The federal government spent over $3.7 million in legal expenses related to its invoking of the Emergencies Act in February 2022 in response to the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa at the time, says the Department of Justice.
Liberal MP Gary Anandasangaree, who is Justice Minister David Lametti’s parliamentary secretary, said in the House of Commons on June 14 that total legal costs associated with expenses the government incurred for outside legal counsel on “work related to the invocation of the Emergencies Act” along with subsequent legal action stemming from it amounted to just over $3,756,458.
“This amount includes outside legal fees related to the Public Order Emergency Commission, which had a timeline compressed by statute,” said Anandasangaree, adding that the fees were calculated from information contained in the Justice Department’s internal systems as of May 4, 2023….