A DISPUTE BROKE out in Canada’s parliament over the use of the word ‘fart’.
In a passionate speech addressed to the government on Thursday, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel accused the government of neglecting the district of Alberta – and of treating it like a “fart in the room”.
Slamming her fist on the table, Rempel said:
Why does this government treat Alberta like a fart in the room, that no one wants to talk about or acknowledge?
Elizabeth May, leader of the Canadian Green Party and the only member of her party to win a seat, responded to the accusations with:
“I heard her say a word which I know is distinctly unparliamentary, and I think she may want to withdraw it the word was f-a-r-t.”
Rempel, looking a little shocked, replied:
“I just gave an impassioned speech about supporting Alberta jobs and that’s what a leader of a political party stands up and has to say? No I don’t withdraw it.”
The conversation continued with May saying that she is deeply concerned about the welfare of Canadians who are economically hurting and “would like to speak to that”, but that the right language had to be used first.
The MP was then booed, before Rempel retorted that the “Greens had been the most vocal opponents” to the economy in Alberta and that she wouldn’t take “no lessons from her on this”.
According to the BBC, Canada has a long history of banning words in parliament. Some of these words include ‘pompous ass’, ‘ignoramus’, ‘sick animal’, ‘Canadian Mussolini’, ‘evil genius’ and ‘to hell with Parliament attitude’.
Alberta
Alberta is a traditionally industrial area, which relies heavily on oil industries to provide jobs to locals. But the region’s oil industries have also been included among the world’s dirtiest – clashing with the eco-friendly policy of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.
Although Trudeau has expressed support for construction of new pipelines in order to export crude from the Alberta oil sands – the fastest growing source of CO2 emissions in Canada -he’s also promised to impose a national carbon price by 2018.
Last month, Canada released figures that showed it created 44,000 jobs in October – more than expected but not enough to reduce its 7% unemployment rate.
With reporting from AFP
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