Earlier this week, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Greg Fergus, admonished Members of Parliament in general, and gave them a warning about their behaviour after a heated exchange in the House of Commons some thought could turn to blows.
The Conservatives stated the NDP leader Jagmeet Singh challenged Conservative leader Piere Poilievre to a fight during the exchange, while the NDP stated Singh was standing up to bullying from Poilievre.
The row in Parliament has MPs calling on the Speaker of the House to do more to enforce the rules on decorum, complete with a motion being introduced reaffirming that violence, insults and threats have no place in Parliament.
For Souris-Moose Mountain MP Dr. Robert Kitchen, the manner the rules are applied in the House shows a bias of the Speaker.
“We saw today where the Prime Minister took up and made some comments which were derogatory, and the Speaker asked the Prime Minister twice to stand up and retract those statements, which the Prime Minister didn’t,” Kitchen said of an exchange in the House of Commons Wednesday afternoon after a non-confidence motion was voted on. “Yet, just a couple of months ago, when the same thing, or a similar thing, occurred with Pierre Poilievre when he didn’t retract a statement he kicked him out of the house.”
Kitchen stated the Speaker is demonstrating inconsistency in the application of the rules, and referenced the incident from last Thursday.
“The NDP leader stood up and stepped into the aisle to call someone out, and yet again, the Speaker quietly says things but does not admonish people for that sort of behaviour.”
The Speaker of the House of Commons can order an MP to withdraw or apologize for behaviour or comments, bar an MP from speaking in the House of Commons for a period of time, or order the MP to leave the Chamber.