Justice Minister and Attorney General Arif Virani apologized under threat of censure this week after calling Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre a ‘[expletive] tool’ during Question Period in the House of Commons.
The remark was made after Mr. Poilievre questioned the justice minister about Canada’s auto theft problem during the Feb. 5 meeting, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
“We now are paying a billion dollars more in insurance premiums because he [Prime Minister Trudeau] has led to a quadrupling of car thefts in Toronto,” Mr. Poilievre said. “I have a common-sense plan, which I rolled out today, to end house arrest and catch-and-release for career criminals, and bring in three years of jail for three stolen cars. Will the government accept the common-sense plan?”
Mr. Virani accused the Tory leader of only tuning into the car theft issue after reading a government press release, and he shot down Mr. Poilievre’s proposed plan.
“First, mandatory minimums for auto theft for repeat offences already exist in the Criminal Code, so he is not changing something that already exists. Second, an aggravating factor for an auto theft that occurs with organized crime is already on the books too, section 718.2 of the Criminal Code, Mr. Leader of the Opposition,” Mr. Virani said.
“Why do we not focus on things we can actually do, like getting tough with organized crime and anti-money laundering?”
It was after this that Mr. Virani cursed at Mr. Poilievre.
Apparently unphazed by the remark, Mr. Poilievre questioned Mr. Virani’s decision making.
“The minister claimed that he brought in bail reform that would stop auto theft, but the Liberals’ bail reform does not apply to auto theft,” Mr. Poilievre said. “Therefore, he has to read his own law before trumpeting it in Parliament.”
Mr. Virani replied, saying he would prefer to take advice from law enforcement rather than from Mr. Poilievre.
“[The police] tell me that this is not an individual crime; this is backed by people who are organized criminals. How do we deal with that? We get tough on money laundering,” he said.
Profanity Reaction
Opposition House Leader Andrew Scheer gave an account of the incident the following day in the House of Commons.He told the Speaker Mr. Virani used “an extremely unparliamentary word” to respond to a simple question about policy.
“The Minister of Justice used an extremely unparliamentary word in his response. It was not captured in [the minutes], but it was captured on the audio,” Mr. Scheer said. He asked the Speaker to examine the audio version of the meeting and demanded the minister apologize for his conduct.
Mr. Virani issued a curt apology later in the meeting.
“Mr. Speaker, on the point of order raised earlier, I withdraw my comments and apologize,” he said.
Ms. Lantsman posted the video clip of Mr. Virani’s comment the same day that the minister apologized. She used the post to allude to past comments made by Mr. Virani about the lack of propriety in the House of Commons.
“Here’s Canada’s Justice Minister unable to handle a policy question without losing control of himself,” Ms. Lantsman said in her Feb. 6 post. “The ‘we should all do better’ people are often the ones that can’t control themselves. But sure, let’s hear another lecture about decorum in Parliament.”
As a newly-elected MP in 2015, Mr. Virani criticized what he described as “poor decorum” in the House of Commons.
“If people in the court behaved the way they’re behaving in the House they’d be thrown out of courts in about four seconds by any judge worth their robes,” Mr. Virani told the Hill Times. “I don’t think we should shout out.”
Mr. Virani is not the only politician with a history of using vulgar language.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was accused of using an “unparliamentary term” in May of 2022 after being asked a question by Tory MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
Mr. Trudeau also apologized in 2011 after shouting an expletive at then-Environment Minister Peter Kent in the Commons.
