NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said it is unlikely that his party will retract support for the Liberal government even if the
Public Order Emergency Commission concludes that the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act to deal with the Freedom Convoy protest earlier this year is unjustified.
Speaking in an interview with CTV News, Singh said his party will reserve judgement on the issue until all the facts have been publicized by the commission, which is holding
a series of public hearings from Oct. 13 until Nov. 25 to look into the Liberal government’s invocation of the
act on Feb. 14.
“Simply because it was the wrong decision wouldn’t be enough for us to break, or to force the country into an election,” Singh told CTV News.
The government invoked the Emergencies Act in response to the countrywide protests and border blockades against the federal COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. Through the act, the police were given additional powers to remove the protesters in
escalated operations, though some border blockades had already been cleared at the time.
In
a Feb. 17 House debate about the unprecedented invocation of the Act, Singh had raised concerns that the measure could be misused by the government, but nonetheless decided to support the Liberals given their views of the protest.
Then-Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen criticized the NDP at the time for supporting the Liberals in their use of the emergency measure.
“I want to remind especially the New Democrats of this, who are supporting the Liberals in this sledgehammer approach: History will not be kind to the leader of the NDP or his members on this particular question,” she said.
Commissioner Paul Rouleau said on the first day of the inquiry that the main questions the commission will try to answer are why the government declared a public order emergency, how it used its powers, and whether those actions were appropriate.
Singh told CTV News that he doesn’t want to presuppose what Rouleau will conclude in his report that is scheduled to be submitted to the House of Commons and Senate by Feb. 20, 2023, but his party has been supportive of getting to the bottom of whether the act should have been invoked.
“We’ve always said we want to get to the bottom of if it was the only option, if there was other options, if there were better approaches that could have been taken. And we completely support a full and transparent investigation into that,” he said.
The NDP
reached an agreement with the federal Liberals in March to keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in power until 2025, asking in exchange for the Liberals’ commitment to move forward NDP agendas including a national pharmacare and dental plan.
Singh, however, noted that his party “always have the right to withdraw support” for the Liberals, whether it’s because of any potential revelations from this inquiry, or the government following through on their deal in the coalition.
Noé Chartier and Peter Wilson contributed to this report.
