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Canadian MP caught using the bathroom during virtual parliamentary sessions

Canadian MP caught using the bathroom during virtual parliamentary sessions

By م.زهير الشاعر

Published: May 9, 2022

Members of Parliament were warned once again on Friday to keep their calls nature and calls for separate democracy after one MP brought the House of Commons to the bathroom with him via Zoom.

One might think that after two years of virtual Parliament, MPs would know the necessity of not bringing their devices to the bathroom while attending parliamentary sessions.

However, on Friday, another MP was caught sitting in the bathroom while participating in the parliamentary session early in the afternoon, as confirmed by the Deputy Speaker's assistant and Liberal MP Alexandra Mendes that an MP "appeared to be in the bathroom" while participating in Parliament during the discussion of Bill C-252.

Mendes told MPs: "I would like to remind everyone that, especially online, we must be very careful in how we use our devices and be aware of our surroundings."

Mendes was responding to a point of order from Conservative MP Leila Goodridge pointing out that the Liberal MP for Brampton Centre, Shafqat Ali, "might have been participating in the session while using a restroom."

Ali did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday morning.

Monday afternoon, Conservative MP John Brassard raised the "embarrassing incident" during a new point of order and asked the Speaker of Parliament to rule that it was likely contempt of Parliament and refer the matter to the committee for study.

He confirmed that "those who witnessed the event clearly saw the Liberal MP enter what appeared to be a bathroom stall in one of the men's restrooms located on this very floor of this very building.

Brassard also said: "The visible stonework, wooden door, stainless steel door hinges, and coat hook on the back of this door, which is part of the long side of the stall, are completely familiar."

He added that according to the video angle, the camera filming the member showed that he was sitting on "the edge of the wall, just above the back of the toilet."

Adding, "A Member of Parliament was literally using the bathroom while participating in a session of the House of Commons, the cathedral of Canadian democracy."

Explaining, "I can’t believe I just said those words." This isn’t the first time a Liberal MP has been caught wearing his pants while attending virtual Parliament.

Former MP Will Amos was caught twice last year behaving inappropriately while participating in parliamentary proceedings via Zoom.

The first time he was caught naked in front of the camera while changing, and the second time he admitted to urinating in a cup while attending a university committee meeting. He did not run again in the 2021 election.

Responding to Brassard on Monday, the Deputy Speaker’s assistant and NDP MP Carol Hughes said she found the issue "very concerning" and would take the Conservatives’ request into consideration.

She said: "Given that there have been other incidents in the past, this is certainly something that we as speakers and the Speaker himself will already take into consideration."

Responding to Goodridge in the House of Commons on Friday, Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux warned Conservatives to "be very cautious" about this type of point of order and indirectly accused them of wanting to "embarrass people."

Lamoureux said: "When people are in their offices, working virtually, it can sometimes be very easy to step away from the camera to do something else, like moving on chairs."

Adding, "I think the most important thing is that members have the camera on and are in the room. I don’t want to embarrass members, regardless of the political party they may belong to. I don’t think it would be appropriate to use virtual Parliament as a mechanism to embarrass people."

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