On Monday, the Federal Court ruled that Justin Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act to quash the Freedom Convoy protests was unconstitutional, saying the decision to invoke the measures was beyond its scope and unreasonable. Former Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to share her thoughts on the ruling.
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Six Members of Parliament across party lines have released a joint statement calling for the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency to respond to the recent federal court ruling which found that the invocation of the Emergencies Act was unreasonable and unconstitutional.
“A Federal Court ruled that the government’s use of the Emergencies Act in 2022 was illegal and unconstitutional. A federal judge has ruled that Justin Trudeau and his Cabinet acted outside of their legal authority in invoking the Act and that the special laws they made during the so-called “emergency” violated the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed to Canadians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” reads the statement.
The committee was established to review whether the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act was legitimate and is a mandatory requirement under the law.
The signatures of the statement include MPs Larry Brock, Rob Moore, Tako van Popta and Frank Caputo from the Conservative Party, NDP MP Randall Garrison and Bloc Quebecois MP Rhéal Éloi Fortin.
“The court ruling officially confirms that, by employing the Emergencies Act, the Trudeau government broke the law and treated the rights and freedoms of Canadians as expendable. The use of the Emergencies Act required a threat to national security which rose to the level of a national emergency,” continued the statement.
On Wednesday, the Federal Court ruled that the measures Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked under the Emergencies Act were unreasonable and unconstitutional.
The decision follows an application for judicial review launched by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and several other applicants in 2022 after the emergency measures were used to end the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa.
The invocation of the Emergencies Act allowed for the Trudeau government to freeze protesters’ bank accounts, arrest law-abiding demonstrators and conscript tow truck drivers to remove vehicles from the protest.
“Repeated attempts by parliamentarians and even the Rouleau Commission had been made to obtain the legal opinion the federal government alleges they secured to justify that a national emergency was unfolding, but the Trudeau government refused,” continued the statement.
“Given today’s court ruling, Canadians rightly want answers on how the Trudeau government reached the decision to use the Emergencies Act. The Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency does not have any meetings scheduled to address this matter, as it does require immediate action. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(4), we are calling on the Committee to be immediately recalled in order to address the Federal Court’s ruling that the February 2022 invocation of the Emergencies Act was illegal and unconstitutional,” concluded the statement.
Brock posted the statement to X, with a link for Canadians to sign a petition, calling for Trudeau’s immediate resignation.
“Will the NDP and Bloc stand up for rights and freedoms or trample on the Charter like Trudeau?” Brock wrote in the post.
The man police allege is responsible for shooting up Edmonton’s City Hall on Tuesday said in a video before the rampage that he was “just tired of seeing the tyranny and corruption taking over our society and our lives.”
In a four-minute video shared and reported on by Rebel News, journalist Adam Soos identified as Bezhani Sarvar takes aim at “wokism,” the housing crisis, multiculturalism, and what he says is the “genocide” in Gaza.
“As-Salaam-Alaikum. Brothers and sisters, before I do my mission, I want you all to know that I am not a psychopath. I do not believe in bloodshed. I am not one of these monsters that hurt children, that hurt innocents, and that promote wars all around the civilization of our society,” the man in the video says.
The video has not officially been linked to Sarvar.
The man in the video is wearing the same security uniform as the man discharging a gun inside City Hall.
Edmonton police confirmed that a man entered Edmonton City Hall on Tuesday armed with a long gun and a Molotov cocktail. Shots were fired into the ceiling, walls, and windows, and a fire was set, but no one was struck by gunfire. After shooting the gun, the man dropped the firearm on the floor and surrendered to a City Hall security officer, who detained him until police arrived.
According to the Edmonton Journal, court records identify the weapon as an “assault rifle.” Some users on X claimed that the weapon was an SKS, a popular non-restricted semi-automatic firearm, and that the accused may not have known how to operate it, which is why it appeared to jam up in the video.
Edmonton police confirmed that Sarvar is facing seven charges: reckless discharge of a firearm into place, knowingly possess unauthorized firearm, use/place/throw explosive substance, arson to property, possess incendiary material, use of firearm while committing offence and careless use of firearm. Sarvar is set to appear in court Thursday morning.
“I’m just tired of seeing the tyranny and corruption taking over our society and our lives,” said the man in the video. Adding that he wants workers of many different professions to “rise up against this Wokeism disease that’s leading our generation into deception.”
He continued, appearing to read from a script, asking others to rise up against inflation, the housing crisis, and the unrest happening thanks to multiculturalism. He said that this needs to come to an end before it leads to destruction.
He asked that people rise up to put a stop to the leaders, officials, or anyone who has hands “into this corruption, into this genocide that’s going on in Gaza and throughout the world.”
The man in the video said that anyone who is destabilizing other countries and hurting their community should be ashamed of themselves.
“And inshallah, we will rise against you guys, and we’ll put you on trial.”
“Inshallah” translates from Arabic as “God willing.”
The video continues after a quick cut, with the speaker talking about a “man-made immigration crisis,” saying that immigrants are “part of this agenda.”
However, the speaker says that instead of hate and anger, “we must spread love.” He recommends respecting Canadian laws and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Canadians to fight racism, inflation, rising costs, and tax money going towards genocide and wars.
“We must all stand united and fight this off,” he said.
He then begins promoting a healthy social life, health system, and education.
“I have a good life. I have a beautiful wife. I have beautiful children. I love them dearly. But I cannot sit back and let this happen. I cannot watch our society crumble into darkness.”
The speaker recommends everyone to rise up. He said that people need to stop being on their phones and begin communicating with each other. He recommends stopping hate, racism, and bullying.
Following a brief interlude in a different language, the speaker returned to English, promoting better health choices on an individual and official level.
“Look what’s happening. We all know what’s going on, and we cannot turn a blind eye. I’m not turning a blind eye. Salam-Alaikum, brothers and sisters. Inshallah. I’ll succeed with my mission. If I don’t succeed, I know somebody else will succeed for me. Salam-Alaikum.”
Salam-Alaikum is a standard Muslim greeting that translates to “peace be unto you.”
The Edmonton police said they are aware of the video circulating online that may be related to this incident. They added that it is currently under investigation and that the video is being reviewed.
City Hall remained closed to staff and public on Wednesday, however Edmonton police chief Dale McFee said that there is no longer a public safety concern.
“I would like to reassure the public that we believe there is no further threat to public safety at this time. The investigation is in its early stages, and we will continue to update Edmontonians as it progresses,” said McFee.
Environment Canada announced that it does not plan to regulate emissions from wood-fired ovens, used predominantly by pizzerias and bagel shops after several media outlets, including True North, picked up the story from the Montreal Gazette.
The Gazette piece alleged that a branch of Environment and Climate Change Canada, called the National Pollutant Release Inventory, had been in contact with several Montreal restaurants that use wood-fired ovens to determine whether or not they meet the emission-reporting threshold for pollutants.
The NPRI is a public inventory that tracks over 3,000 pollutants across Canada but does not set emission limits or enforce compliance, it only collects the data.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addressed the story on social media, saying that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had launched “a crusade against pizza ovens.”
“Don’t worry about your 100% increase or the fact you can’t feed yourself,” said Poilievre, while speaking in a Vancouver pizza restaurant on Monday. “Justin Trudeau is spending your money going after pizza ovens here and everywhere and he will not stop until this crisis is resolved.”
Health Canada warned of the effects of wood smoke for carrying pollutants like carbon monoxide on its website.
Environment Canada spokesperson Amelie Desmarais released a statement to clarify the work the NPRI team was doing.
The department had been contacting pizzerias and bagel shops across Canada that use wood-fired ovens to determine if they meet the program’s reporting thresholds.
However, “no wood-fired pizzeria or bagel shop has been identified as meeting the emissions threshold for reporting under published reporting requirements,” reads the statement, which went on to say that no in-person inspections were conducted.
The statement also said that Environment Canada does not anticipate that “pizza shops or bagel shops will be pursued for further compliance promotion activities.”The Association of Restauration Quebec vice-president Martin Vézina told Global News that to his knowledge, no members of the group had reported being contacted by the federal government.
In a groundbreaking study conducted by the Global Institute for Food Security at the University of Saskatchewan, Canadian farmers, particularly in Saskatchewan, have emerged as global leaders in low-carbon agriculture.
This revelation challenges claims made by the Trudeau government which has accused grain growers of being among the world’s worst emission offenders.
The study, first commissioned in 2022, analyzed the carbon footprint of key Canadian field crops, including canola, wheat, and lentils. These crops were compared to their counterparts in major exporting regions such as Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States.
The carbon footprint assessment encompassed emissions from crop cultivation, as well as supply chain activities like transportation and processing.
The results paint a compelling picture of Canada’s eco-friendly farming practices. Canadian canola, for instance, boasts a carbon footprint that is 60% lower than the global weighted average.
Saskatchewan, taking the lead, achieves an even more impressive 67% reduction. This means that every tonne of Canadian canola saves over 1.3 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions compared to the global average.
“These impressive results are driven by the widespread adoption in Saskatchewan of agricultural innovations and sustainable farming practices that have significantly reduced the amount of inputs and emissions needed to farm each acre of land,” said researcher Dr. Steve Webb.
“The sustainable practices include reduced tillage, the adoption of herbicide-tolerant canola, the variable-rate application of fertilizer, a robust crop rotation system, and the production of nitrogen-fixing pulse crops.”
Non-durum wheat production in Canada is also highlighted as the most efficient globally, with a carbon footprint 40% below the international average. Saskatchewan non-durum wheat goes even further, achieving a remarkable 44% reduction. Moreover, Canadian field peas and lentils are shown to have a negative carbon footprint, acting as carbon sinks by absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere than emitted.
In 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the agriculture sector by 30% below 2020 levels by the year 2030.
The target has been met with criticism by farming groups. The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities recently raised concerns about the target, arguing that it was set without proper consultation with the fertilizer industry or the affected farmers. The group suggests that such measures could lead to significant economic consequences, projecting potential losses of $841 million for wheat and canola farmers in Western Canada.
A Liberal MP has said he thinks it’s time for the party to consider conducting a leadership review of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, citing what appears to be a “hatred out there right now” for the Liberal leader.
During an interview with Radio-Canada, Newfoundland MP Ken McDonald wouldn’t go as far as to say Trudeau should step down, but did express his desire for an organized review of Trudeau’s leadership within the party.
A review would allow party members to freely express themselves and for other MPs to come forward as potential candidates for the position.
“As a party, let’s clear the air and if people are still intent on having the leader we have now, fine. But at least give people the opportunity to have their say in what they think the direction the party is going,” said McDonald.
He credits Trudeau for the Liberals’ sweeping election win in 2015, the same year McDonald was first elected, but said that Canadians’ views of Trudeau have since shifted.
“In 2015, it was him that won the election. He won the government,” he said. “He convinced Canadians that this was the time to switch parties and put in a different government. I think Atlantic Canada is much the same as the rest of the country. There’s almost a hatred out there right now for Prime Minister Trudeau.”
McDonald hasn’t been afraid to go against the party grain in the past.
He was the subject of controversy last fall when he voted in favour of abolishing the carbon tax alongside the Conservatives, despite calls from the Prime Minister’s Office, telling him to get in line.
“Various ministers reached out to me. The whip had a meeting with me about this,” he said. “The pressure was intense, but I was determined to do it because I knew the people in my riding wanted me to go that way.”
McDonald believes that rural voters shouldn’t be hit with the carbon tax because they don’t have any alternate forms of transportation besides using their vehicles.
“With the population of Newfoundland, I don’t think we need to change behaviours because we don’t have a population big enough or condensed enough to cause an issue for climate change. We’re not the problem. It’s the densely populated areas that are the problem,” he said.
While Trudeau did agree to put a three-year pause on the carbon tax for home oil heating, McDonald doesn’t think it will be enough to salvage his image.
“People are maybe thinking it’s time for a change,” he said. “Every leader, every party has a best-before date. Our best-before date is here.”
Atlantic Canada has traditionally been favourable to the Liberals, with the party currently holding 24 of the 32 seats in the region, however, in 2015, they held all 32.
According to the latest poll from Abacus Data, the Conservatives now lead over the Liberals in Atlantic Canada by 12 points, meaning they are likely to lose more seats in the next election.
“My biggest fear is that we will lose the government and someone else takes power,” said McDonald, admitting that many constituents in his riding have told him that the party stands a better shot at re-election with a fresh face as leader.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s messaging about affordability is resonating with Canadians in certain parts of his region, acknowledged McDonald.
“He’s talking about affordability and making life more affordable for Canadians. That’s what Canadians want to hear,” he said. “I think the next election will be probably one of the most difficult elections we’ve had run in this country in a long time.”
It’s now a matter of fact and law that Justin Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act was illegal. The government violated the constitution by freezing bank accounts and cracking down on civil liberties. And even invoking the Emergencies Act in the first place was done without compliance with the act itself. Even though the federal government is vowing to appeal, yesterday’s Federal Court ruling is a black mark on Trudeau’s government. In this edition of The Andrew Lawton Show, Christine Van Geyn of the Canadian Constitution Foundation returns to dig into the decision and discuss what it means. Former Conservative leader Candice Bergen returns to talk about why she remains proud of being on the “right side of history” for opposing the act.
Plus, the Liberals are still trying to make their misguided firearms “buyback” happen. Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights CEO Rod Giltaca joins to discuss the latest.
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The legitimacy of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act has received its biggest blow after a Federal Court ruled the order was unconstitutional.
Plus, ahead of his speech in Alberta alongside Premier Danielle Smith, Conservative media personality Tucker Carlson left Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office a voicemail saying he was on his way to liberate Canada.
And Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is standing by her government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act and vowed to appeal the Federal Court’s decision on Tuesday.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Isaac Lamoureux!
The Bank of Canada announced that it would hold its overnight rate at 5% on Wednesday.
The announcement marks the fourth consecutive decision to keep the rate steady at 5% since July 2023.
Governor Tiff Macklem told reporters that discussions at the Bank of Canada have shifted from whether its key policy rate is high enough to how long it needs to maintain it at 5%.
“What came through in the deliberations is that Governing Council’s discussion about future policy is shifting from whether monetary policy is restrictive enough to how long to maintain the current restrictive stance,” said Macklem.
The central bank said it anticipates economic growth will continue to slow, helping inflation to gradually ease across a number of economies. Consumer spending and business investment are also expected to continue to slow this year.
“In the euro area, the economy looks to be in a mild contraction. In China, low consumer confidence and policy uncertainty will likely restrain activity. Meanwhile, oil prices are about $10 per barrel lower than was assumed in the October Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Financial conditions have eased, largely reversing the tightening that occurred last autumn,” reads a statement from the Bank of Canada.
“The Bank now forecasts global GDP growth of 2½% in 2024 and 2¾% in 2025, following 2023’s 3% pace. With softer growth this year, inflation rates in most advanced economies are expected to come down slowly, reaching central bank targets in 2025.”
Some economists believe a rate cut will happen in April but the bulk of Bay Street economists don’t think the first cut will happen until closer to the middle of the year, around June or July.
Borrowing costs, which are at the highest level in two decades, appear to remain restrictive enough to get inflation back under control.
However, inflation and wage growth are moving at a pace faster than the bank would like to see.
Core inflation rose in December and has remained hovering around the 3.5%-4% range, which is far higher than the bank’s target of 2%.
“Labour market conditions have eased, with job vacancies returning to near pre-pandemic levels and new jobs being created at a slower rate than population growth. However, wages are still rising around 4% to 5%,” reads the statement.
“Overall, the Bank forecasts GDP growth of 0.8% in 2024 and 2.4% in 2025, roughly unchanged from its October projection.”
Consumer Price Inflation ended at 3.4% last year, with shelter and fuel costs being the biggest contributor to keeping inflation above the 2% target.
The Bank of Canada expects that inflation will stay around 3% for the first six months of 2024 before gradually going back down to 2% in 2025.
Multiple gunshots rang out at Edmonton’s City Hall on Tuesday morning and a Molotov cocktail was thrown inside leading to the immediate evacuation of the building.
Around 11:00 am the Edmonton Police Services posted on X that they were investigating a weapons complaint at city hall. The police confirmed that one person had been arrested and that roadways in the area had been closed. They asked residents to stay away.
Just over an hour later, the police provided an update on the situation.
“We can confirm shots were fired and a Molotov cocktail was thrown inside City Hall. No injuries have been reported at this time,” said the EPS in a post to X.
The EPS said that they would provide updates as the situation unfolded. They asked that the public refrain from sharing details on the locations and activities of the officers on scene to ensure officer and public safety.
This plea for privacy came after videos were circulating on X of city hall and the officers surrounding the building, along with footage of a man being arrested and thrown into the back of a police van.
During the incident, Edmonton’s mayor and city councillors were at a scheduled meeting of the Emergency Advisory Committee.
Loud gunshots can be heard during a video of the city council meeting, which led to the meeting being put to recess and city hall being evacuated only a few seconds later.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi also took to X, asking Edmontonians to avoid the area and monitor the police media channels for updates.
The EPS offered another update at 2:42 pm saying that the incident had concluded, and roadways were beginning to reopen. They said that there is currently no threat to the public, but that Edmonton City Hall would remain closed while police continue the investigation.
This story is developing, and more information will be added when it becomes available.
