00:00:00.480Minister, I just want to talk a bit about the thresholds that your government has made the case have been met to invoke this extraordinary power in the Emergencies Act.
00:00:09.540As you know, the threshold would include a threat to the security of Canada, which includes things like espionage, sabotage, and specifically the support of a threat or the use of serious violence.
00:00:20.960And that's very much in line with much of your opening remarks, which I'll just quote you.
00:00:24.980You did say it in French, but the English version would have said, it was an absolute necessity that we enacted the emergency measures needed to keep Canadians safe.
00:00:33.800The invocation of the Emergencies Act sent a clear message to those who decide to participate or support in these illegal protests, including impacting the safety of the public.
00:00:41.980You also said, we will not yield our responsibilities to Canadians.
00:00:44.800We must inspire their confidence that their safety is protected.
00:00:48.360Minister, do you believe that our safety was in jeopardy with the protests in Ottawa?
00:00:52.440Well, certainly the size, scope, and scale of the illegal blockades at a number of borders and ports of entry, as well as the illegal occupation in Ottawa, met the threshold under the Emergencies Act.
00:01:08.720That advice and that decision to invoke it was informed by non-partisan professionals, including the commissioner who's on with us today, as well as other branches of law enforcement.
00:01:20.320So, yes, Ms. Dancho, we believe the threshold was met under the Emergencies Act.
00:01:24.860So, you believe that there was a serious threat of violence to the national security of Canada on February 17th.
00:01:30.800You also said, this is a serious situation.
00:01:32.660You must resist the temptation to dismiss these as isolated incidents.
00:01:37.340You went on to say the core of the movement is of anger, animosity, and violence.
00:01:41.640And you were referring to if protesters would like to come to Ottawa.
00:01:45.940You were saying to them, you may be tying yourself to dangerous criminal activity.
00:01:49.960You also, of course, have insinuated that several of the individuals, or you said, and I quote, several of the individuals at Coutts have strong ties to a far-right extreme organization with leaders who are in Ottawa.
00:02:01.320So, you're again saying these strong ties.
00:02:03.900So, again, do you believe that there was a threat to public safety in Ottawa?
00:02:08.000Well, to be clear, Ms. Dancho, those aren't just my insinuations.
00:02:11.660Hundreds of charges and arrests have been carried out by law enforcement throughout the course of the illegal blockades, not only in Ottawa, but as well as in Alberta and British Columbia.
00:02:22.540And I would point out, Ms. Dancho, that those charges are very severe, including conspiracy to commit murder, which carries with it a life sentence.
00:02:28.900So, they're not merely the insinuations of me or the government.
00:02:32.900There have, in fact, been a number of very serious and grave criminal investigations, which have been carried out and are ongoing.
00:02:39.960Right. Specifically, though, you're making the argument that the threshold to national security, it's a threat to public safety.
00:02:45.500You tied those extremists at Coutts to the protests in Ottawa.
00:02:51.600So, do you have evidence that there was the threat in Ottawa that you saw at Coutts?
00:02:57.720Well, again, just to clarify, those comments related to a number of public reports, which had been issued at the time, tracking the movements of some in Ottawa to other border points, including in Alberta.
00:03:09.220But I would just point out that from the very outset of the illegal blockade, that a number of organizers and so-called leaders of the purported Freedom Convoy had made a number of profoundly concerning and extremist statements calling for the overthrow of the government through violence, if necessary.
00:03:29.100Some of the leaders have been quoted as saying, again, very publicly, that if necessary, through the use of bullets and other similar force.
00:03:37.940So, those are all very reported and documented and catalogued in the public domain, Ms. Densho.
00:03:43.720So, you believe that there was a serious national security threat to public safety?
00:03:48.040I know the Prime Minister was also said when he was invoking the act that first day, he said, quote, this is about keeping Canadians safe.
00:03:54.580We will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue.
00:03:57.780So, from your remarks and from the Prime Minister's remarks, you believe the threshold for invoking the act for the purpose of, that you believe that there was a national security threat to public safety.
00:04:09.060So, I mean, Minister, I walked to West Block for two weeks past these protests.
00:04:15.680If there was such a threat to public safety, how could you have allowed members of Parliament to walk by that protest every day?
00:04:22.900Well, I would say a couple of things in response to that, Ms. Densho.
00:04:28.000First, as you know, the Sergeant-at-Arms, in coordination with the Parliamentary Protective Service and the RCMP, did offer additional protection for parliamentarians, as well as staff who were working on the Hill.
00:04:40.600But the other thing I would say, Ms. Densho is, respectfully, your experience was not the experience of the many thousands of Ottowans who were laid to siege as a result of…
00:04:51.600Mr. Minister, if I may just interrupt, I apologize.
00:04:53.640But just to be clear, you were saying the extraordinary high thresholds of these incredible, never-before-invoked emergency powers met the threshold that this was a national public safety security issue.
00:05:04.600And you connected it to the ongoing executes, you're insinuating that that was happening in Ottawa.
00:05:11.600That's the main argument that you've made for the purpose of invoking this act.
00:05:15.600And yet I walked every single day for two weeks past these protests.
00:05:19.600So you can imagine the anxiety that that causes to parliamentarians, to Ottawa staff, we can go on, but yet there was…
00:05:26.600Like, I just don't understand how you could be saying, on one hand, there's all these strong ties and this is a national emergency for public safety.
00:05:34.600And I walked every day by these protests.