QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Emergencies Act
June 23, 2022
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Senator Gold, I want to ask you about the Trudeau cabinet scandal of the week — not this week’s scandal involving the PMO coercing the RCMP commissioner’s interference in a mass murder investigation for crass political gain. No, I want to ask about public safety minister Marco Mendicino’s self-serving habit of playing fast and loose with the facts — specifically, his repeated assertion that the Emergencies Act was invoked at the request of the police. This repeated assertion was flatly denied in testimony by the RCMP commissioner and the current and former Ottawa police chiefs, who all said they did not ask for the act to be invoked.
Senator Gold, I feel for you. Not being a member of cabinet, you are forced to take Minister Mendicino at his word — a word that has time and again proven to be utterly false. As you said at the time, you had no direct knowledge of the Trudeau government’s Emergencies Act decision because you don’t have the clearance, nor did any of the many senators who relied on the public safety minister’s word when debating the serious matter of invoking the Emergencies Act in this chamber.
Senator Gold, Minister Mendicino knowingly misled Parliament multiple times, and that is a resigning offence. When will this minister, who habitually obfuscates, finally do the right thing and resign?
Thank you for the question, in which there are a lot of assertions and conclusions. It was made clear that Minister Mendicino’s remarks were not properly interpreted. It is the position of the government, as it was my position in speaking to the invocation of the act, that it was necessary. It was made clear by the advice that was taken from all quarters that the tools that only the Emergencies Act allowed were necessary to address a serious challenge to our national security and economy.
Senator Gold, when former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould stood up for the rule of law against the wishes of Prime Minister Trudeau, she was not celebrated by your government as a strong woman doing what was right; she was summarily demoted and then booted from the Liberal caucus.
Meanwhile, someone like Marco Mendicino — whose dedication to the facts comes second to his service to the Prime Minister — rises up the ranks from parliamentary secretary to minister.
Senator Gold, since Minister Mendicino won’t do the right thing and resign, when will the fake feminist Prime Minister fire this man?
To the best of my understanding, the Prime Minister continues to have faith and confidence in the minister. That is the full answer that I can provide to your question.