The last living contributing author of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms Brian Peckford is extremely concerned about the overreach being used by the government after it invoked the Emergencies Act..Peckford — the former Premier of Newfoundland — spoke at a press conference on Monday in Ottawa with the leaders of the truckers’ Freedom Convoy..“We are at a very historic moment in our history to see this act being invoked for the first time against peaceful demonstration and civil disobedience,” said Peckford..“This is completely unnecessary to apply to the truckers and we will over the next days and weeks we will actively argue against any such measure being passed by the Parliament of Canada.”.He said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not made any effort to sit down with the truckers who are peacefully demonstrating to find possible solutions..Peckford said invoking what was previously known as the War Measures Act, is “completely unnecessary” and hopes the order will be shot down in Parliament within the next week..“We want robust debate and no closure on this for weeks.”.Section 1 of the Charter — the government being able to restrict individual freedoms — doesn’t apply in this situation, said Peckford..“If Section 1 does apply, which I would argue it doesn’t, they would have to demonstrably justify their actions,” he said..Peckford said it is a very high bar for the governments to eliminate the individual rights and freedoms of Canadians in the Charter..“The kind of action that the government of Canada is taking, killing a fly with a sledgehammer, this is completely and absolutely unnecessary,” said Peckford..“I, as a citizen and a person who was involved in the creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, must take issue with what I anticipate to be an action against the people of the country through the Emergencies Act.”.Ewa Sudyk is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.esudyk@westernstandardonline.com
