Canada’s Emergencies Act Inquiry (Commission )—It’s Outrageous—Government…by Brian Peckford

Canada’s Emergencies Act Inquiry (Commission )—It’s Outrageous—Government Investigating Itself? And How!

First , The Unconstitutional Imposition of provisions of the Emergencies Act by a Liberal Government earlier this year involved an Act introduced into Parliament and passed by a Conservative Government in 1985 . So we have the two major political parties involved in this travesty of justice. This draconian measure to put down peaceful civil disobedience by truckers , their families, friends , and supporters in the nation’s capital is indeed momentous and inconsistent with Canada’s adherence to democratic principles.

Second, the requirement of another provision of that Act calls for an Inquiry:

‘63 (1) The Governor in Council shall, within sixty days after the expiration or revocation of a declaration of emergency, cause an inquiry to be held into the circumstances that led to the declaration being issued and the measures taken for dealing with the emergency.

Report to Parliament
(2) A report of an inquiry held pursuant to this section shall be laid before each House of Parliament within three hundred and sixty days after the expiration or revocation of the declaration of emergency.’

That’s it !

So this requirement which many think checks the power of the Government in the execution of the Act is just the opposite—it puts the Government in control of the whole inquiry process.

Who is the Governor in Council ——?? The Cabinet —The Government of Justin Trudeau in this case .

Uh??

Are you joking?

You don’t mean Canada ? Because Canada is a democratic nation —-where Parliament on behalf of the people rules .

Well , no!

And it gets worse !!!

Are you with me?

So the Government through a Cabinet order :

‘And whereas, under subsection 63(2) of that Act, the report

of the inquiry shall be laid before each House of Parliament within 360 days

after the expiration or revocation of the declaration of emergency;

Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council,

on the recommendation of the Prime Minister,

(a) directs that a Commission do issue, for the period ending

on March 31, 2023, under Part I of the Inquiries Act and

under the Great Seal of Canada, appointing the Honourable

Paul S. Rouleau to be a Commissioner, to conduct an inquiry

under the name of the Public Inquiry into the 2022 Public Order

Emergency (“Public Inquiry”), which Commission must———

So a Commission of inquiry is established with a Commissioner

By a Cabinet Order—by the Government !!

I quote directly :

(i) direct the Commissioner to examine and report on

the circumstances that led to the declaration of a public

order emergency being issued by the federal government

and the measures taken by the Governor in Council

by means of the Emergency Measures Regulations and

the Emergency Economic Measures Order for dealing

with the public order emergency that was in effect

from February 14 to 23, 2022;

(ili) direct the Commissioner to set out findings and lessons

learned, including on the use of the Emergencies Act and

the appropriateness and effectiveness of the measures

taken under the Emergency Measures Regulations and the

Emergency Economic Measures Order, and to make

recommendations, as pertains to the matters examined in

the Public Inquiry, on the use or any necessary

modernization of that Act, as well as on areas for further

study or review,’

So what does the Commissioner examine? Well, it seems to go out of its way to comprehensively capture all the trucker’s convoy’s activities even though some of the points involved have proven to be false in testimony before a Parliamentary Committee. like foreign involvement.

‘Direct the Commissioner to examine issues, to the extent

relevant to the circumstances of the declaration and

measures taken, with respect to

(A) the evolution and goals of the convoy and

blockades, their leadership, organization and

participants,

(B) the impact of domestic and foreign funding,

including crowdsourcing platforms,

(C) the impact, role and sources of misinformation

and disinformation, including the use of social media,

(D) the impact of the blockades, including their

economic impact, and

(E) the efforts of police and other responders prior to

and after the declaration,’

And for the Government? Not near as specific and leaves it up to the Commissioner :

‘The appropriateness and effectiveness of the measures ‘ by the Government.

Anything about following the Constitution ? No, just appropriateness and the Commissioner gets to define that.

Anything about breaking the law ?

Oh——

That’s not allowed to be examined by the Commissioner because its forbidden right in these terms of reference

‘Direct the Commissioner to:

And no specific mention even of ethics or the excessive power given to health officials.

Nothing about the science.

Were proper rules of science followed?

What science was used.?

What science was ignored though available ????

How about the impact , economic and psychological , on the truckers, their families , all those who supported peacefully the movement.

The use of police power, and using the banks to freeze peoples’ accounts.

What about Section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms——-part of which reads that you can only exempt the rights and freedoms defined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms if you can ‘demonstrably justify ‘ such violation consistent with the values of a ‘free and democratic society. ‘

And make no mistake —peoples’s rights and freedoms were violated.

Nothing in the terms of reference addressing that. No demonstrable justification!!

The only thing that come close to any sort of accountability of Government in the terms of reference is the following —which I quoted above but will quote again:

Quote:(11) direct the Commissioner to set out findings and lessons

learned, including on the use of the Emergencies Act and

the appropriateness and effectiveness of the measures

taken under the Emergency Measures Regulations and the

Emergency Economic Measures Order, and to make

recommendations, as pertains to the matters examined in

the Public Inquiry, on the use or any necessary

modernization of that Act, as well as on areas for further

study or review,—-unquote

That keeps it pretty general don’t you think?

Don’t get too specific with the Government and pose terms to get at the embarrassing issues like the science and the constitutionality. Nothing to force these matters to be studied!

And then the Commissioner gets to hire and fire whom he wants. Quote:

(v) authorize the Commissioner to:

(A) adopt any procedures and methods that they may

consider expedient for the proper and efficient

conduct of the Public Inquiry, to accept submissions

in the manner they choose, including electronically,

and sit at any times, in any manner and in any place

in Canada that they may decide,—

(B) at the Commissioner’s discretion, grant any

person who in the Commissioner’s assessment would

provide necessary contributions to the Public Inquiry

and satisfies the Commissioner that they have

a substantial and direct interest in the subject matter

an opportunity for appropriate participation in it,

(C) recommend to the Clerk of the Privy Council that

funding be provided, in accordance with approved

guidelines respecting the remuneration and expenses

and the assessment of accounts, to any person

described in clause (B) if, in the Commissioner’s view,

the person would not otherwise be able to participate

in the Public Inquiry, and

(D) at the Commissioners’ discretion, engage

the services of the experts and other persons referred

to in section 11 of the Inquiries Act, and pay them

remuneration and expenses as approved by

the Treasury Board,——unquote .

Government through the Privy Council office controls a lot !

This so called inquiry now called Public Order Emergency Commission to file its report by February 6, 2023 —just over four months from now.

Big agenda for 4 months with Christmas season in the middle of it.

And the Commission is already delayed in its start up date.

Meanwhile the Commissioner , who one would think would have to be politically independent , no conflicts or perceived conflicts ( justice must not only be done, but to be perceived as being done) has as part of his biography that: ‘He was a partner with the law firms Heenan Blaikie from 2000 to 2002, ————-‘

This is the law firm with which Pierre Eliot Trudeau , the present PM’s father , was involved on his retirement from active politics.

This is all wrong——giving to the Government the role of appointment of the people to conduct an inquiry into that Government’s actions and then to give Government the power to determine the terms of reference to be used?

The Public Order Emergency Commission has a website : www.publicorderemergencycommission.ca.

I urge everyone to review this website and the full cabinet order establishing the Commission and those now employed by the Government to operate it.