Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson is denying she gave Conservative MPs the middle finger during a heated exchange in the House of Commons over a French plan to harvest snow crab off Newfoundland and Labrador.Blacklock's Reporter says Thompson dismissed accusations that she made an obscene gesture during question period, insisting the incident was nothing more than an innocent movement of her hand.Conservative MP Ted Falk (Provencher, Man.) demanded an apology after the alleged gesture was directed toward Opposition benches.“I would ask that she apologize,” Falk told the Commons. “The Minister of Natural Resources could confirm that and so will the tape.”Thompson rejected the accusation.“I can assure the Member that whatever he says that I did, it was just a hand movement and I find the statement offensive,” she replied.Her denial prompted jeers from Opposition MPs.The confrontation erupted during questioning by Conservative MP Jonathan Rowe (Eastern Peninsulas, Nfld. & Labrador) over what he called the “France crab grab.”The controversy centres on an announcement by the French government that it intends to license a snow crab harvest in waters off Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, the French territory south of Newfoundland.Rowe accused the Liberal government of failing to adequately defend Canadian fishing interests and sovereignty in a dispute he said could have a $60 million economic impact.“I got up here and sounded the alarm on the France crab grab and these Liberals tried to dismiss it as fear mongering,” Rowe told MPs.“Once they started to realized this was a $60 million issue, all the Minister did was say she was disappointed in France’s intent,” he said.“Mr. Speaker, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians don’t want a government that’s simply disappointed. Will this Prime Minister stand up for Canadians? Stand up for Canadian sovereignty and say no.”.Thompson accused the Conservatives of politicizing the dispute.“I will not play politics with issues as important as this,” she replied.The minister added that residents of Rowe's constituency regularly contact her office about issues affecting their communities.“Constituents in his riding reach out to me regularly to talk about the things that matter,” Thompson said.As she continued her response, Thompson appeared to extend her middle finger toward the Opposition benches.“On and on it goes,” she said. “Enough of the nonsense. We have work to do.”Thompson maintained afterward that she had not deliberately made an offensive gesture.The exchange is the latest in a series of controversies involving alleged obscene gestures and profanity in the House of Commons.In 2023, then-Liberal MP Ken McDonald (Avalon, Nfld. & Labrador) appeared to make a rude hand gesture toward Opposition MPs during a tax vote.McDonald denied intending any offence.In 2024, then-Attorney General Arif Virani apologized after using vulgar language during a parliamentary confrontation, including an incident in which he called the Opposition Leader “a f—king tool.”Virani faced the possibility of parliamentary censure over his remarks.Former prime minister Justin Trudeau was also accused of directing profanity toward Conservative MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay (South Surrey-White Rock, B.C.) during a 2022 Commons exchange.Trudeau declined to apologize and avoided directly addressing the accusation when questioned by reporters.“What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen, when you say you move your lips in a particular way?” Trudeau asked at the time..Conservative MP John Barlow (Foothills, Alta.) disputed Trudeau's explanation.“The Prime Minister used an obscenity and it was not fuddle-duddle,” Barlow said.His comments referenced a notorious 1971 parliamentary confrontation involving Trudeau's father, then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau.The elder Trudeau was accused of telling Conservative MP Lincoln Alexander (Hamilton West, Ont.), the first Black member of the House of Commons, to “f—k off.”Pierre Trudeau denied using the profanity, suggesting instead that he may have said “fuddle-duddle.”“I would never say anything like that,” he maintained.The 1971 controversy occurred just two weeks after Pierre Trudeau told postal workers in Montréal, “Mangez de la merde,” a French expression meaning “eat s—t.”The latest Commons dispute leaves Thompson facing Conservative demands for an apology while the federal government deals with questions over France's proposed snow crab harvest near Newfoundland and Labrador.
