OTTAWA — Ontario Conservative MP Derek Sloan could face expulsion from his party’s caucus over remarks he made questioning the loyalty of the country’s chief public health officer.
Sources tell The Canadian Press a motion was put forward by other Ontario Conservative MPs during a phone meeting Tuesday afternoon demanding he apologize or retract his comments.
The sources, granted anonymity to speak about confidential caucus matters, said the ensuing debate was heated but nearly all of those on the call voted in favour of telling Sloan to say sorry.
Sloan is also running for the leadership of the party, under the slogan of “Conservative without apology.”
But if he doesn’t apologize by 6 p.m. for asking whether Dr. Theresa Tam is working for Canada or China, some of the very MPs he is seeking to lead are prepared to try to get him kicked out of caucus.
They could do so under a piece of legislation that gives MPs — not party leaders — the power to oust one of their own.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2020
The Canadian Press
