44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 28, 2022 10:00AM
- Apr/28/22 2:33:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the short answer is, yes, the evidence exists. Where was my hon. colleague in January and February when businesses were shut down, people were laid off, our borders were closed and, outside this chamber, Ottawans were held hostage in their own homes? We debated those facts in the House.
I remember my hon. colleague and I having an exchange during the debate of the invocation of the Emergencies Act, which was only put forward after police officials told us they needed this special power to ensure they could restore public safety. We are going to co-operate with the inquiry so there is transparency and to make sure this never happens again.
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- Apr/28/22 2:35:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if my hon. colleague wants transparency, I would encourage him to bold, highlight and underline the word “public” in the expression “public inquiry”.
Justice Rouleau has a plethora of experience in both trial law and appellate law. He is familiar with the principles of balancing cabinet confidences with the information he needs to review, so we can ensure we will get it right with respect to the Emergencies Act and take away the lessons learned from this awful episode. It would be nice to see the Conservatives appreciate just how severe this event was.
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- Apr/28/22 2:36:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the illegal blockades forced the closure of the borders, the closure of businesses and the layoff of workers, it was Canadians who paid the highest price.
It was on the advice of law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act. It was necessary and it worked.
We have launched a wide-scale independent inquiry and appointed Judge Rouleau as commissioner. We look forward to co-operating with the inquiry in the interest of transparency.
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- Apr/28/22 2:37:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a fact that the economy was disrupted during the blockade. It is a fact that there were many disruptions at the border during the illegal blockade. It is also a fact that we invoked the Emergencies Act only after police forces agreed. It was a good decision, and we will now co-operate with the commissioner.
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- Apr/28/22 2:38:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is because on this side we spoke to Canadians. We spoke to Canadians during the blockades, and their experiences were that their businesses were shut down, workers were—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/28/22 2:39:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I was saying before I was unfortunately interrupted by my colleagues, we spoke with Canadians during the illegal blockades. We spoke with the people who live outside of these chambers who were held hostage, who could not go to work, whose families could not take their children to school and who knew seniors who could not get access to public transportation because of the illegal occupation. It was the police who laid charges independently because of those interruptions, and it was only after we received their advice that we invoked the Emergencies Act. We had to.
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- Apr/28/22 2:46:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important for my colleague to draw a bright distinction between statistics and the real life impacts at the time of the illegal blockades. Those impacts saw the disruption of trade and travel at the Ambassador Bridge, where we do fully one-third of our trade with our most important partner, the United States of America, which, by the way, expressed serious concerns during the blockades. That was one of the other reasons, among many, that we had to invoke the Emergencies Act. It worked. We were able to restore public safety, and thankfully trade and travel are going on again.
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- Apr/28/22 2:47:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is utterly astonishing to hear the Conservative members continue to bury their heads in the sand over the serious events that occurred during January and February. I would encourage my colleague and all members of the Conservative Party of Canada, who do not want to believe there was any interruption, to speak to the small businesses on Huron Church Road in Windsor, or to talk to the member for Windsor West or the member for Windsor—Tecumseh, who have spoken with those businesses. They were shut down. That was because of the illegal blockades. We are helping them. Trade and travel are going on again, and thankfully it is because we invoked the Emergencies Act.
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- Apr/28/22 2:48:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the only thing the Conservatives are clinging to right now is denial. I have to say that, before coming into this chamber and spouting off statistics in the abstract, I would encourage my colleague to speak with the Canadians outside this chamber, in Ottawa, who could not leave their homes. I would encourage my hon. colleague to speak with the many small businesses not only in Windsor but in Coutts and White Rock that were absolutely devastated by these illegal blockades. It was only after we received advice from police that we invoked the act. It worked, and now we are going to make sure we co-operate with these inquiries so that—
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