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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 50

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 31, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 50 - Mar/31/22
Mrs. Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, CPC)
  • Mar/31/22 6:32:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I begin my remarks by recognizing the good people who live in the Ontario riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke for their confidence in me as their federal member of Parliament. As the Prime Minister should be aware, February in Canada is Black History Month. I gave the Prime Minister the opportunity to join Conservative members of Parliament to condemn the racist act of wearing blackface. This opportunity was given two days after he cried wolf, invoking the Emergencies Act. It was important to do so at that point, since the Liberal Party decision to refuse to meet with members of the “freedom convoy” led to the firing of Ottawa's first Black police chief, Peter Sloly. There is no doubt the dog whistle comments by the Prime Minister to his party trolls were inflaming a situation in Ottawa that Chief Sloly was dealing with in a non-aggressive manner as a professional police officer. I take this opportunity on behalf of all Canadians to thank Chief Sloly for his service to Canada as the police chief of Ottawa and for standing up for the right Canadians thought they had of peaceful protest. During Chief Sloly's time as head of police, Canadians could feel safe walking the streets of Ottawa. With children playing, bouncy castles, outdoor barbecues to feed the homeless and Canadians proudly waving Canadian flags, some remarked this was the Canada Day they had been missing for years. This was not the image that the Prime Minister wanted for a backdrop as he manoeuvred with his deputy, the Minister of Finance, to find any excuse to declare a so-called emergency. As he had purged strong women from his party, like former justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould; former health minister Jane Philpott; and, Black woman member of Parliament, Celina Caesar-Chavannes, who stood up to the Prime Minister, it was obvious that a scapegoat was needed. Chief Sloly had to go. Black History Month was the appropriate moment for the Prime Minister to tone down the hate-filled divisive language, which had not stopped coming out of his mouth since the unnecessary election called five months previously. It is everyone's responsibility to carefully say who and what they are platforming. It was time to stop being so angry and start acting like a true leader of a civilized country. Instead, the Prime Minister used the backdrop of Black History Month to cause the firing of Ottawa's first Black chief police officer. The trucker strike was driven by widespread resentment of hysterical reporting throughout the pandemic by the Liberal bought off media and the attempted cancellation of anyone who dissented over the mandates, whether on scientific or civil liberties grounds. With the declaration of the Emergencies Act, Canada got noticed but not for the right reasons. Addressing the Irish upper house, Ireland senator, Sharon Keogan, spoke up against the unjust and excessive force used against the peaceful protest. Ireland, Canadians embarrassingly remember, was elected to the seat on the United Nations Security Council for which the government spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars unsuccessfully campaigning. I quote Senator Keogan: We have had calls in this House to address serious human rights abuses occurring in all places over the world, from China in the East, to here in the West.... I find it odd that we have heard nothing of the well publicised, high profile, peaceful protest being violently suppressed and dispersed by armed government forces. Ranks of uniformed and armoured military figures, stripped of their badges and [ID] tags, converged on protesters, an officer on horseback trampled over a disabled woman, [around] 200 arrests were made and over 60 vehicles...seized by the state. [It] sounds like something [you’d see from] Russia...but instead this is happening in the supposedly liberal democracy of Canada....
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