Parliamentary Committee Notes: Opening Remarks for the Minister
Madam Chair, Vice Chair, Committee Members,
Thank you for the opportunity to join you today.
I’m pleased to provide brief remarks about the Government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act on February 14th, which was the right thing to do.
As the Honourable Perrin Beatty noted in his remarks to this committee on March 29, the Act includes an important layer of protection, which calls for a careful review in the calm light of day.
It’s essential that we follow the rule of law, and are transparent about our actions, and I welcome this Committee’s review.
Colleagues, participants of the Freedom Convoy activities adopted a number of threatening tactics, causing fear, disrupting the peace, and impacting the Canadian economy.
That included creating traffic jams near ports of entry, and aggressive protest tactics and threatening behaviour spreading in different locations with a focal point in Ottawa.
The Government of Canada stayed in close contact with provincial counterparts throughout the situation.
There had already been several requests for federal support to deal with the blockades.
One from the City of Ottawa for policing services.
Another from Windsor, with respect to the Ambassador Bridge.
And another from the Province of Alberta, with respect to tow truck capacity at the Coutts point of entry.
From day one, we worked closely to support our partners to get the situation under control under existing laws and regulations, commensurate with the federal role in such circumstances.
But as time passed, it became obvious that provincial and local authorities needed more tools.
They needed extraordinary and unique measures, in order to enforce the law and protect Canadians.
For just a few examples, they needed the means to help clear big rig trucks from our critical infrastructure, roads and border crossings.
They needed the tools to help cut off the source of funding of the illegal activity we were seeing.
And they needed the additional support of law enforcement officers, including from other jurisdictions, to help uphold the law and keep the peace.
And in this unprecedented situation, and as a measure of last resort, the Emergencies Act provided the required authorities.
The federal government had the final say on whether to declare an emergency under the Act.
It was not a decision taken lightly.
There were several important principles guiding our actions.
First, restoring peace and order to support our provincial and municipal partners.
Unprecedented action was required to protect our streets and communities, for the sake of public safety, jobs and the economy, with the lives and livelihoods of innocent citizens upended, and crucial trade halted at our borders.
We saw evidence of some individuals expressing the goal of undermining or even harming our democracy and our institutions.
Second, that we were making decisions the right way.
We had to ensure any measures we took were compliant with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
As members know, the Emergencies Act was created to flow from and uphold the rights of Canadians under the Charter.
And we followed procedure, in line with our commitments to upholding those democratic values, Parliamentary debate, and upholding the rights of expression all Canadians enjoy.
As we move forward together it will be important that we all gain a full understanding of what gave rise to the kind of disregard for laws we have seen, and the threat to our democracy that ensued.
We will need to make sure that our institutions are as prepared and ready as possible, learning from the lessons of actions across the country last Winter.
The work of defending and improving our democracy, at home and around the world, is a constant work in progress.
I want to thank you again for your important review.
And I look forward to any questions.
Thank you.
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