Ottawa [Canada], February 15 (ANI): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday (local time) invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in 50 years to give the federal government extra powers to handle ongoing truckers blockades and protests against the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

At a news conference on Parliament Hill, Trudeau said, “It is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement’s ability to effectively enforce the law.” Trudeau said the measures will be geographically targeted and “reasonable and proportionate to the threats they are meant to address.”
The unprecedented deployment of the Emergencies Act gives police more tools to restore order in places where public assemblies constitute illegal and dangerous activities, such as blockades and occupations, he said, reported CBC News.

The government is also designating and securing critical areas such as border crossings and airports. Invoking the act will also allow the government to make sure that essential services — such as towing services to remove trucks — are rendered, said Trudeau. The act also permits the federal government to direct financial institutions to render essential services to address the situation, and to prohibit the use of the property to fund or support illegal blockades, reported CBC News.

Trudeau said the act also will enable the RCMP to enforce municipal bylaws and provincial offenses where required. “This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting people’s jobs, and restoring confidence in our institutions,” said Trudeau. The Emergencies Act, which replaced the War Measures Act in the 1980s, defines a national emergency as a temporary “urgent and critical situation” that “seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it.”

The Act gives special powers to respond to emergency scenarios affecting public welfare (natural disasters, disease outbreaks), public order (civil unrest), international emergencies or war emergencies, reported CBC news. It grants the cabinet the ability to “take special temporary measures that may not be appropriate in normal times” to cope with an “urgent and critical situation” and the resulting fallout. It is still subject to the protection of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Ottawa police have said they are outnumbered by crowds protesting vaccine mandates in the capital. Despite a provincial state of emergency, protesters ignored the threat of arrest and jail time and flocked to the city’s center over the weekend, reported CBC News. Demonstrators have erected tents, a stage, a large video screen, and even a hot tub on various streets — including Wellington Street, which runs in front of the Parliament Buildings and the Prime Minister’s Office. Ottawa police said “safety concerns” — including “aggressive, illegal behavior” by demonstrators — are to blame for the “limited police enforcement capabilities.”

A blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, a key supply link between Canada and the US, was dispersed by police earlier Sunday, with 12 arrests. The prime minister was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland as well as ministers David Lametti (justice) Marco Mendicino (public safety) and Bill Blair (emergency preparedness) at the conference.

Ottawa police chief resigns amid trucker protests

Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly has resigned amid ongoing protests of truckers and ordinary citizens against COVID-19 restrictions, reported Sputnik. Sloly decided to step down following an Ottawa Police Services Board meeting earlier in the day, reported Sputnik the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday citing sources.

It came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday (local time) invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in 50 years to give the federal government extra powers to handle ongoing truckers blockades and protests against the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Trudeau, at a news conference on Parliament Hill, said, “It is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement’s ability to effectively enforce the law.” The Canadian Prime Minister also said the measures will be geographically targeted and “reasonable and proportionate to the threats they are meant to address.”The unprecedented deployment of the Emergencies Act gives police more tools to restore order in places where public assemblies constitute illegal and dangerous activities, such as blockades and occupations, he said, reported CBC News.

Trucker blockade at Canada-US border expected to end Wednesday, says police

The ongoing truckers’ blockades and protests against the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions at the Manitoba-US border are expected to end Wednesday (local time), according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). RCMP Manitoba is confident that protesters will leave the area soon and full access to border crossing will be restored, reported CBC News.

“We are now confident that a resolution has been reached and that demonstrators will soon be leaving the area and that full access to the Emerson port of entry will be restored,” Chief Supt Rob Hill with the Manitoba RCMP said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.

Protesters have largely dictated who comes and goes at the Highway 75 border crossing in Emerson, Manitoba, since moving in Thursday last week, though they have also been allowing through emergency vehicles, according to RCMP.

Earlier Tuesday, before RCMP said that the blockade is expected to come to an end, the co-owner of the Duty-Free Shop in Emerson said something needed to be done to get traffic going, reported CBC News. “After two years of the pandemic, and this [blockade] … we will close if this continues,” said Simon Resch, whose shop has been inaccessible to customers since last week.

The Emerson crossing is one of several important land ports for trade at the Canada-US border targeted by protesters calling for an end to not just pandemic restrictions and a federal vaccine mandate for truckers, but also for the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other changes. On Monday, Trudeau enacted the federal Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history, giving the federal government more powers to handle the protests. In addition to the largest protest in Ottawa, a demonstration at the Manitoba Legislative Building has been going on for two weeks.