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Lower courts' reasoning 'neuters' Emergencies Act, government tells Supreme Court
Courts' reasoning 'neuters' Emergencies Act: feds
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The federal government says the courts engaged in "second-guessing with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight" when they ruled it lacked legal justification to use the Emergencies Act four years ago to quell protests.
Lawyers for the government make the argument in a submission seeking a Supreme Court of Canada hearing of the federal case for invoking the emergencies law to deal with protest actions in the national capital and at key border points.
The top court is slated to rule Thursday on whether to grant the government leave to appeal.
For about three weeks in January and February 2022, downtown Ottawa was filled with protesters, including many in large trucks that blocked streets around Parliament Hill.
While many protesters demonstrated against COVID-19 health restrictions, the "Freedom Convoy" protests also attracted some with a variety of grievances against then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and his government.
Trucks also jammed key border crossings to the United States, including routes at Windsor, Ont., and Coutts, Alta.
On Feb. 14, 2022, the government invoked the Emergencies Act, which allowed for temporary measures, including regulation and prohibition of public assemblies, the designation of secure places, direction to banks to freeze assets, and a ban on support for protest participants.
It was the first time the law had been used since it replaced the War Measures Act in 1988.
In a Feb. 15 letter to premiers, Trudeau said the federal government believed it had reached a point "where there is a national emergency arising from threats to Canada's security.''
The Public Order Emergency Commission, which carried out a mandatory review after the act was used, concluded in early 2023 that the federal government had met the very high legal standard for using the law.
The Trudeau government's move was also scrutinized in Federal Court.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and several other groups and individuals argued that Ottawa lacked sound statutory grounds to deploy the emergency measures.
The government said the steps taken to deal with the turmoil were targeted, proportional and time-limited, and complied with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Richard Mosley, the Federal Court judge who heard the case, concluded the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act did not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility — and was not supported in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints.
Ultimately, there "was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act," Mosley said in his January 2024 ruling.
In January of this year, a three-judge panel of the Federal Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed that ruling.
The Court of Appeal said that as disturbing and disruptive as the blockades and the "Freedom Convoy" protests in Ottawa could be, "they fell well short of a threat to national security."
In its written submission requesting a Supreme Court hearing, the government says the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal "applied the wrong principles on judicial review."
The courts should have asked whether — based on the information available at the time — federal officials acted reasonably in concluding a public order emergency existed, the submission says.
"Instead, they asked, with the benefit of hindsight, whether there were reasonable grounds to believe that a public order emergency existed."
In the end, both courts applied their own view of what was reasonable, the government says.
"This non-deferential approach hamstrings governments' ability to respond effectively to future crises, neuters the Act" and conflicts with the Supreme Court's administrative law rulings over the years, the submission says.
"It amounts to second-guessing with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight," the government adds.
"In the end, no one disputes that emergency measures should be a temporary means of last resort. But that does not mean those measures should be available only in the most dire and extreme circumstances."
In its submission to the Supreme Court, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association says the government should be denied leave to appeal because it is attempting to relitigate "the same issues and arguments the Court of Appeal dismissed."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.
By Jim Bronskill | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Feds investing $1 billion for road to Ring of Fire in Ontario: Carney
Feds investing $1 billion in road to Ring of Fire
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government is putting down $1 billion to help build the road to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario.
The region is said to be rich in nickel, chromite, copper and gold and Carney says it will secure Canada's critical mineral supply chain.
The area sits partially in the James Bay lowlands, part of North America's largest wetland, and is home to a number of remote, fly-in First Nations.
Earlier this year, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced construction had begun on two of the roads that will eventually connect the provincial highway system to the mining area some 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont.
Ford had long called for the federal government to match his government's $1-billion investment in the road project.
The province has signed partnerships with three First Nations who want the road, while many others are decidedly against it.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
By Liam Casey | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Some government websites taken down in response to security risk: AI minister
Some federal sites taken down after security risk
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Some government websites have been taken down temporarily as a precaution against a security risk, says Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon.
In a social media post, Solomon says the websites went dark to protect government systems and Canadians' information following guidance from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.
He says this is being done in response to a vulnerability identified in PHP, a widely used programming language.
Solomon says this is a global issue and governments and organizations around the world are also taking protective measures.
The FBI’s cyber division says the vulnerability could allow malicious actors to remotely execute code in the programming language, potentially compromising sensitive data and networks.
The PHP Foundation, which includes developers who work on securing the programming language, says it has released fixes for the vulnerabilities, along with instructions on how to update systems.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
— With files from The Associated Press
By Catherine Morrison | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Clodelle répond aux commentaires concernant les circonstances du décès de Karim Ouellet
« On a été une bonne gang à ne pas dormir, être inquiets… »
Dans les derniers jours, plusieurs personnalités publiques ont partagé un lien où leurs abonné.es peuvent leur poser des questions de façon anonyme. La chanteuse et candidate d'OD Dans L'Ouest, Clodelle, a participé au mouvement et a répondu à une question liée aux commentaires qui circulent concernant le décès de Karim Ouellet.
C'est le 17 janvier 2022 que le chanteur de 37 ans a été retrouvé sans vie dans son studio de musique à Québec. Quelques mois plus tard, soit le 22 juin, le rapport d'investigation du coroner est sorti, révélant les circonstances du décès.
« Le décès serait survenu le 15 novembre 2021 », peut-on lire dans le document suite aux résultats obtenus lors du l'autopsie du 19 janvier. La perte de Karim aurait donc été découverte deux mois après son départ, ce qui a suscité plusieurs questionnements chez les fans de l'artiste.
C'est donc lors de la séance de questions et réponses publiée en stories sur son profil Instagram que Clodelle a reçu un message au sujet de ces événements :
« En fait, je ne comprends pas... Tu dis que c'était ton meilleur ami, mais pourquoi n'as-tu pas pris de nouvelles de lui avant qu'il soit retrouvé? Il n'y a aucun jugement dans ma question, seulement beaucoup d'incompréhension [...]. »
Sans trop vouloir entrer dans les détails, la chanteuse a alors répondu que ce genre de propos la dérange :
« Je vais juste frôler le sujet par respect de Karim et sa famille, mais notre ami était malade. Il avait par moments des difficultés à accepter sa maladie et par moment, même prendre soin de lui-même. C'était quelqu'un qui était très fier et très discret.
« Pas longtemps avant sa mort, il a coupé les ponts avec tout son entourage, par choix. Quand je dis tout, c'est tout. On a été une bonne gang à ne pas dormir, être inquiets, se sentir démunis et tristes de ne pas avoir de nouvelles... », a ajouté Clodelle.
Elle a ensuite remercié les gens de conserver leurs jugements :
« Je sais que nous sommes des personnalités publiques, mais on traverse des difficultés aussi et c'est correct de ne pas vouloir tout partager et médiatiser. »
Suite à son départ, plusieurs vedettes québécoises ont tenu à rendre hommage au chanteur à travers différents textes et images. Clodelle a d'ailleurs participé au spectacle hommage Bye Bye Bye Karim le 12 juin dernier aux Francos de Montréal, aux côtés d'artistes tel.les que Ariane Moffatt, Hubert Lenoir, Claude Bégin et le groupe Alaclair Ensemble.