To the editor:
April 9 was the Day of Pink. It is the International Day against Bullying, Discrimination, Homophobia and Transphobia and it is a very laudable cause.
However, that day in Parliament our MP Ron Cannan [PC Kelowna-Lake Country] engaged in something very disturbing and shameful. He intimated a colleague in the House of Commons with the threat of bodily harm, to the point where he had to be physically restrained.
It’s been reported by MP Dan Harris [NDP Scarborough Southwest] that Ron Cannan “was getting belligerent and yelling at me from across the way” before appearing on the NDP side of the house. “He was coming down the row, yelling at me and he had to be physically restrained from coming at me…He was challenging me to come outside.”
This is what’s wrong with our politics under a Conservative government. We have people like Vic Toews standing up and telling us we are “either with the Government or with the pedophiles” or Pierre Poilievre launching an exceedingly personal attack on Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand.
And now, Ron Cannan had to be physically restrained in the House of Commons.
The time for hyper-partisanship is over. The tide has turned. Canadians deserve better; we deserve better.
I am sure Mr. Cannan regrets his lack of decorum and restraint, but I call on Mr. Cannan to make a public apology to the victims of bullying, and to the constituents of Kelowna-Lake Country for making such a shameful display.
Lance Greenberg,
president,
Liberal Party of Canada,
Kelowna-Lake Country