House of Commons erupts in laughter after Jagmeet Singh says: ‘When I’m prime minister …’

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The House of Commons ended the sitting year on a somewhat silly note, at the expense of an opposition party leader.

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Responding to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the final Question Period of the year on Thursday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh may have had a bit of a bruised ego after his statement earned peals of laughter from MPs, prompting an admonishment from House Speaker Anthony Rota.

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“When I’m prime minister, I will keep my promises,” Singh exclaimed shortly after Trudeau concluded speaking, triggering a disruption of laughter, catcalls and guffaws that lasted nearly a full minute.

“I know everybody is excited and Christmas is coming … my advent calendar says two days but I think something went wrong there,” a wisecracking Rota said as he attempted to steer the proceedings back on track.

“Calm down everyone, take a deep breath.”

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While Singh looked visibly affronted by the response, he was given a chance to repeat himself — which was met with a supportive standing ovation by his caucus-mates. He got derailed a second time, but on his third attempt — after another call for order from Rota — Singh was able to finish his question.

Canada’s health-care crisis dominated much of Question Period on Wednesday, particularly with pediatric emergency rooms overrun with kids afflicted by respiratory illnesses.

Singh was challenging the prime minister’s assertions that the deadlock between the federal government and the provinces was the fault of the premiers, who want more money from Ottawa to ease the backlogs.

“I want to remind the Prime Minister that he promised in the last election to hire 7,500 more nurses and doctors, a promise that if he had kept would have absolutely helped in dealing with this crisis,” Singh said immediately prior to the outburst.