'Provinces and police are doing their jobs, and blockades are starting to come down. However, the prime minister thinks that now is the time to use this extreme measure'
Article content
The federal Conservative opposition on Tuesday attacked the Liberal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act to put an end to protests against vaccine mandates, with interim Tory leader Candice Bergen calling it an “unprecedented sledgehammer” that will further divide Canadians.
Speaking in question period on Tuesday, Bergen argued that the repercussions of invoking such an act could lead to more “political drama” for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“He name-calls people he disagrees with. He wedges, he divides and he stigmatizes. In spite of all of his failures, Coutts (Alberta) border has cleared. Windsor has opened up. Provinces and police are doing their jobs, and blockades are starting to come down,” said Bergen.
“However, the prime minister thinks that now is the time to use this extreme measure and invoke the Emergencies Act.”
The Liberal government announced on Monday that it was invoking the Emergencies Act, the successor to the War Measures Act, for the first time in its history. The prime minister said it was necessary to deal with protests that have refused to leave Ottawa and snarled several border crossings.
Article content
“It is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement’s ability to effectively enforce the law,” Trudeau told a news conference Monday afternoon. “This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting people’s jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions.’
In response to Bergen in the House on Tuesday, Trudeau reiterated that the measures announced on Monday “must be, and will be, compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms” while at the same time accusing the federal Conservatives of “playing political games”.
“Unfortunately, we see that even in a moment of extremely challenging times when people are moving forward with responsible leadership and responsible tools, the Conservatives cannot help themselves but play crass political games and divide,” he said.
Article content
Other Conservative MPs continued to slam the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act amid loud shouts from both sides of the House.
Alberta MP Dane Lloyd accused the prime minister of “punishing Canadians for their political views”. Quebec MP Gerard Deltell said Trudeau was covering up his “inaction” since the protests began in downtown Ottawa, nearly three weeks ago.
Government House leader Mark Holland responded by pointing out that Conservatives took pictures with the protesters or got coffee for them. “They have had absolutely the opposite of responsible leadership. Instead of de-escalating, they escalated at every turn”, he said.
The federal Conservatives are set to meet as a caucus on Wednesday to determine if they will support the use of the Emergencies Act, which must be endorsed by the House with a week to remain in force.
Article content
Holland would not say when the details of the government’s plan under the Emergencies Act would be presented to the House of Commons, but stressed they would be coming “imminently.” He also would not say if the Liberal government would treat the House vote as a confidence vote.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has already said his party would support the declaration, which should ensure it is passed in a minority government. The Bloc Québécois has so far only insisted that emergency measures must not apply in Quebec. Quebec Premier François Legault has also said he doesn’t want the Emergencies Act to apply in his province, as have the premiers of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Tuesday that he “made it clear to the prime minister that any special powers need to be extremely targeted” and used for “as long as necessary to resolve the situation, and not one minute longer”.
Article content
“Cleaning up the situation needs to be our top priority,” he said. “Right now, our police forces have every single tool they could possibly need to manage the situation. And I have confidence that they’ll do that. It’s critical that we do because the eyes of the world are on us right now.”
Ryan Alford, a lawyer specializing in rights during public emergencies, says the onus is on the federal government to demonstrate that the drastic step was necessary.
“There’s never been a federal invocation of the Emergencies Act. So yes, it’s absolutely unprecedented. And then the question is, is it excessive? Well, I would just say the burden is on the government to demonstrate that this is necessary,” said Alford, a professor at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University.
Alford also pointed out that the emergency declaration gives extraordinary powers to the government. That includes authorizing certain extraordinary police powers and laws. The declaration must brought before Parliament within seven days of the invocation, and it could be revoked if the House of Commons or the Senate vote it down.
“So, for up to seven days, Parliament has no ability to prevent what’s going on,” he said.
“This is the cabinet taking over all the functions of Parliament. And then using them for a highly repressive purpose. That requires a very high threshold to meet.”
No comments:
Post a Comment