The federal government will appeal the Federal Court of Canada’s ruling that the invocation of the Emergencies Act to end the Freedom Convoy was not justified.
Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley said in his decision that the protests “reflected an unacceptable breakdown of public order,” but the Emergencies Act wasn’t needed.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters, “We respect very much Canada’s independent judiciary however we do not agree with this decision and respectfully we will be appealing.” She stated the safety of Canadians was under threat and national security, which includes our economic national security was under threat, because of the border crossing blockades.
Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc noted that the public inquiry led by Commissioner Paul Rouleau last year found that the threshold was met for invoking the Emergencies Act. He says, to give context, “We saw border crossings and the damage to the Canadian economy, thousands of jobs put at risk. We spoke with the Premier of Ontario and the Government of Ontario which supported the invocation of the Emergencies Act two years ago.” Senior officials were updating the government about the risks in Ottawa and that there may be copycat blockades at other borders, along with the blockades at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor and Coutts. LeBlanc talked about security services informing the government that they had found two pipe bombs and 36,000 rounds of ammunition. Four people associated with the border blockade in Coutts, Albert were charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
LeBlanc and Freeland both said they believe the government made a reasonable decision.