The federal government has filed to appeal a Federal Court ruling that its invocation of the Emergency Measures Act in response to the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests was unjustified.
The government is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to overturn a January ruling that the government’s use of this emergency law led to a violation of constitutional rights.
The federal Liberals have invoked emergency powers in response to thousands of protesters holed up in downtown Ottawa for weeks and spinoff demonstrations that have blocked border crossings.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and others argued in court that Ottawa invoked the emergency measures without a solid legal basis.
The decision by Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley, which the Liberals immediately promised to appeal, differed from the State of Emergency Commission’s conclusion.
This investigation determined that the very strict criteria to be met in order to invoke the law had been met.
In documents filed Thursday, the government laid out its arguments, including arguing that the Federal Court erred in reviewing the decision to invoke the law based on information the government did not have access to in 2022.
The court also erred in substituting its own opinion on the decision the government should have made, he added.
According to the government, the court should have instead considered whether it was reasonable for the government to “decide that it had reasonable grounds to believe” that a state of public order emergency existed and should be dealt with by special temporary measures.
The court was also wrong to decide that the use of the Emergencies Act constituted a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the government argued.
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