A parliamentary committee will determine if Speaker Greg Fergus should be punished for a video message he filmed that played at a political party convention.
The House of Commons on Wednesday voted unanimously to have the procedure and House affairs committee study the controversy.
Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer introduced the motion, saying the Speaker is supposed to serve an explicitly non-partisan role.
Fergus’s deputy, Chris d’Entremont, who has been presiding over proceedings in the House this week, allowed the motion to be debated in the Commons Wednesday afternoon.
The committee will meet in the next 24 hours and make the controversy a top priority, with a report due the day before the House is scheduled to rise for the holidays.
Fergus apologized for the video, in which he appeared in his ceremonial robes and thanked the former interim leader of the Ontario Liberals, after it was played at that party’s convention last weekend.
The Speaker has said he was asked to record a video message for an intimate gathering to honour John Fraser, who he called a long-standing friend.
The Quebec MP told members of Parliament that he regrets the video was used in other ways, and said it should not be seen as partisan to recognize a colleague’s career.
On Wednesday, Conservative MP James Bezan wrote to the Board of Internal Economy asking it to consider Fergus’ “inappropriate use of House of Commons resources” by recording the video in his office and wearing the Speaker’s robes.
Fergus is visiting Washington, D.C., amidst the controversy, where he participated in the Canadian Embassy’s annual tree lighting ceremony.
He also gave a farewell address for Claus Gramckow, who is leaving his post as head of the North America regional office at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. During a speech, Fergus spoke about his time as a member of the Young Liberals of Canada, where he met Gramckow in 1994.
NDP House leader Peter Julian told reporters Wednesday those comments were inappropriate. “When we elect a Speaker, that Speaker in a sense leaves their past behind — you’re a Speaker of the entire House of Commons. So you don’t come from any one party,” Julian said.
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