The Federal Court of Canada has granted Alberta intervener status in four legal challenges against the Emergencies Act.
The court order will allow the government of Alberta to intervene on non-constitutional and constitutional issues raised before the court, the province said in a statement late Friday afternoon.
It comes after Alberta Premier Jason Kenney filed a request for a judicial review of the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in February. Kenney had always been critical of the Emergencies Act, which was invoked by the federal government in response to convoy protests in Ottawa.
He called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invocation of the act “disproportionate” and “unnecessary,” claiming the province already had the legislative tools necessary to stop the blockades. Kenney previously referenced the province’s Critical Infrastructure and Defence Act (CIDA), a bill that allows law enforcement to fine and arrest individuals blocking critical infrastructure such as highways and railroads.
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Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to launch court challenge against feds’ Emergencies Act
“We will protect our province from the dangerous precedent set by the federal government in pointlessly invoking the Emergencies Act. Their decision to invoke the act violated the constitutionally guaranteed rights of Albertans, and all Canadians,” Kenney said in an emailed statement on Friday.
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