Conservatives put forward motion to oust Greg Fergus as Speaker of the House

Conservatives are asking the House of Commons to vote to remove Speaker Greg Fergus from the role over partisan language that appeared in an ad for an event in his riding.

Conservative MP Chris Warkentin moved a motion Monday afternoon that, if passed, would find Fergus in contempt of Parliament and declare the Speaker’s chair vacant.

“This Speaker has demonstrated countless times that he is unfit to be a non-partisan speaker,” Warkentin said in the House chamber.

“He’s a very, very effective partisan Liberal and … we’ve lost trust in his ability to govern this place.”

Warkentin moved the motion after Deputy Speaker Chris D’Entremont ruled that the use of partisan language in the ad amounted to a prima facie breach of MPs’ privilege.

The online posting for “A Summer Evening with the Honourable Greg Fergus” included a line that took aim at Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. It accused him of pursuing Conservative policies “that would risk our health, safety and pocketbooks” and promoted a Liberal plan to “grow an economy that works for everyone.”

The Liberal Party apologized to Fergus in a letter last week, saying the language posted on the event page was the auto-populated, standardized language the party uses for events on its website.

The language was posted without Fergus’s knowledge and “as a result of a miscommunication between the Party and the riding association,” said the letter from Azam Ishmael, the party’s national director.

“The Liberal Party unequivocally apologizes to you for this mistake, and we take full responsibility.”