Document Shows Ottawa’s Expenditure of $73 Million on Utilizing Emergencies Act
Ottawa spent over $73 million to enact emergency powers in response to the Freedom Convoy protests, according to government documents.
The total amount spent to date on the Emergencies Act was $73,550,568, with the majority of expenses going toward local authorities in the cities of Ottawa and Windsor, Public Safety Canada said in their response, which was first obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter. Costs associated with fiscal year 2023-2024 are “still to be determined,” the document said.
“It should also be noted that the additional funding allocated by the government to Ottawa and its partners as well as Windsor were not specifically a result of the Emergencies Act invocation, but meant to compensate both municipalities for the extraordinary expenses incurred during and after the protracted blockades,” Public Safety Canada said in the Inquiry document.
The RCMP played a lead role in shutting down the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa, which was launched to oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers but evolved into a larger movement against government COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. The federal government spent at least $400,000 on charter flights and an additional $1.3 million on hotel rooms to accommodate out-of-town officers, the document said.
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The federal government laster spent $17.5 million on the judicial inquiry into the use of the act, as required by the legislation.
Mr. Trudeau later stated he regretted calling Freedom Convoy protesters a “small fringe minority” and said, “I wish I had phrased it differently.”
In January, a federal judge ruled that the use of the Emergencies Act was “not justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints,” required by the act.
