--- title: Justin Trudeau Apologizes for Elbowing MP in House description: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized Wednesday for elbowing a member of Parliament. canonical: https://time.com/4341616/justin-trudeau-apologized-parliament/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-19T14:57:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T09:38:10.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Justin Trudeau Apologizes for 'Unacceptable' House Scuffle og:description: The Canadian Prime Minister elbowed an MP, and there was plenty of shouting. og:url: https://time.com/4341616/justin-trudeau-apologized-parliament/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4e1edb21694342c/698893e53c163972e745d533/canada-trudeau-elbow.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Justin Trudeau apologize manhandling og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Justin Trudeau Apologizes for 'Unacceptable' House Scuffle twitter:description: The Canadian Prime Minister elbowed an MP, and there was plenty of shouting. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4e1edb21694342c/698893e53c163972e745d533/canada-trudeau-elbow.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justin Trudeau Apologizes for 'Unacceptable' Physical Altercation  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Updated: Dec 13, 2023 9:38 AM UTCPublished: May 19, 2016 2:57 PM UTC  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks on May 18, 2016. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks on May 18, 2016.Fred Chartrand—The Canadian Press/AP  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Updated: Dec 13, 2023 9:38 AM UTCPublished: May 19, 2016 2:57 PM UTC Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau [apologized Wednesday](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/19/asia/canada-trudeau-apology/) for elbowing a member of Parliament while a physical political maneuver played out on the floor of the House of Commons. As votes in the House cannot begin until all party whips are seated, Trudeau tried to physically pull the Conservative Whip Gord Brown from the group of New Democrats who were blocking him from his chair. During the process, he elbowed opposition member Ruth Ellen Brosseau, which caused immediate uproar and confusion, the [Washington _Post_ reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/05/19/canadian-prime-minister-justin-trudeau-apologizes-after-elbowing-female-lawmaker-during-parliamentary-quarrel/). “I noticed that the member, the Opposite member whip, was being impeded in his progress,” Trudeau said later to the chamber. “I took it upon myself to go and assist him forward, which was I now see unadvisable as a course of action, and resulted in physical contact in this house that we can all accept was unacceptable and I apologize for that unreservedly.” > [](https://twitter.com/CBCTheNational/status/733104973194498048) Trudeau [apologized directly](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/05/19/canadian-prime-minister-justin-trudeau-apologizes-after-elbowing-female-lawmaker-during-parliamentary-quarrel/) to Brosseau, who was so overwhelmed [she had left](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the%5Famericas/opposition-accuses-canada-pm-trudeau-of-elbowing-lawmaker/2016/05/18/79b0c070-1d59-11e6-82c2-a7dcb313287d%5Fstory.html) and missed the vote. A House committee will conduct an investigation into the incident, which Trudeau referenced in a series of tweets Thursday morning: > [](https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/733310677314469888) > [](https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/733310739314790400) > [](https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/733310792494383104) > [](https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/733310872156819456) The whole incident is perplexing — not only for people not used to government scuffles, but also for the Prime Minister’s supporters/fans, who rarely have to confront a reality where Justin Trudeau does anything wrong. \[[_Washington Post\]_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/05/19/canadian-prime-minister-justin-trudeau-apologizes-after-elbowing-female-lawmaker-during-parliamentary-quarrel/) Justin Trudeau Apologizes for Elbowing MP in House ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4341616/justin-trudeau-apologized-parliament/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4341616/justin-trudeau-apologized-parliament/"},"headline":"Justin Trudeau Apologizes for 'Unacceptable' Physical Altercation","datePublished":"2016-05-19T14:57:27.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T09:38:10.000Z","description":"The Canadian Prime Minister elbowed an MP, and there was plenty of shouting","url":"https://time.com/4341616/justin-trudeau-apologized-parliament/","keywords":["politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4e1edb21694342c/698893e53c163972e745d533/canada-trudeau-elbow.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4e1edb21694342c/698893e53c163972e745d533/canada-trudeau-elbow.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Justin Trudeau apologize manhandling","caption":"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks at the Komagata Maru Apology reception in Ottawa, Ontario, May 18, 2016.","creditText":"Fred Chartrand—The Canadian Press/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4341616/justin-trudeau-apologized-parliament/","name":"Justin Trudeau Apologizes for 'Unacceptable' Physical Altercation"}}]}] ```