House of Commons Hansard #384 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was point.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont
Again, as I said, if the hon. member wants to make a further representation when we get to the end of our speakers list, he is more than welcome to add his thoughts as well.
The honourable member for Battlefords—Lloydminster.
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, just in response to that, the member for Timmins—James Bay should be very careful with what he is saying.
I came to the office at basically the time when we received the situational advisory. I had two children with me. There was no way for me to be able to do everything at once: checking my email, walking with my kids and entering the building. I would just ask the member not to be putting context into what I am saying when he does not know.
Through my office window, I could see that protesters were being removed from the Confederation Building. They were not willingly leaving; they resisted their removal. This was not peaceful. I know that there are people, including Parliament staff members, who were physically here and who witnessed and remember the terrorist attack that happened in Centre Block in 2014.
This incident that happened just this week is triggering for those who were here and who experienced that event. Not to mention, there were those who were feeling unsafe for the first time, in what was supposed to be a safe place.
What I was most uneasy about is that Global News reported on this on November 12, with the headline, “Teens accused of plotting to bomb pro-Israel rally on Parliament Hill”. That information was fresh in my mind, and the fact is that I have a Jewish colleague whose office is near mine; this is the environment we are in. Anti-Semitism is violently on the rise in this country—
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, we know that the protesters called themselves Jews Against Genocide.
I find it very concerning that members are attempting to claim that, because someone who is of a Jewish faith was in a building where there was a protest by people who call themselves Jews Against Genocide, there is somehow an anti-Semitic threat. This is really taking us down a dark path.
You, Mr. Speaker, have the obligation to hear whether it is credible.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont
We are far too deep into debate on this one. I will recognize the hon. member for Battlefords—Lloydminster, and I will ask her to wrap things up. A few other people are on the list and want to speak.
The hon. member for Battlefords—Lloydminster.
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, this is going on across the country. This is the backdrop I have in my mind; it is going through my mind, and I am trying to figure out if it is safe or not safe.
This was described as a passive sit-in protest, which it was not. I heard the yelling and chanting; I felt the intimidation. Because of what he witnessed, one of my children felt scared for his mom, asking if it is okay for me to stay in the building and if I would be safe at work. That is unacceptable for anybody in this country when they go to work.
How is this not taken more seriously, given that any one of those who were protesting could have had a different motive, could have had different intent? Again, I will ask the Speaker to read the article that I referred to earlier. This place, this institution, must be safe and peaceful. That was not the case.
I heard the intervention before me from the member for Thornhill. To hear that members of Parliament joined in this occupation and then boasted about it is absolutely disgusting. Specifically, these were New Democrats. I believe this is added evidence that the New Democrats are not only contributing—
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, now we are being accused of supporting intimidation when we just had a Conservative tell us that he would be punching people in the mouth as he walked out.
Mr. Speaker, you are allowing this to descend—
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont
We are getting into debate. I am going to ask the hon. member for Battlefords—Lloydminster to finish up; I have two other people who want to speak to this.
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, this is what I have been trying to do. I have literally three sentences left.
As I was saying, I believe this is added evidence that the New Democrats are not only contributing to the hostile work environment in the opposition lobby and in the House of Commons but that they are also among the—
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I hope you will allow me to at least speak. New Democrats are being drawn into this when we had nothing to do with the protest. This is a spurious political attack—
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont
Hold on a second; I cannot hear you either.
I am going to ask the hon. members to quiet down just a little, so I can hear the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, what is clear is that this had nothing to do with her worry about her children. This was a spurious attack on New Democrats. We had nothing to do with the protest. They do not like the protest. They are using this filibuster to attack us.
I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to reject this totally. This is not a credible question of privilege because it is being targeted against MPs who were not in the building, who were not in the city and who had nothing to do with it. We are being targeted by the Conservatives because they are trying to draw us into a fight that we had nothing to do with. That is not privilege. That is an abuse of my rights as a parliamentarian. I am asking you to shut this down.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont
I have heard enough from the hon. member for Battlefords—Lloydminster, so I will go to the next person.
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I have two sentences left. That is all I ask.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont
I said that I have heard enough. It is causing disorder in the House, so I have to move on to the next person.
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
That is not fair. I literally have two sentences left.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont
I am going to stop this, because I see a number of people standing on points of order.
The hon. member for Miramichi—Grand Lake.
Jake Stewart Conservative Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
Mr. Speaker, to the point of order, I think what is important is that it was not passive. It was illegal. They targeted one of the members of Parliament. Some of those moronic thugs went right outside her door and protested. They were in there illegally. There was nothing passive about it. I heard more than 15 people were arrested and banned for five years from the precinct. That is what happens when something illegal is done.
The New Democrats helped them too.
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Mr. Speaker, it was a bit disturbing to me when we saw Conservatives cheering on the three-week occupation in downtown Ottawa. There was jeering and threats made to members of Parliament and not a single Conservative member of Parliament ever raised that as a question of privilege. In fact, they tried to block questions of privilege coming from other members of Parliament.
The member for Thornhill raised a frivolous question of privilege. That is a ruling you have made on past questions of privilege. We will consult, of course, what was said, and we will come back on Monday on this issue. I do not believe it is a prima facie case at all, but I do want to give the member the benefit of the doubt that maybe she has changed from previous frivolous questions of privilege.
We will come back on Monday.
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise to defend the right of the member to finish off her statement. She said she had two more sentences. Bosc and Gagnon is clear that privilege takes priority over nearly all matters. She was not repetitive. She was telling a story about her children. She was literally crying at points. My goodness, we have to decide: Are we parliamentarians, or are we humans?
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, we saw the pattern. The member for Miramichi—Grand Lake just repeated it. He accused New Democrats of threatening and attacking people when we had nothing to do with this.
I ask you, Speaker, to ask him to withdraw that comment because it was a false comment. We had nothing to do with this. He came in here—
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont
This is getting beyond what the question of privilege is actually about.
The hon. deputy whip for the Conservatives.
Chris Warkentin Conservative Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB
Mr. Speaker, with regard to the last comment that New Democrats somehow were not involved in this, there has obviously been multiple news reports with regard to not only members of Parliament but also staffers of the New Democratic Party. There are pictures as well, which I would like to reserve the right to turn in to the House so that the Speaker can review the documentation as well as the photos that were taken during that entire episode.
Sherry Romanado Liberal Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC
Mr. Speaker, not to take away from the current debate in front of us, but I would like to seek unanimous consent to table the OPQs today.