Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has told his caucus he will invoke the never-used Emergencies Act to give the federal government extra powers to handle anti-vaccine mandate protests across the country, sources say.
Trudeau met with both his cabinet and provincial premiers on Monday morning, and according to sources not authorized to speak publicly, said the prime minister informed the premiers of his decision this morning.
Sources told Canada’s CBC News that Trudeau intended to tell the premiers on Monday about his decision to invoke the act, which has never been used before. During the meeting with the Liberal caucus on Monday, Trudeau added that there were no plans to deploy the military at this time.
The Emergencies Act, reports The Guardian, replaced the War Measures Act in the 1980s, and 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.”
In order for the law to be used, the federal government must consult with both the provinces and the cabinet. There must be a belief the protesters constitute a national emergency and cannot be dealt with under existing laws. The law gives the government broad powers for 30 days.
Additionally, Once the cabinet declares an emergency, it takes effect right away — but the government still needs to go to Parliament within seven days to get approval. If either the House of Commons or the Senate votes against the motion, the emergency declaration is revoked, according to CBC Canada.
The “Freedom Convoy 2022” protests began as a show of opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truckers in Canada but have since grown into a larger protest that includes other anti-vaccine and anti-government groups.
The protests first blocked Canada’s Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, on Feb. 7. It reopened on Sunday after authorities arrested over two dozen protesters.
However, other border crossings are still blocked, including in Coutts, Alberta, and Emerson, Manitoba, as well as the Pacific Highway border point in British Columbia.
Protesters in Ottawa have refused to leave the nation’s capital, despite pleas from local, provincial, and federal leaders. And they have shown an increasing brazenness in flouting the city’s laws, including setting up a hot tub near parliament.
Ottawa mayor, Jim Watson, had offered to negotiate with the leaders of the protests to remove them from residential areas, but a deal between the city and protesters was marred by confusion after Tamara Lich, one of the protest leaders, said there was no deal, before then suggesting it was real.
