44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 17, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/17/22 10:29:37 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to reiterate that from day one of these barricades, blockages and occupations, the federal government has been supplying resources and working closely with local police officers of jurisdiction to ensure they had the tools they needed. Obviously, the situation has evolved. The situation has escalated, but every step of the way the federal government has been there to support the law enforcement of jurisdiction. Here in Ottawa it is the Ottawa Police Service and the OPP, and we will continue to be there with the RCMP as necessary.
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- Feb/17/22 10:30:48 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians continue to have the right to free expression and to protest peacefully, but occupying the downtown cores of our major cities, protesting and blocking border crossings, is unacceptable. That is why we have given more tools, in a proportional way, to police officers.
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- Feb/17/22 3:38:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on February 7, the City of Ottawa asked for help. It asked for 1,800 extra police officers.
The department sent 275 police officers, most of whom are deployed around Parliament, mainly around ministers and the Prime Minister. It appears that there are only 20 extra police officers on the street right now, out of the 1,800 who were requested.
My question is, if the request from the Ottawa police had been met, is it possible that we would be in a different situation?
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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 7:49:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of things I would like to say about the passionate speech by my colleague from Winnipeg North, but there was one sentence that especially struck me. He said, “If I were in Winnipeg, I would not have tolerated it”.
Is the misfortune of the City of Ottawa, the mayor of Ottawa and the chief of the Ottawa police, who asked for 1,800 police officers only to receive 275, most of them having served in the Prime Minister’s security detail, related to the fact that, with a few exceptions, most of the people here do not live in Ottawa year round?
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- Feb/17/22 8:26:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague frequently refers to indigenous peoples who are peacefully protesting on their unceded territories. I wonder, if he was in government, what he would do if a national police service refused to enforce the rule of law, as it has been doing at Wet'suwet'en. This includes what we saw with militarized police: They took an axe, a chainsaw and an attack dog to take down the door of two unarmed indigenous women on unceded territory. This is something that was affirmed in Supreme Court rulings. We are now witnessing police in Ottawa who have been dangerously lenient to these so-called “protesters”. I would refer to it as an illegal occupation. In fact, we even have photos and news broadcasts of police officers hugging blockaders.
I am wondering this. What would the member do if he was in government?
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- Feb/17/22 10:39:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am a planner. When I saw the 70-kilometre-long convoy headed this way, I thought there would be no problem. I thought there would be a plan in place that would involve coordination between various officials. Then I realized that that was not necessarily the case.
On February 7, the federal government was asked to provide assistance, in the form of 1,800 police officers to support the city and law enforcement officials.
Could that have been done earlier, on both the city side and the government side, and should 1,800 police officers have been sent, rather than 275?
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- Feb/17/22 10:40:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague, who is always very reasonable.
As I think I said in my speech, we are all extremely disappointed by what has happened in Ottawa. For various reasons, the Ottawa police were unable to adequately address the situation.
The federal government does have obligations, and it has taken action to increase resources in Ottawa. However, getting RCMP officers from all across the country to Ottawa does take time. They have to be flown or bused in, and they have to be trained on exactly what is happening on the ground here. These things take time.
The federal government has now assumed its responsibilities, and that is what we are debating today.
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