44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 17, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/17/22 11:11:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite likes to talk about leadership. However, his party is trying to both support and condemn the illegal blockades.
The hon. member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex suggested that the Prime Minister should show leadership and give the illegal protesters everything they want. What measures should the government have taken? Should the government simply give in to the demands of the illegal protesters?
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- Feb/17/22 11:11:48 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, the official opposition is the official opposition.
This Prime Minister had the tools to work with the provinces and send additional police officers in response to the City of Ottawa's request when the City of Ottawa made that request. Ministers could have intervened, but they did not.
The question the member is asking the official opposition would perhaps best be put to his own Prime Minister. Why did he do absolutely nothing at the beginning of this crisis? Why did he let things get this bad? That is the question. The lack of leadership is not on our side, it is on that side.
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- Feb/17/22 1:14:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, “in the absence of federal government leadership, ordinary people, brave as they may be, put themselves in harm's way because of this government. Protecting the people is the cornerstone of the contract between citizens and the government. Does the government understand the consequences of its lack of leadership?”
That was from the critic from the Bloc Québécois four days ago. What does the Bloc Québécois expect federal government leadership to look like? Does it suggest that it looks like what the Conservatives are calling for: for the government to simply do as those outside on Wellington Street are asking, and eliminate any public health measures related to COVID?
What we are doing is very simple. We are giving tools to local authorities, including in Quebec, to use at their discretion and to avoid what we have seen across the country.
Would the member opposite think it is a good idea to have those tools available, such that if there was a blockade at Lacolle, we could address that situation? It is ironic, because they ask why this did not happen at the time. The reality is that it had to work its way to a federal level, which it has over the past three weeks. Had we intervened the first time, the Bloc Québécois would have been the same party saying that it was an overstep and to respect provincial jurisdictions. It is hypocrisy.
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- Feb/17/22 1:15:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, having been in Ottawa for most of this blockade, what I have seen is a complete lack of willingness by the police to do their job. This should never have spiralled. It was allowed to metastasize and create a crisis at our borders, cutting off hundred of millions of dollars of trade. I remember when the Conservatives were saying that if 10 unvaccinated truckers did not get to cross the border, we would have all our supply lines and our stores shut down. When that did not happen, their supporters actually shut the border.
I would like to ask the hon. member to consider this. Now that we are at this point, it does speak to the absolute failure of the government to have shown leadership throughout. We should never have been in a situation where we had to use the Emergencies Act against people who were setting up hot tubs on Wellington Street because of the lack of rule of law.
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- Feb/17/22 1:16:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member talks about leadership. What type of leadership would he have liked to see? Would he have liked to see federal overreach in the first few days, and the imposing of federal powers? Would the member suggest that leadership looks like acquiescing to what the Conservatives have said? No. What we have done is wait until the situation warranted a federal response. Here we are. We are putting tools in place to be able to address the situation. It is a bit of a nothing question, in my mind.
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- Feb/17/22 2:38:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, perhaps the House leader did not understand. What I am looking for is an answer to the question about the plans and what this Prime Minister has actually done.
Step one, he stigmatized, traumatized and divided Canadians, just as the House leader is doing today.
Step two, he hid in a cottage. He did not react. When things were going on, we did not hear from the Prime Minister.
Step three, he whipped his caucus, where every single member, with the exception of one, voted against a plan.
This leadership has failed. It has failed. What actions did the Prime Minister actually take prior to putting in these restrictions?
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- Feb/17/22 5:21:05 p.m.
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Qujannamiik, Uqaqtittiji. I would like to thank the member for La Prairie for his very entertaining statement and for talking about leadership.
I would like to ask about the Conservatives' attempt to minimize these extremist activities. I would also like to highlight that there was news that law enforcement had intercepted a new convoy heading to the Ambassador Bridge recently.
Does the member agree that dismantling the blockade does not dismantle the leadership, and that the potential of enforcing these measures is going to be what is needed to keep the safety of Canadians, and indeed the freedom of Canadians, intact?
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- Feb/17/22 5:21:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are asking ourselves whether or not the measures were adequate, and I want to comment on that and present the range of measures that could be at our disposal and that we could use. The fundamental problem is not whether these measures exist or are adequate, but why the Prime Minister is not using them. That is the problem.
We are justified in wondering if the measures are adequate. I hope that the government will wake up, show leadership and use them properly so we can finally resolve this situation that no one is happy about.
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- Feb/17/22 5:43:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not believe in Monday-morning quarterbacking. What I believe in is leadership and action. Our government, every step of the way, has worked with the City of Ottawa and provided resources whether it is RCMP officers, intelligence or intelligence gathering. We will continue to work with every single province and territory and with our municipal leaders as well.
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- Feb/17/22 5:53:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I helped my neighbour recently, pleading with the occupiers who have held residents in Ottawa hostage, back into her home, she said to me that nothing she does matters. Nobody cares and nobody is helping. Unfortunately, I could not say anything to ease her concerns. It should have never come to this. A lack of clear leadership on the part of the government is why we are here today. Workers have lost wages, businesses have shut down and the health and well-being of the residents of Ottawa have declined.
Does the member agree we could have avoided being where we are today if the Liberals had shown immediate and clear leadership from the outset?
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- Feb/17/22 7:07:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague and I have the privilege of working together on the agriculture committee. I always find him to be balanced, reasonable and quite eloquent in his remarks. I did not catch all of his speech, but I did catch the tail end.
I have often heard members in this House, particularly Bloc Québécois members and Conservative members, say that they want to see more leadership from the Government of Canada. Of course, this member would know that policing is inherently in the municipal jurisdiction and the the provincial jurisdiction, and that really the role of the federal government would be to impose some of the measures we have seen today. Ultimately, the very last resort would be to call in the army.
Can the member at least opine on what he has heard from leadership? The Conservatives are calling for the government to acquiesce to what the protesters are calling for, while the Bloc members say that this should not apply in their jurisdiction. What does the member think, in terms of leadership from the federal government? Does he agree with this as a step to giving the tools to the provinces and municipalities to address the situation at hand?
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- Feb/17/22 8:12:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is pretty clear that we have had such weak leadership from the Prime Minister. He has not, at all, provided any direction. The public safety minister and the Minister of Emergency Preparedness have not been at all concerned about this until it came to the eleventh hour. They should have been acting on this sooner. They should have had more police on the streets. They should have had proper ticketing and arresting of individuals, especially those who were promoting hate out on the streets.
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- Feb/17/22 8:50:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was quite gobsmacked while listening to the member's speech, particularly because the member started by saying that the Government of Canada should have acted sooner. The Bloc Québécois normally has a lot of respect for jurisdictions. We were there to support municipalities. We were there to support the provincial governments that asked for our assistance, with additional forces and creating an integrated command. We were there right from the start. Had we done something sooner, they would have been screaming that we were overreaching as a federal government.
His own critic for public safety, on Monday, said that the federal government needed to show leadership. Does he not think the federal government is showing leadership by creating tools that allow the provincial governments to use their discretion to stop protests across the country, including the ones at Lacolle that are being contemplated by provincial police in Quebec?
It is great that the member mentions the National Assembly of Quebec, because 72% of Quebeckers agree with this measure. What does the member have to say to them?
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- Feb/17/22 11:11:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to apologize to my colleague for the fact that I am going to ask him a rather easy question. It is late and we are running out of ideas.
If I understand politics, it is a question of leadership, especially in times of crisis like these. During a crisis, governments need to make major decisions that affect all citizens, and they have to convince people that these decisions are the right ones.
At this time, seven out of 10 provinces do not agree with the Prime Minister's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act.
I will throw my colleague a softball. Is this not about a lack of leadership on the part of the Prime Minister?
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