A House of Commons committee has decided that Greg Fergus should stay in his job as Speaker, but he should apologize again, and reimburse Parliament for using its resources to make a video that was shown at a partisan event.
In a report released on Dec. 14, the procedure and House affairs committee also says there should be clear guidelines for future Speakers about the impartiality of their role.
The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois have called for Mr. Fergus to resign over a video in tribute to the outgoing interim leader of the Ontario Liberals, and renewed those calls on Dec. 14.
Mr. Fergus shot the video in his office while wearing his ceremonial robes, and it was played at the provincial party’s recent leadership convention. The Speaker later said he didn’t know it would be used that way.
“Today, an expectation exists among members of the House, and the wider public, that the Speaker’s duties ought to be carried out with scrupulous impartiality and independence,” the committee said in its report.
“The Speaker must be fair and impartial.”
The committee’s report does not say how much Mr. Fergus should pay to reimburse Parliament, and the official opposition says the House of Commons has no authority to impose a fine.
Conservative and Bloc Québécois members of the committee say the sanctions laid out in the report don’t go far enough, and have called on Mr. Fergus to resign his post.
In an addendum to the report, the official Opposition called Mr. Fergus’s explanation into question, and said the penalties recommended by the committee are meaningless.
“Even if there was authority to impose a fine, no amount of money could restore the trust and good-will required for Mr. Fergus to be able to do his job,” the Conservatives wrote.
The Bloc also expressed a lack of faith in Mr. Fergus’s judgement and impartiality.
“The Bloc Québécois had a right to expect that the Speaker would behave thoughtfully and beyond reproach, and that he would make decisions free from any appearance of bias. The result was the Bloc members’ irreversible loss of confidence in the Speaker,” the Bloc committee members wrote in their own addendum.
All members of Parliament were expected to vote on the report at a later date.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould said in a press conference Thursday that her party did not feel Fergus’s actions were a “resignable offence,” but that they would look at the committee’s recommendations closely.
Moments later, Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer rose to bring more evidence of the Speaker’s partisan activity to MPs in the House of Commons.
He held up a printed photo of Fergus and Liberal MP Sophie Chatel at an event together, posted on Instagram on Nov. 18.
In the photo, a smiling Fergus, wearing a suit and flower-patterned tie, posed next to Chatel and André Fortin, a Liberal member of the Quebec national assembly.
“This week, I had the privilege of participating in a remarkable event in the company of my colleague Greg Fergus. In this time when the political sphere is in full swing, supporting our colleagues is crucial,” Chatel’s caption read.
Scheer asked for unanimous consent to table the photo in the House, but was turned down. The Liberals have asked to see the photo before making a decision.
