OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) –– Prominent Canadian lawyers, pundits and politicians blasted today’s ruling by Liberal-friendly Justice Paul Rouleau, which outright exonerated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government’s use of the Emergencies Act (EA) to crush the Freedom Convoy last year.
“So it appears very clear that the judiciary in Canada is now as compromised as the government itself,” tweeted famed Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson.
So it appears very clear that the judiciary in Canada is now as compromised as the government itself @PardyBruce https://t.co/gqqzJnrwou pic.twitter.com/PbJsQEE1z4
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) February 17, 2023
Elaborating, Peterson pulled no punches, adding:
The fact that the Canadian “authorities” have concluded that the Trucker convoy conspired an insurrection severe enough to warrant war measures action by the feds should strike horror into the heart of every Canadian who values freedom.
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) February 17, 2023
This means, just to clear, that all future governments, conservative to socialist, can now use the full might of the state against all who dare to raise a protest.
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) February 17, 2023
Alberta-based political commentator Paul Mitchell was also direct in his assessment regarding Rouleau’s ruling, writing on Twitter, “As expected. Rigged bull****,” before adding, “Canada is a banana republic.”
‘Corruption at its finest,’ says former federal minister
People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier, who was a former Conservative MP and cabinet minister, likewise took a shot at Rouleau’s ruling, saying it showed a strong bias toward the prime minister’s Liberal Party.
Former Liberal activist Paul Rouleau was named by Trudeau to cover Trudeau’s ass. He delivered spectacularly.
Liberal corruption at its finest. pic.twitter.com/AodRizb0le
— Maxime Bernier (@MaximeBernier) February 17, 2023
Canadian lawyer and social media personality Viva Frei also chimed in, lamenting that “Canada is dead.”
Canada is dead.
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) February 17, 2023
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), who represented Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich, who was jailed for weeks on non-violent mischief charges related to the protest, said it was “disappointed” with today’s ruling, but reminded the public that Rouleau’s decision has no legal standing.
“This conclusion does not bind the Federal Court,” said the JCCF. “On April 3-5, 2023, in Ottawa, the Federal Court will hear the legal and constitutional challenge in Jost et al v Canada to the declaration of an emergency in response to the Freedom Convoy.”
Trudeau is the one who ‘caused the emergency’
Following the ruling, Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leader Pierre Poilievre held a press conference to address the media and give his reaction.
While Poilievre did not seem to condemn Rouleau’s ruling outright, he did skewer Trudeau for his implementation of “unscientific” COVID mandates that caused the Freedom Convoy protest to begin with, and accused the prime minister of inflaming the situation as a way to “distract” and “divide” the country.
The POEC was tasked last fall with determining whether the Trudeau government was justified in using the EA to crush the Freedom Convoy.
It conducted a thorough monthlong public hearing that called forth dozens of witnesses, including Trudeau, many of his cabinet ministers, as well as Freedom Convoy leaders such as Lich.
The Freedom Convoy gathered in Ottawa in January and February of 2022 to call for an end to all COVID mandates, which resulted in some provincial governments such as Alberta and Saskatchewan ultimately dropping the vaccine passport programs they had in place.
Despite ruling in his favor, Trudeau had admitted while testifying before the Commission that the Freedom Convoy was not violent but that he needed to enact the EA anyway.
He also denied calling “unvaccinated” Canadians names, despite previously referring to the vaccine-free as “misogynists” and “racists” who “deny science” on television.
While Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23, 2022, the unprecedented freezing of citizens’ bank accounts led to immense backlash by civil rights groups and the public alike.
At the time, seven of Canada’s 10 provinces opposed the use of the EA by Trudeau.