CCLA Files Submissions to Uphold Ruling Against Federal Government’s Use of Emergencies Act

MONTREAL — Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, Director of the Fundamental Freedoms program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, made the following statement:

Last Friday, we filed our submissions before the Federal Court of Appeal in our constitutional challenge of the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act.

Emergency powers are necessary in extreme circumstances, but they are also dangerous to democracy. They should be used sparingly and carefully. They cannot be used, even to address a massive and disruptive demonstration, if such disruption could have been dealt with through regular policing and ordinary laws – as was the case in February 2022.

In February 2024, the Federal Court agreed with CCLA that the high threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act hadn’t been met by the federal government. The Federal Court also agreed with CCLA that the governmental action resulting from the invocation of the Emergencies Act violated freedom of expression and the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure in a way that is not reasonable in a free and democratic society.

CCLA and other parties are now defending their victory before the Federal Court of Appeal. CCLA notably argues that the lower court judge committed no error in finding that the federal government failed to demonstrate the existence of threats to the security of Canada and of an emergency of national scope.