If you were paying attention to international news during Covid you're likely aware that while America may have gone to some extreme measures in response to the pandemic, what was done here paled in comparison to what our Canadian allies to the north were getting up to during that period. In February of 2022 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeu invoked their 'Emergencies Act', a move that allowed them make moves against protestors and anyone that the Canadian government felt was acting against national interests, most notably through actions like freezing the bank accounts of or even arresting people involved in the 'Freedom Convoy' of Truckers who staged a sort of drive-in march to the nations capital in Ottawa. Since then a lawsuit has been percolating through the Canadian court system asking whether the invocation of this act was legal on the part of the Trudeau government, a case that forced Justin Trudeau himself to take the stand in late 2022 to defend his decisions on the matter. In February of last year a commission that was looking into the matter ruled that Trudeau had met the 'very high threshold' for the whole thing being kosher, but today that decision seems to have been overturned as the Federal Court of Canada declared that the invocation of the act was, as critics had long claimed, against the law.
BREAKING: Federal Court of Canada declares that the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act was ultra vires (i.e. illegal) and that some of the Emergencies Act orders unjustifiably violated the Charter of Rights.
— Ryan O'Connor (@rpoconnor) January 23, 2024
A great day for the rule of law and for Canadians!
What does this mean for people whose lives were disrupted or overturned by the apparently illegal emergency declaration? It's hard to say at this point but in nation that seems to have found itself falling farther and farther down an apparently pretty slippery slope towards somewhere not great (from an American perspective) this sort of ruling will hopefully bring some hope of sanity to the madness they've had going on up there.
Some are hopeful that they can perhaps be made whole through a lawsuit, or that this will trigger a change in government...
If you're not unionised, you may be able to sue for wrongful dismissal. I represent dozens of such clients.
— Ryan O'Connor (@rpoconnor) January 23, 2024
Does this mean people that had their accounts seized can seek restitution?
— Northern_Livin (@liv2fish846) January 23, 2024
Can this trigger a non-confidence vote?
— DabblinDad (@bluelives_mtr) January 23, 2024
While others see this as window dressing after the fact that's unlikely to see any real ramifications for a government that clearly overstepped the bounds of its authority.
This is only worthwhile if there are consequences. There will be no consequences, so this is not worthwhile.
— loxx (@algxtrading) January 23, 2024
Not sure what difference it makes. Damage was done and there will be no consequences for Trudeau.
— PowMan (@PowMan33) January 23, 2024
Not if nothing comes out of it.
— Stephan Sabeski (@StephanSabeski) January 23, 2024
Although it does seem a bit early to say that nothing will happen as far as lawsuits go, it looks like all of this may be weighing on the electoral chances of Justin Trudeau's ruling liberal party... Because Pierre Poilievre and his Conservative Party currently are maintaining a 17% lead over them in national polling according to a poll of the Canadian electorate conducted by Abacus Data.
Many of us argued all along the government broke the law when they invoked the Emergencies Act. We should feel vindicated today, and grateful for the dogged determination of organizations like @CDNConstFound and @cancivlib pursuing this in Federal Court. https://t.co/C3DuqsdJDS
— Aaron Wudrick 🇨🇦 (@awudrick) January 23, 2024
One for the good guys ! https://t.co/1lx5UTSR3a
— Debbie Bloodclot. (@bettybloodclot) January 23, 2024
How many crimes can this PM commit before his zealot following wakes up? https://t.co/3H2gY5ZlRL
— Humblepie (@humblepie93) January 23, 2024
Seems like a decent number if this story is anything to go by, but it's hard to see how the ruling could be seen as anything but bad news for Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party.
Again, it remains to be seen where this will all end up but when good news is provided to you it's best to take it and be happy about it, at least in the moment. We'll be keeping an eye on this story and so should you.
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