The Trudeau government continues to possess extraordinary powers through the Emergencies Act.
This after the House of Commons passed a motion Monday night 185 to 151, in favour of using the Emergency Act following marathon debate over the weekend.
Kenora MP Eric Melillo voted against the measure.
“Police have the ability and had the ability to handle the situation without invoking the Emergencies Act. We saw that the Ambassador Bridge was cleared and that the Coutts border crossing was cleared without the invocation of the Emergencies Act.”
Melillo adds, “In the past in this country we’ve seen terrorist attacks, we’ve seen the Oka crisis, the Wet’suwet’en blockades, the fisheries crisis, G20 protests, the Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver. None of these incidences warranted the use of the Emergencies Act.”
The Conservative believes this vote will set a dangerous precedent.
“We do not want to see widespread use of the Emergencies Act. We do not want this to become something that is almost an everyday reaction because of how serious and far reaching the powers are,” Melillo stated.
This evening I voted against the invocation of the Emergencies Act. This is my speech explaining why.https://t.co/NNjt5bEIIL
— Eric Melillo (@Eric_Melillo) February 22, 2022
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enacted the Act in response to anti-COVID-19 mandate movements in Ottawa.
The measures remain in place until mid-March at the latest, though the Senate will also need to approve them.
Ahead of the vote, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said his party would “reluctantly” support the measure.
“But I also want to be clear, we are prepared, and we have advised the prime minister, that we are prepared to pull our support and to trigger a vote on the Emergencies Act as soon as we believe it is no longer necessary,” Singh said.
During the debate, members of the NDP echoed this sentiment and emphasized that the situation only reached this point due to failure at all levels of government.
At a news conference on Monday, Trudeau continued to state invoking the act was necessary.
“Law enforcement agencies relied on it to set up secured areas in downtown Ottawa and at border crossings. It prevented foreign money from continuing to fund illegal blockades, and it’s making sure our borders remain open,” Trudeau said.
(With files from Robert Lothian)
