Trudeau Did Not Have Authority to Invoke the Emergencies Act – Canadian Constitutional Foundation (CCF)’s Closing Argument http://cafe.nfshost.com/?p=8316
Trudeau Did Not Have Authority to Invoke the Emergencies Act – CCF Closing Argument
On Day 16 of the Emergencies Act hearings, the main organizer of the Freedom Convoy Tamara Lich took the stand for the first time since her bail hearing in late July.
Lich was asked about what her life had been like after her arrest in Ottawa on Feb 17.
“I’ve lost my job, I’ve lost my freedom of speech, I’ve lost my freedom to communicate with my friends,” said Lich tearfully.
“I have to be very careful about every move that I make,” she continued. “My trial’s not until next year… I have to live under these conditions for a year.”
That’s the way Canada’s soft tyranny “justice system, silences dissidents. Tamara Lich was arrested for the minor non-violent offence of counselling mischief. Yet, she was jailed for 56 days and twice denied bail. When she finally got bail, her conditions would make Stalin blush. She was completely silenced politically. This gag order may last until her trial which could be many months away.
Her counsel Edmonton lawyer Keith Wilson told Rebel News (October 14, 2022): Her “bail conditions are worse than
the conditions, the free speech conditions that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has put on [Alexei] Navalny, his
chief critic. You could interview him in his jail cell in Russia, but you cannot interview, in Trudeau’s Canada, Tamara Lich about the circumstances of her protest!”
The Emergencies Act & The Rouleau Inquiry: Startling Revelations About the Rape of Canadians’ Rights
Posted On: September 7, 2022
The Justice Centre is a registered charity committed to defending the constitutional rights of Canadians.
Canadians and truckers from across the country made their way to Ottawa in January, to exercise their right to peaceful protest against government mandates. This was a grassroots movement that resulted in the largest peaceful protest in Canadian history. The Government responded by invoking the Emergencies Act, bringing in armed police, and using unprecedented power and violence to end an otherwise peaceful protest. The government also froze bank accounts of Canadians who supported the protestors.
In February 2022, the Justice Centre funded a team of lawyers to provide legal advice and representation to peaceful Canadian protestors in Ottawa. Justice Centre lawyers facilitated communications with police and played a role in coordinating an agreement with the City of Ottawa to move trucks out of residential areas.
Since February, the Justice Centre has continued to provide legal representation, through its own lawyers as well as outside counsel, to:
The Justice Centre is also an official party before the Public Order Emergency Commission and has been granted standing to provide policy recommendations to the Commission about the constitutional implications of invoking the Emergencies Act.
The Justice Centre has also funded the criminal defence of Tamara Lich, a Medicine Hat mother and grandmother, who has been subjected to five bail reviews, and was arrested on a Canada-wide warrant, for an alleged, minor bail breach.
Ms. Lich, who was not charged with a violent crime, spent a total of seven weeks in jail, in spite of not having any criminal record.
In addition to the cases which relate directly to legal matters resulting from events in Ottawa in February 2022, the Justice Centre continues to fund hundreds of cases across Canada where the Charter rights and fundamental freedoms of Canadians are threatened by government.
It is through the voluntary donations of our valued and dedicated supporters that it is possible for the Justice Centre to defend the free society and continue to challenge oppressive government actions that began in earnest more than two years ago. We receive no government funding.
While the Justice Centre’s funding capacity is not unlimited, the Justice Centre helps as many individuals as possible through our network of lawyers and dedicated staff and will continue to do so to the full extent our resources allow.
Canadians who have access to funds and can contribute to their legal costs are encouraged to do so, because the Justice Centre can only take a small percentage of the thousands of requests for help we receive each year. The matters the Justice Centre is involved with affect all Canadians in the common goal of living in a free and democratic society, where government is transparent and accountable to its citizens. We want to thank all our supporters for their continued commitment to our important work.
I want to give you an important update about the Emergencies Act inquiry and some information about how you can personally contribute to the inquiry and hold the government to account. The use of the Emergencies Act was illegal, and the Canadian Constitution Foundation is fighting it in court. We are also participating in an independent inquiry – the Rouleau Commission – that is looking into the government’s use of this law. The Rouleau Commission is now accepting comments from the public – that means YOU can send the inquiry a public comment about your experience and reaction with the 2022 Freedom Convoy and the government’s illegal and unconstitutional use of the Emergencies Act. Your comment may be quoted in the hearings, or in the Commission’s final report. It is imperative that the Commission hear from members of the public and understand the full impact on citizens of the federal government’s illegal and unconstitutional use of the Emergencies Act. This is an important way for your voice to matter. There are many untold stories related to the Freedom Convoy. Much of the reporting of the protests was disconnected to the experience of participants and observers who were on the ground at these protests in early 2022. These public comments are now an opportunity for those stories to be told as a part of the Inquiry. Your comment can be submitted by email to perspectives@poec-cedu.gc.ca. It can also be submitted by mail to: Public Order Emergency Commission c/o Main Floor Security Desk 90 Sparks Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A3 Before you send in a public comment, I want to give you style suggestions, the background facts you need to know, some key messages and questions you may want to consider answering, and of course, the technical details of how and when to send in your submission. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. I want to start by saying this inquiry is NOT the government. It is an independent and non-partisan commission chaired by a very respected court of appeal judge and staffed by experienced lawyers. This inquiry was not called out of the kindness of the Prime Minister’s heart – it is required by law. I think if it was not required by law, it almost certainly would not be taking place. So my first piece of style advice is to remember that your comments are NOT being sent to the government. They are NOT being sent to the prime minister, or to any politician. It is being sent to a judge. So don’t use bad language. Don’t use partisan language. It won’t help. In fact, it will only undermine the credibility of your message. I want your submissions to matter. It’s too easy to dismiss a public comment that is full of angry and profane language, or that comes across as a partisan attack. I get that a lot of you are angry – I’m angry too. But let’s channel our anger into something useful by sending in public comments that use our words to communicate the damage that the government has done by illegally using the Emergencies Act. Remember that your submission may be referred to or quoted by the Commission either in the report or in the public hearings. Use language you would be proud to have attributed to you, even though no identifying information will be used without your express permission. My second piece of style advice is to start by addressing your letter “To The Public Order Emergency Commission”. Then begin your submission with your main message. Your main message could be an answer to a question. I have a list of questions you might consider answering listed in the description below. Or instead of answering a question, your main message could be your experience as a participant in the protests or an observer of the protests. You should keep your submission between 1 and 2 pages. If your submission is really long, it may not be read as carefully. You should focus your letter on the most important things you want the commission to know. You can also include pictures, photographs and other supporting documents, if you think that will help. Submissions can be made anonymously. If you want to submit anonymously, it makes sense to explain why you are making that choice. For example, some professionals who participated in the protests faced consequences from their employers. There was a hack of the information about donors to the freedom convoy, and their information, including names and addresses, posted online. I do understand why someone may want to make an anonymous submission, but it is a good idea to explain why you made that choice so the Commission understands too. If you are submitting anonymously, please note your country of residence. We all remember how some media outlets accused the Freedom Convoy of being “foreign funded” – something that turned out not to be true. So make sure you say where you live to prevent those kinds of false allegations about the people sending in public comments. Lastly, you may submit by handwritten letter by mailing to the address I’ve linked to in the description below. Just please ensure your handwriting is legible. That’s my style advice. But I also have advice to give you on the substance of the submissions. To make your public comment more impactful, focus on a main message. Your main message could be your experience as a participant in the protests or an observer of the protests. Or you could answer one, or more of these questions: Did the Emergencies Act make you afraid to attend other protests in the future? Including protests on topics unrelated to the Freedom Convoy? Were you afraid to donate to any charities unrelated to the Freedom Convoy after the government invoked the Emergencies Act? Were you concerned that your financial information could be shared with the government if you donated to other charities? Were you personally involved in the Freedom Convoy protests, and if so, what was your experience like? How was your experience impacted by the use of the Emergencies Act? How do you feel about the protests and about the use of the Emergencies Act. If you were not involved in the protests, what were your views as an observer or person who was affected by the protests? What were your views of the police and government response? How did the police and government response make you feel? Are there any changes you would recommend in terms of the Emergencies Act to ensure it is not abused again in the future? What is your view on whether the strict threshold set out in the Emergencies Act was met? Has the government provided a sufficient explanation about why existing law enforcement tools were insufficient? It is also important to remember some important facts about the Emergencies Act and its invocation when sending in a public comment. First, emergency powers have a dark and troubled history in Canada. The Emergencies Act was enacted to replace the War Measures Act, which was abused by previous federal governments. In response to the abuse of the War Measures Act, the Emergencies Act was carefully crafted to set out a demanding set of legally binding conditions that must be satisfied before it can be invoked. Those conditions were not met in this case. The Emergencies Act is exceptional. It gives the federal cabinet authority to create new criminal offences and police powers, without recourse to Parliament, without advance notice, and without public debate. The law poses the risk of executive overreach which could have profound effects on Canadian democracy. Because the Emergencies Act vests enormous power in the federal cabinet, it should be interpreted strictly. The Emergencies Act can only be invoked when there are no other legal tools available to deal with an ongoing situation that is urgent, temporary and national in scope. The February 2022 Freedom Convoy protests were cleared using ordinary police powers. In the view of many civil liberties organizations, including the Canadian Constitution Foundation, the invocation of the Emergencies Act was not absolutely necessary, as the Act requires. After invoking the Emergencies Act, the federal government brought in Economic Measures and Emergency Measures. The Economic Measures enacted under the Emergencies Act required banks to disclose private banking information to police. This amounted to a warrantless and unreasonable search of private banking information. The Emergency Measures prohibited a very broad range of conduct, including generally acceptable and legal protest behaviour, breach of which was punishable by fines and imprisonment. The federal government has not provided an explanation for its invocation of the Emergencies Act beyond a simple declaratory statement that a public order emergency existed. The federal government is fighting the disclosure of documents that provide a record of why this law was invoked. The federal government is not acting transparently, or explaining why this law was necessary. If the federal government refuses to provide an explanation, it is reasonable to draw the conclusion that no good explanation exists. The Rouleau Commission hearings begin on September 19, so it is best to send a public comment before that date, although they will be accepted up until October 31. If you want additional information and style guidance on how to send in a public comment, visit theccf.ca/emergencies-act-inquiry/ Good luck. And I hope you take part in this inquiry. Yours truly, Christine Van Geyn PS – We are fighting this battle against the illegal use of the Emergencies Act as part of the inquiry, but also in court. We’ve hired one of the best lawyers in the country, but that means the fight is expensive. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to help us pay our legal fees at theccf.ca/donate/ |
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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
By Cosmin Dzsurdzsa –
Conservative leadership candidate Roman Baber and PPC leader Maxime Bernier have confirmed that they will be joining Canadian Armed Forces veteran James Topp on his nationwide march to Ottawa in protest of Covid-19 mandates.
Baber tweeted on Monday that he would be meeting Topp on Jun. 15 before he reaches the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
On Tuesday, Bernier also said that he would be meeting Topp and walking with him on Jun. 30 for the last leg of his journey to Ottawa.
Topp’s 4,293 km march began at the tail end of February in Vancouver around the time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act to quash peaceful Freedom Convoy protestors in Ottawa.
“Everywhere I meet people, I hear their stories and the stories are amounting to an overwhelming amount of individuals suffering due to government overreach,” Topp told True North in March. “I am marching to carry these stories to Ottawa. I want to thank every person who has entrusted me with their story. It increases my resolve more and more each day.”
Legacy media outlets have refused to cover Topp’s historic journey and the CAF veteran has called the blackout a sign of how divisive the industry has become.
“What we’re finding is pretty much a total corporate media blackout on this endeavour,” he said. “To that end, I would say, you know, folks who want to go out there and start banging the drum and shaming the CBC or CTV, because this is an amazing story of – 100 days in – a group of people who had never met each other before February 20.”
Before beginning the march, Topp was a civilian RCMP employee and a CAF member who lost both jobs because of the federal vaccine mandate.
Topp has stated that he has spoken to at least 10 MPs from different parties and he hopes to secure a venue to hold a discussion about ending restrictions. Topp’s three priorities are repealing, reinstatement and restitution plus repair.
Posted On: April 5, 2022
John Carpay, The Post Millennial
Jody Thomas, the Prime Minister’s Security and Intelligence Advisor, declared on March 10 that “there’s no doubt” that the people who organized the peaceful protest in Ottawa in February “came to overthrow the government.” Oddly, Ms. Thomas then goes on to express grave doubt about whether the protesters had the ability to do this, or even knew how to do it. Indeed, the truckers brought neither guns nor tanks, did not storm the Parliament buildings, and made no effort to occupy even one government building. Some individuals called on the prime minister to resign, but nobody used force to try to make that happen.
Ms. Thomas credits the Emergencies Act with empowering the federal government to freeze bank accounts without a court order or oversight, and to have police horses trample unarmed protesters, “in a way that we would have not otherwise been able to do.” It appears that, for Ms. Thomas, no measures can be too harsh when suppressing what she describes as “domestic ideologically motivated violent extremism.
“Ms. Thomas refers to the February protest as the “occupation” of downtown Ottawa, although Members of Parliament (and many others) have stated publicly that they had no trouble walking through the city centre each day to get to their place of work. Article 42 of the Hague Convention of 1907 states: “Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.” When the Romans occupied Britain, they were effectively in charge of Britain, to the exclusion of another empire or a local sovereign. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands and other countries during the Second World War, the Germans ruled. A large gathering of people in one area does not constitute an “occupation.
“Ms. Thomas also referred to the peaceful protest as a “blockade,” when in fact the downtown was not in any way sealed off to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving. It was the police, not the protesters, who eventually erected a fence around the downtown core, after the Prime Minister had declared a national emergency. Certainly, some Ottawa residents were inconvenienced by the protests, but this does not turn the protest into a “blockade.”
If the protesters had been violent or had committed crimes, the Ottawa Police would have arrested those people, and publicized the arrests. To support the government’s narrative that the truckers were dangerous, racist, violent, criminal extremists, the police would have informed the public about specific crimes, detailing what happened, the names of persons charged, and which Criminal Code sections they had been charged with violating.
Yet during the first three weeks of the Ottawa protest, prior to the February 14 declaration of a national emergency, police did not charge any trucker with any crime. Some of the truckers’ leaders were in daily communication with police. Police even told the truckers where to park their trucks.
Moreover, if any protester had vandalized, stolen, or burned down property, or had assaulted anyone, or had uttered criminal threats, the CBC and other government-funded media would have gleefully reported on it repeatedly, around the clock, for weeks on end. Why were government-funded media not able to show Canadians footage of protesters committing crimes? Perhaps because the truckers were not engaging in illegal behaviour?
The accusations of Ms. Thomas about an “occupation” and “blockade” with intent to “overthrow” Canada’s government are as irresponsible and unfounded as the Prime Minister’s narrative about unvaccinated Canadians being “anti-science, racist, misogynist, extremists.”
There is a dark and very sinister side to accusing peaceful protestors who disagree with certain government policies of wanting to overthrow the government. It’s a move that comes straight out of the tyrant’s playbook.
A Cambodian court recently convicted 19 political opposition leaders of trying to overthrow the government, a verdict described by Human Rights Watch as bogus. The prosecution accused members of an opposition party of conspiring to topple the current government, run by former Khmer Rouge commander Hun Sen. Political opponents were also accused of undermining the current regime’s credibility by disseminating untrue and inflammatory information.
When Nicaraguan security forces violently put down anti-government protests in 2018, President Daniel Ortega claimed the protests were actually an attempted coup with foreign backing, and that foreign-funded organizations were part of a broader conspiracy to remove him from office. Nicaraguan authorities continue to prosecute and jail President Ortega’s opponents on charges of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity.” It is interesting that Ms. Thomas accuses truckers of wanting to overthrow the Canadian government and asserts that foreigners provided funding to the truckers.
Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, whose regime murdered an estimated 300,000 Ugandans during his eight-year reign of terror, was very offended when Archbishop Janani Luwum publicly criticized the government’s violence. Well, you guessed it: Idi Amin accused this archbishop of seeking to overthrow the government. Archbishop Luwum was arrested in February 1977 and died shortly after. Although the official account describes a car crash, it is generally accepted that he was murdered on the orders of Idi Amin.
Thus far, opponents of Prime Minister Trudeau have not been murdered and have not been jailed for long periods of time. But demonizing the unvaccinated minority, accusing opponents of wanting to overthrow the government, freezing bank accounts without a court order, and commencing criminal prosecutions against peaceful protesters are clear and direct threats to the survival of Canada as a free and democratic society.
 ALERT Ottawa, Ontario April 4, 2022 The Success of the Freedom Convoy and Lessons Learned Trudeau proclaimed a “Public Order Emergency Declaration” under the Emergencies Act on February 14, 2022 which resulted in the crushing of the lawful, peaceful protest of the Freedom Convoy 2022. Since then, the mainstream media has buried the entire episode because both the Freedom Convoy and the Public Order Emergency Declaration have raised too many embarrassing questions. For example, why did the mainstream media behave as an obedient chorus for Trudeau’s lies and distortions about the protesters, which literally covered up the facts? Why did the media fail to disclose Trudeau’s incompetence in his handling of the incident as well as his totalitarian response to it? Why didn’t the media publicly acknowledge the large financial and political support given to the Freedom Convoy by the Canadian public? Why did the media ignore the fact that the convoy was highly successful and was a turning point in Canadian history? Instead, the media deliberately missed the significance of the entire story and the important lessons that it disclosed. These include: 1. Trudeau- a Vindictive Politician When Trudeau was elected Prime Minister in 2015, he portrayed himself as a politician with an open, sunny disposition. In the intervening years, this cover has totally evaporated, never more so than in his reaction to the Freedom Convoy. Trudeau and his propaganda machine, the mainstream media chorus, to which he pays millions of dollars annually, continually repeated Trudeau’s lies, name calling and misrepresentation of the Freedom Convoy, which attempted to demonize the truckers. Trudeau did not just hate the truck drivers objecting to his agenda, he also intended to destroy them and deprive them of their civil rights by way of the Emergencies Act in order to teach them and others a lesson not to oppose him in the future. The only emergency the Freedom Convoy created, however, was the public spectacle of open dissent to Trudeau’s policies, which enraged him. In other words, there was no “public order” emergency, only a “political” emergency solely caused by Trudeau’s own arrogance and incompetence. Trudeau, together with Emergency Preparedness Minister, Bill Blair and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, claimed that the Freedom Convoy was foreign funded, that it criminally intended to harm Canadians, to interrupt vital supply lines, and was a national security threat. This was rubbish. These allegations were firmly denied by Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC), Canada’s anti-money laundering agency. There was absolutely no evidence to support these allegations. The declaration of the Emergencies Act, which suppressed civil rights was a critical sign of Trudeau’s irrational desire to destroy all who oppose him, such as he did with regards to former Attorney General, Jody Wilson-Raybould and Liberal MP, Jane Philpott. 2. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland: a cold-blooded ideologue Chrystia Freeland cold-bloodedly ordered the freezing, without due process and a court order, of accounts held by financial agencies including bank accounts, crowdfunding platform services, investment firms, credit donors, loan, mortgage and insurance companies, security dealers for both the personal and corporate accounts of the truckers, as well as those donating to the Freedom convoy. She did so under financial powers crafted under the proceeds from crimes (money laundering) and the Terrorist Financing Act, legislation intended to target terrorists. This order created a panic, leading to many withdrawals, i.e. a run on the banks. The CEO of the Canadian Credit Union Association, for example, stated that hundreds of thousands, and on a few occasions, millions of dollars were withdrawn from the credit unions. On February 22, 2022, the Department of Finance disclosed that Canadian banks had frozen nearly $8 million held by the truckers. Over 206 accounts were frozen. The RCMP had provided the “watch list” to the banks. It is important to point out that this tactic to flag dissenters from government policies can be used to bring long-term financial ruin to those affected. It makes it difficult for them to hold a job, obtain housing, or even pay for basic needs such as food, medicines, and shelter. It was a huge, unjustified overreach by a Canadian government. Such an event has never been so ruthlessly undertaken in our history. Freeland’s directives created a dangerous precedent for future protests, which will allow governments to target individuals economically because of their political beliefs and their legitimate, lawful political activities. Trudeau and Freeland have brought Canada into a new phase of governing: it’s called tyranny. In carrying out the policy of freezing bank accounts, Freeland was like a snake hiding in the grass, unblinkingly waiting to pounce on Canadians with economic disaster if they dissent from her views. She has shown herself to be a dangerous and ruthless politician. 3. The Mainstream Media has Become Trudeau’s Servant The generous financial support given to the media by Trudeau paid off in spades as evidenced by the media providing an obedient background chorus to Trudeau’s lies. This was disclosed during a webinar, held on February 23, 2022, organized by the Ottawa think tank CANADA 2020, co-founded by Thomas Pitfield, a personal friend of Trudeau. The webinar was hosted by Anna Gainey, past-president of the Liberal Party of Canada (2014 – 2018). She thanked the media for their support during the protests, which reflected Trudeau’s false description of the Freedom Convoy and was appreciated by the Liberal Party. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez also participated in the webinar, also thanking the media for their support, stating, “… look at the role the journalists played” and promised more subsidies. He also stated, “I think there are even more things we should be able to do. We’re looking into that in the context of supporting the whole ecosystem”. He then went on to promise more media subsidies to do just that. It is noteworthy that Minister Rodriguez, in 2019, sponsored amendments to the Income Tax Act, which were duly passed by Parliament, to pay $595 million in subsidies including payroll rebates to cabinet-approved media. In his praise for unnamed reporters, he did not explain what new subsidies were being planned as a reward for their Freedom Convoy coverage. The Toronto Star Among guests invited to the webinar were executives from the Toronto Star which had published exactly Trudeau’s view of the Freedom Convoy by completely misrepresenting it. The Toronto Star receives $115,000 weekly in grants from the Trudeau government. On March 19, 2022, the Toronto Star published a full 3-page article on the Freedom Convoy, written by freelance journalist and homosexual activist Justin Ling, entitled “Inside the Convoy”. It portrayed the leaders as dangerous, right-wing extremists floundering in conspiracy theories, exactly the description Trudeau provided. Ling also included in his article a supposed harassment of the LGBTQ community by the truckers. Ling never lets an opportunity go to waste to support his cause. His entire story never once stated the fact that the truckers were decent, hardworking, family people, unhappy with their exclusion from the political process, and that they were a remarkably multicultural group representing Canada’s diverse society -hardly “white supremacist” as alleged by Trudeau. The Toronto Star can no longer be regarded as a respected, credible publication since it has sold itself out to the Trudeau government. 4. The Exposure of Intense Opposition to the Ruling Left-of-Centre Political Elites The Freedom Convoy exposed the intense distrust and opposition of the general public to the ruling elites. Many thousands of Canadians greeted the truckers in their journey to Ottawa, welcoming them, encouraging them, and providing generous donations. The GoFundMe platform, shut down by authorities, raised $10 million for the truckers. The platform testified before a House of Commons Committee that 88% of the funds came from Canadians. It testified that no Russian money was involved, as asserted by Trudeau and his obedient cabinet ministers. The Freedom Convoy was no fringe organization, but a reflection of the Canadian public, which was angry with the government. It showed that many Canadians are no longer willing to be ignored and their values and beliefs ridiculed and trampled on by the governing elites. The Freedom Convoy awakened a sleeping giant whose story has only begun. 5. The Freedom Convoy Served to Remove Provincial COVID-19 Mandates The Freedom Convoy was formed initially because the truckers objected to the federal mandates requiring them to be vaccinated before crossing the US-Canada border. The protest however, grew to include concerns about the curtailment of basic civil rights relating to the fundamental rights of peaceful assembly, mobility rights, and freedom of expression that had arisen due to the government’s extensive mandates and restrictions during the pandemic. These concerns touched a sympathetic chord with hundreds of thousands of Canadians, but internationally as well. Similar trucker convoys followed Canada’s example and were organized in the US, UK, Germany, and France. As a result of the protest, the Canadian provincial premiers, as well as the political leaders in other countries, removed their COVID-19 mandates to allow a return to normal in their jurisdictions. It is significant, however, that Trudeau, who has imposed the strictest mandates in the entire world, still continues to insist that his mandates continue in regard to domestic and international travel. Transportation falls under federal jurisdiction under s. 91 of the British North America Act (Constitution Act, 1867). The provincial mandates would have likely been removed at a future date, but not immediately, as occurred because of the concerns raised by the truckers’ Freedom Convoy and the broad-based support of the Canadian public. 6. The Freedom Convoy Changed Public Opinion Nanos Research polling company released a survey of Canadians on March 15, 2022. The results indicated that Canadians’ concern for free speech and other freedoms was the second most common concern at 8.3%, behind the coronavirus at 13.1%, and followed by the environment at 7.3%. Mr. Nanos said that this concern was raised unprompted during the polling. He stated that he has been polling for thirty-five years, and freedom of speech and other freedoms had never before been on the radar from a public opinion perspective. In a December 2020 poll, such concerns amounted only about 0.1%. According to Nanos, the jump to 8.3% in concerns for personal freedoms in this latest poll was due to the trucker protest. He says it looks like a noticeable proportion of Canadians, unprompted, are concerned about this and that the anger and distrust displayed by the protesters will likely have a long-term impact on Canadian politics. Conclusion: It is clear that Freedom Convoy 2022 has made a lasting mark on Canadian history and that the media has refused to publish a story that is changing Canada’s political landscape. The Freedom Convoy has populist roots. Despite what the political elites maintain, populism is simply the voice of ordinary citizens. They know what is best for their families, and their communities, not the self-important politicians and bureaucrats who live hundreds of miles away in isolation. Government is the servant of the people. The public is not here to serve the government. It’s the other way around. Real Women of Canada for the Family REAL Women of Canada is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-denominational organization, incorporated in 1983. We do not receive any government funding, nor are we funded by any other organization. We rely solely on the generosity of our grassroots supporters. We are deeply appreciative of your patronage. REAL Women of Canada | info@realwomenofcanada.ca |