44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 21, 2022 07:00AM
- Feb/21/22 2:19:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Emergencies Act is enabling critical measures to end these illegal blockades and prevent further occupations. We have heard from police chiefs, security experts and municipal and provincial leadership that it has been essential to the response. We have been very clear that these measures will apply only when and where necessary and, again, these tools are to supplement local capacity, not negate or override it. As soon as these measures are no longer required, we will gladly lift them. This is responsible leadership.
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- Feb/21/22 2:21:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after weeks of people being harassed in their neighbourhoods and seeing small businesses forced to close; after billions of dollars were stalled in trade, putting people's livelihoods at risk; after evidence of increased ideologically-motivated, violent extremism activity across the country; and after a flood of misinformation and disinformation washed over Canada, including from foreign sources, it became clear that local and provincial authorities needed more tools to restore order and keep people safe. I ask all members of Parliament to stand up for Canada this evening.
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- Feb/21/22 2:22:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the right of Canadians to express their opinions and the right of Canadians to protest peacefully and to disagree with their government are something we will always stand up to protect and uphold. Even with the implementation of the Emergencies Act, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms continues to apply.
Quite frankly, continuing to demonstrate the way Canadians are there for each other, not harming their neighbours, not occupying cities but being there for frontline workers, being there to support each other, that has been the story of this blockade and this pandemic.
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- Feb/21/22 2:23:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Emergency Measures Act provides for essential measures that can be used to put an end to these illegal blockades and to prevent another occupation.
Chiefs of police, security experts and municipal and provincial leaders told us that this act was essential for the operations being conducted by police.
I clearly indicated that these measures will only be applied if deemed necessary. These tools are being added to local resources. We will cancel these measures as soon as they are no longer necessary. That is the responsible way to manage the situation.
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- Feb/21/22 2:24:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this government and almost all Canadians have been there for each other from the very beginning of this pandemic. We have supported each other through tough times and we have been there for our small businesses, for our seniors and for our frontline workers. That is the story of the pandemic. That is not the story of those who are blockading the streets and preventing other Canadians from going to work or living in peace. This is the story of those who have been there for one another. These are the people we will continue focusing on. We will be working for the future on their behalf.
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- Feb/21/22 2:26:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the situation remains precarious across the country. We are very pleased with the work our police forces did this weekend in Ottawa and Gatineau to keep the people of the region and the national capital safe. We also saw interventions across the country to prevent more convoys from going to places where barricades could form. We must continue to be vigilant, but of course we all want to announce the end of these emergency measures as soon as we can. We will assess the feasibility of doing so on a daily basis.
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- Feb/21/22 2:27:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to say that I greatly appreciate the commitment of the Leader of the Bloc Québécois to coming up with additional measures that we could debate in Parliament once the emergency has passed in order to ensure that our police forces and authorities all have the responsible and legitimate tools to address illegal occupations or crimes such as these. For the time being, we are still in a state of emergency, but I know that, like all Canadians, we want to see the end of these emergency measures as soon as possible. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.
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- Feb/21/22 2:28:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. leader of the NDP for his support for workers. I agree with him on that.
We have continued every step of the way through the difficult past two years we have had to be there for small businesses, for seniors, for young people, for workers, and we will continue to do that. We recognize that, on top of the pandemic context, this occupation and the blockades have been extremely difficult on businesses and workers. We are moving forward with measures to support them. This is something I think we can all agree on in this House, to be there for Canadians.
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- Feb/21/22 2:29:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader of the NDP for his commitment to our workers.
We share that concern. That is why for the past two years we have taken historic measures to support the workers, small businesses, seniors and families that are struggling because of this pandemic, and that is why we are committed to being there for the people who need it in the wake of the occupation of Ottawa.
Yes, we brought in a program for the businesses, but we will continue to look out for the workers as well.
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