Liberal MP Greg Fergus (Hull-Aylmer, QC), the first Black Speaker of the Commons, is making history as the first Speaker since Confederation to be summoned for cross-examination by MPs.During a secret session, the House Affairs committee decided to question Fergus regarding allegations of misconduct.The committee, which includes Liberal MPs, voted to summon Fergus along with party organizers “for at least two hours.”According to Blacklock’s Reporter, calls for Fergus's resignation are due to his videotaped greetings to a December 2 Ontario Liberal convention.“Boy, did we have fun,” said Fergus, videotaped from his Parliament Hill office wearing his official robes. “We had a lot of fun together through the Ottawa South Liberal Association, through Liberal Party politics, by helping Dalton McGuinty get elected.”MPs called the incident shocking. “I was shocked when I first saw the video,” said Conservative MP Luc Berthold (Mégantic-L’Erable, QC). Fergus was “the most partisan Speaker since I don’t know when,” said Berthold.None of the MPs defended Fergus’ conduct and he issued an apology but did not resign.During the open session, Conservative MP Eric Duncan (Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, ON) showed that the committee had only received two letters supporting Fergus. One from a Liberal-appointed Senator Andrew Cardozo and the other from a former Liberal MP Frank Baylis..“It is extremely important that we have a resolution, that we set some parameters for how Speakers are expected to engage,” Deputy Government House Leader Liberal Mark Gerretsen (Kingston & the Islands, ON) told the Commons earlier.The Commons Procedure and Practice guide states: “The Speaker must always show and be seen to show the impartiality required to maintain the trust and goodwill of the House.” In a 1965 essay in The Parliamentarian, Horace King, a scholar from King's College and a former Speaker of the British House, argued that Speakers must completely cut all political party affiliations.“The Speaker must not only be impartial in the chair, but his every action outside it must show the House and indeed the country that he is so,” wrote King. “He must sever his party connections.”The Commons voted unanimously to investigate Fergus, marking the first time MPs have cross-examined a Speaker in committee.“This current issue does arise in a context,” said New Democrat MP Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, BC). “The context is we just had the rather disturbing occurrence of having seen a Speaker resign because of a serious lapse of judgment.”Fergus became the Speaker on October 3. This happened after former Speaker Anthony Rota resigned suddenly on September 26. Rota faced controversy for introducing a Waffen SS member as a "Canadian hero" in the House of Commons. Now, the House Affairs committee is looking into this incident involving the Nazi incident.
