SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)

Apr/16/24 3:16:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for bringing up how disruptive the Conservatives continue to be in the House. To clarify for the record, I did not actually tell him to shut up the second time; I told him to shush. I will not be withdrawing my comment, and I hope their behaviour gets better.

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The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:17:09 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for Abbotsford for raising this issue. All members could do a lot to improve decorum in the House, and I hope we all will. The issue has been raised by the member for Abbotsford, and the member for North Island—Powell River has acknowledged that she used language that causes disorder in the House. I would ask the hon. member for North Island—Powell River if she would do the honourable thing and withdraw the comment.

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Ms. Rachel Blaney

Apr/16/24 3:18:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, no, I will certainly not.

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Certainly

The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:18:27 p.m.
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The hon. member for North Island—Powell River is a long-time member. We have served in the House and on many committees together. I will ask her once again if, out of respect to the Chair, she would please withdraw that remark.

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Powell
River

Ms. Rachel Blaney

Apr/16/24 3:19:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have served many years with you, but my concern, which is that members who are asking questions are being silenced again and again by the Conservatives, is very serious. Out of respect, I will not withdraw the remark, and I do not mean that personally. It is so sad that the Conservatives are having very sensitive feelings about this.

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The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:19:20 p.m.
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Pursuant to the powers vested in me under Standing Order 11, I am afraid I have no choice but to ask the hon. member, for not following through with a request from the Chair, to please leave the chamber. [And Ms. Blaney having withdrawn:]

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Mr. Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, NDP)

Apr/16/24 3:19:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. It is important for us to reflect on what has transpired in the House. You will recall there was a member from Regina who absolutely insulted a member. His entire question was given back to him. However, when there was the disruption of the back bench, from some who do not have the privilege of asking questions of the House, and they decided to interrupt my question, I did not receive the opportunity to ask it in full. It is at that point when the intervention happened. Some hon members: Oh, oh! Mr. Matthew Green: Mr. Speaker, if it is on the question of disruption, I would ask you to note the heckling and the disorder that is happening in the House right now. I encourage you to reflect on what you just did to the member, this hon. member from our party, when these people continue to act completely out of order in the House.

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The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:20:44 p.m.
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Colleagues, we are coming back to the point of why it is so important for us to conduct ourselves with dignity in this place. The hon. member for Hamilton Centre has raised an important point. I would like to point out to the hon. member that the Chair did hear his question up until a certain point. Then, not being able to hear the hon. member, as I mentioned from the chair, I gave the hon. member more time to finish his question. First, I sought order in the House, and then I gave the hon. member more time to finish his question and to start further on. The hon. member for Regina—Lewvan, at the top end of the question, used language that was uncomplimentary, and I asked him to rephrase his question, which he did. It is very difficult to sit in this chair and have members act in a way that is really not befitting of this place. Sometimes the Chair raises the issue when the Chair feels compelled to do so. Sometimes members raise the issue, and when members raise the issue, that is the time when the Chair has to deal with it. As a result, it was with great regret that I asked the member for North Island—Powell River to leave this place for the day because it was requested of the Chair to ask for her comment to be withdrawn so that order could be restored to the House. This was raised by the member for Abbotsford. That is the only reason that happened. I ask all members to remind themselves that, once again, the Chair can only go as far as members will permit the Chair to go. It requires members to act in a manner that is befitting of this place. I think we all can learn from this situation.

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Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

Apr/16/24 3:23:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, it is not up to any individual member to try to get the respect in the House that the Conservatives consistently refuse to show, so I would ask you to use the tools that you have available to you. We have granted you the ability to dock questions. When Conservatives are causing disorder, as they do so frequently, I would ask you to exercise the powers you have to dock their questions so that members, such as the member for North Island—Powell River, are not forced to intervene to try to stop them from allowing us to ask questions in the House of Commons.

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Dock
Refuse

The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:24:06 p.m.
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I thank the member for New Westminster—Burnaby for that intervention. Indeed, the Chair is increasingly reaching that point where, with proper warning, we will probably start moving that way. I hope I do not have to. I hope that members will be able to conduct themselves in a way that is befitting of this place.

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Mr. Michael Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, CPC)

Apr/16/24 3:24:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, the NDP House leader, the member for Timmins—James Bay and the member for Hamilton Centre, and we can check everyone off the list, are members of the fourth party in the House, and they create the same level of disorder as all members do. They engage in heckling, as is happening right now, but that is part of the customs that have been adopted by this place. The matter at hand is that the Speaker made a ruling, and now, in succession, we have had NDP members standing up to chastise the Speaker for ruling the wrong way. That is not how it works in this place. Members of the official opposition, when asked to withdraw, in spite of their continuing to hold the convictions of what they said, out of deference to the Chair, have withdrawn and apologized. When they have not done so at any point in history, they have been ejected, and that is how this place works. We do not have every member then stand up and challenge the Chair's ruling because, frankly, that is unparliamentary and unbefitting of any member who does. Order has been restored with the Chair's ruling. We thank you for that.

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The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:26:02 p.m.
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I thank the member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes for his intervention. Once again, I call on all members, because this is happening, unfortunately, far too often, and it causes disorder. It is not something Canadians appreciate. I do not think any member of Parliament who has spent a lot of time and effort to represent their constituents, to come this place to help pass laws, make laws and keep government to account, wants to participate in a place with behaviour that, frankly, would not be accepted in any other workplace in the country. I thank the hon. member. I hope that will serve as a purpose to encourage all members to conduct themselves in a better way. I see the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre, a very passionate and contributing member, standing on her feet on the point of order. I hope it will add a new dimension to this debate.

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Represent

Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Apr/16/24 3:27:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, we have had the occasion to speak about exactly what is going on in the House. I have to say that, on Thursday of last week, I felt that I behaved in an unparliamentary way as well, but it is because it is out of control on the Conservative side of the bench, with the constant toxic masculinity, including the harassment of the member for Nunavut, which I found so offensive. What I find shocking, with all due respect, is that this is the first occasion when this kind of severe response has been taken, yet there is a normalization of gender-based violence being perpetrated by Conservative members on that side. It happens every single day in the House, all day.

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The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:28:15 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre. The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable wants to speak on the same topic, and I will allow him to do so, but I hope that we will be able to wrap up this debate, unless members have something new to add. The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

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Mr. Luc Berthold (Mégantic—L'Érable, CPC)

Apr/16/24 3:28:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the past 15 minutes, you have allowed several members, in particular the New Democrats, to tell their side of the story, and astoundingly, they have tried to challenge your decision to ask the member for North Island—Powell River to leave the House. Since then, the NDP members have started lobbing accusations at the Conservative Party. These accusations are unfounded and unwarranted. I would therefore ask the member who just spoke to retract her remarks about these unfounded accusations or to make her case. It is an insult to all parliamentarians to insinuate such things about the Conservatives, and I will not repeat her remarks. Mr. Speaker, it is unacceptable that you tolerated her intervention until the end. Her remarks about the Conservative member are unacceptable. With all due respect, I request that you ask the member to retract her remarks and apologize for her vile comments about us.

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The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:30:20 p.m.
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I thank the member for Mégantic—L'Érable for raising the matter. I will certainly think about it and take the matter under advisement. I see the hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot, who had gotten up alongside the member for Windsor West, so I am going to ask the hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot to go first, and then I will go to the member for Windsor West.

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Mr. Damien Kurek (Battle River—Crowfoot, CPC)

Apr/16/24 3:31:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as an individual, I know that passions can run high in this place; I think all parliamentarians would fully acknowledge that. When a circumstance arose in which I had to face a consequence when the Deputy Speaker was in the chair, I certainly respected the ruling. I did not challenge that ruling, and I left this place. I would also urge you, Mr. Speaker, to likewise consider the way that, when passions were running high in debate and the member for Kildonan—St. Paul had made a comment, my colleague from Manitoba respected the Chair. It is very unfortunate that the NDP would make such accusations. Certainly, if one starts going through the list, as mentioned before, there has been significant harassment, especially toward some of my female colleagues in the Conservative Party, including from members of the NDP. It is unfortunate that there would be those accusations levelled at the Conservative Party, when the fundamental issue at stake here is respect for the chair and the institution it represents within this place.

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The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:32:25 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member. We are now getting into accusations of he said, she said or they said, they said. This has been raised. The Chair clearly understands it. The member for North Island—Powell River left the chamber on the request of the Chair. She has not come back in here to debate this matter, nor did the member for Battle River—Crowfoot when he was ejected by the Chair some months ago. The hon. member for Windsor West.

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Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP)

Apr/16/24 3:32:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not like to rise on this. In a couple of weeks it will be my 22nd year here, and I can tell the House that it is different. It is not heckling or a sense of involvement in the debate; outright bullying tactics and verbal abuse are taking place. This chamber has changed significantly. Because of your being on that side, down the aisle of the chamber, Mr. Speaker, you may not be aware of this, but I can also testify that it depends on which member rises in the House, what gender they are and what they look like. This determines how they are treated. It is a regular behaviour that has escalated significantly in the last number of years. In particular, right now, there was your decision about the member from Hamilton Centre, for example. He had an important question to ask. I appreciate your position on it, but he cannot do in 20 seconds what he should have had the right, in 35 seconds, to do, for his constituents and for what he wants to do for this country, without the type of harassment that takes place. I ask you to review not only what takes place in this chamber and how you respond to it, to reflect back over the years and the way it has been dealt with in the past, but also the behaviour that takes place behind the curtains, in the hallways. They are definitely included, and what takes place there spills into the chamber. Especially during late nights in this place, we have had young people exposed to behaviour that is not becoming. It is not acceptable in a workplace to have a number of different activities taking place that are especially encouraged when the camera is off, clearly, and that may not be seen when the camera is on.

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The Speaker

Apr/16/24 3:34:49 p.m.
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I thank the member for Windsor West for his intervention. I thank all colleagues for standing and raising these issues. Once again, I think this shows the importance of conducting ourselves in a better manner. Most members do conduct themselves in a way that is befitting. Sometimes, we go over the limit. I call on all members to reflect on what has happened today and in the past, so we can do better going forward. I thank all members for their participation in that.

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