SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 176

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 30, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 176 - Mar/30/23
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)
  • Mar/30/23 7:05:00 p.m.
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The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.
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Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)
  • Mar/30/23 7:05:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member really did not really speak to the bill at all. He spoke about foreign interference and he spoke about freedoms. I would like to put those two elements together, because we saw with the convoy, supported heavily by Conservatives, the denial of freedoms for the people of Ottawa. Seniors were denied the freedom to go grocery shopping. People with disabilities were denied the ability to get their medications. Families were denied the right to sleep, by the convoy, supported by Russian state actors as the National Observer and the institute for conflict studies have shown very clearly. The Conservatives supported a takeover that denied thousands of people in downtown Ottawa their basic freedoms, and they have not denounced the involvement of foreign state actors from Russia. Could the member come clean on those two things?
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Mr. Jeremy Patzer
  • Mar/30/23 7:06:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what is fascinating is that the Minister for Public Safety at the time based the government's decision-making on reports from the CBC that were proven to be false. They were spinning a false narrative, both about buildings allegedly lit on fire by the convoy, which did not happen, and that Russia interfered or huge foreign groups tried to fund this movement, which did not happen; FINTRAC said as much and CSIS proved as much as well. What this member actually just did was spread misinformation about what was going on. That is shameful, and he should apologize for that.
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Mr. Mel Arnold (North Okanagan—Shuswap, CPC)
  • Mar/30/23 7:06:52 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-11 
Madam Speaker, it is an honour once again to rise in the House as the representative of the awesome people and beautiful area of the North Okanagan—Shuswap. I rise today to debate Bill C-11, what has become commonly known as the Liberal government's censorship bill. I rise on behalf of a long list of people who contacted me by email, social media, handwritten letters and on the streets, asking me to do all I can to oppose this draconian bill that would control what they will see online and what they can post online, all controlled by a government deciding what government wants them to see and post, not what users choose to see and post. As I rise today, the government has already taken other steps to limit what Canadians can say about this bill. Today, the government has decided to further censor open debate on Bill C-11 by forcing closure of debate on the bill and, in doing so, deny any further debate in the House today and force a vote on it tonight. More and more Canadians are realizing the government cannot be trusted. Its actions are becoming more egregious on a weekly basis and Bill C-11 is just one more example, yet it expects Canadians to believe it, to trust it. It is no wonder we, as His Majesty's official opposition, as well as Canadians en masse, simply no longer trust the government. When we look at the government's track record on transparency, or lack thereof, the examples are becoming too numerous to mention. I will mention a few, but there are so many instances of the government censoring the information Canadians deserve to receive, that the trend of excessive censorship is very clear. The first significant issue was during the controversy of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, the removal of a justice minister, and the attempts to hide the truth from Canadians. That minister chose to speak truth and the Prime Ministerchose to silence her. Then there was the Prime Minister’s ethics breach with his trip to the Bahamas, when he refused to answer questions until the truth was dragged out and he was found guilty of that ethics breach. There was also the WE Charity scandal that eventually lead to the proroguing of Parliament because the government did not want the facts to come out, so it censored what could be heard by shutting down Parliament. We also learned other facts the government would have preferred to kept secret from Canadians, that the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development—
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)
  • Mar/30/23 7:10:08 p.m.
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I have to interrupt the hon. member. I have a point of order from the hon. member for Fredericton.
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Mrs. Jenica Atwin
  • Mar/30/23 7:10:12 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-11 
Madam Speaker, I am just wondering about the relevance of what the hon. member is discussing right now, so that we could get back on track for Bill C-11.
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)
  • Mar/30/23 7:10:20 p.m.
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There is a lot of attitude in how we manage debates. I am sure the hon. member will bring it to the point of the bill. The hon. member.
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Mr. Mel Arnold
  • Mar/30/23 7:10:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I expected that the Liberals might wonder what I am getting to. What I am getting to is the fact that they cannot be trusted, so why should we trust them on this bill? As I was mentioning, the list of egregious actions by the government just continues to grow. I spoke about the ethics breaches, how that was dragged out—
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • Mar/30/23 7:11:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on a point of order, it is obvious the member has not read the bill, because he is not referring to it. I would question relevance. If he has not read the bill, why is he speaking to it in the House?
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)
  • Mar/30/23 7:11:14 p.m.
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I am hoping the hon. member still has enough time in his speech to bring us to the relevance. The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies.
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Mr. Bob Zimmer
  • Mar/30/23 7:11:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, just in response to the NDP member—
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)
  • Mar/30/23 7:11:31 p.m.
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There is no debate here, as I already stated. The hon. member will bring us to the point in his time. The hon. member for North Okanagan—Shuswap.
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Mr. Mel Arnold
  • Mar/30/23 7:11:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is obvious the government does not want to hear the truth. It is going to try to push beyond the time allocation on this vote because it does not want to hear the truth. This is what it is trying to hide from Canadians and that is what I am trying to get at here. We heard about the ethics breaches of the Prime Minister that he tried to hide, and how about the WE Charity scandal when the Liberals shut down Parliament? I was beginning to speak about the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, who hired a company co-owned by a close friend. This was another ethics breach. How about a housing minister who granted $133,000 to a group whose—
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)
  • Mar/30/23 7:12:23 p.m.
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The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby is rising on a point of order.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • Mar/30/23 7:12:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think members of the House have been very patient. The member has not read the bill. He does not understand the bill. He is not speaking to the bill. I do question relevance when he has a speech that has nothing to do with the bill.
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)
  • Mar/30/23 7:12:43 p.m.
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We are approaching the halfway point in the time allocated for the speech, and there has been no reference to the bill in question. I recommend the hon. member get to that point, please.
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Mr. Mel Arnold
  • Mar/30/23 7:12:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the members will see, as I conclude my speech, how all of what I am saying is very much relevant. More recently, we heard news about the foreign influence that happened in the 2019 and 2021 elections, but the Liberals were not going to tell anyone about it until the news broke in the media. Then they appointed a friend—
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)
  • Mar/30/23 7:13:22 p.m.
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The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby is rising on a point of order.
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Mr. Peter Julian
  • Mar/30/23 7:13:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, you have been very patient. This is a violation of our Standing Orders. The member has not read the bill and does not understand the bill. He must refer to the bill; otherwise, we should move on to the next speaker.
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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)
  • Mar/30/23 7:13:40 p.m.
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I asked the hon. member to return to the bill, and the hon. member assured us that he will get there, so I am going to take him at his word. The hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman.
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