Madam Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to present the Conservatives' dissenting report from the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency.
For years, the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister has sought to distract Canadians from the failures of his government. The peak of his efforts came in February 2022, when the government invoked the Emergencies Act to silence dissent to his pandemic controls. Conservatives opposed this extreme overreach at the time, and every development that has since come to light has confirmed that the Conservatives made the right call.
Regrettably, the Liberals, aided and abetted by so-called independent senators, thwarted our efforts at committee to get to the bottom of these decisions in order to hold the government accountable. What is worse is that, in the report they have written, several recommendations gloss over the legitimate, serious concerns that arose. Moreover, they would further reduce parliamentary accountability of any government that claims such extraordinary legal powers for itself in the future.
Even Commissioner Paul Rouleau, who once worked in the Liberal PMO, struggled to write a report upholding the Liberal government's decision, admitting, “Reasonable and informed people could reach a different conclusion than the one I have arrived at.” However, Canadians can be reassured that the federal court, in the only legally binding analysis of the invocation of the Emergencies Act, has confirmed that the NDP-Liberal government's choices were both illegal and unconstitutional.
Conservatives have put forward a dissenting report, which I encourage everyone to read. It outlines our analysis of the situation and our deep concerns with the lack of government transparency, acknowledges the committee recommendations that we do agree with and sets out a series of additional recommendations we think will ensure greater government accountability and restraint if, God forbid, there is ever a similar situation in the future.
In conclusion, Conservatives wish to express their appreciation for the committee staff, who ably helped us through our deliberations, along with those witnesses who willingly contributed their evidence and views for our report.