Canadian Constitution Foundation Launches Legal Challenge Against Trudeau’s Invocation of Emergencies Act

The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), an independent, non-partisan charity, has revealed it has started a legal challenge against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unprecedented invocation of the Emergencies Act.

The challenge is being launched at the Federal Court via a judicial review of urgent application. “Prime Minister Trudeau has set a dangerous precedent by invoking the never before used federal Emergencies Act to address the current situation. The high threshold for declaring a public order emergency in the Emergencies Act has not been met,” argued Christine Van Geyn, CCF’s litigation director.

“The federal government has invoked the Emergencies Act as a matter of political convenience. This is illegal and violates the rule of law, and that’s why we are challenging the government in court,” Van Geyn explained. “Emergency legislation should not be normalized. The threshold for using the Emergencies Act is extremely high and has not been met,” she said.

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The Emergencies Act replaced the War Measures Act in 1988, of which the latter has only been enacted three times in Canadian history— during both World Wars, and the FLQ Crisis in Quebec. A national emergency is classified as “an urgent and critical situation of a temporary nature that (a) seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it, or (b) seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada.”

According to Van Geyn, the Liberal government has failed to meet the very specific criteria, and in the event that Parliament authorizes the invocation of the Emergencies Act, “the courts will be the last defence for the rule of law.”

Information for this briefing was found via the CCF. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.