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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 36

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 21, 2022 07:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 36 - Feb/21/22
Mr. Martin Champoux (Drummond, BQ)
  • Feb/21/22 12:13:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, which I found to be very interesting at times. Obviously, for different reasons, the Bloc Québécois is also against the application of the Emergencies Act, which we have been debating since Thursday, but that is not exactly the issue I wanted to address with my colleague. As my other colleague said in her question, he mentioned the War Measures Act several times. He talked about moments in history when this legislation was invoked for different reasons. Obviously, this did not fall on deaf ears. I heard his commentary on the sad events that happened in Quebec in 1970. He also noted that many Quebeckers were unjustly arrested, sometimes while in bed, in the middle of the night, for no reason, and were arbitrarily detained, often for several weeks. If the Bloc Québécois moved another motion calling on the government to apologize to those Quebeckers who were victims of the War Measures Act in 1970, would my colleague approve our motion this time?
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Context: House Hansard - 36 - Feb/21/22
Mr. Martin Champoux (Drummond, BQ)
  • Feb/21/22 1:38:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have to say that I have a great deal of regard for my colleague, who did not disappoint with this speech. He is always calm and thoughtful, and he always provides an independent analysis. I admire that about him and think that it is very honourable. He answered my question to some extent in his earlier remarks, but I would nevertheless like to make a comment and ask him my question. First, I would like to know if the member agrees with the idea that had this crisis been better managed from the outset, by any level of government, we would not be having this discussion today. The question I want to ask him concerns the fact that this vote on the Emergencies Act has become a confidence vote. Does he not think that proceeding in this way somewhat undermines the validity of the democratic exercise that we are called to have in this House? Is this not twisting the arms of the parties and members that may have a different opinion and do not want this to be a confidence vote?
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Context: House Hansard - 36 - Feb/21/22
Mr. Martin Champoux (Drummond, BQ)
  • Feb/21/22 4:37:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I recognize the member's intelligence and common sense. We now know that invoking the Emergencies Act, as the government is trying to do tonight, is no longer necessary, if it ever was. Would the member not agree that it would be more appropriate to use this time to gather in a committee to determine which tools could prevent crises like the one we have experienced, instead of resorting to disproportionate measures after the fact?
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