Supreme Court to hear Emergencies Act appeal: Why the Chief Justice should recuse himself

On Tursday, October 22, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) agreed to hear the federal government's appeal of lower-court rulings that its invocation of the Emergencies Act was an unjustified, unreasonable infringement of rights. Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms head John Carpay argues that SCC Chief Justice Richard Wagner should recuse himself from the case. 

Juno News: Chief Justice Wagner should recuse himself from the Emergencies Act appeal | Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms | John Carpay: 

October 26, 2026 - Chief Justice Richard Wagner should recuse himself entirely from the Supreme Court of Canada’s consideration of the federal government’s appeal of lower court rulings, which rebuked its illegal invocation of the Emergencies Act against the peaceful Freedom Convoy. The Supreme Court has now agreed to hear Ottawa’s appeal, after the federal government lost in both the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal.

In 2024, the Federal Court ruled that the Trudeau cabinet had failed to comply with the Emergencies Act in February 2022. There was no “national emergency” to contend with, and the violation of Charter rights and freedoms was not justified. Of note, the federal government appealed this lengthy ruling less than an hour after its release, without the Justice Centre having read the judgment. Fortunately, in January 2026, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld that ruling.

Both courts rejected the federal government’s claim that the statutory requirements for a national emergency had been met. The freezing of Canadians’ bank accounts unjustifiably violated Charter rights and freedoms.

Chief Justice Wagner should have no involvement in deciding this appeal because he has already expressed strong public opposition to Freedom Convoy. In 2022, Wagner described the protest in downtown Ottawa as involving "hostage-taking" and the beginning of "anarchy." He attributed the protest to a "certain ignorance" and a "bad understanding" of Canadian law. He also condemned what he called "attacks" on the justice system and democratic institutions and later associated the Freedom Convoy with "disinformation.”

These were extraordinary — and entirely inappropriate — comments for Canada’s Chief Justice to make about events that could reasonably have been expected to produce litigation reaching the Supreme Court.

Judicial impartiality is not limited to whether a judge personally believes he can decide a case fairly. Justice must also be seen to be done. Canadians should not be asked to trust that a judge who publicly denounced one side of a major national controversy can later approach that same controversy with the appearance of complete neutrality.

This concern is especially serious because the federal government’s case continues to rely on a distorted account of what actually happened in February 2022. In its written argument to the Supreme Court, Ottawa claims that the Freedom Convoy had occupied downtown Ottawa for weeks “with no end in sight.” That assertion ignores important evidence.

Before the Trudeau cabinet invoked the Emergencies Act, protest organizers had already reached an agreement with the City of Ottawa to move trucks out of the downtown residential area. Serge Arpin, chief of staff to the mayor of Ottawa, later testified under oath that 102 trucks had moved by noon on February 14, 2022. Most left Ottawa altogether, while some relocated toward Wellington Street as contemplated by the agreement. Ottawa’s General Manager of Emergency and Protective Services, Kim Ayotte, also testified that the movement of vehicles onto Wellington Street was stopped by police. The federal government disingenuously presents the convoy as an indefinite occupation with “no end in sight” when, in fact, the peaceful protesters were already moving vehicles out of Ottawa’s central core to implement an agreement with the city.

Ottawa also relies heavily on border blockades at Coutts, Alberta, and Windsor, Ontario, to suggest that Canada was facing a continuing nationwide emergency requiring extraordinary federal powers. But these blockades had been fully resolved and cleared prior to Trudeau invoking the Emergencies Act. Neither the Coutts nor the Windsor event established that extraordinary emergency powers were necessary to deal with peaceful protesters in Ottawa.

The government’s Supreme Court materials further claim that “swastikas” were “held or worn by some protesters,” repeating one of the most persistent smears directed at the Freedom Convoy. What Canadians actually saw was one unidentified person, with his face covered, carrying a Nazi flag, who disappeared from sight after the photo was taken. There has never been evidence establishing that this individual was a Freedom Convoy participant or supporter. Yet this single photo was repeatedly used to discredit thousands of peaceful Canadians.

Justin Trudeau had set the tone before the protesters even arrived in Ottawa when he dismissed them as a “fringe minority” with “unacceptable views.” Canada’s government-funded media subsequently adopted and amplified that narrative.

The federal government is now asking the Supreme Court to overturn two court decisions finding that the cabinet did not satisfy the legal requirements for invoking the Emergencies Act. This appeal should be determined according to the statute, the evidence and the Charter, not according to whether judges approved or disapproved of the protesters....

Recusal would not determine the outcome of the appeal, nor would it prevent the remaining judges of the Supreme Court from deciding whatever legal issues are properly before them. It would simply demonstrate respect for the fundamental principle that courts must not only be impartial but must appear impartial.

For the sake of public confidence in the Supreme Court of Canada, Chief Justice Richard Wagner should take no part in this case.

Read this column in Juno News: https://www.junonews.com/p/justice-wagner-should-recuse-himself-emergencies-act-appeal

Emergencies Act appeal: Chief Justice Wagner must recuse himself | Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms | October 17, 2026:

Trump's other war also proving unpopular

"Public anger over the economic damage inflicted by the president’s devotion to tariffs, as well as the harm caused by President Trump’s unconstitutional war on Iran, appears to be helping the Democrats regain in the upcoming election control of one or both houses of Congress." 

Trump’s Other War | Ron Paul Institute | Ron Paul:

October 5, 2026 - As the midterm election draws near, a number of Republicans in tough races are distancing themselves from President Trump’s war. The war is unpopular because it has inflicted economic pain on the already-suffering American people. No, I am not talking about the Iran War. I am talking about President Trump’s tariff war.

The Tax Foundation estimates that, since he returned to the White House, President Trump has imposed tariffs on about 54 percent of imported goods.

Contrary to the claims of power-hungry politicians and corporatists seeking protection from overseas competitors, the financial burden of tariffs falls on American businesses and consumers, not foreign exporters. Tariffs are a tax on Americans. President Trump’s tariffs have been estimated to impose an over 800 dollars tax on the average American household this year.

Tariff defenders claim tariffs boost domestic industries, thus strengthening the US economy. The truth is, while tariffs may benefit some industries that have major competition from abroad, tariffs harm American businesses, like farms, that rely on exports for a substantial share of revenue. Additionally, countries often respond to increased tariffs on goods exported to the US by raising tariffs on imports from the US. High tariffs also hurt businesses that rely on importing raw materials and parts necessary to make their products.

According to a survey of 4,150 registered voters conducted by the Cato Institute and Morning Consult, 74 percent of Americans view tariffs as a factor in the price increases that continue to bedevil American families, while 53 percent of Americans understand that tariffs weaken the US economy. The survey’s most disheartening result — at least for President Trump and Republicans preparing to face the voters in less than a month — is that 49 percent of Americans say President Trump’s tariffs have made their lives worse.

President Trump launched his tariff war without receiving approval from Congress, even though Article One of the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power 'to lay and collect' taxes. In order to get around the Constitution, President Trump claimed that federal laws giving the president emergency powers give him the authority to impose tariffs and thus increase taxes on the American people.

President Trump’s claim regarding his authority to impose tariffs without authorization from Congress was struck down by the Supreme Court. Then, instead of taking the opportunity the court gave him to end his tariff war, President Trump simply found new justifications to impose tariffs.

One of President Trump’s latest tariff targets is Canada. The Canadian government responded to President Trump’s tariffs by imposing tariffs on US goods. President Trump then responded by forbidding the importation of a long list of Canadian goods. Once again President Trump acted without getting authorization from Congress.

President Trump’s tariffs have raised prices for American consumers, increased production costs for many American businesses that rely on imported materials and goods, and hurt farmers and other export-reliant business.

Public anger over the economic damage inflicted by the president’s devotion to tariffs, as well as the harm caused by President Trump’s unconstitutional war on Iran, appears to be helping the Democrats regain in the upcoming election control of one or both houses of Congress.

The fact that President Trump claims to be for free markets yet is embracing interventionist policies like tariffs is contributing to the rise of Democrats winning races while publicly embracing socialism. Those of us who know the truth must increase our efforts to support the libertarian alternative to both left- and right-wing authoritarianism.

Copyright © 2026 The Ron Paul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.
https://ronpaulinstitute.org/trumps-other-war/

Iran war backfires on GOP

 "Congress over too many years has been used to allowing the President to have his own way on matters of war and peace. Members bask in the false patriotism promoted by the media and special interests as the people 'rally around the flag'.... This time is different.”

The Coming GOP Bloodbath? | Ron Paul Institute | Ron Paul:

September 28, 2026 - Most indicators suggest that the Republicans in the House and Senate are going to face a brutal backlash from the American people in November. Polling with generic ballots suggest a big win for the Democrats and likely the loss of Republican control of both houses of Congress.

There is little reason to cheer a Democratic party victory, however Republicans in charge have for the most part earned what is coming to them. They have refused to uphold their Constitutional obligation to take leading responsibility for war powers....

President Trump launched what is the most unpopular war in US history when on February 28th he ordered a full US assault on Iran. Iran had not attacked or even threatened the United States and our own intelligence community continued – and continues – to claim that Iran is not building nuclear weapons. The February attack followed last June’s US bombing of Iran after which the president claimed that the country’s nuclear program was “completely obliterated.”

Congress over too many years has been used to allowing the President to have his own way on matters of war and peace. Members bask in the false patriotism promoted by the media and special interests as the people “rally around the flag.” Eventually, when the war has gone on for years without “victory” – as in Iraq and Afghanistan – many claim they were never really for the war in the first place.

This time is different. There was no propaganda blitz. There were no attempts to convince the American people that the “smoking gun” could be a “mushroom cloud” as we were told in the run up to the 2003 Iraq war. The majority of Americans were against the war on Iran before it started and only became more opposed over time.

As the war drags on, we have seen the national debt pass $40 trillion, diesel fuel prices at the highest ever, and inflation hitting the middle class and poor even harder. The “cakewalk” again failed to materialize.

Incumbent Republicans seeking re-election are in such a panic over voter anger about the war that they have taken to calling for a quick end to it while on the campaign trail. When they get back inside the Beltway, however, they vote to keep the war going for fear of President Trump’s anger. This is not leadership.

Late last week the Iranian delegation in New York for the UN General Assembly meeting offered an off-ramp. Essentially it was the same Memorandum of Understanding that President Trump signed last June and promptly disregarded, but on a shorter timeline. By Sunday, the President announced that he would reject the deal – a deal like one he already signed.

There is no strategy for winning this disastrous war, it is clear. From over-confidence on decapitation strikes to certainty of a quick military victory, the Administration is now promising that they will win by crippling Iran’s economy. The problem is that Iran has been operating under “crippling” sanctions for decades and has a high economic pain tolerance.

Unfortunately, both parties in DC are war parties, so again it is hard to cheer the likely Republican losses. But sometimes electoral losses can serve as wake-up calls. Eventually we may see the re-emergence of antiwar Republicans in the spirit of the late Sen. Robert Taft and a restoration of the Constitution.

Copyright © 2026 The Ron Paul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.
https://ronpaulinstitute.org/the-coming-gop-bloodbath/

President Trump's $5,000 bribe

 "Some commentators have expressed outrage over President Trump’s attempt to bribe voters. These commentators have tended to ignore the fact that, since the rise of the welfare-warfare-regulatory state, most political campaigns are little more than legalized bribery."

President Trump Bribes the People | Ron Paul Institute | Ron Paul:

September 21, 2026 - President Trump, speaking at the Republicans’ midterm convention, pledged that if Republicans maintained control of the Congress in the November election every adult American will receive 5,000 dollars from the government.... Trump said that the government could afford the estimated 1.3 trillion dollars cost 'because we’ve done so well and because our country is making so much money.'

The truth is the economy is not doing well. Prices are rising faster than incomes. And, thanks to the Iran War, the price of diesel fuel has reached an average of over six dollars a gallon. This increases shipping costs, thus further increasing many prices. The national debt now exceeds 40 trillion dollars, which is one reason why interest on Treasury bonds is at the highest level since 2007.

President Trump claims the 5,000 dollars payments can be financed with tariff revenue. The truth is that the government has not collected nearly enough tariff revenue to finance these payments.

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has suggested the government could raise the funds through actions including selling its shares in the tech company Intel. Selling those shares would only raise at most four percent of the cost of the payments. Nonetheless, the federal government should sell all the shares it has acquired in private companies. This corporatist policy distorts the market by incentivizing businesses to put pleasing politicians and bureaucrats ahead of pleasing consumers.

Some commentators have expressed outrage over President Trump’s attempt to bribe voters. These commentators have tended to ignore the fact that, since the rise of the welfare-warfare-regulatory state, most political campaigns are little more than legalized bribery. How else would you describe politicians who court support from the military-industrial complex with promise to deliver endless wars financed by ever-increasing Pentagon spending? Or court votes of farmers with promises of ever-increasing farm subsidies? Or court votes of senior citizens with promises concerning Social Security and Medicare? Or promise to those whose standard of living and prospect for economic advancement are harmed by the Federal Reserve’s destruction of the dollar that government will take care of them with food stamps, Medicaid, and government-subsidized housing?

This system of legalized bribery makes it impossible to make real spending cuts because every item in the federal budget has a constituency behind it. Politicians are convinced that their electoral success depends on them protecting this spending.

This system of legalized bribery cannot last much longer. The continued failure of Congress and presidents to cut spending will further efforts to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. This will cause a major economic crisis that will force Congress to cut spending.

President Trump could avoid this fate by fulfilling his promise of no new wars and working with Congress to cut the bloated military budget. President Trump should also end all forms of corporate welfare and work with Congress to shut down all unconstitutional federal agencies. The savings from these cuts should be used to start paying down the debt and support those reliant on government programs during the transition away from the welfare state. Returning to local communities, private organizations, and churches the responsibility to help the less fortunate is more effective and compassionate than leaving the matter to government bureaucracies. Following this agenda would allow President Trump to “bribe” the people with peace, prosperity, and liberty.

Copyright © 2026 The Ron Paul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.
https://ronpaulinstitute.org/president-trump-bribes-the-people/

Trump's corporatism

"Supporters of the free market must be as outspoken in opposition to Republican corporatism as they are in opposition to Democratic socialism."

Corporatism Goes Global | Ron Paul Institute | Ron Paul:

September 8, 2026 - Last Monday, a day before the Republican-controlled House passed a resolution condemning socialism, the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital announced that it had acquired a 35 percent stake in North American Blue Energy Partners, one of Venezuela’s largest private oil producers.

In the deal, the Venezuela government gives the company a hundred years lease for some oil fields. The deal also provides the US government with veto power over appointments to the company’s board of directors. Having power over appointments to the board gives the US government control over the company.

This deal makes the US partners with the same Venezuelan government whose president, Nicolás Maduro, was removed by the US military in January. It is also the same government that has been denounced as socialist by US politicians of both parties and that has been the target of US inspired regime change operations since the late Hugo Chávez assumed the presidency in 1999. One of those failed regime change efforts took place during President Trump’s first term.

Some may find it ironic that the Trump administration is partnering with a socialist government when President Trump regularly warns about the threat of socialism arising from the increasingly influential socialist wing of the Democratic Party. While President Trump may sincerely oppose some socialism, he is an avid promoter of corporatism. Corporatism is a socialism variant where businesses are nominally private but are controlled by the government.

Since President Trump returned to power in 2025, the US government has “invested” in over 30 private companies. Government investment in private businesses distorts the market as it forces business owners and managers to make decisions (or have decisions made for them) based on what will please politicians and bureaucrats rather than consumers. It also encourages other businesses to divert resources toward attracting government investment instead of attracting consumers and private sector investors. Corporatism can also lead politicians and bureaucrats to base decisions on what will generate the greatest return on government’s investments.

Combining corporatism with foreign interventionism is a particularly harmful policy. This is illustrated by the US government’s new partnership with the Venezuelan government. Many Venezuelan citizens oppose the deal. If the current government were to be replaced, the new government may try to void the agreement or at least renegotiate it. So, the US government now has an interest in ensuring Hugo Chavez’s heirs remain in power. The next time the US military intervenes in Venezuela it could be to defend the socialists.

If the US government continues to make investment deals with foreign governments, the need to protect the investments could become a reason for deployment of US troops abroad. The US government could even use the military to “convince” other countries to do business with the US government.

President Trump’s corporatist merger of big government and big business enriches the well-off and well-connected at the expense of the rest of the population. Combining corporatism with foreign interventionism enriches corrupt and authoritarian foreign leaders while boosting the military-industrial complex. Because corporatism maintains the appearance of capitalism, and because many proponents of corporatism encourage this confusion, it is easy for socialists to blame corporatism’s failings on the free market. Supporters of the free market must be as outspoken in opposition to Republican corporatism as they are in opposition to Democratic socialism.

Copyright © 2026 The Ron Paul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.
https://ronpaulinstitute.org/corporatism-goes-global/

Canada, USA at war, says Carney

‘You’re at war when you get attacked’: Mark Carney shows combative nature in face-off with Trump | Leyland Cecco, Heather Stewart, & Kalyeena Makortoff | The Guardian: 

August 30, 2026 - "Mark Carney stood before a walnut-veneered lectern, his face drawn tight, as he announced that talks with Canada’s biggest trading partner had collapsed. 'Last spring, I warned that America is trying to break us so that they can own us,' he said. “And I promised: that will never, ever happen. We are keeping that promise'.... Near the end of the press conference last Saturday, a reporter made reference to the sombre, combative tone of the speech: 'Why does it feel like today Mark Carney is going to war?'

"The prime minister paused. 'We were attacked. You’re at war when you get attacked,' he said. 'We got attacked'....

"After trade negotiations with the US broke down, the two sides traded recriminations and made good on threats to impose new tariffs on each other. In his latest act of petty antagonism, Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the US federal government to rename Lake Ontario as 'Lake America'. But Carney, in walking away from the proposed deal, did what few other leaders have done: dared Trump and the US to test his nation’s resolve....

"Joseph Steinberg, a professor of economics at the University of Toronto, said that while during the Brexit debate, Carney 'did not shy away from trying to tell kind of the hard economic truths', he had not spoken much about the economics of the current US trade war.... Carney’s decision to retaliate against the US has caused some economists, including Steinberg, to point out that Canada will take a far more painful blow than the US.... 'At the moment, Canadians are likely to be extraordinarily intolerant of making any kind of concessions to the US whatsoever, even if they are in our economic best interest,' he said.

"In January, Carney warned people at [the World Economic Forum in] Davos that 'compliance will not buy safety' in a world increasingly dominated by hegemonic powers. While it never mentioned Trump, his speech was seen as a thinly veiled critique of the US president.... One of Carney’s prescriptions – forging deep relations with like-minded 'middle powers' and restructuring to lessen reliance on former allies – has already taken shape in Canada, at a speed and degree to which the pollster David Coletto described as a 'wartime-footing government without a war'. 'It’s a government organised around an external threat that’s willing to suspend its own party’s orthodoxies, centralise power to move fast, and measure itself in outcomes rather than values,' he wrote.

"Carney abandoned many of the policies of his predecessor Justin Trudeau, including his carbon and electric vehicle mandates. He has also fast-tracked large projects, including an oil pipeline, and invested tens of billions more into defence.... 

"'The public has hardly blinked,' Coletto said in an interview. 'Mark Carney’s approval rating has just sustained itself through this entire period.... I’ve been surprised with his nuanced read of the country. He’s been adept at being not just politically effective but in holding his support together through a trying time. This suggests there’s little value in underestimating his political instincts.'

"Polling shows that Carney remains the leader Canadians trust most to steer the country through economic uncertainty. But the prime minister has also embraced a role that would once have seemed almost incongruous: asking a country vastly smaller and less powerful than its neighbour to stand its ground."

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/aug/30/youre-at-war-when-you-get-attacked-mark-carney-shows-combative-nature-in-face-off-with-trump

Canada turns to Europe amid escalating Trump trade war | Roundtable | TRT | September 8, 2026:

Canadian LIbertarians turn up the volume

Turning up the Volume on Freedom: Our First 30 Days

 by Derek Elliott, Leader, Libertarian Party of Canada

Friends, in just thirty days, we completely shattered expectations and built historic momentum for Canadian freedom.

It has been nearly a month since Michael Harris and I officially took the reins as Leader and Deputy Leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada. And let me tell you, the energy we are seeing right now is something this party hasn't experienced in a very long time.

For years, critics have claimed that libertarians just can't get on the same page. They thought we were too independent to pull in the same direction. Well, we just wrapped up our very first board meeting, and we proved them completely wrong. Under this new leadership, the entire board didn't just find common ground… we agreed on every single item unanimously. No gridlock, no endless debates, just total alignment on our mission to bring real choice back to Canadians.

That single, productive meeting set the stage for major action. In less than a month, we have officially established our party's very first youth wing, LYNX. This is a massive milestone. We are finally building a solid foundation for the future, engaging young people across the country, and giving them a real voice to stand up for personal liberty and economic freedom.

That alone would be reason to celebrate, but to top off an incredible first month, I travelled down to represent our party at the US Libertarian National Convention. Speaking in front of those people and being part of that massive crowd was an incredible honour. It gave us a fantastic platform to strengthen our international ties, share our vision for a free Canada, and bring a wave of fresh energy back home with us.

What we have accomplished in thirty days is just a small taste of what is coming. We are moving this party forward, we are turning up the volume on liberty, and we are showing Canadians that there is a professional, focused, and united alternative ready to stand up for them.

The momentum is on our side, but we need your help to keep it rolling. Drop a comment below to let us know what you think, smash that like button, and subscribe so you don't miss a single update. Share this video with a friend who is tired of the status quo, and let's get to work.