Paul Rouleau

Rouleau was unsparing in his criticism of Ford and his government, both for their unwillingness to show up during the convoy itself and their refusal to show up and testify at his inquiry last fall.

A federal commission is to report today on the Liberal government's use of the Emergencies Act against protests that paralyzed the streets around Parliament Hill and jammed several Canadian border points early last year.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service's interpretation of what constitutes a national security threat is not relevant when it comes to a government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act, two of the spy agency's former directors testified at a national inquiry on Wednesday, November 30, 2022.

Social media acted as the "central nervous system" of the "Freedom Convoy" protest in Ottawa last winter, the Public Order Emergency Commission heard on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, as it considered the role of misinformation in the lead up to the invocation of the Emergencies Act. 

Anything short of a summary conviction of the Prime Minister and his closest advisers will be spun by the convoy’s leaders and their various enablers as a betrayal of democracy, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

The Public Order Emergency Commission has spent six weeks hearing from residents, police, politicians and protesters about what happened last winter, when thousands of people opposed to COVID-19 public health measures took over a portion of the downtown.

The inquiry into the Liberal government’s historic choice to invoke the Emergencies Act to quell weeks-long demonstrations against COVID-19 mandates last winter is now moving into its public policy phase.

The night before the Liberal government took the drastic step of invoking the Emergencies Act, the head of the RCMP sent a cautionary email to the federal public safety minister's office.

The "Freedom Convoy" protest that gridlocked downtown Ottawa for weeks last winter was a leaderless movement that saw power struggles among its key organizers, a public inquiry heard on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.

The "Freedom Convoy" had gridlocked Canada's capital city for more than two weeks before the "floundering" Ottawa police force approved a detailed plan to handle it, senior police officers have told the public inquiry into the Liberal government's use of the Emergencies Act.

Provincial officials in Saskatchewan and Alberta got a Valentine's Day surprise from the prime minister this year when he called to say he was considering invoking the Emergencies Act, a public inquiry heard on Thursday, October 13, 2022.

The public inquiry into the federal government's unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act during “Freedom Convoy” protests last winter begins on Thursday, October 13, 2022, and dozens of witnesses, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and high-profile convoy organizers, are expected to testify.

The federal Liberal government has agreed to provide sensitive cabinet documents to the inquiry examining its use of the Emergencies Act during the "Freedom Convoy" protest.

The commissioner of the inquiry examining Ottawa's use of the Emergencies Act to bring an end to the so-called "Freedom Convoy" protest in February has granted standing to the organizers, police and representatives of all three levels of government.

In the late 1980s, as then-defence minister Perrin Beatty was drafting new legislation to replace the controversial War Measures Act, one man’s words were on his mind. The man was Robert Stanfield.