Eight months after COVID-19 vaccine mandate protesters disrupted parts of downtown Ottawa, a public inquiry has opened its public hearings as it probes the federal government’s unprecedented use of emergency powers to clean up the capital
The official launch of the commission this morning kicks off what is expected to be six weeks of political tension as the inquiry hears from federal government representatives about why they believed they had to invoke the never-before-used Emergency Act, and of those who consider it was a step too far.
Ontario Court of Appeal Judge Paul Rouleau has been chosen to lead the inquiry. He began the morning by raising the curtain on the mandate of the commission and its challenges.
“A commission’s recommendations can be modest or far-reaching. They can be aimed at various audiences, including government, public bodies and the private sector,” the commissioner said.
“It is also important to understand what commissions of inquiry do not do. They do not make determinations of legal responsibility. They do not determine whether individuals have committed crimes. While investigations seek to uncover the truth, they are not trials. Civil and civil matters. criminal responsibilities are decided by courts, not commissions.”
Final preparations are being made before the start of the Emergency Public Order Commission in Ottawa on October 13, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
The commission, officially called the Public Order Emergency Commission, will also present thousands of documents over the next six weeks, analyzing the chronology of events leading up to the invocation of the act, the legal framework of the legislation and the rationale of the government
Lawyer Paul Champ, who represents a coalition of community associations and business improvement areas in downtown Ottawa, has already seen some of those documents. While he is prohibited from discussing their contents, he said they were not flattering to the various levels of government and law enforcement involved.
“I think there’s going to be a very disturbing story to tell,” he said.
“I think we’re going to see where some of the balls fall. We’re going to see that there were a lot of disagreements, there were a lot of arguments and dysfunction between the key players. And it’s going to be the whole story. .”
The morning continued with Robert MacKinnon, a lawyer for the government, delivering his opening statements in defense of the federal government’s decision.
They were followed by lawyers from the province of Saskatchewan and Alberta, who expressed their opposition to the federal government’s decision.
The lawyer for the province of Alberta noted that he was able to use existing laws to stop the border blockades at Coutts.
Champ said his clients will not take a position on the invocation of the Emergency Law. He said they want to make sure the official record reflects what the people of Ottawa experienced during the three weeks when protesters used trucks and other vehicles to block some of the city’s major arteries and neighborhoods.
“I don’t think people really understand how traumatized, and frankly terrified, the people of Ottawa were,” he said.
“Public services were completely disrupted. Ambulances had difficulty getting to the city center. Buses stopped, Para Transpo stopped. The elderly, the disabled were very affected.
“People were held hostage in their own homes. And we want to make sure that story is told.”
Trudeau defends the decision to invoke the Emergency Act
The commission is the first of its kind in Canada and is a legal requirement under the Emergencies Act. By means of a decree, the commission has been responsible for examining the circumstances that gave rise to the declaration of public emergency and to examine the following questions:
- The evolution and objectives of the convoy and the blockades, its leadership, organization and participants.
- The impact of domestic and foreign funding on protests, including money from crowdsourcing platforms.
- The impact, role and sources of misinformation and disinformation associated with the protests, including the role played by social media.
- The impact of blockades, including their economic impact.
- And the actions of the police and other responding officers before and after the statement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has continued to defend his government’s decision to invoke the Emergency Act on February 14, saying it was necessary “to bring the situation back under control.”
Invoking the act gave authorities new powers, including the authority to ban travel to protest areas, ban people from bringing minors to illegal gatherings and order tow trucks.
Police enforce a court order against protesters on February 19 in Ottawa. Some of the protesters had been camped out in their trucks near Parliament Hill for weeks. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
“That’s exactly what we did,” Trudeau said at a news conference Wednesday.
“Last winter’s convoy blockades massively disrupted the lives of Ottawa residents, of people who depend on supply chains that cross borders. It was something that Canadians experienced with real concern, and that’s why we moved forward with measures that should not be taken lightly.”
LOOK | Trudeau says use of Emergency Act was “necessary”:
Trudeau says use of Emergency Act was “necessary to restore order” in Ottawa and the country
With the inquiry into Ottawa’s use of the Emergency Act to clear protesters set to begin Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he expects to appear before the committee to answer questions.
Hatim Kheir, a lawyer at the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms, said he believes the government did not meet the legal threshold for invoking the act, making such measures illegitimate under the law.
“The government’s invocation of the Emergency Act is a threat to our very system of government,” he said.
The Justice Center for Constitutional Freedom is one of the many organizations that have a presence on the commission. Standing gives these organizations certain privileges in the investigative process, such as the ability to suggest or cross-examine witnesses. It also means that they are given advance notice of the documents being submitted as evidence.
The Commission has access to high-level documents
While the commission’s eventual recommendations won’t carry much legal weight, Kheir said the testimony of witnesses and the evidence that will be put on the record, along with the fact that it will be broadcast live daily, will shed light on what happened last February . .
“The government will have to face the reality of trying to justify its actions,” he said.
“It will not have the force of law, but it may have a persuasive effect. It will also be informative for the public.”
At Rouleau’s request, the Liberal government has waived cabinet confidence in documents related to its invocation of the law. It is only the fourth time in Canadian history that a public inquiry has had access to such high-profile documents.
A lawyer for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which is taking the government to court over its use of the Emergency Act, said he fears these sensitive documents will not be made public.
“We go to the commission with an open mind, but in our view, the government still needs to demonstrate that the legal threshold has been met to invoke the act,” Cara Zwibel said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Police officers push back protesters outside the Canadian Senate building in Ottawa on February 18. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
“And the burden is on them. Not the other way around.”
The commission is expected to hear from 65 witnesses over the next six weeks, including Trudeau, cabinet ministers, Ontario and Alberta government officials and convoy organizers, including Tamara Lich, who was in the room for the opening of Thursday, and Pat King.
The commission will also hear from a number of police and security officials, including former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, Canada’s spy agency chief David Vigneault and the head of the government’s Integrated Threat Assessment Center.
Rouleau opened the proceedings with an opening statement, which will be followed by presentations and general reports by the commission’s lawyers that will summarize the preliminary facts.
During its first phase, scheduled to end on November 25, the commission will meet for six weeks. Following the completion of the first phase, the commission will begin a policy phase during which it will host roundtable discussions with policy experts.
Rouleau’s final report is due in February, a company he acknowledged will be a challenge during his opening statements.
The commissioner noted that he is working on a tight schedule, noting the Air India inquiry, which had four years to complete its work, and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry, which took almost three years to write his final report. .
The work of the Emergency Act investigation “is measured in days, not years,” Rouleau said.