The Tories continued their full-out attack on Wednesday to claim the head of Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino for comments on the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act, this time blaming the Prime Minister to show sexism in its decisions.
“It’s very interesting to see that when strong women stand up and tell the Prime Minister the truth, he has no problem firing them,” interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen charged on Wednesday during the election period. questions, causing a ruckus in the House of Commons.
However, “when a Minister of the Crown misleads Canadians, it is very acceptable, he lets it go,” she continued.
“Wow, Mr. President,” replied Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He said the attack clearly demonstrates “how desperate the Conservatives are” in their attempt to distract from the fact that the Conservatives “supported the illegal blockades”.
Conservatives slam Minister Mendicino for falsely claiming police called on government to invoke Emergencies Act as so-called ‘freedom convoy’ swept through downtown Ottawa in February.
After comparing Minister Mendicino to “Pinocchio” on Monday and unsuccessfully demanding for the first time that he be shown the door on Tuesday, revelations made Tuesday evening before a committee brought grist to their mill.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland also said they had not received such recommendations from the police. Several police forces have also denied having made such requests in recent weeks.
While the Conservatives were shouting on the issue on Wednesday, Prime Minister Trudeau, who was participating virtually from his home since he contracted COVID-19, said he wanted to “be very clear”.
“The police do not grant themselves extraordinary powers. The government is doing this,” he said, adding that “Parliament has debated and voted on it.”
In her fifth consecutive question relating to Minister Mendicino’s remarks, Ms. Bergen added a layer of it, believing that Mr. Trudeau “keeps a disgraced minister in his cabinet” having defended “the former Minister of Defense who covered up the harassment sex in the army”, in reference to Harjit Sajjan.
However, Mr. Trudeau “demotes women MPs who stand up to him,” she continued.
The Tories were referring specifically to Justice Minister and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould and Treasury Board President Jane Philpott who left office after disagreements with the prime minister.
The Bloc Québécois also jumped into the fray, in turn accusing the Trudeau government of having “misled Quebecers and Canadians”.
“Who is not telling the truth? Which minister does not tell the truth? And the Prime Minister, what does he say? asked Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet.
Mr. Trudeau provided him with a response similar to the previous ones, repeating that the Emergencies Act gave the police the powers they needed to do the job and that the police had asked for “more tools to dismantle these dams”.
Questioned by journalists as he left the building that houses the House of Commons, Minister Mendicino replied that trying to use an emergency situation to turn it into a partisan issue is “fundamentally wrong”.
“And if anyone has to apologize, it’s the interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Candice Bergen,” he added as he continued on his way.