The federal Liberal minority government is planning to bring the emergency declaration motion before Parliament “imminently,” 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—among other things— 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.
“We’ll 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’re proceeding prudently,” Holland told reporters ahead of a cabinet meeting in West Block. “We are working and having conversations with other opposition parties… There’s obviously conversations that are taking place with Senate leadership as well.”
Once the motion is tabled, debate will begin on the next siting day and will continue, according to the Act, “without interruption” 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—which is expected in the House given the NDP have already signalled they’ll support the Liberals, giving them the majority numbers, but the Senate remains to be seen—the emergency powers will remain in effect. The Conservatives said Monday they want to read the details of the motion before deciding whether they’ll be backing it.
MPs are set to adjourn for a week on Friday and the Senate is not currently sitting until Feb. 22 so it’s possible one or both chambers would have to be recalled depending on when this motion is received.
