{"id":543773,"date":"2026-03-18T04:21:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543773\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T04:21:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:21:18","slug":"ottawa-to-fight-ruling-that-its-pandemic-actions-went-too-far-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543773\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa to fight ruling that its pandemic actions went too far"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\tRead: 4 min<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tCorrection, March 17, 2026 5:35 pm:<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\tMinutes after publishing this article, at 5:00 p.m. EST on March 17, Canadian Affairs learned that the federal government was appealing the Federal Court of Appeal ruling. This article has been updated to reflect the changed legal landscape.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Ottawa is appealing a Federal Court of Appeal ruling<\/a> that the Trudeau government was wrong to invoke emergency powers during the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On March 17, on the last day possible, the Carney government indicated it would appeal the appellate court\u2019s January decision<\/a>, which affirmed that Ottawa exceeded its authority by invoking the Emergencies Act during the trucker protests in February 2022.<\/p>\n

The organizations that brought the legal challenge say the trial and appellate court rulings correctly defined when the Emergencies Act can be invoked. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe [appellate] decision sends a clear message to this, and future governments, that even in times of crisis, no government is above the law,\u201d Ana\u00efs Bussi\u00e8res McNicoll told Canadian Affairs in an interview before Ottawa announced its intention to appeal.<\/p>\n

Bussi\u00e8res McNicoll is director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, one of the organizations that brought the legal challenge.<\/p>\n

Bussi\u00e8res McNicoll says that, from the CCLA\u2019s perspective, the case was not about the Freedom Convoy, which shut down parts of Ottawa for several weeks in early 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe agreed that the blockades needed to go, but they could and should have been handled through ordinary laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat this case really is about is making sure that exceptional emergency powers are only used as a last resort.\u201d<\/p>\n

This view is shared by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, the other organization behind the challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s ruling is important because it \u201cwill make it hard for a future government to do what the Trudeau government did if faced with political tumult,\u201d Christine Van Geyn, the foundation\u2019s interim executive director, told Canadian Affairs in an interview in February.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aWhen they created the Emergencies Act, [Parliament] intended for this to be a narrow and exceptional tool, and that\u2019s what the court has affirmed here,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Watered down\u2019 definition<\/p>\n

The Emergencies Act allows cabinet to declare a \u201cpublic order emergency\u201d if strict preconditions are met, including the existence of \u201cthreats to the security of Canada.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once a public emergency is declared, cabinet can issue emergency regulations and orders without parliamentary approval \u2014 including restricting public assembly, regulating travel or property, and directing financial institutions to freeze assets.<\/p>\n

In trying to justify its use of the act, Ottawa tried to \u201cwater down\u201d the definition of public order emergency to include activities that could cause economic harm, Van Geyn said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Police presence in Ottawa in response to the Convoy Protests, Feb. 19, 2022. | Dreamstime<\/p>\n

Such a definition would enable governments to declare emergencies over labour disruptions or other protests \u2014 potentially chilling lawful protest, she says.<\/p>\n

Both the trial and appellate courts rejected Ottawa\u2019s argument.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a unanimous decision, the appellate court affirmed that for the act to be invoked in the future, there would need to be both \u201cthreats to the security of Canada\u201d and a situation so serious as to constitute a national emergency.<\/p>\n

The Carney government is appealing this ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada, the country\u2019s highest court.<\/p>\n

\u2018State surveillance by proxy\u2019<\/p>\n

One of Ottawa\u2019s more controversial actions after invoking the Emergencies Act was its decision to require financial institutions to freeze the assets of \u201cdesignated individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consequences are real and they will bite,\u201d then-deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland had said in a February 2022 speech<\/a> announcing the government\u2019s move to freeze the bank accounts of some protestors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now have the tools to follow the money, we can see what is happening and what is being planned, and we are absolutely determined that this must end now and for good,\u201d said Freeland.<\/p>\n

In mid-February 2022, the RCMP disclosed information about individuals to financial institutions that was used to freeze about 257 bank accounts.<\/p>\n

To make decisions about which accounts to freeze, \u201cfinancial service providers were told by the RCMP to \u2018leverage the news\u2019, and to rely on public knowledge, including information available over the internet and social media,\u201d the ruling says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Treating banks as a tool of the government is cause for concern, says Bussi\u00e8res McNicoll. \u201cThat definitely sounds a lot like state surveillance by proxy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Normally, if the state wants to force financial institutions to do something, it must go before a judge and present evidence and debate its case, she says.\u00a0\u201cAll of those basic due process requirements were absent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Van Geyn, for her part, says the federal government\u2019s actions constituted a clear example of \u201cpolitical debanking\u201d \u2014 the withdrawal of financial services based on political activity or expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone gets in power that disagrees with you, do you want them to have the power to freeze your bank account because you\u2019re protesting, or because you\u2019re expressing that you disagree with them?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a very dark and sort of extraordinary thing to do in a liberal democracy \u2026 It\u2019s quite a totalitarian action to demonetize or to take the assets of your political enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Geyn says the trial and appellate court decisions are important for affirming to the public that the Trudeau government\u2019s actions were offside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this [appellate decision] affirms what many Canadians saw, which is, maybe they didn\u2019t like the [trucker] protest, but the reaction from the Trudeau government was way over the top,\u201d said Van Geyn.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it was a very politically motivated decision. I think a lot of people felt that way, even if they didn\u2019t agree with the tactics of the convoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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