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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 89

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 15, 2022 02:00PM
  • Jun/15/22 2:48:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during the blockades, police forces and provincial authorities, including an Alberta minister, told us that they no longer had the tools to deal with these challenges. They needed more resources and tools. We gave them more resources and more police officers, but ultimately, we chose to invoke the Emergencies Act because it gave us specific and proportionate tools to be able to put an end to the crisis. That is exactly what happened.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:49:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Minister of Public Safety said, neither the RCMP nor the Ottawa Police Service asked the government to invoke the Emergencies Act. However, true to form, whenever the Prime Minister is confronted with his contradictions, he dodges the issue or blames others, and when that does not work, he takes cheap shots, which is what he has been doing throughout question period. Ministerial responsibility appears to be a foreign concept for this government. Will he ask his minister to resign?
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  • Jun/15/22 2:50:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I understand my hon. colleague's indignation, but she should be asking her colleagues, who were encouraging civil disorder and supporting the people involved in the blockades, why they were backing those folks rather than law enforcement, who wanted to protect Canadians in their homes and needed additional tools. We provided police with those tools through the Emergencies Act in a responsible and proportionate manner, which is what put an end to these illegal blockades.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:50:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it did not take a crystal ball to realize that Canadians would start travelling again, and what we have seen in the airports are massive delays across the country. These are delays that could have been prevented if sufficient steps had been taken ahead of time: hiring staff, making sure they have good wages and making sure the conditions of work are appropriate so that we can have the staffing levels required so that there are no delays. What is the Prime Minister going to do now to hire staff and make sure they are well paid so that they can deal with the delays in the airports for Canadians trying to travel?
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  • Jun/15/22 2:51:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for actually highlighting one of the big challenges that are being faced right now by airlines and airports, which is staffing shortages. That is something that is not just happening in Canada; indeed, we are seeing those kinds of disruptions at airports around the world, whether it be Amsterdam, whether it be Paris, whether it be other significant airports around the world that are facing these kinds of challenges and delays. We invested early in hiring more staff for CBSA and hiring more staff at passport offices. Fortunately we did, because the problems would have been even worse, but we do recognize that there are challenges, and we are working hard every day to solve them for Canadians.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:51:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not surprising that people want to travel again. They will need their passport to travel, but the wait times for getting a passport are excessive. It is unacceptable. Will the Prime Minister ensure that the necessary workers are hired to meet the needs?
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  • Jun/15/22 2:52:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we have done. At the beginning of the year, long before these challenges arose, we hired 600 new employees and we are hiring 600 more, because we know how important it is to deliver passports. This has allowed us to deliver more than 360,000 passports since April 1, but there are still Canadians waiting. That is unacceptable, which is why we are working day and night to resolve this situation and help Canadians.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:53:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Hans Island has been subject to a 50-year-long territorial dispute between Canada and Denmark. While the Whisky War raged on, it was high time that we found a permanent solution that affirmed Canada's sovereignty and respected the rights of the Inuit. Can the Prime Minister share with this House the significance of the announcement of the historic agreement between Denmark and Canada that resolved this dispute?
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  • Jun/15/22 2:53:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for St. John's East for her important question and for her tremendous hard work. As global security is threatened, it is more important than ever for democracies like Canada and Denmark to work together to resolve our differences in accordance with international law. That is why we jointly announced a historic agreement to settle the Whisky War and the dispute over Hans Island once and for all. We will continue working with our partners, like Denmark, to protect the security and stability in the Arctic while doing so hand in hand with indigenous peoples.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:54:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the public safety minister has said repeatedly that law enforcement recommended that the government invoke the Emergencies Act, but yesterday the emergency preparedness minister said at committee, “I am not aware of any recommendation from law enforcement.” Suspending civil liberties is serious; so is misleading the House. I have a simple question for the Prime Minister: Does he believe the minister has acted honourably?
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  • Jun/15/22 2:54:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while Conservative politicians were out supporting the blockaders and standing with the illegal protesters, we were busy working with law enforcement and authorities across the country to deliver them tools that they needed, whether it be extra police officers or extra financial resources or tools. We were there for that. Ultimately, we chose to deliver, in a proportional and responsible way, the Emergencies Act, which had measures that helped put an end to these blockades. This was something that we had to do for the good of all Canadians.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:55:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the public safety minister is putting the government in a very difficult position. He has said the police requested the invocation of the act. Clearly, that is not the case. None of his cabinet colleagues concur with him. Neither does his deputy minister. The minister needs to take some time to reflect on the principle of ministerial accountability and on the integrity of our parliamentary system. He needs to decide what the honourable course of action is. Will he do that?
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  • Jun/15/22 2:56:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every step of the way we worked with police services and local authorities on ensuring that they had the tools they needed to be able to put an end to these illegal blockades and these illegal protests. When we chose to invoke the Emergencies Act, it was to deliver more tools that the police ultimately used to put an end to these illegal disruptions to so many Canadians' lives. While Conservative politicians were busy celebrating with and encouraging these illegal protesters, we acted to keep Canadians safe.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:56:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this, today, is how ministerial accountability dies: a Prime Minister who obfuscates and will not answer, and a minister who refuses to resign. The Minister of Public Safety clearly and unequivocally did not tell the truth. Ministers in the past have resigned on principle, ministers like Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott. Will the Prime Minister show that he has some principles and get that minister fired?
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  • Jun/15/22 2:57:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while we were focused on serving Canadians and getting them back to work, getting their lives back and getting their streets back, Conservative politicians were busy supporting and celebrating alongside these illegal protesters and barricaders. We focused on delivering the support that police services needed to put an end to this, which ultimately led up to us choosing to invoke the Emergencies Act, which gave them the tools necessary that worked to put an end to these illegal blockades. That was what we were focused on and that is what we continue to be focused on: Canadians.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:58:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we are witnessing here today by the Prime Minister is a poor man's master class on how to avoid accountability. We deserve accountability. Canadians deserve accountability. The minister needs to be held to account. He has misspoken, he has misled and he has misinformed this House and the Canadian public. His position is completely untenable. The Prime Minister would not even answer a question directly on this. The Prime Minister needs to show some principles, show that his minister has some principles and get him to resign or fire him.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:58:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in February, when blockades and occupations disrupted our economy, hurt workers and endangered public safety, we invoked the Emergencies Act to help bring them to an end. We have now announced the Public Order Emergency Commission, an independent public inquiry to examine the circumstances that led to the declaration being issued and the measures taken in response, as required under the act. We are acting in openness and transparency. We know that the members of the Conservative Party might not want light shed on these events, given their support of these blockades, but Canadians want to know the truth.
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  • Jun/15/22 2:59:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to The Globe and Mail, senior public servants are warning that the oil and gas industry will barely reach half of its reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions. Why? Because the Prime Minister refuses to cap fossil fuel production and because these targets are based on inefficient carbon capture technologies. We have to admit that carbon capture is an oil unicorn. Does the Prime Minister realize that it is irresponsible to have targets that we have no hope of reaching?
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  • Jun/15/22 3:00:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should perhaps listen to organizations such as the Canadian Climate Institute, Équiterre and Clean Prosperity, and also leading scientists who approved our plans and agree that our plan credibly outlines the contributions that every sector must make to achieve our climate targets. We promised an ambitious and achievable plan to reduce pollution and create opportunities for Canadians, and that is exactly what we are delivering with the emissions reduction plan.
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  • Jun/15/22 3:00:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a difference of 38 megatonnes between the government's 81 megatonne emissions reduction target for the oil and gas industry and the 43 megatonnes that experts estimate the industry will actually cut. That is how much wishful thinking weighs. Yesterday, the UN Secretary-General described the discrepancy between what needs to be done to combat climate change and what politicians are actually doing as a “dangerous disconnect”. When will the Prime Minister understand that it is completely unrealistic to think that Canada can meet its targets without cutting oil production?
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