OTTAWA – A long-awaited report on the Trudeau government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act is due as early as Friday, but it is unclear when the public and parliamentarians will get to see the report.

Under the Emergencies Act, Commissioner Paul Rouleau legally has 360 days to submit his report to both Houses of Parliament. That clock runs out on Saturday, but not only is Parliament not sitting on the weekend, the House of Commons is set to rise for a two-week constituency break beginning Monday.

Reached on Wednesday, Michael Tansey, a spokesperson for the Public Order Emergency Commission, said he didn’t have any information on when the report would be presented.

We do not have information on the release of the report yet

Michael Tansey

“The Commission continues to work on its report,” he said. “We do not have information on the release of the report yet.”

The report is meant to be a fact-finding exercise and is likely to come with recommendations on how police and municipal and provincial governments handled the protests and blockades. Its central focus however is to decide on whether the Liberals were justified in their decision to invoke the act.

Once the commission does complete the report it will be up to the government to table it. So far the government has not indicated when that would take place.

Rouleau raised concerns about the tight timelines at the beginning of public hearings last fall when he noted that previous commissions like the Air India and sponsorship inquiries had much more time than he did.

This commission of inquiry is unique, to the best of our knowledge, in that its deadline is set by statute

Paul Rouleau

“This commission of inquiry is unique, to the best of our knowledge, in that its deadline is set by statute. Other inquiries have worked under deadlines set by cabinet. That sort of deadline is set based on an assessment of needs, and can and frequently is extended as circumstances require. This is not a possibility for our commission.”

The original order for Rouleau’s commission asked for a report that would be returned to the government on February 6, but he was granted an extension. The parliamentary deadline can not be extended however.

The Trudeau government named Rouleau on the last day of their deadline under the law to do so. Rouleau also had medical issues, which delayed the start of public hearings by six weeks.

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