May presents petition tied to 9/ 11 Green leader claims duty to table allegations that U. S. perpetrated attacks
TORONTO — Arguing she had no choice, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May presented the House of Commons Wednesday with a petition alleging a U. S. government conspiracy perpetrated the 9/ 11 attacks.
“As I understand the rules, I had to,” May explained in a series of followup Twitter posts. “It is a duty of an MP to present petitions and does not connote support.”
In a Thursday press statement, the MP for the B. C. riding of Saanich- Gulf Islands, also made clear she does not subscribe to any 9/ 11 “Truther” conspiracy theories.
According to Canadian parliamentary rules, however, there is nothing forcing MPs to put forward fringe petitions if asked.
“Members are not bound to present petitions and cannot be compelled to do so,” reads the latest edition of the guidebook of the House of Commons Procedure and Practice.
It adds, “nevertheless, it is evident that many Members consider it a duty to present to the House petitions brought forward by citizens.”
Even then, the duty appears to have a limit, which is why MPs are never seen presenting petitions calling for their own resignation or alleging the prime minister is a serpent.
In fact, it appears Paul Dewar, the opposition New Democratic Party’s critic for foreign affairs, rejected the 9/ 11 truth petition before it was taken up by the Green Party leader.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition, from petitioners in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and particularly in the Ottawa area, calling on the Government of Canada to conduct a parliamentary review into the events that occurred in the United States on Sept. 11,” May said Wednesday, according to official parliamentary transcripts.
The petition comes from ReThink911 Canada, a group best known for buying billboards and transit ads claiming that the twin towers of the New York World Trade Center were destroyed by controlled demolition, rather than being hit by hijacked aircraft.
The group’s petition reads in part, “your petitioners pray for the Government of Canada to conduct a parliamentary review of the omissions and inconsistencies in the official United States of America 9/ 11 Commission Report.”
It adds this will protect Canada from “future acts of state sponsored terrorism.”
On Thursday, an official Green Party statement said it does not sympathize with the truther movement, but “believes that no citizen should be denied the right to make their voice heard in Parliament.”
Although the Green Party promotes itself as an indomitable supporter of evidencebased policy, it has courted fringe pseudo- scientific positions, such as alleging Wi- Fi and fluoridated water are dangerous to human health.
In fact, on the same day May was presenting the 9/ 11 petition in the House of Commons, a
No citizen should be denied the right to make their voice heard in Parliament. GREEN PARTY OFFICIAL STATEMENT
panel of infectious disease specialists was appearing before a Senate committee to question the scientific merits of a Green Party bill on Lyme disease.
The specialists, representing the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Canada, criticized the bill for suggesting Canadian doctors and nurses are refusing to properly diagnose Lyme disease and “abandoning sick people with a treatable illness.”
This view, they argue, is not backed by science and comes instead from a controversial movement equating chronic fatigue symptoms with an unproven version of Lyme.
“We have the funny situation of this person who fights for climate change and believes in science … who here is totally missing the point,” said Dr. William Bowie, who teaches infectious disease medicine at the University of British Columbia.
“She’s arguing on behalf of an anti- science lobby, which seems to me to be incredibly ironic.”