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Warren Steinley

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
Conservative

Regina—Lewvan
Saskatchewan
Voting Attendance: 67%
Expenses Last Quarter: $123,656.05

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 319 - May/28/24

May/28/24 11:49:15 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is a very easy question to answer. The member for Regina—Qu'Appelle was not the keynote speaker of the fundraiser. It was not during session. The Conservative Party of Canada did not put out a note that said he would be the one speaking. I think that the member is, once again, mischaracterizing what happened. Seven times the Speaker has used poor judgment. Does the member truly believe Canadians have faith that this Speaker should continue in the Chair? If he does, I would love to see him go to his constituents and tell them that he voted in favour of the Speaker because he has done a really good job.

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Context: House Hansard - 319 - May/28/24

Mr. Warren Steinley (Regina—Lewvan, CPC)

May/28/24 11:38:10 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is with a bit of concern that I rise to my feet today to talk, on behalf of the members of Regina—Lewvan, about the Speaker and his partisanship over the last few months he has been Speaker. The Speaker's indiscretions actually started much before that. Once there is a pattern of behaviour, it is not an accident, and one can only apologize so many times. This can even go back to some of the Speaker's actions when he was the parliamentary secretary for the Prime Minister. I am also happy to stand on my feet today to say I will be sharing my time with the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman. To get back to the serious point at hand, we have stood in this chamber and given many speeches over the past three or four years, some that were very much unprecedented, but they all circled around one thing, which is the lack of respect for democracy the NDP-Liberal government has. I remember standing in this place during the “freedom convoy”, when the Emergencies Act was enacted, which was ruled unconstitutional. The NDP-Liberal government had zero respect for the rights of Canadians then, and now has zero respect for the institution we stand in. The Speaker has shown time and again that he lacks the judgment to have the honourable role of being Speaker. His judgment comes from his overt partisanship. We have seen it before. After the 2015 election, we saw the Prime Minister have a tantrum because a vote was not happening. This is the amazing part. The New Democrats are holding the Speaker up when he was the apologist for the Prime Minister, as he went to the mic and defended the Prime Minister after he elbowed a female NDP member because the vote was not happening soon enough. That is unbelievable. Now they are going to be complicit in the vote trying to hold up the Speaker and to allow him to maintain his role. We know that many times the Speaker has spoken for the Prime Minister after the countless things the Prime Minister has done that were unethical. When he wore blackface, the Speaker stood up for him as the then parliamentary secretary. His partisanship is well documented going back to when he was with the Liberal Party of Canada. I am not saying it is not okay to be partisan, but if people know deep down that they are that partisan and they put the Liberal Party above all else, they should not apply for the role of Speaker of the House of Commons, because we know that that role is to maintain decorum and to treat every MP in this House fairly and without prejudice. That is where he has come up so very short. The member for Lethbridge has a very well-documented case of when she was treated so unfairly. She stood up and apologized on record and on video. We could hear her withdraw her remarks. She stood up and apologized for the remarks, and the Speaker still kicked her out. Do members think that is non-partisan? Do members think that is fair? The question I would ask every member in this House is this: Would he have done that if it was a Liberal or one of his junior partners, an NDP MP? The answer is no, he would not. He kicked out the official Leader of the Opposition, and I believe this is the first time that has happened in this chamber, for making very similar remarks to those of the Prime Minister. Do members think that is non-partisan? No, it is not. This is not a one-time offence. The member for Winnipeg North, who has been stood up as the apologist for the Speaker, has time and again said that it was just one time and that it was the Liberal Party's fault, but let us look at “elbowgate”, blackface, or wearing full Speaker garb, making a video in the Speaker's office and then sending it to the Ontario Liberal Party convention to congratulate an outgoing leader. There is the cocktail fundraiser in Washington. This does not happen very often, but the current Speaker left during session to go on a cocktail tour in Washington. He abdicated his role here to talk about how great it is to be a Liberal and how Liberals are the answer to the world's problems. How does he think it is appropriate to go on a speaking tour for the Liberal Party of Canada when session is sitting? I do not recall many other Speakers taking a holiday when they are supposed to be doing their job here. Once again, it shows a lack of judgment. Finally, there is the party fundraiser with the fellow MP, which the apologist from Winnipeg North says is the Liberal Party's fault. The Liberal Party itself often shows a lack of judgment, but this Speaker is running a close second with how many times he has shown a lack of judgment when it comes to his role as Speaker of the House of Commons. What I find completely amazing, and I started my speech with this, is that the NDP members are going to prop up this Speaker after the elbowing incident. He was the one who justified the elbowing of a female NDP MP, and they are going to vote to keep this Speaker in the position he is in. Time and time again, this Speaker has shown a lack of judgment. I have not even come to one of the things I find most interesting, which is one of the reasons I could not have voted for him as Speaker. He had his own ethics violation before he even took the chair as Speaker. He is the only Speaker in the history of Canada to have an ethics violation and then take on the role of Speaker. The lack of judgment from this individual can be chronicled from tip to tail of his career, and it is high time we take the right and reasonable course and vote this Speaker out, because he has dishonoured the Chair and put the very foundation of our democracy in jeopardy. I do get emails on this. A few people, mostly friends and family, watch question period. They have asked me how the Speaker thinks the House has any faith left in him, any confidence. The simple answer is that the House does not. The Liberal-NDP coalition continues to say it is the Conservatives who are having decorum issues. The Speaker has brought this on. He has continuously flouted the rules and not applied the rules properly. The member for Winnipeg North laughs. The Speaker, when he was first elected Speaker, said that the Speaker should be the referee and not a player in the game. He also went on to say that no one goes to a game to watch the referee. The Speaker has made more headlines in the news than any Speaker I can remember, so he has really made this about himself. This is all about the Speaker and his wanting to make headlines, and actually continue to do the PMO's bidding. I have been in this chamber and in the legislative chamber and have seen many Speakers. This is similar to the member for Winnipeg North, as we both served in the legislature and both served in the House of Commons. I have seen lots of Speakers in my time, and the interesting thing is that, by far, I have seen the most degradation of decorum in this House. One thing I have learned in my life, and it is something that holds true, is that attitude reflects leadership. The Speaker is the leader of the House, and that is why some people have taken to the attitude they have, because the Speaker has no business in that chair. He has dishonoured that chair, and for that reason, it makes it an absolute mockery that the NDP members are going to prop up this Speaker as the junior coalition partner and are going to stand and defend a Speaker who defended the Prime Minister elbowing one of their female members. That is the respect the NDP now has for this place, in the House of Commons, and it is troubling. We have seen continuous decline in this democracy, as well as in Canadians' faith after what has gone on here, and it all can be thrown at the foot of this current Speaker. I know for sure the Conservatives have lost confidence, the Bloc has lost confidence and some of the Liberals have lost confidence. They may not say it, but behind closed doors they do. It is actually unbelievable that they will continue to try to fight for this Speaker when he has dishonoured the job. It is time for him to go. He should resign before we have the vote.

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Context: House Hansard - 270 - Jan/29/24

Mr. Warren Steinley (Regina—Lewvan, CPC)

Jan/29/24 5:40:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, and I would also like him to comment on the fact that the current Speaker has also shown a lack of judgment on numerous other occasions. Is the current Speaker the only Speaker to also have an ethics violation found against him in his role as well? Does that also speak to some of the possible lack of foresight he has had as the Speaker?

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Member of Parliament

Warren Steinley