We're back, and Chaudhury says she will put some of the criticisms of the EA invocation to Trudeau.
The first one is the assertion that it was "anti-democratic" to trigger the EA. Trudeau says the EA was debated in parliament years ago, and that the EA includes "mechanisms afterwards to ensure that it was not used erroneously or lightly."
He outlines three: votes in parl on the declaration, requirement for a parl committee to study, and the inquiry itself

They call Trudeau to the stand. Nothing happens. Rouleau: "This is a bit anti-climactic."
He calls for a five minute break but just as he's leaving JT walks in. Everyone laughs.
He's on the stand now. The lawyer questioning Trudeau on behalf of the inquiry is Shantona Chaudhury.

Ok. It's the big show at the #POEC, the grand finale, and there is a buzz of Santa-is-coming excitement at the inquiry today. But Santa isn't coming. It's PM @JustinTrudeau, the last and most-anticipated witness who triggered the #EmergenciesAct to quash the "Freedom Convoy." @JustinTrudeau On the way in this morning, media had to get sniffed by dogs and searched. There was a big line of people passing through airport-style security as well, including one guy I saw with a "FUCK TRUDEAU" flag. (A guard told me he won't be allowed to bring it inside)

OK we're back with Part 2 of the day: Katie Telford, Brian Clow and John Brodhead of the PMO. #POEC They're talking about what the PMO is and what they do. Telford is Trudeau's chief of staff. Brodhead is director of policy. Clow is one of 2 deputy chiefs of staff, oversees policy, communications, issues/parl affairs, global affairs, COVID teams.

Ok we're back at the #POEC. Canadian Constitution Foundation asking @cafreeland questions now. @cafreeland Freeland being asked about the Section 2 threat definition thing.

We're back, and Freeland is talking about whether small donors would be caught up in the emergency orders (we've heard from Sabia et al that no small donors had their accounts frozen) She says she's really glad no small donors had their accounts frozen, but she was worried that some would be at the time and this would exacerbate doubts in the gov't.

Hello #POEC fans and followers. It's Day 30 of this thing, the penultimate day of testimony. We have Finance Minister and Deputy PM @cafreeland up this morning, followed by a trio of PMO officials including JT's chief of staff @telfordk. Follow me and @TondaMacC for updates! @cafreeland @telfordk @TondaMacC Freeland starts by explaining what the minister of finance is.

Alrighty then. Defence Minister @AnitaAnandMP is on the stand now. @AnitaAnandMP Inquiry lawyer Gord Cameron lets us all know he won't have a ton of questions, but the ones he asks are still important.

We're back for the afternoon sesh of the #POEC. Alan Honner of the JCCF is questioning Lametti. They're talking about the press conference on Feb. 14 when JT said they invoked the EA. Honner suggests the government decided to invoke the EA before it finished that day's call with premiers.
Lametti says "you're completely off-base"

We're back with Lametti at the #POEC.
He agrees the "potential power was great" with an emergency declaration, and that parliament wanted to create a threshold linked to the CSIS Act when crafting the EA in the 1980s. Inquiry lawyer Gordon Cameron gets Lametti to agree that the EA definition of a national security threat has the meaning ascribed from the CSIS Act. (This is one of the big issues at the inquiry, since CSIS says it never thought it's threat definition was met)

Quite an exchange via text between @DavidLametti and @marcomendicino here. It's Feb. 4, and they're talking about getting military help. "How many tanks are you asking for," Mendicino writes. @DavidLametti @marcomendicino Lametti now talking about his view that government's can justifiably communicate priorities to the police, without crossing the line.

Brendan Miller Freedom Convoy Lawyer wanted to call additional witnesses to the #POEC, a request that Commissioner Paul Rouleau rejects in this just-released decision. Miller wanted the Ottawa police to hand over documents about the truck that was photographed with a Confederate flag during the protests. I and many others saw it driving around on the first day, and Miller has implied there's something fishy there but hasn't explained what.

Miller is back and he apologizes to Rouleau for "talking over you today."
He's questioning Mendicino now. Miller is raising how he asked CSIS agents about Enterprise and the Nazi flag yesterday.
Mendicino says he doesn't know what Miller is referring to.

Mendicino says he can't recall if former CSIS agents were part of the protests, but he had some concerns about former military and police. He also recalls concerns about active police members leaking info and being sympathetic to the convoy cause.

Good morning. We're back at the #POEC and Public Safety Minister @marcomendicino is on the stand. Follow me and @TondaMacC for updates. @marcomendicino @TondaMacC Mendicino is talking about getting briefed on the approaching "Freedom Convoy" in late January, before the lines of trucks started arriving in Ottawa.

Blair says he believes the CSIS position was that the convoy protests didn't meet their definition of a national security threat, which they need to trigger investigations. But the EA didn't rely on that definition, and instead uses a broader one, Blair says. Blair says he believes there was indeed an "underlying threat of serious violence" during the protests, and that "many Canadians experienced threats of violence, intimidation and fear."

Bill Blair, minister of emergency preparedness and former Toronto police chief, is taking the stand now. They're talking about Blair's job and who is responsible for what related to public safety and emergencies inside the federal government.

Brendan Miller, lawyer for some convoy protest leaders, is now questioning the CSIS panel. Sorry after a bit of technical back-and-forth around documents Miller wants to use, he's standing down to tweak some stuff while the OPP's Christopher Diana asks questions.

I'm back at the #POEC alongside @TondaMacC for the @TorontoStar. We have a panel of witnesses from the top rung of CSIS this morning. Expect a bunch of talk about how they didn't think there the convoy posed a national security threat according to the definition in the EA. @TondaMacC @TorontoStar In invoking the EA, the Trudeau government cited section 2c of the CSIS Act, which essentially says there is a risk of "serious" political violence.
CSIS has said they didn't think such a threat existed according to its definition. thestar.com/politics/feder…

Ok here we go with Jody Thomas, Trudeau's national security and intelligence adviser, at the #POEC. Thomas says he position was created in the PCO after 9/11 to coordinate amongst different security departments and agencies.

Good morning from the #POEC. I'm back in the saddle with @TondaMacC and we'll be writing and tweeting etc. We have a panel of finance people talking about financial stuff this morning. @TondaMacC Expect info on frozen accounts under the EA, and why the government felt that was needed.