Chaos in Commons as Speaker cuts debate

OTTAWA • It was open rebellion from the opposition as the House of Commons erupted in yelling and deskslamming Friday morning with MPs protesting the Speaker’s decision to cut off a point of order about the Liberal government’s alleged “slush” fund.

The extremely loud and unusual ruckus began as opposition MPs rose in solidarity with NDP MP Daniel Blaikie, who was outlining procedural arguments against the government asking Parliament to approve $7 billion of spending all at once in this year’s main estimates. The government says the money will be used on budget promises.

Speaker Geoff Regan had cut Blaikie off after about 15 minutes, citing his right to move on after he’s heard “enough” on a topic. He then interrupted procedural arguments against that move from Blaikie, Conservative House leader Candice Bergen and Tory finance critic Pierre Poilievre, before trying to move on to ordinary House business.

MPs did not take it well. The Speaker stood up saying “Order, order!” repeatedly as at least a dozen MPs from the opposition benches yelled, “Point of order!” at the top of their lungs, banging on their desks. Blaikie, with a perfect rhythm, yelled it the loudest, at least 40 times. Meanwhile, government House leader Bardish Chagger tried three times to read out an unrelated procedural motion, but she couldn’t be heard over the noise. It lasted for eight minutes.

“I’ve never seen this in the House before,” one staffer remarked.

As he tried to bring the House back to order, Regan chastised Blaikie. “If he wishes to be heard, he may not be heard for some time. It may be difficult to recognize him if he does not take his seat and come to order,” he said.

Blaikie yelled, “It’s my right,” garnering loud applause from the opposition benches. Someone else yelled to the Speaker, “That’s a threat!”

MPs hit the pause button on the issue for question period, but Blaikie stood up afterwards to say his privilege had been violated by the Speaker.

Regan said he would “consider the matter” and get back to the House.

On the opposition side, several MPs also asked for Chagger to re-read the motion she had presented — on extending the sitting hours of Parliament for the last few weeks of the sitting — but despite the circumstances, the speaker deemed that she wouldn’t have to.

Outside, in the House of Commons foyer, Blaikie told reporters that the Speaker’s actions surprised him.

“Members have a right to raise points of order, and it’s the Speaker’s job to hear them. So if the Speaker will not hear a legitimate point of order, my only recourse is to continue to try to get his attention,” he said. “I think the Speaker has a duty to hear me out, and I think eventually he will, one way or another.”