Rejecting unproven claims prevents 'mob' takeover of convoy inquiry: Murray Sinclair
The commissioner presiding over the public inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act will not allow a lawyer for "Freedom Convoy" organizers to explore an unsubstantiated claim that hateful imagery spotted at the Ottawa protests last winter was staged.
Justice Paul Rouleau released a written response to a request by Freedom Corp. lawyer Brendan Miller, who wanted to call new witnesses, saying his claims are "troubling" and have "little foundation in evidence."
Miller accused lobbying firm Enterprise Canada of planting Nazi and Confederate flags at the protest -- an accusation the company called "absurd and despicable" as well as untrue. It also sent a cease-and-desist letter that said it intends to serve Miller with a formal libel notice.
Rouleau said it makes no sense to call witnesses to test claims Miller is making without evidence, and he questioned why the lawyer only raised the issue at the end of the Public Order Emergency Commission's six weeks of public hearings.
He also rejected Miller's request to have police do a licence-plate search on a truck seen carrying a Confederate flag. "This is, in essence, a fishing expedition," Rouleau wrote.
The decision came a day after Rouleau had Miller briefly removed from the hearing room for speaking over him as he argued to call a last-minute witness.
Murray Sinclair, the former senator and judge who has presided over three inquiries, said Rouleau's response is the right way to handle unproven claims and prevent the process from getting derailed.
"The way he addresses it is the approach I would have taken, and that most people who run inquiries probably would have taken," said Sinclair, who is now a lawyer with the Winnipeg firm Cochrane Saxberg.
Sinclair recalled an inquiry he led in the late 1990s into the deaths of a dozen babies at a Winnipeg hospital. The lawyer for a doctor accused of wrongdoing sought to discredit the testimony of nurses by claiming one had been in a relationship with the doctor, without any evidence.
Sinclair disallowed the questioning at the time, saying it was not relevant to the mandate of that inquiry and didn't seem to be grounded in fact.
He saw a parallel in Miller's request.
"To give them free reign to call evidence on something that they want to get evidence on, because they have a particular viewpoint about something, would be tantamount to surrendering control to the mob, so to speak," Sinclair said.
"The primary responsibility you have when you're running an inquiry is to keep it focused, because you have so many possibilities and so many possible areas of interest."
Sinclair said lawyers do bring up information in the course of their questioning that "can be totally wrong, or can be based upon misinformation, or based upon lies."
It's simply part of the duty of judges and commissioners to test allegations and decide whether they deserve a platform, Sinclair said.
"If people are coming forward and making allegations of misinformation in the course of their submissions, or in the course of their cross-examination of witnesses, that's almost part of the judicial process in the broadest sense of the term."
Sinclair made a similar assessment as a senator in 2017, during a committee study of a bill that ultimately added transgender people into the protections of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Some witnesses testified that the change would legally compel people to use pronouns and gender terms they do not agree with.
"The concerns expressed, while strongly and legitimately held, were not well founded, and in fact were contrary to the intention of the bill," Sinclair told his colleagues at the time.
Wayne MacKay, a professor emeritus at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, agreed Rouleau made the right call in his Wednesday decision.
"I think he could have been more blunt, and in some ways more harsh than he was," said MacKay.
He noted that it's relatively new to see what he called "the conspiracy element and the extremist-group element" come up in a public inquiry.
"This may be the first public airing of that," said MacKay, who will be moderating a panel next Tuesday for the commission, which he says will involve the role of misinformation on social media and extremist groups.
MacKay said the Mass Casualty Commission into the April 2020 shootings in Nova Scotia made an early decision not to entertain theories that the gunman's common-law spouse was complicit in the shootings. He said the commissioners argued that the evidence did not support that theory.
Both Sinclair and MacKay also said Rouleau made an important point in noting that Miller made his claims in the final week of the commission's fact-finding phase.
Sinclair said it's rare commissioners would allow new arguments so late in the process.
"That might result in further delay or a sidetracking of the inquiry," Sinclair said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2022.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Defence rests without Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial
Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defence Tuesday without the former president taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial.
Passenger killed, 30 injured as Singapore Airlines flight hits severe turbulence
One passenger was killed and 30 injured after a Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI flight from London hit severe turbulence en route on Tuesday, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, officials and the airline said.
Feels like mid-30s in parts of Canada, while other areas expecting snow
Anything is possible this week, as far as Canada's weather is concerned, with forecasts ranging from scorching heat in some parts of the country to rain and snow in others.
Canada's inflation cools to 3-year low of 2.7%, in boost for rate cut bets
Canada's annual inflation rate slowed to a three-year low of 2.7 per cent in April, matching expectations, and core measures continued to ease, data showed on Tuesday, likely boosting chances of a June interest rate cut.
Trump campaign calls 'The Apprentice' 'blatantly false,' director offers to screen it for him
Donald Trump's reelection campaign called 'The Apprentice,' a film about the former U.S. president in the 1980s, 'pure fiction' and vowed legal action following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. But director Ali Abbasi is offering to privately screen the film for Trump.
Nestle to sell $5 pizza, sandwiches in the U.S. for Wegovy, Ozempic users
Nestle NESN.S will market a new, US$5 line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pastas in the United States which it says it designed specifically for people taking drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss.
What is BORG drinking, and why is it a dangerous trend? An expert explains
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.
Independent stores and grocery alternatives see sales boost amid Loblaw boycott
As the month-long boycott of Loblaw-owned stores wears on, small independent food retailers and alternative grocery options say they're seeing a boost in traffic and sales.
London judge rejects Prince Harry's bid to add allegations against Rupert Murdoch in tabloid lawsuit
Prince Harry can't expand his privacy lawsuit against The Sun tabloid publisher to include allegations that Rupert Murdoch and some other executives were part of an effort to conceal and destroy evidence of unlawful information gathering, a London judge ruled Tuesday.
Local Spotlight
Beyond books: Halifax libraries renting out instruments, sports equipment, memory kits and more
For those who go to their local libraries often, they know there’s much more to their library than just borrowing books. Local libraries in Atlantic Canada are now renting out a broader range of items for people.
'A special bird': The unbreakable bond between purple martins and humans
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
7-year-old Pokémon prodigy heading to Hawaii for world championship tournament
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
VIDEO Born without front legs, this dog has been inspiring the world for 3 years: Dresden farm owner
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
From DVDs to rehearsals: Halifax theatre company transforms Video Difference building into arts hub
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
'Another pair of eyes watching over me:' How a B.C. woman's service dog saved her from drowning
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
Starbucks fan on decades-long journey to visit every store in the world
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
'Sacred work': Sask. First Nation learning how to conduct its own underground searches
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
'It could mean a cure': Cautious optimism for groundbreaking ALS research at Western
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.