Emergencies Act inquiry: Civil liberties group concerned


OTTAWA-

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says it is concerned that the federal government is seeking to prevent certain information from becoming public during an investigation into the unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act.

Cara Zwibel, an attorney for the group, said she had questions about what is being presented as evidence.

“I am concerned about the level of transparency the federal government is showing throughout this process,” she said. “It’s a problem not to be frank with Parliament and not to be frank with the Canadian public.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government triggered the Emergency Measures Act on February 14, a week after protesters first blocked the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge and several weeks after what he called ” illegal occupation” of downtown Ottawa by anti-lockdown protesters and their vehicles.

It was the first time a government had invoked the law since it was passed in 1988.

The temporary measures provided for in the law have given authorities greater leeway to make arrests, impose fines, tow vehicles and freeze assets.

Trudeau revoked the emergency declaration on Feb. 23, two days after the NDP joined the Liberals in a House of Commons motion affirming his government’s choice to use emergency powers.

The inquiry and a special parliamentary committee are required under the Emergencies Act to examine the government’s decision-making process.

Members of Parliament and senators on the joint committee expressed frustration with the testimony of Liberal cabinet ministers, the director of CSIS and others.

Justice Minister David Lametti repeatedly prefaced his responses to committee members’ questions in April by saying he “would not betray Cabinet confidentiality” or was bound by attorney-client privilege. ‘lawyer.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s appearance before the committee in June was, in her own words, “contradictory” at times. Several members accused her of not answering questions, being evasive, and failing to provide new information.

The commission said in June that the government had pledged to provide ‘all contributions that were before the cabinet’ when it declared the emergency, but Commissioner Paul Rouleau did not say whether he would release that information. .

Zwibel and others worry that some documents may be withheld from the public by different levels of government, citing privacy or national security risks.

“We will have questions about whether the government is open, whether the evidence is going to allow the kind of transparency that we think is needed,” she said.

Key participants in the investigation, including CSIS and the Ontario government, filed documents with the commission again throughout Wednesday.

They are among five dozen witnesses scheduled to testify, including Trudeau and other ministers, police departments and “Freedom Convoy” organizers.

Added to transparency concerns is the time available to the investigation to complete its work. The commission is mandated to provide a final report to Parliament by February 20, 2023.

“They have a very ambitious schedule,” Zwibel said. “There are a lot of witnesses they want to hear, there are a lot of documents to pass.”


This report from The Canadian Press was first published on October 12, 2022.