The Liberal government unreasonably invoked the Emergencies Act to clear the convoy protests that gridlocked the capital city and border points nearly four years ago, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled on Friday.

The court dismissed the government’s appeal of a 2024 ruling which deemed former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to use the legislation unlawful and infringed on protesters’ Charter rights.

“As disturbing and disruptive the blockades and the convoy protests in Ottawa could be, they fell well short of a threat to national security,” wrote the three judges on the appeal court.

  • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    You mean the Canadian Magat Convoy?

    Trust me, that crowd certainly was a threat to Canada’s national security. Use the USA as an exhibit.

  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    Mixed bag.

    Always nice to see some constraint on “emergency” powers… but a mob starting shit over nonsense was ignored by all lower levels of government. Telling people to just go home after an entire week of aimless provocation is not exactly cracking skulls the minute someone in a keffiyah holds up sign in an empty field.

    And if bricks started falling through windshields after three days of nonstop noise, well, that would have been a riot justifying any state power… toward the people saying “leave us alone.”

  • Threeskittiesinatrenchcoat@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    Political actors want to paint this as a failure of the federal government but fact of the matter is, it was a failure of enforcement, and we simply do not have the means in which to hold that enforcement accountable the same way we do the federal government, which is another issue entirely.

    We should have high standards for the EA’s use, but the same people who will justify state sponsored violence that targets people they don’t like, are celebrating this ruling as government overreach, because it’s about the narrative not reality, and I find it exhausting.

    Police should’ve done their jobs and the federal government shouldn’t have used the act, that’s the real story.

  • LoveCanada@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 months ago

    “As disturbing and disruptive the blockades and the convoy protests in Ottawa could be, they fell well short of a threat to national security,” wrote the three judges on the appeal court.

    Anyone watching live feeds could easily tell this was true.

    The thing is that this liberal gov and and the previous one don’t care about what was legal or right, they want their pound of flesh, so I won’t be surprised if they try to take this to the Supreme Court.

    Meanwhile, Chrystia has conveniently left the country, Justin is off somewhere with his astronaut, Mendicino is gone, Blair demoted, Peter Sloly, Steve Bell, Jim Watson are all gone, Jody Thomas is gone… the only people still being persecuted and dragged through years and years of “lawfare” are the convoy organizers. For a LEGAL and PEACEFUL protest as proven in COURT, not in the mass media or the court of public opinion.

    What a screwed up country with no consequences for those who illegally persecuted them and continue to do so.

    • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      Fascist agitation was politely tolerated by residents until the national government had to step in to tell them, nothing’s happening, fuck off.

      This wasn’t a sit-in. It was a harassment campaign against an entire city, by ignorant bigots, for weeks. If you endured a fraction of that you’d be ugly-crying on the phone for your local cops to do something about those poor innocent souls and their right to express HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK at four in the god damn morning.

    • karlhungus@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      They were shitting on people’s lawns, being violent, honking at all hours of the day.

      I support their right to protest, clogging up the whole city at all 14 hours a day for weeks on end should have been dealt with by bylaw.

      Also fuck the convoy, buggoted, anti science peices of shit.

      • LoveCanada@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        2 months ago

        None of that is true. There is not ONE video of people shitting on someone’s lawn - its downtown Ottawa, homeless people are everywhere - what there IS is video of many of the protesters CLEANING the streets, picking up garbage, shovelling walkways. And there was NO violence - except from the cops who used pepper spray, took down people violently, shot a reporter in the face at point blank range with a tear gas cartridge, and then trampled an indigenous woman when they brought in mounted patrols. You read too much bullshit news. If you watched the live feeds ALL of this is documented.

    • panda_abyss@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      They were not legal protests when they specifically wanted to illegally overthrow the government.

      A lot of people forget that they had online documents calling for that.

      And frankly, they were harassing the citizens of Ottawa, not protesting.

      This was also 90% the provinces fault, with ford out jerking off in his cottage instead of doing shit all because he didn’t like the feds and wanted too make them have to suffer.