(OTTAWA) A federal government lawyer argued Wednesday that the “freedom convoy” movement was still “in full swing” the day Ottawa invoked the Emergency Measures Actat the beginning of last year – which justified, therefore, the use of these extraordinary measures at that time.
Me John Provart argued in Federal Court that the idea that protests and blockades across Canada were under control at that time “borders a bit on historical revisionism.”
Lawyers for the Attorney General of Canada are trying to convince Judge Richard Mosley of the Federal Court to reject the arguments of several organizations and citizens who contest this use of Emergency Measures Actan exceptional law never used since its entry into force in 1988.
Civil liberties associations and individual rights organizations argued this week before Judge Mosley that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government had not reached the “threshold” necessary to use this emergency law.
This law authorized temporary measures, including banning public gatherings, designating safe places, ordering financial institutions to freeze assets, and prohibiting support for participants in the “freedom convoy”.
The government claims that these exceptional measures were targeted, balanced, time-limited and consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.