With the Emergencies Act having been invoked, the prime minister was present in the Chamber today, as were most other leaders, which was good, because an exercise of emergency powers requires scrutiny. I’m not sure that’s what we got today. Candice Bergen led off, script in front of her, worrying about the Emergencies Act declaration, and wondered if the motion would not be bought before the Chamber until Friday, before the break week—which was a valid, if perhaps overly dramatic, concern. Justin Trudeau gave prepared remarks on the consultations with provinces and the time-limited nature of the declaration, but didn’t answer the question. Bergen noted that before she noted that the blockades in Coutts and Windsor cleared without this declaration, and concern trolled that the declaration would make the situation worse. Trudeau stated that this was a time for responsible leadership rather than the Conservatives encouraging these blockades. Bergen insisted that this was about an “ideological” desire to keep COVID measures in place, and pretended that this was against “science.” Trudeau repeated his points, this time naming individual MPs for encouraging these actions to continue. Gérard Deltell took over in French, and worried that half of the premiers were against the declaration and that this poured oiled on the fire, and Trudeau insisted this was about additional tools that the police of jurisdiction could use. Deltell repeated his concerns, and Trudeau insisted that these were “responsible steps” to keep the streets clear of illegal demonstrations. 

Yves-François Blanchet rose for the Bloc, and noted the situations resolved without the need for the Act, but worried that the declaration did not specify the geographic location it was to be imposed and wanted assurances it would not be applied in Quebec. Trudeau assured him the tools were only available if requested by local police. Blanchet gave a paranoid suggestion this was about imposing legislation on Quebec against their will, to which Trudeau repeated his points about local police.

Jagmeet Singh appeared by video for the NDP, and he decried the double standard of treatment of this occupation and worried about reports of police and military participation, and wanted assurances the measures would be used “for people” and not to support the occupation. Trudeau repeated about providing tools for police to give people their streets back. In French, Singh raised the weapons found in Coutts before repeating Blanchet’s demand not to apply it in Quebec, and Trudeau again insisted they would not impose anything where it was not needed by local police. 

There are Conservatives demanding “diplomacy” in their heckling, as though there are rational actors leading the occupation. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 15, 2022

Round two, and Dane Lloyd thunderously denounced the invocation as a personal failure on the part of the prime minister (Mendicino: This is about local police tools; Holland: Here is what Andrew Scheer said about Indigenous protesters versus these occupiers), Joël Godin demanded the government not use these powers in provinces where the premiers did want them (Holland: Remember what Scheer said?), and Stephanie Kusie demanded capitulation to the occupiers (Holland: Stop supporting these occupiers).

Conservative MP Dane Lloyd just suggested — quite amazingly — that the Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act to "punish" Canadians for "unacceptable views."

— Alex Boutilier (@alexboutilier) February 15, 2022

Stephanie Kusie delivers a one-woman play to demand capitulation to the occupiers. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 15, 2022

Kristina Michaud noted that she was not yet born when the Emergencies Act was written before noting that all tools were not exhausted before this was declared (Mendicino: We invoked it to provide new and innovative tools to help police end the blockade), and demanded once again for an assurance it would not be applied in Quebec (Mendicino: We will offer tools to whichever local police request it).

Michelle Ferreri quoted Trudeau before asking what previous actions he took before invoking the Act (Blair: We worked with municipal and provincial partners to ensure they had the tools they need; A foreign-funded attack on our critical infrastructure at our borders needs a response, and the guns at Coutts raises the danger of this situation), and Brad Redekopp wanted to know what changed over the weekend to justify the Emergencies Act (Mendicino: This is meant to secure the gains to ensure police have tools they need), and Tony Baldinelli demanded to know when all travel measures would be lifted (Alghabra: We announced to day that we will only require a rapid antigen test rather than a PCR test for the fully vaccinated).

Brian Masse demanded action to secure the Ambassador Bridge from future attacks (Mendicino: I have been in touch to ensure that they have the tools they need), and Heather McPherson worried about the guns found at the Coutts blockade (Blair: The threat is not yet gone, which is why the tools we brought forward have measures to track and intercept financing).

Round three saw questions on inflation (Freeland: This is a false narrative, while the economy is recovering strongly from the pandemic recession), the excise tax on liquor raising with the rate of inflation (Freeland: It’s rich for the Conservatives to talk about supporting small businesses when you vote against supports), a trolling Bloc question about Flag Day versus how it is being used by occupiers (Rodriguez: Hooray Flag Day, especially from proud government members from Quebec), the prime minster’s tone “traumatising Canadians” (Holland: You guys are being way more divisive in supporting occupiers), inflation (Freeland: Here are how our programmes are helping), a fisher who lost his boat while tied up to a DFO wharf that failed (Murray: We allocated $300 million to repair and replace wharves), delays with permanent residency cards (Lalonde: Here are some happy-clappy talking points on progress we have made to modernise the system), not getting enough Afghans to safety (Lalonde: We remain firm in our commitment to bring 40,000 Afghans to Canada), environmental credibility around oil exports (Guilbeault: Find a country who has done more for the climate than we have in the past five years).

Ed Fast is giving a complete nonsense picture of the problem with inflation, and Freeland is reading good news talking points instead of actually offering facts. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 15, 2022

Ryan Williams says the prime minister’s tone “traumatizes Canadians.”
No, seriously. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 15, 2022

Adam Chambers says the “money printing press is still humming.”
Quantitative easing is not printing money and the programme was wound down months ago. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 15, 2022

Overall, for the gravity of the situation that requires the use of emergency legislation, you would think that we might get some reasonable questions from the opposition to demand the kinds of details around the order that the government has not yet released—but this is our clownish Parliament, so of course we didn’t get the kinds of questions we needed. While Candice Bergen’s initial question raised a good point, the rest of the questions were not serious in keeping with the scope of the situation. To add to that, all three opposition parties were more concerned with being Papa Legault’s Ottawa handmaiden rather than asking the necessary questions about the invocation. It’s really embarrassing when you think about it.

“When you interrupt the Speaker, you don’t want to get him upset,” Rota says in a chiding voice that doesn’t make it sound like he’s serious. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 15, 2022

I would also note that it was far more raucous today than it has been in a while, and the Speaker is not doing a terribly effective job of managing it. His tactic seems to be waiting for it to quiet down and then letting the speaker start over again rather than carry on where they were interrupted, which adds minutes to the end of QP (for which he has once threatened to take away questions but did not actually do anything about), and he warns MPs in a gently chiding tone that betrays zero confidence that he will actually do anything about these threats. And so MPs feel emboldened to keep up their stream of noise, because they know there are no consequences.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Peter Fragiskatos for a dark grey suit with a white shirt and a dark purple tie and pocket square, and to Melissa Lantsman for her fuchsia jacket over a white top and black slacks. Style citations go out to Rosemarie Falk for a black dress with pale florals, and to Mark Gerretsen for a brown jacket with a subtle windowpane pattern with a white shirt, light blue tie and blue jeans.