This afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revoked the use of the Emergency Act. The federal cabinet had declared a “public order emergency” on Valentine’s Day, 14 February 2022. Both houses of the Parliament of Canada had to debate and confirm the declaration. Controversially, the House of Commons debate was delayed due to the police actions near the parliament buildings in Ottawa, which ensued from the application of the Act. In the evening of February 21, the House approved the emergency with 185 votes from the Liberal Party caucus of Trudeau’s minority government, the New Democrat Party caucus, and former Green Party leader Elizabeth May, against 151 votes from Conservative and Bloc Quebecois MPs. The Senate debate was in its second day, with many concerns raised and critical questions asked about the validity and wisdom of the invocation of the Act, when the motion was withdrawn due to the Prime Minister’s announcement.
Both, the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) filed court applications to quash the emergency proclamation and the two ensuing government measures: regulations enabling the clearing of the “unlawful protests”, and an order allowing the freezing of bank accounts of protest participants and supporters. The Province of Alberta is also preparing an injunction against the federal invocation of the Act.
In listening to MPs and senators earlier this week and to the CCF’s Executive Director today, it seems clear to me that the federal emergency proclamation constitutes a clear, unprecedented, and almost absurd overreach by this Prime Minister. The border blockades, including but not limited to the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor and the Coutts area in Alberta had already been cleared peacefully without the need for the emergency measures. Last Friday and Saturday, the Freedom Convoy 2022 protesters in downtown Ottawa were removed by an impressive amassment of heavily armed police forces from across the country. As far as I could see, isolated violent incidents originated from police who pepper-sprayed, baton-pushed, horse-trampled, and kneed select protesters. In a live stream near the main stage that was left active after the broadcasters had been arrested, you could marvel at four squadrons of 25 or so riot police officers marching down Wellington Street in front of Parliament after the area had been emptied by other units; I am quite certain the protest could have been dissolved by a much smaller number of regular municipal and provincial police.
Another justification given by some pundits for the need for a federal emergency declaration was to compel tow truck operators to remove the parked vehicles. Supposedly, the Ottawa area towing companies were not keen to do this job. As noted by CCF’s Ms. Barron today, according to Section 129 of the Criminal Code, anyone who “omits, without reasonable excuse, to assist a public officer or peace officer in the execution of his duty in arresting a person or in preserving the peace, after having reasonable notice that he is required to do so” commits an indictable offense and faces a prison sentence; you can’t tell me that this is not enough to compel the tow truckers to collaborate. In addition, local police (and all levels of government) let three weeks pass without serious attempts at negotiating a solution.
A further inconsistency is of particular interest to the geographers in the room. When invoking the Act, Mr. Trudeau stated that the measures would be “geographically" targeted”. He intended to alleviate concerns about the broad scope of the measures by referring to the protest locations in Ottawa and select border crossings with the United States. Yet, the Act is for “national emergencies”, those that endanger the health and safety of [all?] Canadians, and/or threaten the country’s security and integrity. Conservative Senator Denise Batters put her finger on the obvious contradiction. This sure leaves a stain of incompetence on the Prime Minister, Cabinet, and advisors.
Lastly, the “Emergency Economic Measures Order” that allowed the immediate freezing of individual and corporate bank accounts and the cancelling of insurance contracts on the suspicion of involvement in the Freedom Convoy sets an incredibly problematic precedent. It was reported that bank accounts of individuals were frozen. Among the mainstream press, the Globe and Mail is known to have contacted convoy donors from the leaked GiveSendGo database for a story about whether their accounts were frozen and what they thought of it. Three Globe and Mail headlines reflect the timeline of events as well as the associated uncertainty and contradictions:
Financial institutions have started freezing protesters' bank accounts (February 17)
RCMP, banks and Ottawa say convoy protest donors won't have accounts frozen (February 21)
Banks have unfrozen most convoy protesters' accounts (February 23)
While PM Trudeau emphasized again this afternoon that the (now-revoked) emergency measures did not infringe on civil rights, Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms unambiguously guarantees “the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure”. Canadian cannot have their personal information shared and assets blocked without a warrant, upon mere suspicion by state authorities.
Add to this that the Assistant Deputy Minister of Finance, according to a National Post from February 22 (yesterday!), confirmed that a minor donation could lead to a frozen bank account, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police according to CTV News denies having provided donor names to the banks. But even if they did indeed only provide the information for protest organizers, not donors, the chaos around this measure will have a chilling effect on essential democratic processes. As Ms. Barron noted, as a charitable organization working to uphold constitutional rights of Canadians, the CCF is now receiving inquiries from prospective donors as to whether they may run the risk of having their accounts frozen for donating to the CCF. While this is obviously not the case, the simple fact that this question arises indicates a loss of trust in the government’s respect for the rule of law.
In summary, after stoking divisions throughout the fall and playing hardball with the Freedom Convoy 2022 protesters, our Prime Minister turned to the nuclear option of the Emergencies Act on a whim, only to get cold feet after a nine-day fermentation period. He proclaimed just this Monday that the emergency was still very much ongoing in order to force the House of Commons supporting vote, only to declare the emergency over two days later, with no indication of any real change in intelligence or on the ground. Trudeau made a mockery of the Emergencies Act, parliamentary democracy, and not the least his political ally, the New Democratic Party who will have a hard time distancing themselves from this political mischief. Ultimately, the joke is on peaceful, engaged, and forgiving Canadians.
To end on a positive note, some of the truckers evicted from the City of Ottawa have regrouped on farms in the vicinity. While the meanstream media are busy speculating about a planned re-insurrection, I suspect that the demonstrators are simply planning and preparing their way home. When attempting to report on one such encampment, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) vehicle got stuck in a ditch. A protest participant with a pickup truck pulled them out, as any good Canadian would. Good thing that Tyson Gareau’s hat only said “Defund the CBC” and not “Ditch the CBC”!
It’s uplifting to see kindness win the day, not the least through the fact that senior CBC reporter Ashley Burke actually posted the incident on Twitter and listened to Gareau’s personal story and convoy experience.