44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 19, 2022 07:00AM
- Feb/19/22 9:18:55 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Ontario for his excellent speech.
I would like to ask him a fairly simple question. Is he, like me, prepared to conduct an inquiry to get to the bottom of this matter, understand what happened and why the situation was misjudged, and find ways to ensure that this never happens again?
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- Feb/19/22 9:19:23 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we need an inquiry, and it has to be an independent inquiry because what we have seen in this Parliament is the inability for members to step up and put the nation first, as opposed to local and partisan interests. That independent inquiry has to have the power to compel witness testimony, and we have never had any rules or connections at the civic level, but in Ottawa, yes, I want to hear about the failure of the City of Ottawa and what happened here.
I want to know about what the Americans are asking about, about foreign overseas accounts that were flooding Facebook in the lead up to this. We need to know where that came from. We need to know how the dark money was used. We also need to be able to assess the claims that the government has made so that we are ensuring that there was not overreach, that the people who are charged were legitimately charged. There has to be oversight. I welcome the Civil Liberties Association saying it is taking this to court. We need oversight.
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- Feb/19/22 1:38:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague mentioned turning a blind eye, and I would agree. As a result of the current government's turning a blind eye, as well as the mayor of Ottawa and the police service, now we find ourselves in a crisis. We saw this coming. We had all sorts of signs. I feel quite hesitant to have to support this, and I absolutely support the Canadian Civil Liberties Association for wanting oversight. The fact that we are using this emergency measure absolutely requires oversight.
However, there is a reason why we arrived here, and I wonder if the member agrees with me that we need a public inquiry in terms of governance issues that led us down this security hole. Does the hon. member agree that we need a public inquiry into policing and governance issues that led us to where we are right now?
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- Feb/19/22 3:37:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, usually, when my children talk about my wittiness, they put a prefix in front of that word, but we will ignore my children for the time being.
The legislation, by definition, has to have an inquiry, so there will be one. As to the member's suggestion about a general inquiry into policing, the public safety committee conducted one last year. It had a narrow focus on, if you will, racism in policing. However, it is a commendable suggestion and possibly should be taken up by the public safety committee, if the government does not do it.
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- Feb/19/22 6:09:10 p.m.
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Yes, Madam Speaker, I am concerned. The inability of the police to bring this under control earlier was part of the reason why it was necessary to enact this legislation. There is a marked difference between the way these different protests are being treated, so I would fully support an inquiry.
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- Feb/19/22 11:07:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have asked this question of others in this House, but I wanted to convey to him the comments I have received from many constituents who have noted the stark contrast between the way in which the Ottawa police responded to the convoy and the occupation, and the way in which indigenous people in northwest B.C. and across Canada are treated by police when they are protesting.
Could the member comment on whether he shares our concern on that contrast and whether he would support an independent public inquiry that would look into the way in which policing has been done over the past number of weeks in this situation?
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