Civil liberties groups push for open inquiry into Emergencies Act usage | Western Standard - Matthew Horwood:
April 14, 2022 - "Fifteen civil liberties groups petitioned the federal government for an open, independent and bipartisan inquiry into the prime minister’s use of emergency police powers against the Freedom Convoy. 'The government may have an incentive to keep this secretive and closed,' said Cara Zwibel, director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA). 'We want to avoid that. There is a need for this to be a public process.”
"According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act from February 14 to 23, which led to 230 arrests at a truckers’ protest outside Parliament and the freezing of some $7.8 million worth of bank and credit union accounts belonging to protest sympathizers.
"Section 63 of the Emergencies Act requires that within 60 days of its usage, the federal government must launch 'an inquiry to be held into the circumstances that led to the declaration being issued and the measures taken for dealing with the emergency.' The provision is separate from a Section 62 clause permitting review by a parliamentary committee, which is already underway.
"The Civil Liberties’ Zwibel said all petitioners, including groups unsympathetic to the political aims of Freedom Convoy truck drivers, were alarmed by the prospect of the Emergencies Act being normalized to crackdowns on protesters. 'This is about recognizing the act, once used, must not become something governments resort to,' Zwibel said. 'We must ensure this is not abused.'
"The CCLA challenged the federal government’s use of the act in a February 18 filing at Federal Court. The case is pending....
"'We are concerned about the use of state and police powers to suppress constitutional rights,' petitioners wrote. They said a federal inquiry 'must be a process that is designed around the pillars of transparency, openness and meaningful accountability.'"
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