05.18.2016 06:45 PM

I just saw the full tape. It’s not great. 

But. 

40 Comments

  1. Carey Miller says:

    Just watched the tape. This will make some grist for the media and pundit mill. For the country, anything more that 2 seconds and an apology for bumping is a waste.

    That this already has a “gate” on Twitter reinforces the low appreciation most have for political journalists.

  2. Michael Bluth says:

    Not sure what it’s worth either… Chretien rightfully felt in physical danger when he reacted as he did in ’96. Not much support for the protestor in that case.

    This video has Justin coming across the aisle to grab whoever the Conservative was, bump into Brousseau and then verbally get into it with Mulcair.

    Not a good day at all. Another little pin prick that deflates the warm and fuzzy that much more.

  3. Brian says:

    I just watched the video too. It wasn’t at all that bad. If the idiots standing on the floor would respect themselves enough to do their job as opposed to standing, blocking lanes on the floor like office serfs at a water cooler, this never would have happened. I think he should have knocked them all over, personally. But I’m also a bit of a dick.

    • Yukon Cornelius says:

      a bit partisan then?

      • Brian says:

        Not partisan in the least. I don’t even vote anymore. I’ve run in two by-elections to see what the process is like and that cured me. I’ll never cast a ballot again. Couldn’t care less who is in power as long as they shut up and do what they’re supposed to do. I’ve learnt that no matter who one votes for, nothing will ever change. They’re all the same… Trudeau is Harper is Mulcair is May and on and on and on… For any person to assume otherwise is nothing more than willful blindness.

  4. terence quinn says:

    Tempest in a teapot. JT doesn’t give a rat’s a$$ about the commentaries as he just wanted to see the idiots stop their stupidity. Mulcair was at his best screaming like the banshee he is.

  5. BlueGritr says:

    He’s vulnerable. And easily agitated. Perhaps the strain of the job is already getting to him. You can be sure the Opposition parties will look for other ways to get under Justin’s skin, and provoke similar physical responses from our young Prime Minister. If the Opposition succeeds, the shine is going to come off our PM quite quickly.

    • Montréalaise says:

      Strain? What strain? He’s only been in the job for seven months, and so far, it’s been a honeymoon for him, with adoring fans, a fawning press and no major crises or problems to solve. If he reacts like this to a relatively minor delay, what is he going to do when the going gets really rough, as it inevitably does for every PM.

  6. Joe says:

    And here I thought it was the job of the Speaker of the House to control the members and make sure they are in their place to do their job. Boy was I wrong. It seems it is the Prime Minister’s job to grab the recalcitrant members and drag them to their seats. Of course you realize recalcitrant is a subjective term that seemingly is determined by the Prime Minister. The only good thing is that PM Harper never did anything like that or the media would be lighting their hair on fire in protest.

  7. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    The PM should meet in his office with Ms. Brosseau so they can have a one on one conversation. He owes her at least that.

  8. Danny says:

    96 was different. Chretien was taking on one of those protest skids. This is just Justin being a juvenile bully.
    But the news today should have been about the Komagata Maru. Drown out by this stupidity.

  9. Geoff V says:

    This would not be tolerated in any workplace. Why would you grab someone and elbow another?
    Clearly he has anger issues.

  10. Steve T says:

    Good grief – what a bunch of over-sensitive whiners we have become. There is more physical contact at a rock concert, or a busy day at the supermarket. Of course, that won’t stop the opposition MPs from dramatizing this for effect and personal gain.

    • Roncey says:

      I have to agree, the story loses it’s credibility when the headlines make out like someone got punched, and instead you see one person led forward who appeared to go willingly, and someone else getting bumped into. Watch closely, looking at her feet, and you can see the wronged NDP MP lean into Trudeau after the first light contact, like she’s a basketball player trying to draw a foul. Half a beat later, she goes full Dwyane Wade.
      If you want to talk about physicality in the house, ask yourself why the NDP think it is reasonable to box in the opposition whip. The man is surrounded by Mulcair and his colleagues. The whip too tries to move a colleague out of the way by the elbow, and that didn’t seem to be any great scandal. The grey haired man in the NDP blockade makes space for the PM to come through. It’s the same behaviour you see on the bus every day; someone needs to come through, you help create space for them. What you don’t do is hold ground like you’re in the infantry.

      • bobsdf says:

        Brosseau’s reaction reminds me of a soccer player selling a foul. Having said that, Trudeau comes off a d-bag.

  11. Taco says:

    I wonder when Trudeau was layong the elbow, if he knew the recipient was a woman?

    Optics don’t look good.

    Breakout the apologists.

  12. JH says:

    Sunny Daze, Sunny Ways. 🙂
    PS. Chretien didn’t do it on the floor of the H of C.

  13. Matt says:

    With respect Warren, i don’t think the two are comparable at all.

    Chretien was out in public when someone he didn’t know approached him and got a little too close for comfort. i think his reaction was perfectly reasonable.

    Here Trudeau, a guy who promised to bring civility, respect and decorum back to the House of Commons, storms across the floor in said House of Commons, yells as CBC is now reporting “get the fuck out of my way” to a group of colleagues from the NDP, physically grabs a member of the Official Opposition by the arm dragging him through the group, and elbowing, albeit inadvertently another MP in the chest.

    He then follows that up with a face to face shouting match with Mulcair.

  14. Matt says:

    To all the Liberals saying “No big deal”, would that have your reaction if Harper had done what Trudeau did when he was PM?

  15. smelter rat says:

    Much ado about nothing. The NDP response, esp from Niki Ashton is waaay over the top. I expect Ezra will be fundraising on the back of it by the morning.

  16. TakeDeadAim says:

    Borrowing from a mediocre courtroom drama: close your eyes and picture a PM getting into a physical altercation with an MP on the floor of the House and in the process elbowing another, and his strongest partisan supporters saying it’s really no big deal, just more belly aching about nothing. Now picture that PM as Harper.

  17. ottawacon says:

    That apology was cringeworthy. Worse, actually, than the incident.

    • PJH says:

      I just watched it, and sadly, I agree……..He should have simply apologized, without the stammering explanation……..It was unparliamentary behaviour, end of story.

  18. Greyapple says:

    People went easy on Chretien in ’96 because he was clearly acting instinctively to someone he perceived as a threat, what happened today was something else entirely. Pretty disgraceful and childish behaviour from Trudeau and Mulcair and their parties.

  19. Lance says:

    Who the hell does Trudeau think he is, grabbing someone and trying to frog-march him to his seat to get things moving, as if he were still a bouncer and Brown were a reluctant bar patron that he had to hussle out of the joint past closing time?

    What a farce.

  20. ABB says:

    Very damaging, very arrogant action. Hubris is taking over. And he made a second run across the aisle! Profoundly bad optics.

  21. davie says:

    The way I see it:
    Last week, late last week I think, the Liberal House Leader asked consent of the house to a motion that the house debate this Tuesday and Wednesday (today) until midnight, to allow MP’s who had something to say about the assisted dying bill to take part in the debate.
    Then, today (Wednesday) the Liberal house leader made a motion in the afternoon to close debate.
    He fooled the opposition.
    The opposition was irked.
    Some opposition were trying to stall the vote by deliberately standing in the Conservative Whip’s usual path. Rather than go around that table, the Conservative Whip, likely as irked as anyone at the Liberal move, stood behind the blockade, looking as if there were no way he could pass through.
    Trudeau, fed up that his Liberal party games were being slowed down by opposition games, strode over to blockade, and he took the Conservative Whip by the arm to guide him to his seat. In doing so, he bopped a female MP in the breast. I understand that that can hurt.
    Later, Trudeau figured he would clear things up by simply walking over to the female MP, but she wasn’t there.
    At that point, some opposition MP’s berated Trudeau for his actions, and the Liberal benches began to clear into the aisle.

    Those opposition MP’s better watch it. Trudeau might be a rich kid, but he boxes, – he trained at Gleason’s Gym in New York City, – and he does push ups.

    • Cory says:

      1) the whole stall lasted approx. 30 seconds. Compare this to how the Liberals filibustered the union disclosure bill last summer for almost a week.

      2) the speaker does not officially require both whips to present themselves to call a vote, only one, which Andrew Leslie did

      3) are you actually suggesting that the PM should become more physical with opposition members?

    • Montréalaise says:

      Yup, the next time one of those pesky opposition MP`s doesn`t do what Trudeau wants, he should just punch them in the face. That will teach them!
      BTW, is that how you handle conflict in your own life?

  22. Ridiculosity says:

    Seriously? Seriously?

    Brosseau did a Soccer Fall if I ever saw one.

    What did I see? A Prime Minister who’d listened to enough bullshit (and political wrangling/stupidity/delay) for one day.

    I’m all for equity – 100%. Elbowing someone in the ‘chest’?

    If Trudeau had “bumped” a male MP this wouldn’t even be a story. Enough is enough.

    As for Rona Ambrose?

    She frightens me a lot more than Trudeau ever will.

    Move on.

    • Lyndon Dunkley says:

      Just the latest example of the further Rorschaching of society. No act is viewed anymore in regards to the act itself; it must must first be filtered through our own biases before our analysis is complete. However, if comparing Brosseau’s reaction to a footballer isn’t the pinnacle of “mansplaining”, then I have no idea what the term means.

      (and why chest in quotes? does the video suggest she was contacted somewhere else?)

  23. JohnB says:

    I watched the tape as well. Bad behavior Justin. Very bad. Shame on you.

  24. Maps Onburt says:

    Yeah, it’s just fine that our PM rushed the opposition because they weren’t moving things along fast enough, knocked the wind out of a woman and dragged a member through a crowd of people in order to push through his motion. Make all the excuses you want, that was deplorable and if ZpM Harper did that, you’d have hung him from the highest yard arms. This is NOTHING like PM Chrétien chocking someone who was going to assault him – I was actually just fine with that. We don’t pay our PMs to be assaulted just like we don’t pay our MP’s to be assaulted – especially not by our PM! Shame, shame!

  25. Peter says:

    Pardon the amateur psychology, but there seems to be something a bit off about our first family. I’m not sure what it is, but they seem to believe a little too much in the reality of their public personas and don’t react sensibly or maturely if they are thwarted. Even if Ms. Trudeau’s case for more staff is a reasonable, complaining to the press about it wasn’t wise. I’m happy to support her, but why am I left with the impression she believes it will be a great national loss if I don’t? The PM, fresh off of charging across the floor of the House to give Rona Ambrose an unwanted hug, now charges across the floor to administer a little self-help in support of his parliamentary agenda. They are still popular and will have lots of defenders, but they will become fewer if they don’t start reining this stuff in.

  26. Kevin says:

    Well, the full clip certainly does tell a different story from the one we first saw. No, it doesn’t show the PM in a good light, and he’s clearly in the wrong. Will it change any minds? Probably not. Trudeau comes across like the frustrated father coming down the supermarket aisle to to get the child who’s planted on the spot and won’t move until the Chock-Full-of-Junk is put in the cart. Most people will nod and move on.

    One thing for sure, we’ll see that clip over and over during the next election.

  27. Bill MacLeod says:

    It’s not “sunny ways” — it’s Sonny Liston.

    Bill

  28. P. Brenn says:

    Mean while massive out of control fires out west , unemployment issues, Canadian in captivity in philipines to be executed etc etc

    he did wrong , dumb – same if it was any party member – move on already

    ugh

  29. Art says:

    Such a typical political forum. Conservatives yapping about the big bad PM and Liberals (in the main) defending the PM. Me, I’m defending Trudeau. He’s got balls and doesn’t take shit, I like that. The woman is an hysteric and Mulcair is just simply pathetic.

  30. Richard says:

    It’s not great, and it’s not an action becoming of the Prime Minister of Canada.

    But the satire we’re getting from this is excellent.

    http://www.thebeaverton.com/2690-entire-ndp-caucus-arrive-in-neck-braces-wheelchairs-to-house-of-commons-after-trudeau-s-assault.htm

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