Thank you, Chair.
Minister, we're here in the estimates today. You spent your entire opening remarks on a defence of Bill C-63. I recall your predecessor, Minister Lametti, when he was here. I asked him a question on the issue of MAID, when I think 25 constitutional experts said the minister's opinion on the matter was wrong. I asked the minister who was right, him or these 25 constitutional experts. And he said he was.
That kind of hubris is probably a good reason why he's not longer here and now you are, but we're starting to see that same thing on Bill C-63with yourself, when virtually everyone has come out and said this was an effort to trample down freedom of speech. Margaret Atwood described Bill C-63 as “Orwellian”. David Thomas, who was chairperson of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, said:
The Liberal government's proposed Bill C-63, the online harms act, is terrible law that will unduly impose restrictions on Canadians' sacred Charter right to freedom of expression. That is what the Liberals intend. By drafting a vague law creating a draconian regime to address online “harms”, they will win their wars without firing a bullet.
There's a diverse group of people who feel that Bill C-63 is an outrageous infringement on Canadians' rights. We also see a government that will not stand up for the most vulnerable.
You had the opportunity, Minister, to introduce a bill that would have protected children, but your government, true to form, could not resist taking aim at their political opponents. This is not about hate speech, it's about speech that Liberals hate, and shutting that down.
Now Bill C-63, if it unfortunately were to pass, will too be struck down by the courts. If you were in a position to appeal it, I have no doubt you would. That brings me to my question on your government's radical agenda.
You've decided to file a number of appeals in recent court rulings. You've appealed a ruling that found the invocation of the Emergencies Act was unconstitutional. You appealed a ruling that found that the plastic bag ban and the plastic straw ban that Canadians hate so much was unconstitutional. You were quick to appeal those. But when the Supreme Court ruled the six-month minimum sentence for the crime of child luring was unconstitutional, you chose not to file an appeal.
Why is it that, when your government's radical agenda is challenged in the courts, you're quick to appeal, but when vulnerable Canadians' lives are at stake, you choose not to appeal?