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Hon. Bill Blair

Member of Parliament
Minister of National Defence
Liberal

Scarborough Southwest
Ontario
Voting Attendance: 66%
Expenses Last Quarter: $115,019.32

Government Page

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.
Watch

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 - 119 - Oct/27/22

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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Context: House Hansard - 117 - Oct/25/22

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

Oct/25/22 2:44:00 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, as we have said a number of times in this House, the independence of police operations underpins the rule of law. This is a principle that I have not only always respected but one which I have defended vigorously for decades. To be clear and explicit to everyone in this House, as I have been many times, I did not direct the commissioner of the RCMP in any operational matter, including in the release of information pertaining to the firearms used in this tragedy. Further, the commissioner herself has testified a number of times that there was no interference.

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Context: House Hansard - 116 - Oct/24/22

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

Oct/24/22 2:45:08 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the independence of police operations is not only a principle I have always respected, but it is also one that I have vigorously defended for decades. I can assure the House, as I have done previously and today— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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Context: House Hansard - 116 - Oct/24/22

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

Oct/24/22 2:42:30 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, in the House, the member opposite is quite free to engage in any speculation or fabrication she may wish. However, to be clear, subclause 5(1) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act provides for the direction of the minister, but equally clear is that our government recognizes and respects that police independence underpins the rule of law and ministerial direction cannot infringe on the independence of the RCMP. I did not at any time give direction. The testimony I gave before the commission was entirely the truth. It was the whole truth and nothing but the truth, as I have repeated here today.

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Context: House Hansard - 95 - Jun/23/22

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

Jun/23/22 2:38:57 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, perhaps it would be helpful if I read the entire statement that the RCMP commissioner issued Tuesday. The commissioner writes: It is important to note that the sharing of information and briefings with the Minister of Public Safety are necessary, particularly during a mass shooting on Canadian soil. This is standard procedure, and does not impact the integrity of ongoing investigations or interfere with the independence of the RCMP. She concludes by stating: I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions. There was no interference.

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Context: House Hansard - 95 - Jun/23/22

Hon. Bill Blair

Jun/23/22 2:33:35 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I was referencing for this House the statement that the commissioner released on Tuesday, in which she said, “I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions.” That is the truth, and there was no interference in this matter, as there has been no interference by this government in any police operation.

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Context: House Hansard - 94 - Jun/22/22

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

Jun/22/22 2:54:21 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to advise the House that no one made a choice to politicize the terrible tragedy of the murder of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020. The independence of law enforcement operations is a key principle of our democracy. It is one that our government deeply respects and one that I have always defended. At no point did our government pressure or interfere with the operational decisions of the RCMP, including their communications strategy. I direct members to the commissioner's statement from yesterday, where she makes it very clear that there was no interference.

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Context: House Hansard - 94 - Jun/22/22

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

Jun/22/22 2:51:40 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, of course there was no promise, but I will again take members back to the commissioner's statement because I think it speaks for itself. She said: It is important to note that the sharing of information and briefings with the Minister of Public Safety are necessary, particularly during a mass shooting on Canadian soil. This is standard procedure, and does not impact the integrity of ongoing investigations or interfere with the independence of the RCMP. The commissioner concludes with this: “I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions.” Those are the facts.

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Context: House Hansard - 94 - Jun/22/22

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

Jun/22/22 2:44:44 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the very short answer to the member's question is no. Finally, I would point again to the commissioner's statement, in which she said, “I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions.” Those are the facts.

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Context: House Hansard - 94 - Jun/22/22

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

Jun/22/22 2:43:35 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the member that we actually campaigned in 2019 on our promise to Canadians that we would strengthen gun control and ban assault-style rifles. In May 2020, we kept that promise, but the independence of law enforcement operations remains a key principle of our democracy. It is one that our government has always respected and one I have always defended. At no point did our government pressure or interfere with any of the operational decisions of the RCMP.

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Context: House Hansard - 94 - Jun/22/22

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

Jun/22/22 2:42:23 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, as I said, I have never had a conversation with the superintendent, but the commissioner who did released a statement, in which she said: It is important to note that the sharing of information and briefings with the Minister of Public Safety are necessary, particularly during a mass shooting on Canadian soil. This is standard procedure. It does not impact the integrity of any ongoing investigation or interfere with the independence of the RCMP. She concluded: I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions.

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Context: House Hansard - 94 - Jun/22/22

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

Jun/22/22 2:30:22 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to share with the members opposite the truth. In fact, yesterday, the commissioner of the RCMP released a statement in which she said, and I quote: It is important to note that the sharing of information and briefings with the Minister of Public Safety are necessary, particularly during a mass shooting on Canadian soil. This is standard procedure, and does not impact the integrity of ongoing investigations or interfere with the independence of the RCMP. It is important that she concludes: I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions.

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Context: House Hansard - 94 - Jun/22/22

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

Jun/22/22 2:29:17 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the independence of law enforcement operations is a key principle of our democracy and it is one that our government deeply respects and one that I have always defended. At no point did our government pressure or interfere with the operational decisions of the RCMP. I would take the opportunity to direct the members to the commissioner's statement from yesterday in which she makes it very clear that there was no interference.

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Minister of National Defence

Hon. Bill Blair