\u00ab\u00a0We have retained Ewa Krajewska of Henein Hutchison LLP to take the federal government to court. We have said all along that the federal government did not meet the high burden necessary to invoke the Emergencies Act,\u00a0\u00bb said Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, Executive Director of the CCLA.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0This morning I listened carefully to the Prime Minister and heard no new legal justifications for a national emergency and the enormous power the government is hoping to give to itself to bypass the typical democratic process. The situation in Ottawa has been complicated, difficult and painful, in particular for marginalized communities who have experienced racial and homophobic intimidation by some. Governments already have the lawful authority to address difficult situations and do so all the time. This use of the Emergencies Act is unnecessary, unjustifiable and unconstitutional.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Our society needs peaceful assembly \u2013 a critical democratic tool \u2013 even though not every person agrees with the content of every movement.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Some protests can even be disruptive. It is possible for a gathering to be both disruptive and also peaceful and nonviolent. Disruptive protest that may be unlawful, like blocking a pipeline or occupying a\u00a0 a public space, can also be the most effective way of raising awareness for people who do not have power,\u00a0\u00bb concluded Mendelsohn Aviv.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We do not want to minimize the impacts of the protests that are occurring across the country. But, while some of the blockades have been immensely disruptive, it is unclear that the ongoing protests \u201cendanger the lives, health or safety of Canadians\u201d so as to rise to the threshold of a national emergency under the law,\u00a0\u00bb said Abby Deshman, Director of Criminal Justice for the CCLA.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The emergency orders that the government has tabled are not targeted. They are not limited to specific protests, or specific geographic locations. They are expansive emergency orders that have already come into effect and apply equally across the entire country. And they place unprecedented restrictions on every single Canadian\u2019s constitutional rights.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0The current emergency orders place significant limits on peaceful assembly across the entire country. They require financial institutions to turn over personal financial information to CSIS and the RCMP, and to freeze the bank accounts and cut off financial services provided to anyone who has attended, or who has provided assistance to those participating in, a prohibited assembly \u2013 all without judicial oversight.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It is in light of all these violations of civil liberties that we will be taking the government to court,\u00a0\u00bb finished Deshman.[\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=\u00a0\u00bbNo Line\u00a0\u00bb][divider line_type=\u00a0\u00bbFull Width Line\u00a0\u00bb line_thickness=\u00a0\u00bb1″ divider_color=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb][divider line_type=\u00a0\u00bbNo Line\u00a0\u00bb][vc_column_text]\n
On February 18, 2022, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) announced that it had filed an application for judicial review in federal court requesting an order quashing the Emergency Proclamation and the Emergency Measures Regulations and the Emergency Economic Measures Order.<\/p>\n