Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in talks with Canadian provincial premiers on Monday to discuss the idea of invoking the Emergencies Act.
The objective is to grant exceptional powers to the federal government to quell protests and blockades promoted by protesters, especially truck drivers, against restrictive measures to face the Covid-19 pandemic, such as vaccine passports.
According to information from CTV News, the government does not plan for the moment to summon the military, which would have to be done by invoking another legislation, the National Defense Law.
The Emergencies Act may be invoked when an “urgent and critical situation” cannot be resolved under any other Canadian law and if it “seriously endangers the life, health or safety of Canadians and is of such a proportion or nature that exceeds the limit of a province’s capacity or authority to deal with it”.
The law dates from 1988 and has never been invoked. A law that was replaced by that legislation, called the War Measures Act, was invoked by the father of the current prime minister, then-premier Pierre Trudeau, when Quebec separatists kidnapped a provincial government minister and a British diplomat in the 1970s. .
“We are prepared to use all available tools, including emergency powers, and to ensure that all federal government resources are leveraged. This is a critical situation for the country,” Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told CTV News over the weekend.
The Canadian province of Ontario declared a state of emergency on Friday due to the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, the main land link between the United States and Canada, and the occupation of the center of the Canadian capital, Ottawa, by truck drivers who are against vaccination passports.
The bridge was unlocked over the weekend, with several arrests of protesters, following a court ruling. Truck drivers have also blocked three other highways on the border with the United States in recent days.
In Ottawa, protesters, who arrived in the capital from January 29, say they will only leave if all Canadian vaccine passports are revoked.
According to the Associated Press, Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford announced that health passports stipulated by the provincial government will no longer be required within two weeks, but claimed that this is not a concession in the face of the protests, but because “it is safe to do so”. Proof of vaccination will be revoked for access to restaurants, gyms and sporting events.
The main focus of the truck drivers’ protest, the requirement of full vaccination against Covid-19 for professionals who work in the land transport of cargo on transnational routes, is a federal requirement.
#Trudeau #considers #invoking #neverbeforeseen #law #truckers #protests