Speaker of the House of Commons Greg Fergus passes through the House of Commons foyer before Question Period in Ottawa, on May 1.Blair Gable/Reuters
The Conservatives have put forward a motion in the House of Commons to seek the removal of Greg Fergus as Speaker, whom the party criticizes as lacking impartiality in the role.
The motion was presented on Monday afternoon by Conservative MP Chris Warkentin after Deputy Speaker Chris d’Entremont said there was what is called a “prima facie” question of privilege that occurred with respect to Mr. Fergus.
In the House of Commons, an MP must convince the Speaker that their concern is, at first glance, a question of privilege, which is a matter for the House to determine. The MP who raised the question can then move a motion that allows for the House to take the matter in to immediate consideration.
On Monday evening, debate took place in the House of Commons on the alleged impartiality of Mr. Fergus, but the matter was adjourned. MPs will return to the privilege debate on Tuesday morning.
Mr. Fergus, a Liberal MP from Quebec, was elected Speaker last October. The Speaker’s role is to essentially be a referee, and their actions must be impartial to preserve the trust of the House.
But last week, Mr. Fergus received a letter from Mr. Warkentin that outlined the Conservative MP’s concerns with an advertisement for an event scheduled for the beginning of June called “A Summer Evening with the Honourable Greg Fergus.” A posting for the event included a line that “Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives propose reckless policies that would risk our health, safety and pocketbooks.”
Mr. Warkentin, who represents the Alberta riding of Grande Prairie-Mackenzie, said that the event was being promoted by attacking Mr. Poilievre, the Conservative Leader.
The Liberal Party of Canada then apologized to Mr. Fergus over the matter. On X, the party’s national director Azam Ishmael published a letter to Mr. Fergus about the ad, which the party has since taken down.
“The language that was posted on the event page of liberal.ca was the auto-populated, standard language we use for events on our website and was posted without your knowledge and as a result of a miscommunication between the party and the riding association,” he said last Tuesday. “The Liberal Party of Canada unequivocally apologizes to you for this mistake and we take full responsibility.”
The Conservatives this week say that if Mr. Fergus refuses to resign, the NDP must vote along with their party to remove him. The Bloc Québécois agrees that Mr. Fergus should no longer serve in the role of Speaker.
Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux questioned Monday why Conservative MPs want to punish Mr. Fergus for an action that the Liberal Party has said was its fault and has apologized.
“It was not the Speaker,” he said during the debate. “So it’s almost like saying we are going to punish little Johnny for stealing a chocolate bar when it wasn’t Johnny that stole the chocolate bar.”
Last week, NDP House Leader Peter Julian called on the Liberal Party to apologize to Mr. Fergus over the ad before it had done so.
This is not the first time Mr. Fergus has come under fire. Last December, he was criticized for participating in a congratulatory video for John Fraser, the former interim leader of the Ontario Liberals, who is a long-time personal friend. In the video screened at the party meeting where Bonnie Crombie was named Ontario Liberal Leader, Mr. Fergus wore his Commons uniform.