Emergencies Act Author Warned Cabinet of ‘Long Term Issues’ Following Its Use on Convoy Protest: Text Messages

Emergencies Act Author Warned Cabinet of ‘Long Term Issues’ Following Its Use on Convoy Protest: Text Messages
Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and former defence minister, speaks during a news conference held by the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable at the Ottawa Airport in Ottawa, on June 14, 2021. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
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Perrin Beatty, a former Conservative defence minister who helped draft the Emergencies Act in the 1980s, told Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in February text messages that he was worried about possible “long term issues” that might follow the federal government’s use of the emergency powers.

“I certainly hope that we'll see an early, non-violent end to the blockades although I am worried, as I know you are,” Beatty wrote to Freeland on Feb. 22, eight days after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act. The act was revoked on Feb. 23.