It was a surreal moment yesterday in the House of Commons:
Justin Trudeau was accused of “manhandling” the Conservative whip and elbowing NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau on the floor of the House of Commons just prior to a vote on controversial assisted-dying legislation, Bill C-14.
“I was standing in the centre talking to some colleagues,” Brosseau told the House after calm was restored. “I was elbowed in the chest by the prime minister and then I had to leave.
Footage from the Commons television feed showed Trudeau wading into a clutch of MPs, mostly New Democrats, and pulling Opposition whip Gordon Brown through the crowd in an effort to get the vote started – a no-no in parliamentary procedure.
“This isn’t about me, it’s about the Liberal Party’s lack of respect for Parliament, and its unilateral attempts to take control of the House of Commons, which set off tonight’s events,” Brown said afterwards.
Trudeau says he was just trying to help the Conservative party whip through a throng of MPs prior to the vote and insists he never intended to hurt anyone.
More details here. It doesn’t look like the prime minister was deliberately elbowing Brosseau, but Trudeau was very deliberately entering the fray and laying his hands on another MP. What, exactly, was he trying to accomplish and why did he feel the need to physically intervene? It was rather uncivil and petulant behaviour, to say the least, and doesn’t speak well for Trudeau’s ability to keep his composure under slightly stressful situations.
This is not how a prime minister should behave.
More of the reaction from last night on Twitter:
Rob Breakenridge is host of “Afternoons with Rob Breakenridge” on Global News Radio 770 Calgary and a commentator for Global News.