Tuesday, January 30, 2024

The Only Emergency Was Justin's Cowardice and Humiliation

He needs to be ousted:

His critics call him Prime Minister Zoolander after the vacuous male model in the movie of the same name. 

But Canada’s Justin Trudeau is someone much more sinister. 

That’s been obvious ever since the PM turned the federal government’s power on the COVID mandate-protesting truckers of Canada’s Freedom Convoy in 2022, jailing them, seizing their rigs and even shutting down their bank accounts (“debanking,” as it’s known) — though that last came to a swift end when enough Canadians withdrew their money to threaten a bank run.

We were told the truckers were “right-wing extremists,” probably racist and possibly agents for the dreaded MAGA cabal. Really.

This was twaddle at the time and mostly went to show just how afraid the West’s leadership has become of a populist revolt. 

But now we’re learning more. 

Last week, federal Judge Richard Mosley found that the Canadian government overstepped legal bounds in going after the truckers, writing, “I conclude that there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable.” 

It’s worse than that. 

Recent independent journalism has demonstrated this “unreasonable” decision wasn’t simply an honest mistake.

It was the product of a deliberate campaign of deception and denigration the government organized with help from its media allies.

Leaks, often misleading, characterized the truckers as extremists. 

Media reported these, and nonprofit groups repeated the message.

The government-funded nongovernmental organization (got that?) the Canadian Anti-Hate Network identified the feds’ opposition as extremists and possible terrorists, which the government then used as “independent” support for its actions. ...

As journalist Elizabeth Nickson writes, “If Canada were a state, it would be poorer than West Virginia or Mississippi, despite being the second-largest country, with abundant natural resources, in the world, blessed with a highly educated populace.”

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All future cabinets are on notice against misusing the Emergencies Act to quash peaceful protest, civil rights lawyers yesterday told reporters. Asked for comment on cabinet’s appeal of a critical Federal Court ruling, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association replied: “We will fight them tooth and nail.”
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If at first you don't succeed, try him again:

An Ontario court's order to retry a "Freedom Convoy" protester could have implications for the ongoing trial of the protest's two key organizers.

The Superior Court of Justice ordered a retrial last week for Allen Remley, a convoy participant who had been acquitted on a mischief charge.

Remley was acquitted last year by Justice Heather Perkins-McVey, who is also presiding over the criminal trial for organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.

The court ordered a retrial after concluding Perkins-McVey didn't adequately take the context of the protest into account.

University of Ottawa criminologist Michael Kempa says that means the judge will have to apply a broader standard when the time comes to rule on Lich and Barber.

In Remley's case, Perkins-McVey found the Crown had failed to adequately prove that he was engaged in mischief during the protest.


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