House Speaker asks MPs to behave better in question period after incident
CTV
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus says he expects members of Parliament to behave better than they did last week, when an exchange between two party leaders got so heated one MP thought it may actually come to physical blows.
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus says he expects members of Parliament to behave better than they did last week, when an exchange between two party leaders got so heated one MP thought it may actually come to physical blows.
Fergus says he hopes to have more to say later this week in light of several demands from MPs for more discipline in the House.
"There were words which fall outside of what's acceptable," Fergus said before question period Monday.
"There was behaviour which was also outside of the parliamentary traditions."
His warning comes after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stepped out from behind his desk to shout at the Conservative leader last Thursday, when Pierre Poilievre called Singh a phoney and a fraud for his refusal to vote to bring down the Liberal government.
The Conservatives insist Singh challenged Poilievre to a fight, while NDP House leader Peter Julian says Singh was merely standing up to bullying from the Tory leader.
"I, for the first time ever sitting in the House, thought, 'If they get near each other, they're going to start hitting each other,'" said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, who sits directly across the aisle from Singh in the House.
