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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 84

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 8, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 84 - Jun/8/22
Hon. Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)
  • Jun/8/22 2:38:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the fact is that we looked ahead. Our government has already set in motion five important programs that will deliver supports starting this year to the Canadians who need it the most. With the Canada workers benefit, a family of three can get up to $2,300 more. With the 10% increase in the OAS, a senior can get $815 more. There is $500 payment to people experiencing housing affordability challenges, dental care—
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The Speaker
  • Jun/8/22 2:39:20 p.m.
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The hon. member for Fundy Royal.
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Hon. Rob Moore (Fundy Royal, CPC)
  • Jun/8/22 2:39:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians from coast to coast are worried about the rising rate of violent gun crimes in their communities. They are calling on the government for action. Instead of listening to Canadians, the Liberals are removing mandatory jail time for offences such as robbery with a firearm, extortion with a firearm and weapons trafficking, just to name a few. Canadians do not want to see government bills that help dangerous criminals skip out on jail time. They want dangerous criminals taken off our streets. Will the Liberals reverse course on their soft-on-crime agenda?
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Hon. David Lametti (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)
  • Jun/8/22 2:40:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, serious crime in this country will always carry with it serious consequences. The kinds of situations that we are targeting with this legislation on minimum mandatory penalties are situations where public security and public safety are not at risk. It is being done to attack the systemic overrepresentation of Black and indigenous people in the criminal justice system. The kinds of situations that he is describing are being attacked in Bill C-21, and we are raising the maximum penalties.
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Hon. Rob Moore (Fundy Royal, CPC)
  • Jun/8/22 2:40:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is incomprehensible. Canadians simply do not buy this Liberal logic. According to Liberal logic, the justice minister's bill tackles racism by decreasing jail time for gun crimes, but the public safety minister's bill tackles racism by increasing jail time for the exact same crimes. They cannot have it both ways, so which one is it?
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Hon. David Lametti (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)
  • Jun/8/22 2:41:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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The Speaker
  • Jun/8/22 2:41:26 p.m.
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I believe members were very excited to have two people rise to speak, so we will just calm down and let one proceed. The hon. Minister of Justice can begin from the top, please.
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Hon. David Lametti
  • Jun/8/22 2:41:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this attack on minimum mandatory penalties, coming from a lawyer, is something that is hard to understand. The situations that he describes are not the situations that would be touched by minimum mandatory penalties. Minimum mandatory penalties are being abandoned because they fail. It is a failed so-called tough-on-crime policy. The jurisdictions in the United States that inspired the Harper government to bring in these minimum mandatory penalties are abandoning minimum mandatory penalties, one by one. Serious crime will always be punished seriously. There is no threat to—
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The Speaker
  • Jun/8/22 2:42:16 p.m.
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The hon. member for Sturgeon River—Parkland.
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Mr. Dane Lloyd (Sturgeon River—Parkland, CPC)
  • Jun/8/22 2:42:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, May 19, at the public safety committee, the Minister of Public Safety confirmed that he stood by his statement in Parliament on May 2 when he said, “At the recommendation of [law enforcement], we invoked the Emergencies Act”. We now know that police did not make this recommendation and his own deputy minister said yesterday that he was misunderstood. When did it become acceptable for a minister of the House to spread misinformation?
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Hon. Marco Mendicino (Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)
  • Jun/8/22 2:43:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the heckling of my colleagues who I know are— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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The Speaker
  • Jun/8/22 2:43:26 p.m.
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Order. The hon. member for Sturgeon River—Parkland asked a question and I think he wants to hear the answer. The hon. minister.
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Hon. Marco Mendicino
  • Jun/8/22 2:43:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to give an answer by refreshing his memory and the memory of all members in this chamber that, last winter, we experienced an unprecedented public order emergency in the opinion of law enforcement, which is why, prior to invoking the Emergencies Act, we sought their advice on the powers that were needed to restore public safety. Let me quote from Commissioner Lucki's testimony before the committee when she said— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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The Speaker
  • Jun/8/22 2:43:51 p.m.
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I am going to interrupt the hon. minister. I want to make sure we can hear that quote. The hon. minister.
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Hon. Marco Mendicino
  • Jun/8/22 2:44:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was just about to say that Commissioner Lucki said the following: “the Emergencies Act did give us the tools that we needed to get the job done quickly.” We invoked the Emergencies Act to restore public safety. It was the right and responsible thing to do.
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Mr. Dane Lloyd (Sturgeon River—Parkland, CPC)
  • Jun/8/22 2:44:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our memories are very clear on this side of the House. The minister repeatedly stated that police recommended that the government invoke the Emergencies Act. However, now we know that not a single police force in this country made that recommendation. The minister has had multiple opportunities to clarify, but he stood by his statement. Now his deputy minister is saying that the minister was misunderstood. Who is telling the truth? The public safety minister or his most senior public servant?
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Hon. Marco Mendicino (Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)
  • Jun/8/22 2:44:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to be absolutely clear that last winter when we saw an unprecedented public order emergency in the opinion of law enforcement, we filled the gaps that existed within authorities that were not effective at the time to restore public safety. Prior to invoking the Emergencies Act, we sought advice, as any responsible government would do, prior to invoking the act. We heard Commissioner Lucki say that we needed, for example, power to compel tow trucks as a result of protesters who would not leave. I wonder why they would not leave. They would not leave because Conservatives were egging them on to stay. That was wrong and we invoked it to protect Canadians.
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Ms. Raquel Dancho (Kildonan—St. Paul, CPC)
  • Jun/8/22 2:45:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety knows the severity of invoking the Emergencies Act, the historical significance and the impact on due process and charter rights. The details of why and how the government invoked the act are key. It will set a precedent in Canada on government powers. I am sure the minister would agree there is no room for being misunderstood when setting a historical precedent. There is also no room for hiding cabinet documents from Justice Rouleau's inquiry. Will the Liberal government waive cabinet confidence and release the documents to Justice Rouleau?
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Hon. Marco Mendicino (Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)
  • Jun/8/22 2:46:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we have said all along, the government will co-operate with Justice Rouleau. We will co-operate with the joint parliamentary committee to be transparent because I agree with my colleague that we need to scrutinize the invocation of the Emergencies Act. My point is that the facts are very clear. We were in the midst and in the throes of an unprecedented public order emergency in the opinion of non-partisan, professional law enforcement. When we sought their advice about which powers were needed to restore public safety, we listened to them and we invoked to restore public safety.
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Ms. Raquel Dancho (Kildonan—St. Paul, CPC)
  • Jun/8/22 2:46:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister is being a bit vague answering my question on whether his government is going to release the documents. The question of cabinet confidence is critical to the Rouleau inquiry as argued by a former clerk of the Privy Council who said cabinet confidence “should not be utilized to impede the search for the truth where the validity of government action is seriously contested and the law demands that it be reviewed, as is the case with the recent declaration of emergency in response to the trucker convoy protests and blockades.” In other words, this is a really big deal. Will the Liberals respect Justice Rouleau's request and hand over the cabinet documents, yes or no?
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