Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland testified before the special committee reviewing the Emergencies Act on June 14 but left many questions unanswered, causing some parliamentarians to express frustration.

Even when asked repeatedly Chrystia Freeland wouldn’t say whose idea it was to invoke the Emergencies Act, but said that she will personally take responsibility for it.

It was a collective decision. But at that time, and today I’m talking of the reality for me, I would like to take the personal responsibility for that decision. It was my opinion. It was it was the correct decision.

The Emergencies Act Committee has repeatedly been asking for transparency and documentation to back-up the Liberals decision to invoke the Emergencies Act with no luck.

Green stated during the meeting “So I’m going to put the question to you directly: What were the economic impacts of the occupation? And were they significant enough to meet the threshold of a threat to national security under Section 2 of the CSIS act?” said Green, referring to CSIS’s definition of threats to national security.

Freeland did not answer directly but honed in on Green’s comment about Canada’s reputation, saying the country’s reputation was key to a strong economy.

“Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner, as a reliable investment destination, as a country with peace, order and good government, as a country with stable and effective political institutions, these are some of the most precious things we have as an economy, and they are the foundation for our prosperity.”

Green responded “That’s not the question I asked you,” repeating his previous questions on economic impacts. “I’m not talking about pontification, I’m talking about facts here.”

Freeland replied “I don’t believe I’m pontificating”, “The economic impact was absolutely, clearly there.”

Trudeau responded to reporters “Premier Kenney has made it clear he would still like to see Keystone XL revived. I haven’t had any conversations with our premier in regards to it or any further conversations with President Biden.”  Freeland said “Our government has been very clear that we support KXL. I think it was a mistake to not move forward with KXL.”