March 27, 1998
FUR FLIES AT FLAG-FLAP FRACAS HEARING
Bloc House Leader Michel Gauthier and MPs Michel Bellehumeur and Stephane Bergeron called the Liberal chairman of the hearing a "dictator and authoritarian" for refusing to give them unlimited time to grill the accused MPs, and then stormed from the meeting. As they left, London MP Joe Fontana, chairman of the national Liberal caucus, yelled: "You've got no respect for the institution anyway -- get the hell out." Earlier, as the Bloc MPs repeatedly interrupted the hearing by the Commons House affairs committee to protest a 20-minute time limit for questioning the accused MPs, Reformers blew their top. "I knew you were stupid, but not that stupid," Reform whip Chuck Strahl told the Bloc members. Reformer Jay Hill said Gauthier and Bergeron should be under investigation for their comments in the Sun story -- they warned that the Bloc would "not tolerate" flag-waving and anthem-singing. "They were more inflammatory than the members under investigation today," Hill fumed. Alberta Reform MPs Jake Epp and Peter Goldring and Ontario Grits Dan McTeague and Benoit Serre appeared yesterday to deny attempting to intimidate Speaker Gib Parent and the Commons. These four, along with Reform MP Cliff Breitkreuz, were quoted in a March 8 Sunday Sun story by Sun Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife, which stated that Speaker Gib Parent faced a revolt in the House if he ruled with the Bloc against flag-waving and anthem-singing in the Commons. The MPs insisted their comments were a matter of free speech and in no way were an attempt to threaten the Speaker of the Commons -- even if the news story gave that impression. |