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Federal government invokes Emergencies Act for first time ever in response to
protests, blockades | CBC News Loaded
Politics


FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INVOKES EMERGENCIES ACT FOR FIRST TIME EVER IN RESPONSE TO
PROTESTS, BLOCKADES

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has invoked the Emergencies Act for the
first in time in Canada's history to give the federal government extra powers to
handle ongoing protests against pandemic restrictions.


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ACT GRANTS CABINET ABILITY TO TAKE 'SPECIAL TEMPORARY MEASURES THAT MAY NOT BE
APPROPRIATE IN NORMAL TIMES'

Catharine Tunney · CBC News · Posted: Feb 14, 2022 7:54 AM ET | Last Updated:
February 15

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens to a question from a reporter
after announcing the Emergencies Act will be invoked to deal with protests on
Monday, February 14, 2022 in Ottawa. Trudeau says he has invoked the Emergencies
Act to bring to an end antigovernment blockades he describes as illegal and not
about peaceful protest. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
5822
comments

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's invoking the Emergencies Act for the
first time in Canada's history to give the federal government temporary powers
to handle ongoing blockades and protests against pandemic restrictions.

"It is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement's ability
to effectively enforce the law," Trudeau told a 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 Act gives police more 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


TRUDEAU ANNOUNCES HE WILL INVOKE THE EMERGENCIES ACT TO DEAL WITH PROTEST
DEADLOCK IN OTTAWA

5 days ago
Duration 1:35
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explained how the Emergencies Act will be used to
deal with the ongoing protests in the nation's capital and at some Canada-U.S.
border crossings. 1:35

The government is also designating and securing critical areas such as border
crossings and airports. Invoking the act will also allow 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 support for illegal
activity associated with the convoy protest.

Convoy organizers have raised millions of dollars. They raised money first
through the GoFundMe crowdfunding site. When GoFundMe shut the fundraising
campaign down, organizers pivoted to the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that under the Emergencies
Act, crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use must
register with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
(FINTRAC), the national financial intelligence agency. They must also report
large and suspicious transactions to FINTRAC.

WATCH | Crowdfunding platforms must now register with FINTRAC


CROWDFUNDING PLATFORMS MUST NOW REGISTER WITH FINTRAC

5 days ago
Duration 1:39
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announces new regulations to
crowdfunding sites and their payment service providers as part of the deployment
of the Emergency Act. 1:39

"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.

"We are 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, defines a
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.

 * Mounties seize guns and arrest 13 protesters at border blockade in Alberta

 * Ambassador Bridge reopens with heavy police presence around former Windsor,
   Ont., protest site

It grants cabinet the ability to "take special temporary measures that may not
be appropriate in normal times" to cope with an "urgent and
critical situation" and the resulting fallout. It is still subject to the
protections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

WATCH | Use of Emergencies Act 'proof of failure of leadership,' says NDP
leader:


USE OF EMERGENCIES ACT 'PROOF OF FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP,' SAYS NDP LEADER

5 days ago
Duration 2:04
Jagmeet Singh says he will support the move to use the Emergencies Act to deal
with ongoing convoy protests, but hopes more concrete changes will be made to
ensure this doesn't happen again in the future. 2:04

Ottawa police have said they are outnumbered by crowds protesting vaccine
mandates in the capital. Despite a provincial state of emergency, protesters
ignored the threat of arrest and jail time and flocked to the city's centre over
the weekend.

Demonstrators have erected tents, a stage, a large video screen and even a hot
tub on 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 are no plans to deploy the military.

Once cabinet declares an emergency, it takes effect right away — but the
government still needs to go to Parliament within seven days to get approval. If
either the Commons or the Senate votes against the motion, the emergency
declaration is revoked.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday that while he sees the prime minister's
decision to turn to the Emergencies Act as "proof of a failure of leadership,"
he will support the declaration — which should secure its passage through a
minority Parliament.

WATCH | Experts disagree about invoking federal Emergencies Act: 


SECURITY EXPERTS DISAGREE ON USE OF FEDERAL EMERGENCIES ACT

5 days ago
Duration 7:44
National security expert Wesley Wark says Ottawa's expected use of the federal
Emergencies Act is 'long overdue' to help end the protests in Ottawa. But Leah
West, assistant professor of international affairs at Carleton University in
Ottawa, says Ontario's own emergency act gives it the power it needs to remove
protesters. 7:44

"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 stigmatize Canadians 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 that Justin Trudeau has deliberately created to
divide the country and gain politically."


LEGAL THRESHOLD QUESTIONED

Jack Lindsay, an associate professor in the applied disaster and emergency
studies department at Brandon University in Manitoba, said one of the first
steps in invoking the Emergencies Act is the government showing that a 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
whether that threshold has been met.


A protester who arrived to support convoy participants blocked by local
residents in a counter protest on Riverside Drive argues with police officers,
on the 17th day of a protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a
broader anti-government protest, in Ottawa, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. (Justin
Tang/The Canadian Press)

"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 Ottawa but 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 over the past 24 hours. Trudeau
also consulted with the premiers Monday morning.

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 told a news conference.

WATCH | Protesters blocked multiple border crossings across Canada over the
weekend: 


PROTESTERS BLOCK BORDER CROSSINGS ACROSS CANADA

6 days ago
Duration 2:51
Protesters blocked multiple border crossings across Canada over the weekend, and
while some have reopened, they’re still closed in Surrey, B.C., and Coutts,
Alta. 2:51

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who has been dealing with a blockade at the border
crossing in Coutts protesting 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.


A protester holds a hockey stick wrapped in a Canadian flag above his head,
Monday, Feb. 14, 2022 in Ottawa. The protesters are decrying federal vaccine
mandates and provincial COVID-19 restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the
virus, some of which are being rolled back by provinces. (Adrian Wyld/The
Canadian Press)

"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
about invoking the act.

 * Opportunity to end convoy protest peacefully is slipping away, experts say

 * Government considering emergency powers with 'appropriate caution,' federal
   minister says

Invoking the act also triggers an inquiry at the end of the declaration.

The War Measures Act was most famously used in peacetime by 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 special coverage starting at 4 p.m. ET on
   CBC News Network and at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBC-TV and livestreaming on CBC
   Gem, CBC.ca and 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 with Power &
   Politics and Canada Tonight, and on The World at 6 on CBC Radio One and the
   CBC Listen app. 
 * Watch The National starting at 9 p.m. ET on CBC News Network throughout the
   evening for the latest news and analysis.
 * And follow cbcnews.ca for breaking news, analysis and updates.


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


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catharine Tunney

Reporter

Catharine Tunney is a reporter with CBC's Parliamentary bureau in Ottawa. She
previously worked at CBC in Nova Scotia. She can be reached at
catharine.tunney@cbc.ca or @cattunneyCBC.

 * Twitter: @cattunneycbc

With files from David Cochrane and JP Tasker

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Report Typo or Error|Corrections and Clarifications


RELATED STORIES

 * Sask. Premier says Emergencies Act should only be invoked in provinces that
   request it
 * François Legault says Trudeau's invoking of Emergencies Act 'not necessary'
   in Quebec
 * Government considering emergency powers with 'appropriate caution,' federal
   minister says
 * Opportunity to end convoy protest peacefully is slipping away, experts say

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