The Public Order Emergency Commission has made 56 recommendations after investigating the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act to quell protests at border crossings and in downtown Ottawa in early 2022.
A number of Justice Paul Rouleau’s recommendations are meant to address issues that arose during the public inquiry itself.
The federal government must do a better job of collecting and sharing information
The Liberal government has been criticized over the last year for not sharing enough information with the public, and with the inquiry, about its decision to invoke the Emergencies Act.
Opposition parties, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and lawyers representing residents of Ottawa at the inquiry all complained that the government submitted thousands of pages of documents slowly throughout the inquiry, meaning it was difficult for them to review in time to question witnesses.
Many government documents were heavily redacted, and critical evidence — the legal opinion provided to cabinet to justify the use of the Emergencies Act — was never provided at all.
Rouleau’s recommendations include the following obligations for future governments:
— Elected officials, staff and public servants should have to create a thorough written record of the process leading to a decision to declare an emergency, and should begin collecting those documents as soon as the decision is made.
— Governments should have to give 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.”
— Government documents and information should not be redacted “on account of irrelevance, or on account of national security confidentiality and similar public interest privileges.”
— Governments should be bound to produce all information, advice, and recommendations given to cabinet and its committees or ministers.
Clearer direction is needed for future inquiries
Rouleau’s report acknowledges that he was not explicitly required to determine whether the government’s decision to invoke the act was actually justified. The order-in-council tasked him with examining the circumstances leading to the decision and the effectiveness and appropriateness of the measures taken.
In the future, Rouleau said the Emergencies Act should be amended to provide greater clarity:
— That inquiries are called pursuant to Part 1 of the Inquiries Act, bringing it into line with other commissions of inquiry.
— Commissions should be given clear direction and “at a minimum, direct it to examine and assess the basis for the declaration and the measures adopted.”
— The person chosen to lead the commission should be consulted on what is in the inquiry’s terms of reference.
Officials from all levels of government should take part
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the province’s former solicitor general, Sylvia Jones, were notable absences from the list of witnesses at the hearings.
In fact, as the inquiry went on, lawyers for the Public Order Emergency Commission filed a subpoena to compel Ford and Jones to take the stand. But the pair successfully argued in court that they should not have to take part due to their parliamentary privilege as members of the legislature.
Rouleau recommends changes to the Emergencies Act that ensure:
— The commissioner can appoint someone to have jurisdiction to resolve claims of privilege.
— A federal parliamentarian “may not claim” privilege to refuse testifying.
— Commissioners should have the power to order a person to produce “any information, document, or thing under the person’s power or control.”
Future inquiries should be given more time
The public inquiry was under significant time constraints.
The Emergencies Act requires that a report be produced within 360 days of the emergency declaration being revoked (that happened on Feb. 23, 2022). But Rouleau was not named as commissioner of the inquiry until April 25, 2022, giving him even less time to come up with a final report.
He recommends changing that so the 360 days begins when the order-in-council is made to create the commission.
Rouleau also said future commissioners should have the power to extend the time to produce the report by up to six months.
There should be accountability
The government is not compelled to implement any of the commission’s recommendations.
Rouleau recommends the following accountability measures:
— Within 12 months, the government should publicly say which recommendations it accepts and which it rejects, with “detailed explanations” for why they are rejected.
— The government should also provide a timeline for when those recommendations will be implemented.
— Parliament should create an implementation committee for those recommendations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2023.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
