44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 27, 2022 02:00PM
- Apr/27/22 3:02:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the environment commissioner disagrees.
He says that the Prime Minister has not done anything to help workers in the oil and gas sector make the green transition. That is not to say that the Prime Minister has done nothing at all. On the contrary, he has done quite a bit when it comes to oil. He bought Trans Mountain, and he just approved Bay du Nord, a project that will produce one billion additional barrels of oil.
The question is this: If the environment commissioner thinks that the federal government is not ready for the green transition, is it simply because the Prime Minister never had any intention of starting this transition in the first place?
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- Apr/27/22 3:03:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we thank the environment commissioner for his latest reports. His work shows how far we have come and how much more we can do.
After a decade of inaction under the former Conservative government, we have made tremendous progress, whether it is building the green economy of the future, putting a price on pollution across Canada, or protecting an unprecedented amount of our lands and waters.
We are ready to do even more to keep our air clean, create jobs for the middle class and grow a strong economy.
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- Apr/27/22 3:04:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to remember that the Ambassador Bridge and the Coutts, Alberta crossings were cleared before the Emergencies Act was invoked. The act was not needed to clear the border blockades, and police were well equipped to take care of this with all the existing laws and powers.
What, then, was the national security threat that met the extraordinarily high threshold needed to invoke this act? Is there something they are not telling us, or was the Prime Minister trying to cover up for his incompetent management of the protest?
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- Apr/27/22 3:04:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when illegal blockades hurt workers and endangered public safety, police were clear that they needed tools not held by any federal, provincial or territorial law. It was only after we got advice from law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act. The Canadian Police Association and the Canadian and Ontario associations of chiefs of police all agreed that this was how the legislation should be used: for emergencies.
We have now announced the independent inquiry to examine the circumstances that led to the declaration and the measures taken in response, and we all look forward to Justice Rouleau's work.
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- Apr/27/22 3:05:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the protest organizers are being held accountable in courts as we speak, but this inquiry is to ensure the government is being held accountable. Invoking an act with the power to override charter rights is dangerous, so the purpose of the inquiry is to tell the public whether the threshold needed to invoke the act was in fact met.
The Liberal government has not made a convincing argument. Whether it met the threshold remains in serious doubt, so either it is hiding something or it is covering up for incompetence.
Will the Prime Minister waive cabinet confidence and let Canadians know the true story?
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- Apr/27/22 3:06:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when we invoked the Emergencies Act in a restrained and limited way, we also committed to the full transparency that goes with the invocation of these powers, whether it is a parliamentary committee that has been examining the issue or whether it is a full public inquiry that will be transparent and have the power to understand the circumstances and the use of the Emergencies Act.
That is the kind of thing everyone should look forward to. Unfortunately, Conservatives are made uneasy by the fact that they were standing against hard-working Canadians by standing with people who were illegally blockading our economy.
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- Apr/27/22 3:06:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I think the Prime Minister's definition of transparency is different from Canadians' definition.
The Emergencies Act stipulates that the special joint committee and the inquiry are responsible for holding the actions of the government to account, and not that of Canadian citizens.
At last night’s committee meeting, the Minister of Public Safety and the Minister of Justice continued to hide behind cabinet confidences and lawyer-client privilege.
Will the Prime Minister be transparent and accountable to Canadians and release the documents the government relied upon to justify the invocation of the Emergencies Act?
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- Apr/27/22 3:07:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, an integral part of invoking acts like the Emergencies Act, unutilized to this point, is a level of transparency and accountability that comes through a parliamentary committee created to look into exactly that, and a transparent public inquiry headed by Justice Rouleau, who will be able to examine all these questions around the circumstances that led up to the invocation and the use of the act itself.
That is what Canadians expect, but that is exactly what makes Conservatives uncomfortable, because of their support of those convoys.
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- Apr/27/22 3:08:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we continue to be dismayed at the images coming out of Bucha, Mariupol and other towns and villages throughout Ukraine where the atrocities committed by Russian forces are coming to light.
Canada has supported Ukraine every step of the way, both before and after the Russian invasion, but Ukrainians still need our help. Could the Prime Minister tell the House and Canadians about the measures this government has taken to hold President Putin and his accomplices accountable?
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- Apr/27/22 3:08:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Etobicoke Centre for his solidarity with the Ukrainian people and his personal leadership.
This morning, we announced sanctions against 11 senior officials and 192 other members of the people's councils of the so‑called Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics.
Today's measures apply further pressure on President Putin and those complicit in the horrific events occurring in Ukraine. We will continue to stand with Ukraine and its people.
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- Apr/27/22 3:09:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Emergencies Act is crystal clear. The independent public inquiry must look into the circumstances leading up to and the measures used by the government under the Emergencies Act. It is completely inappropriate for the Prime Minister to try to direct the scope of this inquiry by predetermining what the commissioner must investigate. This is political interference. It is up to the commissioner, based upon the Emergencies Act, to determine what is relevant, not the Prime Minister.
Will the Prime Minister immediately amend the order in council to remove any political interference from this inquiry, yes or no?
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- Apr/27/22 3:10:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when our government invoked the Emergencies Act, we committed to Canadians that we would be up front and transparent about it. We have kept that commitment. The commission, an independent public inquiry, is further evidence of that as it looks into the circumstances that led up to the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the use by the government of the Emergencies Act. As we have made clear, we will work directly with the commission to make sure that it is able to fully complete that work.
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- Apr/27/22 3:10:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve to know the full truth and nothing but the truth on how the Liberal government came to its decision that the threshold had been met to invoke the Emergencies Act. Key evidence considered by cabinet would include a complete legal and constitutional analysis on the legality of this decision. Without this information, the inquiry will not be able to perform its legislated mandate to determine if the government acted appropriately.
Will the Prime Minister commit today to being open by default and make this internal analysis available to the commissioner immediately, yes or no?
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- Apr/27/22 3:11:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the member's second question, he confirmed that the mandate of the commission is to look into the circumstances that led to the invocation of the act and the use of that act and if it is responsible. That is exactly the issue.
Unfortunately, Conservative politicians seem a little uncomfortable that the inquiry might find that their supporting blockaders and folks who tried to shut down the Canadian economy and overthrow the government were maybe on the wrong side of the issue. That is what Conservative politicians seem to be so worried about.
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- Apr/27/22 3:12:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister cannot help himself. He just has to be the centre of attention.
He was the subject of an RCMP investigation. We know that he accepted a gift even though he did not authorize himself to do so. He is the first sitting prime minister to have been found guilty of multiple ethical violations.
Let us see if he also gave himself the right to break other laws. His aides have had time to look into this. Did he or did he not declare his trip as a taxable benefit on his tax return? That is an easy question.
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- Apr/27/22 3:12:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are flailing about in a desperate attempt to avoid talking about the day-to-day issues that matter to Canadians, from the housing crisis, which we are addressing with an extremely strong plan to help Canadians in our latest budget, to the green transition, in which we have invested billions of dollars to ensure jobs for generations to come as we fight climate change.
These are issues the Conservatives do not want to talk about. They want to focus on me, but we will stay focused on Canadians.
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- Apr/27/22 3:13:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many indigenous, rural and remote communities are still heavily dependent upon diesel and other fossil fuels for heat and for power.
Will the Prime Minister please tell the House what the government is doing to ensure that these communities and communities in rural and remote Canada are able to transition toward net zero?
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- Apr/27/22 3:13:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country for his hard work on protecting the environment. Advancing the transition to indigenous climate leadership is central to addressing climate change. It includes continuing to support indigenous, rural and remote communities by investing in indigenous-led and indigenous-delivered solutions to climate change and the transition to clean energy.
It is why our strengthened climate plan invests $300 million to advance our commitment to ensure communities relying on diesel have access to clean, renewable and reliable energy by 2030.
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- Apr/27/22 3:14:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are not safe as a result of successive Liberal and Conservative governments putting the privileges of big oil corporations over our safety and human rights.
We saw this in the budget, which gives $2.6 billion to big oil, but zero new funding to implement all the calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. This is disgraceful.
Will the government commit to increased investment to end this crisis of violence?
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- Apr/27/22 3:15:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our hearts are with survivors and families of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. Addressing this ongoing violence requires living up to the goals of our country and all the calls for justice.
In June 2021, partners from across the country came together and released the national action plan, including the federal pathway to finally end this ongoing tragedy. It will be supported by budget 2021's $2.2-billion investment in concrete measures that will keep people safe.
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