Commissioner Paul Rouleau said on Friday that the federal government met the “very high” threshold needed to invoke the Emergencies Act last winter, citing “a failure in policing and federalism.”
“Lawful protest descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency,” he wrote in his highly anticipated report, tabled Friday in the House of Commons.
“Invocation of the Emergencies Act is a drastic move, but it is not a dictatorial one.”
The document sheds new light on one of the most controversial decisions ever made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. On Feb. 14, 2022, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act to end the protests that had blocked downtown Ottawa’s streets for nearly a month.
The protesters were angry with the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including vaccine requirements. They parked large vehicles on key arteries in the capital city and honked their horns incessantly for days.
It was the first time the law had been triggered since it was created in 1988.
Government met ‘very high’ threshold to invoke Emergencies Act: Rouleau
In his final report, Justice Paul Rouleau concluded that the government’s decision to use the act was ‘appropriate’ and pointed to a series of failures in the police response to the convoy protests.
By invoking the act, the federal government gave law enforcement extraordinary powers to remove and arrest protesters — and gave itself the power to freeze the finances of those connected to the protests. The temporary emergency powers also gave authorities the ability to commandeer tow trucks to remove protesters’ vehicles from the streets of the capital.
The law defines a national emergency as a situation that “cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada.” Further, a public order emergency can only be invoked when there is “a threat to the security of Canada” as defined by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act.
“In my view, there was credible and compelling information supporting a reasonable belief that the definition of a threat to the security of Canada was met,” Rouleau wrote in his executive summary, which runs to more than 200 pages. The full report is 10 times that length.
“I have concluded that cabinet was reasonably concerned that the situation it was facing was worsening and at risk of becoming dangerous and unmanageable.”
While necessary, the government’s use of the Emergencies act was ‘unfortunate:’ Trudeau
Following Justice Paul Rouleau’s final report, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says every level of government can take lessons from it to apply to future events.
The Ontario Court of Appeal justice said he reached this conclusion with some reluctance.
“I do not come to this conclusion easily, as I do not consider the factual basis for it to be overwhelming,” he said in statements he gave after his report was made public.
“Reasonable and informed people could reach a different conclusion than the one I have arrived at.”
While Rouleau’s report largely exonerates Trudeau regarding his decision to invoke the Emergencies Act, the government does not escape criticism.
He said most of the measures put in place by the federal cabinet in response to the emergency were “appropriate and effective,” in
“We approached it with reluctance, but we knew we needed to do this,” says Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair.
Most mechanisms were appropriate: Rouleau
But he said elements of the emergency economic measures fell short.
For example, Rouleau said, there should have been a “delisting mechanism” for frozen accounts.
“If one of the objectives of the freezing regime was to convince people to leave protest sites, the regime should have had a mechanism to unfreeze accounts once people complied,” he said.
“The absence of any specific rules about unfreezing caused concern for financial institutions, who were unclear how to determine when an individual listed on a report provided by the RCMP was no longer a designated person.”
The commission also heard evidence that individuals with no connection to the protests were affected by the freeze orders if they had a joint account.
“It is clearly unjust for individuals with no connection to the protests to have their accounts frozen,” Rouleau wrote.
“The difficulty, however, is that this appears to have been unavoidable.”
Police move in to clear downtown Ottawa near Parliament hill of protesters after weeks of demonstrations on Feb. 19, 2022. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press)
Responding to the report, Trudeau said it was a failure of systems that led to his government’s decision.
“It was unfortunate, it was undesirable. We didn’t want to do it,” he said during a news conference on Friday.
“We’d gotten to the place where there was no other choice to keep Canadians safe than to do this.”
Rouleau’s report saved some criticism for the prime minister himself.
He said Trudeau’s reference on Jan. 27 to some protesters as a “fringe minority” likely inflamed the situation and hardened protesters’ resolve.
“I wish I had phrased it differently,” Trudeau said. “If I chose my words more carefully, things would have been easier.”
Rouleau also concluded that federal consultation with the provinces before invoking the act was “adequate” but “could, and likely should, have been better.”
Ontario government’s response was ‘troubling’
His report makes 56 recommendations to improve intelligence sharing, police response to wide-scale protests and the Emergencies Act itself.
Rouleau reserved some of his most blistering remarks for the Ontario government.
“I find the province of Ontario’s reluctance to become fully engaged in such efforts directed at resolving the situation in Ottawa troubling,” he said.
Rouleau said Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet were absent during a crisis in a city in their jurisdiction and skipped out on two “tripartite meetings” with federal and city representatives trying to collaborate on a plan.
Commissioner Paul Rouleau said Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet did not properly respond to a crisis in a city subject to their jurisdiction. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)
“Given that the city and its police service were clearly overwhelmed, it was incumbent on the province to become visibly, publicly and wholeheartedly engaged from the outset,” Rouleau wrote.
Rouleau said claims by some witnesses that the Ontario government was trying to avoid political responsibility were hard for him to assess because Ford’s government did not participate fully in the inquiry.
The Public Order Emergency Commission summoned Ford and deputy premier Sylvia Jones to testify, but they resisted by filing an application for a judicial review and seeking a stay of the summons.
A Federal Court judge subsequently ruled Ford and Jones did not have to testify because of the immunity afforded them by parliamentary privilege.
PM says he regrets comment he made about protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to reporters’ questions about whether he regrets referring to some protesters as a ‘fringe minority.’ Rouleau’s report said those comments likely inflamed the situation.
The commissioner said that moments of urgency require leaders of governments at all levels “to rise above politics and collaborate for the common good.”
“Unfortunately, in January and February of 2022, this did not always happen,” he wrote.
Trudeau said the comment deserves consideration.
“I think we all have to make sure we are reflecting on what to take away from that,” he said.
Sloly not solely to blame
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) also gets poor marks from the justice, who wrote that if city police had properly assessed the information and intelligence at their fingertips, it “would have told a different story.”
He said the city police response was marred by a lack of proper planning, intelligence failures and internal dysfunction.
“Much of the disarray in Ottawa was a result of the OPS’s incorrect belief regarding how long the protests would last,” the report said.
Ottawa police had access to “multiple sources of intelligence” that together “showed that there was a strong possibility that the Ottawa protests would extend past the first weekend, contrary to what OPS command believed.”
While Rouleau takes aim at some of former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly’s leadership choices and decisions, he also said that it would be too easy to attribute all of the shortfalls and errors to him.
“As well, some errors on Chief Sloly’s part were unduly enlarged by others, to a degree that suggests scapegoating,” he wrote.
Former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly takes a break while appearing as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa Oct. 28, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Rouleau praised officials in Windsor, Ont. — where protesters blocked the Ambassador Bridge, a key trade corridor — for avoiding the mistakes of the Ottawa police.
“Unlike in Ottawa, police integration in Windsor proceeded swiftly and smoothly,” the commissioner wrote.
The report said the Ottawa Police Service’s response didn’t get much better as the protest continued past the first weekend because it did not develop an overall operational plan to resolve the situation.
“Without contingency plans, the operational plan counted on the best and did not plan for the worst,” Rouleau wrote.
Rouleau rejects protesters’ claims protests were peaceful
During six weeks of testimony last fall, the Public Order Emergency Commission heard from more than 70 witnesses, including cabinet ministers and protesters.
Rouleau wrote that the “spark” for the early 2022 protests was more than two years of COVID-19 restrictions and the federal government’s decision to require that commercial truck drivers be vaccinated in order to enter Canada.
Growing distrust in government in certain segments of the population, coupled with government responses to COVID, “exacerbated” this pre-existing dynamic.
Rouleau said he accepts that COVID-19 had a profound impact on Canadians and they had a right to to lawfully protest what they saw as government overreach.
Two protesters hug as police enforce an injunction on Feb. 19, 2022. Commissioner Paul Rouleau did not accept the organizers’ descriptions of the protest in Ottawa as “lawful, calm peaceful or something resembling a celebration.” (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
“I do not accept the organizers’ descriptions of the protest in Ottawa as lawful, calm peaceful or something resembling a celebration,” Rouleau wrote.
“The bigger picture reveals that the situation in Ottawa was unsafe and chaotic.”
He also dismissed the organizers’ claims that they were unaware of acts of harassment and intimidation directed at local residents.
Opposition MPs respond to the Emergencies Act report
Conservative MP Glen Motz, vice-chair of the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of the Emergency, and NDP caucus vice-chair Blake Desjarlais react to Justice Paul Rouleau’s report.
Rouleau says situation could have been avoided
Rouleau’s report said while there’s no reason to believe that the self-styled Freedom Convoy was the product of a foreign disinformation campaign, the movement was marked by disinformation and misinformation.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign state actors had significant success spreading false information about COVID-19, public health measures, and vaccines, done as a means to sow mistrust in democratic governments,” said the report.
“As Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Cynthia Termorshuizen suggested, ‘There really wasn’t much of a need for foreign state actors to engage significantly in the convoy information environment because there was already such a high level of disinformation surrounding it.'”
A copy of Justice Paul Rouleau’s report on the Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act, is shown in Ottawa on Friday. (The Canadian Press)
Ultimately, Rouleau concludes, “it is regrettable that such a situation arose here, because in my view, it could have been avoided.”
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which had standing during the commission hearings, said it will proceed with its judicial review of the government’s decision to invoke the act, which is before the Federal Court.
“It is significant that in his statement today, the factual basis underlying his conclusion was not overwhelming and that reasonable and informed people would come to a different conclusion than the one he did,” said lawyer Cara Zwibel
“Our view is that this threshold was not met.”
Rouleau made 56 recommendation
Rouleau’s report made many recommendations for reform. Here are a few:
The federal government — in conjunction with provincial, Indigenous and territorial governments, and police and intelligence agencies — should develop protocols on information sharing, intelligence gathering and distribution.
Those same parties should consider the creation of a single national intelligence coordinator for major events of a “national or interprovincial or interterritorial dimension.”
The province of Ontario should consider creating a major event management unit.
The federal government, in conjunction with other governments and with police services, should comprehensively examine the scope and limitations on police powers in relation to protest activities.
The federal government should examine the question of whether a department or agency of government should have the authority and responsibility to monitor and report on information contained in social media.
The federal government should initiate discussions with provincial and territorial governments, in consultation with Indigenous governments and affected municipalities, to identify critical trade transportation corridors and infrastructure and establish protocols to protect them.
Justice Paul Rouleau releases his report on the Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act, in Ottawa, on Friday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Rouleau also made recommendations regarding the Emergencies Act itself:
The reference in the Emergencies Act to the definition of “threats to the security of Canada” in the CSIS Act should be removed.
The Emergencies Act should be amended to require that the government deliver to the commission a “comprehensive statement setting out the factual and legal basis for the declaration and measures adopted, including the view of the Minister of Justice of Canada as to whether the decision was consistent with the purposes and provisions of the Emergencies Act, and whether the measures taken under the act were necessary and consistent with the Charter.”
When a government declares a public order emergency, it should be bound to produce to a public commission all of the inputs to cabinet and to ministers on the issue.
The government should be obliged to provide a commission of inquiry with all of its documents and information, without redactions due to irrelevance, national security, confidentiality or similar public interest privileges.
Trudeau committed Friday to having a plan in place within six months to tackle the recommendations.
NDP says report serves as warning
During a news conference, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Trudeau of “dividing Canadians.”
“He is the division,” he said. “His purpose is to divide and conquer. He believes that if he can turn Canadians against each other, then they’ll forget how miserable life has become after eight years of his tax hikes, inflation, and out-of-control cost of living.”
The NDP’s Matthew Green thanked Rouleau for his report and for the commission’s work.
“It is clear that Justice Rouleau believes that the highest standards, the thresholds for the invocation of the act were met,” he said.
Green said that the report should serve as a warning to Canadians about what happens when there is a failure at “all levels of government, in policing and in societal cohesion.”
“This report is an indictment of the failures of the multiple levels of policing to coordinate a response to the growing unrest and the disruption, and ultimately, the harm caused to citizens across the country,” he said.
Ottawa’s convoy protest, from start to finish
Three weeks of protests and counter-protests distilled down to ten minutes.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe is promising a directive banning “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls” if re-elected, a move the NDP’s Carla Beck says weaponizes vulnerable kids.
Moe made the pledge Thursday at a campaign stop in Regina. He said it was in response to a complaint that two biological males had changed for gym class with girls at a school in southeast Saskatchewan.
He said the ban would be his first order of business if he’s voted again as premier on Oct. 28.
It was not previously included in his party’s campaign platform document.
“I’ll be very clear, there will be a directive that would come from the minister of education that would say that biological boys will not be in the change room with biological girls,” Moe said.
He added school divisions should already have change room policies, but a provincial directive would ensure all have the rule in place.
Asked about the rights of gender-diverse youth, Moe said other children also have rights.
“What about the rights of all the other girls that are changing in that very change room? They have rights as well,” he said, followed by cheers and claps.
The complaint was made at a school with the Prairie Valley School Division. The division said in a statement it doesn’t comment on specific situations that could jeopardize student privacy and safety.
“We believe all students should have the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe and welcoming learning environment,” it said.
“Our policies and procedures align with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.”
Asked about Moe’s proposal, Beck said it would make vulnerable kids more vulnerable.
Moe is desperate to stoke fear and division after having a bad night during Wednesday’s televised leaders’ debate, she said.
“Saskatchewan people, when we’re at our best, are people that come together and deliver results, not divisive, ugly politics like we’ve seen time and again from Scott Moe and the Sask. Party,” Beck said.
“If you see leaders holding so much power choosing to punch down on vulnerable kids, that tells you everything you need to know about them.”
Beck said voters have more pressing education issues on their minds, including the need for smaller classrooms, more teaching staff and increased supports for students.
People also want better health care and to be able to afford gas and groceries, she added.
“We don’t have to agree to understand Saskatchewan people deserve better,” Beck said.
The Saskatchewan Party government passed legislation last year that requires parents consent to children under 16 using different names or pronouns at school.
The law has faced backlash from some LGBTQ+ advocates, who argue it violates Charter rights and could cause teachers to out or misgender children.
Beck has said if elected her party would repeal that legislation.
Heather Kuttai, a former commissioner with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission who resigned last year in protest of the law, said Moe is trying to sway right-wing voters.
She said a change room directive would put more pressure on teachers who already don’t have enough educational support.
“It sounds like desperation to me,” she said.
“It sounds like Scott Moe is nervous about the election and is turning to homophobic and transphobic rhetoric to appeal to far-right voters.
“It’s divisive politics, which is a shame.”
She said she worries about the future of gender-affirming care in a province that once led in human rights.
“We’re the kind of people who dig each other out of snowbanks and not spew hatred about each other,” she said. “At least that’s what I want to still believe.”
Also Thursday, two former Saskatchewan Party government members announced they’re endorsing Beck — Mark Docherty, who retired last year and was a Speaker, and Glen Hart, who retired in 2020.
Ian Hanna, a speech writer and senior political adviser to former Saskatchewan Party premier Brad Wall, also endorsed Beck.
Earlier in the campaign, Beck received support from former Speaker Randy Weekes, who quit the Saskatchewan Party earlier this year after accusing caucus members of bullying.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan‘s provincial election is on Oct. 28. Here’s a look at some of the campaign promises made by the two major parties:
Saskatchewan Party
— Continue withholding federal carbon levy payments to Ottawa on natural gas until the end of 2025.
— Reduce personal income tax rates over four years; a family of four would save $3,400.
— Double the Active Families Benefit to $300 per child per year and the benefit for children with disabilities to $400 a year.
— Direct all school divisions to ban “biological boys” from girls’ change rooms in schools.
— Increase the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit to $15,000 from $10,000.
— Reintroduce the Home Renovation Tax Credit, allowing homeowners to claim up to $4,000 in renovation costs on their income taxes; seniors could claim up to $5,000.
— Extend coverage for insulin pumps and diabetes supplies to seniors and young adults
— Provide a 50 per cent refundable tax credit — up to $10,000 — to help cover the cost of a first fertility treatment.
— Hire 100 new municipal officers and 70 more officers with the Saskatchewan Marshals Service.
— Amend legislation to provide police with more authority to address intoxication, vandalism and disturbances on public property.
— Platform cost of $1.2 billion, with deficits in the first three years and a small surplus in 2027.
—
NDP
— Pause the 15-cent-a-litre gas tax for six months, saving an average family about $350.
— Remove the provincial sales tax from children’s clothes and ready-to-eat grocery items like rotisserie chickens and granola bars.
— Pass legislation to limit how often and how much landlords can raise rent.
— Repeal the law that requires parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names or pronouns at school.
— Launch a provincewide school nutrition program.
— Build more schools and reduce classroom sizes.
— Hire 800 front-line health-care workers in areas most in need.
— Launch an accountability commission to investigate cost overruns for government projects.
— Scrap the marshals service.
— Hire 100 Mounties and expand detox services.
— Platform cost of $3.5 billion, with small deficits in the first three years and a small surplus in the fourth year.
—
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct .17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – More than a million British Columbians have already cast their provincial election ballots, smashing the advance voting record ahead of what weather forecasters say will be a rain-drenched election day in much of B.C., with snow also predicted for the north.
Elections BC said Thursday that 1,001,331 people had cast ballots in six days of advance voting, easily breaking a record set during the pandemic election four years ago.
More than 28 per cent of all registered electors have voted, potentially putting the province on track for a big final turnout on Saturday.
“It reflects what I believe, which is this election is critically important for the future of our province,” New Democrat Leader David Eby said Thursday at a news conference in Vancouver. “I understand why British Columbians are out in numbers. We haven’t seen questions like this on the ballot in a generation.”
He said voters are faced with the choice of supporting his party’s plans to improve affordability, public health care and education, while the B.C. Conservatives, led by John Rustad, are proposing to cut services and are fielding candidates who support conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and espouse racist views.
Rustad held no public availabilities on Thursday.
Elections BC said the record advance vote tally includes about 223,000 people who voted on the final day of advance voting Wednesday, the last day of advance polls, shattering the one-day record set on Tuesday by more than 40,000 votes.
The previous record for advance voting in a B.C. election was set in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when about 670,000 people voted early, representing about 19 per cent of registered voters.
Some ridings have now seen turnout of more than 35 per cent, including in NDP Leader David Eby’s Vancouver-Point Grey riding where 36.5 per cent of all electors have voted.
There has also been big turnout in some Vancouver Island ridings, including Oak Bay-Gordon Head, where 39 per cent of electors have voted, and Victoria-Beacon Hill, where Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau is running, with 37.2 per cent.
Advance voter turnout in Rustad’s riding of Nechako Lakes was 30.5 per cent.
Total turnout in 2020 was 54 per cent, down from about 61 per cent in 2017.
Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia, said many factors are at play in the advance voter turnout.
“If you have an early option, if you have an option where there are fewer crowds, fewer lineups that you have to deal with, then that’s going to be a much more desirable option,” said Prest.
“So, having the possibility of voting across multiple advanced voting days is something that more people are looking to as a way to avoid last-minute lineups or heavy weather.”
Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada said the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
Eby said the forecast of an atmospheric weather storm on election day will become a “ballot question” for some voters who are concerned about the approaches the parties have towards addressing climate change.
But he said he is confident people will not let the storm deter them from voting.
“I know British Columbians are tough and they’re not going to let even an atmospheric river stop them from voting,” said Eby.
In northern B.C., heavy snow is in the forecast starting Friday and through to Saturday for areas along the Yukon boundary.
Elections BC said it will focus on ensuring it is prepared for bad weather, said Andrew Watson, senior director of communications.
“We’ve also been working with BC Hydro to make sure that they’re aware of all of our voting place locations so that they can respond quickly if there are any power outages,” he said.
Elections BC also has paper backups for all of its systems in case there is a power outage, forcing them to go through manual procedures, Watson said.
Prest said the dramatic downfall of the Official Opposition BC United Party just before the start of the campaign and voter frustration could also be contributing to the record size of the advance vote.
It’s too early to say if the province is experiencing a “renewed enthusiasm for voting,” he said.
“As a political scientist, I think it would be a good thing to see, but I’m not ready to conclude that’s what we are seeing just yet,” he said, adding, “this is one of the storylines to watch come Saturday.”
Overall turnout in B.C. elections has generally been dwindling compared with the 71.5 per cent turnout for the 1996 vote.
Adam Olsen, Green Party campaign chair, said the advance voting turnout indicates people are much more engaged in the campaign than they were in the weeks leading up to the start of the campaign in September.
“All we know so far is that people are excited to go out and vote early,” he said. “The real question will be does that voter turnout stay up throughout election night?”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said more than 180,000 voters cast their votes on Wednesday.
