Emergencies Act inquiry studies fundamental rights and freedoms at stake in protests | 24CA News

The Public Order Emergency Commission has spent six weeks listening to from residents, police, politicians and protesters about what occurred final winter, when 1000’s of individuals against COVID-19 public well being measures took over a portion of the downtown.

Though no critical violence was reported, individuals residing within the space mentioned their neighborhood descended into lawlessness they usually felt threatened by harassment and hazards, whereas protesters insisted they have been exercising their proper to peaceable meeting.

Now the fee, which is tasked with figuring out whether or not the federal authorities was justified in its invocation of the Emergencies Act to clear the protests, should grapple with some central questions. Where ought to the road be drawn on limits to Canadians’ proper to freedom of peaceable meeting? And what are governments and courts to do when that freedom conflicts with the rights of others?

The fee launched the coverage part of its inquiry Monday with a roundtable dialogue that includes authorized consultants who examine the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Commissioner Paul Rouleau mentioned the query of the way to outline whether or not a protest is peaceable is a “critical element” of the inquiry’s work.

There’s been little or no dialogue about the fitting to peaceable meeting on the Supreme Court of Canada, leaving the affordable limits on that freedom a bit murky, mentioned Jamie Cameron, a professor emeritus at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School.

The key query, Cameron mentioned, is: “What does it mean to say that an assembly is peaceful in nature?”

Some consultants argue a line ought to solely be drawn if a protest turns into violent, however others consider demonstrations can change into disruptive sufficient that they can now not be thought-about peaceable, she mentioned.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 for the primary time because it turned legislation in 1988 after protesters related to the “Freedom Convoy” blockaded downtown Ottawa and key border crossings, inflicting weeks of disruptions to Canada’s commerce corridors, companies and residents in these communities.

The inquiry has heard that police believed the protests in Ottawa wouldn’t last more than one weekend, regardless of warnings that demonstrators deliberate to stay within the capital for an prolonged time period.

In the top, the protesters entrenched themselves and blocked the streets with encampments and big-rig vehicles for 3 weeks.

“There is a wide degree of consensus on the value of protest in a democratic society,” mentioned Vanessa MacDonnell, an affiliate professor on the University of Ottawa school of legislation and co-director of the uOttawa Public Law Centre.

“The real challenge for decision-makers is, how do we balance the competing rights and interests that are at stake in the context of a public protest? To me, that’s where the difficult work is.”

The dialogue is the primary of a number of that may make up this week’s coverage part of the inquiry, which can be used to draft suggestions about the way to modernize the Emergencies Act.

The coverage part follows six weeks of public fact-finding hearings on the Library and Archives Canada constructing in downtown Ottawa, which culminated in Trudeau’s hours-long testimony on Friday.

The Emergencies Act laws granted extraordinary however time-limited powers to the federal government, police and banks, together with the flexibility to ban individuals from taking part in assemblies that would moderately be anticipated to breach the peace, or journey in an space the place such an meeting is occurring.

That allowed police to create a no-go zone in downtown Ottawa and made it a felony offence to be in these areas with no legitimate motive.

The laws might have been overbroad, a number of consultants on the panel agreed, however the context is vital, mentioned Carissima Mathen, a legislation professor on the University of Ottawa.

“On its face, it does look to be overbroad,” Mathen mentioned, including that there are deadlines on the powers and there was an inventory of exemptions to the ban on travelling in sure areas.

“That will factor into whether, in the circumstance, that kind of prohibition is in fact overbroad.”

Charter applies when Emergencies Act invoked

Much of the testimony over the previous six weeks on the inquiry centered on whether or not the federal government was legally entitled to invoke the act.

Even when the Emergencies Act is invoked, the Charter of Rights continues to use, as explicitly said within the laws.

“At the end of the day, much of the concern is that the act is so broad and powerful. But on the other hand it is Charter-compliant by its very nature,” Rouleau mentioned.

“You could argue, certainly, the degree of interference with the Charter should be taken into account in the initial determination of what the threshold for an emergency is.”

“I’m glad I’m not the one making the decision, because there is a tension in there,” MacDonnell quipped.

The dialogue prolonged to a day roundtable concerning the Charter and the fundraising efforts of the protesters.

“It hasn’t been fully canvassed by the courts at all but, in principal, the idea of fundraising to support a cause or a social movement is protect by the Charter freedom guarantees,” mentioned Michelle Gallant, professor on the Robson Hall Faculty of Law on the University of Manitoba.

She mentioned the fundraising “animates” the freedoms associated to the fitting to expression, meeting and affiliation.

The Emergencies Act additionally allowed banks to freeze the accounts of individuals instantly or not directly related to the protests. The RCMP made up an inventory of protesters with orders to freeze their accounts, however banks have been additionally given leeway to establish individuals who have been operating afoul of the Emergencies Act and freeze their accounts as effectively.

Typically, when the state seizes or freezes somebody’s belongings, the particular person is first given discover and a chance to reply by some means, mentioned Gerard Kennedy, one other University of Manitoba legislation professor.

Arguably neither of these procedural rights have been afforded to protesters who misplaced entry to their cash after the act was invoked.

Protected rights to the “enjoyment of property” and due course of might be trumped by different laws, just like the Emergencies Act, he mentioned.

Other subjects to be mentioned this week embrace cryptocurrency, worldwide provide chains and felony legislation, with discussions largely pushed by coverage papers the inquiry commissioned earlier this 12 months.