House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster

Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.

Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.

By a vote of 168 to 142 – with the Liberals, New Democrats, and Greens backing him by voting "nay" and the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois voting "yea" for him to go – Fergus held on to his role as the esteemed arbiter of House business despite renewed concern over his "alleged lack of impartiality."

The vote was on a motion asking for the House to state the Speaker's "ongoing and repetitive partisan conduct outside of the Chamber is a betrayal of the traditions and expectations of his office and a breach of trust required to discharge his duties and responsibilities, all of which this House judges to be a serious contempt."

Had the motion passed, Fergus would have been forced to vacate the office by next Monday, giving way for the third election of a House of Commons Speaker since the last election. 

Fergus, who seven months into his tenure as MPs' adjudicator has been no stranger to controversy and accusations of inappropriate partisan conduct, faced the fresh calls to resign after language attacking Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was used to promote an upcoming event in his riding.

The posting for "a summer evening with the honourable Greg Fergus" was quickly pulled by the party and replaced with a version promising a "fun-filled summer kick-off BBQ," as Fergus' office has said was initially intended, after what the Liberal Party of Canada called a "miscommunication" that it later apologized for.

While the Speaker's office said the event was cleared by the Clerk of the House of Commons, it hasn't quelled concerns from some MPs that Fergus is failing to live up to his duty to remain a fair arbiter in the chamber.