“Criminalizing Dissent”

Justice Paul Rouleau has reluctantly ruled that the invocation of the Emergencies Act was justified. While this will inevitably have some Canadians spitting mad, there is little reason to doubt him. Rouleau is an accomplished lawyer and justice and, if we believe ourselves to be a country ruled by law, it is incumbent upon even those furious with the decision to accept it and move on.

Bill Maher: “Big story, and I wonder how much it’s going to get covered in the liberal media, because it’s about natural immunity. They did a giant study, 65 countries… Natural immunity: as good or better than the vaccine.”pic.twitter.com/fFtZN0KeX3

— Michael P Senger (@MichaelPSenger) February 20, 2023

That’s effectively the conclusion of the “Report of the Public Inquiry into the 2022 Public Order Emergency” delivered by Justice Paul Rouleau on Friday. The final report, which was required after the invocation of the Emergencies Act, concluded that the government met the legal threshold required to invoke emergency powers during Freedom Convoy protests — and freeze bank accounts of those suspected to be involved.

Walking past the Parliament Buildings on the way back from the release of the Rouleau commission report on last year’s public order emergency, it felt preposterous that this was the same place as the protest site that seethed with such noise, fury and resentment one year ago.

Under federal legislation called the Emergencies Act (the one-time War Measurers Act, renamed by a Conservative government) the Government of Canada can invoke special powers and then must must conduct a review of how those powers were used.

‘Whereas, under subsection 63(1) of the Emergencies Act, the Governor in Council shall, within 60 days after the expiration or revocation of a declaration of emergency, cause an inquiry to be held into the circumstances that led to the declaration being issued and the measures taken for dealing with the emergency;’

This week marks one-year since the Trudeau government invoked the Emergencies Act in response to the Freedom Convoy protests, and on that anniversary, the Liberals are fighting a war on two fronts defending their decision to use that extraordinary legislation.

If you like, you can situate the opening scene of the Valentine’s Day 2022 Emergencies Act melodrama in Prince Rupert, on British Columbia’s north coast, at roughly 7 a.m. on Jan. 22 last year. An Ottawa-bound convoy of trucks rolled eastward out of town along Highway 16, eventually converging with other convoys from points south and east, and by Saturday, Jan. 29, Ottawa was besieged, it’s fair to say.

Trudeau could resign next.