Debates of Feb. 19th, 2022

Emergencies Act

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering whether my hon. colleague, my neighbour from the Quebec City area, is a lawyer. I believe that many people have read the Criminal Code, the Civil Code and all of the laws that apply in Canada so as to be able to point out the following facts and reality: There is currently no need to use this act, which was passed in 1988 and has never been used.

As my Bloc Québécois colleague so eloquently put it a moment ago, the existing laws contain measures to deal with the problems that have been arising, whether it be here in Ottawa, at our borders, at the Ambassador Bridge or elsewhere. That is what they are there for. The law that the government is trying to impose on us today is not needed to deal with what is happening in Canada right now.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there are kind members of Parliament on all sides of the House. The House is full of kind individuals, and there is none more kind than the member who has just spoken here, so I think it is absolutely regrettable that the Liberal and NDP strategy today has been to label every Conservative member of Parliament with the acts of a few individuals that we all unequivocally agree are unacceptable.

I will draw a parallel. Would it be fair to tag every single Liberal or Green or NDP member who cares about the environment with the actions that happened in Houston a couple of days ago, where 20 individuals wore masks, wielded axes and burned a vehicle with people in it? Would it be fair to tag everybody who cares about the environment in the House with the actions of those 20 individuals?

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague is very passionate when we talk about fairness in politics. This is what we ought to do right now. When there is a crisis, I know it is not very easy, especially for me, to put aside any partisanship. However, folks, what we have to address today right now is a health crisis. If we want to work together, we need to put aside our partisanship and especially not make any amalgames, as we say in French.

Please work all together for all Canadians.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when indigenous people blocked the railways in 2020, my colleagues opposite demanded strong action from the government to put an end to the blockades, which they were quick to call illegal.

However, now they think it is a good idea to take selfies with the protesters who are occupying Parliament Hill and who have been paralyzing the nation's capital for three weeks.

The member has one position when the protesters are indigenous and another when they are supported by white supremacist groups. Can he explain that discrepancy?

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Liberal government, we never considered invoking the extreme measures act. The thought never even crossed our minds.

I would like to once again remind the member that this kind of dubious association is inappropriate, especially in such a delicate situation with security implications. Let us do our best to set partisanship aside, even though we may sometimes be tempted to go there.

I would remind the House that, during the crisis the member referred to, nobody on this side of the House suggested using the extreme measures act as the government is doing now.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to be a member of Parliament here in Canada. It is an honour to represent the people of the riding of Prince Albert. I am going to do the best I can to do that here tonight as I talk about this emergency debate and the emergency measures that the government is calling for.

One thing that has been missing from this Parliament and from this debate is respect, respect all the way around for people, whether they are vaccinated or not. I think if we go back through time and look chronologically at what has happened and ask ourselves how we got to this point, lack of respect is the true factor.

I have talked to constituents, some vaccinated, some unvaccinated. The unvaccinated would come to me and tell me they were doctors who had been working 80 or 90 hours a week all through COVID, doing whatever they could, and then one day all of a sudden the government comes in and tells them they are no longer safe enough to be doctors. Not only that, the Minister of Employment comes in and tells them that they will not get employment insurance unless they get vaccinated. That is a problem. It could be a nurse and it is the same scenario. It could be someone working with elderly people and it is the same scenario. It could be a police officer and it is the same scenario. These people feel they have been forced or pushed into a corner where nobody would listen and nobody would show them respect. They were there for us in times of need, but now we as politicians need to listen to them and see how we can help them in their time of need.

We actually approached the Liberal Party, the Minister of Transport, before the vaccine mandate for border crossing came into effect. We told them not to do it. The science does not prove it is a problem. We know it is not an issue. These guys are sitting in their trucks. They have been running across the border for the last two years and they are not bringing the virus in and out of Canada. It actually could create problems for supply chains, so why do it? The science does not say we need to do it, unless we want to force our will on somebody, which is what the current government was doing when it said we had to do it. There is no respect.

When people are pushed into a corner, when the lives of their families are at stake and they do not know what to do, what do members think will happen? How did we get to the stage we are at today? Do members think these people wanted to drive across this country to come to Ottawa? Did they want to spend thousands of dollars on diesel? Did they want to sit there and stare face to face with police officers, whom they showed the utmost respect for? Did they want to risk their reputation, knowing there would be undesirables who may join the group and they would have to self-regulate it and kick them out? Did they want to be here? They did not.

There were so many examples down the trail of this where, if the Prime Minister had shown some leadership and respect, this could have been stopped and prevented. It is really frustrating and maddening to see these protesters come here to Ottawa, a lot of whom we might see at a Riders' game, at a baseball game, at a hockey game. They are average Canadians who are at their wit's end, asking and screaming and crying for help. They do not know where to turn. That is 90% of the people who were in that crowd.

They were sitting there waiting to speak with the Prime Minister, but he would not speak to them, because he saw a swastika on the stage, which did not belong to them and they had asked that person to leave. However, he still refused to speak with them, calling them chauvinistic white supremacists, which inflamed the situation. Instead of sitting down with them to talk about their concerns and acknowledge that they are a good chunk of the population, he dug in his heels and showed more disrespect.

That is what created the problem. That is why they stayed for three weeks. That is why they did not leave a week later. If he had shown some respect and goodwill, taken the olive branch we gave him and put out a plan that would show that the mandates would end, a plan that would show that their families would have a future, based on science, we would not have what is going on today. There would be no need for the Emergencies Act. There would be absolutely no reason to use it. Even now there is not.

This morning, when I flew back home, I was at the Toronto airport and everybody is fleeing Canada. They are not fleeing because they are scared; they are going on a holiday, getting on with their lives, doing things, being active and out and about. There were families with children at the airport waiting to fly to their vacation destinations or across Canada to visit more family and friends, something they have not been able to do for two years. I came back to Saskatoon. There must be a serious crisis because these are emergency measures that have to apply right across Canada, yet there are kids snowmobiling in the ditch. Life is going on. Home Depot is busier than ever.

We look at that and ask ourselves where this crisis is. I turned on CBC News to see what happened today in Ottawa, and I saw law enforcement removing the protesters. Yes, they are pushing them back and everything, but everything they are doing is done using existing legislation. They did not need anything new to do what they are doing today.

One thing that is interesting, and something we need to draw attention to, is the finance minister and Deputy Prime Minister and her comments about how we are going to go after the money. I think a lot of people were really amazed that this group could raise so much money so quickly. One could say there was U.S. influence on it. There is no question about it. We could say that about any environmental protest, too.

The reality is they raised a whole pile of money in a short period of time. We all know money talks, and when we see that kind of money being raised, we know there are a lot of people supporting them in the background. We could say half of it came from the U.S., but still, if it is $10 million raised in Canada in two weeks, which political party could ever do that? They would all dream about it. How did a group of truckers, nurses, doctors and farmers all of a sudden put together a fundraising mechanism to raise that kind of money? If this is not grassroots, I do not know what is.

Are there bad influences among that money? There probably are, no question about it. Are there people we should be worried about? Yes, there is no question about that. We should basically call these people out and make sure they are held accountable for their actions, no question about that, too.

However, does it require the Emergencies Act to do what we need to do? The answer is no, not unless we really want to scare people from donating money to any type of cause, not unless we want to make sure that we have shown the country that we have been gone for three weeks, but now we are actually here and we are going to do something: talk about overcompensation for lack of results and lack of effort.

This is another example of the Liberal government not reacting until something becomes a crisis. We have seen it in other situations. On the Canada-U.S. trade deal, the Liberals would not react until it became a crisis, and also on the U.K. trade deal. I know trade because that is the committee I sit on. The deal is expiring, and the Liberals are just saying maybe we should bring it in to be looked at.

The government is not proactive. If we did something beforehand, it could prevent a lot of problems, but no, they wait until it is a crisis and then they want to jump in and be the hero. It is dangerous. As we see right now, it is very dangerous. It produces zero results and there are no winners at the end of the day.

How do we get out of this? The police are doing their job, and I commend them for doing it. They would be doing it whether or not they had the Emergencies Act. If we had told the police to clear them out two weeks ago, they would have done it two weeks ago without the Emergencies Act.

Case in evidence is at the border crossings in Coutts and Windsor. They did not need the Emergencies Act to move those people out. They just sat down and talked to them, and negotiated a way to get them out and get them to move on. There are ways to move forward on this that would actually present the results we want to see.

I also want to highlight the fact that the government does not have the support of the provinces; seven out of 10 provinces do not agree with the government. The Liberals could say they consulted with the provinces and that is good enough. No, it is not good enough. When we hear Quebec saying not to implement it in that province, or in Saskatchewan or Alberta, why would we not listen to them? If they are saying to the Prime Minister that he has not met the threshold for that, why not take that advice? These are smart people who are elected by their populations also. They have a stronger mandate, I would say, because they have majority governments in their provinces, not a minority government.

When we look at that scenario, why would the Prime Minister not take a step back and say maybe we should not do this? It is because of his ego. He has been caught not doing anything and now he feels he has to do something. He is now overreaching and overcompensating, and Canadians are going to pay for it.

What he is doing is setting a very dangerous precedent. He is making it so that with any type of protest or action, any government today or in the future can look at Ottawa and say there were 170 people arrested there, so we can bring in the Emergencies Act and clamp down on everybody because of one protest. It does not meet the threshold.

Looking at my NDP colleagues, Tommy Douglas would never stand for this. Members can go back and read some of his comments when the War Measures Act was implemented in Quebec. If they are truly New Democrats, Tommy Douglas New Democrats, they would not be standing with their leader right now and voting in favour of this. They would actually say they cannot do this because it is not right.

If we are looking down the road at different union protests or strikes going on, what is going to prevent them from doing this at those protests or strikes? What are they really fighting for?

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I hope the hon. member finds this question entertaining.

There are places in Canada that did not need the Emergencies Act. Coutts, Alberta, was one, because after the police found some pretty awful elements with huge stashes of weapons, charging some of them with conspiracy to commit murder, what did the blockade do? Those good people in the blockade said, “This does not represent us. Let us go home,” and they did.

Would the hon. member put the same advice to the people who overstayed their welcome by at least two weeks on Wellington Street in downtown Ottawa?

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we have to ask ourselves why they overstayed their welcome. Why did they stay there? When we have a Prime Minister who refuses to acknowledge they exist, who shows no respect, who has been basically thumbing them every time they turn around, and who is basically looking down his nose at them, why do we think they are mad? Why do we think they are angry?

I agree with the member's analogy of Coutts. He is right. When the people realized there were some undesirables infiltrating their group, they said they wanted nothing to do with it and they got out of there. Fair enough. I would say that is probably 90% of the people who are sitting there in Ottawa, too. The reality is that if we showed them respect, they would have worked their way out of it, but the Prime Minister refused to do that, and these are the results of it.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we do not see eye to eye with the Conservative Party on a lot of things, but the Bloc Québécois believes that the fundamental role of the opposition is to monitor what the government does. Slips of the tongue can be quite revealing. Earlier today, the NDP member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke said something like, this act “gives us the power as a government” to take action.

I would like to know if, while I was away having dinner, the NDP merged with the Liberal Party. If not, I would like to know whether my hon. colleague feels that, by voting in favour of this act, the NDP is signalling that, come Monday when the convoy is gone, it will abdicate its fundamental role, which is to exercise oversight over government action.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, that is an interesting question in regard to the NDP. I am not in the NDP camp. I am not sure what is going on in the backs of their minds. Maybe we have to talk to a member of the NDP. I will say that the former NDP member for Regina—Lewvan said he could never support this type of act, and this is somebody who had been very heavily involved in the union world before his career as a member of Parliament. I think it comes back to the NDP having some soul-searching to do and having to wonder what the long-term ramifications are, and how the precedent-setting nature of this will have an impact on them in the future.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my hon, colleague paints a picture of the blockade participants in Ottawa as 90% of the people we would see at our local arena or Costco. In 24 hours, there have been over 100 arrests, described as intense clashes with the police, of those who refused to leave the area. Ottawa police are accusing protesters of assaulting officers and attempting to remove officers' weapons. Blockade organizer Pat King asked demonstrators to walk to Parliament Hill, even though they were being asked to leave by police, and for trucks to jackknife in front of tow trucks. He also threatened to find out which companies drivers belonged to, accusing drivers of career suicide. Finally, interim Ottawa police chief Bell said today that the municipal, provincial and federal levels are all being used to conduct arrests, and that “without the authorities being provided to us by these various pieces of legislation, we would not be able to do the work we are doing today.”

My hon. colleague has questioned the NDP's history. The Conservatives used to claim they were the party of law and order. They are now joining with the separatists and appear not to care about police who are being assaulted by protesters. How could he justify that?

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, that is a pretty rich question, when we look at the member from the NDP. I am not getting in bed with the separatists at all. I agree on one issue with them: that this is reaching far and beyond. However, we are the party of law and order, and we have been very clear that we thought these protesters should have left earlier. In fact, if the member was in question period he would have heard our leader say that on more than one occasion. The reality is that the NDP is becoming a de facto Liberal Party, and they are just doing whatever their Liberal leader wants them to do. We are going to see that again in this vote.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it makes me sad to rise to speak to the Emergencies Act that is before Parliament tonight because I wish that it was not needed in this country.

I want COVID to be over, and yes, we are getting to the end. I do not want to see mandates and masks any more than anyone else. However, we know that we are in a pandemic, and we have to make our way through that pandemic. I think all Canadians know that we are getting near the end.

I am very sad that in a country like Canada, which prides itself on its ability to uphold the rule of law, Parliament is being forced to bring forward such legislation, but we have all seen, in recent weeks, the ongoing occupation of border crossings and of cities and towns, businesses being forced to close, people living in fear in their own homes, our economy being interrupted, and people's lives being interrupted. The occupation in downtown Ottawa, the capital city of this country, over the past three weeks has been felt by Canadians right across the country. Many people expressed to me their concern for their families, for the people of Ottawa and for all Canadians.

I have heard many stories of people having to leave their homes in downtown Ottawa in order to have some peace, to feel safe, and many others endured because they had no other option. I have heard so many stories from individuals and families who felt insecure in their own homes. They did not feel safe to go to work or to walk the streets. This is not a simple protest, as some of my colleagues on the opposite side like to indicate, this is a cruel, unreasonable and arbitrary use of power and control in a democracy. This is tyranny. It is intentional. It is an attempt at anarchy, and I am sorry, but there is no level of frustration that can justify these actions.

We see what is happening and we know that those who call it a “peaceful protest” are turning their heads in the other direction and ignoring the facts that these so-called protesters with have alleged ties to extremists groups who have now been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, the murder of police officers. It is so disturbing. My brother and sister-in-law are police officers in this country. They are just two among thousands like them who get up every day to go to work to uphold the laws of our country, to keep peace, to protect citizens, yet they were targeted by a group as part of this whole protest.

A large cache of guns and ammunition was seized by the RCMP from occupied blockades in this country, which is extremely alarming. We continue to see harmful displays of violent behaviour, and attempts to minimize and discount the harm that is being done to others. It is completely negligent, in my opinion, of people who think this is actually peaceful. We cannot discount these actions, and anyone of civility cannot uphold these actions.

We are a country that prides itself on open democracy, peaceful protest, one's ability to be heard, our ability to speak freely and openly and to express ourselves in ways that do not bring harm to others in our country. No, this is not a peaceful protest. There is no civility when others fear for their safety—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I hate to interrupt the hon. member, but I was wondering if she will be sharing her time with another member.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I thought I had indicated that at the beginning, but if not, my apologies. I am sharing my time with the member for Vancouver Centre.

I want to highlight what has been happening with so many small businesses. They have seen illegal obstructions right in their own neighbourhoods. They have had patrons who have had to endure harassment. Many of them have had to shut down their businesses. So many Canadians have had to endure radical comments, rhetoric that has been very toxic, hateful, dangerous. This really has no place in our society, in any town or city in this country. It has no place in Canada. I cannot stress that enough.

My heart sank in the early days of this protest when I saw swastikas and other deplorable signs of white supremacy and anti-Semitism displayed in this country, in front of Canada's Parliament, the freest country in the world. It was a blatant disregard of civil liberties of our country's neighbours.

On Monday when the federal government declared a public emergency order, it was simply because the situation in Ottawa and elsewhere in the country had exceeded beyond the breaking point. My own riding of Labrador and many other communities like it across Canada are so far removed from downtown Ottawa, but MPs were receiving many messages. I received so many messages from people across my riding because they were worried and scared. They were scared for our country and they wrote to me.

One person said, “As a Canadian citizen, I hate the way our country looks right now, how we are made to feel unsafe by radical protesters. Please, please, can government do something to end this protest that is going on?”

This is just one of many messages that I received from Labradorians. It was obvious not only in my riding, but in many other ridings that they were concerned as well. They were concerned about border crossings. They were concerned about what was happening to so many other residents in downtown Ottawa. It was clear that there were serious concerns being expressed, but it was also very clear to our government that there were serious challenges in law enforcement's ability to effectively enforce the law.

They were not moving with the urgency that Canadians reasonably expected and there was, and remains, a serious threat to the security of Canada and all Canadians. It is for these reasons the federal government has stepped in and has used the tools at its disposal to address this very unique and unprecedented situation in the country. When we deal with unprecedented situations that risk the safety and security of the country, it requires unprecedented measures and unprecedented action. The resources are now available to bring a safe conclusion to this illegal occupation.

As the Minister of Justice said a few days ago, Canada is a rule of law country, so by declaring a public order of emergency under the Emergencies Act, our government is following the law and is acting within it. Many of my colleagues already spoke to this part of the legislation, but under this act the federal government is now able to temporarily regulate and prohibit public assemblies that lead to a breach of the peace and go beyond lawful protests, because these are not lawful protests.

It allows the government to temporarily designate and secure places where blockades are to be prohibited, which includes borders and other critical infrastructure to the country. It allows temporarily for government to direct persons to render essential services to relieve the impact of blockades on Canada's economy, which we have seen already being the case. It includes allowing them to access tow trucks and drivers to ensure the job can be done safely and strategically. It also allows government to temporarily authorize or direct financial institutions to render essential services to relieve the impacts of blockades, including regulating and prohibiting the use of property to fund or support the blockades.

It gives temporary abilities to the RCMP to enforce municipal bylaws and provincial defences where required and to temporarily impose fines or imprisonment on those who do not follow the law.

These special measures are necessary, despite what others may say, and they are temporary. Moreover, these measures, like all other government actions, are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Bill of Rights, which many of my colleagues have already spoken of. They give very clear, definitive definitions of those acts and what they mean. We are operating within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Bill of Rights.

That brings me to what this “freedom convoy”, as it has been known, really is. My idea of freedom in this country is having the freedom to express myself in a peaceful manner, having the freedom to walk outside my door and feel safe, having the freedom to go to bed at night unimpeded by honking horns, street parties and fireworks waking me up at all hours in the middle of the night. My idea of freedom in Canada is to be able to go to work—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

We are out of time.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the demonstrators started out as a demonstration over the mandate for truckers to have to be vaccinated in order to go back and forth across the border.

Why is it okay for truckers who have had their COVID shots but who are bringing medical devices and other pandemic supplies across the border to not have to be quarantined or tested, but the other truckers who have not had their COVID shots are put into quarantine? Is one more dangerous than the other or are either dangerous at all?

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, realistically, when looking at the facts of what is happening here, this is not about a peaceful protest. This is about upholding the rule of law.

I have been involved in many protests in my day and I have seen many hard-working men and women who were convicted in their thinking, who walked protest lines for days and nights to bring their points to the government and to the ears of people who were listening, but they never brought harm to anyone around them and they certainly never confronted those in a violent and aggressive manner. What we are dealing with in Canada today is the complete neglect of the law, of Canadian—

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if we set aside the racist symbols, which have been discussed at length, I see quite a bit of distress among the protesters over these past few weeks. Canada is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, with a 90% vaccination rate. People have followed the health rules. Despite this, Canada has been one of the slowest countries to lift restrictions. The main reason is that the health care system has been underfunded for the past 30 years.

Does my colleague agree that if federal governments, whether Liberal or Conservative, had properly funded the health care system for the past 30 years, the country might have been able to come out of lockdown a few months ago, and we might have avoided the mess we see out there right now?

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I think we all recognize that the pandemic we have gone through in the last two years had no blueprint. There were no directions. There was not a plan for medical care or medical teams in this country or anywhere in the world to respond to a pandemic like we have just seen. I think the people in our health care system have done an exceptional job. I think the people who work there have stood up with tremendous resilience. They have neglected, in many ways, their own health to provide that care to so many other Canadians.

As the government, these mandates were necessary. It was necessary to protect all Canadians from—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I would like to get a few more questions in here before the end of the night. I apologize.

The hon. member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Labrador for drawing attention to the distortion that is caused by calling the protest in Ottawa “peaceful”. I made the mistake of walking through the group wearing a magenta mask and had a seven-letter f-word hurled at me. I witnessed journalists being physically intimidated.

Did the member ever hear the leaders of the so-called protest condemn these kinds of intimidation that were going on as part of the occupation of downtown Ottawa?

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate, but I have heard so many members of Parliament express support for this protest and I find it very disturbing. This is radicalism. These are people who have not shown respect for other Canadians or for the cities that they have occupied. They have not at all upheld the rule of law in terms of respecting other human beings.

I am always disturbed when I see any—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I want to try to get one more question in. I know the member for Scarborough—Agincourt has been trying really hard to get a question in.

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, many constituents have heard about the racial slurs against Ottawa residents. This is worrying for many people, especially people of colour.

Could the hon. member elaborate on how the Emergencies Act can contain these extremist elements?