By Canadian Press

Opposition push to oust Speaker for third time over Liberal post attacking Poilievre

May 21, 2024 | 10:02 AM

OTTAWA — The Opposition Conservatives, backed by the Bloc Québécois, are calling for the House Speaker to resign over what they say is yet another display of partisan behaviour.

The accusation stems from a post on the Liberal party website promoting an event involving Speaker Greg Fergus.

The event details include a political attack on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, saying his “reckless policies” would risk the health, safety and pocketbooks of Canadians.

Liberal party spokesman Parker Lund says the language was auto-populated, and is standard language for events posted on their website.

He blames a miscommunication between the party and Fergus’s riding association, saying it had led to the wrong text being put on the website.

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A spokesman for the Speaker says the text was not approved by Fergus’s team, and that the Speaker’s riding association did not know the event was posted on the party’s website.

The post has since been taken down and Lund says the language is being corrected.

This is the third time Conservatives have called for Fergus to resign.

They asked him to leave the post when he addressed the Ontario Liberal party leadership convention while wearing his Speaker’s robe last year, and again last month when Fergus kicked Poilievre out of the House after the Conservative leader called the prime minister a “wacko.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press