House of Commons Hansard #88 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was c-5.
Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, it is incredible that the member has never listened to what the head of law enforcement said about the situation and the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act.
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said that the Emergencies Act was needed to ensure public safety. It advised us when making our decision in this process. The Conservatives should apologize for the troubling role they played during the illegal blockades.
Dominique Vien Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is always someone else's fault. Being a minister comes with great responsibility.
The minister stated several times, “It was on the advice of law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act.” However, law enforcement never asked for draconian measures.
Rex Murphy wrote in the National Post that, for the sake of his integrity, the minister should resign.
What is he waiting for—
The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota
Order. Everything seemed to be going well today and I want it to continue.
I will let the hon. member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis finish her question.
Dominique Vien Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is very simple.
He misled the House, so he should apologize and step down. Period.
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Official Languages told La Presse that the provisions in Bill C‑13 regarding federally regulated businesses are exactly the same as those found in Quebec's Bill 96. It would be a serious mistake to believe that.
Bill 96 would require that all businesses in Quebec comply with the Charter of the French Language. Bill C‑13, however, allows businesses to choose whether to comply with the Charter of the French Language. The minister knows that there is a difference between being required to use French at work and being able to choose between English or French.
Why is she misleading Quebeckers?
Ginette Petitpas Taylor LiberalMinister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, the serious mistake here is that the Bloc Québécois does not want to work with us on Bill C‑13. We designed this bill to do everything we can to protect and promote our beautiful language.
Once again, we have a shared objective with the Bloc and the Government of Quebec. We want to do whatever we can to protect our beautiful language.
I do not understand why the Bloc and the opposition members do not want to work with us to pass this bill as soon as possible.
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister is trying to pull a fast one. She was right yesterday when she said that the only minority language in Canada is French. Those are her words. She said it was French, end of story.
Why then does her Bill C‑13 protect the majority language, English? Why is she giving the Air Canadas of this world the choice to operate in English in Quebec? Why is she giving these companies the choice to circumvent the Charter of the French Language?
Ginette Petitpas Taylor LiberalMinister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, French is in decline in North America, including in Canada.
Yes, French is the only minority language in Canada. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill. Like the Government of Quebec, we want to do everything we can to protect and promote our beautiful language.
Again, I hope that the Bloc Québécois and all members of the opposition will work with us and stop playing political games. This bill will make a real difference. This new version of the bill has more teeth. I hope they will work with us to get it passed as soon as possible.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Mr Speaker, the minister is desperate to blame someone else, but there is only one person who is under investigation and that is the Minister of Public Safety. The state of his credibility is grievous and irremediable. It is completely untenable to have a Minister of Public Safety who misleads the public about advice he is receiving from the police.
Respectfully, so that his important office can be filled by someone who the public can trust, will the minister please resign?
Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to inform my colleague, as I have on many occasions, that we invoked the Emergencies Act because it was necessary. We invoked the Emergencies Act because, on this side of the House, we know what it takes to protect the health and safety of Canadians. It is Conservatives who need to take a hard look in the mirror and really reflect on the way in which they put public safety at risk by trying to make it a political problem for the Prime Minister. We will never apologize for doing what we needed to do, which was to invoke the Emergencies Act, yes, after consulting and, yes, seeking the advice of police, as colleagues heard the commissioner of the RCMP say before committee.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Mr. Speaker, there is only one person who is under investigation, and that is the Minister of Public Safety. The minister broke the law. The minister continues to mislead Canadians about why the government invoked the Emergencies Act. On May 2, he said, “At the recommendation of police, we invoked the Emergencies Act to protect Canadians”. We know now that it was never requested.
Will the minister acknowledge that he deceived Canadians about his actions and resign from his position?
Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, here we are again, and Canadians should pay very close attention to the language that is being used by Conservatives, saying that there is some investigation that does not exist. They know that.
I will say something else. This is consistent with the pattern of behaviour of reckless abandon when it comes to public safety. When it comes to the economy, perhaps Canadians should buy themselves out of affordability issues with cryptocurrency. How does that sound today? It is not so great.
I will tell you something, Mr. Speaker. We know what it takes to protect Canadians, and we will always do what is necessary.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Mr. Speaker, there is only one person who is under investigation, and that is the Minister of Public Safety. The minister broke the law. How can Canadians be expected to trust the minister when he continues to spread misinformation about the Emergencies Act? The minister said that invoking the Emergencies Act was on the recommendation of authorities, but it has been confirmed by law enforcement that it was not in fact true.
Will the minister take accountability for his words and resign?
Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague enjoys certain privileges in the House that allow her to be rather reckless and loose with language. I invite her to say those words outside of the House. I scarcely think she would, because she knows it is not true. I invite the House to actually encourage her to retract those words. It debases the importance of this debate.
We will always do what is necessary to protect the health and safety of Canadians.
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Mr. Speaker, last Friday, the Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec announced over $40 million for Quebec's tourism industry.
Le Monastère des Augustines in Quebec City will be receiving $100,000 to modernize its facilities, while the Microtel project in Lachute will be getting a $1‑million contribution toward the construction of a 72-room hotel.
Can the minister update the House on these important measures to support Quebec's tourism sector and therefore its economy?
Pascale St-Onge LiberalMinister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Lac-Saint-Louis for his question. I would also like to highlight the outstanding job he is doing for the people in his riding.
Tourism accounts for $102 billion in economic activity in Canada, 1.8 million jobs and 2% of Canada's GDP. These figures demonstrate how vital the tourism industry is to Canada's economy.
The $40 million in funding that was announced will benefit 60 projects in 50 cities across Quebec. We know that the pandemic continues to affect the tourism sector, which is why we are actively supporting it and will always be there for it.
Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Speaker, the minister continues to spread misinformation and cannot be trusted. Like me, the minister was a lawyer in his prior life. We both taught in a law school. I taught about the necessity of being honest. I trust he was honest with the courts.
Being honest with Parliament is even more important. He repeatedly told the House that law enforcement requested the Emergencies Act. They did not. This misled Canadians.
Will he resign?
Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, all we have heard today in the exhibit of the trial of who can tell the truth and who cannot are the Conservatives, who have deliberately continued to mislead on what has been said in the House on the state of affairs last winter when there was an unprecedented act of civil disobedience, on the fact that the government, yes, consulted police and, yes, sought their advice prior to the invocation of the Emergencies Act, as we heard the RCMP say before the committee. That is what has gone on today, and the Conservatives should be apologizing for their role in prolonging those blockades. It is wrong.
The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota
I just want to remind the hon. minister that, in the House, we can say that someone is misleading someone. That is an accident. People do that. That is normal, but “deliberately misleading” is not acceptable language in the House.
Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Speaker, I will expect the apology afterward. How dare the minister wag his finger at me, given his conduct in the House. The minister needs to stop diverting, stop deflecting and start divulging. He said that law enforcement asked for the Emergencies Act. They did not. He misled Canadians and put his own integrity into question.
Will he offer his resignation today, yes or no?
Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat entertained by my hon. colleague who complains about wagging fingers and then proceeds to wag fingers at the government. He ought to live up to the high standards that he purports to set for us, which includes being very straight up with his interim Conservative Party of Canada leader, who made recklessly abandoned statements during the blockade—
The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota
Order.
I just want to make sure that everything is calm now.
We want to hear the question from the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Speaker, let me update the minister. His use of the Emergencies Act is subject to a judicial inquiry and a parliamentary committee. The minister is misleading Canadians. The minister has been misleading Parliament. He is undermining Canadians' confidence in democracy and in our justice system. He has had all of question period. He has had many months to finally come to the realization of what he has done. He has misled Canadians. He has misled Parliament. It is time to resign.
Will the minister resign?