Did Tucker Carlson and other conservative American critics of Justin Trudeau have a point? Canada’s Federal Court ruled Tuesday that the prime minister’s government violated the constitutional rights of anti-mandate protesters by cracking down on the convoy protests that paralyzed Ottawa in 2022.
By invoking the Emergencies Act, the government forced reluctant tow-truck drivers to tow the trucks that had paralyzed Ottawa for a month. The act also allowed the government to freeze bank accounts belonging to protesters and shut down much of downtown Ottawa while police cleared the streets.
On Tuesday, Justice Richard Mosley ruled for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which argued that invoking the Emergencies Act led to the violation of the rights of Canadians. It “led to infringement of Charter rights,” he wrote.
The ruling came as Trudeau and his cabinet were finishing a retreat in Montreal ahead of the winter Parliamentary session, throwing the government off balance as it attempted a much-needed communications reset. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland defended the action and said the government would appeal the ruling.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, welcomed the ruling, saying that Trudeau “caused the crisis by dividing people. Then he violated Charter rights to illegally suppress citizens. As PM, I will unite our country for freedom.”
When Trudeau ordered the streets cleared, some American conservatives, including Carlson, argued that the prime minister was being tyrannical. Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert even called for Canada “to be liberated.”
On Wednesday, a day after the ruling, Carlson visited Alberta for two events with conservative Premier Danielle Smith. But before he arrived, he called Trudeau’s office to warn them he was coming to “liberate Canada.” At the event, he pressed Smith to intervene in the case of four convoy protesters charged with conspiring to murder RCMP officers. She expressed regret about the limits of her office.