“Just watch me.”
Those words were famously uttered by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1970, when asked by a reporter how far he would go in tackling the domestic terrorism crisis involving the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) at the time. A few days after that comment, Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act.
Fifty-two years later, it seems the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. On Feb. 14, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed in his father's footsteps by invoking the Emergencies Act for the first time since the legislation was created in 1988 to replace the War Measures Act. The legislation gives temporary, far-reaching powers to Canada's government.
The reasoning behind Trudeau's invocation of the Emergencies Act is, of course, the ongoing occupation of downtown Ottawa by protesters who are against COVID-19 vaccination mandates and public health restrictions. The occupation has been dragging on for nearly three weeks now, while border and bridge blockades have disrupted cross-border traffic in southern Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario.
The Emergencies Act grants the government the ability to temporarily limit large gatherings in certain spaces, among other things. If parliament approves it, the legislation will grant government the power to freeze the bank accounts and suspend the auto insurance of the protesters, and strengthen police powers to impose fines.
It's a disturbing amount of government influence, and whether or not it's justified depends on who you ask. Multiple premiers – including Jason Kenney – criticized Trudeau's move, arguing it was unnecessary and would potentially inflame matters more than they already are. MP Candice Bergen, the newly elected interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, called it proof of the Liberal Party's failure to lead and deal with the protests and the blockades that have emerged throughout Canada.
The ongoing blockades have cost the Canadian economy hundreds of millions of dollars already. At the border crossing in Coutts, Alta., RCMP seized a large cache of weapons and ammunition from the protesters.
It's unfortunate it's come to this.
