Inquiry into Liberals’ emergency powers given power to compel witnesses, documents

Ottawa nears deadline to call inquiry into Emergencies Act use over convoy protests “I am committed to ensuring that the process is as open and transparent as possible, recognizing the tight timelines for reporting imposed by the Emergencies Act,” Rouleau said in a brief statement Monday.A government source told Global News earlier on Monday that the commission will have a “broad mandate” to examine the circumstances leading up to the convoy protests, which paralyzed downtown Ottawa for weeks and blockaded multiple Canada-U.S.

border crossings.According to the government, Rouleau will have the “power to summon witnesses under oath, and require them to provide documents or other items that the commissioner considers necessary” to produce their report.At the same time, the government will require the commission to prevent the release of any documents that could be considered damaging to Canada’s international relations, national security or defence.

Where’s ‘freedom’ from here? Canada’s convoy protests are over, but the anger remains Rouleau’s mandate, set out in a government document published Monday, is indeed broad.

He’s been tasked with examining the “evolution and goals of the convoy and blockades, their leadership, organization and participants,” the impact of “domestic and foreign funding” including the millions donated through crowdfunding platforms, and the role of “misinformation and disinformation” that helped fuel the protests.The much-criticized response of the Ottawa Police Service will also be under Rouleau’s purview, as well as the economic impact of the cross-border blockades, which slowed trade with the U.S.Access to government documents and decision-makers was a key question about the public.