Ottawa ON – John Brassard, Conservative House Leader, and Luc Berthold, Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition and Québec Political Lieutenant, issued the following statement after the Liberals and their NDP allies passed a motion to strike the Emergencies Act oversight committee:

“The Liberals, backed by their NDP allies are weakening the accountability and oversight measures required under the Emergencies Act.

“The purpose of the oversight committee is to review the use of the extraordinary powers the Prime Minister gave himself. The Emergencies Act itself requires an opposition-heavy committee to review the use of those powers, because in a healthy democracy, the government of the day cannot be allowed to police itself.

“That is why Conservatives proposed a commonsense amendment that would have allowed one Liberal MP, and one Conservative Senator to co-chair the oversight committee.

“Instead, the Liberals and the NDP forced through an absurd proposal to strike a committee that neither respects the balance and the unique functions of both the House of Commons and the Senate, nor does their proposal respect the role of the Official Opposition in our democracy of holding the government to account.

“Conservatives are deeply concerned that the Liberals and their NDP allies who voted to give the Prime Minister unprecedented power are now trying to avoid scrutiny and cover up the fact the government never needed these powers in the first place.

“Conservatives will continue to fight for Canadians. We will hold the Liberal government to account, and we will use the tools at our disposal to ensure the Prime Minister justifies his actions to Canadians.”