Ottawa/Ontario - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history on Monday, quoting the threat of “Freedom Convoy” trucker protests in Ottawa and at several border crossings in the US.
The Act was invoked after consulting premiers, government and opposition, Trudeau said, confirming media reports from earlier in the day that he would do so. The Canadian Parliament must approve the use of the emergency measures within seven days, and the left-leaning New Democrat party said it would support Trudeau's Liberal minority government to pass the measures.
Under the Emergencies Act, the government brought in measures intended to cut off protesters' funding and took steps to reinforce provincial and local law enforcement with federal police.
"The blockades are harming our economy and endangering public safety," Trudeau told a news conference. "We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue."
Trudeau has denounced the truckers as a “fringe minority with unacceptable views” and accused them of bigotry, racism, Nazism and violence, refusing to meet with them. Though several Canadian provinces have announced the end of pandemic restrictions, Trudeau is still refusing to lift the federal mandates.
What is the Emergencies Act
The Emergencies Act, formerly known as the War Measures Act, was passed in 1988, bringing in new parliamentary oversight and a requirement for Charter of Rights and Freedoms compliance.
The last time these federal emergency powers were invoked was during the 1970 FLQ October Crisis, when Trudeau's father was the prime minister. Close to 500 people had been arrested on that occasion. Prior to that it was used in both the First World War and Second World War.
The Act allows for actions to combat urgent and critical situations that seriously threaten some aspect of Canadians’ lives, and that cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada.
Crowdfunding targeted
Under the emergency, which is due to last 30 days unless extended, all crowdfunding and crypto platforms must register with Canada’s financial intelligence agency FinTrac and report “large or suspicious” transactions, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday. This is an expansion of Canada’s existing money-laundering and terrorist-financing rules, and the government will propose a law that would make these powers permanent, she added.
Canadian banks have also been instructed to freeze assets or “review their relationship” with anyone they suspect of being involved in such protests, without a court order.
-Reuters/RT