Opening Remarks for the Minister of Justice Emergencies Act Parliamentary Review Committee

[Speech/ Discours # [X] – [X] minutes]

04 2022

Opening Remarks for the Minister

As you know, on February 14th our government invoked the Emergencies Act, declaring a public order emergency pursuant to Part II of the Act. This was not a decision we took lightly–far from it.

However, after consulting with leaders from across the country–including Premiers from all provinces and territories, it became clear that the situation had exceeded the capacity and authority of their ability to respond and that more tools were needed to protect the safety and security of Canada and Canadians.

From the beginning, our government was very clear that the Emergencies Act was only meant to be applied as long as it was considered absolutely necessary. For that reason, we continued to closely monitor and assess the situation to ensure that the measures taken remained necessary, reasonable and proportionate. As a result of the work of law enforcement agencies from across the country, we were quickly in a position to report that on February 23, that the situation was sufficiently brought under control, such that we were able to revoke the Emergency Declaration and remove the measures that were put in place as a result of it.

Overview of temporary measures taken

The measures that were put into effect were tailored to respond to the unique situation at hand. The measures provided authorities with additional tools they needed to address the emergency. Those tools also deterred further unlawful activity.

Let me summarize those specific and temporary measures:

In addition, there were measures:

All of these temporary measures ended when we revoked the declaration of a public order emergency on February 23, 2022. They were only in force for 9 days.

Charter compliance and constitutional scrutiny

I take seriously my responsibility as Minister of Justice to see that all government action accords with the Constitution, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This includes all measures taken under the Emergencies Act. The Act itself requires that all temporary measures taken under it must be subject to the Charter, the Canadian Bill of Rights and must have regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This point merits emphasis because I believe it has been confused: the measures employed under the Emergencies Act were examined for any inconsistency with the Charter. The Government’s position is that the measures taken are consistent with the Charter. Individual rights and freedoms were not suspended. The Charter continued to protect rights and freedoms as the government took the necessary, lawful and proportionate measures to address the illegal protests and blockades.

To be clear, we will always protect and defend the rights of Canadians to peaceful assembly and to express their views freely, but the blockades and occupation of downtown Ottawa were not peaceful assembly. The protests and blockades that we witnessed in February were illegal, intimidating, harassing and a threat to Canada’s security. Some wanted to unlawfully overthrow a democratically-elected government. Rights protected under the Charter are not unlimited, and governments can place restrictions on rights so long as they are reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances. This includes freedom of peaceful assembly, which can be subject to reasonable restrictions to prevent protests from causing serious harm to others. This is what we did here. The same is true with the Canadian Bill of Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: measures taken by this government were also consistent with these instruments.

Safeguards and protections offered by the Act

Before I conclude my opening remarks, I want to remind this Committee of the safeguards built into the Emergencies Act to protect the rights and freedoms of Canadians and to protect democratic principles. The Act mandated that we consult with provinces prior to its invocation, that we table a motion before the House of Commons and the Senate seeking confirmation of the Declaration, and that we establish this parliamentary review committee made up of representatives from both Houses of Parliament to review the government’s actions.

Alongside parliamentary review, the government’s actions pursuant to the Emergencies Act will also be subject to an inquiry. The Act requires the inquiry to examine the circumstances that gave rise to the declaration of emergency and the measures taken for dealing with the emergency.

As I said at the outset, declaring a public order emergency was not a decision we took lightly and we have been transparent with Canadians about why it was necessary, including in the detailed explanation that was tabled in the Houses of Parliament pursuant to s. 58 of the Emergencies Act. The declaration was formally made by the Governor in Council, which engaged the collective responsibility of ministers. In order to reach final decisions, ministers must be able to express their views freely. As a result, the collective decision-making process has traditionally been protected by the rule of confidentiality, which upholds the principle of collective responsibility and enables ministers to engage in full and frank discussions necessary for the effective functioning of a Cabinet system. In the ongoing Federal Court litigation, part of the record has been certified as a Cabinet confidence and not disclosed. This is normal in litigation involving decisions of the Governor in Council.

The occupations and blockades posed an exceptional and unprecedented threat to our economy and our nation’s capital. I am proud that we were able to use the legal tools available to us to bring about a peaceful resolution to a national emergency that threatened the very democratic values that help keep all Canadians free.

Thank you.