Commons Speaker Greg Fergus faces censure only nine weeks on the job. Fergus admitted to participating in a Liberal Party function in breach of a rule that he remain impartial while holding the $287,400-a year speakership.

“What would happen if an NHL referee appeared in a locker room for one of the teams wearing his referee outfit and giving a bit of a pep talk or positive messages to the team that’s about to go out and play on the ice?” asked Opposition House Leader Andrew Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle). “How long do we think that NHL referee would continue in that post?”

Bloc Québécois House Leader Alain Therrien (La Prairie, Que.) also demanded Fergus quit. The Speaker was “not impartial” and lacked “sound judgment,” said Therrien.