OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backed the leader of an opposition party who was ejected from the House of Commons for branding the member of another party a racist and refusing to apologize. New Democratic Party head Jagmeet Singh, the first minority leader of a federal Canadian political party, had been trying to win support for a motion recognizing the existence of systemic racism in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
When a legislator from the Bloc Quebecois refused to support the motion, Singh called him racist, prompting the speaker to eject Singh for the rest of the day. "It is important that we recognize when the only racialized leader in the House of Commons makes a statement like that, that it comes from a place that yes, will make people uncomfortable, but needs to be dealt with as we move forward as a country," Trudeau told reporters.
Trudeau has frequently said there is a need to address systemic racism in Canada. In an address to reporters, Singh said he had been angry and added: "In that moment, I saw the face of racism." Many Canadian cities have been the sites of anti-racism rallies in recent weeks, on the heels of similar protests in the United States.
Singh, a practicing Sikh is a former criminal defense lawyer. The Bloc said it had objected to Singh's motion because the House of Commons public safety committee was already studying systemic racism in the police. Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet demanded Singh apologize for making what he called unwarranted accusations. Canada is a multicultural country, with more than 22% of the population is made up of minorities and another 5% aboriginal, according to the latest census.
Jagmeet Singh refuses to apologise
Jagmeet Singh said that he stands by his actions and words in the House of Commons. "I don't back down from standing up to racism... I don't think it benefits me to call people names, I was angry at the moment and I stand by it," Singh said in a press conference a few hours after the very tense moment during the special sitting to study the latest round of federal spending measures.
Singh was seeking the unanimous consent of the House of Commons to pass a motion calling on the House to recognize there is systemic racism within RCMP and call on the government to review the RCMP budget as well as the federal law that governs the police force. His motion also called for other accountability measures related to the RCMP, including a full review of the use of force by members and the training officers get. It appeared that all other parties were on side with the motion but an audible "no" came from the area in the House of Commons where the Bloc Quebecois caucus sits.
Singh and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet could then be seen exchanging heated words, before Bloc Quebecois MP and party whip Claude DeBellefeuille called on the House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota to call for order, saying in French that the NDP leader had insulted her colleague and was using un-parliamentary language.
Singh then rose, and said in French: "It's true, I called him a racist." He was asked to apologise and he refused. After a few minutes of deliberation, Rota rose and ruled that for his comments and refusal to apologise when asked, Singh was not able to participate in the remainder of the day's sitting.
