The idea of using the Emergency Act in response to the weeks-long Freedom Convoy protests “would be from the start. in our minds,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
However, Trudeau said it “wasn’t seriously considered” until later it became clear things were not going away.
“Useful conversations around the Emergency Act began on February 10,” the prime minister told the Public Order Emergencies Committee during his evidence on Friday.
“I asked the question, ‘okay, what are the additional tools that we’re going to have to put in place, either through legislation, or through regulation, or in different ways — or through the Emergency Act — that we don’t really have now?’
Read more: What to expect when Trudeau testifies on the Emergency Act on Friday
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What to expect when Trudeau testifies on the Emergency Act on Friday
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The situation in Ottawa and at two border crossings in Ontario and Alberta was “out of control” and had the “potential for violence,” he testified, citing the “serious threat” of violence posed by the potential weaponization of vehicles, concerns about the presence of firearms and “using children as human shields.”
As the protests continued, Trudeau testified, law enforcement “lost control” of the situation and it became clear, he described, “that there was no plan at all.”
“This was not, even in the most generous terms, a plan for how they were going to end the occupation in Ottawa,” he said of the plan presented by police as of Feb. 13, the day before the act was implemented.
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As demonstrators dug in both in Ottawa and at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Windsor, Ontario, Trudeau said he told Ontario Premier Doug Ford that the situation could not “continue to drag on like this.”
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“There was an expectation that this was a situation that was going on too long,” Trudeau said.
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When the decision to use the Emergency Act was discussed in the run-up to his invocation, on February 13, at a meeting of the incident response group, Trudeau said there was a “consensus” around the table.
“There was no doubt about it,” he said.
“My expectation is always that if you have significant disagreements, that’s the time to talk. There was no voice saying “hold on, we don’t think you should do this.”
Advice from a public service helped the Prime Minister make a decision
Trudeau said he has not yet decided whether to invoke the Emergency Act until the documents to sign the decision are presented to him, along with a recommendation to do so by the secretary of the Privy Council, Canada’s top public servant.
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It is standard process for the Secretary of the Privy Council to advise for or against doing something when the papers for any decision are formally presented to the Prime Minister.
This staff tip weighs all the input received on an issue, as well as the available options.
Trudeau said the fact that the secretary, after weighing all those factors and the discussions that have taken place up to that point, recommended the referral was a factor in his final decision, as well as considerations of what might happen if he did not refer to legislation.
“What if the worst had happened in the following days? What if someone was hurt? What if a police officer was hospitalized?” Trudeau wondered aloud at the inquiry.
“What if, when I had the opportunity to do something, I had waited and the unthinkable happened in the days that followed, even though there was all this warning?”
The prime minister’s responsibility, Trudeau said, is to make the “tough decisions” and “keep people safe.”
“I made that final decision with all the conversations, all the input and all the feedback that I had received from the caucus, from the cabinet and from the first ministers and leaders of the opposition and all the officials that I spoke to – that’s when I made the decision,” he said.
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“I was very relaxed that we were at a point where it was the right thing to do and we did it…I am absolutely, absolutely relaxed and confident that I made the right choice in accepting the call.”
Trudeau’s testimony caps six weeks of hearings at the Public Order Emergencies Committee, which has already heard from seven Liberal ministers about why the Emergency Act was implemented in response to demonstrations in downtown Ottawa and at several border crossings.
The Feb. 14 emergency declaration — which ministers said was necessary because of risks to Canada’s security, economy and international reputation — allowed the government to extend special powers to police and financial institutions until it was revoked a week later.
The commission is being held because it is required by oversight provisions in the Emergency Act, with Commissioner Paul Rouleau expected to present a final report to Parliament by early next year.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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