44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 20, 2022 07:00AM
- Feb/20/22 8:46:38 a.m.
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Qujannamiik, Uqaqtittiji. I would like to thank the member for New Brunswick Southwest. I have been thoroughly disgusted that the Conservatives continue to minimize the extremism that has been allowed to grow in all of Canada.
I have seen the effects of these extremist messages reach my home community of Iqaluit. Iqaluit has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Nunavut, albeit about 70%. These extremist ideologies, such as not getting vaccinated because of religion, have had detrimental effects in my community. Once COVID-19 arrived in Iqaluit, it rampaged through the community. For weeks, COVID-19 cases rose. Iqaluit is not the largest community in Nunavut, but it had the highest incidence rates for a while.
Does the member agree that these extremist views having infiltrated the farthest reaches of my riding in Nunavut is an indication that extremism such as this is a national issue requiring urgent action?
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- Feb/20/22 2:25:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was speaking to a friend of mine who is a journalist and who was harassed yesterday by some of these so-called protesters. For the first time in his life, he was actually afraid to do his job.
It is incumbent upon all in the House not to feed the fake news narrative. It is incumbent upon all in the House to protect and preserve the rights of journalists to do their jobs, regardless of whether or not we like what they are saying. We need a free press in this country, and we will always defend the free press.
In respect to financing, I was very proud to bring forward a motion at the public safety and national security committee to look into the funding and the work behind ideologically motivated right wing extremism. This is something that is essential for us to do. I have been working very closely with members of the New Democratic Party do this. I look forward to continue collaborating with them to ensure that we know the sources of the funds behind these movements, so we know where the money is coming from to fund hate in this country. We will work on this together, and it is my hope that we will work on it as members of the House from all parties.
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- Feb/20/22 2:56:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her intervention and share her concern about extremism and the kind of heckling we have seen today, particularly from the official opposition, which is undermining it. It is particularly concerning when 45%, according to new reports, support this extremist convoy leadership.
I am wondering if my hon. colleague feels the same way I do, that it is unfortunate that we are here and the only reason we are here is the failure of all levels of government, including institutions such as the Ottawa Police Service, to actually deal with this matter.
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- Feb/20/22 9:04:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member, who is also my neighbour, for his intervention today.
When we look outside and see what has happened and talk about extremism, one thing I heard during this time from some members in the House is that there are “a few bad apples”, and this is very concerning to me. We all know that there are a few bad apples in every group, but the point is not the bad apples: It is the people who stand with the bad apples. If we look at our history on this planet, it is when people were quiet, when they minimized what was happening, that really terrible things were the outcome.
I wonder if the member could speak to how important it is to stand against things that are extreme and make sure that we are not complicit in things that put us and our democracy in huge trouble.
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