Emergencies Act Invocation For Freedom Convoy ‘Not Justified’: Federal Court

The Federal Court has ruled that the government’s utilization of the Emergencies Act to disband the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa two years ago was deemed “not justified.”

The Canadian Constitution Foundation and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the entities spearheading the case, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the outcome of the ruling.

The protests, which lasted three weeks and included blockades at key Canada-U.S. border crossings in early 2022, were a response to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley expressed that the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act lacked reasonableness, transparency, and intelligibility, asserting that it was not justified considering the pertinent factual and legal constraints.

Mosley emphasized that the interpretation of the Emergencies Act and CSIS Act allows only one reasonable interpretation. He stated, “the legal constraints on the discretion of the GIC to declare a public order emergency were not satisfied.”

Clarifying the nature of the case, Mosley specified, “This case was not about the constitutionality of the (Emergencies Act) but, rather, how it was applied in this instance.”

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking from a cabinet retreat in Montreal, announced the government’s intention to appeal the decision. She stressed the gravity of the situation at the time, asserting that the public safety and national security, including economic security, were under threat.

Freeland acknowledged the difficulty of the decision and asserted the government’s conviction that invoking the Emergencies Act was both the right and necessary course of action.

She reiterated, “I remain and we remain convinced of that.”

The public inquiry conducted by Commissioner Paul Rouleau in the previous year had determined that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met the threshold to invoke the Emergencies Act.

Parvasi Weekly Inc.