Posted: Oct. 13, 2022 11:43AMCommissioner Paul Rouleau speaks during the first day of hearings at the Public Order Emergency Commission inquiry, Thursday, October 13, 2022 in Ottawa.
The Liberal government invoked the act on Feb. 14, the first time it had been used since it replaced the War Measures Act in 1988. The move temporarily granted police extraordinary powers and allowed banks to freeze accounts. “Uncovering the truth is an important goal,” Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Paul Rouleau said in his opening remarks.
During the first afternoon of hearings, lawyers representing many of the groups with standing laid out what they hoped to accomplish and why they were taking part. David Migicovsky, legal counsel for the Ottawa Police Service, said there were well-established processes in place to deal with protesters, but they didn’t work during the “Freedom Convoy.”
Commission counsel presented reports Thursday afternoon that describe dozens of protests mounted against public health measures and lockdowns across Canada, starting in the spring of 2020, culminating in the convoy to Ottawa.Sign up for our newsletter to get breaking news and daily digests sent to your email.Police took action in many of those demonstrations, and arrested or ticketed protesters who were part of varying-sized crowds over the two years the pandemic dragged on.
Must be one of our liberal judges. The taking over of downtown Ottawa required the police to have the ability to move them. We have to start having as much concern for victims as we do for those who commit offences against them. This is evident now in Vancouver.
We all know what happened. A petulant man-child was being embarrassed by the citizens of this great country and wanted his very own “just watch me” moment. Except instead of facing bombings, kidnapping plots and murders, the crimes this time were honking, hugs and high fives