Alberta, Shandro, to challenge ‘unnecessary’ Emergencies Act

Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says the province is going to make the argument the Emergencies Act wasn’t needed during the public inquiry, which is slated to start Thursday.

The province is one of two that has been granted full standing to participate in all aspects of the public inquiry.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is part of a list of 65 people that includes high-profile convoy organizers like Tamara Lich and Pat King, and they are expected to testify.

Shandro says the Alberta government is going to argue the Act wasn’t needed during the Coutts border blockade, citing that the RCMP dealt with the blockade before the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act.

“The decision to invoke the act violated the constitutionally guaranteed rights of Albertans and gave the federal government the ability to seize property without due process of law,” Shandro said in a statement.

“Alberta already had the legislative tools necessary to deal with blockades. The unnecessary invocation of the Emergencies Act has set a dangerous precedent and it is incumbent upon Alberta to challenge the violation of the rights of Albertans and all Canadians.”

Shandro mentions that the province has filed a notice to “intervene in legal challenges” against the federal government from the Canadian Constitution Foundation, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association this year.

“Alberta will demonstrate that the Coutts border blockade was effectively dealt with prior to the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act,” Shandro said.

A letter sent by the municipal affairs minister Ric McIver, which saw him ask for federal help to deal with vehicles that were still blocking the path, was made public and shared in response to Shandro’s announcement.

Remember the @Alberta_UCP government asked the Federal Government for help.
This is a waste of time and resources when the government should be focusing on todays issues. #abpoli #ableg pic.twitter.com/Wr0HUDXFTH

— Sarah Zagoda (@SarahZagoda) October 12, 2022

The letter, which was sent on Feb. 5 during the blockades at the Coutts border, was confirmed by McIver on Feb. 20, but he said in tweets that sending a letter and invoking the Emergencies Act are “very different matters.”

“The extraordinary measures under the Emergencies Act were neither asked for nor needed to resolve the Coutts border blockade,” McIver said in a tweet.

On Feb 5, we asked the fed gov for assistance with equipment and additional resources to deal with the situation at Coutts. We did not ask the fed gov to grant itself unprecedented powers to suspend civil liberties under the Emergencies Act. These are two very different matters.

— Ric McIver (@RicMcIver) February 21, 2022

The extraordinary measures under the Emergencies Act were neither asked for nor needed to resolve the Coutts border blockade.

— Ric McIver (@RicMcIver) February 21, 2022

UCP react to invocation of Emergencies Act

Trudeau enlisted the act on Feb. 14, which granted police extraordinary temporary powers to clear people and vehicles out of downtown Ottawa and allowed banks to freeze the accounts of some of those involved.

Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney condemned the use of the act and vowed to take the federal government to court.

The province filed a court challenge on Feb. 19, with Kenney calling it an “unnecessary and disproportionate measure that can violate civil liberties,” while also invading provincial jurisdiction. He said it “creates a very dangerous precedent for the future.”

Despite the federal government revoking the Act on Feb. 23, Kenney still wanted to challenge its use.

The federal government granted the province “Intervener status” on the public inquiry on May 6.

Good news!

The Federal Court has granted Alberta intervenor status to support the @CDNConstFound and the @cancivlib in their legal challenge of the Trudeau government’s use of the Emergencies Act. pic.twitter.com/aBu8FxqBNU

— Jason Kenney ???????????????????????? (@jkenney) May 6, 2022

Protestors at the Coutts border blockade created issues for the province, but members of the UCP, including Shandro, say the Emergencies Act wasn’t needed to remove the protestors.

The blockade was one of several in Canada that sprung up as a result of the Ottawa blockade that saw supporters protest vaccine mandates, COVID-19 measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government for nearly four weeks.

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Kenney, in response to the blockade on his grounds, issued a statement on Jan. 30 that Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act gives police and prosecutors additional penalties they can levy to address blockades of highways and other infrastructure.

The law, passed by his United Conservative government last year, protects railways, highways and pipelines from anyone trespassing, interfering with operations and construction, or causing damage.

“Operational enforcement decisions are the responsibility of police services, and enforcement at the border crossing itself is in part a federal responsibility,” Kenney noted in his statement.

-With files from Hana Mae Nasar, Cormac Mac Sweeney, Lucas Casaletto, and The Canadian Press.