Freeland says an economic threat is a national threat

Finance minister defends decision to end protests

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland drew a direct link between Canada’s economic and national security Thursday, as she defended her government’s decision to declare a public order emergency to end the “Freedom Convoy” protests.

The assertion came in testimony to the Public Order Emergency Commission, where cabinet ministers have faced questions about the legal basis upon which they invoked the Emergencies Act in February to clear protesters from Ottawa and at several U.S. border crossings.

“I really do believe our security as a country is built on our economic security,” Freeland said. “And, if our economic security is threatened, all of our security is threatened. And I think that’s true for us as a country. And it’s true for individuals.”

Yet, while Freeland said the Liberal government’s decision to use the Emergencies Act was correct, she repeatedly refused to detail whether the purported economic harm being done by the protests formed the basis of the government’s decision — and if so, whether it was legal.

“I’m not a lawyer,” said Freeland, who also serves as Canada’s deputy prime minister. “I rely on the judgment of officials who advised us and on expert legal advice.”

That analysis remains the key missing piece as the commission enters the final days of public hearings exploring the government’s decision to invoke the act for the first time since it became law in 1988.

The Emergencies Act specifies that a public order emergency is one arising from a threat to Canada’s security, as defined in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act.

That definition includes espionage or sabotage of Canada’s interests, foreign influence, acts of serious violence against people or property with political, religious or ideological objectives, or the violent overthrow of the Canadian government.

But, while the clerk of the Privy Council testified last week that the government took a wider interpretation, including threats to Canada’s economic security, the federal Liberals have refused to release the legal advice that formed the basis of their decision.

Freeland testified the protests coincided with a period of fragility for the Canadian economy, with supply-chain challenges, American plans to exclude Canada from electric-vehicle incentives and the looming Russian invasion of Ukraine all causing uncertainty.

Freeland said, initially, she didn’t involve herself in dealing with the protests, which started Jan. 29 when thousands of people and hundreds of trucks gathered in downtown Ottawa to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions.

But, when protesters blocked the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, the busiest trade route between Canada and the U.S., she said: “From a finance, economic perspective, that escalated things exponentially. That’s what made it a hugely significant economic action.”

The White House was also concerned about the bridge blockade and the director of U.S. President Joe Biden’s national economic council, Brian Deese, made it clear to Freeland the U.S. wanted Canada to get the situation under control.

The commission was shown an email exchange between Freeland, her chief of staff and deputy minister following a Feb. 10 call from Deese, where Freeland wrote: “They are very, very, very worried.”

She added: “If this is not sorted out in the next 12 hours, all of their northeastern car plants will shut down.”

Freeland had spent a lot of time trying to convince Deese in 2021 that the U.S. needed to create an exemption for electric-vehicle incentives that initially excluded Canada, the inquiry heard.

‘‘ I really do believe our security as a country is built on our economic security.

CHRYSTIA FREELAND