Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's use of emergency powers to shut down the "freedom convoy" was justified, an inquiry found.
In a statement, the head of a probe into the use of the 1999 Emergencies Act, Justice Paul Rouleau, said that the prime minister's decision was a "drastic move" but was not considered a "dictatorial one."
Canada's Invocation of Emergency Powers
Officials said the act bestows the country's government with added powers to use in times of crisis. Trudeau utilized these emergency powers on Feb. 14, 2022, roughly three weeks into the massive protests.
In his Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) report, Rouleau said that lawful protest transformed into lawlessness during the demonstrations that culminated in a national emergency. The report was tabled on Friday in the House of Commons.
The judge said that he did not come to his decision easily but added that the federal government's actions were considered "appropriate" and "effective" in dealing with the allegedly unlawful protests, as per BBC.
While the report notes that the prime minister's use of the emergency powers was justified, it also suggested that Trudeau somewhat worsened the situation when he called the protests a "fringe minority," causing demonstrators to steel their resolve.
During a press conference on Friday, the Canadian prime minister said that his government would take the report's recommendations seriously. He added that officials' response would come in the next year after an analysis of the information.
Trudeau also said he agreed with the criticism of his comments about the protesters' movement, adding that he wishes he could have "phrased it differently." The Freedom Convoy was done against the Canadian government's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, causing gridlock in the country's capital for three weeks.
Shutting Down the Freedom Convoy
The commissioner noted lapses in policing, intelligence, and federalism during the protests. According to Politico, he added that there were failures to anticipate such demonstrations and proper management of legitimate protests, especially the one in Ottawa.
The Canadian prime minister noted that his government was reluctant to invoke the Emergencies Act at the time. However, the longer the protests dragged on, there were concerns about violence that were potentially a result of ideologically motivated violent extremism.
Trudeau said the incident was unfortunate and undesirable but argued that they were in a position where officials had no other choice. Rouleau said that while he ruled in favor of the emergency powers being justified, he noted that there was significant strength to the arguments against reaching his decision.
In the report, which totaled more than 2,000 pages, Rouleau said that the state should be able to respond to urgent circumstances without resorting to emergency powers. He noted that some of the Canadian government's missteps were small, while others could be considered significant.
When taken together, all of these mistakes and shortcomings contributed to a situation that later spun out of control. Trudeau's use of emergency powers to shut down the Freedom Convoy drew immediate criticism from civil rights advocates, said Aljazeera.
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