Public Order Emergency Commission

Opposition leaders have yet to meet to discuss terms of reference for a possible public inquiry into foreign interference, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday, with one national security expert saying their proposal will likely be a sticking point.

The federal government lacked the evidence to determine protests and barricades across Canada last year were threats to national security, an organization that defends constitutional rights told a federal judge on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

A national civil liberties group is set to argue that "nebulous or strained claims" about economic instability or general unrest weren't enough to legally justify the Liberal government's use of the Emergencies Act early last year.

After policing the "Freedom Convoy," the RCMP came away with lessons learned, newly released documents show — including the need to better prepare for the potential targeting of emergency phone lines.

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.

Justice Paul Rouleau concluded a series of policing failures and a "failure of federalism" led to protest that spun out of control and had a striking impact on Ottawa residents. 

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.

Claims the 'Freedom Convoy' was a bunch of peaceful protesters exercising their right to free speech was hammered to dust by the Public Order Emergency Commission, writes Arno Kopecky.

The national security adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that senior officials are planning ahead for the possibility of another "Freedom Convoy" protest in early 2023. 

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.

Emails released through a public inquiry suggest federal Liberal political aides were scrambling earlier this year to figure out the extent to which members of the Canadian Armed Forces were supporting "Freedom Convoy" protests that had gridlocked downtown Ottawa.

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.