Simcoe-Grey MPP responds to viral reaction to “shut your mouth’ comment

Simcoe-Grey MPP Brian Saunderson said he feels misrepresented by the viral footage that shows him saying “shut your mouth” to NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky during a parliamentary debate on June 1.

“The out of sequence filming that the NDP released makes it look like I’m responding directly to MPP Gretzky’s comments,” he told The Echo.

The comment has upset constituents because, in part, it was made during a debate on the omnibus Bill 119, the Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act. The debate also referenced Lydia’s Law (Accountability and Transparency in the Handling of Sexual Assault Cases), a piece of legislation voted down by Conservatives.

“I appreciate the opportunity to speak to Bill 119 and to the comments made by my colleague from the government side from Niagara West,” said Gretzky, while addressing Sam Oosterhoff, “It was interesting – at the beginning he was talking a lot about safety, but not once did he talk about the safety of women in this province. He threw a fly-by mention of [inter-partner violence] IPV in at the end, but I’d like to know from the member opposite, why is the safety of women in this province not a priority for this government? We had 1,600 sexual assault cases that were thrown out, that were not heard in this province because this government underfunds and under-resources the court system. In London, on Friday, a woman was walking down the street when a man grabbed her and pulled her onto a lawn and sexually assaulted her. What in this bill makes any woman in this province safer from something like that?”

According to the transcript the exchange goes as follows:

Two speakers followed before Sanderson rose to speak, saying, “In my practice of law, I dealt a lot with family law in a small community in my riding, and in many cases, it was necessary to get restraining orders. That kind of inter-partner violence is predictable. It’s not random; it’s predictable,” said Saunderson. “Many of my clients would move out of the riding or move out of the area, and often they’d move out of the province. They had the comfort knowing that when they got to their new home, the restraining order from Ontario would be enforceable in the new jurisdiction. However, the reverse wasn’t true. If clients came from out of the province with a restraining order, they actually had to go to court to get a court to approve that order in Ontario, so—

Interjections.

Mr. Brian Saunderson: You had your turn. Shut your

mouth.

So my question to the member is this—

Interjections.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Effie J. Triantafilopoulos): Would the member kindly retract that comment?

Mr. Brian Saunderson: Which comment was that, Madam Speaker?

Interjections.

Mr. Brian Saunderson: Next time, maybe the question could be something other than—

Interjections.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Effie J. Triantafilopoulos):

I would like all of you to please take a breath. Please, all, just take a breath.

Will the member kindly retract that comment?

Mr. Brian Saunderson: I’ll retract. So, back to the member, the associate minister: Could you please explain how someone coming from outside Ontario with a restraining order will now be protected in Ontario?

A little later, Gretzky replied with “I spent some time asking a question of the member for Niagara West, who was speaking, talking about making it safer for women in their workplaces and on the streets and out in community. When my colleague from Simcoe-Grey got up to speak and I said something, his reaction was to very aggressively—very emotionally unhinged—yell across the aisle at me, “Shut your mouth” while pointing at me. So I’m proposing an invitation to my colleague from Simcoe-Grey to reflect on his behaviour and understand how that is part of the problem in this province—“

When asked about the heated response, Sanderson told The Echo, “The speaker had recognized me… Under parliamentary process I had the floor. She interjected. I responded inappropriately. I accept responsibility for that and I retracted the statement but the statement I made was not in any way connected to what she said in her question or in the substance of the debate. I was reacting in the moment to her interjection,” adding, “I think it was out of character for me but that doesn’t excuse it.”

Sanderson said he lost his temper because he was trying to ask a question about inter-partner violence, for which he participated in hearings as part of the social justice standing committee. Bill 119 would make restraining orders from other provinces enforceable in Ontario without further court proceedings.