QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Police Services
November 5, 2024
Leader, allow me to express my disagreement with the statement you made last week when you said that the government does not direct the police. I witnessed that happening in my previous role, and in some cases, it was not subtle.
I want to come back to the police inaction with respect to pro-Palestinian supporters. On October 15, Canada listed Samidoun as a terrorist entity. What is your government’s position on the fact that last Thursday, in Montreal, the leader of this group, which has been listed as a terrorist entity in Canada, was able to make a speech without any police intervention?
Thank you for the question. Colleague, I can’t comment on your experience at the Sûreté du Québec.
First of all, with respect to what’s going on, whether on the streets of Montreal or on university campuses, it is up to law enforcement to monitor situations to determine whether federal laws are being obeyed and to act accordingly.
I attended a major conference Sunday evening that was also attended by Irwin Cotler and Deborah Lyons, who spoke about the action plan that has been published and that details the training police officers should take. This is the direction we need to take.
On the same subject, Samidoun’s leader, Charlotte Kates, who was in Montreal, was arrested earlier this month in Vancouver, where she described the killers who carried out the October 7 massacre in Israel as “heroes.” No charges have been laid.
How far does your government plan to go in tolerating terrorist sympathizers?
Once again, you know very well what I think of such hateful comments. Let me repeat once again that it is not the role of the federal government, regardless of its political stripes, to tell police forces, provincial or otherwise, what to do. That’s not the way it works in a democracy.
