OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — The public hearings into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act (EA) to crush the Freedom Convoy will begin tomorrow via a public livestream and call forth at least 65 witnesses over six weeks.
Canada’s Public Order Emergency Commission, headed by former Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Rouleau, released the full list of 65 witnesses, which includes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and seven members of his cabinet.
The hearings will be fully public and, as Rouleau noted, will “to embark on the public phase of the process of finding answers to the questions assigned to it by Parliament under the Emergencies Act.”
“This critical phase will shed light on the events that led to the declaration of the public order emergency and fully explore the reasons advanced for the declaration,” Rouleau said.
“I am confident that, with the cooperation of all of the parties, the hearings will provide a fair and thorough process for the presentation of the evidence required for the Commission to be able to give the public the answers to which it is entitled.”
Canada’s Public Order Emergency Commission said that members of the public “are welcome at the hearings,” both in person and via a livestream, which will be held at the Bambrick Room at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa.
The livestream will start each day at 9:30 a.m. ET and can be found on the commission’s website. The hearings will run until November 25.
Several people associated with the Freedom Convoy will speak at the hearing, as will members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ottawa Police, and the Mayor of Ottawa.
From the Freedom Convoy, the list shows that Tamara Lich, Benjamin Dichter, and Chris Barber will be called to testify as well as Tom Marazzo.
Lich, one of the main Freedom Convoy leaders, spent months in jail before being released on bail in July. She will face a trial next year.
Patrick King, who was associated with the Freedom Convoy early on but was later dismissed by the main leaders, will also testify.
The commission will hear presentations and reports from the Commission Counsel and has stated it does intend “to call federal Cabinet Ministers to explore the reasons the government deemed it appropriate to invoke the Emergencies Act.”
Trudeau, along with a sizable portion of his cabinet, will also be called to testify to explain why the government chose to use EA to shut down the Freedom Convoy in February.
The commission’s policy phase will start November 28 and last for one week.
There will be a series of roundtable “panel discussions with experts in various fields related to the Commission’s mandate.”
“Each panel will be centered on a common theme or set of questions that have been developed in consultation with the Commission’s Research Council, with input and comment from the Parties,” the commission noted.
In April, the Public Order Emergency Commission was formed by the government with the task to look into the “circumstances that led to the declaration of emergency that was in place from February 14 to February 23, and the measures taken for dealing with the emergency.”
The Commission will “examine and assess the basis for the Government’s decision to declare a public order emergency, the circumstances that led to the declaration, and the appropriateness and effectiveness of the measures selected by the Government to deal with the then-existing situation.”
It will then conduct a “policy review of the legislative and regulatory framework involved, including whether any amendments to the Emergencies Act may be necessary.”
Canada’s draconian COVID measures were the catalyst for the Freedom Convoy, which took to the streets of Ottawa to demand an end to all mandates for three weeks in February.
Trudeau enacted the EA on February 14 to shut down the Freedom Convoy.
While Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23, many who supported the Freedom Convoy were targeted by the federal government and had their bank accounts frozen without a court order.
List of anticipated witnesses:
- Victoria De La Ronde
- Zexi Li
- Nathalie Carrier
- Kevin McHale
- Catherine McKenney (City of Ottawa)
- Mathieu Fleury (City of Ottawa)
- Steve Kanellakos (City of Ottawa)
- Serge Arpin (City of Ottawa)
- Jim Watson (City of Ottawa)
- Diane Deans (City of Ottawa)
- Patricia Ferguson (Ottawa Police Service)
- Craig Abrams (Ontario Provincial Police – OPP)
- Carson Pardy (OPP)
- Pat Morris (OPP)
- Steve Bell (Ottawa Police Service)
- Russell Lucas (Ottawa Police Service)
- Marcel Beaudin (OPP)
- Robert Drummond (Ottawa Police Service)
- Robert Bernier (Ottawa Police Service)
- Thomas Carrique (OPP)
- Peter Sloly
- Brigitte Belton
- James Bauder
- Steeve Charland
- Patrick King
- Benjamin Dichter
- Tom Marazzo
- Chris Barber
- Tamara Lich
- Drew Dilkens (City of Windsor)
- Dana Earley (Ontario Provincial Police)
- Jason Crowley (Windsor Police Service)
- Jim Willett (Village of Coutts)
- Marco Van Huigenbos
- Marlin Degrand (Alberta)
- Mario Di Tommaso (Ontario)
- Ian Freeman (Ontario)
- Rob Stewart (Public Safety Canada)
- Dominic Rochon (Public Safety Canada)
- David Vigneault (Canadian Security Intelligence Service)
- Michelle Tessier (Canadian Security Intelligence Service)
- Marie-Hèlene Chayer (Integrated Threat Assessment Centre)
- Deputy Commissioner Michael Duheme (RCMP)
- Commissioner Brenda Lucki (RCMP)
- Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki (RCMP)
- John Ossowski (former, Canadian Border Services Agency)
- Michael Keenan (Transport Canada)
- Christian Dea (Transport Canada)
- Michael Sabia (Department of Finance)
- Rhys Mendes (Department of Finance)
- Isabelle Jacques (Department of Finance)
- Cindy Termorhuizen (Global Affairs Canada)
- Joe Comartin (Global Affairs Canada)
- Jody Thomas (Privy Council Office)
- Jacquie Bogden (Privy Council Office)
- Janice Charette (Privy Council Office)
- Nathalie Drouin (Privy Council Office)
- Minister Anita Anand (National Defence)
- Minister Marco Mendicino (Public Safety)
- Minister Bill Blair (Emergency Preparedness and President of the King’s Privy Council)
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
- Minister Omar Alghabra (Transport Canada)
- Minister David Lametti (Justice)
- Minister Dominic LeBlanc (Intergovernmental Affairs)
- Minister Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Finance)