Background information: Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency—Invocation of the Emergencies Act (April 26, 2022)

DEDC Committee overview

This document provides an overview of statements made by DEDC members in the House of Commons (HoC) or the Senate (SEN) related to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) mandate and the Emergencies Act during the 44th Parliament.

Committee overview

As a result of the Emergencies Act being invoked on February 14, 2022, a Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency (DEDC) composed of members of both the House of Commons and the Senate has been established to review the Government's actions under the Act for the 10 days it remained in effect.

On February 21, 2022, the motion for confirmation of the declaration of emergency was adopted in the House of Commons following the Government's declaration of a public order emergency to end disruptions, blockades and the occupation of the city of Ottawa.

DEDC Members

Statements by DEDC Members Related to the Emergencies Act

Members of the House of Commons

Glen Motz (CPC):

• Opposes invoking the Emergencies Act
• "[…] the situation in Coutts (Alberta) was resolved using the legislation that already exists. With authorities from the RCMP and the elected officials, it was resolved. Those individuals who were planning to commit criminal offences were dealt with appropriately without enacting the Emergencies Act." (HoC, 2022-02-17, 15:56)

Larry Brock (CPC):

• Opposes invoking the Emergencies Act
• "[…] the prolonged blockades […] at border crossings were against the law, but the invocation to implement the Emergencies Act was completely unnecessary and […] did not meet the extremely high threshold as set out in the act." (HoC, 2022-02-20, 7:02)

Arif Virani (LPC):

• Supports invoking the Emergencies Act
• "The blockades that have emerged around the country are deliberately targeting critical infrastructure. We know about what happened at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor and Detroit. The multi-day siege on Canada's busiest border crossing alone, and I am now wearing my hat as the parliamentary secretary for international trade, resulted in the suspension of nearly $400 million in daily trade between Canada and the United States, the cancellation of shifts at multiple auto plants in southern Ontario and an intervention by President Biden and the Governor of Michigan showing that confidence in Canada as a safe place to invest, do business and trade with is starting to erode." (HoC, 2022-02-17, 15:26)
• "Blockades have occurred in Surrey, Emerson and Coutts, Alberta. What should be startlingly alarming for every person in this chamber […] is that when members of the RCMP went to clear the Coutts border crossing, they made 13 arrests, including laying charges for conspiracy to commit murder." (HoC, 2022-02-17, 15:26)
• "When factions armed with weapons and ammunition are blockading borders, they are directly endangering the lives of Canadians. When groups are deliberately blocking trade corridors with our single largest trading partner, grinding our border traffic to a halt, they are threatening the ability of the federal government to preserve our sovereignty and economic security." (HoC, 2022-02-17, 15:26)
• "We know that there was an attempted resurrection of the blockade in Windsor just yesterday (February 16, 2022), and the Windsor police used the tools under the Emergencies Act to their benefit in preventing and thwarting that quickly." (HoC, 2022-02-17, 13:54)

Yasir Naqvi (LPC):

• Supports invoking the Emergencies Act
• […] when the government invoked this act, it was in the spirit that the measures are very targeted in geographical scope; they are temporary in nature […] and the response is proportional to the situation we are dealing with. […] to ensure that we put an end to blockades at our vital trade links and our border crossings and prevent them from happening." (HoC, 2022-02-20, 15:54)
• "There is not only the occupation of downtown Ottawa, but also the blockades that we saw in Windsor, in Manitoba at the Emerson crossing, in Coutts, Alberta and, most recently, in British Columbia. Certain tactics have been used to impede […] the commerce and economic viability of the country." (HoC, 2022-02-20, 16:21)

Rachel Bendayan (LPC):

• Supports invoking the Emergencies Act
• No specific mention of border blockades or the CBSA

Rhéal Éloi Fortin (BQ):

• Opposes invoking the Emergencies Act
• No specific mention of border blockades or the CBSA

Matthew Green (NDP):

• Supports invoking the Emergencies Act
• "[…] denialism of what happened at Coutts (Alberta) is completely in line with […] ongoing denialism of the extremist white supremacist threat to our Canadian democracy." (HoC, 2022-02-20, 9:18)
• "[…] border crossings across the country have been under siege by blockades and occupations." (HoC, 2022-02-17, 14:15)

Members of the Senate

Claude Carignan (CPC):

• Opposes invoking the Emergencies Act
• "Why didn't the Government of Ontario or the City of Ottawa quickly seek injunctions to clear the roads in Ottawa and Windsor? […] in the case of the injunction to restore traffic on the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, the applicant was an automotive manufacturing industry association." (Senate, 2022-02-22, 16:32)
• "[…] the Emergencies Act did not need to be invoked, since the protesters had already been cleared from the Ambassador Bridge by police officers enforcing the injunction on February 13, before the act came into effect. Furthermore, border control is a federal jurisdiction, so the federal government could have sought an injunction to end the blockade at the Coutts border crossing in Alberta much earlier." (Senate, 2022-02-22, 16:32)

Vernon Darryl White (Independent):

• Supports invoking the Emergencies Act
• "I watched as […] blockades were popping up at border crossings across Canada, in some cases severely hampering trade, crippling part of parts of our economy like the auto sector. […] there was a tipping point where the federal government had to take a greater role, and that role in this case was the invocation of the Emergencies Act." (Senate, 2022-02-23, 13:06)

Gwen Boniface (Independent):

No mention of the Emergencies Act, border blockades or the CBSA

Peter Harder (Independent):

No mention of the Emergencies Act, border blockades or the CBSA

Overview of previous Committee meetings on the Invocation of the Emergencies Act

Standing Committee on the Declaration of Emergency (DEDC)

March 24, 2022

There were several motions that were introduced, adjourned and/or passed. A motion was adopted to invite the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the President of the Queen's Privy Council and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, the Minister of Public Safety, and the Minister of Justice to appear before the Committee at dates chosen by the Committee to discuss measures invoked on February 14, 2022 under the Emergencies Act (EA) for a period of 1.5 hour each, for a total of 6 hours. Ministers would be allotted five minutes for opening remarks, followed by 1.5 hour of questioning from members (dates TBC). A subsequent motion was debated on additional potential witnesses to appear before the Committee, which included officials from the CBSA; however, this motion was adjourned. Members also agreed to have Ministers appear before departmental officials.

Finally, members adopted a motion to have the legal clerks of the House of Commons and the Senate, as well as the former Minister of National Defence, the Honorable Perrin Beatty, appear before the Committee in order to receive legal counsel as well as determine the scope of the review as defined under the EA. Of note, Minister Beatty introduced the EA in 1987.

March 29, 2022

During the first half of the meeting, both law clerks of the Senate and the House of Commons assisted the Committee in defining the scope of the review and explained it was up to the Committee to determine that scope. Members focused their questioning on the Law Clerks' interpretation of the scope as defined under the EA.

During the second half of the meeting, Mr. Beatty appeared before the Committee as the Former National Defence Minister responsible for the creation of the EA. He explained the motivations in replacing the War Measures Act with the modern EA, and described the principles that guided the legislation. Members mostly asked questions related to the intended scope of the EA.

Standing Committee on Finance (FINA)

February 22, 2022

Questions focused on rationale behind the EA, the number of individuals impacted by the Act, the implementation and interpretation of the powers, as well as confirmation that the measures are not retroactive. Lines of questioning from all parties focused largely on the freezing of bank accounts/crowdfunding platforms which does not involve the CBSA. Officials from CRA, Finance and Justice were present.

February 24, 2022

Questions were technical in nature and focused on the gathering and use of financial information as officials from FINTRAC were present. There were no CBSA-specific questions posed during this meeting.

March 7, 2022

Questions touched on a number of issues including: the process through which the RCMP and financial institutions worked to have financial assets frozen, whether or not the tools provided for under the EA were required to resolve the occupation of Ottawa and other blockades; and, the level of guidance for financial institutions provided by the federal government before and after invoking the EA. Officials from the RCMP and Canadian Bankers Association were present. There were no CBSA-specific questions posed during this meeting.

March 14, 2022

Questions focused on the impact the protests had on businesses, financial reporting requirements, First Nations involvement and how use of the Act impacted the First Nations. External stakeholders were present. There were no CBSA-specific questions posed during this meeting.

March 17, 2022

Questions focused on the amount of protest funding received from foreign donors, the freezing of bank accounts and how the blockades and protests impacted the automotive sector. External stakeholders were present. There were no CBSA-specific questions posed during this meeting.

Of note, Mr. Volpe (Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (AMPA)) noted they felt provincial and municipal law enforcement responsible for the area around the Ambassador Bridge could have addressed the blockade when it started by making use of the authority granted under the Highway Traffic Act. Further, LPC MP Dzerowicz asked Mr. Volpe whether there was anything unusual about the blockage at Ambassador Brdige. Mr. Volpe stated that the blockades were publicly disavowed by the Canadian Trucking Alliance and the Ontario Trucking Association and that major logistics companies used by AMPA had expressed they had 100% vaccination policies. So, drivers who were unvaccinated would be reassigned to inter-country shipments.

Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU)

February 25, 2022

The Minister appeared alongside Deputy Heads from PS, RCMP and CBSA. Senior officials from the Department of Finance, the Department of Justice and Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) joined PS portfolio officials for the second hour.

The line of questioning was mainly focused on:

• the threshold for invoking the EA
• existing powers vs. granted authorities under the Emergency Measures Regulations (EMR)
• flagging/freezing of bank accounts
• technical questions about the EA, including questions related Charter rights
• provincial/municipal actions before the EA
• RCMP efforts

Of note, only one question was directed to the CBSA concerning Border Services Officers and the illegal border blockades:

March 3, 2022

The Committee heard testimony about what led to the freezing of crowdfunding to the Freedom Convoy and what methods are used to make those decisions. Witnesses from crowdfunding platforms (GoFundMe, PayPal Canada, etc.) were in attendance. There were no CBSA-specific questions posed during this meeting.

March 24, 2022

The Committee heard from the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) regarding the occupation of Ottawa and the convoy blockades. Both the OPS and the OPP indicated that the invocation of the EA was an effective tool to ensure the safe delivery of goods and services and to restore peace and order in Ottawa.

Of interest to the CBSA, members asked the OPS if any loaded firearms were found at the protest in Ottawa. He confirmed that there was intelligence received in regards to loaded fire arms at the protest and that there are ongoing investigations, but that no charges have been laid to date (no CBSA involvement in this investigation). He also confirmed that there would be a public announcement should charges be laid.

Members also questioned why the EA was invoked in Ottawa, but not at similar protests such as the border disputes in Alberta, Manitoba, and Windsor Ambassador Bridge. OPS explained that border disputes do not typically affect residential areas, and in the case of Ottawa the occupation of a major municipality, and therefore the EA was not required in those areas.