SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 36

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 21, 2022 07:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 36 - Feb/21/22
Mr. Scott Reid (Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, CPC)
  • Feb/21/22 5:49:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member has stated his reasons for voting for this motion and I take him at his word. I will mention two other members of his caucus, the member for Louis-Hébert and the member for Beaches—East York. The member for Beaches—East York indicated that he will be voting for it because it has been made into a confidence motion. I believe the member for Louis-Hébert indicated that he is not sure whether it has been made into a matter of confidence, which is to say that any Liberal MP who votes against it will be expelled from caucus for voting against their caucus on this matter. I wonder if I could get some clarification. Has the memorandum been sent out to Liberal MPs indicating that this is a confidence measure and that their careers will be over and they will be kicked out of caucus if they vote against it, yes or no?
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Context: House Hansard - 36 - Feb/21/22
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Feb/21/22 7:24:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the important interventions of my colleagues across all political lines throughout the weekend and today. We are all tired. Canadians are tired. I want to make sure it is unequivocally clear that NDP members are taking the use of the Emergencies Act very seriously. We have been unequivocally clear that if we vote in favour of the government's request, as we will tonight, it is not a blank cheque. We are very reluctant here. We are not supporting it because we want to, but because of the failure of leadership from all levels of government, which led to this point. The government will have to stay within the established powers or we will withdraw our support. We have made that unequivocally clear. I want to speak a little about the main group that organized this protest, this convoy. They came to Ottawa. They issued a memorandum of understanding, which is a pseudo-legal document. It called for the establishment of a committee with the Governor General and individuals appointed by Canada Unity, which would have had the power to override all levels of government and to dissolve the democratically elected Government of Canada if it did not follow through on the MOU. This is unacceptable. They called on the Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament. We can all agree that this is a failure of the leadership of the convoy as well to make that declaration. It is certainly not a way to get a meeting with the Prime Minister and the government. This is the first time the Emergencies Act has ever been used since it was created over 30 years ago. The NDP agrees that it should continue to be avoided as much as possible. It is very clear that we do not want to use this tool. This is, again, as a result of the failure of all levels of government, including our Prime Minister, to show leadership to keep Canadians safe over the past few weeks. What we face right now are illegitimate protests. They have not been peaceful. There has been an illegal occupation. People in residential areas of Ottawa have been harassed. People do not feel safe in their own homes. There have been reports of attempted arson of a residential building. The convoy has given itself unlawful powers to detain people. We have seen large numbers of firearms confiscated in Coutts, Alberta. This cannot continue to escalate further. It has to stop. I understand the concerns people have about the potential impacts of the use of emergency measures legislation. I have those concerns, too. I have seen Liberals and Conservatives abuse their power in the past. I have seen their governments attack rights of indigenous peoples and workers, as examples. That is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about an illegal occupation that has gone on for three weeks. It has had a huge impact on people. The NDP will use all powers at its disposal to hold the government to account while the Emergencies Act remains in effect. I did hear a Conservative member say that the NDP is the party of the working class and that it has abandoned them. That is not true. We are not abandoning the people of Ottawa. We are not abandoning the workers of Ottawa. We are not abandoning automobile workers in Windsor, Ontario, and workers across this country. We want to make sure there is a clear flow of goods and services so that businesses can continue to operate. I heard the leader of the official opposition initially say, “I don't think we should be asking them to go home”, and that we need to turn this into the Prime Minister's problem. I had a person from my community say the same thing to me. Paul reached out to me and said, “Let the Prime Minister sink on this.” I can tell you, as a New Democrat I will never let someone be harmed for political gain. We as New Democrats will not do that. We will stand up for Canadians, for health care workers, indigenous peoples, people suffering across this country. We need to stop the division. I know the Conservatives like to tell the story that this is not well supported. Again, I made it very clear that Peter MacKay, a former Conservative defence and justice minister under Stephen Harper, thinks that this meets the bar and that this should be supported, as does Vern White, a Conservative senator, the former chief of police of Ottawa, as does Prime Minister Harper's own senior security adviser. The Premier of Ontario is a Conservative and he supports the implementation of the Emergencies Act to relieve the citizens of Ottawa and the City of Ottawa. How can all levels of government be ignored, including first nations? First nations in my own province, the First Nations Leadership Council in British Columbia, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, and the B.C. Solicitor General support this. We need to move forward. We need to end the division in our country, and stop the flow of misinformation and foreign money. I see it is time to go to a vote. I urge us all as Canadians to come together and drop the rhetoric. I know the Prime Minister said a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. It is time for all of us to include each other, drop the rhetoric and try to heal as a country.
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