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.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
There are other MPs I know who are friends with me. Francis Drouin and I used to work together. I have a lot of respect for him.
I'm sorry. I'm blanking out here. Those MPs I'm friends with are going to say, “What happened to you at committee? You forgot me.”
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
That's quite all right.
My point is that the only MP in the video is Mr. Fergus.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Yes. I think it was because of the nature and depth of our relationship. Francis and I don't have the same kind of relationship. We're friends. We're good friends. The only other person who would be similar to that is Arnold Chan, who is someone Linda would have asked, I think.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
How would you respond to the comment that Mr. Fergus was featured in the video because he's the Speaker of the House?
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
I know he was asked as my friend. That was the request made of him. That's the response we got back.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Thank you so much.
Just so we know, as we enjoy our time here—as you are, also—we're going to do a quick two minutes with Mr. Cooper.
Go ahead, Mr. Cooper, through the chair.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Fraser, I am following up on your conversations with Tommy Desfossés, the chief of staff to the Speaker.
You indicated that you had three conversations, including on the night the video was presented at the Ontario Liberal convention.
Did you initiate those calls?
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
No.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
I didn't.
I'm trying to think. The initial one.... No, I don't believe.... I was busy at the time. I know I spoke to him.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
The matter was brought to my attention. At the time, I let him know that I felt very badly about it and that I would respond, which I did on X.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Desfossés contacted you on December 2. What did he say?
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
He simply said the video.... They were upset. There was a controversy over the video. I simply said I would respond. I feel very badly about it.
December 11th, 2023 / 12:30 p.m.
Conservative
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
No, I did that myself. It was the only thing I could do to respond at that time. There was no way to put out a statement or anything like that. It was very clear that—
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Did you tell Mr. Desfossés that you would be putting out a tweet?
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Yes, I said that I would perhaps do something about it. I don't think I specifically said it would be a tweet.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
You were coordinating on a PR basis with the Speaker's office.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
No, I was just responding, in the sense of saying, “Here's what happened. Here's how I feel.” I wasn't coordinating a response. It's not that complicated.
As I said, I feel very—
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
I guess that would be subject to interpretation, Mr. Fraser.
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
I guess it would be.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Excellent, but that's not necessarily the tone we need on the matter.
You have two minutes, Mrs. Romanado.
Liberal
Sherry Romanado Liberal Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Through you, I would like to thank Mr. Fraser for being here.
I want to make sure I'm clarifying something for the record. There have been a lot of comments made.
I'm looking at the exact transcript of the video Mr. Fergus did. It starts out with, “Hey, buddy. It's such a great opportunity to speak about my long-time friend, John Fraser.” It doesn't say, “Hi, I'm Greg Fergus, Speaker of the House of Commons.” When I look at the actual transcript of what he said, it is very clear that his understanding of this request from your wife, a friend for a long time, is that it would be a private video to you. He didn't preface this with, “I am the Speaker and I'm wearing my robes. Here I am.” He thought it was a video to you. It was to thank you and talk about your friendship.
I want to make sure that's clear. There have been some allusions here that it was in his capacity as Speaker. I understand it got sent to the Ontario Liberal Party. They put a preamble on it—an introduction for a whole bunch of videos that says who these people are.
It's very clear to me that Greg made a mistake. He's apologized for that mistake. Quite frankly, the fact that this point of privilege.... Two parties in the House of Commons came out on Monday and said he should resign, without even giving him the opportunity to defend himself or to hear what actually happened, which we've now heard today. To me, they don't want to know the truth.
The truth is that he was asked to make a video. He made a video. He made a mistake. He's apologized, but they have already convicted him in the court of public opinion. Do you agree with that?
Member of Provincial Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, As an Individual
Yes, I do remember the video and how it started out. I thought what Madame DeBellefeuille was referencing was the header that was put on it at the Ontario Liberal Party.