Commons Speaker Greg Fergus says he is prepared to quit over partisan video

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Greg Fergus, who became Speaker of the House of Commons in October, says he is prepared to resign from his post if MPs decide that he should.

Mr. Fergus is under fire for participating in a congratulatory video for John Fraser, the former interim leader of the Ontario Liberals, and a long-time personal friend.

In the video screened at the party meeting where Bonnie Crombie was named Ontario Liberal Leader, Mr. Fergus is wearing his Commons uniform.

MPs on the procedure and House affairs committee are looking into Mr. Fergus’s appearance in the video and whether there should be consequences for it.

The Bloc Québécois and the federal Conservatives have called for him to quit, saying his partisan conduct raises questions about his impartiality, a concern given the Speaker’s role as a kind of referee in the Commons.

“I truly wish to rectify the problem and regain the trust of the House of Commons, but if the House decides that this isn’t possible, that the issue can’t be remedied, then of course I will leave,” Mr. Fergus said in response to a question from NDP House Leader Peter Julian.

If Mr. Fergus left the role, he would become the second Speaker to exit under a cloud this year. His predecessor, Anthony Rota, stepped down in September over his decision to invite a Ukrainian-Canadian war veteran – who, it turned out, was a former member of a Nazi unit – to the House of Commons during an official visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mr. Fergus, the first person of colour to serve as Speaker, was elected by MPs in a secret ballot in October.

He told MPs on Monday that he was asked to contribute the video by a member of Mr. Fraser’s family who contacted his office, and that he did so in a rush, between a pair of meetings, because he wanted to honour Mr. Fraser. He understood that the video was supposed to be screened at a private event.

“We were in a rush and I just did it in one take and moved on to my next meeting,” he told the committee. “I wish I had just taken a moment to think about it.

“I know I messed up and I won’t do it again.”

The Speaker said he plans to bring in a more rigorous communications protocol in his office to ensure this never happens again.

Also Monday, the acting clerk for the House of Commons said had he been asked, he would have advised Mr. Fergus against making the tribute.

“It’s a bit of a tightrope that the Speaker has to walk in terms of being a card-carrying member of a party and still the importance of being neutral and non-partisan in terms of presiding over the House, the Board of Internal Economy and the like; that perhaps this was going a bit too far into the partisan sphere,” he said.

The internal economy board manages the operations of the Commons, with advice from selected MPs.

The procedure and House affairs committee will report back to the House this week.

Bloc MP Claude DeBellefeuille said Mr. Fergus has been too compromised to continue as Speaker.

“The members of the Bloc will never be able to trust you again,” she said.

She said she had doubts about Mr. Fergus, a former federal Liberal Party national director and parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when he was elected Speaker.

“My doubts were confirmed,” she said. “Every time that you will now make a decision or do something, I will doubt you. I will wonder if you are not speaking to the government behind our backs.”

Mr. Fraser, an Ottawa-area member of the provincial legislature, also appeared Monday before the committee.

He said the party asked his family to compile material for the personal tribute video, linked to a presentation to mark the end of a run as interim leader of the party.

He said the tribute was a surprise, and he was not party to discussions around its assembly. His wife, he said, asked Mr. Fergus’s office for a video, and one was provided to the party who assembled the presentation.

Mr. Fraser described the “deeply personal” video as a “kind, heartfelt gesture” from one friend to another.

“Both I and my family were moved by its contents and we’re deeply sorry that an innocent request has negatively affected Greg and caused undue attention.”