Candice Bergen

[Business of Supply, February 10th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, this is just typical of, obviously, the Prime Minister's direction to many in his caucus. They keep stigmatizing, dividing and calling names.

We believe our job on this side of the House is to listen to all Canadians, represent them and hear them. It is not to call them names or try to divide them. In addition to that, we hold the Prime Minister to account. We are not here to hold Canadians to account; we are here to hold the government to account.

[Business of Supply, February 10th, 2022]

moved:

That, given that provinces are lifting COVID-19 restrictions and that Dr. Theresa Tam has said that all existing public health measures need to be "re-evaluated" so that we can "get back to some normalcy", the House call on the government to table a plan for the lifting of all federal mandates and restrictions, and to table that plan by February 28, 2022.

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time today with the member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

I rise today in the House to support our Conservative motion to end the lockdowns and restrictions that the Prime Minister and the federal government have placed on Canadians. The Conservatives believe it is time to follow the science and evidence. We believe the government must present a plan to quickly end the lockdowns and restrictions. Other countries are doing it, the provinces are doing it and the Liberal government needs to do it.

The Prime Minister has used the pandemic to wedge, divide and stigmatize Canadians. This must stop. As parliamentarians, we must all come together and work together to transition to a post-COVID society as quickly as possible.

Before I go any further, I want to speak directly to Canadians who are demonstrating here in Ottawa and across the country. Their protest began with truckers and it has grown into an international phenomenon. Men and women, children, and the young and old, from every walk of life and every community of this country, have been rallying to have their voices heard. They want their freedom back.

To all of those who are taking part in the protest, I believe the time has come to take down the barricades, stop the disruptive action and come together. The economy they want to see reopen is hurting. Farmers, manufacturers, small businesses and families are suffering. I believe this is not what they want to do. We must all work together. They are protesting because they love their country and they want their freedom back.

The protesters here in Ottawa came bringing a message. That message has been heard. The Conservatives have heard them, and we will stand up for them and all Canadians who want to get back to normal life. We will not stop until the mandates have ended. Today, though, I am asking them to take down the blockades and protest peacefully and legally. It is time to remove the barricades and the trucks for the sake of the economy and because it is the right thing to do.

I now want to get to what I want to say to my fellow parliamentarians because we have something to do. We have something we can do here in the House, and we have a responsibility. Every one of us has a role to play in ending the impasse, restoring peace and order, and at the same time, allowing Canadians to get back to their normal lives.

We have faith in science and evidence, and we also have faith in our fellow Canadians, faith in them to protect themselves in a way they feel is appropriate, not the way government tells them to. Dr. Tam, Dr. Henry, Dr. Moore, Dr. Hinshaw and Dr. Shahab all agree it is time to transition from these restrictions back to a normal life. I know they have faith in science, and so should the Prime Minister. Science is not a prop. It cannot be pulled out and then put away only when it serves the Prime Minister's political interests.

Canadians have sacrificed so much. We all know that. Every member of Parliament in the House has heard and seen first-hand the sacrifices all of our constituents have made. It just seems that it is not enough for the Prime Minister. In a country more divided than ever, the Prime Minister has decided to purposefully politicize the pandemic for his own gain, so much so that he has been called out by members of his own caucus for, in their words, wedging, dividing and stigmatizing his fellow Canadians.

We all know that, as British Columbia was burning, Afghanistan was falling and we were in the fourth wave of this pandemic, the Prime Minister called the election, a $600-million unnecessary election, to capitalize on the pandemic. Despite what the Prime Minister says, our country, our beautiful Canada and our true north strong and free is divided. Canada is suffering. Canada needs some hope, and the blame rests squarely on his shoulders.

Conservatives are ready to work with the government to resolve this impasse. I have asked the Prime Minister to meet with me and leaders of the other parties to come up with a resolution to the impasse. Unfortunately, he has ignored my request, but this problem is not going away. Now is the time for us to act, and so I call upon the House to do what the Prime Minister will not do.

I am asking the House to pass our motion, which we are debating today and which we will be voting on. This motion calls on the government to table a plan for the lifting of all federal mandates and restrictions and to table that plan by February 28. If the Liberals would do it sooner, they would have our full support. The sooner, the better, is what we believe.

This should be a time for hope in our country. This should be a time for healing in our country. This should be a time when Canadians can excitedly look to the future, knowing that the pandemic will be behind us, that they will have their freedom and lives back. Instead, they are feeling stigmatized, divided and ridiculed by the Prime Minister.

To my fellow colleagues, let us act. Let us not just talk. Let us bring that hope. Let us bring that healing. Let us bring inspiration to our fellow Canadians, and we can do that by passing this motion. Let us get it done for the Canadians we represent.

[COVID-19 Protest, February 9th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear: Conservatives want the protests and the barricades to end. We want people to be able to head back to work and go home, knowing they have been listened to and that they have been respected. The Prime Minister holds the key. I have sent the Prime Minister a letter and asked him if he would be willing to meet with other leaders and with me so that we can work constructively to end this impasse.

Will he meet with us? Can we work together to find a solution?

[Health, February 9th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is clearly trying to strategically and very selfishly divide and stigmatize Canadians. We live in a beautiful country, but our country is suffering. Our country is divided. Our country is tired, and Canadians need leadership.

Again, I will ask the Prime Minister this. His senior Liberal MP said that there was a strategic decision made on that side to, and these are not my words, “stigmatize”, “divide” and “wedge”.

This is what the Prime Minister did. Why?

[Health, February 9th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, we know this Prime Minister has politicized the pandemic. Last summer, as B.C. was burning, Afghanistan was falling and we were in the fourth wave of a pandemic, the Prime Minister called an unnecessary $600-million election to capitalize on this crisis. According to a senior Liberal MP, a decision was made “to wedge, to divide and to stigmatize”. It is a country more divided than ever before.

Can the Prime Minister tell Canadians why he would politicize the pandemic, why he would try to stigmatize Canadians, and why he would do this to a country that was already suffering and deeply damaged by so many of his policies?

[Health, February 9th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the science and the evidence are simply not on the Prime Minister's side. Many of the reasons previously used to keep Canadians under restrictions are vanishing before our eyes. Other countries are opening up. Provinces are opening up. As he just said, 90% of Canadians have the vaccine.

The Prime Minister needs to put his ego aside. He needs to do what is right for the country. He needs to end the mandates. He needs to end the restrictions. He needs to listen to his own caucus.

Will he do that?

[Health, February 9th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, countries around the world are opening up, even countries with lower vaccination rates than Canada, and provinces are beginning to lift restrictions and getting life back to normal. Why? It is because they are following the science.

Canadians are ready to get their lives back, but it seems like the Prime Minister wants to live in a permanent pandemic. Dr. Tam, Dr. Henry, Dr. Moore, Dr. Hinshaw and Dr. Shahab all agree that it is time to shift out of the restrictions and back to normal life.

Why is the Prime Minister so offside, not only with the science but, it would seem, with a growing number of his own MPs?

[Health, February 8th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has politicized the pandemic and been divisive. Even his own members are seeing it. Now countries around the world are opening up, and even here in Canada, provinces are opening up. They are following the science and the evidence, whether it is from Dr. Henry in B.C. or Dr. Moore in Ontario. They all agree we have to learn to live with COVID. Conservatives believe that living with COVID means opening up and ending the mandates, and I believe there are some Liberals who believe the same thing.

Will the Prime Minister follow the science, end the lockdowns and let Canada once again be the true north, strong and free?

[Health, February 8th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, countries like Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Israel, the Czech Republic, the U.K., Spain and Denmark are all removing restrictions and mandates, and they are all countries that have a lower vaccine rate than Canada. Here in Canada, though, we have a Prime Minister who refuses to lead and instead is being divisive. I have to agree with the MP for Louis-Hébert when he said, “People don’t know where public health ends and politics begins.”

Canadians want their lives back, so again I ask the Prime Minister, will he follow the evidence? Will he follow the science, end the mandates and end the restrictions quickly?

[Health, February 8th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to lockdowns and mandates, we are seeing things change very quickly, and rightly so. Dr. Tam has said that vaccine mandates should be re-evaluated, and today the chair of the Quebec Liberal caucus clearly and strongly stated it is time to end the divisiveness, end the politicization and end the mandates. We Conservatives could not agree more. This cannot be a slow and dragged-out process simply because of the Prime Minister's ego, pride or denial. Canadians are too tired. Canadians need hope.

Will the Prime Minister follow the science, follow the evidence, end the restrictions and end the mandates?