What is the Emergencies Act, and Why is it in the News Again?
Photo Credit: Naomi McKinney/Unsplash
Throughout February 2022, what started as a peaceful protest by Canadian truckers turned into nearly a month of rallying and blockades across Ottawa. On Feb. 14 that year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, a statute that grants the federal government additional powers in times of emergency. While the truckers’ convoy — dubbed the “Freedom Convoy” by organizers of the protests — ended over two years ago, Canada’s federal court only recently ruled that Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act to dissolve the protest was unconstitutional.
The hearing took place on Jan. 23 this year and ended with Justice Richard Mosley of the federal court agreeing with the claim. Mosley found that invoking the Act in 2022 was unreasonable for two reasons. First, the threats at the time—including blockades and economic disruptions—were not enough to constitute an emergency. Second, an emergency can only be declared if there are no other measures the government could have taken, and the court found that this was not the case for the convoy.
The truckers’ convoy, which started on Jan. 28, 2022, began when Canadian truckers were displeased with Trudeau’s cross-border vaccine mandate during the pandemic. As more protesters joined the rallies, which saw over 8,000 people at its peak, the convoy turned into a series of protests about Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions in general. The protesters primarily rallied in Ottawa, holding up signs and causing blockades across the city. On Feb. 11, Ottawa was declared in a “state of emergency” by Premier Doug Ford, as a response to the street disruption, harassment of citizens in the area, and the closing down of stores and businesses including the CF Rideau Centre, a popular mall in Ottawa. Police reported being outnumbered by the protestors, and the blockades went on for several weeks without an end in sight.
The protests were dissolved after Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act. The statute gave Canadian banks the power to freeze accounts to prevent key figures from continuing to fund the protests, and over 200 accounts were frozen. On Feb. 17, 2022, a large joint-operation police force from multiple police departments arrested 191 people, fining and laying other charges on 103 others. Most protesters were dispelled by February 20, 2022, and the Emergencies Act was revoked three days later.
The Emergencies Act is a statute that was first passed in 1988. It grants the federal government additional powers in four situations: during a public welfare, public order, international, or war emergency. While the Act is invoked, the government can, among other measures, restrict or ban blockades and protests in certain areas, direct banks to freeze accounts that fund those protests, and arrest or fine people who do not comply with these measures.
2022 was the only time that the Act was invoked. After the emergency was over, the government was required to produce a report within 360 days about whether invoking the Act was justified. On February 17, 2023, the report was released by the federal government, and it found that calling the Act was reasonable and the criteria was met.
However, multiple organizations in Canada disagreed with the report. At the beginning of 2024, multiple non-profit organizations such as the The Canadian Constitution Foundation and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) brought the case to Canada’s federal court. The claim is that invoking the Emergencies Act violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by forcefully dissolving protests when it was unnecessary.
The federal court ruled in their favour. “The record does not support a conclusion that the Convoy had created a critical, urgent and temporary situation that was national in scope and could not effectively be dealt with under any other law of Canada,” Justice Mosley stated.
The CCLA released a statement expressing their satisfaction with the ruling. “Emergency powers are necessary in extreme circumstances, but they are also dangerous to democracy,” their statement reads. “They should be used sparingly and carefully. They cannot be used even to address a massive and disruptive demonstration if that could have been dealt with through regular policing and laws.”
The federal government of Canada disagreed with the ruling, upholding their claim that the emergency had been large enough to constitute invoking the Emergencies Act. Deputy Prime Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland promised that the federal government would repeal the order. “I would just like to take a moment to remind Canadians of how serious the situation was in our country when we took that decision,” she told reporters in Montreal, according to The New York Times. “The public safety of Canadians was under threat. Our national security, which includes our national economic security, was under threat.”