44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 13, 2022 11:00AM
- Jun/13/22 2:19:25 p.m.
- Watch
We shall see, Mr. Speaker.
On April 28, the Minister of Public Safety said, and I quote, “the invocation of the Emergencies Act...was only put forward after police officials told us they needed this special power”.
No police service acknowledges having asked for the Emergencies Act. Are the minister and the Prime Minister both insisting that police asked the government to invoke the Emergencies Act?
68 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:19:51 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we invoked the Emergencies Act to keep Canadians safe. It was the right thing to do. Commissioner Lucki herself testified that the Emergencies Act gave them the tools they needed to get the job done fast.
Let us be clear. The government decided to invoke the Emergencies Act. That decision was informed by advice we got. We consulted police forces on various issues, including, as Commissioner Lucki said, on the powers in the Emergencies Act that were necessary.
80 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:20:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, that is what Commissioner Lucki said after the act was invoked, not before.
However, on April 28, the Minister of Public Safety stated, “It was on the advice of [the police] that we invoked the Emergencies Act”. The whole story told by the Prime Minister to justify invoking the Emergencies Act was farfetched, and all the police forces have denied asking the federal government to invoke it. The minister's remarks were clear and unequivocal. He cannot deny having said them.
Was it the Prime Minister himself or someone in his cabinet who asked the Minister of Public Safety to use the police to justify invoking the Emergencies Act?
114 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:21:08 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House fully understand what is needed to protect the health and safety of Canadians, which is precisely why we invoked the Emergencies Act.
I want to know when the Conservatives are going to offer to cover the expenses for all the disruption that encouraged the illegal blockade during the protests. It was terrible.
61 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:21:58 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the public safety minister has been studying Vladimir Putin's theory of revisionist history.
The public safety minister is misleading Canadians about why he took the unprecedented step of using the Emergencies Act to implement martial law. To quote the minister, he said, “we invoked the Emergencies Act on advice from the police.” Well, it turns out the Ottawa city police said they did not ask for it, the RCMP said they did not ask for it and the OPP said they did not ask for it.
Did the minister invent these facts to support his Liberal power grab?
106 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:22:33 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am going to come to that, but before I do, I want to call out the hon. member for using Mr. Putin in this chamber regarding the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. It debases this place, it debases what is going on in Ukraine and it is absolutely wrong. He should be admonished for it. He should take back that comment. That is not what this chamber stands for.
73 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:23:00 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, if the minister has to stand here and continue to deny that he is revising the history of the Emergencies Act, then he has to wear it.
The minister is refusing to answer a simple question. Either the police asked for the Emergencies Act or they did not. Again, I will quote the minister's own words back to him: “At the recommendation of police, we invoked the Emergencies Act”. The minister is refusing to repeat his own words in this chamber because he knows he misled the country, and Canadians do not trust him.
What is the new, unbelievable excuse the minister will be using today?
111 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:23:36 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I want to be absolutely clear that we invoked the Emergencies Act because it was necessary to protect the health and safety of Canadians. As we heard from Commissioner Lucki herself during her testimony before the committee, the Emergencies Act was necessary.
I wonder when the Conservatives are going to finally offer their sincere apologies to the residents of Ottawa, who, during the protest, were encouraged to stay by the interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. It was wrong, wrong, wrong.
85 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:29:10 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety has repeatedly claimed, “At the recommendation of police, we invoked the Emergencies Act”.
I know he likes to quote RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, so I will try this one on for size. She said, “No, there was never a question of requesting the Emergencies Act”. Clearly, it was not an option considered by police.
Now the minister is saying what he really meant to say is that they consulted with police. His story is changing so often that it is no surprise his deputy minister is saying he was misunderstood. How can Canadians trust this minister?
107 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:29:45 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this is a prime example of cherry-picking from the commissioner's testimony. If he went on to read, he would see that the commissioner said, in her own words, that the Emergencies Act was needed to restore public safety.
While he continues to bury his head in the sand on the material facts, and while he continues to bury his head on the conduct of the interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, who egged on the illegal blockades long after they became a threat to public safety, we were working 24-7 with law enforcement to restore public safety. We will never apologize for that.
110 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:30:23 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, without parliamentary accountability, Canadians would never know the truth about how the Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act. We were led to believe that protesters tried to burn down a building, which was false. We were led to believe that they were being funded with dark money, which was false. We were led to believe that they were planning to violently overthrow the government, which was false. The Minister of Public Safety even claimed that police asked for extraordinary powers to deal with the situation, which was false.
With this much misinformation, it is no wonder Canadians' trust in government is at an all-time low. Will the minister take the first step in rebuilding this trust and apologize for misleading Canadians?
124 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:31:42 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety keeps telling us that the government only invoked the Emergencies Act after it was requested by police. We know from testimony that the police never requested the Emergencies Act, just as we know the government has not been transparent on the special forces spy flight over the protest. None of this was necessary.
How does the minister explain away his story being so different from those of senior police officials and his own deputy minister?
82 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:32:44 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, in the middle of the illegal occupation, we saw Canadians put out of work. We saw families who were unable to take their kids to child care. We saw the entire town of Ottawa under siege. That is why we invoked the Emergencies Act. Of course we consulted. Of course we sought the advice of police and law enforcement because we understood that was the best way to inform that decision.
I wonder why the Conservative Party does not just stand up and accept its share of the responsibility for prolonging that illegal occupation as a result of the reckless abandon that it showed throughout?
111 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:33:22 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, according to the government, the special forces spy flight over the Ottawa protest was just training. I wonder where that data went. The minister said the Emergencies Act was justified because of an attempt at arson, which was not so, and because the protest was significantly foreign funded, which was also not so. As well, police never asked for the invocation of the act.
When will the government admit that the Emergencies Act was a power grab overreach to stifle legitimate, democratic dissent?
85 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:34:49 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Emergencies Act can only be invoked when there is no other law to deal with the situation. It is not clear that this threshold was met. Members of the law enforcement community have said that the threshold was not met, including Chris Lewis, former commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, Ontario's largest police force.
When the public safety minister says that an unnamed police enforcement official made the request to invoke these powers, it is material. I have a very simple question: Who is this unnamed police enforcement official?
93 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:36:48 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, there is no more paramount ideal than protecting Canadians' safety, and that is why we invoked the Emergencies Act.
We will always stand up for that decision. We will never apologize for doing what was necessary to protect Canadians who were besieged by, in the words of the most senior officials of law enforcement in this country, “unprecedented...acts of civil disobedience”.
Of course we will co-operate with the parliamentary committee. Of course we will co-operate with Judge Rouleau. That too is an ideal. I wonder when his party will accept its share of the responsibility for contributing to that illegal occupation.
108 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:41:07 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety seems to have a new nickname: Pinocchio. In recent months, he told the House something that is absolutely false. He said, “It was on the advice of law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act.”
However, federal and municipal law enforcement agencies have confirmed that they never made any such recommendations. Now, the minister is saying any old thing in hopes that Canadians will forget all about this. Did the minister act on his own initiative, or was he following the Prime Minister's orders?
94 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:42:02 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. The Emergencies Act restored public safety and we will never apologize for doing what was necessary to protect Canadians.
We did it for everyone who wanted to get to work or take their kids to day care. We invoked the act for those Canadians who unwillingly found themselves in the middle of this occupation.
61 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:42:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it seems the minister has memory issues because on April 28, 2022, he said, “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.”
The RCMP says it never made such a request. The Minister of Public Safety deliberately misled Canadians. Was he following the Prime Minister's orders to avoid losing his cabinet position?
92 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:43:01 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague, we invoked the Emergencies Act to protect Canadians. It was a necessary decision, which is exactly what the RCMP commissioner told the committee.
I would also like to ask my colleague when the Conservatives are going to offer to reimburse the communities here in Ottawa for the expenses incurred, given that his party bears some responsibility after the interim leader of the Conservative Party encouraged the blockade and illegal occupation. That was wrong, and the Conservatives should offer to reimburse the costs.
91 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
