A special joint parliamentary committee has voted to block the release of uncensored documents that detail the federal government’s rationale for invoking the Emergencies Act against the Freedom Convoy.
Sponsored by Bloc Québécois MP Rhéal Fortin, the motion that federal agencies “be required to provide the committee with unredacted versions of those documents” was defeated in a 6–5 vote, with Liberal MPs and Liberal-appointed senators voting against it on the night of Oct. 20.
The Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency was created to review the “exercise of powers and the performance of duties and functions pursuant to a declaration of emergency” after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, using it as a means to quash the protests against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions by truckers and their supporters in Ottawa and across the country….