The latest from Friday’s review of the Emergency Law
Ian Bailey
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified today at the inquiry into his government’s use of the Emergency Act to deal with protests earlier this year.
Mr. Trudeau is expected to face questions about why existing laws are not considered sufficient to deal with the protests when the government decides the situation has reached the point where the act is needed, talks with the provinces and legal advice that the government received.
Follow the live updates below.
Watch live: Trudeau takes the stand
11:15 am
Trudeau defended the decision to invoke the Emergency Act in an interview ahead of the inquiry
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his decision to invoke the Emergency Act at the Public Order Emergency Committee on Friday, saying economic threats can pose national security threats and Ottawa must step in to preserve public trust in institutions of Canada.
Like all witnesses in the inquiry, Mr. Trudeau had previously been interviewed by commission lawyers in private. Mr. Trudeau’s interview took place on Sept. 9, and a summary of that interview was released Friday when he began speaking.
In his initial interview, he said he was looking at the early 2022 events as three weekends.
January 29 to 30:
During this first weekend, January 29-30, he said what PMO officials were seeing on social media highlighted a “deeper and more serious level of motivation” than what police services were telling the government to expect. adding that during the campaign he and his “policy staff have seen a level of anger, violence, racism and misogyny expressed in public rhetoric that he says is staggering.”
February 5 to 6:
He described the second weekend, February 5-6, as worse than the first.
“By the second weekend, according to the prime minister, it was apparent that the police lacked the ability to end the situation in Ottawa,” the interview said. “All hope that the occupation of Ottawa would be easily settled was gone, and things heated up elsewhere.”
February 12 to 13:
By the third weekend, February 12-13 – before the government’s February 14 decision to invoke the law – the government was dealing with several protests across the country, including at key border crossings.
“It felt like the demonstrators were operating tactically and strategically and knew how to take advantage of the tides; if, for example, they leave one port of entry in southwestern Ontario, they could move to another, such as Fort Erie,” the notes state.
“The Prime Minister reflected that much of the decision-making was the government’s judgment about the weather. If the government had invoked the Emergency Act after the first weekend, people would have said it was too early. If the government had waited six weekends, it would have been too long,” the memos said, adding that Mr. Trudeau and the cabinet believed the third weekend was “the right time” to invoke the law.
Read the full summary of Trudeau’s pre-inquest interview.
– Bill Curry
10:55 am
Trudeau: Ottawa protests crossed the line
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa. Adrian Wilde/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the inquiry into his government’s use of the Emergency Act that he supports public protests to influence government policies, but the chaos in Ottawa this year crossed the line.
“If you’re going out to protest the government closing a safe injection site or something like that, you’re pushing for changes in public policy. There’s a difference between the professions, saying we’re not going to leave until this changes, in a way that’s extremely disruptive and potentially dangerous, versus just saying, “Yes, we want public policy to change, and we’re trying to get people to take enough of them so that the politicians are listening,” he said in response to questions from the committee’s counsel Shantona Chaudhuri.
Mr Trudeau explains how his government has dealt with the protests, including invoking the Emergency Act for the first time since the legislation came into force in 1988. He is the first sitting prime minister to face a public inquiry after Paul Martin testified before the Gomery Commission in 2005.
Mr. Trudeau began his testimony shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET and was expected to answer questions for two hours.
Early on, he said, it became apparent that the protest that would eventually cause chaos in Ottawa would be something very different for a city used to dealing with protests.
He said his team noticed a discrepancy between what the political arm of his office expected and what Ottawa police and public services were saying — that it was a normal protest. “There was a little bit of concern that this might be a different event than what Canadians are used to seeing.”
Ottawa Center MP Yasir Naqvi, according to a read from a conversation with the prime minister, said the situation on the streets was very dire, with residents being harassed for wearing masks and a toxic tone among protesters. “It’s unbelievable, the images we’re seeing are hard to believe,” the Liberal MP said.
According to the testimony, Mr. Trudeau said there was little clarity on how long the situation would last.
“I daresay the citizens of Ottawa are used to political activity and protest on the Hill for a number of things, but this was present in their daily lives and disrupted their weekend in a way that the usual political protest was not,” Mr. Trudeau said today.
– Ian Bailey
10:35 am
Here’s a look at other times Canadian prime ministers have testified at public inquiries
Today’s dramatic conclusion to the Public Order Emergencies Commission hearings is not the first time a Canadian prime minister has taken a position on a commission of inquiry.
The country’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, testified before a royal commission on the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1873. The first question was phrased as follows: “Would you be so kind as to state to the commission all the facts you know relating to this matter?” ?” And the answer began, “I suppose it’s better done as a narrative?”
However, Justin Trudeau is the first sitting prime minister to appear at a public inquiry since Paul Martin in 2005 at the Gomery Commission.
Prime Minister Paul Martin checks the time before resuming evidence after a morning break in the Gomery inquiry. Bill Grimshaw/The Globe and Mail
Here are a few instances when Canadian Prime Ministers are sworn in:
- 1980: Pierre Trudeau refused to testify publicly before the Macdonald Commission, although he testified in camera and his testimony was included in the final reports.
- 2005: Mr. Martin convened a commission of inquiry into the sponsorship program and advertising activities, headed by Quebec judge John Gomery.
- 2005: Jean Chrétien also testified before the Gomery Commission.
- 2009: Brian Mulroney testified at an inquiry into allegations that a German-Canadian arms lobbyist gave him large sums of cash in 1993 and 1994 in connection with a proposal to manufacture armored vehicles.
– The Canadian Press
9:55 am
Internal documents, emails and text messages contain the most interesting revelations of the investigation
Some of the most interesting revelations of the public inquiry are contained in the thousands of pages of internal documents, emails and text messages that have been released.
Typically, conversations involving cabinet ministers and political officials are never made public because they are exempt from federal access-to-information laws.
The documents filed Thursday by the Prime Minister’s Office include several “read” summaries of conversations involving Mr. Trudeau. They appear to be transcripts of recorded conversations, but it is not clear if they are verbatim accounts.
One document includes a transcript of a Feb. 11 conversation between Mr. Trudeau and David Cassidy, president of Unifor Local 444, which represents auto workers in the Windsor area as well as other sectors.
During the call, Mr. Trudeau expressed frustration with the protesters’ demands and the lack of clear leadership.
“First of all, they are calling for the overthrow of the government,” Mr. Trudeau was quoted as saying. “The rest are calling for policy changes based on false facts. The other thing is that it’s not there. I mean who are we talking to? This group is coordinated from afar. At the protest site, no one speaks for anyone. The solution is for the police to step in… What we saw in QC and Toronto, the police were able to deal with it, but unfortunately other police were not and they were able to escalate.”
Mr Cassidy described the situation as ridiculous and embarrassing. “I mean, who are these people?” he asked. “They think they can just demand something from the government. They lost all support, you know that.
Mr. Trudeau responded that the situation was absolutely untenable.
“The police force was caught with an old playbook,” he said. “This is also a worldwide phenomenon. They are just warming up for the US midterms. I’m pretty confident we’ll be able to put this in the rearview mirror.
– Bill Curry
9:35 in the morning
Opinion: Trudeau should answer the legal, not the political, question
When Justin Trudeau testifies today, he will try to answer policy questions about the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergency Act. What the country really needs from its Prime Minister is to answer the lawyer’s question.
The Prime Minister will want to use her evidence before the inquiry into the Government’s use of the Emergency Act to talk about how something – something decisive – must be done.
The inquiry has already heard evidence of police failure to deal with motorist protests in…
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