Speaker silences Poilievre for a day after he accused foreign minister of pandering to Hamas

Speaker Greg Fergus ruled Tuesday that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre won't be allowed to speak in the House of Commons for the rest of the day after he refused to withdraw his claim that Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is pandering to Hamas.

In question period Monday, Poilievre asked Joly to condemn what he called "genocidal chants from hateful mobs" during recent protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Police have opened investigations into alleged hate speech following some rallies and charges have been laid in some cases.

Joly, reading from a prepared statement, recognized the one-year anniversary of Hamas's brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel and said, "We stand with Jewish people."

Poilievre again asked about the antisemitic chants. Justice Minister Arif Virani responded: "What we stand up against, absolutely, is the amount of hatred that we have seen."

Poilievre then told the House of Commons Joly should have taken a more definitive stand against the rhetoric heard at these protests.

"I gave the foreign affairs minister two opportunities to condemn the increasingly common and terrifying antisemitic chants we hear in the streets, such as 'Israel will soon be gone' and 'There is only one solution! Intifada, revolution!'" he said.

"Twice she refused to condemn those remarks. She continues to pander to Hamas supporters and the Liberal Party as part of her leadership campaign rather than doing her job."

Joly protested Poilievre's remarks and Fergus agreed Tuesday that Poilievre was out of line.

In his ruling on the matter, Fergus cited Liberal MP Yvan Baker claiming earlier this year that Poilievre's Conservatives were somehow linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The Putin wing has taken over the Conservative Party," Baker said, after the Conservatives voted against a bill dealing with a Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement.

Baker was barred from speaking in the Commons over that incident. Fergus said he must apply the same policy to Poilievre after he linked Joly to "an odious regime" and was unrepentant about it.

"When the leader of the Opposition was himself the subject of unparliamentary language, members of his caucus took great offence," Fergus said in French. "I am sure members can appreciate that I must do the same in the present circumstances."

While citing the Baker case as precedent, Fergus said he was lifting the ban on that Toronto MP effective Wednesday. Poilievre will also be able to speak then as well.

Fergus said he is tasked with deciding what is considered unparliamentary language in the chamber and MPs who ignore his authority can have a "corrosive effect on our discussions. This undermines the important work done by the House."