Emergency management and civil liberties in the post 9/11 era

Abstract

This paper argues that in the post 9/11 era, the emergency management field is shifting toward the civil defence model that existed in the Cold War Era. Since the 1970s the emergency management field has focused on natural and man made disasters outside of war, but a renewed focus on security since 2001 has resulted in the normalization of a “state of exception” where emergency powers undermine civil liberty protections. This thesis examines the topic from two perspectives. First, this paper will provide a historical analysis of how the Canadian emergency management field has evolved since the First World War. Second, a comparative case study analysis will be conducted focused on the operational methodology and the interaction between emergency management legislation and civil liberties that occurred during the October Crisis, the Oka Crisis and the G20 Riots in Toronto. The result of these two approaches will provide insight into the reemergence of the civil defence model in the 21st century and new norms regarding civil liberty protections.