Trudeau’s crackdown on Freedom Convoy protesters using ‘Emergencies Act’ ruled illegal by Federal Court

A Federal Court Judge in Canada has ruled use of the Emergencies Act against the Freedom Convoy protesters in Canada by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government was unreasonable and unconstitutional.

The Freedom Convoy was a series of protests and blockades which began in early 2022, initially organised by Canadian truck drivers and other supporters as a response to the Trudeau government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic-related restrictions, particularly the requirement for cross-border truck drivers to be vaccinated.

The protest quickly broadened in scope to include opposition to various COVID-19 public health measures and dissatisfaction with the federal government. Parts of the capital Ottawa were occupied by protesters and supporters for several weeks.

Justice Mosley’s nearly 200-page decision said there was no national emergency that seriously endangered the lives, health, or safety of Canadians, nor a threat to national security as defined by the Emergencies Act and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act (CSIS Act).

Mosley found that the Emergency Measures Regulations and the Emergency Economic Measures Order, implemented under the emergency legislation, violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Specifically, the emergency regulation restricting public assembly was seen as an infringement on political expression, being an unreasonable limit on free speech as it indiscriminately applied to all protestors nationwide.

The economic order, which allowed financial institutions to freeze accounts of individuals involved in prohibited activities under the emergency regulations, was found to breach the right to protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The Court noted the lack of an objective legal standard for applying this order and the absence of a means to challenge it, with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Superintendent admitting in court that its application was based on “bare belief” rather than reasonable grounds or suspicion.

The Democracy Fund’s (TDF) litigation director, Alan Honner told media the Federal Court’s findings and decision was more significant than those of ‘Rouleau Inquiry‘ whose final report in February 2023 concluded the Trudeau government had met the “very high threshold” for invoking the Emergencies Act after failures by police and politicians to address the protests.

This was because the court judgment addressed the legality of the proclamation based on constitutional and administrative law, while the public inquiry involved hearsay and non-expert opinions, said Honner. The Federal Court followed strict evidence and legal procedures, lending more legal weight to its judgment.

Honner said the decision reaffirms the Emergencies Act as a last-resort tool and criticises the government’s illegal use of emergency powers against peaceful protestors. He said the decision was ‘a step towards upholding the rule of law in Canada.’