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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Jun/1/23 2:34:30 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, as I already explained, Mr. Johnston's 50-year career in public service, culminating in his role as the governor general of this country, has made it crystal clear to all Canadians that his loyalty is to Canada—

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Hon. Bill Blair

Jun/1/23 2:33:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, protecting Canada from nefarious hostile activities of such foreign-state actors as China is a priority for our government. We have taken significant action to protect the integrity of Canadian institutions and, in particular, our democracy. We recognize that there is more work to do, and we all have a responsibility to stand up and protect our democracy. I would invite all members to cease their attacks on some of the finest Canadians I know and to unite in this important work.

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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Jun/1/23 2:32:43 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, protecting Canada from the nefarious, hostile activities of foreign-state actors is a priority for our government. We have taken very significant action to protect Canadian institutions and, in particular, our democracy. We recognize that there is more work—

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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Jun/1/23 2:31:20 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I am reminded once again that it is not only unfair but also deeply offensive to listen to the member opposite question Mr. Johnston's allegiance to this country. His 50-year career in public service has made it clear to everyone that his loyalty is to Canada. As I also said, and to quote former prime minister Harper, “[David Johnston] represents hard work, dedication, public service and humility.” Canada is blessed to have a man so dedicated to public service, persevering through this type of abuse.

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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Jun/1/23 2:20:20 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I believe it is unfair, and frankly offensive, to question Mr. Johnston's allegiance. His 50-year career in public service makes it clear that his loyalty is to Canada. I believe he represents the highest ideals of hard work, dedication, public service and humility. We should all be thankful that he perseveres in his commitment to service to Canada.

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Context: House Hansard - 163 - Feb/17/23

Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Feb/17/23 12:16:13 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to subsection 63(2) of the Emergencies Act, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the public inquiry into the 2022 public order emergency. Pursuant to the order made on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, this report is deemed referred to the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the commission for its very hard work and all of our officials for their dedication to making sure this report was completed on time.

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Context: House Hansard - 121 - Oct/31/22

Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/31/22 2:44:24 p.m.
Watch

On the contrary, Mr. Speaker, I have risen in the House a number of times and simply repeated the truth to the members. I am not going to speculate on a conversation of which I was not a party. I can simply advise the House that at no time did I direct, ask or even suggest to the commissioner of the RCMP that she should release any information pertaining to this investigation. Under oath before the Mass Casualty Commission, the commissioner has confirmed that she was not directed by me or any government official on the release of information or in the conduct of the investigation. Those are simply the facts.

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Context: House Hansard - 121 - Oct/31/22

Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/31/22 2:43:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said a number of times in the House, the independence of police operations is a key principle in our democracy. It is one that our government respects. I would like to remind the House that, in May of 2020, the member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes rose in the House and demanded to know why the government was not releasing information on search warrants, production orders and closed warrants related to the Nova Scotia massacre. At that time, I was forced to rise in the House to explain to that Conservative member, as I did to all members, that our government does not interfere with ongoing criminal investigations, and the RCMP is responsible for the information that he sought.

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Context: House Hansard - 121 - Oct/31/22

Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/31/22 2:41:57 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, there is a very significant problem with the member's theory, which is based entirely on speculation, innuendo and conjecture. He ignores the facts, and here are the facts. At no time did I or the government attempt to interfere in police operations. I did not direct, ask or even suggest to the commissioner that she release that information and the commissioner herself has testified under oath, “I did not receive direction and I was not influenced by government officials regarding the public release of information”. Those are simply the facts.

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Context: House Hansard - 120 - Oct/28/22

Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/28/22 11:59:20 a.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, in this House, speculation, conjecture and innuendoes are not facts. Only facts are fact. That is perhaps why the member opposite has omitted the fact that, for example, when the commissioner asked Commissioner Carrique if I had been in contact with him, he answered no. That is a fact. Here is another one for the benefit of all members: I never did.

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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/27/22 2:44:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, neither I nor my office communicated with Mr. Brien about any aspect of this matter. I have absolutely no knowledge about that except what I have read in the papers.

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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/27/22 2:43:53 p.m.
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No, Mr. Speaker.

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Hon. Bill Blair

Oct/27/22 2:42:42 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the member's assertion on this matter is completely incorrect. It is not surprising that the members opposite do not actually want to hear the facts, but here they are. At no time did I or any member of our government attempt to interfere in police operations. To be very explicit and clear with words I hope the member might understand, I did not direct, I did not ask and I did not suggest to the RCMP commissioner to release information. When she testified under oath before the Mass Casualty Commission, she said, “I did not receive direction and I was not influenced by government—

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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/27/22 2:42:10 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite's assertions are completely incorrect. The independence of police operations is a key principle in our democracy. It is one that our government deeply respects, one that I have always respected and one that I have always vigorously defended—

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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/25/22 2:47:39 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, again, what is very clear is that the RCMP commissioner, in her testimony before the public safety committee and in front of the Mass Casualty Commission under oath, was very clear that there was no interference, and that I did not give her direction. In fact, she did clarify for the committee that I have always been meticulously careful in not providing her with direction. That is her testimony. My statement to the House and my testimony previously is that I did not give her any direction on any operational matter.

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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/25/22 2:46:29 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I have been clear, explicit and unequivocal that at no time did I give direction to the RCMP to interfere with operations. I will simply quote the commissioner's testimony before committee and the Mass Casualty Commission, in which she said, “I did not receive direction and I was not influenced by government officials regarding the public release of information [or] on the direction of the investigation.” That is the commissioner's testimony, and it coincides precisely with my statement that no direction was given.

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Hon. Bill Blair (President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

Oct/25/22 2:45:14 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is free to engage in any speculation and even fabrication that she wishes, although I would suggest that she might be somewhat more circumspect when she steps out of the House and makes such spurious allegations. Let me repeat: I did not direct the commissioner of the RCMP in any operational matter. The commissioner has confirmed that in her testimony before committee and under oath before the Mass Casualty Commission. The matter is settled.

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