Opposition parties call for tougher sanctions after MPP’s ‘terrorist’ tweet

Pressure is building to develop stronger sanctions for errant MPPs after independent member Randy Hillier – who was censored last fall for “disreputable conduct” – called Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra a “terrorist” on Twitter this week.

Opposition parties are urging Premier Doug Ford’s government to work with them on tougher measures for inappropriate conduct than just a censorship by a vote of members in the Ontario Legislature.

“We have to do something,” Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said Friday. “What he did was vile.”

In a letter to Ford, New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath called for “all sanctions possible” to be levied against Hillier in the wake of a “hateful, ignorant and absolutely unacceptable” Twitter post on Monday.

Hillier referred to Alghabra, who is Muslim, as a “terrorist” in response to the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for truckers crossing the US border, and suggested the policy is leading to empty supermarket shelves.

Government House Leader Paul Calandra said the censorship mechanism used against the MPP in October remains available.

“Mr. Hillier’s comments are deplorable and he should apologize for them. Racism and Islamophobia are never acceptable, ”Calandra added in a statement.

“The assembly censored Mr. Hillier last year for other inappropriate Twitter posts. A decision to censure Mr. Hillier again for his recent comments would be a decision of the assembly as a whole. ”

But opposition parties said that’s no longer enough, and maintain that stronger penalties are needed to send a message, although no specific suggestions were made.

“You’ve got to make it abundantly clear that none of us is going to accept that this is right,” said Del Duca. “Given what we are seeing these days with so many horrible things being said and done around this province with Islamophobia, antisemitism and hate, you have to call it out.”

Horwath said the government has the power to issue an order of reference for an investigation by a standing committee of MPPs.

“There must be actual consequences for MPP Hillier’s actions,” she wrote in the letter.

Ted Arnott, the speaker of the legislature, said he has no power to regulate the content of an MPP’s social media posts.

“The House might consider further action to discipline Mr. Hillier, but the speaker has no power to act unilaterally, ‘he added, noting MPPs have banded together “at least once” to declare a member’s seat vacant. One occasion was in the 19th century under “quite different” circumstances, Arnott said.

Reached in Ottawa where he is attending the truckers’ protest, Hillier sent the Star pictures of empty supermarket shelves and reiterated accusations that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “committing an act of domestic terrorism” and that Ford is “complicit” in ordering pandemic restrictions.

Hillier, who has been a fixture at anti-lockdown protests and opposes vaccination mandates, did not address his Alghabra comment.

The veteran MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston was kicked out of the Progressive Conservative caucus by Ford in 2019 following complaints about his behavior and accusations he taunted parents of autistic children. Hillier said the real reason was that he was at odds with the premier’s office.

Last October, he was the subject of a unanimous censure motion by MPPs of all parties for “a string of disreputable conduct.” The motion called on him to publicly apologize for his behavior and “to desist from further conduct that is inappropriate and unbecoming of a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.”

In November, he apologized for posting the names and photos of 11 Ontarians, who he wrongly suggested had died or suffered life-changing injuries from COVID-19 vaccinations.

“I understand my post caused greater distress to families already hurt by the loss of a loved one,” Hillier said at the time. He removed the post.

The next provincial election is June 2.