OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) –– A Conservative MP has uncovered that the federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent $2.2 million in taxpayer money in a failed attempt to try and stop court challenges filed against it for enacting the Emergencies Act (EA) to stop the peaceful protestors participating in the Freedom Convoy in February of 2022. 

“Justin Trudeau’s unlawful decision to suspend Canadians’ civil liberties and invoke the Emergencies Act was unnecessary from the start,” said Conservative civil liberties critic MP Marilyn Gladu to media after learning of the millions spent by the Trudeau federal government in legal costs.  

“Instead of admitting he and his government illegally violated Canadians’ Charter rights, as the highest court in the land ruled, Trudeau’s Liberal government poured millions of taxpayer dollars into lawyers and bureaucrats to try and defend his actions.”  

The massive spending by the Trudeau federal government was disclosed by Canada’s Department of Justice after Gladu asked questions to the department about its involvement with the court challenges.  

The disclosed costs show that there was a bill for a “notional amount” for government lawyers, in addition to costs associated with outside lawyers who were working for the Trudeau government’s failed attempts to try and stop the legal challenges.  

The total amount of the legal costs was $2,231,000, the Department of Justice admitted.  

As a result of the Trudeau government using the EA to stop the Freedom Convoy, multiple lawsuits were launched against the federal government, which challenged the use of the act to stop the protests. Plaintiffs included groups such as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Constitution Foundation.  

In early 2022, the Freedom Convoy saw thousands of Canadians from coast to coast come to Ottawa to demand an end to COVID mandates in all forms. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, Trudeau’s government enacted the EA on February 14, 2022. Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23.  

Earlier this year, Canada’s Federal Court announced that the use of the EA by the Trudeau government was a direct violation of the nation’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and thus was “not justified.”  

Of note is that the judge who ruled Trudeau’s government’s use of the EA was “not justified” was Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley, a Liberal-appointed and well-respected judge with decades of experience.   

The Trudeau government has since appealed the court’s decision.  

The EA controversially allowed the government to freeze the bank accounts of protesters, conscript tow truck drivers, and arrest people for participating in assemblies the government deemed illegal.  

Before the ruling, an investigation into the use of the EA, as per Canadian law, was launched by Trudeau. However, it was headed by Liberal-friendly Judge Paul Rouleau, who led the Public Order Emergency Commission. This commission was stuck to investigate the Liberal government’s unprecedented use of the EA against the anti-mandate Freedom Convoy protest. Unsurprisingly, the commission exonerated Trudeau’s use of the EA.  

During the clear-out of protesters after the EA was put in place, one protester, an elderly lady, was trampled by a police horse, and one conservative female reporter was beaten by police and shot with a tear gas canister.  

At the time, seven of Canada’s 10 provinces opposed the use of the EA by Trudeau.  

Freedom Convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber have been in an ongoing legal battle with federal officials.  

As reported by LifeSiteNews last month, the judge overseeing the trial for Freedom Convoy leaders adjourned the court proceedings until August to allow for the government to prepare legal arguments to back its claim that the leaders were “co-conspirators” as well as give time to the defense to prepare their case that the leaders are innocent.