- Member of Parliament
- Liberal
- Eglinton—Lawrence
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $83,797.98
- Government Page
- Jun/15/23 2:40:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on each and every one of those priorities, this government has defended public safety in the interests of all Canadians.
When it comes to fighting against gun violence, we are banning AR-15s; the Conservatives want to make them legal again. Last year, when we faced an unprecedented national emergency, we invoked the Emergencies Act, a decision validated by Judge Rouleau independently. What did the Conservatives do—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Jun/8/22 2:46:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we have said all along, the government will co-operate with Justice Rouleau. We will co-operate with the joint parliamentary committee to be transparent because I agree with my colleague that we need to scrutinize the invocation of the Emergencies Act.
My point is that the facts are very clear. We were in the midst and in the throes of an unprecedented public order emergency in the opinion of non-partisan, professional law enforcement. When we sought their advice about which powers were needed to restore public safety, we listened to them and we invoked to restore public safety.
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- Jun/8/22 2:44:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to be absolutely clear that last winter when we saw an unprecedented public order emergency in the opinion of law enforcement, we filled the gaps that existed within authorities that were not effective at the time to restore public safety.
Prior to invoking the Emergencies Act, we sought advice, as any responsible government would do, prior to invoking the act. We heard Commissioner Lucki say that we needed, for example, power to compel tow trucks as a result of protesters who would not leave. I wonder why they would not leave. They would not leave because Conservatives were egging them on to stay. That was wrong and we invoked it to protect Canadians.
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- Jun/8/22 2:43:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to give an answer by refreshing his memory and the memory of all members in this chamber that, last winter, we experienced an unprecedented public order emergency in the opinion of law enforcement, which is why, prior to invoking the Emergencies Act, we sought their advice on the powers that were needed to restore public safety.
Let me quote from Commissioner Lucki's testimony before the committee when she said—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/3/22 2:37:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I am very relieved that my colleague was able to access the Hill with the additional protection and safety that was offered by the RCMP, by the Parliamentary Protection Service and by the Sergeant-at-Arms, but there is a big difference between what some of us were able to experience on the Hill and what was going on off the Hill.
There can be no doubt that people who live in Ottawa had their lives completely upended by the illegal occupation here, and that people who lived in border communities had their lives upended. That was because individuals broke the law to a point of a national emergency. That is why we invoked the Emergencies Act. We did it to protect Canadians.
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- May/3/22 2:35:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would point out that, notwithstanding the fact that public safety was maintained, there were enforcement actions taken last week as a result of some individuals who, again, crossed the line and broke the law.
It would be, again, an opportunity for the Conservatives to recognize, finally, after months of denying it, that there was an emergency. Collectively, we have a responsibility and a burden as parliamentarians to uphold the law. That is exactly what we did when we invoked the Emergencies Act, and now we will ensure that there is transparency, so that all Canadians can be reaffirmed in that decision.
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- May/3/22 2:34:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to all frontline police officers, including members of the RCMP, who ensured that we were able to maintain public safety over the course of the past weekend.
Of course, there are big distinctions between what occurred last weekend and what occurred last winter, which was a national emergency.
We invoked the Emergencies Act after we received advice from law enforcement. Once it was invoked, we were able to restore public safety, and now we will ensure that there is transparency in the accountability of that decision.
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- May/3/22 2:33:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure my hon. colleague that the government is fully committed to being transparent around the events and circumstances that led to the invocation of the Emergencies Act.
Last week, we launched the public inquiry, affording Justice Rouleau broad powers to compel witnesses, documents and information, including some classified information, should he choose to ask for it.
Our intention is to shine a light on those events and it would be, I think, a point of departure to hear the Conservatives recognize that there was an emergency. We fulfilled our responsibility to protect Canadians.
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- May/2/22 2:37:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been transparent all along about the reasons why we needed to invoke the Emergencies Act. We debated that motion right here in this chamber. It is very discouraging to hear the members of the Conservative Party continue to diminish and downplay the severity of the national emergency that beset this community and multiple ports of entry.
Again, if the Conservatives do not want to take it from the government, let them listen to what the president and CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade said in British Columbia, calling it “an unacceptable sabotage of the economy”. She said, “The impact of these blockades is choking already impacted supply chains”. I would encourage and urge my Conservative colleagues to speak to Canadians.
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- Feb/17/22 10:16:36 a.m.
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moved:
That, pursuant to section 58 of the Emergencies Act, this House confirms the declaration of a public order emergency proclaimed on February 14, 2022.
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