former candidate, and why this is just more of his particular patronage.

Odds and Ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Back to challenging the Speaker once again”

  1. Well, it’s really annoying that I’ve thought the Speaker should go for months now, and when he finally did something that makes me think there’s hope yet, people like Tom Mulcair are up in arms about him. I’m exceptionally naive, I guess, because I gasped when Polievre made the wacko remark, and I thought, he’s finished.

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