The creator of the Emergencies Act would not say if its Feb. 14 invocation by the Liberal government was justified to deal with the Freedom Convoy protests and blockades, but he said it is such a “blunt” tool that efforts should be made to avoid using it in similar circumstances in the future. Perrin Beatty, who created the Act that was adopted in 1988 while serving as defence minister under Brian Mulroney, testified before the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency on March 29. Beatty focused his interventions on the intention that guided the creation of the Act as he addressed the committee formed of MPs and senators. Beatty reminded how the previous War Measures Act, invoked during the two World Wars and the 1970 FLQ crisis, was drastic, could not be challenged in court, and did not protect civil liberties. He said the Emergencies Act of 1988 …