Debates of Sept. 26th, 2024

Public Safety

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, while we appreciate that you have acknowledged and ruled that the Leader of the Opposition was out of order last Thursday, we are confused by the mixed messaging you have provided to the House. The member was out of order, yet he has still been allowed to participate in debate, and today he had five questions in question period. The regular practice is that a member is not recognized to speak until they have withdrawn. That is not being applied, and we have some concerns about the mixed messages.

I would also like to remind the Speaker of the very serious matter that was raised yesterday regarding the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. We are still waiting for him to withdraw and apologize for his homophobic and disgusting comment.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan is rising on his feet, and I will recognize him in due time. However, so that the member does not have to get up twice, I recognize the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the government House leader is rising on the same point of order.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to add a couple of thoughts to the point of order.

We have to put it into the proper perspective that, when a member is requested by the Speaker's chair to withdraw remarks, as has been pointed out, they are required to do so. If they do not, Speakers have not identified them until they make the apology. We can give ample examples of that.

We cannot allow a member of Parliament to violate the rules and then have it be that the political party pays the consequence. That is what we saw here. It was the Conservative Party that lost the three questions. There was no penalty for the leader of the Conservative Party. That causes a great deal of concern for all parliamentarians.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Before I move to the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, I will speak to the points raised by the hon. parliamentary secretary, as well as those raised by the member for Edmonton Strathcona.

The Speaker has made a ruling on this decision. I would encourage all members to read it very carefully. As we know, when there is something that contributes to Standing Order 18, the Speaker has some discretion as to what to do. The Speaker has certainly considered this question, has been in contact with others and has had many discussions. I would encourage the hon. members to read the ruling. If they wish to challenge the ruling of the Chair, they know the procedure to do so.

[Ben Carr, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order.

I would like to draw your attention, for the benefit of the House, to some language I have heard used that is unbecoming of the House and of members in the House. I have no interest in ascribing blame or pointing fingers, so I am not going to name names. However, there has been reference over the course of debate in the House, in the past few days in particular, to pagers and walkie-talkies exploding and reference to members in the House themselves perhaps having that type of technology, which is an obvious reference to the conflict that is happening in the Middle East right now.

I heard another comment from a member today that asked, “Did you get a thank-you letter from Hezbollah?” This was to an Israeli member of the House who has lost innocent loved ones in the conflict. We have other members of this chamber, from all sides, who have lost innocent people by virtue of the conflict that is taking place.

I again am not interested in being partisan. I simply want to draw your attention to this, Mr. Speaker, and call upon the better angels in the House to conduct themselves, on behalf of Canadians and one another, with compassion and dignity.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I thank the hon. member for Winnipeg South Centre for a thoughtful intervention, and I will take this opportunity to remind all members of the House that the most important thing that we can do, despite pursuing the interests of our constituents passionately and pointedly, is to make sure that there is a fundamental respect between all members. This is a point that the Chair has made and that chair occupants have made on several occasions.

Oral Questions

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say briefly that the NDP whip, in particular, has a history of making false and defamatory comments about me, and this is no exception. Members know this. It is very clear—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, please keep your comments to yourselves so the Chair can listen to the point of order being raised by the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, who was referenced in some other points of order. I think it is fair to allow him to raise his point of order, uninterrupted, to the Chair.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there was an exchange yesterday in question period about extravagant spending by the government, with $9 million spent on a luxury condo on Billionaires' Row. Now, the Leader of the Opposition asked a question—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, false or defamatory comments have been made about me. If members want to hear a response, I will provide one.

The Leader of the Opposition pointed out that $9 million was spent on this extravagant condo and identified a number of luxury features associated with that condo, including an extremely luxurious bathtub. Following that, the Prime Minister made no comment whatsoever about those features. Instead, he spoke about the kinds of international engagement that the government does. As Hansard clearly—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, I am going to ask the hon. member to please get to his point. It is very important that we do, or this may be perceived as engaging in debate.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, false and defamatory comments have been made about me. I am providing a response, and I hope members will benefit from reviewing the context of what happened.

There was $9 million spent on a luxury condo on Billionaires' Row in New York. In a question from the Leader of the Opposition, various luxury—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, I am going to invite the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan to get to the point immediately so that we can address the allegations that were made. He is almost there. We can then move on in the House.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard a few words said in the House about bullying. I am trying to provide an explanation with context and to answer false allegations that have been made against me. I will persist in doing that.

The Leader of the Opposition asked questions about a $9-million luxury condo purchased by the government, identifying a luxury bathtub as one of its particular features. In what followed, the Prime Minister ignored reference to those features and instead spoke about the engagement done by the government internationally. Hansard shows the exchange.

Many of the comments made on Twitter about what was allegedly said do not reflect what is in Hansard, which is this: “Does he engage with them in the bathtub?” The point of that comment is to illustrate that, of course, meetings do not take place in a bathtub. A luxurious bathtub has nothing to do with meetings; the Prime Minister's answer had nothing to do with the questions. However, the comment was not about sex. I was not thinking about sex at all.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will keep my remarks to a minute, and I hope you let me finish.

We heard the tape. I have listened to the tape. What we did not hear was an apology. I just want to understand whether the Speaker is saying that a Conservative member can make a homosexual slur against the Prime Minister of the country, and it is okay; the Conservative member can defend himself by speaking for a good ten minutes. Is that the standard we have in the House? We would like to know if it is the standard the Speaker is bringing because it would very much clarify where we go from here.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I see the hon. member for Don Valley West rising on a point of order. I hope it will be germane to the issue at hand.

The Chair will consider this and come back to the House, if necessary.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday a point of order was raised, and I am a little confused about whether it is a true point of order. The member for Edmonton Strathcona has essentially raised a new point of order but referred to yesterday's point of order.

However, to be victimized once in the House is sufficient without being revictimized by someone's pretense. We all heard what was said, and it is in Hansard. It is a homophobic slur. Indeed, there were two of them. They were both absolutely personal.

If the consul general in New York were a woman, the House would be outraged if she were treated this way. Every member should be outraged because there was a homophobic slur. I want you, Mr. Speaker, to take it under consideration.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, I appreciate the points of view raised by the members. I appreciate the hon. member for getting up and offering his perspective.

The Chair is obviously going to take this matter under advisement. I will just say this, which I think is really important. One of the best ways to avoid these kinds of situations is to make sure that members do not speak out of turn. In that way, we do not have a situation where there are different interpretations of what was said.

I thank all hon. members for rising on this issue. The Chair will consider this and come back to the House, if necessary.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, with all due respect, I have real issues with this.

On two occasions, once before the House rose, you let a Conservative member liken somebody's racial background for criminally—

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member is raising an issue that was brought up and decided by the Chair in a decision made by last week.

I will invite the hon. member to sit down and take a look at the ruling that is here.