Speaker Greg Fergus will stay on after ouster vote fails

House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus will stay on in the job after a Conservative push to oust him failed Tuesday evening.

The vote seeking to oust him came after the deputy Speaker ruled that allegations of partisan behaviour require urgent attention.

This stemmed from a May 21 question of privilege raised by Alberta Conservative MP Chris Warkentin over allegedly partisan advertising used ahead of a constituency event hosted by Fergus.

In his ruling, Deputy Speaker Chris D’Entremont said he “did not expect” to have to rule on a question of privilege involving the Speaker.

“In ruling on this matter, I would like to clarify that I am not passing judgment on the alleged facts but rather on the priority these allegations should be given,” D’Entremont said Monday.

“Quite clearly, it is in the interest of the whole House to resolve this particular matter quickly and with all due seriousness. As a result, I find that a prima facie question of privilege exists in this case.”

Fergus appeared before the House of Commons procedure committee Tuesday, which is looking into issues of harassment in Parliament. During the meeting, Ontario Conservative MP Jamil Jivani asked Fergus directly about the motion to oust him.

“The story for the fundraising event and the highly partisan language used was that it went out in error and that it was a commonly used template. Have you been given assurances from the Liberal Party that this is, in fact, the story, and that this template was widely used by other MPs?” Jivani asked.

“So you’ll forgive me, Mr. Jivani, but this is a matter which is before the House. I wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on it right now before the House pronounces on this,” Fergus replied.

The advertising for the event