Threat of political violence one reason Justin Trudeau invoked Emergencies Act, officials say

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/02/2022 (948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — The federal government is invoking the threat of political violence to justify the declaration of an unprecedented “public order emergency” that grants police special powers to crack down on so-called “Freedom Convoy” protesters across the country.

The first-ever cabinet order under the federal Emergencies Act, which was published online Tuesday, says “the continuing blockades” include the threat of “serious violence” for “the purpose of achieving a political or ideological objective within Canada.”

That language reflects how Canada’s national security law describes what legal experts often refer to as “terrorism.”

Asked Tuesday about citing the potential for political violence to justify the emergency declaration, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino noted that the RCMP had seized a cache of guns and body armour this week and arrested 13 people associated with the weeks-long blockade in Coutts, Alta.

He called the episode a “cautionary tale” about what police are dealing with across the country, although he said he would not “speculate” when asked whether the government knew if any protesters around Parliament Hill had guns.

Mendicino said the “Freedom Convoy” protests — which many participants view as a legitimate denunciation of COVID-19 health measures — are led by a “very small, organized group that is driven by an ideology to overthrow the government through whatever means they may wish to use.”

Canada Unity, one of the groups involved in the convoy that has occupied the streets around Parliament Hill for more than two weeks, originally called for a committee to replace the elected federal government in order to lift all pandemic health restrictions in Canada. However, the group said on Feb. 8 that it was “withdrawing” that demand.

“As absurd and outlandish as the claims may be of this group, one only has to survey the damage that has been caused over the last number of weeks to our economy,” Mendicino said, referring to how border blockades in Manitoba, Alberta and southwestern Ontario threatened hundreds of millions of dollars in daily trade with the United States.

“The good news is that the Emergencies Act contemplated this kind of a moment, and we’ve now reached deep into the legislative tool box — yes, carefully and deliberately — to give those additional resources to police so that they can act quickly, and it is certainly our hope that they do that,” he said.

Senior officials briefing reporters on the declaration Tuesday evening did not say why the threat of political violence was mentioned in the emergency order, but noted that the language doesn’t actually include the word “terrorism.”

Among the extraordinary powers granted to police under the emergency order is the ability to ban public gatherings that are “reasonably” expected to “breach the peace,” and to create restricted areas where no one is allowed to go.

Late Tuesday evening, the government signaled the special powers could apply in Ottawa when it released further details that confirmed it will designate Parliament Hill and the surrounding precinct — which convoy protesters with parked semis, tents and other structures have occupied for more than two weeks — as a “protected area” under the Emergencies Act.

Government officials said this could apply to protests that affect the movement and safety of people and goods, interfere with trade, or impact “the functioning of critical infrastructure” like airports, power generation facilities, border crossings and hospitals.

Officials said the orders also prohibit people from bringing children to “participate in” or “near” an “illegal assembly” — a measure that could apply in Ottawa, where police have said children are living among the trucks occupying streets around Parliament Hill.

Foreigners coming to join the protests are also now barred from entering the country, and financial institutions must freeze the bank accounts and insurance coverage of protest participants, the officials said.

The orders also require online fundraising services to report “suspicious” transactions — or those larger than $10,000 — to federal authorities.

Police can also now compel tow-truck drivers, or use their trucks themselves, to help clear blockades and parked big rigs if called upon, and Mounties will be empowered to act as local police, the officials said.

These measures will be in force as of Tuesday, the officials said. Anyone breaching these orders can be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to five years.

Unless revoked by Parliament, the measures are in effect for 30 days and can be extended by the government. The order will trigger a mandatory public inquiry within 60 days after the state of emergency ends.

In order to declare a national public order emergency, the government had to appeal to any of four general security threats described in the Canadian Security Intelligence (CSIS) Act, explained Leah West, an associate professor at Ottawa’s Carleton University who specializes in national security law. West said those threats are generally referred to as espionage and sabotage, foreign influence, subversion and terrorism.

For West, the fact that the federal government invoked the threat of terrorism in its formal emergency declaration order raises questions about what information Canadian intelligence services have on participants of the protests.

“Why is this terrorism? Why is it such a threat to our economic security that it threatens our security, sovereignty and territorial integrity? Those questioned haven’t been answered,” West told the Star on Tuesday.

Kent Roach, a law professor at the University of Toronto who has written extensively on constitutional law and national security, noted the emergency order uses the CSIS definition of terrorism, which is broader than the one in the Criminal Code. To Roach, that raises the question of whether the government will ultimately try to expand the criminal definition of terrorism to protect critical infrastructure like border crossings.

He also pointed to provisions in the order that appear to apply broadly to protest participants, including a requirement for financial institutions to find out whether they control demonstrators’ accounts.

Asked whether he feels the declaration is an overreach, Roach said “there should be a good debate” about the emergency order and what precedents it might set for future protests and civil disobedience.

“We have to pay attention and ask hard questions,” he said.

With files from Tonda MacCharles

Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @aballinga