Justice Paul Rouleau released the much-anticipated report of the Public Order Emergency Commission on February 17th on the government’s use of the Emergencies Act following last year’s Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa, Coutts, and Windsor. In his 2000-plus-page ruling, a requirement under the Emergencies Act, Justice Rouleau stated “I have concluded that in this case, the very high threshold for invocation was met.” Rouleau also states, “Lawful protest descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency.” It’s an important examination of the circumstances that led to the Freedom Convoy protests, and while his conclusion was that the government did meet the threshold to invoke the Act, it also lays bare the failures that led to the situation that required its use, while also providing rational recommendations to limit its use in the future.
The report does not shy away from the issues that led to those protests. The Rouleau Report paints a picture of people who do not see themselves represented in politics and government, and the Covid-19 pandemic which brought their fears, frustrations, and anxieties to a head. It cites social media as a breeding ground for right-wing populism, where Rouleau states “evidence from many of the convoy organizers and participants demonstrated a range of views that I have no difficulty characterizing as being based on misinformation. Some views were outright conspiratorial.”
The report also expresses that the Prime Minister enflamed the frustrations of protesters with his commentary stating “the small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa, or who are holding unacceptable views that they’re expressing, do not represent the views of Canadians…” which Rouleau notes “these comments…were interpreted by many as referring to all Freedom Convoy participants. This served to energize the protesters, hardening their resolve and further embittering them toward government authorities.”
While the report goes into significant detail about what led to the protest, the occupation of downtown Ottawa, and border blockades in Coutts and Windsor, it reserves some of its harshest criticisms for Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government. The 200-page Executive Summary has an entire subsection called Ontario’s Absence, where Rouleau states ” One theme that emerged during the Inquiry was the view that the Government of Ontario was not fully engaged in responding to the protests. Many witnesses saw the Province as trying to avoid responsibility for responding to a crisis within its borders.” This is not surprising, as Doug Ford and then-Solicitor General Sylvia Jones were the only two individuals to refuse participating in the inquiry, citing “parliamentary privilege.”
The most important part of this inquiry, aside from the findings that the use of the Emergencies Act was justified, are the recommendations from Justice Rouleau on how governments can best handle situations like this in the future without needing to resort to the use of the Emergencies Act. The Rouleau Report put forward 56 clear recommendations. These include: ensuring that the Federal government develop protocols on information sharing, intelligence gathering and distribution with the provinces and territories; the creation of a single national intelligence coordinator for major events; and examining the scope and limitations on police powers in relation to protest activities between the Federal government, it’s provincial and territorial counterparts, and police services.
As for the Emergencies Act itself, the Rouleau Report put forward a number of recommendations as to how to strengthen the Act and make it more transparent. These include amending the Act to require the government to deliver to the commission a comprehensive statement setting out the factual and legal basis for the declaration to ensure the use of the act is necessary and consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Rouleau also recommends requiring all documents and information on the declaration of a national emergency be given directly to the commission, without redactions, and binding all inputs from cabinet and ministers to the commission once an order has been declared. The goal is to use the Emergencies Act only in necessary circumstances, and preferably not at all, but if it is used, ensuring information is shared with the commission that makes the use as open and transparent as possible is the key.
Justice Rouleau’s work on this exceptionally complicated file is to be commended. As we move forward, it will be important to heed his suggestions to improve policing and the government’s responses to crises.
