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Mr. Larry Maguire (Brandon—Souris, CPC)

Feb/7/22 11:02:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member, as well as his predecessor in the speech before his, indicated that they did not know who they should go and talk to in the trucking organizations or among the individuals who are out on the streets here and across Canada. First, they would have to make the offer. We know there are organizers in this cavalcade. They did not come all the way across Canada by just telephoning each other and saying they were going to move across the country and end up in Ottawa. There are organizers. The government has failed to even ask who that would be. I am sure if they put an olive branch out to those people, they would get a meeting in an hour. Our interim leader indicated to the Prime Minister that he should do that and sit down with all of the leaders of the parties in the House to come up with a common solution to end this blockade.

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Mr. Francesco Sorbara

Feb/7/22 11:03:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government put in place a measure to help protect Canadians, including, in this instance, truckers. I spoke with a president of a trucking company in the region I represent, with 1,300 employees and 3,000 trailers, and 95% of his truckers are vaccinated. He operates in York Region and in the Midwest, in Chicago. He said to me, “Francesco, it is the right thing to do. All my employees who cross that border are vaccinated.” That is what I believe in. We gave the industry a long runway to prepare for this measure. We spoke with the Canadian Trucking Alliance and they support us. They support this stance. That is what we need to do.

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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon (Mirabel, BQ)

Feb/7/22 11:04:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the theme of my colleague's speech today was responsible leadership. However, in order for the leadership to be responsible, there has to be some leadership in the first place. Today, I would like us to talk about perceptions. In a country that is greatly divided, people seem to be unanimous in agreeing that the government was irresponsible, did not show leadership and did not do its job, and that led to the current crisis. This evening, it seems like the government just keeps repeating that the truckers need to leave, in hopes that that will suddenly make them decide to get up and go. Can my colleague explain to me why all those who think there is a serious lack of leadership in this government are wrong and where that perception came from?

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Mr. Francesco Sorbara

Feb/7/22 11:05:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like my Bloc Québécois colleague to know that leadership is very important for us. We have shown leadership in working with the Ottawa Police Service and the City of Ottawa, in collaborating with them and sending them resources from the beginning of the convoy up to date. We have shown leadership in providing the resources they require. Again, I wish to reiterate, how can we go and negotiate with individuals who want to overthrow the democratically elected government that Canadians voted for in the last election? To me, that is preposterous and it is wrong. We cannot go and negotiate with entities that want everything for themselves and have no desire to co-operate, and, in fact, are not following public health guidelines so that we could finally exit this pandemic.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Feb/7/22 11:06:27 p.m.
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Qujannamiik, Uqaqtittiji. I want to thank the member for his comments. I just need to express that I disagree that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. The extremist activities have shown that this is not the fact and this is not the case. Law enforcement has reacted very differently to this extremist activity compared to how law enforcement reacts to first nations, Métis and Inuit who have defended their lands. Having said that, I do want to ask the member a question because he was talking about responsible leadership. Does he not agree that it is important that the Prime Minister meets immediately with municipal leaders as a way to begin moving forward towards ending the pandemic?

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Mr. Francesco Sorbara

Feb/7/22 11:07:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the lines of communication between the federal government and the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Police Service have been constantly open, and they have been constantly there. We are collaborating. We are assisting them with resources, from RCMP officers to intelligence gathering. Anything they need, we are obviously there. We do not direct the policy force to do anything or to undertake any sort of activity. They are independent, and there is a reason for that, of course. I would say to my hon. colleague that we are in constant contact with the City of Ottawa, their mayor and the Ottawa Police Service for the resources they require in this situation.

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Mr. Stephen Ellis (Cumberland—Colchester, CPC)

Feb/7/22 11:08:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am always honoured to rise here in the House. I want to make it clear that I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. At the current time, the interim leader of Canada's opposition has reached out to Canada's Prime Minister to ensure a peaceful and urgent end to a very difficult situation, and the question that needs to be answered is this: Will the Prime Minister respond? What has become very clear in Canada is that the mood of Canadians is moving toward the beginning of the end of the pandemic. We realize that the health of Canadians is not only influenced by their physical health but also their financial, social and mental health. I can clearly recall, in the early days of the pandemic, holding the hand of someone about to die from COVID‑19 who was there without his family and the only way of communicating with them was through an iPad. Some small redemption in those early days with respect to this person was that I had known him previously and he had shared with me his journey in life as a young person, how he had documented a bicycle trip across southern England, how he had been essential to the development of a hospital in Cape Breton, how his wife had died and how he ended up living in the small town of Truro, Nova Scotia. Indeed, to watch this 90-something-year-old male die without his family will forever have a profound impact on my view of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Canadians have suffered. It is also important to reflect on the grave concern we should all now have with respect to the mental health of children and adolescents. Indeed, my own son has missed out on his high school graduation and the wonderful social times that many of us have experienced in the first two years of university. Getting our own place to live, solving our own problems, meeting new friends and learning how generally to be an adult all on our own are things that have been severely dampened by the COVID‑19 pandemic. The unfortunate part of the pandemic and the associated isolation is that many people live in their own echo chambers. We have become isolated from the views of the others who would often surround us and engage us in exciting debate and discourse, which sometimes of course led us to agree to disagree, but other times led us to truly engage in conversation that would allow us to see another point of view and perhaps indeed change our own point of view. Another example of not seeing other points of view is our inability to travel. We need to better understand other cultures, how they solve problems, how they communicate and how they live. It is important that we do these things. This leaves us with a need to question those things that are important to us and help us better understand how we need to help our fellow human beings. As we have these multitude of different experiences, they can help us grow as individuals, understand other cultures, learn new languages and be more resilient to take on our everyday lives. That is not to say that travel is an essential part of being a Canadian. It is simply to say that there are many things that can potentially make us more tolerant of others, which we have deeply missed during this pandemic. For many others, it has led to the tragic end of a business that they worked so hard for and spent their entire life savings trying to build. The travel sector of course has been particularly hard hit, as has the hospitality sector. Restaurants are essential to our communities and the socialization that happens therein has suffered under this unbearable yoke. We all know that Canadians love to have a beer or a coffee and catch up with their friends, to see their expressions, to understand their burdens, to help shoulder the load and to share a great laugh. Sadly, this too has been transformed by COVID‑19, with no customers, no socialization and all of us living in our own echo chambers. Moreover, Canadians and indeed people around the world have suffered with increased levels of anxiety. They have lost trust. They have lost hope for the future. They have lost their security. What is hope? One might define it as a feeling of expectation and a desire for a certain thing to happen. Unfortunately, there's been no certainty and the ability to plan for the future has been lost. We do know there are several things that can benefit the health of our human species, such as good sleep, meaningful employment, doing something purely for the benefit of another, important relationships and physical activity. Essentially all of those things have been disrupted by the COVID pandemic. As we are all aware, many, if not most, of the provincial medical officers of health are calling for the end of mandates. Countries such as the United Kingdom, with 64% vaccination rates, and Denmark, with 80% vaccination rates, compared with the over 86% that we have here in Canada, are removing mandates for masks, vaccines and passports. We need to begin to recognize that the time to move forward is now, and that Canadians cannot be expected to live their lives in this perpetual state of uncertainty and without hope as we go forward. To be very blunt, there are many people out there who do not have many years left. I am a 53-year-old man. Realistically, I may have perhaps 15 vigorous years left. Prior to the pandemic, it would have been 17. Do I want to continue my life not seeing the joy of smiles on faces, not being able to travel, not being able to have social events with constituents, limiting my gatherings with family on special occasions such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, and having birthdays that are drive-bys with horns honking from neighbours with signs on their lawns? This, my friends and colleagues, is not living. It is also very clear from recent studies that lockdowns are not effective. We now know how much the poor federal health care funding in Canada and the lack of surge capacity have perpetuated this pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, in my small town with 100 beds in our hospital, we perpetually worked at between 90% and 130% capacity. Our intensive care beds in Canada per 100,000 people are half of those available in the United States and one-third of those available in Germany. Now, sadly, we have an unimaginable tsunami in terms of the backlog of cases for diagnostic imaging, laboratory and specialist appointments and missed treatments. How is this perpetual underfunding ever going to allow this catch-up to happen with an overburdened infrastructure and a tired, exhausted, burned-out human health resource of physicians, nurses and other allied health care providers? How does this all end? Do we simply trudge forward, one foot in front of the next, without any hope, or is this a defining moment in humanity where those around the globe begin to realize that, unfortunately and sadly, sometimes there can be a fate worse than death? How do we begin to move forward? One great way is to look at the legendary Colin Powell's legacy, the 13 rules of leadership. General Powell was arguably one of the most influential writers on leadership in the western world in modern times. As he would suggest: 1) It ain’t as bad as you think! It will look better in the morning. 2) Get mad then get over it. 3) Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it. 4) It can be done. 5) Be careful what you choose. You may get it. 6) Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision. 7) You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours. 8) Check small things. 9) Share credit. 10) Remain calm. Be kind. 11) Have a vision. Be demanding. 12) Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers. 13) Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. These rules of leadership are not perfect. Leadership is not perfect. One of these things that we also must know about great leaders is that we must try. We must care. In the immortal words of John F. Kennedy, “We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” I implore the Prime Minister to check the ego, check the position and meet with leaders of the other parties and bring this situation to a peaceful and urgent end.

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Mr. Sameer Zuberi (Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.)

Feb/7/22 11:17:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Cumberland—Colchester for his comments and also I want to extend my condolences for the passing of your friend. I appreciate a lot of what you said. I would like to hear from you in particular around, since we are talking about it, the protest convoy in front of the Hill right now. You did not mention it at all in your address, and I am curious about your opinions and your thoughts on this. We see, for example, swastikas. We see hate speech and illegal acts, such as arson. You did not have any comments on this. I am curious what your thoughts are on these acts, on these flags, etc.?

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Feb/7/22 11:18:36 p.m.
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I would remind the hon. member to ensure that he addresses all questions and comments through the Chair and not to the member directly. The hon. member for Cumberland—Colchester.

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Mr. Stephen Ellis

Feb/7/22 11:18:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my speech tonight was an attempt to turn the temperature down here. This is a very volatile and unfortunate situation. It is really important that we understand that members on both sides of this House have continued to say that those acts are deplorable and despicable. I find it unfortunate if my colleague opposite wants to continue to perpetuate the idea that it is something that anybody in this House would stand for. That is very, very unfortunate. It is inflammatory. It is for those exact reasons that I chose not to talk about those things in my speech but to emphasize that we need to begin to get to the end of this very volatile situation.

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Ms. Kristina Michaud (Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)

Feb/7/22 11:19:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, which I very much enjoyed. It is true that people have become anxious and cynical and that a small minority of people, not everyone, have lost their trust in our institutions. As my colleague said, all of this comes from the fact that these people are living in their own echo chamber. I understand what he was getting at. I also liked the rules of leadership that he mentioned. Unfortunately, I find that the federal government may not have followed those rules. What my colleague and his party are proposing is a good idea, namely, that the leaders of the various parties should meet to try to find solutions to the crisis. However, does he not think it would be even more productive if the federal government met with the Ottawa Police Service, the City of Ottawa, the Government of Ontario and all of the stakeholders on the ground to find a solution to the crisis?

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Mr. Stephen Ellis

Feb/7/22 11:20:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think there is a time for meetings and a time for action. The government talks a lot about meetings, but the time has come to take action, to set a direction and to establish a plan for the future, not only for the occupation, but for our country, Canada.

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Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)

Feb/7/22 11:21:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to start by acknowledging what the member said in his intervention: that people are suffering, that COVID-19 has been terrible, that people have died, that people have lost so much and that it has been very difficult. He talked today to my colleague from the other party about turning the temperature down. Last week, I had to ask my staff person not to come to work. She is a young Muslim woman, and I was afraid for her safety. I have another colleague working in my office who is taking a sick day because she has not been able to sleep and she is deeply traumatized. How can members of the Conservative Party of Canada continue to create a public relations campaign out of the occupation of our national capital by posing with protesters, posting messages of support and fuelling further divisions with their own party and across this nation?

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Mr. Stephen Ellis

Feb/7/22 11:22:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is exactly the thing that we are trying to avoid here this evening. We think it is very important, even with respect to the audacity of the members opposite, that we need to turn the temperature down and we need to get the occupation finished and be able to move forward and get back to the great things that we have to offer here in Canada.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Feb/7/22 11:22:43 p.m.
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I want to remind members to please be respectful when someone has the floor. There is opportunity to ask questions and to comment at the proper time. Resuming debate, the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

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Noise/conversations/heckling, interrupting Member speaking

Mr. Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, CPC)

Feb/7/22 11:22:58 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the residents of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, especially on a topic as important as this one. I will be direct. I would love to see an end to what is going on outside, a peaceful end, and that end begins with the Prime Minister. COVID has been a difficult situation for everybody. Obviously, everybody in the House denounces any violence and any racialized gestures or symbols that have been displayed over the last two weeks. I rose in the House seven days ago as the shadow minister for veteran affairs to raise that very point when it came to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and I have no regrets on that point. COVID has left us with a very fluid situation. Initially, people were unsure whether to wear a mask. Then people donned masks at the request of government. We waited for a vaccine, and then we had a vaccine. Then we had our second dose of the vaccine, and then we had our boosters. I personally did all of these things as quickly as possible. and I encourage those around me to consider doing the same. Canadians have been asked to give, and they have given a lot throughout this pandemic. Earlier today, I was reflecting that one of my young children would not remember a period prepandemic. The point is this: We all want to get to normal. The people outside want to get back to normal. The people of Ottawa, living and working in the surrounding area, want to get back to normal. I want the people outside to get back to normal. I want the people living and working in the downtown area to get back to normal. I would love to see the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo get back to normal, and I want to see all Canadians get back to normal. One thing we have repeatedly heard is the Prime Minister say that he has Canadians' backs. I prefer to take a different approach, though. It is Canadians who have had one another's backs. It is the doctors who have had our backs. It is the grocery store workers keeping groceries available for us. It is the pharmacists filling our prescriptions. It is the respiratory therapists helping us, and the nurses, doctors and truckers. These are the people who have had one another's backs, and I am thankful to live in a country like Canada, where we can make that claim. In my view, a prime minister is a prime minister to all or a prime minister to none. There is no middle ground. My hon. colleague from Nunavut mentioned, when addressing my colleague from Vaughan—Woodbridge, the phrase “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian”, which, in my recollection, was a reference to when the Prime Minister opposed stripping the citizenship of people convicted of terrorism offense. We should not forget that the Prime Minister knelt with protesters within the last two years in breach of COVID protocols, yet here we have a prime minister who is dividing Canadians. I have great trouble when I hear the Prime Minister blame unvaccinated people, calling them names and adjectives like fringe, racist and misogynist. At the most basic level, if one wants to encourage another to do something like get vaccinated, the best way to do it is not to call them a name. It is to encourage them to answer the question. If anything, those types of divisive tactics will alienate, rather than resonate with people who are unvaccinated. At the most basic level, the Prime Minister's job is to unite, as is everybody's job in the House. Unfortunately, I am seeing a prime minister who is choosing to divide, which is genuinely unfortunate. In my capacity as member of Parliament for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, I have had many discussions with people, both vaccinated and unvaccinated. The Prime Minister may not appreciate this, but I have had reasonable discussions with people on all sides of the debate. Some people I would call hesitant. They have questions. That is why I share with them my experience, tell them what I have done and why I did it, and invite and encourage them to do the same. However, I cannot force or compel a health care decision, which leads me to the point of leadership and how we go from today, Monday, to tomorrow, Tuesday. This is the time to resolve what is happening outside. I walked around today to and from Parliament Hill two or three times. I probably heard one or two horns all day, which, for those who have been here for the past couple weeks, is anomalous. That is likely due to the recent civil injunction. I noticed something; the tone felt different. It was quieter. Now is the time for a peaceful end. We do not have 5,000 people outside. We have a few hundred people remaining. If I could speak to the Prime Minister, I would tell him that today he brought his partisan hat to the chamber and that tomorrow he should take that partisan hat off. I would say today the Prime Minister took an us-versus-them approach and that tomorrow he should meet with the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Bloc Québécois and the leader of the New Democratic Party, who arranged and requested this emergency debate. Today, the Prime Minister's approach was to look at other people as different, but tomorrow I encourage him to see all Canadians and their desire to move on from the current impasse. The past two years have been hard enough and difficult enough, so I would say to the Prime Minister to please be a prime minister to all and help end this impasse.

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Ms. Iqra Khalid (Mississauga—Erin Mills, Lib.)

Feb/7/22 11:30:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member said in his speech that the Prime Minister's job is to unite, as is everyone's in this place. Over the past two years we have seen 34,000 Canadians die from COVID and five million across the world. People in Ottawa have had to file injunctions, as the member said himself, in order to get a bit of peace and quiet. When we see members from the opposite side going and joining this occupation of Ottawa, which is disturbing the residents and the peace of Ottawa, does the member not think that he has a responsibility to do the right thing, be democratic and stand up for the values of democracy of our great nation?

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Mr. Frank Caputo

Feb/7/22 11:31:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I feel that is what I am doing right now. I am discussing all Canadians, not just some Canadians. I implore a peaceful resolution to what is happening right now, but when we talk about democracy and a peaceful resolution, we are about two weeks in now. Where has the Prime Minister been the last two weeks? That is really the big question, but let us not focus just on where he has been the last two weeks. Let us focus on where he is going to be tomorrow and the next day after that in bringing a resolution to what is happening.

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Mr. Xavier Barsalou-Duval (Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, BQ)

Feb/7/22 11:32:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech, and I very much enjoyed its tone. His tone was different from the one we heard from the Prime Minister and some government members, who used a very combative tone, one that we obviously do not support. I sensed some goodwill on the part of my colleague, who said he himself had been vaccinated and was explaining to people why he had chosen to do so. I also sensed a concern on his part about making the right decisions from a health standpoint and about bringing people together so that we can move forward and end both this occupation and the pandemic. Since we want to de-escalate the current crisis, I was wondering if he and other members of his party would be willing to meet with the protesters or occupiers to encourage them to leave Parliament Hill and make sure we can put an end to this occupation.

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Mr. Frank Caputo

Feb/7/22 11:33:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his helpful remarks and for his comments. At this point, I feel a lot of what we can do has really been exhausted. If I can put it bluntly, the ball is in the Prime Minister's court. He is the head of state of Canada. I endorse what the Leader of the Opposition has suggested, which is a meeting between the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Bloc and the leader of the NDP. These are the leaders of the four official parties in the House of Commons. Who better to hit the ground running to put a peaceful end to this protest, to listen to the people who are outside and to hopefully move forward in all necessary facets?

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