Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was booted from the House of Commons on Tuesday after calling Justin Trudeau a “wacko prime minister.”
Speaker of the House Greg Fergus took the step Tuesday during question period, kicking Poilievre out for using language he said was “not considered parliamentary.”
It’s not immediately clear whether any other federal official opposition leader has been removed from the House before.
The Conservative leader blamed Trudeau for allowing British Columbia to decriminalize small amounts of hard drugs, a step B.C. is now seeking to rolling back.
Last week, B.C. Premier David Eby announced he is asking the federal government to modify its Criminal Code exemption for simple drug possession so police can intervene in cases of public drug use.
“Even the B.C. NDP are distancing themselves from his decriminalization of crack, heroin, meth and other hard drugs,” Poilievre said.
“When will we put an end to this wacko policy by this wacko prime minister?” Poilievre said.
Fergus asked Poilievre to withdraw his comments.
“I replace wacko with ‘extremist’,” responded Poilievre.
The Speaker asked him to take back that remark.
“I’ll replace it with ‘radical.’”
“I’m going to ask the honorable leader of the opposition to simply withdraw that comment,” Fergus asked again.
When he refused, Fergus said “I have to name you for disregarding the authority of the chair.”
The Library of Parliament says they are unable to find record of an opposition leader ever being named in the House of Commons and removed by the speaker.
Earlier, Conservative MP Rachael Thomas was also removed from the House for refusing to apologize for saying he was acting “in a disgraceful manner.”
Much of the Conservative caucus left the chamber after Poilievre was ejected and took to social media saying that Poilievre was being censored and repeatedly used the offending term “wacko.”
“Today the Liberal speaker censored me for describing Trudeau’s hard drug policy as wacko,” Poilievre wrote in a post on X.
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“[Six] people dying from overdoses every day in BC is wacko. Kids playing next to used syringes is wacko. Nurses worried about breastfeeding after breathing in toxic drug fumes is wacko. This is a wacko policy from a wacko PM that’s destroying lives.”
After Poilievre was kicked out of the chamber, Government House Leader Steve MacKinnon said this was a “disgrace” and a “disrespect for our institutions and our Speaker.”
“I want to recap that the leader of the opposition has used extreme language, sayings and slogans that we have never seen before. We have never experienced before this level of extreme right-wing rhetoric, and I would just say to all of you and to all Canadians that it is not normal what we are seeing,” Mackinnon told reporters after Poilievre’s removal.
“We have to avoid making this seem banal or become some sort of normal part of political back-and-forth. This is not what that is. This is violent rhetoric, this is extreme rhetoric, and this is rhetoric that absolutely must no longer be in our politics.”
MacKinnon also criticized Poilievre for comments on Monday suggesting he would use the notwithstanding clause to bring in bail reform if elected.
Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett was asked why Poilievre didn’t just withdraw the comment as asked by the Speaker. Barrett accused Fergus of using a double standard.
“There’s two sets of rules, one that is being applied to the leader of the opposition and another set of rules being applied to the prime minister. So, Mr. Poilievre laid out very clearly that it’s a wacko policy and so it’s for the prime minister to explain why he’s stay in place,” Barrett said, referring to the B.C. drug re-criminalization request.
Trudeau in 2011 called then-Conservative environment minister Peter Kent a “piece of sh-t” during question period and then apologized for the remarks.
Justin Trudeau stood after question period and apologized. “I lost my temper and used language that was most decidedly unparliamentary and for that I unreservedly apologize…and withdraw my remarks,” he said.
The Speaker at the time Conservative Andrew Scheer.
NDP house leader Peter Julian said he has also been asked to withdraw and apologize for comments in the past before, and without respecting the Speaker, Parliament can fall into “chaos.”
“He seems to want to burn everything down. It’s pyromaniac Poilievre, and for him to do this today I think shows incredible discredit and disrespect for parliamentary institutions that Canadians believe in. I’m saddened by his actions today,” Julian said.
When asked if Julian agreed with MacKinnon’s characterization of Poilievre’s actions, Julian said he saw Poilievre’s actions in the House as disrespectful.
“I think his actions in meeting with white supremacist groups is profoundly extremist and disquieting for all Canadians. His actions today are inexcusable.”
Julian is the last person to use the term “wacko” in the House of Commons. During a June 13, 2022 debate, he referred to the Conservatives as having “wacko claims” around Bill C-11, the Copyright Modernization Act.
It’s been used a handful of times since 2002, and was not interpreted as unparliamentary at the time.
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