Emergencies Act Invoked Based on Threat of Serious Violence, Say Top Public Servants

Clerk of the Privy Council Janice Charette (L) looks on as Deputy Clerk Nathalie Drouin responds to a question from counsel as they appear as witnesses at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa on Nov. 18, 2022. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

The federal government’s top public servants defended the rationale to invoke the Emergencies Act as they testified on Nov. 18, telling the Public Order Emergency Commission that a threat of serious violence was the main ground for the invocation.

“What we use is really 2c,” said Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council Nathalie Drouin. “The real ground was 2c.”