Trudeau Will Invoke Obscure Law To End Protests

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will invoke rarely-used special measures allowing him to tackle protests that have shut some border crossings and paralyzed downtown Ottawa, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) said, Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: It's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vs the Freedom Convoy in Canada

CBC said Trudeau had told legislators from his ruling Liberal Party that he would use the 1988 Emergencies Act, which allows the federal government to override the provinces and authorize special temporary measures to ensure security during national emergencies.

It has only been used once in peacetime - by Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who invoked an earlier version of the act in 1970 after Quebec separatists kidnapped a provincial cabinet minister and a British diplomat.

The act also allows the government to send in the military but the CBC cited Trudeau as saying he had no plans to do so. Cameron Ahmad, Trudeau's communications director, declined to comment on the report.

The "Freedom Convoy" protests, started by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, have turned into a rallying point for people opposing the policies of Trudeau's government, covering everything from pandemic restrictions to a carbon tax.

A six-day blockade of North America's busiest trade corridor in Windsor, Ontario, ended on Sunday while protests in Ottawa entered a third week.

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