Canada court rebukes Justin Trudeau for 'unjustified' emergency powers use to suppress 'freedom convoy' protests

Justice Richard Mosley said that even though the situation was urgent, it could have been managed with existing laws.

"I conclude that there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires," Mosley wrote while delivering the decision on Tuesday.

The court determined that the act of freezing the bank accounts of individuals associated with protests was also unwarranted.

"The harassment of residents, workers and business owners in downtown Ottawa and the general infringement of the right to peaceful enjoyment of public spaces there, though highly objectionable, did not amount to serious violence or threats of serious violence," the judge wrote.

Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilivre slammed the Canadian PM and said "Trudeau said he admired the basic Chinese communist dictatorship. He meant it: Violating the Charter. Breaking the law. Seizing bank accounts. Censoring the internet."

The decision casts a shadow on Trudeau's government that defended the decision of using the Emergencies Act as necessary as the protest took place amid Covid-19 pandemic.

The Freedom Convoy protest took place in early 2022 over stringent public health mandates and vaccine requirements.

Trudeau, facing a national deadlock, deployed the emergency powers and labelled the same as necessary citing protesters' non-negotiable stance.

(By Suman Das/IBNS)