Heckling and heated House conduct a sign of ‘political games,’ Gould says

After a week of name-calling, bitter rhetoric and bad blood in the House of Commons, the Liberal House leader says all sides need to tone down the “political games” — while still casting blame on who she says is responsible.

Government House Leader Karina Gould said there has been a “change in tone” in Parliament ever since Pierre Poilievre became the Conservative leader. But she added the behaviour from some Conservative MPs since the House reconvened on Sept. 16 has been “really egregious” and is getting in the way of important business.

“The Conservatives have obstructed more than half of the days of the business of the House of Commons simply for their own political purposes,” she told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.

She noted legislation on key issues like citizenship and immigration, rail and port system changes, and online harms, among others, remain up for debate.

“There are parliamentarians from three parties, as well as some independents, who want to be here to work for Canadians, and there’s one party that is playing political games right now because they think it’s to their partisan advantage.”

Tensions have been high as the Conservatives, riding high in the polls, introduced multiple motions of non-confidence to try and topple the Liberal government and trigger a snap election. The first such motion was defeated Wednesday but another will face a vote on Tuesday, with more promised before Christmas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was forced to withdraw comments made during question period  Wednesday including using the word “crap,” when he accused a Conservative MP of making “a homophobic comment.” The Conservatives have denied the comment was homophobic in nature.

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