The Liberal MP who was accused of making an insulting gesture toward Conservative MPs during a House of Commons vote on the carbon tax claimed he has been harrassed on social media.
“I have received threats of violence. I have had people threaten to cause violence at my constituency office and I regret to say that I have also received death threats. This is not OK. My staff are scared and members of my family are scared,” Liberal MP Ken McDonald told the chamber on Nov. 8.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the MP for Newfoundland and Labrador denied making an obscene hand gesture on Nov. 6 when voting against a Tory motion to suspend the federal carbon tax on home heating. The motion failed 186 to 135, despite having the support of the NDP.
After standing up to vote against the measure, Mr. McDonald scratched the side of his head with two fingers, which some Conservatives interpreted as a rude gesture.
“He gave the finger to the senior choosing between heating and eating, he gave a finger to all those struggling to make ends meet in an unaffordable Canada. He gave the finger to all Canadians,” Conservative whip Kerry Lynne-Findlay said.
“I scratched the side of my head. If they think it was one finger, that’s up to them,” Mr. McDonald responded.
Mr. McDonald was the only Liberal MP to vote in favour of the Conservatives’ Oct. 4 motion to get rid of the carbon tax, claiming the policy was hurting rural Canadians and reducing the Liberals’ chances of being re-elected.
‘Two Versions of the Same Event’
On Nov. 9, Ms. Findlay said she was unsympathetic to Mr. McDonald’s plight, as “we all face threats being public servants and being in the public eye. She added that the Liberal MP did “what I stated I saw him do.”Conservative MP and Opposition House Leader Andrew Scheer said Canadians could decide for themselves what occurred. “Canadians who saw that gesture clearly know what the member did. They can see the obvious gesture,” he said.
“It is now on social media. It lives on there. Canadians, especially the voters in Avalon, can make their own determination about whether they think it is appropriate when people are struggling with their home heating bills to get the finger from a member who was voting against our common-sense motion.”
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus said he was unable to determine whether Mr. McDonald gave the middle finger or not.
“The chair committed to reviewing the video in order to determine if an offensive gesture was made by the member during the vote,” he said. “Having done so, the chair cannot make a conclusive determination as to the nature of the gesture.”
Mr. Fergus, a Liberal, said the chair was left with “two versions of the same event,” and he had to take MPs at their word. “I therefore consider the matter closed.”
