OTTAWA – The House of Commons got heated on Thursday. A Conservative MP does not seem to have liked that Minister Jean-Yves Duclos answered his question in French after it was asked in English.
“The question is in English, but I digress.” Conservative MP Larry Brock’s few words plunged question period in Ottawa into bedlam for a few moments. After these remarks, the Speaker of the House of Commons Greg Fergus had to intervene, calling for order on more than one occasion.
The Minister of Public Services and Quebec lieutenant for the Liberals, Jean-Yves Duclos, had insisted a few moments earlier on responding “in French to something that my colleague has already heard several times in English.” It was then that the Conservative MP retorted that he had asked his question in English, provoking boos from the Liberal benches.
“I will ask the colleague to repeat his question, but it is a basic fact that questions can be asked in French or in English and questions can be answered in English or in French,” Greg Fergus insisted.
“What we have just heard is an insult to all the French-speaking deputies in this chamber, including the conservative deputies,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, in the language of Molière.
He then continued by asking Larry Brock that “if he could not answer a question in French in this House, that he say it again”, thereby provoking a round of applause from his Liberal colleagues. .
This is not the first time that such an event has occurred in the conservative camp. MP Rachel Thomas had already asked Minister Pascale St-Onge, during a committee meeting, to provide her with a response in English.
The Conservative representative subsequently apologized on
“Every Member of Parliament has the right to express themselves in the official language of their choice and my comment was inappropriate, for which I apologize,” Mr. Brock wrote.
I would like to apologize to Minister Duclos and all my colleagues for the comments I made during question period today.
Every Member of Parliament has the right to express themselves in the official language of their choice and my comment was inappropriate,…
— Larry Brock (@LarryBrockMP) October 24, 2024
At the end of the session, the Minister of Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault, invoked a point of order, claiming “to have seen a blatant lack of respect”.
“I was unable to hear the minister’s response because of the commotion in the Chamber. The volume did not work correctly in my headset, and that is why I made this reference,” the Conservative MP pleaded.
“I clearly recognize that each member in this House can ask questions in both official languages,” he added.
“We all understood what he tried to do,” said Liberal MP Joël Lightbound, calling on Greg Fergus to order Larry Brock to apologize. But the Speaker of the House refused, claiming “that he had heard enough to move on.”
