Why Elizabeth May thinks Parliament needs to get past Elbowgate

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says Parliament needs to get back to work after Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau'selbowing incidenton Wednesday that she says occurred in the midst of"partisan trickery."

• Justin Trudeau apologizes for 'failing to live up to a higher standard'

The incident, in whichTrudeauelbowed NDP MP RuthEllenBrosseauwhile taking Conservative Party whipGordBrown by the arm, occurred before a vote on a government motion to limit debate on BillC-14, the government's assisted dying bill.May said opposition MPs were trying to delay the vote by blocking Brown.

May said tensions have been running high in the House of Commons all week.

"It certainly was disturbing, it was unfortunate, it was rattling to many nerves," May saidon CBC'sMetro Morning on Thursday.

"The key thing here is we dial down the acceleration of partisan hostility and actually do our work."

May said Parliament is facing a June 6 deadline imposed by the Supreme Court of Canada to pass the assisted dying bill. She said the deadline has created a "very rare pressure cooker" situation in Parliament.

Health Minister Jane Philpott and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybouldhave saidthey have been told by doctors they need a new law. Once the deadline passes, doctors will have to interpretthe Carter decision, Maysaid.

In the Carter decision, the Supreme Court ruledpeople with grievous and irremediable medical conditions should have the right to ask a doctor to help them die.

The court, which issued the landmarkdecision onFeb. 6, 2015,gavethe federal government12 months to craft legislation to respond to the ruling. In a 5-4 decision last January, the court granted the governmenta four-month extension, pushingthe deadline to June 6.

"Tensions have been high because of the timeline and a honestly held belief on the part of the minister of justice and minister of health and prime minister that they must get through the bill on medically assisted dying and must do it before the Supreme Court invalidates certain sections of the Criminal Code that make that illegal," Maysaid.

The Green Party leader said it's important to understand the sequence of events that led to the elbow incident.

After a snap vote calledby theConservatives and NDP on another piece of legislation on Monday, Maysaidthe Liberals responded on Tuesday by introducinga motion, Government Business No. 6,to controlHouse business.

On Wednesday,May said opposition MPs then tried toblock Brown fromthewalk the government and opposition whips traditionally take from the back of the House to the front before thevote to limit debate on the assisted dying bill.

Government House Leader Dominic LeBlanc has since announced theLiberals will withdraw theGovernment Business No. 6 motion.

"Some membersin the opposition parties realized, if we block the way here when the whips do the required walk from the back of the House to the front of the House, if we delay the vote by even three minutes, then we throw off the government's whole C-14 schedule," she said.

"I don't think that's been clear. I'm not making excuses for the prime minister, but it's important to understand that tensions were high."

May said it's important for Parliament to maintain its reputation and not "to fan the flames" of the incident.

Trudeau apologized in Parliament on Thursday,for the third time in two days, for the physical encounterthat resulted in a melee on the floor of the House.

"I apologize to my colleagues, to theHouse as a whole and to you, Mr.Speaker,for failing to live up to a higher standard of behaviour. Members, rightfully, expect better behaviour from anyone in this House. I expect better behaviour of myself," the prime ministersaid in the Houseafter he apologized directly to two opposition MPs.