44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 17, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/17/22 11:46:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise at this late hour, and I want to take a moment to thank all the House of Commons staff, the interpreters, and you, Madam Speaker, for your indulgence and dedication as the House sits long hours until midnight. Thank you to everyone.
We have been patient for more than 20 days, while these illegal blockades have disturbed the lives of Canadians, harmed our economy and endangered public safety. It is now clear that the local police forces have been very much unable to enforce the law effectively, as my colleague Anita just pointed out.
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- Feb/17/22 11:47:20 p.m.
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I apologize, Madam Speaker.
To my colleague who spoke before me, I would like to say that the police service was indeed severely affected. We are invoking the Emergencies Act to enhance the ability of provincial and territorial authorities to deal with the blockades and the occupation and keep Canadians safe, protect jobs and restore confidence in our institutions.
In my riding, Highway 50 connects the Laurentians to Ottawa. That was the highway the convoy took to get from Quebec to Ottawa, which was very disruptive.
I got tons of calls from people all over my riding expressing support for the government and our Prime Minister. Some of those calls were from truckers and truckers' associations. These are people who went to the polls in 2021, exercised their right to vote, and placed their trust in me for a third time.
That tells me it is just a minority of people making all that noise outside, bothering the people of Ottawa and Gatineau day and night, and refusing to move their trucks even though the police have asked them to do so several times.
The Emergencies Act provides law enforcement with new authorities to regulate crowds, prohibit barricades and ensure that our essential corridors remain open. The Emergencies Act allows the government to mobilize essential services such as tow trucks, and it gives the RCMP the ability to act more quickly to enforce local laws. The act also provides more power to stop the flow of money to protesters. These measures are targeted, temporary and proportionate.
It is a good and effective piece of legislation whose use is temporary. It is the last resort. This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting Canadians' jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions. For two years, Canadians have been making sacrifices and helping each other get through this global pandemic. Canadians' lives have been turned upside down for two years now.
The federal government has been there since the very start of the pandemic, working side by side with the provinces, for the well-being of Canadians. We will continue to be there. Workers from Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, self-employed workers and businesses have been able to benefit from these programs, which we must remember were adopted unanimously by all 338 members of the House of Commons, who all agreed on the benefits that we gave to Canadians. Those benefits were necessary.
The Canada worker lockdown benefit helped a lot, as did the employment insurance program, the wage subsidies, the Canada recovery sickness benefit and other Canada recovery benefits, the wage and hiring supports, the rent support, the jobs fund, the extension of work-sharing agreements, the credit programs, the financing for large employers, and the Canada recovery caregiving benefit. These are all ways that we gave during the pandemic.
Today, we need this act. Today, we will continue our work. We will be there for Canadians who have been taken hostage by these illegal blockades. We have been there from the beginning of the pandemic, and we will still be there to continue our work, the work that the majority of Canadians elected us to do.
The government has issued an order, which takes effect immediately, authorizing Canadian financial institutions to temporarily cease providing financial services if the institution suspects that an account is being used to help illegal occupations and blockades. What we are asking Canadian financial institutions to do under this act is to review their relationship with any person involved in the blockade and to report them to the authorities. The accounts of businesses linked to illegal blockades will be frozen and vehicle insurance revoked.
This is about ensuring the safety of Canadians, protecting people's jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions.
Since the government has now declared a state of emergency, we have tabled the declaration in Parliament within seven sitting days as required.
Our government is aware of the need for transparency and parliamentary oversight. That is why the government is giving Parliament the information it needs to be able to play its role.
The declaration is for 30 days only, unless it is renewed. However, we can revoke the state of emergency sooner, and we sincerely hope we will. What is more, the specific measures set out in the Emergencies Act are limited, subject to many controls and guaranteed by Parliament. They have to be consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Emergencies Act does not involve the army. That would fall under the National Defence Act, which is not what we are invoking today. This is a matter of keeping Canadians safe, protecting people's jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions.
This is very important for the people of Argenteuil—La Petite‑Nation and for everyone in the nation's capital, who deserve peace. For 20 days, the blockades have been illegally disrupting the lives of residents in the nation's capital and hurting our economy. It is time for us to do something about that, because they are jeopardizing public safety and the supply chain that we have here at home.
I have heard horror stories from people who have called me. My colleague who spoke before me listed a number of measures the police have had to take that were related directly to the protest location. We have not yet talked about the people in my riding who have been affected indirectly, having been denied access to their workplaces. Local businesses have had manufacturing contracts cancelled. For example, my brother's company has trucks on the road, and his employees could not access the work site to do their jobs. He had to cancel contracts and relocate workers who were supposed to be on job sites in Ottawa.
This situation has affected many more people than we realize, even here on Parliament Hill. The opposition parties say that this is affecting only Ottawa and that perhaps there were other things we should have done besides invoking the Emergencies Act, but this is having consequences everywhere, whether in my riding in Quebec or elsewhere in Canada.
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- Feb/17/22 11:56:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague opposite for the opportunity to answer his question. It is mind-boggling to me to see the Bloc so desperate for something to say that it is making up needs.
Not once have we spoken about needing to go into Quebec if it was not useful. The Bloc is on dangerous ground here. Even the Bloc leader has compared this to wartime legislation. We have never made mention of wartime legislation. We have never talked about there being any need to send the army into Quebec.
We will never invoke this act if it is not necessary.
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- Feb/17/22 11:57:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for mentioning that this network has ties to some extremist groups that are dangerous to our society, to the supply chain, to our families, to the common good, to security and so forth.
The act is appropriate and will be in force for the next 30 days. It will be enforced mainly in Ottawa, but perhaps elsewhere as needed, although I hope that other provinces will not need it.
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- Feb/17/22 11:59:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in an effort to keep this brief, I will summarize the question.
The act is clear. Institutions will be responsible for investigating anyone who made illegal contributions and will have to provide this information to law enforcement, which will also have to conduct a thorough investigation. I have faith in our justice system and our law enforcement system—
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