Accusations of homophobia and partisan jabs took centre stage in the House of Commons on Thursday as MPs debated another Conservative motion aimed at toppling the government, after their first attempt failed.
The fall sitting of Parliament has been off to a heated start and hostilities continued to run high Thursday, forcing House Speaker Greg Fergus to play referee in question period and beyond.
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis defended himself against accusations of homophobia over a comment he made on Wednesday about the prime minister engaging in a bathtub with other leaders.
The comment, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s response, derailed question period for a time after Trudeau accused the Tories of bullying and casual homophobia, and said he would “call them out on their crap.”
On Thursday, NDP MP Heather McPherson called on the Speaker to uphold decorum in the House of Commons, calling Genuis’s remark homophobic and disgusting.
“It had nothing to do with sex, I wasn’t thinking about sex at all,” Genuis said, as members around him shouted.
The tensions in Parliament come as the Conservatives make back-to-back bids to try and bring down the minority government.
The majority of MPs voted on Wednesday against the first non-confidence motion that was put forward by the Conservative leader.
If that motion had passed, it would have defeated the government and very likely triggered an immediate election campaign.
The Conservatives are now accusing the NDP and Bloc Québécois of propping up a government they have repeatedly criticized.
However, the NDP and Bloc are rejecting the Conservatives’ framing of events, saying that the non-confidence vote essentially asks them to support Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over Trudeau.
The second non-confidence motion brought forward by Poilievre on Thursday states that the House of Commons has lost confidence in the Liberal government and “offers Canadians the option to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.”
That’s the list of slogans the Tories have been using for months.
NDP MP Charlie Angus said Thursday the confidence vote was about “whether the leader of the Opposition should be trusted.”
The series of confidence votes comes after the NDP ended the supply-and-confidence deal that had kept the government stable since early 2022.
The Bloc Québécois has given the Liberals until Oct. 29 to pass two private member’s bills related to supply management and old age security if they want to avoid an election before Christmas.
MPs will vote on the latest Tory motion on Oct. 1 and on another confidence motion related to the Liberals’ capital gains tax changes on Oct. 2.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.