Canadian Conservative leader expelled from House of Commons

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was expelled from the Canadian House of Commons after heated arguments with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Poilievre’s removal came after he refused to apologize for calling Trudeau “crazy” and an “extremist” during question period.

They were debating the controversial decriminalization of hard drugs in British Columbia.

Rachael Thomas, another Conservative MP, was also expelled.

British Columbia’s Conservative government is currently trying to reverse the province’s historic drug decriminalization.

During the conversation in the national parliament, Trudeau accused Poilievre of “shamefully” flirting with “white nationalists”, a reference to recent footage showing him with protesters at an anti-carbon price protest that featured flags and symbols of groups, including the extreme – Diagalon right group.

Poilievre, in turn, characterized Trudeau’s comments as his “ultimate distraction” from his own “extremist policies.”

“When will we put an end to this crazy policy of this crazy prime minister?” he said.

By this point, Speaker Greg Furgus had already expelled Ms Thomas for calling the Prime Minister “disgraceful”.

He intervened again, calling Poilievre’s comments “unacceptable” and asking him to “simply take them back.”

When Mr. Poilievre failed to do so, President Fergus expelled him from the chamber.

Most Conservative MPs followed suit.

“Today the Liberal speaker took me to task for describing Trudeau’s hard drug policy as crazy,” Poilievre, also called X, said on Twitter. “This is a crazy policy from a crazy prime minister who is destroying lives.”

British Columbia’s decriminalization project, which began in January 2023, has faced increasing resistance due to concerns about public disorder and drug use.

In early April, the province announced it would recriminalize hard drug use in public, partially reversing the policy.

Police will soon have the power to once again tackle drug use in all public places, including hospitals, restaurants, parks and beaches.

It is unclear when the new rules will take effect. The province said it is working with the federal government to “urgently” change the policy.