Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen has proposed banning calling Justin Trudeau corrupt to “improve decorum” in the House of Commons.
Free speech isn’t doing too well in Canada. On Friday, in response to PM Justin Trudeau and his government being called ‘corrupt’ repeatedly over their many, many scandals and ethics violations, rather than reflecting on the state of their party and the activities they engage in, Liberal MP and Deputy House Leader Mark Gerretsen instead asked the Speaker of the House to consider a ban on the word.
“My point is that, today, during question period, the member for Regina—Wascana referred to the Prime Minister as “corrupt” and to the government as “corrupt”. Although he did it today, it has been done a number of times in the House. I would say that terminology specifically goes against Standing Order 18,” Gerretsen said.
At this point, Gerretsen was interrupted, with Conservatives yelling debate—an offer which Gerretsen rejected.
Standing Order 18 states that no Member of Parliament shall speak disrespectfully of the Sovereign, Royal Family, Governor General, other Members of Parliament, or the person administering the government of Canada (i.e., the Prime Minister).
In other words, MPs should try to keep decorum and can’t falsely slander someone. However, there’s nothing in there about saying something about someone that is undeniably true.
“Madam Speaker, I would ask that you reflect on and include in your deliberations and reporting back to the House whether or not the word “corrupt” in reference to an individual or the government is appropriate,” Gerretsen said.
To this, Conservative MP Corey Tocher stated the obvious—that Trudeau and the Liberals have been caught time and time again engaging in corrupt activities.
“Madam Speaker, if you ask the Ethics Commissioner about all of the infractions that the Prime Minister has been charged and convicted with on corruption, you will find the truth to be that this is a corrupt government and Prime Minister,” Tocher said.
Conservative MP Branden Leslie added, “Madam Speaker, I would like to add that, as you move forward in your deliberations on this, given we had a historic event happen earlier this week with historic corruption once again in this country, combined with the numerous ethics violations, “corruption” is the appropriate word for the Prime Minister.”
The Speaker concluded by saying that this would be taken into consideration but did not issue a ban on referring to Trudeau as ‘corrupt’.
