A paralegal has informed Judge Rouleau that the Emergencies Act was invoked illegally — and that Rouleau’s appointment by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau represents a conflict of interest.
Jane Scharf, representing Freedom Convoy organizer Brigitte Belton, told Rouleau she objects to the Commission being set up by the same people being investigated.
“These are the people being investigated so they should not be setting up this process — and the chair should not have been somebody that was selected from the Liberal camp, so to speak.”
Rouleau is overseeing the Emergencies Act inquiry as it seeks to determine whether Trudeau was justified in invoking the never-before-used act to grant himself special powers. The judge was appointed by Trudeau, and has donated to and been a staffer of Trudeau’s Liberal party, raising concerns about his ability to remain impartial.
In response to Scharf’s allegations, Rouleau said he’s been a judge for twenty years.
“Who were you appointed by?” asked Scharf.
“I was appointed by the government — as you know,” he replied.
“By the Liberal government?” she asked.
“I’m not here to be cross examined. That’s not how it works,” he snapped back.
Rouleau subsequently said there was nothing he could do about Scharf’s conflict-of-interest concerns.
“Federal court might be happy to deal with it — might not. That’s up to you.”
Scharf also objected to Trudeau invoking the Emergencies Act without an Order in Council, which is the entire cabinet.
Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on February 14 for the first time in Canadians history to crack down on Freedom Convoy demonstrators who were protesting COVID-19 restrictions like vaccine mandates in the nation’s capital.
Through the act, the Trudeau Liberals froze the bank accounts of anyone associated with the protest, even allowing the RCMP to crack down on crypto wallets.
