At a recent family gathering, a relative approached me to chat about my work fighting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act during the convoy protests in February 2022. He was unsure whether invocation was right. He agreed that freezing bank accounts was a frightening response to a political protest. But, he said, the situation was out of control. The honking was outrageous. The streets were blockaded. Something had to be done.

I agreed. Something had to be done. That something was using the existing laws to deal with the criminal and nuisance elements of the protest, while allowing those who were not blockading or honking obnoxiously to continue exercising their rights to protest.

The November conviction of one of the most prominent Freedom Convoy leaders, Pat King, is a reminder that the Criminal Code, provincial laws and a court injunction were more than enough to restore order. There was no need for Trudeau to use the nuclear option, violating the Charter rights to expression, assembly and security against unreasonable search and seizure.