The federal Liberal minority government is planning to bring the emergency declaration motion before Parliament 鈥渋mminently,鈥� says Government House Leader Mark Holland.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared a public order emergency through the Emergencies Act, giving federal authorities the power to鈥攁mong other things鈥� impose fines, imprisonment and freeze the funding for those taking part in the ongoing trucker protests and blockades.
Once a declaration of a public order emergency is issued, as it was on Monday, it is considered in effect, and unless the declaration is revoked or extended, it will expire after 30 days.
As part of the parliamentary oversight requirements in invoking these powers, the government must table a motion in both the House and Senate within seven sitting days outlining why federal officials feel the powers are required and detailing what specific measures will be taken, to allow the two parliamentary bodies to confirm it.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be introducing a motion into the House imminently. Obviously, these are provisions that have never been used before, so we want to make sure that we鈥檙e proceeding prudently,鈥� Holland told reporters ahead of a cabinet meeting in West Block. 鈥淲e are working and having conversations with other opposition parties鈥� There鈥檚 obviously conversations that are taking place with Senate leadership as well.鈥�
The clock started ticking for this motion to be presented the moment the Act was put into force.
Once the motion is tabled, debate will begin on the next siting day and will continue, according to the Act, 鈥渨ithout interruption鈥� until the vote is ready to be called -- essentially when the list of speakers has been exhausted or if the government imposes closure on the debate.
If the motion is adopted鈥攚hich is expected in the House given the NDP have already signalled they鈥檒l support the Liberals, giving them the majority numbers, but the Senate remains to be seen鈥攖he emergency powers will remain in effect. The Conservatives said Monday they want to read the details of the motion before deciding whether they鈥檒l be backing it.
鈥淚 am hoping that we can get to a point of full support. I noticed that even the Bloc, who said that they were against it, are saying they are now looking at some of the details and there is some openness there. So it鈥檚 my objective to get as much parliamentary support for this essential implementation of this act as possible,鈥� Holland said.
MPs are set to adjourn for a week on Friday and the Senate is not currently sitting until Feb. 22 so it鈥檚 possible one or both chambers would have to be recalled or sitting hours extended, depending on when this motion is received.
鈥淚t鈥檚 never been used before鈥� So there鈥檚 a lot of procedural things that kind of had to be cleared out and understood first, and now we鈥檙e going to be talking brass tacks around when and how and these types of things,鈥� Holland said. 鈥淲e are seized by this.鈥�
Both the House and the Senate have the power to revoke the declaration at any time, as does the government.
鈥淚f a motion for confirmation of a declaration of emergency is negatived by either House of Parliament, the declaration, to the extent that it has not previously expired or been revoked, is revoked effective on the day of the negative vote and no further action under this section need be taken in the other House with respect to the motion,鈥�
If discussion of the Act in the House on Tuesday was any indication of what is to come when the official debate gets underway, there鈥檚 set to be some fiery exchanges.
鈥淭wenty-four hours in and there are more questions than answers. Questions about whether this is justified, questions around if the criteria is met, questions around what this means to Canadians鈥� rights and freedoms. Parliamentary approval is required in order for the prime minister to use this unprecedented sledgehammer,鈥� said interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen leading off question period.
More than once during question period, the House of Commons Speaker interjected to address heckling, prompting the prime minister to say it鈥檚 鈥渁 time for responsible leadership, not crass partisanship.鈥�
After three weeks of what Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino has described as 鈥渓awless鈥� behaviour at times, the government is hoping it can move to revoke the emergency powers in less than a month.
A cross-party and closed-door Parliamentary Review Committee will also be struck, that must include 鈥渁t least one member of the House of Commons from each party that has a recognized membership of twelve or more persons in that House and at least one senator from each party in the Senate that is represented on the committee by a member of the House of Commons.鈥�
It鈥檒l be the committee鈥檚 responsibility to monitor the implementation of the Act and ensure the government is using its powers responsibly.
Within 60 days of the declaration of emergency being revoked or expiring, the government will have to convene an inquiry to study the use of the powers. The report stemming from this work will have to then be presented to Parliament within 360 days.
