Emergencies Act Inquiry Update
Again, catching up on old news with a clearer picture. After invoking the Emergencies Act in February to clear the Freedom Convoy occupation, the Liberal government was bound by the Act to establish a parliamentary committee and a public inquiry into their use of the Act. They have done both and 7 months after the fact, let’s take a look at where these inquiries stand.
One big development is that the federal government has agreed to waive cabinet privilege and provide documents to the inquiry, led by Justice Paul S. Rouleau, that informed their decision to invoke the Act. Although the documents provided were redacted, it’s a huge win for the inquiry that the government was willing to turn them over at all.
It’s also been revealed that the night before the feds invoked the Emergencies Act, they were notified of a “potential breakthrough” in negotiations between the city of Ottawa, led by Dean French, the disgraced former Chief of Staff to Premier Doug Ford, and the convoy leaders, including Tamara Lich. However, it should be noted that these negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful and were at times denounced by other leadership figures of the convoy. The negotiations centered around moving all trucks from residential areas to Wellington Street; a solution that would have lessened the impact of the convoy on other residents, but not solve the problem facing residents of the downtown core. The occupation of Wellington Street and the downtown core saw participants blast truck and air horns for hours, including through the night, harass, threaten, and abuse residents, violate traffic and municipal bylaws, and stress the Ottawa 911 system by calling in hoaxes.
Federal intelligence officials continued to warn the government that while the odds of a co-ordinated terrorist attack or planned storming of Parliament Hill was unlikely, dispersing the occupation could result in a revenge-style attack against a politician or government symbol after reviewing several online incitements to violence. The Prime Minister’s national security and intelligence adviser, Jody Thomas, believed the government was right to invoke the Emergencies Act to clear the occupation and the OPP had flagged the convoy as a national security threat a week before the Act was invoked, although they did not provide specific reasons why.
Part of the problem was that the occupation of Ottawa, and the blockades at the Coutts border crossing and the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, were causing economic damage. While the figures of the economic impact at the national level vary, it’s clear that the actions of the convoy were costing local businesses and workers. Businesses were forced to pay out-of-pocket expenses to ensure they could operate in spite of the blockades and were forced to plan around chaotic schedules of blockades and police actions. At a national level, the blockades dented Canada’s reputation with our allies. President Biden expressed concerns about the impact of the border blockades on US workers and businesses and their existence could effect the willingness of international companies to invest in Canada. While it’s true that the border blockades were cleared before the invocation of the Emergencies Act, their long-term impact on international investments and local businesses is probably yet to be fully measured, and while the Ottawa occupation dragged on, the possibility of blockades starting up again loomed.
Another issue that’s become clear is the effectiveness of police forces and existing laws. While Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendocino has faced calls to resign over his mischaracterization of police forces asking for the Act to be invoked, Chief of Ottawa Police Peter Sloly actually did resign due to his mishandling of the convoy. It’s alleged that he conflicted with the OPP and the RCMP on how to formulate an effective plan to deal with the occupation. Police forces were clearly having difficulties, possibly due to sympathetic views within the forces, and while the RCMP and OPP never asked for the Act to be invoked, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki did say that the emergency powers granted were useful in dislodging the occupation and would’ve used the powers earlier had the Act been invoked earlier. The city of Ottawa was also having trouble finding tow companies willing to help due to the tow companies not wanting to destroy business relations with the trucking industry, fears for the personal safety of tow personnel, and fears for the safety of their towing equipment. While some have cited that existing laws do allow for the police to compel citizens (in this case tow truck drivers) to assist them in executing their duties, they tend to gloss over the actual language of section 129 of the Criminal Code. The section in question gives citizens an out if they have a “reasonable excuse”. Fears for personal safety, equipment safety, and economic security would probably be a “reasonable excuse” to not assist peace officers in the execution of their duties. With this not possible, it could be conceived that the Emergencies Act gave police forces the powers required to clear the occupation of downtown Ottawa.
Justice Rouleau has announced that hearings for the inquiry will begin on September 19th and are expected to last until October 28th. I would expect, from the evidence at our disposal, that we will find that the invocation of the Emergencies Act, while heavy-handed, was ultimately necessary to preserve the peace. The government can cite economic and reputational losses (wages, goods, international reputations, international investments), threats to national security (threat of resurgent blockades, incitements to violence, or the inability of police forces to effectively enforce existing laws and be able to make a convincing case that the Act was necessary. Hopefully we’ll have a definitive answer from the inquiry sooner rather than later.