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Feb/19/22 3:39:03 p.m.
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I want to say that compliments will get you everywhere. Returning to debate, the hon. member for Davenport has the floor.

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Ms. Julie Dzerowicz (Davenport, Lib.)

Feb/19/22 3:39:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Don Valley West. It is an absolute honour for me to stand in the House of Commons today on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport to speak to the invocation of the Emergencies Act. Before I continue, I would like to acknowledge that I am speaking from the traditional territory of the Algonquin nation. Earlier this week, on February 14, our federal government declared a public order emergency and invoked the Emergencies Act. This was the first time this act had been used since it was created in 1988. There were clear conditions set out in the Emergencies Act in order for the public order emergency to be declared. The act was invoked only after exhausting other options. The act is time-limited to 30 days. It is geographically targeted. It proposes measures that are reasonable and proportional to the threats it is meant to address, and it does not displace or replace provincial or territorial authorities. The act was invoked after discussions with the cabinet and caucus, after consultations with the premiers from all provinces and territories, and after speaking with opposition leaders. I support this decision. For almost three weeks now, blockades have been illegally disrupting the lives of Canadians. They have been harming our economy and endangering public safety. The “freedom convoy 2022” has created a critical, urgent, temporary situation that is national in scope and cannot effectively be dealt with under any other law of Canada. The blockades at the ports of entry have disrupted the transportation of crucial medicine, goods, fuel and food to Canadians. They are causing significant adverse effects on Canada's economy, on its relationship with trading partners and on supply chains. These trade disruptions, the increase in criminal activity, the occupation of downtown Ottawa, the lawlessness and the threats of violence, as well as the presence of firearms, constitute a public order emergency. It is an emergency that arises from threats to the security of Canada that are so serious as to be a national emergency. What may have started as a protest by truck drivers against border mandates quickly morphed into a rallying point for anti-vaccination, anti-government, anti-authority and white supremacist groups with demands ranging from an end to all public health restrictions to the overthrow of an elected government. At occupations and blockades across the country, we have seen harmful racist and violent behaviour, and attempts to minimize or discount the harm done to Canadians. It was also clear that there were serious challenges to, and gaps in, local law enforcement's ability to effectively enforce the law. It is clear that extraordinary measures had to be taken to keep Canadians safe, protect people's jobs and restore confidence in our institutions. Canada, at the very core of its existence, is a country that fundamentally believes in, and is governed by, the rule of law. In our blood and in our souls, we believe in peace, order and good government. Over the last three weeks, we did not see peace and order in specific parts of our nation, and especially here in Ottawa. There was a complete shutdown of key parts of Centretown due to the occupation. It stopped people from going to work, stopped businesses from reopening and stopped people from carrying on with their normal lives. The first week of the occupation had an unprecedented amount of noise, which caused great distress to all those living in or near the occupied area. It seriously impacted the mental health of nearby Ottawa residents. The mental health of many was already fragile due to the unprecedented pandemic we have all had to live through over the past couple of years. At the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, trucker convoys blocked the crossing and stopped trade from moving between the United States and Canada. This is a border point that sees over $400 million in trade per day. Many Canadians were temporarily laid off, and the economies of both countries were impacted. What is worse is that our reputation as a place to do business with ease across our two borders was greatly impacted. Our Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance said that the disruptions had shaken Canada's reputation as a place in which to invest and do business. She further said the world was watching us and that our jobs, our prosperity and our livelihoods were endangered, and we would not allow Canada's privileged trading relationship with the United States to be compromised. Windsor was not the only border crossing that was impacted. We saw trucker blockades in Coutts, Alberta, and in Emerson, Manitoba. The impact economically was $48 million and $73 million in trade each day, respectively. The threat exists for other border crossings across our country. There were guns found in Coutts, Alberta. Protesters have been charged with conspiracy to commit the murder of police officers, and a large cache of guns and ammunition was seized by the RCMP. All of these actions and threats demanded that our federal government take extraordinary action. It is important to note that this act does not suspend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In fact, the act was created to flow from and uphold the charter. The act's preamble explicitly states that any measures taken under the act must be compliant with charter rights. The invocation of the act does not limit freedom of speech. It does not limit peaceful assembly, and it does not prevent people from exercising their right to protest legally. We are reinforcing the principles, values and institutions that keep all Canadians free. The Emergencies Act also provides additional powers to stop the flow of money that has been funding these trucker blockades and occupations. Leaked data has shown that the majority of the donations, over 50%, have been coming from outside of the country, primarily the United States. When police notified GoFundMe that the funds it was collecting were being used for unlawful purposes, the campaign was shut down. Protesters then turned to the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo, which raised almost $11 million. In order to stop the flow of funds for these illegal blockades and occupations, the Emergencies Act includes four key financial measures. From a press release and announcement that our Deputy Prime Minister made earlier this week, we learned a lot about the details. The first of those measures is that the act extends the scope of Canada's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing rules to cover crowdfunding platforms and the payment processors they use. This change covers all forms of transactions, including digital assets such as cryptocurrencies. Second, the order directs Canadian banks, insurance companies and other financial service providers to temporarily cease providing financial services when the institution suspects that an account, either personal or corporate, is being used to further the blockades. Third, the act also enables and directs Canadian financial institutions to review their relationship with anyone involved in the illegal blockades, and to report the assets and related transactions of those involved to the RCMP or to CSIS. The fourth measure provides federal, provincial and territorial government institutions with new authority to share relevant information with banks and other financial service providers if the information will help put a stop to the funding of illegal blockades and illegal activities. Canadian financial service providers will be able to immediately freeze or suspend the account of an individual or business affiliated with the blockades without a court order. All of these new requirements and authorities will help mitigate the risks for Canadian financial institutions and crowdfunding platforms to transact illicit funds, increasing the quality and quantity of the intelligence received by FINTRAC in allowing us to stop the flow of funding to these illegal blockades. It is important to highlight the safeguards, and the parliamentary oversight and accountability measures, that are contained within the act. As was required, the government tabled the declaration of emergency so that the House could debate and decide upon the declaration. The government also tabled the orders, as required, before the House. The oversight this legislation gives us as parliamentarians is important to ensure that it is acting with the law, and I take that responsibility incredibly seriously. We have seen support from a number of provinces for this action, including from British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario. Our federal government is conscious of the need for transparency and parliamentary oversight as we undertake this action. In the coming days, a parliamentary committee will be struck to provide oversight while the emergency measure is in effect. As well, an inquiry into the measures used during the emergency must be initiated once the state of emergency is over. To conclude, I thank the residents in my riding of Davenport who have called and written to me all this week. I appreciated hearing their thoughts and having them reach out. It is an extraordinary moment in the history of our nation, and this is an extraordinary piece of legislation. It is absolutely the responsibility of our government and myself as a parliamentarian to make sure that we explain why we need to invoke this public order emergency, and why this Emergencies Act needed to be introduced.

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Mr. Robert Kitchen (Souris—Moose Mountain, CPC)

Feb/19/22 3:49:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member talked a lot about how FINTRAC was going to be able to try to categorize the money coming from foreign countries, yet this is the same government that cannot figure out how $12 million of CERB payments were given to Canadians outside this country. I digress. The member mentioned “after other options”. What other options were used before the act was implemented? Was it alternate dispute resolution? Was it mediation? Was it consultation? Can you please give us at least one or two steps of what was implemented?

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/19/22 3:49:53 p.m.
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I would remind all members to address their questions through the Chair. The hon. member for Davenport.

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Ms. Julie Dzerowicz

Feb/19/22 3:49:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. It is an important one for me to respond to. Our government, on numerous occasions, offered additional resources, every step of the way, not once, not twice, not three times. We also helped to enable a table of all three levels of policing and found as we moved forward that there were a number of gaps in the ability of the police to be able to act. That is why we introduced the Emergencies Act.

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Ms. Christine Normandin (Saint-Jean, BQ)

Feb/19/22 3:50:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I listened to the speech by my colleague from Davenport, whom I like very much. From what I understand, she agrees with the principle of using the Emergencies Act, because she agrees with how it is being applied and the rules for enforcing it. However, this is special legislation that is supposed to protect us from arbitrary government. It is to be used only in emergency situations when nothing else can be done. Does she not think it sets a precedent if she focuses only on the use of the act and not on the criteria for invoking it?

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Ms. Julie Dzerowicz

Feb/19/22 3:51:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are two parts to the question. The first is if I am satisfied with how it is being used. The truth is that I probably do not know all the ways it is being used right now, but I have a lot of confidence there is going to be an inquiry into the measures used during the emergency. That inquiry has to be initiated once the state of emergency is over. With respect to setting a precedent, for me what is important is that I really appreciated the thoughtfulness of how we declared this Emergencies Act. I appreciated that it is time and geographically limited, as well as proportional and reasonable to—

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/19/22 3:52:10 p.m.
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Questions and comments, the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Louis.

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Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia (Lac-Saint-Louis, Lib.)

Feb/19/22 3:52:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many members have said we already had the legislative tools, yet I noticed that the Province of Ontario enacted some emergency legislation. Would the member not agree that the reason exceptional legislation was not sufficient was that it did not engage FINTRAC and could not deputize police forces from outside Ontario?

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Ms. Julie Dzerowicz

Feb/19/22 3:52:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would agree with the hon. member. We realized, and the police forces across the country made us realize, that there were some gaps in their ability to be able to act. Tracking and stopping the money was one of the key elements that was missing, as was designating spaces to be able to enforce protection and enabling tow trucks to take action. To address the use of trucks as instruments in the blockades was also a gap in our ability to use existing laws.

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Hon. Robert Oliphant (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.)

Feb/19/22 3:53:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have been reflecting all day on the very momentous occasion this is and the kind of debate that is lengthy, engaged and important. I have been listening all day and have actually found the contributions of all the members, which I have agreed with or not agreed with, to be quite helpful for me in engaging with this conversation. We do not do that often in this House. We do not have dozens of hours of debate on an issue, and we are doing that because of the singular importance of invoking this act. Even as we engage in our debate today, Ottawa police officers, supported by local police, Sûreté du Québec, the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP, are continuing to calmly, peacefully and effectively work to free our capital city, even as it remains under siege in an illegal occupation. I thank them. With the invocation of the Emergencies Act, police forces and other authorities are able to engage co-operatively to restore peace, order and good government in this city. In fact, the act itself can trace its roots right back to that part of the Constitution Act of 1867. It is important that we do that to have police forces co-operating with the tools they need to act in an emergency situation, but what may be less apparent, and has been mentioned today but is equally important, is that this act allows us to put the squeeze on foreign and non-transparent domestic funding of the extremist groups at work behind this occupation, to bring it to an end. As I speak, I am hopeful that the end is now in sight and the end comes without incident, without injury and certainly without loss of life. Let me be perfectly clear. All Canadians value freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate. That is a fundamental part of what it means to be Canadian. I, as a United Church minister, have been part of many demonstrations aimed at drawing attention to important issues of social justice, and I am sure I will do that again in the future. What has transpired in Ottawa, at border crossings and at a bridge over the last few weeks has not been that. Over these past three weeks, I have walked through the crowds gathered near Parliament. I have seen their signs. I have heard their comments. I have also been learning from them. I have learned that there are many people on the streets here who are angry. They feel left out. They feel unheard for a variety of reasons. For some, this pandemic has exacerbated other problems, such as economic problems, social problems and health problems. Our job is fundamentally to listen to them, to find ways to help them and to respect them. I am committed to doing that, but their anger and frustration have been both manipulated and exploited by extremists who are fuelled by nothing more than malevolence and a complete disrespect for the values and institutions Canadians have built and depend on. What is—

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/19/22 3:56:45 p.m.
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Can I interrupt the hon. member for just one moment? I really apologize. Can the member take his phone and maybe move it away from the microphone? It is impeding the microphone. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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Hon. Robert Oliphant

Feb/19/22 3:57:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the anger and frustration of the people on the streets, I believe, have been manipulated and exploited by extremists who are fuelled by nothing more than malevolence and a complete disrespect for the values and institutions that Canadians have built and depend on. What has transpired in Ottawa over the past three weeks is a massive disruption that is meant to do more than disrupt traffic and make a point about vaccines or pandemic mandates. It is a manifestation led by a small group of people, fuelled by anger, even hatred, aimed at subverting democracy and the rule of law. Democracy and the rule of law go hand in hand with freedom. They protect our freedom. It is time for this illegal occupation to end. The vast majority of Canadians, I believe, understand this and agree with our government's approach. While I respect and value the opinions of all, this is a time when, I believe, we need to hold up democracy, democratic institutions and the rule of law, so that freedom can be maintained. Mr. Speaker, speaking through you directly to the residents of Don Valley West, I want to thank them for taking the time to write to me and to call me, including expressing concerns for my personal safety over these last few weeks. While I note the minority of people who disagree with me, I have reached the opinion that the federal government is taking the right measured careful action in invoking this law. They have exhausted all other options and have had to act, and they are doing so by intelligently and judiciously invoking this act. We are all tired of COVID-19. We want this pandemic to end and we all wish that there was a final firm timeline to set that end, but this is a virus. It is persistent. It is evolving. No one is able to give an exact timetable for the return to normal life. I hear the Conservatives call for the government to set a deadline for our return to normal, a so-called plan. Frankly, what is required is that we have many plans for all the contingencies that could happen with this unpredictable virus, and we do. Both at the federal level and at the level of the provinces and territories we have such plans, plans to open public spaces, plans to travel more easily, plans to combat new and yet undiscovered variants and plans to ensure every person in the world, not just Canadians, are fully vaccinated. These plans are developed constantly by public servants who are following the science and advising the governments across this country. Right now what we really need is patience, persistence, co-operation, care for our neighbours, support for frontline workers, especially in health care, and a following of the rule of law in this country. The virus will be beaten. The pandemic will end, but it will end through vaccinations and public health advances and protocols, not by occupying our nation's capital, not by blockading bridges, by stopping commerce and by stopping the freedom of other Canadians to go about their daily business. More than 5.8 million people have died from COVID-19 around the world. It is a pandemic. It is the enemy. The enemies are not the scientists. The enemies are not politicians. The enemies are not medical professionals. They are not public health officials. The enemy is an unpredictable, mutating, persistent virus that needs to be beaten. The virus, however, is not the only enemy that needs to be countered. The disinformation and misinformation of this pandemic has become endemic. It saddens me that otherwise intelligent people are falling prey to that misinformation and do not see the far-right agenda that is at work in this situation. They are an opportunistic infection, if there ever was one. Fuelled by paranoia, conspiracy theories and ignorance, it has culminated in the demonstration that we are seeing in our city streets, which we have been listening to and walking through. We are hearing the hurt. We are hearing the disaffection. We are hearing the anger, but we also want them to know they are heard and should not be manipulated by extremists who have no other goal but to disrupt our freedom and democracy and the rule of law in this country. Therefore, we have the Emergencies Act to end the blockades at this time. Our Prime Minister waited as long as he could, working hard to diffuse the situation. Over the past weeks, illegal road, border and bridge closures, and their significant negative impact on the economy, convinced the Prime Minister to invoke the Emergencies Act. There will be discussion about that. There will be a parliamentary committee overseeing it. There will be hearings after it is over, and there will be public discourse. However, right now in this House, we should be united to ensure that we remain a country of democracy, the rule of law and ensuring that our fundamental freedoms are enshrined. We have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That was a Liberal bill. We also have the Bill of Rights, which was a Conservative bill. Both of them are protected in the Emergencies Act. As the interim Ottawa police chief, Steve Bell, noted, right now this act is helpful, necessary and effective. We see it working as our streets are slowly being cleared. This morning, I walked into this place somewhat afraid of the day ahead. I believe tonight I will go back home just a bit more sure that Canada will remain a place where all of us are safe, all of us will have our rights and freedoms protected, and all of us will be able to engage. We will continue to do this. We will work together. I encourage all members of this House, all parties, to engage in this, as it is important to their constituents, to ending this pandemic and to making sure Canada remains Canada.

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Mr. Greg McLean (Calgary Centre, CPC)

Feb/19/22 4:03:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I did notice a term in my colleague's speech when he talked about far right and far left. These are divisive terms. In here, we have to look at people as they are people, and make sure that we are actually listening to Canadian voices, wherever on the spectrum they may be, and make sure that everybody gets heard in this country. Stigmatizing some of those voices is not the right approach to this. I know the member usually does not undertake that kind of behaviour. I will ask him a question around Canada's financial system. I would pose, for the member, that Canada already has adequate laws under FINTRAC to address foreign funding coming into Canada and looking at it. Would the member reconsider the notion of stigmatizing the bank accounts of people who donated a small amount to people they supported in these protests as they came to Ottawa, when they were protests, who now have the prospect of having their bank accounts frozen as a result. Would the member reconsider that at this time?

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Hon. Robert Oliphant

Feb/19/22 4:04:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to be very clear. The government has absolutely no intention of stigmatizing anybody in this process. However, we are going to follow the money. Now, we have the tools to follow the money and find out exactly where influence is being spread. For two years, I was chair of the public safety committee, and I often listened to Conservatives saying that Liberals were naive, not following the threats and not following the information from intelligence agencies. We have listened. We are not naive on this side of the House. We are not playing politics. We are engaging in the most important systems that we need to engage in, to ensure that this country is protected. I believe the Conservatives know that, and they should get on board with it.

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Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Lac-Saint-Jean, BQ)

Feb/19/22 4:05:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. When it comes to using special legislation like the Emergencies Act, I think we need to be 100% sure that it is the right decision, unlike what my colleague from Hull—Aylmer believes. Earlier today, he told us that he was not 100% sure that this is the right decision, but he wanted to make it anyway. What does the act itself say? It says that all the other regular legislative tools have to be used before the Emergencies Act can be invoked. Does my hon. colleague believe that is the case? Does he believe that we have already used all the legislative tools at our disposal? If so, can he name those tools?

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Hon. Robert Oliphant

Feb/19/22 4:06:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, nothing in life is 100% certain. I could not live if I were waiting for everything to be 100% certain. However, I believe the burden of proof has been met. We have listened to police forces. We are giving them the tools. We are working with them to ensure our rights and freedoms are protected, but also that the authorities have the tools that they need to act. We will engage. We will have a public inquiry after this event. We have a parliamentary committee that will oversee it. Everything will be transparent. Everything will be acted upon. This is a courageous act. The legislation is there. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are using it, and frankly, I am proud of them.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Feb/19/22 4:07:11 p.m.
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Qujannamiik, Uqaqtittiji. I want to thank the member for Don Valley West. I also want to thank the parliamentary staff, who have been doing an extraordinary job. I have described the leaders of the so-called “freedom convoy” as extremists. I am being asked by my constituents in Nunavut what extremists I am talking about. Could the member describe those who have led the illegal blockades and tell us exactly what danger they pose to the rest of Canada?

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Hon. Robert Oliphant

Feb/19/22 4:07:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Nunavut for her leadership on this issue. I have been profoundly moved by her questions, both about inclusion and about rights, and now this one. Arrests have been made. A significant number of arrests have been made yesterday and today. These folks are now before the courts, so I am not going to comment on them directly. The court processes will take place, and we will understand what happens later. It is my instinct, however, and having followed the news on this and having followed intelligence over the last number of years about who is moving and where our biggest threats to Canada are, I believe those threats are from extremist far-right groups. I think that right now is a time when it has come to a head. We will have a clearer and better picture once our courts have acted.

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Hon. Mona Fortier (President of the Treasury Board, Lib.)

Feb/19/22 4:08:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the supplementary estimates (C), 2021-22.

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