Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suspended civil liberties in his country on Monday in order to end the trucker convoy and occupation of that nation’s capital, which is now in its third week. He said truckers have no right to blockade borders or prevent people from living their lives in peace, apparently unaware of the irony that his government has shut down the Canadian economy and oppressed Canadians for two years.
Trudeau’s emergency order means the government may use any means necessary, without approval from Parliament, to unblock the streets of the capital, where hundreds of trucks are parked in protest of his universal vaccine mandate that requires all truckers to provide proof of a Covid vaccine to re-enter their own nation from the United States. However, Trudeau said he will not call in the military, but his Emergencies Act will grant more power to police.
The Emergencies Act, which is Canada’s version of martial law, is effective for 30 days and allows Trudeau’s government to ban public assembly, ban travel, and outlaw the use of certain property, such as trucks.
“We cannot and will not allow illegal, dangerous activities to continue,” Trudeau said. “The police will be given more tools to restore order in places where public assemblies can constitute illegal and dangerous activities, such as blockades and occupations as seen in Ottawa, the Ambassador Bridge and elsewhere. These tools include strengthening their ability to impose fines or imprisonment.”
Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, invoked a similar measure when he used the War Measures Act for the first time in Canadian history. In what was called the “October Crisis,” which started when members of the Front de libération du Québec kidnapped the provincial Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross.
