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Mr. Lunney described himself as a victim of “cyberbullying” and “crowd shaming” after he questioned the theory of evolution in a tweet in February.

“I am tired of seeing my faith community mocked and belittled,” said the MP, who was first elected in 2000 and is not running again.

“To not respond is to validate my accusers and, worse yet, imply that I lack the courage of my convictions to stand up for what I believe. That is not a legacy I wish to leave behind.”

Despite Mr. Lunney’s appeals it “has cost me something” to take a public stand, Speaker Andrew Scheer said he was not properly using the privilege procedure and shut him down after a 21-minute series of exchanges.

“I feel bad that I have to do this,” the speaker said after MPs from several parties said they wanted to hear what Mr. Lunney had to say.

“I have not heard anything that would indicate that his privileges have been affected,” Mr. Scheer added after Mr. Lunney failed to get unanimous consent to finish his speech.

Mr. Lunney said Tuesday he was leaving caucus as a result of critical comments directed at him on social media in late February.

At that time he went on Twitter to defend Rick Nicholls, a Progressive Conservative member of the Ontario Legislature, who stirred up controversy after questioning whether evolution should be taught in schools.

“Stop calling evolution fact!” Mr. Lunney tweeted.

In his speech Wednesday, he said he has been prevented from speaking out on his creationist views, just like many scientists and educators.