PERTH-WELLINGTON – Despite the finding of a federal commission that use of the Emergencies Act to quell the February 2022 “Freedom Convoy” protest in Ottawa was justified, local MP John Nater maintains the government “could have and should have” resolved the matter through other means.
JOHN NATER
“One year ago I said: ‘In Canada, it is possible to disagree with, to condemn, and to call for the removal of illegal blockades, while also suggesting that the government use measures short of the Emergencies Act to achieve that.’ I still believe the government could have and should have resolved the issue long before the Emergencies Act was invoked,” said Nater in a written statement on Feb. 22.
In a report released Feb. 17, Public Order Emergency Commissioner Paul Rouleau said the federal government met the “very high threshold” required to invoke the Emergencies Act last winter in response to convoy protests in downtown Ottawa.
“Lawful protest descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency,” the judge wrote.
Rouleau, in his 250-page executive summary, stated the protest evolved into an “occupation,” which he said was unfortunate and likely could have been avoided.
He also noted the government was justified in its actions to counter a failure in policing and in “federalism.”
The “Freedom Convoy” brought thousands of people to Parliament Hill, starting the weekend of Jan. 28 to 30, last year. It began as a protest against the federal government’s announcement that Canadian truckers wanting to cross the border from the United States would need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to avoid a 14-day quarantine.
However, along the way it turned into a fight against many other COVID-19 public health measures and vaccine mandates, even though most were introduced by provincial governments.
“In my view, there was credible and compelling information supporting a reasonable belief that the definition of a threat to the security of Canada was met,” Rouleau stated in his report.
The report relied on weeks of testimony from over 70 witnesses, ranging from protesters to cabinet members, as part of last fall’s Public Order Emergency Commission.
It cites a number of missteps by local and provincial police forces, noting Premier Doug Ford and other Ontario officials failed “to rise above politics and collaborate for the common good.”
Rouleau made 56 recommendations in his report to improve police responses and intelligence sharing and to refine the Emergencies Act.
