Ottawa defends use of Emergencies Act during convoy protests before Federal Court of Appeal
A lawyer for the federal government says a judge mistakenly concluded it was unreasonable for the government to use the Emergencies Act in 2022 to quell protests in the national capital and at key border points.
In his January 2024 ruling, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley said he revisited the events with the benefit of a more extensive record of the facts and the law than the government had when it proclaimed a public order emergency.
Ultimately, there "was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act," he wrote.
Lawyer Michael Feder, representing the government, told the Federal Court of Appeal on Thursday it was unfair of the judge to fault federal decision-making using "20/20 hindsight."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, 2022, after thousands of protesters angry with the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including vaccine requirements, gridlocked downtown Ottawa for nearly a month and blocked border points elsewhere across the country.
While many demonstrated against COVID-19 health restrictions, the gathering attracted people with a variety of grievances against Trudeau and the Liberal government.
The act gave law enforcement extraordinary powers to remove and arrest protesters and gave the government the power to freeze the finances of those connected to the protests. The temporary emergency powers also gave authorities the ability to commandeer tow trucks to remove vehicles belonging to protesters.
Inquiry came to a different conclusion
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and several other groups and individuals argued in Federal Court that Ottawa ushered in the emergency measures without sound statutory grounds.
A mandatory inquiry reviewed the government's use of the Emergencies Act in the fall of 2022 and came to a different conclusion than Mosley.
Commissioner Paul Rouleau concluded the federal government met the "very high" threshold needed to invoke the Emergencies Act, citing "a failure in policing and federalism."
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