Senator Batters: Thank you for that response. Would you agree with me that, given this particular analysis of the situation now, it seems like the proper vote for this chamber to undertake would be to vote no?

Senator Plett: I’m not sure whether there was a question in there, Senator Carignan, but I do agree with you. Certainly, as I said to Senator Forest, we have had undesirables in our country forever.

I have the highest regard and praise for — and confidence in — our Armed Forces and our police services. I have the highest confidence that if there were Hells Angels or Mafia infiltrating the type of convoy that was in Ottawa, they would deal with it. I have the highest confidence that the police would not allow you and me to walk down the centre of Wellington Street and go and look out of our windows right up here in the Senate building and across the street if there was a danger of bombs being there. They certainly wouldn’t allow the Prime Minister to do that.

If we have confidence in our police and our law enforcement, then we don’t have to declare a state of emergency simply because we do not like the type of protests that are going on. There are many protests that could have gone on there that would have been far worse but that would have been closer to the Prime Minister’s agenda, and we would not be discussing this issue here today.

Senator Housakos: I want to drill down a little bit more on the point that Senator LaBoucane-Benson made in regard to mandates.

Over the last few weeks right across this country, we’ve seen provinces that, of course, were at the front line in dealing with COVID. With the advice of science and their health officers, the provinces have come to the realization they should lift mandates. We’re lifting the requirement for vaccine passports, for example, on March 14 in Quebec and on March 1 in Ontario. They’ve already been lifted in Western Canada.

At a time when the science is telling us mandates aren’t necessary and provincial governments across the country are lifting all kinds of mandates, why does Prime Minister Trudeau think it wise to double down and maintain these mandates targeting a specific industry when all he had to do — and I’ve been saying this now for the last few days — is eliminate those mandates, and we wouldn’t have these protests and disruptions in Ottawa? Why is he going against the alignment of science and his provincial counterparts?

My second question for you, Senator Plett, is about how at the beginning of the COVID crisis, truckers in this country were hailed by this government and by all of us as heroes. They were our essential workers that kept us fed, that transported food across the country. The ability to get things from Amazon, Costco and Walmart is because of these people. At which point during the crisis, Senator Plett, did these heroes — along with our health care providers — become these deplorable, undesirable extremists? At what point? Was it at the point when they started disagreeing with public policy and with the Trudeau government? Was that the point?

Hon. Hassan Yussuff: Thank you, honourable senators. I do have to say, in getting up here to participate in this debate, I want to thank all of my colleagues who have spoken already for the remarks they have made. I think it has informed me, of course, with regard to the remarks I’m about to make, but I’m equally troubled by a couple of things. I believe that the challenge we and our nation face are not unique. Every country, I think, faces some challenges at different times. Given our role, how do we bring ourselves together to show our country remains strong and committed to the principle of democracy and citizens’ rights?

I also want to acknowledge that today is Pink Shirt Day. If you notice, I’m wearing a pink tie. I did have a pink shirt but it’s at the cleaners, so I couldn’t get it in time to be here this morning. I want to say to all those young people in their schools across this country who are taking the time to observe anti-bullying day that I salute them for their courage and the work they’re doing. Their work will make our country a better place for them after they grow up and are adults.

I also want to start out by saying to colleagues that I believe the government has met the test for the invocation of the Emergencies Act. I don’t say that lightly, because I recognize that in our country the right to protest is a fundamental one. As a matter of fact, I would argue that I may be a student of protests. My entire life has been on barricades before parliaments, provincial legislatures and municipal city halls protesting one thing or another on behalf of working people.

I’ve come here to Ottawa in the dead of winter, mad and crazy for doing it. We were protesting high interest rates, because we believed it was having a detrimental impact on the lives of working people. When our protest was over, we went home and continued our efforts to try to get our government to take a different approach in what they were doing with the high interest-rate policy that was ruining our economy. It didn’t stop. But we respect the rights afforded in our democracy. Those were the people we elected to do what they were doing.

My friend Peter — Senator Boehm — spoke yesterday about his role as a deputy minister and sherpa in organizing the Organization of American States, or OAS, in Windsor. I was on the opposite side, protesting what my friend Peter was doing. There were a lot of people, but we recognized that Latin Americans were in our country to talk about the role of the OAS and its responsibilities. Some of us felt we had something to say, and we were going to say it.

When Peter was organizing, of course, the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, I was there prominently with thousands of workers and other activists protesting, of course, the Summit of the Americas, because we felt it was our right.

When the protest was over, like others, I went home. My friend Peter was organizing the G7 in Canada very recently. I wasn’t on the other side of a protest. Actually, I met Peter across the canal here in the arts centre, sitting down with him. The Prime Minister was there at some point. The Minister of Labour was there, along with other ministers who had responsibility for the G7, to talk about the issues that were of concern to working people in G7 countries around the world.

I’ve known Peter for two decades. I consider him my friend. But my right to protest in my country is a fundamental right. When the protest is over, you go home.

I recognize that some of our citizens who came to Ottawa to protest have a right to do so, and I salute them for doing that. But I also know it was not a protest anymore. It was an occupation. There is a difference. The citizens of this great city of ours welcomed them. But that welcome was worn out long before they left. And they abused their welcome.

I learned a long time ago that when you are invited into a person’s home, you don’t pee on the couch and crap on the floor. It’s a crude analysis, but it’s one that needs to be said. Because I think our fellow citizens who were in Ottawa crossed the boundary and the rule of law. We have to respect it.

Many times I have complained about government actions against workers who are on strike, and they legislate them back to work. We didn’t like the decision of the government. We accepted it and went back to work. We went to the courts.

Today, in my land, in this great country of ours, the right to strike is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution. Yet, governments still violate that law. We will keep going to the courts and some day we’ll get a decision — a huge penalty for governments for doing this. But, in the meantime, we still have to respect the law.

I know this is not about the right of fellow citizens to come and protest. What we saw happen the last number of weeks across our country should trouble all of us.

How did we get here? At the beginning of this pandemic, we weren’t sure where we were going to end up. I was doing a different job, leading an organization of 3.5 million people. One night, we were told the country was going to be shut down indefinitely. Did we resist it? Did we take to the streets because our jobs were gone? We didn’t know where our income was going to come from, how businesses were going to continue, whether or not we would be able to provide for our families. We accepted that it was for greater interests and the health of our citizens.

I worked with our government, the Chamber of Commerce and many others to talk with our government about the programs we needed. We didn’t have vaccines but we had to wear a mask. We had to learn how to wash our hands properly and stay away from one another so we weren’t spreading the virus. We did all of that in the interests of protecting one another and our families and our friends. And at the same time we recognized that we had to ensure other Canadians understood the seriousness of this virus. Many throughout our country, of course, participated in the effort to ensure the safety of our country.

We’re much further down the road after two years. Are we tired? I’m tired. Why am I tired? Because you’re not able to see your friends the way you used to. Just this Christmas, I couldn’t have anybody home for the holidays. Is that frustrating? Absolutely. But that is what our officials asked us to do.

We were not able to go on a vacation in over three years. Am I frustrated? Absolutely. But does that give me the right to behave in a way that questions my commitment to the greater good of our nation? I don’t think so.

We recognize that we’re doing this for the greater good of our country. I respect those who don’t want to receive vaccines or don’t want to wear a mask, but you don’t have the right to jeopardize my health, because I’m doing everything to make sure I protect it.

But I respect your right if you chose not to do so. Yes, I recognize that those who came here said they wanted all vaccine mandates gone. Who elected you to make that decision? But I respect your right to say it.

I don’t think anybody can show up in Ottawa as a group of people and say we want our elected government to disappear and a group of us are going to have the Governor General and Senate decide. They don’t have the right to say that, nor do they have a right to tell me that was their objective.

Then when the citizens, the mayor and others, asked them to leave the city, they basically told them to go to hell; they were going to stay here anyway.

Well, I don’t know. If you’re invited into somebody’s home and they ask you to leave, you do what is expected of you: you leave. Because that is the decent thing to do.

That is not questioning your right to protest. Question your right to remain in a place where nobody wants you to be, because they invited you and welcomed you.

It is truly frustrating to listen to the debate, because I don’t think all of this is to do with our Prime Minister. Many of our premiers across this great land of ours brought in many mandates and requirements of our citizens in their jurisdictions. Some of them are slowly, of course, rolling back those restrictions. And I respect their right to do so, but subject to the evidence and the advice they are getting from, of course, the scientists and doctors in their communities.

I know that in time much will change in our country around vaccine mandates but, in the meantime, we still have to work within the structures that we have in our country and respect the rule of law.

Much has been said about the invocation of the Emergencies Act. The Emergencies Act is not the War Measures Act. It is a different piece of legislation. It was crafted with a great deal of thought, because it was a reflection of what happened during the crisis in Quebec, the Second World War and the First World War.

I want to tell you a story. My mother is Japanese Canadian. She was born Canadian. She and her family were picked up, put on a train and sent to a camp. They remained there throughout the war. Subsequently, she was shipped to Ontario.

Five decades later, she went back to British Columbia, where she was born, to see the family farm. It was long gone. Is she an angry woman? No. Does she need to accept what happened to her and her family? No.

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney apologized for what we did as a country. They offered compensation, but not a single thing that we do can restore her dignity and the rights violated by our government at that time.

The Emergencies Act took care to ensure that if our government is going to use a piece of legislation, it must have checks and balances. And it does; it provides for oversight. A group of parliamentarians can get together and say that our government needs to remove this legislation. In the other house, they can do the same thing.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms didn’t exist during the Second World War or the Quebec crisis. It exists today. They took the care to say that our government can override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The courts have a role. Should the government overstep their responsibility, our judges and lawyers in this country will ensure that the government will be held to account for any violation of the fundamental rights of Canadians.

Am I satisfied that we had to use the Emergencies Act? No. There have been many failures in the crisis that is before us. We can all point fingers, but in due time it will be examined properly. I hope we learn from this.

I watched thousands of workers in this city who couldn’t go to work. They lost their income. Businesses suffered. Is that the right of protesters? No. I don’t believe it was their right to harm the citizens of this city. I have many colleagues, and there are thousands who work in the auto industry. The plants shut down. They had to go home. They couldn’t operate because some decided to block the bridge to bring attention to the government action on mandates. Is that right? None of us will agree that it is right. Those workers suffered a loss of income. It raises a question of confidence about our ability to keep our borders open and to continue trade.

The reality is, there’s a difference between a protest and an occupation — an illegal action to block a bridge and to do what folks have done here in this city.

As much as I want to be angry about the racism, the Confederate flag and the swastika, I spent my life as a person of colour, a man with the name Hassan Yussuff of Muslim background, dealing with a lot of crap in our country. I don’t give up on our citizens and their behaviour. I hope in time they change and become better people.

I have some confidence that most of our citizens who were in Ottawa occupying the city are kind, decent people. I would like to believe that. If they’re not, I hope they will become better citizens. I won’t give up on them, because I know it’s the wrong thing. But I have to say that I can criticize them and judge their behaviour. I don’t agree with what they did; it is wrong. It is wrong for the reasons that we all know. There’s a sense of decency in how we conduct ourselves.

In conclusion, colleagues, I recognize the decision before us is an important one. This is the first time the act has been invoked. We should have as much scrutiny as we can. At the end of the day, I hope our government, before the expiry of the 30 days, with the advice that they are given, will make the right decision. For the future of this great country of ours and our unity, we must do the right thing.

I will be voting in support of the motion. Thank you.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Would Senator Plett take a question?

Hon. Terry M. Mercer: Senator Batters, I’m shocked that the Prime Minister has gone to these lengths to upstage me and my speech here this afternoon. I thought when he kicked me out of the Liberal caucus a number of years ago that that was the last time he would do that.

Honourable senators, we are all tired. We are all sick and tired of COVID-19, stay-at-home orders and health protocols, but the end is near. We should continue our measured approach and cautiously lift restrictions so we emerge from this pandemic in a way one can only hope will prevent such widespread measures in the future.

We must continue to use the tools that have worked. Do we have to like them? No. But it is clear that they have gone far in preventing a massive breakdown in our health care system. Many people have been sick, some are still living with long COVID, and many have died, but how many more would have fallen ill or died had restrictions not been in place?

Honourable senators, this is at the heart of why we’re here today. People are tired. We are all tired. Does that give the right to shut down our capital city and our border crossings to the detriment of hundreds of millions of dollars in trade? I don’t think so.

The Emergencies Act, the implementation of which we are debating here today, came into being under former prime minister Brian Mulroney in 1988 to replace the War Measures Act. The new Emergencies Act, in my opinion — and some of my Conservative colleagues may be shocked to hear this — was a good bill. Brian Mulroney actually had one good bill in his quiver. It was a respectable compromise to ensure the protection of rights but also the protection of citizens in times of emergency.

Honourable senators, I believe the convoy started as a statement of protest — that people are indeed tired of restrictions and want them lifted. But that statement was silenced early in the siege of the capital. It gave way to a louder voice — a voice of lawlessness, rage, racism and anti-Semitism. It attracted much attention, goaded on by fake news and false social media information. The fringe had arrived in Ottawa, and they were not leaving come hell or high water. It got worse as time went on. What emerged was a mob of loud, horn-honking partiers with their hot tubs, bouncy castles and pig roasts. It turned into a glorified street party for radicals and conspiracy theorists. Some peaceful voices were indeed lost in the fray.

The citizens of the city of Ottawa were under siege, and they had had enough. I heard and saw many comments generally like, “What’s the big deal? It’s downtown, and we’re not bothering folks.” There are tens of thousands of citizens who live within 5 or 10 minutes of Parliament Hill. It’s a unique thing in a capital city in most parts of the world. They were being harassed by constant noise and were verbally and, in some cases, physically enduring abuse. Some of their homes were almost burned out.

That leads us to the question asked many times during this debate: Why wasn’t action taken earlier? Quite frankly, this was a failure by every level of government. From the very beginning of the pandemic, COVID-19 has been politicized and has created a deep mistrust of science — and politicians for that matter — a mistrust we may have misjudged. Combine the endless closures with the stay-at-home orders we all faced, and it led to tempers flaring wildly and straight to the occupation of the city of Ottawa and the takeover of our border crossings.

Honourable senators, I believe in protests and protesting. I’ve participated in many in my life, all peaceful and hopefully all effective. That is not what this was. That was not what happened in Ottawa, and it hardly lives up to Canadian values. In my eyes, there were some outside forces at work here. I look forward to looking into this as well. The Emergencies Act also gives us the power to do that.

FINTRAC is following the money, and it is about time that we did that with such fundraising platforms as GoFundMe. Where is the money coming from? Up until now, there was no way to monitor outside money, and I am pleased that we are able to now. For those who have stated here that the little guys are getting harassed and having their bank accounts seized, I do not fully agree with that. There are safeguards in place to remedy a serious situation if it occurs. If it does occur incorrectly, we can look at that and fix it.

In fact, the RCMP says they are not targeting the little guy, just mainly the organizers and those who continued to support them in Ottawa.

So, honourable senators, why keep the measures in place if it’s over? Well, are we certain it’s over? Perhaps, according to Senator Batters’ statement made before my speech, it actually is over.

Are we certain it’s over? I do not believe so. I’m sure many of you saw in the papers in the last day or so about the number of encampments of the former occupiers of Ottawa that are surrounding the greater Ottawa area. The people haven’t really all gone home.

Why not keep these measures in place to ensure we are safe? It is balanced. It is not overreaching. It is subject to review, which we’re doing right now. Democracy and the rule of law are being respected by what we are doing here. The Emergencies Act has safeguards in place: parliamentary oversight, accountability and respecting rights under the Charter.

If some premiers do not want the help the Emergencies Act provides, that is okay too. One in particular did, and it worked. It should continue to work until the misguided — in some cases criminal — element is completely gone.

Most importantly of all, this will be reviewed by representatives of all groups in the Senate and the other place. That is a good thing, with proper checks and balances to prevent overreach.

I might also add, with all due respect to my lawyer colleagues, that I certainly hope there will be representatives of other professions besides lawyers on the committee.

Honourable senators, we in this country have choices, but choices have consequences. If you’re going to choose to occupy a city and disrupt our borders and be warned countless times to leave and then not do it, our laws to protect law and order must come into play.

Finally, I would like to commend the outstanding work and dedication of all police forces who were involved and who were there from all corners of the country to help in this illegal blockade in Ottawa and at our borders. I would also like to commend their families who must watch them go to work every day, putting themselves in harm’s way to help protect us.

This is about the COVID vaccine issue for many people. It’s interesting that this morning I picked up my local paper in Nova Scotia, and on page 2 of the paper there’s always a history section. Today’s history lesson for us is interesting. It says that in 1954, the first mass inoculation against polio with the Jonas Salk vaccine took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Many of our younger people in this chamber have never seen polio, and the reason is the vaccine. Polio has almost been eradicated in the world because of the vaccine. I’m frustrated that people are not concentrating on that. We’re all frustrated, but Canadians will get through the pandemic stronger, wiser and safer than ever. Thank you, honourable senators.

Hon. David M. Wells (Acting Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I speak today during this unprecedented time in our country’s history on the motion for confirmation of the declaration of emergency that is before us. It is of great concern to me that the government is further extending, as it seems, its power without clear and defensible justification.

In Canada we hold our freedoms, entrenched in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in the highest regard. The Charter ensures that Canadians are free to express their ideas as indicated in section 2(b), which states that everyone has the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression; in section (c), which refers to the freedom of peaceful assembly; and section (d), the freedom of association.

Canadians therefore enjoy the freedom to express their ideas, to gather and discuss them and to communicate them widely to other people. These are crucial to the proper and basic functioning of a free and democratic society. It is equally fundamental that all Canadians are free to discuss matters of public policy, to demonstrate and to criticize governments. There is no doubt that what happened on the one-kilometre stretch of Wellington Street in that three-week period was a protest albeit not in accordance with the law of the land.

I have received an unprecedented number of phone calls and emails from Canadians of all walks of life and all provinces and territories to express their sincere and legitimate fear that the fundamental liberties they cherish are being eroded and in some cases removed. Honourable senators, I know that you have received these messages as well. I know some of these people because they have my private email and cell number, and they have reached out to me directly because they know me. Despite what some have said, these people are not racists, misogynists or any of the convenient labels that are used to justify actions, including voting on this motion.

Canadians are truly worried that invoking the Emergencies Act is not and was not necessary to end the protest in downtown Ottawa. It certainly wasn’t necessary at the Coutts, Alberta border, which was ended not by invocation of the Emergencies Act but by the legitimate local organizers who shut it down when guns and ammunition smuggled in were discovered by the police. Canadians are alarmed at the overuse of power that the Prime Minister has used in invoking the Emergencies Act, instead of implementing or at the very least exploring other options available, or doing it because of the obvious failures of local police, who had the powers under existing laws already in place, and dysfunctional governments at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. What is worse, there is not even an explanation as to why these other options had not been considered. They all had reasonable paths, and they all abdicated their responsibility.

Honourable senators, in order to truly understand what our country and this chamber are facing at this moment in time, we must look at the impetus of the Emergencies Act.

The Emergencies Act was introduced by former Minister of National Defence Perrin Beatty in the Second Session of Canada’s Thirty-third Parliament as Bill C-77. The bill received Royal Assent on July 21, 1988, in essence replacing the War Measures Act. Parliament intended it to provide more civil rights protections while ensuring there is less room for abuse of power than its predecessor, the War Measures Act. Several amendments were made to Bill C-77, a notable one being the definition of “national emergency.” The situations under which the act could be invoked were defined more restrictively to limit broad use.

According to Peter Rosenthal, a Canadian-American professor and lawyer who wrote The New Emergencies Act: Four Times the War Measures Act, published in the Manitoba Law Journal, gave two possible conditions, one of which is:

. . . seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it . . . .

Another is “a condition which threatens the sovereignty of Canada.” The province had the capacity and authority, they just didn’t use it; the City of Ottawa as well.

According to Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, as you’ve heard Senator Plett and others reference, said:

The Emergencies Act is clear. It has to be a very serious danger to the life, health and safety of Canadians that is completely overwhelming to the provinces or it has to be a serious threat to the territorial integrity, security or sovereignty of Canada that Canada does not already have laws to address.

She further explains:

. . . that is what we mean by rule of law . . . we want democratic laws to address difficult situations not emergency powers that should not be normalized.

Honourable senators, we have such laws already in place.

Let’s go to the act. It states:

and that cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada.

These protests that we have seen in Ottawa and pockets across the country do not meet this threshold. Are the lives, health or safety of Canadians in danger to such proportions that exceed the capacity of current authorities and laws? No. Is the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada threatened by these protests, to the extent they cannot be dealt with under existing law? No.

Protests are a fundamental tool in shaping many democracies around the world, and Canada is no exception. In fact, protests mark the birth of many of the world’s democracies. Protests are typically organized and executed by a minority of people, but this does not lessen their importance. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not a protection for the majority or the minority; it is a protection for the individual, and it is a protection against the authoritarianism of the government.

Canadians are concerned by the implementation of the Emergencies Act, which has restricted lawful and constitutionally protected protests in this country. The overreach is unacceptable. Given the outreach my office alone has received, it is safe to say that millions of Canadians do not approve. These citizens have been labelled as people with “unacceptable views.” In fact, it was here in this chamber that I first learned the term “othering” and the damage that it is intended to inflict, and this is exactly what has been done by the Prime Minister and his government. Fringe minority, misogynists, racists, Nazi sympathizers; this is no way to lead a country, and this is not responsible governing.

Honourable senators, as I try to dissect and understand how the proportionality of this government’s actions compares to limiting guaranteed protected freedoms of Canadians, I would like to read a section of the preamble of Emergencies Act:

WHEREAS the safety and security of the individual, the protection of the values of the body politic and the preservation of the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the state are fundamental obligations of government;

AND WHEREAS the fulfilment of those obligations in Canada may be seriously threatened by a national emergency and, in order to ensure safety and security during such an emergency, the Governor in Council should be authorized, subject to the supervision of Parliament, to take special temporary measures that may not be appropriate in normal times . . .

The “Freedom Convoy” was not preventing the government from executing the business of governing. I would argue that the convoy’s protest, as locally disruptive and illegal as it was, does not meet the threshold for a national emergency, as defined in the act.

Further, anyone who thinks that the MOU declaration of overtaking the governing of the country using the powers of the Governor General, the Senate and a cabal of protesters, and is using this as their definition of sedition, is reaching pretty far down a rabbit hole of make-believe.

Given what has transpired in the last couple of weeks, I do not believe that invoking the Emergencies Act was warranted. The Ottawa demonstration was disruptive to many. Demonstration and protest in their very nature are disruptive. I have seen hundreds during my time here in the Senate. Some involve one person quietly holding a sign and some have involved thousands and are loud. All legal protests are protected and are an important function of our system of government.

All levels of government have laws and tools available to them. None were used effectively, and the Emergencies Act was specifically not designed for the inaction of governments or police forces abdicating their respective responsibility, yet that is exactly why the act was invoked, and none have explained why they chose not to undertake the avenues available to them.

Multiplies police forces, a number of federal and provincial agencies and all levels of government knew this was on its way weeks before it started its journey in British Columbia. We all watched its progress and growth as it made its way east and west towards Ottawa. The police assisted in setting up traffic control and gave parliamentarians and those working on the Hill notice of an impending demonstration. We receive these regularly and this was no different.

Colleagues, I have been shown a list of all Ontarians who have donated to the convoy. There are thousands and thousands from small towns to large cities. I know their names and their addresses and the amounts they gave. If I have seen that, you can be sure that the government has seen it as well — thousands of ordinary citizens who gave $10 and who gave $500. The government can and perhaps has frozen their bank accounts. They certainly have given themselves the legal right to do that. I don’t use cash too much anymore, so when I buy gas for my car or groceries for my family, the funds are simply transferred from my account, but now many Canadians are at risk of having their accounts frozen so they cannot access funds to pay for gas, food or now their legal bills.

Senators, there are bad actors in every crowd, but not everyone in a crowd is a bad actor. Most are citizens who are concerned about the restrictions that government has instituted. I think the government has gone too far and has unfairly targeted law‑abiding citizens. When you don’t know who the few bad actors are, you freeze every account and unfreeze them one by one when they can prove their innocence. Colleagues, that is backwards law in the most dangerous way and that is what we have now in Canada; by most measures the greatest country in the world.

The Emergencies Act was not conceived nor designed to be a safety net for clear failures of multiple jurisdictions, existing laws or the enforcement of these laws. It is for this reason and the importance of not setting a low bar of precedent for future failures that I cannot support this motion. Thank you.

Senator Patterson: Thank you for your speech, Senator Mercer. I just want to say that I agree with what you said about the importance of vaccine mandates in protecting the health of Canadians. I’ve said that particularly with reference to my home territory of Nunavut.

I’d like to ask your opinion on the imposition of the vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the U.S. border, which seems to have been the trigger for the “Freedom Convoy,” though, as many senators have observed, this convoy morphed into grievances about many other issues. Some have seen it as a provocation to have imposed a vaccine mandate on truckers, who had mostly done their challenging jobs alone and had been allowed to cross the border for almost two years without any mandates having been required and with reportedly 90% of them being vaccinated.

I’d like to ask you if you have any thoughts about whether imposing that vaccine mandate on truckers, when 90% of them were reportedly vaccinated, and after letting them cross the border freely for the better part of two years when we really needed their services and the produce they delivered. Would you agree that was an unnecessary and understandable provocation, that imposition of the mandate on them? Thank you.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is leave granted, honourable senators?