Ottawa defends use of Emergencies Act during convoy protests before Federal Court of Appeal
The decision to use the Emergencies Act in 2022 to address protests in Ottawa and at key border points has been a contentious issue, with Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley recently ruling that there was no national emergency justifying its invocation. However, lawyer Michael Feder, representing the government, argued that it was unfair to criticize the government’s decision-making with the benefit of hindsight.
In February 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government invoked the Emergencies Act in response to protests against the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including vaccine requirements. The protests, which lasted nearly a month and caused gridlock in downtown Ottawa, attracted a diverse group of individuals with various grievances against Trudeau and the Liberal government.
Under the Emergencies Act, law enforcement was granted extraordinary powers to remove and arrest protesters, freeze the finances of those connected to the protests, and even commandeer tow trucks to remove vehicles belonging to protesters. While the government believed these measures were necessary to restore order, critics, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, argued that the government acted without sound statutory grounds.
A mandatory inquiry conducted in the fall of 2022 came to a different conclusion than Justice Mosley. Commissioner Paul Rouleau determined that the government had met the “very high” threshold required to invoke the Emergencies Act, citing a “failure in policing and federalism.” According to Rouleau, what started as lawful protests had descended into lawlessness, leading to a national emergency.
The debate over the government’s use of the Emergencies Act in 2022 continues to be a contentious issue, with differing opinions on whether the measures taken were justified. As the legal battle unfolds in the Federal Court of Appeal, the outcome of this case will have far-reaching implications for future government responses to public demonstrations and protests.
