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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 32

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 16, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 32 - Feb/16/22
Mrs. Dominique Vien (Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, CPC)
  • Feb/16/22 2:35:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on Friday, February 11, the Prime Minister said that the Ottawa police had all the resources they needed to end the impasse. On Monday, February 14, he suddenly invoked the Emergencies Act. What happened between February 11 and 14 to justify this decision? What legal principles is this decision based on? Is this an attempt to deflect attention from his serious lack of leadership?
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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/22 2:35:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the invocation of the Emergencies Act is not something to be done lightly. It is a matter of giving law enforcement the resources they need to do their job. We have been there from day one to provide more resources to the Ottawa police and police services across the country. On Monday, we chose to invoke the Emergencies Act to give them even more tools.
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Mrs. Dominique Vien (Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, CPC)
  • Feb/16/22 2:36:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Premier Legault has the situation under control in Quebec, and other provinces do not want the Emergencies Act to apply to them either. All the Prime Minister is doing is adding fuel to the fire and playing partisan games. Will the Prime Minister explain why the whole country must suffer the consequences of a specific situation that is only happening in Ottawa?
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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/22 2:36:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, these illegal blockades are impacting the whole country. We have seen blockades at the border across the country, and it is an emergency that requires the Emergencies Act. We therefore have given local police tools they may use at their discretion. That is how the Emergencies Act works. This law will always respect the terms of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms wherever it is implemented.
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Ms. Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand—Norfolk, CPC)
  • Feb/16/22 2:37:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the emergency measures act is a declaration of a state of national urgency. It is a blunt force tool that should only be used under the most serious circumstances when legal powers have been exhausted. Canadians do not believe the Prime Minister has exhausted all efforts. The emergency measures act gives extraordinary powers to the government. The Prime Minister would have received judicial advice from judicial officers. When will the Prime Minister make that advice available to the public?
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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/22 2:38:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, the members of the Conservative Party are trying to have it both ways. They spent the first few weeks complaining that the federal government was not acting while encouraging the illegal barricades, and now that the federal government has put in the hands of local police officers justified, proportional, measured tools that will absolutely conform with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, they are complaining that we have acted. We will continue to do what is necessary to keep Canadians, their communities and our economy safe.
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Ms. Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand—Norfolk, CPC)
  • Feb/16/22 2:38:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are tired of talking points. They want real answers. The Prime Minister's own words created fear: What are we going to do with these people? These people are taking up space, he said. These are the words of a failed leader who robbed Canadians of hope and unity. That is why they took to the streets. When will the Prime Minister stop doubling down on his failed leadership and admit that it his divisive words and mandates that led to so much turmoil in this country?
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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/22 2:39:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unlike what the member opposite believes, the vaccines mandates we came forward with in this country saved lives. The vaccine mandates for travellers and federal public servants contributed to one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, by Canadians. That has kept people safer, it has allowed our economy to come roaring back and it has allowed us to get through this challenging pandemic better than most. Unfortunately, the Conservatives are now supporting illegal blockades that are harming our economy. That is not what—
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The Speaker
  • Feb/16/22 2:40:02 p.m.
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The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.
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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC)
  • Feb/16/22 2:40:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period the Prime Minister said that the Emergencies Act should not be the first or second thing that should be used to resolve a crisis situation. What were the first and second things the Prime Minister did? How does the failure of those actions provide legal justification for the invocation of the Emergencies Act?
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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/22 2:40:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when we began to see illegal blockades in place, we made sure that the RCMP was there to offer resources to local police of jurisdiction and to work with the OPP to ensure that the support and planning were there for the police of local jurisdiction to take action. As time went on and these illegal blockades became more and more dug in, we saw there was a need for more tools, until it got to the point where the livelihoods and well-being of Canadians and the residents of Ottawa were being severely impacted. Threats of violence at border crossings across the country—
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The Speaker
  • Feb/16/22 2:41:06 p.m.
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The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.
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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC)
  • Feb/16/22 2:41:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the problem with that argument is that the illegal blockades at the Ambassador Bridge and the Coutts crossings occurred prior to the Emergencies Act being involved, without federal help. The Emergencies Act was not needed to settle the rail blockades of 2020, the Oka crisis, the crisis at Caledonia, September 11, the COVID‑19 pandemic or any other dispute in Canadian history. The Prime Minister has not provided any legal justification for the use of the Emergencies Act, which is a historic unfettered power grab. He needs to calmly tell Canadians why he has failed and what is different today.
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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/22 2:41:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the invocation of the Emergencies Act is not something to be done lightly. On that we absolutely agree. That is why we not only laid out the rationale and explained to Canadians why and how we are doing it, but made sure that the new powers are circumspect, are proportional and are to be used only where they are needed. We are also about to have days of debate in the House on exactly these questions so that parliamentarians, and indeed all Canadians, are able to see that this was necessary.
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Mr. Yves-François Blanchet (Beloeil—Chambly, BQ)
  • Feb/16/22 2:42:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I invite the Prime Minister to read his own order before reading out his answers to questions in the House. It does not say that the provinces have a choice. It says that the federal government chooses where it will or will not take action. Second, I invite members of the NDP to seriously reflect on this given the history of their party, which courageously opposed the War Measures Act in 1970. Third, it is shameful to compare the use of the Canadian army in Quebec for humanitarian purposes to the Emergencies Act. Does he realize that turning away—
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The Speaker
  • Feb/16/22 2:43:08 p.m.
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The right hon. Prime Minister.
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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/22 2:43:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this pandemic has been hard on all Canadians. We have lost too many loved ones. We have had restrictions on all kinds of things we took for granted. We have had to deal with mental health challenges in our communities, but we have also seen Canadians be there for one another. This has brought out the best in Canadians, from frontline workers in Quebec to emergency services in British Columbia to the neighbours helping neighbours. Canadians now need us to implement emergency measures to deal with these illegal blockades across the country.
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Mr. Yves-François Blanchet (Beloeil—Chambly, BQ)
  • Feb/16/22 2:43:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure the Prime Minister actually understands how truly difficult things are for ordinary people. Does he realize that health care falls under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces? Does he realize how little he had to do in that regard? Does he realize how much he has messed things up? Does he realize that the energy that should be put towards combatting the pandemic is now being spent on fighting a security problem that should have never happened under his watch?
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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/22 2:44:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government sent $63 billion in health care funding to the provinces and territories to help all Canadians through this pandemic. The federal government has directly contributed eight dollars out of every $10 in support for Canadians. We have been there for people. I know it terrifies the Bloc Québécois to think that the federal government could be there for Quebeckers, but we have been there and we will continue to be there for as long as necessary.
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Ms. Melissa Lantsman (Thornhill, CPC)
  • Feb/16/22 2:45:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “a positive, optimistic, hopeful vision of public life isn’t a naive dream; it can be a powerful force for change” and “...if Canadians are to trust their government, their government needs to trust Canadians”. Those are the words of the Prime Minister in 2015. “Very often misogynistic”, “racist”, “women haters”, “science deniers”, “the fringe”: these words were said by the same Prime Minister six years later as he fanned the flames of an unjustified national emergency. When did the Prime Minister lose his way? When did it happen?
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