OTTAWA, ON: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms welcomes today’s decision of the Federal Court of Appeal, which affirms the lower court ruling that the Trudeau government’s use of the Emergencies Act against peaceful protesters in Ottawa in February 2022 was illegal.
The Court confirmed that the high legal threshold required to invoke the Emergencies Act was not met, and that the situation in Ottawa could have been addressed using existing Canadian laws without resorting to emergency powers.
Lawyers funded by the Justice Centre were on the ground in Ottawa throughout all three weeks of the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest in January and February 2022, observing events as they unfolded and providing legal support to Canadians exercising their Charter freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.
The Justice Centre provided lawyers for four Canadians who participated in the Freedom Convoy and who challenged the invocation of the Emergencies Act in Federal Court. Those applicants were Jeremiah Jost, Edward Cornell, Rev. Harold Ristau, and Vincent Gircys, who suffered serious harm as a result of the emergency measures, including the freezing of bank accounts.
The Justice Centre was granted standing before the Public Order Emergency Commission, where lawyers cross-examined Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other senior government officials under oath about their decision to invoke emergency powers against peaceful demonstrators in 2022. Since that time, the Justice Centre has continued to fund the legal defence of dozens of Canadians, including Chris Barber, who have been criminally charged simply for peacefully exercising their Charter rights during the Freedom Convoy.
Justice Centre president John Carpay said, “This decision confirms what Canadians witnessed in real time in 2022. The Emergencies Act was never meant to be used against peaceful citizens exercising fundamental freedoms.”
Mr. Carpay added, “Today’s ruling is a significant victory for the rule of law and for the principle that governments are bound by limits, even in moments of political pressure. Emergency powers must remain truly exceptional, or they cease to be compatible with a free and democratic society.”
The Justice Centre will continue its work defending Canadians whose Charter rights and freedoms are threatened by government overreach.
