The commissioner of the inquiry examining Ottawa's use of the Emergencies Act to bring an end to the so-called "Freedom Convoy" protest in February has granted standing to the organizers, police and representatives of all three levels of government.
The decision by Paul Rouleau means those granted standing will be given advance notice on information submitted into evidence before the inquiry, and also gives them certain privileges, such as the opportunity to suggest or cross-examine witnesses.
Those granted full standing in the public inquiry include the federal, Alberta and Saskatchewan governments, the cities of Ottawa and Windsor, Ont., the Ottawa Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police and the organizers of the convoy, including Tamara Lich, Tom Marazzo and Chris Barber.
Former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly will be allowed to produce documents, make submissions on factual, evidentiary and policy-related issues and examine witnesses, and the Manitoba government has been granted permission to provide written submissions.
However, Rouleau denied standing to the Conservative Party of Canada and several participants of the protests, some of whom had their bank accounts frozen under the Act.
Rouleau said it is important that the inquiry remain an independent, non-partisan process, noting there is also the Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons on the Declaration of Emergency reviewing the use of the Act's powers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2022.
Comments
I'm a little foggy on the specifics but are any of those people part of the Memorandum of Unity? Those people actually committed treason and I'm not sure why they haven't been charged with it
James Bauder (well-known conspiracy theorist) and his wife Sandra Bauder are founders of Canada Unity and they developed the Memorandum of Understanding that called for the Senate and Governor General to end all vaccine mandates. If their demands weren't met, the MofU said that Elections Canada should trigger an election or that Canada Unity should take over the federal government (!) with the Governor General. Yes, I agree their actions were treasonous- they wanted to take over the government.
I did some research and found an article saying that Bauder appeared in court on March 22nd and that a judicial pretrial was scheduled for April 20th.
I still feel unsettled and disturbed about the whole thing, especially about the misuse of the word "freedom." And now we have the populist Pierre Poilievre claiming he's going to bring "freedom" to Canada, a country that is considered one of the freest countries in the world.
Good to know. Thanks. I think what these people mean by "freedom" is freedom from all responsibilities. They think like a 14-year-old. I found it interesting that the only time I've seen Trump get push-back from his cult members was a few months ago when he urged them to get vaccinated. They didn't like the idea of any responsibility whatsoever and said so. I think the idea that Trump has never taken any responsibility in his whole life is very attractive to those people. They felt he was selling out with the vaccine request.
Plenty of Trump supporters were anti-vaxxers. Others were just anti-vaccine-mandate. A lot of 'em were Covid deniers, and still believe there was and is no pandemic. Nothing more serious than a "regular flu-flu."
Never mind that it could put one in a "regular coffin-coffin."
Trump promised to end compulsory vaccination. That's why they were there in the first place. The ones I've talked with still don't believe he got vaxxed himself, or that he "really meant it."
As far as the "freedoms" go, a simple (and by now rather common) spelling accommodation works to distinguish between the two: freedoms, as we generally understand them, and those "other" freedumbs.
I'm not big on invented spellings, but I'm not big on misuse of words, or employment of "alternative facts," either. So that, to me, seems a workable compromise.
(Only partly in wry jest).
What I want to comment on most, though, is the use of the word "charge" in the leading photo caption. I'd invite the caption writer to view footage of the actual event. AFAIK, horses moving slowly in formation are not "charging," and "charging" involves moving forward with force and speed. Please correct me if I am in error.
The problem with the free dumb fighters is not necessarily lack of intelligence, but lack of education. These people have no understanding of their own system, let alone the differences between the US system and our own.
I blame the school systems. It's their job to teach basic civics.
We have in Canada the spectacle of candidates at all-candidates meetings, who don't have a clue, even, what issues are federal, and which are provincial or municipal.
Is it a trend elsewhere, as well as here, to have fewer all-candidates meetings, and to run them entirely without any participation from the non-candidate attendees? I'll be asking from here on in if there'll be an opportunity to ask questions of the candidates. If not, why bother wasting my time. I can read as well as anyone, and if the candidates can't even put their platforms into writing, they have no chance at getting my vote, because as I understand the job, it requires basic literacy to do the job reasonably well.
Thank you and I agree our schools should have a course, subject or access for students on how our government functions. Too many people with loud voices lacking civility attempt to spread misinformation/disinformation around the three orders of Canadian government, federal, provincial and municipal when they don't understand the differences and responsibilities of each. Learning how our governments operate should not be learned by word of mouth. Too many discrepancies only creates confusion and you end up with free dumb convoys. They might also consider bringing back ethics courses - that would certainly help as well.