Trudeau announces Emergencies Act investigation led by a judge

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OTTAWA – An Ontario appeals court judge will oversee an investigation into the government’s use of the Emergencies Act, with the power to compel testimony and demand documents on why liberals first invoked the law in the Canada’s history.

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Ontario Court of Appeals Judge Paul Rouleau has been announced as commissioner of what the government calls the Public Order Emergency Commission. He will have until February 20, 2023 to submit a report to Parliament.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on February 14 after three weeks of protests in downtown Ottawa that blocked streets, along with several other blockades at border crossings across the country.

The law gave the government the power to freeze bank accounts to cut off convoy funds and force tow truck drivers to remove the vehicles. The law was revoked nine days later, on February 23.

The government was legally required to announce an investigation within 60 days of the law’s repeal, a deadline that ran out on Monday. The investigation joins the parliamentary commission that studies the invocation, which will hear on Tuesday night the Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino, and the Minister of Justice, David Lametti.

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In a statement, Rouleau said he was honored to have been chosen for the job and was looking forward to the job.

“I am committed to ensuring that the process is as open and transparent as possible, recognizing the tight reporting deadlines imposed by the Emergencies Law.”

The official cabinet orders give Rouleau the mandate to investigate the circumstances of why the act was declared, the evolution of the convoy, the police response, the economic impact of the blockades, the financing of the protests and the disinformation that could have caused them. have fed.

Mendicino said the government wants to make sure this kind of prolonged blockade doesn’t happen again in the future and wants a thorough review of its actions.

“It’s not just about checking a box. This is healthy for our democracy, and we want to thank the commissioner in advance for his important work,” he said.

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He said the government stands by its decision to invoke the law and welcomes the scrutiny.

“It was a necessary decision. It was a responsible decision. That was the right thing to do. And we certainly look forward to cooperating with Judge Rouleau.”

Rouleau can make people testify in public and demand that the government provide documents. Invocation of the act has been challenged in several lawsuits and the government has relied on cabinet confidence to reject requests for documents.

Confidence in the cabinet is an old part of Canadian law that prevents ministers from talking about discussions around the cabinet table to allow free debates. It also protects any documents presented during cabinet meetings from being shared publicly.

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Mendicino said the lawsuits and the investigation are different and that Rouleau would have access to the documents he needs to do his job, but he did not specifically rule out giving up the cabinet’s trust in the investigation.

“The judge will have wide access, including to classified documents. Our intention is to collaborate with the judge so that he has a complete file, so that he can do his job,” he said.

In question period, Conservative MP Glen Motz said the government should be fully transparent about why it invoked the law, but suggested it won’t because the extraordinary power was never required.

“This administration has yet to make a convincing argument that the invocation of the sct actually met the high, incredibly high national security threshold,” he said. “Will this government finally be transparent and accountable to Canadians in sharing the information and documents it relied on to invoke the Emergencies Act?”

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Rouleau has wide latitude to decide who will testify and under what circumstances. He can also allow other groups to participate in the research and have the government provide them with funds to do so.

Mendicino said most of the decisions about how the investigation unfolds are in Rouleau’s hands.

“One of the hallmarks of this public inquiry is that it will have the ability to function independently and impartially from the government, and it is one of the reasons the government chose to make this a full-fledged public inquiry.”

As in most public investigations, the process is designed more like a fact-finding mission, and Rouleau is barred from finding criminal law violations or ruling on civil liability.

Approximately 200 people were arrested in a massive police operation in downtown Ottawa after the act was invoked.

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