Thursday, December 6, 2012

Nathan Cullen in the middle of the "Commotion in the Commons"

Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan seemingly was channeling Jean Claude Van Damme on Wednesday, as tempers got a tad out of hand in the House of Commons with Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP and NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen one of the principles in a most acrimonious exchange.

Cuss words were a flying and fingers a wavin' around the House of Commons, as Mr. Van Loan crossed the floor to address Mr. Cullen, upset about some procedural wrangling that he apparently did not find much favour with.

As the nasty exchanges continued, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair interceded with his own strong language, while other MP's including Defense Minister Peter McKay gathered around to lead Mr. Van Loan back to his own side of the House.  Or a neutral corner if you will as we keep to the theme of pugilistic pugnaciousness.
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The incident flared up after a lengthy night on Tuesday, with apparently sleep deprived MP's working late into the night to debate and discuss Bill C-46, Wednesday when the NDP House Leader raised a point of order, Van Loan seemingly lost it a bit.

The NDP House Leader (perhaps doing the math on mass and physics and such) for the most part seemed to hold his temper in check, though he did later express concern to the CBC over the perception of ongoing bullying in the House of Commons, a topic that the outburst seems to have highlighted.

As things evolved, cooler heads eventually prevailed and the Commons returned to its normal level of debate, such as things are in Ottawa these days.

The outburst was clearly not the House of Common's best moment, Canadians no doubt hoping that our elected officials can somehow find their way out of the playground style scrapping that seems to be of yesterday's display.

If this kind of thing keeps up, Clearly what the House of Commons will need is a Playground Monitor, one willing to send the more belligerent of our MP's off to the corner for a time out...

The reviews of the near rumble in the Commons can be found below...

December 6-- Cullen in Middle of Heated Exchange in the Commons
December 6-- Van Loan apologizes after dropping 'F bomb' in verbal dustup with NDP but may still face formal complaint
December 6-- Near-brawl erupts in Commons between Tory Peter Van Loan and NDP's Nathan Cullen
December 6-- Heated exchange between Van Loan, Mulcair in House
December 6-- Tory House Leader Van Loan apologizes for swearing during Commons skirmish
December 6-- Van Loan and Cullen should turn to coffee to bury proverbial hatchet
December 6-- Tory House Leader apologizes for 'inappropriate word'
December 6-- Verbal brawl erupts on the floor of the House of Commons
December 6-- Tory House leader apologizes for inappropriate word
December 6-- Cullen on Commons confrontation (video)
December 5-- Tempers flare in Commons over omnibus budget
December 5-- 'Don't threaten my House Leader': Mulcair, MPs nearly come to blows over budget

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