In his seventh day in the chair, the new Speaker of the House of Commons sought to address MPs on the topic of decorum in the chamber. Much disorder followed.
Greg Fergus, who was elected Speaker earlier this month, advised MPs on October 4 that he would be coming forward with “reflective guidelines” to foster civility in the House. He chose Wednesday afternoon, immediately before question period, to do so.
But before Fergus could begin his remarks, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was on his feet, apparently expecting to ask the first question of question period.
After a few awkward seconds, Poilievre attempted to ask his question, prompting Fergus to stop him and state that the Conservative leader would be able to ask his question once the Speaker was done speaking. But Poilievre stayed on his feet, prompting Fergus to seek advice from one of the House of Commons procedural clerks.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Greg Fergus, who was elected Speaker earlier this month, advised MPs on October 4 that he would be coming forward with “reflective guidelines” to foster civility in the House.
Less than three minutes into his statement, Conservative deputy whip Chris Warkentin stood on a point of order to suggest Fergus was filibustering the House and ask when the Speaker expected to be done.
“I decided to stand for Speaker because in the eight years that I have been a member, and prior to that as a keen follower of parliamentary proceedings, I have noticed a deterioration in the collective decorum in this place,” Fergus said, shortly before Warkentin’s interruption.
Despite much evidence to the contrary, it suggests that politics is not fated to be practised at the level of the schoolyard — that adults are capable of behaving in a way that doesn’t embarrass themselves or the the central institution of Canadian democracy.
Fergus said he would use the tools at his disposal to pursue these issues, but also vowed to work with MPs and parties privately to “see how we can join forces in our collective objective to improve the decorum in our proceedings.”
Depending on how hard Fergus pushes, he may face claims that he’s unnecessarily restricting MPs’ freedom of speech or ability to hold the government to account.
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