Justice Centre Disappointed with Commissioner Rouleau’s Conclusion that Invocation of Emergencies Act was Justified

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Ottawa, Ontario: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is disappointed by the Report of the Public Order Emergency Commission (“POEC”), which was tabled before Parliament today. The seven weeks of hearings showed the protests in Ottawa and across the country to be disruptive, yet overwhelmingly peaceful. The hearings provided evidence to show that they did not pose a “threat to the security of Canada” (as that term is defined in s. 2 of the CSIS Act). Despite this, Commissioner Paul Rouleau’s Report concluded that the Government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act was justified.

In finding that there were reasonable grounds for Cabinet to believe that a national emergency existed when the Act was invoked, the Commissioner’s Report states: “I do not come to this conclusion easily, as I do not consider the factual basis for it to be overwhelming and I acknowledge that there is significant strength to the arguments against reaching it.” In his public statement today, he added “Reasonable and informed people could reach a different conclusion than the one I have arrived at.”