Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a point of order to draw attention to the disturbing incident that occurred in the gallery yesterday afternoon during votes.
I think members on all sides of the House are well aware that protests are a part of parliamentary life. In fact, during the summer months in particular it seems there is a protest on the front lawn of Parliament almost every day. However, those protests, invariably, are peaceful, and they are outside. Yesterday the protest occurred inside the House, and it was far from peaceful.
Many people who are listening to this may wonder how this could this occur, how could a protestor get inside Parliament.
The answer is quite simple. The protestor was sponsored and, in this case, he was sponsored by the member for Churchill. This is unfortunate because it is a continuing pattern. It seems that the member for Churchill has been involved in incidents like this before. Mr. Speaker, you will remember that just last year a handful of protestors staged a sit-in in the offices of the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. During that sit-in, the members of the protest group disrupted the activities of the office of the minister and intimidated his staff. That sit-in occurred only moments after those protestors left the offices of the member for Churchill, with whom they had had a meeting earlier.
When the protest occurred yesterday, one of the most distasteful elements was that it appeared quite apparent to all of us that the member for Churchill and her opposition colleagues knew that the protest was going to take place because they had their cameras ready and they were cheering and encouraging the protestor when he started to try to make his statements.
Members in this place are expected to uphold the dignity of and respect the institution in which they serve. However, by their very actions yesterday, members of the opposition who were applauding and encouraging the protestor actually diminished this institution, and for that they all should be ashamed.
However, it does not stop there. When security guards approached the protestor yesterday afternoon, the protestor engaged them in what can best be described as a wrestling match, thereby putting the safety of the security forces at risk. During that tussle, that wrestling match, members of the opposition--not all, but many--continued to applaud and cheer and actually egg on the protestor, thereby even further jeopardizing the safety of our security forces.
Mr. Speaker, I can assure you of one thing. On this side of the House, no member of the government would ever encourage or condone the actions of any individual who would put the health and safety of our security forces at risk.
I simply ask that the member for Churchill, at her first opportunity, stand in her place to apologize to the fine men and women of our security forces for putting their security in jeopardy and to apologize to this House for disrespecting the very institution in which they serve.