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Feb/20/22 7:17:44 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are many lessons to be learned and I hope we decide that a national inquiry should be undertaken forthwith to look at the obvious levels of failed leadership and the decisions that were made. Most importantly, it comes down to looking at the litany of emergencies, the protests, the demonstrations, the blockades, the world events that have impacted Canada and how effectively police agencies and politicians across this great nation have effectively dealt with that without imposing this draconian piece of legislation that has not been used—

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/20/22 7:18:31 a.m.
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Questions and comments, the hon. member for Windsor West.

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Windsor
West

Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP)

Feb/20/22 7:18:40 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if I could put my monitor half a block behind me and zoom it, I could show the member the barricades that are still up in the Windsor area because the Ambassador Bridge blockade has now moved to city streets. Mohammed could not get to school last week and Joyce, a child, could not get to her doctor's appointment because of the blockade. The blockades have moved off Huron Church Road and are now blocking intersections. People cannot go to work and businesses are closed. What does the member say to Mohammed and Joyce who have missed school and missed a doctor's appointment? Who is responsible for that, because what has happened is not normal? The blockades are displaced and are now in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada. What does he have to say to Mohammed and Joyce about their lives?

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Mr. Larry Brock

Feb/20/22 7:19:33 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would tell my hon. colleague to speak to the Prime Minister. He is the who created this atmosphere of hostility, division and anger. We talk about hon. members in this House being conciliatory and needing to have open dialogue and discussion. There is none of that. None of that happens with the Prime Minister and his cabinet. That is who the member needs to talk to.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Feb/20/22 7:20:10 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member of Parliament for Windsor West. Let me start by saying that we should not be having this debate today. The fact that this legislation is being contemplated, let alone invoked, is a failure of leadership at all levels of government to respond adequately to clear threats to national security and our very own democracy. These threats are posed by con men and white nationalist leaders, including Pat King, an avowed white supremacist, who was quoted as saying that “the Anglo-Saxon race” has “the strongest bloodlines” and that unless we fight back, we will be all speaking Hebrew, a man who, according to Moose Jaw Today, appeared in a video receiving support from the member of Parliament for Cypress Hills—Grasslands; B.J. Dichter, known for his Islamophobic rants during the 2019 election as a candidate for the People's Party of Canada; and James Bauder, part of Canada Unity, who produced and proposed a memorandum of understanding demanding that the Governor General and the Senate rescind public health measures or force the government to resign en masse, which is a violation of our Constitution and a direct attack on our democracy and our institutions. In addition, there is the infiltration of former security experts, military personnel and police who have been key strategists in this illegal occupation, including an intelligence expert for the Canadian centre for intelligence and security studies and a former RCMP officer who was part of the Prime Minister's security detail. This is a colossal failure of national security and the complete failure of the government to keep not only Ottawa but the whole country safe from a well-organized, well-funded extremist movement. We should not be here, but the reality is that we are here. While we are here, it is important for us to tell some hard truths about what is happening to our country and to our democracy. When I say I am concerned about the health of our democracy, I do not only mean at a surface level. Yes, I am alarmed that we were not able to meet in this place on Friday and to do our work that people elected us to do, but it goes much deeper than that. I am concerned that an illegal occupation, supported in part by anonymous foreign funding, has brought our nation's capital to its knees, while smaller occupations throughout Canada, including in Winnipeg Centre, have subjected residents to days of sonic torture and harassment. I am concerned that neighbours are turning against neighbours and even family members are turning against family members. This division is being fuelled by the current government and members of the official opposition. I am deeply concerned that instead of acting responsibly in the middle of a national crisis, some members of the official opposition are openly fanning the flames, cheering on an occupation whose leaders have expressed a desire to overthrow the democratically elected government of this country. What we have witnessed over the last weeks is not a peaceful protest nor is it even a protest. I have been a part of movements for justice, including Idle No More, that have sought to advance human rights and real reconciliation. These movements are based in love and a respect for people and mother earth. There were no guns, threats of overthrowing the government, killing police officers and messages of vile hate. There is no comparison between Idle No More and an occupation that has featured widespread harassment of residents and workers; threatening of journalists; firearms hitting Coutts, Alberta blockades; and self-appointed leaders who have spewed racist and xenophobic hate. I am also a strong supporter of public health measures, mandates which have been demonized by the official opposition members, that save lives. They have been particularly important in protecting people with disabilities, those with compromised immune systems and folks with underlying conditions. We cannot forget those who are most at risk from COVID and the omicron variant as we begin easing restrictions, nor health care workers throughout this country who have sacrificed everything to save lives. The real divide in this country is not between those who are pro-mandates and anti-mandates; It is between the wealthy elite and everyone else. We can look at what has happened during the pandemic. Essential workers have kept our communities going, serving food, taking care of seniors and loved ones, looking after our kids and healing the sick, and at the same time, some of the largest corporations have made a killing while treating these very same workers as disposable. We can take Loblaws, owned by Galen Weston, a billionaire whose family is the third richest in Canada. Loblaws saw a 26% increase in its profits, in its latest quarter, to $431 million, yet it still refuses to bring back the $2-an-hour pandemic pay increase it snatched away from its workers in June 2020. At Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos, the third-wealthiest person in the world, two of their Brampton warehouses were ordered to close because of major COVID outbreaks due to a lack of safety precautions and working conditions that one worker likened to a hell, with minimal personal protective equipment and virtually no social distancing. This brings me back to the illegal occupation. I have said it before, and I will say it again: This convoy is a fraud. Its lead organizers claim to represent workers, human rights, peace and love, but are, in fact, deeply hostile to the working class and have direct and close ties to hate groups. It is a dangerous movement that has been allowed to get out of control by a federal government that failed to pay attention and certain official opposition party members who not only supported but fuelled its fire, and the minimization of the threat we are faced with, the radicalization of individuals into white nationalist movements. It is backed by members of the ultra-wealthy, including Elon Musk, the richest man on earth, who will not let his workers form a union; Donald Trump, the disgraced former President of the United States and someone who was praised by the interim leader of the Conservative Party; and a number of wealthy Canadian elites who have made five-figure donations to this illegal occupation. I ask members: Would real working-class movements be supported by such people? Of course they would not be. The public cannot let those with wealth and power distract them from the real reasons their lives are getting harder. They cannot let anyone shift the blame away from their corporate landlord who refuses to make essential repairs, from their boss who freezes their wages while inflation eats away at their paycheque, or the credit card company that takes federal money while charging them exorbitant interest rates. We must fight against all forms of oppression, inequality and inequity, and that takes a functioning democracy. I also want to say to members of the government that we will be watching carefully. If there is any hint of overreach or any indication that these measures we are debating today are no longer necessary, we have been clear that they cannot count on our support. Our party fully supports the Canadian Civil Liberties Association's call for review of what has happened, and we expect a thorough and full public inquiry to identify systemic gaps in governance and policing that have resulted in this crisis. Equally as important, we will be holding the government accountable to help countless individuals in Canada who were struggling before the pandemic and are finding life even more difficult almost two years after it began. This suffering is causing alienation and despair, which is fuelling the rise of extremist and anti-democratic movements. As we move beyond this illegal occupation, we must shift our focus to raising the living standards of millions of people, so we can replace that despair with hope. We will never stop fighting to make lives better, and we will never stop fighting to defend our democracy.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)

Feb/20/22 7:29:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the previous engagement with the member for Brantford—Brant, he referenced the fact that this side of the House started to laugh when he said he was part of the party of law and order, and I want to read for him a quote from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, that it “supports the fundamental objectives of the invocation of the Emergencies Act that is intended to regulate and prohibit illegal public assemblies and lead to the breach of peace, and to restrict the funding of such illegal assemblies.” The party of law and order across the way does not even agree with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. That is why we find it remarkably funny, the position they have taken on this. I am wondering if my NDP colleague can reflect on whether she also sees perplexing statements and positioning coming from the Conservative Party.

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Ms. Leah Gazan

Feb/20/22 7:30:55 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what I am talking about. We have two powerful men bantering back and forth. We have almost had the government overthrown. We have had to call in police. Now is not the time for division. People across the country expect us to work together to get back on track. They are struggling. That is what the NDP is here to do.

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Ms. Marilyn Gladu (Sarnia—Lambton, CPC)

Feb/20/22 7:31:30 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am also very concerned about our democracy. Three million Canadians have had their charter right to freely enter and leave the country violated by the government and mandates. They are mandates that the government is continuing to add to, at a time when the World Health Organization and medical experts are saying that these kinds of restrictions are not working, now that omicron is everywhere. On top of that, there are the digital privacy violations that the government has committed. On top of that, the government is freezing bank accounts. I have emails from people in my riding who are claiming that they had their accounts frozen for buying a “freedom convoy” t-shirt. In part (f) in the Gazette, it says that the Prime Minister can take “other temporary measures authorized that are not yet known.” I think that basically means that if the Emergencies Act is put in place, he can do whatever he wants and there is no coming back from it. Will my NDP colleague vote against this legislation, recognizing that charter rights continue to be violated?

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Ms. Leah Gazan

Feb/20/22 7:32:45 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said in my speech, I do not think that this is about mandates or anti-mandates. This is about a growing extremist white national movement fuelled by members of the Conservative Party of Canada: the opposition party. It is not all members, but certain members. We need to take a hard look at what we are doing to threaten our democracy, and we need to shift our behaviour quickly.

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Ms. Kristina Michaud (Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)

Feb/20/22 7:33:17 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think we need to be careful because this debate is not just about the abuse that was committed during the protest. This movement took hold because some truckers were against mandatory vaccination for cross-border truckers and then the situation deteriorated. I do not want to minimize the movement, but the member said that the use of the Emergencies Act was the result of the government's lack of leadership. I imagine that she agrees that the government could have taken action sooner and used other tools instead of allowing the crisis to escalate and then using this law of last resort. I would like to hear the member say that this debate is about the health measures and that the situation did not warrant the use of the Emergencies Act.

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Ms. Leah Gazan

Feb/20/22 7:34:09 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I absolutely agree with my hon. colleague that, as a result of a failure of governance, and certainly policing, we are currently where we are, and we need to take all steps necessary to protect democracy. I find deeply concerning the kind of rhetoric I hear in the House. It is comparing peaceful movements by students, environmental groups and indigenous peoples who are rightfully protecting their ancestral lands with the kind of visceral hate that is being fuelled by people who are known leaders of hate groups and white national movements in this country. We saw it coming. We saw it rolling down the highway. The government should have acted. All levels of government should have acted, and the police should not have allowed it to get so far.

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Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP)

Feb/20/22 7:35:10 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am speaking today from the well-travelled traditional grounds of the Three Fires Confederacy represented by the Ojibwa, Odawa and the Potawatomi. It is also an area for the Caldwell First Nation, whose people in the War of 1812 were very relevant to creating freedom for our country. I have been very disappointed with regard to some of the debate that has taken place. My riding of Windsor West is the route for 40% of the trade per day to the United States, with 40,000 vehicles, of which 10,000 are transport trucks, travelling along this corridor. It is also the spot of an illegal blockade that took place. I do not know why the speaking points of the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois continue to reference things being okay at the Ambassador Bridge. I can tell everyone they are not. The blockades have moved off Huron Church Road. It is a traditional first nations route in this country as the area was settled first by the French, then by the British. It has now come to the point where the blockade is in the city streets, similar to Ottawa. We have Jersey barriers and blockades as part of our life. Most people do not know that the Ambassador Bridge is privately owned by an American billionaire. For years, I have fought to get a new border crossing, which is finally happening. My first public meeting was in 1998. The provincial and federal governments, in their wisdom, decided to end the 401 approximately 17 kilometres from the actual border crossing because of jurisdictional wrangling, something we see today between Ontario and the federal government over day care. Ironically, things have not changed much. At any point in time, a transport truck could turn over or have a spill. It would cost all kinds of money, and cause pain and anguish to businesses and emergency services. It would cause all kinds of different repercussions to the Canadian economy. Not only do we build auto parts here, we also do mining and build other equipment. We are the lifeline and lifeblood of the country, with 40% of Canada's daily trade happening through this corridor. In fact, right now someone could go on the bridge without seeing anybody and set off a bomb. They could go onto the plaza and do the same, and it would have lasting damage. It is why we fought for redundancy and why I have asked for government solutions. I am disappointed in the government in many respects. Even during this process, I proposed increasing the truck ferry redundancy and having a safe border task force to allow Canadian families to reunite, to take the steam off some of the frustration that we are faced with. We have residents in this community who have not seen their relatives for over two and a half years, who live two kilometres across the river. That is still no excuse for blocking that corridor. That corridor has often had demonstrations, but they have been peaceful and respectful. They have slowed traffic, but not at the expense of other people, their freedoms and their livelihoods. Earlier today, I mentioned Mohammed, who could not go to school last week, and Joyce, whose doctor could not see her for her appointment because of the Jersey barriers that are here. Again, the Bloc and the Conservatives continue to profess that things are normal. Those individuals and their families paid just as much as anybody else in this pandemic, and now they are being further punished at their expense because other people think that that their freedoms are greater. No. A child should be able to see their doctor. People should not have to go crying to services. Most importantly, the residents there who are currently losing their jobs do not qualify for extra assistance right now. Who is there to help them? I have asked for reparations like Ottawa got: some money to help the businesses and so forth. I held a press conference in this area, which has had some of the highest child poverty in Canada. It is finally getting a new development, which now is under siege. There are police vehicles. Jersey barriers are up, and it is cut off. If anyone wants to see the protest that took place, I would suggest they go to Twitter. Jon Liedtke, a journalist, went down there and filmed some of it. It is on Twitter, at @jonliedtke. He interviewed people there. Do members know why some people were there? It was because they wanted their dog to go to a South Carolinian beach. They had not been able to go there for the last couple of years. Other people did it because they were frustrated, because they had lost their jobs. They parked their cars and vehicles in the middle of the street like no one had done before. This is a 10-lane road where people brought picnics, bouncy castles and a whole series of different things as well as their children. Moving that crowd, and the occupation of Ottawa, required extensive police coordination. In fact, we had armoured vehicles down here. I have never seen, in 25 years of representing this area, armoured vehicles. The last time the bridge was shut down because of a demonstration, it was over the original NAFTA. People were arrested for that. Meanwhile, during the pandemic, the myth has been that the American border had been closed. It had not been closed. Truckers in my community had been crossing every single day. The numbers were down to 5,000, with 4,000 trucks to every 1,000 vehicles at one point. They crossed every single day until this illegal blockade. That kept this country moving. That kept medical supplies coming in. That kept the jobs open, the ones that were able to be. That gave us revenue to be able to deal with these things. It was only closed by the illegal blockade. That is the only time it happened. As for the repercussions, Dr. Khahra is in a veterinary clinic right now. We talk about mental health. He cannot get to his clinic. People cannot help their pets right now during a time when people are isolated. I represent people with disabilities, children with pets and so forth. They cannot get to those things right now. Why do they have to pay extra? They already turned away another convoy. A couple more convoys have come to shut us down, so the threat is not gone. The mayor of Windsor received a bomb threat, for which someone was arrested. That is what is taking place down here. That is what is happening. If I walk to the end of my street and go two kilometres the other way, the barriers are there. People will not get to their jobs today. The Tim Hortons along the corridor is shut down. It is only open for the emergency vehicles there. Tim Hortons hires from Community Living. It hires from different organizations. It actually gives money to some of the area's schools and some of the area's community groups. It is shut down right now, and it does not have a future. Why does it have to pay extra during the pandemic? What happens next time? There is no plan right now. I have asked for an operational plan to be supported, not only for now but in the future. I am as frustrated as every other member of the House with regard to the Prime Minister's treatment of COVID and the way he has handled it. That does not take away my responsibility to do the things that are right for this community and for the country. I wake up every single day and hope the Prime Minister and every other member of Parliament in this place has a better day, because if I actually get my job done here and I have a better day, and my representatives actually create better lives for people, it will help everybody else. Again, 40% of trade comes through this community. That is my goal every day. I do not get up to go against whatever is happening in the House. I do not understand this. It has been 20 years that I have been in Parliament. I could not have imagined the divisiveness that is taking place. Somebody has some type of idea. I do not have all the solutions for things, but I can tell you one right now. If we do not do the things that are necessary right now to protect the corridor, the pain will continue. We get to live down here with the uncertainty. The bridge finally got a new corridor coming into it along the 401. We fought forever to get a new parkway developed so that it is no longer just all lights. There are several traffic lights there, and there are several intersections. We get to live with that over our heads every single day. To get a resolution to this, a school along the corridor had a Health Canada study with backpacks to monitor children's air quality, because that is how many transport trucks go down this corridor. We finally got some justice here. We are finally getting a new border crossing. In the meantime, we are going to have to live with the fact that at any point in time, 10 or 12 vehicles, or even two or three vehicles depending on what they want to do, could shut down this corridor. I have to say that, when I look at some of the protests going on, there are some very legitimate concerns being expressed by Canadians, and so they should. As I mentioned earlier, I have been appealing to the government for a safe border task force, so we can get in front of some of the issues. At the beginning of the pandemic, I had to fight tooth and nail to finally get somebody from the United States to be able to come to a hospice room to see a dying relative, without stopping anywhere and without ever having left the vehicle. It was only six kilometres away. It took moving a mountain. I understand the frustrations. I have not seen my daughter for half a year because of COVID restrictions. She is away at school, and because she had a cold, she could not come home for the holidays. That is a minor thing compared with the fact that, here where I represent, people can walk down to the river, look across and see the United States, yet they have not been able to see their relatives. I do not like the way the government has done some of the testing, or the cost of the testing. Right now, there are rich people who can cross over and see American relatives and their friends and families, whereas there are poor people who cannot, or they have to decide who it is that can go. That does not give me the right to infringe on other people's freedoms. That does not give me the right to be so unhappy that I can shut down others' prosperity. If we had a protest that blocked roads every single time in this country, nothing would be—

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/20/22 7:45:19 a.m.
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We have run out of time. Questions and comments, the hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil.

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Mr. John Brassard (Barrie—Innisfil, CPC)

Feb/20/22 7:45:35 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hon. member's passion. I have no doubt about his sincerity in representing his constituents. I have seen it over and over in my six years of being here and his 20 years of being here. The government needs to provide solutions to the issues the member brings up. What solutions does he advise the government are required in his particular situation?

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Mr. Brian Masse

Feb/20/22 7:46:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the sincere question and the work that we have done before in pushing border issues in the United States. We need more of that in this country. First, we would need an emergency plan to take barriers down and put them up when necessary, and compensation for businesses in the municipality. Right now, the municipality is on the hook for over $10 million for policing. Most importantly, we need a safe border task force so we can work operationally with the businesses, residents and people who need connections at the border as they travel. Those are things I have proposed for many years, and I will continue to do that. Those are solutions I believe would be helpful to take the edge off some of the frustrations Canadians are feeling.

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Mrs. Jenica Atwin (Fredericton, Lib.)

Feb/20/22 7:46:53 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, part of what led us here was complicated messaging without clear demands. I wonder if the member would like to comment on the fact that truckers in this country are facing real issues. They continue to be frontline heroes who deliver goods and support our supply chains across the country. I ask the member to comment on how things got so complicated and which groups are being represented here. It is really the worker inequality in this country that should be addressed. Would he comment on that?

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Mr. Brian Masse

Feb/20/22 7:47:37 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the jurisdictional football that people have watched take place with COVID is symptomatic of what I have seen in politics as a municipal city councillor, and it has continued to plague us. I asked the government to do a vaccination program for truckers, similar to what provinces were doing in advance. The government refused to do that, so there has been no centralization of some of the programs that have taken place, even though the federal government has been presented with solutions. Those are the things we should get in front of. We are always on the defence. To be frank, we need to stop the jurisdictional wrangling. The Ambassador Bridge sits on a road in the city of Windsor that goes to an interprovincial highway and then goes to the 401. Who is going to protect those roads? Who is going to pay when convoys are still coming here and the mayor receives a bomb threat for taking a stand? These things are not right and they are not helpful, and that is why I support corrective action now before things get worse.

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Ms. Marie-Hélène Gaudreau (Laurentides—Labelle, BQ)

Feb/20/22 7:48:51 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Windsor West. I have heard the concerns he is talking about from Joyce and Mohammed, among others. I feel for my colleague who has not been able to see his daughter. The order has been in effect since Monday, but we see that the situation in his community has not been fully resolved. I know that my colleague will be voting in favour of the application of this legislation, but what about his community? Was the situation in his community resolved as a result of the order that has been in effect since Monday? Can its use be justified?

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Mr. Brian Masse

Feb/20/22 7:49:44 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is part of it. It is certainly a reflection. It is also why I have been speaking so repeatedly to this issue: It is because the Bloc and the Conservatives continue to say that things are fine in this corridor, but they are not. I am not being partisan in pointing that out. It is part of their talking points and it keeps coming up over and over again and it is wrong. I also believe there are other reasons. The financing issue is significant. We will find out later on through a public inquiry, an inquiry that I really want, that there were American-paid protesters in the protest in Windsor. We know that Americans were there. There were all kinds of different influences taking place, and I want a full investigation into those matters. A public inquiry is very important, because it involves not only Parliament but the general Canadian population, and it is accountable more than before. I think this is one of the reasons the Prime Minister did not even want to do this at first, because a full public inquiry would shed some light on a very difficult issue.

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/20/22 7:50:39 a.m.
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I just want to make a comment that we are doing pretty well, but we could shorten our questions and answers so more people will have an opportunity to speak. The hon. member for Thérèse-De Blainville.

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