(Ottawa) A joint parliamentary committee must soon resume writing a report on the use of Emergency Measures Act during the occupation of Ottawa by anti-government protesters in February 2022.
Posted at 9:59 a.m.
Updated at 12:40 p.m.
Anja Karadeglija
The Canadian Press
The document was to be presented in December… 2022.
The members of the committee finally agreed to resume their work on May 21.
This work was delayed after the decision of the committee members to translate all the documents presented during the Commission of inquiry into these events.
The cost of translation could run into several million dollars. And according to Senator Peter Harder, this work could extend over many years.
I doubt we’ll be holding our breath waiting for our report. But people might fall asleep waiting for publication.
Peter Harder, Senator
The committee has suffered several interruptions since its creation.
He had delayed his deadline the first time in order to receive a greater number of submissions. And then, in June 2023, it was decided that all documents submitted by the State of Emergency Commission, which had submitted its final report a few months earlier, should be available in English and French.
For the sake of speed, the commission itself chose not to follow this approach.
The president and CEO of the Translation Bureau told the committee in February that translating a fraction of the requested documents involved about $124,000 and would cost about $16 million. But since the committee members received an index of several hundred pages, they will be able to be more selective in the documents that must be translated.
During one meeting, committee members continued to debate whether to wait even longer for documents to be translated.
The co-chair of the committee, New Democrat Matthew Greeen, suggested continuing to work on the report while waiting for all the requested documents to be translated. Otherwise, the work could extend until 2025. A federal general election must take place no later than October of that year, if the Trudeau government is not overthrown by then.
“It would be irresponsible for us to continue the work of this committee in perpetuity,” he says.
Bloc MP Rhéal Fortin said that if it makes sense to use the testimony heard by the commission of inquiry, “these should be available in both official languages.”
He added that “if all of this proof was in French, would our English-speaking colleagues wonder if we need all of this.”
Quebec senator Claude Carignan says he has no problem submitting a report in early fall, but the committee must have access to all the evidence.
He himself says he has identified a certain number of documents he wishes to see.
“It would not serve the public to say that I have these documents, that I do not even look at them […] We must be conscientious. We must look at them at a minimum and continue to aim for a complete draft this fall,” he told his colleagues.
For Conservative MP Larry Brock, the committee “can walk and chew gum at the same time,” but he admitted not being comfortable submitting a report without “the full participation of my French-speaking colleagues.”
At the end of the meeting, the committee compromised and agreed to return to work. But he did not establish a new timetable.
