Shifting gears into federal politics, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau physically manhandled 2 MPs in the House of Commons today prior to a key vote on Liberals planning to take control of the House.
Is this acceptable behaviour for a Prime Minister?
From the article: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was accused of "manhandling" Opposition whip Gord Brown and elbowing NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the House of Commons as MPs gathered for a vote on the government's assisted-dying bill Wednesday afternoon.
In video from the House, Trudeau is seen walking toward Brown in a crowd of MPs in the Commons aisle, taking his arm in an apparent effort to move Brown toward his seat. While doing so, he encountered Brosseau, who was also standing in the aisle and was seen physically reacting after the contact.
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THE STORY DOES NOT END THERE
Tory whip Gord Brown: It’s time to get past Trudeau’s elbow incident
Brown says he was trying to get past NDP MPs before the PM crossed the aisle, calls conspiracy theory “a stretch on a good day.”
https://www.thestar.com/news/
https://www.thestar.com/news/
By Tonda MacCharlesOttawa Bureau reporter
11:52 AM, Sat., May 28, 2016
https://www.thestar.com/news/
VANCOUVER—Conservative whip Gord Brown believes Justin Trudeau’s political reputation took a hit when the prime minister crossed the Commons floor, swearing, and dragged him out of a knot of Opposition MPs.
In an interview with the Star and Canadian Press at the Conservative convention, Brown said the appropriate sanction is now up to a Commons committee.
“The prime minister has apologized. I think that he has suffered some hit to his credibility, and that’s something he has to deal with. I think Canadians see him in a different light than they did a week ago. I think they were surprised at what happened. But that’s up to the committee.”
He said the committee may call NDP MP Ruth-Ellen Brosseau, him and even Trudeau, but added, “He did apologize. I think most Canadians think we should move on from this.”
Brown said he hopes tempers in Parliament have cooled in the week since Trudeau the incident, but he rebutted suggestions that the Conservatives and the NDP had coordinated a delay of the vote to limit debate on assisted suicide that night.
VANCOUVER—Conservative whip Gord Brown believes Justin Trudeau’s political reputation took a hit when the prime minister crossed the Commons floor, swearing, and dragged him out of a knot of Opposition MPs.
In an interview with the Star and Canadian Press at the Conservative convention, Brown said the appropriate sanction is now up to a Commons committee.
“The prime minister has apologized. I think that he has suffered some hit to his credibility, and that’s something he has to deal with. I think Canadians see him in a different light than they did a week ago. I think they were surprised at what happened. But that’s up to the committee.”
He said the committee may call NDP MP Ruth-Ellen Brosseau, him and even Trudeau, but added, “He did apologize. I think most Canadians think we should move on from this.”
Brown said he hopes tempers in Parliament have cooled in the week since Trudeau the incident, but he rebutted suggestions that the Conservatives and the NDP had coordinated a delay of the vote to limit debate on assisted suicide that night.
“I
was the one that actually said to Andrew Leslie, ‘Let’s go.’ And before
I knew it I was surrounded by the New Democratic Party members.”
He said that usually, when he and Liberal whip Andrew Leslie begin to walk up the aisle prior to a vote, NDP MPs milling about “scurry into their seats.”
“I honestly did not see that coming. I said to them, ‘I need to get through. Now let me go through.’ If you see the video, I’m trying to get through.”
He said that usually, when he and Liberal whip Andrew Leslie begin to walk up the aisle prior to a vote, NDP MPs milling about “scurry into their seats.”
“I honestly did not see that coming. I said to them, ‘I need to get through. Now let me go through.’ If you see the video, I’m trying to get through.”
“And
I was nearly through when the Prime Minister, I see him charging
towards us and then … he grabbed me and I told him to let go of my arm. I
said, ‘Let go of me, now.’ He had no business grabbing my arm.” Brown
said Trudeau “grabbed my arm as if he was trying to get me through.
“It was an extraordinary situation. The prime minister should not have been on the other side of the House. There’s a reason why the parliamentary tradition is two sword-lengths apart between the Opposition and the government.”
He said he didn’t walk around the NDP members, because “I figured they were going to move out of the way. So I got in the middle of it and I tried to get through.”
Brown said he did not realize at the time that Trudeau had elbowed NDP MP Brosseau, because “he did pull me through and we all know what he said. I heard him telling the NDP members to get the f- out of the way. That’s pretty clear.”
Brown said he has not spoken personally to Trudeau since that night. When MPs immediately raised Trudeau’s behaviour with the Commons Speaker, Trudeau yelled across the aisle at Brown.
“He was yelling across to me, ‘You know I was trying to help you.’ I think he realized at that point that he was in some trouble, and so I just said to him, ‘You know you shouldn’t have been out of your seat.’”
Brown called the social media backlash blaming Brosseau “really unfortunate” and said he, too, had received similar comments. “I was just doing my job. There’s only two members of Parliament who should have been on the floor at that time. That was myself and the government whip, Andrew Leslie.”
“For someone to suggest that I conspired with the New Democrats behind the scenes to concoct a situation where the Prime Minister would come charging out of his seat? C’mon. Let’s get serious. That’s a stretch on a good day.”
Brown said the deterioration in relations between the parties happened the week before the incident over Liberal attempts to limit debate on C-14, the assisted suicide bill.
Before that there was “great cooperation” and “great relations” between the Conservative and Liberal House leaders and whips, Brown said.
They’d agreed to “vote pairing,” a longstanding tradition that had ended during the Stephen Harper era, where the government and Opposition mutually agree to allow a travelling MP or minister to miss a vote without penalty because a member from the other side would abstain.
The government communicated with the Opposition what bills they would bring forward, and Brown said even the Liberals’ use of time allocation in some cases, as on budget measures, was “their right.”
But he said the argument over whether the House should sit around the clock to debate the assisted suicide bill — a matter of conscience that all parties were giving MPs a free vote on — created political acrimony that hadn’t existed before that. Conservatives opposed the Liberal offer of all-night sittings.
Brown said the Liberal House leader Dominic Leblanc “seems very reasonable” and had worked well with Conservatives in the past, but after the Liberals nearly lost an unrelated vote on Air Canada’s maintenance facilities, things changed. “I think he was given direction to shut this debate down and make it go as quickly as possible.”
Brown said the past week when Parliament didn’t sit was a helpful cooling-off period.
“I think there’s been a big change, a sea change since last week.”
He said the Liberal government’s “climb-down” and withdrawal of a motion to unilaterally control the parliamentary agenda “is a positive sign, and hopefully we can get back to working cooperatively.”
“It was an extraordinary situation. The prime minister should not have been on the other side of the House. There’s a reason why the parliamentary tradition is two sword-lengths apart between the Opposition and the government.”
He said he didn’t walk around the NDP members, because “I figured they were going to move out of the way. So I got in the middle of it and I tried to get through.”
Brown said he did not realize at the time that Trudeau had elbowed NDP MP Brosseau, because “he did pull me through and we all know what he said. I heard him telling the NDP members to get the f- out of the way. That’s pretty clear.”
Brown said he has not spoken personally to Trudeau since that night. When MPs immediately raised Trudeau’s behaviour with the Commons Speaker, Trudeau yelled across the aisle at Brown.
“He was yelling across to me, ‘You know I was trying to help you.’ I think he realized at that point that he was in some trouble, and so I just said to him, ‘You know you shouldn’t have been out of your seat.’”
Brown called the social media backlash blaming Brosseau “really unfortunate” and said he, too, had received similar comments. “I was just doing my job. There’s only two members of Parliament who should have been on the floor at that time. That was myself and the government whip, Andrew Leslie.”
“For someone to suggest that I conspired with the New Democrats behind the scenes to concoct a situation where the Prime Minister would come charging out of his seat? C’mon. Let’s get serious. That’s a stretch on a good day.”
Brown said the deterioration in relations between the parties happened the week before the incident over Liberal attempts to limit debate on C-14, the assisted suicide bill.
Before that there was “great cooperation” and “great relations” between the Conservative and Liberal House leaders and whips, Brown said.
They’d agreed to “vote pairing,” a longstanding tradition that had ended during the Stephen Harper era, where the government and Opposition mutually agree to allow a travelling MP or minister to miss a vote without penalty because a member from the other side would abstain.
The government communicated with the Opposition what bills they would bring forward, and Brown said even the Liberals’ use of time allocation in some cases, as on budget measures, was “their right.”
But he said the argument over whether the House should sit around the clock to debate the assisted suicide bill — a matter of conscience that all parties were giving MPs a free vote on — created political acrimony that hadn’t existed before that. Conservatives opposed the Liberal offer of all-night sittings.
Brown said the Liberal House leader Dominic Leblanc “seems very reasonable” and had worked well with Conservatives in the past, but after the Liberals nearly lost an unrelated vote on Air Canada’s maintenance facilities, things changed. “I think he was given direction to shut this debate down and make it go as quickly as possible.”
Brown said the past week when Parliament didn’t sit was a helpful cooling-off period.
“I think there’s been a big change, a sea change since last week.”
He said the Liberal government’s “climb-down” and withdrawal of a motion to unilaterally control the parliamentary agenda “is a positive sign, and hopefully we can get back to working cooperatively.”
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