Page 53 - ACTL Journal Win24

The Emergencies Act involves a legislative process that requires the approval of Parliament. It must also satisfy certain legal and constitutional criteria, such as the ne- cessity of such action. The government invoked the act even though the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) – Canada’s version of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - had not assessed this as a threat to na- tional security for its own purposes.
On February 14, 2022 the federal cabinet invoked the Emergencies Act, marking the first time it had been used. The Act calls for a remarkable exercise in public account- ability. There is a Parliamentary Review Committee that is struck, and ratification of the declaration has to be made by the Senate. And then, there’s a public inquiry. In this case, ratification was not reached because the emergency
declaration was revoked after just nine days.
There is a dual purpose for a public inquiry in Canada. First, to conduct an investigation for the government and the public on important issues of current concern. Second, to report on the investigation and make recommendations to the executive branch of government to inform legislative change and develop public policies.
In the public inquiry here, six cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister testified. In order to do this, given cabinet confidence, the Prime Minister decided, exceptionally, to direct a limited waiver of cabinet confidence so that the in- puts to the cabinet could be disclosed to the Commissioner and to the Canadian public.
The Emergencies Act requires the Commissioner to report to Parliament within 360 days of the revocation of the emergency. The Commission was not established until 60 days after the revocation so it had 300 days to complete the investigation and prepare its report.
That entailed:
20 participating counsel
10 administrative staff
20 groups with various types of standing 62,000 documents
8,400 documents marked as exhibits
31 days of fact evidence
300 hours of recorded testimony
76 witnesses
8,900 witness impact statements
2,000+ page report in 5 volumes
KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The Commissioner’s report made several key findings and recommendations:
ItwasreasonableforthePrimeMinisterandthecabinet to have invoked the Emergencies Act to end the Freedom Convoy protests.
Fifty-six specific recommendations were made, many related to policing and how the various police forces could work better together.
Most of the protestors acted with good motivation and were reasonable in their conduct. They had genuine concerns over the perceived government overreach.
Careless comments by politicians had fueled the pro- tests and had in part contributed to the problem.
The legal process continued. There are on-going criminal trials for Tamara Lich and Chris Barber. The protest had profound economic and social impacts. The use of the Emergencies Act to address the situation was a contentious decision, leading to the public inquiry. The ongoing crim- inal trials and the broader discussions about civil liberties and the role of government in addressing such protests un- derscore the lasting repercussions of the Freedom Convoy.
Sandra Barton Toronto, Ontario
WINTER 2024
JOURNAL 52