Let's talk about "emergency powers." Better yet, the abuse of them. Sadly, the courts have been the main arbiter of judging and quelling this abuse, and many of their rulings have been instrumental in snatching power-mad elected officials and bureaucrats out of the deep end. You can look to California for proof of this. During the COVID mania of 2021-2022, Governor Gavin Newsom lost every court case brought against him and the state for their abuse of emergency powers and violation of civil liberties. Yet, he is still in office — a point to be elucidated later in this article.

Now it's Canada's turn. In 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergency Powers Act to shut down the Trucker Freedom Convoy. Listen to Trudeau when he first invoked these powers.

WATCH: 

On Tuesday, a court decided that Trudeau and the Canadian government violated the protestors' civil rights.

Justin Trudeau violated the basic civil rights of the hero Canadian trucker protestors, who freed Canada from Trudeau's covidian tyranny. Glad to hear of this new court ruling. https://t.co/TnontuNOL8 pic.twitter.com/EjVBTvKPeZ

— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) January 23, 2024

A federal judge says the Liberal government's use of the Emergencies Act in early 2022 to clear convoy protesters was unreasonable and infringed on protesters' Charter rights.

"I conclude that there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires," Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley wrote in a Tuesday decision. "Ultra vires" is a Latin term used by courts to refer to actions beyond the scope of the law.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters at a cabinet retreat in Montreal that the government plans to appeal the decision.

What an ironic last name for someone who clearly delights in her dictatorial power. Freeland wants Canadians to know she took the decision to cut off their finances, subject them to police abuse, and destroy their families and livelihoods very, very seriously and that she has no regrets.

Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland says the government will be appealing the federal court’s ruling that the government’s use of the Emergencies Act was unconstitutional and unreasonable. pic.twitter.com/oGkSkCmKgW

— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) January 23, 2024

The Federal Court case was brought by two national groups, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Constitution Foundation, and two people whose bank accounts were frozen. They argued Ottawa did not meet the legal threshold when it invoked the legislation, which had never been used before.

Our state governments — from California, to New York, to Alabama — are still trying to make COVID restrictions a thing, even when the post-mortems on the failed COVID response in the United States and its abuses are ongoing. But as long as news like Canada's dictators getting their hand slapped for abusing people's rights continues to be presented as ho-hum and we blink and yawn, we will become complacent once again, while these craven actors tee us up for more of the same. 

From Dr. Anthony Fauci and his lies, to the fractured mental and intellectual state of our children, to the efforts to restrict free speech, to what has been done to Americans' health overall, these hearings and court reckonings need to be trumpeted and kept at the forefront of our thinking and decision making, especially as we face another election year. Part of not repeating failure is to remove and replace those who perpetuated it, and the American people have opportunities from local to federal to do that. We must keep in mind what was done (or not done) in the name of COVID as we fill out our ballots, and vote accordingly.