The “Freedom Convoy” was a protest movement against public health measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by those who opposed government-imposed vaccination mandates for individuals holding certain types of employment. In early 2022, the “Freedom Convoy” movement spread rapidly through social media, culminating in several weeks of protests and blockades in locations across Canada, and particularly at ports of entry and in downtown Ottawa. The “Freedom Convoy” was able to fundraise several million dollars on the crowdfunding platforms GoFundMe and GiveSendGo.

Some of these blockades and protests became entrenched over the ensuing days and weeks in January and February 2022, and local police services seemed unable to bring the demonstrations to a conclusion. In the meantime, there were economic repercussions and impacts on residents, especially in Ottawa.

On 14 February 2022, the prime minister announced that the Governor in Council had invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time since its adoption, issuing a Proclamation Declaring a Public Order Emergency. This authorized the federal government to exercise certain special temporary powers to bring an end to the “Freedom Convoy.”

These special temporary measures were made through the Emergency Measures Regulations and the Emergency Economic Measures Order. Among other measures, the Emergency Measures Regulations included measures to prohibit certain kinds of public assembly and allow certain places to be secured, while the Emergency Economic Measures Order provided a regime whereby certain financial institutions could freeze financial accounts used to support the “Freedom Convoy.”

Ultimately, a police operation brought an end to the occupation of downtown Ottawa and the blockades taking place at various ports of entry concluded. The declaration of emergency was revoked on 23 February 2022.

Subsection 62(1) of the Emergencies Act provides that a parliamentary review committee must review the “exercise of powers and the performance of duties and functions pursuant to a declaration of emergency.”

Accordingly, on 3 March 2022, a special joint committee of the Senate and the House of Commons was established for this purpose (Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency), and it began its review of the exercise of powers and the performance of duties and functions pursuant to the declaration of emergency in March 2022.

Under paragraph 62(6)(c) of the Emergencies Act, the parliamentary review committee is obligated to report to Parliament within seven sittings days after the revocation of the declaration of emergency. As such, the Committee presented its first report in March 2022, which indicated that the Committee intended to present  additional reports at a later time. The Committee then continued to hear from witnesses until the end of 2022.

The Committee’s work coincided with the work of the Public Order Emergency Commission, which was the inquiry established in accordance with section 63 of the Emergencies Act to examine “the circumstances that led to the declaration being issued and the measures taken for dealing with the emergency.”

The Committee presented a second interim report on 7 October 2024 to the House of Commons and on 8 October 2024 to the Senate, providing an update on the status of its ongoing work.