Martial Law Powers in Canada? By Charles Taylor (Florida)
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, no doubt under prompting from the Biden administration has invoked the Emergencies Act, an Act which has seldom been used and is reserved for threats to national security. Civil liberties groups have opposed the measure, not seeing it as proportional, as have premiers in Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with Quebec's Premier Francois Legault said using emergency powers risked putting “oil on the fire.”
The Act will enable federal police to be employed, yet there already seems to be existing federal power to do this. Funds will be cut off, but again, courts have already done this. So, I imagine that the plan is to go nuclear, and use the military to break the truckers, declaring martial law. Genocidal air attacks, and death strategies like that employed in Waco may really be putting gas, sorry Aussies, petrol, on a fire. Thus, it will have to all be done old school, man to man, or given the woke Canadian army, man to whatever. It will be interesting indeed.
https://tnc.news/2022/02/14/justin-trudeau-has-invoked-the-emergencies-act1/
“In response to the ongoing freedom convoy protests taking place across Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked the Emergencies Act.
What does all of this mean? How does the Emergencies Act work? Will Trudeau’s decision escalate tensions even further?
True North’s Candice Malcolm, Andrew Lawton and Harley Sims are live to discuss Trudeau’s latest attempt to stop the protests and discuss the latest on the freedom convoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnvEtfba1oY
“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday activated rarely used emergency powers in an effort to end protests that have shut some U.S. border crossings and paralyzed parts of the capital.
Under the Emergencies Act, the government introduced 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."
But the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said the government had not met the standard for invoking the Emergencies Act, which is intended to deal with threats to "sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," the group said.
The "Freedom Convoy" protests, started by Canadian truckers opposing a COVID-19 vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, have drawn people opposed to Trudeau's policies on everything from pandemic restrictions to a carbon tax. Copycat trucker protests have also sprung up in Israel, France, Australia and New Zealand.
Protesters blockaded the Ambassador Bridge, a vital trade route between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, for six days before police cleared the protest on Sunday while others have shut down smaller border crossings in Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia. Protests in Ottawa, the nation's capital, entered a third week.
Protesters camped in front of the Canadian Parliament, some of whom want the prime minister to meet with them, said the latest steps were excessive. "It’s an extreme measure that isn’t necessary," said protester Candice Chapel.
CUTTING OFF FUNDS
The financial measures bring crowdfunding platforms under terror-finance oversight, authorize Canadian banks to freeze accounts suspected of funding the blockades and suspend insurance on vehicles in the protests, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said.
"We are making these changes because we know that these (crowdfunding) platforms are being used to support illegal blockades and illegal activity which is damaging the Canadian economy," Freeland said.
Canadian authorities have said about half of the funding for the protests has come from U.S. supporters. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) last week froze two personal bank accounts that received C$1.4 million ($1.1 million) for the protests. read more
A U.S.-based website, GiveSendGo, became a prime conduit for money to the protesters after mainstream crowdfunding platform GoFundMe blocked donations to the group. An Ontario court last week ordered GiveSendGo to freeze all funds supporting the blockade, but it said it would not comply.
Amid criticism that the police approach to demonstrations has been too permissive, Trudeau will use federal officers to back up provincial and local forces. "Despite their best efforts, it is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement's ability to effectively enforce the law," he said.
In the western Canadian province of Alberta, police said they broke up a group that was armed and prepared to use violence to back a blockade at a border crossing with the United States.
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.
Ontario, which declared a state of emergency on Friday, backed the move. But premiers in Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan opposed the plan. Quebec's Premier Francois Legault said using emergency powers risked putting "oil on the fire."
Trudeau said the measures would be geographically targeted and time limited.
Ontario said it will speed up its plan to remove proof-of-vaccination requirements and lift pandemic-related capacity limits for many businesses while Alberta ended its mask requirements for school children on Monday.”
“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time to squash the ongoing Freedom Convoy protests against Wuhan coronavirus restrictions, potentially giving the Canadian leader sweeping emergency powers.
Trudeau announced the use of the Emergencies Act for the first time in its history on Monday afternoon, stating that the federal government has invoked the act to aid law enforcement to stop border blockades as well as the Freedom Convoy demonstration in downtown Ottawa.
He went on to claim the act would be used in a time-limited and geographically narrow way and would not be used to bring in the military or suspend the rights of Canadians in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Emergencies Act replaced the prior War Measures Act that was used by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the current prime minister’s father, during the October crisis of 1970 when members of the far-left terrorist Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped and murdered Quebec Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte.
The act, which came into law in 1988, allows Trudeau to invoke various measures that could include banning people from gathering in certain areas as well as restricting their travel across the country.
Several Provincial Premiers have come out against the implementation of the Emergencies Act, including Saskatchawan conservative premier Scott Moe, who publicly stated he was opposed to the measure.
“Saskatchewan does not support the Trudeau government invoking the Emergencies Act. If the federal government does proceed with this measure, I would hope it would only be invoked in provinces that request it, as the legislation allows,” Moe said on Twitter.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has also stated his opposition, saying, “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.”
Alberta is one of the provinces dealing with a Freedom Convoy blockade at the town of Coutts along the United States border, which has been ongoing for the last two weeks.
While the protestors did lift the blockade temporarily, it resumed last week, despite Alberta lifting several restrictions, including its vaccine passport system.
In Manitoba, where a blockade was set up at the border in the town of Emerson, Premier Heather Stefanson released a statement saying that she did not support the use of the act either.
“In my view, the sweeping effects and signals associated with the never-before-used Emergencies Act are not constructive here in Manitoba, where caution must be taken against overreach and unintended negative consequences,” Stefanson said.
“While the situation is very different in Ontario, this ultimate federal legislation should only be considered on a measured and proportional basis, in locations where it is truly needed,” she added.
Francois Legault, premier of the French-speaking province of Quebec, has also come out against the Emergencies Act, saying, “I think that I was very clear with the prime minister that the federal Emergencies Act should not, must not apply in Quebec.”
“We don’t have any problems in Quebec so far. The Sureté du Québec has everything under control,” he said but claimed the situation in Ottawa, Ontario, was different than any protests taking place in Quebec.
“I can understand that enough is enough in Ottawa. You can protest, but you can’t do what they’ve been doing for two weeks,” Legault said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford stated Monday morning that he supported Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act just days after Ford declared a province-wide state of emergency to end several border blockades in Ontario, including the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, which sees large volumes of cross-border trade.
“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,” Ford said.”
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