Speaking Notes for The Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety

Mr. Chair, Honourable Committee Members,

Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today about the steps we have taken to address a unique and extraordinary situation.

I truly appreciate your contributions to the thoughtful and passionate exchange we’ve had in this House, on the invocation of the Emergencies Act, which has now been revoked.

Colleagues, the unprecedented events of the past few weeks necessitated commensurate federal action.

Over the past few weeks, we saw illegal blockades at borders and vital trade corridors, that impacted our economy, industry, and the jobs and livelihoods of many hardworking Canadians.

This was also clearly a public order emergency.

We saw illegal protests taking place in our cities, shutting down streets and businesses, with people feeling their sense of safety has been shattered.

We worked closely with provinces and territories to help get the situation under control, but as time passed it became clear that authorities needed more tools to uphold and enforce the law and protect Canadians.

It was an absolute necessity that we enacted the emergency measures needed to keep Canadians safe, albeit reluctantly, in a way that allowed immediate and time-limited action for as short a time as possible.

And that is what we did, to ensure we did not abandon Canadians – or our law enforcement – in a time of great need.

As you know, earlier this week, after careful consideration, we confirmed that the situation was no longer an emergency, and we ended the use of the Emergencies Act.

We remain confident that existing laws and by-laws are now sufficient to protect the public, and we will continue to be there to support authorities if and when needed.

As the Prime Minister said, revoking the use of the Act was the responsible and necessary thing to do.

With the passing of the Emergencies Act, provincial and municipal law enforcement had the additional tools they needed to manage the large-scale and rapidly evolving event we have seen.

And its invocation helped, in many ways.

Think of the unique challenges we saw:

…The difficulties of removing blockades of hundreds of trucks…

…The unexpected and international use of crowd funding platforms…

…And despite our best efforts to pass new laws and regulations, how gaps are being exploited in new and unexpected ways for criminal gain.

These challenges were relieved in part by the declaration of an emergency under the Act.

It was indeed a measure of last resort.

But its benefits were evident.

To remind my colleagues what the Act allowed, I’ll explain briefly.

It allowed for new exceptional and temporary measures to prohibit public assembly leading to a breach of the peace, and protect and secure certain designated protected places, in order to ensure the safety of people, freedom of movement of people and goods, and prevent interference with trade or critical infrastructure.

Those exceptional and temporary measures for local law enforcement helped them to act swiftly to end these illegal  assemblies.

It allowed the RCMP to be integrated quickly into operations led by local police of jurisdiction.

Those measures were also supported by exceptional and temporary measures that prohibited people from supporting these illegal assemblies, including those who would provide tools like equipment and fuel to those participating.

It helped to clearly designate protected areas around our critical infrastructure, like international crossings, airports, power generation and hospitals.

And it prohibited bringing children near an illegal blockade.

And sadly, we saw the images of children in the middle of illegal blockades and during police action.

As we saw in Ottawa, the new tools available to law enforcement as a result of the Emergencies Act were used to great effect, allowing police to reclaim occupied areas of the downtown core, remove trucks and other Convoy infrastructure, and move protesters out.

The invocation of the Emergencies Act sent a clear message to those who decided to participate in, or support, these illegal protests:

…That interfering with critical infrastructure, or impacting the  safety of the public, will bring about consequences, including potential fines and imprisonment.

A few caveats:

First, I want to assure you that the tools it allowed were exceptional, time-limited, and protected by the safeguards enshrined in our Charter.

Second, I want to underscore that invoking the Emergencies Act did not give the federal government the authority to direct the police services of any jurisdiction.

And finally, I want to be clear that these additional tools for law enforcement were there to supplement existing tools, only to be used if and when there was an operational need as determined by police.

I’ll remind colleagues that a joint Committee of Parliamentarians will now be struck, to review the declaration of emergency.

That will be followed by an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the Act being invoked, how we got there and why it was required.

I want to close by expressing my deepest thanks to police  agencies across Canada for their dedication and action, to deal with illegal protests and blockades, and restore law and order and public safety.

We will not yield in our responsibilities to Canadians– we must inspire their confidence that their safety is protected.

With order restored, we will continue to do so under existing laws.

I want to thank you for your ongoing consideration of the measures we have taken.

And I look forward to your questions and continued debate.

Thank you.

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