Two provinces say they were blindsided by Emergencies Act decision

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OTTAWA — Provincial officers in Saskatchewan and Alberta received a Valentine’s Day shock from the prime minister this 12 months when he referred to as to say he was contemplating invoking the Emergencies Act, a public inquiry heard Thursday.

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Attorneys representing the 2 provinces have been earlier than the Public Order Emergency Fee, which is wanting into the federal authorities’s use of emergency powers to finish to weeks of protests at border crossings and in downtown Ottawa.

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“The decision (on Feb. 14) was not a lot about consulting, it was about telling,” stated Saskatchewan authorities lawyer Mike Morris.

“That cellphone name was the primary time the federal authorities instructed the federal government of Saskatchewan that it was contemplating invoking the Emergencies Act and declaring a public order emergency.”

The Liberal authorities invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, the primary time the regulation had been used because it changed the Battle Measures Act in 1988. The transfer briefly granted police extraordinary powers and allowed banks to freeze accounts.

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Saskatchewan and Alberta say they objected to its use and consider the regulation didn’t must be utilized throughout the nation.

Alberta’s lawyer, Mandy England, described in her opening assertion earlier than the fee how current legal guidelines and police assets efficiently ended a protest on the border in Coutts, Alta., the place a number of individuals have been arrested and charged with conspiring to commit homicide after a cache of weapons, physique armour and ammunition was present in close by trailers.

“Not one of the powers that have been created below the federal Emergencies Act have been obligatory, nor have been any of them utilized in Alberta to resolve the Coutts blockade,” she stated.

The federal authorities is planning to argue the other. Robert MacKinnon, representing Justice Canada, stated the Emergencies Act was “affordable and obligatory” given the circumstances throughout the nation.

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“The proof of the federal government witnesses will element the info and occasions resulting in the choice to declare a public order emergency,” he stated.

That call got here after weeks of what Trudeau referred to as an “unlawful occupation” of downtown Ottawa, and tales of frustration from individuals residing within the space, a lot of whom have been important of the police response.

Peter Sloly resigned as Ottawa’s police chief within the midst of mounting public stress throughout the protests. His lawyer, Tom Curry, stated the previous prime cop has a listing of suggestions to forestall, alleviate, reply to and recuperate from vital protest occasions.

David Migicovsky, authorized counsel for the Ottawa Police Service, stated there have been well-established processes in place to take care of protesters, however they didn’t work throughout the “Freedom Convoy.”

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“The police had little time to organize. The genesis of the protest solely started a number of weeks earlier than it arrived,” he stated, including it was troublesome to gauge the scale of the convoy as a result of many individuals joined because it moved nearer to Ottawa.

“That might not have been predicted.”

He stated not one of the intelligence reviews predicted the “degree of neighborhood violence and social trauma that was inflicted on town and its residents.”

A lawyer representing the Ontario Provincial Police stated they’ll present how intelligence was gathered, together with by means of a liaison crew with protesters, and shared with policing companions.

The Public Order Emergency Fee was established on April 25, and has been gathering paperwork and interviewing dozens of individuals. Six weeks of public hearings in Ottawa are deliberate.

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“Uncovering the reality is a crucial purpose,” the commissioner, Ontario Courtroom of Attraction Justice Paul Rouleau, stated in his opening remarks.

“When troublesome occasions happen that influence the lives of Canadians, the general public has a proper to know what occurred.”

Rouleau stated the method of attending to the beginning of the inquiry has been “difficult.”

“Discharging my mandate is just not a straightforward activity,” he stated, later including that “timelines can be tight.”

He appealed to contributors and their authorized counsel to co-operate to make sure the info are correctly offered to the general public, and stated inquiries are supposed to study from expertise and make suggestions for the long run.

“They don’t make findings of prison legal responsibility, they don’t decide if people have dedicated a criminal offense.”

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Witnesses will start testifying on Friday, a listing of 65 individuals that features Trudeau, seven different cupboard members, police forces, and officers from all ranges of presidency.

The fee can even hear from central figures within the “Freedom Convoy” reminiscent of Tamara Lich, Chris Barber, Pat King and James Bauder — all of whom are going through prison costs for his or her roles.

Lich was amongst these within the public viewing gallery Thursday.

“I’m actually comfortable to be again right here and I’m wanting ahead to testifying,” she stated in considered one of her first public statements since being arrested for her position within the convoy.

A lawyer representing “Freedom Convoy” organizers instructed the inquiry they’ll argue there was no proof the regulation was obligatory to finish the protests that took over streets round Parliament Hill final winter.

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“There was no affordable and possible grounds to invoke the Emergencies Act and the federal government exceeded their jurisdiction, each constitutionally and legislatively, in doing so,” stated Brendan Miller.

Fee counsel offered reviews Thursday that describe dozens of protests mounted towards COVID-19 public well being measures and lockdowns throughout Canada, beginning within the spring of 2020 and culminating within the convoy to Ottawa.

Police took motion in a lot of these demonstrations, and arrested or ticketed protesters who have been a part of crowds of various sizes over the 2 years the pandemic dragged on.

The Metropolis of Ottawa’s auditor normal has additionally launched a evaluation of the native response to the convoy, and several other teams have initiated proceedings in Federal Courtroom to problem the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act.

The inquiry can be distinct from the all-party parliamentary committee struck in March to evaluation the Emergencies Act’s use.

Each the general public inquiry and the parliamentary committee, which continues its work, are required below the Emergencies Act.