![]() “Even though the orders are no longer in force, we think that the Canadian public needs clarity about the legal use of the emergency legislation.”īut others are in favor of the use of the act. She told me that her group was not discontinuing its legal action against the government. “We don’t think the government met the legal threshold to invoke the act,” Deshman said. The law, which covers four types of emergencies-public welfare, public order, international, and war emergencies-can be invoked only when a situation “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” or “seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada” and when the situation “cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada.” That’s a set of relatively extreme circumstances-but ones also subject to plenty of interpretation. “The act will be used to strengthen and support law enforcement agencies at all levels, wherever needed across the country.” “The scope of these measures will be time limited, geographically targeted, and proportionate to the threats they are meant to address,” Trudeau said during the announcement. The law gave the government potentially enormous powers to crush the protest, but Trudeau ruled out the possibility of deploying the military against the demonstrators and said, “It is the last resort.” That doesn’t, of course, rule it out in the future. The Emergencies Act itself is a powerful and potentially dangerous tool. “There will continue to be threats to Canada, to our democracy, to democracies around the world, and we cannot shy away from using tools that are necessary to maintain the safety and security of citizens,” he said. Trudeau doesn’t rue his decision in using the act against the protesters. Deshman and her team have filed a lawsuit and are challenging the act in court. “Our court case is still active, and we are obviously relieved that the declaration was revoked and the orders are no longer in place.”ĭeshman said a bad precedent has been set for future use of the act if the country is under national security threats. “We continue to express necessary concerns about the use of this legislation as well as the constitutionality of the orders that the government put in place,” said Abby Deshman, who leads the Criminal Justice Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The left-wing New Democratic Party criticized Trudeau on some points but voted in favor of the act.Įxperts say invoking the law was not necessary. Conservative opposition parties said the act will only stoke anger and division and said the move was proof of Trudeau’s leadership failure to control the protests. The government has come under intense criticism, and the measures have drawn ire from both the Canadian right wing and conservative Americans. The Emergencies Act was originally intended as a reduction of the scope of the War Measures act, itself created during the panicked reaction to World War I. ![]() The original 1988 act replaced the 1914 War Measures Act, which was used on three occasions in Canadian history: World War I, World War II, and the October Crisis of 1970, when it was invoked by Pierre Trudeau, Justin Trudeau’s father, to quell a separatist movement in Quebec after a request from the provincial government. This was the first time the legislation had been invoked since it was created. About 200 demonstrators were arrested, including key protest leaders. Two weekends ago, a combined team of police from across the country started a large-scale operation to end the occupation and clear the protest grounds, which had makeshift tents and trucks. ![]() The protests, dubbed by the participants as the Freedom Convoy, snowballed into an occupation, with the protesters, as well as occupying streets in Ottawa, blocking access to the U.S.-Canada border crossing and disrupting commerce.Īfter the House of Commons passed a motion confirming the time-limited emergency powers, the government moved in on the protesters. ![]() Days later, thousands of Canadians joined, demanding the government drop the COVID-19 mandates. But Canadians are now debating whether the act goes too far-and how it should be used in the future.īack in January, hundreds of self-described truckers drove to Ottawa, the capital city, in a convoy protesting against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions. Ten days later, the government said it was revoking the act because the “situation is no longer an emergency.” The Emergencies Act, which was passed as law in 1988, gives the government sweeping powers and can be used in the event of national emergencies. 14, Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, invoked the Emergencies Act following waves of protests across the country against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
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