'I am serene': Trudeau testifies at Emergencies Act commission

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is ‘serene and confident’ he made the right choice in invoking the first ever use of the Emergency Act to end the ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests in Ottawa and blockades in other parts of the country in February.

Speaking on the final day of proceedings of the Public Order Emergency Commission, Trudeau said his government’s actions were able to resolve the situation peacefully at a time when there were concerns about counter-protests.

“There was no loss of life, there was no serious violence… we were able to get neighbourhoods back under control, border services opened,” he testified Friday. “And, there haven’t been any recurrence of these kinds of illegal occupations since then.”

“I am absolutely, absolutely serene and confident that I made the right choice in agreeing with the invocation [of the Emergencies Act],” he said.

Trudeau testified there were concerns raised among senior officials, his cabinet, and some of Canada’s premiers that the use of the act might further inflame the situation but said he had to balance that with the possibility of violence.

“The situation was already pretty inflamed. My concern was, if we continued to not do anything, are enough citizens going to start counter-protesting and taking things into their own hands at various places across the country that we do get into dangerous, violent situations?” he said.

Trudeau said he was well aware the historic approval of the emergency measures would inevitably lead to very public hearings like this commission and the decision was not taken lightly.

“It was a big thing not a small thing to have the head of the public service recommend the invocation of the Emergencies Act,” he explained, but added he weighed that with the potential violent outcome if he did not sign it or delayed matters.

Finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland made similar comments on Thursday.

“What if, when I had an opportunity to do something, I had waited and we had the unthinkable happen over the coming days?,” Trudeau said. “I would have worn that in a way that we would certainly be talking about in a forum such as this.”

Trudeau said a prime minister has a responsibility “to make the tough calls and keep people safe.

“This was a moment to keep Canadians safe … I was very comfortable that this was the right thing to do.”

Throughout the commission hearings, civil liberty advocates, as well as protester groups, have argued the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act was political overreach and not necessary.