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.

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.