[View the story "Some honourable members" on Storify ]Some honourable members
Aaron Wherry has full coverage of the confrontation in the House. For the record, here’s what MPs and observers were saying.
Storified by Maclean’s Magazine · Thu, Dec 06 2012 02:57:29
Let’s start with reaction from fellow MPs:
Altercation on floor of HofC – DefMin MacKay has to pull his HouseLeader + another ConsMin out of silly scrap with Mulcair+ Dippers….Ralph Goodale
.@RalphGoodale Wow, seems the bury-the-hatchet thing between #NDP & #CPC was just posturing after all.Dr. Hedy Fry
Mulcair has a temper, but Van Loan would have turned Gandhi into a cold blooded killer. http://news.sympatico.ctvnews.ca/home/heated_exchange_between_van_loan_mulcair_in_house/3687fba5Scott Brison
Whoa – Angry Tom at it again! NDP snaps at Van Loan for standing up for Canada’s economic recovery #cdnpoliPeter MacKay
Check the video @MinPeterMacKay to see who came after whom. But we all need to work on raising decorum, I hope you agree with that, at leastNathan Cullen
@nathancullen @MinPeterMacKay @kady Just watched the altercation on video. Seems clear that Peter Van Loan is a sore winner. #cdnpoliElizabeth May MP
And here is a sampling of what others are saying:
Oh I’m scared here comes Peter Van Loan – said nobody ever. #cdnpoliRick Mercer
Van Loan, black trunks, led with a finger flurry and an obscene rebuke. Mulcair, orange, countered with an f-bomb. Cullen tagged… #cdnpoliFred Stenson
First it was Trudeau vs Brazeau! Now, it’s The Battle for The House with House Leaders Van Loan vs Cullen! #cdnpoli http://pic.twitter.com/JXPBUt4ENot Steve Harper
If there’s solid evidence Mulcair told finger-waving Van Loan to ‘get the f back’… then Mulcair’s numbers are about to soar #cdnpoliMichael Den Tandt
Would it be entirely awful for a bunch of MPs to brawl & kick the crap out of each other in the #HOC? I’m thinking No. #cdnpolic_kenn
Speaker of #hoc allows our democracy to descend to a near-brawl like Hockey Night In Canada. Get rid of him!! #cdnpoli http://pic.twitter.com/cvkOGbdyKevin Bourassa
Ouch! Rae quips that fight btw Van Loan and Mulcair would make Sumo wrestling look like fitness contest http://bit.ly/TISXJa #cdnpoliJoan Bryden
Keep it classy, fellas: NDP & Tory MPs curse a blue streak and nearly come to blows in House of Commons #cdnpoli http://fb.me/2oDcPSdAALiberalPartyManitoba
Canadian parliamentary brawl in 2012: ANGRY, HEATED LANGUAGE AND BAD WORDS WERE USED. Oh no. #CdnpoliKimberley Taylor
While tweeps tossed around the blame, others took issue with words used to describe whatever it is that just happened there:
That so called House of Commons ‘brawl’ looked a little more like some jawing after the whistle by hockey standards. #cdnpoliCharlie Mills
What moron headline writer thinks that was a "near-brawl"?Dean Skoreyko
Not a hockey mom. Sheesh! That was nothin’! Babies. “@bcbluecon: What moron headline writer thinks that was a "near-brawl"?” #cdnpoliDeb Solberg
Let’s talk about how loosely we’re using the terms "brawl" and "scrap" http://huff.to/SyQlfE. I think we’re missing hockey people. #cdnpoligabe
I mean until the word gonads has been uttered in anger, can it even be considered a brawl? #cdnpoliJim Armour
