- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Liberal
- Halifax West
- Nova Scotia
- Voting Attendance: 68%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $116,563.05
- Government Page
- Feb/20/22 6:41:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have listened to my hon. colleague ask questions for the last couple of days and I really appreciate her interjections.
I am part of the governing party, but I am certainly not in government. I definitely value bringing that forward, and I will take it back to my colleagues.
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- Feb/20/22 6:39:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
Unfortunately, I think it was necessary to invoke this act. The specific measures set out in the Emergencies Act are limited, subject to many checks and balances, and guaranteed by Parliament, hence this debate. The measures also have to be consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The police have all said that they could not have overcome these obstacles without this act.
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- Feb/20/22 6:37:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in my remarks, I specifically said that the Ottawa interim police chief concluded that without the act, the police would not have been able to do what they did. Again, former Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau said that invoking the Emergencies Act allowed them to set up a perimeter, allowed police to deny entry to those trying to join the protest, allowed for the banning of bringing children and minors into the designated zone, allowed for the quick seizure of money and assets involved with sustaining the occupation, allowed for vehicles to be towed and allowed for the immediate swearing in of officers from outside Ontario as police officers, among other things.
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- Feb/20/22 6:26:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this evening I will be sharing my time with the member for Winnipeg South.
It is an honour and a privilege to represent the residents of Halifax West in the House of Commons. I recall the day of my swearing-in ceremony 15 weeks ago, walking along Wellington Street, taking in the architectural, national and symbolic elements of the buildings and looking at the multitude of people and the joy and excitement of all people, visitors and residents alike.
The events of the last three weeks are heartbreaking. The illegal blockades, sieges and occupations have disrupted the safety, security and lives of individual Canadians, harming our economy, endangering public safety and threatening our democracy. We need to make sure events like this do not happen again.
I have reflected long and hard and have listened to the debates in the House. I have listened to the differing views. I recognize the seriousness of the situation and our role as parliamentarians in representing our constituents and debating and voting on national laws for the collective good of Canadians.
I support wholeheartedly this motion to invoke the Emergencies Act. I listened to the comments of the interim Ottawa police chief Steve Bell on Friday, who confirmed that, yes, the authorities granted by the invocation of this act and those conferred by the provincial and municipal emergency measures taken together were essential in conducting the successful operation that began on Friday.
The use of this act is also supported by the former Ottawa police chief and Conservative senator Vernon White, who noted it is justified and that “it was the right time to do this”. Charles Bordeleau, another past Ottawa police chief, also confirmed the necessity of the tools this act conferred to police in clearing Ottawa.
Canada has a parliamentary democracy founded on the rule of law and respect for rights and freedoms. I, like everyone here, am elected by the residents of my constituency. I am here to represent Halifax West. I care about my community and all its people. I care about everyone's freedom. We need to collectively care about each other in our country.
Let us be clear. There is a national emergency. It does pose a risk to personal security, national security and our economy, and it needs to be ended quickly and decisively so Canadians can get their lives back.
I am confident the threshold the act requires has been met. We have all seen the threats to property, to our economy, to our supply chains and to our most important trading relationship, which have been carried out to reach ideological ends.
I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all the police services who participated in ending the illegal operations, whether blockades, sieges or occupations. This includes the Ottawa Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police, the RCMP, la Sûreté du Québec and police forces from across the country. This was a national effort from different jurisdictions, standing out there in the freezing cold and putting their safety and comfort on the line to ensure a resolution. My hat is off to them for their professionalism, dedication and restraint in the face of taunts, insults and abuse from occupiers.
We have heard many times how the vast majority of working truckers are vaccinated. I want to thank them for their essential work ensuring Canadians have food, medicine and so much that we rely on every day on our tables. I also want to thank their association, the CTA, for confirming that vaccine mandates are not in fact interfering with the industry's operations and for applauding the government's use of the Emergencies Act to rightfully end these blockades.
I want to thank the journalists on the streets, braving harassment to bring the truth of the occupation in Ottawa to Canadians. I have listened very closely to my colleagues during this debate and I appreciate the points they raised on the gravity of the situation, on the torment of the people and businesses of Ottawa and on the need for a quick and decisive path forward.
What we have seen is an occupation with leaders that in their stated objectives called for the overthrow of a democratically elected government and the removal of reasonable public health measures that have kept Canadians safe. It is an occupation that has been fuelled in no small part by foreign donations and eager cheerleading from political opportunists.
The residents of Ottawa, the business owners and their staff, and the hard-working public servants, they all know this surpassed the point of a protest because they have suffered through it. I think of the email I received the other day from a woman advocating on behalf of her niece, who lives in downtown Ottawa and because of an autoimmune disorder could not leave her small apartment during the current occupation. Her niece had endured constant, inescapable, deafening noise and fumes from the occupiers. What about her rights and freedoms? There are so many stories like hers.
We have seen far too much intimidation, violence and hatred. I want to acknowledge the strength and resolve of the people of Ottawa over these difficult few weeks. They have been through hell and I hope they will get some rest and some relief. At this time, it is incumbent on us to act.
Let us clear up both the confusion and the wilful misrepresentation about what this act is and what invoking it entails. This is not the War Measures Act. This act is not calling in the military. It is targeted, temporary, subject to checks and safeguards through Parliament and must be compliant with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Invoking the Emergencies Act provides new authorities to law enforcement to regulate crowds, prohibit blockades and keep essential corridors open. It allows government to mobilize essential services, including services related to removal, towing and storage of vehicles that are being used as part of a blockade. It allows the taking of action against the largely foreign and largely anonymous funding of this occupation, including from crowdfunding platforms and their payment service providers.
Significantly, it allows the removal of the jurisdictional friction that we have seen impede our police forces, allowing police from different jurisdictions to work together to do their job. I want to reiterate what was confirmed by the interim Ottawa police chief. They would not be able to do the job they are doing without the authorities conferred by the Emergencies Act.
I want to thank the constituents of Halifax West for writing me and calling me, expressing their concern.
Like all of my colleagues, my office has received tons of emails. In my case, most of it is from outside my province, containing outrageous false claims and comparisons. This has included anti-vaccine propaganda, conspiracy theories, insistence that the pandemic is over, denial that our hospitals are being pushed past their capacities and disturbing comparisons made between the requirement to get vaccinated before boarding an airplane and the horrors inflicted by the Nazis. The contents of these emails are troubling, concerning and full of disinformation.
The fact is that Canada is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. The majority of Canadians do not support these illegal protests and the occupation. The overwhelming majority of Canadians understand that facts and science still matter. That reassures me.
This week, we celebrated the 57th anniversary of our Canadian flag, a symbol we all respect and appreciate. I have felt uncomfortable seeing how our flag has been used over the last few weeks. I do not want anyone to ever see our flag flying and feel a twinge of fear or anxiety. I understand the frustration and the pandemic fatigue felt by many. We are all tired and we all want the pandemic to end.
In my province of Nova Scotia, we had a small taste of what it felt like to have a post-pandemic life in the fall, when cases came down and restrictions were lessened. It was a blessing and it was appreciated and deeply needed, but omicron had other plans. I want to say I understand the frustration and empathize with folks. The risks to our communities, families and hospitals do not simply end because we want the pandemic to be over. I wish they did. Recently in Nova Scotia we saw the most deadly week of the pandemic since May 2020. We are still seeing daily test positivity rates over 10% and packed hospitals staffed by overstretched health care workers.
Here I want to thank all health care workers for caring for Nova Scotians and for caring for all Canadians. I have hope that a brighter spring is on its way. I want to encourage everyone to spread hope to their friends, communities and loved ones, while at the same time recommitting themselves to having each other's backs, being cautious, getting vaccinated and showing our solidarity with one another—
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