Roundup: Invoking the Emergencies Act

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After two years, of begging, pleading, and outright cajoling, the media have finally been giving what they have been demanding, which is to invoke the Emergencies Act. (Speech here). It’s something that really shouldn’t have happened, and yet here we are, because incompetent murderclown Doug Ford refused to do his job with providing adequate support for ending the occupation in Ottawa, using the tools at his disposal at the provincial level like licenses and insurance, and providing more OPP officers. Or if the Ottawa police had done any part of their jobs rather than declaring it to be Purge Rules in the occupied territory. But Ford gave his support to this invocation, because of course he did, as it successfully makes it Trudeau’s problem and not his, even though much of the situation can be chalked up to his failure to take it seriously. Other premiers were not so keen.

The government insists this is narrowly crafted, only targets a few sites, is not about the military, and the Act itself only allows for 30 days increments of it being imposed. We don’t have many more details that what was in the press release, which is a bit concerning, but one thing that did stand out was the promise that the government would freeze corporate and personal bank accounts for these occupiers, as well as have their insurance suspended, which is kind of a big deal if you’re a legit trucker. There is concerned that the bank accounts could be an overreach, so we’ll have to see the details about how this will be crafted before there can be too much determination made, but there are worries this gets weaponized by a future government.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1493341202220990467

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1493343366284820480

Of course, every pundit, talking head, and opposition MP is going to try to spin this as some kind of failure on Trudeau’s part, even though he never had any levers to pull on this problem in the first place as it’s local police jurisdiction, and the most he could offer was performance art. Nevertheless, he’s now taking on the mantle of responsibility and accountability, which just makes holding everyone else who failed to account even harder. (Look for more on this in my upcoming column).

Grifter Occupation: Day 19

There was some confusion yesterday as to whether the agreement the mayor made with the organisers was legitimate or not, and a few trucks did reposition closer to Wellington Street, or moved onto it, creating an even denser cluster of trucks in some areas, which will just make them all that much harder to remove when the time comes. There was also another court injunction on noise and fireworks, but that one didn’t seem to be very much enforced either, so this is now a full-blown rule of law crisis. (On that note, here are five questions about the current state of the police in this city).

I have to say I am very disturbed and outraged that we have city councillors who are advocating for the use of military force to dislodge the occupiers rather than having the city police do their jobs. I do appreciate a bit more how constrained their forces are, but a) they allowed this to turn into an occupation, b) they have done zero enforcement, and c) they are clueless about how to move forward as more reinforcements arrive. This doesn’t look to be shaping up for anything good.

Meanwhile, GiveSendGo was hacked, and the information on all of its donors was leaked. What we know thus far is that while more Americans donated than Canadians, Canadians donated more money. There’s also a restraining order against funds being released, so we’ll see how much more grift shifts to direct email transfers to the organizers, and how much of it moves even more into crypto.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau also announced another $500 million loan and a donation of $7.8 million worth of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.
  • Thirteen arrests were made and guns were seized from the blockade at the Coutts border crossing, which saw most of the other occupiers leave the site afterward.
  • Sean Fraser announced increased immigration targets for the next three years, in spite of the department’s current processing backlog.
  • The government has moved up their timetable for delivering payments to seniors whose GIS was clawed back if they took pandemic benefits.
  • The Conservatives lost their Supply Day motion to call for capitulation to the occupiers’ demands.
  • Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column explains the parliamentary process surrounding invoking the Emergencies Act and its various mechanisms.
  • Heather Scoffield talks to the outgoing chief economist at Export Development Canada on the economic recovery and our longer-term problems.
  • Susan Delacourt reminds us that it is also the 26-year anniversary of Jean Chrétien’s “Shawinigan handshake,” and draws parallels to Trudeau’s decision yesterday.
  • Paul Wells looks back to the creation of the Emergencies Act and wonders if the current use actually meets the “stringent test” laid out in it for it to be used.

Odds and ends:

My Loonie Politics Quick Take tries to understand the demand that the prime minister “take leadership” on clearing the grifter occupation.

Over in the CBA’s National Magazine, I look at emerging litigation technologies that are reshaping the legal profession in the post-pandemic world.

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3 thoughts on “Roundup: Invoking the Emergencies Act”

  1. One thig we have learned out of this jurisdictional boondoggle of an insurrection is the infiltration of our services by politically motivated individuals who because of their beliefs will not properly do their jobs. I suppose that biases exist, however the law is the law. One doesn’t enforce laws differently for different people or circumstances or does one. This question must be tackled by our leaders at all levels. I see Canada weakened by what is happening. My small survey tells me there is a lot of animus toward both the occupiers and the police in my city.

  2. It’s really disgusting that Trudeau is the only adult in the room who is given the “responsibility” of cleaning up other people’s messes, and then he’s the one who wears the blame. It makes people cynical about politics. Does no one have the Harry Truman philosophy anymore of “the buck stops here”? Oh, right, it’s come down to “the buck-a-beer starts here.” Time to hold the media accountable for their own complicity in stoking chaos to get ratings and satisfy their own savage, insatiable drive to hate on Trudeau.

  3. It struck me last night that the new Emergency Act provisions may well get enacted and enforced with dispatch — the accountants and financial investigators who will now be going after the FluTruxKlan are the civil service whose families and lives have been held hostage for the last three weeks by the horn honking and fireworks.

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