(Ottawa) The federal government has not yet responded to the recommendations of Judge Paul Rouleau, who led the commission of inquiry into the application of the Emergency Measures Act in 2022.
Posted at 10:26 am.
Laura Osman The Canadian Press
A year ago, the commission presented its final report on the government's decision to declare a state of emergency while occupying part of the state capital and blocking certain border crossings.
The commission concluded that the government's reliance on the law was justified, but made 56 recommendations, including some changes to the law.
Judge Rouleau gave the federal government one year to respond to the commission of inquiry. The latter had to “provide a detailed timetable for the implementation of the recommendations that it accepts and a detailed justification for its rejection of their implementation.” [celles] which he rejects.”
However, the judge did not impose sanctions on the government if it did not respond to him.
The Office of the Minister of Public Security said it would provide more information on the government's response “soon.” However, he gave no explanation for his late submission of a response to Judge Rouleau.
One of the reasons could be a decision by the Federal Court that contradicts the conclusions of the investigative commission. The court ruled that the application of the Emergency Measures Act was “inappropriate” and violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In February 2022, the government invoked this law, which allows temporary measures including regulating and banning public gatherings, designating safe places, ordering banks to freeze assets, and banning support for protesters.
This was the first use of this law since it replaced the War Measures Act in 1988.
At the time, the federal government created the law to deal with demonstrators who had occupied the streets of downtown Ottawa for several weeks to protest health measures to combat COVID-19.
In addition to the commission of inquiry chaired by Judge Rouleau, a joint parliamentary committee was also formed in March 2022 to examine the merits of the crisis situation declaration. The representatives and senators met more than twenty times but have not yet produced a substantive report. His work was slowed down by the large number of documents that had to be translated into both official languages before the examination.
The translation is expected to cost millions of dollars. Elected officials have already expressed frustration with the delay caused by this work.
The Federal Court's decision made the process more difficult. Conservative MP Glen Motz, who sits on the joint committee, used the opportunity to call for several ministers to reappear.
He also requested information about the legal advice on which the government based its decision.
“Was it legal?” Did he respect the law? Was this consistent with the Charter? These are the questions that the committee must consider,” said Mr. Motz.