Conservative MPs are seeking an urgent meeting of the Commons Justice and Human Rights Committee to discuss the recent decision by the Federal Court that found the invocation of the Emergencies Act was not justified.
The Conservative MPs point out that the government has kept secret the legal opinion it relied on to decide on invoking the act. They say the court ruling “casts further doubt” on that opinion.
The letter needs the signatures of Bloc Québécois and NDP MPs on the committee for the meeting to occur.
The Tory MPs, Rob Moore, Larry Brock, Tako van Popta, and Frank Caputo, argue that the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency does not have planned meetings to address the matter, which they say requires “immediate action.”
The special committee has studied the Liberal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act (EA) on Feb. 14, 2022, as required by law.
The Public Order Emergency Commission, also established by law after the act was invoked to ensure accountability, found last year the government had met the high threshold to declare a public order emergency.
Justice Richard Mosley concluded that “there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires [beyond legal authority].”
The judge also found there were violations of charter rights in relation to freedom of opinion and security from unreasonable searches, which stemmed from regulations implemented by the government following the invocation.
Conservatives in their letter say the Liberal government effectively “broke the law” and “imposed draconian restraints on Canadians.”
“Most notably, the Trudeau government used it to freeze the bank accounts of Canadians and to authorize the arrest of Canadians for attending a protest voicing opposition to federal government policies.”
Hundreds of truckers descended on Ottawa in late January 2022 to protest against the newly imposed cross-border vaccine mandate. The protest eventually morphed to target all COVID-19 restrictions and gathered people from all walks of life, and supporting border blockades also sprung up across the country.
In response, the Liberal government invoked the EA on Feb. 14, 2022. By that time, the Windsor bridge blockade had already been dismantled, whereas border blockades in Alberta and Manitoba were resolved without direct police action subsequently. The Ottawa protest was cleared by a massive police operation during the weekend of Feb. 18.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has yet to comment on the court ruling, but his deputy Chrystia Freeland has. She announced on Jan. 23 that the government is appealing and that she remains “certain” they made the right decision at the time.
“We were convinced at the time—I was convinced at the time—it was the right thing to do. It was the necessary thing to do.”
