Notwithstanding Friday’s ruling by the Federal Court of Appeal that the Trudeau Government’s use of the Emergencies Act to end the convoy occupation of Ottawa in January and February 2022 was unreasonable, the most appropriate place for this matter to be settled once and for all remains the Supreme Court of Canada.
Naturally, the current iteration of Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government – which has clearly allied itself with the convoy protesters who occupied the national capital, blocked borders, and attempted to foment a takeover of the elected government of the day – crowed about the decision of the federal appeal court.
“We are pleased that the Federal Court of Appeal has sided with Alberta that the use of the Emergencies Act by the federal government in 2022 was unlawful and infringed the Charter right to freedom of speech, upholding the 2024 Federal Court decision,” Justice Minister Mickey Amery said in a short statement published Friday on the Government’s website. “This decision is a win for freedom and for Canadians.”
“Alberta’s government will always use every legal tool at our disposal to push back against unconstitutional federal actions, and to protect and promote freedom in this federation,” he added piously.
From the UCP’s perspective, of course, commenting on the appeal court decision was helpful if only because it provided an opportunity to push the story of the continuing meltdown of Alberta’s big-city hospital Emergency Rooms out of the headlines for a few hours.
Unlike the statement by Mr. Amery and Premier Danielle Smith in January 2024 on the Federal Court of Canada ruling that was upheld Friday by the appeal court, this time he didn’t histrionically suggest that “the federal government simply does not understand or respect the Constitution of Canada,” and or complain about the possibility of an appeal.
That may reflect a recognition that the UCP may need some more distraction soon. More likely, though, the latest effort was minimal simply because it was Friday night and everyone wanted to go home for the weekend and be unavailable to comment on the health care crisis.
Whatever, it remains a small irony that while Ms. Smith’s version of the UCP may insist the convoy occupation and blockades were not a crisis, Jason Kenney’s UCP government didn’t seem to agree when the events were under way in 2022.
Leastways, in February that year, then municipal affairs minister Ric McIver fired off a letter to the feds pleading for Ottawa’s help to clear the blockade at Coutts, which the federal government did by using the Emergencies Act.
It is true, as Mr. McIver insisted later when he was called on it, that his letter never actually mentioned the Emergencies Act. But it was pretty obvious what kind of help Mr. McIver, who is now the Speaker of the Alberta Legislature, had in mind when he wrote, “as this complex and dynamic situation continues to impede the free and safe movement of not only Albertans, but also of critical goods and services vital to both the Canadian and American economy, we are looking to the government of Canada for assistance.”
Of course, the situation was made even more complex and dynamic by the in-person support of the Coutts blockade by UCP MLAs like Grant Hunter, since promoted by Ms. Smith to be Alberta’s environment minister.
Also ironically, from the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act, to the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act, to the notorious Back to School Act that suspended the free-speech rights of 51,000 Alberta teachers, neither Mr. Kenney’s UCP nor Ms. Smith’s has been particularly shy about constitutional overreach of their own.
It is possible the federal government will recognize the need to proceed with an appeal. After all, in 2023 Justice Paul Rouleau of the Ontario Court of Appeal, acting as commissioner for the mandatory inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act required by that legislation, concluded that the government did meet the threshold required to invoke the act’s provisions.
“Lawful protest descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency,” he wrote in his report.
But while divisions in Canada about the use of the Emergencies Act are still deep enough the question ought to be decided by the nation’s highest court, Friday’s appeal court ruling is likely to make things worse in one important way for supporters of protests like the convoy occupation and blockades no matter what happens next.
Even if the Supreme Court of Canada were to reverse the federal appeal court’s ruling on appeal, faced with a similar crisis Ottawa is far less likely to use the Emergencies Act because of the political challenges it presents, but simply to send in police with clubs and guns to clear the streets and border crossings without a declaration of an emergency.
Given the cruder options that remain on the books, it is possible that our current pragmatic prime minister will decide an appeal isn’t worth the bother when there are other things to do if Canada faces a new “just watch me” moment.
If the resulting response to some future convoy protest ends in tears for some of the people celebrating today, other Canadians may conclude, as the same prime minister who made the observation quoted above also said, that the universe is unfolding as it should.
Hello DJC and fellow commenters,
It is supremely ironic that the Minister quoted is concerned about infringement of freedom of speech when the Alberta legislature passed legislation with the “notwithstanding clause” included and, thus, infringed a number of Charter rights. Since this legislation has no been challenged in court, we don’t know whether or not it would be upheld by a court. I’m not sure that the word “unlawful”, used the the Alberta minister, would be the appropriate word to describe the use of the Emergencies Act during the convoy “protest”. From what I have seen, the question was whether or not the use of the Emergencies was unreasonable.
I’ve said from the start the limits on “notwithstanding” is that it needed to trigger a Supreme Court hearing, if not abolished–just like any other legislation that overrides constitutional rights. We are watching the results of not demanding democratic guardrails in real time in the USA.
I listened while American-accented voices egged on the truckers via Zello to ever more outrageous demands. Just think about it for one second. American vloggers and influencers who couldn’t find Ottawa on a map accused the Canadian government of fascism and over-reach. What Canadian activist that garnered any actual support would demand an audience with the Governor General to promote a policy? While American operatives may be that stupid about parliamentary procedure, I’ve never met a Canadian activist–never mind a half dozen or so driving that demand–be that clueless about how the government operates.
Yes, you could blame our education system and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong.
However, Iran has an excellent education system and if anyone has been following–look at the complete chaos and mayhem CIA and Mossad operatives unleashed there by manipulating and arming insurgents within/outside the populace. The last few times the populace engaged in legitimate protests (met by increasing reforms in response whether or not we agree with the government) undercover operatives and armed factions have turned it into murder and riots after the first week or so of legitimate activism. What activist would destroy the very ambulances their participants might need if wounded by security forces while protesting?
The USA is doing that here, make no mistake.
Our government has problems and I surely do not agree with much of their policies on more occasions than I do. Rest assured that the loudest screeching voices including PP and the separatists may not have a concrete plan for “what comes after” but the US government, *does*. That is, to balkanize this country using any means at their disposal so their oligarchs, who destroyed the USA from the inside out by dismantling the democratic institutions, robbed the treasury and strip-mined the country–have the same plan for us.
Right now is the time to promote asabiyyah (social cohesion) or the corrupted flailing empire to our south will take us down with it, in its death throes.
Any historical account that doesn’t conform to the post-WW2 Five Eyes narrative is dismissed as conspiracy theory, but the fact remains that the CIA established the stay-behind armies to battle the Reds in the event that they poured through the Fulda Gap, and these NATO shadow-armies were proven beyond a doubt in 1990 to have been behind the Red Brigade crimes in Italy. Further inquiry showed that the Gladio armies existed in all NATO countries. As the Troubles wound down in the nineties, it became evident that the Provisional IRA was completely penetrated by British intelligence, and nobody knew who was a bona fide “patriot” and who worked for MI5. The Troubles was very much in keeping with the Gladio motif, and, after all, the Italians were trained by Special Branch in the UK. Frank Kitson learned the fake terror trade in Kenya and later ran the British Army show in Ulster. He got together with David Galula, who oversaw that sort of thing in Algeria on behalf of the French “Republic” and Ed Lansdale, who learned the game in the Philippines and then brought it to Vietnam, at the Rand Corporation. Kitson’s work on playing both ends, “Gangs and Countergangs” is indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understand how the Empire works. Some highly dubious “documents” provided by a Soviet defector is used to dismiss evidence that the CIA operated in Quebec during the FLQ business, and that is the sum of evidence available in the English language, but there are still documents from Quebecois journalists in French who knew very well what CIA was up to in Montreal in the sixties. Which brings us to the Trucker Klown Konvoy. I have heard through the grapevine of an ambulance loaded to the gunnels with automatic weapons and ammuntion that was in a handy location throughout the Trucker escapade, and that it was under the auspices of the local constabulary. What was planned, is anyone’s guess, but it seems that something was afoot. Of course, this is all just conspiracy theory like the idea that the US, with the help of Canadian soldiers, would effect the kidnap and murder of the most important leader in post-colonial Africa. Your reference to Balkanization is likewise a sop to conspiracy theory. The notion that Yugoslavia was destroyed in order to establish US control over energy corridors in Europe, or that the Kosovar leadership were terrorist heroin traffickers aided by Osama bin Laden’s networks is just tinfoil hat talk. Elbows up!
“If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.”
Everyone by now is long familiar with the following:
“It is often also the case that the actors of the different forms of invisible power penetrate each other. Subversive movements get tangled up with the state secret services and the circles of politico-military power and in corruption or organised criminal mafia groups. . . . In this troubled world there coexists a legal level, composed of politicians, bankers, media bosses, entrepreneurs, usurers, service providers, civil servants, and an illegal militarised level, where one finds mafias, terrorists and mercenaries. The latter constitute the armed wing of the first level.”
Being manipulated means that, for example,
intrigues, criminality, and the various state security agencies/intelligence agencies go hand in hand.
It also means that mercifully(?) for those manipulators of public consciousness that same public consciousness has both limited insight and certain blind spots regarding the managed occult historical impulsions as Bernays hinted at, long ago, “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”
And as usual the satirists reveal the unspoken reality:
“The President in particular is very much a figurehead — he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage. For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it.”
From what I remember reading (translated from French) the quebecois press are not only aware the FLQ was infiltrated by the CIA, but they published the name of the infiltrator. Good luck finding that now, but it’s out there for those who are willing and able to dig.
In all honesty I think they’ve been much slicker with their work at the Calgary school of public policy. Those folks have been hiding in plain sight for decades.
@Murphy,
I’m busy buying up all the aluminium foil from the Dollar Store before the Yanks invade here. Alberta’s just the appetizer.
I’m not quite onto the Lizard People yet but I’ve spent some fair time following journos who do some well-sourced digging into Five Eyes Ops.
Also one that uses only public documents released by the USA gov’t and news sources of record where you can go check the links out for yourself and it’s gobsmacking how much the CIA/FBI just cannot seem to STFU. They seem to have an overwhelming need to write their nefarious schemes in policy papers on the public dime, then going on TV to brag about their “successes” which, if you think about it–is totally whack.
At this point, they’re all just bragging.
Maybe it’s just to terrorize the citizenship since when it comes to the obvious–they’re often caught completely by surprise that everything didn’t go their way.
B….Demonflyingfox.com
Spirit drums….
@randi-lee
I Stand with the Democratic Penguins Republic.
I even have the “Flippers Up” t-shirt to prove it.
B— Walrus..” you can take that to da bank “…..lol
“… the Federal Court of Appeal has sided with Alberta…”
Does this mean that the government of Alberta paid for the lawsuit? The government that strips teachers’ of their constitutional rights by using the notwithstanding clause because they do not have the money to pay what binding arbitration feels is fair suddenly has the money to pay for a lawsuit?
How much money was spent on this endeavour?
It is amusing to note the fact that Dani and her band of misfits would not hesitate to use such laws for their own purposes. Irony is dead.
There were many things Justin Trudeau did wrong as prime minister. Invoking the Emergency Act was not one of them – with1 cavil – he waited too long.
I hope the current government does appeal, and the Supreme Court agrees with Justice Rouleau. And I’m fine with Prime Minister Carney being pragmatic too.
Absolutely, this.
I can’t imagine what the judges were thinking. Nobody has the right to occupy any city centre with heavy equipment for weeks on end.
That’s not speech. It’s unlawful assembly and should’ve treated such a damn site sooner than it was.
I have not read the judgment but it may be the Court thought it was using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut.
Unfortunately, with the Ottawa Police messing things up during the arrival of the Convoy and with Doug Ford being noticeable by his complete disappearance until the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, the Federal Government was left with few legal tools to deal with the problem.
Dougie was almost as good as Jason Kenney at disappearing.
Hello DJC and fellow commenters
This display of hypocrisy is shocking. When Mr Justice Feasby concluded that the petition by members of the inappropriately named Alberta Prosperity Project was unconstitutional, the Alberta government changed the legislation and claimed that the Petition could proceed. However, the government of Alberta uses a different standard when evaluating federal government actions. Mickey Amery stated, “Alberta’s government will always use every legal tool at our disposal to push back against unconstitutional federal actions ….” I find it difficult to use the appellation “Minister of Justice” because I don’t see Mickey Amery as truly representing “justice”. ==justice
So while the retired police officers that I talked to praised Trudeau for using it and putting a stop to this insanity these mindless Reformers proving how stupid are wanted Trudeau to let it carry on and didn’t give a damn about what it would cost taxpayers that’s how stupid they are. Showing no respect for the citizens of Ottawa and the police officers involved, where’s the intelligence in that?
Perhaps the next Maple MAGA convoy should be met with what they say they would do if protestors showed up at their houses and places of work. That’s what the rural Alberta domestic terrorists told me they would do if they were invaded the way they invaded Edmonton for their anti-vaxx tantrums.
This is what I like about our moronic sacntimonious overlords! Nothing! I’ve been dealing with a dying relative. I don’t know what’s worse.. the insane abuse of well intentioned humans doing their best or the horror they feel when they can only do the minimum.
I think had the Ottawa Police and the OPP done their jobs in the first place, the Emergencies Act wouldn’t not have needed to be proclaimed. It was the only legal mechanism through which the Parliamentary Protection Service and the RCMP could be assigned jurisdiction over the downtown Ottawa area, so that they could break up the occupation.
@jerrymacgp
Ford dropped the ball because he’s a teenager who doesn’t take responsibility. It was his job to send in the OPP and he refused leaving the mess in the hands of the feds.
This won’t be a popular opinion but I think Trudeau was strategically smart in waiting. He let the protesters make absolutely outrageous demands and annoy everyone with a big sideshow until the entire country was screaming “Get those clowns outta there”.
Considering the main leaders of the protest (not the frontline protesters) had tried and failed to pull the same stunt off before in honour of Alberta separatism, Trudy followed the cardinal rule. “Never interrupt your enemy when they’re making a mistake.”
To this day some of the Americans complain it was big and mean and repressive. Take a look at Minneapolis and the police killings during other protests. They’re in no position to talk.
For the record, yes, I’ve done my fair share of protests. If you actually believe in your cause you know you might have to pay the price in arrests or cruel treatment from police or riot cops. After all, you’re fighting the system they’re part of. It’s the risk you agree to bear because your cause is that important to you.
For some reasons, protesters now don’t seem to understand that concept.
Yes. The Ottawa Police messed up badly in dealing with the Convoy arrival for many reason. Of course it did did not help that one of their officers charged with monitoring Convoy communications appears to have been a sympathizer.
@ B
I don’t think Ford dropped the ball. He saw it as a way tho embarrass the Liberals and immediately disappeared into the woodwork. An occupied downtown Ottawa was not affecting his MPPs directly so he likely thought it good fun. PC riding were more in the ssudurbs.
He only emerged when his major supporters started screaming at him when Ambassador Bridge was blockaded.
This is obviously a bad legal decision but not surprising. It seems we, just like in the US, cannot wait to destroy the little good we had to benefit 30% of the population that leaves on the fringe of the extreme right. Imagine if this was to benefit the extreme left?
I still have some confidence in the Supreme Court, although not as much as I use to. In fact, we have already seen in the last few months the hypocrisy of our prime minister. Values, he comments and even titles his book. Why bother writing a book? To win the election? Values! Would that not be nice to have a government with some values. Money should be the title of his book.
Carney is still thinking of sending troops to Greenland! Waiting to see if the storms goes by? What do we need to think about? It is part of NATO and it is being threatened by the US. DOUGHH. Is he afraid of being fished out like Maduro? My goodness – VALUES ?
So, highways were blocked, weapons were seized and people were finding it difficult to do their jobs, because of these blockades. They blocked goods and services, creating supply chain issues in a time when the supply chain needed to be strong. In Ottawa, streets were blocked, horns blaring at all hours, protesters not always using proper facilities, leaving it for tax payers to clean-up and businesses either went under, or lost money hand over fist. And the Smith government is good all with this?
Unfortunately this announcement is just giving the Ditchbillies/ ostrich crowd momentum for their next convoy planned for April. Purportedly leaving Victoria April (5th) ,stops across Canada ,Calgary 7th, where I’m sure the “Rat(h) patrol will come out to support them.
I sincerely hope that CSIS/ RCMP and the OPP are paying better attention this time.
How is it that the Cons were wailing about “Chinese” interference, nothing about Russian or American? And yes I know the question answers itself, but still: are they so lined up with Tangerine and Maybelline that they are willing to wreck our country? Why do I feel the answer is yes.
And now we have the ultimate s**t disturber Bannon jumping on the Alberta 51st state bandwagon…..divide and conquer.
We are going to need more than the Emergencies Act this time around. Pay attention people!!!
Justice Minister gives himself immunity— old John Wayne movie “Lord forgive me for what I have done and for what I am about to do ” ??? (edited)
Alberta Law Society sees 2 directors removed, mass resignation (14 employees)in wake of new government powers.
CBC news –Jan 16th
The UWR protests were the origin story of me commenting on this blog. I remember this time well, rabid rural mouth breathers with too much time to sit on Facebook overran the city, legislature, border crossings, threatening rank and file citizens, “antifa”, LGBTQ, sitting politicians, journalists and anyone they saw as opposition with literal DEATH. I documented political organizations I didn’t even know existed with deep representation (Catholic monarchists anyone?) but mostly, it was lumpen proletariat or petit bourgeois albertans with unchecked egos and axes to grind with EVERYONE. Big Divorced Dad energy.
Two things I’ll remind you of, a large percentage of funding for the convoy came from the United States.
2. The movement was infiltrated and protected by the police, particularly in Edmonton where folks were arrested for attempting to block convoy progress.
Sorry, three things. Don’t forget that a majority of EPS officers live outside the city in either one of the four bedroom communities or their respective counties.
So yeah I also don’t see how anything short of the emergencies act would have compelled these pigs to actually do their jobs. How someone can threaten my entire community with murder, but I’m not allowed to stand in front of their pickup truck is beyond me.
In all Honesty, I think the entire country was too polite about it. It should have been ass kicking time from coast to coast.
We can’t forget that the “United We Roll” trucker convoys arose long before COVID: they were organized in February 2019 in response to the federal government’s attempts to address climate change, and to push for more pipelines — and also brought out some very ugly xenophobic sentiments amongst many of the participants. I recall a parade of big rigs roving around Grande Prairie during that period, blowing their air horns and generally making a nuisance of themselves. This all followed, and was inspired by, so-called “yellow vest” protests in December 2018, which were overtly racist anti-immigrant protests that co-opted the similarly-named pro-worker, anti-high cost of living movement in France.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-united-we-roll-convoy-organizer-1.5031454
That is correct, people often forget about the yellow vests, from what I remember the original protests in France were largely tied to fuel costs and had much broader support than the “yellow vests” in North America which were largely racist, xenophobic and entirely the precursor to the united we roll folks. I’m going off memory here w/r/t the relative xenophobia of the “gilete jaune” but I do believe it was co opted by these North American assholes from what I researched and remember from the time.
Also shout out to google for being completely worthless and garbage now that they just sell black projects to the security state and help Israel assassinate women and children instead of “not being evil” and having a business that is beneficial to the world at large.
There’s a special place In hell for you.
The UCP are supposed to align with law and order, but we see that they don’t, and on numerous occasions.