A court finds that the government’s employment of the Emergencies Act was irrational.

A court finds that the government’s employment of the Emergencies Act was irrational.

Mosley of the Federal Court ruled on Tuesday that the act’s application resulted in a violation of constitutional rights.
The Canadian Press’s Jim Bronskill, around two hours ago

OTTAWA A court declared that the Liberal government’s deployment of the Emergencies Act two years ago to suppress “Freedom Convoy” rallies in the nation’s capital and at strategic border crossings was irrational.

In couJustice Richard Mosley of the Federal Court ruled on Tuesday that the act’s application resulted in a violation of constitutional rights.rt, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and a number of other organisations and people had contended that Ottawa had implemented the emergency measures without solid legal justification.

The government argued that the actions taken to address the unrest throughout Canada were appropriate, timely, proportionate, and in line with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The administration complied with the very strict legal requirements for using the Emergencies Act, according to the Public Order Emergency Commission, which conducts an obligatory evaluation after the law’s invocation.

In April of last year, Mosley presided over three days of court hearings.

In his decision, Mosley said that, in comparison to the government at the time of the declaration of a public order emergency, he had the advantage of hindsight and a more comprehensive record of the facts and the law.

“I have concluded that the decision to issue the Proclamation does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility — and was not justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints that were required to be taken into consideration,” Mosley wrote in a letter.

Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister, said that the administration would file an appeal and respectfully disagrees with the ruling.

Protesters poured into downtown Ottawa in early February 2022, many of them on oversized trucks that had arrived the previous month.

Pretended to be a protest against COVID-19 health regulations, the event drew participants with a wide range of complaints against the Liberal government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

As participants settled in, the normally peaceful streets around Parliament Hill were invaded by the sound of screaming rig horns, diesel smells, impromptu encampments, and even a hot tub and bouncy castle.

In addition to forcing numerous companies to temporarily shut, the surge of people—some of whom had ties to the far-right movement—agitated locals with their loudness, pollution, and harassing conduct.

The public became more incensed by Ottawa police’s lack of enforcement.

In the meanwhile, trucks jammed important border crossings, such as the Windsor, Ontario, and Coutts, Alberta, crossings that go to the United States.

The government used the Emergencies Act on February 14 to impose a number of temporary regulations, including as limiting or outlawing public gatherings, designating safe locations, instructing banks to seize assets, and forbidding participant assistance.

This was the first use of the statute since the 1988 replacement of the War Measures Act.

Trudeau said that the federal government thought it had arrived at a situation “where there is a national emergency arising from threats to Canada’s security” in a letter to premiers dated February 15.

According to the Civil Liberties Association, the legal threshold was not satisfied.

In addition to the Canadian Constitution Foundation, Canadian Frontline Nurses, and Kristen Nagle, the following parties filed lawsuits against the implementation of the emergency measures: Jeremiah Jost, Edward Cornell, Vincent Gircys, and Harold Ristau.

The Canadian Press first released this article on January 23, 2024.

Jim Bronskill, from The Press Canadian

Former All-Star DL Lorenzo Mauldin IV has re-signed with the Ottawa Redblacks.

Lorenzo Mauldin IV, an American defensive lineman, has signed a one-year contract extension with the Ottawa Redblacks that will keep him with the organisation until 2024. Next month, he was scheduled to become a free agent.

During the course of 17 games last season, the 31-year-old collected 29 tackles, five sacks, and one forced fumble; it was his second season with the Redblacks and his fourth in the CFL. This previous year, he was the defensive end in the league with the second-highest salary.

The six-foot-four, 259-pound edge rusher finished 18 games with 43 tackles, 17 sacks, and two forced fumbles before being voted the 2022 CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

In a statement, Mauldin said, “The truth is that Ottawa welcomed me and my family, and that’s what Ottawa is to me: family.” The only thing proper to do is to fight for and with me. Mr. Inevitable has returned wearing red and black!

Since joining the league in 2019 as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the product of Sacramento, California, has recorded 85 tackles, 26 sacks, and four forced fumbles across 58 games. After joining the New York Jets for three seasons as a third-round choice in the 2015 NFL Draft, he sustained a long-term back ailment.

The start of CFL free agency is scheduled for Tuesday, February 13 at 12:00 EST.