Trudeau met threshold to invoke Emergencies Act, commission finds

The Public Order Emergency Commission has concluded that the federal government met the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act to bring an end to the 'Freedom Convoy' protests and blockades.

The Public Order Emergency Commission has concluded that the federal government met the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act to bring an end to the "Freedom Convoy" protests and blockades.

"I have concluded that in this case, the very high threshold for invocation was met. I have done so with reluctance," said Commissioner Paul Rouleau of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to declare a public order emergency, in a mammoth five-volume, 2,000-word report released Friday.

The commission has concluded that, while the prime minister met this bar for invoking wide-sweeping powers to address the anti-COVID-19 restriction and anti-government Ottawa occupation and blockages at key Canada-U.S. border crossings, this move could have been avoided if it wasn't for "a series of policing failures" and all levels of government failing to "rise above politics."

"Some of the missteps may have been small, but others were significant, and taken together, they contributed to a situation that spun out of control. Lawful protest descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency," Rouleau writes in his 273-page executive summary.

"Many have called the events of January and February 2022 exceptional. I think that is an apt description," said Rouleau. "There was credible and compelling evidence supporting both a subjective and objective reasonable belief in the existence of a public order emergency. The decision to invoke the act was appropriate."

The report also stated that the series of events that transpired can be seen as "a failure of federalism" as Canada's leaders failed to anticipate or properly manage the "torrent of political protest and social unrest" that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and shaped by online disinformation.

"Had various police forces and levels of government prepared for anticipated events of this type and acted differently in response to the situation, the emergency that Canada ultimately faced could likely have been avoided. Unfortunately, it was not."