Catherine Lévesque - Friday
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NDP MP Charlie Angus says Canadians need to be reassured on whether or not invoking the Emergencies Act was “an overreach.
NDP MP Charlie Angus says voting on the Emergencies Act is the “last thing” he ever thought he’d be coming to Parliament to do, and he hopes there will be an independent inquiry on what led to the Ottawa occupation to make sure “that these tools will never be needed again.”
Federal New Democrats have announced they will support the Trudeau government’s decision to trigger the Emergencies Act to restore order in the nation’s capital after nearly three weeks of protests that have occupied and snarled the areas around Parliament Hill. But the move is not going over well with some longtime party supporters.
Angus, first elected as an NDP MP for the northeastern Ontario riding of Timmins-James Bay in 2004, said he remains “very, very concerned” about the first-time use of the Emergencies Act and is asking for an independent inquiry to find out how it came to this.
The longtime social activist said he has organized protests his “whole life”, but said the the situation in Ottawa has been a “debacle” and that he remains “dumbfounded by the lack of the most basic rules of public enforcement” at all levels of government.
The Emergencies Act requires the government to hold an inquiry and to table a report in Parliament within 360 days after the emergency period has ended. But Angus says Canadians need to be reassured on whether or not the law was “an overreach.”
“We have opened Pandora’s box here,” said Angus. “That, to me, is a deeply concerning issue, and that’s why I want accountability. I want to know why the police weren’t ticketing from the get-go, why the mayor’s office seemed to go to ground.”
“So I want to know why that was allowed to happen. Because if I have to vote to take these extraordinary measures to get the city safe again, then we have to take extraordinary measures to make sure this will never happen again, or that these tools will never be needed again.”
Emergencies Act debate cancelled on Friday due to 'police operation'
NDP MP Charlie Angus says voting on the Emergencies Act is the “last thing” he ever thought he’d be coming to Parliament to do, and he hopes there will be an independent inquiry on what led to the Ottawa occupation to make sure “that these tools will never be needed again.”
Federal New Democrats have announced they will support the Trudeau government’s decision to trigger the Emergencies Act to restore order in the nation’s capital after nearly three weeks of protests that have occupied and snarled the areas around Parliament Hill. But the move is not going over well with some longtime party supporters.
Angus, first elected as an NDP MP for the northeastern Ontario riding of Timmins-James Bay in 2004, said he remains “very, very concerned” about the first-time use of the Emergencies Act and is asking for an independent inquiry to find out how it came to this.
The longtime social activist said he has organized protests his “whole life”, but said the the situation in Ottawa has been a “debacle” and that he remains “dumbfounded by the lack of the most basic rules of public enforcement” at all levels of government.
The Emergencies Act requires the government to hold an inquiry and to table a report in Parliament within 360 days after the emergency period has ended. But Angus says Canadians need to be reassured on whether or not the law was “an overreach.”
“We have opened Pandora’s box here,” said Angus. “That, to me, is a deeply concerning issue, and that’s why I want accountability. I want to know why the police weren’t ticketing from the get-go, why the mayor’s office seemed to go to ground.”
“So I want to know why that was allowed to happen. Because if I have to vote to take these extraordinary measures to get the city safe again, then we have to take extraordinary measures to make sure this will never happen again, or that these tools will never be needed again.”
Emergencies Act debate cancelled on Friday due to 'police operation'
Emergencies Act debate: Freeland says banks now freezing protesters’ accounts
The ongoing emergency debate on the Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act should resume in the House of Commons over the weekend, provided the House is reopened after closing on Friday due to the police operation to clear the Freedom Convoy protest. A vote on a motion to support the act’s invocation is expected early next week. The Senate will then proceed to debate and vote on it as well.
NDP spokesperson Melanie Richer says all her party’s MPs will vote for the Emergencies Act. That will give the minority Liberal government enough votes to continue to use these extraordinary measures for a time-limited period.
The NDP’s decision was severely criticized by interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen who accused the party of “supporting the Liberals in this sledgehammer approach.”
She was referencing Tommy Douglas’s criticism of the War Measures Act to end the October crisis in 1970, when the then NDP leader accused Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s Liberal government of using a “sledgehammer to crack a peanut.”
“History will not be kind to the leader of the NDP or his members on this particular question,” said Bergen during her speech in the Commons on Thursday.
The Conservative interim leader was not alone in her criticism. Two former NDP MPs, Svend Robinson and Erin Weir, came out publicly in the past week to criticize their party.
“The NDP Caucus in 1970 under Tommy Douglas took a courageous and principled stand against the War Measures Act. Today’s @NDP under Jagmeet Singh betrays that legacy and supports Liberals on the Emergencies Act,” tweeted Robinson.
“Shame. A very dangerous precedent is being set,” he added.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1915axsJdhI[/embed]
In an interview, Weir suggested that “there was probably more justification” for invoking the War Measures Act during the FLQ crisis more than 50 years ago than there is for the Emergencies Act now, given that blockades at the U.S. border were broken up before the act even took effect.
“Nevertheless, Douglas and the federal NDP rightly stood up for Canadian civil liberties,” said Weir. “So it’s quite disappointing to see the federal NDP today support the Emergencies Act when there really isn’t a national emergency as is settled in that legislation.”
Bill Tieleman, a former NDP strategist, disagrees with them and sees no issue with the NDP taking a stance for the Emergencies Act, which is far different from the War Measures Act.
“This has gone on way too long. It’s damaging our economy. It’s damaging our reputation. And I’m quite confident that the overwhelming majority of New Democrats would feel the same way.”
“I think the left has just been in total aghast at watching this gong show unfold day after day in Ottawa,” he added.
In response to criticism from his former peers, Angus acknowledged that “we are all in a very, very, very tough place,” but that “the irresponsible thing” would be just to let the protests in Ottawa “fester before something spirals.”
“That’s the responsibility of being an elected official. Sometimes you’re faced with a tough situation and you have to make a decision.”
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