Hon. Bev Busson: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak in favour of the Emergencies Act. Our capital, and the entire country by association, had been taken hostage and continues to be at risk.

Early last week, it had unfortunately become clear that the usual procedures of the municipal police force had been overwhelmed, as their chief had put it. The blame game is for another day, but we must now step up to the plate.

Last Friday, the full force of the state enabled by the Emergencies Act began the process to end this occupation of our capital, and we are now debating essentially whether we should sanction it. We as the chamber of sober second thought are called upon to act, not for our own political beliefs or philosophies, but for the greater good.

Like the pandemic itself, this is one of those times when we must act decisively, not in a partisan way, in order to support our democracy and those who put themselves in harms way to defend it for us.

This is not over, as some of us have suggested. I implore you to consider the message we would send if at this moment in history we take advantage of the freedom won back for us this weekend, and yet vote no for this matter disagreeing with the act coming into force in the first place. Again, this is not over.

Those who coached the occupation of our nation’s capital and the intended roadblocks across Canada will be emboldened if we, dear colleagues, do not support our national institutions, its police officers and the rule of law. I will repeat, this is not over.

I’m so proud of the police officers from across the country. In the past days, they employed textbook professional policing techniques using their powers in a measured way — no tear gas, no rioting, no looting and no loss of life. The Emergencies Act continues to enable the police to react with strength and to ensure our democracy is re-established. If we vote no, the wrong message will be sent. Contrary to suggestions made today — that we can just invoke it again if we get this wrong — are untenable. We never want to invoke this again.

Truckers and their supporters gathered in Ottawa on or about January 29 to rally against mask mandates, lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and other COVID-19 preventive measures. These peaceful protesters, comprised of Canadian citizens exercising the right to demonstrate, soon found their cause co-opted by a much darker element in our society. Call them what you will, but know that they stand for the overthrow of our government and the dissolution of our democracy.

Canada prides itself on embracing and supporting human rights enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Our Charter describes our rights and what we can expect and demand in our civil society. But it also suggests that with this, a corresponding contract exists to respect the rights of others as well. Freedom is a two-way street balanced to ensure that the rights of one do not infringe on the rights of another. We depend on this balance to live our life together with respect.

One of these rights is the right to speak against the government and to oppose any law we disagree with. However, and disturbingly, there has been a wave of ultra-right groups who have taken the trucker-inspired protest against mask mandates and morphed it into a movement that is not only disruptive to the rights of the citizens of Ottawa, but also has brazenly ignored the rule of law and created an environment of hatred for those who live and work in our nation’s capital.

Spinoff protests have occurred and are still occurring around the country as well as at border crossings and airports. Hardcore members of these groups thwarted requests and negotiations to have them leave and they locked down, thumbing their noses not just at the police, but at the rights of each and every one of us to feel safe and secure.

Those in Ottawa were the hardest hit, but the entire country has felt the sting of this lawlessness and disrespect as we watched the nation’s capital be turned into an amusement park for anarchists. Make no mistake, their mission remains the dismantling of our government and replacing it with one of their own. Sorry senators, we’re not going to be running the country with the Governor General any time soon. These people, by definition, are anarchists. They are professionally led, well funded and skillfully planning the downfall of our democracy. They use children as human shields to obstruct enforcement.