Lawyers representing the governments of Saskatchewan and Alberta in the public inquiry into the federal government’s recent use of the Emergencies Act say the provinces were only told of Ottawa’s intention in the morning of the day the act was invoked.
“Feb. 14 was a very significant day from the government of Saskatchewan’s perspective,” Michael Morris, a lawyer representing the government of Saskatchewan, told the Public Order Emergency Commission on its opening day on Oct. 13.
“On the morning of Feb. 14, a First Minister’s call was held. The phone call was chaired by the prime minister. That phone call was the first time the federal government told the government of Saskatchewan that it was considering invoking the Emergencies Act and declaring a public order emergency.”
The commission, formed by the order of the federal government as required by the act, is examining the events that led to the declaration of public emergency on Feb. 14 that lasted until Feb. 23.
The act was invoked by the federal government to clear out convoy protests demonstrating against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions. The majority of provinces were opposed to the invocation of the act.
The federal government, as well as the governments of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba, have standing at the commission.
Morris told the commission that during the Feb. 14 phone call, the government of Saskatchewan said that it didn’t want the public emergency to apply within its province. He added that “other provincial governments did the same” during the phone call.
“Later that day, the federal government proclaimed a public order emergency. It was not geographically limited, as requested by Saskatchewan and other provinces,” Morris said.
Before the act came into force, the major border-crossing blockades had been cleared, including the one at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., while some persisted at the less trafficked ones. The act gave law enforcement extraordinary powers to clear out protests from Ottawa’s downtown area and also gave financial institutions the power to freeze the accounts of convoy organizers and supporters.
Mandy England, a lawyer representing the government of Alberta at the commission, said the province wanted to take part in the commission to show that Alberta was able to clear out the blockade at the Coutts, Alberta, border-crossing without the use of the act, and to hold the federal government accountable for the invocation of the act.
“Alberta’s evidence will show that the existing law enforcement tools that were already in place were completely sufficient, and they were successfully used to peacefully restore the flow of traffic at the Coutts border-crossing, and to disperse the protest to a legal protest site,” England said. “None of the powers that were created under the federal Emergencies Act were necessary, nor were any of them used in Alberta to resolve the Coutts blockade.”
England said the federal government’s decision to invoke the act was made “despite the objections that Alberta and other provinces expressed” during the First Ministers’ call on Feb. 14, which she said was held “just hours prior to the announcement that the federal Emergencies Act would be invoked.”
“Since the federal government proclaimed that a public order emergency existed throughout Canada, the act requires that all of the provinces must be consulted before it can be invoked in that manner. Yet Alberta’s views were only asked for after the decision was apparently made, and they were basically ignored,” she said.
Robert MacKinnon, general counsel at Justice Canada who is representing the federal government at the commission, said in his introductory remarks that the convoy protests presented an “unprecedented critical situation” to Canada.
“The evidence will show that the invocation of the Emergencies Act was a reasonable and necessary decision, given the escalating volatile and urgent circumstances across the country,” he said.
“The evidence of the government witnesses will detail the facts and events leading to the decision to declare a public order emergency.”
Representatives for the government of Manitoba were also scheduled to provide introductory remarks, but they weren’t present when commissioner Paul S. Rouleau called on them to speak.
Rouleau, an Ontario appeal court judge, was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in April to lead the commission.
The commission will be presenting its final report, which would contain its findings and recommendations, to the Parliament by Feb. 20, 2023.
