OTTAWA – A judge has ruled that the Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in response to the “Freedom Convoy” protests in early 2022 was “unreasonable under the law.”
A news release states “while the Court recognized that the occupation of downtown Ottawa and the blockades of the ports of entry were matters of serious concern calling for government and police action, the threshold of national emergency required by the Act was not met.”
It goes on to say that “Under paragraph 3(a) of the Act, a national emergency is an urgent and critical situation that exceeds the capacity or authority of the provinces to deal with it, and that cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada. The Proclamation applied the temporary special measures in all of Canada’s provinces and territories, despite the lack of evidence that it was necessary. Apart from the situation in Ottawa, the police were able to enforce the rule of law by applying the Criminal Code and other legislation.”
The government invoked the act in February 2022 to end protests that had blockaded border crossings and taken place for weeks in downtown Ottawa.
CP reports Deputy Prime Minister Christia Freeland says the federal government will appeal the decision. “Justice Richard Mosely says the decision infringed on constitutional rights, but Freeland says the government did not agree.”
You can find the full news release here.
