OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office says Trudeau supports a House of Commons motion that apologized to Vice-Admiral Mark Norman for his legal ordeal, despite the fact Trudeau himself wasn’t there when the motion was adopted.
Conservatives, however, are still on the hunt for a Prime Ministerial apology to Norman, pointing out Trudeau left the Commons chamber shortly before the motion took place. Trudeau’s office says he had to leave in order to get to an event in Hamilton less than three hours later (an event scheduled on his official itinerary).
“Yes, the PM specifically supports the motion,” said a statement on Wednesday from spokesperson Matt Pascuzzo. “The PM went to Hamilton along with the President of Croatia for an event with the Croatian community.”
The motion adopted on Tuesday, which was put forward by Conservative MP Lisa Raitt, recognized Norman’s decades of service to Canada, expressed regret for “the personal and professional hardships he endured as a result of his failed prosecution,” and apologized to Norman and his family “for what they experienced during their legal conflict with the government.”
The motion is essentially symbolic, an expression of the opinion of the House of Commons, and does not constitute an official government apology. The fact it was adopted unanimously means it represents all Members of Parliament. It did not even technically have a vote. Instead, MPs shouted in unison to allow the motion to be moved, and nobody subsequently voiced an objection to it being adopted by unanimous consent. There was no recording of any individual votes.
Yet the fact Trudeau was absent when this took place, despite having been there just minutes earlier for question period, gave political fodder to the Conservatives.
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See Also:
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(3) Norman not the only victim of Trudeau’s vindictive streak
(4) Climate change showdown in the House of Commons leaves all three major parties bloodied
