Health  Madam Speaker, contrary to what the Minister of Health is saying, the federal government's insistence on the absolute necessity of vaccine mandates is not founded in science. Some Canadians choose to remain unvaccinated and always will. That is simply a fact. It was not an easy choice for them, but because of real anxiety about COVID vaccines, they have sacrificed their jobs and their ability to travel to see loved ones.

Parliamentary Review Committee pursuant to the Emergencies Act  Mr. Speaker, this is a very important piece of legislation. We did not see any legal interpretation when the government invoked the act. We still have not heard that, and we have asked many questions on where the legal interpretation was that it met the threshold. If we read this act, it clearly states that a member of the official opposition or of the opposition, and we are recognized as being the official opposition, should be chairing this committee.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the finance minister said at a press conference this morning, “For anyone who is concerned that their accounts may have been frozen because of their participation in these illegal blockades and occupation, the way to get your account unfrozen is to stop being part of the blockade and occupation.”

Emergencies Act  Madam Speaker, when somebody is standing up for freedom for Canadians, they will never be on the wrong side of history in the history books. I encourage the member opposite to stop the divisive rhetoric that I hear constantly day in and day out here and actually show some leadership.

Emergencies Act  Madam Speaker, let me be clear that invoking this act is an attack the Prime Minister is using on his political opponents. This is not about public safety, and the Prime Minister has changed his story many times. The blockades at the borders were resolved before this act was involved, and the protest in Ottawa is now over.

Emergencies Act  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question, but this is just more inflammatory rhetoric from the NDP. Why would the NDP support this? The party was founded on the principle of civil liberties, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is actually suing the government right now.

Emergencies Act  Madam Speaker, this is a sad and dark time for our great country. The last two years have been difficult for everyone. Every person in this country has been affected by the pandemic. No one has been exempt. How did we get here? What brought us to this point? Standing here in this chamber today to debate the unprecedented use of Canada's Emergencies Act is upsetting, to say the least.

Emergencies Act  Madam Speaker, the member said in his speech that groups of people have been mobilizing and protesting across this country. They are protesting because the Liberal government's mandates have driven them to do this. The Prime Minister and the government have been calling people names and saying they are a fringe minority of Canadians, yet millions of Canadians have come out in support of their freedoms across the country.

Emergencies Act  Mr. Speaker, we are talking about peaceful protests, and I want to commend the law enforcement we have had over the last number of weeks here in Ottawa. They have been keeping the peace and doing a wonderful job of ending the blockade here this week. Conservatives have been calling for an end to it for a while.

Emergencies Act  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague talked about how this piece of legislation does not take away freedom of speech or freedom of assembly, but we have come to a point where people from all over the country felt that they did not have a voice. We are at a point where we have used the biggest thing that the government can do to silence the voices of Canadians who are here to be heard.

Health  Mr. Speaker, traffic over the Blue Water Bridge, which is a direct link to my riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, is backed up because the Liberal government will not lift the mandates. Our Prime Minister's divisive words only add fuel to the fire and encourage the blockades. There are tractors parked on the 402 right now.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the price of chicken is up 6.2%. Bacon is up 19.1%, and gas is up 33%. In Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, seniors, people with disabilities and families are telling me that they can no longer afford the basic necessities, and rural Canadians have no choice but to drive everywhere.

Community Spirit  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent the riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex and I want to share my appreciation for the good deeds being done across our communities. I thank the public libraries for organizing winter clothing drives. I thank the many churches, large and small, for the hard work they do preparing meals and sharing food.

COVID-19 Protest  Mr. Speaker, forcing people's backs against a wall by imposing unreasonable mandates and demonizing those who seek to create a dialogue and ask to be heard by their government is wrong. We need to safely and responsibly learn to live with the virus, and the government needs to accept that there are many ways forward to give people hope.

Questions Passed as Orders for Return  With regard to the claim that “[s]ince 2015, the Government of Canada has made available over $7.2 billion to close this unacceptable gap in service” contained in the document entitled "Canada’s Rural Economic Development Strategy: Progress Report", August 2021 related to connectivity for rural Canadians: (a) what is the breakdown of the $7.2 billion by initiative or program; and (b) what are the details of all projects which received more than $10,000 of the $7.2 billion, including the (i) amount of federal contribution, (ii) start and end dates of the project, (iii) project description, (iv) project location, (v) funding recipient, (vi) company involved in the project, if different from the funding recipient?