Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says the Liberal government will be appealing the decision of a federal judge who found that the invocation of the Emergencies Act in response to the Freedom Convoy was “unreasonable.”
“We have discussed it with the prime minister, with cabinet colleagues, with senior federal government officials and experts,” she told reporters in Montreal on Jan. 23. “We respect very much Canada’s independent judiciary. However, we do not agree with this decision. And respectfully, we will be appealing it.”
“It was a hard decision to take. We took it very seriously, after a lot of hard work, after a lot of careful deliberation. We were convinced at the time—I was convinced at the time—it was the right thing to do. It was the necessary thing to do,” Ms. Freeland said.
The federal government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, 2022, which gave law enforcement expanded powers to arrest demonstrators, freeze the bank accounts of some protestors, and commandeer tow trucks to remove protesters’ vehicles from Ottawa’s downtown core.
While the judge said he agreed with Ottawa’s claim that the situation was “critical” and required an urgent resolution by governments, he did not agree with the conclusion that other laws in Canada could not have been used to deal with the protests.
Justice Mosley also said Ottawa’s freezing of protestors’ bank accounts infringed on their Section 8 charter rights, and that the decision to do so was “not minimally impairing” because the regulations applied in places where the protest was not happening and there were “less impairing alternatives available.”
When asked if she had regrets about freezing protestors’ bank accounts, Ms. Freeland said the federal government attempted to preserve the physical safety of all Canadians. “I don’t want to minimize the gravity of the actions we took. Neither do I want to minimize the gravity of the threat,” she said.
Court Ruling ‘At Odds’ With Ruling of Previous Judge
During the press conference, Justice Minister Arif Virani reiterated that Ottawa respected the judicial process, but that a “fundamental aspect of the judicial process is also proceeding on an appeal.”“After that consultation with the prime minister, with cabinet colleagues, we’ve taken the decision that we will be proceeding on an appeal, as is within our rights within the judicial system,” he said.
“I think that is important that that also informs our decision and our basis upon which we will proceed to an appeal,” Mr. Virani said.
Minister of Public Safety Dominic Leblanc told reporters that during the Freedom Convoy, he spoke to senior officials in the national security apparatus who were concerned about the risk of “copycat incidents” and premiers who were worried for public safety and the economy.
Mr. Leblanc also mentioned the incident at Coutts, Alta., where firearms and ammunition were seized and four men were arrested who had allegedly planned to kill RCMP officers.
“When security services tell you that they found two pipe bombs and 36,000 rounds of munition and ended up laying criminal charges as serious as conspiracy to commit murder and assaulting peace officers. So the context is important,” he said.
“I’m very satisfied that we made a reasonable decision, and we'll now let the appeal courts consider the filings from my colleagues.
