QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Emergencies Act--Parliamentary Review Committee
February 24, 2022
Senator Gold, with the Emergencies Act now rescinded, the review process has been halted. It appears there is no longer a legal requirement for the government to provide Parliament, including this chamber, with the confidential documents or information that triggered the invocation of the act. Reflecting the concerns of my colleague, Senator Tannas, who asked you the other day about this issue, can we have some assurance that this chamber will be included in any forthcoming review process so that we might have access to the crucial information that I just referenced?
Thank you for your question, senator. Notwithstanding the revocation of the state of emergency, the Emergencies Act still provides that the parliamentary review committee shall be established. Indeed, it requires that the committee report back to both houses of Parliament, within seven sitting days. It is the intention of the government, as it has been for some days now, to move with as much dispatch as possible for that committee to be established.
Honourable senators may already know, if you are following Twitter, that there have been proposals already made public by both the Conservative Party of Canada and by the government for how this committee would be established — or rather, proposals for what the committee would look like in terms of the number of senators and the number of members of the house. My understanding is that discussions continue to be underway with the House leader in the other place and his counterparts in all other opposition parties to seek a consensus to move forward as quickly as possible. I am intimately involved on an hourly basis to be kept aware of that.
With regard to the first part of your question, I think it’s important to understand that the committee will clearly have access and the ability to seek all the information it deems relevant, subject, of course, to whatever legal requirements or legal limitations there may be on the information that can be shared even to that committee, as I explained at some length and on some occasions the other day.
We all understand that with the revocation of the act that banks and financial institutions will have been asked to no longer freeze accounts or, perhaps, even scrutinize them. Financial institutions will continue to have immunity from liability, yet customers have no access to due process.
One of the solutions you suggested was that customers seek recourse from the financial consumer agency. That is somewhat problematic because over 80% of its funding comes from industry and it has a very poor track record of resolving claims. How can this now be resolved?
Thank you, senator, for your question.
I don’t really have any additional information to provide than I provided in my speech or in my answers nor any additional response. The banks’ customers will continue to work together and it is hoped that any issues that may arise will be resolved appropriately and quickly.
