Justin Trudeau broke the law
Federal Court confirms the Prime Minister’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act in February 2022 was unconstitutional
On January 24, 2024, in a landmark victory for the freedoms of Canadians, the Federal Court ruled that Justin Trudeau broke the highest law in the land by invoking the Emergencies Act, finding that Trudeau’s decision to use the Act directly violated Canadians’ most essential rights to freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression.
The Federal Court also found that the use of the Act was not consistent with the law and “the reasons provided for the decision to declare a public order emergency do not satisfy the requirements of the Emergencies Act and that certain of the temporary measures adopted to deal with the protests infringed provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
Trudeau, and the NDP whose support allowed this to happen, must now answer for their reckless abandonment of the law and the most basic freedoms of all Canadians. Stephanie and her Conservative colleagues voted against implementing the Emergencies Act.
Stephanie made her stance known numerous times during the related debates. Links to some of her comments are below.
No matter your opinion on the protest itself, the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act was unnecessary from the start. As Justice Richard Mosley wrote in his decision, ”The government failed to prove that there was an emergency, as defined by the Emergencies Act, with the protests not meeting the high threshold of a threat to the security of Canada.”
The government “cannot invoke the Emergencies Act because it is convenient, or because it may work better than other tools at their disposal or available to the provinces.”
An article in the Globe and Mail explained that, as Justice Mosley pointed out, “outside of an incident at the U.S. border in Coutts, Alta., where the RCMP found firearms, ammunition and other evidence of violent extremist ideology, there was no such threat or use of violence. And the Mounties addressed the dangers at Coutts using the Criminal Code before cabinet invoked the Emergencies Act.”
The fact is, Trudeau caused the crisis himself, by dividing people. He then proceeded to violate Charter rights to illegally suppress Canadian citizens.
Since then, his government has desperately tried to defend their actions. They have lied to the public, saying that the police asked the Government to invoke the Act – something the RCMP and the Ottawa Police have both denied.
Stephanie and the rest of the Official Opposition hope that Canadians will remember this when the next federal election is called.