44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 2, 2022 02:00PM
- Mar/2/22 2:11:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, these times have been unrelentingly anxious for Canadians, with the pandemic; the conflict in Ukraine and other places, too many other places; economic and social insecurity; and so many other issues.
The impact of all of this is seen in our mental health crisis in Canada. In conversations and correspondence with our Fleetwood—Port Kells community, it is clear that our collective anxiety is being amplified greatly by misinformation, false news, anger and hate on the Internet.
We contribute to this too when partisan rhetoric in the goal of political advantage overrides the need of Canadians for our leadership, certainly through vigorous debate but focused on understanding and serving the common good. Each of us here must be prepared to step in, to correct the record on disinformation, to pop the bubble on conspiracy theories and to call out those who Gordon Lightfoot once described as “the wise and wicked ones who feed upon life's sacred fire”.
We were elected to lead. This is the leadership that our country needs.
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- Mar/2/22 4:26:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I feel like what we are currently listening to is not a debate, but rather a squabble between two parties that are unable to reach an agreement on such an important issue.
The Bloc Québécois believes that it is important that the chair of this committee be as non‑partisan as possible and that both sides be represented, that is, those who voted in favour and those who voted against. We have therefore made some proposals.
We do not understand why the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and the House leader of the official opposition cannot agree on a solution. This committee, which will sit in camera, must be non‑partisan and must follow a rigorous process.
What we are seeing right now is that we are falling prey to partisanship, with the complicity of the NDP, rather than focusing on the objective at hand, which is to find out what happened during these events.
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- Mar/2/22 4:30:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today's debate is a very serious one. Canadians want to shed light on the events that took place in February after the government did nothing for three weeks.
This committee will shed light on this matter. This is supposed to be a non-partisan parliamentary committee. What is unfortunate is that the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons came out swinging in his speech, accusing the Conservatives of partisanship, when that could not be farther from the truth. We must conduct a neutral and objective review of the events that took place.
Why is the government taking such a partisan stance on a matter that demands non-partisanship?
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- Mar/2/22 4:50:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if this was not such a serious issue, I would almost be amused by the childishness of the Liberals and the Conservatives.
Personally, I find it doubly important that the membership of the committee be unanimous, because we need this committee to be as legitimate as possible given the context.
Another reason why I think that is important is that a precedent has already been set in this case. The Liberals, along with their Siamese twins the NDP, imposed the emergency measures in a seemingly partisan context, and I would find it extremely frustrating if the membership of this committee was shoved down the House's throat with a gag order.
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- Mar/2/22 6:53:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I certainly agree with the member on how urgently we need to move on this and get this work started, so we can fully understand exactly what happened for all of the reasons he said.
One of the reasons we are having this debate today is because the Conservatives are unwilling to accept the fact that they will not have a chair position on this committee. The government took the position, or at least this side of the House took the position, that it was probably in the best interest that a member of the governing party not be chair on the committee, nor should the party that seemed to support the occupiers be chair. Instead, we would give that responsibility to the Bloc, the NDP and the Senate to make it as non-partisan as possible.
I would ask the member to reflect on whether he thinks that is a good set-up and scenario, given the circumstances of what has happened over the last number of weeks.
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- Mar/2/22 7:13:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, earlier I was sure I was lost. I walked into the House and then turned around and left because I was sure I had walked into a day care centre. I did come back eventually, though.
We in the Bloc Québécois do not care who the chair is. The important thing is that the work begins, but especially that there is a consensus on the formation of the committee. That is the most important thing. Getting the committee off the ground may be the only part of the Emergencies Act that will be used properly. In terms of inspiring confidence in Quebeckers and Canadians, we are off to a very poor start.
We need to have the least partisan committee possible. Nothing I am hearing from either the Conservative side or the Liberal side is inspiring confidence at this point.
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- Mar/2/22 7:25:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Winnipeg North knows how much I appreciate him, and I know he feels the same way.
I can understand why he was confused about the Bloc Québécois's support for the emergency measures. We supported the idea of taking the appropriate measures at the right time and in accordance with provincial and federal jurisdictions. For more than three weeks, we were suggesting solutions and asking questions in the House. The members on the other side of the House did not seem to hear us, however. That explains why my colleague is confused.
As I was listening to his speech, I was trying to think of a suggestion, a step forward, some small way to get this committee off on a less partisan foot. I struggled to think of anything, though, so I figured that I would give my colleague an opportunity to tell us what the government could do to get this committee off on the right foot.
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