Party lines hold in passing of Emergencies Act

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This article was published 21/02/2022 (1075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Manitoba MPs voted along party lines Monday evening as the Commons gave its consent, 185 to 151, to have the Trudeau government use the Emergencies Act to respond to protests against vaccine mandates.

“The debate we are having on the Emergencies Act is the most important and significant debate Parliament will have in a generation,” Conservative MP Dan Mazier said Sunday, on the eve of the vote.

“It is a decision that will impact the lives of every single Canadian,” said the MP for Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa.

Like most of Manitoba’s 14 MPs, he spoke at length during a historic, four-day debate in which MPs pointed fingers, recounted family histories and decried the state of Canadian democracy.

The debate kicked off Thursday with Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen, who argued the Liberals overreached with the Emergencies Act because they had inflamed tensions around COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“The prime minister’s leadership in this situation has, frankly, been abysmal,” said the MP for Portage—Lisgar.

“He has jumped straight to the most extreme measure.”

Mazier argued that has hurt the unvaccinated.

“He stripped them of their dignity; he deprived them of their livelihoods. He made absolutely no attempt to unite this country or heal divisions.”

Yet Liberal MP Terry Duguid noted that officials for Ottawa and Ontario said the Emergencies Act gave them extra powers they needed to clear the city centre.

“The Emergencies Act provided an immediate boost to local law enforcement agencies across Canada, and the illegal blockades at border crossings began to be dismantled,” said the MP for Winnipeg South.

Conservative MP Marty Morantz argued the Liberals brought upon the instability after reducing criminal sentences, attempting a special prosecution for SNC-Lavalin and not pushing back on calls to defund police departments.

“When a government abandons the fundamental adherence to the rule of law … what happens is lawlessness,” said the MP for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley.

Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Leah Gazan argued the convoy was the result of growing income inequality, which far-right groups exploited under the guise of opposing a vaccination mandate for truckers.

“It is a dangerous movement that has been allowed to get out of control by a federal government that failed to pay attention,” she said, castigating Conservative MPs for supporting “the radicalization of individuals into white nationalist movements.”

Gazan contrasted the convoy organizers’ stated aim of overthrowing the government with the peaceful Idle No More protests she took part in.

Her fellow NDP MP Daniel Blaikie drew a similar link with the large Justice 4 Black Lives rally in Winnipeg.

“I remember organizers in the lead-up to that event publicly communicating that violent demonstrators were not welcome. I remember them working to make a plan that would make it hard for anyone who wanted to hijack the demonstration with violent or hateful acts,” said the MP for Elmwood—Transcona.

“That is what a commitment to peaceful protests looks like,” he said.

Blaikie also urged the government not to significantly loosen public-health measures until after the convoy protests clear, noting that a demonstration at the Manitoba Legislature persisted after the PC government announced it would drop most restrictions.

“Capitulation does not work.”

MPs also referenced their own family histories in explaining whether they supported using the bill.

“I am a descendant of those who fought against fascism in Europe and a descendant of those who know what dictatorships are really all about,” said NDP MP Niki Ashton, who represents Churchill—Keewatinook Aski.

“This cannot be a moment when we sit idly by and allow fascism to be normalized and legitimized.”

Conservative MP James Bezan spoke about his Ukrainian grandparents who had to present weekly to officials during and after the First World War, due to provisions under the War Measures Act, which preceded the Emergencies Act.

“They were declared enemy aliens and for four years had to go 20 miles one way to the RCMP station every week to register,” said the MP for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman.

“They had to (report weekly) for two years after the war ended, because the government refused to lift the War Measures Act.”

Bezan also noted the Liberals attempted early in the pandemic to give themselves virtually unlimited spending powers.

“I am concerned that the Liberal government will want to continue to erode the civil liberties that we have now. We have to make sure that does not happen.”

Some MPs, such as Conservative MP Larry Maguire, focused their concerns on banks freezing accounts with no clear appeals process.

“Political justification does not always equate legal justification,” the MP for Brandon—Souris said Monday.

Earlier on, Winnipeg North MP Kevin Lamoureux accused Conservatives of being two-faced in their opposition to the Emergencies Act, citing media leaks.

He read into the Hansard portions of a letter obtained by the Free Press in which Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson urged Trudeau to take “immediate and effective” action days before saying the Emergencies Act would unduly “escalate situations.”

The vote took place late Monday, passing 185 to 151 with support along party lines, with jeers and heckling from both sides of the aisle.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca