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The federal government acted unreasonably and was not legally justified in its decision to invoke the Emergencies Act to put an end to protests that shut down Ottawa and jammed some border crossings two years ago, the Federal Court ruled yesterday.
Cabinet’s decision to proclaim a public order emergency under the act “does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness,” Justice Richard Mosley wrote in his decision. The government failed to prove that there was an emergency, as defined by the Emergencies Act, with the protests not meeting the high threshold of a threat to the security of Canada, he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters the government stands by its decision to invoke the act and will appeal the Federal Court ruling.
- Campbell Clark: A verdict on Trudeau’s biggest call, and a millstone around his neck
- Editorial: In case of emergency, do not break law
Police walk through parked trucks to make an arrest on Wellington Street, on the 21st day of a protest, in Ottawa, on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
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Trump wins New Hampshire primary as rematch with Biden appears increasingly likely
Donald Trump has moved closer to securing the Republican presidential nomination after winning the New Hampshire primary yesterday, setting up a potential rematch with U.S. President Joe Biden in November.
The former president notched a double-digit victory over Nikki Haley, his only remaining rival in the race. A defiant Haley vowed to continue the campaign, but subsequent states could prove more difficult for her with higher proportions of conservative voters.
Trump’s juggernaut sails on despite facing four criminal trials for trying to overturn the 2020 election, refusing to return classified documents to the government and falsifying business records. If he returns to the White House, the former president is promising to take “retribution” against his political opponents.
Man arrested after firing shots, starting fire at Edmonton City Hall
An armed man fired several shots inside Edmonton’s City Hall and started a fire with what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail, before being detained by an unarmed security guard yesterday.
There were no known injuries as Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and city councillors were in a meeting nearby, and a class of Grade 1 students was touring the building at the time.
Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee said the suspect is believed to have acted alone, and he stressed that there were no further concerns for public safety. The shooting was a rare assault on a centre of civic life in a Canadian city.
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Also on our radar
Bank of Canada expected to remain on hold: The Bank of Canada is expected to keep its policy interest rate steady at 5 per cent for the fourth consecutive time since July. With economic growth stalling and inflation hovering just above the bank’s control range, analysts expect the bank to start lowering interest rates in the coming quarters. Follow our live updates.
Multiple deaths after plane crash in NWT: A small plane crash has killed multiple people in the Northwest Territories, devastating the nearby town of Fort Smith, just north of Alberta, as local authorities prepared the hospital to receive wounded patients. There was no official word on how many people had been killed as authorities were working to notify families of the victims.
B.C., Ontario plan crackdown on ‘bad actor’ colleges: The governments of British Columbia and Ontario said yesterday they are planning to crack down on private colleges that they say take advantage of international students, after Ottawa announced Monday a plan to cap foreign study visas for two years.
Patient surge, staff shortage hit Edmonton hospital: Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital was forced to cancel and delay surgeries last month because it was overwhelmed with patients and struggling with a staff shortage, according to a letter senior physicians sent to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and provincial Health Minister Adriana LaGrange.
‘Overwhelming’ evidence of terrorism, Crown says: Prosecutors closed their case against Nathaniel Veltman on Tuesday by arguing his murders should be considered terrorist acts because they were specifically planned to spread fear among Muslims and inspire follow-up attacks by other white nationalists.
Atlantic premiers voice concerns about passenger rights proposals: The premiers of the four Atlantic provinces say proposed changes to the rules that govern how airlines treat passengers when flights are delayed or cancelled could hurt air travel in the region as airlines would drive up seat prices to recover the higher costs of following the law.
Turkey approves Sweden’s NATO bid: Turkey endorsed Sweden’s membership in NATO yesterday, lifting a major hurdle from the Nordic country’s entry into the military alliance. Turkey’s ruling party said Sweden’s tougher stand on Kurdish militants was key to winning its approval.
Morning markets
Markets gain: Global shares rose on Wednesday, fuelled by positive tech earnings and optimism Chinese authorities will offer support to its stock markets. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.26 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 1.04 per cent and 0.55 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finishe down 0.80 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 3.56 per cent. New York futures were positive. The Canadian dollar was modestly higher at 74.34 US cents ahead of the latest Bank of Canada rate announcement.
What everyone’s talking about
Angela Mondou and Paul Samson: “While strategic AI opportunities remain for Canada, the window is closing fast. To drive national strategy and action, a key step should be to appoint a federal minister of AI and digital economy.”
Marsha Lederman: “The movie [The Zone of Interest] is as polarizing as any this year. The Globe and Mail’s Barry Hertz called it ‘the best and most important film of 2023.’ The New York Times called it ‘hollow’; the New Yorker said it was ‘Holokitsch.’ Some have called it out for failing to show what happened at the extermination camp: the mass gassing of 1.1 million people, mostly Jews – including children – and the burning of bodies in custom-made crematoria. The film makes for a sanitized Holocaust, the argument goes. I disagree.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Is gold a good hedge against inflation?
The ideal hedge is an investment that rises in value fast enough to protect the investor against a loss in purchasing power. But does gold do a good job in that role? It’s an important question, given the high inflation in recent years. Here, we consider the question from a Canadian perspective.
Moment in time: Jan. 24, 1984
In this April 24, 1984, file photo, from left, Steve Jobs, chairman of Apple Computers, John Sculley, president and CEO, and Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, unveil the new Apple IIc computer in San Francisco.SAL VEDER/AP
The Apple Macintosh goes on sale
One of the more significant turning points in human history began with a TV commercial. It was shown only once – a one-minute epic teaser directed by Ridley Scott titled 1984 – during the third quarter of Super Bowl 18. It warned of Big Brother conformity and suggested help was on the way. The commercial officially introduced a new consumer product – the Apple Macintosh. The personal computer went on sale two days after the Super Bowl, on this day in 1984, and it promised a new era of creativity and ease of use. At a list price of US$2,495 it wasn’t cheap. But it was all in one, a processor and black-and-white nine-inch screen built into one portable beige case about the size of a large backpack. It featured a floppy disk drive, a radical graphical user interface, used a standard-equipment mouse and by today’s standards it was glacially slow with almost no memory. But practically anyone could use it and it launched an era of continuous invention and development of powerful, personal, easy-to-use computers that eventually begat the smartphone. And Apple’s stunning 1984 advertisement? It’s considered the best Super Bowl commercial in history. Philip King
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