Who asked for the Emergencies Act?
[:en]For months the Trudeau Government has maintained last February’s “Freedom Convoy” posed a serious threat to national security and that law enforcement asked the government to invoke the Emergencies Act.
Day after day, when questioned in the House, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino was emphatic: law enforcement asked for the Emergencies Act.
When he appeared before the special committee examining the Liberals’ decision to invoke the act, the Minister was equally clear: “We invoked the act because it was the advice of non-partisan professional law enforcement.”
On April 27th, the Prime Minister told the House of Commons, “police were clear, that they needed tools not held by any federal, provincial or territorial law.”
When questioned he doubled down: “It was only after we got advice from law enforcement that we invoked the Emergencies Act”
Not so, according to police.
Ottawa Interim Police Chief Steve Bell didn’t ask the government to invoke the Emergencies Act.
Former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly didn’t ask the Liberals for the Emergencies Act.
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki didn’t ask for the Emergencies Act to be invoked.
So, who, exactly, wanted the act?
The Emergencies Act was invoked (for the first time) on Feb 14th to end a weeks-long protest by truckers (and others) who had lost their jobs over the Trudeau Government’s vaccine mandates. It was revoked on February 22nd only after the PM realized he may not have the required support in the Senate.
The Emergencies Act can be used in response to “an urgent, temporary, and critical emergency that seriously endangers the health and safety of Canadians and that cannot be dealt with effectively by any other federal, provincial or territorial law.”
But law enforcement clearly had the tools necessary to deal with what took place in February, as evidenced by the fact they successfully ended the illegal blockades in Windsor and Emerson before the PM invoked the Act. The Blockade in Coutts came down a day after the Act was invoked but law enforcement used tools already available to them to deal with all three. No emergency powers were required.
If the Act wasn’t required to deal with the border blockades it certainly wasn’t necessary to deal with barbecues, bouncy castles and people singing “Oh Canada” in downtown Ottawa.
The Prime Minister’s Office and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland also made allegations that powerful international interests—including Russia—were behind the convoy and funneling money through crowdfunding sources, as their justification for freezing bank accounts. As we now know, the CEOs of both GoFundMe and GiveSendGo debunked that false accusation, as did Barry McKillop, Deputy Director of Intelligence for FINTRAC (the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre)—Canada’s top anti-terror financing regulator.
The Prime Minister also assured Canadians the military would not be used. However, in just the last few weeks, we have learned that two aircraft believed to have been operated by Special Operational Forces Command—Canada’s special forces who respond to terrorist threats—just happened to be doing a “training mission” over Ottawa during the time of the convoy.
And the Liberals have the audacity to claim Conservatives are spreading misinformation.
It’s not only the Liberal Government who are under scrutiny for unsubstantiated claims surrounding the truckers.
The CBC has quietly retracted three stories about the Convoy—just a handful of the alarmist and baseless claims made by journalists, pundits and politicians that have proven to be false.
As a Member of Parliament, one of my jobs in the official opposition is to hold the government to account, ensuring decisions are made in the best interest of Canadians.
I have been clear from day one that I supported the aims of truckers and others who lost their jobs due to mandates. I supported the lawful protests while condemning illegal border blockades and any other illegal actions taken by individuals.
I recognize there are those who disagree with my position, but whatever one’s view of vaccine mandates and what took place in Ottawa last February, the reality is, before, during and after its use, more and more media and Liberal misinformation has been brought to light calling the government’s “justification” for the Emergencies Act into doubt. I have no doubt this is only the tip of the iceberg.
If the Liberal Government has misled Parliament, they have also misled Canadians.
Canada’s Conservatives will continue our work to ensure the truth will out and that anyone who lied to Canadians is held accountable.
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