Evidence of meeting #98 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was fergus.
A video is available from Parliament.
11:50 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Yes, that's the best way to put it. Thank you.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Mr. Fraser, through you, Madam Chair, is it your intention to seek re-election as the Liberal MPP candidate for Ottawa South in the next election?
11:50 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Yes, God willing. It's three years away. I love what I do, and—
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Fair enough.
Would you concede, therefore, that it is inappropriate that the Speaker of the House of Commons has effectively given his endorsement for your seeking re-election as a Liberal MPP?
11:50 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
I can't speak, again, on the exact nature of the conversation. I think what was communicated very clearly.... It was a tribute to me. I can't speak about whether—
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Mr. Fraser, I want to be as respectful as I can. Don't you see anything problematic about that?
11:50 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
No, I don't, because I think it was a very deeply personal video, as all of them were. They were about me as a person, about our families being together and about the kind of person I am. It's very hard to listen to those things, with people saying nice things about you. I'm sure—
11:50 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Usually we're underground, so we don't get to hear them.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Thank you so much.
Mr. Lauzon, the floor is yours for six minutes.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Fraser, you published a statement on X in which you thanked your dear friend Greg Fergus and said you were sorry there had been a lack of communication between your offices as to how the video would be used.
Did your offices properly assess the impact that publishing this video would have, or were they completely unaware of the video that was going to be shown during the event?
11:55 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
I can't speak to how it was communicated within Mr. Fergus's office or the exact details of the conversation. Again, I deeply regret that what was, I think, an innocent request from one family member to another family member has caused some hurt and harm or any undue attention.
I think it's important for me to come to committee. I was prepared to come to committee or do whatever is necessary. I spoke about it to the media on the Monday after. That is my regret. Something done genuinely for me with a lot of feeling and emotion, and very personally, has ended up where we are today.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
With what we know today, can you confirm, from your knowledge of the situation since the creation of the video, that Mr. Fergus had no intention of airing a video at a partisan event?
11:55 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Again, I can't speak to what was communicated to him in his office, but knowing Greg and knowing what I've heard in the media....
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
You have told us a bit about your relationship with Mr. Fergus and his family. Explain some more about why he was a key person in the messages you sent on that day, who was extremely important to the family, to you, and to the message.
Explain a bit about the difference between a message from the speaker of another legislature and a message from a long-time friend. Why was Mr. Fergus chosen? Was he chosen because he is the Speaker of the House of Commons or because he is a friend of the family who is part of your life?
11:55 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Greg and I got to know each other around 1989. I will be a little bit partisan here. I got involved in the 1998 election. That's the first election that I was involved in. I was managing grocery stores. That's what I did. That was my life for 22 years. Greg started to work in John Manley's office. We became very connected. We spent a lot of time together doing things. We worked on something called “stop hunger fast”, which was an initiative for the Heron emergency food cupboard. We did all sorts of campaign and politically related things together. We hung out together. There are just a lot of memories.
Greg and Julie were two of a handful of people who we let babysit our kids. That's how we—
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
Did you think that the message came from the Speaker of the House or from Greg Fergus?
11:55 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
What I heard and what I saw was a message from Greg to me personally. It was very moving and very thoughtful. I am very grateful for it. It's not often that we can have people express to us...or have the chance to express to people publicly how we feel about them, what we think of them or what they've meant in our lives. It is hard when something that is that special ends up where we are right now.
I'm not saying that to complain. I understand why we're here. I'm glad to be here. I'm proud to be Greg's friend. I'm proud of what...as a friend....
Politics is.... Stop me if you want to, but I can go on. You can ask my colleagues in the legislature and my family.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
It's okay. Go ahead. I'll keep my question for later.
11:55 a.m.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Politics is just something that brings people together, like the grocery story brought me together with colleagues. It was a way for us to connect. Our relationship isn't based on politics. It began with politics. It's because of politics, just like it would be because of being in a community group. We're both Catholic. We share that. That helped us to be connected together in a way that built a lifelong friendship. I'm not surprised when my kids.... I think it was actually my kids who thought, “You should do this,” that this is what we should do.
Noon
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
I have 20 seconds, Mr. Fraser.
I just want to conclude on that point. We are all in politics, we all make videos for all sorts of reasons, for such as for associations, to thank someone, or for a wedding, for example. I have made them here and there. I have made them for Canada Day and for the national holiday of Quebec.
Is using a video without our consent something that is done in politics?
Noon
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Sometimes you can find out that a video gets used at an event or place that you didn't think it was going be used at. Often—most of you would know—we're busy. We're always on the run.
Noon
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Okay. Thank you. I'm sorry.
I really do appreciate your being so quick to respond. The clerk let me know that the minute we asked you to come, you were kind. I'm trying to be gracious, but I also need to run a tight committee.
Thank you so much.
Ms. DeBellefeuille, the floor is yours for six minutes.
Noon
Bloc
Claude DeBellefeuille Bloc Salaberry—Suroît, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Fraser, I understand your discomfort at being here. I also understand the discomfort felt by your wife at finding herself in this adventure, but don't worry, it is not your fault. The fault is Mr. Fergus's, because he is the one who agreed to make the video.
He said himself that he made a mistake and that if he had to do it over, he would not make the video again. He committed an error of judgment and he recognized that earlier.
You are a good friend of his and he was asked to pay tribute to you because you are long-time friends. I am going to read the title of the message. The video started with:
“A Message from the Hon. Greg Fergus, Speaker, House of Commons of Canada”.
Do you think that tribute might have been paid to you on behalf of the House of Commons?
Noon
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
My understanding is that the raw video with the pictures and other videos were compiled by a volunteer at the party. My family didn't put it together, which is the normal course of things, so I can't speak to whatever.... Obviously, my family didn't put the header on that or the header for Dalton McGuinty, but they were responsible for all the pictures that were put up that were kind, thoughtful and somewhat embarrassing.