Canada's use of emergency powers during 'Freedom Convoy' met threshold, commissioner says

FILE PHOTO: Justice Paul Rouleau arrives to the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada October 28, 2022. REUTERS/Blair Gable

TORONTO (Reuters) -Canada's government met the threshold for invoking emergency powers when it did so in early 2022 to deal with border blockades and an occupation that brought parts of the capital to a standstill in opposition to vaccine mandates but the necessity of such emergency powers could have been avoided, the commissioner of an independent inquiry said on Friday.

For weeks last January and early February, the "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations against a wide range of government measures including COVID-19 vaccine mandates shut down Ottawa and blocked some border crossings, leading the federal government to invoke emergency powers to end the protests.