23223258 23223258The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, suspended this Wednesday () the Emergency Law with which it received special powers to deal with the protests of truck drivers and groups against vaccine passports that blocked border crossings with the United States and occupied the center of the capital, Ottawa.
23223258Trudeau made the announcement after the end of the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Canada and the US, and the dispersion of protesters in the Canadian capital, saying that it is no longer necessary to continue to apply the rule.
“Today, after careful consideration, we are ready to confirm that the situation is no longer an emergency. Consequently, the federal government will end the use of the Emergency Act,” Trudeau declared.
The prime minister invoked the law in 14 from February to control the protests that truck drivers and groups against health passports had been carrying out for more than two weeks in various parts of the country.The protests blocked the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor (Canada) to Detroit (USA) for two weeks, through which around US$ passes daily. millions in goods. Protesters also occupied downtown Ottawa, blocking access to Parliament.
23223258 )The last time a Canadian government invoked emergency powers was in 1970, when then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Sr. of the current ruler, used the War Measures Act to fight the Quebec Liberation Front, a terrorist group that kidnapped the deputy prime minister of Quebec and a British diplomat.
23223258In 1988, the Law of War Measures was replaced by the Emergencies Law. The invocation of special powers allowed the Trudeau government to block the bank accounts of protesters and ban squatters like the one in downtown Ottawa.
Trudeau said this Wednesday that, after the government’s actions since as of February, existing laws “are sufficient to keep people safe.”
In 60 days an investigation commission will be launched to analyze the government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Law and police actions to disperse the protesters.