44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 20, 2022 07:00AM
- Feb/20/22 9:21:13 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as always, it is a deep honour to stand in this place and represent the people of Edmonton Strathcona.
Today we gather to debate the enactment and bringing forward of the Emergencies Act. It is the enactment of legislation that has never been used before. I deeply feel the gravity and the responsibility of the work that we are doing in this place. I recognize the serious situation that we as parliamentarians, indeed we as Canadians, find ourselves at this pivotal time. I hope that every member in this place has spent time over the past several weeks thinking about our role as leaders in this country and the responsibility we have to make difficult decisions for the benefit of our constituents and for the benefit of Canada.
Before I share my thoughts on the implementation of the Emergencies Act, I want to take a moment, if I can, to acknowledge the staff and the security working on the Hill today. I want to thank all of those who have had to walk across a blockade to get to work. I want to thank all of those who are not spending the Family Day long weekend with their families because they are helping us in the House today, as well as the pages, as my colleague reminded me.
I want to thank the law enforcement officers as well. I walked home from this place last night in the dark, protected by the police officers who held the line so that I could get to my apartment in Centretown, the police who have put themselves at risk today and for the last several days to make the city safe again for the people in Ottawa. I want to thank them.
Finally, I want to thank the journalists, who, in frigid temperatures for days on end, have brought information to Canadians. They have been sworn at. They have been spat at. They have been assaulted. They have been threatened. They have stood on the streets of Ottawa to tell this story every day. That is a cornerstone of our democracy and every Canadian should be thankful that we have members of an independent media that will tell the story and share the information that needs to be shared with Canadians.
Where we find ourselves as a nation is heartbreaking. What we have collectively witnessed over the past three weeks makes it crystal clear just how crucial it is that we do what we can to restore order in our country and to clear our borders of blockades and the illegal siege of Ottawa and the threats and intimidation directed at those who live and work here.
More importantly, as parliamentarians we need to make sure that this cannot happen again. I want to be very clear. I am not happy with where we find ourselves. I am angry that our country has come to this. The deep failures of our municipal and provincial governments and, yes, the failures of our federal government, have put us in a position where we are required to use extraordinary actions to go forward. Today and every day, I use my voice and I use my role in this place, in this chamber, to fix the issues that have led to the use of the Emergencies Act. I will use my role so that it never has to be used again.
We need to take a close look at policing in this country. We have seen obvious, systemic racism across the police force on an almost daily basis. There are far too many examples of unnecessary and excessive uses of force directed at Black, indigenous and racialized individuals and against the unhoused and others who are living in poverty. We have seen vicious attacks on these individuals' bodies and belongings, yet we know that the RCMP can exhibit incredible care and restraint. We have seen it. We saw it demonstrated in Ottawa, in Windsor, in Emerson and in Coutts. We saw incredible restraint and a refusal to act from our police forces play out, not over minutes and hours but over days and weeks.
As I stand in this place, I want us all to try to imagine how it must feel to be an indigenous land defender and watch white blockade members in Coutts, Alberta hug the RCMP. I want us to think about how it must feel for an unhoused person in Toronto who has been brutalized by police to watch the Ottawa police employ unbelievable gentleness with the illegal occupation in Ottawa.
In Alberta, we have a law that I deeply dislike. It was the very first law that was put in place under Premier Kenney: Bill 1, his first legislation. It was so that blockades could not stop our major infrastructure. It was to protect our major infrastructure from being clogged up. However, that law has not been enacted. If we ever needed something that proved to us that Bill 1 was never intended to be used against white people, that it was never intended to be used against the premier's friends, this is proof. That legislation was put in place to hurt indigenous people. It was put in place to stop environmentalists. It was never intended to be used against Jason Kenney's friends, who have shown who they are, who have shown that they are white supremacists, who have shown that they have attempted murder. This is an armed insurrection on the border in our country, and the legislation was not used.
We also need to fully examine and strengthen our federal hate crime legislation to make sure that it can address the white supremacist and neo-Nazi extremism that is threatening our society.
I was happy to second the bill put forward by my dear friend, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, to ban symbols of hate, symbols like swastikas and Confederate flags, symbols we have seen in our nation's capital during the illegal occupation. However, we cannot only ban the symbols of hate; we must counter the radicalization of Canadians that is happening online and over our public airwaves, like the trash radio that radicalized the man who killed six worshippers at the Quebec City mosque, like the online hate that radicalized one of the men arrested in Coutts, Alberta, who was accused of participating in a plot to murder an RCMP officer. According to his father, this man was radicalized online by a far-right extremist group known as Diagolon, a group that seeks to overthrow our government through violence.
The Liberal government has promised to table legislation to stop online hate, and it has failed, as of yet, to act on that. In fact, we see misinformation on our radio waves; we see Russian misinformation happening with CRTC licensing. This is something we can and need to fix now. We have to review and update our money laundering laws to combat the funding mechanisms that fund hate groups and that hate groups use to bankroll their activities. We need ongoing measures to prevent the funding of hate groups, not Emergencies Act legislation. We need ongoing support for that.
As my friend, the member for Hamilton Centre, said yesterday, none of this is new. None of this is things that we have not heard before. We have known that these are things that have to be fixed, and we have not done it. We find ourselves in an emergency situation because those steps have not been taken.
COVID has been incredibly hard for all of us. We have all had to deal with the lockdowns, the restrictions, the protections put in place for years. It has been a challenge.
I am a mother. I have watched my children be challenged and I have seen the things they have missed. I am a daughter, and I have elderly parents whom I worry about every day. I have seen people in our community lose loved ones, and I have seen them lose livelihoods. I have seen the impacts of the opioid addiction crisis, the unsafe drug supply crisis in my province.
However, we do not end pandemics with illegal blockades. We do not end pandemics with sieges and occupations. Viruses do not care if we are done with them; they are not done with us. That is not how it works. The only way to end a pandemic is through public health measures that are based on science. If we allow bullies to intimidate us out of protecting public health, as we have seen in Alberta, we are surrendering to injustice. We are allowing those with the strongest voices, the largest vehicles, the loudest horns to rule. We are capitulating to mob rule, and we are sacrificing our democracy and our own values.
The speaker before me made it sound like this is not what is happening in Alberta. However, we are seeing the worst of it in Alberta. Thirteen armed men are directing our public health policy in Alberta. Think about that for a moment.
Today, we are debating the Emergencies Act to deal with illegal activities that the province and the police forces have not had the will to address, but the government must also address the underlying cause of the alienation that many people feel in our country.
Over the past two decades, we have seen the wealth and well-being of ordinary Canadians decline, while wealth and power have accumulated to the top 1% in our country, the billionaire class. Costs continue to rise. Electricity and heating costs, grocery costs and housing costs are all rising, while incomes are staying stagnant. The urge to lower taxes that has obsessed our governments over the past 20 years may, on the surface, look like a solution, but upon closer examination, it actually contributed to the problems we are facing. Taxes for the wealthy corporations have been slashed dramatically, while the tax burden has shifted to low- and middle-income Canadians. It is not fair, and it is not working.
We have a housing crisis in this country. We have an opioid poisoning crisis in this country. One in 10 Canadians lives in poverty, and more than half of those are seniors. We have more Canadians working more hours with less job security than we have seen since the 1970s. This is not a sustainable plan. This is not a sustainable way for our country to go forward. When a crisis comes along, when a global pandemic threatens the life and livelihood of nearly every Canadian, we should not be surprised that some Canadians start to feel alienated and left out. We should not be surprised that they turn to false prophets and misinformation and turn on those who govern.
In the just over two years that I have been sitting as a member in the House, it is true that we have worked together through this pandemic, but we have not worked together to address the underlying issues, the root causes of the alienation and dissatisfaction that so many Canadians feel now and the sense of hopelessness that pervades.
We do not know when this pandemic will end. No one in this House knows when this pandemic will end. We do not know how many times the virus will mutate. We do not know how many variants still await us or how many waves we may face. Yet, the government has been so anxious to cancel COVID support programs and so hesitant to address the underlying economic and social problems that the pandemic has laid bare and that have led to the sense of hopelessness so many Canadians feel.
We have so much work to do here, together, to create a better, fairer and more just Canada.
We know why we are here today. Ottawa has been under siege. Our borders have been blockaded. Our democracy has been threatened. We have witnessed some of the greatest failures of leadership our country has ever seen. Where was the coordination between the federal government, the province and the City of Ottawa? Why did it take so long for the Prime Minister to act?
So-called leaders, like Doug Ford and Jason Kenney, have completely failed their provinces. They have failed to act, they have failed to lead and they have failed to protect their citizens. They have failed to protect jobs and the economy. They have failed to protect health care workers. They have failed to even address the racism and violence that undermine our democracy.
A government member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in my province joined the illegal blockade at Coutts. Another Conservative MLA in Alberta actually urged police officers not to follow the orders of their superiors. They have encouraged lawlessness. They have taken selfies with extremist leaders.
Imagine what it feels like to be a racialized Canadian and to see the Conservative member of Parliament for Cypress Hills—Grasslands posing with Pat King, proclaiming his support for Pat King, the notorious leader of the convoy, the famous racist, the anti-Semitic and Islamophobic person who told us this thing would not end until bullets start flying.
Imagine what it feels like for people who live and work in Ottawa to not be able to go to their job, not be able to make an income, and to see the MP for Carleton handing out coffee and donuts to those who torment them.
Canadians have had enough of Conservatives playing footsie with radical extremists, with racists like Pat King and violent hate organizations like Diagolon. Canadians are fed up with the mob mentality of the Conservatives, and I would ask the Conservatives to apologize in this House.
I accept the profound responsibility that the Emergencies Act entails. I will do everything I can, alongside my colleagues in this House, to ensure that the government does not abuse the powers granted to it by this act. We and other parties in the House have the power to stop the emergency declaration should that become necessary. We will not hesitate to use that power if the government exceeds the authority necessary to deal with this emergency.
My Canada is filled with kind, caring, intelligent people who care for their community. My Canada has frontline workers, doctors, nurses and health care workers who have literally risked their lives for years to protect us. My Canada has teachers who have worked every day despite all the challenges COVID-19 has thrown at them.
However, it is also very important that we acknowledge and recognize that my Canada also has racists. It also has anti-Semites. It has violent, hateful people, and until we acknowledge that part of our Canada, we will not be able to move forward.
We have work to do in this country, and that task belongs to all of us. We need to work together, even when we disagree, to heal this country. I honestly believe that every member in this place wants a stronger, more resilient Canada.
Despite our differences and the disagreements we have on how to move forward, we must, as Canadians, work together. It is the only way to protect our democracy. It is the only way to protect our freedom.
2544 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 9:42:23 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am going to talk from the perspective of being an Albertan and what has been happening in Alberta. I am the daughter of a truck driver, and the truck drivers that sat around my kitchen table while I was growing up, they got vaccinated. They care about their community. They care about the people they work with, and they want to get to work. They want to be able to make a living. Truck drivers do not make a living if they are not driving their truck. When their truck is parked, they do not make a living.
What I see in Coutts, and what I see when these major throughways are impacted, is the fact that these guys cannot get to work, and they cannot make an income. That is so unfair, to say nothing of the fact that the blockade, which was in place for 18 days, cost over $40 million a day to the Alberta economy. If we cannot think about the truckers who are trying to do their job, we can think about the economic impacts on Albertans.
185 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 9:44:29 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the member's question is very thoughtful. It is something that I have spent, and I hope everybody has spent, an awful lot of time on. I have deep concerns about using the Emergencies Act because of the precedent it might set. Like I said in my speech, there are steps that we need to take as parliamentarians to ensure that some of the things that are happening in our country will not be allowed to happen again, and that there is a transparent inquiry. We need a public, open inquiry to look at the failures in getting to this place, where we need to put this act in place.
The second question was whether or not we would consider that it has been place long enough and whether or not during the vote tomorrow we would reconsider our support for that. On my part, I will consider that non-stop. As parliamentarians, we have to look at how the act is being used. If it is supported on Monday, it would be enacted for 30 days, but it can be stopped at any time. It can be stopped sooner than that. Parliamentarians, particularly in a minority government, have the ability to stop the Emergencies Act if we need to.
212 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 9:47:07 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I have worked very closely on the ALS caucus. I know her to be an extremely strong member of Parliament.
What I would say, in terms of the policing, is that it was brought forward. It was made very clear by the Ottawa Police Service that they required that additional support from the Emergencies Act. They have told parliamentarians that it was necessary for them to do what they have done.
When I walked to work this morning, it was a very different scenario than it was prior to Monday, when the Emergencies Act was enacted. To say that the act has worked very well, my walk today made it appear so.
117 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 9:49:07 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would like to give a shout-out to Wyatt Sharpe. He is an incredible young man and an incredible journalist, who is part of the independent media that shares his voice. To be so accomplished so young is quite remarkable.
In terms of this being a minority government and having those additional powers that a minority Parliament gives us, it is true, but it also brings up the concerns that I have about the Emergencies Act being used in a situation where we do not have a minority government in place.
Yes, right now, there is the power of other parliamentarians from the Bloc, the Conservatives and the NDP to ensure that the government does not overstep or overreach. My deep worry, and this is something that I have thought an awful lot about, is what happens if we have a government that is not a minority government.
What will that look like? How do we prevent there being an overreach in that situation?
167 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 9:51:14 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as the NDP, we are very excited to see the Civil Liberties Association bring this forward because we want there to be as much oversight as possible. This is an excellent way for us to get some answers to that question. However, we are in a moment in time when we have some very dangerous things happening in our country that we need to act upon.
Do I like that we are in this situation? No, I do not. Do I think that it is necessary? I do. Do I think that we need to do a lot of work as parliamentarians to ensure that we are protecting ourselves in the future? I absolutely do.
117 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 5:06:39 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I do not always agree with members of the Liberal Party, but I am quite shocked with some of the comments we heard in the member's speech. It brought something to mind, and I looked it up. I read an article by Andrew Coyne yesterday in The Globe and Mail, in which he said, “Conservatives have of late devolved into political magpies, snatching up whatever shiny object crosses their path, no matter how incoherent, indefensible or unconservative, just so long as it enrages liberals.”
There were threats of insurrection against our government and violence in the streets of our capital city that have made it unsafe for my employees to come to work. If that is not an emergency, what is? Is this not just another shiny thing for the Conservative Party to be picking at?
141 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 6:40:39 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, one of the things the Liberal government has said is that it would bring forward legislation to deal with online hate. We know that many of the people who have been radicalized have been radicalized on social media, and I am just wondering if the government is planning on bringing this legislation forward. If so, when and why not yet?
62 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 7:50:14 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his intervention today. He spoke about knowing when it would be appropriate for the powers that are part of the Emergencies Act to stop. How will he know that? How will the Liberal Party give information to parliamentarians that it is in fact time for us to end the Emergencies Act powers?
62 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 8:51:15 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for his speech. I consider him to be a fair and thoughtful member of the House of Commons.
I would like to ask him if he believes that the government could bring in legislation to combat money laundering quickly enough to deal with the current situation.
52 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 9:37:11 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his intervention in the House. I have worked closely with him on the direction and control bill that he brought forward, and I am quite pleased with some of the work he has done in the House.
As we look for solutions to the crisis facing Canadians, one of my questions is how we deal with foreign funding or illegal funding of domestic terrorist groups. Would he support urgent legislation being put in place to prevent domestic terrorist groups from being funded?
92 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 10:21:10 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, one of the things I am very concerned about, which we are seeing across the country right now, is attacks on the media. I was just reading an article about attacks that have been happening in British Columbia against media. Obviously, we have seen some horrific assaults happen in Ottawa against members of the media.
I am just wondering what the government's plans are. What steps will it be taking to ensure that we are protecting journalists, that we are protecting those who are working so hard to tell their stories and share information with Canadians?
99 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/20/22 11:08:08 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, it is a very odd day in the House of Commons when the Conservatives are choosing to negatively attack the premier of Ontario and the Liberals are standing for him. It is a unique moment in time for us today.
My question has to do with Conservative premiers in this country. On February 4, the premier of my province, Premier Kenney, asked the federal government for help: There was a need to stop the blockades in Coutts. The provincial government was unable to manage the blockade there. On February 18, Premier Kenney decided he was going to sue the federal government.
I would like some information. How does the member feel about this sort of flip-flopping between requiring help and then wanting to take to court the same people he asked for help?
136 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
