Conservative, Bloc MPs call on Speaker to resign after ousting Poilievre over ’wacko’ comment

Conservative MPs lined up Wednesday to denounce Speaker Greg Fergus for ejecting their leader Pierre Poilievre from the House of Commons after he refused to walk back calling the prime minister a wacko.

Those MPs said Fergus was a disgrace and a partisan who can't control the House of Commons any longer. They called on him to step aside.

The Speaker's office said he'll do no such thing. Speaker Fergus has no intention of resigning, a spokesperson told CBC News.

Liberal MPs, meanwhile, said Poilievre is the one who behaved badly by thumbing his nose at the Speaker's authority and insulting the prime minister.

The leader of the opposition needs to stop acting like a child, said Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly. Canadians expect us to work and deliver for them.

What Canadians saw was basically the true face of Pierre Poilievre, said Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. Canadians should be worried — he's willing to disregard this institution.

Housing Minister Sean Fraser said Poilievre lashed out at Trudeau because he didn't like the prime minister's questions to him about supposedly cozying up with far-right groups.

Poilievre's wacko comment was a stunt designed to raise money and demonstrate to certain elements of his electoral base that he's going to stand by them, Fraser said.

WATCH: Speaker tosses Poilievre from House of Commons

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Speaker tosses Poilievre from House of Commons

After asking Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre several times to withdraw comments made during question period Tuesday, Speaker of the House Greg Fergus orders Poilievre to withdraw from the House of Commons.

Attitudes were notably different outside the Conservative caucus meeting room as the party's MPs and senators assembled on Parliament Hill to discuss Tuesday's events.

The Speaker should resign — he's a disgrace, said Conservative MP Michael Cooper.

I never had confidence in the Speaker. He's a Liberal partisan, added MP Scott Aitchison.

In a blog post, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner said Trudeau was dodging legitimate questions about the controversial B.C. decriminalization policy (new window) — and the possibility of it being expanded to Toronto (new window) — and the Speaker overreacted to Poilievre's language.

Trudeau's decision to deflect as opposed to explain his policy is brutal, but even worse still was Speaker Fergus's decision to expel Mr. Poilievre for using an apt and justified term to describe the situation, she wrote.

Based on today's question period, it's probably fair to say that Mr. Trudeau's government is f—ed. Bring on the election.

• Speaker kicks Poilievre out of the Commons after he calls PM a 'wacko' in tense question period exchange (new window)

Conservative MP Rick Perkins said Fergus lost the confidence of what he calls the real opposition parties — his party and the Bloc Québécois — after he taped a partisan video (new window) in his office wearing the Speaker's robes.

The NDP, which is propping up the minority Liberal government, backed Fergus after that incident last year.

NDP MP Peter Julian, the party's House leader, defended the Speaker again Wednesday, saying Fergus absolutely did the right thing by removing Poilievre from question period.

Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet praised Fergus Tuesday and even congratulated him for showing common sense and giving Poilievre the boot. But his party's House leader offered a very different perspective Wednesday.

Mr. Fergus has had difficulty maintaining peace in Parliament for a long time, said Bloc MP Alain Therrien.

We think the Speaker should leave. The recent events confirm that position.

During Tuesday's question period, Trudeau called Poilievre spineless for refusing to clearly renounce endorsements from unsavoury far-right groups and an American conspiracy theorist (new window).

Poilievre hit back, calling Trudeau a wacko for supporting B.C.'s former policy of decriminalizing some hard drugs in an attempt to reduce the number of overdose-related deaths.

Poilievre said it was a wacko policy backed by this wacko prime minister. Fergus asked him to withdraw the unparliamentary language.

Poilievre refused, saying only that he agreed to replace wacko with extremist or radical. Poilievre's refusal prompted Fergus to remove him.

Later, on social media, Poilievre said Fergus was attempting to shield Trudeau from tough questions about the government's past decision to decriminalize some hard drugs in B.C. — a policy the province is now eager to dismantle as it grapples with public safety concerns.

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks told reporters that Ottawa hasn't decided what to do with B.C.'s request to make illicit drug use illegal in all public spaces.

Last week, the province signalled it wanted to end the federally sanctioned pilot project that decriminalized possession.

Saks said the decision about whether to recriminalize drug use needs to be made swiftly but she's still waiting for more information from the province.

John Paul Tasker (new window) · CBC News