Emergencies Act inquiry wraps up 6 weeks of public hearings: ‘An amazing feat’ – National

The inquiry probing the Liberal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act in response to last winter’s weeks-long “Freedom Convoy” protests has wrapped up its public fact-finding hearings.

The Public Order Emergency Commission heard from more than 75 witnesses, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday, and introduced more than 7,000 documents into evidence over the course of six weeks.

It was “an amazing feat,” said commissioner Paul Rouleau, who got some cheers from lawyers and spectators in the Ottawa hearing room after he wrapped up the proceedings on Friday evening.

“I’m particularly pleased by the fact that these hearings have by and large taken place without a hitch,” he said.

“This is a very divisive issue at the root of this whole convoy and what has come out of it, and I think this process, I hope, will be of assistance to people to understand and move forward. It is truly humbling to me to be involved in this.”

Rouleau said he is satisfied that he can now make factual findings and answer the key questions the commission was mandated to explore: Why did the federal government declare the emergency? How did it use its powers? And were those actions appropriate?

“These are questions that, as I said at the outset, the public wants answered,” Rouleau said. “I’m confident that I am now well positioned to provide those answers.”

The commission faced extraordinary time pressures, with a report to Parliament due by next February, less than a year after the events the inquiry has been tasked with evaluating.

Lawyers for parties to the commission, including governments, police forces, protesters and civil society organizations, presented brief summaries of their closing arguments on Friday, with more thorough written arguments to be filed later on.

2:56
‘There was consensus around the table’: Trudeau speaks about eve of Emergencies Act invocation

A lawyer for…