Federal government invokes Emergencies Act for first time ever in response to protests, blockades
Act grants cabinet ability to take 'special temporary measures that may not be appropriate in normal times'
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's invoking theEmergencies Act for the first time in Canada's history to give the federal government temporarypowers to handleongoing blockades and protests against pandemic restrictions.
"It is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement'sability to effectively enforcethe law," Trudeau tolda news conference Monday afternoon.
"It is no longer a lawful protest at a disagreement over government policy. It is now an illegal occupation. It's time for people to go home."
Trudeau said the measures will be geographically targeted and "reasonable and proportionate to the threats they are meant to address."
The unprecedented deployment of the Emergencies Actgives policemore tools to restore order in places where public assemblies constitute illegal and dangerous activities, such as blockades and occupations, he said.Trudeau said the act also will enable the RCMP to enforce municipal bylaws and provincial offences where required.
"This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting people's jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions," he said.
WATCH | Trudeau announces he will invoke the Emergencies Act to deal with protest deadlock in Ottawa
The government is also designating and securing critical areas such as border crossings and airports. Invoking the act will alsoallow the government to make sure that essential services such as towing services to remove trucks are rendered, said Trudeau.
Massive financial implications
The federal government is also going after financial supportfor illegal activity associated with the convoy protest.
Convoy organizershave raised millions of dollars. They raised moneyfirst through the GoFundMe crowdfunding site. When GoFundMeshut the fundraising campaign down, organizerspivoted to the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that underthe Emergencies Act,crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use must register with theFinancial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), the national financial intelligence agency. Theymust also report large and suspicious transactions to FINTRAC.
WATCH |Crowdfunding platforms must now register with FINTRAC
"The illegal blockades have highlighted the fact that crowdfunding platforms, and some of the payment service providers they use, are not fully captured under the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act," she said.
"Weare making these changes because we know that these platforms are being used to support illegal blockades and illegal activity which is damaging the Canadian economy."
Canadian financial institutions can now temporarily cease providing financial services if the institution suspects an account is being used to further the illegal blockades and occupations, said Freeland.
"This order covers both personal and corporate accounts," she said.
Measures still subject to Charter of Rights
The Emergencies Act,which replaced the War Measures Act in the 1980s, definesa 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."
The act gives special powers to respond to emergency scenarios affecting public welfare (natural disasters, disease outbreaks), public order (civil unrest), international emergencies or war emergencies.
It grants cabinet the ability to "take special temporary measures that may not be appropriatein normal times" to cope with an "urgent and criticalsituation"and the resulting fallout. It is still subject to the protections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Ottawa policehave said they are outnumbered by crowds protesting vaccine mandates in the capital. Despite a provincial state of emergency, protesters ignored thethreat of arrest and jail time and flockedto the city's centre over the weekend.
Demonstratorshave erected tents, a stage, a large video screen and even ahot tubon various streets including Wellington Street, which runs in front of the Parliament Buildings and the Prime Minister's Office.
Ottawa police said "safety concerns" including "aggressive, illegal behaviour" by demonstrators are to blame for the "limited police enforcement capabilities."
A blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., a key supply link between Canada and the U.S., was dispersed by police earlier Sunday, with 12 arrests.
"Occupying streets, harassing people, breaking the law. This is not a peaceful protest," said Trudeau, who added there areno plans to deploy the military.
Once cabinet declares an emergency, ittakes effect right away but the governmentstill needs to go to Parliament within seven days to get approval.If either the Commons or the Senatevotes against the motion, the emergency declarationis revoked.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday that while hesees theprime minister's decision to turn to theEmergencies Actas "proof of a failure of leadership," hewill support the declaration which shouldsecure its passage througha minority Parliament.
"The reason why we got to this point is because the prime minister let the siege in Ottawa go on for weeks and weeks without actually doing anything about it, allowed the convoy to shut down borders without responding appropriately," he said.
Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen accused Trudeau of dividing Canadians.
"We've seen the prime minister wedge, divide and stigmatizeCanadians he doesn't agree with and by doing so he creates so many barriers in terms of trying to solve this problem," she said.
"The prime minister had the opportunity to talk and listen to so many he disagreed with and he refused to do so, so this looks like a ham-fisted approach that will have the opposite effect."
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre the only person so far running to lead his party said the way to end the protest and illegal blockades is to remove the mandates.
"Real simple. Listen to the science, do what other provinces and countries are doing, that is to end the mandates and restrictions so protesters can get back to their lives and their jobs," he said heading into question period Monday.
"The only emergency is the one thatJustin Trudeau has deliberately created to divide the country and gain politically."
Legal threshold questioned
Jack Lindsay, an associateprofessor in the applied disaster and emergency studies department at Brandon University in Manitoba, said one of the first steps in invoking the Emergencies Act isthe government showing thata state of emergency exists.
"They're gonna have to basically prove that first hurdle, that it is a national emergency," he said.
"He's basically going to be arguing that these truckers are basically creating a threat to the security of Canada."
Leah West, an assistant professor in international studies at Carleton University who has published a book on national security law, questions whetherthat threshold has beenmet.
"To invoke a national emergency, the government would need to be saying that these protests threaten the security of Canada, our sovereignty or our territorial integrity," she said.
"I have real concerns about fudging the legal thresholds to invoke the most powerful federal law that we have."
Errol Mendes, a professor of constitutional and international law at the University of Ottawa, sees it differently.
"If you look at what's happened not just in Ottawabut at the Ambassador Bridge and Coutts, Alta. and in B.C., essentially we have a national emergency," he told CBC News Network.
"You have this small group basically asking the government to do whatever they want. That's the national security problem."
Kenney worries about inflaming protesters
The move came after a cabinet and caucus meeting overthe past 24 hours. Trudeau also consulted with the premiers Mondaymorning.
Speaking before his call with Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford gave his initial approval.
"I support the federal government and any proposal they have to bring law and order back to our province, to make sure we stabilize our business and trade around the world," he tolda news conference.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who has been dealing with a blockade at the border crossing in Couttsprotesting against pandemic restrictions,said he doesn't believe invoking the act is necessary in his province.
The RCMP announced Monday its officers arrested 11 people after searching three trailers and finding weapons at the protests in southern Alberta.
"We have the legal powers that we need. We have the operational resources that we need to enforce, and I think at this point for the federal government to reach in over top of us without offering anything in particular would frankly be unhelpful," said Kenney.
"I am concerned that there's a certain kind of person that if the federal government proceeds with this, who will be further inflamed and that could lead to prolongation of some of these protests."
The premiers of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec also expressed concerns aboutinvoking the act.
Invoking the act also triggersan inquiry at the end of the declaration.
TheWar Measures Act was most famously used in peacetimeby Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau during the October Crisis.
CBC News Special Coverage
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discusses his decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. Here's how to follow our special coverage
- CBC News Chief Political Correspondent Rosemary Barton and breaking news teams across the country bring you specialcoverage starting at 4 p.m. ET on CBC News Network and at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBC-TV and livestreaming onCBC Gem,CBC.caand the CBC News app.
- Susan Bonner and Piya Chattopadhyay host live coverage on CBC Radio beginning at 4:30 ET, or listen on the CBC Listen app.
- News and analysis will continue on CBC News Network withPower & PoliticsandCanada Tonight,and onThe World at 6on CBC Radio One and the CBC Listen app.
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Corrections
- An early version of this story said the Emergencies Act gives the federal government carte blanche to act in a crisis. In fact, the act includes limits on the types and the duration of government actions in a crisis.Feb 14, 2022 7:17 PM ET
With files from David Cochrane and JP Tasker
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