Trudeau invoked the previously unused Emergencies Act, which granted the Ottawa sweeping powers to crack down on the so-called Freedom Convoy, on 14 February. Canada’s Emergencies Act includes the provision that its use must trigger an inquiry within 60 days of the declaration.
“Trudeau today announced the establishment of the Public Order Emergency Commission, an independent public inquiry following the invocation of the Emergencies Act,” the PMO said in a statement. “The Commission will examine the circumstances that led to the declaration being issued and the measures taken in response to the emergency.”
The commission will be led by Paul Rouleau, a former Ontario Superior Court of Justice judge, who will have to submit the final report to the Canadian government by 20 February, 2023.
Rouleau vowed in a separate press release that the process will be “as open and transparent as possible."
Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act, which among other measures allowed the government to seize protesters’ bank accounts, received widespread condemnation, with some civil liberties groups taking the government to court and the prime minister becoming the focal point of unflattering international media coverage.
The emergency declaration was revoked on 24 February, just two days after it passed with the backing of the opposition New Democrats in parliament.
The wave of protests across Canada began in mid-January, with tens of thousands of truckers and other demonstrators converging upon Ottawa to express strong opposition to vaccine mandates for truckers crossing the US-Canada border. The protest eventually evolved and various political groups united in opposition of Trudeau's government.
The Ottawa leg of the protests were routed by law enforcement shortly after the emergency declaration.