After a failed attempt at censure by the Green Party, B.C.’s government house leader is reaching out to other parliaments worldwide to figure out how to rein in “abhorrent” comments like Independent MLA Tara Armstrong’s recent use of Nazi rhetoric in the legislature.
“We’ve seen something that we have not had here in the past,” house leader Mike Farnworth said, “vile comments that, quite frankly, were beyond the pale.”
Had a censure motion succeeded, Farnworth said it would have been the first time such a mechanism had been used in the B.C. legislature, with no provision for it in the standing orders.
“It’s never been part of our parliamentary tradition in British Columbia,” he said.
After the motion failed, Farnworth said he spoke with Green Party and Conservative house leaders, and they decided to look at how other parliaments, such as those in Australia and the United Kingdom, deal with these matters.
The offending comments were made on April 23, when Armstrong used the term “blood and soil,” a slogan historically used by Nazi Germany, in reference to Indigenous land rights.
She also said Indigenous people practiced “cannibalism” until Crown sovereignty ended an “era of brutality.”
Armstrong was made to rescind the comments by Speaker Raj Chouhan — if she refused, the sergeant-in-arms would have removed her from the house — but B.C. Green Party house leader Rob Botterell wanted to go a step further, introducing the censure motion on Wednesday (April 29) to force her to apologize.
“Over the past year, the MLA has made a whole series of racist, discriminatory, and bigoted statements inside and outside the house, culminating most recently in making use of Nazi slogans and racist statements against Indigenous people,” Botterell said. “And when freedom of speech crosses the line into hateful, racist, discriminatory speech, we must all act.”
Despite retracting the statement in the legislature, Armstrong posted a video of herself making the comments in the House on social media. Farnworth said he is looking at how the legislature could prevent this in the future.
“It’s a question of, if you apologize and retract those remarks, should we be looking and saying, ‘You know what? At the same time, if you put this up, a post up on social media, you should also take that down,’” he said.
Green Party motion doomed by parliamentary procedure
Despite censure not being part of the parliamentary playbook in B.C., Botterell’s motion was still possible if he could get unanimous consent to introduce it.
But this procedural quirk of parliamentary rules that prevents someone from outside the government from introducing a motion without support from the entire chamber made the eventual result inevitable because all it takes is one member to stand up and say “nay,” and the motion cannot be introduced.
Both Armstrong and Independent MLA Jordan Kealy, from Peace River North, shouted “nay.”
Kealy said he had not previously known the origin of the “blood and soil” slogan, but irrespective of its meaning, Armstrong had already retracted and should not be made to apologize.
Kealy called this sort of double jeopardy “ridiculous.”
“The speaker made his ruling,” he said.
Kealy also said he believes it is wrong to censor ideological statements in the legislature, arguing that doing so threatens public debate.
“One of the most important things about this house is that you have free speech,” he said.
Kealy spoke to reporters as he left the chamber with Armstrong on Thursday, but Armstrong herself declined to comment.
Botterell plans to try again so his motion can at least be brought forward for debate.
“It’s reached a boiling point, and we really have to take action,” Botterell said.
Interim B.C. Conservative Leader Trevor Halford condemned Armstrong’s comment and said he is open to debating a motion, although he did not say if he would support it.
“Free speech isn’t always free,” she said. “There are consequences, and people have to realize that.”
Farnworth mentioned some of these potential consequences, including a recall effort that is just getting underway.
“At the end of the day, there are other things here that can be done outside of the house,” he said. “One is recall. And then of course there’s the ultimate one, which is at election time.”
In B.C., recall petitions must clear a high bar, with rules requiring signatures from 40 per cent of registered voters on election day.