44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 3, 2022 10:00AM
- May/3/22 2:21:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank all the police forces and the RCMP for their good work. Last week, they carefully prepared a plan for the protest.
This protest played out very differently from the events in January and February, when we invoked the Emergencies Act on advice from the police. It was a necessary and responsible decision, and we are going to work with the commissioner and parliamentarians in the interest of transparency.
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- May/3/22 2:22:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, from the beginning of the illegal blockade last winter, we offered a great deal of support to all parliamentarians working on the Hill. However, what some parliamentarians experienced here was very different from what the residents of Ottawa experienced, which included many disruptions and violence in the community. This was proven by all the arrests made by the police.
The Emergencies Act needed to be invoked. We will now co-operate with all transparency processes.
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- May/3/22 2:23:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there was a plenty of evidence of disruptions at the border, in our communities and to our economy. Many Canadians lost their jobs temporarily. That is one reason why the Emergencies Act needed to be invoked.
Now we must participate in a transparency process, and the government will co-operate with the commissioner, Justice Rouleau.
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- May/3/22 2:33:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure my hon. colleague that the government is fully committed to being transparent around the events and circumstances that led to the invocation of the Emergencies Act.
Last week, we launched the public inquiry, affording Justice Rouleau broad powers to compel witnesses, documents and information, including some classified information, should he choose to ask for it.
Our intention is to shine a light on those events and it would be, I think, a point of departure to hear the Conservatives recognize that there was an emergency. We fulfilled our responsibility to protect Canadians.
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- May/3/22 2:34:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to all frontline police officers, including members of the RCMP, who ensured that we were able to maintain public safety over the course of the past weekend.
Of course, there are big distinctions between what occurred last weekend and what occurred last winter, which was a national emergency.
We invoked the Emergencies Act after we received advice from law enforcement. Once it was invoked, we were able to restore public safety, and now we will ensure that there is transparency in the accountability of that decision.
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- May/3/22 2:35:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would point out that, notwithstanding the fact that public safety was maintained, there were enforcement actions taken last week as a result of some individuals who, again, crossed the line and broke the law.
It would be, again, an opportunity for the Conservatives to recognize, finally, after months of denying it, that there was an emergency. Collectively, we have a responsibility and a burden as parliamentarians to uphold the law. That is exactly what we did when we invoked the Emergencies Act, and now we will ensure that there is transparency, so that all Canadians can be reaffirmed in that decision.
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- May/3/22 2:37:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I am very relieved that my colleague was able to access the Hill with the additional protection and safety that was offered by the RCMP, by the Parliamentary Protection Service and by the Sergeant-at-Arms, but there is a big difference between what some of us were able to experience on the Hill and what was going on off the Hill.
There can be no doubt that people who live in Ottawa had their lives completely upended by the illegal occupation here, and that people who lived in border communities had their lives upended. That was because individuals broke the law to a point of a national emergency. That is why we invoked the Emergencies Act. We did it to protect Canadians.
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- May/3/22 2:38:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are many differences between last winter's protest and last weekend's, which was much smaller.
Last winter's blockade and occupation were illegal. We listened very respectfully to what the police forces told us. Then we very carefully made the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. That decision was necessary. Now we will collaborate with all transparency efforts.
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- May/3/22 2:39:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the short answer is that it was necessary.
There was a lot of disruption at the border. There was a lot of disruption to the economy. There was a lot of disruption to public safety for many Canadians. Those are the reasons why we invoked the Emergencies Act. It was not an easy decision to make. It was a tough, but necessary decision.
Now, we on this side of the House will be transparent during the inquiry into this process.
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