Former justice minister says he's still 'confident' in decision to trigger Emergencies Act

Former justice minister David Lametti says a federal court judge made a bad call when he ruled that the federal government was wrong to trigger the Emergencies Act to break up the 2022 convoy protests.

Lametti announced Thursday that he would be leaving political life on Jan. 31 after eight years as an MP — more than half of them as minister of justice and attorney general. In an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, he defended the government's use of the Emergencies Act, a moment which forever marked his tenure as the country's top legal official.

"I disagree with the decision. I disagree with [Justice Richard Mosley's] analysis and I disagree with his framing of the issue and his treatment of the facts," Lametti told host Catherine Cullen.

"I'm pretty confident this decision will be overturned on appeal."

Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley found the government's invocation of the Emergencies Act "does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility," and actions taken under the act infringed on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was quick to cite the decision and accuse Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of acting illegally.

"He caused the crisis by dividing people," he posted on the social media platform X. "Then he violated Charter rights to illegally suppress citizens. As PM, I will unite our country for freedom."

Lametti defended the government's actions, saying cabinet tried to balance the rights of Canadians with the need to end weeks-long protests that dominated Canadian politics as the COVID-19 pandemic wore on in early 2022.

"I believe that we had minimal impairment of rights for a short period of time," he said. "And what about the rights of citizens of Windsor and Ottawa and auto workers and people in other parts of the country, in Coutts [Alta.], whose rights were being trampled on by these illegal occupations?"

Lametti also voiced his support for revamping the Emergencies Act to clarify the circumstances under which it can be used.

"We need to have an act that's usable. We need to have a standard that reflects current reality," he said.

Lametti, who has represented the riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun since 2015, served in a variety of parliamentary secretary roles before being named minister of justice.

Lametti was dropped from cabinet when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau overhauled his team last summer — a move that caught many observers by surprise.

He said he still doesn't know why it happened.