Steinbach senator makes official apology

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This article was published 04/12/2023 (557 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A senator from Steinbach made an official apology in the Senate for behaviour he said was below his own expectations.

The incident happened on Nov. 9, when Plett, the leader of the Opposition and officially the senator from Landmark, was blindsided by an amendment made to Bill C-234. The bill, which would remove carbon tax from natural gas and propane heating for barns and grain dryers, had previously been approved in the House of Commons.

Plett said he had agreement from other senate group leaders that the bill would proceed to a vote without amendments.

That agreement was turned on its head when Lucie Moncion, an Ontario senator from the Independent (formerly Liberal) caucus proposed an amendment.

While Plett and other Conservative members waited to speak to the motion, Senator Bernadette Clement moved to adjourn debate, something that isn’t normally done when other senators are still waiting to debate the amendment.

Plett said at that point he got angry.

Senator Raymonde Saint-Germain told media Plett threw down his earpiece, confronted her and Clement yelling and berating them.

In the aftermath, the following week they asked the speaker to rule on a breach of privilege. That occurs when senators or MPs are prevented from carrying on their business in the house by another member.

Plett rose to make a presentation in response spending much of his 35 minutes message on the fact that this had nothing to do with privilege.

“Individual members can only claim privilege if any denial of their rights or threat made to them would impede the functioning of the House,” he said.

He also shared his own experiences over his 13 years of being on the receiving end of anger from other senators or the public.

But Plett also apologized.

“What I did Thursday, Nov. 9 did not constitute a question of privilege, but Madame Speaker, I conducted myself in a way that I cannot hold myself too,” he said.

His voice breaking, Plett explained that because of his hearing impediment he speaks loudly at the best of times. When he raises his voice, he’s yelling he said.

“I acknowledge that I lost my cool,” he said. “I spoke too loudly, many would say I yelled.”

“My intentions were never to be mean spirited and I recognize that I didn’t conduct myself in the manner that I would like,” he said.

He quoted the Apostle Paul in the Book of Ephesians who wrote “be angry but sin not”.

“To be angry is not wrong,” he said. “I believe I have the right to be angry because I believe we were treated wrong, but I did not have the right to conduct myself the way I did.”

“I promise that I will try to do better. Will I succeed? I hope you forgive me if I don’t,” he said. “But I will try.”

In an interview this week, Plett explained why the amendments were so upsetting.

If a bill is passed in the House of Commons and in the Senate with no changes, it can receive royal assent and become law.

If any amendment is made, it must go back to the House for another vote.

Plett said the Liberals want to kill the bill.

“If it goes back to the House it will be buried in private members business never to see the light of day,” he said.

Plett said the government has been pressuring senators appointed by Liberals to make amendments for that purpose.

Despite agreement from other senate group leaders to proceed to a vote, those senators continue to propose amendments.

Plett said that issue, plus the decision to adjourn made him angry. While he said it’s the speaker’s procedural right to adjourn, it’s not what he expected.

“It’s never happened in my time of 13 years here, if a person gets up on debate, that the speaker allows an adjournment motion,” he said.

Plett raised the issue as a point of order, but said while he was allowed to present it, the speaker didn’t rule on it, simply proceeding to adjournment.

“That is when everything hit the fan,” he admitted.

He said he put down his earpiece in disgust before approaching the speaker and then Senator Saint-Germaine.

“I did not lean over her desk like she says,” he said, saying he was leaning back on a clerk’s table during the exchange.

Others joined in the fracas with one senator calling out “fascist”.

Conservative senators Denise Batters and Leo Housakos also shared a social media post created by MP Andrew Scheer which included the office phone numbers and emails of Clement and Chantal Petitclerc, the Independent Group of Senators chair of deliberations.

“Office numbers are public information,” he said.

Plett added that while his behaviour wasn’t appropriate, senators must be prepared to “take the heat”.

“If you can’t take the heat you shouldn’t be in politics, as we do get angry at each other and we’re all passionate,” he said.

Plett said the bill is important to him as it eases financial challenges on farmers due to the carbon tax.

He said the original bill passed in the House of Commons with support from all parties, though nobody in the Liberal cabinet supported it.

Now he said, Trudeau is worried about his losing his legacy of being green, prompting his pressuring of the formerly Liberal caucus in the Senate.

“Our farmers are being used by the government for political reasons and I can’t understand that because right now public opinion is on our side of this issue,” he said.

He added that a carbon tax break for farmers will have far-reaching benefits.

“If it’s good for the farming community it’s good for you and me, because the price of eggs is dependent on the farmer’s cost of production,” he said.