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
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Demonstrators kicked out of Ontario legislature for disruption after failed keffiyeh vote
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Government agrees to US$138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
BREAKING Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Local Spotlight
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Cat found at Pearson airport 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly on a mission: N.S. student collecting books about women in sport for school library
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.