#JustinTrudeau, #FreedomConvoyProtest, #CanadaCourt, #Canada, #Covid19, #EmergenciesAct
IBNS-CMEDIA: The Federal Court of Canada has rebuked the Justin Trudeau government over the use of emergency powers to suppress the “freedom convoy” protests in 2022 and called it “unjustified and disproportionate”.
Justice Richard Mosley said that even though the situation was urgent, it could have been managed with existing laws.
“I conclude that there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires,” Mosley wrote while delivering the decision on Tuesday.
The court determined that the act of freezing the bank accounts of individuals associated with protests was also unwarranted.
“The harassment of residents, workers and business owners in downtown Ottawa and the general infringement of the right to peaceful enjoyment of public spaces there, though highly objectionable, did not amount to serious violence or threats of serious violence,” the judge wrote.
Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilivre slammed the Canadian PM and said “Trudeau said he admired the basic Chinese communist dictatorship. He meant it: Violating the Charter. Breaking the law. Seizing bank accounts. Censoring the internet.”
Trudeau said he admired the basic Chinese communist dictatorship.
He meant it: Violating the Charter. Breaking the law. Seizing bank accounts. Censoring the internet.
We must stop him. Sign now to save our freedoms: https://t.co/n8KNgxrMQN pic.twitter.com/bfuSHqrotT— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) January 24, 2024
The decision casts a shadow on Trudeau’s government that defended the decision of using the Emergencies Act as necessary as the protest took place amid Covid-19 pandemic.
The Freedom Convoy protest took place in early 2022 over stringent public health mandates and vaccine requirements.
Trudeau, facing a national deadlock, deployed the emergency powers and labelled the same as necessary citing protesters’ non-negotiable stance.
(By Suman Das/IBNS)
