Civil Rights Groups Ridicule Canadian Government

It 'strains credulity' that Cabinet believed the truckers were akin to terrorists.

Three civil rights organizations involved in the Emergencies Act inquiry wrapped up their participation last month by filing a joint closing submission. These were:

1. the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

2. the Democracy Fund

3. and Citizens for Freedom, a group associated with the protests in Windsor, Ontario

Paragraph 2 of that document describes matters nicely:

The Freedom Convoy – a truck-centered protest movement – had unique characteristics that posed a unique challenge to the city and to police, who failed to
appreciate that many of the truckers had driven many days to protest in Ottawa, [and] that they are used to spending long periods of time in their vehicles, which double as living spaces…Contrary to the expectations of the city and the police, many truckers did not intend on dispersing after the first weekend of protests.

[bold added]

Prior to invoking the Emergencies Act, the government was unable to point to any serious violence or even any credible threats. As the civil rights groups explain:

the protests were clearly and overwhelmingly non-violent. Protest organizers and the vast majority of those in attendance loudly and genuinely encouraged peaceful and nonviolent behaviour. Protest organizers took extraordinary steps to prevent violence, and to report any violent incidents or rhetoric to the police.

[paragraphs 59-60]

For these reasons, say the civil rights trio, Cabinet and the Prime Minister could not possibly have believed the Ottawa protest was on a par with terrorism. In their words:

The idea that Cabinet could have actually held such a belief strains credulity.

[paragraph 112, bold added]