NDP leader ejected for calling MP from Quebec a racist
OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called a Bloc Québécois MP racist Wednesday after a New Democrat motion on RCMP discrimination failed to receive unanimous consent from the House of Commons.
Singh refused to apologize for the words directed at Bloc member Alain Therrien. That prompted the Speaker to order Singh to leave the House for the rest of the day.
Singh had asked the Commons to recognize there is systemic racism in the RCMP and to call on the government to review the force’s budget, ensure the Mounties are truly accountable and do a full review of the RCMP’s use of force.
There was at least one objection that blocked the move, though it was unclear who said no.
Bloc MP Claude DeBellefeuille came to Therrien’s defence, saying the NDP was treating her colleague as “a racist person, which is unacceptable in the House of Commons.
The Speaker asked Singh to apologize but he refused.
“It’s true, I called him a racist, and I believe that’s so,” Singh said.
The parliamentary dustup followed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s acknowledgment Wednesday that existing systems have failed to adequately address concerns about police behaviour, including in the Mounties.
Asked about the fact it often takes years for the RCMP to act on recommendations from the force’s civilian watchdog, Trudeau said: “We are going to move much quicker on responding to these things, on making changes to our institutions, to really go after systemic discrimination.”
The Green Party’s Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, wants a full inquiry into the RCMP, saying the national police force’s culture of unaccountability must be put under a microscope.