Liberal MP Joël Lightbound’s full remarks:
‘It's time to choose positive, not coercive methods’
Here is a full transcript of the Quebec MP's remarks after he broke ranks
with the Liberal party
Author of the article:National Post Staff
Publishing date:Feb 08, 2022 • 1 day ago • 9 minute read •
PHOTO BY THE CANADIAN PRESS/ADRIAN WYLD
On Tuesday morning on Parliament Hill, Quebec MP Joël Lightbound spoke to reporters, and broke ranks with the Liberal party.
Below is a lightly edited transcript of Lightbound’s English remarks, which he made following remarks in French.
To begin with, I wish to come back on the events that have been unfolding these last two weeks in Ottawa.
First off, I, like my colleagues, wholeheartedly condemn the kind of hideous acts and symbols that we’ve seen on display by some demonstrators. Nazi flags and Confederate flags have no place in Canada. They are symbols of hate and intolerance. And we must always reject these symbols passionately.
And I want to thank all of those who have denounced these acts, these symbols and these individuals clearly and loudly. I also wish to denounce the far-right groups that we have seen in these protests. I’ve myself received over the years my fair share of threats from far-right extremists, and I have absolutely, absolutely no sympathy for them.
I profoundly despise what they stand for. With regards to the occupation of Ottawa’s downtown core, it’s time it stops. It’s time for truckers to leave and let the local population get their neighbourhood back and get their quality of life back, free of fear and free of harassment.
No one wants this to escalate and protesters should now show some goodwill, like we’ve seen this Saturday in my hometown of Quebec City. I suggest they relocate somewhere else, somewhere appropriate for the residents and for the City of Ottawa. They could organize shuttles should they wish to come demonstrate peacefully before Parliament Hill, such as their right.
But downtown residents also have the right to peace and order and it has lasted long enough already. That being said, when it comes to the broader demonstrations we’ve seen in Ottawa, and Quebec City and all across the country, I will abstain from the kind of generalizations that we’ve heard these last few days.
Seen on Radio Canada, an interview with what seemed to be a very kind grandmother who demonstrated for her grandkids, she looked and sounded nothing like a white supremacist. Nor did the black, Sikh and Indigenous Canadians I saw demonstrating on my way to Parliament these last two weeks or in Quebec City this last Saturday. I have enough respect for my fellow Canadians, not to engage in these easy and absurd labels.
Now looking beyond the demonstrations, I’ve heard from hundreds of constituents and citizens who took the time to reach out to me these past weeks, folks who have nothing to do with these demonstrations, who are for the most part vaccinated, who have done everything as they should these last few years. People who have shared with me legitimate concerns about where we are heading collectively.
I think we must hear these concerns, and I think we must respond to them.
I’ve heard from parents worried to see their kids sink into depression and slowly lose their joy of living. I’ve heard from pediatricians in tears telling me about their young patients’ despair, anxiety, isolation, as well as the stunning increase in school dropouts they are observing. I’ve heard from artists are on the brink of mental and financial collapse after two years, barely enough work to get by. I’ve heard from social workers answering suicide hotlines who are overwhelmed by the number of calls they’re receiving. I’ve heard from entrepreneurs and restaurant owners who are contemplating losing but they’ve spent their whole lives building — that’s when it hasn’t happened already.
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I’ve heard from fellow Quebecers who are rightfully appalled that in our province 2022 we’re locking up triple vaxxed seniors for days on end. I’ve heard from fellow Quebecers appalled that in Quebec, January 2022, we have locked up kids aged six to 10 years old for up to 10 days in windowless rooms. Kids who tested negative who had no symptoms, who had been in contact with someone, though, who had the virus.
So let me repeat in Quebec in 2022 we locked up kids aged six to 10 for up to 10 days in windowless rooms.
Let that sink in. This was a public-health measure that had been drafted, approved and applied. I’ve heard from people worried that we seem collectively to have forgotten the population’s health is kind of like a pie, and Omicron is but a slice of that pie. Economic health, social health, mental health must be accounted for.
I’ve heard from people worried that those making the decisions seem at times to have been blind to the fact that we’re not all equal for lockdowns that not everyone can earn a living on a Macbook at the cottage. I’ve heard people worried that a few might have lost sight of the quiet and discreet suffering of the many.
I’ve heard people in great pain to see some of their friends whom they love and respect but who’ve decided, for whatever reason, we might very well disagree with, who’ve decided not to get vaccinated and as a consequence, are jobless, selling what they have and moving to the United States, away from their communities, away from their friends and from their families.
I’ve heard from teachers worried to see kids reenacting in the schoolyard the kind of discrimination and segregation we see in our society between vaccinated and unvaccinated. I’ve heard from people worried to see those they care about fighting each other on this issue, tearing some families and some friends apart.
I’ve heard from a lot of people wondering why just a year ago, we were all united, in this together. And now that we have one of the most vaccinated population in the world, we’ve never been so divided. Now these people are increasingly confused, when on the other hand, they hear experts like Dr. Karl Weiss, a renowned Quebec epidemiologist, say last week and I quote “that COVID-19 is here to stay that those at risk will have to be monitored closely when symptoms appear; that we will have to protect our health-care systems; but then we will also have to live with the virus like we do with influenza; that we can’t go back to lockdowns and restrictions not supported by science.”
They’re confused when they hear Dr. (Theresa) Tam (Canada’s chief public health officer) state last week that all existing public-health policies, including vaccine passports, need to be re examined, and that we need to have longer-term sustained approaches and capacity building so we’re not in crisis mode all the time as we fight this virus.
They’re confused when they see the undeniable trend around the world whereby, for instance, the World Health Organization recently recommended dropping or alleviating many border measures, including vaccine requirements, as they’ve proven to be ineffective in fighting the propagation of the Omicron variant. That’s the World Health Organization.
They’re confused when they see countries around the world like Ireland, Sweden, Norway, (inaudible), the Czech Republic, Brazil, Denmark, Spain and the U.K., who have either dropped almost all restrictions or fast moving in that direction. All countries, I note, with lower vaccination rates than us.
Now while folks are hearing and seeing all of this, they’re left rightfully wondering, ‘where the hell are we heading here in Canada?’
I think there lies the frustration. They feel there is no appetite from our government to adapt so as to reflect the changing data and the changing reality of the pandemic of the world. They’re worried that measures which ought to be exceptional and limited in time are being normalized with no end in sight, like vaccine passports, mandates and requirements for travellers.
They’re worried because they feel it is becoming harder and harder to know where public health stops and where politics begins.
Now, I firmly believe governments would do well not to dismiss these legitimate concerns, not to demonize those who voice them. To the contrary, I believe these concerns need to be addressed head on. And here are some ways I humbly submit we could go about it.
First, I believe the government should provide quickly a roadmap with clear and measurable targets (to) lift all restrictions within its purview. To be clear, I do not necessarily believe that all measures should be lifted immediately. But I do believe that we must have a clear and measurable benchmark for when measures will be lifted. For instance, at what point can we lift restrictions while respecting the capacity of the provinces’ health-care systems?
Second, I believe that if more and more Canadians find it hard to comply with the restrictions, it’s not because they lack solidarity. It’s because increasingly Canadians don’t understand the measures. And they don’t understand them because governments no longer care to explain them. It’s a lot easier to comply when you understand, particularly when these restrictions impact your day-to-day life.
The vaccine requirement for truckers to me is a good example. And if we forget about the demonstrations, and we forget about the convoy for just a second, and look at that policy for what it is. This is a policy that now goes against the World Health Organization’s recommendation and for which no epidemiological studies and projections have been provided.
While the industry is clear, when this measure took effect, the price of transport for fresh products from the United States went up by 15 to 20 per cent on average. Now I understand there are many factors contributing to inflation, but inflation happens over time, not overnight. This is not a small consequence, given that Canadians are already facing the highest inflation in 30 years. And unfortunately, it affects more of the most vulnerable amongst us.
The impact is not the same if you make 200 or 300,000 a year versus if you make 15 to 20 bucks an hour. At least if the benefits were clearly explained with data and projections, not with talking points, it could make the burden more bearable.
I’ve been looking for this data for weeks, but to no avail. This leads me to humbly suggest that the government should systematically publish the epidemiological projections and the scientific analysis underpinning the measures it imposes going forward.
Third, to echo the comments I quoted earlier, by Dr. Tam, to be building our capacity right now to face the next waves. As such, I believe the government should start negotiating the Canada Health Transfers with provinces without delays. The government’s position is quite frankly, hard to understand.
On the one hand, we say that we will not be negotiating the transfer before the pandemic ends, on the other hand, say that the pandemic will last for years. If you want to be able to truly live with the virus without resorting to the violence of lockdowns, these discussions cannot wait.
There is no doubt that provinces have a lot to do to improve their health-care systems and to gain in efficiency, but the federal government also has its role to play.
Last, I think it’s time to stop dividing Canadians, to stop pitting one part of the population against another. I can’t help but notice with regret that both tone and the policies of my government changed drastically on the eve and during the last election campaign.
From a positive and unifying approach, a decision was made to wedge to divide and to stigmatize. I fear that this politicization (of) the pandemic risks undermining the public’s trust in public-health institutions. This is not a risk we ought to be taking lightly.
And this last year, Canada has reached one of the highest levels of vaccination in the world, something we should be proud of. It is something we should be celebrating. Yet here we are more divided than ever.
Time to stop with the division and the distractions. It’s time to choose positive, not coercive methods. It’s time to unite. Finally, why am I alone voicing these concerns publicly today? I can tell you that I’m not the only one who feels varying degrees as I do within our ranks.
I remain hopeful this call for more humanism, for more reason, for more hope will be heard. Thank you all for your attention.
Lightbound was removed as the chair of the Quebec caucus of the Liberal Party of Canada. Beyond that, Trudeau seems to have decided to let the fire burn itself out. Canada's legacy media will assist him with that as the CBC has already forgotten about it.
Lightbound is the 3rd Liberal MP to act and speak with integrity in the past 6 years. The other two are no longer Liberals. There's something about truth and integrity that is foreign, if not offensive, to the Liberal Party of Canada.
