Liberals plan to rewrite Emergencies Act to make it easier to invoke in the future

The Canadian Press / Adrian Wyld

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Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti plans to rewrite the Emergencies Act to include policing the internet tools so that invoking martial law will be easier to use during the next inevitable China-spawned pandemic.

The admission was made in his interview with Public Order Emergency Commission lawyers and is found in interview summary documents.

Texts from Justice Minister Lametti:
“We needed to stay ahead of the NDP and senators were saying that they would vote against [the EA] based on their view that there was no longer an emergency.”#POEC pic.twitter.com/yAQ2d4P22K

— The Democracy Fund (@TDF_Can) November 23, 2022

"Minister Lametti identified two areas in which the legislative and policy reform was required. The first was legislative amendments to the EA itself to make it more responsive to pandemics and health emergencies. There is also a need to modernize the language of the Act to address online harms such as violent online rhetoric and financing," said the POEC report summary.

Defence Minister Anand comments on ministers Lametti and Mendicino speaking "in jest" about the need for a tank to end the Freedom Convoy.
"Does cabinet solidary require you to find this joke funny?" quips @JCCFCanada lawyer Rob Kittredge.

MORE: https://t.co/aITJqHm3UY pic.twitter.com/XC5cPz2CAV

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 23, 2022

The POEC is the official examination of the use of the Emergencies Act (EA) against peaceful anti-COVID mandate protesters in the nation's capital who were part of the Freedom Convoy in February 2022.

Commissioner Paul Rouleau asks Justice Minister David Lametti about the use of injunctions against protests like the Freedom Convoy.
Lametti says "it's definitely there as an option," but says its a question of jurisdiction.

MORE: https://t.co/aITJqHm3UY pic.twitter.com/IxxlwWMJFs

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 23, 2022

The EA gave authorities extraordinary powers of arrest, warrant-less seizures and the ability to freeze bank accounts of participants, organizers and supporters of the weeks-long trucker-led demonstration against remaining COVID restrictions in Ottawa last year.

Government of Canada lawyers tell the commission that Attorney General David Lametti will refuse to answer “all questions that delve into solicitor-client privilege.”#POEC pic.twitter.com/jXKRAtLTEq

— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) November 23, 2022

Last month, the head of the commission, Justice Paul Rouleau, ruled the government was justified in using the EA against the convoy, explaining the convoy amounted to a national security emergency requiring the suspension of civil liberties to extinguish.