Invocation of #EmergenciesAct – Presentation by Prof. Bruce Pardy: A Dangerous Precedent

A Queens University professor, Bruce Pardy is an expert in many fields of law, notably Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law and civil procedure.

At a press conference held Feb 17 2022, Professor Pardy outlined what criteria needs to be met in order for the #EmergenciesAct to be invoked, and how the government has failed to meet those. By the government's own words, "there has been no violence ... there is no intelligence for the threat of any violence," and instead the basis for the government's actions was 'rhetoric'.

It was speech – the expression of a political position – that the government has used as justification to suspend constitutional freedoms and the rule of law.

Professor Pardy goes on to explain that the re-definition of language – such as, 'speech is violence' – is setting a precedent for "governments to have the power to declare emergencies and crush any peaceful protest, any dissent that threatens their political fortunes and ideology."

From his bio – "Professor Pardy is one of a rare breed in Canada: a classically liberal legal academic who regards equal application of the law, negative rights, private property, limited government and separation of powers as foundational to the Canadian and Western legal tradition."

Timestamps –

The video begins with a description of the specific thresholds the government must meet in order to invoke the Act relevant to this situation.

How the government attempts to meet those thresholds and the threat it poses to the future of Canada's democracy begins at 05:20.