Parliamentary Committee Notes: Measures Established Under the Emergencies Act
Issue: The invocation of the Emergencies Act established temporary measures to help law enforcement effectively address this unprecedented public order emergency. They were implemented by the Emergency Measures Regulations and the Emergency Economic Measures Order.
Response:
- On February 14, 2022, the Governor in Council declared a public order emergency under the Emergencies Act.
- It established new temporary measures to help law enforcement effectively address this unprecedented public order emergency.
- Measures were intended to supplement, rather than replace, provincial and municipal authorities.
- Under the Emergencies Act, the measures that were taken could not derogate from the police of jurisdiction, and provinces retained jurisdiction over the administration of justice and policing.
- They were tools that were available to be employed by police of local jurisdiction, at their discretion. Police forces across the country determined if, and how, they used these new tools to fulfill their policing mandate.
- They were implemented by the Emergency Measures Regulations and the Emergency Economic Measures Order.
Emergency Measures Regulations
- The Emergency Measures Regulations prohibited certain types of public assemblies that may have been reasonably expected to lead to a breach of the peace by the serious disruption of the movement of persons or goods, or the serious interference with trade, interference with the functioning of critical infrastructure, or the support the threat or use of acts of serious violence against persons or property.
Emergency Economic Measures Order
- The Emergency Economic Measures Order set out the temporary, emergency financial measures that allowed law enforcement agencies to work more closely with Canadian financial institutions and provided additional measures to monitor and disrupt financial activity associated with the illegal blockades.
Background:
The new measures that were introduced through the Emergencies Act provided new tools in the Emergency Measures Regulations and the Emergency Measures Economic Order to help law enforcement effectively address this unprecedented public order emergency.
These measures were additional to existing tools and were aimed at supplementing existing legislative frameworks related to prohibiting unlawful public assembly that interrupt the movement of people or goods, affect trade, interfere with critical infrastructure, or promote violence against a person or property.
The measures strengthened the ability to impose fines or imprisonment, and to secure and protect critical infrastructure, including border crossings and airports, by setting out specific authorities, such as defining government buildings as protected places.
The proclamation under the Emergencies Act specified the following types of temporary measures to deal with the public order emergency and fill gaps in existing provincial/territorial and municipal frameworks:
- Measures to regulate or prohibit any public assembly, other than lawful advocacy, protest, or dissent, that may reasonably be expected to lead to a breach of the peace, or the travel to, from or within any specified area, to regulate or prohibit the use of specified property, including goods to be used with respect to a blockade, and to designate and secure protected places, including critical infrastructure.
- Measures to authorize or direct any person to render essential services of a type that the person is competent to provide, including services related to removal, towing and storage of any vehicle, equipment, structure or other object that is part of a blockade anywhere in Canada, to relieve the impacts of the blockades on Canada’s public and economic safety, including measures to identify those essential services and the persons competent to render them and to provide reasonable compensation in respect of services so rendered.
- Measures to authorize or direct any person to render essential services to relieve the impacts of the blockade, including measures to regulate or prohibit the use of property to fund or support the blockade, to require any crowdfunding platform and payment processor to report certain transactions to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada and to require any financial service provider to determine whether they have in their possession or control property that belongs to a person who participates in the blockade.
- Measures to authorize the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to enforce municipal and provincial laws by means of incorporation by reference.
- The imposition of fines or imprisonment for contravention of any order or regulation made under section 19 of the Emergencies Act.
These measures were implemented by the Emergency Measures Regulations and the Emergency Economic Measures Order.
Emergency Management Regulations
To help manage these blockades and their significant adverse impacts, the Emergency Measures Regulations prohibited certain types of public assemblies (“prohibited assemblies”) that may have been reasonably expected to lead to a breach of the peace by:
- the serious disruption of the movement of persons or goods or the serous interference with trade;
- interference with the functioning of critical infrastructure; or
- the support the threat or use of acts of serious violence against persons or property.
They also prohibited individuals from:
- participating or causing minors to participate in prohibited assemblies;
- travelling to or within an area where prohibited assemblies are taking place, or causing minors to travel to or within 500 metres of a prohibited assembly, subject to certain exceptions; and
- directly or indirectly using, collecting, providing, making available or soliciting property to facilitate or participate in a prohibited assembly or to benefit any person who is facilitating or participating in a prohibited assembly. Foreign nationals are also prohibited from entering Canada with the intent to participate or facilitate a prohibited public assembly, subject to certain exceptions.
The Emergency Management Regulations also designated certain places as protected, and provided that they may be secured, including Parliament Hill and the parliamentary precinct, critical infrastructures, official residences, government and defence buildings, and war memorials.
Emergency Economic Measures Order
The Emergency Economic Measures Order set out the temporary, emergency financial measures associated with the declaration of a public order emergency under the Emergencies Act. The Order allowed law enforcement agencies to work more closely with Canadian financial institutions and provided additional measures to monitor and disrupt financial activity associated with the illegal blockades.
- These measures included a requirement for financial service providers to determine whether they have in their possession or control property that belongs to a designated person participating in the blockade, and to disclose this information to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) or Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
- It authorized federal, provincial, and territorial government institutions to disclose information to any Canadian financial service provider when it is satisfied that the disclosure would contribute to the application of the Order.
- This allowed law enforcement agencies to share with financial service providers the identity of designated persons, which enabled financial service providers to cease their dealings with designated persons.
- The Order also extended the scope of Canada’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing rules to cover crowdfunding platforms and payment processors. It required crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers that were in possession or control of any funds that were owned, held or controlled by or on behalf of a designated person to register with and report suspicious and large value transactions of $10,000 or more to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).
The measures were intended to supplement, rather than replace, provincial and municipal authorities. The RCMP were engaged only when requested by local authorities. These measures did not displace or replace provincial and territorial authorities, nor did they derogate provinces and territories’ authority to direct their police forces.. These were tools that were available to be employed by police of local jurisdiction, at their discretion. Police forces across the country determined if, and how, they used these new tools to fulfill their policing mandate.
The measures provided for under the Emergencies Act were used to:
- Identify certain locations as being ‘designated as protected and may be secured’
- These locations included airports, hospitals, ports of entry (all of which are defined as “critical infrastructure”), Parliament Hill and the parliamentary precinct, official residences, government and defence buildings, and monuments such as the War Memorial.
- The Minister of Public Safety has the authority to designate other places, if required, but did not designate any additional places.
- Help law enforcement maintain the perimeter in downtown Ottawa, restrict travel and access to that area:
- Using all authorities available to law enforcement, close to 200 arrests, 110 individuals charged with various offences laid and a total of 115 vehicles towed (as of February 21).
- Support law enforcement to reinforce the peaceful conclusion of the illegal blockades, deterring unlawful actions and encouraging peaceful protests both in Ottawa and across Canada;
- Imposition of fines and possible imprisonment for protesters refusing to leave, with penalties of $100,000 and up to one year of imprisonment for non-compliance.
- Prohibit a minor to participate in a public assembly that has been deemed unlawful;
- This was a temporary measure designed to protect the safety and welfare of children (defined as an individual under 18).
- Require financial service providers to determine whether they had in their possession or control property that belonged to a designated person participating in the blockade, and to disclose that information to the RCMP or CSIS;
- Canadian financial institutions were required to temporarily cease providing financial services to any individual or entity that was directly or indirectly engaged in the illegal blockades; and
- Banks or other financial service providers had the ability to immediately freeze or suspend an account without a court order.
- Authorized federal, provincial and territorial government institutions to disclose information to any Canadian financial service provider when it is satisfied that the disclosure will contribute to the application of the Order;
- Allowed law enforcement agencies to share with financial service providers the identity of designated persons, which enabled financial service providers to cease their dealings with designated persons;
- This resulted in the disclosure of approximately 57 entities, which includes individuals and owners or drivers of vehicles involved in the blockades; approximately 170 Bitcoin wallet addresses shared with virtual currency exchangers; and, the proactive freezing of the account of a payment processor by a financial institution.
- Extended the scope of Canada’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing rules to cover crowdfunding platforms and payment processors.
- It required crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers that are in possession or control of any funds that are owned, held or controlled by or on behalf of a designated person to register with and report suspicious and large value transactions of $10,000 or more to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).
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