Desk Report
Publish: 15 Feb 2022, 05:08 pm
Anti-vaccine mandate protests have entered their third week || Photo: BBC
Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau has taken the unprecedented step of invoking the Emergencies Act to
crack down on anti-vaccine mandate protests.
Trudeau said the scope of the
measures would be "time-limited", "reasonable and
proportionate" and would not see the military deployed.
With no need for a court order,
banks will be able to freeze the personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests.
Hundreds of demonstrators remain
in Canada's capital city.
On Sunday, law enforcement
cleared anti-mandate protesters at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor - a
critical pathway for Canada-US trade - after a week-long stalemate.
What began as a rally against a
new rule that all truckers must be vaccinated to cross the US-Canada border, or
quarantine upon return, has grown into a broader challenge to all Covid health
restrictions.
"This is about keeping
Canadians safe, protecting people's jobs," Trudeau told a news
conference on Monday.
He said the police would be given
"more tools" to imprison or fine protesters and protect critical
infrastructure.
Trudeau told reporters the
legislation would be applied temporarily and in a highly specific manner.
Critics have noted that the prime
minister voiced support for farmers in India who blocked major highways to New
Delhi for a year in 2021, saying at the time: "Canada will always be there
to defend the right of peaceful protest."
Trudeau's invoking of the
Emergencies Act comes as demonstrations across Canada enter their third week.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia
Freeland said at Monday's news conference that banks would be able freeze
personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests without any need for a
court order.
Vehicle insurance of anyone
involved with the demonstrations can also be suspended, she added.
Freeland said they were
broadening Canada's "Terrorist Financing" rules to cover
cryptocurrencies and crowdfunding platforms, as part of the effort.
"It's all about following
the money," she said.
She spoke after hackers released
details of what they said were 93,000 donations for the truckers totalling
$8.4m (£6.2m) to the crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo.
The Emergencies Act, passed in
1988, requires a high legal bar to be invoked. It may only be used in an
"urgent and critical situation" that "seriously endangers the
lives, health or safety of Canadians". Lawful protests do not qualify.
Speaking on Monday, Canada's
Justice Minister David Lametti argued these conditions had been met.
But the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association disagreed, warning that the move "threatens our democracy and
our civil liberties".
Ottawa protest leader Tamara Lich
dismissed Trudeau's move, telling AP News: "There are no threats that
will frighten us. We will hold the line."
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a
Conservative, said he supported the federal government.
But the premiers of Quebec,
Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan said the emergency powers were not needed in
their regions.
Before Trudeau's announcement,
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said invoking the Emergencies Act could
"throw oil on the fire".
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