44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 10, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/10/22 10:21:47 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I am very glad to hear the Leader of the Opposition encouraging the protesters to disengage in their activities and go home, but I cannot help but remember the fact that she, not too long ago, actually said in an email that she did not want them to leave and that she wanted this to become the Prime Minister's problem. As a matter of fact, according to Politico, she actually told truckers, “Don’t stop, it’s working.”
I do appreciate her change in tone today, but I am wondering if the Leader of the Opposition can inform the House at what point along the road did she make the decision to change her mind and change course on this.
127 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 1:23:08 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member for Thornhill's desire to seek common ground to have conversations. I think that is important.
However, I did take exception to her comment about wedge politics and her suggestion that this side is trying to score cheap political points. We know that, a week ago, it was leaked by an obviously concerned Conservative staffer that the Leader of the Opposition had actually encouraged her side of the House not to ask the protesters to leave and to make this the Prime Minister's problem. As reported by Politico, the Leader of the Opposition had conversations with truckers and said, “Don't stop, it's working.”
For them to suddenly come out here and try to be the saviours of both the “freedom convoy” and the residents of Ottawa seems very hypocritical, given the context in which the Leader of the Opposition has been participating in the dialogue over the last week and a half. I am curious if the member can explain to me how she thinks she can support both sides of this, given the comments of the Leader of the Opposition.
194 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 1:58:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, what we have seen throughout the course of the last two years in my opinion is continuous flip-flops from the Conservatives on various issues. We are never going to have enough vaccines and we are never getting vaccines, and then suddenly, where are all the vaccines and why do we not have the vaccines yet? The same thing goes for closing borders. Why are the borders not closed yet? Close the borders. Then suddenly, why are the borders not open? Open the borders.
Conservatives do everything based on reactions and the emotions they happen to feel that day rather than actually following the science. What they cannot seem to wrap their heads around in my opinion is actually following the science.
I am wondering if the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge could provide his input into the importance of following the science as opposed to the day-to-day political emotions one might have.
157 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 3:17:31 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, the Prime Minister said in an answer today that those briefings would be available. I am not sure why the Bloc felt the need to bring forward this unanimous consent motion.
38 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 4:19:32 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to this opposition day motion. I have had the opportunity to listen for the majority of the day to the debate and I want to address a few points. A couple nights ago when we had an emergency debate, I started off with some facts. I am going to do the same thing today because I think it is very important.
71 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 4:19:44 p.m.
- Watch
The fact is that almost 90% of adults over the age of 18 in Canada have been fully vaccinated, and 82.7% of people who are five years old and older have been fully vaccinated. Remember, people five to 11 only recently became eligible. Also, just under 50% of adults 18 and over have already received a booster. In my province of Ontario, it is similar. Just under 84% of people who are five years old and older are fully vaccinated and 45% have received a booster. I am even more proud to say that in the health region of Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington, 88% of those who are five years old and older are fully vaccinated and 67% have already received their booster. I note that my riding shares a health unit with the member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, and I think we can be extremely proud of this locally.
I want to take a few minutes to go back to the introductory comments we heard this morning from the leader of the official opposition that related to the blockades, the protesters and everything that is going on outside. I found it quite interesting that she raised this in a debate that really does not address that. This debate is about developing a road map, which I will get to shortly. For some reason, she spent a great deal of time on a personal appeal to the protesters, asking them to leave, and I was delighted to hear that. It is great to hear the leader of the official opposition finally get to the point of asking those who are participating in these blockades to leave.
However, I cannot help but wonder why the leader of the official opposition is suddenly making a dramatic change in her approach. A week ago, in an email that was leaked by who I can only assume is a very conscientious and concerned Conservative staffer, the leader of the opposition asked the former leader of the opposition not to do anything about the blockaders and to make it the Prime Minister's problem. That does not sound like somebody who is trying to bring unity to the House and bring everybody together.
Then, even more recently, we learned from a Politico article that she sat down with truckers and told them not to stop what they were doing. Sorry, I should say “protesters”, because I think the vast majority out there go beyond representing the truckers. She sat down with protesters and told them what they were doing was working and to keep it up. That does not sound to me like somebody who would then, within a week, stand in the House and introduce a motion that basically calls on everybody to get together and work on a solution. I am sorry, but we cannot have it both ways. We cannot be the saviours of the “freedom convoy” and the saviours of the people in downtown Ottawa all together in one when we are flip-flopping back and forth all the time.
I asked myself why the Conservatives have suddenly taken a new approach and a new direction, and I think it is quite obvious to those who are following this pretty closely: Public opinion is changing and it is changing pretty darn quickly. I even noticed it in social media feeds. More and more people are saying that what is going on in Ottawa is not right. This is not about truckers. This is something much bigger than that. By the way, where is the money coming from to fund this? There are all sorts of stories out there about GoFundMe and these other organizations that are drumming up money from the United States. It is being reported in other areas of the world.
The Conservatives are starting to get nervous now. They are sitting there asking what they are getting themselves into and saying it seemed really good a week ago and maybe it is time they changed course. In my humble opinion, although some of my friends across the way might suggest it is not all that humble, the leader of the official opposition can see the writing on the wall now. She has realized that it is time to change course on this because they are getting in way too deep. That is what is happening. They realize they have gone too far, and that is why they are asking the protesters to leave.
I want to read a quote for members. A Conservative member of Parliament said:
These blockaders are taking away the freedoms of other people to move their goods and themselves.
That is a quote from a Conservative member, talking about a blockade. It was not this blockade. It was the member for Carleton. He was talking about a blockade on February 13, 2020, blocking a rail line in the Tyendinaga area. Is that not interesting?
The so-called individual who will soon be coronated to become the leader of the official opposition has these incredible flip-flops. He is all concerned about the moving of goods down a rail line when it is indigenous protesters, but when it comes to what is going on in the streets of Ottawa, he is absolutely silent.
The member received three questions, a couple of days ago, from three of us back to back. I, the Bloc and the NDP all asked him if he supported what is going on out there, and he totally skated through it. He did not want to address it, because he knows he can raise money and get votes from the people who are outside. I think he also knows he cannot get them from indigenous protesters in Tyendinaga. That is the irony, the hypocrisy, of the member for Carleton and the Conservative Party writ large, because they do this all the time.
Conservatives flip-flop, and we are seeing these flip-flops. Let us look back at the past two years. They would say, “Close the borders. We need the borders closed immediately, right now. Why did we not do it three weeks ago?” Then, all of a sudden, they would say, “Why are the borders not open? We need the borders open. People needed to travel.” They flip-flopped back and forth on that issue at least three or four times in the past two years. Is that leadership? I highly doubt it.
What about the vaccines? The member for Calgary Nose Hill said that we would not have vaccines until 2030. She said that we were never going to get vaccines, and that vaccines would never be around. Then all of a sudden she asked where the vaccines were, why did we not have vaccines and why were there not vaccines everywhere. Is that leadership? No, but we hear it. It is another flip-flop.
What about rapid tests? Conservatives said, “We need rapid tests. Where are the rapid tests?” They used to say, “Rapid tests do not work. Nobody needs rapid tests.” They flip-flop. They literally go outside, stick their finger in the wind and ask, “What are we doing today? Which way is the wind blowing?” That is not leadership.
It is ironic. Not even an hour ago, there was a unanimous consent motion in the House, when the vast majority of members were paying very close attention to what was going on, that said, “The House condemns the intimidation of citizens and journalists, the incessant honking, the arson attempts, the shooting of fireworks in the downtown core of Ottawa, the flooding of emergency lines such as 911 and local police numbers by fake emergency calls, the blockade of essential road infrastructure and the overall siege situation currently being maintained.”
We sent this unanimous consent motion to the Conservatives ahead of time, which is the proper procedure when we do this. They knew what they were saying no to. One lone Conservative over there, obviously set up by the whip's desk, probably with their head down, said no and rejected the unanimous consent motion on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition.
This is the same person who says that we need to come in here and work together, that we need to be unanimous and that she wants the protest to end right now. It is clear that she does not want the protest to end for the same reasons the rest of the country does. She wants it to end because she realizes it is a political liability now. That is the conundrum the Conservatives have put themselves into, and they do it routinely.
This motion is calling for a road map. It is asking the government to set out a path and to put measurables in place to determine at what point certain things will happen.
An hon. member: That makes sense.
Mark Gerretsen: Mr. Speaker, they say it makes sense. Does that make sense?
Guess what. Ontario has done it, and keeps changing it. Three months ago, we did not know about the omicron virus. We had no idea. We are getting new things thrown into the equation all the time.
What the opposition members are asking for is that we develop a road map when there are so many variables. They want to be able to tie something down, when it is literally impossible to do. Ontario has been trying to do it unsuccessfully. It keeps having to change it, because it is impossible to do.
How will we do it? We will do it by listening to science. I will get to Dr. Tam's and Dr. Moore's points in a second. We will do it by science, and we will do it by listening to the experts who advise us at various points, rather than trying to do it based on the political wind that the Leader of the Conservative Party and her caucus, who are heckling me right now, insist on so much. We are going to do it by using the proper ways that we should allow for things like this to unroll, which is by listening to the medical experts.
We can talk about Dr. Tam and Dr. Moore, who, by the way, I have a huge amount of respect for. I was on the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health unit before Dr. Moore was even the Medical Officer of Health for Kingston. I have known the gentleman since 2006. We have had a number of conversations on this and many other health-related matters in my riding. I have the most incredible amount of respect for him.
He and Dr. Tam have said—
Eric Duncan: Open up.
Mark Gerretsen: Mr. Speaker, no, they did not say, “Open up.” That is what they are heckling me with from the other side.
This is my point. They are misrepresenting the comments that they have made. What they have been saying is that we need to establish, at some point, how we will move out of this. They need to do it, not politicians in this room.
Do members know how I know that to be the fact? Do members know how I know that the Conservatives know that to be the fact? It is because the member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes referenced Dr. Tam coming to the health committee and making this comment, which she also made in a press conference.
My question for my Conservative colleagues is, did they ask Dr. Tam if we should make the road map? Probably not. No, they did not. Do members know why? It was probably because they did not want to hear her answer. I would be willing to bet that Dr. Tam would have said it was probably best that we leave the decisions in the hands of the experts, rather than to politicians trying to create a road map. That is what this is about.
That is what debate after debate in the House is about. It is about Conservatives trying to politicize every issue. They are laughing and clapping right now. Guess what? I have one. A week and a half ago, there were Conservatives all over Wellington Street, taking pictures with protesters and posting them on Facebook. Why are they not doing it now? Why does one of the members laughing at me right now not go outside, take a picture with a protester, and be like, “I am so proud to support these people”? Why do they not do that? It is because they know the conundrum they have put themselves in.
I realize they are heckling me because the truth hurts. It is unfortunately the reality of the situation. If Conservatives want to prove me wrong, I encourage one of them, right now, who is sitting in here heckling me to go outside and do that.
2182 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 4:34:10 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, that is the first time a Conservative ever said I gave an excellent speech, and I thank him for that. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that it may have been a slightly wrong choice of words, in all fairness.
It is a great question, but I am not a medical expert. They are sighing. They are disappointed that I cannot answer that. They are disappointed that as a politician, I am willing to refuse to pretend to be a medical expert. I am not a medical expert. What I do know is that, all along, we have been taking medical expert advice from the experts, not the Conservative Party. As a result, whether you correlate it positively or not, we have the highest vaccination rate among the G7 countries. That is from listening to the experts. They are clapping. Why do we not listen to the experts as it relates to when it will be time to remove such measures?
166 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 4:36:14 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate to hear that it appears as though the Bloc Québécois will be voting in favour of this motion, but I will say that we need to let the experts make the plan.
The member's question to me, which I will try to answer as directly as I can, is why we do not involve the experts in making that plan. I can tell her that the experts have been making plans. Look at Ontario. The province has to keep reworking it, because it cannot predict things. There are lots of variables that happen. Why should we be forcing people to give us something when it is not in the best medical practice to do that?
125 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 4:37:54 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I always think there is an opportunity to learn, in terms of lessons and doing better wherever we can.
To the member's comment about Canadians deserving clear information, I could not agree more. It is unfortunate that my office has to spend a lot of time correcting misinformation that is out there. My office spends a lot of time correcting misinformation that, quite frankly, the Conservative Party is more than happy to promote, providing it attains its political objective.
82 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 4:40:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, there is always more we can do. We should be encouraging people whenever we have the opportunity. In fairness, I will say that I have heard some Conservatives say that, although not as loudly those in other parties, but some of them have been saying that.
I will say one other thing. A lot of people in here might think that restrictions are being forced on people and that the mandates are forcing people to get vaccinated, but that is a misconception between what is being forced on people and them just going out to get it done.
I have an extended family member who had not yet been vaccinated. When the restrictions came in, and the mandate was that people had to be vaccinated to go into a restaurant, he said he would go and get vaccinated because he had not done it yet. We have this misconception that the mandates are forcing people when, as we have seen in Quebec, they are encouraging more people to get vaccinated. We know that vaccine appointments increased by something like 90,000, and do not quote me on that number, overnight when Quebec brought in its mandates. The mandates are another tool to encourage more people to get vaccinated, as we have seen.
214 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 4:42:52 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I will bite my tongue as to where I really want to go with that one. I look forward to the opportunity to see the member in person again.
The reality is that we listen to the experts. The experts advise us, and then we make decisions based on that expert advice. This member seems to have an axe to grind with one particular issue with somebody in the House of Commons. I am sure she can go through the proper channels for that.
86 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 4:44:41 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, the member lost me at not wanting to play partisan games and having a partisan approach when she is choosing to side with the Leader of the Opposition, who was, literally a week ago, calling for the protestors to keep up the fight out there. Now she is suddenly coming in here to be the saviour of this place—
66 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/22 4:45:38 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order.
I did not say that the member was engaging in a partisan approach. I said she is willing to go along with the Leader of the Opposition, who is engaging in an overly hyperpartisan approach.
45 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
