Madam Speaker, the member indicated he read the statute. He knows full well that, in terms of COVID, enacting a public welfare emergency requires the provinces to initiate such a request. No request was forthcoming.
Second, he asked what steps have been taken. The first step was actually the City of Ottawa declaring an emergency, which did not render the results. The next step was the Province of Ontario declaring an emergency, which has not rendered results. The final step is this very important debate that we are having today.
I want to put to the member an issue about the capability of the province under its authority to deal with this, which is clearly an issue because the provincial order that has been made by Premier Ford fails in two important respects. It does not compel essential workers like tow trucks to actually tow vehicles away. Second, it cannot compel a vehicle's licence to be suspended when that vehicle originates in another province such as one of the western provinces.
Are those not instances of a lack of provincial authority that necessitate the usage of the Emergencies Act in this case?