‘We should all be terrified by a Canada that can’t suspend civil liberties’
ACT IS SAVING US FROM EXISTENTIAL COLLAPSE
This week came a surprise decision out of the Federal Court that the Trudeau government’s 2022 invocation of the Emergencies Act to crush the Freedom Convoy was “unreasonable.”
Justice Richard Mosley didn’t have anything good to say about the anti-mandate protest movement that staged a weeks-long illegal blockade of Downtown Ottawa.
But he concluded that it didn’t constitute an “overwhelming” threat to public order, and thus should have been quashed using existing laws, and not the extraordinary measures of the Emergencies Act.
In Dear Diary, the National Post satirically reimagines a week in the life of a newsmaker. This week, Tristin Hopper takes a journey inside the thoughts of the Emergencies Act.
MONDAY
Can someone tell me why the Federal Court is wasting everyone’s time on issues that were already decided months ago? My invocation has already been subject to a full-fledged public inquiry; arguably the most thorough form of constitutional scrutiny this country has.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hand-selected a commissioner who reviewed the evidence and then concluded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t do anything wrong. It is true that Commissioner Paul Rouleau has lifelong connections to the Liberal party, and that he was appointed amid a very deliberate Liberal attempt to drastically limit the scope of the inquiry.
But, I will note Rouleau’s stated reluctance in concluding that my invocation was justified. “I do not come to this conclusion easily,” he wrote. Tell me; are these the actions of a rank partisan?
TUESDAY
Fortunately, the federal government has confirmed they will be appealing this decision. This alone should indicate the radicalism of the ruling. After all, the Trudeau government does not take lightly to legal appeals.
When the Quebec Superior Court ruled that it was Constitutionally mandatory for doctors to kill the mentally ill upon request, did they appeal? No; they did the proper thing and immediately enshrined the order in legislation.
When Omar Khadr sued Canada for allegedly being complicit in what he suffered at Guantanamo Bay, the Trudeau government wrapped up the case with a $10.5 million out-of-court settlement.
This is a government with deep and hallowed respect for the independence of the judiciary.
That they should dare to question a Federal Court decision should indicate how beyond-thepale this Federal Court decision truly is.
WEDNESDAY
What all of this reveals to me, frankly, is the extremism of the Canadian judiciary.
We would all hope for our judges to be sober interpreters of written statute. We are a nation of laws; the ideal Canadian jurist must be an individual who can take a dispassionate look at our accumulated dicta and come to the impartial and evidence-based conclusion that, for instance, smoking meth in a public park is a constitutionally protected right.
Instead, with this decision we are treated to crypto-fascistic musings about “civil liberties” and “reasonableness.”
I promise you this: When government is denied a free hand to employ extrajudicial means of crushing unacceptable behaviour, then totalitarianism cannot be far behind.
THURSDAY
While I retain full faith that the Supreme Court will strike down this obscene decision of the Federal Court, I shudder at the chilling effect this it has already had upon our collective freedoms. I am a piece of legislation designed for the sole purpose of saving our country from existential collapse. When a policymaker reaches for me, do you really want their first impulse to be hesitation?
I need not detail the myriad of existential threats faced by modern Canada: Misinformation. Farright militias. Single-use plastic. Parental rights. Are we to tell our elected leaders that they must only use existing laws to defend against these calamities?
FRIDAY
For anyone who takes the time to read me, it’s in Section 3 that I define the “National Emergency” that must be in place for my invocation. To wit, it is anything that “seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada.”
As our Federal Court recklessly attempts to kneecap my use, don’t think Canada’s enemies aren’t watching this with bated breath. Without the deterrence that I provide, what’s to stop hostile actors from moving against us without fear of federal repercussions?
Picture, if you will, a Canada in which federal elections are beset by brazen foreign interference. Where criminal syndicates have entrenched themselves in our major urban centres and in our real estate market. Where mobs flood our downtowns every weekend to openly endorse terror and denounce our fundamental values?
It’s a troubling hypothetical, but the inevitable result of ignoring the rule of law ... of which I am literally the only exemplar. There are no others.