Athabasca MLA accuses opposition member of 'racially charged' comments
Jim Lemaigre, the Sask. Party MLA for Athabasca, accused Trent Wotherspoon, the MLA for Regina Rosemont of ‘extremely offensive and racially charged statements,’ following a debate in the legislature.
The accusation stemmed from comments made during the legislative sitting on March 16.
“Mr. Speaker, during a private members debate on Thursday, the member from Regina Rosemont made a number of extremely offensive and racially charged statements about me,” Lemaigre said in proceedings on Monday.
“He was speaking about our government’s policy on First Nation’s issues like duty to consult.”
Trent Wotherspoon, the NDP MLA for Regina Rosemont, responded to Lemaigre during a debate following question period, referencing his support for the Saskatchewan First Act.
“My advice to the member from Athabasca - and I like this guy personally, I like him personally, Mr. Speaker - but my advice is sometimes you gotta say no. Sometimes you have to exercise your own judgement and take a stand for the people you represent, Mr. Speaker,” Wotherspoon said in the statement cited by Lemaigre.
Download the CTV News app to get local alerts sent to your device
“I’m very much free to think, I’m here representing Athabasca constituency and based on that I will make my decisions. At no point was it proper to imply that based on my being Indigenous that I needed to make a decision a certain way,” Lemaigre told reporters on Monday.
Wotherspoon called the accusation of his statement being racially charged “baseless” and “wrong.”
“It’s certainly not the case. It’s baseless and wrong,” he told reporters Monday.
“When I stood in the assembly on Thursday [it was] on the heels of the Saskatchewan Act being advanced without any consultation, without any honouring the duty to consult with First Nations and Metis people.”
“So I challenged that member to focus on the things that matter to his constituents and to those across Saskatchewan. As I would any member, rising on that occasion and at that moment,” he added.
The Speaker of the Legislalative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Randy Weekes, made a ruling on the exchange on March 21.
“At the closing of this prepared member statement, the member from Athabasca used inflammatory language which was directed at member for Regina Rosemont. Rule 51 E states that ‘no member shall use, offensive, provocative or threatening language,’” the speaker read.
“This is not the first time members in this chamber on both sides of the house have used statements by members as a forum to use divisive language when making comments about serious issues."
"This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” he added.
“In this highly charged atmosphere I will, on this occasion, provide a warning to all members to be aware of the words that are spoken in this chamber.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Record-breaking N.B. lottery winner kept winning ticket on dresser for nearly a year
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.