Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'

Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.

Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.

The unusually tense events saw Speaker Greg Fergus caution both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to rephrase their comments to avoid making direct accusations about the character of another MP.

Fergus issued a warning to Poilievre after he referred to Trudeau as "the guy who spent the first half of his adult life as a practising racist," referring to photos that emerged during the 2019 election of Trudeau dressed in black and brown face.

Fergus warned Trudeau after he said Poilievre was "showing us exactly what shameful, spineless leadership looks like," and accused him of shaking hands with "white nationalists."

The tense back-and-forth came as Poilievre and the Conservatives were attacking the Liberals for having allowed British Columbia to allow the decriminalization of hard drugs like heroin and fentanyl in public places, which the provincial NDP government is now asking Health Canada to reverse.

The Conservatives argue the policy has caused great harm.

Trudeau ignored that issue completely, responding to each question about drugs by accusing Poilievre of associating with far-right extremists.