Trudeau Government Cites ‘Confidentiality’ to Avoid Explaining Its Use of Rare Act to Quash Freedom Convoy

The federal government claims that allowing lawyers to view secret documents would “entirely undermine the principle of cabinet confidentiality.”

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Citing “cabinet confidentiality,” the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is refusing to disclose why it used the Emergencies Act (EA) to crush the trucker Freedom Convoy in response to a rash of legal challenges against its use.

Currently, four legal organizations are challenging the Trudeau government. The EA was enacted on February 14 to shut down the Freedom Convoy, which took to the streets of Ottawa for three weeks demanding an end to all COVID mandates.

According to a recent report in the Globe and Mail, court documents show that the “confidentiality” of what goes on in Trudeau’s cabinet is being used as the reason the government will not divulge details of why it used the EA.

Canada’s Evidence Act says that when a government wants to use “cabinet confidentiality,” federal courts will refuse to look at evidence relating to any cases.

Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23 after protesters had been cleared out.

As reported by the Globe and Mail, the Trudeau government will look to argue that because the EA has now been rescinded, the case is now more or less over.

According to a legal document, the Trudeau federal government claims that allowing lawyers to view secret documents would “entirely undermine the principle of cabinet confidentiality.”

Legal groups that have launched their own challenges against the use of the EA by the Trudeau government include the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), whose federal court filing is still pending, and Canadian Frontline Nurses.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) has also taken the Trudeau government to court for its use of the EA.

The provincial government of the province of Alberta is looking at joining the legal cases as an intervenor.

Civil liberties groups, including the CCLA, have called for an independent public inquiry into Trudeau’s use of the EA.

On Monday, Trudeau appointed a Liberal Party-friendly judge to oversee his government’s invocation of the EA.

Trudeau’s government was legally bound to announce an inquiry into the use of the EA within 60 days of it being revoked.

‘Cabinet confidentiality’ claim blasted by Trudeau’s opposition as an affront to justice  

The CCF blasted the Trudeau government’s argument of “cabinet confidentiality” in its court challenge, likening it to a catchphrase credited to King Louis XIV of France in the 17th century: “L’état, c’est moi.” (I am the state.)

According to the CCF, the group is asking that the federal government disclose information exclusively to the judge and counsel.

People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier roasted the Trudeau government over citing confidentiality claims.

“If the government can use the Emergencies Act and enact the most draconian measures to crush dissidents, and then refuse to explain why this was justified because the reasons are ‘confidential,’ then democracy is truly dying in Canada,” Bernier tweeted yesterday.

Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP Raquel Dancho blasted the Trudeau government’s “confidentiality” claims.

“You were required by law to call the inquiry, you don’t get to do a victory lap of transparency for following the law. Wave cabinet confidence and let Canadians know the full story. That would be transparency,” Dancho tweeted Tuesday.

Recently, the author of the EA itself warned that Trudeau’s use of it may have set a bad precedent.

Trudeau claimed the Freedom Convoy protesters were funded by foreign entities with ties to terrorist-linked financing. This reasoning was used as justification for Trudeau to enact the EA against them that included the freezing of hundreds of bank accounts.

Recently, however, a top official with Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said there is no evidence of any links to terrorist activity in the funding of the Freedom Convoy.

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Articles by: Anthony Murdoch

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