Semi-Public Inquiry For Use of Emergencies Act

On Monday, April 25th, the federal government announced the creation of the Public Order Emergency Commission which is designed to independently examine the circumstances that led to the Emergencies Act being put into use and the measures taken by the government to deal with the emergency. The commission will be led by the Honourable Paul S. Rouleau, who has served as a justice for 20 years including as a Superior Court of Ontario Justice and Ontario Court of Appeals Justice between 2002 and 2005. The commission will explore the evolution of the convoy, the impact of funding and disinformation, the economic impact, and the efforts of police and other responders before and after the Emergencies Act was invoked. Justice Rouleau will submit a final report of the Commission’s findings to the House of Commons and Senate by February 20th, 2023. You can read the complete Order in Council here. The commission will be obligated to ensure that the inquiry does not jeopardize any ongoing investigations and that any information disclosed does not have a negative impact on international relations, national defence, or national security.

For these reasons, Conservative critics, and the party at large, have been hammering the government on the idea that the feds will be less than forthcoming with relevant information. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino stated that the commission will have access to classified documents but did not say whether that access will also apply to information protected by “cabinet confidence” such as discussions and deliberations between cabinet ministers. The Conservatives have seized on these restrictions on the transparency of the inquiry and have begun to push the idea that the inquiry focuses too much on the actions of the protester while deflecting attention away from the actions of the government. It should be noted that the limitations imposed on the inquiry’s transparency are either due to legal protections or the guidelines set out in the Order in Council.

For what my humble opinion is worth, I do agree that the Commission should have access to as much information as possible, but I disagree with the notion that the government is somehow trying to shirk accountability for their decision to invoke the Act. The limitations imposed are reasonable under the assumption that the government does not want to provide the names of sources they used inside the Convoy and under the belief that the amount of information the Commission does have access to will be enough to draw informed conclusions, even without information protected by cabinet confidence. The fact that Minister Mendicino also did not flatly reject the notion that cabinet confidence would be waived leaves enough room to believe that if the need arises, it will be. This is a lot of faith to put in the hands of a government led by a man with several ethics violations, but he invoked the Act knowing he'd face a full inquiry.

We’re in for a long wait before we see the results of this inquiry, but it will be interesting to see what information is provided to the public over the next year. Stay tuned for updates!