Appeals court slams Trudeau’s ‘emergency’ trucker crackdown

Canada’s Liberal government has lost its bid to overturn a 2024 Federal Court ruling that found its use of the Emergencies Act during the Freedom Convoy trucker protest was neither justified nor reasonable.

Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the legislation for the first time on Feb. 14, 2022, authorizing a sweeping police crackdown on protesters in Ottawa who opposed the federal government’s COVID-19 mandates.

'That was a 200-page document. I don’t know how many people can read 200 pages in 20 minutes.'

Trigger-happy

On Tuesday, the Federal Court of Appeal rejected the government’s appeal of a decision by Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley, who concluded that invoking the Emergencies Act was unnecessary and violated protesters’ rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Mosley found that the demonstrations, while disruptive, were peaceful and did not meet the threshold required to trigger emergency powers.

The Trudeau government filed its appeal within minutes of Mosley’s ruling, arguing that the measures were justified on national security grounds. The appeals court rejected that claim.

“There was no evidence that the lives, health or safety of the people living in Ottawa were endangered (as annoying, stressful and concerning as the protests were),” the court wrote.

Surprised by outcome

In an interview with Align, Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber — who was later sentenced to one year of house arrest for his role in the protest — said he was surprised by the outcome.

"I've seen over the last four years how the Crown's office or the government can use and up the level of court to find the judges they want to get what they want for a decision," Barber said. “And today, that didn’t work for them.”

Barber emphasized that Justice Mosley was not sympathetic to the Freedom Convoy but nevertheless ruled against the government on legal grounds.

“He was not favorable to the Freedom Convoy,” Barber said.

“He was very much against us, but still he upheld the rule of law and judged things according to the Charter. And today we won that one in the appeals court."

Barber also criticized the speed with which the Trudeau government appealed the original ruling.

“The government appealed this decision in 20 minutes," he said.

“That was a 200-page document. I don’t know how many people can read 200 pages in 20 minutes. ... As you can see yet again, the Liberal government of Canada is one of the most spiteful governments we've possibly ever had in this country — full of corruption."

He added that the ruling raises serious questions about accountability within the Liberal government and asked why no officials have resigned over the unlawful use of emergency powers.

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Katie Pasitney

Standing with Katie Pasitney

Barber pointed to what he described as another example of government overreach: the recent seizure of Universal Ostrich Farms, where the Canadian Food Inspection Agency took control of the property and euthanized livestock.

“The mess the CFIA left on the grounds of that property is absolutely disgusting,” Barber said. “That is a government agency that basically walked in, took full, total control of their property, [and] euthanized their animals like a 1930s death squad.”

He praised farm spokeswoman Katie Pasitney for continuing to demand accountability.

“There’s still no accountability for the actions of the CFIA,” Barber said. “And I hope Katie continues to stand her ground and keeps speaking about that — and people wake up to what’s going on in this country.”