Canadian Constitution Foundation in the Federal Court today

TORONTO: The Canadian Constitution Foundation is in the Federal Court today seeking the disclosure of information which goes to the heart of the government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act on February, 14, 2022. 

The CCF will seek an order for the Attorney General to deliver unredacted documents, including minutes of the Incident Response Group and Cabinet meetings leading up to the declaration of the Emergencies Act. 

The government invoked cabinet confidence, and subsequently, national security privilege over many documents relevant to a judge’s determination of whether the government was justified in declaring a public order emergency. 

“The government’s failure to disclose wide swaths of evidence that go to the question of whether it was justified in invoking the Emergencies Act is an attempt to evade meaningful judicial review. Allowing these documents to remain secret would undermine the integrity of the proceedings in this historic matter if a litigant is pre-empted from arguing in court that the government acted unconstitutionally”, said Christine Van Geyn, the CCF’s Litigation Director. Members of the public may request a link for the hearing here:  https://www.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/court-files-and-decisions/hearing-lists