Mr. Speaker, the Liberal and Conservative members can wash their hands like Pontius Pilate if they want. The motion underscores the responsibility for this abuse of power which took place 50 years ago and yet has been ignored, in spite of the vote having taken place in this House.
The state of apprehended insurrection was so serious that on October 5, James Cross was kidnapped, and on October 10, the deputy premier was playing ball on his lawn. What kind of state of apprehended insurrection was that?
About the War Measures Act, Don Jamieson said that “Prime Minister [Trudeau] used the war measures without any evidence of an apprehended insurrection, just to consolidate his power”. Now that we think about it, we see that from the time James Cross was kidnapped, the Prime Minister saw the matter as a pivotal moment in which to state the federal government's position in a dramatic fashion.
His chief of staff at the time accused René Lévesque and Claude Ryan of wanting to establish a parallel government. That is quite something. A few minutes after the death of Pierre Laporte, René Lévesque denounced that. The sovereignist movement denounced terrorism 50 years ago, but this House never wanted to take responsibility for its abuse of power, and still the Secretary to the Leader of the Government is lecturing us today.
During the debate in the House, Jean Marchand said—