What Emergency Act?

[Decapoda]

It's interesting how everything has gone silent regarding the inquiry into the justification of the use of the Emergency Measures Act, which is mandated by law. According to 63(1) of the Act, within sixty days after the expiration or revocation of a declaration of emergency, an inquiry must be held into the circumstances that led to the declaration being issued and the measures taken for dealing with the emergency. This gives the Government until the end of this week to call the inquiry.

Amnesty International brought up concerns a couple of weeks ago regarding the use of the Act and the silence on the justification of it's use.

Amnesty International questions the government’s reliance on the Emergencies Act to address the Ottawa convoy protests. The powers contained in the Act are extraordinary, which is why they can only be resorted to in extremely narrow, prescribed circumstances. To invoke the Public Order Emergency, as the government did, it must have believed that the lives, health, or safety of Canadians had been seriously endangered, and that neither the provinces, nor existing laws, could deal with that danger. Without knowing the evidence that the government relied on to support this belief, it is difficult to assess whether the threshold was met.

Amnesty International is concerned about whether the use of the Emergencies Act was legally justified in this instance, and about the implications of the use of the Act for future protests. Because law enforcement powers are used disproportionately against marginalized groups, normalizing the expansion of these powers sets a dangerous precedent for future protests by marginalized groups, who may rely on disruptive tactics to exercise their freedom of assembly and right to protest.

It amazes me what this Government has been allowed to get away with during it's term....the multiple ethics violations, the bold, overt political interference and manipulation in legal prosecutions, the threatening and firing of Ministers who refuse to engage in Trudeau's unethical behavior, the outright lying, deception, and hypocritical behavior that is grossly unbecoming of a Prime Minister of this country.

I get the feeling that this will just be yet another instance of Trudeau giving the middle finger to the people of this country and to the laws and rules which it is governed by. And there will be no accountability for his imperious actions...yet again.

 

[petros]

Tyranny

 

[Dixie Cup]

Need to contact your MP and tell them we demand an inquiry 'cuz Trudeau shouldn't get away with this at all.

 

[Decapoda]

Statement: Inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act

We are representatives of major civil society organizations and social movements from across Canada. Individually and collectively, we represent the interests of many Canadians with diverse identities and interests.

We are writing regarding the inquiry that must be called pursuant to s. 63 of the Emergencies Act. In our view, the inquiry provides an invaluable opportunity for meaningful scrutiny of the events leading up to the federal government’s decision to declare a public order emergency, the proclamation itself, and the orders made pursuant thereto. It should not be marred by partisan fights; it must be a process that is designed around the pillars of transparency, openness, and meaningful accountability.

On February 14 2022, in response to blockades and protests taking place in Ottawa and at some border crossings, the Prime Minister announced that the Governor in Council had invoked the Emergencies Act, giving the federal government certain temporary powers. In line with the sweeping powers that the proclamation enabled, we are asking that the government adopt broad terms of reference for the inquiry and ensure that it is led by a truly independent individual or panel. The commissioner(s) should have all the powers of commissioners appointed under the Inquiries Act, including:

1) Summoning witnesses and requiring them to give evidence orally or in writing on oath or affirmation;
2) Requiring witnesses to produce documents;
3) Enforcing the attendance of witnesses and production of documents as would a court of record in civil cases;
4) Engaging the services of counsel and any experts or assistants they deem necessary; and
5) Allowing any person whose conduct is being investigated to be represented by counsel.

The government should be prepared to invest the resources necessary for a full and thorough inquiry and report. Moreover, in contrast to the largely secret meetings of the parliamentary review committee that have been employed under the Act, the inquiry must be transparent and its proceedings must be open to the public.

The events that took place in the weeks leading up to the invocation of the Emergencies Act are without historical precedent in Canada, as was the government’s decision to declare a public order emergency. The sweeping powers that came with the proclamation, while short-lived, provided police with broad powers to end public assemblies and empowered financial institutions to take steps to cease dealing with a broad range of individuals who may or may not have been directly involved in any illegal activity.
We are concerned with the use of state and police powers to suppress constitutional rights, especially given how, historically, such powers have been used disproportionately against Indigenous, Black and other marginalized communities. With so much taking place behind the
closed doors of Cabinet meetings, it is vital that our accountability processes are put to good use. These circumstances call for a public inquiry with broad terms of reference and all of the powers of a public inquiry under Parts I and III of the Inquiries Act.


Signed:
Amnesty International Canada (English Speaking)
Black Legal Action Centre
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Canadian Constitution Foundation
Centre for Free Expression
David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights
Democracy Watch
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
Ligue des droits et libertés
National Council of Canadian Muslims
Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund
World Press Freedom Canada

 

[Ron in Regina]

• Yesterday at 9:20 PM
• #294

Anywho….Trucker Convoy, etc….Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may think he’s going to dodge accountability for his recent unjustified use of the Emergencies Act…..& he probably will…but not until he & Jagmeet shut down a committee answerable to Parliament & untimely the Canadian People.

The law states that 60 days after the use of the Act has wrapped up, a committee needs to probe its usage and the events leading up to it.

Trudeau and the Liberals made a lot of theatrical claims that vilified the truckers’ freedom convoy. They took troubling images – like the appearance of a Nazi flag on the periphery of the first day of the protest – and made it sound like the flag was constantly flown all over the place for days on end.

Canadians quite rightly denounce things like the waving, however brief, of such a despicable flag. But they should also denounce the Liberals exaggerating and manipulating the presence of the flag for their own cynical reasons.

Not all Canadians agreed with the protesters and their tactics. We spoke out against some of their tactics in this very editorial space.

But we also appreciated that Canadians of diverse backgrounds and all walks of life saw the convoy as a broader symbol for opposition to COVID rules that were past their best before date.

There was simply no need to use the Emergencies Act to quell what transpired during the protests. This has been stated by many legal and law enforcement experts.

Invoking the Act should not be done lightly, yet that’s exactly what the Liberals did.

EDITORIAL: Don't forget about Emergencies Act inquiry​

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may think he’s going to dodge accountability for his recent unjustified use of the Emergencies Act. But he’s not. He still has to…

torontosun.com
All opposition MPs ought to be united in investigating why the Liberals did what they did and the claims they made to justify them. We’re looking at you & the rest of the NDP here Jagmeet!!!

A lot of their grandiose claims slipped by in the moment with little scrutiny. Now there is time to get it right.

The freezing of bank accounts without any form of court order was a disturbing action, regardless of the alleged crime or who was targeted.

That is just one reason why we can’t let Trudeau’s unjustified use of the act set a precedent.

Just like Trudeau did during the SNC-Lavalin affair, his hyper-partisan approach to the issue undermined Canadian rule of law.

The inquiry shouldn’t be treated as a minor exercise. It’s an important mechanism for truth and accountability. Still looking at you & the NDP here Jagmeet….

(A number of civil liberties groups are pushing the federal government to allow them to call witnesses and compel sworn testimony during the inquiry into the Trudeau government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act. According to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, an inquiry that doesn’t involve the major players testifying under oath would be meaningless. Tom Korski has been following the Emergencies Act for Blacklock’s Reporter in Ottawa)

 

[Ron in Regina]

This is the first time justin has showed teeth

Unless you’re a woman in his own cabinet, ‘cuz it’s 2015.

 

[Ron in Regina]

So…..this 60 days clock is ticking since Trudeau/Singh recalled the Emergencies Act just before the Senate could squash it.

I figure it comes due Sunday (04/24/22), & in my time zone it’s still technically Thursday (04/21/22)…. So unless they’re going to announce something on the weekend that means something is gonna happen Friday the 22nd….unless the 60 day thing is going to be ignored before Trudeau/Singh even bother to shut it down.

On that note, has anybody here heard anything about this committee that supposed to probe this fiasco???

 

[Ron in Regina]

The official inquiry into the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act will be announced soon. Only current story is found on the Liberal/NDP media release site here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/inquiry-emergencies-act-1.6425037

By law, an inquiry into the use of the act must be called within 60 days of the declaration being revoked. Canada's Privy Council Office (PCO), which co-ordinates actions of government across departments and serves as the bureaucracy for the Prime Minister's Office, confirmed an inquiry would be established by April 25, so Monday….I was out a day.

"The report of the inquiry must be tabled in each House of Parliament within 360 days of the revocation of the emergency declaration," said a statement from the PCO. "Further details will be announced in due course."

When first announced, premiers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec expressed concern over invoking the act.

The Emergencies Act sets out the terms for cabinet to set up the inquiry. It says an inquiry must be held "into the circumstances that led to the declaration being issued and the measures taken for dealing with the emergency."

A report must be tabled in each House of Parliament by Feb. 18, 2023.

Committee will be 7 MP’s, four of which will be from the NDP/Liberal Party, & three others so it’ll be nonpartisan, & four Senators.

A senator appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said there was a movement underway – including Liberals – to bring an end to the Trudeau government’s implementation of the Emergencies Act in February, and that the government was aware of that movement on the day it pulled the plug.

Trudeau-appointed senator says there was a movement to stop Emergencies Act

A senator appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said there was a movement underway – including Liberals – to bring an end to the Trudeau government’s implementation of the Emergencies Act in February, and that the government was aware of that movement on the day it pulled the plug.

tnc.news

Trudeau refused to revoke the act even after a joint force of municipal, provincial and federal police cracked down on freedom protesters between Feb. 17 and 20. Instead, the Liberal government used NDP support to extend its emergency powers in a parliamentary vote on Feb. 21 – an extension that could have kept them going until mid-March, before they were required to be reviewed.

When the vote was to be confirmed in the upper house, however, senators expressed open frustration with being expected to rubber stamp the Trudeau government’s decision without access to the information that had led to it.

“This is a serious step that we’re contemplating here today,” said Conservative senator Elizabeth Marshall. “What exactly happened that the government decided to invoke the act?…Because it seemed like for three or four weeks, there was nothing, they were just tolerating it.”

Mounting opposition to the government’s decisions both to implement and prolong the Emergencies Act concluded with Trudeau revoking it on Feb. 23.

 

[pgs]

And Singh has taken the NDP into irrelevancy . What a maroon .

 

[Decapoda]

On that note, has anybody here heard anything about this committee that supposed to probe this fiasco???

Nope....nothing about the committee, nothing about the factors that led to the unprecidented government action against the people, nothing at all....and we're not going to either. This government has decided that we don't have the right to know.

Ottawa cites cabinet confidentiality over decision to invoke Emergencies Act, court filing shows​

The federal government says it will not reveal what information led it to use the Emergencies Act to end truckers’ protests this winter, citing cabinet confidentiality in its response to legal challenges.

 

[taxslave]

Nope....nothing about the committee, nothing about the factors that led to the unprecidented government action against the people, nothing at all....and we're not going to either. This government has decided that we don't have the right to know.

Ottawa cites cabinet confidentiality over decision to invoke Emergencies Act, court filing shows​

The federal government says it will not reveal what information led it to use the Emergencies Act to end truckers’ protests this winter, citing cabinet confidentiality in its response to legal challenges.

That means they have no valid information. Strictly a political driven attack on freedom.

 

[harrylee]

That means they have no valid information. Strictly a political driven attack on freedom.

Oh, there is lots of information....just none that we are going to hear about.

 

[taxslave]

Oh, there is lots of information....just none that we are going to hear about.

Besides CBC reporters, what has turdOWE got to go with? Almost everything Ottawa police claimed has been proven false.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Besides CBC reporters, what has turdOWE got to go with? Almost everything Ottawa police claimed has been proven false.

That's his defense. "I was given bad information by my subordinates."

It's a classic!

 

[harrylee]

That's his defense. "I was given bad information by my subordinates."

It's a classic!

"A learning experience that we should all take note of"

 

[petros]

Oh, there is lots of information....just none that we are going to hear about.

Its obvious why.

They legally can't disclose anything until the lawsuits against Trudeau and the Govt are settled.

They shit the bed.

 

[Ron in Regina]

 

[Ron in Regina]

Tick-Tock….OTTAWA — The federal government has until the end of the day to call an inquiry into its use of the Emergencies Act during the blockades at Canadian border crossings and in Ottawa earlier this year.

Government must call inquiry into use of Emergencies Act today

OTTAWA — The federal government has until the end of the day to call an inquiry into its use of the Emergencies Act during the blockades at Canadian border crossing…

nationalpost.com

The Emergencies Act requires the government to call an inquiry into the use of the legislation within 60 days of revoking the declaration.

That will examine the circumstances that led to the emergency being declared and the measures taken to deal with it.

Several provincial premiers have spoken out against what they characterized as a serious overreach of power by the federal government, arguing police already had all the authority they needed to clear out protesters.

The inquiry isn’t the only post-mortem review of how governments and law enforcement handled the protests.

Parliament established an all-party committee to look at the way the powers were used, as required by the legislation, and the city of Ottawa’s auditor general launched a review of the local response.

The lessons learned are unlikely to be detailed and delivered before another convoy, this one on motorcycles, is due to arrive in Ottawa next weekend.

 

[taxslave]

So where is this emergency powers act when foreign funded ecoterrorists are spiking trees and blocking highways in BC.

 

[pgs]

So where is this emergency powers act when foreign funded ecoterrorists are spiking trees and blocking highways in BC.

They get a pass because they are the good kind of protesters . What do loggers know ?