Homophobia accusations nearly get Trudeau booted from House

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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nearly got himself ejected from the House of Commons on Wednesday after refusing to withdraw a remark accusing the Conservatives of being homophobic.

MPs were well into question period when Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre asked about New York Consul General Tom Clark’s $9-million Billionaires Row condo in Manhattan — specifically regarding the home’s opulent bathroom, which featured a “hand-crafted copper soaking tub.”

The PM’s response was drowned out by jeers and catcalls from the Conservative benches.

But just after Speaker Greg Fergus stood, somebody in the Conservative benches allegedly shouted a remark about Trudeau sharing a bathtub with Clark — but sources in the House said the comment was a flippant question about Clark taking meetings in that bathtub with no mention made of the prime minister.

“Mr. Speaker, don’t worry, on this side of the House we’re used to casual homophobic comments from the other side of the House,” Trudeau began before he was cut off.

After conferring with House of Commons clerk Eric Janse, Fergus said he didn’t rise as the comments weren’t on the microphone, but asked Trudeau to withdraw his accusation.

“Standing up to bullies requires us to call them out on their crap sometimes and that’s what I’ll do,” Trudeau said before taking his seat.

Trudeau remained defiant as Fergus asked for a second time that the PM to withdraw his remarks.

“I will happily withdraw my comment if the member who suggested I was sharing a bathtub with Tom Clark stands up and takes responsibility for his …” Trudeau said before Fergus cut off his microphone.

Fergus, rising again, urged Trudeau to “be the better person” and withdraw his statement.

Trudeau acquiesced and withdrew his accusation, as well as his unparliamentary use of the word “crap” in his previous statement.

In a statement to the Sun, Conservative press director Sebastian Skamski insists the comment shouted by the Conservative member was neither homophobic or mentioned the prime minister.

“In question period the prime minister ridiculously claimed that luxury features like this were needed to conduct diplomacy and international relations so a Conservative member rightly questioned how a ‘handcrafted copper soaking tub’ was necessary to conduct diplomatic meetings,” he said.

“Of course there is no justification for wasting taxpayer dollars on these luxury features and the prime minister was clearly lying to gin up fake outrage to distract Canadians from this colossal waste of money.”

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Question period hadn’t even started Wednesday when the Speaker lost control of the House.

It took several tries for Miramichi–Grand Lake MP Jake Stewart to finish his pre-QP members’ statement without interruptions from Fergus, who took exception with the Conservative MP’s rather circuitous mention of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

“I would like to remind the honourable member to ensure the language which is used is not directed to a particular member in a way that would not be parliamentary,” Fergus said.

After cutting Stewart off for a second time, Fergus rose to jeers from the Conservative benches.

“Oh, come on, let him speak,” Coast of Bays–Central-Notre Dame MP Clifford Small shouted from his seat as the rest of the Conservative caucus gestured and grumbled.

As question period began, Fergus pleaded with MPs to “be judicious” in the use of their words.

“We may have our disagreements, but when regarding a specific person, we all need to be very judicious of our comments because we’re all colleagues here.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume