44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 10, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/10/22 10:12:04 a.m.
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moved:
That, given that provinces are lifting COVID-19 restrictions and that Dr. Theresa Tam has said that all existing public health measures need to be "re-evaluated" so that we can "get back to some normalcy", the House call on the government to table a plan for the lifting of all federal mandates and restrictions, and to table that plan by February 28, 2022.
She said: Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time today with the member for Mégantic—L'Érable.
I rise today in the House to support our Conservative motion to end the lockdowns and restrictions that the Prime Minister and the federal government have placed on Canadians. The Conservatives believe it is time to follow the science and evidence. We believe the government must present a plan to quickly end the lockdowns and restrictions. Other countries are doing it, the provinces are doing it and the Liberal government needs to do it.
The Prime Minister has used the pandemic to wedge, divide and stigmatize Canadians. This must stop. As parliamentarians, we must all come together and work together to transition to a post-COVID society as quickly as possible.
Before I go any further, I want to speak directly to Canadians who are demonstrating here in Ottawa and across the country. Their protest began with truckers and it has grown into an international phenomenon. Men and women, children, and the young and old, from every walk of life and every community of this country, have been rallying to have their voices heard. They want their freedom back.
To all of those who are taking part in the protest, I believe the time has come to take down the barricades, stop the disruptive action and come together. The economy they want to see reopen is hurting. Farmers, manufacturers, small businesses and families are suffering. I believe this is not what they want to do. We must all work together. They are protesting because they love their country and they want their freedom back.
The protesters here in Ottawa came bringing a message. That message has been heard. The Conservatives have heard them, and we will stand up for them and all Canadians who want to get back to normal life. We will not stop until the mandates have ended. Today, though, I am asking them to take down the blockades and protest peacefully and legally. It is time to remove the barricades and the trucks for the sake of the economy and because it is the right thing to do.
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- Feb/10/22 10:15:47 a.m.
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I now want to get to what I want to say to my fellow parliamentarians because we have something to do. We have something we can do here in the House, and we have a responsibility. Every one of us has a role to play in ending the impasse, restoring peace and order, and at the same time, allowing Canadians to get back to their normal lives.
We have faith in science and evidence, and we also have faith in our fellow Canadians, faith in them to protect themselves in a way they feel is appropriate, not the way government tells them to. Dr. Tam, Dr. Henry, Dr. Moore, Dr. Hinshaw and Dr. Shahab all agree it is time to transition from these restrictions back to a normal life. I know they have faith in science, and so should the Prime Minister. Science is not a prop. It cannot be pulled out and then put away only when it serves the Prime Minister's political interests.
Canadians have sacrificed so much. We all know that. Every member of Parliament in the House has heard and seen first-hand the sacrifices all of our constituents have made. It just seems that it is not enough for the Prime Minister. In a country more divided than ever, the Prime Minister has decided to purposefully politicize the pandemic for his own gain, so much so that he has been called out by members of his own caucus for, in their words, wedging, dividing and stigmatizing his fellow Canadians.
We all know that, as British Columbia was burning, Afghanistan was falling and we were in the fourth wave of this pandemic, the Prime Minister called the election, a $600-million unnecessary election, to capitalize on the pandemic. Despite what the Prime Minister says, our country, our beautiful Canada and our true north strong and free is divided. Canada is suffering. Canada needs some hope, and the blame rests squarely on his shoulders.
Conservatives are ready to work with the government to resolve this impasse. I have asked the Prime Minister to meet with me and leaders of the other parties to come up with a resolution to the impasse. Unfortunately, he has ignored my request, but this problem is not going away. Now is the time for us to act, and so I call upon the House to do what the Prime Minister will not do.
I am asking the House to pass our motion, which we are debating today and which we will be voting on. This motion calls on the government to table a plan for the lifting of all federal mandates and restrictions and to table that plan by February 28. If the Liberals would do it sooner, they would have our full support. The sooner, the better, is what we believe.
This should be a time for hope in our country. This should be a time for healing in our country. This should be a time when Canadians can excitedly look to the future, knowing that the pandemic will be behind us, that they will have their freedom and lives back. Instead, they are feeling stigmatized, divided and ridiculed by the Prime Minister.
To my fellow colleagues, let us act. Let us not just talk. Let us bring that hope. Let us bring that healing. Let us bring inspiration to our fellow Canadians, and we can do that by passing this motion. Let us get it done for the Canadians we represent.
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- Feb/10/22 10:22:34 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, this is just typical of, obviously, the Prime Minister's direction to many in his caucus. They keep stigmatizing, dividing and calling names.
We believe our job on this side of the House is to listen to all Canadians, represent them and hear them. It is not to call them names or try to divide them. In addition to that, we hold the Prime Minister to account. We are not here to hold Canadians to account; we are here to hold the government to account.
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- Feb/10/22 10:23:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am going to ask that member a question: Will he support this motion so that not only the people who have been rallying across the country, but also all Canadians, including those in Quebec, will know that there is hope in the end of the federal restrictions and mandates?
He has a job to do. We have a job to do, and as I just said, our job is not to tell Canadians what to do. Our job is to hold this government to account and provide some hope and inspiration to the people we represent. So, I respectfully ask that colleague and his caucus if they will support our motion and do the job that Quebeckers have sent them to do. Will they stand up for Quebeckers, and stand up for freedom, not only in Quebec, but also across the country?
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- Feb/10/22 10:25:53 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague highlights what is actually a very clear problem in Canada, and that is a health care problem. We do have issues with our health care. It is a provincial jurisdiction, but the federal government has a role to play, which includes providing the provinces the resources that they need. We do not believe that Canadians' restrictions should be limited based solely on whether health care can provide what is necessary.
Canadians follow the rules. Canadians, for two years, have followed the restrictions. They have gotten vaccinated. They have done what governments have asked them to do. Now is the time for governments, right across the country, to step up and provide the health care that is needed.
The federal government needs to play its role. It needs to do it quickly in terms of providing proper health care funding to provinces, but it is time that we end the mandates federally and support Canadians.
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- Feb/10/22 2:19:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been almost two weeks since the beginning of this impasse. We all want the protests to end and for these Canadians to feel like they have been heard and respected, but now critical infrastructure is being restricted. Why? It is because of the Prime Minister's failure.
I have asked the Prime Minister to meet with me and the other opposition leaders in good faith to try to find a way forward from this impasse. He did not answer yesterday. He has not answered today.
I am going to ask him again. Will he meet with us?
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- Feb/10/22 2:20:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues to blame others for things that he is responsible for. Today he actually has a chance to do something for Canadians. We have a motion before the House telling the government to let Canadians know when it is going to end these restrictions. We are two years into this pandemic, and given the current circumstances, it is not an unreasonable request. Canadians deserve a prime minister who is willing to follow science and lift the restrictions. Even his own Liberal MPs agree with us.
I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Will he and his fellow Liberal members of Parliament support our motion that is on the floor today?
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- Feb/10/22 2:22:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Prime Minister. He is talking about vaccinations. We all support vaccines and, as he has said, 90% of Canadians have been vaccinated. Is he suggesting that unless 100% of Canadians are vaccinated, he is not even going to consider opening up and lifting restrictions? Is that what he is trying to tell us? Ninety per cent is good for us and, I would say, for other countries in the world that have less vaccine uptake.
Is he saying he is not going to do anything until 100% of Canadians are vaccinated? Really?
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