[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_layout_grid _id=”4″ ][cs_element_layout_cell _id=”5″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”6″ ][cs_content_seo]The Justice Centre’s Work to Defend Peaceful Protest
The Justice Centre defended participants and supporters of the Freedom Convoy during their historic protest, after the invocation of the Emergencies Act, and through the Public Order Emergency Commission.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id=”7″ ][/cs_element_layout_cell][/cs_element_layout_grid][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”8″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”9″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”10″ ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id=”11″ ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id=”12″ ][cs_text _bp_base=”4_4″]

February 17, 2023

The Justice Centre is disappointed with Commissioner Rouleau’s conclusion that the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act was met. This conclusion does not bind the Federal Court. On April 3-5, 2023, in Ottawa, the Federal Court will hear the legal and constitutional challenge in Jost et al v Canada to the declaration of an emergency in response to the Freedom Convoy.

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Thousands of Canadians including hundreds of truckers from across the country made their way to Ottawa in January 2022, to exercise their right to peacefully protest government mandates. This grassroots movement resulted in the largest peaceful protest in Canadian history.

In response, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, deploying armed police, and using unprecedented power and violence to forcibly end an otherwise peaceful protest. The government also froze bank accounts of everyday Canadians who supported the protestors.

In February 2022, the Justice Centre funded a team of lawyers to provide on-the-ground legal advice and representation to peaceful Canadian protestors in Ottawa. During the Ottawa protest, these lawyers appeared in court on behalf of protestors, represented protestors in communications with police and government, and played a role in coordinating an agreement with the City of Ottawa to move trucks out of residential areas.

Since February of 2022, the Justice Centre has defended the constitutional freedoms of participants in and donors to the Freedom Convoy in the following ways:

1. Providing criminal defense counsel to dozens of Canadians who have been criminally charged when their sole “crime” was to exercise their Charter rights to assemble peacefully in Ottawa and express their opposition to government lockdowns and vaccine mandate charges;
2. Funding legal counsel to defend the participants and donors who are being sued as defendant classes in Zexi Li et al v Chris Barber et al, a nearly $300 million class action lawsuit currently in Ontario Superior Court;
3. Commencing the Federal Court challenge in Jost et al v Canada on behalf of four Canadians who participated in the Ottawa Freedom Convoy, seeking a declaration that the Prime Minister and Cabinet acted illegally when declaring a peaceful protest to be a “national emergency”;
4. Providing support and funding for lawyers who participated actively in the weeks-long Public Order Emergency Commission; and
5. Participating as a party with standing before the Public Order Emergency Commission.

Thanks to the generous donations of Canadians, the Justice Centre has provided more than $1.5 million and two dozen lawyers to defend the constitutional freedoms of participants in and donors to the Freedom Convoy. Clients receive legal advice and representation without charge, in defence of their Charter rights and freedoms.

Our legal defense of the Freedom Convoy is far from finished, and you can support this work specifically by donating at jccfold.wpenginepowered.com/donate/ and selecting the “Truckers’ Legal Defense” campaign.

[/cs_text][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”22″ ][cs_element_line _id=”23″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”24″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”25″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”26″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”27″ ][cs_content_seo]POEC Related News Releases\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_raw_content _id=”28″ ][cs_content_seo][dt_jccf_category_style_grid name=”POEC related”]\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]