O CANADA

Trudeau Takes Rare Step of Invoking Emergency Powers in Bid to Quash Trucker Protests

The prime minister said the government’s emergency actions would be “time-limited” and “reasonable,” and that he would not be calling in the military.

Less than a day after police were able to reopen a major bridge paralyzed for a week by anti-vaccination protesters, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday he would activate rarely-used emergency powers in an attempt to end the demonstrations. The country’s Emergencies Act gives the government a broad, temporary mandate to ban public assembly and override provincial authority. “It is now clear that there are serious challenges to law-enforcement’s ability to effectively enforce the law,” the prime minister said. “We cannot and will not allow illegal dangerous activities to continue.” Trudeau maintained that the emergency actions taken by his administration would be “time-limited” and “reasonable and proportionate.” He said that he would not be deploying the military against people protesting Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions, nor jettisoning the constitutional rights of citizens. In a separate incident, Alberta police seized firearms, body armor, and a large quantity of ammunition from a group associated with a blockade strangling cross-border traffic between Canada and the United States. 11 people were arrested, according to authorities.