OTTAWA — On the eve of the public inquiry into the federal government’s first-ever use of the Emergencies Act, civil liberties groups are questioning whether the controversial move was necessary — as the government insists — to deal with self-styled “Freedom Convoy” protests last winter.
At a press conference on Parliament Hill on Wednesday, lawyers from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) argued the government failed to meet the high legal threshold to invoke the act, and created special temporary powers in the process that breached fundamental rights.
