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TORONTO: The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) is appearing in court February 4-5 in appeal of the court challenge to the Trudeau government’s use of the Emergencies Act. In January of 2023, the federal court sided with the CCF and found that the use of the Emergencies Act in response to the Freedom Convoy was illegal and the regulations created under it were unconstitutional. Within minutes of the release of this lengthy decision, the federal government announced their intention to appeal.

“The use of the Emergencies Act to create new criminal laws banning protests and freezing bank accounts was a once-in-a-generation violation of core constitutionally protected civil liberties in Canada,” said CCF Litigation Director Christine Van Geyn. “The federal court was absolutely correct to find that the high threshold to invoke the Emergencies Act was not met, that there was no national emergency, and no threat to the security of Canada. Prime Minister Trudeau used the power of this extraordinary law to freeze bank accounts and arrest Canadians, including those involved in peaceful non-violent protests who had nothing to do with blockades. The use of the Emergencies Act was illegal, and the regulations created it violated the Charter. The federal court decision was correct. The Trudeau government has now hired expensive private sector lawyers to undo the embarrassment of their loss at federal court,” continued Van Geyn.

The CCF is represented in this appeal by Sujit Choudhry and Janani Shanmuganathan.

The appeal hearing is available to live stream on February 4^th and 5^th here, beginning at 9:30 am EST.

Members of the public interested in supporting the CCF’s legal challenge in federal court to the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act can make a tax deductible charitable donation on the CCF’s website here: https://theccf.ca/donate/

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.