CBC's Political Bytes

If you know anything about John Baird, the punchline rings so very true.

Environment Minister John Baird may have to refrain from one of his favourite activities for a few weeks — speaking in the House of Commons.

The bombastic Baird revels in sparring with the opposition during question period, but his enthusiasm on Wednesday led him to break a cardinal rule of parliament: He referred directly to some individuals who had come to watch him from the visitors' gallery in the House of Commons.

That kind of behaviour is certainly not a crime anywhere else in the country, but in the House they take these things seriously: Only the Speaker is allowed to refer to anyone in the gallery.

Baird himself apologized after QP, chalking it up to a "rookie mistake." But the apology was met with cries of "fair is fair" from the opposition.

Three different opposition MPs pointed out that they had made similar "mistakes" early in their careers — and all had been banned from speaking in the House for 30 days as punishment.

Speaker Peter Milliken has said he will review the tapes of the incident before making a decision.

But Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale is encouraging Milliken to treat the minister with the same severity as other MPs, adding "We should also consider the beneficial effect that action would have in reducing greenhouse gases."