Ten years of Conservative caucus conduct, and the apologies it required.
Every party has bad days. But watch Conservative MPs over the last ten years and a pattern shows up: insults, sexist jokes, contempt for colleagues, and then the apology, usually after the outrage. Here is the record.
2017: “Climate Barbie.” Saskatchewan MP Gerry Ritz tweeted an insult at Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. Politicians of all stripes condemned it as sexist, and then-leader Andrew Scheer personally phoned McKenna to apologize. The tweet appeared to echo the far-right site The Rebel, which had been using the nickname for years. pressreader
2017: The “threesome” quip. Defence critic James Bezan joked about a “threesome” during a photo op with a Liberal MP. He later called the remark “flippant and inappropriate” after MP Sherry Romanado said it was humiliating and sexual in nature. Bezan took sensitivity training, but he kept both his caucus seat and his critic role. pressreaderpressreader
2020: The middle finger. Blaine Calkins, MP for Red Deer-Lacombe, was caught on camera giving the finger during a virtual question period. His apology was to withdraw the gesture, which Elizabeth May called a “non-apology.” globalnewsglobalnews
2022: Race and parole. After the James Smith Cree Nation killings, Saskatoon MP Brad Redekopp wrongly claimed the parole board had flagged the offender as likely to reoffend because of his racial background. He apologized for “misspeaking,” but Indigenous NDP MP Leah Gazan rejected his explanation and accused the party of trying to whitewash the record. She described it as part of a pattern of anti-Indigenous rhetoric from Conservative politicians. Another Saskatchewan MP, Kevin Waugh, apologized the same year for accusing First Nations of burning down water treatment plants. theglobeandmailtheglobeandmail
2023: “Tough enough?” At a foreign-interference hearing, Michael Cooper mocked Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s account of confronting her Chinese counterpart. Opposition MPs called it shameful and demeaning to a woman minister, and Cooper left the meeting without apologizing. ctvnews
2023: “Answer in English.” Rachael Thomas asked Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge to answer a committee in English, then apologized after criticism from the Bloc, Liberals and NDP. Complaints about language rights in a bilingual Parliament were made against the party twice in a matter of days. ctvnews
2025: The RCMP. In a podcast interview, Pierre Poilievre called RCMP leadership “despicable” and accused it of shielding Justin Trudeau. Liberals, Greens and the NDP demanded an apology. Instead, caucus members deflected, with Andrew Lawton calling it “out-of-context things from a podcast” and others changing the subject to jobs and inflation. Slamming the national police force and then declining to own it is its own kind of story. ctvnewsnationalnewswatch
The pattern
Individually, these might be forgettable. Together, they show a recurring lack of respect for women colleagues, Indigenous Canadians, francophones and Parliament itself, and a habit of apologizing only once the backlash lands. Voters deserve representatives who get it right the first time.
Sources: Hamilton Spectator (Ritz/McKenna), Toronto Star (Bezan), Global News (Calkins), Globe and Mail (Redekopp/Waugh), CTV News (Cooper; Thomas), Canadian Press (Poilievre/RCMP).