The Privy Council Office (PCO) continues to conceal hourly rates charged by lawyers at the 2022 Freedom Convoy inquiry. Access to information records show that several law firms pocketed six-figure payments, according to invoices.

The Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) had lawyers sign contribution agreements “governed by a maximum number of hours, not a maximum dollar amount,” records showed. 

The commission, which initiated its investigation in April 2022 into the government's use of the Emergencies Act during the peaceful anti-mandate protests in Ottawa, incurred a total cost of $17.5 million for taxpayers. 

The PCO did not divulge how much it spent on lawyers. Only a single line item was detailed: a $17,171 expense claim by Justice Paul Rouleau, who oversaw the lengthy inquiry.

However, other legal groups that accessed funding to offset legal fees, were made public by the federal government.

A total of 23 lawyers attended public hearings into the Emergencies Act invocation, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. Piecemeal accounts show the largest claim disclosed to date, $202,959, was paid to counsel for the Canadian Constitutional Foundation.

Charges by counsel Sujit Choudhry included a $334-per-night room at the Ottawa Marriott Hotel. “The Commission booked me into this hotel at this rate,” Choudhry wrote on one expense claim.

The Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas billed $180,517. Other legal charges include $157,191 by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, followed by the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs ($130,100), the Convoy Organizer Group ($120,793), the Criminal Lawyers’ Association and Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers ($83,128), and the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms ($19,140).

Rebel News attempted to reach the Justice Centre for a detailed breakdown of its claim but did not hear back at publication.

The inquiry upheld the Trudeau cabinet’s use of the Emergencies Act as “reasonable," with the Commons also endorsing its use against protesters by a 185 to 151 vote,  the invocation of which has since been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court. The Trudeau Liberals are currently appealing that January verdict. 

Prior access to information records revealed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet sought legal advice after invoking emergency powers against the Freedom Convoy.

The extrajudicial powers granted police and authorities extraordinary authority to arrest, search and seize Canadians and their assets to end the three-week-long trucker-led demonstrations in the nation’s capital.

For years MPs have sought proof that legal advice deemed the action lawful beforehand, but advice tendered to cabinet by the Attorney General is protected by client-solicitor privilege.

Among the censored documents include a two-page Memorandum For The Attorney General dated February 15, 2022 — one day after cabinet authorized extrajudicial powers to quash the Freedom Convoy.

According to the PCO, 87% of 31,844 documents went undisclosed. The feds waived cabinet privilege for Justice Rouleau to review thousands of documents but did not permit their disclosure to the public.

Canadians will wait decades to see the confidential memos and emails, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

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