Ottawa: An appeal has been filed by Canada to the Federal Court asking it to overturn a January decision that found the government’s use of emergency law leading to the infringement of constitutional rights.
The court in its decision said that the Emergencies Act in response to the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests was unjustified.
Emergency powers were invoked by the federal Liberals in response to thousands of protesters who entrenched themselves in downtown Ottawa for weeks with protests that blockaded border crossings.
It was argued in court by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and others that Ottawa ushered in the emergency measures without sound statutory grounds.
The Liberals’ immediate decision to appeal the Federal Court decision was different from the conclusion of the Public Order Emergency Commission.
After the inquiry it was found the government had met the very high legal standard for using the law.
The government outlined arguments in the documents filed Thursday, which included that the Federal Court erred by reviewing the decision to invoke the act “with the benefit of hindsight” and based on information not available to the government in 2022.
The document also said that there was a mistake on the part of the court which also made a mistake in substituting its own opinion about the decision the government should have made.
It also said that the court was also wrong to decide the invocation of the Emergencies Act was a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, argued the government.
