The federal government has not met the threshold necessary to invoke the Emergencies Act. This law creates a high and clear standard for good reason: the Act allows government to bypass ordinary democratic processes. This standard has not been met. 1/3
The Emergencies Act can only be invoked when a situation "seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada" & when the situation "cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada."
Governments regularly deal with difficult situations, and do so using powers granted to them by democratically elected representatives. Emergency legislation should not be normalized. It threatens our democracy and our civil liberties. #cdnpoli
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On the anniversary of Canada's #charterofrights , we have today retained counsel and are preparing to go to court in the coming days, to challenge the Black Friday Regulation 294/21. 1/6 files.ontario.ca/solgen_oreg294…
We have retained Anil Kapoor, one of Canada’s leading criminal and constitutional lawyers, to lead a legal team being assembled as we speak, to launch a legal challenge before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, most likely by way of injunction. 2/6 kapoorbarristers.com/the-firm/anil-…
We are bringing a challenge as quickly as possible, in order to restore peoples’ freedom from arbitrary police stops. Reg 294/21 codifies the odious “driving while black” police stop, adding a “walking while black” offence -- legalized carding, and that’s unconstitutional. 3/6
Last week police services across Ontario quietly got access to a new database – a COVID-19 testing database, with the names, addresses, and dates of birth of those who have tested positive for the virus.
Providing personal health information directly to law enforcement is an extraordinary invasion of privacy. Such a measure should only be taken when clearly authorized by law and absolutely necessary given the particular circumstances.
In early April the government passed an emergency regulation to facilitate the sharing of COVID-19 status with first responders. At the time the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario objected to the emergency order authorizing this disclosure because ...