On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau caused an uproar in the House of Commons when he replied to a speech by Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman supporting the anti-vax mandate truck convoy by accusing her of “standing with people who wave swastikas.”

During the Question Period when members of Parliament ask questions of government ministers,  Lantsman challenged Trudeau’s heavy-handed suppression of the massive protest by citing a comment he made in 2015 in which he said, “If Canadians are going to trust their government, their government needs to trust Canadians.”

Lantsman, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, became the first Jewish woman to be elected as a Conservative MP last October. Her district, Thornhill,  Thornhill has the highest percentage of Jewish residents in Canada at 7%.

She challenged his invoking of emergency measures and his description of participants in the trucker convoy in Ottawa and other areas of Canada as “very often misogynistic, racist, women-haters, science-deniers, the fringe.”

She accused him of fanning “the flames of an unjustified national emergency,” asking, “When did the prime minister lose his way?”

“Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas, they can stand with people who wave the Confederate flag,” Trudeau said in response. “We will choose to stand with Canadians who deserve to be able to get to their jobs, to be able to get their lives back. These illegal protests need to stop, and they will.”

The House of Commons erupted in emotion over Trudeau’s comments, leding the Speaker, Anthony Rota, to call for order. He also admonished Trudeau to avoid “inflammatory” language.

MP Dane Lloyd reacted harshly to Trudeau.

“Mr. Speaker, I’ve never seen such shameful and dishonorable remarks coming from this prime minister. My great-grandfather flew over 30 missions over Nazi Germany. My great-great-uncle’s body lies at the bottom of the English Channel. There are members of this Conservative caucus who are the descendants of victims of the Holocaust.”

Lloyd went on to unsuccessfully demand that Trudeau apologize.

“For the prime minister to accuse any colleague in this House of standing with a swastika is shameful. I’m giving the prime minister an opportunity. I’m calling on him to unreservedly apologize for this shameful remark,” Lloyd said in his first of three demands for an apology. 

Lantsman later introduced a point of order demanding a personal apology from Trudeau.

“I am a strong Jewish woman and a member of this House and a descendant of Holocaust survivors and … it’s never been singled out, and I’ve never been made to feel less,” she said. “Except for today, when the prime minister accused me of standing with swastikas. I think he owes me an apology. I’d like an apology and I think he owes an apology to all members of this House.”

Her demand was met with applause. Trudeau chose to leave the House rather than respond.