44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 20, 2022 07:00AM
- Feb/20/22 10:15:45 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, let us get real. We saw the convoy rolling down the highway. We knew that this specific convoy had ties with leaders from white nationalist groups, yet the government failed to act. We saw a siege of the capital city. My riding of Winnipeg Centre is now undergoing an occupation, where people are being faced with sonic abuse day in and day out, as well as assault and harassment.
I am wondering why the government did not take the threat of white nationalist movements seriously enough, why it overlooked it and why we now find ourselves in this place.
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- Feb/20/22 10:17:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate that my colleague has outlined the implications of this measure. We have seen throughout this debate and over the past number of years how misinformation feeds into confusion and a lack of understanding. I have talked with a number of my constituents about what this convoy is about, and there seems to be a lot of misinformation. Therefore, I would ask the member this. What responsibility do members in this House have to make sure that Canadians know exactly what is going on, and what level of duty do they have to speak the truth?
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- Feb/20/22 10:51:48 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I believe the hon. member and I have a very different perspective on what may have happened with the injunction against the truckers using their horns. Remember, I live in the middle of that protest zone. The trucks are right outside my doorway. When that injunction was issued, the truckers, for the most part, did comply with that injunction. I think anybody who would have walked through that area, post-injunction, would affirm my version of the events.
Does this have anything to do with racism? I would say to her, listen, when this convoy started out, when this protest started, it was about vaccine mandates being compelled by the Prime Minister. It is the Prime Minister's mess.
What happened, of course, like many protests, was that it evolved. Protests are like magnets, and they attract people who may not be desirable, who will have views that are very antithetical to Canadian values. We disavow those views. We have said that clearly.
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- Feb/20/22 12:09:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member had a very passionate speech.
Throughout the past couple of days, I have heard members from the opposition benches say that they do not feel threatened walking through the convoy. They do not feel that their security and safety are at risk. However, we have seen young women being attacked. We have had police reports filed by young women who have had hot coffee thrown at them.
The member prior said that there was not a lot of violence—
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- Feb/20/22 2:21:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to share a story with my colleague today.
I spoke to a few of my constituents of King—Vaughan. A lady by the name of Rose called me with concerns. She has friends who have contributed to the convoy because they believe in their efforts. Now they are afraid that they will not be able to make their mortgage payment, pay their bills or feed their families.
How can we assure our citizens that the government will not pursue that action?
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- Feb/20/22 2:54:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, does the hon. member really believe that the trucker convoy is going to overthrow the federal government, and if so, how?
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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 4:35:58 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in the incident that has occurred over the past number of weeks and months, we saw how much foreign interference there was in the funding of the convoy and occupation. I think we need to be very strict with how we approach this to ensure that Canadians are protected, that our borders are protected and that we are making our own decisions as citizens.
As I mentioned in my speech, these measures have a very limited time frame. An inquiry will happen and a joint committee will sit. Canadians will have their rights protected through this.
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- Feb/20/22 4:49:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, does the hon. member really think the trucker convoy is going to take over the federal government? If so, how?
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- Feb/20/22 4:53:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Fredericton for her thoughts and say on a personal level how deeply distressing it is to imagine that people in her own community are making her feel physically threatened based on how she may vote on the matter here in the House of Commons.
It seems to me that the convoy exposes white supremacists and racism in a well-organized, alt-right network that is fuelled by social media, Facebook and Russian sites, not just here, but also elsewhere. The problem is that the Emergencies Act can only last 30 days. We are uncovering a cesspool that will take years to clean up. How does the hon. member think we can cut short the Emergencies Act, which I think should be done very soon if we keep and, and not let go of what we are discovering?
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- Feb/20/22 5:51:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my whip colleague for the question.
This allows me to clarify that the people who were part of the convoy or the hundreds of people who occupied the streets did not all have the same message. They were not a monolithic group, but we seem to have forgotten that when we focused our attention on one group over another.
Like my colleague, I have seen testimonials and I have spoken to people who were in tears because they wanted to withdraw from the convoy but were stuck. We have seen and heard all sorts of things.
The important thing today is that the streets are empty. The occupation is over. We no longer need this legislation. It is no longer useful, vital or necessary to manage the crisis that is coming to a close.
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- Feb/20/22 6:23:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we knew that there were extremists within the convoy when we first heard it was coming. We knew there were far-right groups involved. It seems they were allowed to settle in anyway. Once that happened, I think the Prime Minister could have showed more initiative and made sure that the police forces were coordinating their efforts, but nothing was done.
What does my colleague think about that?
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- Feb/20/22 7:06:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.
I am a little surprised by the position taken by the Conservative Party over the past few weeks. The Conservative Party is the party of law and order, yet several Conservative MPs supported a movement that wanted to use force to overthrow a democratically elected government. It says that right on its Facebook page.
Not only is the party of law and order supporting an illegal occupation, but its members are handing out coffee and pizza to people who are here illegally and are terrorizing and harassing Ottawa residents.
Does my colleague not think that his party is divided and is contradicting itself? Either they are in favour of the convoy, or they are against it.
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- Feb/20/22 7:21:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. The reality is that Ottawa was under siege. We never said that it was not. The problem is that the Ottawa police and city council did not act promptly, although they had all the legislation at their disposal to undertake the operation to clear the convoy. Other provinces did so in four different places before the Emergencies Act was invoked. Everything was cleared by means of the existing laws.
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- Feb/20/22 7:46:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is truly a privilege and an honour to speak with the member for Yukon. With his background, which he referenced in his speech, I am tempted to ask him questions about where he thinks we are now in the pandemic, but I want to stick to the Emergencies Act.
The member clearly is someone who looks for evidence-based solutions. Looking at the evidence, does he truly believe there was no other way to deal with the so-called “freedom convoy” other than access to the Emergencies Act?
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- Feb/20/22 8:49:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously an excessive law will provide effective tools, but does that mean they are justified? Does it take a baseball bat to smash a mosquito, or would a fly swatter or even a hand do the trick?
This calls for a measured, predictable, proactive response. It is best to let people do their jobs and give them the tools they need when they need them.
We saw this crisis coming. It took weeks to plan the convoy. We knew days in advance that it was coming to Parliament Hill. It was predictable and could have been stopped. We have had protests in Quebec and Canada before. This is not the first. It could have been handled just fine without this law, which I feel is excessive.
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- Feb/20/22 9:04:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not want to comment on the ongoing investigations right now, but what I will say is that the freedom convoy's stated purpose was to do just that, to overthrow the democratically elected government that we are all honoured to sit in today. Those ideas and that intent were made very clear from the beginning, but I will not comment on the ongoing investigations that may be taking place right now.
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- Feb/20/22 10:24:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will begin my comments by highlighting what we are all agreeing on in this House. In the past few days of debate, I have heard agreement that we must denounce hate and hate symbols. Let us build on that consensus, because it has been exposed this past month that there was a far-right, sinister element that had infiltrated the convoys at the highest levels. It is organized and well funded, and it has the stated goal of overthrowing our elected government. I take that threat very seriously. I heard most members of this House denounce these bad actors and recognize that their actions and intentions do not represent the Canada we want to pass on to the next generation.
These are serious times that call for serious debate and action that is appropriate and proportionate to the severity of this dangerous situation we find ourselves in. Let me be clear. These occupations are dangerous. They are not peaceful. They are unlawful. They never should have been allowed to become entrenched in our communities.
Governments did have the resources to halt the occupation of Ottawa early on, but failed to respond with the urgency required. Why do I say that? On social media, convoy organizers were openly sharing their intent, including their plans for when they got to Ottawa. There was endless coverage of the convoy as it moved across Canada, and it was known from the beginning that factions of the convoy—
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- Feb/20/22 10:25:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I did forget that. I will be sharing my time.
There were factions of the convoy that were displaying symbols of hate, hate that was not taken seriously by governments and has not been taken seriously for years. What has become clear through these last several weeks is that Canada does not have the tools to deal with the hate or disinformation that is growing across our communities. The fear, intimidation and lawlessness that have evolved on the streets of Ottawa and at borders across the country have shone a magnifying glass on how the government systems are not equipped to uphold even the most basic laws when hate and disinformation rear their ugly head and when white privilege underpins it.
It has become glaringly obvious to Canadians that government let them down and left them on their own to deal with the consequences of unlawful occupations in their communities. This reality is threatening the safety of—
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- Feb/20/22 11:22:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
The Bloc Québécois is always the one talking about respecting provincial, municipal or other jurisdictions.
Since this convoy began, some municipalities and even the police forces in Ottawa have unfortunately been unable to carry out certain operations and deal with the situation. That is why, as a last resort, we want to move forward with applying the Emergencies Act.
We gave the Ottawa Police Service and the other police forces the resources they needed to put an end to the convoy, remove all of the trucks, restore peace in downtown Ottawa and give some relief to the residents who endured three long weeks of noise and unnecessary turbulence in downtown Ottawa.
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