Trucks and other vehicles park close to Parliament in Ottawa as protesters gather in Canada’s capital to demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 5, 2022. Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times
The Supreme Court of Canada has announced that it will hear the federal government’s appeal of rulings against its use of the Emergencies Act, invoked in 2022 in response to the Freedom Convoy protests.
The federal government filed an application for leave to appeal on March 17, arguing that the lower courts erred in their assessment of its decision to invoke the emergency powers.
The government invoked the Emergencies Act in February 2022, saying the protests—which began in response to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions—involved threats to national security.
The invocation of the act gave law enforcement additional powers to arrest demonstrators, order banks to freeze the accounts of some protesters, and compel towing companies to remove protesters’ vehicles from Ottawa. The act also made it illegal to attend any event deemed an unlawful assembly, such as the protest in downtown Ottawa. The act was revoked on Feb. 23, 2022.
A public inquiry headed by Court of Appeal Justice Paul Rouleau, which was held to determine whether the government was justified in invoking the act, concluded in 2023 that the cabinet met the “very high” threshold for doing so.
However, the Federal Court ruled in January 2024 that the government’s invocation of the act was unreasonable and “not justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints.” The court also found that aspects of the measures violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In January 2026, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the central findings, prompting the federal government to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
In its March 17 application, the government said the lower courts incorrectly reviewed their use of the Emergencies Act.
The Justice Department said at the time that the protests had caused “serious disruptions across the country” and that the government remains “committed to ensuring it has the tools needed to protect the safety and security of Canadians in the face of threats to public order and national security.”
The federal government has argued that the measures taken to address the Freedom Convoy were targeted, proportionate and consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Canadian Constitution Foundation Interim Executive Director Christine Van Geyn said on X that the organization had “defeated the federal government twice on this issue, and we’re ready to do it again.”
“The government under Justin Trudeau used emergency measures meant for a genuine crisis to silence political opposition it found inconvenient, and we will fight to ensure this abuse of power is firmly recorded in Canadian history,” she said.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms said in a statement that it was “disappointed” that the Supreme Court had agreed to hear the government’s appeal. The organization said the government was seeking to “overturn rulings that it unlawfully invoked the Emergencies Act.”
The JCCF, which has funded legal challenges to the emergency measures, including cases involving Canadians whose bank accounts were frozen, said the appeal represented “another stage in this lengthy legal battle.” The organization added that the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the appeal does not vindicate the government’s actions.
Conservative MP Andrew Lawton criticized the decision, saying millions of dollars more would be spent on the case “rather than just accepting what the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeals said.”