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OTTAWA – On Tuesday, the Mark Carney government served notice that it is seeking leave to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal decision that found that the Emergencies Act was invoked unlawfully and the regulations made under it were unconstitutional.

On February 14, 2022, Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history and used the extraordinary powers it grants to make regulations that required banks to freeze accounts without judicial authorization and banned specified protests nationwide.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation and other civil liberties groups sought judicial review in the Federal Court of Canada, where Justice Richard Mosley agreed that the invocation was unreasonable and that the Charter rights to freedom of expression and security against unreasonable searches and seizures had been violated. On January 16, a three-judge panel of the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed those findings.

Josh Dehaas, Interim Litigation Director for the CCF, said that he was surprised and disappointed to learn that the Carney government has chosen to appeal.

“The Emergencies Act was carefully crafted by Parliament to ensure that rights are suspended only in genuine emergencies,” Dehaas said. 

“It’s designed to be a tool of last resort and it should not be used when police are able to clear protests using existing laws, as they clearly were able to do with the Freedom Convoy protest.”

Christine Van Geyn, the CCF’s Interim Executive Director, said that the CCF is prepared to fight.

“Two levels of court agreed with the Canadian Constitution Foundation’s position that this law was used unlawfully and the regulations were unconstitutional,” she said. 

“What the Justin Trudeau government did with the Emergencies Act was wrong, and in filing for an appeal Mark Carney is doubling down on that mistake,” Van Geyn added. “There is no need to waste further tax dollars on an appeal to the Supreme Court, but the CCF will be there.”

The CCF was represented in this case by Sujit Choudhry of Circle Barristers and Janani Shanmuganathan of Savards LLP.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) is a registered charity, independent and non-partisan. We defend the constitutional rights and freedoms of Canadians in the courts of law and public opinion.