Conservatives are calling on Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino to step down as cabinet, as questions remain about who wanted the government to deploy emergency powers to end a protest against the vaccine mandate earlier this year.
A parliamentary committee is considering the government’s decision to use the Emergency Situations Act, which it did to end a protest against the vaccine mandate that occupied Ottawa in January and February this year.
When Mendicino appeared before the commission, he said the government had acted on a “council of non-partisan professional law enforcement agencies”.
But RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucky and Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell said they had not asked the government to invoke the law.
WATCH Conservatives accuse Secretary of Public Safety of misleading Canadians over Emergency Act
Conservatives accuse Secretary of Public Safety of misleading Canadians over Emergency Act
Conservatives call on Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino to resign over long-running questions over who wanted the Emergency Law to be implemented – Liberal MEP Yasser Nakvi, Conservative MP Dane Lloyd and NDP MP Alistair McGregor. joined Power & Politics on Tuesday to discuss.
In a statement, Conservative leader Candice Bergen said Mendisino should resign over “lying and misleading Canadians about the Emergency Situations Act.”
“The minister has repeatedly claimed that the government invoked the Emergency Law only on the recommendation of the police, but the testimony of RCMP Commissioner Brenda Luke and the Ottawa Police Chief proves that this is not the case,” she added. .
In other testimony before the commission, Rob Stewart, the deputy secretary of public security, said there was a “misunderstanding of the minister’s words”.
A Mendicino spokesman has not yet responded to a request for comment from CBC News.
The issue of resignation leads to a fervent QP
Bergen began a period of questions in the House of Commons on Tuesday, asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau if he would ask Mendicino to step down.
Trudeau did not answer the question directly and instead defended his government’s use of the law.
“When the illegal blockades paralyzed our economy, hurt workers and communities, the police, municipal and provincial leadership told us that more tools were needed to put an end to them,” Trudeau said.
“We have heard, we have found that the Emergency Law has the necessary tools to put an end to this, and it is working.
Bergen kept insisting on an answer.
“[Mendicino] is a lawyer and a former federal prosecutor, “she told the Commons.” He knows very well how to choose his words carefully. He knows very well how to be accurate in his language.
“Yet he kept saying over and over again that law enforcement had requested the Emergency Law. Those were his words. We now know that his words are not true. How can the Prime Minister have faith in this Minister? [Trudeau] to ask this minister to resign? “
Trudeau did not answer again, instead choosing to go on the offensive.
“What is crystal clear is how much the Conservatives hope the Canadians are forgetting that they have stood up to the illegal blockades,” he said.
Mendicino defended his testimony during the period in question and gave no indication that he would retire.
“I went into politics to make sure we could protect Canadians, and we on this side of the House know what is needed when it comes to protecting the health and safety of Canadians,” he said.
“That’s why we referred to the Emergency Situations Act. Apparently we consulted with the police, we sought their advice. You heard the Commissioner tell the committee that we received this advice and we used it. “
Lucky testified in committee that the RCMP used new powers under the Emergency Situations Act to prevent people from joining the Ottawa protest.
“We used it as a big deterrent for people to enter the area. So, yes, in fact, we used the measures that were set out in the Emergency Situations Act, together with other bodies that we had, “she told a public meeting of the Committee on Security and National Security in February.
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucky spoke at a press conference in Ottawa on October 21, 2020. Lucky said the new police powers under the Emergency Situations Act acted as a deterrent against more protesters joining the Ottawa occupation, but she denied that the RCMP had asked the government to invoke the act. (Adrian Wilde / Canadian Press)
Pressured to respond to Mendicino’s statements on CBC’s Power & Politics, Ottawa-based Liberal MEP Yasser Nakvi, who is also a parliamentary secretary to the Emergency Preparedness Minister, said the government made the decision based on law enforcement advice. organs.
“When it comes to what laws should be used, this is the decision of the government. But on the basis of this consultation, on the basis of the advice that the government receives from law enforcement… [the] The emergency law was passed so that they could be given these additional tools to put an end to the illegal occupation and blockades, “Naqvi told host Vassi Capelos.
Dane Lloyd, a conservative critic of emergency preparedness, said Mendicino’s statements suggested he wanted to attribute the decision to use the act to law enforcement.
“This is very misleading because the minister said that on the recommendation of the police they were referring to the Emergency Act, which is clearly designed to divert responsibility from the government,” Lloyd said.
NDP public safety critic Alistair McGregor said Mendicino could solve the problem with more transparency about what happened.
“The minister has an obligation to the commission to be as transparent as possible, so that this commission has full access to the process in which the cabinet decided to refer to [Emergencies Act]”McGregor said.”
“In order to put an end to this issue, the minister must be completely transparent with the commission.
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