A Canadian lawyer for a public inquiry into the ‘Freedom Convoy’ trucker protests suddenly collapsed on Wednesday, sparking alarm and temporarily derailing the proceedings.
Gabriel Poliquin was questioning Mario Di Tommaso, Ontario’s deputy solicitor general, during a hearing of the Public Order Emergency Commission when the disturbing incident occurred on livestream.
Mr Poliquin was reviewing a handwritten document with Mr Di Tommaso.
“‘CMV’ – that’s commercial vehicles?” he asked, referring to the notes.
As he opened a plastic water bottle, Mr Poliquin suddenly lost consciousness, falling to his left and hitting the ground with a loud crash, causing the witness to gasp in shock.
A drawn-out moaning sound could be heard on the livestream as people rushed to his aid shortly before the feed was cut.
“Oh my God!” a woman was heard saying.
Emergency responders were called to the Library and Archives Canada building in downtown Ottawa, while lawyers and spectators were cleared from the hearing room, CBC reported.
Mr Poliquin’s condition remains unclear.
A spokesman for the inquiry told The Canadian Press it would not share further details about Mr Poliquin’s health out of respect for him and his family.
Footage of the incident went viral on social media.
“This is truly extremely disturbing on multiple levels,” Canadian lawyer and YouTuber David Freiheit wrote on Twitter.
Maxime Bernier, founder of the right-wing People’s Party of Canada, said, “That’s perfectly normal. It happens all the time. Nothing to be surprised about.”
The proceedings were stopped for several hours before resuming with another witness.
The commission, slated to run until November 25, is investigating the Trudeau government’s use of the Emergencies Act to crack down on weeks-long protests against Covid lockdowns and mandates earlier this year.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in the country’s history on February 14 in order to dislodge protests in Ottawa and blockades of border crossings to the United States.
At their peak, the protests – led by truck drivers furious over Covid vaccination requirements for transporting freight across the border – drew 15,000 people to the capital and inspired copycat movements in other countries.
Mr Trudeau’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act split opposition parties.
The emergency powers included the ability to freeze the bank accounts of those suspected of supporting the Freedom Convoy blockades, without obtaining a court order.
Critics accused the PM of using “a sledgehammer” on protesters and a civil liberties group sued the government.
“What the act allows the government to do is now create new laws, bypassing democracy under what they have called a national emergency that they haven’t presented any evidence that satisfies us that is in fact a national emergency as required,” Noa Mendelsohn Aviv from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association told Sky News Australia at the time.
“Every person who feels like their rights have been violated needs to be able to [protest] … as long as it’s peaceful and within certain kinds of limits.
“And we’re very concerned that government is saying that this is a state of emergency and that they’re going to be using those powers in a way that it does not meet the requirements of the act.”
Announcing the revocation of the emergency powers later that month after riot police made hundreds of arrests and vehicle seizures, the PM said, “We are confident that existing laws and bylaws are sufficient to keep people safe.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Canada’s Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland said the blockades represented “a very serious challenge and threat to our national security and our economic security”, The Canadian Press reported.
Ms Freeland said the Emergencies Act was necessary to “guarantee” security. “It was a very big deal,” she said. “I hope and believe it is the kind of thing that happens only once in a generation, if that.”
– With AFP
