House Speaker Bars Conservative Leader Poilievre from Speaking for a Day

The House of Commons Speaker, Greg Fergus, has ruled that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is prohibited from speaking in the House for the remainder of the day. This decision came after Poilievre refused to retract his statement accusing Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly of “pandering to Hamas.”

The incident unfolded during a heated question period where Poilievre demanded that Minister Joly condemn what he described as “genocidal chants” during recent protests related to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Joly, responding to Poilievre’s inquiry, reaffirmed Canada’s support for Jewish individuals and acknowledged the anniversary of a brutal attack by Hamas on Israel, saying, “We stand with Jewish people.”

Despite Minister Joly’s statements, Poilievre insisted that she did not adequately condemn the rhetoric at the protests, accusing her of prioritizing her political campaign over her official duties. Speaker Fergus described Poilievre’s comments as “unparliamentary” and maintained his decision was consistent with parliamentary decorum.

This is not the first instance of Poilievre’s controversial remarks. In his ruling, Fergus referenced a previous case involving Liberal MP Yvan Baker, who was suspended earlier for remarks linking Poilievre’s Conservatives to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Fergus emphasized the importance of maintaining standards in parliamentary language.

In response, Poilievre criticized Fergus, labeling him a “Liberal Speaker” biased against the Opposition. Meanwhile, during an exchange outside the chamber, Poilievre called for Joly to apologize for what he deemed as insufficient condemnation of antisemitism, and reiterated his concern about Canada’s response to incidents involving antisemitic statements.

Minister Joly, however, rejected Poilievre’s accusations, condemning his remarks as “hypocrisy,” reminding him of his own history, including his lack of response to extremist symbols during the 2022 trucker convoy protests.

The discourse in the House underscores an ongoing tension between the Conservative Party and the ruling Liberal government, particularly concerning their respective stances on foreign policy and domestic security issues.