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Mr. Blaine Calkins (Red Deer—Lacombe, CPC)

Jun/14/22 2:35:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety continues to spread misinformation and cannot be trusted. As a former Crown prosecutor, he knows full well that his choice of words matters. He would have also known, when invoking the Emergencies Act in Canada, that everything he said would be tested against the law. However, the minister cannot find anyone to corroborate his story that law enforcement asked for the Emergencies Act to be invoked. The only matter left unresolved is the minister's resignation, so when will he resign?

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Hon. Marco Mendicino (Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)

Jun/14/22 2:36:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for highlighting my professional experience as a federal prosecutor before I came into politics. I got into politics to make sure we could protect Canadians. On this side of the House, we know what is necessary when it comes to the protection of the health and safety of Canadians. That is why we invoked the Emergencies Act. We obviously consulted police. We sought their advice. We heard the commissioner say before the committee that we got that advice and we used it. I just want to know why it is, to this point in time today, that the Conservatives refuse to apologize for their role in putting in danger the lives of the people who live in Ottawa and right across the country with their reckless statements.

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Mr. Blaine Calkins (Red Deer—Lacombe, CPC)

Jun/14/22 2:37:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Prime Minister outlined his ministerial standards of conduct in his “Open and Accountable Government” document, and let me quote what it said: To be worthy of Canadians’ trust, we must always act with integrity. This is not merely a matter of adopting the right rules, or of ensuring technical compliance with those rules. As Ministers, you and your staff must uphold the highest standards of honesty and impartiality.... The Minister of Public Safety no longer meets any of those standards. When will he resign?

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Hon. Marco Mendicino (Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)

Jun/14/22 2:37:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to be unequivocally clear that we invoked the Emergencies Act amidst “unprecedented...acts of civil disobedience”, in the words of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, which also said, I might add, that we invoked the Emergencies Act to fill in existing “gaps” as it related to existing authorities. I wonder if that member would hold the same standard against the comments of the interim CPC leader, who said, in the middle of the blockades, to make this the Prime Minister's problem, to make it a political problem. That was wrong, she knows it, and she should apologize.

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Mr. John Barlow (Foothills, CPC)

Jun/14/22 2:38:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is wrong is that the Liberals froze bank accounts, discarded our democracy and ignored our Charter of Rights, all predicated on a fabrication. Invoking the Emergencies Act was an unprecedented power grab, all based on misinformation. No police force ever asked for the Emergencies Act to be invoked. The fact is that the public safety minister has been caught misleading Parliament and deceiving Canadians. Will he do the honourable thing? Will he do the right thing? Will he resign?

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Hon. Marco Mendicino (Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)

Jun/14/22 2:39:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if that member had read the Emergencies Act, he would have seen that all the measures we introduced were charter-compliant and were absolutely targeted toward an unprecedented act of civil disobedience, which the Conservatives continue to deny. It is they who are engaging in revisionism. It is they who engaged in reckless abandon and who, while Ottawa residents were unable to go to work, take their kids to child care or navigate the city, were encouraging blockaders to double down. They put at risk the lives of the people in this city. It is wrong and they should apologize.

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Mr. John Barlow (Foothills, CPC)

Jun/14/22 2:39:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here is a fact. On April 28, the public safety minister said, “It is also a fact that we invoked the Emergencies Act only after police forces agreed.” We do not believe him, Canadians do not believe him and police forces do not believe him. They do not believe him, because this never happened. No police force ever asked for the Emergencies Act to be invoked. What has happened, and this is the fact, is that the public safety minister has been caught misleading Canadians and misleading Parliament. No more talking points and no more skirting the blame. Will he do the right thing and resign?

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Hon. Marco Mendicino (Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)

Jun/14/22 2:40:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, talk about disinformation. Talk about a distortion of the record. We heard from the commissioner of the RCMP, who went before committee and said that she needed to use the Emergencies Act to get the job done as quickly as possible. She spoke about the consultation between government and police forces to ensure that we use their advice to make that decision in an informed way. It is the Conservatives who continue to bury their heads in the sand. In what was an unprecedented moment of civil disobedience, we worked with law enforcement to protect public safety. It was the Conservatives who undermined it.

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Ms. Monique Pauzé (Repentigny, BQ)

Jun/14/22 2:41:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, internal documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show that, when the minister announced his plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, he knew that it was a lost cause. He knew that his department projected that the oil and gas industry would reach only 53% of its reduction target for 2030. He knew that the only way the industry would reach that target is if it cut production, but the minister refuses to force it to do so. He knew that he was publishing a plan that was doomed to fail. Why did he mislead Quebeckers?

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Jun/14/22 2:41:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question. I completely disagree with her characterization. Our reduction plan is ambitious, but achievable. It shows, sector by sector, how Canada will meet its targets. It is the most transparent plan in the history of the country. We are not the ones saying so. It is a whole host of non-governmental organizations and experts. The analysis that The Globe and Mail obtained was one of many initial internal contributions, but that analysis does not take into account all of the new measures that have been announced, including investments and regulations. Environment Canada organized many technical information sessions with external experts, and we have been completely transparent on how we got our figures.

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The Speaker

Jun/14/22 2:42:26 p.m.
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Order. Before we move on, I would like to remind all members that it is hard to hear what is happening in the House when there are so many discussions going on. It is nice to see members get along and talk, but please either whisper lower or temporarily go out and come back in a moment or so. The hon. member for Repentigny.

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Ms. Monique Pauzé (Repentigny, BQ)

Jun/14/22 2:42:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, consider this. It was proven by his own department in the leaked documents that the only way the oil and gas industry can get anywhere near its 81 megatonne reduction target for 2030 is by cutting production. Despite knowing this, not only is the minister not asking the industry to cut production, he is actually increasing production. A week after tabling his plan, he approved the Bay du Nord project. How would a former environmentalist like him describe a minister who tables such a plan, knowing that it has no credibility?

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Jun/14/22 2:43:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would invite my colleague to read the entire Globe and Mail article, and not just the headline, because two experts are quoted who believe that what the oil industry is being asked to do is indeed ambitious. What Canada hopes to do is ambitious. I would have expected the Bloc Québécois to support an ambitious approach in the fight against climate change. This plan focuses on the lives of over 30,000 Canadians. It has been applauded by organizations such as the Pembina Institute, the World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Defence, Équiterre and the David Suzuki Foundation. Our government will ensure that this plan is implemented so that Canada can meet its targets.

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Ms. Kristina Michaud (Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)

Jun/14/22 2:44:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps saying that the increased production of oil will not affect his plan, but his own department warned him that such is not the case. What is worse, the minister does not even include the extra barrels in his calculation. When he approved the Bay du Nord project, they were talking about 300 million barrels. That figure rose to 500 million last week and is now expected to go as high as one billion barrels. The minister, however, keeps saying that everything is fine, that no matter how many barrels are produced, it will all be net-zero. I could not even make this up. Is the notion of green oil a matter of wishful thinking or is it just incorrect?

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Jun/14/22 2:44:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I encourage my hon. colleague to read the latest report from Canada’s official greenhouse gas inventory, which showed that, although oil production in Canada increased by 700,000 barrels in 2019 compared to 2018, greenhouse gas emissions were reduced in 2019 and in 2020. This all shows that our plan is working. We have decided to tackle pollution. We will reduce our methane emissions by nearly 45% in the oil and gas sector by 2025. Our objective is to increase that figure to 75% by 2030, which is the most ambitious objective in the world.

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Mr. John Brassard (Barrie—Innisfil, CPC)

Jun/14/22 2:45:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on multiple occasions, the Minister of Public Safety said that police forces had requested the Emergencies Act. We now know that was not true. Even worse, the minister doubled down on his false claims on multiple occasions in the House, in committee and in the media. He even sent his deputy minister to committee to try to clean up his mess, saying he was misunderstood. There is no misunderstanding here. He knows exactly what he did. He misled Canadians and he knows there must be consequences. Will he do the honourable thing, the right thing, and announce his resignation today?

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Hon. Marco Mendicino (Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)

Jun/14/22 2:46:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to double down on the truth, which is on this side of the House. The truth of the matter is that an unprecedented moment occurred last winter when we saw blockades at ports of entry. We saw people put out of work. We saw families hurt. We saw lives endangered. We took the decision that was necessary, as informed by the consultation and advice we got from police services and as we heard the commissioner of the RCMP say at committee. I do not understand why, to this moment, the Conservatives have refused to accept their egregious role in extending the danger that was put on public safety as a result of comments made during that unprecedented moment. They should apologize.

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Mr. John Brassard (Barrie—Innisfil, CPC)

Jun/14/22 2:46:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is critical here is getting to the truth, because the truth is critical for the parliamentary committee investigating the invocation of the act. The truth is also critical for the judicial inquiry charged with investigating the rationale for invoking the act. What is known is that the truth has been corrupted by the Minister of Public Safety. He knows his words matter. Making false claims in trying to justify invoking the Emergencies Act matters. It matters a lot. Will the minister do the right thing, the honourable thing, and resign?

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Hon. Marco Mendicino (Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)

Jun/14/22 2:47:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the only honourable thing is for the member to look to the interim Conservative Party leader of Canada and ask her to resile from the comments she made during the illegal blockade, which put at risk public safety. It is an absolutely egregious thing to have done. On this side, we were working 24-7 with law enforcement to protect Canadians. It was the Conservatives who put their safety at risk. That was wrong and they should apologize.

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Mr. Michael Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, CPC)

Jun/14/22 2:48:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister talks about things being egregious and unprecedented, and what is unprecedented is the lengths the minister will go to spread his disinformation and continue to try to divide and stigmatize people the government disagrees with. It is the Liberals' pattern to try to punish Canadians who disagree with them. On April 26, he said it was the advice of law enforcement that he followed to invoke the Emergencies Act, but we know that is not true. We heard it directly from police. Will the minister come clean with Canadians, tell them that invoking emergency powers was actually a Liberal power grab and resign today?

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