In a landmark ruling, the Federal Court has declared that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act in response to the Freedom Convoy protest violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

This decision marks a significant judicial rebuke of the government’s handling of the situation.

The court found that the use of the Emergencies Act, a measure reserved for situations of severe national crisis, was disproportionate and infringed upon freedom of thought, opinion, and expression rights of the protesters, as per the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“The record does not support a conclusion that the Convoy had created a critical, urgent and temporary situation that was national in scope and could not effectively be dealt with under any other law of Canada,” said Justice Richard Mosley.

Massive victory for Charter rights

The Applicants, consisting of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and four individuals who attended the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa,  argued there was insufficient evidence that the lives, health or safety of Canadians were seriously endangered beyond the capacity that provincial authorities had. 

The respondents in the ruling consisted of the Governor in Council Mary Simon and then-Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who were represented by the Attorney General of Canada,  Arif Virani.

The judge stated that the ruling would result in no costs to the respondents. However, it represents another legislative blow to the Trudeau regime, which has been habitually losing federal court challenges. It also adds credence to critics who refer to the Prime Minister as a tyrant.

The implementation of the Emergencies Act gave the Trudeau Government extraordinary powers, including freezing 257 Canadians’ bank accounts.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland laughed as she announced the temporary freezing of said bank accounts in February 2022, but her expression was more somber on Tuesday following the federal court’s decision.

Freeland said the feds will appeal the decision, potentially taking it to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Trudeau and Mendicino exposed

Less than a day before PM Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on February 14 2022, a national security advisor told him there was potential for a breakthrough in discussions with Ottawa protestors through conventional means.

Then-Liberal Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino was subsequently caught lying about the Liberals decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. After Mendicino insisted for months that law enforcement asked Trudeau to invoke the law, statements by the RCMP and Ottawa police revealed otherwise.

During the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) that was ordained following the invocation of the Emergencies Act, explosive texts between staffers at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Public Safety revealed the Trudeau Liberals purposely framed the Ottawa protesters as “extreme,” and just like the January 6 2021 event in America (at least as depicted by mainstream media).

However, the decision from Justice Mosley strays from the POEC. In his final report on the POEC, Judge Rouleau blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for being inadequately prepared, but said he was justified to invoke the Emergencies Act anyway.

Rouleau determined that the threshold for Trudeau to invoke the EA was met. However, he also said it could have been avoided.