Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a brief intervention on the question, to follow on the points from the member for Kelowna—Lake Country and the member for Calgary Nose Hill, who spoke well to the facts of what occurred last night.
Some of your consideration, Mr. Speaker, of the evidence can be found on the ParlVU feed, with the member for London—Fanshawe's storming the Speaker's chair. The Speaker, of course, will be able to attest to the volume of that exchange, which was after he had declared that the House had been adjourned.
For my part, the House was adjourned, there was a fair bit of volume in the House, and the member for London—Fanshawe made an utterance that was not true with respect to another hon. colleague. I requested that she apologize. The request was rebuffed, so I insisted on it. I sat in my chair, and the member for London—Fanshawe, the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam, the member for Edmonton Griesbach and the member for Vancouver East all came to my seat and leaned over top of me.
During the exchange, of which there are multiple videos that the official opposition can make available to the Speaker, one can see there are hands being put in my face, there is obvious agitation on the part of the four members and there are very few words offered by me in the exchange.
When the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam made a statement about me that was false, I simply said that it was not true. The activity continued until the Sergeant-at-Arms instructed the four members to disperse. While the four members aggressively and loudly were over the top of my desk while I was seated, they continued. I remained seated, with very few words offered in response.
During yesterday's voting proceedings, the Speaker will know that at no time was his eye drawn to me for disorder, nor was I mentioned as having contributed to any of the matters that were raised by the member for London—Fanshawe.
This is a situation where a member has raised a question about their privilege having been violated and about harassment in this place, when the same member stormed the Speaker's chair, which cannot be accepted; made a falsehood about a colleague; and then was simply asked, with no accusations or personal attacks, to apologize for the falsehood. Then there was a refusal; there was not a discussion, but there was an inexplicable amount of vitriol unleashed on me and on the member for Kelowna—Lake Country while we were seated.
We said nothing in response. Perhaps we should have said something, but the situation needed to be de-escalated, and I am appreciative that the Sergeant-at-Arms did what he did in dispersing the members.
The Speaker then returned to the chamber to speak with me about what had occurred. I was still in my seat, and the member for London—Fanshawe could be heard using a raised and aggressive voice outside the chamber while we were still inside. That is really important in order to add some context to what everyone was experiencing in that moment.
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure how you will rule on the matter. I can tell you there is a fair bit of evidence that members of the official opposition can provide you—