House of Commons Hansard #94 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was violence.

Topics

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB

Mr. Speaker, it is becoming increasingly clear why the government wanted to have a secret inquiry on this. In a statement yesterday, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki did not deny that she promised the Minister of Emergency Preparedness that she would release information surrounding the Nova Scotia mass shooting. People are not in the habit of making promises unless they are asked to do so.

Did the Minister of Emergency Preparedness or his staff, at any time, ask the commissioner to publicly release information regarding the Nova Scotia mass shooting, yes or no?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Scarborough Southwest Ontario

Liberal

Bill Blair LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, the very short answer to the member's question is no. Finally, I would point again to the commissioner's statement, in which she said, “I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions.” Those are the facts.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has gone from inappropriately interfering with prosecutions to interfering with police investigations. To the Prime Minister, the murder of 22 people is not tragedy but political opportunity.

Superintendent Campbell made it clear: “The commissioner said she had promised the Minister of Public Safety and the Prime Minister's Office that the RCMP would release this information.... The Commissioner then said that we didn't understand, that this was tied to pending gun control legislation”.

Will the NDP-Liberal government allow the public safety committee to fully investigate this shocking revelation?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Scarborough Southwest Ontario

Liberal

Bill Blair LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, again I would point out to the member the statement that was issued by the commissioner of the RCMP, in which she made it crystal clear—

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

Order. Throwing names back and forth from both sides is not going to solve the problem. I am going to ask both sides to take a deep breath, and we will let the minister respond, from the top, please.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Blair Liberal Scarborough Southwest, ON

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to take a breath.

Please let me reiterate that the decision as to how or when the police will release information lies with the police and the police alone. This was not a matter that the government in any way interfered with or extracted any promises for. I remind members of the commissioner's statement, in which she has made equally clear that there was no interference in this case. Those are the facts and that is what I have shared with the House.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB

Mr. Speaker, multiple sources from the RCMP are accusing the government of political interference that risks police investigations into a tragic mass shooting. Lia Scanlan, from RCMP communications, is quoted as saying, “The commissioner releases a body count that we don't even have.... It was all political pressure. That is 100% [the] Minister...and the Prime Minister.”

Canadians are not buying the minister's excuse as he desperately tries to cover for the Prime Minister and save both their careers. If the NDP-Liberals have nothing to hide, will they support the committee's investigation of this egregious political interference?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Scarborough Southwest Ontario

Liberal

Bill Blair LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, again, I would advise the members that there was no interference. At no point did our government pressure or interfere in the operational decisions of the RCMP. This has been very clearly articulated in the commissioner's statements from yesterday.

Let me also add that Canadians, including those who were directly impacted by this tragedy, have expressed great concern about how and when the RCMP shared information with the public. That is precisely why we specified in the order of reference for the Mass Casualty Commission that it examine the communications approach taken both during and after the event. That is the work of the Mass Casualty Commission. That is the work we will depend upon.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Bloc

Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC

Mr. Speaker, it is time for a performance review.

Faced with a high-risk demonstration by truckers, the government stalled and stalled before finally invoking the Emergencies Act at the request of the police, or so they said.

However, that is not true. The police did not ask for it. Even government ministers, including the Deputy Prime Minister, have said it was a purely political choice.

Is the minister proud of the fact that he simply allowed the Prime Minister—like someone else we know in 1970—to invoke emergency measures against civilians when it was all based on lies?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Public Safety

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the government's work during the illegal blockades. We made the necessary decisions, including invoking the Emergencies Act, based on advice from the police. That is exactly what the RCMP commissioner confirmed in committee.

We will now work with the joint parliamentary committee during the review process, as well as with Justice Rouleau, to provide as much transparency as possible on this decision, which we will always defend.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Bloc

Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC

Mr. Speaker, next up in our performance review is the environment and the utterly nonsensical business of carbon sequestration, which experts say does not work, lies about whether the government's targets can be met, the acquisition of Trans Mountain at a loss, indirect subsidies for the oil industry and Bay du Nord.

I am sure the minister was acting in good faith initially, but he ended up selling out. Do the Liberals realize they turned an environmental activist into an oil industry lobbyist?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Laurier—Sainte-Marie Québec

Liberal

Steven Guilbeault LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague that, as Minister of Environment, I never circumvented environmental assessment rules, unlike my colleague, who did so not once, not twice but three times during his tenure as environment minister.

We have a plan. Our plan is working. Pollution levels in Canada are down. We will keep doing what we are doing.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

Kerry-Lynne Findlay Conservative South Surrey—White Rock, BC

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are shocked by evidence in the Nova Scotia mass shooting inquiry showing that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki made a promise to the then public safety minister and the PMO to leverage the mass murders to get gun control laws passed. That is the most outrageous attempt to politicize the RCMP in Canadian history. It is another woman leader forced to compromise principles for political expediency.

We are calling for a committee to investigate this political interference. Will the Prime Minister co-operate with this committee investigation?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Scarborough Southwest Ontario

Liberal

Bill Blair LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, of course there was no promise, but I will again take members back to the commissioner's statement because I think it speaks for itself. She said:

It is important to note that the sharing of information and briefings with the Minister of Public Safety are necessary, particularly during a mass shooting on Canadian soil. This is standard procedure, and does not impact the integrity of ongoing investigations or interfere with the independence of the RCMP.

The commissioner concludes with this: “I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions.”

Those are the facts.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

Kerry-Lynne Findlay Conservative South Surrey—White Rock, BC

Mr. Speaker, the minister does not need a breath; he needs ethics.

Twenty-two people were brutally murdered in Nova Scotia, including an RCMP officer and a pregnant mother, by a gunman with illegal firearms. What did the Prime Minister do? He coerced the RCMP commissioner to use those innocents' deaths to support a political agenda. Canadians now know they pressured the commissioner to subvert an active investigation into mass murder. Canadians believe Superintendent Campbell.

Shame on the government. Why did it politically influence and jeopardize a mass murder investigation?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Scarborough Southwest Ontario

Liberal

Bill Blair LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, with the respect to the suggestion and question about my ethics, I will consider the source and ignore the comment. I will—

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I am just going to cut this off. To both sides, please do not throw out insults. That is all I am asking. I have heard it from both sides, so I am asking both sides to calm down. If members throw one out, they deserve one back. I am sorry. That is enough from both sides. When somebody says, “They did it first”, it makes me feel like I am in a kindergarten yard.

The hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC

Mr. Speaker, how can a government sink so low as to exploit a mass shooting for political purposes?

Lia Scanlan, a spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said, and I quote: “[The minister], all these people, the Prime Minister, they were weighing in on what we could and couldn't say...It was all political pressure.”

This government is totally immoral. Can the Prime Minister tell us who in his cabinet decided to politicize the RCMP and when that person will be relieved of their duties?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Scarborough Southwest Ontario

Liberal

Bill Blair LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to advise the House that no one made a choice to politicize the terrible tragedy of the murder of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020.

The independence of law enforcement operations is a key principle of our democracy. It is one that our government deeply respects and one that I have always defended. At no point did our government pressure or interfere with the operational decisions of the RCMP, including their communications strategy. I direct members to the commissioner's statement from yesterday, where she makes it very clear that there was no interference.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would counter that Superintendent Campbell of the RCMP stated, and I quote, “The commissioner said she had promised the Minister of Public Safety and the Prime Minister's Office that the RCMP would release this information.”

For her to make that promise, she would have had to be asked to do so. This is not the first time the Prime Minister and his cabinet have abused their power. They would have us believe that RCMP investigators are lying, but Canadians see what is going on.

We Conservatives believe Superintendent Campbell. Does the Prime Minister?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Scarborough Southwest Ontario

Liberal

Bill Blair LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, as I have already made clear, I have never had a conversation with Mr. Campbell. The conversations between the commissioner and her subordinates are something she can speak to.

However, I would reiterate for the member opposite that the independence of law enforcement operations is a key principle of our democracy, which is respected and defended by our government. I can assure the member that at no point did our government pressure or interfere in any of the operational communication decisions of the RCMP. I would direct the member to the commissioner's statement, in which she makes it crystal clear that no such interference took place.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC

Mr. Speaker, there are very disturbing allegations that the government directed interference in an ongoing police investigation. Nova Scotians have suffered and they deserve answers. The idea that any government would compromise an investigation for its own political gain is insulting for families of the victims. Any interference from the Prime Minister's Office is completely unacceptable and breaks Canadians' trust in our institutions.

Will the government launch a full investigation into these disturbing allegations to give Canadians the answers they need?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Scarborough Southwest Ontario

Liberal

Bill Blair LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, I will have to repeat once again that there was no interference. We did not place any pressure on the RCMP for any reason.

Several months before, we made a promise to Canadians that we would ban assault-style rifles, and we kept that promise, but this terrible tragedy in Nova Scotia was certainly not to be used. We know that these weapons used in mass shootings are used for the purpose of killing as many people as possible, and we were highly resolved to act.