Fighting Trudeau’s Emergencies Act

On February 14, Prime Minister Trudeau’s government invoked the never before used Emergencies Act. Within days the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) filed a legal challenge against this unprecedented and dangerous use of the Act. We believe that using this extraordinary piece of legislation in response to the trucker convoy protests was unnecessary and damaging to both Canada’s democracy and our shared rights and liberties as Canadians

Though revoked by cabinet by February 23, 2022, we decided to continue with our case to make sure no government will be able to abuse this piece of legislation again. A strict standard needs to be upheld for when it is appropriate to invoke the Act due to how much power it gives governments to sidestep parliamentary processes and to place extraordinary limits upon individual rights.

We have a critical update to share with you on this challenge.

 

The government has agreed to disclose some of those documents that are supposed to explain whether the government had any justification for invoking the Emergencies Act.

This is a direct result of the pressure we have been putting on the government in our case in the Federal court. Because of this consistent pressure from the CCF, the public, and other liberty oriented organizations, the government has provided important documents that they previously claimed needed to be kept secret. 

Our team of CCF lawyers are now reviewing these newly obtained documents to determine if the government has disclosed everything necessary. 

If we determine that the government is continuing to hide documents, we will challenge them in court.

What comes next in this case?

The next hearing for this case this will take place in October of this year, and we are gearing up for a big fight. We are prepared to take this all the way to the Supreme Court if that is what is needed to safeguard Canadian liberty going forward. It is very important for the state of freedom in this country that we ask the courts to clarify whether this was an appropriate use of the Act.

This fight will be expensive. But the good news is that a generous donor has offered up to $25,000 in matching funds for money raised this July from other donors. This means your impact will be doubled if you donate right now.

Will you make a donation to protect freedom in Canada?

You can make a tax-deductible donation using the form below:

Read more about the CCF’s work

© – Canadian Constitution Foundation – 2022 – theccf.ca