The leader of Canada’s main opposition party has been expelled from the House of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a “freak” in the latest clash between the two ahead of next year’s election.
The incident began after Conservative Leader Pierre Poièvre criticized Trudeau for supporting a move to decriminalize some hard drugs in British Columbia in an effort to reduce overdose deaths. .
“When are we going to stop this eccentric prime minister’s eccentric policies?” he asked Trudeau in the House of Commons.
Liberal Speaker Greg Fergus called Poièvre four times to retract his comments, saying they were unparliamentary and unacceptable. Poilievre declined each time, saying he would instead use the words extremist and extremist.
Mr Fergus told Poièvre he was ignoring the speaker’s authority and, in an unusual move, “I order the remaining seats to vacate the House today.”
Poièvre, who left the chamber with MPs, then repeatedly attacked Trudeau’s stance on drugs.
“This is a bizarre policy by a bizarre prime minister and it is destroying people’s lives,” he said in a social media post.
British Columbia reversed course on some of its drug policies last week, reintroducing a ban on drug use in public places, but personal possession and consumption in private spaces will still be allowed.
Liberal MP Stephen McKinnon, who is responsible for government affairs in the House of Commons, told reporters the incident was shameful and showed disrespect for the system.
Prime Minister Trudeau has a rocky relationship with Poièvre, accusing him of being an extremist and supporter of Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.
Prime Minister Trudeau had earlier spoken to reporters on Tuesday, accusing Poièvre of spending time with far-right groups.
“That’s not responsible leadership. It’s dangerous to democracy and it’s dangerous to Canadians,” he said.
Expulsion from the House of Representatives is relatively rare. There was no immediate comment from the Speaker’s Office on when the last official opposition leader was removed from office.
The next election must be held by late October 2025. Opinion polls suggest the Conservatives will win a majority over the centre-left Liberal Party, which has been in power since November 2015.
