Speaker of the House of Commons Greg Fergus is facing calls for an investigation into whether a Conservative MP made homophobic comments about the Prime Minister on the Commons floor on Wednesday.
The incident, which turned an already raucous question-and-answer session into an all-out shouting match, came as Conservative leader Pierre Poiriévre’s government Controversial purchase of luxury apartmentGovernor of New York.
Listing out the apartment’s features, including a “handmade copper bathtub,” Poirievre asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau if he visited Consul General Tom Clark in his new home during his recent visit to the United States.
Shortly after Poirievre asked the question, a voice can be heard off-camera commenting on the bathtub, followed by loud laughter.
Microphones and cameras in the House of Representatives were unable to pick up the full comments or identify who made the statements.
After a moment a voice asked, “Is Tom in the top bunk?”
It is unclear whether the same person posted both comments.
After Fergus called on MPs to stop speaking out of turn, Trudeau quipped: “We are used to homophobic remarks coming from the other side of the House.”
A cry erupted in Parliament demanding that the Prime Minister be removed from the room for making unparliamentary remarks.
Fergus said he heard the comments but did not know who made them, and urged MPs to “treat each other with honour and respect” while calling on Trudeau to retract his comments.
“Sometimes you have to stand up to bullies and call them out for their shitty behavior, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Trudeau replied.
“If any council member who suggested Tom Clark and I shared a bathtub will stand up and take responsibility, I will gladly retract my statement.”
After more yelling and calls to “kick them out,” Trudeau walked back what he described as a “bowel comment.”
Fergus then allowed Trudeau to continue answering his original questions.
Immediately after the question and answer session, New Democrat MP Blake DesJarlais rose to question the proceedings, demanding that Fergus review recordings of the “derogatory, homophobic and cowardly” comments made by Conservative MPs.
Fergus said he would consider Desjarlais’ request and return to the floor if “necessary.”
Earlier this year, Poirievre was expelled from the House of Commons after calling Trudeau a “knockout” for supporting B.C.’s past policy of decriminalizing some hard drugs to reduce overdose deaths.
Conservative spokesman Sebastian Skamski said Conservative MPs were right to question why a “handmade copper bathtub” was needed to hold a diplomatic meeting.
“Of course, there is no justification for wasting taxpayer money on these lavish amenities. The prime minister clearly lied and stoked false outrage to distract Canadians from this enormous waste of money,” he said in a media statement.
