Canada celebrated its Flag Day on Tuesday with continued unrest and threats from the government against protesters.
Ottawa’s police chief resigned, a new chief was named, and trucks continued to jam the Canadian capital on Tuesday, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had implemented the Emergencies Act a day earlier.
The Emergencies Act, never before enacted, is a sweeping set of autocratic powers that is in effect for 30 days, as the federal government continues to resist the demands of the truckers’ Freedom Convoy workers strike.
“If your truck is used in these blockades, your corporate accounts will be frozen. The insurance on your vehicle will be suspended. Send your rigs home,” Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced on Monday, on behalf of Trudeau.
The threat could be expanded under the Emergencies Act to include the freezing of bank accounts of all who are remotely associated with the Freedom Convoy, without a court order. Freeland said the government will enact Canada’s Terrorist Financing laws against the protesters, including crowdfunding sites like GiveSendGo and cryptocurrencies.
Protest organizer Tamara Lich was resolute: “There are no threats that will frighten us. We will hold the line,” she said, according to reports.
Truckers are trying to force Prime Minister Trudeau to end the vaccine mandate for cross-border drivers. Although most are vaccinated, they believe the mandates are a violation of Canadian civil liberties.
Some Canadian provinces are beginning to loosen their Covid restrictions. In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced that starting March 1, residents will no longer need to show their vaccine passports to enter restaurants, bars, and gyms. He said the decision was not made because of the truckers’ strike, but ‘despite it.”
Alberta ended its mask requirements for school children and Saskatchewan is ending its proof-of-vaccination or negative Covid test requirements to enter businesses, Premier Scott Moe said. Mask mandates in public spaces will end Feb. 28, he said.
According to the National Post of Canada, the federal government will roll back some of Canada’s entry rules beginning Feb. 28 at 12:01 am.
“Today’s announcement is an important step on our pathway to a safe and prudent reopening,” said Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault at a press conference in Ottawa, according to the Post. “This is a gradual process that puts science and evidence at the centre of our decision-making.”
Also on Tuesday, truckers at the Coutta border crossing in Alberta unblocked the border after Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested 11 protesters. Police showed the media a cache of weapons supposedly seized from the truckers, but other claimed the cache was planted by authorities to turn peace-loving Canadians against the protesters.
The Ambassador Bridge in Windsor had been cleared on Sunday after days of being blocked, with 20 arrested and several vehicles seized by police.
