Ottawa on Tuesday launched a final appeal at the Supreme Court of Canada to defend the former Trudeau government’s 2022 use of the Emergencies Act.

The lower courts have twice ruled against the federal government, concluding that wielding the Emergencies Act to end weeks-long protests was not legally justified.

Tuesday afternoon was the deadline for the federal government to file an application to have an appeal heard at the top court, after its loss at the Federal Court of Appeal in mid-January.

“The proposed appeal offers an ideal forum in which to address these issues of public importance,” the federal government said in its application to the Supreme Court.

In its filing, Ottawa argued that the lower courts had incorrectly reviewed the use of the Emergencies Act, which was deployed in what it called “extraordinary circumstances.”