Mr. Speaker, this morning, during a debate here in the House, I drew the Chair's attention to the comments the leader of the New Democratic Party made to my colleague, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.
Mr. Speaker, you indicated that we would review the record and review this incident. The record is now in. I do have the blues and I just want to read into the record some of the comments of the leader of the New Democratic Party toward the government House leader, as disturbing as that might be.
He called her a buffoon and then went on to say, “Where is the organ grinder? You are not the monkey.”
These comments are demeaning, belittling, and unparliamentary. Now I understand that the minister and the leader have spoken, but I wanted to state that as the comments were made in this place, I want to give the member the opportunity to apologize for them publicly.
I also know that the tone has not been great perhaps since we came back, and we all have a bit of responsibility to take for that. We certainly have not been perfect, and I do not think that anyone can claim perfection, but these types of comments do not help the tone and the atmosphere in this place. I wanted to table for you and for hon. members the fact that these comments were made and give the hon. leader of the New Democratic Party the opportunity to explain himself and perhaps apologize publicly.