Emergencies Act

The inquiry into the Liberal government’s historic choice to invoke the Emergencies Act to quell weeks-long demonstrations against COVID-19 mandates last winter is now moving into its public policy phase.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to appear today, November 25, 2022, at the public inquiry probing his government’s decision to invoke emergency powers in response to last winter's weeks-long "Freedom Convoy" protests.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland defended the Liberal government’s decision to declare a public order emergency to end the "Freedom Convoy" protests.

The night before the Liberal government took the drastic step of invoking the Emergencies Act, the head of the RCMP sent a cautionary email to the federal public safety minister's office.

Documents released Tuesday by the inquiry looking into the government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act last winter to deal with the "Freedom Convoy" include text messages between three federal cabinet ministers, including Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

The RCMP worried that after arriving in Ottawa, participants in the "Freedom Convoy" would try to pinpoint Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's location, documents suggest — just as demonstrators had tried to do during last year's election campaign. 

Canadian Security Intelligence Service director David Vigneault's testimony Monday is key to the Public Order Emergency Commission, which is scrutinizing the government's use of the Emergencies Act to disperse the protests.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser and other senior officials felt the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's threshold to determine a national threat under the Emergencies Act "should be reconsidered," a public inquiry has learned.

Liberal cabinet ministers deemed last winter's "Freedom Convoy" protests a threat to national security, despite warnings from the federal intelligence agency that threshold was not met, an inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act learned on Monday, November 14, 2022.

RCMP appeared caught off guard by protesters blockading a Canada-U.S. border crossing last winter despite Alberta's government being warned ahead of time, the mayor of Coutts, Alta., testified at a public inquiry on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.

Are they here to serve and protect the public, or just the portions of it that share their ideological convictions and partisan beliefs? asks columnist Max Fawcett.

Ontario government lawyers argued on Tuesday, November 1, 2022 there would be "irreparable harm" to the rule of law if Premier Doug Ford and a top minister were compelled to testify at a federal inquiry after citing parliamentary privilege in trying to avoid doing so.

A massive public inquiry is underway to determine whether the federal government was justified in its invocation of the Emergencies Act last winter during the "Freedom Convoy" protests.

Newly released text messages show how the federal government was planning its communications strategy before the arrival of "Freedom Convoy" protesters in Ottawa back in late January.