Senator Tannas: Yes, I can. It’s never been used, this particular act, since its creation in 1988. That speaks for itself. We’ve gone all these years, more than 30 years, without needing to use it. We’ve been through some difficult times in our country; 9/11 is one that jumps to mind and has been mentioned here. It’s never been used.

I think Canadians know that it is not a piece of legislation that is meant to be used lightly and that it does impinge on freedoms. I think they know it on both sides.

I agree with you. I think the nomenclature could be torqued depending on what argument you want to make. So I think it highlights the issue and probably highlights the division.

There are people who believe that rare exceptions like this should never be used and should never be normalized, and there are others who believe that what happened in Ottawa made it necessary. To me, it is an example of the alternate facts, the torquing.

I will give you another example that bothers me. It bothers me when I looked up and down Wellington Street at the protest that was there — and I’ve said it needed to be broken up — but that was not a group of White supremacists and racists. It had some in it. There will always be some wackos that attach to every protest. We don’t need to get into that. That was the narrative of our government, our leader. I was enormously uncomfortable with that, disappointed with that, just as I was disappointed with others who went and stood with people — people, not with ideas — who were doing something illegal on the streets of Ottawa.

I don’t know if I answered your question, but that was my best shot.

Senator Tannas: Sure.

Senator Cotter: This is a difficult question for me to ask, Senator Tannas, and I generally don’t do this. I did appreciate the heartfelt nature of your remarks and I’m in many respects entirely sympathetic to them. My question, I guess, is that if we were all to agree with you, we would all vote no to this motion. The problem with voting no, it seems to me, is it is impossible to distinguish whether we are sending a message that the emergency should have never been declared or it was legitimate to declare but should be cancelled out now.

I’m sympathetic to that tension, so I want to ask you this question: The legislation contemplates a power in us, with twenty senators to sign it, to initiate a process to bring this to an end. So I guess I’m inviting the question of whether — to meet the description and goal that you have in mind — we ought to endorse the Emergencies Act and then move for its revocation. By that, we would state the legitimacy of the resolution but the need for it to now be cancelled. I guess I’m interested in knowing whether that’s a better course than our consideration of the very points that you make. Thank you.

Senator Tannas: Thank you. I actually wrestled with that myself, but here is the conclusion I came to: No one is asking our permission to invoke. It’s already been invoked. It’s in play for nine days. If we don’t make a decision on this, it will continue to be in play for the next 20-odd days until it expires.

I don’t feel somehow obligated to make the two-step process, given the fact that we weren’t asked for permission. The act is fairly clear that if we reject, it’s cancelled, but all the other things carry on, the inquiry, et cetera. So it probably adds some intention. I don’t know, I haven’t read Hansard, but probably there was an intention to have this process such that it could be stopped after having been invoked and used and that parliamentarians, in their wisdom, would recognize that it was no longer needed.

I would not suggest to anyone here that you need to be troubled about granting your permission for what no one asked for permission on nine days ago, as the reason of not, if you feel strongly about having it stopped today, because the 10 senator program will take many days. Frankly, I predict that if we start the process — and I will be, like Senator McPhedran and others, I am a ready signatory to that process — it will take us into next week. We’ll have a debate. I doubt it will come to that. Speaking personally, my bet is that the NDP members of Parliament will be back at home right now visiting with their family and friends and communities and will come back on Monday and initiate the process themselves. And the police will suddenly find that they have found the way to do it without the Emergencies Act and it will be revoked. We’ll put that on the record as a bet. But if not, I will willingly participate in the next step. Thank you.

Hon. Paula Simons: Senator Tannas, would you take another question?

Senator Tannas: Yes.

Senator Simons: Thank you very much, Senator Tannas. Like you, I find myself envious of the certainty of some of our colleagues. Like you, I am deeply troubled about the precedent set by the invocation of the Emergencies Act. Like you, I am still making up my mind. But I do have a question I wanted to ask about your assertion that you saw no White supremacists involved in the occupation in Ottawa and your comment yesterday that no one had been hurt as a result of this.

The Coutts border arrests which happened south of where you live but in your larger backyard certainly gave me pause. The police seizure of that many firearms, that much ammunition, the markings of the Diagolon White supremacist group with those weapons. I’m wondering whether we aren’t being a bit naive when we say, “Well, no one got hurt. There were just a few wackos who attached themselves to this.” It seems to me that the base of this protest was a very dark, very ugly and very worrisome trend in this country that we need to be paying much more attention to.

Hon. Kim Pate: Like Senator Simons, I am still struggling as you can probably tell from my comments yesterday. Many of us are extremely concerned that once this is done in this kind of circumstance — and I didn’t mention it last night, but I share your incredible appreciation for the restraint that the police showed in this instance, at least in everything we could see and what was televised. Certainly, I have heard from other folks that things were happening that were not televised, but everything we saw was incredibly restrained, unlike what we have seen in many protests involving Canadians of African descent, Indigenous folk throughout this country, land and water protectors as well as other protests. Like you, I’m extremely concerned about that once this is done, how often this can be redone, particularly given whoever might be in power who might choose to abuse such state power.

I’m interested in whether you think the inquiry, which you have talked about, is sufficient to ensure that we have the kind of accountability you spoke about and that we need to have in the country when we talk about using such incredible measures as the Emergencies Act, or whether you think we need to actually — and I take from what you have said that you would be able to participate in a group that would do this — call for the immediate revocation of the act if it should pass this chamber. What do you see as the way forward? I agree with you about the lack of leadership. In your opinion, which I value, how do we bring this country together at this point?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak on the Emergencies Act. Its invocation is a testament to our government’s failure to control protests happening on its doorstep. Canadians asking for leadership to guide them through the third year of a pandemic and countrywide protests were abandoned for three weeks, only to learn that our government has invoked an act against its own citizens.

My office, like most senators’ offices, has been receiving numerous emails and phone calls about the convoy. There have been growing concerns about the so-called freedom protesters who are fighting for and consequently taking away freedom from their fellow Canadians. News of protesters taking over the nation’s capital has gone viral worldwide, damaging Canada’s reputation. Family and friends from around the world have reached out trying to understand what is happening in our country.

As an advocate for human rights, I will always support the right to protest peacefully. At some point, this peaceful demonstration took a turn for the worse and we started witnessing swastikas, Confederate flags and even the Islamophobic Three Percenters flag, a terrorist group as designated by the Government of Canada. I have heard stories of racialized parliamentary staff requiring escorts to enter their workplace. I have also heard of women who stopped wearing a mask when leaving their home out of fear. While protesters have insisted their rights are under threat, I cannot help but wonder who is protecting the rights of the ordinary citizens of Ottawa.

What particularly worries me is the precedent this invocation sets. The Emergencies Act allows the federal government to bypass ordinary democratic processes, and according to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the government has not met the threshold necessary to invoke this act. The executive director fears that normalizing emergency legislation threatens our democracy and our civil liberties. On Thursday, February 17, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association announced they would legally challenge the use of the Emergencies Act.

I would like to specify that these emergency measures affect every single Canadian. Unlike the Prime Minister’s assurances, these measures are not focused on certain areas; they apply to the entire country. Already the act will be used to broaden the scope of financing laws, and allow government agencies and banks to share relevant information with the police. And this is only the beginning. I also worry about a lack of respect and adherence to our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Of course, a special parliamentary review committee will be established to review the government’s actions under the act. But the committee’s insights might come too late, as it appears to be a retroactive evaluation. Every measure under the act must be scrutinized, weighed and discussed to ensure the respect of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

More importantly, I fear the sweeping powers of the Emergencies Act may turn against racialized Canadians, such as the Canadian Muslim community, of which I am a part. Since 2001, my community has been excessively targeted by Canadian authorities and fellow citizens alike. Recent Islamophobic attacks have only shown that we are not safe. And the National Council of Canadian Muslims, in reaction to this act, said that we must preserve our right to protest while working with civil society to better understand what these emergency powers mean for the future of protest and to reinforce our Charter rights. Mustafa Farooq, the CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims shared a press release in response to the Emergencies Act. He said:

Canadian Muslims are all too familiar with having community organizations, funds, and initiatives be perceived with suspicion by the security establishment. . . . Many of us have questions that must be answered through a process that is transparent and not driven by partisan interests.

Of course, handling a protest in the nation’s capital is no small feat, but the current chosen route is not one of unity. Multiple provinces have voiced their concerns and have clearly stated they are against these drastic measures. The Emergencies Act gives the federal cabinet unprecedented power to assume jurisdiction from the provinces and municipalities, which goes against the basic principles of responsible government under the Westminster tradition. Canadian provinces have worked hard since Confederation to enhance the status and particularities of their provincial governments. They now face an oligarchy and the disappearance of hard-earned powers.

The Prime Minister had the choice to extinguish the flames of dissent and defuse the situation weeks ago. The government’s lack of response to the protests and reliance on the Emergencies Act have put us at risk of severe, lasting repercussions on Canadian society for years to come. Only time will tell if our democracy will be better because of it. In the meantime, the protests are over and the roads are clear. So tell me, why do we still need the Emergencies Act?

Like Senator Tannas, I was also very disturbed by the lack of leadership. Canadians were left on their own, wondering where their government was. Canadians were looking to the Prime Minister for reassurance that everything would be well, but the Prime Minister was missing. He wasn’t there when Canadians needed him most, but what he did was invoke the Emergencies Act.

Honourable senators, for these reasons I will not be supporting the Emergencies Act and I will be voting “no.” Thank you.

Senator Pate: When Senator Housakos spoke, he slightly misrepresented what I said. I talked about the concerns with protests like the Indigenous protests and Black Lives Matter, and concerns about the use of state force against them. You also mentioned the concern you have, whether it is people of Muslim faith or those of African descent or Indigenous peoples who speak out. I want to confirm that is one of the concerns, not that it is one of those protesters who would cause harm, but it is state harm that often comes to them when we invoke these kinds of emergency acts.

Senator Tannas: One of the things that has to happen is what Senator Housakos said. This is a moment when political points — and calculations about how to score them — need to go out the window when we actually do the review of what happened. Those committee members need to be focused on what really happened and on making sure that everybody who had a role to play and didn’t play it, or who played a role they shouldn’t have, is enumerated, and it is brought to the light of day. That will go with not just the committee but the selection of who goes into the committee.

Leaders will have a responsibility. They will have the job of appointing people to that committee. Caucuses will have some role in the House of Commons — I speak specifically about the House of Commons. If you are sending your political spin master into that committee to make sure that it all comes out to your advantage, we are sunk right from the beginning. There is a moment before that committee starts where I think leadership has to begin. I would hope that the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the caucuses, the NDP, the Bloc Québécois and all of us here would take that first step of leadership and put somebody in who has the expertise, the guts and the willingness to work with others to make sure that a proper accounting of this takes place.

Senator Tannas: I think this is a very dangerous time. Over the last six years, we have spent an enormous amount of time listening to, considering and advancing the rights of lots of minorities who have been waiting for their time to get recognized. If I was a leader of a minority — if I was in that position — I would be very worried. The reason I would be worried is that the majority is at war with each other. They have split. In order for minority rights to be properly recognized and protected, the majority has to do it. If the majority is dysfunctional, then God help the minority.

We have work to do to heal the divide — this large divide, the 40-40 divide, whatever you want to call it — that exists in this country before we can go anywhere. We are as gridlocked as Wellington Street was during the protest. That must be fixed.

It’s going to take some time and it’s going to take goodwill. There will be many places along the way where I believe minorities will need to help the majority find common ground. They will need to call out bad behaviour on all sides, not just the side that maybe they perceive is most helpful to them in the moment. We have to bring people together.

Senator Housakos once said something to me, and I hope he doesn’t mind me saying this. He said, “Hey, I’m Greek. We argue,” and I took that to mean, “this is politics.” Parliament is a political institution. We came here to disagree and to talk, but to find common ground and to always respect each other. We have to start modelling that behaviour if we are going to advance our country and every single citizen in it.

Senator Gold: Thank you. At least you only have 45 minutes. Senator Tannas, thank you very much for your speech, delivered as always soberly, sensibly and with thought.

As representative of the government, I appreciate very much the statement in the course of your speech when you confirmed that government made the right decision to invoke the Emergencies Act — not done easily.

You seem to assume in your remarks, however, that, were the Senate to confirm that decision, the act would persist for 20 days. But, in fact, as the government has been saying and as I have said in this chamber as recently as yesterday, the government is reconsidering this hour by hour. It was cautious, indeed, reluctant, to invoke it.

If the government made the right, prudent and cautious decision to invoke it and is committed to reviewing it on a regular basis, why would you doubt that the cabinet would not make the right decision when taking the advice of the law enforcement professionals, who have informed this process all the way through, when they put their minds — as they do regularly — to whether it should end? Why do you think the government would be any less cautious, prudent and responsible in the decision they have undertaken to review on an hourly basis?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator, I’m reacting to what I have been hearing from the community, who are really concerned that this Emergencies Act will do nothing to protect some of the minorities. I don’t think Senator Housakos misrepresented; I thought he was talking about the protection of everyone. But I agree with you. We have to be really vigilant.

The other issue is — and here I talk about my community — that a lot of them have come from countries where they didn’t necessarily have the freedom to speak. They didn’t know their rights, and I know of cases where things have happened and there has been excessive force used and the community didn’t know what recourse they had. I am here representing Canadians, but a certain community looks to me for answers and they have been calling me. They have expressed their concern. What does this act do for our protection? Like the National Council of Canadian Muslims. We also need to have the right to protest peacefully.

I want to acknowledge that this was a peaceful demonstration. Somewhere along the way, it turned. I also want to acknowledge police did show great restraint. We were all glued to our TV sets wondering what was happening in Ottawa.

Senator Pate: So you would share the concern of many of us, regardless of which party formed the government, that there would be a concern about not using this against individuals in a way that would actually reinforce stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes?

Senator Pate: Thank you.

Senator Housakos: Would the senator take a question?

Senator Housakos: Thank you. I don’t think I misrepresented at all. I think Senator Pate and I are on the same page. I want to clarify what you are saying, Senator Ataullahjan, and what believe I hear from you is that any group of protesters in this country — environmentalists, Indigenous groups, Black Lives Matter, people who are anti-mandates — will have the fundamental right to do it without the threat of this draconian hammer being dropped in the future. What I’m trying to get across is this dangerous precedent, something that for future governments who have a problem with the agenda of certain minority groups or groups who don’t fit their political agenda, this would set a precedent, which is very dangerous vis-à-vis all groups.

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator, I would agree with you. It does set a dangerous precedent. I am all for demonstrations, as I said, but we need to have peaceful protest. We need to give Canadians the ability to let us know how they feel. Like Senator Batters mentioned yesterday, the Ukrainian community is very concerned. I know that in Toronto, they were out expressing their concern. They were out there protesting, but they can’t come to the federal capital, the seat of the government, so I hear you.

As a human rights person, I support peaceful protests where no one feels threatened and no one feels they don’t have the ability to perform their duties or go to work. However, this time, there were instances where some young girls in scarves had to be accompanied. It was one of our own MPs who brought this issue up, so we were seeing people feeling threatened. I think it’s better to look at the reality of what was happening. We wish it didn’t happen. We wish it had been handled better, but we have a Prime Minister who was missing. We didn’t hear anything from the government. I fielded calls from irate Liberal supporters who said, “Where’s our Prime Minister?”

Peaceful protest? I’m all for it.

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