Canada PoliticsElizabeth May heckled by NDP, evokes Jack Layton in her tweet of disappointment
Last spring, after the federal election, politicians of all political stripes insisted that they wanted to bring some civility to the House of Commons.
The New Democrats were the most adamant about it. A June 2011 CBC News article notes that the NDP, led by the late Jack Layton, "pledged not to heckle" in the House.
Well, that lasted all but a couple of days; we're now back to same old same old.
On Thursday, Green Party leader Elizabeth May stood up in the House to ask NDP leader Thomas Mulcair about his party's position on emission reductions.
Unfortunately for May, her question was drowned-out by the heckles of the NDP caucus:
A disappointed May tweeted about it shortly after.
There's a first. I couldn't finish my question due to heckling from the NDP. So much for Jack Layton's call for civility. #cdnpoli — Elizabeth May MP (@ElizabethMay) September 20, 2012
I wanted to ask when they would push for climate action instead of attacking everyone else. — Elizabeth May MP (@ElizabethMay) September 20, 2012
Usually when I sit down due to being heckled, the Speaker calls for order. New Deputy Speaker and it didn't happen. #cdnpoli — Elizabeth May MP (@ElizabethMay) September 20, 2012
Even MP Justin Trudeau, came to May's defence:
So much for the NDP playing nice: @elizabethmay dared suggest that the Liberals had a plan… How DARE she! youtu.be/Ga8c0Hd6oCo #angrytom — Justin Trudeau, MP (@justinpjtrudeau) September 20, 2012
NDP MP Joe Comartin is the new deputy speaker that May was referring to in her Tweet; he was named to the post earlier this week. In an address to the media, on Monday, he said that he would also like to work on bringing more civility to the House.
"We just haven't been able to break the cycle of lack of civility," he said.
Good luck with that Mr. Comartin.
